“The World I Live In” by Mary Oliver
I have refused to live
locked in the orderly house of
reasons and proofs.
The world I live in and believe in
is wider than that. And anyway,
what’s wrong with Maybe?
You wouldn’t believe what once or
twice I have seen. I’ll just
tell you this:
only if there are angels in your head will you
ever, possibly, see one.
+ Mary Oliver
I have always been a very analytically minded person, someone who wanted to know the why and the how behind the what, someone who would be thinking, “prove it.” We learn a lot that way.
Somewhere along the way, I also learned to ask the question Mary Oliver is pointing to in this poem, “I wonder if that was God?”
Sometimes it is nice to celebrate without needing to explain. And when we finally do explain, my guess is, we will find life no less holy or miraculous.
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Alan
May 5
The Spirit of Mother's Day
During the 19th century, women's peace groups in the United States tried to establish holidays and regular activities in favor of peace and against war. A common early activity was the meeting of groups of mothers whose sons had fought or died on opposite sides of the American Civil War.
Even before then, in 1858 Ann Jarvis had organized Mother's Day Work Clubs in several Appalachian communities of what would become West Virginia during the Civil War. These clubs began initiatives to provide assistance and education to families, raising money to buy medicine and hire help for families impacted by tuberculosis and other health issues, and developing programs for milk inspection. During the Civil War, they fed and clothed soldiers stationed in the area, both Union and Confederate, and nursed soldiers during typhoid and measles outbreaks. Following the war, Ann organized a committee to establish a "Mother's Friendship Day", the purpose of which was "to reunite families that had been divided during the Civil War." She wanted to expand these into an annual memorial for mothers.
There were several observances of Mother's Days in different parts of the country throughout the 1870's & 1880's. Julia Ward Howe, author of "Battle Hymn of the Republic," led a "Mother's Day for Peace" anti-war observance throughout the 1870's. In these celebrations, mothers all around the world would work towards world peace.
Mother's Day was officially proclaimed a national holiday in 1914, asking us to remember those mothers who had lost sons in war. Through the years we have, appropriately, I think, expanded those we celebrate on Mother's Day to include our own mothers, and those who have shared God's mothering love with those around them in all of the different ways we might imagine. I believe acknowledging and encouraging that active mothering love of God in one another hearkens back to the spirit of Ann Jarvis' Mother's Day Work Clubs, and Julia Ward Howe's "Mother's Day for Peace," and so many others like them through the years. When we remember and celebrate those (especially women) who have cared for and shaped us this Sunday, and when we join them in caring for and shaping other's, all of God's children all year long, we are living the spirit of Mother's Day, indeed.
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Alan
April 28
Dear Church,
Over the next several weeks (perhaps consecutively) I would like to share with you Rev. Eric Law's framework of Holy Currencies as an exploration of missional ministry. Union Christian Church is a "missional" church. In other words, Union wants to make a difference in the life of the community, as well as the life of the congregation and its members. Holy Currencies arose out of Eric's research and work with congregations to be both "missional" and "sustainable" around the time of the 2008 financial crisis.
The Holy Currencies framework focuses on six currencies including 1)Time and Place, 2)Gracious Leadership, 3)Relationship, 4)Truth, 5)Wellness, and 6)Money.
While thinking and talking about these currencies, Eric would encourage always to remember:
Currents Flow
Currencies are meant to be exchanged
We are most engaged in God's missional work when we exchanging those currencies we have in abundance for those currencies that are most needed in our community and/or church. I will share a quick definition of those six holy currencies below. I see each of these currencies present in Union Christian Church (DOC). As you read through them, here are a few questions to think about along side of them. We will continue to ask these questions as we look at each of these currencies.
Where do you see this currency in Union Christian Church (DOC)?
Do we, as a congregation, have an abundance of this currency?
Do we, as a congregation, need a bit more of this currency?
Who in our congregation or community does have an abundance of this currency?
Who, in our congregation or community, could use more of this currency?
Holy Currencies from Eric Law and the Kaleidoscope Institute
Time and Place - Time of church leaders (paid and volunteer) offered to church and ministry. Properties owned by church and ministry and/or properties from which church and ministry operate.
Gracious Leadership - ability to create "gracious" environments where mutually respectful relationships and discernment of truth may be shared together by drastically different people, within and beyond the congregation.
Relationship - all of mutually respectful connections within and beyond the church, possessed by leaders and members of the congregation and its ministries
Truth - ability to hear and articulate, individually and together, inclusive and healing truth.
Wellness - being physically, socially, economically, ecologically, and spiritually healthy, individually and together in our church, ministry, neighborhood, creation and everywhere in between.
