A Note From our Pastor ...
A Meal for the Community May 2018
There is just something about a good meal. Especially when you are hungry. Meat loaf with mac and cheese. Pinto beans and coleslaw. Green beans and buttered cornbread. Onion slices and cantaloupe. Pecan pie and banana pudding. By anyone’s standards, a meal like that has to be called good old comfort food. There is something special about sitting down and enjoying such wonderful fare together.
Jesus knew this. He had been taught it as a boy as he learned the stories of Abraham who hurried to feed his angelic visitors and Jacob who shared a meal with his father-in-law Laban to seal a pact . The act of eating was often more than a matter of nourishing the body; it was imbued with sanctity. Isn’t one of our favorite arguments for inclusiveness that Jesus sat down to eat with tax collectors and prostitutes! Surely it is holy to sit down and share a hot dog with someone who is not like us.
That’s why I have come to truly appreciate the last Wednesday night of each month. People from the community gather together in our fellowship hall to enjoy the sanctity of a meal. We are not all that different. Some may drive a little newer car or have a little bigger home or a little more extra spending money than others. That somehow, does not seem to matter. Over the months, we have come to know and to love one another. The hands that provide and the hands that receive hold together in the love of Christ.
I’m afraid I don’t do my share. The same sweet people come each month. They cook the meat and they serve the potato salad and they wash the pots. They sit at the tables and laugh and sing and eat. I get to just be in the midst of them. Last night, as soon as I walked in, one man motioned for me to come over to the table he shared with his parents. Before I could even sit down, he blurted out – Mama’s uncle died day before yesterday. The funeral’s tomorrow. Then I heard all the details of a man who was taken by a hard life and Alzheimer’s . No sooner had I left them than another couple told me of the health scare the wife had had a few days earlier. God is good. She is OK. Another told me of a need they had that I was able to help them with.
So I got to thinking. Why do these people share these hurts and concerns with me? And it dawned on me that they consider me their pastor. They consider y’all their church family. Could it be that the Fellowship Hall becomes a Sanctuary? Could it be that somehow as it was with the early church, that place becomes holy and the food shared takes on the quality of the bread and the wine?
I am so grateful for this ministry of our church. It is a perfect example of mutual care and love that being in community brings. Thanks to each of you who make it happen month after month. Meatloaf after meatloaf! You are feeding much more than the body. You are feeding the kingdom! There is just something about a good meal!
Grace and Peace
There is just something about a good meal. Especially when you are hungry. Meat loaf with mac and cheese. Pinto beans and coleslaw. Green beans and buttered cornbread. Onion slices and cantaloupe. Pecan pie and banana pudding. By anyone’s standards, a meal like that has to be called good old comfort food. There is something special about sitting down and enjoying such wonderful fare together.
Jesus knew this. He had been taught it as a boy as he learned the stories of Abraham who hurried to feed his angelic visitors and Jacob who shared a meal with his father-in-law Laban to seal a pact . The act of eating was often more than a matter of nourishing the body; it was imbued with sanctity. Isn’t one of our favorite arguments for inclusiveness that Jesus sat down to eat with tax collectors and prostitutes! Surely it is holy to sit down and share a hot dog with someone who is not like us.
That’s why I have come to truly appreciate the last Wednesday night of each month. People from the community gather together in our fellowship hall to enjoy the sanctity of a meal. We are not all that different. Some may drive a little newer car or have a little bigger home or a little more extra spending money than others. That somehow, does not seem to matter. Over the months, we have come to know and to love one another. The hands that provide and the hands that receive hold together in the love of Christ.
I’m afraid I don’t do my share. The same sweet people come each month. They cook the meat and they serve the potato salad and they wash the pots. They sit at the tables and laugh and sing and eat. I get to just be in the midst of them. Last night, as soon as I walked in, one man motioned for me to come over to the table he shared with his parents. Before I could even sit down, he blurted out – Mama’s uncle died day before yesterday. The funeral’s tomorrow. Then I heard all the details of a man who was taken by a hard life and Alzheimer’s . No sooner had I left them than another couple told me of the health scare the wife had had a few days earlier. God is good. She is OK. Another told me of a need they had that I was able to help them with.
