Not Perfect Yet

Portrait of John Wesley
by William Hamilton [Public domain] 1788,
via Wikimedia Commons

When I was ordained an Elder in The United Methodist Church, I had to stand before all of the clergy in the Oklahoma Conference as the bishop asked me the 19 historic questions from John Wesley.

Near the top of the list is a tough one to understand: "Are you going on to perfection?"

This seems like an easy question and most people think that the logical or humble answer would be "no."

However, the word "perfection" was loaded with all kind of meaning for the 18th century and strangely enough, the correct answer is "yes."

Christian perfection is a doctrine of Wesleyans that has been lost due to atrophy.  You may hear it spoken of as sanctification or in terms of sanctifying grace.

The third historic question is, "Do you expect to be made perfect in love in this life?" and once again, the correct answer is "yes."  Fortunately for the married candidates, the spouses are not present when the affirmative is given!  (Clergy couples being the exception)

The key to understanding what Wesley meant by perfection is the prepositional phrase "in love."

As a post-enlightenment culture, we like our perfection to add up.  We think that we can know when something is right or wrong and perfection is not something we ascribe to human beings.

For Wesley and for Methodists today, we see that perfection in love is more about our intent toward others and our use of time.  If our intent toward others is love, we may fail in practice but succeed as we confess our sins and seek to do better.  If we can learn to return love when we've received hate, we are getting closer to perfection in love.

This concept does not mean that we are without sin.  It means that we are striving to seek the best for all people - even people we may not particularly like.

I'm certainly not perfect - have you seen my desk?  But I do believe that I'm getting better at loving other people - that I want what's best for all humankind.  Sometimes I have to check my cynicism at the door but I think I'm making progress.

This Sunday, we'll be looking at what this concept means for us today.  Is it realistic?  Jesus seems to think so.  Check out this Sunday's reading from the Sermon on the Mount: Matthew 5:38-48.  The last verse is a doozy.

In Christ,

Sam


This song by Alanis epitomizes the negative connotation of being perfect.  Generation X especially pushes back against this as an expectation.  Can we re-define it?

The Big 12 and Angry Men

Marcus Smart is the preseason choice for player of the year in NCAA basketball. Unfortunately for OSU fans, he's about as far from this award as you can get right now. Things haven't been going according to the script he imagined in his mind (or my mind for that matter).

The stress had already started to show with kicking a chair in the West Virginia game and storming off the court.

It's just a game but in the heat of the moment,
it seems like so much more.  Doesn't it always?

On Saturday night, the stress once again got the better of him as he shoved Texas Tech fan, Jeff Orr, toward the end of the game.  No matter what Orr said to him, Smart definitely lost his cool.  Smart continued to rant at the official after he received a technical foul.  After a review of the situation, the Big 12 suspended Marcus Smart for three games.  He's probably lucky that he gets to play at all this season.

Both of the men were in the wrong and both have apologized to the other through public statements.

Marcus Smart said, "This was not how I was raised.  I let my emotions get the best of me."

Jeff Orr has voluntarily suspended himself from attending any more Texas Tech basketball games this season.

As we let our anger flow, sometimes we say things that would embarrass us if we saw them broadcast later on the internet.  If our anger causes us to "see red", violence can erupt which leads to later regret.

The consequences of Smart and Orr's actions were not considered by either of them before this confrontation at the end of the game.  I'm sure that if Jeff Orr could have seen the future, he would have kept his mouth shut.  He loves Texas Tech basketball games and has been declared a super-fan for his devotion.  It will be sobering for him to watch the next game from the couch.

Smart's actions have not only cost him basketball games but the respect of the nation. Quite probably, the shove has cost him a lot of money too as the NBA evaluates everything with a fine tooth comb.  He'll still play but his stock has taken a hit.  If you were a head coach, would you want to deal with a player with anger issues?

The good news is that no permanent injury happened in this altercation.  It should be a wake-up call for both men.  The even better news is that anger issues can be overcome.

As I find myself angry at times, maybe I'll think about this story before saying or doing something I'll later regret.

This Sunday, we will be continuing to explore the Sermon on the Mount with Matthew 5:21-37.  These particular verses deal with anger, adultery, divorce and oaths.  My sermon title will be "Reconciliation is Next to Godliness" and if you can't be present with us in Piedmont or Cashion, I'll post a link to the sermon here or you can subscribe to our Youtube page.

In Christ,

Sam

This song is lyrically one of my favorites from Billy Joel.  I have this album somewhere on vinyl.

Some Like It Hot

My very first pepper felt like this in my stomach!

I threw up the first jalapeno pepper that I ate.

Those who know my love of all things spicy may be surprised to hear that.  Why on earth would I have ever eaten another?

It was a rite of passage for me.

