Driving is a fundamental right of passage for any American teenager (as well as the opportunity to take advantage of seemingly limitless freedom) and I remember my first drive like it was yesterday. I was very, very, VERY excited about driving! I had studied the rules, critiqued my parents driving, and even received a pair of "driving" gloves. So when I took that written test and received my learner's permit, I was ready to go. My father wasn't so sure, but reluctantly he let me get behind the wheel and away we went.
Things were going swimmingly, until I reached a 3-way stop. As I approached the sign, two other cars, from the other two directions, also were approaching. The three of us stopped at roughly the same time, and not wanting to take any chances, I waved them both on. Then I noticed another car to my right, and not wanting to have any confusion I waved that car on as well. As the car to my right was proceeding, a car on my left was pulling up to the sign, and slightly unsure of my own ability to maneuver our 1988 Oldsmobile station wagon through the intersection I waved her along as well.
It only took a few moments of this, before a line had formed behind me, and people were growing impatient. My father informed me that I could not stay there all day long, but would eventually need to get going. I was afraid, and not so confident anymore. I offered to let my dad slide over, but he suggested that I just take it nice and slow. So with great trepidation and almost no use of the gas pedal I slowly and cautiously idled the car through the stop sign and around the corner. Once we reached our destination I told my dad I'd had enough driving for the day, and that he could drive us home!
This funny (and embarrassing) story illustrates quite well a phenomenon that afflicts all of us at one time or another, namely getting in over our heads. I had taken on more than I could handle, and was made aware of this fact quite resoundingly at that stop sign! The same can be said for a man named Job, who was upset with God, and then reminded (not so kindly) of his place by God (see Job 38:1-7). Job's problem was he was hurt and upset, and he thought God was being unfair. Job figured that if he was in charge things wouldn't be so terrible, and he wanted to let God know this. When confronted by God, it was made clear to Job that God was God and Job was human. In other words, God wanted Job to worry about human things, and let God take care of the God things.
We too can act like Job. Sometimes a person might be apt to look around at all the pain and suffering in the world and declare that if only he or she was in charge things would be different. It's easy to look at a hurting loved one and proclaim if only I could heal them, then things would be better. Others are like my grandfather and look at the world and proclaim that the world's going down the tubes. If only he or she were in charge, then they would teach those "teens/kids/people/whoever" some respect and how to behave. Other people look at the pain and the suffering, or the seeming chaos of things and declare that the problems are too big, that there's nothing they can do.
God's answer to all of these people, is the same answer given to Job, God is God and we are people. God will take care of the God stuff, and we have to focus on doing our part (or taking care of the human stuff). In other words, God says "I'm God. I'm here for you. I'm in control, so don't worry."
All of us get in over our heads sometimes. All of us are tempted to look at things and either wish WE were in control or become overwhelmed by the size/number/complexity of problems. But we always need to remember that while we do have a part to play and we can make a difference, we are still humans and God is still in control. God is God, God is with you, and God is in control so don't worry.
Grace & Peace,
Pastor John
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Friday, October 16, 2009
Weekly Thoughts
So I was sitting in my office...looking at the SNOW outside (come on...snow on October 16th!) and reading one of the four (or five, or six) books that I'm attempting to read, when the author mentioned the demolition derby. I don't know about you, but I love the demo derby! I have a good friend, who always goes, and as often as I can I tag along. The demo derby is great because the people there are doing the opposite of what you're "supposed" to be doing with a car. Instead of driving nicely, yeilding the right of way, they are smashing into each other! It's loud, exciting, often muddy, and sometimes a little scary. What a rush, right!?
Well that author (Jim Walker: Dirty Word: The vulgar, offensive language of the kingdom of God) suggests that God's Kingdom (also known as the Church) should be like a demolition derby! He starts out by talking about Dale's Cone of learning which reports that the least efficient way to teach someone is through verbal communication (talking to them) while the best way to teach a person is by letting them do it themselves. Dale's Cone of learning asserts that a person taught verbally (think sermon, lecture, etc) will only remember %10-%20 of what their taught, while someone who's taught by doing will retain a whopping %90 of the information!
From here the author claims that while we in the Church seem to think that worship services, sunday school classes, and sermons are the best way to teach others to be Christians, the truth couldn't be more opposite. He says the Church should be like a demo derby, where everyone is allowed to actually get into the car and drive it (even if they hit a few curbs and dent a fender or two).
What do you think? Should the church be like a tour bus where everyone sits nicely in their seats and has a teacher, pastor, or other "super christian" tell them about God, or should we all be allowed to get behind the wheel and experience God for ourselves? If you think the latter, then what are you doing to get behind that wheel? What can I do to help you get started? Let me know...
Grace & Peace,
Pastor John
Well that author (Jim Walker: Dirty Word: The vulgar, offensive language of the kingdom of God) suggests that God's Kingdom (also known as the Church) should be like a demolition derby! He starts out by talking about Dale's Cone of learning which reports that the least efficient way to teach someone is through verbal communication (talking to them) while the best way to teach a person is by letting them do it themselves. Dale's Cone of learning asserts that a person taught verbally (think sermon, lecture, etc) will only remember %10-%20 of what their taught, while someone who's taught by doing will retain a whopping %90 of the information!
