Order in the Church

I knew Advent was coming, but somehow it did not dawn on me that today was Christ the King Sunday until the preacher wearing his white stole of celebration announced it to us.  Christ the King Sunday is the last Sunday of the Christian year,  Advent which begins next Sunday marks the beginning of the new calendar year for the church.  Of course, not everyone in every church notes these two Sundays in such a way which is alright as folks are different.   

I happen to be one of those who finds meaning in the liturgical calendar with its seasons of Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter, and Pentecost.  Each season enables the church to focus on a different dimension of  the gospel from Incarnation to Resurrection and beyond.  Along with the liturgical calendar, I always found a great resource for preaching in the Common Lectionary, a series of orderly readings from the Old and New Testament, the Psalms, and the Epistles.  The Lectionary features a three year cycle which means that Matthew is the focus for one year with Mark and Luke getting individual focus in the other two.  The gospel of John gets blended into the mix over the three year cycle.  

Certainly, the church calendar and lectionary readings are not for everyone, but it does provide an orderly and systematic discipline to guide the church as it seeks to proclaim the whole of the gospel.  For me the biggest plus was that it kept my preaching rooted in the Scripture which is where I have always believed to be God's planned source for all preaching.

Looking For Home

 Good Lord, I wait now

     with Your open Word

       and a seeking heart, 

         seeking no things, 

           only wanting You

more now than before. 

Lost it seems I've been, 

     always wandering

       to distant places, 

         constantly alone, 

           ever wondering 

if You look for me.

Forgiveness it says

     is mine now to know,

       but what if I ask

        and You turn Your head

          away and say "No."

Still, good Lord, I ask.

 

Just remember me,

    O Lord, I now pray.

      At the gate, tell me

       what I long to hear

         so that I will know

You welcome me home.

Words for the Heart

The Psalms are probably the most well known section of Holy Scripture.  There are 150 Psalms, but most of us are really familiar with only a few.  Some we can quote without missing a word and others we can remember verses from them; however, the most remain on the page without ever really getting into our heart as a few of them do.  It is interesting in times of trouble or uncertainty how quickly we are to search its words.  They were written by David, a man who wore many hats.  In Scripture he is known as shepherd, giant killer, warrior, and King.  He, like each of us, is both sinner and saint.  It is strange to some that a man such as David could write such words from the heart.   

It is because they are words which speak of what is felt within the heart that we find ourselves opening those old pages to read.  Written in a poetic style, the Psalms cause us to slow down, sit with our Bible in our lap for a moment, and let the words soak into the wounded places of our own heart.  They have a way of healing the wounds, bringing hope to the hopeless moments, enabling us to praise God in the midst of all kinds of circumstances, and giving us the "umph" we often need to get up and get going again.   They are not words to be read in a hurry which is a good thing for most of us who need to heed the markers on the road telling us to slow down.    

Like the poets who see the ordinary things we all see; yet, who reveals the extraordinary with them, the Psalmist speaks of the common emotions of the heart and then leads us toward seeing those feelings within us as a part of the way the Creator has made us.  Things we fear seeing within us, his words bring to the surface where God's grace and mercy prevail.  His words are not words to be dissected and discussed, but words that are like ointment that heal the wounded and broken places of the heart.  They are caring words and words that wrap us in the compassion of God.

Sitting a Spell

The mainstream definition of prayer is pointed toward asking God for some blessing.  It involves doing something, saying some words in the language of prayer, and asking, seeking, and knocking. (Matthew 7:7-11).  In most cases the experience of prayer is briefer than we figure it to be.  More often than not,  prayer is one dimensional.  We talk.  God listens.  Seldom does our praying include a time which is intentionally set aside for listening.  We talk about God speaking; yet, few give time for listening.    

As we read about some of the Biblical characters praying, it becomes a personal and sometimes desperate sharing with God that is full of anticipation followed by moments of encountering God's presence and power.  There is nothing timid about the prayers of those saints who walk across the pages of the book of Acts.  They were in over their heads and knew it.  The only way they could possibly make it, or see the signs and wonders they knew, was through dependence on God.  Praying for them was not so much about fulfilling a ritual as a way of living.   

