Decision in the Dome

[1]

Tuesday, January 8, 2019

So be careful how you live.  Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise. Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days.  Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do.  Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life.  Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, and making music to the Lord in your hearts.  And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Ephesians 5:15-20(NLT)

To those of you who worship in other than a United Methodist Church, bear with me as I shake out the dirty laundry for a moment.  This post is for all who believe in prayer, and I’m asking for yours.

In a scant month and a half (46 days), United Methodist Delegates will meet in St. Louis to consider several proposals on what Methodists hold as true or false concerning the issue of homosexuality.  The choices, although complicated, boil down to progressive vs. conservative views of the great debate on whether homosexuality is compatible with Christian teaching or not[2].  This is the same issue that has been contested for the last four decades every time United Methodists meet in General Conference (and probably in most local churches every Sunday in one form or another for that same time frame). 

The point that is germane remains:  in each debate, vote, or test, Methodists have held true to Biblical structure, that, while all persons are of intrinsic worth, granted by our Creator, homosexuality (like divorce, greed, lust, theft, killing, gluttony, et al) is sinful behavior.  The way we come into right fellowship with God is to have a heart-change, giving up sinful preferences, and promise our lifestyle to be governed by the Holy Spirit through God’s Holy Word.  Nobody is (or will be) perfect in his/her execution of that promise…but we press on.  We do not baptize sinful behavior and call it a gift from God; nor do we look the other way when the need to repent is presented.

In a late Christmas gift the president of the Council of Bishops, Ken Carter, sent an open letter to the LGBTQ community apologizing profusely for the damage we, the United Methodist Church, is doing to that community and their families by having this special called conference.

With all due respect to Bishop Carter, the LGBTQ community/lobbying activists have been putting themselves in this position for as long as this sinful practice has existed.  What is being requested is the joining-together of darkness and light in a peaceful co-existence, something Jesus declared was inappropriate (and common sense declares impossible – where one exists, the other is not!)

So, to the point – when the tribe known as United Methodists meet for this special session of 864 delegates from around the globe February 23-26 to vote on whether to turn to God, or bow to the culture, I would ask that you step up your prayers for us. 

If ever there was a time and a need for Wesley’s group to be bathed in heavenly intervention, it is now, and no small matter for this decision in the dome.

For You Today

Dark days call for Light-giving.  As Benjamin Franklin supposedly said:  You can either complain about the darkness or light a candle!  So…join with us in prayer, or sit back and get used to the darkness.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day.

Go to VIDEO

---

[1] Title Image:  UMC.org

[2] United Methodist Doctrinal stance holds that it is NOT!

End of Discussion?

[1]

Monday, May 23, 2016

The purpose of my instruction is that all believers would be filled with love that comes from a pure heart, a clear conscience, and genuine faith.  But some people have missed this whole point.  They have turned away from these things and spend their time in meaningless discussions.  They want to be known as teachers of the law of Moses, but they don’t know what they are talking about, even though they speak so confidently.  1 Timothy 1:5-7^(NLT)

Every time I see a post on Facebook, or somehow end up in a discussion about the latest controversy or political mess (especially the religious kind), I feel like I want to go take a shower to squeegee-off the gunk!  “Gunk” is my quasi-theological term for what you get all over you in such discussions.  It’s the baptized version of that famous advice: 

…never wrestle with a pig; you both get mud all over you…and the pig loves it!

Several quadrennial seasons of wrangling at United Methodist General Conferences over human sexuality have come down to laying it all in the bishops’ laps to choose a team of commissioners to decide on what to do about it.  All the demonstrators, debaters, sit-inners and deep thinking, self-appointed keepers of the keys of knowledge are now left, mud-covered and wondering if they will be able to trust the “next steps”.

I know only two things:

1.     I’m really glad General Conference is over.

2.     I’m hopeful God will help Methodists get back on track

3.     When I start pontificating on any of this mess I’m way above my pay grade.

So I’ll just tell you a story from long ago.

I used to have a lot of contact with transient people when I served a church on the North side of Jacksonville, Florida.  We were located right on Main Street, so some days it seemed like a parade of homeless right to my office door. 

