Almost There

My journey into my 78th birthday month is almost completed.  Not only is June about to disappear, but the day remembered as the day of my birth is about to dawn.  These days have been times for remembering and reflecting on some of the things learned in more recent days which I am carrying with me as a part of my essential baggage.  Recent is, of course, used rather loosely as it covers the larger span of the years since I left the pulpit for the farm.  

Shortly after I retired a friend sent a book to me which seemed to be one of those books women use in their Bible studies.  I read it anyway.  Written by Ann Voskamp it is entitled, "1000 Gifts."  It is a book about living with a spirit of gratitude.  It is a book which led me into a deeper understanding of the word Paul wrote, "...give thanks in all circumstances..." (I Thessalonians 5:18) and another from Philippians which I find to be very similar, "I have learned to be content with whatever I have."  Philippians 4:11).  One of the challenges the author offered was to keep a "Gratitude Journal" with a goal of noting 1000 gifts over the next year.  

I pray that I come to year 78 with a heart that is possessed more by a grateful spirit.  One of the lessons which has surely been learned in these sixteen years it that even in the darkest of times there are things (gifts would be the Voskamp word) from God for which we can be grateful.  A part of that blessing is to realize how gratitude leads to generosity.  I am grateful that the more grateful person I am becoming is also giving life to a more generous spirit.

Hesed

An afternoon venture into the Word brought me to Psalm 136.  It is a Psalm which has a strong liturgical element within it.  Each of its 26 verses extols some way that God has expressed His love to His people and each of those brief expressions is followed by "for His steadfast love endures forever."  It is the kind of Psalm which enables us to hear the leader of worship saying, "O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good" and the people joining voices to say in response, "for His steadfast love endures forever."  It such a powerful Psalm of praise and thanksgiving.   

As the Psalmist repeats the refrain, "for His steadfast love endure forever" he is bringing forth the Hebrew word, "hesed."  "Hesed" is to the Old Testament as "agape" is to the New Testament except that the Old Testament word carries with it an even broader meaning than its New Testament counterpart.  "Hesed" is a word to which I was first introduced in seminary and then much later found surfacing in a Disciple Bible Study I led for many years.  When reading this Psalm it is better to read slowly aloud than it is to read it silently so that we are enabled to hear the richness of the language.  

"Hesed" is a word that speaks of the love of God to all people.  It speaks of God's commitment to His promises.  It is also a word which is often translated "lovingkindness." It speaks of an action of God that goes beyond expectation.  "Hesed" is a word of action.  It is not a word that points to a compassionate heart, but to a God who does not stand still, but is always moving toward those in need.  Psalm 136 is a Psalm worthy of more than just a casual reading.  It is a holy word which tells us an important truth about the nature of God.  "His (God's) steadfast love endures forever."

Not Just Any Chair

This past Sunday I had the privilege of preaching at Fair Haven Church, a church with a Methodist heritage that goes so far back it is known as one of the oldest Methodist Churches in Georgia.  It is a small church surrounded by farm land and filled with a multi-generational congregation.  Over the years I have learned to listen to what the architectural design of a church has to say to us.  As I sat there before the service, I found myself becoming aware that I was sitting in a church with a rich spiritual history.  

There were many noteworthy things to consider in that sacred space, but what really stood out on this morning were the two pulpit chairs behind the pulpit.  The church survived Sherman's march to the sea and those two chairs might have been crafted shortly afterwards.  They were not the functional utilitarian chairs designed by some fly by night manufacturing company, but chairs which were crafted of solid wood that provided a sturdy comfortable seat and a back that rose high enough to dwarf any preacher.  Those chairs spoke of the honor given to preachers by those who sat in the pews as well as their expectation that a bearer of God's Word would rest in the chair a moment or two before proclaiming it.   

The inanimate sacred things of the sanctuary speak to us if we can still ourselves long enough to hear.  I remember often a pulpit from which I preached for ten years that rose high over the congregation and reminded me again and again not to climb those steps to be surrounded by that massive pulpit unless I was prepared to speak the Word of the Lord. It was obvious that preaching was important to those who designed that sanctuary.  In the same manner, a baptismal font that is hidden in a corner may say something to the church no one really wants to hear. Without the frequent stirring of that holy water the church that put it there in a place of obscurity may soon join it.  

Camp Meetings

It is the season of humidity so thick people have trouble walking in it; it is the season for the invasion of black gnats so thick the sun is often obscured; it is the season for afternoon thunderstorms which come at the end of an unbearably hot day; and it is the season for camp meetings to spring to life across the the landscape of southern religious culture.  The grand daddy of camp meetings in the state of Georgia is Indian Springs Holiness Camp Meeting.  It has been meeting near Jackson for over one hundred years.  This particular Camp Meeting and others like it have their roots in another time and in another culture, but they persist in our era bringing a breath of fresh air into the spiritual life of so many.  