Money - anything generally accepted as a means of payment or to have a measure of value.
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Alan
April 14
Pentecost is Coming!
Now at that time there were a lot of delegates gathered in Atlanta, religious people from countries all over the world. So when they heard this great noise, they all came running together. And then they heard these folks talking to each one of them in their own native tongue, and were they excited! Amazed and astounded no end, they said, “Look, aren’t all these speakers Americans? Then how is it that each of us is hearing it in his own native tongue— French, Spanish, German, Portuguese, Chinese, Russian, Italian, Greek, Turkish, Burmese, Hebrew, Swedish, Afrikaans, Hindi— in our own languages we are hearing them tell of God’s mighty doings.” Everybody was dumfounded and puzzled, saying one to another, “What’s the meaning of this?” But others sneered, “They’re tanked up on white lightning.”
from Happenings [Acts] 2:5-13 Cotton Patch Gospel - Clarence Jordan
Pentecost is coming! And some may become concerned that we are tanked up on white lightning. In truth, we are excited by the resurrection life we have received through Jesus, and we want to celebrate that resurrection life with our DOC brothers and sisters in Northeast Georgia. Therefore, on Pentecost Sunday, May 23rd, we will be gathering for a joint outdoor worship service with several of our sister churches in Winder, GA.
This dream was first imagined at the very beginning of 2020. Before planning could begin in earnest, we were overwhelmed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, as we begin to imagine a post-pandemic world, the dream of gathering together as a larger church has re-emerged.
Come with us, to the lawn of First Christian Church Winder, for a Pentecost celebration at 11:00 AM on Sunday, May 23rd.
There are many details yet to be finalized, but here are a few I can share with you today.
The Service will be outside, observing pandemic protocols comparable to our own Sunday morning service.
The service will include leadership from each congregation in attendance (at least 4 congregations including FCC Lawrenceville, FCC Winder, FCC Watkinsville & Union CC).
There will be "car worship" spaces for those who need them, and radio broadcast of the service. Good parking spaces are limited and the lawn is large, so bring your chairs and some shade.
We will provide alternative opportunities to participate for those unable to be there in person through live-streaming and/or recording of the service.
We are excited to share this joint worship opportunity together. Let's show out, Union Christian Church! Let's be the biggest congregation present! May God bless our gathering, and share in our excitement to be together this Pentecost!
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Alan
April 7
There Was Not a Needy Person Among Them
"Now a single heart and soul was in the body of believers. Not one of them considered his property to be private, but all things were shared by them. With mighty power the apostles were giving the evidence of Jesus’ aliveness, and upon them all was a spirit of abounding goodwill. You know, there wasn’t a person in the group in need. For owners of land or houses were selling them and bringing the proceeds and placing them at the disposal of the apostles. Distribution was then made to everyone on the basis of his need."
Acts 4:32-35, The Cotton Patch Gospel: The Complete Collection, Clarence Jordan
During the Easter Season we will be drawing our scripture readings from The Acts of the Apostles. At first read, this narrative seems unbelievable. It appears to be pure fantasy, foolishness some might call it. It tells the story of a world, a community that is very hard to imagine. But, as Paul reminds us in First Corinthians, "God's foolishness is wiser than human wisdom." The image depicted in these few verses from Acts, is a picture of God's radical hospitality fully alive in the church community.
Clarence Jordan, author of the Cotton Patch Gospels, along with his wife, Florence, and Martin and Mabel England (former American Baptist Missionaries) established an interracial Christian farming community in Southwest Georgia in 1942. They named it Koinonia, or "Communion" Farm. They bound themselves to the equality of all persons, rejection of violence, ecological stewardship, and common ownership of possessions. They went largely unnoticed, crazy church people, until their commitments to equality and economic justice began to be reflected beyond their 440 acre farm, for example, in the civil rights movement. Through the 1950's and 60's they endured stifling economic boycotts and repeated violence including several bombings. Fools indeed.
Koinonia Farm is still there today, as an intentional Christian community, committed to those same Christian values.
The Season of Easter is a time to celebrate the new, eternal life offered through Jesus the Christ, here and now, not just somewhere-someday. It is also a time that we are called to live fully into God's Infinite Love, Healing Grace, and Radical Hospitality. I am sure, more than anything else, the Koinonia residents have been called various kinds of fools.
"God's foolishness is wiser than human wisdom." 1 Corinthians 1:25a
May we give thanks for communities like Koinonia, showing us even today, that Christ is alive, at work among us, and continually calling us into holy, Christlike community.
