Without Fear

Dear Friend of Burke UMC,

In our funeral services there is the line, “In the midst of life we are in death.” I can’t claim to fully understand this, but the last 24 hours have brought me a new perspective.

Yesterday afternoon I went to the home of a woman (not from our church) who knows she will not live much beyond Christmas, if that long.  This morning I was visited by a woman whose husband died suddenly just yesterday.  This was her first morning without him in her world in 47 years.  This afternoon a brief conversation with a woman approaching the second anniversary of her son’s death.

These women have given me a glimpse into the reality that some of us, in the midst of the world’s ongoing pace, are facing and feeling keenly the reality of death. “In the midst of this ‘real world’ of ours, part of us lives closely with the inevitable reality of death,”

It was this way for Jesus, too.  Long before he began his Last Supper and journey to the cross, he lived his whole life in preparation for his death. “The Son of man is destined to suffer grievously,” he said, “and to be put to death.” Peter tried to contradict him. “No, Lord, this must not happen to you.” Yet Jesus responded with words that imply that Peter’s reaction – to deny the reality of death – is supremely dangerous:  “Get behind me, Satan!”

Henri Nouwen reminds us that the person who wants to lead a spiritual life cannot do so without facing clearly the prospect of suffering and death.  But only the faith of Jesus enables us to do that without fear. Jesus showed that suffering and death do not bar the way to new life – they have become through him the very way to it.

I am touched this afternoon by these women. None of them complained or shook their fist at God. Each of them was thankful for life, and each grateful to God. Each of them had a matter-of-fact-ness about death – not denying its pain but accepting its presence and anticipating.  And each was trusting in God for the gift of new life that is far more than we can ever ask or imagine.

That acceptance is a hallmark of the life lived close to God – the kind of life that truly matters. 

Grace and peace,

Larry

Dear Burke UMC Friend,

Our LifeSign Music and Worship Leader Kishore Carey shared with me today a wonderful analogy about God’s love for us that I wanted to pass along.

Look at a $20 bill.  I have one in front of me – says “The United States of America” in several places and “Legal tender for all debts” as well. The government declares its worth as $20. 

So how much is a crisp fresh bill worth?  Twenty dollars.  Now how much is an old worn $20 bill worth?  Twenty dollars.  What about if it’s crumpled?  Or torn?  Or stepped on & dirty?  How much is it worth then?

Twenty dollars. 

The bill has its value not by its condition but by its maker.  Its worth stays constant because it has the promise of the United States government written on it, backing it up and guaranteeing its value. As long as the bill exists, its condition cannot affect its value.

God’s love for us works the same way.  You and I have our value not from our condition but from our Maker.  Our worth stays constant because we have the promise of God written on us, a promise that backs us up and guarantees our value forever.  Our condition does not diminish our value.

Sometimes you may feel fresh and new, and other times old or worn.  You may feel crumpled at the hands of the world, or torn, or stepped on or dirty.  Remember, then, that your condition does not diminish your value!  You are still of infinite worth in the eyes of God, the One who made you and the One who redeems you.  Through Jesus Christ God can clean you, straighten you, smooth you and put you back in circulation.

Interestingly, Jesus usually does this in community.  It’s when we worship together and pray together, sing and listen together, share the bread and cup together, that we feel the renewing power of the Lord. The community of the crumpled-and-cleaned can speak God’s word to you in a powerful way. 

Join us for LifeSign worship Saturday evening or on Sunday morning as well. I hope you’ll feel anew the eternal worth you have in the eyes of God.

Grace and peace,

Larry

Hope & Possibility Always Abound

Dear Burke UMC Friend,

Not long after the tragedy of September 11, 2001, pundits and politicos began talking about the inevitability of more attacks.  Do you remember?  The repeated phrase was, “It’s not a matter of if, but when.”  Our natural impulses of caution and attentiveness were fanned into deep suspicion and fear.

That was wrong.  You could call it “terrorism” of its own stripe, fanning the flames of fear and anxiety among a people desperate to hope. It was wrong even then to pronounce some particular dismal future for America inevitable.    Declaring a particular vision “unavoidable” made a mockery of God, God who alone shapes the future, God who makes all things new. 

Charles Allen is right: “When you say a situation or a person is hopeless, you are slamming the door in the face of God.”

No, we won’t be naïve, but hope and possibility always abound. And ten years on we give thanks that no repeat attacks have occurred.

That’s why we can practice hospitality!  Hospitality puts out the welcome mat to the future. Hospitality is placing our trust in God and opening the door to receive, without fear, what each fresh day can bring.

Hospitality is central to our faith.  God is open-hearted and spread-armed, working for good in all things, working to bring blessing to the human race. God’s radical hospitality to the world is discovered in Jesus Christ.  From birth to death and beyond, Jesus says, “Welcome.  Welcome to the joy of resurrection life.”

