Daily Devotion for Lent 2023 - Day 6

 (Jesus) answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out.”

                                                            Luke 19:40 (NRSV)

Today, I am grateful that The United Methodist Church allowed me to see God's truth shining from a variety of surprising sources.

Specifically, I have encountered God's Good News from all kinds of music outside of what we normally hear in church.

It was actually at church camp (Egan specifically) that I was exposed to a lot of rock music previously unbeknownst to me.  Of course, this was during our free time.  I remember waking up our cabin one morning to the beginning of Pink Floyd's "Time".  If you've never heard it, a cacophony of clocks go off simultaneously.

Once, I used this tactic on a mission trip where everyone was sleeping on the floor and my wife Sheryl thought it was a fire alarm and didn't see the humor in it after the fact.  It did get everybody up quickly though!

At camp, it seemed that the cabin leaders, rather than be the music police, would turn a deaf ear to what we were listening to as long as it wasn't overtly profane.  Occasionally, we would find a minister that had similar tastes and were amazed that they could converse with us on some pretty cool stuff.

We actually had a song book at camp that while it contained a lot of Christian hymns and other music, it also contained a lot of secular music from the day.  Inside its pages, you will find "Blowin' in the Wind" by Bob Dylan or "Hey Jude" by The Beatles.  These will be found alongside such hymns as "Lord of the Dance" or "Be Thou My Vision".

This was not an endorsement of the lifestyle of rock musicians.  It was not saying that every song they wrote was worthwhile or would be sung at camp.  United Methodist pastors that mentored me respected my intelligence enough to allow me to acknowledge what has Christian value and what doesn't.  

This is very different from the church camp my friend Scott Sharp attended.  It was not United Methodist and he said that one day one of the preachers told the youth, "I can tell who's going to heaven and hell just by what they are wearing."  Evidently, some had rock t-shirts on.

I still listen to a lot of secular music.  I'm fascinated when I find some lyrics that reflect grace and love and goodness.  There are many who will never darken the doors of a church that hear this music.  Maybe we can have a conversation about it.

For instance, a few years ago, we had our modern worship band play "Home" by Phillip Phillips when it came out.  The lyrics include this line:

"The trouble, it might drag you down.  If you get lost, you can always be found."  

That sounds like Good News to me.

Even the Rolling Stones have a gem or two such as "Shine a Light" where the chorus exhorts:

"May the good Lord shine a light on you
Make every song your favorite tune
May the good Lord shine a light on you
Warm like the evening sun"

The verses are a bit darker, lifting up the lives (and death) of street people.  People who need and still somehow manage to find God's grace.

I'm grateful that The United Methodist Church gave me eyes to see and ears to hear.  

What songs have you heard in life beyond church that moved your spirit?

Does anyone else remember singing out of this book?

Daily Devotion for Lent 2023 - Day 5

If a brother or sister sins, you must rebuke the offender, and if there is repentance, you must forgive.

                                         Luke 17:3b

Today, I give thanks for the accountability I received in The United Methodist Church.  It has made me a better person, a better Christian and a better pastor.

As a summer intern for Boston Avenue, they used to send us to training in May prior to the start of the job in June.  It was called Director of Youth Ministry Training Enterprise or DYMTE.  We affectionately referred to it as dynamite.  I attended each May from 1987 through my time as an intern (both at Boston Avenue and later at Stillwater First) into being a full time youth director at New Haven in Tulsa through 1994.  

It was always helpful and we learned accountability (and later I taught it there as well).  I remember going back as a pastor and hearing a youth minister tell me about his one-on-one ministry (he was around 20) with the youth.  This included playing tennis and going to the movies with some of the high school girls.  I quickly disavowed him of this practice as I saw all kinds of red flags waving around!  This was at the onset of safe sanctuaries for the conference and it was still being adopted - sometimes too slowly!

My second year attending DYMTE, I learned a joke that ended in a pun similar to the McDonald's Big Mac jingle, "Two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame bun."  This story ended with "Two obese Patty's, special Ross, Lester Reese flickin' bunions on a Sesame Street bus."  This joke wouldn't pass muster for many reasons today (people with disabilities should not be mocked to say the least), but in 1988, it was allowable.

I told this "gem" at Tulsa District Camp during a talent show (another thing they used to do at camp) and it got the appropriate groans.  

After it was over, Rev. Leslie Penrose came and informed me that there was a girl from her church that had been suicidal over her weight issues and that my lifting up two obese little girls named Patty in the joke was insensitive and could push this camper over the edge.  

This was like a slap in the face in that I had no intention of hurting anyone.  I was just trying to be funny.  When we inadvertently offend people with our language, there are two ways we can respond.  One is that we can let the embarrassment overtake us and become offended that they are offended.  This is a way to compensate for the fact that we have been caught off guard.  Most people do not intentionally seek to cause offense.  And so we make the charge that people are "too sensitive" these days.  This is actually kind of ironic, isn't it?  Methinks we protest too much!  

The second way we can respond is to let them know that we did not mean to offend.  And then alter our behavior accordingly.  

I felt bad at the time.  I never meant to harm anyone.  I gave up that joke and have tried to watch how I use my language.  

