Are you doing drudgery or serving?

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by Fletcher Lowe

One of the best known of Christ’s parables concerns two brothers and a father.   The message we get clearly is that God’s love is unconditional and outreaching.  But we rarely look at it in terms of work.

Initially both brothers disliked their work.  The younger was so fed up he wanted out – and so he asked for his inheritance and left.  The older, we learn later, saw his work as duty to the father ever though he loathed it.  “For all these years, I have been working like a slave for you….” The irony is that the younger, having fallen into desperate times, “came to himself” and was willing to return and work as one of his father’s “hired hands.”

It is all about our attitude toward what we do.  The elder brother never lost his sense of begrudging what work he was doing.  It all was about duty – no sense of using his God-given abilities to make a difference.  The younger son underwent a conversion.  He came to that point as he “bottomed out” in the “distant country,” where he was working, as a Jew, feeding pigs.  He saw working for his father no longer as drudgery but as serving.

In Episcopal worship the concluding Dismissal – the real heart of the Liturgy – calls us to such a sense of work – to use our God-given talents and abilities as serving.  Just before the congregation goes out the door into the world: “Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.”  “And now Father, send us out to do the work you have given us to do, to love and serve you…”  “Send us now into the world in peace…to love and serve you…”  (Book of Common Prayer, pp. 365-6)

Encouragement for everyday missionaries

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by Demi Prentiss

Sometimes, I think, we think of ministry as a grand, “big deal” enterprise. We think that unless we’re getting immunizations and passports for faraway destinations, we couldn’t possibly be on mission. That’s for saints, and ascetics, and people who sleep on the ground and kill their own food.  Or at least go days on end without a shower.

The truth is that once we’re baptized, we’re actually everyday missionaries, “on mission” wherever we find ourselves. We are partners in God’s plan for transforming that moment and that place. Just most of the time, we’re blind to the potential. We aren’t able to see where God is at work and calling us into partnership, in the place right in front of us. Or – chilling thought – we choose not to see.

The brothers in the Society of St. John the Evangelist  remind me often that we have great transformational potential, even when we’re not really paying much attention. Every place we find ourselves, and especially in our most day-to-day transactions, God offers us opportunity to incarnate the Love that God has sent into the world. As God told the angels who fretted about human-kind’s ineptitude, “There is no Plan B.” And sometimes, partnering with God is as simple as encouraging another person.

SSJE’s Brother Curtis Almquist sees that our judgment of ourselves often lacks the grace of Jesus’ loving, redeeming judgment:

We are graded in life, first by others, then by ourselves.  And no matter how good we are, we always could have been better.  If left to our own devices, our own mean judgments, we will almost inevitably score poorly.  We could have been, should have been better, don’t we know.  There’s no way out of this downward, internal spiral, which can become viral, unless we are rescued by love.  It’s otherwise hell, all the way to hell.  We are secretly condemned and sentenced to a lifetime, an eternity of inadequacy, failure, and estrangement unless we are rescued by love: someone who will bequeath dignity, worth, recognition, and gratitude upon us because of who we are and what we do.

 

We simply cannot grasp this alone: that we are precious, and amazing, and of inestimable value unless this truth is mirrored into our being by another person.  We need others’ help to know we are forgivable and forgiven.  We cannot save ourselves.  We need to be saved from hell every day.  We need to give and receive support and encouragement for one another as “daily bread.”  This is not a one-time need, but rather our ongoing need for the intervention of love for ourselves, mediated through other people…..

 

The only way we can grasp Jesus’ judgment of love is through the hands, and hearts, and words of other people who are the channels of Jesus’ intervening, liberating truth.  Jesus will reach us through other people.  That’s the only way.  We need daily support and encouragement from others or we are left to ourselves where we become, simultaneously, the judge, the jailer, and the prisoner in solitary confinement.  We need one another to mediate Jesus’ light and life and love for us….

Who might you encounter today, who might be encouraged toward wholeness by your baptismal witness?

Walking In Love

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by Pam Tinsley

They gather most Saturday mornings at 8 at a cafe near the entrance of a magnificent 700-acre city park. The park has walking trails that wind through dense rainforest-like growth and a 5-Mile Drive, which is closed to vehicles on Saturday mornings.

Rain or shine – though more often rain – several intrepid folk grab a quick cup of coffee before heading out for a brisk walk. After walking, they return to the cafe where several others have arrived in the meantime. There they settle in for another cup of coffee and, most importantly, continuing conversation and fellowship.

These folks initially met through church, and although they may from time to time talk about what’s going on at church, church per se isn’t their focus. Perhaps the opportunity for some exercise in the midst of God’s glorious creation is a reason behind their getting together. Yet, the cafe group consists of non-walkers, too.

I believe the real fruit of the “Saturday Morning Walkers” has shown itself to be community. Together they share stories including vulnerabilities, and these stories have forged a bond that provides love and support to one another in times of illness, adversity and joy.