My dad and his friend Troy would often get together over Mexican food.  One of our restaurants of choice was Ricardo's in Tulsa near 41st & Yale.  I can remember each of them eating hotter and hotter salsa and just sweating.  Neither would admit it was too hot!

As a family, we liked to frequent Mexican restaurants and eventually I began to indulge in the salsa just like the big boys. I thought I could handle my salsa pretty well and so once when we were on vacation, we stopped at the drive-thru of a fast food chicken place.  It may have been a Popeye's but I don't remember.

For a nickel, you could get a whole jalapeno pepper with your chicken (this was the late 70's).  I told my parents that I wanted one and they scoffed at me but I insisted.

Be careful what you wish for.

They gave in and it was a large green jalapeno that was slightly pickled.  I took a bite off the end and chewed it and swallowed.

Wow!

It was like an explosion in my mouth!  But I couldn't really complain because I had made such a fuss about it.  I continued to eat it with my chicken but as I did, my stomach started to protest.

Pretty soon, I found that it burned on the way back up as well.

I didn't finish that one but there came a time when I did.  I still enjoy them to this day.  I guess I saw it as a bonding experience with my dad.  Today I'm slightly addicted to them but I guess there could be worse things to crave.

As we consider seasoning, we live in a time and place where we have all that we want available to us.  It wasn't always like this.

In the time of Jesus, salt was one of your choices to season your food.  In the time before refrigeration, it

Salt can make a bad meal palatable
 as well as ruin a good one.

was also used as a preservative.  Following the Beatitudes, Jesus tells the disciples, "You are the salt of the earth."

How do we as Christian disciples today season the world in which we live?  Do we improve the flavor?  You know, too much salt can ruin a good meal!  How does this metaphor work for us?

We'll continue to engage with the Sermon on the Mount this Sunday as we look at Matthew 5:13-20.  Check back here after Sunday and I'll post the sermon link.

In Christ,

Sam

The jalapeno picture is from the Plants vs. Zombies wiki and the salt picture is from wikimedia commons.

Blessings Abound

I enjoy reading Eugene Peterson's The Message, a modern English paraphrase of The Bible.  When I do scholarly research, I prefer the New Revised Standard Version, but for devotional reading, I sometimes turn to The Message to get a fresh perspective.  To be clear, it is a paraphrase - it was not put together by a team of translators but by an individual.  With that in mind, it can be a very helpful read.

This Sunday, I will be preaching on The Beatitudes from the Sermon on the Mount.  I turned to Peterson's offering on these and found a delightfully different take on how we find ourselves blessed.  Give a read:

"The Sermon of the Beatitudes" by James Tissot
 [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

5 1-2 When Jesus saw his ministry drawing huge crowds, he climbed a hillside. Those who were apprenticed to him, the committed, climbed with him. Arriving at a quiet place, he sat down and taught his climbing companions. This is what he said:

3 “You’re blessed when you’re at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule.

4 “You’re blessed when you feel you’ve lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you.

5 “You’re blessed when you’re content with just who you are—no more, no less. That’s the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can’t be bought.

6 “You’re blessed when you’ve worked up a good appetite for God. He’s food and drink in the best meal you’ll ever eat.

7 “You’re blessed when you care. At the moment of being ‘care-full,’ you find yourselves cared for.

8 “You’re blessed when you get your inside world—your mind and heart—put right. Then you can see God in the outside world.

9 “You’re blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight. That’s when you discover who you really are, and your place in God’s family.

10 “You’re blessed when your commitment to God provokes persecution. The persecution drives you even deeper into God’s kingdom.

11-12 “Not only that—count yourselves blessed every time people put you down or throw you out or speak lies about you to discredit me. What it means is that the truth is too close for comfort and they are uncomfortable. You can be glad when that happens—give a cheer, even!—for though they don’t like it, I do! And all heaven applauds. And know that you are in good company. My prophets and witnesses have always gotten into this kind of trouble.

                                       Matthew 5:1-12 (The Message by Eugene Peterson)

Sometimes it is good to compare these to a more familiar translation and see if you agree with the differences.  How do they speak to you?

This Sunday, we'll explore the Beatitudes in worship.  They can be confounding and many of them don't sound like the normal characteristics in which we would find ourselves feeling blessed.  If you are in the Piedmont or Cashion area and are unaffiliated, come and join us for worship!

In Christ,

Sam

The song of the blog - does anyone know why "Salt of the Earth" would follow a post about the Beatitudes?

Following the Light

The people who walked in darkness
    have seen a great light;
those who lived in a land of deep darkness—
    on them light has shined.

                         Isaiah 9:2 (NRSV)

This text is part of the lectionary reading for Sunday, January 26 which features Isaiah 9:1-4.  If it sounds familiar it is because Isaiah's ninth chapter is also featured for the Christmas Eve readings.

The theme of light fits well with the season after the Epiphany where we see the light of Christ shining into our lives.

