Thank you, Lyda.
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Showing posts with label mission. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mission. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
PNW Ordination and Commissioning Ceremony - Terrific Sermon
The Rev. Lyda Pierce asks, "Where is God in tragedy?" And, she challenges those being commissioned and ordained to "stand with" those to whom they are sent rather than trying to dive in to try and "fix" the them. You can pick up the sermon at about 14:18.
Sunday, April 29, 2007
"making disciples of jesus christ..."
By and large I don't like the United Methodist mission statement to "make disciples of Jesus Christ." I don't know how to "make" a disciple. As a pastor, I might nurture a disciple, encourage a disciple, or witness for discipleship in my own life, but I don't know how to "make" one. It seems coercive. However, it is the mission statement that we have and I preached on it today (omitting my qualms with the lingo). I don't typically post my sermons. Preaching is a relational experience; reading them does them a disservice. (Perhaps I'll write on that another time.) But, for some reason, I thought that I would post today's sermon on mission...
Our Mission is...
Acts 9:36-43
April 29, 2007, Easter 4C
The Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church, which orders the lives of United Methodists and our institutions, says that our mission is “to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.” It goes on to say, “Local churches provide the most significant arena through which disciple-making can occur.” Yet local congregations spend inordinate amounts of time talking about and trying to discern their purpose. Our denomination takes its purpose from the Great Commission in Matthew where Jesus sends the apostles on their disciple-making mission. And local churches share in that ancient mission. At the very core of our existence is the growing of disciples for Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. That is our purpose pure and simple.
The mission of the emerging church had already begun when Peter travels to Joppa to find Dorcas. In this story we find the mission of the church exemplified in the individuals Peter and Dorcas. Dorcas, probably a deaconess in an early Christian community, embodies good works and mercy. She has focused her life’s work on caring for widows, one of the most vulnerable populations of her day. After an illness, she tragically dies leaving those in her care in an extremely vulnerable position. There they are, gathered around her, weeping and showing the fabrics that Dorcas had made for and with them. Dorcas is the work of the church alive in world, transforming people’s lives in real and tangible ways. Her very name tells us about her love of life, the vitality of her spirit – Dorcas means “gazelle.” In this deaconess, there is a gazelle, bounding through life spreading God’s love concretely in life transforming ways. Peter comes to her; Peter the “rock,” Peter the head of the emerging church. He is fast becoming the leader of the emerging church in all locations. Dorcas is the leader and life of the church in her one location. Peter is becoming the head of the church universal. Together they are making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.
This resurrection story exists in a line of narratives that tell us something about God’s power to transform our world. Acts uses imagery and words reminiscent of the raising of Jairus’ twelve year old daughter in Mark 5. Jesus is summoned to Jairus’ house. He takes Peter, James and John with him. And in the midst of the grief that fills the room, Jesus takes the dead girl by the hand and says, “Little girl, get up.” The work done through Peter in the book of Acts strongly recalls God’s work through Jesus. Peter is Jesus’ heir. And such stories of God’s action of bringing life from the dead don’t originate in the New Testatment. In 1 Kings, Elijah raises the son of the widow, beseeching God to let life return to the child. In the midst of the sorrow that fills not only the room but also Elijah’s heart, he stretches himself over the child and lays upon him and life returns (1 Kings 17:17-24). Later in 2 Kings, Elijah’s protégé Elisha faces the same situation. Called to a house where a little boys has died, Elisha goes it, “shut(s) the door on the two of them and prayed to the LORD. 34 Then he got on the bed and lay upon the boy, mouth to mouth, eyes to eyes, hands to hands. As he stretched himself out upon him, the boy's body grew warm. 35 Elisha turned away and walked back and forth in the room and then got on the bed and stretched out upon him once more. The boy sneezed seven times and opened his eyes” (2 Kings 4:42-47). God’s power is not containable by anything, not even death, and our mission as the church is to be heirs of this tradition by letting this power loose on the world through our touch, our breath, our presence so that life may return to those dead places of our world.