They celebrated together when one of them married a mutual friend, and the group welcomed her into the weekly gathering. When one individual struggled through years of chemotherapy, they were there, encouraging John with his commitment to walk at least three miles a day. For many months, two men met John at the park each morning before they went to work as he dealt with the draining effects of chemo. He says that it was their “gentle” encouragement that helped him through those seemingly endless dark days -– they would debate whether, if he keeled over, it would be easier to drag him back by his hands or by his feet!

You might say, “But isn’t that what friends do, support and encourage one another?” And, you’re right, it is. Yet, these friends began as acquaintances who walked and chatted, and that fellowship developed into friendship, a friendship which invites others in. And by gathering together on a weekly basis, encouraging and supporting each other in their daily lives, they are joining together with God to make the world – right where they are – a better place!

Photo: Hoh Rain Forest, Wikimedia Commons

Who Are You Meant To Be? — 2 Views

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by Fletcher Lowe

Let me offer two prayerful expressions of the ministry we all share as the Baptized.

A 16th century Spanish Carmelite nun, St. Teresa of Ávila, put it this way:

May today there be peace within.
May you trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be.
May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith.
May you use those gifts that you have received,

and pass on the love that has been given to you.
May you be content knowing you are a child of God.

Let this presence settle into your bones,

and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love.
It is there for each and every one of us .

More recently the Rev. Dr. Richard Halverson, the late Chaplain of the US Senate offered this:

You go nowhere by accident.
Wherever you go, God is sending you there.
Wherever you are, God has put you there.
He has a purpose in your being there.

Christ, who indwells in you, has something He wants to do through you,
wherever you are.

Believe this, and go in His grace, and love, and power. Amen!

Park Bench Ministry

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by Demi Prentiss

Val Hastings is a Methodist pastor and the founder of Coaching For Today’s Leaders, which developed out of his Coaching For Clergy.  Hastings advocates that every person in ministry (That would be all of us who want to partner with Jesus!) learn coaching skills, especially deep listening and the skill of asking curious, powerful questions.

This week I received an email from Val that told the following story:

It all begins with listening!  Every new coach in our training program hears me say this at the beginning of their training.  Throughout their training, we regularly remind them that while the other coaching competencies are important, listening is the most important one!

 

There is growing evidence to support this claim.

 

Consider the Friendship Bench Program, also known as the Community Grandmothers Program. Quite literally, it’s a park bench — with a higher calling.  Individuals, mostly older women, are trained to listen and offer support.  They sit on park benches and create a safe place for people to talk.

 

Consider the following results of a Zimbabwe study of the Friendship Bench Program:

  • 50 percent of patients who received standard care still had symptoms of depression compared to 14 percent who received Friendship Bench.
  • 48 percent of patients who received standard care still had symptoms of anxiety compared to 12 percent who received Friendship Bench.
  • 12 percent of patients who received standard care still had suicidal thoughts compared to 2 percent who received Friendship Bench.

 

One of the best ways to make a difference in someone’s life is to simply listen.

What about applying this practice in daily life? What if we stopped thinking about ministry as a “project,” and instead thought about ministry as a “way of being” in the world? What would your daily life ministry look like if you started listening like a “Community Grandmother”?

Practicing God-Talk

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by Wayne Schwab

Here’s an idea to help members to think about current issues in the framework of faith.  Share with them articles of any kind that raise current issues in any of the seven daily mission fields.  Connect each article with a biblical theme and its source.  Make copies available and convene a discussion on a Sunday morning before or after worship – or any sensible time.  The guiding principle is that members seldom speak up on various current issues because they have had little practice talking about them in a faith framework – hence “Practicing God-talk” as the name for the activity.

Practicing God-talk for Sunday adult classes

Preparation:

  • select a printed piece on a private or public issue
  • connect it with one of the seven daily mission fields
  • select a related biblical theme
  • provide copies of it for advance reading

For example:
A Sunday leaflet or a newsletter announces:

On Sunday (date), we will work with two aspects of our mission in spiritual health.  We will work with two articles:

Both articles come from Sojourners magazine for January 2017.  One biblical theme relates to both: “. . . let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream” (Amos 5:24).

Look online for the quotes from Wallis and Packnett to read and print out. Also, copies will be available in the church on the two previous Sundays.

At the session:

Open with the related biblical theme: “. . . let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream” (Amos 5:24). Read the two quotes and suggest these are issues in spiritual health, and open for discussion.

Election Day and Beyond

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It’s election day. Soon it will be over. And the effects of the day will extend for many years, touching the lives of those who voted as well as those who failed to vote, who wanted to vote but couldn’t, who couldn’t have cared less, and who, possibly, aren’t even alive yet.

The same can be said about our lives, and the footprints we leave behind. (See the Nov. 2 blog entry.) The effects of our lives extend beyond our limited vision.

