Last night I was unable to get to sleep, and once I did I woke often, and then I had to rise to go and prepare for a priesthood meeting. While at the time I felt awake, it would be for a bit of time.  By the time the meeting was over, and the worship service was over I was zapped. between the meds I was taking, the limited and poor sleep, and the medical issues the meds were for and the drain that was having from that as the meds were not helping much, I was drowsy. I perhaps didn’t realize how much so until I sat down in the car to drive home.

I started the car and I drove home, I could tell my senses were not what they should have been to be behind the wheel, but I need to get home to rest. As I drove I wished my life was at that point in time where I had found her… but not for the normal reasons of desiring life long companionship, a sense of being more whole in and through relationship… but just so I might safely get home without endangering myself or others. For if I had found her, or more likely she had found me, and we were together, she could be the one behind the wheel rather than I. Perhaps then I would have remembered taking my second exit, (from one freeway to the next) and be ready for the third (leaving the freeway system) before I was upon the third and going “when did the change the sign?” thinking I was at the second and the realizing I had already taken that exit and  now was at the point where I would exit the freeway system. Driving drowsy is not safe, and you also miss things. I shouldn’t have been driving, I should have either taken a nap in the car, or gotten someone to drive me home or… but I didn’t, I risked it, I risked the welfare of others to reach my goal. It wasn’t the brightest act I have ever made, I fairly sure it wasn’t the first time I have driven while not fully alert, and while I would like to say it is the last time, I have a feeling I will at some point make the mistake again.

The thing is, this encounter relates a lot to life, and to our discipleship. (For those of us who are disciples… if your reading this and are not a disciple, be it of Christ or of someone/thing else, perhaps some of the basics can still relate to your faith/spiritual path and life). Within Christianity we make a commitment at some point (or points) to embrace and follow Christ, to become disciples. Then we move forward in life, but I think we often fail to live up to the commitment that we made in our act(s) of becoming disciples of the risen, living, Christ. We step onto the path of the Discipleship while drowsy, and not fully aware.

We go through the days without being fully aware of what is going on, of why we do what we do. We go to church, or don’t, but we often don’t pause and think about what is around us, we do things out of habit, and perhaps without even realizing it, just as I made the exit, without recalling making it. We feel called to help all those in need, but we walk by the person sleeping on the sidewalk, and perhaps offer a quick prayer, think “oh that is sad”, but don’t take the time to think “why is he there,” we don’t take the time to engage in the needed process to make long lasting changes so there is no need for her or anyone to be sleeping without adequate shelter. We see the hungry, we hear of the hungry, but we work to just address the immediate need, and not to work toward addressing the larger picture and making sustainable changes to how we do things, individually and as a society to create sustainable changes so no one goes hungry and ensuring that the worth and dignity of each person is honored and recognized.  We go to church and see a national flag in the worship space, in a fellowship hall, outside…, and don’t stop to think “should it be there?” What does it convey to me, to others… what does it say about us by where it is placed, about our relationship with our sisters and brothers in Christ of other lands, or of the land that that Government took over, or… about our priorities.  We choose to use disposable products that can’t be recycled, or that can and we choose not to… without thinking through the actions.  We hear the preacher call us to embrace our discipleship, to proclaim the peace of Christ, and the next time we hear a prayer, say a prayer, think about Christ is a week later when we are sitting in the same pew. Not taking the time to be an intentional reflection of Christ’s peace, of God’s Love… to those around us. Not taking time to see that person cry in the back row as communion is served, and offer a prayer for her and her struggles, not taking time to see how she is doing, when she walks out of the sanctuary at the end of the service. We miss a week or to, and no one calls, no one checks on us, and we complain, without thinking of how many others have missed a week or two and we never called, we never visted, or even noticed they were not amongst us. We go to church and don’t greet a person seeking a new home, thinking someone else has, and never learning he went home feeling alone, unwelcome, unloved and never finds the peace they might have found if we had just taken the time to wake up, to see, to care.

We go through our discipleship drowsy, we miss a lot of opportunities to care… like driving drowsy we can harm others, like driving drowsy we can harm ourselves as well. We can forget to be refilled, we can forget to fully engage, to make the correct turns, to be healed…. We set our eye beyond the horizon at the goal of the peaceable community, but forget to look around, to engage and bring that community into being.

