Acts 2:1-21 CEB There is a gift to waiting. It is during our time of waiting we need to prepare for the work God is going to give us, and God isn’t going to give us anything we cannot handle. We, on the other hand, apart from God, often give ourselves tasks too difficult for our current state in life. Call it impatience. Call it stubbornness. Call it selflessness to an unhealthy extreme. Whatever you call it, it happens when we choose to take control over and beyond God. If we can honestly live in the waiting period and use that time to prepare, we can expect God to allow great Pentecost type moments to occur. Otherwise, we will only be setting ourselves up to be put in our place. These are moments that look and feel like the wrath of God but is actually God’s love keeping us from taking more than we can bear. Let me explain: First of all, how do I define ‘wrath of God?’ I believe, in my innermost being, that God is a God of love. I do not think love is always an action that feels nice or comfortable. True love for someone or something means wanting the best case scenario for that person or thing. From a parental standpoint, sometimes that means punishing your child, the one you love, so they hopefully learn a lesson and become a better person for it. Sometimes love means keeping someone away from something because they are not mature enough to deal with it correctly. I can remember when my son, Aeden, was a toddler. We were in a small room and I saw him staring at the door knob intently. Curious myself I turned the knob while he was watching and pushed the door open. Closing it again I watched as he put his tiny hands around the knob and opened the door for the first time. At first I was ecstatic that such a young mind could comprehend the mechanics of a door. Then, a moment later I realized we had to finally use the door knob covers. Putting the door knob covers on the doors wasn’t punishing him for his early discovery, but protecting him from the harm that a really young toddler could get into behind those unprotected doors. That is how God is to us. The wrath of God is not a bad thing; it protects us when we are not ready for our own creative ingenuity. One of my favorite ‘wrath of God’ moments happens in Genesis 11:1-9. I am talking about the tower of Babel. In this scripture you have the people of the world working together, being innovative, and just plain being successful. In Genesis 11:1-9 there is nothing negative about what the people are doing. Just like, there was nothing negative about my toddler opening a door. Are you starting to see where I am going with this? What the people were doing wasn’t inherently bad, but what they could do could be catastrophic. Listen to the word of God, "Look, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is only the beginning of what they will do; nothing that they propose will be impossible for them.” Now there are two ways to look at God’s reflection: positively and negatively. You could see the people of the world, working together, would be able to cure all disease, end world hunger, and bring about world peace. You could also see how working together the people could bring desolation, destruction, and the complete end of all things. You had to look at what God was saying in its entirety. It is one thing to have power and it is completely another thing to know how to use it. The people of Babel were apparently not ready for the power they had. Humanity was not ready to handle that kind of power and God saw it. In an act of love, language was confused and the peoples were spread out all over the earth. Now, what I find interesting about this ‘wrath of God’ moment is its similarity to Pentecost. No, Pentecost is not a ‘wrath of God’ moment, but both appear extremely easy to compare to one another. In both scriptures we have a group of people who all speak one language. In both scriptures God chooses to give them multiple languages. In both scriptures, God acts in love. These similarities leave me to believe that the Pentecost story is a restoration of Babel. This wasn’t a complete restoration of Babel. The story does not conclude with every person on earth being able to understand one another’s language. Therefore, this isn't a story where the Apostles are given the gift of one language. God knew, and probably still knows today, we are not ready for that extreme kind of restoration. What is interesting is the Apostles already speak one language for they are all Gentile. Apparently the Gentiles were not ones to pick up on other languages. We should compare these people to ourselves. Most of us don’t take the time to learn anything but American English because even if we go overseas on vacation we would probably find someone who spoke our language. It might not be for lack of want. I am sure many of us would