e-piphanies

One Voice!

I just returned from the Diocese of Kansas Gathering of Presbyters.  We met at a very nice Roman Catholic retreat center in Wichita from noon Monday until noon Thursday.  Shortly after we convened on Monday afternoon, one of our presbyters told us that she and her husband were observing their wedding anniversary.  She asked us to sing a stanza of I Can't Help Falling In Love With You into her mobile phone as their home answering device was recording her call.  The idea was that her husband would receive the message with our singing when he arrived home after work.

Today, she told us the result of that call.  It seems her husband was very tired when he arrived home and he'd listened to the message with the singing but didn't think too much about it.  She had left another message explaining that the singers were her fellow presbyters.  He did not hear the second message.  Later in the evening, after he rested awhile, he returned to the voicemail and listened to the explanatory message.  He called her and told her that, not having had the explanation before he heard the song, he thought she had held her mobile phone near a CD player with the music playing on it.  He was very touched and amazed when he learned it was actually about fifty presbyters singing the song.  He said, "I thought it was one voice."

One Voice!  A metaphor for Christian unity!  An affirmation of the unity and collegiality we share!  A testimony to the tether of the Spirit drawing us together.  A sign of promise for our Church when her priests are able to join their voices into one!  A relief from the discordant tones we've heard so often! Distinctly different voices wondrously joined into one!

One Voice!  May our song continue and may many others join the chorus!  I am grateful for the experience of collegiality of these priests and Bishop Dean Wolfe who shepherds us.

What's wrong with being a "volunteer?"

Some people have noticed that I prefer not to use the word "volunteer" in the church.  Perhaps it seems a little picky on my part, but the words we use are important.  Sometimes, we need to stop and reflect on our choice of words and consider whether there are other words that better describe the meaning we intend to convey.  There are times when our vocabulary needs to change to fit our beliefs and convictions.  In the church, it is useful for us to have a common vocabulary that reflects shared beliefs, shared values, and shared calling.

So, what is wrong with "volunteer?"  America certainly could not get along without volunteers and I often serve as a volunteer.  In fact, tonight I am going to be a volunteer sitting on a board of review for a young man who has completed the requirements to become an Eagle Scout.  Some people volunteered to do that for me long ago.  I recently volunteered to participate in the C.R.O.P. walk.  My resume contains a long list of volunteer activities in which I have enthusiastically participated through the years.  I am a big believer in being a volunteer.  There is nothing wrong with being a volunteer.  In fact, there is something wrong with not being a volunteer.

However, our roles in the Body of Christ have different meaning and significance.  To volunteer is to choose to become involved in something because we agree with the cause and decide to participate.  Our life in Christ is not based upon our choice but upon our having been chosen.  Jesus said, "You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another" (Jn. 15:16-17).  So, whatever we do in the service of Christ, in or out of the church, is because we have been chosen, called, and appointed by Christ, not because we "volunteered."  Yes, the human will is involved.  But it is involved in a distinctly and qualitatively different way.

Picky?  Maybe.  But to be a disciple, a missionary, a minister, a member of "a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people" takes each of us beyond volunteerism.  Through Baptism, we have been incorporated into Christ's Body.  Think with me about that.  Did your eye volunteer itself into its socket?  Did your heart decide to take on its purpose in your breast?  Does your hand decide to carry out the tasks assigned to it?  We have an organic relationship with Christ and with the other members of his Body.

It is good to be a volunteer.  Our world is a better place because of volunteers.  But when it comes to our role as followers of Jesus Christ, the word "volunteer" is inadequate to describe the magnitude and wonder of that vocation.  "Volunteer" just doesn't go far enough to get the job done.  As Christians, more is given to us and more is required of us.

Read more about our amazing vocation in the 12th Chapter of the Letter to the Romans.

Autumn Saturday Afternoon in Kansas

The apartment in Lawrence is 1/2 mile south of the Kansas Turnpike (I-70).  When you cross over to the north side, you are in the country.  I took a four mile walk there today.  The sky was cloudy and the temperature was in the mid-fifties.