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Alan
March 31
His Steadfast Endures Forever, Psalm 118:29
I would encourage you to read Mark 14:22-42 Thursday or Friday. These verses carry us from the Disciple’s Passover meal to Jesus’ arrest. While doing so, I would encourage you to focus on the hinge, the one sentence that holds together the two events: “When they had sung the hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives” (verse 26).
At first glance, this sentence seems unremarkable. It is preceded by Jesus’ last supper and his institution of the Lord’s Supper. It is followed by his betrayal by one disciple and the desertion by all the rest. And what did they do in between? They sang the hymn.
We know what that hymn was. Jesus and his disciples were celebrating the Passover. The Passover meal begins with singing Psalms 113 and 114. It ends with singing Psalms 115, 116, 117, and 118. The closing hymn was Psalm 118. This Psalm concludes with verse 29, “O give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.”
These words carry Jesus, and I believe the disciples as well, through the events of the next three days, and beyond them into the confusion that follows their discovery of the empty tomb. Whatever the Romans have done to Jesus, whatever our own Kind Herod and the Temple Leaders have done to Jesus, whatever the crowds have done to Jesus, we remember and hold onto each day, “O give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.”
All that follows that Passover meal is dependent on faith in this truth.
Jesus, knowing what he was doing and what was going to be done to him, sang bravely and boldly, “His steadfast love endures forever.” In the weeks to come, finally, the disciples will emerge to proclaim God’s Good News through Jesus the Christ remembering, “His steadfast love endures forever.”
As we walk through the days of darkness we encounter as the church, leading to Easter Sunday, I encourage you to remember and repeat “His steadfast love endures forever.” When you face your own dark days and do not know where to turn, I encourage you to remember and repeat, to claim as your mantra, “His steadfast love endures forever.” May it be for us, even now, God’s flickering candle that can never be extinguished.
“When they had sung the hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.” I invite you to reread all of Psalm 118, especially the final verse, the last thing Jesus sang before his arrest, and crucifixion “Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.” There is our Savior.
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Alan
March 24
Proclaiming Kingship (Subverted and Redefined by God)
Mark 11:1-11
All of the Gospels, Mark included, go to great pains to make sure we all understand Jesus is the Anointed One, the Messiah, regardless of our religious tradition and education or lack thereof in the first century Roman Empire. Jewish expectations of the Messiah, perhaps especially in this time period, included the expectation of God's anointed King returning in these last days to defeat God's enemies, and restore God's people - even creation itself - to a state of everlasting peace.
The gospels lean into symbols of this historic Jerusalem kingship. But they also reinterpret it, just as the prophets have often tended to lean into historic memories and symbols, and reinterpret them to help us refocus on God's nature, God's expectations, and God's call in a particular time and place.
And so, Mark shows us Jesus arriving in Jerusalem in great fanfare as the "Anointed One." The ground is ceremoniously covered with cloaks, calling to mind the coronation of King Jehu of Israel once upon a time (2 Kings 9:13). Branches are waved, echoing the reconquering of Jerusalem from the Greeks by Simon Maccabeus (1 Maccabees 13:51). What kind of army will God summon to install Jesus as the end-time king? But Jesus knows, as does the gospel writer that this path doesn't lead to the palace throne. Instead it leads to just another cross bringing punishment and death. It's not that Jesus was born to die, or that God sent Jesus to die. Jesus knows that his unbridled approach to human wholeness is too disruptive, offensive, too dangerous for those in power.
Jesus chooses death because toning down God’s healing love—to avoid death—is not an option for the Messiah. Being the anointed sovereign is not about subduing God's creation. God's law is not about destroying that which is broken. Jesus can only love at full speed. And Jesus knows that this same love will overcome death itself (Mark 8:31; 9:31; 10:34; 12:18-27; 14:28). Jesus arrives as creation's Messiah, the Anointed One, but this is not your normal power-wielding, army-raising king.
Even Jesus riding the colt boldly declares clear, sovereign authority, fully redefined. Zechariah 9:9 celebrates the coming of the triumphant King, riding on a donkey, a colt. The Roman governor will be arriving in Jerusalem for Passover, on a mighty war horse, leading the invincible Roman Legion, to make sure the Judeans don't forget who is in charge in their holiday enthusiasm. Entering on a colt, appropriate for God's Anointed One, reminds us of God's expectation of humble, servant leadership.
God does not raise up leaders to conquer peoples and land, or enforce cultural conformity or religious doctrine. Jesus came to restore broken humanity to its divinely created wholeness. That is the kind of king Mark calls us to follow. That is kind of healing work we are called to lead. That is the kind of kingdom Jesus calls us to help create and enter.
