Hope in the empty tomb

“Just because the tomb is empty doesn’t mean your life has to be.” That is the phrase a pastor friend used to end his Easter sermon. These words have been rattling in my heart and brain ever since I have heard them. I guess I have been thinking about this a lot lately because I have been with some of our church families recently as they said goodbye to their loved ones.

These times remind me acutely again of how short life is and how very fast it goes. This one sentence seems to me to go very well with what I am reading now.
I am reading Thomas A Kempis’ “Imitation of Christ” as part of my daily devotion time. This is a neat little book – a devotional classics - written by a 14th century German monk. It reads a little like the book of Proverbs. Great wisdom to be found there. The book is divided into four “books” covering various aspects of the spiritual life. In the first “book”, there is a short chapter called “Meditation on death” (chapter 23.) Certain sentences leaped from the page for me and made me stop and think:

“What good is a long life if we do not use it to advance spiritually?” “Many count the years of their conversion, but often there is little to show for it.”
“How happy and wise are those who try now to become what they would want to be at the hour of death.”
“Time is precious now, and now is the day of salvation, the acceptable time. But alas, that you spend the time so unprofitably! The time will come when you will wish that you had one more day – even one hour – to put your life in order, but there is no assurance that you will get it.”

“Attend to those things that are to God’s honor and glory. Honor the Saints and follow their example and you will have friends waiting ‘to receive you into everlasting dwellings’ (Luke 16:9) when you life here is ended.”

Easter is a time to not only remember that the tomb was empty but that it is empty still and for us this means Life! Not only Life on the other side of Heaven but Life here and now! In his life, death and resurrection Jesus is calling us to Life abundant. A life of service and giving of ourselves to others…

Do you have some things you need to attend to? Someone to forgive or ask forgiveness from? Some unhealed placed in your heart? Is there someone who needs to hear that you love them? Who needs to see that you love them?
How is your soul? What’s going on with you and Jesus?

Stories of our lives

This article was written for our February issue of our church newsletter, the Beacon.

I have been thinking about stories a lot lately. Actually I think about stories pretty much all the time. I think this is because I am a pastor and a preacher and I make my living in part by telling stories, stories of the Bible in particular. But I don’t tell stories just to tell stories, I tell stories in order to help folks (including myself) come to know God, through Jesus, better and hopefully help them form an enduring relationship with Him. That is how I came to belief in Christ and how I became and, am becoming still a follower, because folks have told me stories of Jesus. But also, and maybe most importantly, I came to faith because, not only did I hear the stories, but I saw the folks who told me those stories, actually live them out. These people were my grandmothers, a few pastors, certain people in my small groups at church, etc… We usually never come to faith on our own, but instead through people and stories.

We are all surrounded by stories. Our lives are a series of stories. Some are good stories and some are not so good stories. When we adopt not so good stories and allow them somehow to dominate our life (not usually consciously at first), we often get in trouble. There is a form of psychotherapy called “narrative therapy”. I am not a trained psychotherapist but it seems to me that some of the stories we believe and follow really have a negative impact in our lives. I am pretty sure we all have some of those stories in our lives – some have been spoken out loud and some have been somehow “understood” without being verbalized. Some of us have heard, “you are stupid”, “you are fat”, “you’ll never amount to anything” etc… early on and we still live with that deeply hurtful legacy. It often translates in an almost “self-prophesied” way” “I am stupid therefore I am helpless and nothing in my life is good and nothing in my life will ever change…” type scenario… I have seen a few folks coming to the church office to talk with me who seemed to live out this scenario. They remained in life-draining, abusive situation and nothing I offered - which from my standpoint could help – made a difference. They seemed to expect me to change their circumstances without any change or involvement on their part.

Jesus confronted a man who seemed to live out this “helpless scenario” in John 5:1-15. I love Jesus because he cuts to the chase. He tells the man stuck on the edge of the pool: “Do you want to get well?”