In Dorcas we find the hard work of being Christ’s presence and witness to a particular community day in and day out. Her service over a long period of time made life altering transformation for the women she tended. In Peter we find the challenge of bringing God’s power to many people in many different places. Peter had become a leader of leaders, moving from place to place. He, as the “rock”, became Jesus’ heir, as we see in his participation of raising Dorcas from the dead. In them, in their touch, we find the life of the early church. The church was not and is not only an institution. Rather, the church, when it is faithful in its mission, transforms people’s lives. First, the lives of those gathered in wonder and worship reach out and touch the Holy. Once our hearts have been touched by the power of the living God, then we extend ourselves as vessels of God to the world.
This week The United Methodist Church received a gift that could help us bring transformation into this world. American Idol (a show that I just can’t bring myself to watch) raised over $60 million this past week in a fundraiser for eight different organizations benefiting both The US and Africa. They raised over $60 million. A United Methodist mission was one of the eight. Nothing But Nets is a joint effort of our denomination, the United Nations Foundation, the National Basketball Association’s NBA Cares, Sports Illustrated mag and Major League Soccer’s MLS W.O.R.K.S. Nothing But Nets sends insecticide-treated nets for African children to sleep under. It’s that simple. Its goal is to eliminate the effects of malaria in Africa. The goal is simple, concrete, and attainable. We are being both Peter and Dorcas when we tap into God’s creative imagination to come up with a ministry like this one. We are making real and significant changes in people’s lives over the long run, like Dorcas. And we are being leaders on the world stage, bringing life from places of death, like Peter.
Woodland Park has a world transforming ministry in it. As the local church, it is our holy and sacred mission to transform the Phinney Ridge and Greenwood neighborhoods. As the assembled, hoping to touch the Holy in our own lives, we, like Dorcas, need to reach out to God’s hand extended to us in the form of others when we are floundering, lost, barren, and alone. In our times of death, God is there commanding us to rise as a powerful and faithful witness for others. And, as the church, Dorcas offers us a powerful witness to what being the midst of others can do. We can make real and significant changes in our local neighborhood. It’s true that local congregations can’t do everything; it’s not our mission to do so. It is our mission to persistently and faithfully witness to God’s astounding and life-changing love, day in and day out, for one another and for our world. Our mission is no less than that of the church “to make disciples for the transformation of the world.” Amen.
Our Mission is...
Acts 9:36-43
April 29, 2007, Easter 4C
The Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church, which orders the lives of United Methodists and our institutions, says that our mission is “to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.” It goes on to say, “Local churches provide the most significant arena through which disciple-making can occur.” Yet local congregations spend inordinate amounts of time talking about and trying to discern their purpose. Our denomination takes its purpose from the Great Commission in Matthew where Jesus sends the apostles on their disciple-making mission. And local churches share in that ancient mission. At the very core of our existence is the growing of disciples for Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. That is our purpose pure and simple.
The mission of the emerging church had already begun when Peter travels to Joppa to find Dorcas. In this story we find the mission of the church exemplified in the individuals Peter and Dorcas. Dorcas, probably a deaconess in an early Christian community, embodies good works and mercy. She has focused her life’s work on caring for widows, one of the most vulnerable populations of her day. After an illness, she tragically dies leaving those in her care in an extremely vulnerable position. There they are, gathered around her, weeping and showing the fabrics that Dorcas had made for and with them. Dorcas is the work of the church alive in world, transforming people’s lives in real and tangible ways. Her very name tells us about her love of life, the vitality of her spirit – Dorcas means “gazelle.” In this deaconess, there is a gazelle, bounding through life spreading God’s love concretely in life transforming ways. Peter comes to her; Peter the “rock,” Peter the head of the emerging church. He is fast becoming the leader of the emerging church in all locations. Dorcas is the leader and life of the church in her one location. Peter is becoming the head of the church universal. Together they are making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.