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Alan
March 17
Preparing for Holy Week
How time flies. Holy Week and Easter are fast approaching. We continue to listen to Mark's story of Jesus and the disciples, as they enter Jerusalem. As we hear these stories, we remember God's call to keep our face turned toward God, embrace one another as children of God and embrace creation as belonging to God. In these passages we also hear God's judgment on the ways we so often discount and trod on one another when we sit in seats of power, whether those powerful seats be religious seats, societal seats or governing seats.
As we enter into Holy Week, we will remember this story through several special services.
On Palm Sunday, March 28th, we will remember Jesus' entry into Jerusalem, recalling the vision of a shepherding kingdom providing abundance for all inhabitants, in contrast to an imperialism extracting all it can find. We will join the crowds greeting Jesus with palms at our 11:00 AM Service.
On Maundy Thursday & Holy Friday, we will remember the Lord’s Supper and the gathering darkness leading to crucifixion. Outdoor Communion and Tennabrae Stations will be available on a “come and go” basis. The Lord’s Table reminds us that we are welcomed, a place has already been set for us whenever we may arrive at the table. It reminds us to always make room for others, and remember Christ is always among us. We pray the Tennabrae Stations will keep us mindful of the shadows of death present in our community and own lives as we remain isolated in sin, in need of God’s healing. There will be a worship leader present for communion on Thursday from 12:00 PM until 7:00 PM.
Easter morning we will celebrate the promise of eternal life for us and all of creation, here and now, always and everywhere as we discover the empty tomb, and encounter the risen Christ. Our invitation into new life will begin with a prayer watch at 6:45 AM leading into our Sunrise Service at 7:15. Our 11:00 Worship service will be followed by an Easter Egg hunt.
Join us throughout Holy Week as we remember, together, God’s continued call to faithfulness, Jesus’ offer of healing and the daily presence of Christ with us, even in our deepest brokenness. May we always seek to keep our face turned toward God, seeking healing and wholeness for one another, for ourselves, and for all God’s Creation.
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Alan
March 10
O God of Second Chances
by Tricia Brennan
Oh god of second chances,
help us to let go of all that does not serve us well.
We who are full of goals and plans and resolutions,
help us to know that our worth is not tied to success or even effort.
We regret our mistakes or wonder about the road not taken.
Help us to accept our unvarnished selves.
We are, after all, but humble creatures
who strive and fall and get up and keep going.
Help us to see our glory even in our bumblings,
and to know that every year, every day, every moment is a gift
to which the proper response is Hello! I am here! I am grateful!
May your spaciousness fill us and bless us, make us brave and keep us safe. Amen.
Cheryl and I got to have dinner with a friend we don’t often see this week. It was wonderful. We talked about everything under the sun. Talking about the people we love and know best, we got to talking about perfectionists tendencies.
I have perfectionists tendencies. There was a time when it would be hard for me to complete almost anything, because I wasn’t doing it well enough. I am still often slow because what I have in front of me is not good enough yet. It is not perfect according to me. (I might also be a relatively poor judge of perfection.)
It has been my experience, that a fear of not being perfect, at least not in the way we want to be, is common among congregations. The expectation of perfection from ourselves, from others, or from the church, can prevent us from celebrating God’s presence, and getting on with God’s work. The season of Lent, when we are particularly reflective and repentant, is a good time to remember that God does not seek perfection from us, but faithfulness. God is already with us and among us offering love, grace and hospitality. God is calling us forward as partners with friends and neighbors, new and old, familiar and strange, to offer love, grace and hospitality, always and everywhere. Doing so does not require perfection from anyone. All it requires is openness. Church is that simple, and sometimes that complicated.
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Alan
March 3
God’s Tenants
This Sunday we will read Mark 12:1-12, A Parable of the Tenants and the Landowner. Talitha Arnold reminds us “This is a dangerous story. For centuries, Jesus’ last parable in Mark’s Gospel has been one of the Christian texts used to justify all manner of prejudice and violence, particularly against Jews, but also against persons of other faiths, and even other Christians labeled as heretics. Commonly titled the “Parable of the Wicked Tenants,” the story could as easily be named for “The Vengeful Landowner” who retaliates for his son’s death by annihilating the tenants.”
Is this who we expect to be? Is this who we understand God to be? No, of course not. In response, both Thomas Jefferson and Leo Tolstoy left this story out of their self edited Bibles. But a version of this parable is in all 3 synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke). We cannot ignore this parable, or the violence it has been used to justify. We must deal with it. We will begin by remembering Jesus is once again using hyperbole in Mark’s gospel. We encountered the same technique in last week’s story of “The Rich Man.” Even earlier, in chapter 9, Jesus tells us to remove hands and eyes if they cause us to sin. We don’t take those statements literally.
