Clean Plates and Clean Slates

Years ago when I played baseball I was a catcher. I got to play not because I was a good hitter, in fact I was normally about 30 points below what would be considered an "average" batting average. I played because I was good defensively. I knew the fundamentals and was good at them because of the hours I spent having baseballs bounced into the dirt so that I could block them with any part of my body, anything to keep the ball in front of me.
I was also good at talking, so I could usually calm down a frustrated or nervous pitcher, occasionally get in the head of an overzealous batter, and always have a good chat with the man behind the plate.
Even with everything going on in a game, I always made sure that the umpire and I were on good terms, because he was the one calling the pitches. I also made sure that he always had a good view of the plate. Most umps had their little ump-brush that they would use to brush dirt off the plate before each inning, but I would wipe the corners of the plate at least after every batter. I wanted the umpire to see just how big and how wide that plate really was, and maybe if there was a pitch just off the corner a tad that he would call it a strike, because after all that plate was clean and white and wide.
As we are coming into a season of Lent, I have been thinking about home plate a little more.  Lent is a 40 day time of the year leading up to Easter Sunday (you don't count Sunday's in the 40 days because every Sunday is a ""mini-Easter" where we are celebrating our risen Lord). Most people think of Lent as a time to give something up, like chocolate or cussing. I know a lot of kids who want to give up school and homework for Lent, but I don't think that's gonna happen. Some people try to pick up something for Lent, like starting a good habit such as exercising or eating healthier. All of these are good things, especially the giving up homework idea, but they don;t really capture what Lent is about.
That's why I've been thinking more about home plate.
See, during a baseball game the plate gets dirty, there is dirt that is blown, kicked, and swiped onto it. Not because anyone wanted to intentionally cover up home plate with dirt, well, maybe there are some batters that want to do that, but that isn't the norm. Home plate gets dirty because there is a game going on, and there is dirt everywhere in the infield, and during the course of the game dirt gets on the plate.
The important thing for me as a catcher was to see the dirt and to get the dirt off when the plate got dirty.

Psalm 51 was written by David after a time that there had been a lot of dirt in his life. And with the help of a man named Nathan, David recognized the dirt. He also recognized the fact that he couldn't get rid of the dirt that was already there, and that he needed God to do that, but he also needed to keep other dirt from getting into his life where he was able.

"Wash me thoroughly...cleanse me" (Psalm 51:2)
"Purge me...and I will be clean; wash me and I will be whiter than snow" (Psalm 51:7)
"Create in me a clean heart" (Psalm 51:10)

This Lent, allow God to create a clean heart and a right spirit within you. The word "Lent" comes from a Latin word for "spring", so maybe a little spring-cleaning is in order spiritually.

Let's have a clean plate and clean slate as we prepare ourselves during Lent. Not just that we are preparing for Easter, though that is part of it. But more importantly that we are prepared daily for the return of Jesus, that we are living our lives in line with what we say we believe, that today could be day! And that we are ready.
Live into a Holy Lent over the next 6 weeks, and know regardless of how dirty home plate may be, there is nothing that can separate you from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus. Because God is good, all the time. And all the time, God is God.

Grace&Peace this Lenten season,
Michael


Be Real. Be Loving. Be Involved.

Blessed are those who mourn....

Blessed are the poor in spirit....

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:3).

The sermon on the mount in the gospel of Matthew begins with these words from Jesus. I preached a sermon yesterday on this but each of these blessings that we call the "beatitudes" is so rich and so great that I thought I would pass along some thoughts on each of these eight blessings in verses 3-10.
Maybe these can help guide us this week. Maybe you will find yourselves in them, or perhaps you will sense where God is leading you in them. So, let's look at that first one, the one about being "poor".
We don't want to be poor in anything. Being poor means that you don't have what others have. And normally we look at this as a bad thing, we often want what other have. Or we think we deserve things that we don't have. But the Beatitudes are a system of blessings in reversals. For each of these "blessings" in Matthew 5 Jesus is flipping the table on what is perceived the cultural and societal norm.
So He begins here, with being poor. But not just poor financially. Poor "in spirit". To be poor in spirit means to be empty of oneself.

The Message paraphrase writes this verse this way, "You're blessed when you're at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and His rule".

