Opened Eyes

Read: Luke 24:13-31

“When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight.” Luke 24:30-31 (NLT)

It is amazing to me how often I have participated in receiving Holy Communion over my fifty-seven plus years. As a child, there was the small plate with wafers & the tray with tiny cups of juice that passed between adults down the pew. As I sat with my mother & siblings, my mother gave each of us a wafer & cup. Everyone ate the wafer at the same time & did the same with the cup. I can still hear the cups being placed into the wooden racks on the back of the pews.

Then there were the times of coming forward to the base chaplain & his assistants at the Navy Chapel to receive the matzo dipped into the chalice. I also remember the times of gathering around a massive altar and kneeling on the rail that surrounded it. The pastor & assistants went from one celebrant to another giving the bread & small cup before saying a few words of scripture & a table blessing before all stood to return to their seats.

I recall the times gathered at Isle Du Bois State Park on an all-church campout during Saturday evening worship. One at a time, we received a piece of home-baked bread and & juice to fill our souls before we filled our bellies at a delectable potluck picnic.

More recently, I stood in the chancel area observing the people coming to the front of FUMC Whitesboro to receive their piece of bread, dip it in the chalice, going to the kneeling rail to pray, & returning to their seats.

In each of these situations, everyone was invited to partake in the mystery of the faith, “Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again.” No matter how much we understand the meaning & significance of this blessed celebration, we still know that there is mystery. How could the Son of God give his lifeblood for our sin? How could the Son of God love us unlovable people so much to do what He did?

These questions became evident this week as I was in Carter Blood Center in northwest Plano prepared to give double platelets. I discovered that I was unable to give platelets because I had taken my daily preventative aspirin less than forty-eight hours previous. I was disappointed. However, the nurse at Carter said I could still give whole blood & be eligible for platelet donation in two weeks. So, I gave one unit of my whole blood as a gift of life for someone I do not know.
As the phlebotomist held up the bag for my unit donation, I saw the bag bulging with my blood. Wow, one unit of my blood for someone else, and Christ gave all of his. Part of the mystery of the faith overwhelmed me again. He gave all his blood. I realized again, that every time I came to the table, whether or not I understood or remembered, I celebrated that He gave it all.

We may recall a time we came to the Table of the Lord in the past or it may have been recently. However, this week there is a place at the table for me, you, & for all, again. May we celebrate with expectation the mystery of the faith, “Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again.” He gave it all.

Prayer: O Lord Jesus, prepare our hearts to receive Your gift of love, the mystery of the faith, again. Amen.

PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE

Read: Philippians 4:8-13

“Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.” Philippians 4:13 (NLT)

I had an amazing experience this past week. I took a few days of vacation to travel to Oshkosh, Wisconsin to experience Airventure 2009, an international fly-in and air show, for my first time. Rick and I met two of my brothers from Pennsylvania and spent two full days at Whitman Airfield in Oshkosh. We walked a total of thirteen miles of exhibits, aircraft static displays, and watched flight demonstrations of aircraft from all eras. The gazing at loops, barrel rolls, hammerhead stalls, and Cuban eights, was permeated with food, fellowship, laughter, teasing, and food, again. What a grand time in 75-degree days and nights in the 50s. Our time in Oshkosh was a grand time that concluded with my brothers declaring Rick as adopted into the family.

Did I say what a grand time it was? There were so many thrilling moments, especially during the flight demonstrations. However, there was a time when we said, “Seen one loop, you’ve seen them all.” Many times, we stated, “I don’t know how they do it?” “How do they keep doing snap rolls, inverted, spins, and outside loops, without losing their sense of direction?” The answer became simple: Practice, practice, practice!

As I reflected on the pilot performances, I discovered it is the same for our lives as Christians. How do we get through the loops, barrel rolls, and spins in life? Practice, practice, practice! Paul reminds us in Philippians 4:8-13, the importance of practicing our faith in Christ in order to do life. If I do not practice the faith when things are going well, then it becomes more difficult to make it through the major maneuvers of life.

Now, am I saying I practice the faith well all the time? By no means, however, I do know when I have, life’s aerobatics are much easier to handle. May God help each of us practice our faith daily so we may experience the God of peace being with us.

By the way, Rick discovered how family of origin affects who we are as individuals. Seeing my brothers interact filled in the blanks of who I am.