Not only some people live out negative stories but organizations – churches - do also. Churches – these communal organisms, these groupings of people, adopt negative stories which they end up living by – we are too old, too small, too this or not enough that – with predictable results of decline and even death. “Do you want to get well?” Jesus asks.

What I want to tell you, to remind you of – if you are stuck in a negative, sad, story, which saps the life and joy out of you - is that Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life (John 14:6). He came so that we could have abundant life (John 10:10) and he can help you rewrite your story and get unstuck. Trust in Him and give Him your life! And really follow Him!

A Great Life

Since I have turned 40, a few years ago, I have been in the habit of checking the obituaries in the paper. Not sure what that’s all about. Maybe I want to make sure I am not in there! Actually, I find myself checking for who died, because I know quite a few people in Elkhart and many are elderly. I find also myself checking for who the pastor is performing the service. I often say a breath prayer for them.

It is interesting to read how old people were when they died. I pause when I see that someone died who is younger than me or my age. Reminds me of my own mortality.

I read about what people did in their life, I look to see if they have kids and grandkids.
I find myself somewhat disconcerted when I read that some people, for whatever reason, forgo a funeral service. To read that someone will have no service or memorial and that often cremation will take or as taken place is rather sad. Doesn’t seem quite right to end a life this way.

I find myself wondering about life. How unsettling that a life is summarized in a short column. I start wondering what people will say about me when I die. Maybe I should write something myself to make sure my obituary will read how I want it to read. What would I say? How will I be remembered? Will I be remembered? I wonder since we have no children.

There are some people that somehow you think can never die.
In my head I know that everyone will die one day but there are some people I have known all of your life and somehow I cannot quite imagine them not being there. I think of my parents, who are both now in their late 70’s. Even though we are not close geographically, I cannot imagine my life without them in it. Not hearing their voice on the phone…
John and Helen DeWees were such people. Mom had John as a teacher in HS. John was a red coat at the hospital till he was 95. They both sang at church. John and Helen were the sweetest people you could ever find. They are both gone now.

Another such person was June Deal.I read June’s obituary this week. She was 92. I have heard about June pretty much all of my life. She had a 48 year teaching career mostly at Elkhart High School, which is no more since 1972. She taught when my Mom was a student there in the 1940’s and early 1950’s. I have pictures of June in my Mom’s 1951 senior year book. Incredibly they never changed much. Same hair style. Just got a little smaller and thinner.

June was a member of Trinity UMC since 1936. This is where I met her. She never married, had no biological kids. My Mom, when I called her in France to let her know about June, said that back then women could not marry if they wanted to be teachers. Wow. Almost like going into the priesthood. But June had many adoped kids and grandkids and great-grandkids through her students and their kids and grandkids. She came to my Mom’s 50th and 55th high school reunion a few years back and everybody loved on her.

I had gotten more acquainted with her personally when I joined Trinity years ago before going to seminary and moving on to serve other churches. Got to know her also through CARES (Community Actively Relating to Elkhart Schools), a local mentoring program, which I am a part of. I loved June. She was my kind of woman. Strong, intelligent, funny, well-read, with a passion for learning and education, a passion for helping people.

June was a grand lady. I give thanks for her life and legacy. I hear that Trinity UMC has established a scholarship fund in her name to be used for educational needs. That’s cool.

As we are starting Holy Week, I also give thanks for the gift of salvation which comes to us through Jesus. Because Jesus gave his life, we can have life here now and for eternity and if anyone is welcome in Heaven with Jesus, I would say that June has a spot. I thank God for June.

Change

This is an article I shared with our congregation in our March newsletter.

Change. I’ve been thinking a lot about change this past year.
I have been thinking about change because there are a lot of things going on in each of our lives. We experience aging. We experience new births and the death of loved ones. We experience change in our living situations. Some get married; Others divorced. Some of us have lost a job and with it more than income and insurance but also a sense of our identity and maybe a sense of our worth.

I have been thinking about change because we have all felt the impact on our lives of the economic recession we are experiencing. Our money does not stretch as far as it used to. I think of that every time Steve and I buy groceries. I think of this and I am more grateful than ever to have meaningful employment and a roof above our heads.