Too many times we pray without their desperate spirits. We pray and hold tightly to our backup plans just in case God is not able, or willing to do what we want Him to do.  Too many times we ask with doubts about His ability to overcome the obstacles we face in the hard circumstances of our life.  Surely, the better praying comes when we pray with a faith that is expectant and confident that in all things the will of God is going to be done in our lives and in the lives of those for whom we pray.  The better times with friends comes from sitting and sharing the things of our hearts because we love them and it is no different as we enter into our times of prayer with God.  Sometimes it is best to just sit a spell in His presence and listen as one who truly has ears to hear.

The Wooden Altar

 Altars come and go,

     one made to take life,

       another of stones, 

         twelve to be exact,

          the most holy place

            inside the Temple

once here, but no more.

Earth's meeting places,

     intersecting paths

       of raw human need

         God's gracious grace,

            desperate pleading,

              undeserved healing,

miracles everyone.

 

Worn out wooden rails,

     stained with wet tears,

       bearing heavy sins,

         lifetimes of regret

           and deepest sorrows,

             but nary a one,

like Christ's Calvary.

First Glimpses

It is interesting that the story of Saul of Tarsus, the antagonist of Christ, begins after the stoning of Stephen, the martyr for Christ.  What makes it even more intriguing is the fact that Saul was present holding the coats of those who were throwing deadly stones at Stephen.  As the young martyr was dying this violent and undeserved death, he spoke two final words, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit...Lord, do not hold this sin against them."  (Acts 7:59-60).  What Stephen could not know and what Saul could not realize was that a seed was being planted which would change the face of the Jesus movement.    

The seed planted through Stephen's sacrifice took root in the cold heart of Saul and then like a young shoot breaking the surface of the soil, it broke the hard shell around the persecutor's soul.  The ninth chapter of Acts tells us about the new life that burst forth from Saul of Tarsus.  "Now as he (Saul) was going along and approaching Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him."  (Acts 9:3)  It was the Eternal Light that brought forth all creation  (Genesis 1:3) and which prevailed against even the darkness of the soul. (John 1:5)   

When the scales had been removed from the blind eyes of Saul by the healing words of Ananias,  Paul would connect his new life with the death of Stephen.  In Acts 22:20 we hear Paul speaking, "And while the blood of your witness, Stephen, was shed, I myself was standing by and approving and keeping the coats of those who killed him."  Saul saw the stoning of Stephen and he also saw the about to die servant of Christ in a moment when "he gazed up into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 'Look," he said, 'I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!' " (Acts 7:55-56).  Saul saw more than he bargained to see that day.  He saw his first glimpse of who he was becoming through the grace of God.

Wind Tunnels for the Spirit

The spiritual energy for the church comes from two sources.  One springs from the hearts of the people of God and the other springs forth from the Holy Spirit.  The first is mentioned in Acts 1:14 where the Word says, "All these were constantly devoting themselves to prayer..." and the second is set forth in words like "a sound of rushing wind" and "tongues of fire."  It is clear from reading the first few verses of the second chapter of Acts that the descriptive language is pointing to the power and presence of the Holy Spirit.  Churches do not flourish without a strong stream of prayer and the intentional work of the Spirit.  

There are several reasons why we know this is true.  The most obvious reason is that the Word of God speaks to this reality in the book of Acts.  Another reason for knowing comes from trying everything else and discovering that everything else is a promising source of spiritual life, but one that dries up very quickly.  Few of us can count the denominational programs and emphases that promised new life for the church and while they may have brightened the flame for a moment, they ended up not as wind and fire, but ashes and smoke.   

One of my favorite verses of Scripture is James 5:16.  While the New Revised Standard Version which is my main Biblical text reads it differently, I have always been partial to the old King James Version which renders that verse, "The prayer of a righteous man availeth much..."  To illustrate his point James goes on to lift up Elijah as one who prayed fervently and whose prayer God used powerfully.  There is no question that the Holy Spirit is ready to act in enabling the contemporary church to become the wind and fire church.  We can only wonder what would happen if the church was committed to praying until the doors and windows of the sanctuaries became like wind tunnels for the Spirit.

A Blessing to Any Church

One of my first remembrances of the prayer ministry of the church comes out of my pastorate to the Zoar Church.  Zoar was one of three churches on the Stapleton Charge, my first appointment.  There were two older women who were such saints that it was often said that they would surely find heaven's gate opened wide for them.  About that I cannot speak, but what I do know is that they were what we back then called "prayer warriors."  I learned early on in my pastorate that they did more than talk about praying.  They prayed and they prayed for their pastor.  They were not the only ones, but they were clearly the spiritual leaders of that church.  