Prayer: O Lord Jesus, may we do our best to daily practice our faith in you in order to fly in life with its aerobatics. Help us practice, practice, practice. Amen.

Grace and peace,

Jack

The River of Life

Read: Proverbs 3

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight.” Proverbs 3:5-6 (NIV)

I have recently been planned a huge family reunion in June 2010 in honor of what have been my mother and dad’s 95th and 96th birthdays respectively. One of the activities we hope to participant in as a family is whitewater rafting. Thinking of the possibility, I drifted back in time.

I love to shoot rapids. I remember shooting rapids in a sixteen-foot aluminum canoe as a teenager. Of course, during that time, the rapids were probably category I or II in strength, but they seemed like Category IV from our perspective. As a teenager, it was a thrill, a heart-pumping, adrenaline-flowing moment as my brother and I came toward the first swell, water splashing in our faces, veering around one large boulder, and another. We paddled like crazy listening to each other above the “roar” of the Delaware River around Washington’s Crossing. At the end of each run, we took a deep breath and relaxed in the calm of a smooth flowing pool below, baling out the water we took on in the previous rapids. Oh what a wonderful remembrance! In fact, as I type this, my heart feels the exhilaration again.

As amateurs, we discovered some of the keys to the successful conquer of those rapids. They are not limited to directional control or float with or ahead of the current, but also, looking ahead and not to the side or behind. Furthermore, in the process, there was the reciprocal trust of my brother and me as we traveled along the river.

It is the same as life. The river of life is like shooting the rapids of a twisting, descending riverbed. The river of life has a guide who wants us to listen to his instructions and plan. The Guide, calls out to us over the roar of the rapids, the noise of the riffles, and the peacefulness of the calm pools, calling us to trust him with our whole heart. Thus, Proverbs 3:5-6 reminds us to trust the Guide in our run in the river of life.


Prayer: O Lord Jesus, may we remember to trust you with our heart as we travel within the river of life with you as Guide. May we be an instrument of your guidance to others who travel along their rivers of life. Amen.

Renovation

Read: 2 Corinthians 5:16-18

“This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!.” 2 Corinthians 3:17 (NLT)

There was scraping and hammering all through the house beginning at 6:30 a.m. each morning these past two weeks. Contractors replaced rotted soffits and fascia boards with new lifetime concrete board, and roofers replaced a leaking roof. The parsonage refurbishment of the roof is underway.

What is interesting about the projects is the contractors are not just making cosmetic replacement of surface items to make the house look first-class. Rather, the work teams have gone below the surface to the structure beneath. They replaced rotted and broken wood frame and support. The roofing contractors replaced all the original decking with energy saving heat barrier OSB board, and thirty-year shingles overlaying the structure.

This work reminds me that Christ is in the renovation business, also. Rather than just working on the cosmetic, outward appearance of our lives, Christ wants to work on the framework below. Through the work of the Holy Spirit, true renovation begins in our heart, mind, and soul. The Holy Spirit wants to go the root and foundation of our lives and renovate, or in Wesleyan terms, sanctify. Renovation (sanctification) of the framework produces transformation within and without. Renovation (sanctification) of our heart, mind, and soul produces the good fruit of the Spirit (see Galatians 5:22-23). Remember the Scripture above: “This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!”

Just like in renovation of a home, the great thing about this renovation (sanctification) is we have free choice to accept the work or not. I hope and pray we accept the renovation (sanctification) of the Spirit in our lives, beyond the ascetics on the outside.

Prayer: O Lord Jesus, thank you for being in the renovation business. Give us courage to allow you to continue the renovation (sanctification) process in our lives from this day forward. Amen.

ReTHINK Church in grace and peace,

Jack

Our Elderly

Read: Colossians 3:12-17

“And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” Colossians 3:17 (NRSV)

I know I repeated the scripture reading above from my last Jack’s Journal. The reading is apropos for what became intriguing for me in the past week. As I was in the office last week, Rev. Glyn Rives, our Pastor Emeritus, stopped to visit. He asked me, “Jack, did you see the article in the latest edition of the United Methodist Report on Aging Well?” I told him, “Not yet, but I would.”

