Take heart, it is I. Do not be afraid!

 Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, but by this time the boat, battered by the waves, was far from the land, for the wind was against them. And early in the morning he came walking toward them on the sea. But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.” Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came toward Jesus. But when he noticed the strong wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” When they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

Matthew 14:22-33   

Have you ever seen a ghost? Or have you ever had an experience when you thought you were seeing a ghost? When I was in high school, my mother would often go to visit her parents by herself. They lived about six hours away. She would go for a few days. During one such visit, my father had taken my brother, sister and myself out to an event at the high school. My mother was to return late that night driving home after dinner.

         We came back to our home after dark. There were no lights on in our house. I was the first one in, as we entered the house through the front door and I turned left into the living room. Just as I did, this figure stood up from hiding behind one of the chairs. I was completely started because this person looked like my mother. But, my mother couldn’t be there because her car wasn’t in the driveway. My immediate thought was that this figure was a ghost. I thought that my mother had had a car wreck and this was her ghost in front of me. I began to cry. My mother immediately hugged me and explained that she was just surprising us. Her car was parked down the street.

         I had been terrified by what I thought I was seeking, but my mother comforted me and explained that it was indeed her, in flesh and blood. I can identify with the fear that the disciples felt when they saw Jesus walking on the water in the midst of a storm. He was out of place, he didn’t belong there and surely he was a ghost. Jesus’ first response is to comfort them. “Take heart. It is I; do not be afraid.”

         And yet, Peter’s reaction is to test this—IF it is you, let me walk out there on the water to you! Here in the midst of a storm—with the wind and the water raging, Peter is going to see if this ghost is really Jesus by getting out of the boat into the storm and trying to walk on water! I love Peter! He is so human –so impulsive, so willing to risk things. Peter is the eager disciple—the one that is so quick to rush in and do whatever. Peter says-- If it’s really you, let me do it too!

So, Jesus calls Peter out of the Boat. He simply says, “Come!” And Peter steps out into the water.  Peter must have really believed that that was Jesus standing on the water and not a ghost. I mean, would you step out of the boat thinking that some ghostly being is going to help you walk on water. Or would you have stepped out with full confidence that it really was JESUS.

         But, then, when he sees the conditions around him— the wind and the waves, the storm that was raging. And he begins to doubt God’s Power and presence with Him. And when, he takes his eyes off Jesus, and he sinks into the water. When Peter takes his focus off of Jesus, when he begins to focus on the storm-the waves and the wind—he begins to sink in the water. Peter’s doubt overcame his faith. His fear overcame his belief in Jesus. Maybe he even began to think that this WAS a ghost & not Jesus. Peter gets distracted, perhaps he has that sense that what he is doing really couldn’t be possible… he takes his eyes off Jesus and it doesn’t become possible any more.

Often in studying this passage, we focus a lot on having the faith of Peter—to “get out of the boat” even while the storm is raging. Today, we know that there are storms raging around us. For each of us what those storms look like is different. Certainly, we are all experiencing the storm of this pandemic and we are living in society that is coming to terms with its own systemic racism. Many of us have much more personal storms that are raging: some about employment or lack of it, some about health challenges that threaten our lives, some of us are struggling with the burden of heavy grief.

         In the midst of all these storms, do we only see Jesus as a ghost? Do we only have a faint vision of some glimmering far away form that MIGHT be Jesus? Or are we keeping our eyes on the Very One who walks on water? Are we keeping our focus on the One who can help us weather the storms in our lives, and maybe even walk on water—do the impossible?

         When the first readers of the book of Matthew lived, there were many storms in their own lives, and Jesus was no longer with them. When Matthew penned these words, he was reminding the early church—those first believers, some of whom had probably seen Jesus in flesh and blood—that Jesus wasn’t a ghost. Jesus was real. The Jesus who could walk on water and command Peter to Come to him walking on water--that Jesus was still with them. All they had to do was keep their eyes on Jesus, and not be overcome by fear.