I said often in the years to come that every young preacher should be so blessed!   Zoar was not the last church I served that had people dedicated to prayer.  As I remember the churches served, I remember a few in most every church who believed in prayer and prayed.  At the Vidalia Church there was a widow who kept pictures of the staff of the church taped on a mirror as a way of praying for the church each day.  At my last appointment there was a man who sat on the steps just beyond the door leading from the pulpit to the outside hall while I was preaching and prayed for me.    

Folks who are committed to prayer are worth far more to the Kingdom's work than any organized prayer ministry.  Prayer ministries tend to come and go with the enthusiasm of the moment, but people who are the "prayer warriors" "...do not grow weary in well doing..." (Galatians 6:9) and they can only be characterized as those who "...pray without ceasing..."  (I Thessalonians 5:16)  Any church blessed with a few such folks is blessed indeed!

The Jabez Prayer

When I remember the many prayer ministries of the churches I served, I remember one which just happened without any effort on my part.  It happened when Bruce Wilkinson wrote the little volume entitled, "The Prayer of Jabez."  It was a book which captivated the hearts of so many people.  Without any effort folks read the book, embraced the spirit of what was being said, and it propelled the church forward in its prayer life.  While some of its critics voiced concern that it was a prayer too self centered, it struck a positive chord with a great number of people.   

The prayer of Jabez is recorded in I Chronicles 4:10 and reads, "And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, 'Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!'  So God granted him what he requested."  The book Wilkinson wrote was a very small volume that lifted up the four major concerns of the prayer, but overall it was a prayer that God would grant a larger sphere of influence for work of God's Kingdom.

The point of the prayer never seemed to be personal gain so much as a prayer that sought gain for the Kingdom of God.   I remember those days when the book was much talked about within most church circles.  It was a time when small groups were reading it, discussing it, and committing themselves to praying the Jabez prayer daily.  Praying the Jabez prayer, or any prayer for that matter that seeks growth for the Kingdom, can only help and strengthen the church. 

Prayer Rooms

After serving Methodist Churches for twenty eight years, Terry Teykl heard a call from God to involve himself in equipping churches to pray.  He wrote several prayer manuals and traveled all over the country.  As I have been thinking about various prayer ministries of churches I served, he came to the forefront of my memory.  He led prayer workshops in some of the churches I served and always left with my folks inspired and motivated to pray.  One of his emphasis was to establish Prayer Rooms in local churches.   

As he noted back then, a lot of churches have space dedicated for worship, fellowship meals, Bible teaching, youth and children's activities, but not many have space that is set aside for prayer.  Not only do most churches not have Prayer Rooms, but very little money is spent on prayer ministries.  When we look at the energy and resources committed to this particular ministry, it causes one to believe that church leadership talks a lot about prayer, but talk does not translate into an intentional ministry.  

When Terry Teykl left the Perry Church a small group of people created a Prayer Room and designed it so that it could be used safely twenty four hours a day.  Volunteers even signed up to be in the Prayer Room on a schedule to answer the phone which was a tool for the ministry.  I do not know if the ministry is still serving the church and community, but it is an example of what can happen when a few folks heed God's call to make prayer important in the life of the church.  We could use more Prayer Rooms in our churches and certainly we could use more people who do not just talk and read about prayer, but pray.

Written Prayers

Most of us pray.  Even the people who make a claim to not praying are often heard in a moment of impending disaster crying out in a spontaneous manner, "Lord, help me!"  Prayers come in all sizes and shapes, but the One who upon whom we call is the same.  Those of who are intentional about our faith journey understand the life enriching and life giving power of that ongoing relationship with our Creator through the discipline of prayer.  As one who has prayed all my life, I have no doubt about its value in my spiritual life, but it has not always been something that I have done with the discipline it requires.   

When we get in a rut, or run into a dry season, it might be a good time to look at some ways of expanding our prayer life.  One way of expanding our prayer life is to reach back into the past and pull up some of the prayers that have sustained the saints and been offered to God by them or the church in centuries past.  Some turn away from such prayers because they are "written" and, therefore, less effective than some prayer which breathes the air of spontaneity.  It is an unfortunate conclusion because some of these ancient prayers open our spirits in ways that we might not experience otherwise.  Of course, even the diehards who refuse to pray a written prayer still pray the one we know as "The Lord's Prayer!"  