love to know a second or third language. Awhile ago I saw a movie filled with German. I know a decent amount of German and it was nice to follow the actual dialogue without following the subtitles too closely. (But don’t throw me in Germany. I would look for an English translator.) So naturally we are mocked by other foreign countries for only knowing one language. In the same way, Gentiles were also ridiculed. Overall, language is an exclusive thing. Even if we were only to focus on English, what you say and how you say it can determine what social status you hold and what groups would be more likely to include you. Steven Colbert, from the Colbert Report, actually unlearned his Southern accent in order to sound more intelligent. “Y’all,” “You all,” “You guys,” and “Yus Guys” all mean the same thing but each one makes a statement about who and what a person is. Just as “Hello,” “Hola,” “Gutentag,” and ”Bojurno” all mean the same thing but clearly show a national preference. Pentecost begins the path to restore unity again among the nations but doesn’t do it at the cost of individuality. This inclusive group, that all spoke one language in one dialect, was given the gift of diversity. Instead of God making everyone else like them, God made them like everyone else. I read one commentary that suggested Pentecost was a unifying event because the gift came to everyone present and not to specific individuals. While I believe that is the case, I also believe it is an individual event because each person was given the gift of different languages. The scripture never says they all spoke the same alternate languages. It doesn’t specify what languages they were speaking. I believe individuality is directly tied to diversity and through the diversity of the Pentecost moment they were each given individual gifts of language. Maybe I get around to it a different way than some of the most learned Rabbis, but I think the biggest threat God saw in the Babel event was the loss of individuality. God said they could accomplish anything and anything could include the ability to lose the self. A group of people would become mindless robots instead of thriving individuals. The trick to true unity lies in being willing to work with a bunch of individuals. The act of unity requires the inclusion of diversity. So it makes sense that the gift the Apostles receive is further diversification. They are given the gift to be able to reach more people; not the other way around. This week leads up to Pentecost and we need to realize our own Pentecost moment. God is not going to change the world outside so that they can fit in with us. God is not going to make everyone the same so it is easier to get along. Each of us is unique and that is a blessing from God. It is our job to learn their language and go to them. It is our job to include them through their diversity not our own. We have to be the ones who step outside our comfort zone, not the other way around. This is the house of God and this is not just about having the proper welcome mat for our guests and visitors. It is not just about moving the welcome mat to the world wide web so it is easier for guests to learn our language. This scripture should blatently show it is wrong to require others to learn our language of worship in order to learn about God. Instead, God is giving us the ability to learn their language in order to set fire and light up scripture in a new and brilliant way. I think we are done waiting. I think God has a Pentecost moment just for us. Let’s be the Apostles, the ones who go and do. Like what you are reading? Consider subscribing to the right.
Also, consider participating in the bible study starting May 20th. It can be found under the Bible Study tab. Luke 2:22-40 CEB Below text is edited. For complete text click the scripture reference to the left. Expectation and anticipation. Those are difficult words for today's culture to grasp. We live in a society where our answers are no more than a smartphone away. Getting what we want is no further than a 5-20 minutes drive to a super center. I can remember a time when I thought it was cool to get a coloring page from a website and it only took 1-2 minutes for the page to load and just about as long for it to print out. There was a time when people ordered goods from a catalog and maybe 2-3 weeks later the item would arrive. And people saved up their money in tins and jars months in advance to purchase those items. Expectation and anticipation were vitally important once. We replaced those words with immediate gratification. We have trouble living in expectation because expectation means the answers and actions haven't arrived yet. Anticipating leaves us frustrated and anxious. When everything is in one's hands now, 'later' is only something to lose patience over.
