A Guide for Lay Members (2 of 5)

In last week’s Words to Ponder we talked about covenant commitment to pray for the church in our membership vows. This week we are looking at the second covenant commitment.

Lay Members, commit to accept and exercise their responsibilities as the body of Christ with their presence.  The General Board of Discipleship (GBD) of the United Methodist Church article says our “commitment to presence means we pay attention to the time and to the place we are at in the present moment, which is actually a hard practice because people generally think about the past or future. Yet our Christian commitment is to pay attention to the present moment, while looking and listening for God's guidance. When we promise "presence" to the congregation, we commit to be engaged to the place and people who compose both the congregation and the community the congregation serves. (http://www.gbod.org). 

• Attend worship weekly where you are.
• Build deeper relationships with people in the congregation and the community through regular participation in a small group, fellowship opportunities, and service projects.
• Pay full attention to your location and to the people you are with at church, at work or school, and at home.” (http://www.gbod.org).  

The author believes it is difficult for humans to think in the present because we tend to think only about the past or the future. I believe this is especially true concerning our spiritual journey. Many Christians have the ‘hell fire and brimstone’ teachings of their youth embedded in their minds. They remember the preacher who induced fear with sermons that condemned them to eternal damnation for their sins as they called them forward to recite the sinner’s prayer. Once this public act was accomplished; prayer spoken and Christ accepted as Lord and Savior, they return to life as usual believing their eternal home to be secure. With their eternal future now secure they live out their lives waiting for their heavenly reward. One concern I have with this analogy is that it turns Christianity into a wait for death lifestyle. Christianity is not about waiting for eternity. Christianity it is about bringing heaven to earth, it is about living for and with God in the here and now.

Salvation is a lifetime experience, an eternal journey that begins in this life. It is a daily occurrence of growing and being in relationship with the living God through Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit.  It is not about doing one thing at a single moment in history so we can make it to heaven when we die; it is about living out the heavenly experience everyday wherever God has placed us. 

The church is just one of the many ‘means of grace’ provided by God to help us fulfill our baptismal and confirmation commitment to be Christ in the world. The Lay member, as the body of Christ commits to be present not to help the church, but to be the church in the world as a reflection of God’s love for our neighbors.  When Christians are present in the body of Christ it not only helps to transform the world, it helps disciples (members of the body of Christ) grow in their relationship with God. It is a win – win situation. When we live out our faith God’s love is shared and others are drawn to God, they grow in their relationship with God and we grow in our faith and relationship with God.  Heaven on earth becomes a reality and the world is transformed one person at a time.  In Christian Love, Dr. Ed Judy

 Fist published: Feb 9, 2014 Morror Mirror, Morrow First UMC, (c)Rev. Dr. Edward Judy

A Message Worth Sharing

Words to Ponder …A Message Worth Sharing … Morrow Mirror … January 26, 2014

A religious woman upon waking up each morning would open her front door stand on the porch and scream, "Praise the Lord." 

This infuriated her atheist neighbor who would always make sure to counter back, "there is no Lord." 

One morning the atheist neighbor overheard his neighbor praying for food. Thinking it would be funny, he went and bought her all sorts of groceries and left them on her porch.

The next morning the lady screamed, "Praise the Lord, who gave me this food." The neighbor, laughing so hard he could barely get the words out, screamed "it wasn't the Lord, it was me."

The lady without missing a beat screamed, "Praise the Lord for not only giving me food but making the atheist pay for it!" (http://www.homileticsonline.com, January-February, 2014)

God is bigger then our faith or lack of faith. God can and does use all people to bring about His goal for creation, so we should not be surprised when God uses an atheist to help a faithful servant to get something to eat. 

Penn Jillette, the atheist illusionist and comedian, has said: "I don't respect people who don't proselytize. I don't respect that at all. If you believe that there's a heaven and hell and people could be going to hell or not getting eternal life or whatever, and you think that it's not really worth telling them this because it would make it socially awkward. ... How much do you have to hate somebody to believe that everlasting life is possible and not tell them that?"

