Scott's Thoughts

A New Place for (Mostly) New Stuff

2026-02-24T12:09:24.974-06:00

Hi all. I've not updated here in a bit, but I wanted to let you know: If you still receive updates from here, I wanted to let you know that I write a weekly message for my churches that you are also welcome to read/subscribe to.

You can find the most recent entry here: https://revscottcoats.wordpress.com/2026/02/23/monday-message-february-23-2026/

You can subscribe and receive an email notification of new posts here: https://wordpress.com/reader/site/subscription/235400596 (at least I think that link will work.)

Thanks!

Someone Missed the Point

2023-03-27T21:18:00.005-05:00

I just have a thought or two to share. I stopped at a red light last week. A van stopped in front of me. Three bumper stickers adorned the back of the van: 1) Build the Wall; 2) Guns Save Lives; 3) Chapel Hill Bible Church.

The hypocrisy of those combined sentiments sent my blood pressure through my car roof. Given the events of today (March 27, 2023 – three children and three adults protecting those children were gunned down in a Nashville school… a Christian school), I only want to address the gun/Jesus hypocrisy.

I just want to remind those who follow Jesus that Jesus chose to die on a cross rather than rise up in violence. In fact, he told at least one of his followers to put away his sword when soldiers came to arrest him. When faced with violence, and the option to respond with violence, Jesus chose to respond with peace.

That is important.

I Understand, Help My Misunderstanding

2020-05-30T20:53:00.002-05:00

I try not to speak about issues and things I do not understand. There is a lot going on in our great nation right now that I do not understand. So, there is a lot about which I do not speak.

As I write this, I am listening to a song called “Room For Us All” by The Many. The song ends with a chorus joining the lead singer as they sing together, “We are on this earth to love.” Over and over again. “We are on this earth to love.” “We are on this earth to love.”

There is a lot going on right now – we are so polarized something as simple as wearing a mask causes outrage; over 100,000 people have died in the US from SARS-CoV-2; people of color are dying of the virus at a much higher rate than white people; Geroge Floyd, another unarmed black man, was killed by police – after officials took months to charge two white men in the murder of Ahmaud Arbery, an unarmed black man in Georgia and following the shooting death by police of Breonna Taylor, an unarmed black woman killed in her home; cities across the US are burning as protests erupt; unchecked racial injustice; our black and brown brothers and sisters are treated as if their lives matter less than mine. There is so much pain. So much anger. So much fear.

“We are on this earth to love.” “We are on this earth to love.”

I came to a realization today. We are on this earth to love – but silence is not love. Love is not silence. Love demands that I not remain silent. But I try not to speak about issues I don’t understand. I don’t understand what it is like to live as a person of color in the US. So I will talk about what I do understand.

I understand that when my kids leave the house, while I worry about them, I do not have to worry that they will be shot for a simple traffic stop.

I understand that if I show symptoms of coronavirus, I will be tested. If that test is positive, I will receive the best care available. If I require hospitalization, I will be hospitalized. I understand that I will most likely survive because of the care I will receive.

I understand that I will never be called or thought of as “one of the good ones.” I will never be told how eloquent or well-spoken or intelligent I am “for a white man.”

I understand that when I enter a store, I receive no more scrutiny than another customer.

I understand that if I apply for a loan, I will be judged on my financial data and earning potential – not my race.

I understand that the vast majority of government officials, law enforcement, and others in positions of authority share my skin color.

I understand that white supremacy exists and persists.

I understand that I benefit from my race almost everyday.

I understand that I have power I would not have were I not white.

I understand that the playing field is not even.

I understand that it is no where close to even.

I understand that many feel powerless.

I understand that power comes with responsibility.

I understand that power is meant to be used to empower others.

I understand that “We are on this earth to love.”

I understand that love is not silent in the face of oppression and injustice.

I understand that at my baptism, I agreed to resist evil, injustice, and oppression in whatever forms they present themselves.

I will resist. I will resist. I will resist.

What Does It Take?

2019-08-04T18:23:00.003-05:00

I recently played "Doc" in a production of West Side Story. One of my favorite lines came after I interrupted and ended an act of violence against a female character (I don’t know why I'm glossing over the fact that it is an attempted rape…oh well). Doc looks at the kids sheepishly standing around his drugstore and asks/demands, "What does it take to get through to you?!?"

That is my question today. "What does it take? What does it take to get through to you, America?"

How many lives are too many? It wasn’t 13 in 1999 (Columbine). Or 17 in 2018 (Parkland, FL). 27 children and teachers (Sandy Hook)? Nope, not enough. 32 wasn't enough (Va Tech). 49 wasn't enough (Pulse in Orlando). 58 wasn't enough (Las Vegas).

So, I assume 29 in less than 24 hours in two different cities by two different murderers will to be enough. 29 murders…How many murders are too many for us to stomach?

"What does it take to get through to you?" We've seen adults murdered. We've seen police officers picked off one by one. Church-goers. Worshippers at synagogues and mosques. College students. CHILDREN!!!

"What does it take to get through to you?"

It's not quantity. It's not quality. What does it take? What will it take?

How many are too many? How much is too much?

We can do something. We can make a difference. What will it take before the outraged out voice the defenders?

I shudder to think what is too much. I shudder to think what it might take.

What does it take to get through to you?

Summer stock at the Ritz presents: West Side Story

2019-07-12T11:19:00.000-05:00

The Bookface and the Tweeters...So long

2018-06-28T11:27:00.002-05:00

Yesterday was dark. Not on a lighting level…more on a emotional, mental, spiritual level I guess. I think it was a culmination of the past few months more so than any single event from yesterday – though yesterday saw its share of grimness.

I was depressed – is what I’m trying to say.

That has led me to a decision. I’m taking a break from Facebook & Twitter. I’m deleting the Facebook and Twitter apps from my phone. I’m getting rid the bookmark to facebook.com. I’m deleting the Twitter reader extension on my browser.

I’m taking a break from the arguing. The bad news. The rumors. The separated families. The anger. The possible dismantling of a denomination. The stories of murder. The sex scandals. The “I’m right. You’re dumb.” The “I’m righteous. You’re evil.” The suffering dogs & cats in need of adoption. The sick kids. The dying parents. The missing teenagers. The “Let me convince you how perfect my life is” posts. All of it. I’m taking a break from all of it.

I know it doesn’t make any of those problems go away. I know it won’t solve much if anything, but I think I will be happier. And that’s my goal – happier.

So, that’s that. I’ll be gone from the Bookface and the Tweeter for a while. Enjoy the bickering. I hope you eventually convince everyone else you’re right and they are stupid.

p.s. – In the middle of writing this I got a call from a congregant that made me smile and laugh more than I have in quite a while. Thanks for the stories, Lawrence.

Take this job and Chevette!

2018-06-21T16:28:00.004-05:00

The current political climate is what I would term antagonistic. It seems like every speech, every action by one side is meant to antagonize the other. And the people eat it up! Washington DC (and Montgomery for that matter) reminds me of the back seat of my mom’s 1980something Chevette.

I’m on one side. My brother on the other side. My poor sister stuck in the middle. We ride along a little then one of us boys pokes the stuck-in-the-middle baby sister (accompanied by a little mischievous giggle). If there’s no reaction, well, you poke a little harder. And again. And again. Until….

“Stop!”

“I didn’t poke you.”

(from the other side) *poke* *giggle*

“Stop poking me!!!”

*giggles*

Mom’s eyes very nearly burn a hole in the rearview.

The cycle repeats – poke, giggle, “stop”, daggers. Poke, giggle, stop, daggers.

After the third or fourth cycle comes the threat. “If you three don’t stop, I will pull this car over on the side of the road, pull you out of this car, and….”

Now there’s a mile or so of silence until… *poke*

“I SAID STOP!!!”

Now the coup de gras – a poke from both sides at once.

Then the crying, and the wailing. Then the threat.

“I will pull over and make you walk home!”

Some more giggles. Maybe a “I’m not touching you” finger hovering over my sister’s knee.

Sound familiar? One side gives a speech about immigration - *poke*

The other side spouts sound bites on the news about how evil the others are – “Stop!” Or maybe the sound bite is more like “They are out of touch” – *poke*

*poke* “STOP” *poke* “STOP” *poke*

The same cycle continues over and over and over. And nothing ever gets done. Because our goal is not to operate a government, but to denigrate the other side, energize our people, raise money, and get re-elected.

It seems like the same thing is taking place right now in the United Methodist Church. A poke here. A poke there. A poke from the left, a poke from the right. The key is to get the other side to react in such a way that you can make them look bad, thereby proving you are right and they are wrong. “They don’t believe in the Bible.” “They don’t love their neighbor.” “You’re not orthodox.” “You’re driven by hate.” Poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke…

You know why my brother and I poked my sister? Because we knew she was going to yell “STOP!” and eventually, she would cry. We knew that my mom would threaten to pull over. We knew that she would threaten to make us walk home. So we poked our sister. And laughed and laughed and laughed because she did it every time. She fell for it every time.

I’m tired of the poking. I’m tired of seeing the pokees fall for it.

Eventually, our little “poke, stop, threaten, poke again” game would lead to my mom’s arm reaching around from one side of the backseat to the other searching, searching, searching for a leg to pinch. She’d pinch us…we’d scream. Then we’d blame our sister….we’d stop for a while.

Then – *poke* – because we were children.

I’m ready to see our political leaders stop acting like children in the backseat of a 1980something Chevette and actually do something about some of the problems we face as a nation, as a state – for the UMC, as a denomination.

Antagonizing those who think differently will never lead to compromise. It will only ever lead to hurt feelings. It will only ever lead to stalemate.

Let’s be better. Let’s act like grown-ups.

Responding to Suffering...and terrible theology

2018-05-02T12:13:00.000-05:00

I attended a prayer vigil at a local high school recently. I was not there in any official capacity – just as a show of support for our community in a very difficult time.

I hesitate to be too specific, because…well…

Anyway, at this vigil I heard some terrible theology. Not just run of the mill terrible theology but damaging, twisted theology. I’d call it downright heresy. Taking the name of the Lord in vain. Bastardizing the gospel. Whatever you want to call it.

A local youth pastor spoke and I expected some “Everything happens for a reason” sorts of platitudes. But what I heard went far beyond any innocent twisting of a text to help young people deal with horrible tragedy.

Long story short – There was a traffic accident last week. One car. 5 teenagers from two different high schools. 3 died. 2 (driver & 1 passenger) were severely injured but will survive. The vigil was to offer support for a bunch of hurting folks, to remember those who lost their lives, and to show support for the two young ladies who survived.

So, the youth minister – He began well. “This is an awful tragedy.” “Kids cut down in the prime of their lives.” “Two lives that will never be the same.”

So far, so good.

He followed that with sort of what I expected. “God has a plan.” “Everything happens for a reason.” “All things work together…”

I disagree with his interpretation, but OK, nothing I’ve not heard before.

Then came the “Whammy.”

He went into a bit of “Don’t question God. Don’t ask, 'Why?'" Again, I disagree, but nothing new. He continued, “But if you do ask, 'Why?' I think God is looking down and saying, 'Why not?'"

What?

“Why not take two or three if I can gain 200-300.”

At that point my jaw dropped. I looked over at a Presbyterian pastor friend. His hand flew to his mouth. I honestly could not believe what I was hearing.

Did he really just say that?

He said it again. “Why not?” I cannot describe the explicatives that raced through my mind. He kept going, but the noise in my head was too loud to hear much of what he said after that.

I thought about the families of those three boys – one of which was in attendance, I believe. Did they believe God killed their son? Did they believe that God would answer their question with such a crass, sarcastic statement? “Why not?”

I thought about anyone in the huge crowd who was not a Christian or who had turned their back on the church. What must they think?

I thought about going and wrestling the microphone away from him. To scream until I was tackled by law enforcement, “NO! That’s not God’s response! God’s response to your tears is tears! God’s response to your heart being ripped from your chest is empathy and compassion – not ‘because I said so’. When we scream out, ‘God, I’m hurting!’ God does not answer, ‘So what? My plan, your pain.’”