Simeon and Anna help us understand the joy in expectation and anticipation. Simeon spent his life anticipating a restoration of Israel. Anticipating is a waiting game. We teach our children a form of anticipation when when start putting presents under the Christmas Tree and tell them they cannot open them until December 25th. That anticipation is only days away while Simeon had to wait a lifetime. Real and good change is difficult to accomplish on a short term scale so it requires anticipation. It is a lesson I am witness to. For anyone who seriously wants to hear my call story I always explain it as the slow and steady path. God has never given me the road side visitation. I haven't been transformed with blinding truth. God's patience has slowly moved me in the right direction. As I look back on my life I see the small moments where God's small still voice has influenced my choices. It took a lifetime to get me to the point where I would be ready to start a church. Yet, when I decided to begin the new church start journey I initially thought it had to be done quickly. I read a book from Nelson Searcy who said church starts should go big, go quick or go home. (My version of his words.) My experience has been different. The pre-launch should go slow, methodical, and with God driven purpose. I feel like I am building something. Everyone who has followed Fig Tree up to this point is experiencing the skeleton. The skeleton is important because it tells the body of the creation how it can and cannot move. The skeleton gives purpose. On March 16th we will finally meet the people who will put meat on these bones and get them moving in ways that are amazing. If I did not have the Simeonesk patience and anticipation, I never would have let the spirit guide my movements to get me this far. Anna lived her life in expectation. I say this because she was a prophet. Anyone who truly thinks they are receiving a message from God does not carry themselves like the plan will not happen. These people are confident in their call. These people can make the 'average' person uncomfortable. They live outside the ordinary into the realm of extraordinary. They know what tomorrow brings but they don't exactly know how it is going to happen. It wasn't that Anna anticipated the possibility of a savior, she expected it. The Gospel writer in Luke liked to pair male stories with female stories, therefore, we have Simeon and Anna. I say, sometimes we need Anna's to help us be like Simeon. We need to hear from people who can expect the truth so we can then anticipate the results. Either way, it is not immediate gratification. Taking the easy way out is almost always the wrong choice. Even if your story is a road side conversion, the work after the blinding light is a lifetime endevore. We need to learn the joy and wonder of the waiting game. If we can stop seeking life in our timing and start accepting it on God's time, we can allow the Spirit to move us to see God's plan. God doesn't always do things quickly. God does things right. 1 Corinthians: 12:12-31 CEB In two months there will be a physical launch of Fig Tree Christian. There will be much to celebrate. Most of the dialogue will be exciting and uplifting. I cannot wait to meet those people I will work on a one on one level. Yet, last Sunday I had a revelation. Pharaoh's heart was hardened. God calls some to participate and calls some not to participate. Some are going to be called to continue on this journey with me and I am going to embrace those connections and what they mean to the trek. Some are going to realize this is not going the direction they are called to go and I am going to rejoice for those people also. They are choosing to follow their God chosen path.
I say this because what I am about to lay out might be one of those moments for you where you are either solidified with what I am saying or turned away. If I could imagine what the Body of Christ looks like today my imagination would not be pretty. I wouldn't see a perfect Adam or Eve. I wouldn't even see an unhealthy person. I would see the hacked up remains of the Body, cut to pieces, laying on the alter of false dreams, ready to sacrifice everything for the sake of nothing. I'm sorry, I can't dumb this down. There comes a time when sugarcoating the truth only spoils the message. That time is when people simply peal off the sugar and throw the medicine out. God connects us in a wonderful way. Before that connection humanity labels and separates us. We are put into boxes. We are a color. We are a gender. We are a social status. Before God those things are barriers. Because I am not [A] I cannot receive [B]. Because I am [C] I get [D]. As a people we like to separate and create clear lines because we can understand clear lines. Yet in our differences God invites us in the same Spirit, a Spirit of love. Love binds us together and turns differences into uniqueness. Love turns random groups of people into community. It is through the Spirit God gives us the gifts we need to be part of the body of Christ. Through the Spirit the recovering addict and the pious priest have equally important jobs to a well functioning body. This is a communal relationship. With the help of God it is not a difficult relationship to be in. Thus enters the problem. We have been taught we can do this without God, and for that empty lesson we have paid the price. Not only have people left Christianity like lemmings jumping to their doom, we have become a movement broken and torn apart. I am not talking about denominational differences. This issue goes beyond when and how people are baptized or whether one believes in a physical Eden or not. The Body of Christ is a symbol of relationship and relationship is our greatest deficit today. We live in a society where it is normal to not know your neighbor and go to a church where you can blend in and not have to interact. When we are hurt or in need it is no longer the community who helps us out. We must become a faceless need to receive faceless help. The connection is lost. Jesus never meant for our charity to become disconnected. When we talk our