This week in worship we discussed how we cope with pain. It was our third week of five in the series, "Good God, Bad World." Video clips from "Bruce Almighty" were edited out. You can follow the link to download or read the text below.
http://www.mediafire.com/file/yqjnmzyjjhk/Treading Water.mp3
May you be strengthened by God and we'll see you Sunday!
“Treading Water: Coping with Pain”
Brimfield Faith UMC
January 24, 2010
Psalm 13; Proverbs 25:20
INTRODUCTION
As a swimmer, I did my fair share of strenuous workouts. We did 30 minute swims, sprint sets until we puked, and would often swim for 3 hours straight. Most of the time, the workouts were painful but bearable. There was one workout that I dreaded though: treading water. We would go in the diving well and we would have to do these sets with our hands out of the water and we would kick as hard as we could for minutes on end. It was as close to drowning that I have ever been in a pool. There is nothing more frustrating that kicking your legs as hard as possible to the point of utter frustration just to keep your mouth above water so you could breathe. It was one of the least satisfying things because there was never any progress. You weren’t in motion. Where most swimming workouts could be measured by how fast you went from one end of the pool to the other success when treading water was gauged by not drowning.
Learning to cope with pain and suffering I think can be compared to treading water. When we first begin to experience the pain, there is very little we can do except try and keep our heads above water. Pain, of course, is something that everyone encounters and no one likes. All throughout the Scriptures we see people experience pain: everyone from Adam to Moses to David to Jesus experienced pain. Regardless of their relationship with God, they all reacted in the same basic way. When they felt the pain, they recoiled from it, tried to alleviate it and then finally cried out to God. I want to spend some time this morning talking about how we cope with pain and suffering, especially at its outset. I hope to answer the questions: How do we keep our heads above water? How do we keep ourselves from being overwhelmed and destroyed by the pain?
Before we begin to talk about some ways we can cope with pain, we are going to watch a clip from the movie, “Bruce Almighty.” In the movie, Bruce Nolan, played by Jim Carrey, is a goofy weatherman that sees his life as full of injustice and suffering. The scene we are going to watch is about 20 minutes into the movie. Bruce is ranting about his latest misfortunes: not getting the coveted anchor position at the local news station and subsequently getting fired for an on-air meltdown.
[CLIP]
Bruce isn’t the most gracious enduring of pain and suffering but he is honest about it. This scene probably reflects how many of us feel when bad things happen to us as well. While Bruce is a bit over the top, I think we can actually learn some things about coping with pain from him. As we enter into week three of our series called, “Good God, Bad World,” I want to suggest three ways to help us cope with pain and suffering.
DENIAL - FEELING THE PAIN
#1. Experience the pain for what it is.
As we look to cope with pain, I think the five stages of grief model is a helpful model to dealing with pain and suffering. The five stages of grief are denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. The first stage of grief is denial. In the denial stage, we are in shock about a loss. We don’t want to accept the reality of it. We hope that we’ll wake up from the nightmare. We don’t believe it to be true. In the same way, when we initially react to pain by denying it. We ignore it. We hide it. We avoid the doctor. We tell ourselves it’s not that bad. We will go to great lengths to convincing ourselves that it’s not real. Then if we can’t fully deny it, we try to alleviate it. We try to do anything to get rid of it. We do everything except look at the pain and try to observe it.
If we are going to successfully cope with pain, we need to recognize the denial and seek to actually to experience the pain for what it is. In the clip we just watched, Bruce, is embracing the emotional pain that he is feeling… maybe too well. Nonetheless, he enters into the tragedy of the moment. Sometimes, this goes against our natural instincts. It is important that we listen to the pain we experience. We need to observe it. Last week, we talked about some of the positive attributes that pain has. Hopefully, by understanding that pain has positive things to offer will help us to experience the pain and reduce some of the fear associated with pain.
To embrace pain may seem strange or even scary at first, but it is an important first step to coping with pain. It allows us to overcome the unknowingness and the fear that is associated with pain. According to Asenath Petrie, a researcher and author of The Individuality of Pain and Suffering, the number one inhibitor to coping with pain is fear. In her book, Petrie discusses the different ways people process and deal with pain. She says, there are three different types of people when it comes to how they process pain: “augmenters” people who exaggerate all pain, “reducers” people who have high pain tolerance, and “moderates” people who fall in between. We talk about this as our pain tolerance.
The difference between augmenters and reducers: fear. Therefore if we want to cope with pain then we need to overcome our fear of the pain. The best way to overcome fear isn’t to theologize it or to rationalize it, but it is to observe it and to understand it. When we can embrace the pain for what it is, we will no longer fear it. As the fear is removed, we can learn to cope with the pain.
HOLY VENTING
#2. Express the emotions associated with pain.
Once we have moved through the denial and overcome the fear, the second and third stages of the grief process are anger and bargaining. Anger is expressed in the sentiments, “Why is this happening to me?” Bargaining is summarized by, “I’ll do anything to change this…” These two steps bring about a confliction of emotions that are often difficult to express and comprehend. As we experience pain, we find ourselves angry: at ourselves, at our friends, at the world, and even at God. Instead of expressing the anger, we often try to bottle it only to have it explode in inappropriate ways. If we are going to effectively cope with pain, we need to learn to express the emotions associated our pain. Ultimately, the best way to do this is through prayer. We should share all our emotions with God through what I like to call “Holy Venting.” Before we talk about it in detail, let’s watch Bruce’s version of Holy Venting.
[CLIP]
Bruce’s venting is actually more Biblical than we might think. How many of you have ever yelled at God? [hands] If you haven’t, next time you’re angry with God go for it. Before you start to object on moral grounds and religious grounds, understand that holy venting is simply aggressive prayer. You know when you are worked up about a situation and you just need to vent to someone. You aren’t looking for advice or input. You just need to get it off your chest. This is what holy venting is and it is all throughout the Bible. The word Israel literally means, “one who fights with God.” The Psalms of full of holy vents and laments to God.
Listen to David’s holy vent in Psalm 13: “How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I wrestle with my thoughts
and every day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me? Look on me and answer, O Lord my God. Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death; my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,” and my foes will rejoice when I fall. But I trust in your unfailing love;
my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, for he has been good to me.” You can hear David’s frustration and anger in the Psalm. David is going to call out to God and yet at God about his situation. As you hear in Psalm 13, once David get it off his chest, he is able to see God’s presence in the situation.
God invites us and even encourages us to communicate with him in the same way. God wants you to tell him that you’re seriously ticked off. He doesn’t care if there is some shouting and yelling and maybe even a little cursing. God is big enough to take it. He already knows your heart. Holy venting is an act of prayer and can even be an act of confession. I know whenever I get into a shouting match with God, I feel better when it’s over. I know God doesn’t love me less, in fact, I feel closer to God afterwards because I feel like he listened. I feel like my case has been heard. My emotions are expressed and I am ready to continue to move forward. Holy venting can be used when you are feeling overwhelmed with pain and suffering or at anytime that you are upset with life and God.
DEPRESSION
#3. Surround yourself with friends and loved ones for support.
The last component of coping with pain is probably the hardest to do but the most important. We need to surround ourselves with supportive friends and loved ones. The fourth stage of grief is depression. This is characterized by “What is the point?” “Why go on?” Pain has the ability to induce depression. When the depression comes, it feels like a dark cloud that drains your strength and your motivation to carry on with life. Depression is the scariest aspect of trying to cope with pain and suffering. Most people try to escape the depression as quickly as possible, but the reality is it shouldn’t be rushed.