I have been thinking about change as we enter the season of Lent. It is a time of introspection and a time when we are called anew to ponder Jesus’ question “Who do you say I am?” and the questions of “who are we?” and “whose are we?” These are questions we have to answer as individuals and as a church body. If we answer, “Jesus in our LORD”, this means that we are called to follow and following is not a static, unchanging thing.

I have been thinking about change because of the election of Barak Obama. Whether we agree with his political views or not, it is undeniable that we are entering a new chapter in history.

I have been thinking about change because our church and our Indiana Conference are in the middle of great change and transition. As you know, the coming together of the North and South Indiana Conferences was approved last year and we are now deep in the transition time and implementation and working the nitty gritty details.

I have been thinking about change because Bethel is in transition and we are faced with decisions having to do with how to remain faithful as a church and faithful to our mission of making disciples of Jesus. You’ll hear more about this in the weeks and months to come.

I would venture to say that most of us, if not all of us, have mixed feelings about change: Change can be exciting and it can be scary and often change is all these things at once. We can embrace change or we can resist it. In the end, whether we embrace or resist change, it is inevitable and it is part of life.

I am talking with several people about change and how to negotiate transitions in our personal life as well as in our gatherings of people we call the church.

I went to a seminar in February, after having read several books from our presenter, and we talked about how to introduce change in churches. There are some good ways of doing this and there are not so good ways of doing this. One of the pastors who attended recalled how she served a church which had forgotten its purpose and which refused/never found ways to adapt to meet the needs of a changing neighborhood. They used to be a large downtown church, well attended by wealthy parishioners. But through the years, attendance dwindled to less than 50. They do have a beautiful, European-inspired, church, which only remains open because of an endowment fund. She said it looks more like a mausoleum than a church. What striked me is that she did not say, museum – which is bad enough; she said mausoleum - a place where the dead are buried. This saddened me. I know the church and another friend is serving there now. I hope he can help revive this place through the people in it and by inviting others to come and experience life with Jesus. This will require changing hearts and minds and it will require a lot of work on everyone’s part.

When I think of change and transitions, I think of the story of the Exodus in the Bible; how the people found themselves facing new situations. They had to learn new ways and they had to adapt and it did not always go very smoothly. Many even grumbled that the slavery in Egypt they had just left would be better than that they were experiencing in the wilderness. It’s interesting how we remember things. The good ol’ days were usually not as good as we might remember them. They grumbled so much that God ended up giving them a lot of extra time to think and hopefully mature. It also took the passing of the rebellious generation before the rest of the people could enter the Promised Land.

When I think of change and transitions, I also think of 1st and 2nd Peter. In these letters, the author, whom we think was the apostle Peter, exhorts the scattered Christians in Asia Minor (present day Turkey) to hold fast to their faith and their trust of God in the face of hardship. We started the study of these letters and what they have to say to us last Monday. It is not too late to join the study!

When I think of change and transitions, I think of prayer. As people of God we are called to pray without ceasing. I don’t believe we can live life very well and negotiate the inevitable changes and transitions, which come our way without talking with God and seeking His guidance.

When I think of change and transitions, I think of God because no matter what we all face, He is with us and will guide us through when we seek Him.

One question that our seminar leader asked - and that question haunts me in some ways - is “If your church closed, would anyone in the neighborhood, in the community, notice and care? Would your church be missed by anyone outside of it?”

The Story does not end with Christmas

Steve and I took down the decoration off our Christmas tree and put the nativity set away today. The Christmas season is a bittersweet time for me because we are away from family and we don’t have biological children. The celebration is different, the food is different than in France... It is a busy time. But still I enjoy Christmas – not the marketers’ version of Christmas, mind you – I dislike shopping most of the time; but I like the lights and the ornaments, many of which have a history. We have stuffed teddy bears in winter outfits on our couch. One even plays music when you squeeze its paw.

And I never get tired of hearing the Story or telling the Story in various ways.