(Penn Jillette gets a gift of a Bible," YouTube, August 9, 2009, youtube.com)

Jillette’s words remind me of the commencement speech the Dali Lama gave at Emory University May 1998. I do not remember his exact words, but the gist of what he said was, “regardless of your faith live it. If you are a Buddhist live it, a Hindu live it, or a Christian live it.” Others should not be surprised to hear we are Christian, they should know it by our actions as well as by the words we speak.  If we do not share our faith we are not being faithful to the Gospel! I am NOT saying, beat people up with the Gospel; the Dali Lama made a point to say that sharing our faith is not about condemning others for not believing as we do. It is about sharing with a passion what we believe and being open to hear stories of faith from those who believe differently.  We should not fret if the world refuses to jump in the boat with us, but neither should we cast them out of the boat. 

I believe Jesus died so that we might have eternal life and this is a message not only worth sharing, it is a message the world needs to hear. If those who live in darkness shun the light, it is not our place to force it upon them. It is our calling to trust in the One who carries the light as we pray for those in darkness.

May the Light of Christ Shine on you today and always. 

In Christian Love, Dr. Ed Judy

The Healing Spirit!

"Sometimes our own insufficiency is what God finds the most useful about us. James W. Moore tells of his own past to

illustrate this quirky divine preference for turning weakness into strength. While a seminarian, Moore took a course in clinical pastoral education. One afternoon the head nurse took him aside and told him that a patient, Mrs. Davis, was in dire need of pastoral counseling. She was facing serious brain surgery the next morning with the double liabilities of poor physical condition and a soured, self-pitying spirit. Her chances of survival did not look good. 

Overawed by the life-and-death responsibility his pastoral ability seemed to carry, young Moore decided to let Mrs. Davis do all the talking and serve as an active listening sound-board for her fears and anxieties. Unfortunately this plan was squelched when, at the last minute, Moore was told Mrs. Davis was not allowed to speak. In a panic, this young seminarian bumbled into the desperately ill woman's room, accidentally banging the door into the wall. He then lurched forward into the room and jarred the poor woman by kicking her bed. Mortified, he then launched into a stuttering, stammering series of platitudes and prayers, saying all the wrong things and feeling he had utterly failed to reach the woman's fears. Horrified at his inadequacy, Moore left quickly. 

A few days later, Moore was amazed to find Mrs. Davis recovering nicely and in remarkably good spirits. Even more incredibly this patient praised him and credited him with practically saving her life. But I don't understand. I felt so terrible; I was so ashamed. I did everything wrong, Moore moaned. That's just it, she replied. I felt so sorry for you! It was the first time I had felt anything but self-pity for months. That little spark of compassion ignited in me the will to live! And the doctors tell me it made all the difference."

[James W. Moore, Yes, Lord, I Have Sinned, But I Have Several Excellent Excuses (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1991) 96-98.]

Mrs. Davis found what we all need to find, and I am not talking about the will to live; although, I pray you have the will to live life to the fullest. What Mrs. Davis found was compassion for another human being. This was the first time she was not consumed by her own struggles.

It is my belief the root of all sin is selfishness. You may be wondering if I am considering self-pity a sin, the answer is yes. Anything that takes us into the pit of despair is wrong because it can destroy our spirit as well as our relationships with family and friends, God's gifts to us.

Christians are not immune to self-pity and sometimes we find ourselves in the dark pit of despair. Life can be extremely difficult, but no one has to face his or her struggles alone. Christ told the disciples he was going away to be with the Father, but he was not leaving them alone. He would the comforter, the Holy Spirit to be with them. The same Spirit dwells within us and when we open our hearts and empathize with others the Spirit shines forth a healing grace to all who have eyes to see. 

I imagine Moore was feeling a little self-pity when he left Mrs. Davis' room, but when he returned, his despair was vanquished by the Light of Christ. The Spirit used Moore’s compassion to heal her and her compassion healed him.

May the Light of Christ Shine on you today and always. In Christ, Dr. Ed Judy

Happy Holidays! Don't you love hearing this greeting?

Carol Howard Merritt is a blogger (carymilkweed.blogspot.com);[1] for those of you whose computer knowledge is limited to knowing how to spell computer, a blog is a discussion or informational site published on the World Wide Web.  The Christian Century Magazine republished Mrs. Merritt's blog in the December 18, 2013 issue titled, Why I love to say "Happy Holidays".