Two things happen with depression: the depression will make you feel isolated, and it will make it difficult to pray. Pain has an ability to isolate us and make us feel like we are the only ones in the world that have every gone through such an experience. It is true that no one knows what you are going through. There will be times when you just need to be alone and that is okay. At the same time, it is important to have a few close friends by your side as you cope with pain. They will help ensure the depression doesn’t get too dark or go too deep.
Another reason you need the support of friends is to pray for you. When you are depressed, you won’t feel like praying, and ironically it can worsen the depression. You will need friends to pray for you and stand in the gap for you. Having friends that can lovingly support you will go a long way in coping with the devastating effects pain can have on you.
If you are supportive friend, you need to allow a person to be depressed. This can be hard to do but it is important. Proverbs 25:20 says, “Singing cheerful songs to a person with a heavy heart is like taking someone’s coat in cold weather or pouring vinegar in a wound.” Depression something that needs be experienced if a person is going to move beyond simply coping with pain. So instead of trying to cheer up a depressed person, it is important that we walk along side of them, pray for them, listen to them, and support them.
CONCLUSION
There is no denying it: pain can be crippling. There are ways to cope with pain and even ways to overcome the pain. One of my goals for this series is to give you tools to learn how to thrive in the face of pain and suffering, difficulty and hardship. In Philippians it says, “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.” Through Christ, we can learn to embrace and listen to the pain and suffering we experience. Through Christ, we can fight with God and engage in some good ol’ fashion holy venting. Through Christ, we can endure the throws of depression. And through Christ, we can move from simply coping to thriving in the face of pain.
Ultimately, I long for us to be a people and a church that knows how to effective cope with anything that is thrown at us. Next week, I hope for us to learn to thrive in the face of pain and suffering, and to transform pain into victory through Christ.
Let’s pray.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Pondering Pain
We continue to talk about pain and suffering in the face of a good, loving and all-powerful God. You can download the audio or read the text below. Be blessed and we'll see you Sunday!
http://www.mediafire.com/file/nkzymmzrtzz/Pondering Pain.mp3
http://www.mediafire.com/file/nkzymmzrtzz/Pondering Pain.mp3
“Pondering Pain: Punishment for Sin or Message from God?”
Brimfield Faith UMC
January 17, 2009
Job / 1 Kings 19:9-11
Brimfield Faith UMC
January 17, 2009
Job / 1 Kings 19:9-11
INTRO:
I appreciate Dawn’s story on so many levels. This is the second time I’ve heard her share it publically. I value her courage, strength and resolve in sharing it. I love the fact that in her darkest hour she found God, instead of blamed God. I hope her story has inspired some of you to do the same in your times of struggle and pain.
When it comes to questions of God’s will and pain, many people wonder if God is behind the tragedies that happen on a daily basis. On a small scale, I was wrestling with this question in my own life. As tragedy befalls our lives, most of us wrestle with the same questions. Where is God in the midst of this? The question reaches far beyond us, as we watch devastating effects that the earthquake had in Haiti. Whenever something like this happens, people re-ask the question, why did God allow this to happen? As I have read the news stories and the comments below them, people have a variety of opinions when it comes to this. Some people site such occurrences as evidence of there not being a God. Others claim it to be God’s punishment for sin and a message to the world. The debate is a contentious one and one that we will enter into this morning.
Coincidentally, we are in week two of our sermon series “Good God, Bad World.” Last week, we talked about how a good, loving, all-powerful God can exist when there is so much suffering in the world. I posed the idea that because God is loving is the reason pain and suffering are able to exist in the world. Love can only exist as an act of free will. For us to experience the joys of a loving relationship with God and others, God gave us the gift of free will. With the gift of free will, came the inherent risk that we might abuse our ability to choose. Adam and Eve, in fact, chose to disobey and allow sin to enter into the world. With that sin, God allowed pain and suffering to enter. This morning, I hope for us to discover what God is trying to communication through pain and suffering.
THE GIFT OF PAIN
I think as we look closer at pain we might see that pain isn’t necessarily a bad thing. A large part of Jesus’ ministry involved healing people. When we think of the act of healing, we think of someone taking pain away. Healing doesn’t always involve the alleviation of pain. Did you know that Jesus performed at least 11 miracles that actually allowed people to experience pain? By my count Jesus healed 11 people of leprosy in the Gospels. According to Dr. Paul Brand, a prominent researcher in the field of leprosy, leprosy is less a skin disease and more about a loss of sensation. We always think of people with leprosy as having skin lesions and that sort of thing. In actuality, the skin lesions are caused when people do damaging things to their bodies without realizing it. The reason this happens is because leprosy causes people to lose feeling in the bodies. For the leper, the warnings and protection that pain offers have been taken away.
We probably don’t need the illustration of the leper to know that pain can be a gift. Subconsciously, we know that pain is a protector and an important part of human existence. Pain keeps us from engaging in activities that might bring harm to us. Pain is protects us. Pain also warns us about dangers. When Dawn found out that she melanoma, it was because she had a mole that was causing her pain. Without that pain, she might not have noticed the abnormal mole in time to receive treatment. Pain can actually play a role in saving our lives.
NOT PUNISHMENT BUT A TEACHER
This is quite a shift from thinking of pain as strictly negative. Sometimes we have been programmed to think of pain as God’s punishment for sin. I wrestled with this thought when I found out that I had two herniated disks in my back. I thought God was punishing me for not listening to him. Thankfully, I was able to see this was not the case. Most of the time, God doesn’t need to punish us for our sins. Instead, God created a world in which there are consequences for behavior. It is called the law of cause and effect or the principle of reaping and sowing. Some call it Karma. You get what you deserve. If you disobey the rules of the world, you will most likely suffer undesirable results. Because of this cause and effect relationship in the world, God does not need to inflict further punishment. Pain is the result of our poor choices not direct punishment for disobedience.
For instance, when my mom was a kid, my grandma caught her playing with matches. My mom hadn’t burned herself, she hadn’t caught anything on fire, she hadn’t actually done any harm. If she hadn’t gotten caught, there would have been no consequences of her actions. Now my grandmother knew there could be serious results from playing with matches and she wanted my mom to stay away from them. A punishment was necessary to teach my mom the lesson of matches. So for the next hour, my mom stood over a metal trash barrel and lit matches. Needless to say, my mom never played with matches again.
The punishment was only necessary because my mom hadn’t suffered any pain from the experience. If she had caught the house on fire or burned herself, my grandma probably wouldn’t have punished her. The effects of the burns would have been painful enough to teach her the lesson that she needed to learn. I think most of the time God operates in the same manner. He doesn’t need to punish us because we have already experienced the pain of our actions and behaviors. Pain can indeed be a positive thing if we are willing to allow it to be. Pain can effectively teach us things if we will learn. Pain can warn us if we listen. Pain can protect us if we heed to it.
ENDLESS PAIN
This notion of positive pain has its limitations though. How do we embrace pain and suffering when it seems to be endless or senseless? How do we explain long painful illnesses? How do we explain untimely deaths? How do we explain natural disasters, earthquakes, hurricanes? I want to address this issue through the lens of the earthquake since we have been bombarded by it this week. I want to show a short video of the effects of the earthquake in case you’ve been living in isolation or haven’t seen it. [VIDEO] How do we explain what occurred there?