I understand that. I know what it means and what it feels like to be at the end of my rope. There is nowhere left to go, there are no other options, there is not much time left of holding on. Somethings gotta give! Somethings gotta change!
And that's when it does, or at least it can.
When we empty ourselves of ourselves and see "poor" in spirit not as a bad thing, but as a beginning thing. Being at the end of the rope doesn't have to be the end.
Being at that end can be the liberating beginning!
It is there we finally realize that we are not in control. It is there that we finally realize that if we let go of this thing we have tried to have a white-knuckle grip on, that we are in the hands of an almighty and all-loving God.
And when we let go and empty ourselves He begins to fill us. But we are filled with some different things than we were before. And some of those things are the following verses in these beatitudes that we will get to later.
But first there is a blessing for those who are poor in spirit....the kingdom of heaven.
Wow, talk about a role reversal there! You go from poor and empty to receiving the kingdom. And this is not a future when you die we all go to heaven type of blessing. It is in the here and the now. Today! If you will accept the blessing.
The kingdom of heaven is something Jesus spent a lot of time talking about, and something that I have spent a lot of time reading and praying about. And here is what I think. When we empty ourselves of ourselves and become this vessel for God to fill up we begin living a new life in this kingdom come now. Not fully and completely, of course. The full arrival of the kingdom will usher in a time of no more pain, no more death, no more tears, where the Lord is our light and there is no sin or darkness. But what I mean is that when Jesus said "theirs IS the kingdom of heaven", I think he meant it.
So that's our blessing today. Living a life in the kingdom for the King today. To be filled up with what we need to live this kingdom life with kingdom values.
So be #blessed today, and be a blessing!

Sermon URL: https://www.facebook.com/TelfordUnitedMethodistChurch/videos/1254662261247058/

The Invitation

               I love getting invitations. Well, most of the time I do. Sometimes I get those emails or phone calls that state that I am being invited to take part in a brief survey because my opinion is extremely valuable. Then about 3 hours the “brief” survey is over. And I have been invited to attend those free vacations, with the only caveat being I have to sit through a very brief low-pressure sales presentation for their time share company. Often these are neither brief nor low-pressure. Each year I also get “invited” to attend a consultation with our Johnson City District Committee on Ordained Ministry. Of course I am not equating this time with the dCOM to time share pitches or unwanted telemarketers, I am just saying that some invitations are more enjoyable than others.

               Like a birthday party invitation. Those are usually good. Well, unless you don’t really know the person that well, or if you have no idea what kind of gift to buy. Or if it’s one of those invitations from your child’s elementary school class where they have to invite every single child in the class so you have no idea who the parents are or who you’re going to be hanging out with while wondering why people still scheduled birthday parties at places like Chuck E Cheese (no offense Chuck, I am just using you as an example). OK, so maybe all birthday party invitations aren’t the best.

               But wedding invitations, those are always great! Right? Well, unless it’s one of those Saturday outdoor weddings in August. Hot, hot, hot and humid. Of course these never start on time, because the bridal party is inside the air conditioned oasis of our party building while you sit melting in a chair that is leaving little sweat rings under your backside. And of course these over top once in a lifetime wedding events try to bring in every element of art, dance, drama, and music so that the entire event with snacks before and dinner after lasts hours…or days. OK, so maybe all wedding invitations aren’t that great.

               Now, before you think that I have just gone all cynical on invitations, I am just trying to make a point. We like to be invited to things, that is part of our human nature. We want to be included.

               In Matthew 22:1-14 Jesus tells a story about a wedding. This parable was used to illustrate that we are all invited into the kingdom of God, but that not everyone will come. The incredible irony is that while we are waiting for an invitation to something this weekend, we have already been invited to relationship with Jesus. And for many people reading this column, you have already accepted that invitation. But that’s not all there is. Now we get to invite others.

               The end of the first chapter of the gospel of John deals with invitations. Jesus was an inviter. His famous pick up line was “follow me”. And it is still is. And people did, and still do. But my favorite invitation from Jesus was to two disciples of another teacher, John the Baptist. One day they saw Jesus walking by and John said, “Look, the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world”. So naturally these two guys are curious so they follow Jesus, just walking behind him following.

               So Jesus asks them what they want. They say they want to see where He is staying. And his answer is, “Come, and you will see”.

               That’s the invitation. Come and see. Come and see what Jesus is doing. Maybe you’ll get that invitation you’re waiting for, maybe you won’t. But you have already been invited into relationship with the One who takes away the sin of the world. Your invitation is one of relationship. Have you accepted?

God is with us...still

“If anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come; the old is gone, the new is here!” –

2 Corinthians 5:17

                “Christmas is over”.

I have heard that from a lot of people this past week. Some have said it with a sigh of relief and others have mumbled it with a twinge of sadness, like a friend that has gone away and won’t be seen for a whole year. Some of you may have had your tree taken down and decorations packed up the evening of December 25, and others of you may be waiting as long as possible to un-decorate.

The reality is that Christmas isn’t over.

Technically we are still in what is called “Christmastide” (yes, those 12 days of Christmas from the song are a real thing from Christmas through Epiphany, which is January 6). I know that the season of Christmas is ending, and that eventually all of the decorations will have to be put away, but that whole “Emmanuel—God with us” idea doesn’t get packed away with the stockings and tree skirt. God is not in the manger anymore, God is in us.