conversations have turned into an 'us' verses 'them' discussion. We forget Jesus considered all of us, us. So we cut out others. Others cut us out. We cut ourselves out. Now we are not a Body anymore, at least not a functioning one. The question I get asked the most is 'why.' Why am I so drawn to start Fig Tree in Paulding, County, Ga? The answer is, I am called. I know calling is not good enough for many. So- I am called because there are quiet a few churches in Paulding County, but no where that I have found that seeks to speak the unchurched language and use that to share the glorious story of God. I have seen churches try. In the end the skeleton for the service is the same. The language is the same. The choice is between praise or traditional worship. Everything else, is the same. Those who live in Paulding, County and want to attend church can find more than a dozen choices. Fig Tree wants to be the place where the voices can openly be heard and celebrated. Where the broken body of Christ can begin to be pieced back together. Where the truth is fearlessly searched. This educational truth will get the views out so opinion isn't hidden behind innuendo. Because, silence is the first sign relationship is broken. Fig Tree is not here to redo what every other church is doing. Fig Tree is here to be a congregation, a community, a Body of Christ. What will that look like? As those seeking a relationship enter, the look will begin to take shape, for it will be shaped by the people who have yet to enter the doors. But, it will not look like church, in the way we have come to know it over the past 50 years.This will be new and yet, incredibly old. Two-Thousand years old to be exact. Romans 12:5 CEB Yesterday I took a moment to speak from my heart. It was incredibly difficult for me, but I wanted to share.
Luke 21:25-36 CEB HopeA wonderful thing happens when you give up on hope, which is that you realize you never needed it in the first place. You realize that giving up on hope doesn't kill you, nor did it make you less effective. In fact it made you more effective, because you ceased relying on someone or something else to solve your problems — you ceased hoping your problems somehow get solved, through the magical assistance of God, the Great Mother, the Sierra Club, valiant tree-sitters, brave salmon, or even the Earth itself — and you just began doing what's necessary to solve your problems yourself. Derrick Jensen, in Endgame Volume I: The Problem of Civilization, p.332. But what is Hope? Nothing but the paint on the face of Existence. The least touch of truth rubs it off, and then we see what a hollow-cheeked harlot we have got hold of. Lord Byron, letter to Thomas Moore, 28 October 1815, in Byrons Letters and Journals (1975), Vol 4, ed. Leslie Marchand What is hope? Hope passes when there is no longer a future for it to live in. Hope is like a weed because when one loses hope in one area of life it springs up somewhere else. We may want for food, shelter, companionship, but we may always have an abundance of hope. Pastor Melissa Fain -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Our spirituality is rooted in faith. Our faith is grounded in the knowledge we have gained through experience and our understanding of history. Therefore, the bible is the best source we have to learn and grow in Christian faith because it is a collection of accounts of spiritual experiences with God. Love can spring up from our solid grounding in faith. Faith are the roots. Love is the tree. Love is what we can see; what we experience. Love lives in the now. The tree of love is a statement of our current relationship with the divine; with God. Symbolically, this tree is not an evergreen. The writer of Ecclesiastes has it right: there is a season for everything under heaven and earth. There is a season where the tree of love looks full and vibrant, and there is a season where the tree is bare. In both cases love is not gone nor absent. When the tree goes dormant it is because our actions have ceased to produce good fruit. Hope is the future of love. Past acts of love become the faith in which we are rooted and grounded. It is actualized hope that becomes the love which brings outward life to that tree. We tend to hope the most when the tree of love looks the most bare. God gives us this gift of hope because hope are the directions, the map to having a fruitful tree of love. Derrick Jenson and Lord Byron fail to see the purpose of hope. Hope lives in the future. You should not act out hope. As long as faith is rooted in the past, hope is mapped out in the future, and love is present in the now everything will be as it should. Yet people misplace their hope. Instead of acting in love they act in hope. Five-Hundred million dollar lottery anyone? Buying one of those lottery tickets was not acting in love, it was acting in hope. Hope should not be an action word and using it as one is as fruitful as thinking you can win the lottery. Yeah, it is possible, but incredibly, extremely and very believably unlikely. If you read the scripture up at the top of the page you will see that Jesus wants to talk about hope. Hold your heads up. There is something to hope for. Yeah, the tree looks dead, but life is within it. When you see the leaves start to grow on the fig tree you know summer is coming. In the same way there is a future, there is something to work towards and hope for. Yes, the future has anxiety and fear but among that fear and anxiety is hope. For us, during this Christmas season, that hope takes the form of a little baby who was born in a manger. Because this event already happened, we take it on faith. There was a time when people hoped for the coming of Jesus. Many were scared and fearful. Yet, God did not take the form of a judge to smite those who were not part of the fold. God took the form of a baby- innocent and helpless. Today we hope God will come to us in that innocence. Today we can only hope we will be more like the shepherds, staring in awe, and less like Herod, killing all the new babies to keep power. We hope so we can live in the love of God and produce good fruit.