I’m sure you’ve heard explanations of this tragedy. Pat Roberson, a televangelist said this week that the earthquake was sent because the Haitian people had made a pact with the devil, basically implying that God was punishing them for being godless people. When Hurricane Katrina hit the explanations ranged from the wickedness of New Orleans to America’s support of homosexuals. In times like these I think it is helpful to turn to Scripture for a clearer picture. For this, I’d like to look at the book of Job.
JOB
The story of Job opens like this, “There was once a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. That man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil.” Job followed the ways of God and in all senses of the word should have had no evil inflicted upon him. In the matter of hours, Job loses all of his children, all of his property and then falls ill. Job is understandably over come with grief. What he doesn’t know is that in heaven, Satan has basically placed a bet with God. Satan doesn’t think Job will still worship God if he endures a little suffering. As the story unfolds, Job has three friends who come to Job and try to convince him of his wrong doing. They try to get Job to confess his sins and be forgiven. Job insists, rightly, that he has done nothing wrong.
We catch a glimpse of Job’s conversation with his friends chapter 19. “How long will you torture me? How long will you try to crush me with your words? You have already insulted me ten times. You should be ashamed of treating me so badly. Even if I have sinned, that is my concern, not yours. You think you’re better than I am, using my humiliation as evidence of my sin. But it is God who has wronged me, capturing me in his net. “I cry out, ‘Help!’ but no one answers me. I protest, but there is no justice. God has blocked my way so I cannot move. He has plunged my path into darkness.”
Job is a man that defies the common thinking of his day and one that many Christians still embrace today. The belief of his friends is that God would not allow bad things to happen to good people. They thought that when people suffered their lives were unholy and full of sin. Job’s story turns this thinking upon its head. While there may be times when a person’s choices have caused their pain and suffering, it is not a one to one correlation.
In the times when suffering appears to be senseless, I think it is important that we not view God as angry with us. Equally as important, we should never tell someone there suffering is the pouring out of God’s wrath for their sinful ways. Job’s friends chided him and told him to repent of his wickedness when there was none. Job was indeed blameless before God. Towards the end of the story, Job’s friends are scolded by God for their foolish and hurtful behavior with their friend. I wish people like Pat Robertson would remember the lesson of Job’s friends before they speak words of condemnation to suffering people and suffering nations.
CONCLUSION - GOD IS THERE
By casting such judgment we push people away from God in their greatest time of need. There is not a good explanation for why God allowed such a terrible to happen. I know some tectonic plates shifting caused it. There may be no greater reason for the earthquake. I do know is that God will bring God out of it. I do know that God wants to walk through the pain with us and see us to the other side. Psalm 46:1 states, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”
I think it is foolishness to look too closely for God’s will and voice in natural disasters. In 1 Kings 19, the prophet Elijah does just this only to find that God has not in them. Instead God spoke in a different way. “And as Elijah stood there, the Lord passed by, and a mighty windstorm hit the mountain. It was such a terrible blast that the rocks were torn loose, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 12 And after the earthquake there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire there was the sound of a gentle whisper.” When tragedy strikes, we would do well to draw our strength from God, to look to him as our refuge, and encourage others to do the same.
I want to share a few words from an article on the United Methodist Website that I read this week.
When I am confronting situations like the Haiti earthquake, I hear this conviction as if it is a whisper, "God is here. God is with us. God is in our midst." I cannot explain it. The logic of faith breaks down in the complexities of human suffering and the struggle to comprehend life and not give victory to death. I hear this whisper and I believe it. It is beyond logic and even beyond reasonable comprehension.
We exist in the embrace of God who weeps with us, comforts us, stands with us in the midst of our suffering, feels the emptiness of our silence and holds us in the palm of God's own hand. "The Lord has comforted his people, and will have compassion on his suffering ones.But Zion said, "The Lord has forsaken me, my Lord has forgotten me."Can a woman forget her nursing child, or show no compassion for the child of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. See, I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands... (Isa. 49:13-16. The Wesley Study Bible)
I don’t know what your plight is, how you suffer, where your pain is, but I do know that God is not punishing you. God is not angry with you. God has not removed his hand from you. We would do well to seek to hear God’s voice in the same manner and to find refuge in our times of trouble. Let’s pray.
I appreciate Dawn’s story on so many levels. This is the second time I’ve heard her share it publically. I value her courage, strength and resolve in sharing it. I love the fact that in her darkest hour she found God, instead of blamed God. I hope her story has inspired some of you to do the same in your times of struggle and pain.
When it comes to questions of God’s will and pain, many people wonder if God is behind the tragedies that happen on a daily basis. On a small scale, I was wrestling with this question in my own life. As tragedy befalls our lives, most of us wrestle with the same questions. Where is God in the midst of this? The question reaches far beyond us, as we watch devastating effects that the earthquake had in Haiti. Whenever something like this happens, people re-ask the question, why did God allow this to happen? As I have read the news stories and the comments below them, people have a variety of opinions when it comes to this. Some people site such occurrences as evidence of there not being a God. Others claim it to be God’s punishment for sin and a message to the world. The debate is a contentious one and one that we will enter into this morning.
Coincidentally, we are in week two of our sermon series “Good God, Bad World.” Last week, we talked about how a good, loving, all-powerful God can exist when there is so much suffering in the world. I posed the idea that because God is loving is the reason pain and suffering are able to exist in the world. Love can only exist as an act of free will. For us to experience the joys of a loving relationship with God and others, God gave us the gift of free will. With the gift of free will, came the inherent risk that we might abuse our ability to choose. Adam and Eve, in fact, chose to disobey and allow sin to enter into the world. With that sin, God allowed pain and suffering to enter. This morning, I hope for us to discover what God is trying to communication through pain and suffering.
THE GIFT OF PAIN
I think as we look closer at pain we might see that pain isn’t necessarily a bad thing. A large part of Jesus’ ministry involved healing people. When we think of the act of healing, we think of someone taking pain away. Healing doesn’t always involve the alleviation of pain. Did you know that Jesus performed at least 11 miracles that actually allowed people to experience pain? By my count Jesus healed 11 people of leprosy in the Gospels. According to Dr. Paul Brand, a prominent researcher in the field of leprosy, leprosy is less a skin disease and more about a loss of sensation. We always think of people with leprosy as having skin lesions and that sort of thing. In actuality, the skin lesions are caused when people do damaging things to their bodies without realizing it. The reason this happens is because leprosy causes people to lose feeling in the bodies. For the leper, the warnings and protection that pain offers have been taken away.
We probably don’t need the illustration of the leper to know that pain can be a gift. Subconsciously, we know that pain is a protector and an important part of human existence. Pain keeps us from engaging in activities that might bring harm to us. Pain is protects us. Pain also warns us about dangers. When Dawn found out that she melanoma, it was because she had a mole that was causing her pain. Without that pain, she might not have noticed the abnormal mole in time to receive treatment. Pain can actually play a role in saving our lives.
NOT PUNISHMENT BUT A TEACHER
This is quite a shift from thinking of pain as strictly negative. Sometimes we have been programmed to think of pain as God’s punishment for sin. I wrestled with this thought when I found out that I had two herniated disks in my back. I thought God was punishing me for not listening to him. Thankfully, I was able to see this was not the case. Most of the time, God doesn’t need to punish us for our sins. Instead, God created a world in which there are consequences for behavior. It is called the law of cause and effect or the principle of reaping and sowing. Some call it Karma. You get what you deserve. If you disobey the rules of the world, you will most likely suffer undesirable results. Because of this cause and effect relationship in the world, God does not need to inflict further punishment. Pain is the result of our poor choices not direct punishment for disobedience.