Perhaps, then, the first lesson to draw from this parable is quite simple. Violence will not lead to victory. It will only lead to more violence and death. What, then, shall we do? Martin Luther King Jr. has some thoughts for us, in his poetic prose.
“It is not enough to say, ‘We must not wage war.’ It is necessary to love peace and sacrifice for it. We must concentrate not merely on the negative expulsion of war, but on the positive affirmation of peace…. We must see that peace represents a sweeter music, a cosmic melody that is far superior to the discords of war. Somehow we must transform the dynamics of the world power struggle from the negative nuclear arms race which no one can win to a positive contest to harness man’s [sic] creative genius for the purpose of making peace and prosperity a reality for all of the nations of the world. In short, we must shift the arms race into a ‘peace race.’ If we have the will and determination to mount such a peace offensive, we will unlock hitherto tightly sealed doors of hope and transform our imminent cosmic elegy into a psalm of creative fulfillment.”
Remember, holy people, the vineyard is God’s, and we have been invited to help bring it fully to life. We can and should engage in a “Peace Race” at every layer of our community, local, state, national and international. That begins with embracing the life we find, and tending to its needs. What a beautiful dwelling place God has shared with us. What a holy calling God has given us.
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Alan
Resource: “Feasting on the Gospels - Mark: A Feasting on the Word Commentary” Mark 12:1-12
February 24
Hello Church,
Week of Compassion is the relief, refugee, and development mission fund of the Christian Church. I have heard about Union's generous donations to Week of Compassion in the past, especially during a particularly active hurricane season a few years back. I hope that you will continue to support Week of Compassion as they continue the mission, most recently in Texas.
In addition to providing support for congregations and households that sustained damage in Texas--primarily from burst pipes and flooding--Week of Compassion is providing ministry grants for Disciples congregations as they serve their neighbors. Our churches across multiple regions are working to provide warming shelters, food assistance, and essential supplies to those in urgent need.
Rev. Virzola Law, Senior Minister of Northway Christian Church in Dallas, shares: “The DFW area is not built for this extreme weather. Yet with the resources of so many--like Week of Compassion and our neighbors--we were able show up and provide the basics. Shelter for some; water for others; food for many. Blankets for warmth. And even a shoulder (with a mask on). The distance was closed because so much love continues to be unmasked. Christ and Community have bridged the gaps in amazing ways as we continue to move through this time… We are stronger together as the body of Christ, and Week of Compassion makes that possible.”
Union will continue to receive the Week of Compassion Special Offering throughout the month of February. You can give to the offering through your regular means of giving, including online!
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Alan
February 17
Hello Church,
I hope you have had an opportunity to participate in our Ash Wednesday Service as Lent begins today.
We have our daily prayer cards available on Facebook and our website. You may pick a set up in the church kitchen if you would like to do so.
Those prayer cards offer daily readings from the Revised Common Lectionary, as well as a short daily prayer. Many churches in our community and throughout the world follow this lectionary. We have been using these readings for Sunday Worship all through Epiphany. This year, the lectionary focuses on the Gospel of Mark. Throughout the season of Lent, however, the lectionary’s Sunday readings include several passages from other gospels. During worship, we will instead continue with readings from the Gospel of Mark.
Our overall theme for the season of Lent will be “Dawning Discipleship - Love Draws Us to Jerusalem.” We will continue reading from the Gospel of Mark. In this gospel, following the Transfiguration, Jesus has turned his face toward Jerusalem. Our Lenten readings will focus on what it means to be a disciple, what it means to live and proclaim God’s Kingdom, here and now.
This week’s reading is Mark 10:17-31. The Common English Bible calls the story “A Rich Man’s Question.” Join us Sunday, as the disciples, and the crowds who gather to hear Jesus, are invited to reexamine our priorities.
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Alan
February 10
Dear Church,
The Season of Lent is quickly approaching. Ash Wednesday is one week from today (February 17th) to be exact. This Sunday will be Transfiguration Sunday. It marks the end of Epiphany with a spectacular revelation of Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the living God. It opens the door and points in the direction toward Ash Wednesday and Lent, the road to Jerusalem, crucifixion, and resurrection. They are, indeed, fast approaching. It is time to get ready.
This year we are going to share Ash Wednesday a little differently. As we continue to face the dangers of COVID-19, we will not gather in person to receive ashes on our foreheads as a mark of penitence. This year we will pre-record our Ash Wednesday Service. It will be available when you wake up on that morning. Rather than using ashes to remember our mortality, we will use the dirt into which we were born, and which brings forth God's fruit to nourish us throughout our lives. Between now and next Wednesday, take some time to collect a bowl of God's good earth for Ash Wednesday. Collect enough to run your fingers through during the service. Plan to keep it in a prominent place of daily gathering, living, or prayer in your home throughout the season of Lent.