From here the author claims that while we in the Church seem to think that worship services, sunday school classes, and sermons are the best way to teach others to be Christians, the truth couldn't be more opposite. He says the Church should be like a demo derby, where everyone is allowed to actually get into the car and drive it (even if they hit a few curbs and dent a fender or two).
What do you think? Should the church be like a tour bus where everyone sits nicely in their seats and has a teacher, pastor, or other "super christian" tell them about God, or should we all be allowed to get behind the wheel and experience God for ourselves? If you think the latter, then what are you doing to get behind that wheel? What can I do to help you get started? Let me know...
Grace & Peace,
Pastor John
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Sermon Sampler (October 11th) - God where are You?
This past Sunday, I was away preaching at Chenango Bridge United Methodist Church. While I was away the two congregations observed Laity Sunday, and were in great hands. I've heard awesome stuff about both services and am hopeful of getting a summary of the sermon preached in McDonough posted.
As for my sermon, below you can find a brief summary of what the people of Chenango Bridge UMC got to hear.
Have you ever had a bad day? Have you ever had a really bad day...like on of those Country & Western bad days (dog died, car broke down, lost your job, sweatheart left you, etc.)? My guess is that all of us have had some really bad days, and probably some of us have had some really bad days really recently!
A man named Job, from the Bible is famous for his really bad day, that went from bad to tragic. Job lost his camels, his sheep, his goats, his cows, and all his servants in one day (think your 401k plummeted, your car broke down, and your roof sprung a leak)! That's the bad day part, what made it tragic was when all of his children were killed! It's in the midst of this tragically bad day, that Job begins to cry out to God, complaining about what's happening. In fact, Job declares that not only is all of this happening unjustly, but that God is nowhere to be found! By clicking on this link you can get the reader's digest version of his complaints.
It's not just Job that has such days, as we mentioned above, and so I would like to share the story of one of those days that recently happened for me and my family.
We were getting set for a late spring vacation. The plan was to go camping, and as we were packing the car I discovered we were missing sleeping bags for our children, a pump for our air mattress, and tent poles for our tent! It was off to the store to buy the needed items, and then on our way...or so I thought. Just as we finished packing the car and the kids, and pulling out of the driveway, I heard "I have to pee." Needless to say we needed to quickly unpack both children (because when one needs to go, so does the other), unlock the door, and utilize both bathrooms. With that disaster averted we were on our way.
Because I am not the best with directions (the joke goes that having grown up in Owego, I can't find anything without first going to Owego) we relied on our GPS. Unfortunately the GPS saw no problem with sending us over no less than 3 seasonal use only roads, including one with a "pot hole" larger than our car (literally)! After several detours, and some unkind words to the GPS we finally arrived at our destination.
I thought we were out of the woods, but no sooner had I unpacked the kids and the tent than it began to rain. Setting up a tent in the rain is no fun, and setting up a tent in the rain with the help of two children under 3 is even less fun. While setting up the tent, Crystal was on the phone with her grandmother (in the car, out of the rain). My wife was checking in on her grandfather who had been suffering from cancer. The conversation started out with "he's fine" progressed to "you can stop by tomorrow if you want" to "maybe you should come today." It was when we arrived that our day went from bad to tragic. The man who only a week earlier had been playing with my children, was now lying on a couch, unable to move and seemingly unable to recognize his own family.
It was at this point that my wife and I, like Job, called out to God, and felt profoundly alone. Why was God doing this? Why wasn't God at least there to comfort us? Why would God leave us all alone at such a bad time? These questions were not only Job's, and were not only ours, but are the questions asked by all of us at one time or another in the midst of pain and suffering.
I intend to answer these two questions, namely "why is God doing this?" and "why isn't God here to comfort?" The answer to the first question, is that God is NOT doing this. God does not punish us for wrong by bringing misfortune into our lives. God does not teach through object lessons. The reason why we have bad days, or why we must deal with pain and heartache is not because God is punishing us, but because we live in a fallen world filled with pain and heartache.
The second question for many is more pressing and more problematic. Why does it seem like God is never around when we are hurting the most? As people, we are imperfect, and unable to do everything...right? Likewise our senses (sight, smell, taste, touch, and hearing) are also imperfect and unable to register/acknowledge all the stimulus they receive. For example when walking through a park and talking with a friend, your ears will be bombarded with various sounds (think countless animals, other people, airplanes, cars passing by, etc.) in addition to the voice of your friend. Your ears can only handle so much, and so they filter out all that other stuff (we call it background noise). The same is true when we are in the midst of pain and sorrow. Sometimes we are so immersed, so overwhelmed by that bad day, that all we can see, all we can feel is the pain and the bad! The answer then is that God is there, only we are unable to sense God's presence.