There are many resources available which can open the door to us to the rich prayers that have passed through the centuries.  There are prayers in the Bible, many of our hymns can be prayed, and worship resources provided by different denominations can be an invaluable tool as we avail ourselves of them.  Prayers come from the heart.  A prayer from the past can infuse our heart with new power and life.  The important thing is not to read the written prayers, but to allow ourselves to slowly pray them.

Extending our Prayer Time

Back in the days when I served the Perry Church, we had a prayer ministry program which invited people to get up at five o'clock every Sunday morning and spend the hour in prayer.  Over a several year period there were always around twenty folks who rose early at their home knowing that partners in prayer were doing the same in the parish area.  One of the things learned was that it was not a prayer experiment for the faint hearted!   

At first it was a daunting task for all of us.  We were not accustomed to having a devotional time that lasted that long.  Fifteen or twenty minutes a day would have earned folks a certificate of sainthood had there been such a thing.  The point is that most of us were not spending a lot of time in our quiet time with the Lord.  One of the things we learned about extending  our quiet time in the morning was to divide the hour up into fifteen minute segments.  One segment might be filled with a couple of devotional readings and prayer for those on a prayer list.  A second segment might be devoted to reading some Psalms and praying for the leadership in the church.  Using the smaller increments of time approach enabled us to cast a larger net in our praying as well as growing in our own spiritual lives.    

One thing is certain.  We are not going to get from where we are to where we feel God is calling us to be by a commitment to what has gotten us where we are.  In other words, if we continue to practice our disciplined life in exactly the same way over and over, the results are likely to stay the same.  Attaining higher ground often requires being willing to risk doing things differently.  Of course, a good way to move forward in our devotional life is to ask God what He would have us do.  His design for our quiet time might be quite different than what we might plan so it is always a good thing to ask.

Praying Scripture

When we look at how we are spending our devotional time, there is often a real disparity between the amount of time we spend reading the Scripture and praying.  It is easier to read about spending time with God than it is to spend time with God.  We read about some of the spiritual giants of the faith who not only rise early to pray, but spend big chunks of time actually praying and we wonder how they do it.  We pray and pray and pray, cover the entire waterfront of intercession, and are amazed that we have spent only ten minutes actually praying.   From the looks of the time we spend in prayer, God might come to the conclusion that we love Him a lot, but only want to spend a little time with Him.  Part of our problem with spending so little time in praying is that we live with a narrow definition of prayer.  

Learning to pray the Scriptures is one way of enlarging the scope of our praying.  For those unacquainted with such praying, praying the 23rd Psalm might sound something like, "Lord, You are indeed my Shepherd.  I thank You for constantly providing care and protection for me.  Help me, Lord, to know the difference between what I want and what I need and then help me to be content with what You provide.  Give me a heart to heed Your leading so that I might live a balanced life, a life of trusting in You for what I really need, and a life where the needs of my inner being are clear to me so that I might go after them instead of some lesser things.  Lead me in the right way, Lord, keep me from wandering and help me to live so that others see Your hand on my life."  (Psalm 23:1-3)    

By a thing as simple as changing the pronouns, this prayer can become a prayer not for ourselves, but for someone we love, or someone who has asked that we remember them in our prayers.  The one certain thing is that when we pray the Scriptures, we are praying inside the heart and will of God for these are the words and thoughts He has placed on the inspired page we hold in our hands.  

The Fallen Sparrow

Life has its tragic moments.  There are those events which may either take a life, or send a life on a trajectory far different than the one logically anticipated.  Tragic events also have a rippling effect sending bitter barbs into the hearts of those who stand aside from the tragedy; yet, who are inevitably caught inside its widening web.  Most of us know of some life changing tragedy either through the stories of friends, or through personal experience.    

In the throes of those moments which take lives away, or reshape them forever, we have our questions for God.  It is not an uncommon thing to wonder what He was doing, or if He was paying attention.  A north Georgia poet, Byron Herbert Reece, raises the question is his poem, "Whose Eye is on the Sparrow."  The poem rises from the poet seeing a fallen sparrow "dead upon the grass."  In the last stanza we hear the haunting words,  "I had no means to know;  But this I minded well:  Whose eye is on the sparrow   Shifted--and it fell."

Are there those moments which fall beyond the reach of God?  It is the question the poet dares to ask and it is the question the suffering soul must ask.  While asking such questions may seem sacrilegious to the righteous whose world is all nailed down, it is the question which the suffering heart must ask on the road toward healing.  The one thing we must never do as we try to make sense of the unsensible tragedies  of life is to think that God cannot handle the questions of the heart, or even worst, that He will turn aside from those who must ask them.  He will not turn aside.  It is against His nature.  Instead, He will take the tragedy in His hand and bring something good and redemptive out of it.        