So the question on my mind now is: How do we wake up, reenergize, become alert and aware in our discipleship? Are we willing? What would happen if we were to all stopped being drowsy and became alert?

Unlike driving drowsy, where one should not drive until rested, with discipleship we must keep being disciples, but we need to be intentional, we need to ensure we are getting fed and rested as well as serving… We do need to “stop” but stop to: pause, reflect and engage, which is part of being a disciple. It is the stopping of the busy distractions, so we can hear the still small voice, the stopping of going through the motions and not being aware, the stopping of not fully caring….

It’ll be tough, but I think the Holy is calling us to be awake, to be alert and be faithful, dedicated disciples who truly seek to live out the message and passion of Christ with the wholeness of our beings. We are going to stumble lots, but lets keep getting back up, lets keep waking up, and seek to be the people we are called to be.

Peace,

Lyle II

This sermon was an odd one for me, for I was never able to get completely through it (well a version of it) before I preached. As I wrote, as I spoke in the days before and formed it… itwas in flux, parts didn’t work, I paused I stumbled… and yet I felt assured it was the sermon to give.  It was also a bit weird as  while I was working on this sermon a few images kept coming to mind, images that are within the photos I took while in the DR Congo. In particular images of stained glass windows depicting the life of Jesus the Christ… this lead to me creating a power point presentation to go along with the sermon. Something I usually  despise… I don’t like things restricting me, and I find them a distraction often when I am in the congregation and others use them. But I couldn’t help but feel the need to use it. So I did… I choose though to use it to contain a few things other than the images, to emphasize certain parts of the sermon.

Early on as I started playing with the idea, in part as a response to a 2:30am sermon forming session that my mind decided to have (I had been asleep, woke up and for the next couple of hours found myself working on the sermon as it just flowed through my head), I formed the PowerPoint with a series of slides reflecting what I saw as a basic outline based off the page or so of typed notes I had… essentially blank slides with just basic titles as place holders. it stayed this way for a while. Last night after returning from spending time with friends, I found myself typing up the lectionary passage from Acts and from John so people could read as I read, from the same version translation (The Inclusive Bible), along with a few points from by exploration of some of the struggles of the world – human trafficking, poverty…. This morning I added the photographs to it, and then headed to the church to run through the sermon, set things up, and make final changes to the PowerPoint presentation.

Well, as I went through the sermon I found myself re-arranging the order of the scriptures, then moving the photo’s around.. deleting the never filled in slides, and adding a third passage of scripture, Thursday’s RCL reading from Acts – Acts 1:1-11, which had been added to the sermon at some point, but I had not entered into the presentation.  I never ran through the presentation after I made my final alterations to it… Yet it flowed perfectly with the way the m message came out to be… I found myself expressing things more clearly, and in better ways than any of my failed run-through early that morning in the empty sanctuary. I found myself proclaiming the Good News, I found myself encountering the Holy and truly wanting to be, and hoping to be part of the incarnate body of Christ that was expressed, truly wanting to live and share the Gospel of Christ. I found myself sharing and expressing things in new ways in part directly from my encounters with others in community that morning. The message the same as the sermon prepared, but expressed, thanks to the blessing of the Holy, in much clearer, personal, and profound ways… at least to my ears.

I found also, that I love the Acts of the Apostles and preaching from it. I also found hope, I found a peace. I found a joy. I realized as well, I find myself most alive when I am utilizing my gift, embracing my calling and seeking to be individually the one the Holy calls me to be, and communally the the community we are called to be. Even though afterwards, I found myself fully drained. I found through last week and this as well, truly how much I really am called to be a proclaimer of the Good News. While preparing a sermon is taxing, often difficult, while giving one is draining, and more it is part of my calling, a part I need to engage more. I need to engage more in other ways as well.  But there’s more as well.