From as far back as I can remember as a child, it was my “job” to put up the crèche and that tradition remains. We have a neat nativity set. It’s not the “santons” (“little saints” in Provençal,) of my youth, those hand-painted clay figurines, dressed in traditional attire, prevalent in the south of France. My little resin friends of today look right out of first century Judea. The plaster houses look like what I imagine the houses back then would have looked like. I enjoy setting the scene and trying to imagine what life would have been like so long ago.

People, in my crèche rendition, go about their every day business, oblivious to the miracle happening right under their nose. That part has not changed all that much, has it?

The wise men are even part of my recreated story despite the fact that scholars don’t believe they reached Jesus until he was a 2 year-old toddler and long gone from the stable in Bethlehem. There are 3 wise men – an assumption based on the three gifts brought – again, probably not accurate either but frankly it does not matter all that much. The point, as our lectionary texts Sunday reminded us, is that outsiders: Gentiles (non-Jews), dirty-stinky shepherds… believed what they heard, responded and came to worship and became part of the family of God. Power, as the world understands it, was turned on its head, redefined, on that day.

So there is a little sadness because putting things away means that another year has gone by. The lights are put away and familiar and beloved carols won’t be sung for the next 12 months.

The end of the Christmas season kind of feels like I imagine the disciples must have felt coming down the mountain after transfiguration. There is part of me that wants to stay on the mountain, dazzled by visions and light. But I am reminded that I can’t stay on the mountain. Life happens on the plain and in the valley and occasionally there are mountain top experiences.

But “God is in us, God is for us, God is with us Emmanuel”; that is what the Casting Crown song I sang Sunday reminded us of. He is with us all year long, whether we are on a mountain or deep in the valley.

STOP IN ORDER TO MOVE FORWARD

If I remember some economics classes I took years ago in college, there is something called the law of diminishing return. Since my economics books (the ones I kept, are in a box somewhere in the basement, I decided to Google this concept. This is what Wikipedia reads:

In economics, diminishing returns is also called diminishing marginal returns or the law of diminishing returns. According to this relationship, in a production system with fixed and variable inputs (say factory size and labor), beyond some point, each additional unit of variable input yields less and less output. Conversely, producing one more unit of output costs more and more in variable inputs. This concept is also known as the law of increasing relative cost, or law of increasing opportunity cost. Although ostensibly a purely economic concept, diminishing marginal returns also implies a technological relationship. Diminishing marginal returns states that a firm's short run marginal cost curve will eventually increase.

What is true in economics is true in every day life too. There are only so many hours in a day and only so many things you can cram into it. There is a time when we work and work and get less and less done. There comes a time when the cost of working too much negatively affects what should be our most precious relationships. There is a time when not stopping long enough to rest starts affecting our mind and our body. Why do you think God created Sabbath? Why is it that this is a commandment I break way too often?

These past several weeks have been packed with things. Writing sermons, writing articles for the newsletter, visiting and talking with people, counseling sessions, getting a wedding service finalized, working on an Emmaus walk, a stewardship campaign, committee meetings, planning, on the ministry end of things.
Trying to keep up with laundry and some cleaning (OK, don’t look in the corners)… A lot of good things but too many good things. And I realize that it is after 9 pm and I have not really stopped and the past several weeks have been like that. Tuesday, I decided I had enough. I had to stop.

It had been 2 months since I got a haircut. I went to my favorite hair place and I got pampered for over an hour. Decided I wanted to have a little harmless fun so I decided to have a pink hair extension placed in my hair in support of breast cancer awareness month. (go to http://www.cancer.org/).
My husband Steve and I watched a movie that night and it felt great to just sit with one another. That movie really hit home. It’s called “Bucket List” with Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson. These two men, who in all likelihood should never have met, find themselves united while they fight cancer together. They realize that there are a lot of things that they wanted to do before they died so they write a list and, during a short time of remission, decide to do some of the things on the list. Steve and I talked about that. What would be on our list? Steve said he wanted to work on and drive great hot rods; travel into space…
Some of my dreams would be to travel in the U.S.; going back to France and talk with my Mom and Dad about life; go visit places like the “Mont St. Michel” (St. Michael’s Mount in Normandy) http://mont-saint-michel.monuments-nationaux.fr/en/; go to pastry chef school… Sit on a great sandy beach somewhere sunny and warm and read great books and write about life, about the healing power of God and talk with people…