Learning Gratitude

I have always heard you cannot learn to swim on the coffee table.  It must be true.  I know I am having trouble learning how to play my mandolin while it stays in its case in the corner.  I watch musicians make music and I marvel at their fingers moving on the fret board, but watching is not moving me any closer to playing it.  I have a book about writing which tells me that a writer writes at least six hundred words a day even if they end up in the throwaway pile.  Wanting to do something never takes the place of doing it.   

One of things we would all choose to do is to live with a spirit of gratitude.  The preacher's sermon this past week was in some ways like the prelude to singing the songs of Thanksgiving in a few days.  There is no need to wait for a particular day to be thankful.  The Word of God calls us to live, "giving thanks to God the Father at all times and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."  (Ephesians 5:20). The words, "at all time and for everything," makes it a very big order.  It is almost as big and impossible a thing as Jesus telling us to "Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect."  (Matthew 5:48). When we read such passages and grab hold of such thoughts, it is not unlikely for us to wonder how such a life can  be lived.   

Whenever I find myself before this word about being grateful at all times and in every situation, I reach for the book entitled, "1000 Gifts," by Ann Voskamp.  For those who want to live with gratitude, she points to a very simple enabling discipline which she calls practice.  We learn to be content in all things, we learn to be grateful in all things by practicing.  Her words and the way she modeled her own practicing enabled me to start writing what I have come to know as a "Gratitude Journal."  The goal is to write down the gifts of each day.  One of those gifts might be listening to the music of a songbird, or talking on the phone with a friend, or being able get out of bed.  She has taught me to write down daily gifts as a way of learning how to be grateful and I have found that it works.          

The Matter of Clothes

One thing I have noticed about myself in these recent days is that I dress more casually for Sunday worship.  I am not sure how my mother would feel about the change.  Actually, I think I know exactly what she would say were she still here.  Growing up we did not have much.  Poor is what we were.  But, every Easter my sister and I got new Sunday clothes which we only wore for Sunday morning.  We were always told you wear your best when you go to the Lord's House.  No matter how hard I talked to myself yesterday when I prepared to go to a preaching appointment, I could do nothing other than getting the white shirt, tie, and suit out of the closet.  Maybe I feared my mother might be watching and would show her disapproval by making me stumble on the way to the pulpit!  

I know my choice of pulpit attire puts me out of step with most who preach today, but I just do not feel dressed for preaching without either a clergy robe, or more formal dress than blue jeans and a t-shirt with a Jesus logo on it.   My mother would agree with all of us that what we wear to worship is not more important than being in worship.  I agree.   

What we wear in the pulpit is no issue unless it is a reflection of a desire to be like everyone else.  As one who wears the mantle of leadership in the church, being like everyone else can never be.  As one called to serve the Christ within the church we cannot deny the call to live as one set apart and neither can we downplay our call to stand as one with authority to preach the Word.  Jeremiah struggled with this issue in his day (Jeremiah 20:9) and it continues to be the same for many of us who want to be liked and one just like everyone else. 

Testimony Time

Back in the days of growing up, it was common to have testimonies given during Sunday night worship.  At times the sermon time might be given to such moments, or as was more commonly the case, a few people would voluntarily stand and share about the beginning of their walk with Jesus.  Some might have some dramatic story to tell while others would speak of a moment of quietly turning away from one way of life to the life now embraced with Christ.  There is not so much of this kind of sharing taking place in our churches today and it is unfortunate because there is power in the story that each one of us has with Christ.  

There is something about a story that grabs our attention in a way that is different from a sermon or a Biblical teaching.  No matter the language we might use, our story is our story.  It is the one given to us by the Christ and it needs no defending or explaining.  It is ours and ours alone.  I remember a time when a college witness team took a small group of us into a seminary classroom.  We were somewhat intimidated by being in a place of theological studies.  The professor who invited us said, "Just tell your story.  No one can question it.  It is the story of you and your encounter with Christ.  It is not something up for debate."  

