Sunday Musings: Mark 4:35-41

How many of us at WMUMC--or as members of other slowly declining churches--haven't asked God, "God, don't you care that we are perishing?!" As many of us have watched WMUMC decline over the past 30 or so years, don't you ever wonder what makes some churches decline and others grow? It can be a frustrating rabbit trail to trace; I chase it almost every day as I pray, think an plan the ministries of our church. I've only been at WMUMC for 3 years, and even I--after all the hard work I know we've all done together to be the hands and feet of Christ, hoping to help our church grow--I ask like the disciples did on that boat with Jesus, "Jesus, don't you care that we are perishing?!" Sometimes it feels like Jesus is asleep in the back as we pray and work so hard to help our once vibrant church find a rhythm of growth again. But something struck me as I read Mark 4:35-41: if my question is, "Jesus, don't you care that we are perish in," then I have to assume Jesus' follow-up question for me is, "Jeri Katherine, what are you afraid of? Have you no faith?" We small-member churches must remember if we ask, "Jesus, don't you care that we are perishing," then we must also be ready to truthfully answer, "What are we afraid of? Have we no faith?" I think that is a good place to begin a church-wide conversation because fear too often paralyzes. When we are afraid, we forget how significant a role fear plays into our decision making, into how we be and do church together. I want to believe that if we, as a church, can openly name our fears then together we can move from fear to faith that God is in our very presence, working, moving, breathing life into places fear prevents us from ever noticing the work of our living God. Fear gripped the disciples in the middle of the storm. We have endured some stormy years, Wesley Memorial, and I believe fear has paralyzed many who sit in our pews. Many of us want our question for Jesus answered, but we refuse to answer Jesus' question for us. I believe it is answering Jesus' question that our question will become moot. So, church, Jesus asks us, "What are YOU afraid of? Have you no faith?" 

Bahamas Recap

Common Ground: Following an Uncommon Man

Preparing for Sunday: John 1:1-18

This is where it's at! Join us!

Every Sunday in our bulletin there is a section that let's everyone know what the scripture text and sermon will be for the next four weeks. This is not merely for my benefit, nor merely the benefit of the worship team and our musicians who plan our services ahead of time. My hope is that people will do a little reading before worship, start thinking, maybe even do a little reading about the scripture text on their own time, so that they don't come into Sunday morning worship cold, but warmed up and ready to engage the text on a deeper level. 

Before every workout or race, I have my runners warm up by running a few easy miles, doing agility drills, strides and stretching, so that they won't get hurt when they start trying to run the fast stuff. This same principle can and should be applied to warm ups before Sunday worship. You really can't expect to fully grow as a disciple or fully engage Sunday worship, or get all you can out of worship without some preparation and warming up on your own time. 

So with that in mind I wrote the following to get folks thinking about this Sunday, June 9:

After 22 weeks in the Old Testament, we are in the New Testament, and we will be reading John 1:1-18. In the middle of the scripture lesson John writes: "Jesus was in the world, and the world came into being through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, and his own people did not recognize him." For 400 years after the prophet Malachi prophesied Jesus' coming, there was silence--no visions, no prophecies, no messenger from God. Then the Word became fleshed; the long awaited messiah came to dwell among us. But we learn from John that those who waited the promised Messiah didn't even recognize him when he came!

In the movie October Sky, Homer Hickam gets to travel from West Virginia to Indiana for the National Science Fair. Homer and the Rocket Boys win first prize, and in a flurry of congratulations, Homer's hero, the rocket developer for NASA, Werner Von Braun, shakes Homer's hand, but Homer didn't even know who's hand he shook until a reporter asked Homer, "What did Von Braun say to you?" Later Homer's dad said, "I heard you met your hero, and you didn't even know who he was." 

"Jesus came into the world...yet his own people did not recognize him." How do we miss Jesus in our midst? How do we make sure the world does not miss Jesus alive and working in the world today?

Sunday Worship with WMUMC

2501 Heyward Street, Cola., SC

9:50am (contemporary) and 11:00am (traditional)

Scripture: John 1:1-18

Sermon: "Incognito Jesus"

See you there!

Training to Fast

A great read even if you don't choose to fast.