This resurrection story exists in a line of narratives that tell us something about God’s power to transform our world. Acts uses imagery and words reminiscent of the raising of Jairus’ twelve year old daughter in Mark 5. Jesus is summoned to Jairus’ house. He takes Peter, James and John with him. And in the midst of the grief that fills the room, Jesus takes the dead girl by the hand and says, “Little girl, get up.” The work done through Peter in the book of Acts strongly recalls God’s work through Jesus. Peter is Jesus’ heir. And such stories of God’s action of bringing life from the dead don’t originate in the New Testatment. In 1 Kings, Elijah raises the son of the widow, beseeching God to let life return to the child. In the midst of the sorrow that fills not only the room but also Elijah’s heart, he stretches himself over the child and lays upon him and life returns (1 Kings 17:17-24). Later in 2 Kings, Elijah’s protégé Elisha faces the same situation. Called to a house where a little boys has died, Elisha goes it, “shut(s) the door on the two of them and prayed to the LORD. 34 Then he got on the bed and lay upon the boy, mouth to mouth, eyes to eyes, hands to hands. As he stretched himself out upon him, the boy's body grew warm. 35 Elisha turned away and walked back and forth in the room and then got on the bed and stretched out upon him once more. The boy sneezed seven times and opened his eyes” (2 Kings 4:42-47). God’s power is not containable by anything, not even death, and our mission as the church is to be heirs of this tradition by letting this power loose on the world through our touch, our breath, our presence so that life may return to those dead places of our world.
In Dorcas we find the hard work of being Christ’s presence and witness to a particular community day in and day out. Her service over a long period of time made life altering transformation for the women she tended. In Peter we find the challenge of bringing God’s power to many people in many different places. Peter had become a leader of leaders, moving from place to place. He, as the “rock”, became Jesus’ heir, as we see in his participation of raising Dorcas from the dead. In them, in their touch, we find the life of the early church. The church was not and is not only an institution. Rather, the church, when it is faithful in its mission, transforms people’s lives. First, the lives of those gathered in wonder and worship reach out and touch the Holy. Once our hearts have been touched by the power of the living God, then we extend ourselves as vessels of God to the world.
This week The United Methodist Church received a gift that could help us bring transformation into this world. American Idol (a show that I just can’t bring myself to watch) raised over $60 million this past week in a fundraiser for eight different organizations benefiting both The US and Africa. They raised over $60 million. A United Methodist mission was one of the eight. Nothing But Nets is a joint effort of our denomination, the United Nations Foundation, the National Basketball Association’s NBA Cares, Sports Illustrated mag and Major League Soccer’s MLS W.O.R.K.S. Nothing But Nets sends insecticide-treated nets for African children to sleep under. It’s that simple. Its goal is to eliminate the effects of malaria in Africa. The goal is simple, concrete, and attainable. We are being both Peter and Dorcas when we tap into God’s creative imagination to come up with a ministry like this one. We are making real and significant changes in people’s lives over the long run, like Dorcas. And we are being leaders on the world stage, bringing life from places of death, like Peter.
Woodland Park has a world transforming ministry in it. As the local church, it is our holy and sacred mission to transform the Phinney Ridge and Greenwood neighborhoods. As the assembled, hoping to touch the Holy in our own lives, we, like Dorcas, need to reach out to God’s hand extended to us in the form of others when we are floundering, lost, barren, and alone. In our times of death, God is there commanding us to rise as a powerful and faithful witness for others. And, as the church, Dorcas offers us a powerful witness to what being the midst of others can do. We can make real and significant changes in our local neighborhood. It’s true that local congregations can’t do everything; it’s not our mission to do so. It is our mission to persistently and faithfully witness to God’s astounding and life-changing love, day in and day out, for one another and for our world. Our mission is no less than that of the church “to make disciples for the transformation of the world.” Amen.
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
on the blue bayou...my trip to louisiana, part 2
Today I went along with a member of my church as we drove a large truck and trailer of water, bleach, and other sundries to a distribution and recovery site in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana. Camp Hope, on the shores of the Mississippi River, has taken over an elementary school, which is no longer able to educate kids - kids, by the way, who are no longer in the area. Only about 1/3 of the 66k residents have returned to Violet and the rest of St. Bernard Parish. The school is home to several organizations, working side by side to return the parish back to some sense of normalcy. Habitat for Humanity has a hub there. With them serving as an umbrella organization for several smaller work groups, about 3,000 homes have been gutted and repaired. AmeriCorps has its local headquarters here, with AmeriCorps volunteers gutting and demolishing homes, prioritized so that older adults (65 and older) and disabled people get attention first. Camp Hope offers laundry services, meals, water, and showers to returning residents as they work to bring back their lost homes. Today was both a fun day and a very sobering one. I met incredible people from all over the US along with people from Spain, Canada, and some from right there in St. Bernard Parish. People have flown to the area to give everything from a couple of days to several months of their lives to breathe life back into a devasted area.