If you know someone, a group, or organization that might want to be partner in helping Fig Tree get on their feet, considering looking through this packet.
I leave you with this thought: Jesus called the Disciples and they stepped up and did their part. We are where we are today because of the work of those disciples. They did their part, now it is time to do our part. Help us. Mark 10:13-16 (Common English Bible) People were bringing children to Jesus so that he would bless them. But the disciples scolded them. When Jesus saw this, he grew angry and said to them, “Allow the children to come to me. Don’t forbid them, because God’s kingdom belongs to people like these children. I assure you that whoever doesn’t welcome God’s kingdom like a child will never enter it.” Then he hugged the children and blessed them. My childhood is filled with trust walks, falls, and group building exercises meant to grow trust within the group. I remember quiet a few of those experiences would end in bruises, bumps, and small cuts when someone would accidently get dropped or walked into a pole. After concluding the activity some counselor director or minister would sit us down and talk about faith in God. I would silently question the connection because it gave the illusion that blind faith only led to a major headache. When I became the counselor, director and minister I learned trust exercises were really less about the connection and more about filling up empty space in between activities.
When it comes to actual blind leaps of faith our perceptions can keep us perched on the ledge. We only have a human understanding of relationships. Therefore, when we consider 'letting go and letting God' we sometimes remember moments we put our trust in a person and that person became distracted, forgetful, jealous, or something else and we just ended up with a big headache. We cannot understand when God wants us to take the leap there is perfect focus and support. If it is God's will there will always be something there to catch us when we leap. I have a confession to make, when I was a child my faith was clearer. I would be like a leaf on the breeze and freely lept when I felt God's call to do so. My faith was only dependent on myself; today I have a husband and two kids. Leaping is now a group effort. It muddies up the water a little. In a way my faith has turned into a three-legged race. Faith becomes a cooperative effort. I have recently learned the trick to this three-legged race: don't forget where the finish line is. As adults we make our connections to people and things allowing ourselves to be pulled in other directions. We lose track of where we were initially heading. Keeping our childlike faith is keeping our focus on the goal. The only difference between healthy childlike faith, and adult faith is you are not leaping alone. If this sounds scary or overwhelming... well, that is usually the feeling the called have before somehow they get the message, "Don't be afraid." I can remember being a kid, watching the MGM's Wizard of Oz. I was transfixed by the characters and their concern for Dorothy. As an adult I have a new fondness for the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and the Lion. Today I am a theologian and my passions tend to follow biblical aspirations. I can look at the Baum classic with new eyes and see how this trio of friends can also be used to understand how we should delve into scripture.