It is that way for us.  We are often shy about sharing something as personal as our beginning moments with Christ, or even the moments which have become a part of our present, but there is really nothing to fear.  Whatever we offer in His name, He blesses.  What we must not fear to do is to speak of Him, about Him, and for Him as the occasion for such comes to us.  As we stand before an opportunity to share something of our testimony about our life with Jesus, we may sense some inner anxiety and fear, but let us also remember a word of Jesus from Luke's gospel.  "...the Holy Spirit will teach you at that very hour what you ought to say."  (Luke 12:12)

The Falling Leaf

It is the seasons for leaves to fall.  All around us they are turning loose of where they have been for a place never before known.  Since early Spring these falling leaves have been at home high above.  They have adorned the high landscape with lush green and provided shade on hot summer days.  They have pulled life giving energy from the dirt beneath them, the rain that has washed over them, and the sun which has always been present above them.  Would that they could choose, it would be a forever season for them.  However, in the creation there are no forever seasons except for the season of change.    

Midst the falling leaves, we mortals live out our seasons.  We, too, might look back over the span of our years, or perhaps, the one in which we live and wish for a forever season.  There have been days for all of us when we have thought that life would be a wonderful thing indeed if every day could be like today. Long ago we learned that there are more than the four seasons which turn the pages of our printed calendars.  There are, instead, the seasons which provide for us a panoramic journey through life.  We live midst the seasons of love and loss, the seasons of poverty and abundance, the seasons of crowded community and simple solitude, the seasons of hanging on and turning loose.  

Life is filled with more seasons than the list can handle and each one enriches us and prepares us for the most perfect day which is today.  Even as there is reason for the falling leaves, so is there reason behind each moment we live.  As we live them each to the fullest, we fulfill the plan of the one whose Word brought us into being.  No season is a waste and no soul is expendable within the divine plan which is filled with a creative light that always prevails and issues into life.

The Ever Changing Call

A month ago a church up the road dared to ask me to preach.  Preaching invites do not come too often so I dusted off the brain and had another go at sermon writing.  I am going to have an opportunity this upcoming Sunday to have another go at preaching.  A few weeks ago a District Superintendent hinted at an interim preaching assignment, but I discouraged any further thinking in that direction as writing this blog is where my continued awareness of calling has taken me.  Before retiring I wondered how people who were called to preach could ever retire and justify not preaching, but then I realized that God sometimes lifts the urgency of one calling for another.   

There is some Biblical basis for such.  For example, Ezekiel trained and prepared to be a priest in the Temple only to be called to become a prophet in exile.  The gospel writer, Luke, was a doctor who wrote a gospel noted for its evangelistic thrust.  I remember, too, the many ways Bruce Wilkinson, the author of "The Prayer of Jabez" has responded to the ever changing call of God on his life.  He started as a college professor, created a much used Bible Study, authored scores of books, and started mission initiatives in South Africa.   

A popular saying which has a way of resurfacing ever so often is the one which reads, "God is not through with me yet."  God's call on our lives to be faithful servants never changes.  What may change is the means through which we flesh out that call to serve Him.  None of us are today as we were yesterday and the person we have become may be more suited for the unfolding plan of God than the person we were when the journey of faith began.  We should never be afraid of change for it is the way God is working to make His Kingdom more apparent among us.

The Unchangeable Tool

A few Sundays ago I watched a preacher read the sermon from an Ipad.  It was not something noticeable from the pew, but seeing the service live stream opened a whole new vista.  At other moments I had noticed scripture lessons being read from a handheld device instead of a Bible with pages.  Imagine Billy Graham at one of his crusades waving an Ipad in the air instead of the old bound version of the Scripture which he held constantly in his hand.  What a different image it would have created!  

I have often said I retired at the right time because the technology was on the edge of changing the old world in which I had worked so long.  In my first office was a mimeograph machine and manual typewriter.  It was some years before I graduated to a word processor and a copy machine.  Before I reached the finish line of my ministry, a computer and printer provided not a printed rendering of my sermon, but a hard copy.  By the time I made it to the farm, both the equipment of ministry and the language had changed so much I was not just a worn out preacher, but an obsolete one as well.   

There is; however, one thing which has remained constant over those forty years of preaching.  The unchangeable tool of preaching is the Bible.  Without it there can be no sermon.  A sermon is not an entertaining talk which tickles ears, but a message which rekindles the vision of the Old Testament prophets who spoke saying, "Thus says the Lord..."  To speak of preaching in such a manner may make some preachers squirm, but to forget this core definition of what is to be done on Sunday morning is to relegate preaching to something less than what it is meant to be.  Good preaching is not about what the preacher thinks, but about what God is saying through the written Word.  There is a difference. 