So I got to thinking. Why do these people share these hurts and concerns with me? And it dawned on me that they consider me their pastor. They consider y’all their church family. Could it be that the Fellowship Hall becomes a Sanctuary? Could it be that somehow as it was with the early church, that place becomes holy and the food shared takes on the quality of the bread and the wine?
I am so grateful for this ministry of our church. It is a perfect example of mutual care and love that being in community brings. Thanks to each of you who make it happen month after month. Meatloaf after meatloaf! You are feeding much more than the body. You are feeding the kingdom! There is just something about a good meal!
Grace and Peace
April 2018
I attended an event recently where the Bishop of our Conference (Bishop Sue) spoke. I really like her. She always says something well worth hearing…. especially when it comes to the health of the United Methodist Church! One of the things she said was this: The Discipline (that is the “rule book”) of our church is important…… but it doesn’t mean a thing unless you are holding the Bible in the other hand.
This is especially important as we approach Pentecost and the birth of the church. In Ephesians 4, Paul speaks of the church and the need for unity. He says, “You were all called to travel on the same road and in the same direction, so stay together, both outwardly and inwardly.” (The Message) Then the United Methodist Book of Discipline goes on to say, “The ministry of all Christians is complementary. No ministry is subservient to another. All United Methodists are summoned and sent by Christ to live and work together in mutual interdependence and to be guided by the Spirit into the truth that frees and the love that reconciles.”
I’ve been thinking about what all that means. First of all, it is all about Jesus, who is the center of the church. Everything we do and everything we are is because of who he is and what he does. Remember what he taught his disciples to pray? “Thy kingdom come! Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” That means that the church is called to look forward to the kingdom of God to come in full: nothing but love and justice and peace on earth – just like in heaven! That day is coming!
But it is not here yet. We must wait for it. And while we wait, we do our little part not only to hold things together, but also to seek out the kingdom here in this community. For it is here if we look for it! We love. We forgive. We teach. We sing. We work in the kitchen. We worship. We worry about the money. We work in the nursery. We visit the sick. We laugh. We cry. We enjoy one another’s company. We study. We walk forward. We pray. We pray some more. That’s what we do. Together!
Our Book of Discipline shows us exactly (too exact for some!) how to do it – how the church should be organized. Trustees and Finance. Worship and Outreach. Hospitality and Study. Somebody has to unstop the toilets. Somebody has to evaluate the work of the pastor. Somebody has to polish the cross and see to the candles. Somebody has to teach the children.
But it is the Bible that tells the church why we do the things we do. There is one body, one Spirit; one Lord, one faith, one baptism. And speaking the truth in love, we must grow up every way into him who is the head, into Christ. I am so excited to be growing with you! May our prayer be that our love for one another will catch the attention of all who are in our presence. And may our love impress on their hearts a desire to join the family, this family of love in Jesus Christ!
Grace and Peace,
Martha
I attended an event recently where the Bishop of our Conference (Bishop Sue) spoke. I really like her. She always says something well worth hearing…. especially when it comes to the health of the United Methodist Church! One of the things she said was this: The Discipline (that is the “rule book”) of our church is important…… but it doesn’t mean a thing unless you are holding the Bible in the other hand.
This is especially important as we approach Pentecost and the birth of the church. In Ephesians 4, Paul speaks of the church and the need for unity. He says, “You were all called to travel on the same road and in the same direction, so stay together, both outwardly and inwardly.” (The Message) Then the United Methodist Book of Discipline goes on to say, “The ministry of all Christians is complementary. No ministry is subservient to another. All United Methodists are summoned and sent by Christ to live and work together in mutual interdependence and to be guided by the Spirit into the truth that frees and the love that reconciles.”