She began the article with a theological discussion about the tradition of waiting to sing the Christmas Carols, while the congregation stretches out the four Advent hymns they know as they  wait for Christmas.  She said, she is sad that the church does not go out Christmas caroling to their homebound friends anymore. Therefore, we sing the carols less during the holiday season.

The question of following the Christian Calendar, which calls us to experience the wait for the Christ Child or to succumb to the desire to sing the hymns, is an annual question in many churches.  I personally look forward to the Advent season and the anticipation of waiting for Christmas Eve when we traditionally light the Christ Candle to announce Jesus' birth, but I also hunger for the hymns I grew up with. In the Assembly of God Church we did not follow the Christian Calendar so we never experienced waiting for the birth of Christ. Throughout December we sang about the shepherds in the field, wisemen following the star, and the angels singing on high about the new born King. 

I am not one of those progressive liturgical individuals Mrs. Merritt wrote about who gets upset because people want to sing about the birth of Christ before the birth of Christ. But I do want to honor our traditions.  Yet, I also understand the desire to sing the hymns because the season is so secularized we need the hymns to help us embrace the spirit of Christmas.

Maybe Mrs. Merritt is correct, that our conservative friends do host an annual “War on Christmas.” She says, "The soldiers in this war include people who punch Salvation Army volunteers because they say 'Happy Holidays' instead of “Merry Christmas”, then stand tall believing baby Jesus would want them to lead this war.

Well they may be surprised to hear that "the word 'holiday' comes from 'holy day.' But it’s more than that. It hearkens[2] a hope of Sabbath. There is also a sense of wholeness and healing in the word." So this Christmas season when someone says, Happy Holidays, smile and wish that person blessings as well as the hope of Sabbath. 

May God bless you as you anticipate the birth of Christ and while you are waiting, sing a few carols and have a very happy holiday.

---

[1] Carol Howard Merritt, http://www.christiancentury.org/blogs/archive/2013-12/why-i-love-say-happy-holidays

[2] Hearken, to listen and pay attention

Orginally published in the Morrow First United Methodist Church Mirror (Week Newsletter/Bulletin)

Remember

Words to Ponder …Remember … Morrow Mirror … November 24, 2013

"This day shall be a day of remembrance for you" Exodus 12:14.

In 1986 Julie, Lauren, and I stood on the memorial built above the USS Arizona. It was a serene moment. Lauren had only just begun to walk, but this is part of our family story. As Christians part of our calling is to share our story: How Jesus has changed our lives, a story worth telling.  As human beings we are also called to remember and learn from our history. Julie shared a devotional that Mary Lou Carney wrote that brought back memories of that day long ago and touch her heart.

"I'd heard about Pearl Harbor all my life…in every US History class I took, and from my father and father-in-law, both of whom served in the navy. But when Gary and I visited Hawaii and took a trip to see Pearl Harbor for ourselves, I was amazed at the emotion I felt.

A gleaning white structure rested out in the bay, a memorial built over the sunken Arizona. We boarded a boat with other tourists and listened as the guide talked about December 7, 1941. 'The USS Arizona is the final resting place for many of the 1,177 crewmen who lost their lives. In the shrine room of the memorial, you will find the names of those killed.'

As we walked onto the memorial, I looked over the side. I could see the sunken ship! Its outline was visible in the clear water below us. I imagined the sailors that morning, roused from their sleep. Young, confused, frightened, brave. Did they have mothers, sweethearts, wives? I sensed someone standing next to me at the rail. I looked up to see a Japanese woman. For a moment I stiffened. What right did she have to be here? Then I realized what she was doing: dropping flower petals into the water. In that instant I knew that death-like bravery and love-knows no boundaries, that we are all enlarged by the noble and diminished by the tragic.

The water lapped quietly against the sides of the memorial, and when the lady looked my way, I smiled" (Mary Lou Carney, Reader Digest, Women's Devotional).

December began with a day to remember the tragedy of our own humanity. Lives lost because of conflicting ideologies.  We are a fallen people. However, as we journey through Advent toward the manger we are reminded that God has not given up on humanity. In the Christ Child, Immanuel we find hope and unconditional love.

When the struggles of the season weigh upon you, look around at God's creation, look in the eyes of your neighbor, and see the hope that Christ placed in each us and remember God's love.

In Christian Love, your pastor and friend in Christ, Dr. Ed Judy