One day a man in his forties asked for help; I asked him if he knew for sure that he was going to heaven.  The man sighed deeply as he was thinking; then he looked at me with expressionless, weary eyes and said in a hopeless sort of way:

I really don’t know; I’ve been so busy just trying to survive

I’ve never thought about it!

I have never been surer of hearing the voice of Jesus than when that man spoke to me.  It wasn’t that he sounded like Jesus, or wore sandals and a halo; it’s just that I recognized Christ was standing in front of me in that man, and he was explaining what James meant about how my words and deeds needed to match up if ever my words were going to carry weight.  Jesus’ brother James put it this way:

Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.  James 1:27^(NLT)

That struggling, hungry, and smelly homeless man spoke with the voice of God’s Holy Spirit directly to my heart; he let me know that he couldn’t hear my words of invitation to accept Christ because his stomach rumbled too loud.  He taught me better than my professor of evangelism that sometimes a can of hot tomato soup and buttered bread come first.  Your caring theological words might come after seconds.

I must confess I have very little theological words to offer my denomination that haven’t already been proposed to General Conference, perhaps other than to say a few of the delegates need to go home and have a good nap.

For me, I’m not going to let the discouragement of our denominational failure on both sides of the aisle interfere with my continuing to seek out those in our community who have that hopeless, bedraggled look, and who are sometimes losing the war for survival.

For You Today

If you’ve had enough of politics, religious and all the other positioning for the brass ring, let me invite you to heat up a can of soup.  Somebody needs it…and they need you to sit there with them while they soak it up.  A word or two of kindness couldn’t hurt while you dish out a second helping!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road today…have a blessed day!

Go to VIDEO

---

[1] Title Image: By Sv (Own work), via Wikimedia Commons

Is Rescuing a Sheep Breaking the Sabbath?

[1]

Friday, May 20, 2016

Then Jesus went over to their synagogue, where he noticed a man with a deformed hand.  The Pharisees asked Jesus, “Does the law permit a person to work by healing on the Sabbath?”  (They were hoping he would say yes, so they could bring charges against him.)  And he answered, “If you had a sheep that fell into a well on the Sabbath, wouldn’t you work to pull it out?  Of course you would.  And how much more valuable is a person than a sheep!  Yes, the law permits a person to do good on the Sabbath.”  Then he said to the man, “Hold out your hand.”  So the man held out his hand, and it was restored, just like the other one!  Then the Pharisees called a meeting to plot how to kill Jesus.   Matthew 12:9-14^(NLT)

Sometimes the miracles of Jesus are so spectacularly overwhelming our poor minds are blown away, and we miss the larger miracle of why.  Of course Jesus healed the man’s hand with a compassionate touch, and that amazing and fascinating; it is also huge as a teaching point to be tender and generous towards those in need. 

But when you truly wrap your mind around the context of what was happening (Jesus was sparring with Pharisees over Sabbath law), you see a loftier point than just one man’s suffering relieved.   Jesus was demonstrating that the law is our teacher, not our master.  In the case of rescuing a lost sheep (whether it is an actual sheep, or the kind of sheep that sits next to you in the pew on Sunday), the law’s command to not do labor on the Sabbath must yield to doing good as a matter of honoring God.

General Conference (of the United Methodist Church) ends today.  That body is the legislative branch of the church’s governance, and they grapple with Sabbath-breaking and such.  This quadrennial gathering typically is a tug-of-war between the left and the right, much as we see played out in today’s political/cultural drama over which part of the tribe will be in power for the next four years.  This meeting in Portland has been no different, and, in-fact, particularly contentious.

Back to Jesus and the Pharisees; when Jesus healed the man with the withered hand it authenticated his teaching.  Unfortunately, but typically, it didn’t convince the Pharisees, it made them angry; in fact, angry enough to convene a closed-door, back-room plotting session to kill Jesus.

Back to Portland; I suspect there will be lots of smoke-filled back-room deals cut over the issues facing the United Methodist Church leadership until the General Conference meets again.  My prayer is that, when the smoke clears, the more withered parts of the body will receive a compassionate touch, rather than being brushed-aside by the rising current of cultural storms.