After a bit of conversation and consideration, we will not be adding a Bible Study to the Lenten calendar this year. During the season of Lent, this year, we will be sharing daily prayers and scripture readings adapted from the Revised Common Lectionary. There will be several readings. You are invited to read any or all of them. The readings on Thursday, Friday and Saturday are meant to prepare us for the upcoming Sunday readings. The passages on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday are meant for continued reflection following Sunday's reading.
You may find these daily prayers in several places. They will be posted, daily, on Facebook. They will also be available on our website. You should receive an email each week with links to the readings on the website. We will also be handing out a set of prayer cards each week, when you arrive for Sunday morning worship. We are expecting to hand out at least one set per household. If you would like more, don't hesitate to ask, we will have extra. If you want to find them online and keep your home "clutter free," don't feel like you have to take one.
Lent is a season of penitence and reflection. It is also a season of hope. Crucifixion, and the desertion of God by creation that it represents looms over us during these weeks. At the same time we know, and are called to remember, especially every Sabbath Sunday, that the story of "God with us" does not end at the cross. It continues into the new, never-ending life of resurrection. May we continue to live the examined life of the spirit this Lent. In so doing may we live in the hope of new life we see peeking over the horizon, drawing us always toward God and neighbor, those familiar and those not yet known.
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Alan
February 2
A Day In the Life
Mark 1:29-39 describes a “day in the life” of Jesus. Jesus teaches, heals, and exorcises the demonic. Jesus is going from dusk to dawn. No healing is too large or too small for his attention. The story concludes with Jesus going to a deserted place for prayer. His time of prayer connects him with God and gives him a clear sense of mission.
Whether in our "sacred" or "secular" lives (as if we could separate them) we tend to polarize action and contemplation. Too often we latch onto a mission as either spiritual or activist or political or contemplative. Throughout Mark’s Gospel, action and contemplation are reliant on one another. Jesus is always on the move, constantly responding to human need. Yet, Jesus regularly retreats for prayer and reflection. Moments of quiet, such as the one described in Mark 1:35-39, enable Jesus to maintain his spiritual center, to continue discovering his relationship with the God of all creation. In the case of today’s reading, Jesus’ quiet time fortifies his sense of calling to all Israel (and the whole of the world beyond) not merely the village of Capernaum.
May we seek always to join contemplation and action, prayer and productivity, and sabbath and community involvement in our "sacred" and our "secular" time with one another and our neighbors.
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Alan
February 1
From Collection to Community: A Hidden Miracle
As the gospel of Mark will continue to attest, almost without comment or commentary, Jesus was a source of miracles. There are the obvious miracles, such as the healings and the feedings. There are also the hidden miracles, the kind of miracles that give rise to the church, and give rise to congregations like Union Christian Church (DOC).
One of Jesus’s “hidden” or “overlooked” miracles, is the miracle of taking a collection of people, lost people, and creating with them a community, a holy community. I think about some of the folks who hung around Jesus, and I wonder how in the world they could stand each other, or even put up with Jesus at times. Even so, through the gospels, the stories of Acts, and in the months and years to follow, they become “the church.”
Remember who these people are? We have Peter, hot and cold. One day he proclaims “You are the Messiah, the Son of God.” At the arrest in the garden, he draws his knife and maims a temple servant. Yet through the following night, he repeatedly denies knowing anything about Jesus. But at Pentecost, he again steps to the fore, proclaiming Jesus resurrected, for which he will eventually be martyred. I can imagine Peter vacillating between thinking Jesus is crazy some days, and too timid on others, depending on his mood. In addition we have James and John, the sons of Zebedee, angling to get Jesus to name them “next in command,” sitting at his right and left. I can only imagine how that went over with the others. Don’t forget Nicodemus, a high positioned community leader, court insider, muckity muck in the temple. He clearly thought Jesus was full of nonsense after their first conversation, and yet he sticks around. Jesus is surrounded by a collection of religious purists and segregationist, wanting to withdraw to their own isolated communities, accommodationists wanting to make the best of things and please the ruling Romans, zealot revolutionaries wanting to free Judah and reconquer Israel, and so many folks just trying to make it day to day. Somehow, out of this odd, rough collection of people, through Jesus, a community comes into being. From this collection/community unlikely leaders emerge.
How in the world could that have happened? It seems impossible. It is nothing less than a miracle. I believe it can only have happened because somewhere along the way, through Jesus, this collection of people learned to listen to God and to listen to one another. I think they learned to listen, in particular, to those they would like to dismiss and those they disagreed with.
