I remember:
Going through the rabbit hole: those long legs would cross and form the rabbit hole.
Sitting in church with Dad stroking my hair or my arm.
Sunday afternoon drives to look at land.
Riding horses together, even though he was too big for the saddle.
Playing tennis – even though he was terrible at tennis.
Going to look at cars: Jaguars, MG’s, etc. before finally settling down to the sensible choice.
How he always changed the belts and hoses on the car before I went back to school.
Many ways in which he made sure that we were taken care of.
His love of his roses: had a whole garden of them out in front of the Windsor Park house.
Even though Dad died last year in February, we only just put his ashes out at the DFW Memorial Cemetery last month. They now rest in one of the Columbaria. On the marker, instead of an endearment, I put a biblical quote: Joel 2:28 Then afterward I will pour out my spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions.
It seemed an appropriate tribute to him, because my dad was a dreamer who looked to the future. A quote: “Most real estate salesmen fail because they cannot see far enough into the future. . . . I would go so far as to say that the job with the greatest unknown future has the greatest possibilities.”
When Dad looked at a piece of land he could see hotels, malls, homes. An example of how he dreamed for the church: He started buying the homes next to University Park UMC 30 years ago so that one day they could expand and just recently they began to see the fulfillment of that dream.
His dreams didn’t always come true, but he appreciated and encouraged them in others.
Dad told me that I should do what I loved, that I should follow my dreams; not what was practical or what was the best paying. I attribute my ability to see the best in people and to dream of what could be instead of always focusing on what is, to my dad’s influence.
I remember that my dad was great with little kids. He didn’t know as well how to deal with older kids, but babies he was great with; he could change diapers, give baths, keep them entertained.
He was completely supportive of my ministry. When I was appointed to my first charge, 90 miles from my house in Mesquite, he insisted on driving with me to Windom every week. When Christopher was born, he took care of the kids while I preached and visited with people.
I know that some people have a dad that is withdrawn or unemotional, and my dad may have seemed that way to others. But Dad was my nurturer. One moment that stands out: I was in my bed late at night, crying over the death of my little sister Nancy. Dad came in and said quietly something I will never forget: “I thought I was the one who would miss her the most.” Then he just stroked my arm and sat with me as we shared pain and healing.
Dad was not himself the last 7-8 years of his life because of a stroke. I miss the dad that I knew before that. But in some ways I feel that I have my real father back. I know that he is healed and whole and that he loves me still.
Happy father’s day, Daddy. I love you.
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Thursday, April 8, 2010
What a Difference a Day Makes
A recent survey from the Barna Group says that while 2/3’s of Americans know that Easter is a religious holiday of some sort, only 42% link Easter with the Resurrection of Christ. Only 2% say that they would describe Easter as the most important holiday of their faith.
What is this day all about? It is, in part the end of a season, the end of Lent. You get to eat the chocolate, drink the coke, play the golf again. It is often celebrated around the time of the end of winter. We hope that it is the end of the season of snow and ice!
It is the beginning of Eastertide, really a whole season when the church calendar says we are celebrating Easter. It is the beginning of Spring. New things are blooming and new life arrives in the animal world. We have baby ducks swimming in our lakes in my neighborhood. When I was a child, Easter was the first day that it was all right to wear my white patent leather shoes.
For many of us, this is a day to dress up in new clothes, be with family, come to church, enjoy the special music. But when all is said and done, is this really just another day? Or is it a day that makes a difference. A day that changes things.
I suspect that all of us can point to days in our lives that have been watershed days, days on which everything changed for us. For me my wedding day was one such day. Another was the day I had my first child. Before my wedding day, I was in a relationship that was very important to me, but after my wedding day, I was a wife. I had to figure out how to live with another person and grow into that relationship. After I had my first child, many things in my life were still the same, but a crucial distinction had been made. After that day, I was a mother, and I had to figure out how to live as a mother. I didn’t become expert at it immediately, I daresay I am still not expert at it; but I have learned a few things over the years and I am much more comfortable in my identity as wife and mother now.
Sometimes the days that change our life forever are difficult ones. The day our parents die and we become the elder generation. The day that we are diagnosed with cancer or diabetes or heart disease and the disease threatens to become our defining reality.
