Here I am....send me!

As I am writing this week’s article I am sitting at Camp Bays Mountain

There is a summer camp here, and Telford UMC, the church where I serve as pastor, has sent 12 children here for the week, and I am the MIR. That stands for “Minister In Residence”. Although when the campers see me they draw it out real long so it sounds like, “MIIIIRRRRRRR”.

            It’s pretty cool to be a MIR. And this is my first time doing this. I am here to lead morning, afternoon, and evening devotions with all the campers, and to spend time with them throughout the day to build relationships.

            First, let me say that camp counselors are simply amazing people. Actually, let me draw that out real long and say that they are AAAMMMMAAAZZZIIIINNNNGGG!

            Seriously, I mean that.

            If you have the chance to send a child/grandchild/next-door-neighbor’s-child to Camp Bays Mountain, then by all means you should definitely do it! And if you have questions about it just call me.

            Our theme for this summer is “Here I am”, and the Scripture focus is Isaiah 6:8. Here is that verse:

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”

And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”

            Isaiah had experienced the awe, wonder, and magnitude of a vision where he saw the throne of God, and the worship that was taking place. And among the holiness and magnificence of this moment he felt his own sinfulness and mortality.

            I know that feeling.

            I preach to people every Sunday morning, lead small group Bible studies every Wednesday night, and get many, many other opportunities throughout the week to share Jesus.

            Sometimes, my own issues are in the front of my mind. Sometimes I even have to share with people what God says about something, and my own actions are at odds with this, too.

            This is how Isaiah felt; sinful, inadequate, unworthy.

            And then he experience grace.

           

“Your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for”

(Isaiah 6:7b)

            I know how that feels too!

            Jesus has atoned for my sins, my guilt.

            And what possible response could we ever have in this type of situation?

            Well, in this moment Isaiah heard God ask a question. And the question was, “Whom shall I send?”

            And there was only one possible answer for Isiah. He had experienced this overwhelming love, grace, and forgiveness in his own life. His guilt was gone. He was a new creation standing before a holy God.

            So Isaiah’s natural response was, “Here I am. Send me!”

           

            That’s our theme for our camper this week. Not only Isaiah. But we are also looking at the stories of Mary, Samuel, and Ananais.

            That’s our story, too. At least that’s my story.

            I have experienced so much love and grace and forgiveness from Jesus, that the only possible reaction that I could possibly have to this is, “here I am. Send me!”

            If you know what I’m talking about, can you be so bold as to prat that prayer with me?

            Here I am. Send me.

            So now what?

            Now, my friend, you are in the hands of a loving God. You have put His will above your own. And you are about to find your true meaning, destiny, and purpose in life.

            You have prayed a bold and trusting prayer. Let me know what God says back to you…..

A Line in the Sand

Today I went to worship at Ocean View UMC with my wife and two of our children. We are on vacation here at Oak Island, NC, and we go to Oceanview each year when we are here. Being on vacation is a great opportunity to visit another church. Being United Methodist, I find comfort in getting into a new the town and seeing the cross and flame on a sign or a church building. It's kinda like a beacon for me, guiding me, and also reminding me of the beautiful aspects of our connectionalism. So going on vacation shouldn't be a time to skip church. What a wonderful chance to get to worship with some extended family that we don't know yet, but we will be spending eternity with!

Being a pastor on vacation is a great opportunity to worship with my family, and extended family, in the pews rather than the pulpit for once. I get to sing the hymns with the rest of the body, and receive the sacrament of Holy Communion with my wife, being served by others as I reminded that, "in the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven", and that the body and blood of Christ were given for me.

The preacher today was preaching a series on "Revival" from a book by United Methodist pastor Adam Hamilton. Today's topic was on holiness, and the Scripture was 1 Peter 1:15-16. Here is that passage:

But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”

 I love to read, and each year I bring a book or two to read while sitting on the beach. This year, ironically, I brought a book by Ken Collins, entitled, The Theology of John Wesley: Holy Love & the Shape of Grace. In the book Collins outlines the major themes of our faith, and Wesley's views on them, and how his views were shaped by others.

One chapter is on sanctification, or Christian perfection.
For Wesley, we are called to grow and mature in our Christian faith, we are not supposed to stay static in our faith. Once we are saved and ask for forgiveness of our sins and accept Jesus as our Lord and savior, we experience a new birth (aka "born again") and we are justified by the grace of God through faith in Jesus. As we mature into the faith we profess we are being sanctified by the grace of God.
It is a process of Christian perfection, growing in holiness. In fact, at the moment of our salvation, we are made holy before a perfect, holy, and loving God by believing in and trusting in Jesus, through the working of the Holy Spirit in us. That's a lot happening!
In 1776 Wesley wrote

"It is impossible that any retain what they receive without improving it. To use the grace given is the certain way to obtain more grace. To use all the faith you have will bring an increase of faith"

So then we are holy.
You are holy.
We don't like to use that term often, especially when we talk about ourselves. I have even heard born again Christians use terms like "sinner" to describe themselves.
Wesley would have been abhorred by this.
You have been created in the image of God. Jesus died for your sins to bring you into right relationship with God. You have asked Jesus to be the Lord of you life...and you call yourself a sinner?
Sure, that's who you were. That's who we all were. That's part of the whole "original sin" (I will write a post on that later). We need a savior, and we have one!
We were once lost, but now we are found. Blind, but now we see. Sinner, and now....saint...holy.

