I find it really interesting that in both churches I've served, which are very, very different, February has been the month to finally give me negative feedback. Perhaps it takes eight months to feel comfortable with a pastor, or with me, to give negative feedback? On the one hand, it hurts. Negative feedback, when not phrased as constructive criticism, always hurts. On the other hand, I've been waiting to hear some. I know I haven't been perfect the past eight months, but no one beyond the office staff has pointed out or talked with me about my imperfections. All I've heard is "good job," "we're glad you're here," "good sermon." Perhaps because I learned at Unidos por Cristo, I've been waiting for the criticism and it's finally come - I'm not a good preacher, I'm not a good worship leader, I'm not a strong leader, I'm not a good presenter/speaker. Well, now I know what to work on!
It's funny because a few days before this came out the senior pastor and I had talked about my going to continuing ed about preaching and the very next day a colleague of ours invited me to go with her to the Festival of Homiletics in Atlanta in May! The other side of this preaching conversation is that the preaching style I learned at Unidos por Cristo is very different from Orange and at Orange I've only preached 5 times (at a total of 13 services).
In terms of leading worship, I've been advised to to figure out how to be comfortable when in front of 200 people. It's true, I'm an introvert. I'm not a fan of big crowds or being in front of them. However, that's something I'm going to have to get over.
So not everyone loves how I do things? It's about time they told me.
Monday, February 20, 2012
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
How Do You Respond?
This is the manuscript for my sermon two days ago. I wish I could edit in some of the tweaks I made in the act of preaching it, but I don't remember what they all were and they were different for each of the three services.
5th Sunday after the Epiphany
Communion Sunday
February 5, 2012
Psalm 147:1-11; Mark 1:29-39
How Do You Respond?
In reading through the lectionary texts for today, I initially dismissed this passage from Mark that we just read. It bugs me that Simon Peter’s mother-in-law’s first action after being healed is to serve the men. At a glance, it just rubs me the wrong way and I want to categorize it as part of the patriarchic culture of the time. However, my response to my initial response was, [sigh] ‘well, I guess that’s the passage I need to struggle with for this week.’ So, you don’t need to worry, you’re not going to get a sermon on feminism, because that’s not what this passage is about on a deeper level.
Let’s start with the story. It says “they left the synagogue”; that’s Jesus and the disciples, or some of the disciples, we don’t know which ones and we don’t know how many. But Jesus and some disciples go from the synagogue to the home of Simon Peter and his brother Andrew. Andrew you may not remember too well, the only action we’re ever told that he did after Jesus called him was to go get his brother Simon and tell him about Jesus. So, at minimum, Jesus, Simon, Andrew, James and John are all at Simon’s and Andrew’s house. There are probably a few more folks around, too. And Simon’s mother-in-law is sick in bed. And “they”, whichever group that refers to, tell Jesus about Simon’s mother-in-law being sick. So Jesus goes to her bedside, takes her hand, and lifts her up out of bed. The fever leaves her and she begins to serve them.
Before we get in to what just happened there and whether or not it’s sexist, let’s finish the story.
Now, it is evening, dusk, and the mysterious “they” bring to Jesus everyone who was sick or possessed with demons. And it says “the whole city was gathered around their door.” Can you picture that? So many people crowded around the door to Simon’s and Andrew’s house that you figure the whole town must be there! And Jesus cures many of them and casts out many demons.
Then, shift to the next morning, after all that healing, and before sunrise Jesus gets up and goes to a deserted place. Jesus does pretty good balancing his time between crowds and alone time. So after he heals practically the whole city, he goes to a quiet place where no one else is, and he prays. Except, of course, the disciples go looking for him. Jesus does good finding alone time, but just like little kids pestering their parents, those disciples don’t like to leave him alone and let him have his alone time! So when they finally find him, they say, “Everyone’s looking for you.” It’s kind of like a kid saying, “I found you!” and the parent groans and thinks, “Great, I got 2 minutes of alone time,” but says, “You’re right! You did!” Jesus doesn’t say, “Yup, you found me. Interrupted my prayer time again,” but says, “Let’s go on to nearby towns to proclaim the message there, too, because that’s what I came to do.” And so Jesus continues throughout the region of Galilee, proclaiming the message in the synagogues and casting out more demons. The question that begs of me is: what message did Jesus proclaim? What’s he saying? It couldn’t have been that he died for your sins, because Good Friday hasn’t happened yet. It couldn’t have been that Jesus defeated death, because Easter’s resurrection hasn’t happened yet. Does he continue the message of John the Baptist? Repent and be baptized? Except Jesus doesn’t go around baptizing, he goes around healing, casting out demons, and preaching. Earlier in this chapter, Mark says that Jesus went around Galilee “proclaiming the good news of God and saying ‘the time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.’”[1] But what is the good news? What is the gospel that Jesus proclaimed?
I’ll let you chew on that, because we’re going to go back to all those healings and what happens afterward.