My eyes literally drank in the wonders of the pastoral scene: mown fields, pastures with grazing black angus cattle, maples, oaks, and other hardwoods sporting their new autumn foliage, a scissortail flycatcher, a flock of starlings, small raptors circling overhead, a tiny field mouse, two large hawks sitting on limbs contemplating the fresh catch of the day (which could be the little field mouse if he's not careful), Dunkard farmers and their families, silos, barns full of hay, farm houses, and ponds with gentle ripples on them.

It was a feast for the eyes and a massage for the soul. To think that I am privileged to share the creation with all of them is humbling.  Thanks be to God.

An Autumn Epiphany

This morning I spent time in iChat with a young friend whose world has been turned upside down.  A widow at twenty-five, alone in a cold city far from home, she wonders if the long future ahead of her will only bring more disappointment and she questions God's purposes.  She would not be normal if she didn't have those fears and doubts.  She is too smart to settle for simplistic answers to life's complex riddles.  I suggested a wonderful church and a wise woman who is a priest there.

When she was ten years old, someone took a photo of us in front of the Altar of the church where I was her pastor.  I've kept it near the chair where I read my paper and say my prayers every morning.  If all the prayers I've prayed for her during these fifteen years were deposits in her account, she should have an impressive balance.  They are not deposits in that sense, but they are examples of the ways God uses the people in our lives to create intricate, complex structures, systems, and networks to work for our welfare in mysterious ways and at times when we are completely unaware.

Later in the day, I visited a retired priest who is in the hospital.  He told me that he had a lot of experience in dealing with the pain of others, but not much in dealing with his own pain.  He's been there through the years for so many people and now he needs to lean on us.  I pray that God will use us as a source of grace and comfort for him.

Leaving the hospital, I saw a bird's nest carefully attached to the limbs of a tree near the entrance.  I've passed it numerous times before but have never noticed it because it was hidden by the leaves of the tree.  It is autumn now and the leaves have fallen away, revealing this masterwork anchored there by a pair of birds to make a safe home for their young ones.

Seeing this nest and reflecting on my time with these two friends in need, this thought came to me:  Those sturdy gracious structures that nurture and protect our fragile lives are often hidden in verdant times, to be revealed to us only when the sky turns gray, the winds blow cold, and the days grow short.

If the Creator of all things makes such abundant provision for baby birds, how much more is in store for us!  We must never forget that by the grace of God there are others who are hidden from our sight but who are quietly working on our behalf, loving us through their prayers and hopes.

Don't forget to remember!

During Morning Prayer, we often pray A Collect for Guidance:

Heavenly Father, in you we live and move and have our
being:  We humbly pray you so to guide and govern us by
your Holy Spirit, that in all the cares and occupations of our
life we may not forget you, but may remember that we are
ever walking in your sight; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Some days, I wonder if the reason it is so difficult for the Church to attract the attention and devotion of her people is because our busyness causes forgetfulness.  Has our generation forgotten God?  Or, is it that, given all the other things we have to remember, we just don't think of God that often.  Maybe we are "practical atheists."  By that I mean, we believe in God but don't allow God to have that much to do with our lives.

What does it teach our children when we never forget an athletic event but don't remember to be present for worship and Sunday school?  What does it say about our values when we leave a 15% tip on the table at the restaurant but balk at the idea of 10% for God?  What does it say about our integrity when we have time for the news, weather, and sports but not for daily prayers?

Do we just forget to remember God?

If so, we're not the first generation to do so.  People forgot to remember God after the death of Joshua and his generation. "Moreover, that whole generation was gathered to their ancestors, and another generation grew up after them, who did not know the Lord or the work that he had done for Israel" (Judges 2:10).

This is not a rant about making America a "Christian nation" or about how bad people are.  It's a reminder to myself to rearrange my life so that the Lover of my soul is not left out and life can be what it is meant to be.  I'm missing so much when I'm not trying to see the world and the people around me as God sees.  I want to please those I love.  I want to please God.  But without God, I cannot please him.

So, today, I invite you to pray with me to God, "...that in all the cares and occupations of our life we may not forget you, but remember that we are ever walking in your sight."

Worth Reading: "Captives to Comfort"

A United Methodist colleague, Dan Dick of Wisconsin, writes about change, without which growth can't happen, in his blog post, "Captives to Comfort."  I commend this to anyone who dares to speak the phrase, "We want our church to grow."  No honest discussion of church growth can avoid addressing these issues.