There are personal days that change our personal world, but there have also been days in which the world or a large part of it as a whole changed forever. I think that the day the Declaration of Independence was signed was one such day. The first time an atomic bomb was exploded was another. For those of us in the U.S. 911 was a day after which the whole world seemed different. People on both sides of the debate are predicting that the vote on health care reform will turn out to be a watershed moment for our country. The earthquake in Haiti was certainly a moment of drastic change for the people of that country.
The Christian claim is that on that morning almost 2000 years ago, when the women went to the tomb and found it empty, the whole world changed. Before that moment, the world was one way and afterward, it was something very different because something absolutely new had happened. Something that changed everything.
On the Sabbath day just prior to that morning, the disciples were in mourning. They were grieving the loss of their friend, their leader, their Messiah, their Jesus. The hopes that they had cherished of the kingdom of God being made visible and real in this world were dashed. They were confused, scared, scattered, in shock. They had no expectations other than perhaps the fear that they too would be picked up and accused as followers of Jesus. It was safest for the women to go to the grave to prepare the body properly because no one cared about women. It was the men who were in danger.
What happened on that first Easter morning was so new, so unexpected, so radical that we who have heard the story every year for many years can’t quite grasp it. Whether it was several of the women or maybe just Mary Magdalene by herself, going to the tomb expecting to anoint the body of their dead friend and but instead finding it empty. And then Mary met a man she thought was the gardener and turned out to be Jesus. (The Gospel of John loves allusions to the Hebrew Scriptures, and so, I suspect that in that garden setting, we are to see Jesus as both the new Adam who really will care for the garden as it should have been cared for all along and as God the gardener as God is portrayed so many times in the Old Testament, making all things new.) That is what we celebrate today, the resurrection of the crucified Messiah, made known by the combination of the empty tomb and the appearance of the risen Christ.
Why do I say it was unexpected? The Jews, the disciples did believe in Resurrection before this day, but in the general resurrection of the dead at the end of the age. They were not looking for one man to be raised ahead of schedule. So this plan of God came as a surprise even to those who believed that Jesus was the Messiah, even to those who believed in the concept of the resurrection.
Why do I say that this day changed everything? What did it really matter that this one man came back to life after being thoroughly dead? Well two reasons really.
First of all, if Jesus was raised from the dead, then he was vindicated as the Messiah. All that he had taught and done before his ignominious death could now be seen in a new light. These words really were a message from God. These healings and feedings and exorcisms really were a sign that the kingdom of God had come near. Jesus really was the one in whom the image of God was fully realized. God had begun to remake the world and Jesus was the first fruits of this new creation.
Even more importantly than this, Jesus was now seen to be the world’s true Lord. Nothing that the world could throw at him, not betrayal, not denial, not pain, not suffering, no brand of evil, not even death could overcome God’s just and gracious plan for this world. Evil still exists, but after this day it no longer could be seen as the final word. Death is still an enemy, but after this day it is a beaten enemy. We who now live in Christ have died with him, but we will also be raised with him.
That is the difference a day makes. And what difference does it make for you? Will you be dramatically different if you accept the claim of Easter in your life? Will you go out and be a new holy person tomorrow morning? Maybe, but probably not. However, if you accept the claim that Easter has made on your life, if you accept that the risen Christ is Lord of your life, then Colossians hints at what else you can claim:
Paul tells the Colossians that they have been raised with Christ. He doesn’t mean that they already have the resurrection bodies that they will one day have, but that they already possess the new life that Christ offers.
You have been raised with Christ, therefore, first of all: What you do makes a difference! The resurrection tells us that this life, this world matters. I have a shocking statement to make: Jesus was not resurrected to tell us about heaven. Does that seem like heresy? Check the gospels. Jesus didn’t say to his followers, now that I am resurrected, you can all look forward to heaven when you die. That may be true, in fact, I think that we who have died with Christ will be in Paradise with Christ when our physical bodies die. But Jesus was resurrected and appeared to his disciples to give them a job: you have seen how I have come to heal the world, now go out and be a part of my healing work. Feed my sheep! Go make disciples! Forgive! Live as kingdom people. Heaven is the word the bible gives to the divine dimension, the divine rule. Heaven "is not a future destiny, but the other, hidden dimension of our ordinary life, God’s dimension." (Wright, Surprised, 19)
You are not to believe that you can escape this world by going to heaven. Paul tells the Colossians to set their mind on the divine realm, because he wants them to understand that they are now citizens living under God’s rule, just as in the Lord’s prayer we pray “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” This world is your home and you need to take seriously your stewardship of this world because one day heaven and earth, the divine realm and the human realm will no longer be separated, will be put back together as God puts everything to rights and comes to live once more among mortals as it says in Revelation (Rev. 21:1-3). Because of that, because of what Paul says explicitly in 1 Corinthians 15:58 --"Therefore, my beloved, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord, because you know that in the Lord your labor is not in vain," -- what you do in the present in this life, in this body, in this world, will not be wasted in God’s future. Right now, because Jesus is Lord of this world, you can be a part of the work of building for the kingdom.
