Epiphany, Age 5

Spooked

The theophany occurred in the basement of the home of

William Jennings Bryan,

which by then had been converted

into a daycare center for the children of

the staff of Bryan Memorial Hospital.

I was in the play room by myself,

surveying the toy kitchen appliances,

the plastic food and dinnerware,

content with my aloneness

because I knew I really wasn't,

God was here and would be my playmate.

As soon as the belief was thought,

I sensed a presence start to move towards me,

from beyond the cinderblock wall to the West.

Suddenly, the room’s atmosphere felt weighty,

as if an intensifying thundercloud was drawing nearer,

the worst storms always came from that direction,

and I knew with awful certainty,

that this room would be too small

for what was heading my way.

The instant I became aware of the limitation

of my current situation,

I fled.

It's raining. Love is Reigning.

Radar from NWS of May 11, 2014 supercell storm

A supercell storm passed through the Midwest yesterday causing tornadoes, hail damage, and flash floods. The sirens went off around 7pm in Omaha, and we spent an hour in the storm shelter of our apartment building.  

According to the meteorologist from Channel 6 news, the storm cell blew out as it reached the outskirts of the metro area.  Wind speeds reached 80 mph by some reports.  Falling tree limbs knocked down power lines in some parts of the city.  As of 9am, 6,000 homes are still without power.

Given all that transpired last night, my early morning meditation seems extremely inappropriate.  I awoke around 5am but didn't feel rested.  The adrenaline-fueled reaction to the evening's weather event had made it difficult to fall asleep.  I'm in the habit of praying in bed whenever I wake up before the alarm goes off.  I start with a morning affirmation followed by the Lord's Prayer.  This morning, however, my attention wandered.  I made it as far as the affirmation for the metro area before my monkey-mind jumped to something else.

I imagined myself sitting and meditating, palms raised, and in that moment I felt loved. The divine was delighting in me.  It was clear that this love and delight wasn't about anything that I had done.  It wasn't a reaction to an accomplishment or deed or goodness. I caught a glimpse of the divine nature this morning, and I'm here to report that that nature is an eternal embrace.  

All I had to do was sit there (actually still lying in bed) and let the love reign down on me and into me.  But after all the damage that rain did last night, I felt myself resisting the way the mediation was unfolding.

The passivity of it bothers me.  When Christ blesses the disciples in Matthew 28:19, John 20:22, and Acts 1:8, he follows it up with a commission.  The disciples are blessed and empowered to go, witness, serve.  I was getting my early morning blessing, it felt great, but where were my marching orders?

Homes have been destroyed.  Families are picking up the pieces of their lives.  Nerves are frayed.  I was expecting a Holy Spirit shove out the door; a motivation to help those in need.  Instead I was getting the Stay message.  Abide.  Soak Up.

Apparently, my duty for this day is to abide in Christ and spend these next 24 hours reflecting the light of divine love.  Big whoop.  Fat lot of good that's going to do those waking up to devastation.  Also, how do I do that?  How do I become more reflective? I need more than the Sit command.  I need some detailed instructions.

My inclination is to be helpful.  The Spirit's idea of my helpfulness is different than mine, and I find that extremely frustrating.  I need grace to show me how to be still for Jesus because inaction goes against my nature.

Brother Lawrence and Wesley

Acts 19: 1-10; Ephesians 3:18

Love makes you resilient

Compassion for self as love for self

New Testament Greek has different verb conjugations for indicative, command, and hypothetical "moods" (among others).  In Matthew 22: 37-39 the verb "to love" is in the indicative mood, future tense:  Ἀγαπήσεις-- You will love God.  You will love neighbor.  Jesus is not commanding you to love.  He is not speculating on the probability that you will love.  Jesus is claiming that this is what the future holds for you.  This sermon looks at love for self as the foundation for love of neighbor through the lens of positive psychology.

Love Celebrates

Positive Psychology is giving me a vocabulary for talking about "going on to perfection" without using the P word, which makes so many people think of perfectionism and dismiss the doctrine as unrealistic.  Love 2.0 includes exercises that have been found to be effective at increasing people's awareness of micro-moments of positivity (positive social connections).  I adapt one of Dr. Fredrickson's exercises in the sermon below in hope that it will be a contemporary way for my parishioners to pursue perfection.

These are such good times-- 1 Kings 19

My reflections on 1 Kings 19:1-21 are influenced by Wesley's sermon "Of Former Times" and his identification of rebuking sin as a means of grace.  Lovingly confronting sinners with their sinful behavior is a work of mercy, according to Wesley.  This means of grace does good to a person's soul and can be a means of communicating God's grace to the rebuker and the rebuked.

In Sermon 102 Wesley rebuked the tendency to glorify the past and denigrate the present.  He repeated his definition of religion ("By religion I mean the love of God and man filling the heart and governing the life. The sure effect of this is, the uniform practice of justice, mercy, and truth. This is the very essence of it; the height and depth of religion, detached from this or that opinion, and from all particular modes of worship.") and pointed out the ways in which his Methodist movement was presently promoting the revival of this expression of Christianity.