Scarecrow: It would be foolish, being a graduate from a well respected seminary, to suggest we shouldn't think about what we are reading in the bible. As congregants, sometimes we put too much trust in our pastor. The scripture is so rich and complex. We should be discovering it every day in new ways. Ask questions, and use your brain. What did the well look like that the woman and Jesus was standing at? What does it mean that Jesus forgave the criminal on the cross without a baptism? Ask. Seek. Find. Tin Man: Why is it, that churches across the nation, go to read the bible on a Sunday morning and all of them speak in that reverent monotone voice? If the bible is part historical document, there are real emotions and feelings behind the text. Motivations are not just made with the head but also with the heart. We should understand the feelings behind the 5,000+ people at the feeding. We should feel the terror of a woman going to touch the robe of Jesus, or the passion behind Mary washing Jesus' feet with her hair. Lion: Usually we are hindered by our emotional and mental journey though the bible because we don't have the courage to find the truth. We are afraid our belief system might be undone if we delve too deep into the word of God. Remember, courage is not the absence of fear, it is the ability to face that fear in order to do what is right. Remember, when God had a courageous task for someone he had a line for them, "Do not be afraid." I say, I understand why real biblical exploration can be scary, there is nothing to be afraid of. No matter what journey we take, God is there by our side. http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%201&version=CEB
I remember one line from a sermon I heard so long ago I don't even remember which minister I heard it from. He said this, "If you don't feel the pressure from the negative and hostile side you should really question which side you are actually on." This is not a statement for those who cling to the prosperity gospel. (The Prosperity Gospel is a theology of ask and get. God will give abundance to those who follow the right path. One only has to read the outcome of the Apostles of Christ to debunk that theology. Many followed Jesus willingly and most died terrible deaths because they did.) When I think of what this minister said I think of Psalm 1:1. Now CEB, my translation of choice reads The truly happy person doesn’t follow wicked advice,doesn’t stand on the road of sinners,and doesn’t sit with the disrespectful. In this case I am going to put CEB aside and focus on the NRSV which reads: Happy are those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or take the path that sinners tread, or sit in the seat of scoffers. I like the image of a scoffer better than just using the term disrespectful. To me, this verse explains why there is push back when a disciple is headed in the right way. Psalm 1 hits perfectly in line with the hope of Fig Tree Christian, those who are doing God's will receive growth to continue God's work. For those who are not doing God's will they will see their oasis dry up. This truth can make one jealous. It can cause those who do not have God's fruit to scoff those who do. One of the first signs someone is on the right path can actually be a negative reaction. If you don't feel the pressure from the negative and hostile side, you should really question which side you are actually on. For those of you struggling in your faith, don't lose hope. Turn to the stories of others who also struggled, the bible. I will end by quoting one of my favorite singers, Ginny Owens: But You never said it would be easy, You only said I'd never go alone. A few weeks back I was talking with a person who had left their congregation. I asked what made them leave and they said it was the church's stewardship campaign. This particular congregation spent an entire month talking about what monies go to, how they can adjust their spending to give more, and overall fiscal responsibility. Yet, apparently, the focus was not on the bible. The person left because church had become a business instead of a community of believers.
The mainline church is in a funk right now. Most congregations are losing members instead of gaining, and dealing with oversized buildings that are too large for their undersized budgets. They have found the solution is to talk directly to the issue: We need money so let's have a stewardship campaign. We need congregants so let's have a membership campaign. We need programs so let's create programs. In truth the answer has more to do with the spirit and where it dwells. We were spoiled by the 50's. People felt a need back then to be part of something bigger than themselves. All the church had to do was create a nice welcome mat and the people would come. Today, people are being pulled from 20 different directions. Their children have 5-10 school programs they can participate in. They have to pull more hours at work to have the same amount of pay. So many charities are asking for donations and volunteers. Meanwhile, the church sits vacant with a pretty welcome mat. The church has to realize congregants give money to a cause, not a budget. The church has to understand people need a purpose to give their effort and time to. It isn't good enough anymore just to put out a welcome mat and see who walks in. If the spirit is alive and well in the church the programs and money naturally follows. |
Categories
All
Archives
October 2023
|