You have been raised with Christ, therefore, a second claim can be made: What you are has changed! Just as I had to grow into my identities as wife, mother, pastor, you will have to grow into your identity as Christ follower. It won’t be easy. You will make mistakes. You won’t change overnight. You will have to work at it and the ways to work at it should not be a surprise: study of scripture, prayer, worship, reaching out in mission whether you feel particularly loving or not. All of those disciplines the church urges you to practice, not because they are rules to follow, but because they will form you into a new type of person. An example: When the choir first started practicing the Brahms’ Requiem, it wasn’t pretty. We didn’t know the notes, we didn’t know the timing, we didn’t understand how the music was put together. But Rusty encouraged us, gave us examples on CD’s of those who already sang it beautifully and over time, with a lot of hard work, we got it. We were formed as musicians. We could sing, still not perfectly, but in a way that enabled others to experience the presence of God through the music. In fact that ability spilled over into our singing of other music. We began singing all of out music better, more gloriously.
That is what you are in for. If you work at it, practice being Christian in this or another imperfect church community, take as your example those who seem better at it than you are, wrestle with the bible, which is the record of the community of faith throughout the centuries, then eventually your life will reflect God’s image as it was meant to. Paul tells us that what is hidden in this life will be revealed when you are a part of that resurrected community. And, just as our reward in learning the Brahms was the enjoyment of being caught up in the joy of the music, your reward is not some divine gold star, but the enjoyment and fulfillment that comes from truly living as you were meant to live.
I know that it may not feel as if this day makes a real difference. But that is what faith is about: believing it until you feel it, until your mind and your heart have grasped the reality.(Wright,Paul for Everyone, The Prison Letters, 175) My hope for you, my prayer is that you will embrace the claim that this day changes everything. I beseech you to claim this day both the future that God has for you in the community of the faithful who will be resurrected to new life, and to claim the present as people whose life is hidden in Christ and who can begin to live as fully and gloriously human people who work in God’s kingdom to reflect God’s powerful, healing, transformative love into the world. (Wright, [I cannot find the source of this quote, when I find it, I will add it).
(This sermon owes much to N. T. Wright and three particular books: Surprised by Hope, After You Believe, and Paul for Everyone: The Prison Letters. I cannot say it as well as he does, and I urge you to read these books.)
What is this day all about? It is, in part the end of a season, the end of Lent. You get to eat the chocolate, drink the coke, play the golf again. It is often celebrated around the time of the end of winter. We hope that it is the end of the season of snow and ice!
It is the beginning of Eastertide, really a whole season when the church calendar says we are celebrating Easter. It is the beginning of Spring. New things are blooming and new life arrives in the animal world. We have baby ducks swimming in our lakes in my neighborhood. When I was a child, Easter was the first day that it was all right to wear my white patent leather shoes.
For many of us, this is a day to dress up in new clothes, be with family, come to church, enjoy the special music. But when all is said and done, is this really just another day? Or is it a day that makes a difference. A day that changes things.
I suspect that all of us can point to days in our lives that have been watershed days, days on which everything changed for us. For me my wedding day was one such day. Another was the day I had my first child. Before my wedding day, I was in a relationship that was very important to me, but after my wedding day, I was a wife. I had to figure out how to live with another person and grow into that relationship. After I had my first child, many things in my life were still the same, but a crucial distinction had been made. After that day, I was a mother, and I had to figure out how to live as a mother. I didn’t become expert at it immediately, I daresay I am still not expert at it; but I have learned a few things over the years and I am much more comfortable in my identity as wife and mother now.
Sometimes the days that change our life forever are difficult ones. The day our parents die and we become the elder generation. The day that we are diagnosed with cancer or diabetes or heart disease and the disease threatens to become our defining reality.