God is with us, still.

Even when we might think Christmas is “over”.

And here we are into a new year. But with the new year comes many of the same old things. The same debt, the same worries, the same illness, the same doubts, the same addictions, the same concerns. There is no New Year Resolution big enough for these. So we focus on the things we think we can fix on our own. A Google search for this year’s top Resolutions has “Exercise” topping our wish list with 37% of Americans and then “losing weight” a close 2^nd with 32%. The reality is that many gyms bring in ‘temporary’ equipment for the month of January only. The reason for this is something that we all know all too well. Come February the resolutions are gone.

God is with us, still.

The new creation has come.  This means that we have been created new. But it’s not just a one-time thing that happened in the past. It can be a daily newness in life. A daily refreshing from the presence of God with us. A daily recreating of who we are in Christ. A daily resolution that we are not trying to achieve with our own good intentions, but placing in the capable hands of Jesus.

The old is gone. This means that our old habits, old selfishness, old worries, old addictions, old regrets, old doubts can be gone with our old self. This takes a daily focus on the newness in us so that the oldness doesn’t slip back in.

My kids used to love to play in the mud. And when they did they would get really muddy, cause that’s just what happens when you play in the mud. Not that playing in the mud is a bad thing, I am just using it here metaphorically. Anyway, their clothes would be muddy, their shoes would be muddy, they would just be a muddy mess. When I got them washed off and cleaned up I wouldn’t put them back in those muddy clothes, I would dress them in clean clothes, and wash those muddy clothes (or throw them away—but don’t tell Heather I ever did that). The same is true for us. That oldness in our lives shouldn’t be something that we keep putting back on every day. If we are really made new in Christ, then we should be wearing new clean clothes, not the same old dirty stuff. There is a beautiful picture of baptism there also. The washing away of the old under the water and the rising up of the new clean person.

The new is here!

I think we can live a fresh new life in Christ Jesus. But I think it’s really hard to try to do that alone. I don’t advocate New Year Resolutions. If you want to read the Bible in 2017 that’s great! But you don’t need a New Year Resolution to do that. Just do it. But I do think that being part of a church is important to this new life, to help keep the newness in the oldness out. So if you’re not part of a church family to help you in this new 2017, then check out the list of local churches that is listed in this paper. There really are people here that want to help you, and there are people here that need to be helped by you. We’re all in this together.

So, Happy New Year! Enjoy it. Live it. Love it. And maybe even go play in the mud…just don’t put those muddy clothes back on ;)

Dream on....

“Dream on, dream on, dream until your dreams come true.”

These are lyrics from an old Aerosmith song from their debut album in 1973. And the Christmas season is a time of the year where dreams do seem to come true. People seem to be more generous. Those Advent themes of Hope, Love, Joy, and Peace seem to be living breathing realities.

               Today I have been reading about a dream in the Bible. It’s part of the Christmas story, but not part that we focus on much. It seems like when we think of Jesus’ birth we think about Mary, his mother, and the angel Gabriel coming to her saying, “Fear not”. And of course there is her song, called the Magnificat, that is recorded for us in Luke chapter 2. But the dream I have been thinking about today was a dream where an angel appeared to Joseph, Mary’s fiancée, and told him that the baby Mary would have was “conceived by the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son and you are to name him Jesus because he will save people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21).

               Gabriel appears to have somehow visited Mary when she was awake, but Joseph was visited in a dream.

               This got me thinking about some of my dreams. Most of them I don’t remember, and the ones that I think I will remember I still end up forgetting unless I tell Heather about them as soon as I wake up. Dreams have a tendency to fade away pretty quickly. But that’s to be expected, there is a difference between dreams and reality. To say that someone is a “dreamer” is to imply that they are not grounded in the facts and reality of life, that they envision or have hopes of something that is unrealistic and improbable.

               “You may say that I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one”, those are words to another one of my old favorite songs by John Lennon.

               But Joseph didn’t just forget about his dream, he actually changed what he had planned on doing because of the dream. (Read the whole story in Matthew 1:18-25) The dream that he had was the way that God chose to communicate with him. To let Mary know what was going to happen the angel just apparently showed up, to get Joseph’s attention the angel came in a dream.

               I wonder if this is still not the case sometimes. Maybe we men are just so busy that we wouldn’t even notice the angel, or listen to what was being said. Maybe it is when we are asleep that we are cognizant of listening because it is only then that we are still and let our brains be quiet. Maybe it is only then when we are not planning something out or working on a conversation in our head.

               Maybe there is something to this dream of Joseph. I think that God has placed a dream inside of each of us. You know what I am talking about, right?

