Watch Night Thoughts

This time of year provides a kind of vantage point for me to look back at the previous year and reconcile my actual behaviors and commitments to what I believe are my real values. I often use my calendar, my journal, and my checkbook register as tools to get a real picture of how I've lived out my values. As usual, this year, I've discovered several things that I am proud of and several things that I believe I really need to change (for example, do I really need to spend over $500 per year on cups of coffee???).

John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, borrowed a tradition from the Moravians of a "Watch Night" service. They did this several times throughout the year initially, but particularly on New Year's Eve night. Judging from what I've read, this service wasn't necessarily a celebration for ringing in the new year, but was instead a somber time of taking real inventory about one's values, relationships, and spiritual maturity.

I've been thinking of some of the things that God may be calling upon me to add in, to give up, to keep, or to change as I move into 2009. I'd love to hear from you in the "comments" about what God may be saying to you along these lines.

I am particularly inspired by a prayer that John Wesley modified from the Pietists:

I am no longer my own, but thine.

Put me to what thou wilt, rank me with whom thou wilt.

Put me to doing, put me to suffering.

Let me be employed by thee or laid aside for thee, exalted for thee or brought low for thee.

Let me be full, let me be empty

Let me have all things, let me have nothing.

I freely and heartily yield all things to thy pleasure and disposal.

And now, O glorious and blessed God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, thou art mine, and I am thine.

So be it.

And the covenant which I have made on earth, let it be ratified in heaven. Amen.

What Should We Spend Our Time Doing?

I have a friend who seems to worry constantly about what the UM church is going to do with regards to the homosexual agenda. I know others who are very concerned about a “fairness doctrine” as it relates to talk radio programming. Another is very concerned about immigration enforcement. Still others are concerned about whether we should be able to pray in schools or post The Ten Commandments in public places and about those who wish to post atheistic statements alongside Christmas decorations. There are many who are very concerned about holiday greetings versus Christmas greetings.

As a Christian leader, there seem to be so many things that vie for my time, energies, and general leadership capital. There are sermons to prepare and preach, Bible studies to prepare and share, staff to lead, finances to manage, etc. There is the Discipleship plan for our ministries to be considered and implemented. There are connectional leadership opportunities. I sit on the Board of Directors of a wonderful senior living community. There are continuing educational pursuits, the investment back into the lives of those who are still in the academy preparing for pastoral ministry. We are working on a capital campaign and a building program.

Then there are social issues of justice such as: advocacy relating to capital punishment, the aching needs of immigrant communities all around us, runaway drug addiction, domestic abuse, teenage pregnancies, etc.

Sometimes I feel that there either are, or should be, a kind of prioritization of opportunities and issues for me to concentrate on so that I don’t become “a mile wide and an inch deep.” At other times, I wonder if by being a pastor, I simply cannot remain silent on particular issues regardless of how demanding my other ministry responsibilities may be.

I wonder a lot about what issues are truly the ministry responsibilities of Christians in general and of Church leaders specifically. What can we simply not ignore without being negligent? Thoughts?

Food for Hungry People

Today about a dozen members of our church, ranging from age 20 to age 81, got together and spent over $4000 of money donated in special offerings from this December on groceries. A local grocery store kicked in a discount also. We loaded all this food on or in personal cars, trucks, and a trailer and transported it to our building where we separated it into 130 bags to be given to senior citizens and hungry families in Mercer County. We are coordinating with a local food pantry to identify those who need the food the most.

Left brained people did left brained things like counting, quality checking, and organizing. Right brained people did right brained things like sing songs, cheer-lead, and encourage. There were very few arguments and generally great attitudes (morning caffeine helped). It took about 5 hours and we're all ready to distribute tomorrow morning.

I love the Body of Christ at work!

Complementary versus Critical

It is interesting to me that there seems to be a great deal of credibility being placed upon the perspectives of people who are "young" and can speak for "emerging generations" or who can critique the efforts of the established church over against the prevailing culture's expectations. It also seems that many of these people are hypercritical of anything they perceive as being "old paradigm." The critical hyperbole often seems to drip with condescension.

I hear and read their critiques of everything from the forward they read in a book by an older church leader who seems out of touch with today's culture, to church signs they feel are misguided, to the way that an older person witnesses which seems presumptuous to them. I hear critiques about liturgy, about 18th century music, about blue-haired old ladies, about how churches measure success by numbers, about whether a leader is techie enough, etc. It never ends.

My perspective is a little different. I see "young" christians, "emergent" churches, old saints, contemporary worship, liturgical worship, inside the walls nurture, outside the walls missions, churchy language, plain english language, King James, Today's English Version, suits, jeans, casual, formal, etc. as representations of the incredibly beautiful and diverse Body that Jesus Christ is the Head of. We are as different as fingers are from ears or eyes are from noses -- different not better -- different not worse -- different not always right or wrong.