Most of my friends who read the title of this blog post might think I forgot a verb. For years I trained "to go" fast, as in "to run" fast, or at least to run faster than previous times. But this week I am in training to fast which is more about slowing down rather than speeding up. I'm preparing or doing a week of spiritual warm ups and training, if you will, to get ready for a 21-day fast, beginning on Monday, June 10. I have never fasted. My parents fasted periodically when I was a child, and churches where I was a member growing up did church-wide fasts, but I never participated. I didn't think I could fast because of the physical demands I daily asked of my body. At one point in my life I needed nearly 4000 calories to keep up with the energy I was burning during training. Training plus the blessing of inheriting my dad's super high metabolism was hard to keep up with growing up. I'm certainly not as fast as I once was, nor does the training I do require 4000 calories and my metabolism has probably seen its peak, but I still try to keep a pretty routine and rigorous fitness regimen for someone ever nearing the 30 year-old milestone of life and all while working more and sleeping less. Running was once a god that consumed my every waking breath, thought, food choice and other decisions. At times such living could be a neurotic way of life that bordered or crossed over into idolatry. I am happy to say that is a life of the past that no longer consumes my whole being in such an idolatrous, all-consuming way. I don't have time for such devotion even if I did want to continue such a life! Though I still like to compete from time to time, it is less the focus of my running and staying in shape. Running--and even competing--has become therapeutic, an escape, or a time to unplug and zone out or spend miles in silence and solitude in the wee early morning hours talking and listening to God. I am a person who needs movement and one who needs to be challenged, and so running, in ways, feeds my soul.

But recently I have hungered to feed my soul in a way I believe the ancient spiritual discipline of fasting will do. I was reminded in The Daniel Fast by Susan Gregory (the book walking me through my first fast) that almost every leader in the bible fasted; look up some of these examples for yourself: Moses--Exodus 34:28, Elijah--1 Kings 19:8, Ezra--Ezra 10:6, Daniel--10:3, Esther--Esther 4:16, Anna--Luke 2:37, Jesus--Luke 4:1-2, Paul--2 Cor. 11:27, Cornelius--Acts 10:30. Their fasts were connected to a spiritual issue; they restricted food for a spiritual purpose, not as a way to diet. There is a difference in dieting and fasting; fasting is, as Gregory points out, "is to draw closer to God...it is an intentional choice to 'turn down the noise of the world' and focus on your relationship with your Father." The Daniel Fast is a partial fast. I won't just be drinking water and eating bread. Rather Daniel's Fast is based on Daniel 1 and 10 when Daniel--in the face of an oppressive king when Daniel was determined to remain faithful to God--"ate no pleasant food, no meat or wine came into [his] mouth, nor did [he] anoint [himself] at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled." It is a biblically-based fast that is entirely plant based with only water to drink. I think my morning cup of Joe is going to be one of the hardest to give up, but I am determined during this time of fasting to stick with the Daniel fast plan to help me grow in God, or rather the best way to say it is to allow God to grow in me as I pray about how to lead our church in this day and age, so that like Daniel, I can live faithfully even when all those around me

Back in the day.

seem to be abandoning God for other man-made gods.

I am intentionally beginning the fast on the first full day of the SC Annual Conference when church leaders--both clergy and laity--gather in holy conferencing to worship, fellowship, learn and talk about the ways we can make disciples for the transformation of this world. Gregory encourages those who participate in the Daniel fast to "identify the top three or four issues in your life that cause you stress or concern. Ask yourself, 'If I could change three things about my life, what would they be?'" At the heart of this question, for me, is the United Methodist Church--both locally and globally--and how we can grow to be a vibrant and relevant church again in the lives of people every where. My four-fold focus this fast will be for the 1) SC United Methodist leadership, 2) the people and leaders of SC, 3) what is my role, as a minister and constituent of this state, in embodying and preaching the Good News in SC, 4) how can God move through the people of Wesley Memorial to better minister in our context. My prayer is that I will grow as a leader, so that I have a better discernment of where and how God wants to use me to further his kingdom--especially within the conference and church I am currently serving for the next year. So here it goes...a 21-day journey in the fast lane :)

It's Time to Rebuild

Haggai 1:4-7 Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin?”Now this is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways.  You have planted much, but harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it.” This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways.”