There are personal days that change our personal world, but there have also been days in which the world or a large part of it as a whole changed forever. I think that the day the Declaration of Independence was signed was one such day. The first time an atomic bomb was exploded was another. For those of us in the U.S. 911 was a day after which the whole world seemed different. People on both sides of the debate are predicting that the vote on health care reform will turn out to be a watershed moment for our country. The earthquake in Haiti was certainly a moment of drastic change for the people of that country.
The Christian claim is that on that morning almost 2000 years ago, when the women went to the tomb and found it empty, the whole world changed. Before that moment, the world was one way and afterward, it was something very different because something absolutely new had happened. Something that changed everything.
On the Sabbath day just prior to that morning, the disciples were in mourning. They were grieving the loss of their friend, their leader, their Messiah, their Jesus. The hopes that they had cherished of the kingdom of God being made visible and real in this world were dashed. They were confused, scared, scattered, in shock. They had no expectations other than perhaps the fear that they too would be picked up and accused as followers of Jesus. It was safest for the women to go to the grave to prepare the body properly because no one cared about women. It was the men who were in danger.
What happened on that first Easter morning was so new, so unexpected, so radical that we who have heard the story every year for many years can’t quite grasp it. Whether it was several of the women or maybe just Mary Magdalene by herself, going to the tomb expecting to anoint the body of their dead friend and but instead finding it empty. And then Mary met a man she thought was the gardener and turned out to be Jesus. (The Gospel of John loves allusions to the Hebrew Scriptures, and so, I suspect that in that garden setting, we are to see Jesus as both the new Adam who really will care for the garden as it should have been cared for all along and as God the gardener as God is portrayed so many times in the Old Testament, making all things new.) That is what we celebrate today, the resurrection of the crucified Messiah, made known by the combination of the empty tomb and the appearance of the risen Christ.
Why do I say it was unexpected? The Jews, the disciples did believe in Resurrection before this day, but in the general resurrection of the dead at the end of the age. They were not looking for one man to be raised ahead of schedule. So this plan of God came as a surprise even to those who believed that Jesus was the Messiah, even to those who believed in the concept of the resurrection.
Why do I say that this day changed everything? What did it really matter that this one man came back to life after being thoroughly dead? Well two reasons really.
First of all, if Jesus was raised from the dead, then he was vindicated as the Messiah. All that he had taught and done before his ignominious death could now be seen in a new light. These words really were a message from God. These healings and feedings and exorcisms really were a sign that the kingdom of God had come near. Jesus really was the one in whom the image of God was fully realized. God had begun to remake the world and Jesus was the first fruits of this new creation.
Even more importantly than this, Jesus was now seen to be the world’s true Lord. Nothing that the world could throw at him, not betrayal, not denial, not pain, not suffering, no brand of evil, not even death could overcome God’s just and gracious plan for this world. Evil still exists, but after this day it no longer could be seen as the final word. Death is still an enemy, but after this day it is a beaten enemy. We who now live in Christ have died with him, but we will also be raised with him.
That is the difference a day makes. And what difference does it make for you? Will you be dramatically different if you accept the claim of Easter in your life? Will you go out and be a new holy person tomorrow morning? Maybe, but probably not. However, if you accept the claim that Easter has made on your life, if you accept that the risen Christ is Lord of your life, then Colossians hints at what else you can claim:
Paul tells the Colossians that they have been raised with Christ. He doesn’t mean that they already have the resurrection bodies that they will one day have, but that they already possess the new life that Christ offers.
You have been raised with Christ, therefore, first of all: What you do makes a difference! The resurrection tells us that this life, this world matters. I have a shocking statement to make: Jesus was not resurrected to tell us about heaven. Does that seem like heresy? Check the gospels. Jesus didn’t say to his followers, now that I am resurrected, you can all look forward to heaven when you die. That may be true, in fact, I think that we who have died with Christ will be in Paradise with Christ when our physical bodies die. But Jesus was resurrected and appeared to his disciples to give them a job: you have seen how I have come to heal the world, now go out and be a part of my healing work. Feed my sheep! Go make disciples! Forgive! Live as kingdom people. Heaven is the word the bible gives to the divine dimension, the divine rule. Heaven "is not a future destiny, but the other, hidden dimension of our ordinary life, God’s dimension." (Wright, Surprised, 19)
You are not to believe that you can escape this world by going to heaven. Paul tells the Colossians to set their mind on the divine realm, because he wants them to understand that they are now citizens living under God’s rule, just as in the Lord’s prayer we pray “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” This world is your home and you need to take seriously your stewardship of this world because one day heaven and earth, the divine realm and the human realm will no longer be separated, will be put back together as God puts everything to rights and comes to live once more among mortals as it says in Revelation (Rev. 21:1-3). Because of that, because of what Paul says explicitly in 1 Corinthians 15:58 --"Therefore, my beloved, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord, because you know that in the Lord your labor is not in vain," -- what you do in the present in this life, in this body, in this world, will not be wasted in God’s future. Right now, because Jesus is Lord of this world, you can be a part of the work of building for the kingdom.