The Best Things in Life

Bumper Sticker Theology

"The best things in life aren't things."

I saw this bumper sticker yesterday on a car that was driving along Broadway in Galveston, where, a year ago, "things" pulled from homes and businesses were piled high on the curb after Hurricane Ike.  People, relationships, values, purpose, beliefs, visions, and all the "best things" increase in significance when we are liberated from our possessions.  It doesn't have to take a calamity.

Holy Conversations

What comes to mind when you hear the expression "Holy Conversation?"  Do you think of sanctimonious people talking about loving Jesus?  Do you think of participation in a Bible study or prayer group?  Do you think of a conversation with a spiritual director?

A "Holy Conversation" might be any of those things.  However, I'd like to suggest one other way of thinking of a conversation as "holy."  A "Holy Conversation" might be any purposeful conversation we have with another person in which we mutually strengthen, uplift, and encourage one another in a relationship with God. Conversations among the followers of Jesus are nothing new!  Jesus had some things to say about the tone and content of such conversations.

The disciples were having a conversation with one another as they followed Jesus toward his base of operations in Capernaum.  Actually, it was more of an argument than a conversation.  That's what Jesus called it; an argument.  "What were you arguing about on the way?" he asked them.

They were silent because they had been arguing about who would be greatest when Jesus established his reign.  Those who were closest to Jesus just didn't understand the kind of ruler he intended to be.

Jesus didn't scold them.  He gently turned the argument about power, privilege, and authority into a  "Holy Conversation" about servanthood.  He not only talked to them about servanthood, he demonstrated what it looks like.  "Then he took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms, he said to them, 'Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.'” (Mk. 9:36-37)  The King of the Universe became the servant of a child!  See?

That's what what can happen when a conversation turns "holy."

How Salty Are You?

Jesus said, "Salt is good; but if salt has lost its saltiness, how can you season it?  Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another." (Mk. 9:50)  Commenting on this passage, Robert Schuller once said, "Christians need to be just salty enough to make others thirsty."

The point of this passage and of Dr. Schuller's commentary is that a relationship with Jesus Christ provides a quality of spirit for us that we can't get anywhere else,  that causes other people to know something profound has happened to us, and draws others to the source.  Something about Jesus has rubbed off on us and it is obvious.  Not obnoxious, but obvious.  One might describe it as something so desirable and valuable that we'd go out of our way to find it and spend any amount to obtain it. When we have it, it adds flavor to our lives and the lives of those around us.  When it is not there, something is missing.

Because of our faith, we bring an important ingredient to the world and to the culture in which we live.  Instead of simply being consumers, we are called and gifted to be contributors.  We influence the way things are instead of simply "going along to get along."  Our life in Christ makes us salty and our saltiness gives flavor wherever we go.

I've known some salty Christians in my life.  My grandfather was one of them.  In his retirement, he made several trips to the corner store every day to buy groceries.  He walked.  When I was visiting my grandparents, he would usually invite me to go along.  I enjoyed those walks but wondered why he didn't just get organized, make a list, and get the shopping done in one trip.  Then, one day a friend who lived on my grandparents' street told me at school that she always looked forward to seeing my grandfather because he would stop and talk.  She said he always took an interest in her and made her feel happy.  His multiple walks to the corner store were not arranged for practicality, but for fulfilling his calling to touch the lives of people along the way.  My grandfather was a salty Christian!  I hope I can be as salty as he was.

How salty are you?

Remembering 9/11

The Most Rev'd Frank Griswold, former Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, wrote this prayer in remembrance of September 11, 2001.

"God the compassionate one, whose loving care extends to all the world, we remember this day your children of many nations and many faiths whose lives were cut short by the fierce flames of anger and hatred. Console those who continue to suffer and grieve, and give them comfort and hope as they look to the future. Out of what we have endured, give us the grace to examine our relationships with those who perceive us as the enemy, and show our leaders the way to use our power to serve the good of all for the healing of the nations. This we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord who, in reconciling love, was lifted up from the earth that he might draw all things to himself. Amen."