The Ones Not Remembered

I grew up in the church.  Attending church was never an option.  It was simply what we did every Sunday.  Much to my dismay as a teenager, not even a vacation provided an exemption from attending worship in some church we saw along the road at 11:00 am on Sunday morning.  Shortly after I got out from under the thumb of my parents, I signed up to attend worship every Sunday for the rest of my life.  I do not know how many sermons I have either heard, or preached, but I am sure it would total up to be more than just a few.   

Despite the huge number of sermons I have either heard or preached, I remember only a few.  If the ones I heard and remembered were printed in a book, it would be a thin book and if I did the same with the sermons I remember preaching, there would not be enough for even a thin book.  Yet, what I know is that I am a product of all those sermons, hours of worship, Sunday School lessons, and youth moments.  I can remember some moments when the light bulb seem to come on showing me the way forward, but I think most of what influenced me came through a process of spiritual osmosis.  In other words, some of what I was trying not to hear soaked in anyway and worked to lead me toward Jesus and the road of discipleship.  

Perhaps, that is all we preachers can hope will happen with our many sermons.  While there are always a few exceptional sermons that are keepers, so many of what we preach are more of the soaker variety.  A Biblical way of speaking about it would cause us to raise the image of someone sowing seed.  Preachers sow seed and most of the time never see what happens with the seed that is planted.  Occasionally, we are present for the moment when someone sees the light of God's love and responds to it, but even then it is likely to be the result of a seed planted by some preacher who labored faithfully long years ago.  The good thing to think about as a retired preacher is that some of those sermons which are forgotten and remembered by no one still may be producing some fruit in a seeking heart.

Flawed and Inspired

The Psalms have a way of settling into our souls.  It is no wonder it has been a hallmark reading for the saints through the centuries.  Reading from this section of the Word is a constant in most daily reading schedules whether we are talking about personal devotional times, or something as structured as monastic life.  Many of us remember the 23rd Psalm as the first Scripture memorized and, perhaps, the most widely read passage at funerals and memorial services.  As we go deeper into our own personal journeys, others Psalms have gotten planted in our spirit and remembered at significant moments.   

The Psalms have a comforting component.  They enable us to grow into an awareness of the way we are inside the providential care of the Creator.  Some send us to our knees in confession and some send us up spiritual mountains with our hands raised in praise.  It often seems that when we are troubled, some Psalm will come in an unexpected way to rescue us and point us to the ongoing love and care of the Father God. To say that the Psalms are divinely inspired is truly an understatement when we consider their encompassing power.  

Yet, even as we affirm that they are divinely inspired, we also affirm that God used a flawed and imperfect man as His partner in bringing these thoughts into visible form.  David was a shepherd boy and a warrior.  He was a fugitive and a King.  He was a Israel's most powerful man and a man who flagrantly abused his power.  Through the ups and downs of his life, he kept reaching upward toward God.  It is always amazing the way God uses flawed folks like David and each one of us to do His Kingdom's work.

One Person at a Time

After my oldest daughter adopted the first of four children, she said about the boy who was to be my first grandson,  "I can't save all the children of the world, but I saved this one."  Her words have been remembered many times when what seemed to be an impossible need stood before me.  Jesus did not feed all the hungry people of His world and neither can we in our world.  What we can do is make a difference.  Surely, this is why many volunteer and serve non profit groups in our communities.  Some are focused on the needs of abused women, or people struggling with addiction, or something as basic as giving hungry people food.    

There are people all around us who are seeking to make a difference one person at a time.  This is the goal of most non profits groups that have service as the reason for their existence and certainly it is the goal of so many churches who provide niche ministries such as an after school feeding ministry, or providing quilts for cancer patients, or building handicap ramps for wheel chair patients.  It is a good thing that there are many servants who refuse to become overwhelmed by the magnitude of some need and instead make a decision to make a difference one person at a time.   

It is also true that taking care of the needs of those around is not just the task of a few, or the non-profit groups, or the churches, but each one of us.  Most of us need look no further than our own streets to find people who fall through the cracks of groups and agencies organized to help.  If we know someone who is struggling to make ends meet, or who is living with the pressure of being a 24/7 caregiver, or who lives alone and is in need of a listening ear, then we know where to go to serve.  Jesus used the model of washing feet to speak to us our own calling to serve others.  "...you also should so as I have done to you."  (John 13:15).  None of us are exempt from this call to wash feet, or to make a difference one person at a time.