And yet we still sin at times. But the growing in sanctification, this process that is leading us toward Christian perfection, should be a sign of who we are. No, it should be a sign of WHOSE we are!
We are CHRISTians. We are, perhaps, the only glimpse of the goodness of God that some people might see today.
And He is holy.
And in the scripture referenced above Peter is reciting a passage from Leviticus, that God calls His people to be holy because we are His and He is holy. So the Holy Spirit is at work in us, making us holy.
Not  sinless. Although how we sin should be ever decreasing outwardly and more aware inwardly.

"Absolute perfection belongs not to man, nor to angels, but to God alone"- John Wesley

The long and short of all this is that we are called to be holy, and this means that we are being perfected in Holy Love. This is because God is love, and love is how we are showing God to the world around us.

I think sometimes we just don't do a good job showing love because of our differences. Rupert Meldinius, a German Lutheran theologian of the early 17th century, is attributed a quote that Wesley surely agreed with:

"In essentials unity. In non-essentials liberty".

I think we struggle in our own sanctification, in the growing in this holy love, because we have drawn too many lines in the sand.

 My daughter Hannah found this line in the sand today, and then she added these two words for me:
Sacred
Secular

I wonder how definitive that line is. I absolutely agree that there is a line between "lost" and "found", to use parable words of Jesus.
But I wonder if the line between what is deemed "holy", or sacred, and what is not, is more of our own making? Is the line exactly where we think it is? Or have we made the line ourselves?

I am not saying everything is holy. Sin is obviously not. I am just saying that maybe we can look for the holy in places where we might not have thought to. Maybe Jesus is at work in some unique places today. After all, He has been known to do that. And in so doing maybe He is making things and places holy because He is there.

I heard once that Jesus did not live in the "Holy Land", but rather Jesus made the "Land Holy" because He was there.

Maybe we can't drag people across the line in the sand from secular to the sacred. But maybe we can take some sacred across the line into their secular.

And maybe that is where holiness begins.

What do you want me to do for you?

Think about the last time you asked God for something. You probably don't have to think back too far. We are pretty good at that.

Now, think about how you asked God. Think about the words you used in making your request.

I have to admit, that when I am asking someone for something, even in my prayers at times, that I am pretty nice and polite.

Now, imagine this conversation:

You: "Jesus, I want you to do for me whatever I ask you".

OK, just to be real here for a minute, if anyone made that statement to me I am pretty sure they wouldn't be getting what they asked for. 

I mean, seriously, where is the respect? Where is their sense of gratitude? Even my children know if they are gonna ask me for something they need to butter me up a little bit first.

But now imagine this response:

Jesus: "Sure. What do you want me to do for you?"

Really?! That's Jesus' answer? How about reminding that person who they are talking to? Is that any way to speak to God?

But this is the conversation found in the gospel of Mark (Mark 10:35-45.)

James and John make a bold statement, and Jesus has a bold answer.

Before we get into what they asked of Jesus, and why, let's just think about the first two verses in terms of prayer.

Prayer is our conversation with God. It involves talking and listening, and the working of the Holy Spirit to help guide us in this divine conversation. Prayer is intimate, it is worship, it is a holy encounter with God.

So Jesus asks these two disciples, "What do you want me to do for you?"

This isn't the only time Jesus says something like this. In fact the next story that Mark's gospel recounts is Jesus healing a blind beggar in the city of Jericho. This was another bold and blazen 

human, who, in the presence of Jesus was shouting, "Son of David, have mercy on me!" 

(Mark 10:47-48)

So Jesus, being Jesus, does not rebuke him for him boldness. Jesus doesn't remind him who he is talking to. Jesus doesn't tell him that He's busy. Instead Jesus asks him a question.

And the question Jesus asks him is "What do you want me to do for you?" (Mark 10:51)

Two separate situations. 

Once with James and John, two of the first disciples of Jesus. 

And then with a blind beggar named Bartimaeus.

But the same question.

"What do you want me to do for you?"

And if this wasn't amazing enough, Jesus isn't asking this question because He doesn't know the answer. He is asking because He wants us to know the answer. He wants us to verbalize in prayer  what we need, or to know that we really don't have a clue what we need, but we know we need Jesus. He wants us in conversation with Him, to tell our Father what is on our mind.

I am thinking Jesus hasn't changed any. In fact I know this to be true.

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. (Hebrews 13:8) 

Imagine Jesus asking you this question right now. "What do you want me to do for you?"

He is.

At this very moment, as you turn your heart and your attention to Jesus, He is waiting for you, His beloved child.

And as your eyes meet His eyes, there is a moment of peace that is greater than anything you could ever comprehend. And as Jesus smiles at you in pure and perfect love, He asks you, 

"What do you want me to do for you?"

And now, what is your answer? Go ahead and tell Him.