         Now, I have heard a lot of religious folks talk about the pandemic in terms of fear v. faith. People have tried to encourage Christians to meet without restrictions saying it is a matter of faith over fear. In fact, they might even use this passage of scripture to justify their belief. But, I would argue that this is not a matter of faith over fear. It is a matter of focus. Are we focusing on Jesus and what Jesus would have us do?

In this story, Jesus doesn’t tell all the disciples to come on out of the safety of the boat and walk on the water. No, it is Peter who is testing Jesus! Peter is the one who wants to go out there into the water on his own. And Jesus indulges Peter. For Peter it is a “test” of who this Ghost really is. For me, my understanding of this story has grown from thinking it is about Jesus telling us to all get out of the boat and jump into the midst of a storm. Rather, it is Jesus’ love and care for us when we are confused and in doubt about where Jesus is and who Jesus is. Although Peter is the only one who jumps out of the boat, by the end of the story, all of the disciples believe and proclaim, “Truly you are the son of God.”

         Who do you believe Jesus is in the midst of the storms in your life right now? Is Jesus just a “hallow” apparition? Or is Jesus the Son of God—very God to you? The one who helps you weather the storms—the One who is with you THROUGH the storms. Have you taken your eyes off of Jesus or are you still focused on him? Too often we focus on the wind and the waves, we focus on our worry and doubt. But, we are called to center our lives in Christ -to focus on Jesus—on the strength that God offers us through the power of the Holy Spirit with us. Peter could not have walked on the water without Christ’s presence with him. It was when he was distracted by the conditions around him, that he lost his focus on Jesus, that he doubted Christ’s power and presence with him.

         In the midst of all that is raging in our lives, Christ also gives us the strength to walk through the storms. We merely have to have faith in Christ’s presence with us. Through the strength of the presence of the Holy Spirit with us, Jesus is more than a ghost. We must learn to trust in that Presence of God’s Holy Spirit with us. How difficult that can be!!  Look at Peter, he had Jesus standing right there in front of him,  and he took his eyes off of him. We must trust in Christ’s presence with us. When Peter took his eyes off of Jesus he began to sink. When we take our eyes off of Christ, we begin to sink. In order to stay afloat—our lives must be centered on Christ. We have to keep our eyes on Christ!  We have to continually remember that Christ IS PRESENT with us!!

         Remember the words Jesus spoke, “Take heart; it is I; do not be afraid!” When Jesus approached the boat, the disciples thought he was a ghost. But, once they saw Jesus’ power in the midst of the storm doing what seemed impossible—keeping himself and Peter on top of the water, ALL the disciples said, “Truly you are the Son of God” and worshiped Jesus!

         There are storms raging around us, Are you keeping your eyes on Jesus? Do you hear Jesus saying, “Take heart!  Do not be afraid!” ?

 

Prayer:

Gracious God, when storms of our lives rage around us, help us to keep our focus on you. Help us to not lose faith and sink, but continue to look for you – to center our lives in you. Even when storms were raging around us, give us the courage to face our doubts and confusion when we think you aren’t present. When we are doubting, give us the faith to rely on you, and grant us the courage to face our doubts.  We thank you that you do guide us—that you help us to walk on water even when we are afraid of sinking. We thank you for the many blessing that we receive each day even when we are struggling and feel overwhelmed by the storms. We also thank you for the good that you work out of our failings. In the times when we do not focus on you, when we are not faithful, thank you that you continue to be faithful to us. Most merciful God, thank you that you do not abandon us.

         We pray for those who do feel abandoned. Show us the way to make your presence known to them. We pray for those who have lost faith, who are sinking in life’s storms. Give them strength to carry on. Today, we pray especially for those who are in need of healing in body, mind and spirit. We pray for those who have lost someone they love and are grieving. We pray all these things in the name of Jesus, who taught us to pray saying… The Lord’s Prayer AMEN.