You have been raised with Christ, therefore, a second claim can be made: What you are has changed! Just as I had to grow into my identities as wife, mother, pastor, you will have to grow into your identity as Christ follower. It won’t be easy. You will make mistakes. You won’t change overnight. You will have to work at it and the ways to work at it should not be a surprise: study of scripture, prayer, worship, reaching out in mission whether you feel particularly loving or not. All of those disciplines the church urges you to practice, not because they are rules to follow, but because they will form you into a new type of person. An example: When the choir first started practicing the Brahms’ Requiem, it wasn’t pretty. We didn’t know the notes, we didn’t know the timing, we didn’t understand how the music was put together. But Rusty encouraged us, gave us examples on CD’s of those who already sang it beautifully and over time, with a lot of hard work, we got it. We were formed as musicians. We could sing, still not perfectly, but in a way that enabled others to experience the presence of God through the music. In fact that ability spilled over into our singing of other music. We began singing all of out music better, more gloriously.
That is what you are in for. If you work at it, practice being Christian in this or another imperfect church community, take as your example those who seem better at it than you are, wrestle with the bible, which is the record of the community of faith throughout the centuries, then eventually your life will reflect God’s image as it was meant to. Paul tells us that what is hidden in this life will be revealed when you are a part of that resurrected community. And, just as our reward in learning the Brahms was the enjoyment of being caught up in the joy of the music, your reward is not some divine gold star, but the enjoyment and fulfillment that comes from truly living as you were meant to live.
I know that it may not feel as if this day makes a real difference. But that is what faith is about: believing it until you feel it, until your mind and your heart have grasped the reality.(Wright,Paul for Everyone, The Prison Letters, 175) My hope for you, my prayer is that you will embrace the claim that this day changes everything. I beseech you to claim this day both the future that God has for you in the community of the faithful who will be resurrected to new life, and to claim the present as people whose life is hidden in Christ and who can begin to live as fully and gloriously human people who work in God’s kingdom to reflect God’s powerful, healing, transformative love into the world. (Wright, [I cannot find the source of this quote, when I find it, I will add it).
(This sermon owes much to N. T. Wright and three particular books: Surprised by Hope, After You Believe, and Paul for Everyone: The Prison Letters. I cannot say it as well as he does, and I urge you to read these books.)
Sunday, September 6, 2009
What a deal!
Call in the next 10 minutes and get our special deal! They won't last long at this price! Special financing available! Guaranteed to work!
Wow! All the promises I hear on the radio make me want to "pick up the phone and call NOW!!" I could lose weight in 20 different ways, get my eyes fixed by the NUMBER ONE eye surgeon in the Metroplex, solve all my credit problems with one quick fix, learn to invest by ordering a free book and video. It is amazing that I am able to drive at all with all the wonderful offers out there. I should just stay home and stay close to the phone, so that I won't miss any of the numbers to call.
I'm being facetious, of course, but I do have a good deal for those of you in my church. The only promise that I can make is that your life will be changed and that you will grow closer to God and to a group of fellow disciples. You can "try it and see" with no commitment, no cost and no pressure - and no continuing draft on your credit card! What am I talking about? Disciple Bible Study.
I really love this way of studying the Bible because it combines two things that I think are crucial for getting the most out of the Bible: personal engagement with the Bible and group reflection. Not only that, but as the group shares, week after week, we become close and are better able to help one another on our faith journeys.
My own journey into faith and eventually ministry came as the result of Disciple Bible Study. I experienced the power for myself and want so much to be able to share this with others.