The differences between downtown New Orleans and the areas just outside of it are incredible. While the French Quarter and the central business district still have work to be done, electricity is dependable, water is potable (and reliable), and the sewage system works. Tourists may not be as thick along the sidewalks as in past years, but they roam the streets buying wares from vendors and acting as good patrons to local musicians. But move away from this semi-restored area and you find trucks tossed upside down, houses moved off of their foundations, plugged sewage lines, boarded business fronts, and abandoned neighborhoods. Healing has yet to come full force into the region. It's easy to believe that life has returned to normal down there because uber-businesses and hotel, hardware, and restaurant chains with great capital have been able to rebuild, but life is far from normal. Much of the area near Lake Pontchartrain and in lower lying areas near the Mississippi River look like they did just over a year ago, except the water has receded. Big X's still mark the houses indicating the rescue group, the date, and how many dead were found inside. It is a stark reminder that those without financial means are once again left to fend for themselves in a world of abundance. In one way I hope the yellow water mark that runs along the sound barriers beside the freeways is left there. It marks more than the eight feet of water that has since been forced back into the sea. It marks the ongoing reality of injustice and the struggle to find home that so many around the world face every day.
I want to thank fellow United Methodist John from Ohio for giving me a tour of Camp Hope. I also want to thank all of the volunteers there - Habitat folks, AmeriCorps workers (getting things done!), and all at Camp Hope. Your work may seem thankless and endless, but it is important. Your 300,000 work hours have made a tremendous difference in people's lives. I want to thank UMCOR's Sager Brown Depot for sending the supplies that they can to help folks out as they struggle to rebuilt.
Here is one thing that I learned today that needs to change: After asking where all of the debris goes after houses are gutted, I was told that the federal government, through FEMA, pays for 100% of the removal. Trucks come by, pick up the debris, cart it out of town and dump it. Makeshift landfills are being made all of the time. However, this will end as of December 31, 2006 when FEMA will pay 90% of the debris removal. While this may look generous on paper, it's the same as telling me that I can have 10% off of a 20 million dollar mansion. When you don't have it, you don't have it. Neither St. Bernard Parish nor the people who live there can pay for debris removal. As a result, AmeriCorps plans to cease its gutting work at the end of the year and work on construction. This means, in essence, that gutting will no longer happen after the end of this year. This needs to change. If we can fund two wars and a bridge to nowhere, we can fund 100% of the debris removal. It's preposterous to think otherwise.
Well, after this little rant, I need to head off to vespers. A group of Texas that is also staying at the Sager Brown Depot is leading us in worship this evening. I look forward to what they have to offer as we prepare to end the day and begin our evening...
The differences between downtown New Orleans and the areas just outside of it are incredible. While the French Quarter and the central business district still have work to be done, electricity is dependable, water is potable (and reliable), and the sewage system works. Tourists may not be as thick along the sidewalks as in past years, but they roam the streets buying wares from vendors and acting as good patrons to local musicians. But move away from this semi-restored area and you find trucks tossed upside down, houses moved off of their foundations, plugged sewage lines, boarded business fronts, and abandoned neighborhoods. Healing has yet to come full force into the region. It's easy to believe that life has returned to normal down there because uber-businesses and hotel, hardware, and restaurant chains with great capital have been able to rebuild, but life is far from normal. Much of the area near Lake Pontchartrain and in lower lying areas near the Mississippi River look like they did just over a year ago, except the water has receded. Big X's still mark the houses indicating the rescue group, the date, and how many dead were found inside. It is a stark reminder that those without financial means are once again left to fend for themselves in a world of abundance. In one way I hope the yellow water mark that runs along the sound barriers beside the freeways is left there. It marks more than the eight feet of water that has since been forced back into the sea. It marks the ongoing reality of injustice and the struggle to find home that so many around the world face every day.
I want to thank fellow United Methodist John from Ohio for giving me a tour of Camp Hope. I also want to thank all of the volunteers there - Habitat folks, AmeriCorps workers (getting things done!), and all at Camp Hope. Your work may seem thankless and endless, but it is important. Your 300,000 work hours have made a tremendous difference in people's lives. I want to thank UMCOR's Sager Brown Depot for sending the supplies that they can to help folks out as they struggle to rebuilt.