When I was growing up, my parents dragged me to camp meeting.  In these adult years my heart longs to be immersed once again in this unique spiritual environment.  Traditionally, a camp meeting is held in a rural area, is more rustic than convenient, and is centered around a large open air tabernacle.  People meet for prayer before breakfast.  As the traditional camp meeting unfolds into a ten day event, there is a daily mid morning Bible study and preaching services at 1l:00 am, 3 pm, and again around 7 o'clock in the evening.  

In the days of beginning, camp meetings focused on preaching scriptural holiness.  Unfortunately, in some places such a focus has been lost, but over at Indian Springs, such preaching is still the order of the day.  The preaching is strongly evangelistic and those who come are invited to enter into a deeper life of faith with Christ.  The existence of this camp meeting ministry might be regarded as a relic from the past by some, but its continued existence speaks of the spiritual hunger present in the lives of so many people in the current day.

Head and Heart

The church culture in which I lived as a boy was not one which was afraid to invite people to enter into an experience with Jesus which might evoke some kind of emotional response.  People were given a safe place to confess their sins and seek forgiveness.  While crying tears of repentance was not required,  many an altar has been salted with shed tears.  It was a spiritual environment which overtly invited those who worshiped to give their hearts to Jesus.  Preachers would invite people to do the work of repentance at the altar and then would kneel down alongside them at the altar to pray with them.   

I have a preacher friend who often speaks of connecting head and heart as he leads his people in worship.  In many churches the heart seems to be forgotten.  The message is more about how the community needs to respond to the call of Jesus rather than a word that encourages individual response.  Service has become the key word instead of salvation.  The focus is so much on the community's response to Jesus that there is no room for people to encounter Jesus in an experience which might be described as a personal conversion.  

Back in my college days at Asbury College a roommate went home over Christmas and found himself at an altar confessing his sins.  As he told the story there was a friend who was kneeling beside him who kept saying, "Now, Larry, you are not that bad.  You do a lot of good things for people." As I remember the story, it seems to be a visual which depicts the reluctance the church has in calling its people to a time of confession and repentance that could lead to a conversion, or salvation experience.  It is important that we carry our head with us to worship, but neither should we leave our heart at home.

Reflections and Fears

The movement of the church toward the contemporary is placing the church on a perilous slope.  It slowly is loosing its footing.  For so long it has been rooted in the traditions and liturgies of the past.  Worship is ceasing to be about commonly shared beliefs for the sake of worship where core values are framed inside the language of individualism.  Ancient creeds and prayers have been replaced with ear appealing statements which may show the work of a creative wordsmith, but still lack theological substance.  Worship that was once centered on symbols such as the cross, or the Table, the baptismal waters and a pulpit for proclamation have been removed in place of open space filled with nothing.   

This is not to say that worship cannot take place in the contemporary worship experience, but that its center is no longer about what God has done for us, but about what the worship leaders can do for us.  Worship which once seemed more centered on God has found a new center:  the band and the worship leader.  Instead of a gathered people doing together the work of God, we are becoming a gathering of people who are more spectators than participants.  In my earlier years of attending church, the church was a preaching centered church affirmed visually by a pulpit in the center of the worship space.  Over the years the same church has been moving away from a preaching centered church to a Table centered church.  The contemporary experience seems to be movement back to person centered worship instead of one that is really Christ centered.

Certainly, these are not thoughts which will be embraced by the large group of people who have found a home in a style of worship which is more contemporary than traditional.  While I respect the commitment many have toward contemporary worship, I do fear that it is moving us away from community to individualism and to a day when the church will gather without being rooted in a strong theological foundation. In such a world, culture will find it easier to direct the church that was once directed by the Word of God and the work of the Holy Spirit.

Sunday is Coming!

I have spent a little more time than usual at the computer today.  I accepted an invitation to preach this upcoming Sunday and the sermon which has been stirring in my head needs to find a place on some white paper.  It has been a long day.  If it was one of those days from long ago, I would have a trash basket full of wadded up paper pulled from the old manual Royal typewriter.  What I am saying is that the process of taking the mulled over stuff in my head to the pulpit has become a slower process than I anticipated.   To be honest, I am a bit surprised.  I have been praying, thinking, and writing the sermon in my head for some time.  The problem today has been getting it on the screen in front of me.   

Perhaps, the difficulty speaks of the rust which has accumulated since I preached my last sermon on Christmas Eve.  It may also be that I have some hesitation about preaching what I am feeling impressed upon me to preach.  While I know it is where I am going to end up, sometimes the journey to surrendering to the leading of the Spirit is not a straight and easy road. I also know my energy level is still not up to where I hope it will soon be, but I keep reminding myself of that verse which speaks of "God's power being made perfect in weakness."  (II Corinthians 12:9).

Regardless of all these things, it is as is often said, "Sunday is coming!"  It is a word which is always before every preacher who is preaching every week and it remains true for those of us who preach with less frequency. Sermons often come with a struggle.  Even though I preached for over 40 years, every sermon brings its own challenges.  I hate old sermons.  They are boring to preach and smell like three day old fish.  One thing is certain.  I look forward to the opportunity to once again stand in the pulpit to preach the Word God has given me for the people of God in the place He has provided.