From The Pulpit: Do You Not Percevie it?

                 (This excerpt is from a sermon on Isaiah 43:16-21, preached on March 17, 2013)

 

 

"Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old.

I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?"  

 

Isaiah's words give us comfort for changing times, and get us motivated to move in response to the new reality that God is creating. Which really is remarkable, because so often our questions about change are questions about whether it should happen or whether God is present in the midst of it.

But Isaiah is asking a completely different question. He is seeing the changes that are already starting to happen, and he is recognizing God’s hand in them - which means that our task in changing times is not to look backwards, but rather to look around today, to discover places where God is working, and to go join in.

 It’s a beautiful reversal of the way we often think about change, but it does come with one caution. Isaiah is not telling us to embrace any and all changes, whether it be in the church or in the larger culture. We must understand that the new things we are looking for are the new things that God is working, not that are coming from the world.

And it’s not always easy to tell the difference. It takes a lot of prayer, a lot of discernment, and a lot of mutual forbearance for the body of Christ to know what to do in changing times. Fortunately, Isaiah gives us a little hint on how we can do that. At the end of today’s passages, he describes what the Godly changes in our world will bring:

“I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert, for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people.” What this means is that when a changing world makes us feel lost, God’s new thing will show us the way. And when a changing world leaves us thirsty and tired, God’s new thing will give us the sustenance that we need.

And here’s the hard part: In the new reality in which we live, we will miss out on God’s guidance and God’s care if we keep looking backward. This doesn’t mean that we don’t honor the past, or that we don’t preserve the things that we still need today. But what it does mean is that God is moving us forward, whether we want to go or not. Staying where we are is simply not an option.

And here’s the Good News: The past is still useful – not to return to, but to learn from and find inspiration in.  Think, for example, about the great historical witness of the Scriptures. Think of all the great characters who are lifted up for their willingness to trust God while God was doing a new thing: Noah, Abraham, Moses, Joshua, David, Mary, and Paul – just to name a few. They all perceived a new thing that God was doing, and they went an joined in. Which is why we still study their stories today.

And then, of course, there’s the story that most completely represents this concept of trusting God to do a new thing. In fact, it is the very story that Isaiah’s prophecy points to – the story of Jesus Christ, and his death and resurrection. On this Fifth Sunday of Lent, as we are almost to the sacred season of Holy Week, reading this prophecy reminds us exactly what God is up to by sending his only Son to die.

In ways none of the Hebrew people could have predicted, Jesus is doing the ultimate new thing. He is fulfilling the covenant given to Abraham. He is accomplishing nothing less than the salvation of the world. He is bringing about the transformation upon which all of human history, and upon which each of our lives, will turn.

So on one level, Isaiah is asking us to look around today and see the new things that God is doing in our lives and in our communities. But in a much deeper way, he is calling us to once again see the great new thing that was done on the cross 2000 years ago, the one new thing that makes possible all of the other new things – the one that all people in all times  and in all places are called to go and join. So the questions is for us is the same as Isaiah’s question: Do we not perceive it?

Is It Time?

Is it time that we repent of our lack of faith that God will supply our needs?

Is it time that we stop making decisions out of anxiety and fear?

Is it time that we stop making decisions as if we, and not the Holy Spirit, have to be in control of things?

Is it time that we stop caring about how much money we have in the bank?

Is it time that we stop caring about how many people sit in our pews?

Is it time that we stop caring whether our institution will be around in 20 years, or 100 years, or tomorrow?

Is it time that we start caring more about the poverty and oppression which increasingly plague our communities?

Is it time that we stop fighting for justice for ourselves while we overlook greater injustices being inflicted on others?

Is it time that we stop viewing stewardship, or the careful management of resources, as such a good thing?

Is it time that we stop believing that God won't replenish, that God won't send manna tomorrow, even though God did today and yesterday and the day before that?

Is it time to be bold, even reckless, in using our vast resources to show the love and justice of Christ?

Is it time to realize that it is unholy for us to save so much for tomorrow when there is so much work to be done today?

Letter to the Board of Pensions

(In October of last year, the Board of Pensions of the Presbyterian Church USA announced a new dues structure to ward off a projected shortfall in revenue. There was much protest to the proposed changes which would potentially place a greater burden on young ministers with families and small churches. In response, the Board pulled back on its plans, and has announced a spate of 5 options to be discussed and voted on in June of this year. Here is the short letter I would like to send to the Board, but feel it might be more appropriate to discuss in other venues:)


Dear Board of Pensions:

The Apostle Paul speaks quite eloquently of the call of Christians to be "in the world, but not of the world." Has the Board considered that all of the options for restructuring dues represent an "of the world" mentality - looking for answers in models adapted from the secular world of finance and insurance, and in models that in fact contribute to the profits of these companies?