χάρις in Luke 6: 32-34

The Greek word χάρις appears in the Gospel of Luke four times.  Wesley translated χάρις as "grace" in Luke 2:40; however, in Luke 6: 32-34 he translated the same word as "thank" in his translation of the New Testament.  

Wesley's translation of χάρις is mostly consistent with the King James version of the Bible.  The word χάρις appears sixty-two times in the New Testament and in every instance but one Wesley and the KJV offer the same translation-- 51 times χάρις is translated as "grace," 5 times as "thanks" (the KJV has "thanked" in one verse), 4 times as "thank," once as "thankworthy" and once as "acceptable."

I am interested in what happens to the reading of Luke 6: 32-36 when χάρις is translated as grace--

“If you love those who love you, what grace is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. If you do good to those who do good to you, what grace is that to you? For even sinners do the same. If you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what grace is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners in order to receive back the same amount. But love your enemies, and do good, and lend expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men.  Be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate.”

I keyed on this verse because it is a parallel to Matthew 5:46-48, which ends with the promise that disciples will be perfect, τέλειος, just as God is τέλειος.  Instead of the promise of spiritual maturity, Luke's pericope closes with a command to be compassionate.  (If ever there was a corrective to Christian complacency and self-satisfaction this pericope is it!)

I find that I lose my audience whenever I use the term "perfection," so what about trying to explain the UM doctrine of Christian Perfection in terms of compassion?  Something like "God's grace gives mature Christians the power to extend compassion to their enemies, the sinful, the ungrateful, and the evil" might put the doctrine in terms that United Methodists can grasp.  And once they understand how radical Jesus' command is, maybe they will be convinced that their faith has room to grow.

Of course once we have convinced them, we will have to supply them with means of grace that will encourage this growth. Otherwise, folks will fall into works righteousness in the erroneous belief that they can become more compassionate through willpower instead of through grace by faith.

Fasting as a Means of Grace

Four members of First United Methodist Church, Plattsmouth agreed to try out fasting with me to see if this spiritual practice could become a means of grace for us.  We read a pamphlet on fasting, discussed it at our first meeting, and covenanted to observe the Daniel Fast (vegetables and water) for our evening meal every Wednesday.  We pledged to set aside time in the evening for private devotions and to email each other the next day and describe our fasting experience.  We met once a month to check in with each other and to evaluate whether or not we found fasting to be an effective means of grace.

I define "effective" according to the Wesleyan analogy of faith (Repentance-Faith-Holiness)--  Do I experience God's grace as a result of engaging in this practice?  Am I convinced to repent?  Is my faith strengthened?  Am I inspired to love God and to love my neighbor?

Even this modest attempt at fasting proved to be beneficial for me.  My Wednesday evenings became more low-key as my energy waned.  As a result, I became more aware of the huge amount of time I spend planning and organizing for the future.  At first I felt impatient when I was not able to complete all of my tasks.  I tried to push myself, but I simply could not concentrate on my to-do list.  Finding that my normal tendency was impossible to maintain as my blood sugar level dropped, I instead was forced to focus more on the present moment.

My fasting goal is to slow down and seek God's presence in the present.  My private devotion is meditation because that is all I have the energy to do by the time Wednesday evening rolls around and because meditation enhances my awareness of when I am thinking about the future and when I am resting in the moment and seeking to abide in God's love.

After two months, I felt ready to try an all-day Wednesday fast (only fruits and vegetables).  The result was emphatically not a means of grace experience.  My blood sugar level dropped too low, and I had to modify my fast the next week.  Now on Wednesdays I eat my usual breakfast and lunch, a vegetarian dinner and cut out all snacks.

I am into the fourth month of this experiment, and I've noticed that I can now practice resting and abiding on non-fasting days, as well.  I have an easier time abiding in God's love and feeling the outward flow of that love towards others. 

My meditation practice has also expanded to non-fasting days.  I try to meditate every evening.  I seek to abide in Christ, and if I am not able to do that, I try to notice what's got me agitated.  When I do this I am usually convinced to repent, which in turn opens me up to a fresh experience of Christ's compassion for the sinful.

Meditation has increased my awareness of my internal drama and that in turn has made me more cognizant of how the anxiousness of others hooks me and draws me into their negative mood.  Now whenever I'm around an agitated person, I try to focus on my breath.  On the in breath I remember that I am capable of the same kind of negative emotions.  On the out breath I try to remember Jesus' promise in John 7:38, in which he stated that the Holy Spirit will flow out of the believer and reach out to others.  My prayer is that we will both experience the peace of Christ infusing our interpersonal interaction with grace.

I am humbled to see how much my good attitude depends upon getting enough to eat and enjoying the company of congenial people.  Take either of those away from me, and I am an imperfect, impatient, anxious mess.  To love God and others is a gift that must come from God.  As long as I am in this body, I will not be able to maintain that orientation on my own.

