Ash Wednesday

Today is Ash Wednesday.  People will be noticed in the market place wearing a dark gray smudge on their forehead.  It may even be in the sign of the cross.  Ash Wednesday opens the door to the season of Lent.  On Ash Wednesday liturgically minded Christians of many denominations will submit themselves to an ancient ritual known as the imposition of ashes.  It is indeed a strange moment within the life of the church as its members gather to be reminded of their mortality.  

"Remember you are dust and to dust you shall return," the priest will say as it looks people in the eye and marks them with ashes from the burning of last year's palm branches. For some stranger who walks into the service not really knowing what to expect, it can be a shocking, and perhaps, offensive moment.  After all, who wants to die?  Who among us, so sure we are going to live forever, wants to be reminded that we are going to die?  Even as we are linked together in birth so are we linked together in death.  The truth is we all need a dose of reality.  

Being reminded that our life is fragile, finite, and temporal may be a way of enabling us to live more attentive to each day.  Of course, there is no better one to tell us we are going to die than the church because it is also the one who tells us we are going to live.  Even though we die; yet, shall we live is the core gospel message.  At the end of the Lenten season, we will return to the church to celebrate the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ who tells us that as surely as we die, we shall live because He has been enveloped in death's hold and overcome it. The victory He won is His gift to each one of us.

Sunday's Sermon

It was Sunday morning and the church crowd was going and coming.   He sat just outside the entrance way fo the sandwich shop with an open Bible midst his crossed legs. His clothing was in sharp contrast to the church crowd who had to notice him as they passed by.  The backpack pushed tightly against his leg appeared to be his only possession.  A coffee cup beside him said he had either made a purchase from inside or received a gift from someone who saw him.   

I am ashamed to admit it, but when I saw him all my internal voices of skepticism started wildly firing.  One said, "His timing for reading his Bible in public could not be better."  Another joined in, "What a great place to just sit. He doesn't even need a sign."  "He sure knows when and how to play the guilt card," was one of the last voices I heard before I heard a softer and kinder voice beside me saying, ""Let's buy him a sandwich."  All my inner voices ceased speaking.  There was no more to say.  

We bought him a sandwich.  "Friend," I said as I handed him our sandwich, "we wanted to share this with you."  He took it, thanked me, pushed it in his backpack and said, "I don't need it, but I have a friend who does."  I have a feeling God regarded his gift to his friend as a gift of greater value than mine.  Mine to him was wrapped thinly in love compared to the lavish abandonment wrapped around the gift he gave.  "Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver."  (II Corinthians 9:7)

The Chief Regret

One ot the benefits of living long enough to be a worn out Methodist preacher is time for looking back at the many years which are a part of memory.  There are many good memories.  Most of the good memories are centered around experiencing grace, being able to stand alongside of others as a pastor, and being privileged to always have a pulpit from which to preach the gospel.  Even as I am grateful for these memories that bring blessing, there are others which cause me to think about ministry in terms of what I would have done differently had I known then what I know now.   

One of the chief regrets about my years of ministry is that I did not spend more time intentionally being in His presence.  If I could do it over, I would spend more time on my knees.  I would choose to block out time to listen for God in the silence even as I had time blocked out for sermon preparation or meetings.  I would, of course, first had to learn how to be silent and to be in the silence that becomes filled with the holy.  I would be more intent about being available to God even it meant not being available for every phone call or coffee conversation about the business of the church.   

E.M. Bounds, a great prayer warrior from another generation, said and wrote many times that the source of the preacher's life is prayer. If I were doing it over again, I would take what I knew in my head and be more intentional about giving it flesh in my life.  Everything a preacher does emanates from the prayer room.  I would spend more time with the Source which, of course, this retired preacher and anyone else, preacher or not, can choose to do in the present moment God is giving. 

Thoughts on Transfiguration

The church calendar makes this Sunday special as it lifts up the moment of glory shared by Jesus and three of his disciples on the Mount of Transfiguration.  It is a powerful story about heaven breaking into earthly confines. It was surely an unexpected moment for those disciples.  One minute everything seemed to be orderly and predictable and the next moment they were nearly blinded by the brilliance of heavenly glory.  One moment it was them and Jesus and suddenly there appeared with Jesus, Moses and Elijah.  How did they know?  It is not like they were wearing name tags.  None were needed.  They knew.  

When God shows up in our presence with such attendant glory, we want to dig a hole somewhere and hide as did those disciples of long ago.  Or, maybe we shrug our shoulders, put our hands in our pockets, and silently slip out the exit door.  What is frightening about those moments when God breaks through the ordinary routines and expectations of our life is that there is usually some holy purpose which is a part of it.  If we think it just so we can shed a few tears, express a hint of emotions, and feel good about Jesus for a minute, we have missed the meaning of the glory.  