 

Church: A Human Institution

This is an edited version of a sermon I preached on February 16, 2014.  The scriptures for the day were Matthew 5:21-37 and 1 Corinthians 3:1-9.

I grew up in the church with parents who were active church members, and I understood early on that Church is more than Sunday Morning.  My parents were committee members-- even committee chair persons. My father served as Lay Leader as well as Administrative Board Chair, and more than once my mother was Chair of the Missions Committee or the United Methodist Women's Unit President.

When I was in high school though, I got my first “taste” of serving on a “real” church committee.  Sure, I had been a member of the youth council, but that was different: it was full of kids.  In High School, I became a member of the Administrative Board,

as a Youth Representative.  It was an eye-opening experience.  I will never forget one of the first meetings I attended in which  one of the older, long-time members of the congregation

got angry and got up and walked out of the meeting.  I learned that adults don't always act like adults and Christians don't always act like very Christ-like-- even in church meetings.  Or maybe I should say, especially in church meetings.

I think that this is one of the hardest lessons that we all learn: people are people--even in church.  Sometimes we say things we shouldn't.  Sometimes we get angry.  Sometimes we just are not very grace-filled.

We are all sinners.

I heard a wonderful interview with Nadia Boltz Weber, pastor of the the House for All Sinners and Saints. In this interview, she shares some things that she tells her church folks. This is not exactly what she says, but this is the message I took from her:

I am GOING to hurt you.

I am going to say something or do something that hurts you.

I'm going to mess up like everyone else..

but if you leave the church because of that...

you miss the best part... The forgiveness part

If you leave before God has the opportunity to work grace,

you are missing the best part.

What I appreciated is that she said, not “IF” but “WHEN."  There isn't a question.. I will make mistakes as a pastor and I will hurt my church members. I am a sinner just like everyone else.

In fact, anytime, humans gather together in groups, there are some things that “naturally” happen. We call it politics.  Even in church, politics seem to seep into how we do things.

We begin to choose up sides, we pick our leaders, and we start to do battle.

Paul understood this and this is part of what he writes about to the Corinthians.

Throughout, he is trying to say that the church should operate differently!

“For as long as there is jealousy and quarreling among you,

are you not of the flesh,

and behaving according to human inclinations?”   1 Corinthians 3:3

In Jesus' words from the Sermon on the Mount, we have what seems to be three different topics that are covered. First, he talks about being reconciled. Second, he talks about adultery and divorce.  Finally, he speaks about swearing and speaking honestly.

Although these three things may seem like a “list” of how to behave as a good Christian, I would contend that they are all three about being authentic person. And more than that, they are all about how we treat one another.

But, it is not just about how we treat others, it is also about how we think about other persons. Even our thoughts need to be transformed by God's grace. How we think about other people is important.

Jesus says that we will be libel to the fires of hell just for calling someone else a fool!

I think that perhaps this is a good place to say that Jesus is using a bit of hyperbole in this passage, but as Adam Hamilton has said, Jesus uses this exaggeration as a tool so that we will take him seriously; he doesn't expect us to take him literally.

Calling someone a name generates the same punishment as murdering someone?  The point he is making is that we must take our relationships with others seriously.  Even how we think about others.

In this passage from Matthew, Jesus speaks about leaving the gift at the altar and going and making peace with a person with whom you might be in conflict.  This is about reconciliation... about being in relationship with another person.

However, for many of us, we would rather be right than be in relationship!

We care more about “the principle” of the matter than we care about our relationship with the person with whom we have a conflict.  But, which IS more important?

The answer in this passage from Jesus seems to be the relationship!

What is the most powerful example of this?

Jesus on the cross!!

Was it “right” for JC to go to the cross?

Did he “deserve” to die in that manner?

NO! But it was about God's relationship with us.

Sometimes being right isn't as important as remaining in relationship with someone.

I have recently read a book entitled, TheAnatomy of Peace. I highly recommend this book-- READ it, digest it and discuss it!  LIVE it!