We talked about that healing power tonight in Bible study. I talked but I did a lot of listening too and I felt so grateful to be with the people in our group, to hear some of their life stories and witnessing again the transforming power of God. An 11 year old neighborhood boy has been joining our group these past few weeks. He also comes to worship most Sundays, all by himself. He lives with his grandma next door to the church but she is not ready to come to worship, she says. Something to talk about. This boy is hungry for God, for affection. A parishioner bought him a new Bible this week and he proudly showed it to us, read with us, asked questions, listened… God is at work doing something good.

Hung out with our youth group last night and listened to a young lady from a local agency talk about the importance of purity and waiting till marriage. It was cool. The kids (oops, young people) told me they like my pink hair. I like it too.
My maternal grandma Dorothy died of breast cancer. My husband Steve’s Mom died of breast cancer. This little streak of pink reminds me of them and that there is hope as long as we don’t give up finding a cure for this and all cancer.

Stop… Listen…

Taking a step back in order to move forward. Be still and know that I am God (Psalm 46:10)
God, help me slow down and see you in new ways each day. Help me to really breathe and to really see and hear and smell and taste the world around me. Help me to live fully. Thank you for the awesome gift of life. Thank you for the amazing people you send in my life.

It's a Wonderful Life

I sometimes talk with people who are distraught enough to think that their life does not count for much of anything and that it would have been better if they had never been born. I had such a conversation very recently. When I hear this type of talk, I think of one of my favorite movies: 1946 Frank Capra's "It's a Wonderful Life" with James Stewart. If you have never seen this movie, Oh, you need to. It will warm your heart and renew your faith in human kind.

In this movie, James Stewart plays a big-hearted man who stepped into his father's shoes against his will and continues on the family banking and loan business. Hard economic times hit. Money is misplaced and Stewart is accused of embezzelment. The police is after him and in the middle of a snow storm, he finds himself on a bridge and decides to end it all; decides that his family and everybody else will be better off without him. He jumps but is rescued by a homeless-looking man named Clarence (a second-rate angel in training trying to get his wings) and Clarence grants Stewart's wish of never having been born. Everything in the town changes. There is more misery, more darkness... Clarence shows Stewart his life from childhood till now. Having experienced a world without him, Stewart does realize how many people he has touched for the better because he has been born; how many lives have been positively transformed. Because he was born his younger brother did not die because Stewart rescued him after he had fallen through the ice while playing. Because he was born, the pharmacist he worked for as a boy did not make a terrible mistake in mixing medications and did not end up in jail for murder; because he was born and helped a friend in financial distress, she did not end up a prostitute...

I wonder sometimes what life would be like without me in it. It's hard to imagine. Like it is just as hard to imagine death and my not being on this earth any longer (at least in the current form, I think) and I told my distraught friend about these things.

I told my friend that I believe that we are all seed planters. We don't always see the results of what we plant. I told this person that she is precious, that she is loved by Jesus and by our faith family. Her presence makes a definite positive impact on us. I, for one, am blessed that she is part of our church. I reminded her that God has a purpose for her, for each and everyone of us.

We all get discouraged at one time or another. I do get discouraged and when I do, I look at my life, at my faith journey and realize that I have friends who uphold me when my faith sometimes wavers, who care enough to tell me the truth; a partner who loves me, imperfectly certainly, but loves me, even when I am not all that lovable. I see anew that God loves me and cares for me. He has given me the awesome, hard, scary, fun, task of helping people find Jesus just as others have and continue to help me and walk with me.

If you are discouraged and don't think you matter, reach out to God, find a faith family if you don't already have one; get to know Jesus and the Word God has given us. Give yourself away in service. You will make a difference. You are meant to make a difference!