Today, I picked up a book I’ve not read in a while. Nicholas Wolterstorff’s Lament for a Son. It is a beautiful, heart-wrenching glimpse into the heart and mind of a grieving father. It is a real-time look at a father trying to come to terms with the death of his young, adult son. It is one man’s wrestling match with God and God’s goodness and God’s omnipotence and his pain, as well as the pain and the wounds that each of us experience just by being human.

This quote stood out to me: “The wounds of humanity are an unanswered question” (p. 68). We don’t like questions with no answers.

We want meaning. We want answers. We want the end of a young, vibrant life to mean something – for there to be a reason. We want to ask – to scream – “Why, God, why?!?”

I don’t have the answers. I don’t know why. I don’t know why three died and two did not. I don’t know why three young, beautiful boys are no more and two young, beautiful girls will carry physical and emotional scars for the rest of their lives.

I do know this; God did NOT kill those kids. God did NOT cause a car to skid into a tree to teach a lesson or to prove a point or to punish or to “gain another angel” or to “win more kids to Jesus” or to advance some sick, greedy agenda. I know that God did not DO this.

I also know that God was and is there in the tragedy – in the suffering.

I found another quote from Nicholas Wolterstorff – “Instead of explaining our suffering God shares it” (p. 81). God does not see our suffering as some sort of investment or as a means to an end. Wolterstorff again:

God is love. To love our suffering sinful world is to suffer. God so suffered for the world that he gave up his only Son to suffering…God is suffering love…But the mystery remains…Why does God endure suffering? Why does he not at once relieve his agony by relieving ours? (p. 90)

God’s answer to our “Why?” is not a gruff, distant “Why not?” I believe God’s answer is “I’m sorry. I’m here. I love you.”

Let your response to suffering be the same. Don’t respond with platitudes or definitive declarations. Just say, “I’m sorry. I’m here. I love you.” Then be sorry, be there, and love. It’s what Jesus would do.

The Lifespan of a Sermon

2018-04-27T15:42:00.003-05:00

I’m trying to relearn the discipline that is a regularly updated blog... we’ll see how it goes. I posted this earlier today on an old blog site. I decided to consolidate things.
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I often wonder, as I’m sure other pastors do, if a sermon lives on past Sunday morning. Preaching is a curious thing. I spend about 15-20 hours (give or take) a week on sermon preparation – reading, researching, studying, praying, making notes, outlining and, ultimately, writing and reading and editing. All for a sermon that lasts about 20 minutes.

So, I wonder…does the sermon live on past those 20 minutes? Does it live past Sunday afternoon? Monday morning?

Every now and then I get a little affirmation that, yes, God does in fact continue to use the words I write and speak. Every now and then someone will say something like, “Remember when you preached about…” or “I remember you said that in a sermon.”

More often I hear things like, “You should preach about that sometime,” just a couple of weeks (or days) after I did in fact “preach about that.” Those are the moments when I wonder, “Does the work – the prayer, the study, the wresting – make any lasting difference?”

Today I got a little shot of affirmation.

A few weeks ago an elderly couple attended worship at NWUMC. They are members of another church but worship with us from time to time. After the service on this particular Sunday, Mr. Noselew (not his real name) was very complimentary of the service and the sermon.

He asked if I write them out word for word or if I write an outline and fill in the rest in the preaching. I told him I do write them out, and that I actually preach from a manuscript. He then asked if I ever printed them out (I preach from my iPad). No, I had not before – except on the occasion when my iPad was on the fritz.

He then told me that if I printed it, he would love to have a copy. Well, I was over the moon. I told him, “Of course.” And I left church that morning with a little spring in my step. Honestly, I thought he probably wanted a paper copy because his hearing is not good and he didn’t actually hear the sermon. Regardless, I printed a copy and left it at the church for him to pick up.

This morning, Mr. Noselew called me at the church. He, again, complimented the sermon. I preached on “hope” that Sunday. He talked about how much he needed to hear that and that so many others did as well.

He said he went to visit a cousin who has been ill for quite some time. On his visit, knowing that his cousin needed a word of hope, he gave him a copy of my sermon. He went on to ask if he could copy the sermon and give it to others.

Wow! I have never been so flattered.

So I say all of that to say… it is wonderful to know that, yes, the words God inspires in me do in fact live on and make an impact beyond Sunday morning.

By the way, if anyone wants a copy of my sermons, I’ll be glad to print one for you.

I am ever grateful for the opportunity, the privilege, of proclaiming Gods word to God’s people. Thanks be to God!

Charlottesville Solidarity Vigil

2017-08-14T21:44:00.003-05:00

Tonight (August 14) I spoke at the "Solidarity with Charlottesville Vigil" in Florence, AL. My remarks were an adaptation of my "sermon" from our prayer time yesterday. (I essentially preached two sermons yesterday - one addressing the events in Charlottesville that led into our prayer time and the other as planned and previously written.) Here is the manuscript from which I spoke.

Spoiler Alert - I used more than one musical theater reference.

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The Social Principles of the UMC includes this statement – Racism is the combination of the power to dominate by one race over other races and a value system that assumes that the dominant race is innately superior to the others. Racism includes both personal and institutional racism.

It goes on to say this – Racism plagues and cripples our growth in Christ, inasmuch as it is antithetical to the gospel itself. Racism is sin. Racism is evil. White supremacy is racism.

Racism leads to attitudes of the superiority one race over all others. Racism leads to hate.

Both of these are antithetical to what it means to follow Jesus. Jesus calls us to equality, not an attitude of supremacy. Throughout the gospels, Jesus teaches by word and example the value of all people. Jesus stands up time and again for the vulnerable, the marginalized, the ignored and the pushed aside. Paul writes in two of his letters that when we are in Christ – when we clothe ourselves in Christ – there is no longer Greek or Jew, male or female, slave or free – I imagine if he wrote this today, it would include “there is no black or white, no hispanic or Caucasian” – in Christ we are all one. We are equal. Each person is created and loved by God. Each person is of sacred worth.

I heard someone say recently that equality of all people is a byproduct of love. Jesus calls us not to love one another – to hate, but to love. Over and over again Jesus tells us to love one another. When someone asks him the greatest of the commandments, he says love. In fact, we read in 1 John – Dear friends, let’s love each other, because love is from God, and everyone who loves is born from God and knows God.The person who doesn’t love does not know God, because God is love.

Racism is hate. Nelson Mandela once said that no one is born hating other people because of their skin color or their religion. We learn to hate, he says, we are taught to hate. Rodgers and Hammerstein wrote a song for their musical “South Pacific” called “You’ve Got to Be Carefully Taught.” It says this –

You've got to be taught To hate and fear,
You've got to be taught From year to year,
It's got to be drummed In your dear little ear
You've got to be carefully taught.

You've got to be taught to be afraid
Of people whose eyes are oddly made,
And people whose skin is a diff'rent shade,
You've got to be carefully taught.

You've got to be taught before it's too late,
Before you are six or seven or eight,
To hate all the people your relatives hate,
You've got to be carefully taught!

One of my favorite versions of that song is a medley along with Stephen Sondheim’s “Children Will Listen.” “Careful the things you say. Children will listen. Careful the things you do. Children will see and learn.”

Mandela said people are taught to hate. “But,” he said, “if they can learn to hate, they can learn to love. For love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.” We have done too good a job, for far too long, of teaching our children to hate. It is time to teach them to love.

In our Baptismal vows we are asked – “Do you renounce the spiritual forces of wickedness, reject the evil powers of this world, and repent of your sin?” Do you? You were asked, “Do you accept the freedom and power God gives you to resist evil, injustice, and oppression in whatever forms they present themselves?” Do you?

Notice what those questions ask, and what they demand. Do you renounce wickedness? Reject evil? Those both mean more than just not doing bad things. To renounce wickedness and reject evil means that you speak out against it. It means, in this case, that when you see racism, you call it out. You identify it for the sin that it is. You reject it. You decry it.

It means that you don’t laugh at the racist joke, but not only that, you point out the wrongness of it. It means that you don’t tolerate racial slurs or hurtful stereotypes. It means you speak out when you hear such things.

Our Book of Discipline talks about the destructiveness of the sin of racism. It divides and marginalizes. It is destructive to our unity – the unity of our community, the unity of our nation. It is destructive to our very souls. Our call to love means we are called to wholeness and togetherness. We are called to reconciliation and peace. Our official statement on Racial Justice affirms that the United Methodist Church commits itself to healing and wholeness. It says we, as a church, will seek to eliminate racism in every facet of life and in society at large.

And like so many other things...it begins with me. My heart.

I invite you to take an inventory of your own heart. To search your own life for the hate you’ve been taught. As our Bishop suggested in an email this morning, “Ask God to show you ways you unknowingly contribute to the sins of injustice and racism.” Confess. Repent. Then act. Speak out. Let us all commit ourselves to moving toward a more just and, dare I say, more loving society.

Rules for Living: Do Good

2017-03-21T13:43:00.001-05:00

18 months ago I posted the first sermon in a series on John Wesley's "General Rules". I realized today that I never posted the other two sermons. Here is #2. #3 will come in a few days.
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We are continuing our series on John Wesley’s “General Rules”. Wesley said that everyone in the Methodist societies should show evidence of “their desire of salvation.” They would show this evidence, he said, by holding to these three rules. 1) Do no harm, 2) Do good, & 3) Attend to the ordinances of God.[1] In these three rules we find a guide for what it means to live a life of discipleship.

Last week, we looked at the first rule: Do no harm. And looked at what it means to do no harm to ourselves, to others, and to God. I hope you used the affirmation I gave you last week. I hope you made an effort to “do no harm” this past week. If you did, I’m sure you realize it is not an easy thing to do. It takes a conscious effort to do no harm.

You have to pay attention. You have to begin to see past stereotypes and prejudices. You have to actually see people that you may typically ignore. As you pay attention and “love your neighbor as yourself” not only do you avoid doing harm, you also notice opportunities to practice the second rule – Do good.

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James 2:14-18

¹⁴What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? ¹⁵If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, ¹⁶and one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,” and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? ¹⁷So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.

¹⁸But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I by my works will show you my faith.[2]

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How important do you think it is that we do good? There were several verses and passages I could have chosen for this particular sermon. In Acts 10:38, Peter is talking to a Roman centurion, named Cornelius. He is telling him about Jesus. He told him, “Jesus traveled around doing good and healing everyone oppressed by the devil because God was with him.”[3]

In a letter written to Gaius, the author, thought to be the Apostle John, wrote of doing good. He wrote, “Dear friend, don’t imitate what is bad but what is good. Whoever practices what is good belongs to God. Whoever practices what is bad has not seen God.”[4]

And there are more. I chose to use this passage from James. Because it gives at least one example of what it means to do good. It shows us that what we, as disciples of Jesus, are called to is not simple good thoughts or good feelings. We are not called just to pray for those who are oppressed or less fortunate than us. We are called to DO good. “If you say to someone, ‘Go in peace; stay warm and eat your fill,’ but don’t meet their needs, what good is it?”

We are called to DO good. Doing no harm is only the beginning. Saying to someone , “Peace be with you; stay warm and get plenty to eat. Jesus loves you” Is nice. But what good does it do? Wesley says that we show “evidence of our desire for salvation” by DOING good. Not by thinking good thoughts. Not by being good. But by DOING good.

In his published General Rules, Wesley says we show evidence of our desire of salvation “By doing good, by being … merciful, as they have opportunity of doing good of every sort… to all men.”[5]

That included, he said, doing good to their bodies – giving food to the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and those in prison. In other words, we are to take care of the physical and emotional needs. This sort of doing good is what John Wesley would call works of mercy. It is seeing the needs of someone and acting to meet those needs.

This comes directly from Jesus’ teaching in Matthew’s gospel. “I was hungry and you gave me food to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger and you welcomed me. I was naked and you gave me clothes to wear. I was sick and you took care of me. I was in prison and you visited me.” “When you have done it for the least of these, you have done it for me.”[6] It is, as James writes, “meeting the bodily needs” of those around us.

Wesley also said we are to do good to the souls of others – by instructing, reproving, or exhorting. In other words, we are to teach and guide one another in discipleship to hold accountable and to encourage others in their faith. How many of you have or had someone in your life that you view as a mentor in your faith? Someone who teaches you? Who encourages you when you struggled? Who cheers you on when you were doing well? Someone who holds you accountable?