On our college mission trip to Eleuthera in the Bahamas, I learned that the church there struggles with keeping young people connected to the church family in the very same way many UM churches struggle with absent younger generations here in South Carolina. A 29-year-old staff member of Bahamas Methodist Habitat said to me when I asked if he went to church, “No. Not regularly. Church has become like watered down kool aid, and you know everyone hates watered down kool aid.” I agree; who does like watered down kool aid, or Gatorade or lemon or any such beverage? It certainly doesn’t make you want to take another sip. Another person said to me, “It’s like the church started out with a great hamburger piled high with all the toppings, but over time we’ve parsed out the meat, the lettuce, the tomato, the cheese, so all we have is a bun with no substance between. When we bite, it’s empty; it’s all fluff.” I agree; you can’t call a bun a hamburger because without the meat (or blackbean burgers as I eat), or lettuce, tomato, cheese, onions, ketchup or mustard it’s not really a hamburger in the full understanding or expectation of what a hamburger is supposed to be. It’s merely simple carbs, or “fluff” that has no sustaining substance.

These sentiments were shared by many of the young Bahamian 20 somethings—though few gave such colorful illustrations.  “Watered down kool aid” or the hamburger analogy might not be the illustrations I would use to describe the plight of churches today in relationship with younger generations, but they express a sentiment shared by too many people under the age of 30. Statistics prove these feelings are more than just the thoughts of a few. The Pew Research Center says 1 in 5 have absolutely no religious affiliation. Only 1 in 5 people under the age of 30 attend church regularly (and the poll’s “regularly” is once a month). 3 out of 5 people disconnect from the church after age 15. 47% of people don’t believe that God exists. Such statistics along with conversations I’ve had not only with Bahamian once-upon-a-time church goers under 30, but conversations I’ve had with people right here in Columbia worry me not only about the future of our church, but worry me that we are not doing a good job of being Christ to the world. Every time we celebrate communion, as my church did this past first Sunday of the month, don’t we say, “Make [the gifts of bread and wine] be for us the body and blood of Christ, that we may be for the world the body of Christ, redeemed by his blood,” or “By your Spirit make us one with Christ, one with each other, and one in ministry to all the world”? I’m reading The Daniel Fast by Susan Gregory, and she writes very early in the book, “As pressures of the present-day world increase, today’s followers of Jesus Christ are seeking a deeper, more meaningful relationship with their Lord. They want a faith that goes beyond Sundaymorning. They want their faith to make a difference in their families, their jobs, their everyday surroundings.” In other words, we’re called as people of God to be more than “Sunday Christians” or what John Wesley called “Almost Christians” and even “Honest Heathens.”

Our mission is not to merely get “butts in pews,” as a former leader in my own congregation once said to me. Our mission asGod’s holy church—Christ’s body—is to make disciples for the transformation of the world, or as Susan Gregory put it embodying a “faith that goes beyond Sunday.” The under 30 crowd doesn’t want to be a part of a church that merely wants them to be present to be merely a number in the pew. They want to be part of a church that is going to be relevant, that is going to challenge them to be a disciple, not only on Sunday, but an everyday disciple that strives—together with their church—to embody the Good News of Christ for a world that is in desperate need of such lifesaving Good News. The under 30 crowd wants to be a part of a people who come together to change the world, not merely serve themselves and their kind. Sunday doesn’t exist for Sunday’s sake alone; Sunday exists that we may be nurtured, strengthened and empowered to make Sunday every day.

God’s house is in need of rebuilding, and I’m not talking about the physical buildings in which we worship, fellowship, learn, eat and play. I’m reminded of that old hymn, “The church is not a building, the church is not a steeple, the church is not a resting place, the church is a people. I am the church! You are the church! We are the church together! All who follow Jesus, all around the world, yes, we’re the church together!” The rebuilding starts in each of our hearts, remembering that we just might be the only scripture someone ever reads. As one of my favorite Michael Jackson song prophetically says, it starts “with the man [or woman] in the mirror.” We, church, must change our ways, if we want to make the world a better place, we need to take a look at ourselves and make a change. So honestly ask yourself: Does how you live God’s Word make people want to get to know Jesus more? We’re all works in progress that must face those places in our lives we are not reflecting the image of God.  Rebuilding begins by committing ourselves to fully embody the beliefs we sing, read and hear on Sunday mornings in all we think, say and do the other six days of the week. Rebuilding might also mean sacrificing our comfort for the sake of another, burying old, bad habits, opening ourselves up to being held accountable by fellow brothers and sisters, spending more hours in prayer than on the internet or phone.