I have two class/gathering/bible study things I want to engage the congregation in. One is related to hunger, a six week series… the other on Human trafficking. I hope this week to look into these a bit more. What I would like to see is a home gathering of Young Adults / near young Adults engaging in a study, and perhaps out of it engaging in mission. This morning I also thought perhaps its time for this member of the pastorate to step in and help engage in the adult Sunday school… something I do not want to do, but perhaps is needed.

I expressed in the end of the sermon the question is not  “can we” but “will we?” As I end this  post I hope the answer is “Yes”, I hope we will be the living incarnate body of Christ, to allow the indwelling spirit to guide us, strength us and comfort us as we seek to share God’s love and peace to the ends of the earth, living and being as Christ to bring for the peaceable Community we fondly call Zion. I wish that my friend, the audio guy, hadn’t recorded the musical reflection over my sermon, as I would like to hear and share it, but that is not the case. (perhaps for the best who knows, maybe the Holy Spirit was doing a lot of translating between my lips and my ears…).

Peace be with you…

I was sitting in for their pastor, a friend of mine from seminary who was on vacation. This sermon had slowly been forming for some time. In part it started while listening to Apostle Richard James speak at the Aaronic Mass Meeting at World Conference, but it took a long time to reach the sermon. It floated in my head, I reflected, I pondered, but it refused to form. Then Friday while sitting in the sunshine, reading, reflecting, praying, and looking over the lake before me, the sermon started to take shape, coming to near final form just before the thunder and rain started to erupt.

I tried to write the sermon down as I listened to the thunder outside, but this sermon was not meant to be written fully down, it down right refused to be  written down. Rather bits and pieces of the sermon are written on various pieces of paper and in a few documents here and there, but not the entirety or even close to it in any one spot or collection of. However, I knew the sermon I preached to the lake was missing something, something I knew was part of the sermon, things that had been in earlier reflections, that had been floating through post lake, and in further reflections as well. One of those things was “baptism” and in the final form of the sermon, that spoke today, it was clearly there. It had been in it at various points, and it was a critical aspect of the sermon.

I had various notes for the sermon with me, but the only one’s I looked at where those I had in my hand the whole time: A white sticky note attached to page 238 of the Inclusive New Testament, that I looked at once to ensure I didn’t forget anything important, but realized I wasn’t following the order laid out on it but the message was flowing better than if I ahd followed this medium sized outline, which reads:

• Peace be w/ you
• Greetings
• Connection
• Baptism
• Walk through passage
• 8th grade
• Call to listen to & Respond to
• Go, Share

And the scripture passage for the day on page 239, cordon off by two purple sticky notes, which I read and glanced at a few other times: Acts 16:9-15.

As I proclaimed the Good News to and with his gathered community, as the words escaped my lips were blessed by the Spirit and landed upon my ears, I came to a few realizations about myself and my journey. One of those was how  this Community of Christ minister has been blessed greatly through my encounter with Methodists, or former Methodists. Another, that perhaps did not fully start to appear in my realization until I was driving home was that Doctrine and Covenants Section 164 I think impacted the words I shared with them.

It wasn’t that I used 164, (though it was at times used in my reflection and preparation). It wasn’t that some words in 164 changed my understandings. My participation in the world wide discernment process on conditions of membership, along with with two separate papers I wrote specifically on baptism in Community of Christ (one for Ecumenical Theology while at Seattle U, and one for a worship class at MTSO) had been an exploration and starting point of expressing my understanding of Baptism. However, I am fairly certain the words I used, the way I expressed and related to baptism, could not have happened by me in a pre 164. I can’t be sure, but I am fairly certain that 164 with the blessing of the Holy Spirit, freed me to share more fully the Good News this day, to more fully engage this congregations of my sisters and brothers in the body of Christ, with the good news expressed in Acts 16:9-15, and our common call by the Holy Spirit, and common commitment in our shared baptism in Christ. The words that flowed from my moth as I explored our shared covenant, our callings, the witness found in the testimony of the crafter of Luke-Acts as that crafter steps into the story, and shares of their response to the Holy, to the Response of Lydia, the response of many who I have encountered in life. It was a great blessing. I can’t relate the sermon here, I’ve already drifted a bit from what was shared as I try and explore the insight I encountered as I drove with the cool spring air  flowing around me and the sun shining in  the glorious blue sky.