You can come next Sunday evening (September 13) at 5:30 and check it out. If you have kids in the Children's choir or youth in the Youth Choir, then you have to come up to church anyway. Why not spend the time in a way that will feed your soul and embrace you in fellowship? Childcare will be provided for children who are not old enough for Children's choir and for the time after Choir. I am teaching the Disciple I course.
Check it out this week. We will have an introduction, get the books, and explain the format. You have nothing to lose and much to gain.
I hope to see you there!
Martha
P.S. Look at the Spring Valley website for other small group offerings! www.svumc.org. There is something for everyone.
Wow! All the promises I hear on the radio make me want to "pick up the phone and call NOW!!" I could lose weight in 20 different ways, get my eyes fixed by the NUMBER ONE eye surgeon in the Metroplex, solve all my credit problems with one quick fix, learn to invest by ordering a free book and video. It is amazing that I am able to drive at all with all the wonderful offers out there. I should just stay home and stay close to the phone, so that I won't miss any of the numbers to call.
I'm being facetious, of course, but I do have a good deal for those of you in my church. The only promise that I can make is that your life will be changed and that you will grow closer to God and to a group of fellow disciples. You can "try it and see" with no commitment, no cost and no pressure - and no continuing draft on your credit card! What am I talking about? Disciple Bible Study.
I really love this way of studying the Bible because it combines two things that I think are crucial for getting the most out of the Bible: personal engagement with the Bible and group reflection. Not only that, but as the group shares, week after week, we become close and are better able to help one another on our faith journeys.
My own journey into faith and eventually ministry came as the result of Disciple Bible Study. I experienced the power for myself and want so much to be able to share this with others.
You can come next Sunday evening (September 13) at 5:30 and check it out. If you have kids in the Children's choir or youth in the Youth Choir, then you have to come up to church anyway. Why not spend the time in a way that will feed your soul and embrace you in fellowship? Childcare will be provided for children who are not old enough for Children's choir and for the time after Choir. I am teaching the Disciple I course.
Check it out this week. We will have an introduction, get the books, and explain the format. You have nothing to lose and much to gain.
I hope to see you there!
Martha
P.S. Look at the Spring Valley website for other small group offerings! www.svumc.org. There is something for everyone.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
A great link to another blog - highly recommended
I received this link from someone and it is a great example of what I will be talking about in my sermon this Sunday on "From Common Ground to Holy Ground."
The link is: http://experimentaltheology.blogspot.com/2009/08/bait-and-switch-of-contemporary.html
The article talks about the problem with Christians "working on their relationship with God" and somehow thinking that doesn't affect their relationships with others. If we are going to be disciples of Jesus Christ, then we have to love God, love neighbor, and serve the world. Those three things are inseparable. So, while I think that obviously "spiritual" things like prayer, bible study, worship, etc. are necessary ways for "working on our relationship with God," if they don't lead us to loving our neighbor and serving the world, then something is wrong with our prayer, study, worship, etc.
The link is: http://experimentaltheology.blogspot.com/2009/08/bait-and-switch-of-contemporary.html
The article talks about the problem with Christians "working on their relationship with God" and somehow thinking that doesn't affect their relationships with others. If we are going to be disciples of Jesus Christ, then we have to love God, love neighbor, and serve the world. Those three things are inseparable. So, while I think that obviously "spiritual" things like prayer, bible study, worship, etc. are necessary ways for "working on our relationship with God," if they don't lead us to loving our neighbor and serving the world, then something is wrong with our prayer, study, worship, etc.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Gay Marriage, Democracy, and the Courts
This is an argument from the Wall Street Journal that I found quite interesting. (Click on the title to go to the article.) It is grounded in something other than the typical religious point of view. I would be interested to know what others think.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Life on the Edge - Sharing my journey
As I prepared for my sermon "Life on the Edge" last Sunday (see http://www.svumc.org/sermons.html to listen), I wondered exactly who my audience was. Was I going to be speaking to people who felt like they were at the center or people who felt like they were living on the margins. I must say that the folks at my congregation look pretty together and like they are "center" people, not folks that feel "marginalized," but I know that looks can be deceiving.
Personally, I feel like I have always lived on the edge. As a girl I was too tall, too smart and too quiet to run with the "in" crowd. I was perceived as "snobby," but I really just didn't know how to interact with all the cool people, so I stayed on the sidelines. That was pretty much true at church as well, unfortunately.