For instance, when my mom was a kid, my grandma caught her playing with matches. My mom hadn’t burned herself, she hadn’t caught anything on fire, she hadn’t actually done any harm. If she hadn’t gotten caught, there would have been no consequences of her actions. Now my grandmother knew there could be serious results from playing with matches and she wanted my mom to stay away from them. A punishment was necessary to teach my mom the lesson of matches. So for the next hour, my mom stood over a metal trash barrel and lit matches. Needless to say, my mom never played with matches again.
The punishment was only necessary because my mom hadn’t suffered any pain from the experience. If she had caught the house on fire or burned herself, my grandma probably wouldn’t have punished her. The effects of the burns would have been painful enough to teach her the lesson that she needed to learn. I think most of the time God operates in the same manner. He doesn’t need to punish us because we have already experienced the pain of our actions and behaviors. Pain can indeed be a positive thing if we are willing to allow it to be. Pain can effectively teach us things if we will learn. Pain can warn us if we listen. Pain can protect us if we heed to it.
ENDLESS PAIN
This notion of positive pain has its limitations though. How do we embrace pain and suffering when it seems to be endless or senseless? How do we explain long painful illnesses? How do we explain untimely deaths? How do we explain natural disasters, earthquakes, hurricanes? I want to address this issue through the lens of the earthquake since we have been bombarded by it this week. I want to show a short video of the effects of the earthquake in case you’ve been living in isolation or haven’t seen it. [VIDEO] How do we explain what occurred there?
I’m sure you’ve heard explanations of this tragedy. Pat Roberson, a televangelist said this week that the earthquake was sent because the Haitian people had made a pact with the devil, basically implying that God was punishing them for being godless people. When Hurricane Katrina hit the explanations ranged from the wickedness of New Orleans to America’s support of homosexuals. In times like these I think it is helpful to turn to Scripture for a clearer picture. For this, I’d like to look at the book of Job.
JOB
The story of Job opens like this, “There was once a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. That man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil.” Job followed the ways of God and in all senses of the word should have had no evil inflicted upon him. In the matter of hours, Job loses all of his children, all of his property and then falls ill. Job is understandably over come with grief. What he doesn’t know is that in heaven, Satan has basically placed a bet with God. Satan doesn’t think Job will still worship God if he endures a little suffering. As the story unfolds, Job has three friends who come to Job and try to convince him of his wrong doing. They try to get Job to confess his sins and be forgiven. Job insists, rightly, that he has done nothing wrong.
We catch a glimpse of Job’s conversation with his friends chapter 19. “How long will you torture me? How long will you try to crush me with your words? You have already insulted me ten times. You should be ashamed of treating me so badly. Even if I have sinned, that is my concern, not yours. You think you’re better than I am, using my humiliation as evidence of my sin. But it is God who has wronged me, capturing me in his net. “I cry out, ‘Help!’ but no one answers me. I protest, but there is no justice. God has blocked my way so I cannot move. He has plunged my path into darkness.”
Job is a man that defies the common thinking of his day and one that many Christians still embrace today. The belief of his friends is that God would not allow bad things to happen to good people. They thought that when people suffered their lives were unholy and full of sin. Job’s story turns this thinking upon its head. While there may be times when a person’s choices have caused their pain and suffering, it is not a one to one correlation.
In the times when suffering appears to be senseless, I think it is important that we not view God as angry with us. Equally as important, we should never tell someone there suffering is the pouring out of God’s wrath for their sinful ways. Job’s friends chided him and told him to repent of his wickedness when there was none. Job was indeed blameless before God. Towards the end of the story, Job’s friends are scolded by God for their foolish and hurtful behavior with their friend. I wish people like Pat Robertson would remember the lesson of Job’s friends before they speak words of condemnation to suffering people and suffering nations.
CONCLUSION - GOD IS THERE
By casting such judgment we push people away from God in their greatest time of need. There is not a good explanation for why God allowed such a terrible to happen. I know some tectonic plates shifting caused it. There may be no greater reason for the earthquake. I do know is that God will bring God out of it. I do know that God wants to walk through the pain with us and see us to the other side. Psalm 46:1 states, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”
I think it is foolishness to look too closely for God’s will and voice in natural disasters. In 1 Kings 19, the prophet Elijah does just this only to find that God has not in them. Instead God spoke in a different way. “And as Elijah stood there, the Lord passed by, and a mighty windstorm hit the mountain. It was such a terrible blast that the rocks were torn loose, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 12 And after the earthquake there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire there was the sound of a gentle whisper.” When tragedy strikes, we would do well to draw our strength from God, to look to him as our refuge, and encourage others to do the same.
I want to share a few words from an article on the United Methodist Website that I read this week.
When I am confronting situations like the Haiti earthquake, I hear this conviction as if it is a whisper, "God is here. God is with us. God is in our midst." I cannot explain it. The logic of faith breaks down in the complexities of human suffering and the struggle to comprehend life and not give victory to death. I hear this whisper and I believe it. It is beyond logic and even beyond reasonable comprehension.
We exist in the embrace of God who weeps with us, comforts us, stands with us in the midst of our suffering, feels the emptiness of our silence and holds us in the palm of God's own hand. "The Lord has comforted his people, and will have compassion on his suffering ones.But Zion said, "The Lord has forsaken me, my Lord has forgotten me."Can a woman forget her nursing child, or show no compassion for the child of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. See, I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands... (Isa. 49:13-16. The Wesley Study Bible)
I don’t know what your plight is, how you suffer, where your pain is, but I do know that God is not punishing you. God is not angry with you. God has not removed his hand from you. We would do well to seek to hear God’s voice in the same manner and to find refuge in our times of trouble. Let’s pray.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Good God, Bad World
We started the sermon series "Good God, Bad World" this past Sunday. We'll be spending five weeks trying to answer the question: How can a loving God allow suffering in the world? You can download the audio by following the link or read the text below. Hope to see you this Sunday as we will be "Pondering Pain." Does God communicate through pain? Is it a punishment for sin or a message from above?
http://www.mediafire.com/file/0422mznttir/Good God Bad World.mp3
“Good God, Bad World”
Brimfield Faith UMC
January 10, 2010
Genesis 3:1-7; 4:6-7; Psalm 55:1-8
INTRODUCTION
I remember the day vividly. I was in my first year of seminary at Ashland. I was in Cleveland for the weekend and I got a call Sunday morning from my old college roommate, Ian. Ian told me that one of our friends and fraternity brothers, Brent, was in the hospital. The night before there had been an argument and a scuffle between Brent and another fraternity brother. During the confrontation, Brent fell and hit his head on a metal door handle which resulted in a fractured skull. When I heard the news, I intuitively feared for the worst. After about a week of treatment, Brent’s injuries resulted in the loss his life. It was a terrible tragedy that deeply affected the Baldwin-Wallace campus and our fraternity.