As I think about my own Christian journey and the church leaders who have influenced my life, nothing seems to have changed. The ministers that regularly roam through my thought include several Disciples, some Southern Baptists, Methodists, Lutherans, and Presbyterians for starters. Some are famous and others unknown. Somewhere among them are folks who have never strayed, others who left the church and eventually came back, some who are theologically and politically liberal and conservative, men, women, white, people of color, northern and southern, western and eastern. Some are word wizards and have held high positions, some are tattooed and foul-mouthed. They include grandparents and young single parents. Some have always been in ministry. One went to a military academy and another spent years as an electrician. A couple have lived rather charmed lives. Others have experienced abuse from strangers or family. Some are teetotalers and others are addicts in recovery. They are an odd, rough collection. But they are more than that. They are a community, God’s community, our community, whether we ever get to meet all of them or not. Sometimes you can see it the moment they walk in the door, and sometimes you have to sit with them for several hours. Either way, they all have something to offer us as the church, they all have something to offer this congregation on Union Church Road. If they ever get to meet you personally, you have something to offer them as well.
That is the miracle. Continually creating community out of a motley collection. That is the miracle, continuing to open ourselves to listen to one another, and embrace one another, whether we seem familiar or strange. That is the miracle, committing to grow in relationship with old friends and with neighbors we have yet to meet. May Union Christian Church strive to continue to be one of Jesus’ “hidden” miracles.
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Alan
January 27
Real Authority
This week’s scripture reading finds Jesus teaching with authority in the synagogue and casting out an unclean spirit. I remember those years when the kids played community sports. There is the season I got roped into coaching a team, even though I knew I was not well suited to the task. I was right. I remember the many other seasons of sitting in “the stands,” encouraging our children and our team. I remember the sometimes confused faces of players when their parents' instructions contradicted those of the coach. It would cause distraction that detracted from the teams performance. The kids would eventually respond to the coach. The coach was the real authority here, and the team is the community I am responsible to here. Kids understand, whether they could explain it or not.
It’s not a bad analogy for our relationship to Jesus. It’s not a bad analogy for our relationship to the church. But there is more to “coaching,” more to “learning the game,” than any one particular moment or play. Coaching includes things like teaching and reinforcing the rules, developing a style or philosophy of game play that fits the skills and personality of the team, and setting priorities that extend beyond a single game or practice. Are we here the develop our skills? To have fun? To learn teamwork? To win? Well, all of them, but what is our overarching, guiding priority for gathering and playing together?
In theology, we call that overarching, guiding priority(s) a hermeneutic. I often find myself reaching in my back pocket for a hermeneutic in exciting moments like the one in today’s scripture. That hermeneutic will help me keep my head in the game in those moments of excitement or distraction, whether positive or negative. You have heard my hermeneutic more than once: Our God is a God of infinite love, healing grace and radical hospitality. That is the kind of people are called to be in God’s world.
Take a moment this week, and think about your own hermeneutic.
Personally, what does it mean to be a Christian? What kind of person does your faith call you to be?
As a congregation, what does it mean to be Christian? What kind of community are we called to be? Regularly reflecting on these questions, will help us recognize and respond to the real authority of Jesus, in moments exciting and mundane alike.
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Alan
January 20
Repent!
Repent! It’s the heart of the message of John the Baptist, arrested as the passage from Mark begins. It’s the first command of Jesus’ preaching as he bursts upon the stage in Galilee. You can find it in Paul’s advice to the church at Corinth. It’s the collective response of the people of Nineveh as they hear Jonah’s reluctant proclamation in the streets of their city. The lectionary readings for this Sunday are filled with repentance.
The repentance we find in these passages is not a call or a response to a "turn or burn" message or theology. Jonah has spent his whole book angry at God, because he knows God is merciful. Jesus' call to "repent" is preceded by his declaration that "the kingdom of God has come near," and followed by his urging to "believe in the Good News!" It is a moment of praise, not condemnation.
It is an invitation to a willing and intentional change of mind, and heart, and life; whether as an individual or a community. It is a proclamation of a better path than the one being traveled. It is an affirmation that we are not our worst acts, but could be our highest hopes. It is an assertion that those around us will not surrender to our deepest suspicions, but more likely outdo what we might expect of ourselves.
Jesus’ call to repentance is a direct result of “the time” being fulfilled and the reign of God drawing near. Jesus is calling his listeners to recognize the divine presence of God, and to believe in it enough to live a different, better life. In the case of four fishermen, the call to repentance is framed as a call to follow, a call to trade fish-fishing for people-fishing, a kind of turning toward God and all of God's children rather than away from either.