This crisis in our pension and health care coverage presents our church with the opportunity to truly make a break and return to a Scriptural model of caring for one another. May I propose that one more option be added where the leaders of the church come together and pool their resources according to the example of Acts 4:32 - "All the believers were of one heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had."

What a witness it would be if the Presbyterian Church displayed to the world that we have made the same kind of commitment to one another as the earliest Christians did!"

In Christ,
Rev. Jim Moss

Sweet Tomatoes and Hallelujahs

Last spring, my 6-year old son Samuel became fascinated with the compost pile in our back yard. He helped me shovel the rich, dark compost and begin to mix it with the soil; he helped me plant the crops, water them, and watch them begin to grow; and by mid-summer, he was able to help me enjoy the delicious tomatoes and cucumbers that we harvested.

As we completed the cycle of a garden’s life, the light bulb finally went off in his head.  He began to eagerly look for new items to place in the compost. I had already explained to Samuel how compost worked, but he had to live through the whole process – from one tomato’s scraps going into the compost one year, and helping grow a new tomato the next year – to truly appreciate the beauty and the joy of the yearly cycle.

 

It’s the same way for us as we approach the celebrations of Holy Week. It’s one thing to learn about great traditions such as spiritual disciplines, special worship services, and the fact that we burn last year’s palms to make this year’s ashes. It’s another thing to actually carry out those traditions with faithful consistency. Just as Samuel didn’t fully understand the process of composting until he experienced the whole cycle - we can’t fully comprehend what Holy Week means until we actually live and taste the whole cycle of the season.

In other words, the movements of Lent and Holy Week require us to have more than an intellectual understanding of the process, and they require more than occasional adherence. We must have an understanding of the heart that, much like Samuel’s love for compost, is born through consistent devotion over time. I encourage each of us to embrace the full experience of Holy Week. I encourage us to make a priority of attending the services that are on the church calendar, as well as engaging in personal acts of service and devotion.

If we do, we will know the truth of the resurrection not only in our minds, but deep down in our core being. And the “Hallelujahs” we sing on Easter will taste sweeter than any tomato from the garden.

 

Spiritual Discipline: Breaking Away From The To-Do List

Writing a blogpost is the last thing I need to be doing right now. It's 8:30 on a Wednesday morning, and I'm staring at a full day that includes the following:

- An appointment with an elder to discuss some issues within her committee.
- Putting together the bulletin for Sunday's worship service.
- A funeral at 2:00 that I'm mostly ready for, but have some finishing touches to add.
- A Bible study tonight that I'm in no way prepared for.
- Sunday's sermon, which I'd like to get a handle on before the weekend arrives.
- Several health issues in the congregation that I need to catch up with.

All in all, it's a typical day in the life of a pastor, and I'm not complaining. This is the work I enjoy and feel called to. By the time choir practice is done at 8:30 in the evening, I will go home tired but fulfilled. Why, then, am I writing a blogpost this morning, when there is so much necessary and meaningful work on my plate?

I'm writing this as part of my new spiritual discipline. Despite all of these necessary and meaningful tasks that demand our time and energy, church leaders of today are called to something more. We are called to open up our time and our to-do lists, to allow our ministries to be re-formed - if not completely, at least in partial ways that are carried out with freedom and intentionality.

Let me explain what I mean. My father, who is also a minister, has maintained for years that ministry is never finished. There is never a point in the day when one can say, "Everything is done here, so I'm going home now." There is always one more phone call to make, one more nursing home patient to visit, one more Bible study to prepare for, etc, etc."

Perhaps the best self-care skill that a minister can develop is the ability to lay pressing business aside until another day, and just go home. This proper sense of balance between work time and personal time is what allows a minister to flourish and stay healthy.

In current times, when the church is struggling with issues of institutional decline and how to adapt in a rapidly changing culture, we are being called to break away from the busy tasks of the day for more reasons than self-care. The never-ending to-do lists of ministry can prevent us from being open and responsive to the new things the Holy Spirit is doing in our churches and our communities.

The full day of necessary and meaningful ministry tasks that I listed above is a day that, if I allowed it to be, would be a day lacking in Spirit-led surprises and spontaneity. Every item on that list is a ministry task I can perform competently and to the satsifaction of my church members, but that also will help perpetuate a way of being church that, in my opinion, needs to evolve.