How many of you have someone who you mentor? I encourage you to find someone – find a mentor and find someone to mentor. Find a small group of people who want to learn from one another and help hold one another accountable.

Those are a couple of ways Wesley says we should do good – physical and spiritual good. There is a quote that is often attributed to John Wesley, but likely came from someone else – but it sums up this rule of doing good pretty well. “Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.”

I mentioned Ruben Job’s book, Three Simple Rules, last week. In that book, Job says that doing good is a proactive way of living. It is not simply helping someone when we see them in need, it is how we should live – seeking to do good. We don’t have to be, and shouldn’t, wait to be asked. Job wrote, “[We] do not need to wait until circumstances cry out for aid to relieve suffering or correct some horrible injustice.”[7]

Living out this rule of doing good is a choice we make. It is how we choose to respond to the world, but it is also a way of living. Job wrote, “I can decide that I will choose a way of living that nourishes goodness and strengthens community.”[8]

Living to do good, means living a life of love. It is loving God and loving others. When we seek to do good, we let God’s love guide us. “Every act and every word must pass through the love and will of God and there be measured to discover if its purpose does indeed bring good and goodness to all it touches.”[9]

We can think of this second rule as kind of a continuation of the first rule. When we live in a way that does no harm, it puts on the right track for doing good. Not saying or doing things that cause harm makes room for words and actions that do good. “Words and acts that wound and divide will be changed to words and acts that heal and bring together.”[10] Doing no harm also means that we do not participate in oppressive systems or agencies – that’s why John Wesley mentioned slave holding as one of the ways we do harm. Racism, classism, sexism, governments that deny their citizens basic rights. Doing no harm means we do not participate, but doing good means that we actively stand up to and speak out against such systems. Remember Jesus in the Temple? The economic system of the Temple was oppressive to the poor and Jesus spoke up and acted against that system.

We have to remember that when we seek to do good, we do good to everyone. Bishop Job wrote, “[D]oing good is not limited to those like me or those who like me. Doing good is directed at everyone, even those who do not fit my category of ‘worthy’ to receive any good that I or others can direct their way.”[11]

In fact, Jesus told us to love our enemies. He said, “do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who mistreat you.”[12] We are called to love and to do good to everyone. Jesus continued, “If you do good to those who do good to you, why should you be commended?”[13] Anyone can be good to people who are good to them. Anyone can do good to those who do good to them. We are called to be kind and do good, just as God does. Jesus says, that God is “kind to ungrateful and wicked people.”[14] As followers of Jesus, doing good should be a way of life.

We don’t do good because we expect congratulations. Or because we expect some reward. We do good because we are followers of Jesus – because that’s what we do. Because God loves us and as followers of Jesus we are called to share that love. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t benefit us or that we don’t enjoy it or that we don’t get thanked. We like to see people doing good. I wish we would celebrate the good a little more regularly.

This past Friday, I couldn’t help but watch some of the TV shows commemorating the events of September 11, 2001. It is easy to get sucked right back into the tragedy of that day. But I spent some time Friday watching shows about the heroes of that day. Some who lost their lives, some who didn’t. Of course, there were countless police officers and fire-fighters who gave their lives trying to save others. There are also stories of civilians who gave their lives helping others.

Welles Crowther was an investment banker in one of the towers. He reportedly entered and exited the building 3 times urging people to evacuate, carrying injured people, getting people to safety. He gave his life doing good – helping others.

We will probably never be in a situation like that – that sort of “doing good” will probably never come our way. Hopefully. But we can still do good in our own context. So how can we do good?

First, by living out the commandments Jesus gave us. Love God with all of your heart, mind, and strength. Love your neighbor as yourself. Of course, that’s difficult. Loving people. Some more so than others. Some people are difficult to love. But it is our calling, it is our job as disciples of Jesus to love as he loved.

Doing good doesn’t have to be something big and grandiose. It can be as simple as being kind to someone – offering a kind word, a smile, a card. Small gestures matter, just as big acts of love matter.

North Wood has opportunities for you to do good. By helping or contributing to our food pantry. We distribute food to families and individuals in need almost every week.

We’re getting ready to help with Room in the Inn in a couple of months. That is a ministry that hosts people who are homeless or do not have adequate shelter during the coldest months of the year. This year we will, again, welcome guests who need a place to stay warm. You can help out by providing food (dinner and breakfast), by staying overnight, by providing transportation, or just visiting with the guests.

You can help with one of the ministries that are just getting started. Providing rides to church for people who cannot drive or have trouble driving. Visiting with our shut-ins or those who are sick.

You can volunteer at the Help Center. They always need people to help distribute food and clothing. Or to sort items that are donated.

There are countless ways you can do good. It is in your control. Living life in a way that does good. Rueben Job wrote, “My desire to do good is in response to God’s invitation to follow Jesus, and it is in my control.”[15]

This week, look for opportunities to do good. Look for ways you can actively live in God’s love. It may be small it may be huge. But watch and you will find our chance to do good.

[1] United Methodist Book of Discipline, 2012; ¶104, p. 76

[2] New Revised Standard Version, 1989

[3] Acts 10:38 – Common English Bible, 2011

[4] 3 John 11 – CEB

[5] John Wesley; Nature, Design, and GeneralRules of the United Societies; 5.1

[6] Matthew 25:35-56, 40

[7] Three Simple Rules: A Wesleyan Way of Living; Rueben P. Job; loc. 310

[8] Ibid., loc. 317

[9] Ibid. loc. 323

[10] Ibid. loc. 361

[11] Ibid. loc. 298

[12] Luke 6:27-28

[13] Luke 6:32

[14] Luke 6:35

[15] Job, loc. 342

Violence, Evil, & the Power to Resist

2016-06-19T10:35:00.003-05:00

I read/prayed this in both worship services this morning. Adapted/borrowed from Justin Coleman on Ministry Matters.

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Last Saturday night and early Sunday morning, the world experienced another violent act of evil. I don’t think you can call the murder of 49 people anything but evil. As a part of our Baptismal vows, we promise to “accept the freedom and power God gives [us] to resist evil, injustice, and oppression in whatever forms they present themselves.”

Today, we lament the loss of 49 of God’s beloved. Today, we cry out to God in grief, in anger, to seek understanding. As the Psalmist wrote:

“I cry out to you, Lord.
You are my rock; don’t refuse to hear me.
If you won’t talk to me,
I’ll be just like those going down to the pit.
Listen to my request for mercy when I cry out to you,
when I lift up my hands to your holy inner sanctuary.” (Psalm 28:1-2)

I believe that God cries out as well. God mourns the loss of those men and women. God mourns the hate that perpetrated this awful act.

Today we pray for those killed. We pray for their families. We pray for those injured, traumatized, and terrorized by this tragedy. We pray for Orlando as they seek to heal. We pray for our nation, for our world that we would all accept the freedom and power to resist evil – the evil within each of us.

We pray for the eradication of hate. Hate and violence are products of evil. They must be resisted like any other evil. With Christians and people of other faiths in the US and all the world, including Muslims, we unite against hate and violence toward any group. We pray that we may be witnesses to God’s love, mercy, care, and healing as we resist evil, as we continue Christ’s work of reconciliation, and as we seek to heal this broken & hurting world.

Lamb of God,

you take away the sins of the world.
Have mercy on us.
Grant us peace.

For the unbearable toil of our sinful world,
we plead for remission.
For the terror of absence from our beloved,
we plead for your comfort.
For the scandalous presence of death in your creation,
we plead for resurrection.

Lamb of God,
you take away the sins of the world.
Have mercy on us.
Grant us peace.
Come, Holy Spirit, and heal all that is broken in our lives, in our streets, and in our world.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

— from Common Prayer

Confess

2016-05-18T11:40:00.002-05:00

Wow, I haven't done this in quite a while....

I'm watching General Conference (the UMC's quadrennial meeting to determine ministries, polity, etc.). Bishop Swanson preached this morning. It was not your typical UMC sermon. Here's my favorite quote - "Get on up in here, Holy Ghost! Get on up in here, Jesus!" The sermon was many things, but at least part of it was a call to confession and repentance. It was a call to renounce evil. There was more, but that is where God spoke to me. "Any Christian is susceptible to evil." "While you will 'Go' (the theme of GC), evil is going also."

Confession is an important, if overlooked, part of any worship experience. Sin & evil is that which separates us from God. Confession is a chance to "clean away the clutter" - to draw ever closer to God.

As I listened to Bishop Swanson, I thought about the "factions" present in that worship. People of opposing viewpoints who view one another as the "enemy." And I wondered...again... how many are thinking "I'm so glad he's preaching to those people. He's right 'THEY' are evil."

How often in times of confession - especially corporate confession - do we think, "I hope all these sinners are confessing." Or, "I'm glad we offer a chance for these sinners to confess." How often do we take that time to think about and "see" evil in others? All the while ignoring the evil/sin in us and, I think, the true evil around us.

Jesus told us how ridiculous it is to reach for a speck in someone's eye when we have a log in our own eye. How true. Here's the thing - evil blinds us to true evil.

When you have a log in your eye, you can't see. You have no idea what is around you. Let me rephrase - you have no idea what the things around you look like. You can hear things. You know they are there...but you have no idea what they look like...or exactly where they are.

Our sin blinds us. It blinds us to true evil in our world. Evil masks evil. Our sin distracts us. We can't identify evil, so we just reach for whatever sounds evil - because it sound different.

General Conference is bringing out the finger-pointing. Everyone wants to point out what or who is evil or wrong or sinful. "Progressives encourage evil!" "Conservatives are hateful!" "You're prideful!" "He's manipulative." All the while, logs are firmly planted. "I'm orthodox." "I'm loving." "I'm accepting." "I'm biblical."

Our logs don't just blind us from seeing true evil. My logs keep me from seeing the evil/sin in me.

There is evil in this world. True evil that we, as Christians, have to speak against. Hate and oppression of marginalized people. Violence against the helpless. Children (and adults) dying of starvation. Countless people with no access to clean water. Those in power exploiting those who are powerless. The list goes on...

But we don't talk much about those things. Our logs are too big.

Here's my hope. I hope for true confession and true repentance.... Not for "the world". Not for sinners. Not for society. Not for the church. I hope and pray for true, honest confession and true, honest repentance.... for ME.

God, forgive me, I pray.

Rules for Living: Do No Harm

2015-09-07T21:34:00.002-05:00

18 months later, I realize I never posted the other two sermons in this series. I'll take care of that. - Scott (3/21/2017)

Time for a new sermon series. This 1 of 3 in a series on John Wesley's "General Rules".
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Today, we are starting a new sermon series. Over the next 3 weeks, we are going to look at something called the “General Rules”. These date back to John Wesley and the Methodist societies in England in the 18^th century. They are still a part of our theological beliefs as stated in the Book of Discipline.

Wesley said that everyone in the Methodist societies should show evidence of “their desire of salvation.” They would show this evidence, he said, by holding to these three rules. 1) Do no harm, 2) Do good, & 3) Attend to the ordinances of God.[1] In these three rules we find a guide for what it means to live the life of discipleship.

For these next three weeks, we will look at these rules, why they are still relevant, what they mean for us, and how we can live them out in our lives.

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Galatians 5:13-21

¹³For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love. ¹⁴For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” ¹⁵But if you are always biting and devouring one another, watch out! Beware of destroying one another.

¹⁶So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. ¹⁷The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions. ¹⁸But when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under obligation to the law of Moses.

¹⁹When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, ²⁰idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division,²¹envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.[2]

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Today we are examining the first of these three rules – Do no harm. In this passage, Paul gives us a glimpse of what it means to Do No Harm. Don’t serve the sinful nature, but serve one another in love. Paul tells us, though that these two things are in a constant struggle against one another.

Our selfish, sinful nature is in perpetual conflict with the Holy Spirit. We desire to be led by the Spirit, but the sinful nature fights back. The Spirit leads us to follow the command that Paul says sums us all the law – “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

But our response is not always love. Instead, we respond by biting and devouring one another. We respond to the world with words and actions that bring pain and division. We spend more time destroying one another rather than loving one another.