Brent’s death was so senseless and untimely. Brent was a young man full of life. He was a biology student that was engaged to be married that June and was hoping to go to vet school in fall. The hardest part of the experience was when I traveled to the funeral to mourn the death of a friend. Due to the circumstances surrounding his death, Brent’s family was understandably angry. Brent had died as a result of a fight. I remember some of him family members approaching the fraternity brothers that were on the floor that night. They asked them why they hadn’t done more, why they hadn’t stopped the fight, why they hadn’t saved Brent’s life. There were no good answers to the question. Rightly so, nothing would have satisfied their grief in the situation. While the family interrogated the fraternity brothers, I think the bigger question being asked that day was to God: Why God didn’t you do something? Why didn’t you stop the fight? Why didn’t you save Brent?
Being a seminary student, these were questions that I wrestled with as I tried to make sense of Brent’s death. All of us have probably experienced a similar type of tragedy during the course of our lives. Whether it be the death of a loved one, a natural disaster, or a debilitating illness, we know pain and suffering. In that pain and suffering, we often find ourselves turning to God, interrogating him, and asking WHY? God, if you are as loving as they say you are, why have you allowed such suffering in the world? This morning and for the next several weeks, we are going take a closer look at the issue of pain and suffering in the world. A small disclaimer as we embark, I don’t promise to have all of the answers to this dilemma. Instead, together we will search for answers and I fully expect that we will see God along the way.
TWO WAYS
In response to the question of God’s role in tragic situations there are typically two responses. The first is called Deism and the second is called Theological determinism. Deism is the notion that God is like a clock maker. He created the world, set it into motion, and does not interfere in its events. When bad things happen, God doesn’t stop them because he doesn’t act in the world. While this philosophy is appealing to some, the Scriptures do not testify to a God that operates in this manner. Instead, we see a God from the very beginning who is intimately involved in the lives of his creation and human beings.
The other response is that of determinism. Theological determinism is expressed in tidy little clichés like: “It must be God’s will” and “Everything happens for a reason.” I have the opportunity to do a number of funerals and occasionally hear these sentiments shared with the grieving family members. It seems like a kind and compassionate thing to say. Yet, there are several problems with this approach. I think for most it raises more questions than it answers. If everything is God’s will, why God kill someone? Does God cause suffering? Did God take someone’s life so someone would give her life to Christ at the funeral? Also, if God preordains and directs the actions of humans, when a criminal commits a horrendous act, God is ultimately held responsible for it. God not only allowed it to happen but God willed it to happen. This definitely doesn’t sound like the plans of a loving God. So where do we go from here
FREE WILL
To tackle any problem we must first understand the facts and implications. The Scriptures rightly teach us that God is good and loving. We have not been misled in this regard. The Scriptures also show us that God is Sovereign that is he is in control of the entire universe. Yet, we have experienced that the world does not seem to reflect God’s nature. This leaves us in a dilemma with several choices. The first choice is that God is not good but neutral: Deism. The second is that God is not sovereign: Scripture eliminates this as a possibility. The choice of determinism simply leaves us confused.
I think there is a middle way between deism and determinism that can provide the framework for us to talk about the presence of pain and suffering in the world. It is the assertion that humans have free will, that our actions are not predetermined. The opening pages of the Bible in the Book of Genesis, we hear the story of how God created the universe and humans.
While God gives Adam and Eve the run of the Garden, he instructs them to refrain from eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God doesn’t put a fence around the tree. He doesn’t remove the tree from the Garden. He simply says, “Don’t eat from that one.” Adam and Eve are given the ability to choose right or wrong. Of course, we know that Adam and Eve choose to disobey God and broke their relationship with him. They allowed sin to enter the world, and with sin, pain and suffering also enter. From Adam and Eve, we have inherited the gift of free will and also the curse of sin that accompanies it.
FREE WILL AND LOVE
From this point, I know the question in my house is, “If free will permits sin and pain to exist, why did God give it to us?” or “Why did God allow Adam and Eve to have the choice to eat the fruit?” I think this is a difficult question to answer but it has to do with the close relationship between free will and love. In 1 John 4:7 it says, “Let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God… for God is love.” The nature of love is such that it can only exist if there is choice involved. We inherently know that love is an act of will; you cannot force a person to love. Love comes from the depths of our heart and is a choice that we make. Therefore, since God is love, God was propelled to create a world and to form a people who had the ability to choose. Ultimately, it was more important for God that we knew what it meant to love than to be pain-free. God’s longing for us to experience the wonders of relationships meant he must permit free will, knowing full well that pain and suffering were the risk involved with that decision.
Thankfully, God did not just let us loose in a chaotic world. Although sin and pain exist, God created the world with laws to govern it. He gave us the ability to reason and to make choices. The reality of this freedom allows us to make both good and poor choices. God allows us to do dangerous things, like drive cars too fast and get into fights. God allows us to make decisions that bring pain and suffering into our world. God also allows us to experience loving relationships with one another and with him. We have the ability then to choose between right and wrong.
In Genesis 4, Cain and Abel bring offerings to the Lord. Cain’s offering is rejected and he becomes upset and angry. In response to Cain’s anger the Lord says, “Why are you angry, and why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is lurking at the door; its desire is for you, but you must master it.” But you must master it. The word “must” here is interesting. In the King James translates it, “You shalt master it.” The NKJV says, “You should rule over it.” The Message says, “You’ve got to master it.” I’ve read some commentators that suggests it should read, “You may master it.” I like the idea that we may master sin.
When we fall short of God’s standards, God still wants us to choose him. We are invited to receive the gift of life through Jesus Christ. Through Christ, we have an ability to choose whether or not we will master sin. The gift of free will allows us to turn towards God and to live or to turn away from God and to die. Cain chooses to turn away from God and killed his brother Abel. Both he and his ancestors suffered as a result of this decision. Each day we are faced with the reality that sin lurks as the door and desires us. We must make the choice to choose life and to choose God daily.
CONCLUSION
Admittedly, free will doesn’t answer all of the questions related to the pain and suffering we experience. There are plenty of issues that still exist, but I hope we can start to understand the nature of God and the brokenness of the world. In short, pain exists because sin exists. Sin exists because free will exists. And free will exists because love exists. I haven’t fully reconciled the implications of this entirely. But instead of questioning the nature of God, I find myself asking different questions. Questions like: how do I cope with pain, how do I respond to suffering, how can my faith strengthen me through it all? These are some of the questions I hope to answer over the next several weeks.
At the end of the book of Deuteronomy, Moses is talking to the people of Israel and he says: “I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live, loving the Lord your God, obey him, and holding fast to him;” The Israelites have been through a tremendous amount of pain and suffering. They were enslaved by Egypt. They wandered in the wilderness. They feared drought and famine. And Israel was going to experience much more hardship in their future. Nonetheless, they were exhorted to choose life and blessings.
God doesn’t promise that life will be free of pain. Instead, God wants us to exercise our free will in a way that will allow us to enjoy the benefits of a loving relationship with God. God wants to guide us and to be with us with through the pains and tragedies of life. It brings me comfort to know that God doesn’t will pain and suffering in my life. It would be hard for me to trust in a God that wanted my friend, Brent, to die and a God who causes people to suffer. While I don’t like pain, I can bear it if I know I get to experience the depths of love. So let’s begin to discover how we might experience love in the midst of pain and suffering.