Here is one thing that I learned today that needs to change: After asking where all of the debris goes after houses are gutted, I was told that the federal government, through FEMA, pays for 100% of the removal. Trucks come by, pick up the debris, cart it out of town and dump it. Makeshift landfills are being made all of the time. However, this will end as of December 31, 2006 when FEMA will pay 90% of the debris removal. While this may look generous on paper, it's the same as telling me that I can have 10% off of a 20 million dollar mansion. When you don't have it, you don't have it. Neither St. Bernard Parish nor the people who live there can pay for debris removal. As a result, AmeriCorps plans to cease its gutting work at the end of the year and work on construction. This means, in essence, that gutting will no longer happen after the end of this year. This needs to change. If we can fund two wars and a bridge to nowhere, we can fund 100% of the debris removal. It's preposterous to think otherwise.
Well, after this little rant, I need to head off to vespers. A group of Texas that is also staying at the Sager Brown Depot is leading us in worship this evening. I look forward to what they have to offer as we prepare to end the day and begin our evening...
Monday, November 20, 2006
on the blue bayou...my trip to louisiana, part 1
UMCOR. Be There. Be Hope. This is the slogan for the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR).
Seven members of my church and I have come to the shores of the Bayou Teche to the Sager Brown Depot in Baldwin, Louisiana for a few days to work at UMCOR's Depot. United Methodists across the nation send items to be distributed to people around the world who have experienced a disaster in their lives. We arrived here last night after a day in New Orleans, and we began our work in earnest this morning.
Going on a mission trip is always a dicey deal. Will you get along with one another? Will the trip enhance people's connection to the ministries that our dollars support? Will our presence actually be helpful or not? Youth mission trips are quite different from adults trips; this is a group of only adults. It's my hope that they will find positive responses to the questions above and begin to reflect upon this one: "If we begin with the premise that the world and all that is in it belongs to God, how am I to be while on this earth?" It's my hope that we can move beyond the normal fears and anxieties that accompany any trip taken to a new place with people who are not family and delve into deeper questions of our connection to the world and to one another.
Seven members of my church and I have come to the shores of the Bayou Teche to the Sager Brown Depot in Baldwin, Louisiana for a few days to work at UMCOR's Depot. United Methodists across the nation send items to be distributed to people around the world who have experienced a disaster in their lives. We arrived here last night after a day in New Orleans, and we began our work in earnest this morning.Going on a mission trip is always a dicey deal. Will you get along with one another? Will the trip enhance people's connection to the ministries that our dollars support? Will our presence actually be helpful or not? Youth mission trips are quite different from adults trips; this is a group of only adults. It's my hope that they will find positive responses to the questions above and begin to reflect upon this one: "If we begin with the premise that the world and all that is in it belongs to God, how am I to be while on this earth?" It's my hope that we can move beyond the normal fears and anxieties that accompany any trip taken to a new place with people who are not family and delve into deeper questions of our connection to the world and to one another.
The United Methodist Church has its set of problems. It can be just as disingenuous and hypocritical as any other organization, but UMCOR is the heart of goodness in our denomination. Through the work of UMCOR, we find a commonality in purpose of making God's world a better place for all people regardless of nationality, ethnicity, race, class, or belief system. I think the UMC "does" Christianity much better than talk about it. I wish more younger people - even those younger than me - would discover UMCOR and its work. It's a great thing. It's in 88 countries doing everything from delivering necessary items for basic needs to teaching people how to farm in a sustainable way.
My break is just about over and I need to go prepare for evening devotions. The quiet of the area can be as overwhelming as the scope of the work that gets done here. The depot is quite a way from any town, much less a town of any real size. Backing onto a bayou and with nothing in sight, there are no shops, no bars, no movies, no distractions. It's a great challenge to sit under a tree and read a book, go to bed early, rise and work all day to make our shipments ready for use here in the US and around the world. Occasionally, a group may head into town for a work project, but work ends around 3:30 PM. So...back I go to prepare myself for devotions...
This photo accompanies several others in a photo gallery by Paul Jeffrey on UMCOR's website.
For more information about UMCOR, the website can be found here.
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