We have been invited with a kingdom announcement and a repentance call. Are we ready to respond anew? Are we ready to respond even more fully this time around? Are we ready to hear and respond to this Good News today?
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Alan
Sunday Readings
Jonah 3:1-5, 10
1 Corinthians 7:29-31
Mark 1:14-20
January 13
Love Thy Neighbor as Thyself
Once upon a time, as a college chaplain intern, a student named Robert came to me wanting to set up a "coffee house" event where where we could talk about faith, especially with his non-christian brothers and sisters. I wasn't immediately sure how to respond. I knew his interest in and love of his fellow students was real. His desire to share was sincere. But I also had a concern that he hadn't thought about how to listen, as well as speak. The next time we met, I found a moment to ask him how he would feel if "Sheila" invited him to a talk so that she could work on converting him to Buddhism. Then we talked about what it would be like to have a "Cafe Conversation," where students could discuss questions from the perspective of their various faiths, philosophies and personal experiences with one another. As the possibilities of this format sunk in, Robert got excited about the better opportunity to listen and learn, as well as teach and share. These principles hold in conversations around faith and also in the public square.
As children of God, as followers of Christ, we are called to love one another. It is not a call to be silent or even meek when we have a deep concern about our neighbor, our community or ourselves. It is a call to speak, and listen, and act with love. I am concerned that we are struggling as a society, to practice the holy discipline of listening generously. To take a moment (or several) to consider the experience of others, especially those with whom we have intense disagreements, is to live out a key element of Christian mission. Union Christian Church (DOC) has developed a well-tuned "holy listening ear." I wonder how we can share that "ear" with our community, our society.
As Robert and I talked, our goal was not diminish his voice, but to provide space for his brothers and sisters to speak as well. The goal was to provide space to hear as well as speak.
We are called to bear witness. We are called to share with one another our deeply held convictions. Pausing before we speak to consider our words is a vital, holy act of love toward neighbor and God. Listening and acknowledging, recognizing the truth in what is said by our brothers and sisters, even when we deeply disagree, is a vital, holy act of love toward neighbor and God. We are called to love our brothers and sisters in faith. We are called to love our brothers and sisters in the public square. Go forth, people of God, sharing Christ's love as you speak, listen, and act in our community and God's world.
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Alan
January 6
Holy, Chaotic Waters of Life - Mark 1:4-11
The author of Mark is an "economic" writer. He doesn't waste words.
There is enough going on in the relatively few verses we share this week to make you head spin and ask what just happened. It does this while painting a rich, detailed picture.
The rich detail shows us the down to earth nature of the gospel. We can see and hear and feel this world, our world that Jesus has stepped into. We can smell the water and feel the scratchy clothes. We can hear the crowds and taste the bugs. We are startled, maybe even paralyzed by the tearing sky. This world is real, tactile, fleshy. There is no mistaking that it is ours.
It is into this wilderness of our own chaotic lives that John arrives proclaiming hope and possibility. It is into our personal and communal brokenness that the Spirit erupts in Jesus' presence.
Something has happened, the kind of thing not seen since the bursting forth of creation, or the deliverance of the people from Pharaoh.
I wonder if baptism, being immersed into the waters of creation, is not so much about getting out of this world and into the next. I wonder if sinking into and re-emerging from the water of life is more about remembering and proclaiming the life-creating, ever-healing, always-giving holy presence in the world today. Maybe, this week, we are being reminded to recognize and offer God's eternal life among us and around us here and now.
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Alan
December 23
Holiday Cheer and Eternal Hope
In Sunday's sermon I mentioned an old acquaintance, Andy Offutt Irwin of Covington. I met Andy while I was working as a chaplain intern at Oxford College of Emory University. He was the artist in residence and universal big brother to the students at Oxford.
Among the many things he does, he is an award winning story teller. He centers his stories in Morgan County (Madison) Georgia, which makes them a particular delight. While being deeply rooted, his characters fully delight in their current day to day. Their stories keep an eternally hopeful eye open to what the future is bringing and how they (we) may fit in it.
So, for the next couple of weeks, I commend the work of Andy Offutt Irwin to you. When you need a break from Christmas Music, try a couple of Andy's stories from Spotify: The Truth About Santa & the Reindeer, or Marguerite's Christmas.
He is as entertaining to look at as to listen to, so head on over to his website: Videos | Andy Offutt Irwin (andyirwin.com) Don't forget to visit the gift shop.
Whether you are in the mood for some light diversion, or heartwarming storytelling, may I introduce, Andy Offutt Irwin.
Merry Christmas friends and neighbors!
Pastor Alan