God sent His only son Jesus, to die on our behalf. God did this because God loves us. The God who loves you is not only there when you're having that bad day, God is in fact hurting and shedding tears alongside you. It is often only once we've begun to work our way through the pain and bad of such a time that we can again begin to see God's presence in our lives. For my wife and I, it was much later that we realized if not for all those delays, and that rain, she wouldn't have had that conversation in the car with her grandmother. If not for the conversation lasting so long (again because of the rain and the slow tent setting up) we wouldn't have found out things were so bad. We were blessed with the opportunity to be there, and to be with family on such a bad, even tragic day. God not only went before us, but walked alongside us as we suffered and hurt, and God does the same for all of us...even if while in the moment it's hard to feel God's presence.
Grace & Peace,
Pastor John
As for my sermon, below you can find a brief summary of what the people of Chenango Bridge UMC got to hear.
Have you ever had a bad day? Have you ever had a really bad day...like on of those Country & Western bad days (dog died, car broke down, lost your job, sweatheart left you, etc.)? My guess is that all of us have had some really bad days, and probably some of us have had some really bad days really recently!
A man named Job, from the Bible is famous for his really bad day, that went from bad to tragic. Job lost his camels, his sheep, his goats, his cows, and all his servants in one day (think your 401k plummeted, your car broke down, and your roof sprung a leak)! That's the bad day part, what made it tragic was when all of his children were killed! It's in the midst of this tragically bad day, that Job begins to cry out to God, complaining about what's happening. In fact, Job declares that not only is all of this happening unjustly, but that God is nowhere to be found! By clicking on this link you can get the reader's digest version of his complaints.
It's not just Job that has such days, as we mentioned above, and so I would like to share the story of one of those days that recently happened for me and my family.
We were getting set for a late spring vacation. The plan was to go camping, and as we were packing the car I discovered we were missing sleeping bags for our children, a pump for our air mattress, and tent poles for our tent! It was off to the store to buy the needed items, and then on our way...or so I thought. Just as we finished packing the car and the kids, and pulling out of the driveway, I heard "I have to pee." Needless to say we needed to quickly unpack both children (because when one needs to go, so does the other), unlock the door, and utilize both bathrooms. With that disaster averted we were on our way.
Because I am not the best with directions (the joke goes that having grown up in Owego, I can't find anything without first going to Owego) we relied on our GPS. Unfortunately the GPS saw no problem with sending us over no less than 3 seasonal use only roads, including one with a "pot hole" larger than our car (literally)! After several detours, and some unkind words to the GPS we finally arrived at our destination.
I thought we were out of the woods, but no sooner had I unpacked the kids and the tent than it began to rain. Setting up a tent in the rain is no fun, and setting up a tent in the rain with the help of two children under 3 is even less fun. While setting up the tent, Crystal was on the phone with her grandmother (in the car, out of the rain). My wife was checking in on her grandfather who had been suffering from cancer. The conversation started out with "he's fine" progressed to "you can stop by tomorrow if you want" to "maybe you should come today." It was when we arrived that our day went from bad to tragic. The man who only a week earlier had been playing with my children, was now lying on a couch, unable to move and seemingly unable to recognize his own family.
It was at this point that my wife and I, like Job, called out to God, and felt profoundly alone. Why was God doing this? Why wasn't God at least there to comfort us? Why would God leave us all alone at such a bad time? These questions were not only Job's, and were not only ours, but are the questions asked by all of us at one time or another in the midst of pain and suffering.
I intend to answer these two questions, namely "why is God doing this?" and "why isn't God here to comfort?" The answer to the first question, is that God is NOT doing this. God does not punish us for wrong by bringing misfortune into our lives. God does not teach through object lessons. The reason why we have bad days, or why we must deal with pain and heartache is not because God is punishing us, but because we live in a fallen world filled with pain and heartache.
The second question for many is more pressing and more problematic. Why does it seem like God is never around when we are hurting the most? As people, we are imperfect, and unable to do everything...right? Likewise our senses (sight, smell, taste, touch, and hearing) are also imperfect and unable to register/acknowledge all the stimulus they receive. For example when walking through a park and talking with a friend, your ears will be bombarded with various sounds (think countless animals, other people, airplanes, cars passing by, etc.) in addition to the voice of your friend. Your ears can only handle so much, and so they filter out all that other stuff (we call it background noise). The same is true when we are in the midst of pain and sorrow. Sometimes we are so immersed, so overwhelmed by that bad day, that all we can see, all we can feel is the pain and the bad! The answer then is that God is there, only we are unable to sense God's presence.
God sent His only son Jesus, to die on our behalf. God did this because God loves us. The God who loves you is not only there when you're having that bad day, God is in fact hurting and shedding tears alongside you. It is often only once we've begun to work our way through the pain and bad of such a time that we can again begin to see God's presence in our lives. For my wife and I, it was much later that we realized if not for all those delays, and that rain, she wouldn't have had that conversation in the car with her grandmother. If not for the conversation lasting so long (again because of the rain and the slow tent setting up) we wouldn't have found out things were so bad. We were blessed with the opportunity to be there, and to be with family on such a bad, even tragic day. God not only went before us, but walked alongside us as we suffered and hurt, and God does the same for all of us...even if while in the moment it's hard to feel God's presence.
Grace & Peace,
Pastor John
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)