As soon as I returned to my desk, I sat down and read the article written by Missy Buchanan. After reading the article, I remembered that about six months previous, I contacted Missy Buchanan to see if she would come to at FUMC Whitesboro and share some of her insights from her book, Living with Purpose in a Worn Out Body (Upper Room Books). I am pursuing this discussion opportunity again for I cannot remember whose turn it was to call one another.

In the mean time, aging well is forefront in my mind and the mind of many others. Missy is correct in that our attention to the elderly as a society and the church, especially, could always use some improvement. We do emphasize reaching out to young families and children, and our elderly are the first to endorse this knowing it will keep the church active and alive after they pass to eternity. While we wait for Missy Buchanan to come to FUMC Whitesboro, please read the article below taken from the UM Reporter by permission, through the lens of Colossians 3:17 above. Maybe, just maybe, God is calling you to be involved in the development of new ministries for our elderly…we are all going to be there sometime in the future…quicker than we think.

AGING WELL: Are we talking about aging? Missy Buchanan, May 21, 2009
Missy Buchanan
By Missy Buchanan Special Contributor

Recently I spent an afternoon cruising the blogosphere to see what Methodists are saying about the aging population.

First I typed in older adults. Not much there. I searched for elderly. Nothing except an occasional story that mentions an elderly person. I tried senior adults, aging, nursing home, assisted living, frail and homebound. I gave it one last shot with gray. Nothing to make me think that the aging population was on the radar of blogging Methodists.

Not long after, I heard from two conference chairpersons of Older Adult Councils in different parts of the country. Both mentioned how hard it was to get people to serve on the council. “It seems like no one is really interested,” said one.

I recalled a conversation I’d had with the minister of a small United Methodist church. He confessed: “I don’t really like visiting with older people because most of them just want to talk about superficial things.” Ouch.

That led me to explore some United Methodist-related seminaries to see how they are preparing students for ministry to and with older adults. Mostly I discovered reading lists about aging as part of a pastoral-care curriculum, but not much else.

All of that seems to beg the question: With an aging population and a church that is graying even faster, why aren’t senior adults a hot topic of discussion?

There’s a lot of important conversation about declining membership and the need to reach young adults and young families. I get it. Really, I do. Our denomination’s
future depends on it.

Still, I worry that church leaders are discussing older adults only in reference to dwindling church numbers. In fact, I’ve heard conversations that were like a finger pointed in the wrinkled faces of seniors, as if older adults should be blamed for growing old and dying. Now I am no theologian, but I’m pretty sure that’s not what Jesus had in mind.

Thankfully, the denomination recognized in 2000 the need for a Center in Aging and Older Adult Ministries. Executive director Dr. Rick Gentzler is working hard to support the needs of a graying society.

But how many local churches are using those resources and developing effective older-adult ministries?

Sometimes even figuring out how to talk about older-adult ministry is confusing. When you refer to older adults, who is it are you talking about? Active seniors? Frail elderly? The banner of older adults stretches across both—and every gray head in between. The first group is boarding the bus for Branson while the other is slowly shuffling behind walkers.

My 29-year-old daughter attended a funeral recently for her husband’s grandmother in another state. Knowing only a handful of people, she migrated to a group of elderly men and struck up a conversation. “They reminded me so much of
Grandaddy,” she said, speaking fondly of my father, with whom she’d had a special relationship.

That got me to thinking. Maybe that’s a way for ministers, laypersons and seminaries to think anew about older adults. As someone’s beloved parents or grandparents. As people with names, feelings and stories to be shared. As time-worn children of a loving God.

Perhaps then we will give them more than lip service or a gift basket. Perhaps then we will realize that ministry to older adults involves building and maintaining
relationships. And that takes time and effort.

May is Older American Month [we missed it at FUMC]. The United Methodist Church is encouraging congregations to honor senior members with an Older Adult Recognition Sunday. That’s a good start, but it’s not enough.

After the calendar turns to June, what then? Who will hold the hand of the lonely widow who has no family? Who will read faith stories to the one whose eyes have dimmed? Who will sit with the bedridden man and remind him that Jesus loves him? Who will do this for the least of these? I pray it is us.

Ms. Buchanan, a member of FUMC Rockwall, Texas, is the author of Living with
Purpose in a Worn Out Body (Upper Room Books).
Used with permission © 2009 UM Reporter

Prayer: O Lord Jesus, thank you for blessing our lives with our elderly. May we not forget them and thank them for their ministry in both past and present. Touch our hearts and remind us of our responsibility of ministry with our elderly. May your life shine through us and become a “touch from God” to our elderly. Amen.

