The Best Laid Plans

A week ago Sunday I made a to-do list with five significant items on it. The next Sunday the same list sat there in front of me; I had not done one thing on this important list. How does one explain this? Perhaps it was due to laziness but am usually energetic and compulsive enough to knock a few things off of the weekly list. Was it procrastination since I often hesitate and delay on important things out of some latent form of perfectionism? Actually it was neither of these. What happened was that my older brother died suddenly on that Monday. The important things on that list took a back seat to even more critical family matters. Two things occur to me. First, the most critical things in life are never tasks; the relational things are always bigger. Second, if only I had known my brother would be taken so soon, the lists of the last several weeks would have looked vastly different in my life. I would have called and travelled to visit him as well. In the midst of all of our important tasks it is good to remember our important relationships also.
DMac

The Great Garage Sale

In a recent book, The Great Emergence, author Phyllis Tickle uses an analogy from an Episcopal bishop that I find helpful in these changing times. The Bishop noted that every five hundred years or so the church holds a "rummage sale" in which many of the church's practices are cleaned out. Five centuries ago the Roman Catholics saw the sale lead to the Reformation. Five centuries before that the church divided into East and West in the "Great Schism". Five centuries before that Gregory the Great led a massive change that resulted in the faith being preserved in monastic settings. And five centuries before that....? About 70 ad the Jerusalem temple was destroyed and Chritianity was spreading through homes throughout Asia Minor. Today, 500 years after the Reformation, the church is clearing its attics and parlors again. This can be very unsettling as practices, rituals, and interpretations are challenged, and in many cases, replaced. However, Tickle reminds us that the Faith not only survives these garage sales it grows and its influence expands. So right now our church may seem to be in pain. I am confident that these are birth pains of God doing something new and even better than what we seem to be losing.
DMac

Going Ahead

One of the images that I have found most helpful in recent days is that of God going ahead of the Israelites in their escape from Egypt. The cloud led them by day and the fire led them by night. There was no question that God was with them in the plagues and Passover, but seeing God moving ahead of them might have seemed a new revelation. My recent trip to ancient Asia Minor reminded that God did this in the New Testament as well. I saw some of the 57,000 miles of road that the Romans built before Paul took his missionary journeys down those roads. God had used the pagan Romans to pave the way for the Gospel! In my recent family trials I can see how God has made a way for me ahead of time. My parents became ill in a month when my sermons were almost completely researched and I was even scheduled to be off a Sunday. There were almost no church crises and no funerals--very unusual for January. As I drove down I-37 I realized that not only were the roads paved --so was my schedule. God had given me extra time to spend with my parents. In those times I may not have always noticed God's presence but now I can see God was indeed there--way before I got there!
DMac

Mythbusters II

Another myth exploded in my recent family crisis was the myth of the "prayerful person". I have always thought of myself as a prayerful person who is often in conversation with God. What I discovered in this crisis was that I was, in actuality, a person who prays when he thinks of it. I was surprised to find that prayer had not become second nature to me. Often in these days I found myself going to physicians and siblings before I went to God in prayer. I realize that God often speaks to us through the voice of others: I was just surprised that I made more room for the voice of others than I did for the voice of God. This is surely a result of the upheaval in my life yet it is a danger signal. Pastors and other Christians should be aware of the mistake which Adam and Eve made in the garden (according to Walter Brueggemann): they talked about God (to the snake) rather than WITH God. That being the case it is no wonder that I found myself so disoriented in the crisis. The good news is that God continues to want to be in conversation with me and that I am learning to make space for that conversation even in difficult and busy days.
DMac

Mythbusters I

On New Year's weekend, both of my parents became ill and one was hospitalized. Over the last ten days my brothers and sisters have rotated responsibilities trying to help manage the situation. During this trying time I have learned a few things about myself including the dicovery of myths that I have been living by. The first myth I discovered while trying to assist one parent in the hospital while watching over the other one at home. I found that I could not be two places at once nor could I do things in a way that pleased me and the others involved. Surprisingly, I was surprised by this. Apparently I live in the myth of the "limitless self"-- the sense that I can do any and everything and keep everyone happy. The reality is that we were all created with limitations; even Jesus had to eat, drink, and sleep. Paul told the Philippians that he could do "all things" in Christ, but he did not say we should or even that he did. I believe he was pointing out that Christ's presence helped him cope in the midst of many trials. I am finding that to be the reality that keeps me going as my other myths fall apart.
DMac

2008:The Promise

Looking back on 2008 at AHUMC I saw a number of promising signs:
1) The church really began to understand and live out the importance of Mission in the world with trips to Piedras Negras, The Great Day of Service, Thanks giving Service Sunday, the Hope Center and more
2) Holy Conversations helped us rediscover the passion of our founders for children in need; this is an appropriate way to move in to our 2nd century in 2010
3)We began to rediscover and apply learnings from an even older source-- the Jewish roots of Jesus
There is much to bless God for as we look back at 2008 to prepare for 2009.
DMac

The Wisdom of the Magi

Scholars debate just how wise the "wise men" really were. Some criticize them for putting Herod on to the baby Jesus while others dismiss these magi as Jeanne Dixon types---mere astrologers and quasi- magicians. Still others see them as the real scientists of the day; people who might appear on the stage of a Billy Graham revival. I tend to side with the scientist view. Either way these magi show me a deep truth in Matthew 2:11 when they bow down and worship the baby Jesus. The truth is not just that we should bow down before Jesus-- we certainly should. It is seen in where they bow down. If Jesus is born in a "stable" which is actually a cave in ancient Israel, then these magi are getting their knees, if not their faces, in the sheep manure which would cover the dirt, mud and rock bottom of any cave. The truth I see in this is that if I truly want to worship Jesus I will have to get "dirty"! To worship Jesus means that we get involved in the painful and difficult places of our world on his behalf. We want to worship Him with clean hearts but our feet and hands should evidence that we are working for good in His world.
DMac