My friend John Colon recently posted on Facebook:

I just voted. As has been stated before, it’s the one day when there are no rich or poor as one person one vote makes us all equal. Voting has always been an emotional experience for me after I have voted. Yet, this morning as I was preparing for my day, I was thinking about the people who have influenced my life and who helped me become the man I am today. I noted the diversity of people who have mentored me, my family, friends and peers, and those whom I have had the privilege to serve and lead. And I thought to myself, “Indeed, it does take a village.” Vote wisely today, friends. This is not an election about material wealth, self-centered desires or fear and hatred. It’s about community, welcoming the stranger, loving your neighbor as yourself, faith, hope and love.

The people John credits with influencing his beliefs were witnesses in daily life, demonstrating to John and to the world around them the values they held dear and the beliefs that shaped their lives. Each of us, in our daily lives, witness in that same way. That witness – perhaps more than any intentional acts of charity or piety or faithfulness – is our true ministry. God willing, our lives and our witness serve as our proclamation of God’s good news. Or perhaps, a proclamation of our unbelief. Or our worship of someone or something other than the Holy One.

In the weeks and months ahead, may our lives offer to those around us a transformative example, as John experienced. May we “show forth [God’s] praise, not only with our lips, but in our lives.” May we embody the presence of Christ in our daily interactions. May we practice being part of the Jesus Movement in every aspect of our daily life.

As St. Francis said, “Preach the Gospel at all times. When necessary, use words.”

Are you a missionary? The footprint test –

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by Demi Prentiss

Michael Piazza is the pastor of Virginia Highland Church in Atlanta, Georgia. In his Oct. 26 edition of “Liberating Word,” his blog, he wrote:

From out of a small Sunday school class in Scotland went a young man named David Livingston. He went to Africa, traveling from village to village treating the sick and telling them about God’s love. Many years later, a missionary visiting one of those villages began to tell a story about a gentle compassionate man named Jesus. An old woman interrupted him and said, “Many years ago that man visited our village, but we called him David.”

 

From a Sunday school in Scotland, you get the footprints of Jesus in the sands of Africa. Are the footprints of Jesus to be seen where you live and work?

 

How would your life be different if you saw yourself as a missionary of God’s compassion and grace? We are not the kind of missionaries who claim to have all the answers and demand that people change their mind and see it our way. Our only job is to offer a word of hope, the hope we have found; a touch of grace, the grace that is beginning to change our lives; a sign of compassion, the compassion offered to us when we least deserved it.

In the places where you live and work and play and study and drive and shop and worship, are the footprints of Jesus visible there?  How might you encourage others – and yourself – to make sure those are the footprints you leave?

Why do congregations exist?

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by Peyton G. Craighill

Why do congregations exist? In America, the members of congregations generally assume their congregations exist primarily to put on worship services on Sunday. And the success of the congregations is measured in terms of how many worshipers they are able to attract on Sundays. They also assume that their power to attract and hold members depends on their ability to produce programs that meet the spiritual and social needs of their members. The most successful congregations are those with the most attractive power.

The problem with these assumptions is that they ignore why God created – and continues to create – congregations. The Church came into being when God sent his Son into the world to live, die, and rise again for that world, and Christ commissioned his followers jan_luykens_jesus_20-_the_apostles_sent_out-_phillip_medhurst_collectionto spread the Good News of God’s love and justice through word and action “into all the world”! The Church exists not primarily to attract people into congregations but to send people out to share with God in his mission in all areas of their daily life. When we were baptized into Christ, he commissioned us all to participate with him in his mission, Monday through Sunday.

The paradigm shift from an attractional to a sending model of congregational ministry calls for a major reconsideration of every aspect of church life – worship, formation, community, and service. Mission is no longer on the periphery of church life. Mission is why congregations exist! Parish programs need to be rethought in terms not only of the corporate life of congregations, but also in terms of how they inspire, guide, and support each member in his or her missions in all areas of daily life – home, work, leisure, community, church, and the wider world.

In regard to the missional church movement in the Episcopal Church, what sets our approach apart from other Churches, is our emphasis on baptism and the baptismal covenant. As Christ’s mission began with his baptism, so too our mission, shared with Christ, begins with our baptism! In particular, the nine commitments we make in the Baptismal Covenant provide us with invaluable inspiration and guidance for our missions in Christ in our daily lives.

We recognize of course, that, in mission-oriented congregations, attraction remains an important part of our ministry. Unless congregations attract members in, there will be no missionaries to send out. But attraction is subordinated to sending. Indeed, the best way to attract people into congregations is when those congregations inspire and support all their members to live out their faith in their everyday lives.

Museum or base camp?

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by Wayne Schwab

What is the church’s mission and who carries it out?

An old answer: the church is a museum; its mission is to preserve Christian teaching and practice.

A popular answer today: the church is missional carrying on programs and activities that serve its community.  The members support the institution in its community service programs and activities.

missional%20livingAn answer we need: the members are the primary agents of God’s mission in today’s world to make each part of daily life more loving and more just.  The institution acts as a base camp, supporting the members in their daily missions in each part of their daily lives.