There are three specific responses to healings that I want to focus on this morning. But first let’s pause and acknowledge that Jesus has healed all of us from something. Whether it was a cold or a major disease or a mental issue, we all have struggles Jesus has freed us from. Right? Can we all agree on that? Probably the biggest one that Jesus has healed me of, has freed me from, was to disabuse me of this skewed idea I used to have of marriage. Without going into detail, let me just say that I entered my 20s with an unhealthy understanding of marriage. It was a good thing I didn’t get married in my early 20s. And it took about five years, from when I first realized that something was wrong until I gradually came to understand God’s design and purpose for marriage. And wouldn’t you know, the last piece God used in healing me was my husband. So, let’s start by acknowledging that there has been something in all of our lives that was unhealthy that God made whole. And we’re not getting into how he did it, just that he did. Are we good?
All right, now the next question is how did you response to it? When Jesus heals the ten men with leprosy, only one comes back to thank Jesus.[2] Were you one of the nine who “forgot” to thank Jesus or were you that one who remembered the source of your healing and thanked God for it? Did you respond with gratitude? All of life is a gift from God. All that we have is a gift from God. Even if you earned something by the sweat of your brow, God gave you that brow and that sweat. And the proper response to a gift is thank you. Take a moment and tell God ‘thank you.’
One way to thank God is to put that gratitude into action, and that’s what Simon Peter’s mother-in-law does. She responds to her healing by serving. Yes, she’s a woman serving men, but she’s also a healed child of God serving the Son of God out of thanksgiving for her healing. That paints a different picture, doesn’t it? She responded to her healing with service. She put her feelings of gratitude into action. Have you done that? Have you thanked God for what he’s done for you by doing something for someone else? If you’re looking for an opportunity to serve, we have lots here at the church, whether you like to be around people or behind the scenes, whether you’re skilled with music or with computers, whether you like to be around kids or the young at heart. If what’s missing from your life is service, just contact the church office, Pastor Ken, or myself and let’s chat about what service projects might be right up your alley. But that’s what Simon’s mother-in-law is doing. She’s not serving because that’s her place in life or her duty; she’s serving out of love and gratitude for the one who has the power to heal us all.
One final way is what we do here at the table. We’re sharing a meal. The action of dispersing the bread and the wine we call serving. We celebrate communion in response to God’s action in our lives. We serve in response, we say thank you in response, and we participate at the Lord’s table in response. You don’t have to come up here. Communion is one of two sacraments we celebrate in The United Methodist Church. The other one is baptism. And in both what we recognize and celebrate are outward and visible signs, the water, the bread, and the wine, of God’s invisible grace. This is grace. God healing you is grace. Undeserved love. How will you respond?
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Roots
It took me most of my life to realize I had roots. And only after that did I come to appreciate the importance of roots. I moved an average of every 3 years growing up. Yep, that’s 6 times in 18 years. Roots? What are they? My family didn’t seem to have roots, either. My dad’s parents had retired from NY and moved to GA the year after I was born. In fact, no one lives any more in the town my dad and his siblings grew up in. And that town isn’t the town where my grandparents grew up, either. No roots. My mom’s parents were always living in parsonages around southern NJ, the result of Grandpa being a Methodist pastor. I think their roots were around where my Great-Grandma lived in northern NJ, but still. Those grandparents were always changing houses. What are roots?
As a young adult, I kept moving around. Four years in college included a semester abroad. Two years in grad school in a different town. Two years of teaching in another state. Then to another country. Then back. Roots? Who needs ‘em?
But you know what? My grandparents are or will be buried in the same cemeteries as their parents and a few other relatives. And you know what else? I have a root tendril in that college town, and in that grad school state, and where I taught, and in that other country. I have a tendril in those cemeteries, even though I’ve only visited them maybe twice each in my life.
I remember a conversation in the movie “Sweet Home Alabama” about having both roots and wings. The wings came naturally to me; they’re obvious. The roots I had to search for, learn how to look for, learn to appreciate. However, both are important. Wings need roots for the nutrients they can provide. But roots without wings stagnate, and eventually are forgotten and die.
The roots at Orange UMC go deep. The earliest birth year on a headstone in the cemetery is from 1806 (that I found, anyway). There is history here at Orange. This church has been around a while and seen a lot. One new family came to visit the church precisely because of that cemetery. They said it meant the church had roots and that idea really appealed to them. They wanted a church with roots. But this church has wings, too, as it sends off foreign missionaries and welcomes others, as it sends off youth to college and families who move away and welcomes new members. This church is growing, because of those roots feeding in the nutrients to the wings. We’re going through some growing pains right now, which is normal and painful. We need the roots and the wings and everything in between to get through these growing pains. We need the nutrients and we need the far-reaching vision of the wings. As Paul wrote, the body needs all its members and no one body part is more or less important than any other (1 Corinthians 12:12-27). Please pray for our church as we go through these growing pains.
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