And that is always the rub; squabbles over issues that are one person’s Sabbath-breaking, and another’s God-honoring, usually push people aside to the gutter while the big boys fight their fights.

Lord, have mercy!

For You Today

If you tend to get tense about the rumblings of church splits, agenda-pushing over Sabbath-breaking, or political campaigns of any kind…here’s my two-cent bit of help for the day that can actually make a difference:

Go find a withered hand and be compassionate.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road today…have a blessed day!

Go to VIDEO

---

[1] Title Image:  By Raja Selvaraj (Sheperd), via Wikimedia Commons

The Tear in the Fabric

[1]

Friday, May 13, 2016

Go to VIDEO

No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old cloak, for the patch pulls away from the cloak, and a worse tear is made.  Matthew 9:16^(NRSV)

Jesus used common, everyday illustrations to make his teaching clear.  You do that when your message is incredibly profound and complex.  The simple illustrations helped his disciples understand.  He talked about sowing seeds, weddings, wine and tattered clothing. 

When Jesus talked about old, frayed or torn fabric, everyone who ever tried to rescue a worn-out garment by patching it, understood; they understood because most of them had made the mistake of doing the worst thing you can do for an old piece of cloth:  sew-on a patch made from a new piece of cloth.  The first time the garment is washed after the patch job, the shrinking new cloth will pull away from the old, and the garment will be torn again, and in worse condition than ever. 

What you have then is a “Pyrrhic” piece of clothing!  King Pyrrhus won infamous battles against the Roman army in the 3^rd century ^(AD).  The Romans were defeated, but Pyrrhus lost so many more men than the Romans in doing so, he was quoted as saying: 

If we are victorious in one more battle with the Romans, we shall be utterly ruined.^[5]

The point is that, while victory always comes with a price, sometimes the price is so great you are left wondering if you would rather have lost. 

A Pyrrhic victory is not something you underline or highlight on your resume’.  It’s similar to a shopping expedition my bride returned from many years ago; she proudly announced she had saved us over $400 on a furniture purchase.  All I could see is the $1800 we spent.

Let me be clear where I’m going today, and to do that let me first disclose that I am totally in agreement with how the United Methodist Church sees homosexuality as published in its doctrinal tomes[2]:  incompatible with Christian teaching.

Here is my point:  I have been wondering if King Pyrrhus has been put to work again in Portland.  With agenda point and counter point, Roberts Rules of Order, positioning, motioning, amendments to amendments, delaying, disrupting, disobeying and other tactical worrying of the entire body of delegates, is the cost of this tearing-apart the soul of the United Methodist Church?  Is this epic (45 year struggle) going to leave anything left to offer to God?  Is this a Pyrrhic General Conference? 

And, of course, others have wondered this.  But, have my friends in the LGBTQ “new patch” group considered at all to what old garment they’re attaching themselves?  The United Methodist Church is an old garment, certainly.  And even the thought of LGBTQ as “normative,” considering historical Christian thinking and doctrine which has deemed it loathsome and abominative, is garment-tearing territory!  There is little chance of “win-win” in this marriage.  And….so….I would ask….what do you want?

Is there ever a time when homo and hetero can actually walk together?  The prophet didn’t think so: 

Can two people walk together without agreeing on the direction?  Amos 3:3^(NLT)

I really don’t think so either.

For You Today

This whole issue has brought another time to mind – when a pastor friend of mine was asked to lead a prayer before dinner at a secular gathering where there was known to be much friction and disagreement.  Pastor Al prayed:  Dear God, help us be better than two cats with their tails tied together.

The imagery (for me) couldn’t be clearer; the stronger cat might win…but at what cost?  Even if one kills the other, he will have to drag his dead conquest around with him by the tail for the rest of his days.

Surely we can be better than that; maybe we could be as godly as Paul and Barnabas, who, when they couldn’t agree about John Mark, for the sake of the Gospel went separate ways.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road today…have a blessed day!

---

[1] Title Image:  By Stilfehler (Own work), via Wikimedia Commons

[2] The Book of Discipline of the United Methodist Church, 2012