We are set apart as a people of hope.   Sometimes that hope is counter-cultural, but it’s always Biblical.

Welcome!

Grace and peace,

Larry

Dear Burke UMC Friend,

Wasn’t sure what to pass along today, so I followed the discipline our ancestors often used to receive a word from the Lord.  I got out my Bible, opened it, let my finger land on a verse, and read. 

I got Proverbs 21:2:  “All deeds are right in the sight of the doer, but the Lord weighs the heart.” 

I wonder how much our taking that to heart would change our conversations!  “All deeds are right in the sight of the doer.” 90% of our arguments with each other are trying to justify the rightness of what we did to someone who doesn’t see it the same way.  It seems like 90% of our political dialogue is the same thing. If we could recognize that that’s what we’re doing and stop there, there would be time and room for some constructive conversation. 

Seeking God’s presence, or understanding God’s will, is sped along when we recognize that our first impulse is often simply a self-serving one. We need to be able to chuckle at ourselves.  Then we need an arbiter with a larger perspective.  

The apostle Paul knew that same hard truth.  He protests the Corinthians’ accusations against him by saying, “I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted.  It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore do not pronounce judgment … before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart.”

In our disagreements and arguments, we can watch for how much we’re simply arguing the rightness of our deeds.  How much harder – and more helpful – it is to open ourselves to the honest and humbling light of God. The God who was most vulnerable in the person of Jesus Christ can help us see a higher perspective.  The Spirit of humility in Jesus Christ can help us find the truth that’s larger than our version of reality.

In other words – God doesn’t want us so full of what’s right that we can’t do what’s good.

May the Lord bless and guide your conversations today.

Grace and peace,

Larry

Hearts Are Everywhere

Dear Friend of Burke UMC,

You've certainly put your heart into it! Thank you. Hearts are everywhere.

We've been reminded over these past few weeks that Extravagant Generosity is "The Heart of Giving." Since generosity comes from the heart, we've been filling the church entryway with your Heart Cards.

You've noted generosity in action - you've named who's inspired you to be generous - and you've shared your visions for Burke Church. Your heart-felt answers are like streamers of love cascading down the entryway walls. Come and see. And thank you.

This Sunday we're ready to put it all together.

But we've had a glitch.

We mailed out the Extravagant Generosity packets quite a while ago. We'd assumed that you had already received the large white envelope earlier this month. But we just learned from the Post Office this morning that our mailing was held up by November's many political mailings. This means a lot of you haven't yet received your Generosity Packet. They finally went out yesterday, and you should receive them today or tomorrow.

So this weekend will be just the beginning of our "Extravagant Generosity" Response Weekends. There'll be time in all of our services to bring forth your Called to Serve commitments and your Estimate of Giving cards. We'll do it again next weekend as well.

And we're so very grateful for your doing this.

In fact, we've already received significant commitments from our church leadership! Over two dozen members wanted to give early and have done so generously. They have pledged a total of $154,140 for 2012, which is about 13% of our anticipated need next year.

Their generous gifts average $6,165.60 yearly, or just over $500 a month. This is extravagant giving indeed!

I hope you'll join them in participating in the joyful work of Burke Church. Jesus Christ welcomes your hands and your heart, your time and your giving. There's no better way to say Thank You to God.

See you this weekend!

Grace and peace,



Pastor Larry

A Snail's Pace

Dear Burke UMC Friend,

My current favorite joke is about two snails that were standing on the side of the road. A turtle stopped and said, "Do you guys want a ride on my back"? One of the snails took him up on his offer and off they went.

As the turtle reached the intersection, another turtle came along and crashed into him. The poor little snail was thrown and killed. A cop investigating the accident began questioning the dead snail's buddy. "Did you see it? What happened?" he asked.

The little snail replied, "I don't know, it just all happened so fast."


So it is sometimes with the ways of God. One of the lessons I learn from history - cosmic history, world history, Christian history - is how large the canvas is on which God paints. It is immense, stretching through eons of time, with each brush stroke moving at its own pace but rarely at a speed which our eyes can detect.

God surely answers prayer - it's just often at what we might call a snail's pace. "When will the job come through? How long before I meet someone? When will my heart stop hurting? What's the purpose, God, behind all this waiting? How long?" No one has answers to these questions.

It nearly always takes longer than we want before the answers come, before the new image begins to emerge. Then we understand that God's silence is not God's absence. God has been working all along, it just happens at a snail's pace. And it's the journey itself that's the goal, not just the arriving.

The poet Rainer Maria Rilke wrote to a seeking soul,
Have patience with everything unresolved in your heart and to try to love the questions themselves, as if they were locked rooms or books written in a very foreign language. Don't search for the answers, which could not be given to you now, because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer.

Enough of life comes at breakneck speed. Live the questions now. God may be slow, but He's always right on time!


Grace and peace,

Pastor Larry

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