One of the insights I gained from this book is quite simple, but one that we often fail to recognize.  When we are conflict with someone, we BOTH think we are right!  Each person passionately believes we are “right.”

When we are in conflict with someone and we don't believe we are in the wrong, we might say, “why should I be the one to apologize when I am not wrong?”

Other times, we are willing to swallow our pride and make the first move, but in our heart of hearts, we may still feel that we are the one being “wronged."

When there is still a conflict within us, our hearts are not peaceful, but they are still “at war.”

Outwardly we might not be fighting, but within us, we know our hearts are not at peace.

So, how do we make peace in our hearts, so that we can offer our gift at the altar?

I think it comes back to the Golden Rule. However, it's not just about behaving toward others as you would have them behave towards you. We also much change our thinking about others. We cannot think about others as objects, rather, we have to come to understand them as people. 

Most of us would probably say, I see people as people not objects!  But, take a minute and really think about that.... how DO you think about others?  When people are very different from us, it can be especially difficult for us to see them as living, breathing individuals with their own thoughts and feelings.  We tend to “lump” people together as a group..

oh, that's how all Duke fans are...

well, every preacher is like that...

When people are "difficult" we say things like, “oh, she's just a mean person” or ”he's always angry.”  When we make those generalizations, it's easier for us to see those other people as objects and not treat them as God would have us.

In The Anatomy of Peace  we are offered some guidance about how we can begin to see others as people and not objects.   (note: much of what follows is from the book, but I don't have page citations)

Once we can find a place where we feel comfortable enough, we can ask ourselves some questions which help us think about how other people might feel or think..

These  are the questions as I would summarize them.

• What are the challenges, trials, burdens and pains of this other person?
• How am I adding to these challenges, trials, burdens , and pains?
• In what ways have I neglected or mistreated this person?
• In what ways have I seen myself as better-than or worse-than this person?
  • or have I thought that I needed to be seen in a certain way?
  • And have these ways of seeing myself obscured my thinking about a possible solution?
• What am I feeling I should do for this person? What could I do to help?

These are not simple or easy questions to answer!

They are questions that force us to think about someone else's perspective. In reflecting on them, we can try to get outside of ourselves and think differently.

There is a story in the book about a young woman named Jenny. She is running away from a drug treatment program. Her parents have brought her there under false pretenses and when they arrive, she runs away into the city. She has no shoes on and it is summer.. the pavement is hot. Two young counselors from the drug program follow her. They give her some room, but at one point they catch up to her and have a conversation. They are concerned about that Jenny's feet are bleeding. They ask if they can get someone to bring her shoes, but she refuses. So the female counselor sits down and takes her shoes off and offers them to Jenny. Jenny doesn't take them, but instead keeps on running. Both the counselors then with their shoes removed, continue to follow her...for another three hours!

Eventually, in the end Jenny makes the decision to go into the treatment program.

What was the point of the counselors removing their shoes?  At the time, they might not have been able to explain, but in the end, they simply knew it was the right thing to do. Sometimes it's not about what good something is going to do, it's about the good that it invites others to do.

Sometimes when we go to someone and meet them where they are, we are enabling them to join us in reconciliation as well.

Sometimes, we have to “go to” the place where the person is with whom we have conflict. It is only when we can put ourselves in their place at their level that we can begin to build a relationship with them.

We cannot go there with the attitude that we are already right and we condescending to their level. We need to have the attitude that perhaps we might be wrong or at least that we can learn something from the other person.

Reconciliation is a choice we can make, but it is a choice that begins in deciding to see others people not objects and that being in relationship is more important than being right.

Now, I would add this caveat to what I have shared: there are relationships that are toxic,

that are abusive and that are completely unhealthy.  There is a lot more to reconciliation than just seeing someone else's perspective. If you are dealing with a relationship like that,

then I think some of these principles are still helpful, but I would recommend some others as well. 

Even when a relationship ends, we can end it in a way that encourages further healing

and we can end it in a way that will only prolong hurt.