I know it is not always easy to hold people accountable.  I appreciate Leslie for speaking to me about it.  In hindsight, I also appreciate the District Superintendents who have supervised me through my ordained ministry.  I have received good advice and correction from each one and I'm sure that there were times I gave them fits.  

And so thank you to Stan Warfield, Phil Ware, Craig Stinson, Dan Pulver, Rockford Johnson and Tish Malloy.  As a current district superintendent, I'm sure that I did not appreciate the difficulty of your work at the time!

Who is it that has held you accountable in life? 

Who is close to you that you also may need to nudge back into line?

While it is difficult work, during Lent, let us be willing to be in relationships where we can be held as well as hold others accountable to life in Christ!

Good accountability is like spotting from below to prevent harm!

Daily Devotion for Lent 2023 - Day 4

Ever since the creation of the world God’s eternal power and divine nature, invisible though they are, have been seen and understood through the things God has made.                        

                                                                              Romans 1:20a (NRSV)

Today, I'm grateful for how The United Methodist Church has taught me to value the natural world and see it as a tapestry for better understanding the Creator.

One of the great things about growing up at Boston Avenue was their summer camping program for children at the Naifeh Ranch in Sapulpa.  We would travel out daily and begin around 3 pm.  We would divide up into the same small group all week and establish our "home in the woods".  We would explore the area and see all the fascinating flora and fauna.  We would bring ingredients (from home not the woods) to cook our dinner each evening over a campfire.  

One time, our children's minister, Virginia Gray, made up booklets with various Psalms that featured God's creation.  Then in the evening each small group would act out one of the Psalms or illustrate it or re-write it and present it to the entire group.  I think my group had Psalm 8.

I remember one hike in particular that I ended up leading (another way they helped us mature) and we trailblazed to the top of the hill and sat on these enormous rocks.  It was very peaceful - even for 10 year olds - to sit on them and listen to the stillness.

Later, in college, I was a summer intern at Boston Avenue through their Venture Leadership Team program.  It was fun returning to the Naifeh Ranch and hiking around the woods - very nostalgic!

I served as an amateur nature guide and caught a hog-nosed snake and a tarantula spider.  The hog-nosed snake writhes around the ground like it's in its death throes when caught. It also inflates its skin - maybe as a cobra imitation.  It is also called a puff adder but it is non-venomous.

The tarantula is a fearsome looking spider but rarely bites and is no worse than a bee sting to people if they do.  This one was content to crawl up my arm - when it got too close to my neck and head, I did move it back to my hand!

The great thing about showing these creatures to kids who mostly lived in the city was that they offered us no threat.  The immediate instinct of some was to kill them but as the kids got to touch the animals, they saw that they were not so fearsome after all.  We released them back into their home after showing them off.

Because this is a church activity, this was not just educational, but it was also spiritual.  What does it mean for a child to encounter a living creature in the wild and then praise God in a Psalm for that same creation?

For me, it means a reverence in the outdoors.  It means that I try to practice good stewardship and walk lightly when I'm in the outdoors.  It means that when I walk in nature, I pay attention to how God may be speaking to me.

As we move through Lent and contemplate our own spirituality, what times have you had in the outdoors that brought you closer to God?  Where have you been and how could you reflect upon what the creation says to you about the creator?

God's beautiful variety or something unsightly?

Daily Devotion for Lent 2023 - Day 3

 And when was it that we saw you sick... and visited you?

                                                                  Matthew 25:39 

Today, I am thankful for the pastoral care I have received through the years from my involvement with The United Methodist Church.  

When I was a pre-teen, I cut up the achilles tendon on my right foot in a motorcycle accident.  I had several surgeries and in that day, they actually let you recover in the hospital.  While spending several weeks in St Francis Hospital in Tulsa, I was visited by many of the pastors and laity from Boston Avenue.  Before he was a pastor, Richard Fox was a part of what in those days was a clowning ministry.  He showed up to my room in full regalia.  Today, clowns have a bad rap and I'm not sure if they would even be allowed on a children's wing of a hospital but I appreciated the attention.  Lucinda Scheldorf, my youth minister, also brought a poster signed by the entire youth group.

Our senior pastor at the time, Dr. Mouzon Biggs, also visited me there more than once and prayed for my recovery.  Because we were a larg]e church and we broadcast our worship on Channel 8 in Tulsa on Sunday mornings, it seemed like a famous person was coming to see me!

Later, when I was a pastor in Drummond during the late 90's, I found myself in the hospital again - this time in Enid but the hospital was Baptist rather than Catholic affiliated.  I was there to remove a kidney stone surgically and this time, it was my DS, Stan Warfield, who came to see me.  I'm not sure what I said to him but I think it was something pretty funny.  Sheryl, my wife, explained to him, "He's still coming off the drugs!"  Stan was actually Sheryl's pastor in Duncan when she was a child - more of that United Methodist connection.

When we were in Piedmont, the church brought us meals upon meals following the births of both of our children.  I mentioned this just now to Sheryl and she said, "Oh, yeah, we were spoiled!"