Of course, that’s not true of all of us all the time. It’s not how we respond to everyone around us. We are all guilty of harming others – probably this week.

So, our first rule is, do no harm. What does it mean to “do no harm”? In the publishing of the General Rules, John Wesley gave several examples of what it means to do no harm. We do no harm “by avoiding evil of every kind, especially that which is most generally practiced, such as: Taking the name of God in vain. Profaning the day of the Lord, either by doing ordinary work therein or by buying or selling. Drunkenness. Slaveholding (which may have been added later); buying or selling slaves. Fighting, quarreling, or brawling. Returning evil for evil. Uncharitable or unprofitable conversation, particularly speaking evil of magistrates or (this is the one I really like) ministers. Buying or selling goods that have not paid the duty. Giving or taking things on usury – unlawful interest. Borrowing or buying on credit without probability of paying. Laying up treasure on earth.”[3]

That is just part of the list. Now obviously, some of those things don’t apply to us. When is the last time you bought or sold something without paying the duty? And I know that thing about speaking evil of the minister doesn’t apply today.

But the list also includes things like not fighting or quarreling. Not speaking in a hurtful way. Not returning evil for evil. Those absolutely apply to our modern world – and they definitely speak to our current culture. They also show us that we are not doing a great job with this rule of doing no harm.

When we think through that list of things and what it means to do no harm, we can think about it on three levels.

First, do no harm to yourself. Do you ever think that in those terms? I will do no harm to myself. How do we harm ourselves?

By eating and drinking things that harm our bodies – or eating and drinking too much of things that harm us. Not taking care of ourselves. We harm ourselves when we listen to those who demean us, objectify us, or treat us as less than them. We harm ourselves when we see ourselves as less than others. We harm ourselves when we think of ourselves as anything less than God’s child, cherished by God, deserving of love and respect.

Maybe a good way to do no harm to ourselves is a little daily affirmation. You may want to write this down and repeat it every morning – “Today, I will love myself. I am God’s child, loved and cherished. I am deserving of love and respect. I will not harm myself and I will not allow others to harm me.” What would it do for your day? For your self-image to say those words every day, and mean them?

Second, we are to do no harm to others. Think of the ways you have hurt others in your past. Think of the times you have spoken carelessly. The times you have acted with only your interests in mind. The times you have intentionally said hurtful things. We have all done it.

As I look around the world, I don’t see this rule practiced very often – do no harm. Instead, I see people who say and do things, often intentionally and purposefully, that cause hurt. Often it comes down to selfishness.

“This is what I believe, this is what I want to do, and if you don’t like or if it hurts you, tough! You need to get a thicker skin.”

We focus so much on our own interests, our own ideas, and our own agenda that we leave a trail of hurt and anger in our wake. And that hurt and anger usually leads to more hurt and anger.

We, as a society, maybe as a species, don’t disagree well. At some point, we began to believe that anyone who disagrees with us to be our enemy. At some point, it became accepted, even expected, that if you disagree with me and you are my enemy, I can say anything about you, do anything to you, to prove you wrong and me right – to prove you to be lesser and me to be more.

Bishop Rueben Job wrote a book a few years ago on these General Rules. He wrote about this tendency we have to tear down those with whom we disagree. He said when I seek to do no harm, “I will guard my lips, my mind, and my heart so that my language will not disparage, injure, or wound another child of God.”[4]

We don’t like to guard our lips, hearts, or minds. We’d rather just speak our mind. Doing no harm means that we consider the impact our words and actions will have on others. Bishop Job wrote, “When our words and actions are guarded by this first…rule, we have time and space to think about consequences before a word is spoken or an action taken.”[5]

Maybe this is the pessimist in me, but we seem to be getting more and more divided as a society. Whether it’s politics or social issues or foreign relations – racism, nuclear deals, police shootings and shooting police, marriage certificates, white and gold or black and blue. (You remember that dress, right?) They are issues that separate us, that divides us, that cause passionate debate.

There is nothing wrong with disagreeing. There is nothing wrong with a difference of opinions, but when we let those differences divide us to the point that we lash out at the other side – when we let differences push us so far apart that the other side becomes a stereotype or a punch line – we lose sight of our purpose.

When we let differences push us so far apart, we fail as disciples – we fail as the church. Bishop Job says this, “Our witness to the redeeming love of God loses its authenticity and its power as our unwillingness to be reconciled continues.”[6] As followers of Christ, we are called to build relationships, not destroy them. We are called to reconciliation. We are called to bring healing.

That healing and reconciliation can start when we commit ourselves to “do no harm.” Actively seeking to do no harm can lead us to reconciliation. It can lead us to disagreeing well. To relationships of mutual respect and admiration. Then we begin to listen to one another to hear the concerns of those who disagree with us. Job writes, “When I am determined to do you no harm, I lose my fear of you; and I am able to see you and hear you more clearly.”[7]

Henri Nouwen says that when we love and follow Jesus, “we cannot do other than bring healing, reconciliation, new life, and hope wherever we go.”[8] Doing no harm we allow the Holy Spirit to work in and through us to lead and guide us in ways that bring nothing other than healing and reconciliation and hope. And to convict us and lead us to repentance when we bring hurt and agitation and despair.

Maybe we need to add to our morning affirmation. Maybe we add this, “Today, I will do no harm to others. I will love others as I love myself. My words and my actions will echo the heart of Jesus and reveal God’s love. I will bring only healing, reconciliation, new life, and hope.”

Doing no harm means doing no harm to ourselves, doing no harm to others, and, finally, doing no harm to God. Doing no harm to God, means doing those first two. When we harm ourselves and we harm others, we harm God. When we treat or think of ourselves and others as less than cherished children of God, we hurt God.

Wesley used the example of “taking the name of God in vain” – which is more than a curse word, by the way. When we use the name of God to justify injustice, or to condemn others because they don’t believe exactly the way we believe, we take God’s name in vain and we do harm to God.

Let’s add one more sentence to our affirmation. “Today, I will do my best to do no harm to God – to God’s children, to God’s creation, to God’s kingdom.”

Why do we want to live in ways that do no harm? Because that’s how Jesus lived. When you read the gospel, notice how Jesus treated others. Notice how he talked to them. Nicodemus the Pharisee came to Jesus and Jesus treated him respectfully. Zacchaeus, the tax-collector, came to Jesus and Jesus went to his home to eat with him. A woman caught in adultery was brought to Jesus and he didn’t condemn her, he saved her and invited her to a life of freedom.

How do we live in such a way that we “do no harm”?

Pay attention. Pay attention to what you do and what you say. Think about the consequences of what you say and do, before you say or do anything.

Practice seeing the good in others. Practice seeing them as cherished children of God – even those with whom you disagree – even those you might consider evil or no good – God loves them the same as God loves you.

Remember the words of Jesus – “Do to others what you want them to do to you.” Treat them how you want to be treated. “Take the log out of your eye before you worry about the speck in someone else’s eye.” Worry about you. When we honestly examine our behavior, we can’t judge others too harshly.

As Paul wrote to the Galatians, live “led by the Spirit.” Let love be your guide. Let love be the lens through which you see everyone.

And maybe a little daily reminder. “Today, I will do no harm. Today, I will love myself. I am God’s child loved and cherished. I am deserving of love and respect. I will not harm myself and I will not allow others to harm me. Today, I will do no harm to others. I will love others as I love myself. My words and my actions will echo the heart of Jesus and reveal God’s love. I will bring only healing, reconciliation, new life, and hope. Today, I will do my best to do no harm to God – to God’s children, to God’s creation, to God’s kingdom.”

[1] United Methodist Book of Discipline, 2012; ¶104, p. 76

[3] Book of Discipline, 2012; ¶104, p. 76-77

[4] Three Simple Rules: A Wesleyan Way of Living; Rueben P. Job; loc. 193

[5] Ibid.; loc. 185

[6] Ibid.; loc. 123

[7] Ibid.; loc. 203

[8] In the Name of Jesus; Henri J.M. Nouwen; p. 41.

Do you love me?

2015-09-03T09:36:00.003-05:00

I’m re-reading Henri Nouwen’s In the Name of Jesus. There is some really good, powerful and timely stuff in there.

“Knowing God’s heart means consistently, radically, and very concretely to announce and reveal that God is love and only love, and that every time fear, isolation, or despair begins to invade the human soul, this is not something that comes from God”

Knowing God’s heart means knowing Jesus – “God’s heart as it has become flesh.” To know Jesus is to answer Jesus’ question – “Do you love me?” – in the affirmative.

When we love Jesus, “we cannot do other than bring healing, reconciliation, new life, and hope wherever we go.”

How many of us leave only healing, reconciliation, and hope in our wake? I’d say none. I try. Oh, how I try. But I have left more than a little hurt, agitation, and despair in my wake.

Does it mean I don’t love Jesus? It means I don’t do it quite right or every moment of every day.

Does it mean that Jesus doesn’t love me? Absolutely not. As Nouwen reminds me, God’s love is “unconditional and unlimited.”

And it is that love that keeps me moving toward true love of Jesus and true salvation. In the mean time, I hope to, as John Wesley says, “continue to evidence [my] desire of salvation.”

How? By allowing the Holy Spirit to work in and through me to lead and guide me in ways that bring nothing other than healing and reconciliation and hope. And to convict me and lead me to repentance when my ways bring hurt and agitation and despair.

What does this say about the current state of our world, our nation, our community? When I see the news out of Illinois, Kentucky, Montgomery...well, just about everywhere... I see that we have a long way to go.

Jesus asks, "Do you love me?" Maybe our best answer is: "I try. Oh, how I try." Or maybe a better answer is "Jesus, I love you. Please, help me love you."

This Holy Mystery, Part 4

2015-08-31T20:35:00.001-05:00

This is the 4th and final sermon in my series on Communion. Let me know if you have questions, comments, etc.
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We are finishing our series of sermons on the sacrament of Communion. By now, I bet you could tell me what a sacrament is. In a sacrament, God uses ordinary, physical things to point us to and give us the gift of divine love and power that we call grace.

Today’s sermon is the hardest of the series. There are certain things I want to make sure we cover. There are other things I wanted to include, but I know we will not have time for. I also want to answer your questions. So let’s get rolling and see where we end up.

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John 6:56-69

⁵⁶Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. ⁵⁷Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me. ⁵⁸This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which your ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live forever.” ⁵⁹He said these things while he was teaching in the synagogue at Capernaum.

⁶⁰When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?” ⁶¹But Jesus, being aware that his disciples were complaining about it, said to them, “Does this offend you? ⁶²Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? ⁶³It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh is useless. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. ⁶⁴But among you there are some who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the first who were the ones that did not believe, and who was the one that would betray him.⁶⁵And he said, “For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted by the Father.”

⁶⁶Because of this many of his disciples turned back and no longer went about with him. ⁶⁷So Jesus asked the twelve, “Do you also wish to go away?” ⁶⁸Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. ⁶⁹We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.”[1]

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One of the reasons I wanted to do this sermon series is that Communion is often misunderstood – or just not understood at all. In some ways, Communion has lost its meaning. It has become, for many, a burden. Something extra that makes us get out of church late.

So with this series, I wanted to broaden your understanding of what Communion is and why we do it. I wanted to help you see the benefits of the sacrament and to gain a new or renewed appreciation. It is my hope and prayer that through this series of sermons, you know that God’s grace is available to you in the sacrament and that you have a hunger for that grace.

Part of helping us better understand Communion is answering questions we have. So I want to do that first. One of the common questions that people have concerning the Lord’s Supper is who can take Communion. I received a couple of questions along these lines last week. Can an unsaved person take Communion? Is Communion always open to non-members of the United Methodist Church? Another common question is; can children take Communion?

We practice an Open Table. That means that, as This Holy Mystery says, “All who respond in faith to the invitation are to be welcomed.”[2] Our open table means that children are welcome. It means that non-members are welcome. It means that those who are not saved or are not Christians are welcomed. It is our faithful response to Christ’s invitation – to God’s grace – that brings us to the table, not membership, or a certain age, or any other distinction.