               I am blessed to serve as a pastor in this community, so I have had a chance to see many people’s God-dreams come true. God-dreams are those dreams of something better for this world, some way to help people in need. But those kind of problems are always too big. So we tuck these dreams away, and when we don’t talk about them they begin to fade, just a little at first, then the fog of reality covers up our dreams and soon they are forgotten. But not completely. That’s how dreams work. We know that there is something there, something nudging at us to remember, but we just can’t quite get back to it. There are other things, more “real” things that are clamoring for our waking attention.

               But when faith in God is placed alongside the God-dream, amazing things happen. We actually become the body of Christ reaching others in new and meaningful ways. Lives are transformed, the gospel is lived out, grace abounds, and real change occurs. And it started when you realized a dream that God had given you. What are you going to do with dream that you have almost forgotten? It’s still in there. Pray for it, reach for it. Move some of those real important things out of its way. There it is. Dust it off…are you starting to remember?

               Now, dream on, dream on, dream until your dreams come true and Merry Christmas!

Glory Hunting

Remember the "good old days"? I bet you do. I hear that from people quite often. Normally they are lamenting some aspect of today's culture or state of affairs. The term "good old days" typically brings some connotation with it that somehow those days were better, or easier, or holier than today. I understand the sentiment, but I also think that the past is over-glamorized and often sensationalized. See, our memories are selective and defective. We remember what we want to as being good, and we minimize parts of past reality that don't fit in our "good old days" scheme. Truthfully, the good old days weren't really as good as we remember, and sure weren't as easy as we like to claim. Sometimes we refer to these days as the "glory days". We do this a lot in church, we seem to love how great things used to be, while forgetting how hard they actually were then too!

I have been leading a small group and worship series this month on the topic of Glory, in particular God's glory as it was manifested in the Old Testament and how this glory is manifested today. I am more and more realizing that every day is a "glory day" if that is where my focus is. What I mean is that God's glory is as much relevant and observable and active and present today as it was 20, 100, or 1000 years ago. Sometimes we just don't see it. It's not because it's not there, it's because we aren't here, we aren't actively present in our own lives sometimes. That's because we are either reminiscing about how great things used to be, or anticipating how great things might be, that we are missing how great things are, and how great Thou are in the midst of everything else.

So, here's what I am thinking. For 14 days, 2 full weeks, I want to be intentional about realizing and seeing and feeling the glory of God in my life. I wonder if you will join me? For 14 days can we be intentional, in the midst of debates and hurricanes and hate and pain and loss and grief to also realize that the glory of God is still here with us....even in us? Colossians 1:27 says that God has chosen to make this realization known, that Christ is in us, the "hope of glory". There is glory around us radiating from the Source and Creator, and there is glory in us, placed there to radiate from us.

Even as I write this, I know that last night was a presidential debate, and (possibly more importantly) the Dodgers lost Game 4 of the NLCS. But there is still glory today. So I just started outside this morning while taking the kids to school looking for His glory. 

First I heard it in conversation with my 3 teenagers. Granted, they were talking about the previous night's debate, but they had their own personal and theological convictions that they were talking about in light of what they had heard.  It gave me a minute to be reminded that no US President has the final word of humanity's destiny, that alone is in the hands of King Jesus. I also heard on the radio that it's not about the elephant or the donkey, it's about the Lamb. I believe every American should vote their conscience after much time in prayer (more listening than talking here), but I also believe that God is still active and that his glory is still paramount and available.

Then I noticed the sunrise. I do this often, but today I intentionally stopped for a minute (I wasn't driving) and looked at this amazing natural daily occurrence in the lens of looking for God's glory. And I saw it. The sunrise today was a soft and warm pinkish-blue that was a gentle and peaceful start to the day. Sometimes our days start out too rushed and hurrried, it's no wonder we don't see (or feel) the glory of God on those days.

Psalm 19:1 says "The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands".

I want to be a Glory-Seeker for the next 14 days...and who knows, maybe then it will actually be something that I do everyday, first thing to start my day. That is my prayer. And if you want to go Glory-Seeking with me for the next 2 weeks that is my prayer for you also. I know this won't be easy. There will be many circumstances and events that come up to try to pull you away from your Glory-Hunt. There will be words that come out of your mouth that are not glorifying to God and you will think "how can I be Glory-filled when I feel/think/talk/act this way?" There will be people who will cause you to question this Pursuit of Glory. 

But stay intentional, stay focused. Keep your eyes on Jesus, keep your eyes open for the Glory, and you will see it, and then capture it in that moment. Relax, breathe it in, this moment of Glory is from God to you, and for God to you, and through Christ "in you". 

So let's get started. I Spy God's Glory in.......