That insight is in part: The Holy blessed me this day, Doctrine and Covenants 164  along with that blessing has freed me to be more fully engaging the mission of the Living Risen Christ, in and with Community of Christ and with the greater body of Christ to which we as Community of Christ belong and are an important part of, and a part that is needed just as much as all the others for the peace of Christ to truly be proclaimed and the peaceable community to come forth. Let us be open to go where the Spirit calls us, even if its not where (or how) we were planning to go. Let us be willing to embrace our shared covenant through our baptism in Christ, and be like Paul, be like Lydia, be like the crafter of Luke-Acts, be like those who came before us and respond to the moving of the Holy Spirit, allow the Spirit to empower us AND Guide us for the journey ahead.

Peace of Christ I leave with you this day,

My mind flutters with thoughts of recent sections of the Doctrine and Covenants, in particular the most recent 164, regarding the global nature of the church and engaging our diversity and our mission as a family, community in and of  Christ. With the approval of 164 we as a faith community stepped forward into new territory on how we will encounter and share and live the Gospel of Christ.. or perhaps affirmed a new way, a new expression, of what we have been called to for some time.

As I tried to find the words to reflect my thoughts, my mind jumped to a book I read for a class on evangelism I had several years ago in seminary. I pulled the book off the shelf, and as I glanced through it, read passages, read highlights, underlines, notes of mine I didn’t quite find what I was looking for. The Book from 1925 by E. Stanely Jones, a Methodist missionary, contains theology I don’t agree with, it contains assumptions and understandings I don’t agree with. However within this work Jones expresses his understanding of how western culture has both blessed and hindered the Christian Church. He expresses the need to share Christ, not Western Civilization, to allow Christ to become “naturalized”, to be seen and expressed through the cultural context of those encountering Christ. How that culture (those cultures) has something to give and share to the Christian Church. A realization that he was to share Christ, not an ecclesiastical system, not a western way of being, but Christ.

What all that means, he and I may disagree upon, but that awareness that the Gospel of Christ and a western expression of Christianity are not the same thing, in fact that western expression may be far from being an full expression of Christ, we might agree upon.

Now what does this have to do with World Conference, with 164….Well I think it has a lot to do with it. First, lets pause and not just look at geographical culture, but also culture of time. We are not in Upstate New York or North Eastern Ohio in the 1820s and 1830s anymore. We are a very different “culture” (set of cultures), we encounter Christ in a very different way, and yet… essential core pillars reflect through… pillars  such as… Sacredness of creation, Continuing Revelation, Worth of all persons, all are called, pursuit of peace (even if we had a hard time embracing it and kept moving away from it), blessings of community, among others… (yes these are some of the Enduring Principles, hmmm maybe that’s why they are “enduring???” ) With this time, this global family is found expressed around the Globe, in many different sets of cultures.

Now unlike Jones, who is being a missionary and seeking to share Christ in a particular place, my discussion turns to a global family of 250,000 missionaries and how they will express themselves as a global community, and in their witness of Christ. Thus there are aspects of ecclesiastical systems that we must share together, but perhaps there is room for some variation within that system. Variation already does exist, but perhaps allowing some now universals to move a step down and allow a broader, more flexible universal to take their place is needed…

The call to deal with some things at national/regional/cultural… levels, allowing for the ability to address the issues that a set of cultures in one area might be dealing with to be dealt with there, in a way appropriate that would be inappropriate to another area, I think is wise and inspired. But I say this with some hesitation… I find the counsel in Doctrine and Covenants 164 to be inspired, I however fear several things. I fear how we will interpret this counsel, I fear how we might stumble as we seek to embrace the guidance found within and within other sections as well.

I struggle greatly with the thought of the US trying to come to some sort of consensus as a whole. I struggle with the idea of allowing man made political divisions be a primary way of deciding who should be gathered together to discuss particular issues. Especially when we as a church recognize that not all our members find representation by the flags of these nations. I struggle with and wonder if as we embrace these challenges, will we hold true to our enduring principles.

