Broadway United Methodist Church: Recent Episodes
Broadway United Methodist Church
I spent years laser-focused on the straight and narrow … you know, believing and behaving just the right way. Back in those days when I gathered with others, especially at church, it was about outperforming everybody else in the room. At the end of the day fatigue, anxiety and full-on self-consumption. [gap height="10"]
Sharing our stories creates and empowers community. The room becomes fully engaged. I find myself in you. You find yourself in me. We link arms, not over shared beliefs or ethics, but mutual hurt and happiness. Your story may not fix me. It does give me hope. It won't answer all my questions. It does let me know I'm not the only one asking. Walls come down when we share stories.
Jesus didn't die to cool the red-hot wrath of an angry God. No, this was God laying down his divine power to allow us to discover where we go when we think we have power. But even after absorbing our most grievous blow, his love, the greatest power in the universe, exploded from the grave.
There is no such thing as a true stoic. We all feel. Emotions are neither good nor bad. They just are. But to be human means we also think, do, desire, decide and relate to others. A healthy life is a balance of all these. If your emotions remain the loudest voice in the room, maybe it's time to start asking why.
Jesus lived and died love. He left his posse one command. Love each other. His love was extreme; leaving the 99, touching the unclean, cuddling babies, enlisting tax collectors, seeing the invisible, washing feet, forgiving freely and spontaneously, laying down his life. Not even a tomb could restrain his love.
Without thinking about it, when I preset my dial to God's ability, there's a good chance I will miss his availability. In my darkest hour, I don't need a God who can flex. I need one with arms wide open for a hug.
Speaking forgiveness out loud is key. It doesn't make us forget the infraction. But saying “I forgive you” will remove its poison. And … it puts the universe on notice. Love wins. Light triumphs. Grace always finds a way.
Read the big story in scripture. God has always done the heavy lifting, the grunt work, a bulldozer operator from the get-go. This applies to you and me as well. He wants our freedom more than we want it. He is doing all he can to open up all the good stuff for us, love, joy, peace and wholeness. And he's relentless.
Still, most of us want to lean into our skills with a screwdriver. We brandish them like swords. “Give me some time. I can work this out.” We stay so busy at it we fail to hear God breaking through on his backhoe right above us. The shafts of light streaming down to us go unseen by eyes clinched in determination.
At some point we eventually give up. Bent screwdriver hanging loosely in scraped and blistered hands, we stop trying to free ourselves. That's when we look up into the light where we see God sitting on his backhoe, smile on his face, reaching down to give us a hand up.
If this thing between me and God is going to work, it has way more to do with God on a backhoe than it does my prowess with a screwdriver. Watch and listen.
Last week we talked about the impossible 18 inches between our head and our heart. My head wants to grasp the concept that God loves me. My heart feels unlovable. My head says it would be prudent to trust others. My heart is afraid. I want to love myself but can't. The head thinks incorrectly. The heart hurts.
If this is to change, God's love is where we begin. I will be stuck un-loving me and not trusting you until I feel the touch of God' love. God designed us to live loved by him. Until we experience this, nothing else will fall into place.
Life is one small choice after another, whether it's our purchases, conversations, diets, handling of crises, leisure activities, donations, celebrations, attitudes, relationships etc. In the case of long-term relationships like marriage, neighbors, work, church etc. our minute-by-minute choices have a communal and cumulative effect … either healthy or unhealthy.
What about casual encounters? Table server at a restaurant? Guy who roofs our house? Lady at the Quick Sack? Person standing in front of me in line? All these 10 second encounters … what difference does my choice make here? First, I can send a message that the other person is seen and heard. They matter to me. Second, it reminds me again that I want to be a respectful, considerate person.
Let's conclude this with a key component. I have two options: It's only 10 seconds. What's it matter? -OR- I only have 10 seconds with this person. I need to make the best of it. The option I choose says who I want to be today. But more, it solidifies the legacy I leave behind for my kids and grandkids.
There is power in sharing our stories. We all have monsters from our past (voices in our heads) that threaten us. Talking about these monsters brings them out in the open. We see them for who they are. Fear and dread lose their bite.
At Pathway it's taken years to become a safe place to share our stories. We are the most laid-back bunch you'll find. But we're hard-core when it comes to two things: Be real. Be loved. This happens every time a story is shared.
The Senior pastor at our church taught me something a few months back. We can't improvise musically until we first learn the scales. One is mechanical, calculated and disciplined. The other is spontaneous …next door to heavenly.
We're talking about life. You have to study the manual before you can get out on the road and drive. I read the recipe book prior to baking my first cake. We learn to crawl … then walk … then run … then compete in sports. Mastering simple spelling and grammar comes in handy before writing one's first novel.
I'm starting to wonder if this is the way it works with our walk with God. Do we need some sort of theology before we can experience the actual presence of God? Can we know him personally (in our heart) if we don't first conceptually (in our head) believe he exists and wants to be known by us?