Early Rising

While I must confess to enjoying more sunsets than sunrises, I also acknowledge that there is something very special about the morning.  The spiritual giants from the past always made such good use of it as they allowed themselves to be energized by the newness of a new day with the God they loved.  I have two favorite morning songs.  One causes me to sing with great enthusiasm, "O what a beautiful morning, O what a beautiful day..."  The second favorite morning song brings forth a spirit of joy and awe as I sing, "When morning guilds the sky, my heart awakening cries, May Jesus Christ be praised..."   I have often gone out on the front porch here at the farm and offered my voice to the praise unfolding to the Creator.    

Morning surely speak to each of us in different ways.  For some it is a sign of God's grace as He rouses us from our sleep for another day of living   For another it might speak of a clean slate and the way God is always ready to offer forgiveness to us.   Some speak of the morning as a symbol of a new opportunity which God is always eager to provide to us.  For the mystics of the past and present it points to a moment for stepping into the stream of what God is about in the world.  Regardless of how it is viewed and described, each morning is a gift regardless of whether it is one of sunshine or rain.   

What a commentary it is on our society to realize that this gift of morning is so wasted and taken for granted.  For so many it is just a platform for launching a busy and activity filled day.  It is not a moment to be experienced, but one which enables us to get started on our journey toward the evening when we feel like we can catch our breath once again for an hour or two.   There is nothing which better prepares us for our daily journey like some quiet time in the morning with the One who gives us the day.  For those who declare they would like to have such a time, but the morning is too filled with preparation for the rest of the day, the solution is simple.  Get up earlier.

The Valley Yet to Be

Some say dreams come and go.  The darkness gives them life and the light chases them away.  Some are indeed so fleeting they are ever forgotten, but some come and never go away.  They linger in the waking hours, they tantalize the soul with unseen realities, and keep our minds captivated in the mystery.  A dream came the other night, or maybe, it should be said, it came in the twilight between here and there.  It was a dream filled with visions of a valley so rich in color and so full of a morning light that was coming that I knew it was a dream of a valley yet to be.  It was like a freshly painted portrait so full of coming light that I knew the valley of my dream was called heaven.    

Perhaps, the dream came in the night it came because of the nearness of the night to the day of All Saints and my thoughts racing toward it.  The list of saints on the other side grows longer with the passing of each year.  I have heard it said by some that there are more friends and family on the other side of the veil than on this side where sight prevails over faith.  As the years continue to bring us to more and more moments of saying farewell, I am beginning to see what is ahead more clearly.  What is ahead is not just that moment when others here will say farewell to me as one gone from here, but instead I know that what is ahead is "a homeland...a better country, that is a heavenly one."  (Hebrews 11:14-16).   

What we learn from our journey from the womb of conception to the heavenly Home is that life is so very precious.  What makes it so precious is the grace of God which for some mysterious reason continues to provide the amazing gift of being here.  Being here makes it possible for us to love and to be loved which is another precious gift.  Being loved and loving enables us to see beyond ourselves and if we learn to look far enough, we begin to catch glimpses of those who have finished the course of this life and the beauty which awaits us in the valley yet to be.

The Hidden Ritual

I think someone has already written a book about visiting a different church every Sunday for a year, but at times I have felt like I was heading in that direction.  Today worship took place in church number nineteen on this journey that goes back about a year and a half.  It has finally brought me to finding a church home, but the journey from being completely disconnected to finding myself connected to a congregation has been a circuitous one.  As one who was never able to do much church visiting, I must admit it has been an interesting experience.    

One of the things noticed again today is what must be a rather contemporary trend as I never would have thought of doing it.  In many of the congregations visited there is no moment for offering plates to be passed along the pews.  Instead, it is announced at some point during the service that the offering plates are at the door so people can put in their offerings as they leave.  In most of the places where this is the practice, the announcement is followed by the traditional singing of the Doxology.  As someone who has seen a thousand offering plates passed among the pews, I find the practice somewhat strange to the point of saying that I miss the offering plates coming my way.   

I wonder about the rationale behind the change.  While I have not talked to today's preachers about the change, I think I know some of the reasons.  Despite the expediency of saving a few moments, or eliminating the discomfort some might experience, it seems that the act of giving is an important part of worship and I miss this particular response being given expression in our gatherings.  Old preachers can get set in their ways and I suppose I am guilty at both points.  Being old and set in my ways.  I just miss making a bigger deal about giving some of what He has given to us back to Him.