Within the Gospel text for Sunday (Matthew 4:12-23), this passage from Isaiah is also quoted.  We see Jesus gearing up for his public ministry and he begins to call disciples to follow him.  

As I considered what it would mean to follow Jesus within this theme of light, I was reminded of a trust walk our small group took at camp this summer.  An ordinary trust walk includes a blindfolded individual and their sighted partner.  The seeing person then leads the "blind" person around the camp, calling out obstacles and obstructions.

This is not a simple trail when you can see!

Since we had seniors in our group who had already experienced this at camp, we decided to increase the level of difficulty.  We took a tougher trail (off path) up the side of the hill to the cross.  It was not easy and we came to a place where we had to step across a small chasm.  Each of the youth that were sighted had to work together to ensure a safe crossing for those that couldn't see.  I gave those blinded an out but each of them chose to continue to the top.  It was an achievement for the entire group and it felt good when we finished the hike.

Coulton Parker helps
Morgan Wilson up the trail.

Was this what the first disciples who followed Jesus felt like? They may have been in the dark in the beginning but felt that they trusted Jesus enough to drop their lives and follow him.  Just as my journey with Jesus has included highs and lows, I believe that the same was true for the disciples.  In fact, the disciples may not have really seen the light until the resurrection.

How does following Jesus for modern disciples today reflect our trust and our willingness to work with others to ensure we all reach the mountaintop?

This Sunday's worship at Piedmont and Cashion United Methodist Churches will be looking at what it means to follow the light.  Join us if you don't have a church home!  

In Christ,

Sam

No Depression?

I am a fan of the Coen brothers.

The language is a little
salty for a church
recommendation.

Joel and Ethan Coen have made some of my favorite movies including Raising Arizona, Fargo, and O Brother, Where Art Thou?  They also did a pretty good job remaking True Grit a few years ago - not an easy thing to do.

I was looking forward to seeing Inside Llewyn Davis which is their latest production to hit the screens.  While it was interesting, it will not be included in their best.  The main title character is a folk singer in 1961 before folk music really took off a few years later.  The movie follows Davis through an unsuccessful life and seems fairly miserable as we see him fail at his relationships as well as his career.

Ever make one bad decision after another?

Maybe even worse, sometimes it just seems we're not getting the breaks we need to make it.

This sense of being on a bad roll can move us into a depression and we may even self-destruct.  This seems to be what's going on with Llewyn Davis in the film.

What do we do with depression and what does God have to do with it?

Sometimes we may seem like failures at our spiritual lives as well because if we were more faithful, wouldn't we be over the depression by now?  And so many people suffering from depression also quit attending church.

This week's scripture reading is from the Psalms: 40:1-11 to be exact.  The psalmist seems to be self-declaring steadfastness and faithfulness and is now waiting for God to reciprocate.

"I've been faithful, God.  How about you?"

"How Long, O Lord?" will be my sermon title for Sunday as we look at how we respond to real depression in our lives.

Remembering Our Baptism In Christ

Much of the time, when I sign my name as a pastor, I do not write, "Love" or "Sincerely" but I use the words, "In Christ".  

This refers to the letters of Paul, chiefly when he states, "So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!" (2 Corinthians 5:17, NRSV).

It also refers to Paul's statement, "There is therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" (Romans 8:1, NRSV).

As a book I recently read stated, "...participation 'in Christ' is also a sharing in the way of the cross." (p. 116).

So for me as a Christian but especially as a pastor, "in Christ" is a reference to not only my identity but our shared identity together.  We are new creations without condemnation as we share in Christ.

This Sunday, we will celebrate the Baptism of the Lord Sunday in worship.  This is always the Sunday following the Epiphany where we remember and celebrate the Baptism of Jesus and may recall our own baptism and respond to the grace we have received.

Some have asked me about my parking space at the far corner of the parking lot by the recycling bins.  It was given to me by the church on my 10th anniversary as Piedmont's pastor.  It's a tongue-in-cheek reference to the fact that this is where I always park on Sunday mornings even though I am one of the first to arrive and have my pick of spaces.  

In doing so, I preserve the closer parking for those who aren't yet a part of us.  As an able-bodied disciple of Jesus, I am perfectly willing to walk a little ways to worship God.  As I give up a little for someone else, I am remembering my baptism - I am remembering that participating in Christ means to share in the way of the cross.  I give so that others may have life - even if that is something as simple as giving visitors a closer place to park.  

This doesn't diminish me - in fact, if anything, it allows me to be a stronger person.  As we consider new year's resolutions, maybe one should be that we'll look for ways to share life with others.  This Sunday, we'll remind ourselves of the baptism of Jesus as well as the faith commitments we have made.  If you are near Piedmont or Cashion and don't have a church home, I've left a space for you to join us for worship!

In Christ,

Sam