As wonderful as are those times when God seems near enough to touch and our hearts seem ready to burst, it is what is ahead that is important.  God does not bring us to those moments so we can live in them as the disciples would have chosen to do, but so that we can leave them with such an awareness of the power and presence of God that nothing is deemed impossible.  We have all had those moments filled with glory.  They may come in worship.  They may come in the quiet place we go for prayer.  They may come bursting forth from the creation around us.  One thing is sure. They come and when they come they make us different for the going that is ahead. 

Different Day, Same Power

I wonder sometimes if the church has forgotten it has an all powerful God.  A friend in Texas calls Him "the sovereign all powerful God of the Universe" as he speaks of God doing impossible things.  In a recent reading, I came across some thoughts the author was making about Chrysostom, a fourth century church father, "In discussing the miracles of the book of Acts, he never lost sight of the fact that they were performed and continue to be done, not by men but by God, whose power is always the same."  

 Here is an ancient word that the modern church needs to ponder.  Has the God spoken of as "the God of signs and wonders" become a domesticated God who is comfortable living in the boxes we have created for Him?  Do we really believe He can do the thing which seem impossible to do?  Have we become so timid in our faith that we are afraid to trust Him to the point that we will crawl out on the limb with Him?  Have our expectations become too low and does our fear of embarrassing ourselves keep us from modeling a faith willing to risk it all for His sake?    

Two things are clear from the observations about Chrysostom.  God's power has not changed since those days of Pentecost.  His power has always been and always will be the same.  Secondly, signs and wonder,  or acts of power that reveal the presence of the Holy Spirit are not dependent on the men and women who lead the church, but upon the church's willingness to embrace and accept the raw unbridled power of God in its midst.  

The First Work

The first work of the Holy Spirit after breathing the church into being with rushing wind and holy fire was to draw the unbelieving world into a relationship with Jesus. It was not to organize committees to establish mission teams, feeding ministries, safe places for widows and orphans, institutes for theological study, or even churches.  These things came later, but they were not the first priority of the Holy Spirit.  The first priority of the Holy Spirit was to bring people into a saving relationship with Jesus Christ.  By the time the sun set on the Day of Pentecost, three thousand people had heard the message of Jesus and were baptized.  

It is certainly not the case that the people who heard Peter preach that day were inclined to listen to a message about the crucified and risen Jesus.  When those men, still bewildered and overcome by what had happened in the Upper Room spilled out into the streets, they immediately found themselves midst a culture filled with skeptics and naysayers.  It was not an arena for success, but the message about Jesus overcame, drew people toward Jesus, and changed their hearts.  Is not this an example of "the power of the gospel?"  (Romans 1:16).   

Ah, that the church of our day would remember the first work of the Holy Spirit!  The things the church does to serve and love the world around it are important acts, but not at the expense of the first work of the Spirit.  What is needed in the church are not better preachers, softer pews, enlightening and entertaining programs, but Jesus.  The church of our day needs to see the first work of the Holy Spirit, embrace it, and have its people move over in the pews so there is room for those who are out there ready to come.

Raise Us Up

What can a church do when it comes to terms with the reality that it is slowly dying due to a lack of baptisms?  Getting rid of the preacher may be an option for some churches, but it makes about as much sense as firing the manager of a baseball team for losing even though every player is making a ton of errors and striking out each time at the plate.  Having a consultant come and lead a church growth conference might be considered, but it can be expensive especially for smaller congregations.  Of course, there are books and articles to read, sermons to hear, and podcasts to watch.  

The real key to renewal of the ministry at the baptismal font, or pool is prayer.  Has anyone  ever wondered what happens when a church begins to take prayer seriously by making it not a peripheral ministry, but a central one? Has anyone ever wondered what would happen if two people, or five people, or ten people in a church gathered to pray that God would bless the church with baptisms again?  It is not strange that we ask the people of God to pray for pastors, for the sick, for mission programs, for the bereaved, for financial campaigns, for our youth and children's ministries, but no one is intentionally praying for the church to be blessed with new believers in Christ Jesus?  

God is the Source of all spiritual blessings we seek for the church.  Surely, there is no blessing which would bring more joy to the heart of the Holy Spirit than to see people who have never openly professed faith in Christ to do so in His Church.  The first step toward seeing the baptismal waters stirred again is for a few to know themselves as the ones the Spirit is raising up to pray that seeing people professing faith in Christ would be the norm instead of the occasional occurrence.  "Lord, use us to raise up such a people."