Finally, in Edmond, the church cared for me through the death of my mother and then again for my father.  In their final days, they were visited not only by staff but by many of our laity as well.  Linda Merritt in particular sat for hours with my mother and tended to her as she passed away.  I will always appreciate her kindness during this difficult time.

What does it mean to have the care of others bestowed upon you?

When we are sick or distraught or grieving, there is a kindness in not standing in the midst of it alone. Through all of the times I mentioned, the touch of a kind hand was like unto the touch of God.  The church has gifted me with an incarnational love that has sustained me.  

As we move through this particular Lenten season, who is it you know at this time that could use a kind text, a quick phone call or even a card or a visit?

There's a spirituality in comfort

Daily Devotion for Lent 2023 - Day 2

...there is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.

                                                                            Ephesians 4:4-6

 

Today, I am thankful for the United Methodist teaching on the sacrament of Baptism.  

We joined Boston Avenue United Methodist Church in Tulsa when I was 8 years old but our family roots were in the Assembly of God tradition.  So up to this time, my only understanding of baptism was immersion.  

At my previous church, I saw a new sanctuary built with an immersion baptistry behind the altar rails.  I've always been fascinated with water and loved seeing people get into the pool and be held under the water and brought forth again.  

I wanted to be baptized but my parents said that I didn't fully understand it and would have to wait.  Believer's baptism places more emphasis on the person making the commitment to God.

And so, when we joined Boston Avenue, my parents told me that they even baptized babies in this denomination and so asked me if I wanted to be baptized.  Along with immersion, I could choose to be sprinkled or have the water poured over me.  Since I had never seen the latter forms, I chose immersion.

At this age, it was not so much about receiving the Holy Spirit or dying and rising with Christ.  I just wanted to get wet!

Unfortunately, Boston Avenue didn't have an immersion baptistry.  But they did arrange with what was then First United Methodist Church of Tulsa to use theirs.  It was a private ceremony with an associate pastor and my parents.  No other laity of the congregation were present which is not how we observe the sacrament today.   I didn't feel neglected at the absence but rather that it was kind of a cool initiation.  

It didn't matter that I didn't understand at the time.  United Methodists place the greater emphasis on God's commitment to us!

In August of last year, I took the picture of the baptistry when I was present for Tulsa First's disaffiliation vote.  This made their breaking ties with us a bit sad for me.  

But as I reflect upon my baptism, I have felt the commitment of God to me through my entire time in The United Methodist Church.  I have been afforded great opportunities and a few challenges along the way.  But the other thing I like about our understanding of baptism is that we don't require anyone to be re-baptized when they join our church.  My parents and older siblings had their baptisms accepted when we all joined the church.  

We are not stingy in our understanding of God working in the world.  We happily claim God at work in other places - even the ones that wouldn't make the same claim about us!  This is a high bar and is a good reminder of who we are called to be.  We don't always live it out but our United Methodist theology continues to align us with a better way.  I'm thankful for it!

 

Daily Devotion for Lent 2023 - Ash Wednesday

Job took a potsherd with which to scrape himself and sat among the ashes.

                                                                      Job 2:8 (NRSV)

 

Normally, one of my Lenten disciplines is to daily walk through one of the books of the Bible and to publish my thoughts on it as a daily devotion.  Usually, this provides some good conversation with others as they comment with their own thoughts or reflections.

This year, my position as a district superintendent has brought a stressful workload regarding disaffiliation.  I recognized that even if I didn't have the time to offer some daily biblical analysis and devotion, I did (more than ever) need to have a Lenten discipline.  So this year, I will be writing a daily offering of gratitude for the connection.  Being United Methodist shapes who I am in fundamental ways - as I grew up, as I participated as a lay person, as I answered my call to ordained ministry and as I have served as an Elder in the church.

As we begin the season of Lent, I am thankful for The United Methodist Church in recognizing the value of the Ash Wednesday service.  This is a relatively recent addition to our liturgical practice as the order of service didn't appear in our United Methodist Book of Worship until it was published in 1992.  I don't have any memory of it growing up.

It is possible that the first time I experienced this service was under the leadership of Rev. Ken Tobler when I was on staff as a youth minister at New Haven UMC in Tulsa.  I was there from 1990 until 1994 so this is my best guess!

Since that time, I have participated annually and for most of my ministry, I have not only received the ashes on my forehead, but I have also imposed them upon others.

The metaphor is actually fairly morbid.  The practice of sitting in sackcloth and ashes certainly predates Christianity (see the quote from Job).  It was also practiced outside of  Judaism in the ancient world.  It was an act of penitence that advertised to others, "I might as well be dead!"

What is the value in acknowledging our own mortality?  

Sometimes this can be sobering - especially in light that our current culture is often in denial about the reality that all of us will someday die.  When confronted with this brutal fact, it does allow us to recognize our pettiness or even silliness within our conflicted relationships.  

Sometimes the ashes remind us, "Who do I need to forgive?"  

Ash Wednesday and Lent in general hopefully lead us to ask, "What am I paying attention to that is really minor in the grand scheme of things?"

I've been blessed from this practice through the years.  I'm grateful to The United Methodist Church for bringing me this annual reminder.

Here's a worship service for today but you'll need to bring your own ashes!