I believe that the efforts and the styles and the perspectives of all these people are very often inspired and commissioned by the same Holy Spirit. I believe that these very different people and these very different perspectives are necessary and even complementary in the work of the Kingdom to which we are all called. Sure we can learn from each other. Sure we can challenge one another to expand our vision. But I get really tired of the apparent presuposition that "they" have to be wrong in other for "us" to be right. Why can't we challenge one another in a complementary way, rather than in a constantly critical way?

Transformation

The Church is often stereotyped by many who don't have any relationship with Church as being judgmental and self-righteous. I think in our efforts to reach out to people who have this perspective, those of us inside the church have really majored in a kind of seeker-sensitive grace. We present the unconditional love of God. We proclaim the truth that God is full of grace to meet anyone exactly where we are.

This is grace. It is a characteristic of God. God does wish that no person perish. However, God isn't just interested in resolving our feelings of guilt so that we can go on living in self-destructive and relationship-damaging ways.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer claimed that grace that simply deals with sin alone is cheap. He contrasts this with "costly grace" that deals with not only our sins, but that is transformative of the sinner as well.

I'm not sure that we proclaim and teach that kind of surrendered position before a holy and redemptive God very well.

I'm working on a teaching series that might begin with the encounter between a rich young ruler and Jesus where the young man asks, "What must I do to inherit eternal life?". Jesus' answer is ultimately to require that he divest himself of everything in which he trusts and follow Jesus. That demand proves too much for him and he leaves in sorrow.

I'm wondering how you might organize a teaching/preaching series on "the marks of the Christian life" or holiness, Christian discipleship, "fitness for heaven" etc.? Thoughts? Ideas?

There has been Born for You a Savior

The King had issued a decree … it was time to count his subjects and assess their taxes. This was before computers and the internet, before automobiles, television, pollsters, and even a postal service. In order to comply with the decree, every family had to go to their hometown and be counted and pay taxes.

Oh, imagine the incredible flurry of activity this caused. People from all over the known world were making and executing travel plans. The livery stables, motels, cafés, and street vendors were hustling for all they were worth. The streets and highways were jammed with travelers. Government bureaucrats were setting policy and lawyers were debating decisions and feverishly preparing their cases to be heard by the judges of the land.

The air was filled with the sounds of money being counted and change being made, of arguing and boasting, selling and buying, entertaining, begging, threatening, laughing, crying and all the other hubbub. Amidst all of the fray, a young couple picked their way through the crowded streets of one such village, hunting for a place to spend the night. Their search made urgent by the fact the she was about to have a baby. Their search made desperate because the inns were all filled to capacity.

By now, if you are at all familiar with the story, you know that this is a portion of what we often call “The Christmas Story.” We know the village as Bethlehem and the man and woman as Joseph and Mary. Now these names have become literal icons of religious faith, but not then. Then it was just an obscure village and a humble carpenter and his betrothed wife.

The greatest gift ever was about to be born into this world through a peasant virgin girl. Emmanuel, that is “God with us” born in a livery stable and laid to sleep His first night in a feed trough. Yes the announcement was trumpeted and proclaimed by the angels, but not to the King or any other “important people,” just to a bunch of shepherds tending their sheep outside of town. His location was heralded by a great star in the sky, but only noticed by a few astronomers in a foreign country.

You know, it’s not so amazing to me that so many people that night were oblivious to the importance of what was going on in their midst. They were busy with their own important affairs. They had lodging to find, food to prepare, taxes to pay, among all of their other responsibilities. Surely any of them would have done everything in their power to make welcome and comfortable, the very Son of the Living God; had they known that He was to be born right in their midst that night.

Similarly, we have the demands of bills and taxes, business and travel, politics and foreign affairs, school, etc. Thanksgiving comes and we’ve got to get the place ready for guests and prepare that wonderful meal. Christmas comes and we prepare to travel home for the holidays. We’ve got gifts to purchase and cards to pick out and send. There are parties to host or attend, decorations to put up, and those aggravating lights to untangle once again. Our streets are crowded and the air is filled with the sounds of holiday shoppers, busy shopkeepers, honking horns, bells ringing, carol music playing and all of the other hubbub.

Could it be, in spite of the Bible and the Church and a whole special holiday just for celebrating His birth, that all of our busyness eclipses the true Gift we celebrate. I love Santa Claus and Christmas dinner and fellowship with my family as much as anybody; but none of that should ever be allowed to obscure our celebration and witness of the fact that God loved you and me so much that He chose to reconcile us to Himself through His Son Jesus Christ!

I challenge you to do something this holiday season to honor the Christ that Christmas is all about. Make time for a Christmas service at church, read the Christmas story to a child, pick out cards that share more than just “Seasons Greetings,” but a message about Christ, bake a cake and celebrate Jesus’ Birthday…there are innumerable ways that we can celebrate God’s greatest Gift! Above all, allow Him to be born into your life this Christmas.

~Ken