Will we ensure that as regional polices are formed that these polices: a) reflect the Gospel of Christ b) uphold the enduring principles of Community of Christ c) allow us to continue to share in the rich fellowship and diversity we are as diverse global family that is many and yet is one? Will as we move forward ensure that we stand up for injustices, and not allow some to go without mention because they are taboo to talk about in a particular place? Will we ensure that we don’t do something to follow culture, but rather always ensure we do it because it is reflective of the Gospel of Christ, our enduring principles… and how we feel the Holy calling us to be? In other words: “Above all else, strive to be faithful to Christ’s vision of the peaceable Kingdom of God on earth. Courageously challenge cultural, political, and religious trends that are contrary to the reconciling and restoring purposes of God. Pursue peace.” (Doctrine and Covenants 163:3b).

Yet I have hope. I have hope that we will embrace our calling, we will find the ways to move forward as a global family known as Community of Christ. I have faith we will stand up to injustice, we will stand up to trends that are against the healing, reconciling, and restoring purposes of God. I have faith we will truly become a people of temple, a people of Sacrament, a people of healing, reconciliation, a people known as Community of Christ.

I fear that in the processes being formed to “build consensus” we will loose voices. That we will not truly gain consensus, for some of the most important voices will be missing when we gather together. What voices?  Many, but the easiest perhaps to describe is the “poorer” amongst us.

In the US the Federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour. Let’s assume that a church member is getting paid that much, they are working 40 hours a week, and due to the length of the conference and their travel time, what day(s) they get off during a week they would have to miss all 40 hours of work, and they don’t have the vacation time to cover it. That’s $290 before taxes, let’s make conference cost half of the late registry fee of World Conference, so $72, add a few tanks of gas, money for food… let’s say $200 (for those further away I’m sure much more… Such as those in Alaska, I doubt that will be enough for transportation to and from let alone food)… assume they are able to find free housing… So for them conference is costing them $562, or about 3.7% of their income… before taxes.  If the person is full time at 32 hours rather than 40… the cost drops to $504 but up to  around 4.2% of their annual pre-tax income. Spread over enough time they may or may not be able to find a way to put aside that much of their income, but even with the required 12 week notice for a conference, that may be way more than they can come up with… And if they are hoping to share with the global family the next year or two year later or the same year with World Conference, which will take an even larger cut out of their income… Will they be able to?  What if they have a child, the costs go up even more… What if the cost to keep a roof over their head, food on the table, gas to get to and from… is eating up most if not all of their income? Where will the funds come from? Perhaps the small (dollar amount but significant amount of their income) about they give faithfully to local and world mission tithes, oblation and world hunger?, from food on their table, a doctor’s visit? What if their situation is even worse off financially?

So I wonder, will in our attempts to gain consensus, will we loose those who have the least financially, but whose voices are most needed, and who desire to be a part of the process? Will these conferences become places where church employees and more affluent members, and those living in the area, be the only voices heard? (Well some of this does impact World Conference already, but will the impact be even bigger?) Will the added costs of a regional conference take funds away from other needed ministries? Conferences aren’t cheep to put on, be they for an area as large as the US, or for a much smaller area, and they take hours of time to pull together as well, time that currently assigned to other tasks. (For some they may be able to do it, for other not… but I worry about the cost both on those with the least – financially- amongst us, and also about the ministries the church is called to provided but currently can not afford to provide and what impact will these conference have, or if we will find a way to overcome these obstacles) So knowing this will these efforts truly lead to better consensus building, and truly “bless the communities” we are part of, will we work hard to ensure all voices are able to be a part of the process and the ministries of the church are not reduced so we can gather and discern, reflect, and discuss together? I hope so, but I have concerns on my heart about it. I believe the council is inspired, I hope our response and interpretation lives up to the possibilities it calls us toward.

I hope as we journey forward, we will grow in understand of what is and is not the Gospel of Christ. To grow in our understanding of what is and is not needed to be the people and witness we have always been called to from 1820s before we had a name to 1830 and the name Church of Christ, through all the names since to the name Community of Christ, in this time and these places where we live. To know what essential expressions of the body for all places and cultures, and what is flexible to address needs in particular places and cultures. And that we learn how to share and gain from the cultures of our sisters and brothers who we meet physically only once every three years if ever…

Peace be with you,