As for those who are not saved, or those who have not accepted the call to discipleship, Gayle Felton says, “The sacrament might provide the first opportunity for a person to recognize their sin and ask for forgiveness.”[3] In fact, a pastor friend of mine told the story just this week of her own conversion through Communion. As she heard those words, “This is the body of Christ; this is the blood of Christ,” and heard her name called, she decided to accept God’s gift of salvation and begin her journey of discipleship.

Another question I received was, “If you never take communion will you make it to heaven?” A similar concerned not taking Communion. Is there anything wrong with not taking Communion? I’ll say it this way, not taking Communion won’t keep you out of heaven. John Wesley said this: “The first reason why it is the duty of every Christian [to take Communion] is because it is a plain command of Christ.” The second reason, he says, is “because the benefits of doing it are so great.”[4] Communion is a matter of obedience, and it is beneficial. It is how we receive God’s sanctifying grace that helps us grow on our journey of salvation.

Communion is important in our salvation, because it is a means of grace – by which we break free from the power of sin. Someone asked how we might respond to those who don’t believe in the importance of Communion as it relates to salvation. I think that is two-fold.

One, they probably have a different understanding of salvation. Our understanding of salvation is that it is a life-long process. It is not a single moment. It is not a one-time event. We are delivered from the penalty of sin in an instant, but true salvation is God’s grace breaking the power of sin.

The second part of their not considering Communion’s role in salvation is their understanding of Communion. For many traditions, the Lord’s Supper is not a sacrament, but an ordinance. Something ordained and commanded by Jesus. You do it, not because of any spiritual benefit, but because you are commanded to do so. We believe Communion is more than an obligation. It is more than something we do because we’re told to do it. We believe it is one way we experience God’s saving grace.

The next set of questions I received deal with the elements themselves. What kind of bread should be used – leavened or unleavened? We use grape juice instead of wine, could other liquids be used? Why are you supposed to dispose of the elements in a certain way?

At the Last Supper, Jesus used unleavened bread. That meal was, according to Luke’s gospel, a Passover Seder, at which unleavened bread is used. In Communion, either leavened or unleavened is acceptable. Our official position is that the bread, “look and taste like bread.”[5]

As for the cup, we use grape juice instead of wine. This practice goes back to the late 19^th century temperance movement. Wine and, for us, grape juice are the traditionally accepted drinks used. But we are not limited to just those. This Holy Mystery says this, “Variations may be necessary in cultural contexts where the juice of the grape is unavailable or prohibitively expensive.”[6] For example, some areas use coconut water, because it is cheap and readily available. Several years ago, the church I attended used water on World Communion Sunday as a sign of solidarity with those impoverished areas.

As for the proper disposal of the elements, we are to treat the consecrated elements with respect. This Holy Mystery says, “We respect the elements because God is using them for holy purposes.”[7] We don’t believe they have undergone any physical changes, as I talked about last week, but they are set apart for sacred use. Because of that, we don’t want to simply throw them in the trash.

Proper methods of disposal include the pastor or others consuming the leftovers, “returning them to the earth” by pouring, scattering, or even burying them. Another is by taking them to share with shut-ins or those who are ill and unable to attend worship.

This morning, we are gathered as one worshipping community to celebrate one of the purposes, meanings, and benefits of Communion. One I have not talked about yet. In our scripture this morning, Jesus tells the gathered crowd that those who eat and drink abide in him and he in them. In the Lord’s Supper, we commune with Christ. But there is another aspect.

In Communion, we are joined to Christ and we are joined to one another. After this teaching, John tells us that many of those following Jesus left. But the 12 remained. Peter’s answer to Jesus was, “Lord to whom can we go?” They knew that they were joined to Jesus, and in that, they were joined to one another.

One of the meanings of Communion is fellowship, community. Swiss theologian Ulrich Zwingli said that Communion is “a sign of Christian fellowship.”[8] In the Lord ’s Supper, we come to the Table as one community. It is a shared experience. A shared experience of thanksgiving, of healing, of reconciliation – of community.

It’s even in the name of the sacrament. Communion means community – coming together as one body to partake of the grace of God. It is in the sacrament, the gathering at the table, that we are the Body of Christ fully realized.

One of the liturgies in our hymnal paraphrases 1 Corinthians. “Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body.”[9] As we come and we share in the bread and the cup, we are joined together, and in some cases re-joined.

The table is a place of healing and reconciliation –a place of love and redemption. It is a place where differences are set aside and amends are made. It is a place where the Holy Spirit makes us “one with Christ, one with each other, and one in ministry to all the world.”[10]

At the table we are joined with one another and joined to the church universal as the Body of Christ. We gather with those present, with the Communion of saints, with other Christians around the world – through the body and the blood of Christ, we are made one.

One of the ways we can express community and fellowship is something I mentioned earlier. By taking the elements to those in our faith community who cannot attend worship, we extend the table and the community. That may be a ministry one of you would like to take on. I know it would be meaningful to you and to those you serve.

As we come to the table today, we come to be joined to one another by the Holy Spirit. We come to celebrate Community.

I’ve told this story so many times that I know Abby is tired of hearing it. When she was 3 or 4 years old, she loved Communion Sundays. One Sunday, as we drove to church, I hear this booming voice from the back seat – Abby never had a tiny voice – “Dad, are we having community today?” Misty and I looked at each other and laughed and thought “Aw, how cute.” At the time, I sort of blew it off. But as I thought about it – yes, that’s exactly what we are doing.

We are having community today.

[1] New Revised Standard Version, 1995

[2] This Holy Mystery: A United Methodist Understanding of Holy Communion; p. 14

[3] Felton, Gayle – United Methodists and the Sacraments; p. 71

[4] Wesley, John – The Duty of Constant Communion; I.1

[5] This Holy Mystery; p. 30

[6] Ibid; p. 31

[7] Ibid.

[8] Ibid; p. 4

[9] United Methodist Book of Worship; p. 11

[10] Ibid; p. 10

This Holy Mystery, Part 3

2015-08-25T08:51:00.003-05:00

Here is sermon #3 in my series on Holy Communion. If you have not read (or heard) the other two, you may want to read them do that before reading this (Part 1; Part 2). I put links in the end notes this week. Those should take you to the sources I've cited. Let me know if there is a broken link.

Next week, is the final in the series. Come hear it live! The spoken/preached version is almost always better than the written version.
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We are continuing our series of sermons talking about the sacrament of Communion. If you remember, a sacrament uses everyday, ordinary, physical things to point us to the extraordinary, spiritual grace that God freely gives us – they are also a means by which God bestows grace upon us.

So Communion is a sign pointing us toward God’s loving action, and it is one way we experience that loving action. Two weeks ago, I talked about a couple of ways we encounter and experience God in Communion.

Communion is a time when we re-member – we reenact or relive – our past experiences with God. We remember what God has done for us – in Jesus’ sacrifice through his death on the cross and defeat of death. And we remember what God has done in our lives specifically.

As we encounter God in Communion, we are changed. God’s grace transforms us. As Gayle Felton wrote, communion “puts us in touch with the Power of God to make us into the people God wants us to be.”[1] And as we come in touch with God, she continues, “We surrender more and more of ourselves to God and we are progressively shaped into the image of Christ.”[2]

I want you to do something this week, next week is our last sermon in this series. As a part of that sermon, I want to address your questions. So in the comments or via email, I want you to write two things. First, something you have learned from this series. Second, a question you have about Communion that I have not yet addressed.

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John 6:35, 41-51

⁵¹I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

⁵²The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” ⁵³So Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. ⁵⁴Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day; ⁵⁵for my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. ⁵⁶Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. ⁵⁷Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me. ⁵⁸This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which your ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live forever.”

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In this series, we are answering some questions about Holy Communion. What is it? What does it mean? Why do we do it? Of all of the passages from Jesus’ “bread of Life” discourse that we’ve used so for, I think this one fits with our topic of the Lord’s Supper better than any of them.

Jesus is, again, using the physical to help us understand the spiritual. In John chapter 6, Jesus refers again and again to the “bread from heaven” that God sent during the Israelite’s exodus from Egypt. If you remember, 6 days a week, the people would wake to find the ground covered in bread – manna. It was this manna that helped them survive the 40 years of wandering before they entered the promised land.

Jesus calls this to mind. You need bread to live and God provided that bread to your ancestors. Jesus is using this as a metaphor – just as the Israelites needed manna to survive, you need this bread from heaven to live spiritually. Jesus is using a physical reality to help us understand a spiritual truth.

We have to have food. Our bodies need food and drink. It is what gives us energy. It fuels us. It sustains life. Food gives us energy to grow and develop when we are young. Food helps our bodies transform and mature. Food also gives us energy for our day to day lives. Without food, without nourishment, our bodies deteriorate and we have no energy to even get out of bed. Food sustains us.

In the same way, we are nourished by the sacrament of Holy Communion. It may not sustain us physically, but just as our bodies are nourished by food and drink – we are spiritually nourished by coming to the Lord’s Table.

Communion offers us spiritual nourishment. Just as our bodies need nourishment in order to live, we need this spiritual nourishment to live a life of faith. We need the grace we receive in Communion. We talked last time about how God’s grace transforms us. That same grace sustains us as we seek to live a life of faith. John Wesley wrote that, “[Grace] is the food of our souls. This gives us strength to perform our duty, and leads us on to perfection.”[3] I heard it put this way, “To continue living faithfully and growing in holiness requires constant sustenance.”[4]

In Holy Communion, we receive that sustenance. I have mentioned several times that Communion is a means of grace. It is one of the vehicles God uses to impart grace to us. God’s grace is, as Wesley said, “food for our souls.” It is what strengthens and sustains us as we seek to live faithfully.

Living a life of faith is not easy. To love others as God loves us. To respond peacefully and with joy to a world that is neither peaceful nor joyful. To be kind and patient and gentle. Those things are not natural responses. They are not things we encounter often enough. But it what it looks like to live a life of faith. And it is something we cannot do without the nourishment of God’s grace.

This Holy Mystery says, “As we return to the Table again and again, we are strengthened repeatedly.”[5] Holy Communion offers God’s grace that empowers and enables us for a life of ministry. As we recite in our Communion liturgy, “Grant that we may go into the world in the strength of your Spirit, to give ourselves for others.”[6] We acknowledge our need for and ask God for strength – for nourishment to live faithfully.

In Holy Communion, we are nourished as we encounter Jesus Christ. We believe that Jesus is truly present in Holy Communion.[7] This is something that has been debated for centuries in the church. How exactly is Christ present in Holy Communion? There are many theories and doctrines – transubstantiation maybe one you have heard of. This doctrine says that the bread and wine become the literal body and blood of Jesus. We don’t teach this doctrine. In fact, our articles of religion say that this doctrine “cannot be proved by Holy Writ.”[8]

We don’t believe the elements to be the literal body and blood of Jesus, but we believe they are essential and that God works through them. We believe in the reality of Christ’s presence, but we don’t claim to be able to fully explain that presence. John and Charles Wesley wrote about this in one of their hymns with the line, “Who shall say how bread and wine / God into us conveys!”[9] As Gayle Felton writes, “Christ is present in ways that we cannot explain.”[10]

So now you see why our official understanding of Communion and this sermon series are titled “This Holy Mystery.” Christ is present in communion, even if we cannot fully explain his presence. But we can sense it and experience it. Christ is present and invites us to participate with him.

As I say each time we celebrate the Lord’s Supper, we gather at Christ’s table. We gather at Christ’s invitation. And Jesus is not partial as far as who is invited. Jesus invites all to join together at the table.

This brings up a couple of questions that are often asked about Communion. Who can partake of Communion? And what does it mean to commune “in an unworthy manner”? I’m going to deal with that first question next week, but I do want to answer the second question.

In 1 Corinthians 11, Paul writes “Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be answerable for the body and blood of the Lord….Those who eat and drink [unworthily] are eating and drinking judgment against themselves.”[11] That has led countless people to wonder, “Am I worthy?” or “Who is worthy?” In my first appointment, I had a man who never took Communion because of that verse. He argued that he could never be worthy, so he would not eat or drink.