ReTHINKing Church in grace and peace.

Say and do unto Christ

Read: Colossians 3:12-17
“And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” Colossians 3:17 (NRSV)

I cannot believe that I turned 57 this week. Each year that clicks off in my life, I sit in awe of the time past and the Grace of God. Yesterday, as I sat in my devotional time in my office at home, I began to journal the following:

I’m 57 today by Your (God’s) grace. Thank you for creating me and never giving up on me. Thank you for giving me my mother and father and my siblings. Thank for giving me a wonderful, caring wife, children, and grandchildren. You’ve blessed me so. If this was my last day on this earth, I’ve been blessed beyond belief. Thank you Lord Jesus.

It is by God’s grace that I made it to 57. It is by God’s grace that I feel so blessed. It is by God’s grace that I have the confidence of life beyond death. In the meantime, it is by God’s grace that He calls me, and in fact all of us, to become more and more like his Son, Jesus Christ, serving Him from the heart. It is by God’s grace in that we are to do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. It is by God’s Amazing Grace that we become “a touch from God” and live life as Bill Hybels relates:

It should never be said of Christians that as workers they are half-hearted,
careless, tardy, irresponsible, whiney, or negligent. [Behavior] like that
embarrasses God. It brings reproach on Him. At work, Christians should epitomize
character qualities like self-discipline, perseverance, and initiative. They
should be self-motivated, prompt, organized, and industrious. Their efforts
should result in work of the very highest quality. Why? Because they’re not just
laying bricks; they’re building a wall for God’s glory…They’re not just driving
a tractor; they’re [plowing] a strait furrow for God’s glory…Christians must
strive every day to be beyond reproach in all their marketplace dealings and
practices.
from Celtic Daily Prayer: Prayers and Readings from the
Northumbria Community. New York: HarperCollins, 2002.

Interestingly, no matter how old we are, whatever we do, in word or deed, God calls us to do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Prayer: O Lord Jesus, thank you for blessing our lives. Help each of us as we prepare for our call to eternity, to live as unto you and be thankful. May your life shine through us and become a “touch from God” to others. Amen.

ReTHINK Church in grace and peace,
Jack

Extravagant Generosity

Read: Galatians Chapter 5
“By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” Galatians 5:22-23a (NRSV)

Recently, we began a new journey of “ReThink Church” where we investigate and discover the answers to the question, what if the word church was not a noun but rather an active verb? What would we do as individuals and as the Body of Christ if we came and celebrated who God is, and what God has done on Sunday, and take action with God in Christ – do church – through us in our communities the other six days of the week? We would definitely discover how God calls us to action as the church in our sharing.

Bishop Robert Schnase speaks of the Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations, radical hospitality, passionate worship, intentional faith development, risk-taking mission and service, and extravagant generosity. One of the practices that intrigue me, especially in our perceived economic demise, is extravagant generosity. Bishop Schnase is on target in reTHINK Church, during these perceived times where fear rather than hope prevail. I am encouraged by Bishop Schnase words of remembrance in Five Practices: Extravagant Generosity (study book):

Every sanctuary and chapel in which we have worship, every church organ [or piano] that has lifted our spirits, every pew where we have sat, every Communion
rail where we have knelt, every hymnal from which we have sung, every praise
band that has touched our hearts, every church classroom where we have gathered with our friends, every church kitchen that has prepared our meals, every church van that has taken us to camp, every church camp cabin where we have slept – all are the fruit of someone’s Extravagant Generosity…Generosity is the fruit of the Spirit, a worthy spiritual aspiration (Schnase, Robert. Five Practices: Extravagant Generosity, Abingdon Press, 2008, page 8).

Extravagant generosity is just what the Christ orders during these times to recapture the hope before us. How is our extravagant generosity of time, talent, prayers, presence gifts, service, and witness going to affect those who come along with us, behind us? What are we going to do now to improve our extravagant generosity, to open hearts, open minds, and open doors for the Kingdom of God to come upon us? How is our extravagant generosity going to affect our rethinking of church? May we produce the fruit of the Spirit, generosity…extravagant generosity! Christ would have it no other way as we ReTHINK Church.

ReTHINK Church in grace and peace,



Jack