When I got to high school, I attended an all-girl school where it was okay to be smart and nerdy (although we didn't have the word "nerdy" yet!). I loved it there and felt at home for the first time in my life. I was still not a part of the group that was wealthy and socially elite, but there were enough of us who just loved to talk about Shakespeare and weird science and history to have a good group.
Church, however, continued to be a place where I was on the margins. I went to a different school from the other kids in youth group. My hobbies were reading and horseback riding; not the usual things. My family was not as wealthy as most of those in the church. My youngest sister died when I was 15, so that set me apart as well. I was persistent enough to just keep coming until I was accepted. And I needed the Christian community even though I didn't always feel at home in it.
As an adult, I have grown to enjoy life on the edge. I now bristle if anyone assumes I am "normal." At seminary all the conservatives thought I was a liberal and the liberals thought I was a conservative. I homeschooled my kids which by definition made me countercultural. I always take a different path toward my goals than the expected one. I also find that I relate to those who are marginalized for whatever reasons better than I relate to those who are in the center of society.
I think this is why Jesus is such a powerful figure for me. Jesus broke the rules and yet fulfilled the spirit of why those rules were created - to form a holy community. Jesus loved those who were unlovable and forgave the unforgivable. In coming to the point where I am better able to center my own life on God and God's kingdom, I can rejoice in who God is forming me to be without so much concern about how others perceive me. I am also a bit wiser in perceiving others; I know now that almost everyone feels on the edge in some aspect of their lives, no matter how "together" they look.
How do you see yourself? Where are you on the edge in this world? Are you able to center yourself on God or does that concept even make sense to you?
Grace and peace,
Martha
Personally, I feel like I have always lived on the edge. As a girl I was too tall, too smart and too quiet to run with the "in" crowd. I was perceived as "snobby," but I really just didn't know how to interact with all the cool people, so I stayed on the sidelines. That was pretty much true at church as well, unfortunately.
When I got to high school, I attended an all-girl school where it was okay to be smart and nerdy (although we didn't have the word "nerdy" yet!). I loved it there and felt at home for the first time in my life. I was still not a part of the group that was wealthy and socially elite, but there were enough of us who just loved to talk about Shakespeare and weird science and history to have a good group.
Church, however, continued to be a place where I was on the margins. I went to a different school from the other kids in youth group. My hobbies were reading and horseback riding; not the usual things. My family was not as wealthy as most of those in the church. My youngest sister died when I was 15, so that set me apart as well. I was persistent enough to just keep coming until I was accepted. And I needed the Christian community even though I didn't always feel at home in it.
As an adult, I have grown to enjoy life on the edge. I now bristle if anyone assumes I am "normal." At seminary all the conservatives thought I was a liberal and the liberals thought I was a conservative. I homeschooled my kids which by definition made me countercultural. I always take a different path toward my goals than the expected one. I also find that I relate to those who are marginalized for whatever reasons better than I relate to those who are in the center of society.
I think this is why Jesus is such a powerful figure for me. Jesus broke the rules and yet fulfilled the spirit of why those rules were created - to form a holy community. Jesus loved those who were unlovable and forgave the unforgivable. In coming to the point where I am better able to center my own life on God and God's kingdom, I can rejoice in who God is forming me to be without so much concern about how others perceive me. I am also a bit wiser in perceiving others; I know now that almost everyone feels on the edge in some aspect of their lives, no matter how "together" they look.
How do you see yourself? Where are you on the edge in this world? Are you able to center yourself on God or does that concept even make sense to you?
Grace and peace,
Martha
Monday, June 29, 2009
Another great quote
I can't resist posting this one as well: "The command of the gospel is a summons to give the allegiance of body and mind, heart and soul, to Jesus; and its basis is neither more nor less than the event that constituted him in Paul's eyes as Messiah and Lord--namely, his resurrection. And it is in the proclamation of this gospel, and its acceptance in faith, that people begin to glimpse a great curtain being drawn aside and the covenant faithfulness and justice of God displayed to view." (Wright, p. 427)
Yes! That is exactly what I would say about my own experience of God. At some point I realized that I could give my allegiance to God because God was and is absolutely trustworthy. And that continues to be the case. Whenever I start to worry, God enters into my life in a way that reminds me that God is in control.
Yes! That is exactly what I would say about my own experience of God. At some point I realized that I could give my allegiance to God because God was and is absolutely trustworthy. And that continues to be the case. Whenever I start to worry, God enters into my life in a way that reminds me that God is in control.
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