Or to put it another way, the overwhleming busy-ness that is reality to most ministers can all too easily become the weeds that choke off the new growth the Spirit is trying to create. I could easily spend all day, every day maintiaining the church as it was in the previous century. Or, I can intentionally carve out space to allow the Spirit to do a new thing. And that is why I am writing this blogpost, even as I have so many pressing things to do.

My new spiritual discipline is this: Every day, for at least an hour, I will set aside the to-do list and the traditional tasks of minsitry, and I will take time to let the Spirit lead. Yesterday, I sat in my backyard and just listened. Today, I'm writing a blospost. Tomorrow, who knows?

Beyond Business As Usual - A Call To Leadership

The reelection of Barack Obama will certainly be 2012's most remembered story - but in my mind, two other events are more indicative of the situations facing both the church and the government in America.

In June and July, several mainline denominations including the Methodists, Episcopals, and Presbyterians held their national conventions. Each devolved into the ugly sort of infighting over hot-button issues that we've grown to expect from such meetings.

Frustrated with "business as usual," a group of participants and online observers (mostly comprised of younger adults) banded together in concurrent movements that became known as "The Mainline Summer." The purpose, as I understood it, was to focus on prayer and Scripture, and to invite the Holy Spirit to move our church bodies beyond the the partisan bickering and into a more hopeful and Spirit-led future.

Six-months later, many of us are feeling that same anger and frustration toward our nation's leaders. The now infamous "Fiscal Cliff" negotiations have not brought us the compromise and pragmatic bi-parisanship they were supposed to. Instead, it's been more "business as usual," featuring the same posturing and brinksmanship that has prevented our nation's fiscal problems from being addressed for years.

It's only been a few hours since the "Fiscal Cliff" dealine passed without a resolution, and many partisan folks are predictably laying all the blame on the other party - but I'm also noticing a current bubbling up that is similar to what produced "The Mainline Summer."

Many people are frustrated with the system as a whole. They understand that the two sides are so consumed with defeating one another that they can't see how they are harming the entire body. They are longing for leaders who can transcend the partisan warfare and can lead the nation into a more hopeful and more unified future.

So as 2013 begins, both the church and the nation find themselves with similar challenges and opportunities. Both find themselves mired in old categories and old partisan struggles, and both need fresh voices, fresh ideas, and fresh methods for dealing with their problems.

With this in mind, I am calling on myself and on my generation to make 2013 a year to step up and step into a new level of leadership, and a new type of leadership. Movements like "The Mainline Summer" are a great start, but we need much more - and we need to be more intentional and more practically-oriented about it.

Over the coming weeks and months, I invite you to join me in a conversation that is more than just talk - but that is action and talk,  where we can share our experiences in seeking this new type of leadership.  Let's work together in leading our church and our nation beyond the "business as usual" that is crippling us.

Bored of the Dance

(Sung to the tune of "Lord of the Dance" - my apologies to Sydney Carter)

I danced in November when the budget talks began

I danced when Obama told the House, “I have a plan.”

I danced when Republicans, they said “No way!”

And we knew the debate was here to stay.

 

Dance, dance, wherever you may be. I am so bored of the dance, said he.

And I’ll lead you off the fiscal cliff, said he, and I’ll lead you off if we can’t agree.

 

I danced for McConnell, Boehner, and Reagan’s ghost

They said, “No new taxes on those who make the most.”

I danced for Harry Reid, who finally had the guts.

To tell the GOP, “You can’t have those spending cuts.”

 

Dance, dance, wherever you may be. I am so bored of the dance, said he.

And I’ll lead you off the fiscal cliff, said he, and I’ll lead you off if we can’t agree.

 

I danced for O’Reilly, for Jon Stewart, and for Rush.

They danced with me, just to send their ratings up.

But they could not tell us what we already know,

That this whole debate is just one big show.

 

Dance, dance, wherever you may be. I am so bored with the dance, said he.

And I’ll lead you off the fiscal cliff, said he, and I’ll lead you off if you we can’t agree.

 

(Slowly and mournfully)

I danced for the lobbyists and all of the PAC’s

It’s hard to dance with Grover Norquist on your back.

From the way they all were fighting, it began to appear

That another Great Recession, it would soon be here.

 

Dance, dance, wherever you may be. I am so bored of the dance, said he.

And I’ll lead you off the fiscal cliff, said he, and I’ll lead you off if we can’t agree.

 

But just before we plunged into the breach

The announcement came, a compromise, it had been reached

That allowed each side to sing a victory song,

Kick the can down the road, and let the dance go on!

 

Dance, dance, wherever you may be. I am so bored with the dance, said he.

And I’ll lead you off the fiscal cliff, said he. And I’ll lead you off if you can’t agree.