Let’s pray.
http://www.mediafire.com/file/0422mznttir/Good God Bad World.mp3
“Good God, Bad World”
Brimfield Faith UMC
January 10, 2010
Genesis 3:1-7; 4:6-7; Psalm 55:1-8
INTRODUCTION
I remember the day vividly. I was in my first year of seminary at Ashland. I was in Cleveland for the weekend and I got a call Sunday morning from my old college roommate, Ian. Ian told me that one of our friends and fraternity brothers, Brent, was in the hospital. The night before there had been an argument and a scuffle between Brent and another fraternity brother. During the confrontation, Brent fell and hit his head on a metal door handle which resulted in a fractured skull. When I heard the news, I intuitively feared for the worst. After about a week of treatment, Brent’s injuries resulted in the loss his life. It was a terrible tragedy that deeply affected the Baldwin-Wallace campus and our fraternity.
Brent’s death was so senseless and untimely. Brent was a young man full of life. He was a biology student that was engaged to be married that June and was hoping to go to vet school in fall. The hardest part of the experience was when I traveled to the funeral to mourn the death of a friend. Due to the circumstances surrounding his death, Brent’s family was understandably angry. Brent had died as a result of a fight. I remember some of him family members approaching the fraternity brothers that were on the floor that night. They asked them why they hadn’t done more, why they hadn’t stopped the fight, why they hadn’t saved Brent’s life. There were no good answers to the question. Rightly so, nothing would have satisfied their grief in the situation. While the family interrogated the fraternity brothers, I think the bigger question being asked that day was to God: Why God didn’t you do something? Why didn’t you stop the fight? Why didn’t you save Brent?
Being a seminary student, these were questions that I wrestled with as I tried to make sense of Brent’s death. All of us have probably experienced a similar type of tragedy during the course of our lives. Whether it be the death of a loved one, a natural disaster, or a debilitating illness, we know pain and suffering. In that pain and suffering, we often find ourselves turning to God, interrogating him, and asking WHY? God, if you are as loving as they say you are, why have you allowed such suffering in the world? This morning and for the next several weeks, we are going take a closer look at the issue of pain and suffering in the world. A small disclaimer as we embark, I don’t promise to have all of the answers to this dilemma. Instead, together we will search for answers and I fully expect that we will see God along the way.
TWO WAYS
In response to the question of God’s role in tragic situations there are typically two responses. The first is called Deism and the second is called Theological determinism. Deism is the notion that God is like a clock maker. He created the world, set it into motion, and does not interfere in its events. When bad things happen, God doesn’t stop them because he doesn’t act in the world. While this philosophy is appealing to some, the Scriptures do not testify to a God that operates in this manner. Instead, we see a God from the very beginning who is intimately involved in the lives of his creation and human beings.
The other response is that of determinism. Theological determinism is expressed in tidy little clichés like: “It must be God’s will” and “Everything happens for a reason.” I have the opportunity to do a number of funerals and occasionally hear these sentiments shared with the grieving family members. It seems like a kind and compassionate thing to say. Yet, there are several problems with this approach. I think for most it raises more questions than it answers. If everything is God’s will, why God kill someone? Does God cause suffering? Did God take someone’s life so someone would give her life to Christ at the funeral? Also, if God preordains and directs the actions of humans, when a criminal commits a horrendous act, God is ultimately held responsible for it. God not only allowed it to happen but God willed it to happen. This definitely doesn’t sound like the plans of a loving God. So where do we go from here
FREE WILL
To tackle any problem we must first understand the facts and implications. The Scriptures rightly teach us that God is good and loving. We have not been misled in this regard. The Scriptures also show us that God is Sovereign that is he is in control of the entire universe. Yet, we have experienced that the world does not seem to reflect God’s nature. This leaves us in a dilemma with several choices. The first choice is that God is not good but neutral: Deism. The second is that God is not sovereign: Scripture eliminates this as a possibility. The choice of determinism simply leaves us confused.
I think there is a middle way between deism and determinism that can provide the framework for us to talk about the presence of pain and suffering in the world. It is the assertion that humans have free will, that our actions are not predetermined. The opening pages of the Bible in the Book of Genesis, we hear the story of how God created the universe and humans.
While God gives Adam and Eve the run of the Garden, he instructs them to refrain from eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God doesn’t put a fence around the tree. He doesn’t remove the tree from the Garden. He simply says, “Don’t eat from that one.” Adam and Eve are given the ability to choose right or wrong. Of course, we know that Adam and Eve choose to disobey God and broke their relationship with him. They allowed sin to enter the world, and with sin, pain and suffering also enter. From Adam and Eve, we have inherited the gift of free will and also the curse of sin that accompanies it.
FREE WILL AND LOVE
From this point, I know the question in my house is, “If free will permits sin and pain to exist, why did God give it to us?” or “Why did God allow Adam and Eve to have the choice to eat the fruit?” I think this is a difficult question to answer but it has to do with the close relationship between free will and love. In 1 John 4:7 it says, “Let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God… for God is love.” The nature of love is such that it can only exist if there is choice involved. We inherently know that love is an act of will; you cannot force a person to love. Love comes from the depths of our heart and is a choice that we make. Therefore, since God is love, God was propelled to create a world and to form a people who had the ability to choose. Ultimately, it was more important for God that we knew what it meant to love than to be pain-free. God’s longing for us to experience the wonders of relationships meant he must permit free will, knowing full well that pain and suffering were the risk involved with that decision.
Thankfully, God did not just let us loose in a chaotic world. Although sin and pain exist, God created the world with laws to govern it. He gave us the ability to reason and to make choices. The reality of this freedom allows us to make both good and poor choices. God allows us to do dangerous things, like drive cars too fast and get into fights. God allows us to make decisions that bring pain and suffering into our world. God also allows us to experience loving relationships with one another and with him. We have the ability then to choose between right and wrong.
In Genesis 4, Cain and Abel bring offerings to the Lord. Cain’s offering is rejected and he becomes upset and angry. In response to Cain’s anger the Lord says, “Why are you angry, and why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is lurking at the door; its desire is for you, but you must master it.” But you must master it. The word “must” here is interesting. In the King James translates it, “You shalt master it.” The NKJV says, “You should rule over it.” The Message says, “You’ve got to master it.” I’ve read some commentators that suggests it should read, “You may master it.” I like the idea that we may master sin.
When we fall short of God’s standards, God still wants us to choose him. We are invited to receive the gift of life through Jesus Christ. Through Christ, we have an ability to choose whether or not we will master sin. The gift of free will allows us to turn towards God and to live or to turn away from God and to die. Cain chooses to turn away from God and killed his brother Abel. Both he and his ancestors suffered as a result of this decision. Each day we are faced with the reality that sin lurks as the door and desires us. We must make the choice to choose life and to choose God daily.
CONCLUSION
Admittedly, free will doesn’t answer all of the questions related to the pain and suffering we experience. There are plenty of issues that still exist, but I hope we can start to understand the nature of God and the brokenness of the world. In short, pain exists because sin exists. Sin exists because free will exists. And free will exists because love exists. I haven’t fully reconciled the implications of this entirely. But instead of questioning the nature of God, I find myself asking different questions. Questions like: how do I cope with pain, how do I respond to suffering, how can my faith strengthen me through it all? These are some of the questions I hope to answer over the next several weeks.
At the end of the book of Deuteronomy, Moses is talking to the people of Israel and he says: “I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live, loving the Lord your God, obey him, and holding fast to him;” The Israelites have been through a tremendous amount of pain and suffering. They were enslaved by Egypt. They wandered in the wilderness. They feared drought and famine. And Israel was going to experience much more hardship in their future. Nonetheless, they were exhorted to choose life and blessings.