I want to invite you to envision two relationships. The first is a good one.. a relationship that is whole and good and sustains you.  What makes that relationship so good? Why is it important?

Now think about a second relationship: one that is important to you but has suffered some damage. How can you see this person differently? Can you hold this person in prayer? Can you offer him or her to God for God's help in healing? What can you do to take action to move this relationship to greater health?

I would like to believe that we can really live like Jesus wants us to and like Paul calls us to,

but the truth is we are sinners.  The church is a HUMAN institution because it is made up of us sinful human beings.  We are going to mess up. We just are.

But, as Nadia Boltz Weber said, if you leave the church because of that,  you miss the best part.

Because it's about God's grace. It's about working through the hurts and moving past the bad times and allowing God's grace to heal our wounds and make us even more grace-filled.

Church Connections

Several years ago now, my husband, my daughter and I had the great privilege of visiting the church where I was baptized as an infant. It wasn’t for a Sunday service, but on a quiet Thursday morning. We were passing through the town in which I had lived for the first twelve years of my life.

This was a foreign country to my husband—a true suburb, originally a Levittown, now named Willingboro. My parents moved to this place, their first home soon after they were married and shortly before I was born. We lived there through the end of my sixth grade school year. My parents formed their deepest friendships in this place—through the church. Here the foundation of my family was built.

St. Paul United Methodist Church nurtured and formed all of us. As we stepped into the hallway by the office, the memories swept over me in waves of pictures frozen in time, images that I had nearly forgotten. Attending four year old pre-school in this place, one day I had gotten so sick that my mother had come to get me. On this hallway was the nursery where I helped to “watch” the babies including my younger brother during the services.

On the second floor was the choir room where Mrs. Deihl taught us to sing “All Things Bright and Beautiful.” Here were all the Sunday school rooms for children. I spent a year in every one of them. Third grade was my favorite.  Mrs. Evelyn Carson was my teacher and I received my bible which I still have.  We memorized the 100^th Psalm. I also still have the bookmark that we made to mark that verse.

As we walked to the sanctuary, we passed the fellowship hall. This room lived up to its name—always filled to the brim for wonderful social and spiritual occasions. Here I helped to “make hoagies” (that’s a sub to my southern-born husband). The Mother-Daughter Banquet was a yearly highlight and the programs were great entertainment--especially the one with a janitor in a drum and a streaking two year old. One year, my family participated in an intergenerational Sunday School class which met in the fellowship hall. In this room I first participated in Wesley’s covenant service on a New Year’s Eve.

As we passed the other educational wing, that mysteriously more grown-up hallway, I remembered the fight over the placement of a coke machine in that hallway and the agreement not to allow persons to purchase drinks on Sundays.

Then we reached the sanctuary, the most special place to me. Our family sat off to the right side near the front. If I wasn't sitting with my family, I sat in the front row to the left side with the children’s choir. The view from that pew was wonderful as I actually listened to the sermons that Rev. Smyth preached. I was so proud when I had finally learned the Apostles’ Creed by heart and the doxology as well. The Christmas eve services with the pageants are spectacular in my mind, but nothing compared to that last Christmas when I finally was allowed to stay up late enough to attend the candlelight service.

My parents had brought me to this sanctuary to be baptized as an infant and before we moved away, it was my deepest desire to be confirmed in this church. However, confirmation classes were for seventh graders, and I was only in sixth. I had a conversation with the pastor about it. He explained that when I joined the church, I would join not just a congregation, but the United Methodist Church as well as the Church Universal. So that, when we moved and found a new church home and I would go through confirmation in that place, I would be joining this greater church which also included St. Paul UMC.

I have known the greater connection of the United Methodist Church. I have since been a member of two other congregations, an affiliate member in another, graduated from both a United Methodist College and a United Methodist Seminary.  I have served several congregations as ministerial intern and pastor as well as been a clergy member of three Annual Conferences. My sense of the connectional church is strong.