You know, he was partly right. He could never be worthy. None of us could ever be worthy. How could we ever be worthy? We are not worthy, but Jesus Christ is and we participate in his worthiness because of the gift of grace. Besides, as Gayle Felton writes, “If we were worthy to receive the body and blood of Christ, we would not need to do so.”[12]

After all, one of the reasons we celebrate Communion is for divine forgiveness and healing. Christ invites us to the table because we are not worthy – not on our own. In the Lord’s Supper, we receive God’s love and mercy – a gift we could never be worthy to receive. But Jesus invites to join in his worthiness. Jesus invites us to experience the forgiveness and healing that comes from God’s loving action in our lives.

In Communion, we partake of, as our liturgy says, the cup “of the new covenant poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins.”[13]

We experience forgiveness – acknowledgement and assurance of forgiveness. Each time we celebrate Communion, we confess our personal and corporate sin – trusting that God will forgive us. And we receive a reminder and the assurance of that forgiveness. This part of the liturgy reminds us of the forgiveness we receive by God’s grace.

We receive forgiveness and we receive the assurance of our forgiven-ness. This Holy Mystery says, “This assurance is God’s gift to sinners, enabling us to continue to live faithfully.”[14] God’s grace helps us to break free of sin and live a life of faith.

John Wesley wrote, “The grace of God given herein confirms to us the pardon of our sins by enabling us to leave them.”[15] God’s grace enacts forgiveness in two ways. First, God’s grace justifies us. We are washed clean. We receive a pardon from our sins. The penalty of sin is eternal death. By God’s grace, we are saved from the penalty of sin. Because of God’s grace, we have the promise of eternal life.

Communion reminds us of God’s forgiveness. It also reminds us that we continue to take sin seriously. We realize the hold sin has on our lives and our ongoing need for forgiveness and deliverance.

Not only are we saved from the penalty of sin, we are also freed from the power of sin. I said sin has a hold on us. Paul said we are in bondage to sin. We experience God’s forgiveness and we feel the freedom, but sin always seems to catch up to us. We can’t get away from it. We try, but it keeps pulling us back.

I’ve talked about it before like a bungee run. Have you seen a bungee run? One of these inflatable games at kid’s birthday parties. You start at one end with a bungee cord attached. Then you run as fast and as far as possible. But the further you go the more the bungee cord pulls you back. Until finally your crawling and grasping and scratching until the cord pulls you right back to where you started.

God’s grace helps us break free from the power that holds us and pulls us back. God’s grace breaks the power of that hold sin has on us. It doesn’t happen all at once. It is a life-long process, but the more we experience God’s grace the weaker sin’s power becomes. Sort of like stretching a bungee cord further and further over and over, until it breaks.

That is the continuing forgiveness and freedom we receive from Holy Communion.

For a long time, I thought of Communion as a somber occasion. It was solemn and dark. I don’t know why. Communion is a celebration of God’s action in our lives. It is a celebration and a chance to receive sustenance from God’s grace. It empowers and enables us to live a life of faith. We encounter the true presence of Christ and in that encounter, we experience true forgiveness and true freedom.

Next week, we will celebrate Communion together in our combined worship service at 10:00 am. We have a chance to celebrate God’s loving action in our lives. I hope that you can join us and come ready to celebrate and experience God’s life changing grace.

[1] Felton, Gayle – United Methodists and the Sacraments; p. 56

[2] Ibid.

[3] Wesley, John – The Duty of Constant Communion; I.3

[4] This Holy Mystery: A United Methodist Understanding of Holy Communion; p. 10

[5] Ibid.

[6] United Methodist Book of Worship; p. 39

[7] This Holy Mystery; p. 11

[8] The United Methodist Book of Discipline; ¶104, Article VIII

[9] “O Depth of Love Devine”; stanza 1

[10] Felton; p. 55

[11] 1 Corinthians 11:27 & 29; NRSV/CEB

[12] Felton; p. 74

[13] UM BOW; p. 37

[14] This Holy Mystery; p. 10

[15] Wesley, ibid.

This Holy Mystery, part 2

2015-08-09T23:05:00.002-05:00

Here is the manuscript for sermon #2 in my series on Communion. Questions? Comments? Thoughts?
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We are continuing our sermon series on the sacrament of Holy Communion. Today and for two more weeks, not including next week, we are looking at what Communion is, why we do it, and why we should want to do it.

Last week we looked at why what Communion is. It is one of two sacraments. A sacrament is, by classic definition, “an outward and visible sign of inward and spiritual grace, given by Christ as sure and certain means by which we receive that grace.”[1]

Holy Communion is a sign or an indicator, a reminder of God’s love; it is also a means by which God’s love and grace are given to us. Communion is what John Wesley called a “Means of Grace” – the ways God bestows divine love and power upon us. He called Communion “the grand channel whereby the grace of his Spirit was conveyed to the souls of all the children of God.”[2]

Before I read our scripture for this morning, I want to answer one of the questions this series seeks to answer. “Why do we take Holy Communion?” First, because Jesus commands us to do so. In Luke’s telling of the Last Supper, Jesus tells his disciples, “Do this in remembrance of me.” That imperative statement, “Do this” are the command receive communion.

The second reason we do it is that Communion offers spiritual benefits to us. It is those benefits that we will talk about for the next few weeks.

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John 6:35, 41-51

³⁵Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.

⁴¹Then the Jews began to complain about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.”⁴²They were saying, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” ⁴³Jesus answered them, “Do not complain among yourselves. ⁴⁴No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me; and I will raise that person up on the last day. ⁴⁵It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me. ⁴⁶Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father. ⁴⁷Very truly, I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life. ⁴⁸I am the bread of life. ⁴⁹Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. ⁵⁰This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. ⁵¹I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”[3]

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Our reading this morning, takes place just after last week’s reading. Last week, we saw the crowd come looking for Jesus. They were looking for physical bread, and Jesus offered them spiritual bread and spiritual truth.

The crowd in today’s reading is different. Jesus is in the Synagogue. And this time, instead of the crowd looking for and wanting more from Jesus – instead of wanting to know more about Jesus – they know Jesus. Or at least they claim to know him.

“How can he say he came down from heaven? This is just Jesus – of Nazareth! He came from Joseph and Mary. We know him. We know his parents. He’s not special. He’s ordinary.” They remember Jesus – they remember his family, his upbringing, his heritage. In response, Jesus again uses the physical to point to the spiritual. Or we could say, he uses the ordinary to point to the extraordinary.

In that exchange between Jesus and those in the synagogue, there are a couple of things that can help us to understand Communion and the benefits it holds for us. One is the ordinary and the extraordinary. The other is remembrance or remembering.

If you remember, in Holy Communion, the physical – the bread and juice – points us towards the spiritual. The physical elements convey to us Spiritual grace. Another way to look at that is that in Communion, the ordinary serves as a vehicle for the extraordinary. What seemed, to this crowd, to be an ordinary man, was actually something extraordinary – Emmanuel, God with us. In Communion, what seems like ordinary bread and juice offers to us something extraordinary – God’s divine love and power. It is something through which God works. In Communion, God uses the ordinary to do something extraordinary.

One of the meanings of Communion I talked about last week was remembrance. Like the crowd in the synagogue remembered Jesus as just the son of Joseph and Mary, we remember Jesus in communion.

There are several different names for the sacrament of Holy Communion. And those different names remind us of the different aspects of the sacrament. When we talk about the “Lord’s Supper”, it helps us to remember. To remember that this is indeed, Jesus’ meal. Christ is our host. We participate at Christ’s invitation.

The name “Lord’s Supper” calls us to remember Jesus as our host. It also is a reminder of the Last Supper. Which is not a name typically used for the sacrament, but does remind us of Jesus’ last meal with his disciples and his command for them, and us, to partake in remembrance of Him.

In The Lord’s Supper, we remember. We remember God’s great works. We remember God lovingly creating all that we see – all that we can’t see. We remember God leading the Israelites out of Egypt and the freedom that exodus brought. We remember God’s presence through the prophets. We remember God with us, in Jesus. We remember the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus and the redemption – the freedom from sin and death – those actions bring us. We remember the presence and action of the Holy Spirit in the early church.

In The Lord’s Supper, we remember Jesus’ institution of the sacrament. We remember the Last Supper. In that, we remember Jesus’ presence with us. In the story of the two disciples walking to Emmaus, Jesus is with them, talking with them, for hours, but the two disciples never recognized him. Until they gather at the table to share a meal. It is in the breaking of the bread that the disciples recognize Jesus. Likewise, it is in the breaking of the bread of communion that we recognize, remember, and experience Jesus’ presence.

In The Lord’s Supper, we also remember the things that God has done in our lives. We remember what Jesus’ life and actions mean for us. But we also remember God’s action in our lives. We remember God’s presence and help in times of trouble. We remember God’s presence in times of rejoicing.

We remember how we have experienced God in The Lord’s Supper at other times in our lives. Many of the most meaningful worship experiences I have had were gathered at Christ’s table. Gathered in a circle on the beach I felt the Holy Spirit binding that group together as we took communion. Sitting in a freezing cold 200 year-old Methodist church in Cade’s Cove, TN, the warmth of God’s love was palpable as our group shared the elements. Or gathered in the Assembly Hall in the Pool Camp at Camp Sumatanga, kneeling to pray after taking communion and God never seeming more present or closer.

Those are some of the things I remember when I take The Lord’s Supper. I remember what God has done, I remember my experiences with God. What about you? What do you remember?

I mentioned last week that the remembering we do in The Lord’s Supper is more than a simple intellectual recalling of events. We remember what God has done for us. But we do more than passively bring those things to mind. This Holy Mystery says it this way, “This dynamic action becomes re-presentation of past gracious acts of God in the present, so powerfully as to make them truly present now.”[4]

One of my professors said it this way. In The Lord’s Supper, we re-member God’s actions. As in, we put back together – we reenact, relive – what God has done.

In her book, United Methodists and the Sacraments, Gayle Felton wrote this, “In Communion, we do not simply remember what God has done for us in the past; we experience what God is doing here and now.”[5] In remembering what God has done, we are reminded and assured of God’s continued action in and through us. As we remember, we feel God’s presence and we expect God to continue to work. And God does work in The Lord’s Supper.

In our remembering, we are transformed. The Lord’s Supper is transformative. It changes us. When we faithfully receive God’s grace, that grace works in us to transform us.

As we re-member (reenact, relive) God’s actions in our lives, we are transformed. God continues to work in us. Continues to pour grace upon grace on us. As we, in the Lord’s Supper, re-member God’s actions it is like encountering God over and over. We remember God’s action, we are reminded of the changes we have experienced. We relive it. And we experience God anew. Each time we gather at the table for the Lord’s Supper, we encounter God and those encounters change us.

I mentioned last week that John Wesley talked about grace as divine pardon and divine power. We’re going to talk about the pardon aspect of grace in a couple of weeks, but I want to talk a little about the power we receive through grace today. Gayle Felton says the Lord’s Supper “Puts us in touch with the Power of God to make us into the people God wants us to be.”[6] She says that as we continually encounter God through the Lord’s Supper, “We surrender more and more of ourselves to God and we are progressively shaped into the image of Christ.”[7]

One of the ways grace works is to change us from these earthly, human images that are often guided by the power of sin, into the perfect image of Christ guided only by God’s Holy Spirit. It is a life-long process that we call salvation.

The Lord’s Supper is not the only way we experience God’s grace, but it is one of the chief ways. As John Wesley said, it is the Grand Channel of God’s grace.[8] And the more we encounter and respond to God’s grace, the more like Jesus we become – the more we live a life guided by God’s love.

This is what I mean when I say that The Lord’s Supper uses the ordinary to do the extraordinary. It changes us. That’s what the sacraments do. They use the ordinary to do the extraordinary.

The bread and juice in Communion are ordinary things – yet they do extraordinary things. Those in the synagogue looked at Jesus and they saw the ordinary – he’s just a guy from Nazareth! But Jesus was full of the extraordinary. They had no idea that sitting before them was God embodied.

Christianity is an incarnational faith. Incarnation means assuming human form. For us, the incarnation means God’s heart and mind made flesh in Jesus. It is God’s love made real and tangible in Jesus. Incarnation embraces and exemplifies the idea of the ordinary made extraordinary by the Holy Spirit. Ordinary human flesh made extraordinary by the indwelling of God’s Spirit.