I’ve been thinking about what all that means. First of all, it is all about Jesus, who is the center of the church. Everything we do and everything we are is because of who he is and what he does. Remember what he taught his disciples to pray? “Thy kingdom come! Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” That means that the church is called to look forward to the kingdom of God to come in full: nothing but love and justice and peace on earth – just like in heaven! That day is coming!
But it is not here yet. We must wait for it. And while we wait, we do our little part not only to hold things together, but also to seek out the kingdom here in this community. For it is here if we look for it! We love. We forgive. We teach. We sing. We work in the kitchen. We worship. We worry about the money. We work in the nursery. We visit the sick. We laugh. We cry. We enjoy one another’s company. We study. We walk forward. We pray. We pray some more. That’s what we do. Together!
Our Book of Discipline shows us exactly (too exact for some!) how to do it – how the church should be organized. Trustees and Finance. Worship and Outreach. Hospitality and Study. Somebody has to unstop the toilets. Somebody has to evaluate the work of the pastor. Somebody has to polish the cross and see to the candles. Somebody has to teach the children.
But it is the Bible that tells the church why we do the things we do. There is one body, one Spirit; one Lord, one faith, one baptism. And speaking the truth in love, we must grow up every way into him who is the head, into Christ. I am so excited to be growing with you! May our prayer be that our love for one another will catch the attention of all who are in our presence. And may our love impress on their hearts a desire to join the family, this family of love in Jesus Christ!
Grace and Peace,
Martha
March 2018
If there was ever a time for giving some serious thought to what all this Christianity/Church stuff is all about, it is this season of Lent and Easter. These days speak to the heart of our faith. This Jesus we love is Emmanuel, God with us. Because of Jesus and his willingness to obey God even way up there on the cross, we know that we are free! Forgiven and free and loved! Just like Christ, we are resurrected people! That means that every day is a new day. Death cannot overcome us. Guilt cannot defeat us. There is always tomorrow in Christ! How in the world do we thank God for a gift like that? For life? Everlasting and amazing! Jesus tells us we cannot do it through obeying some law or doing some thing. We can only do it through love. Love for God. Love for ourselves. Love for others.
That looks like lots of things. Kindness, compassion, grace, forgiveness……. It also looks like sharing the good news with others. At a District Clergy Meeting, we preachers were given a piece of paper. I believe our paying attention to it – REALLY paying attention - would be so pleasing to God!
It is entitled 4 REASONS VISITORS DO NOT RETURN. And it starts: It is not unusual to hear a parishioner say, “We are a friendly church. Why don’t visitors come back?” Well, think about this:
- Inwardly friendly - Lots of churches are friendly……. with each other! Often, during the passing of the peace or greeting time, church members greet each other warmly, but guests are left feeling like outsiders. It is not that people are not speaking to them, but that people are brushing past them quickly, so they can connect with those they know. When this happens over and over again, it makes a visitor feel like and intruder, not a guest.
- Uninspiring worship – Usually, the point of contact for a visitor is worship on Sunday morning. Therefore, there is nothing worse than uninspiring worship. The music (2 verses of each hymn) feels like the congregation has been singing the same hymns every Sunday for a year. There is a sense that folk are there out of obligation and not because they want to experience God’s transforming love and grace. In a worship service where it is obvious even the regulars don’t really want to be present, guests certainly will not feel inspired, and will not come back.
- Vulture syndrome – Sometimes when visiting a congregation, it feels like vultures are waiting to pounce as soon as you arrive. You’ve barely made it through the door and someone is already signing you up as the chair of trustees (just kidding!) BUT, when congregations are struggling to find leadership positions and someone new walks in, it’s as if a target appears on the visitor’s back. Give it a little time! You can always talk later when the guests have become at home.
- No ministries – Even though not on day one, many visitors are interested in using their gifts to make a difference in the community. When there is no outlet for this, they are disappointed. The challenge is magnified when visiting families expect activities for their children.
Martha