God doesn’t promise that life will be free of pain. Instead, God wants us to exercise our free will in a way that will allow us to enjoy the benefits of a loving relationship with God. God wants to guide us and to be with us with through the pains and tragedies of life. It brings me comfort to know that God doesn’t will pain and suffering in my life. It would be hard for me to trust in a God that wanted my friend, Brent, to die and a God who causes people to suffer. While I don’t like pain, I can bear it if I know I get to experience the depths of love. So let’s begin to discover how we might experience love in the midst of pain and suffering.
Let’s pray.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
ABC's of Faith
The ABC’s of Faith: CONNECT, DEEPEN, ENGAGE”
Brimfield Faith UMC
January 3, 2010
Acts 2:42-47; Mathew 22:37-40; Matthew 28:19-20
INTRODUCTION
Happy New Year… looking back… I love coming to worship… Sense God’s working…
In June of 2007, Michelle and arrived at Brimfield Faith. It was my first appointment out of seminary. The church was on its last leg. Attendance had plummeted to under 50 each Sunday. We had maybe 5 kids total in the church. Morale was low and there were very few leaders in the church. There was a very real possibility that the church would have to shut its doors in the near future.
In hopes of turning this around, we formed a Leadership Taskforce that was given the task of promoting congregational ownership of the church. We wanted to get the people of the church to understand that this was their church and to make it thrive again, everyone needed to be involved. The taskforce helped communicate the urgency of the situation and began to cast new vision for the future. To make a long story short, in 2009 we started to see a significant in momentum and energy in the church. God started to move as we focused on reenergizing worship. People’s lives started to be impacted and we started reaching new people with the Gospel.
Last spring one of our new members made the statement that it felt like something really big was about to happen at the church. Momentum was gaining, new people were joining, God was moving. I’m not sure that the really big thing has happened yet but there were a significant amount of victories that happened over the last year. We had 16 new members, did almost 10 baptisms and saw an 30% increase in worship attendance from the previous year.
One of the changes that came from the work was that our mission statement was tweaked slightly to reflect our new values: The people of Faith CONNECT, DEEPEN and ENGAGE their faith in order to share Christ’s love and make disciples. I like to call it the ABC’s of faith. We want all believers to become disciples by connecting to Christ, deepening with God through relationship and engaging their faith in the community. If you do these three things, Christianity will be more than just something to do on Sunday mornings. Your faith can impact your life and the lives of those around you if you will seek to participate in these three components of discipleship. We are seeking to create systems that will guide you and people new to Brimfield Faith UMC into fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ.
CONNECT
The first component of the process is CONNECT. Since January 2009 we have been working towards the vision, “To create vibrant worship that CONNECTS our community with Christ.” The Christian journey begins through a relationship with Jesus Christ. There is a divide between a fallen, broken humanity and a holy God. On our own, we cannot restore our relationship with God. We need Jesus Christ to bridge the gap and restore us to Christ.
The Sunday morning worship service is the initial venue by which we learn to connect with Christ. 99% of first-time guests come to our church on Sunday mornings. That is why we want our worship service to be a place that folks unfamiliar with the rituals of church can learn to connect with God. We want to effectively communicate with the culture of our community. This means we need to speak their language and use mediums of communication that they understand. Practically, this is why we have a praise band, project our service, and why I preach in the issues and topics that I do. We want people to be able to make a connection between faith and their everyday lives.
DEEPEN
Many Christians in America have connected to Christ and their faith stops there. They have prayed to receive Christ in their hearts, received the gift of salvation, and attend church on Sunday morning. Christianity is simply about what God has done for them and what God can do. Unfortunately, there is much more to a deep, rich faith. While we have placed much emphasis on the CONNECT ministries of the church this past year, as we move forward towards become a more vibrant church, we must go deeper with God through relationships. In Matthew 22:37-40 Jesus summarizes the point of Christianity: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the greatest and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”
Christ is calling us to deepen our faith in God through loving relationships with God and with others. The primary way we do this in the church is through small groups and Sunday School classes. We added an adult Sunday School class that Chuck Graham is the primary leader for. They have been watching and discussing videos that address issues of deepening one’s faith.
This area of growth is so important and so neglected. In college, I was involved in a small group that was crucial for my spiritual growth. Guys that I am still friends with. Guys that challenged me to go deeper in my faith. To actually live it out. It was key for me to become a fully devoted follower of Christ and to hear the call to ministry. I wouldn’t be here today without my participation in a small group.
It is going to take time, but if we are going to become a church that impacts this community for Christ everyone must deepen their faith. We need to pray for each other. Hold one another accountable for their actions. Encourage one another in faith. We need to seek to love one another as fellow followers of Christ. The world will try to bring us down, distract us, and mislead us. We need one another for strength. Having relationships rooted in faith helps us to go deeper with God and to understand Christianity is not a Sunday morning endeavor.
ENGAGE
The last component of become a fully devoted follower of Christ is to engage your faith in the community. In Matthew 28:19-20, Jesus is preparing to depart from his disciples and gives them one final charge. It is frequently called the Great Commission. It reads as follows: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” We are called to have our faith make a difference in the world. I think this is a good thing because I don’t know anybody that wants to be a part of a dead faith. I don’t believe that anyone wants to call themselves a Christian and not have it impact their lives at all.
Jesus’ ministry on the earth radically transformed the world. As we are connecting and deepening our faith in God, a transformation is occurring. We are being born anew, given a new heart and a new spirit. We are becoming filled with God’s love and we should be experiencing God’s abundance. When this transformation begins, it will continue when we allow our faith to reach beyond ourselves. In America, we often think of religion as a private affair. That is a bunch of malarkey. Christianity is a personal faith but not a private faith. That is why we deepen through relationship, but it is also why we engage our faith with others.
To engage your faith means a three of things. First it means to engage in acts of service. Serve as a Sunday School teacher, a Kidz worker, an usher, a greeter, a sound tech. Maybe you attend a work day at the church. We serve God as an act of worship. And we grow in our faith when we engage our faith.
Second it means we engage in acts of compassion. We feed the hungry, care for the poor, visit the lonely, and heal the sick to name a few. We work towards justice and promote peace in a broken world. We seek to usher the kingdom of God into the world. Food cupboard
Third it means we engage in acts of witness. We share our faith with others. We reach out into the community. We are invitational: Brimfest, friends to Christmas Eve or other events. We tell others about how our faith in Christ has made a positive difference in our lives.
CONCLUSION
When we engage our faith, we are able to help bring the process full circle, because to engage our faith with the community assists others to connect with Christ. I dream of a church where all believers connect, deepen, and engage their faith in God in order to make disciples. We are becoming that type of church as you become that type of Christian. God is calling us to become ABC Christians. It’s not complex. It really is as simple as A-B-C. It is a process that will leave your life completely different and I believe incredibly better.
I believe 2010 is going to be an amazing year for Brimfield Faith. I see God doing tremendous work as we remain obedient to his call to become an ABC Church: a church that connects, deepens, and engages faith. I see him giving us greater influence in our community. I see him drawing significant numbers of people, especially young families to our church. I see him opening up the heavens and releasing his supernatural power. The potential of this church and the destiny of this church are phenomenal. I want you to be a part of it. Realistically, it cannot happen unless each of you partner with God and make it happen.