Mission trips are opportunities to be the literal hands, feet and voice of Christ in our world, but such opportunities are presented to us daily. We are always on a mission or in mission for God no matter if we’re on Eleuthera or at home, at work or in the grocery store. God gives us everyday opportunities to be his hands, feet and voice in a world that desires to see God’s presence outside of the church walls. Are you seizing those God-given moments to be Christ to the world? Such a commitment to be Christ in your everyday life could be the foundation of a stronger, more relevant church that not only talks about changing the world, but is in fact changing the world as we know it.

How Do You Want to Be Remembered?

Can I lend you a hand?

How do you want to be remembered or known by people? I've done many funerals since coming to Wesley Memorial. I believe the count is up to 16 lives celebrated. All have truly been celebrations of life, and as family and friends gathered together to tell stories of the deceased they spoke of characteristics, behaviors, hobbies each loved one would always be remembered or known. In my mandatory University 101 class with Dr. Parker at Gardner Webb University, I remember he had us write our obituaries. I wish I still had what I wrote because for the life of me, I can't remember what I wrote in my obituary. Dr. Parker prepped us for this task by asking, "How do you want people to remember you?"

I've been thinking about this a lot as I've been spending what looks like will be one of my favorite member's last couple days with us in this world. Doris is like a grandmother to me, and she will be remembered to me for her abounding love and cheerfulness. She is a person who never meets a stranger, and you can't help but love Doris because she can't help but love people. I know hers is the kind of life that Jesus will welcome into heaven with the words, "Well done, my good and faithful servant." I like to tell people that I have a great job because it is simply my job to love people. Doris' life was about loving people; it wasn't a job, but just how she was--a person defined by loved. She will be remembered forever by her family and friends for her love. How do you want to be remembered?

Yesterday after church as I was sitting with Doris; I got a call, but didn't answer it. As I was leaving the hospital I listened to a voicemail from a man named Joseph who asked me to call back. I called Joseph back, and he said, "Hi Rev. Sipes. I heard you are a person who helps people, and I need help." I've received similar calls from various people in need around Columbia. You give your card to one person, and suddenly your number makes its into the hands of those who need a ride to work, a meal, some gas, a person to talk to, clothes or help with finding a place to stay. I don't mind. I've never thought much about these calls, other than it is my job as a clergy person to help such people in need. I don't think my college obituary said anything about being a person who helps people, but when Joseph called me, I immediately felt honored to be known as a person who helps people.That's how I want to be known and remembered! I can think of many things I wish I would be known for--a great runner, a great preacher, a theologian, a writer, an artist, a fashionista, the list could go on and on of those things I wish I would be known for that have everything to do with my abilities, work and outward appearance and very little to do with something so simple, yet worthy, as being known as a person who helps people. I want people to know me and remember me as a person who helps people--a person who empties myself for people the way Jesus did for people every single day.

Me and Doris

Striving to be a person who helps people in the name of Jesus seems to me like a much better, fulfilling life than striving for the recognition of the world--an empty pursuit that will never bring lasting satisfaction or fulfillment. If I am honest with myself, most of the things I want to be known for have everything to do with me and nothing to do with God and how God desires I live this one life I've been given.  Sure I claim to use my God-given gifts and talents for God, but ultimately I make life about me, me, me, and such a life is exhausting because it is never ending! My prayer is that God will satisfy my heart as I use my life simply to help people in all the ways I can, using my gifts, my talents, my resources for others, so that God may be glorified in the help he leads me to provide for his people everywhere. My prayer is that more people will call saying, "Hi Rev. Sipes, I heard you're a person who helps people, and I need help."