There is another aspect of Christianity as an incarnational faith. We are called to allow the Holy Spirit, the same Spirit that indwelt Jesus – to dwell in us – to work in and through us. To be God’s love made tangible. To be God’s love made incarnate through us – the Body of Christ.

That is how Communion transforms us. In Communion, we offer ourselves to be the embodiment of Christ. And by God’s grace, we become the embodiment of God’s love. As we experience God’s transforming grace, we become a means of grace for those around us.

In Communion, not only is the ordinary used to do the extraordinary, but the ordinary becomes extraordinary. The bread and juice become a means for God to change us, to transform us. And we – we ordinary, flawed people – as we faithfully accept God’s grace, become the extraordinary embodiment of God’s love.

Though we are not sharing communion this morning, I invite you to re-member the loving action of God – the things God has done in and though you – and to allow that re-membering to transform you – to make God’s love come alive in you.

[1] The Book of Common Prayer p. 857

[2] Wesley, John – Sermon on the Mount-Discourse Six; III.11

[4] This Holy Mystery: A United Methodist Understanding of Holy Communion, p. 8

[5] Felton, Gayle – United Methodists and the Sacraments; p. 55

[6] Ibid. p. 56

[7] Ibid.

[8] Wesley, John – Sermon on the Mount-Discourse Six; III.11

This Holy Mystery, part 1

2015-08-04T11:59:00.002-05:00

This past Sunday I began a series of sermons on Holy Communion. I'm going to post the manuscripts here each week. Here is part 1.
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Today we are starting a sermon series talking about Holy Communion. I hope that this series will give us a better understanding of what communion is, why we do it, and why we should want to do it.

I’ve asked for you to send me your questions and comments about Communion – things that confuse you or you don’t understand; things you really like. I’ve seen a few responses, and I will address those things. During this series, if you have questions, I want you to ask them. I will answer and address some of these things over the next couple of weeks, but then the last Sunday of August, I will spend some time directly addressing questions you have as well as some common questions.

Our scripture for this series of sermons comes from John’s gospel. The 6^th chapter. This section is called the “Bread of Life Discourse.” It is a section of teaching that follows Jesus’ feeding of the 5000.
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John 6:24-35

²⁴So when the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum looking for Jesus. ²⁵When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” ²⁶Jesus answered them, “Very truly, I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. ²⁷Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For it is on him that God the Father has set his seal.”

²⁸Then they said to him, “What must we do to perform the works of God?” ²⁹Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” ³⁰So they said to him, “What sign are you going to give us then, so that we may see it and believe you? What work are you performing? ³¹Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” ³²Then Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. ³³For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” ³⁴They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.” ³⁵Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. [1]

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Our reading takes place the day after Jesus fed a crowd of over 5000 people. That next day, the crowd went looking for Jesus, so they went back to where Jesus had fed them. He wasn’t there, so they went looking for him.

When Jesus sees them, he tells them, “You’re only looking for me because you’re hungry again.” And, well, they admit it. They are looking for Jesus, for no other reason than they want more bread – or they want to see him perform another miracle. Or they kind of ask him to teach them to multiply bread.

Jesus tells them, “God gives you bread that gives life to the world.” Now the crowd is intrigued. “Give us that bread! Give us that bread always.”

Jesus tells them, “You are looking for bread? I am the bread of life. I am the bread that satisfies completely.”

The crowd is looking for bread – physical, fill-our-bellies bread. But Jesus, as Jesus often does, is not simply talking about the physical. He is talking about the spiritual as well. The bread that satisfies our physical hunger will be digested and go away. But he offers the bread of life – bread that truly satisfies.

So, what does this have to do with Communion? First, it is this idea of the physical and the spiritual. Holy Communion, along with baptism, is one of two sacraments we practice. A sacrament is, according to the Book of Common Prayer, “an outward and visible sign of inward and spiritual grace, given by Christ as sure and certain means by which we receive that grace.”[2]

This ties into this idea of the physical and the spiritual. A sacrament is a physical sign of spiritual change and empowerment brought by God’s grace. St. Augustine said that in a sacrament, “the physical likeness is seen, and the spiritual aspect is grasped through it.”[3] I heard it put this way once, “Sacraments use what is earthly to disclose what is heavenly.” In the sacraments, the physical helps us to see and understand the spiritual.

The sacraments are more than simply signs, though. Our Book of Discipline calls sacraments “certain signs of grace…by which [God] works invisibly in us.”[4] In other words, they are a sign of what God is doing AND they are a means for God to work in us. A sacrament is a physical thing, or a physical act, through which God conveys spiritual grace to us. By grace, I mean the free, undeserved gift of God’s love and God’s power.

God works through the sacraments – God works through Holy Communion to impart grace – love and divine power – upon us. What happens in Communion does not happen because we do it right or say the right things. What happens, happens because of what God does.

Holy Communion is a sign or an indicator, a reminder of God’s love, but it is also a means by which God’s love and grace are given to us. Gayle Felton calls Communion a “channel by through which the undeserved and unlimited love of God is made available to us.”[5]

John Wesley grouped the sacraments with what he called the Means of Grace. He said the means of grace were “outward signs, words, or actions, ordained and appointed by God, to be the ordinary channels whereby God might convey preventing, justifying, or sanctifying grace.”[6]

Wesley thought of Communion as one of the chief means of grace. He described the Lord’s Supper as “the grand channel whereby the grace of his Spirit was conveyed to the souls of all the children of God.”[7] He wrote that Communion is “the food of our souls. This gives us strength to perform our duty, and leads us on to perfection.”[8]

Wesley believed in the effectiveness of Communion so much that he would partake an average of 4-5 times per week.[9] He believed that Christians should partake as often as possible and was known to take Communion multiple times in one day.

One of the questions I received from a few people was, “Why do we serve communion once a month?” Our tradition was born out of the Church of England, the Anglican Church. The early Methodists were members of the Anglican Church – including those in the American colonies. They would take Communion every Sunday. This practice was established in the early church and continued through most traditions into the 18^th and 19^th centuries.

How did we, in the Methodist church, get away from that? When the American Revolution began, many of the Anglican priests returned to England. Communion was only to be presided over by ordained clergy, and most Methodist preachers in America were lay preachers. This meant that many American Methodists were left longing for the sacrament. This led John Wesley to provide ordained elders for America. When the Methodist Episcopal Church as formed, there was still a lack of clergy. Preachers known as Circuit Riders served most churches. They served multiple churches and typically visited a church only quarterly. This meant that churches typically observed Communion quarterly.[10]

Even though, today, most churches are served by ordained, commissioned, or licensed pastors (who can preside over the Sacraments), weekly observance of Communion never returned to normal practice. That is unfortunate. It is, after all, the “food of our souls!” It is a means to God’s divine grace. It is one of the ways, the “grand channel” by which, we “receive, live in, and grow in divine grace.”[11] We should long to have that experience as often as we can.

Over the next few weeks, we are going to examine the many spiritual benefits of Communion. This morning, I want to offer a quick overview of the many meanings of Holy Communion that help us understand the ways it benefits us.

A few years ago, the United Methodist Church published a document called This Holy Mystery. This document offers our understanding of Holy Communion. That understanding includes 6 major ideas that help us understand the meaning of the sacrament. Those are thanksgiving, fellowship, remembrance, sacrifice, the action of the Holy Spirit, and eschatology.[12]

Communion is first an act of Thanksgiving. We come together to celebrate and give thanks for God’s love and God’s past, present, and ongoing action in our lives. We celebrate God’s acts – creating, redeeming, sustaining, perfecting. The ritual we use is a prayer of thanksgiving. It is called The Great Thanksgiving, and it offers thanks for all that God has done and continues to do in and through us.

Communion is also an act of fellowship. It is not an individual ritual – it is the gathered community of faith. It is personally meaningful, but it is a sharing. As we gather around the table, we gather as the assembled Body of Christ.

In Communion, we remember – but it is more than an intellectual recalling of past events. It is a re-presentation of God’s past works. In a way, we relive what God has done for us.

One of the things we remember is Christ sacrifice for us. We remember Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection that make God’s ace available to us. We also offer ourselves as a “living sacrifice” to be used by God for the continued redemption of creation.

We believe that the Holy Spirit is active in Holy Communion. The Holy Spirit is the continuing, continuous presence of Christ in the world. It is the action of the Holy Spirit that conveys grace to us. It is the Holy Spirit that makes Christ’s presence real in the elements of Communion. It is the Holy Spirit that joins us with Christ and one another in ministry.

Communion is eschatological. Eschatology is one of those big churchy words. It means having to do with the end of history – the redemption of all of creation. I love this statement from This Holy Mystery, “To participate is to receive a foretaste of the future, a pledge of heaven.”

This morning as we join to experience the physical and the spiritual in Holy Communion, I invite you to watch for these things. I invite you to experience them as if for the first time. Christ invites you to come and to partake of the Bread of Life.

[2] The Book of Common Prayer, p. 857

[3] The New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, Volume 5; p. 17

[4] The Book of Discipline of the UMC ¶104, Article XVI

[6] Wesley, John – "The Means of Grace"; I.1

[7] Wesley, John – "Sermon on the Mount-Discourse Six"; III.11

[8] Wesley, John – "The Duty of Constant Communion"; I.3

[9] This Holy Mystery: A United Methodist Understanding of Holy Communion, p. 5

[10] Ibid., p. 6

[11] Ibid., p. 7

[12] Ibid., p. 8

God is With Us

2015-06-21T12:53:00.003-05:00

Here is the prayer I wrote and prayed this morning in response to the attack on Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, SC.

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O God of love, God of grace. Once again our hearts are broken. O Lord, death is inevitable for us all. Death, while not easy to accept, is expected. But when it comes in such a violent way, when it comes from such evil actions and beliefs, it is always shocking.

Lord, bless the people of Emanuel AME Church. Be present with them as they gather this morning to worship together. To sing praises to your goodness even as they mourn so great a loss. Bless the people of Charleston as they once again face a community tragedy. Let your presence in the aftermath of such violence draw them together to be a vision of your kingdom – a vision of peace and joy and love and hope.

O Lord, bless our nation, as we mourn this loss together. As we hope and pray together. As we sift through the ashes of hate and violence. Help to us to look honestly and critically at the systems and rhetoric that lead to the oppression of our brothers and sisters. Give us the courage to speak out against the evil we see there.

Help us, O Lord, to look honestly and critically at our own hearts to see our own biases and prejudices. Help us, O Lord, to see the evil in us. Give us the strength to overcome those biases and prejudices that we may truly be a beacon shining the light of your beautiful, colorful kingdom. May your kingdom come – on earth as it is in heaven.
AMEN.

Christ is Risen

2015-04-05T08:21:00.002-05:00

This is my retelling of John 20:1-18. I used this at our Easter Sunrise Service (4/5/2015). You are welcome to use or reprint, but please give credit.

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As she ran, her thoughts raced faster than her feet. Maybe she was mistaken. It was so dark. Maybe her eyes had deceived her. The tears in her eyes did cloud her vision. She could be wrong. Still the blood ran cold through her veins as she fled the garden. The grief of the previous two days gave way to rage. Her cold blood began to boil as the reality of what she saw set in.

The stone moved. Who would move the stone? It could only be the Romans. No one else would venture outside the city before sunrise as she had. But why? Was the body gone? She ran before she looked to be sure. The shock of what she saw moved her legs before her thoughts could process the scene.

As she reached her destination, she could not find words. She could only scream – a desperate, haunting scream – as she collapsed to the ground.

He couldn’t sleep. Neither of them could. How long had they been in this dark house? Crouched, silent. Gripped by grief, frozen in place by fear. John replayed the last meal over and over in his head trying desperately to remember what he saw; what he heard.

Peter wept. Shame surpassed grief days ago. The contempt he felt for Judas Iscariot on that dark night was quickly eclipsed by his self-loathing. “No,” how could he say, “No”? “I don’t know him.” The words rang in his ears. His own words shouted again and again in his head. “I don’t know him.”

Then a scream. Both men bolted to their feet. Had the Romans found them? Had they too been betrayed? They strained to listen to the dark morning. The scream gave way to loud sobs. Sobs known to John’s ears. Mary.