I want each of you to play an integral role in it. As we conclude this morning, I want to take a few minutes to pray. Ask God where you are on the process. Ask God what are the next steps in your faith journey. Whether this is your first time in church or you’ve been here for 80 years, there is a next step in your journey. Do you need to connect or reconnect to God? Do you need to deepen your faith through relationship? Or is it time to further engage your faith in the community?
Let’s take a few moments to reflect now.
Brimfield Faith UMC
January 3, 2010
Acts 2:42-47; Mathew 22:37-40; Matthew 28:19-20
INTRODUCTION
Happy New Year… looking back… I love coming to worship… Sense God’s working…
In June of 2007, Michelle and arrived at Brimfield Faith. It was my first appointment out of seminary. The church was on its last leg. Attendance had plummeted to under 50 each Sunday. We had maybe 5 kids total in the church. Morale was low and there were very few leaders in the church. There was a very real possibility that the church would have to shut its doors in the near future.
In hopes of turning this around, we formed a Leadership Taskforce that was given the task of promoting congregational ownership of the church. We wanted to get the people of the church to understand that this was their church and to make it thrive again, everyone needed to be involved. The taskforce helped communicate the urgency of the situation and began to cast new vision for the future. To make a long story short, in 2009 we started to see a significant in momentum and energy in the church. God started to move as we focused on reenergizing worship. People’s lives started to be impacted and we started reaching new people with the Gospel.
Last spring one of our new members made the statement that it felt like something really big was about to happen at the church. Momentum was gaining, new people were joining, God was moving. I’m not sure that the really big thing has happened yet but there were a significant amount of victories that happened over the last year. We had 16 new members, did almost 10 baptisms and saw an 30% increase in worship attendance from the previous year.
One of the changes that came from the work was that our mission statement was tweaked slightly to reflect our new values: The people of Faith CONNECT, DEEPEN and ENGAGE their faith in order to share Christ’s love and make disciples. I like to call it the ABC’s of faith. We want all believers to become disciples by connecting to Christ, deepening with God through relationship and engaging their faith in the community. If you do these three things, Christianity will be more than just something to do on Sunday mornings. Your faith can impact your life and the lives of those around you if you will seek to participate in these three components of discipleship. We are seeking to create systems that will guide you and people new to Brimfield Faith UMC into fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ.
CONNECT
The first component of the process is CONNECT. Since January 2009 we have been working towards the vision, “To create vibrant worship that CONNECTS our community with Christ.” The Christian journey begins through a relationship with Jesus Christ. There is a divide between a fallen, broken humanity and a holy God. On our own, we cannot restore our relationship with God. We need Jesus Christ to bridge the gap and restore us to Christ.
The Sunday morning worship service is the initial venue by which we learn to connect with Christ. 99% of first-time guests come to our church on Sunday mornings. That is why we want our worship service to be a place that folks unfamiliar with the rituals of church can learn to connect with God. We want to effectively communicate with the culture of our community. This means we need to speak their language and use mediums of communication that they understand. Practically, this is why we have a praise band, project our service, and why I preach in the issues and topics that I do. We want people to be able to make a connection between faith and their everyday lives.
DEEPEN
Many Christians in America have connected to Christ and their faith stops there. They have prayed to receive Christ in their hearts, received the gift of salvation, and attend church on Sunday morning. Christianity is simply about what God has done for them and what God can do. Unfortunately, there is much more to a deep, rich faith. While we have placed much emphasis on the CONNECT ministries of the church this past year, as we move forward towards become a more vibrant church, we must go deeper with God through relationships. In Matthew 22:37-40 Jesus summarizes the point of Christianity: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the greatest and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”
Christ is calling us to deepen our faith in God through loving relationships with God and with others. The primary way we do this in the church is through small groups and Sunday School classes. We added an adult Sunday School class that Chuck Graham is the primary leader for. They have been watching and discussing videos that address issues of deepening one’s faith.
This area of growth is so important and so neglected. In college, I was involved in a small group that was crucial for my spiritual growth. Guys that I am still friends with. Guys that challenged me to go deeper in my faith. To actually live it out. It was key for me to become a fully devoted follower of Christ and to hear the call to ministry. I wouldn’t be here today without my participation in a small group.
It is going to take time, but if we are going to become a church that impacts this community for Christ everyone must deepen their faith. We need to pray for each other. Hold one another accountable for their actions. Encourage one another in faith. We need to seek to love one another as fellow followers of Christ. The world will try to bring us down, distract us, and mislead us. We need one another for strength. Having relationships rooted in faith helps us to go deeper with God and to understand Christianity is not a Sunday morning endeavor.
ENGAGE
The last component of become a fully devoted follower of Christ is to engage your faith in the community. In Matthew 28:19-20, Jesus is preparing to depart from his disciples and gives them one final charge. It is frequently called the Great Commission. It reads as follows: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” We are called to have our faith make a difference in the world. I think this is a good thing because I don’t know anybody that wants to be a part of a dead faith. I don’t believe that anyone wants to call themselves a Christian and not have it impact their lives at all.
Jesus’ ministry on the earth radically transformed the world. As we are connecting and deepening our faith in God, a transformation is occurring. We are being born anew, given a new heart and a new spirit. We are becoming filled with God’s love and we should be experiencing God’s abundance. When this transformation begins, it will continue when we allow our faith to reach beyond ourselves. In America, we often think of religion as a private affair. That is a bunch of malarkey. Christianity is a personal faith but not a private faith. That is why we deepen through relationship, but it is also why we engage our faith with others.
To engage your faith means a three of things. First it means to engage in acts of service. Serve as a Sunday School teacher, a Kidz worker, an usher, a greeter, a sound tech. Maybe you attend a work day at the church. We serve God as an act of worship. And we grow in our faith when we engage our faith.
Second it means we engage in acts of compassion. We feed the hungry, care for the poor, visit the lonely, and heal the sick to name a few. We work towards justice and promote peace in a broken world. We seek to usher the kingdom of God into the world. Food cupboard
Third it means we engage in acts of witness. We share our faith with others. We reach out into the community. We are invitational: Brimfest, friends to Christmas Eve or other events. We tell others about how our faith in Christ has made a positive difference in our lives.
CONCLUSION
When we engage our faith, we are able to help bring the process full circle, because to engage our faith with the community assists others to connect with Christ. I dream of a church where all believers connect, deepen, and engage their faith in God in order to make disciples. We are becoming that type of church as you become that type of Christian. God is calling us to become ABC Christians. It’s not complex. It really is as simple as A-B-C. It is a process that will leave your life completely different and I believe incredibly better.
I believe 2010 is going to be an amazing year for Brimfield Faith. I see God doing tremendous work as we remain obedient to his call to become an ABC Church: a church that connects, deepens, and engages faith. I see him giving us greater influence in our community. I see him drawing significant numbers of people, especially young families to our church. I see him opening up the heavens and releasing his supernatural power. The potential of this church and the destiny of this church are phenomenal. I want you to be a part of it. Realistically, it cannot happen unless each of you partner with God and make it happen.
I want each of you to play an integral role in it. As we conclude this morning, I want to take a few minutes to pray. Ask God where you are on the process. Ask God what are the next steps in your faith journey. Whether this is your first time in church or you’ve been here for 80 years, there is a next step in your journey. Do you need to connect or reconnect to God? Do you need to deepen your faith through relationship? Or is it time to further engage your faith in the community?
Let’s take a few moments to reflect now.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)