The connection that St. Paul UMC grew in my heart has never wavered. My Methodist roots are in that congregation as the place in which my faith was formed. I am grateful to have been baptized into the community of faith that is St Paul United Methodist Church. Through the eyes of a child, this was an incredible place—full of people who loved me and took time to teach me about the love of God in Christ. So many things that now I realize were unique to this congregation seemed simply like “the way the world was.” I am grateful that is was the way MY world was---full of people of all types who were committed to serving Christ. Remembering this congregation through my childhood’s eyes it looks more like the Kingdom of God than any other community of faith I have since known. Whether or not my memories are a child’s perception or close to reality, I am grateful with the heart of this adult for the body of Christ which is St. Paul’s UMC.

Urban Gardening Feeds The Hungry

No sooner did I post the last post about churches & food, than I saw a tweet from Sustainble Traditions : www.sustainabletraditions.com/2011/3/community-gardens-churches-find-their-local-mission


Which included this great video!

Food and Church

A few months ago, curious to see what would land in my inbox, I set up google alert for the words "church" and "food." Hoping to find churches that were doing innovative programming around food and faith, cull through the links that come in the daily email.



Each day, there are anywhere from 15-30 links to news articles, websites and even blog entries. The one thing that all the links have is that they lead to postings that have both the word church and food in them.



Rarely have I received a link to anything that mentions a church educating members about food policy and/or sustainability! Instead, in my very unscientific analysis, the vast majority of articles are about the what churches are doing to meet the food needs of their communities-- usually in the forms of food pantries, soup kitchens, or food give aways. And then, of course, there are the numerous links that merely are mentioning church events in which food will be served!



Some points to ponder....

1. Are churches doing programming related to food "issues"? but just not publicizing it-- so it doesn't make it into the web postings?


2. Are the needs so great in so many of our communities that more and more churches are reaching out with aid in the form of food?


3. Is it just that this community outreach/charity work is much more "reportable"? Articles about churches offering food aid are more interesting to the general public?

So these are just my beginning questions...

Church World

Even when I was twelve years old, I realized that there was something different about how people acted at church. About that time, I began to take responsibility for my own faith journey. Others might say that I got saved, but that's never how I have described it.

My life had always been in the church. Baptized as an infant, my family was in church every Sunday except perhaps when we had out of town company or went on a trip. Otherwise, we were there on Sunday and every other day that the church doors were open. I can remember church potlucks, mother-daughter banquets, and hoagie sales (that's "subs" to those not from NJ). I even remember riding the mower with my father while he cut the grass at the church. Our family social life was embedded in the church. My parents' closest friends were fellow church members.

When I was twelve, we moved to a new town and a new church. I was confirmed and began to grow into this faith that I had received from my parents--realizing that my faith should influence how I lived each day of my life. The path would be narrow and the way difficult for those who chose to follow Jesus, so I decided that perhaps this journey might be just a little easier if I was ALWAYS in the church.

Embarrassed to say it now, but that was the beginning of my call to ministry--because I saw the church as a "safe" place to hide out! What I understood even then was that the world is different outside the walls of the church. It was more dangerous and filled with temptations outside of "Church World."

I had forgotten this. Having spent nearly all of my adult years working inside the church, I had become insulated from what happens outside of the confines of the church. **

So for many years, I have walled myself within the church and taken refuge there. I like the "Church World." I know the rules of this world and it is where I feel comfortable and at home. I have been cloistered away from much of the behavior outside of this "church world."

But, recently, I have had a few experiences that have brought all this home to me. The outside world has come to me in new forms, and with new choices. So, now I find myself learning again how to navigate in a world that seems so foreign to me.

I know that Jesus calls us to be IN the world, though not OF the world, but most days, I'd rather hide out in "church world"!


**This is not to say that nothing bad or immoral happens inside the church walls. Rather, within the church it tends to be hidden; people are not as open with their failings--which perahps in many ways can be more dangerous. That is a topic for another post (coming soon).