The two men burst through the door into the lightening morning.

Through her sobs, Mary heard motion. A door opened. Hands gripped her arms. Lifted her. Then the familiar voices. “Mary! Mary, what’s wrong?”

“They’ve taken our Lord out of the tomb.”

Peter felt the words hit him in the gut. “Taken?” As his mind reeled, his hands fell from Mary’s arms. After a moment of frozen shock, he turned to John, but only saw his back as he sped away.

John ran. He’d never run faster. What could it mean? Could Mary be mistaken? He reached the garden and saw the stone pushed aside. At the sight of the dark opening, his feet ceased their movement. He stood frozen in place. He stared. Could do no more than stare.

Peter ran behind John, trying his best to catch him. To arrive at the tomb first. The shame of the previous days seemed to drift, if only slightly, from his mind – replaced by uncertainty, confusion, anger, and… a slight, an ever-so-slight ray of unexpected hope.

When Mary reached the garden, John stood outside of the tomb. Stuck in place by shock or anger or simply disbelief. Peter came out holding the linen that should cover the body of their master. Their friend. John entered the tomb. He quickly exited and joined Peter as they silently stumbled toward home.

Mary could not enter the tomb. She saw the confusion, the distress, in Peter’s eyes as he passed. She heard John’s halting breath as he tried to speak to her but could not find words. She knew now that she was not mistaken. She stood in the garden, the sound of her sobs drowning out the singing birds. She could not enter, but she felt she must look. She must see for herself – Jesus is gone.

She leaned toward the opening, eyes clinched tightly, hoping against hope that she was wrong; that they all were wrong. She leaned toward the opening hoping to see his broken body, to perform the ritual cleaning and anointing she came to perform. She opened her eyes but could not keep them open. The light was blinding. She looked again. Two figures draped in white sat inside the tomb. Together they asked, “Why are you weeping?”

Her voice answered before her mind could comprehend the question. “They’ve taken my Lord. I do not know where they have laid him.” Saying the words aloud brought renewed grief. She could not look at this empty cavern any longer.

She turned to leave, but there was a man. She thought Peter or John had returned or the other disciples upon learning the news had begun to arrive. She was wrong. She did not know him. As he stepped toward her, he spoke, his voice seemed oddly comforting – at once familiar and unrecognizable.

“Woman, why are you crying? Whom are you looking for?”

He must be the gardener. He will know where Jesus’ body was taken. She wanted to grab him, to demand to know. She wanted to fall at his feet to beg him to return the body – to help her find her friend. With an unknown strength, her calm, firm voice spoke.

“Sir, if you carried him away, tell me where you laid him. I will take him away.”

At that moment, her world changed. With one word, her grief, her anger, her uncertainty burst into uncontainable joy.

“Mary.” Spoken with a love and recognition she did not expect – could not expect. “Mary.” Her name. Spoken by a voice she’d heard a hundred times. Spoken by a voice she knew she should not hear – would never hear again. But she did hear it. “Mary.”

That simple word meant so much, but at that moment in her mind it meant only one thing. She found her master and her friend. She found Jesus and he was alive. She turned and sputtered the only word that would leave her tongue in that moment. “Rabbouni” – Teacher, Lord.

Jesus said more to her, but she barely heard any of it. She could only look at him. Basking in his risen glory. Jesus is alive. She didn’t want to leave. She wanted to never leave. To never again be out of Jesus’ presence. “Go tell my friends” he told her.

Peter and John found some of the other disciples. They told them about Mary’s report. About the empty tomb. They sat in silent uncertainty. A sudden rap on the door startled them from their thoughts. The door burst open. Mary stood in the entryway, her tear-streaked face beaming with excitement.

She shouted, “I have seen the Lord!”

In that moment all uncertainty, all thoughts were replaced with one. “Christ is risen!”

Christ is risen!

Christ is risen indeed!

Papaw

2015-03-05T12:53:00.000-06:00

My granddad died Tuesday.

In elementary school, I spent almost every afternoon at my grandparent's house. That meant that I spent at least a part of every afternoon sitting next to Papaw in his rocking chair. It was one of the highlights of my day. Sitting next to him watching Andy Griffith or The Carol Burnett Show or whatever rerun was on TBS.

Last week, I went to see him in the nursing home. I asked him if I could sit on his bed. It reminded me of sitting next to him in that old rocking chair. I told him I remembered the last time we sat in the chair together.

I was 12. He was sitting in his chair and I gave him the familiar "please scoot over so I can sit next to you" look. He did and I squeezed in beside him and propped my feet up on the ottoman. As we sat there with the wooden arms of the chair pressing into our kidneys, Pap said, "I think this is the last time we'll be able to do this." It was.

As I sat on his bed last week, I reminded him of that last time we shared his chair. He nodded and mouthed that he remembered it too. He smiled, I smiled.

I have so many great memories of Pap. Over the last several years, I've shared someof them. I will share more soon.

Back to School Blessing

2014-08-20T09:26:00.000-05:00

This past Sunday at North Wood United Methodist Church, we celebrated the new school year with a Back-to-School Blessing/Blessing of the Backpacks. Below is the liturgy we used. Parts of it were adapted from some GBOD resources. The "commissioning" of school leaders is drawn from the UMC Book of Worship #591, "An Order for Commitment to Christian Service."

To begin the service of blessing, we invited students (of all ages) and all teachers, administrators, coaches, bus drivers, and other school system employees to come forward to the chancel rail. Those at the rail faced the chancel area with their backs to the congregation, symbolizing the support of the congregation behind them.

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Pastor: A new school year marks a new beginning. New beginnings are the essence of the gospel – the old has passed, the new has come. New beginnings are full of hope and light, but can also be times when we are anxious and nervous – new means unknown. Today we acknowledge the angst and the nerves, but more so, we celebrate the new beginning this school year represents and we celebrate the hope it brings. Because just as light pushes away the darkness, hope melts away our fears.

Lay Leader: As we begin the new school year it is good to remember that God has given us the ability to learn and to grow. Learning is a gift from God. This morning we thank God for this great gift. The Bible tells us that Jesus learned and studied – he grew in wisdom. We ask God’s blessing on this new school year, that it may be a time when we fully appreciate and use God’s gift of learning.

Children's Minister: Today, we have before us backpacks to be carried to and from school by the children and youth gathered here. These backpacks will contain work to be done, work that's been returned, books to be studied, tools to complete homework. Notebooks, pencils, pens, protractors, compasses, crayons, rules, scissors, glue sticks and other items used for school-work will find their way in and out of these backpacks. Some days they will be heavy, some days they will be light. We bring them before God for blessing – that the work, the books, the items they carry and the learning they represent may be blessed and bring glory to God.

Youth Minister: Today, we have before us students – young and old – all thankful for the gift of learning. These students contain knowledge and wisdom – they contain brains ready to be filled with new knowledge. They contain hearts ready to be filled with the wisdom of Christ. These students contain the light of Christ, ready to shine forth from them. Out of these students will come letters and numbers, essays and equations, portraits and collages, games and laughter, good grades and bad grades, nice words and harsh words. Some days they will be heavy with the burdens of school and of life, some days they will be light with joy. We present them before God for blessing – that the work they do, the fun they have, and the knowledge and wisdom they gain may be blessed and bring glory to God.

Pastor: Today we have before us teachers, administrators, assistants, bus drivers and others who are charged with great task of leading and loving our children. For them, some days will be heavy, some days will be light. We present them for before God for blessing – that the joy and pain, the laughter and tears, the knowledge and wisdom they share with and gain from the children in their care may be blessed and bring glory to God.

We also recognize that the task you undertake is a ministry. So before we pray for the whole group I want to offer a blessing for you – a commissioning of the ministry on which you are about to embark.

Friends, today we recognize the ministry of these who take on the task of leading our children and consecrate them to this special task in the service of Jesus Christ.

In the name of this congregation, I commend you to this work and pledge to you our prayers, encouragement, and support. May the Holy Spirit guide and strengthen you, that in this and in all things you may do God’s will in the service of Jesus Christ.

(At this point, I invited the congregation to pray with us. I also invited them to raise a hand toward those gathered at the front to symbolize the laying on of hands. The prayer was printed in the bulletin.)

All: Gracious God, we lift to you today these students and workers.

They stand here ready to receive your blessing and they commit themselves to study and learning in the school year ahead. We ask your blessing on each of them.

We pray as well for the teachers and administrators in all of our schools. We pray for bus drivers as they transport students each day. We pray for those who provide security for our students. May they all be sustained by your blessing. May they be reminded that North Wood United Methodist Church embraces their call to teach and to learn and that we surround them with love and care.

We pray in the name of Jesus, who we seek to follow day by day. Amen.

God's Generosity

2014-07-30T11:40:00.001-05:00

Each week, I give my congregation a list of "Daily Bible Readings". They usually tie in with the sermon in some way, and they serve as a guide for continued study during the week.

This week, in keeping with the lectionary gospel reading (5 parables about the 'Kingdom of Heaven'), I offered other parables from Matthew's gospel that begin with the phrase "The Kingdom of Heaven is like..."

Today's reading is/was Matthew 20:1-16. In the reading, Jesus compares God's reign to a land owner who hires workers at daybreak, again at 9:00 am, and 3:00 pm, and again at 5:00. At the end of the day, all were paid the same wage.

Verse 15 really leaps off the page. "Don’t I have the right to do what I want with what belongs to me? Or are you resentful because I’m generous?"

Does anyone else find themselves, too often, resentful of God's generosity?

I have to remind myself of this often. "Scott, grace is God's to give; not yours. Now shut up and receive your gift."

Plagiarized!

2014-04-28T11:55:00.000-05:00

There is a particular post on this blog that has generated a lot of hits over the last 3 years. It is a paper I wrote in my first semester in seminary. Last week, I did a Google search with some key words from the title. What I found shocked me.

I found someone's masters thesis, published by their university with a similar theme. I opened the pdf and did a word search for some unique words I'd used in my paper. I found several passages in the paper paraphrased from my earlier paper. I also found several passages taken word-for-word from my paper. I could not believe it.

Here's an example.

My Paper:

Upon his assuming the throne after laying siege to Jerusalem, Herod began his systematic depoliticization of the Temple almost immediately. In seeking to remove political power from the Temple, Herod first looked to remove power from the office of the High Priest. He did so by appointing a series of weak priests, mostly from the Diaspora. He first appointed an old friend from the Babylonian Diaspora named Hananel. Hananel came from a priestly family, but not from the line of the high priesthood. In doing so, Herod installed a high Priest he knew he could control. “One of Herod’s principal measures was to make the Temple and the high priesthood a tool of his own rule” (Horsley 116). Herod feared that a prominent High Priest would somehow diminish his own power.

His paper:

After laying siege to Jerusalem and assuming the throne, Herod began his systematic weakening of Temple institutions almost immediately. Herod first looked to weaken the office of the native Hasmonean High Priesthood. He accomplished this by appointing a series of weak priests, mostly from the Diaspora. First, he appointed an old friend from the Babylonian Diaspora named Hananel. Hananel came from a priestly family, but not from the direct line of the High Priest. In doing so, Herod installed a High Priest he knew he could control: “One of Herod’s principal measures was to make the Temple and the high priesthood a tool of his own rule.”227 Herod feared that a prominent native High Priest would undermine his own power, potentially resulting in destabilizing riots.

Really dude? Really?

I wasn't sure exactly how to feel about it. Honored? Appalled? Violated? Complimented? I wrestled with those feelings for the better part of a day. the more I thought about it, the angrier I got. Then the question became: What do I do about it?

I wrestled with that question. Could I even do anything? His paper was published in 2012. He certainly has received the MA for which the paper was written. I could report it to the university that published the thesis. But did I really want to ruin a guys career over my own ego? Or was it even ego...

Later that day, I emailed one of my professors to ask his opinion. In short, I am pursuing what I need to do to report this to his (probably former) university. We'll see what happens.

As a result, I am much more leery of posting stuff online. I am taking down some other things I have posted and editing others. I don't want to encourage plagiarism.

I'll leave you with this: Don't steal. Intellectual property is still property.