I have come to see my fasting experiment as a way to honor my ordination vow that I would earnestly strive after perfection.  What practice is supporting your effort?

De-Stressing Charge Conference

Another natural corruption reflection, this one on the stress response.

The mission statement at charge conference, part 2

My second sermon on the United Methodist mission statement.  I read the phrase "for the transformation of the world" through the lens of the analogy of faith (Repentance-Faith-Holiness) and doctrinal sermon #4, "Scriptural Christianity," in which Wesley argued that an individual's experience of inward holiness will inevitably inspire one to practice acts of outward holiness.

What is helping your church review their ministry and plan for next year?

Stir up the χάρισμα

Wesley's homilectical references to 2 Timothy 1:6 are consistent in every sermon but one.  His NT translation "stirring up the gift of God"  is close to the Greek "ἀναζωπυρεῖν τὸ χάρισμα τοῦ θεοῦ" (literally "to kindle the charisma of God") and Sermons 19, 23, 35, 42, 46, 48, 66, and 72 all make reference to stirring up the gift of God by practicing spiritual disciplines. 

Either the gift will be fanned into flame by daily spiritual exercises, or the gift will be dampened if the means of grace are neglected.  There is no middle ground in Wesley's doctrine.  The flame grows brighter or the flame becomes dimmer; it can not hold a steady state.

Sermon 85, "On working out our own salvation," repeats this warning with one notable difference.  In paragraph III.6, Wesley gave this advice, "Stir up the spark of grace which is now in you, and he will give you more grace."

This switch from Gift to Grace puzzled me.  I usually associate charisma with the list of spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians 12.  Wesley's argument in Sermon 85 expands that definition to include grace itself as a gift of the Spirit.  This gift is in us, it requires constant stirring, and we can receive more of it.

What means do you use to stir up the spark of grace while you wait to receive more of this gift from God? 

The Prayer of Jesus

John 17: 1-26.  We get to listen in on Jesus' prayer for us.  How cool is that?  In the seventeenth chapter of John's Gospel, Jesus offers a prayer for his disciples and for the people who will come to faith because of the disciples' ministry.

In a recent sermon I asked the congregation what they wanted Jesus to pray for, what request did they want Jesus to talk to God about on their behalf?  Good health?  A comfortable income, nothing extravagant, just enough?  Congenial companions, at work, in the neighborhood, in the family, to be surrounded by nice, decent people?

After making a few suggestions in order to get them thinking about what their request would be, I then invited them to refer to John 17:17 to see what Jesus does pray for-- "Sanctify them."  This is Jesus' primary desire for us.  My guess is that this is not at the top of anyone else's prayer request list.

The Greek verb ἁγίασον is found two other places in the Bible (Septuagint): in Numbers 16:16, Moses challenges rebellious Levities to prove their holiness by sanctifying themselves; in Joshua 7:13 God tells Joshua to sanctify the Israelites by having them get rid of taboo objects.  In contrast, sanctification is an action that Jesus asks God to accomplish rather than a work achieved by humans.

The stories in Numbers and Joshua do not end well.  God kills the unrighteous; they are not allowed to remain in God's presence.  Jesus' prayer, however has a hopeful ending.  He prays that God will abide in him, he will abide in his followers, and they will be with Jesus in glory (vv. 20-24).  Think of it as a supplication that God would make Christians heaven-ready before their death.  This is what is uppermost on Jesus' mind, this is what he is praying for, and asking God to do.

What's your prayer?  Do you share Jesus' priority?  Is this goal reflected in your ministry?  It was reflected in Wesley's.  Wesley interpreted John 17:17 to be a prayer for Christian Perfection, and Wesley's told one correspondent that he considered the teaching of this doctrine to be the Methodists' reason for being.

Heavenly Rewards

Wesley's list of Prudential Means includes self-denial and cross carrying as disciplines that usually help Christians to grow in grace.  These means of grace are drawn from Matthew 16: 24 (parallels in Luke 9:23 and Mark 8:34), "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me."  In his comment on this verse, Wesley taught that these disciplines are steps that help us advance towards perfection.  His doctrinal sermon on this topic explains that failure to use these means of grace frequently leads to backsliding.

In a non-doctrinal sermon, Wesley argued that, in heaven, those who denied themselves and took up their crosses will be "more excellent" Christians and will have more stars in their crown than the lower order of Christians who only followed the General Rules.

I have not found anything in the UM doctrinal standards that describe the nature of the heavenly rewards.  Speculating on what the rewards will be is not a preoccupation of UM doctrine.  For Wesley, Rev. 22:12 ("Behold I come quickly, and my reward is with me, to render to every one as his work shall be.") was clear and required no elaboration.

Is the notion that works do not merit salvation but do merit some type of heavenly reward, which will be proportionally (not equally) distributed, intelligible to you?