Do You Want to Dance?

I am enjoying my time away at Emory University in Atlanta for Course of Study.  It is refreshing to have someone else cover the pulpit at Sand Mountain UMC while I can attend Glenn Memorial here on campus and be refreshed and renewed by someone else’s perspective on the Word.

I was having a conversation with someone the other day about the scriptures for this Sunday, the 6th Sunday after Pentecost (Year B) and I was reminded of a meditation that I wrote in 2006 that served as the basis of my sermon the last time that we visited these scriptures.  Perhaps you might find something of interest in these words.  Enjoy.

Greetings from Candler

I am writing to you from my dorm room at Emory University in Atlanta where I am attending the Course of Study School at Candler School of Theology. I arrived on July 4 and I will be here through Friday, July 31.

As I sit here on this rainy, Sunday afternoon, I realize that things have changed a lot in the nearly 30 years since I was involved in a formal academic environment. Our “dorm room” is actually a 2 bedroom, 2 bath apartment with a full kitchen (including ice maker in the fridge, garbage disposal and dishwasher). The campus here at Emory is beautiful and it is big. Hopefully I won’t have too much trouble getting around.

This morning we attended Glenn Memorial UMC located on the campus of the university. We enjoyed a wonderful service of worship highlighted by Holy Communion and we heard a thought provoking message from the Reverend Jessica Terrell who shared with us from 2 Samuel 5:1-5, 9-10. She spoke about how David grew in knowledge and in his relationship with the Lord. What an appropriate topic as nearly 150 of us from all over North America have come together here to grow in knowledge and in our relationship to the Lord our God. My prayer is that my time here will strengthen me and make me more effective as a pastor.

As we move into the month of July, Course of Study Schools are gearing up all across the connection. Local Pastors are taking time out to get this education not because it is required by the Discipline, but because we want to be the best pastors that God has called us to be.   Many of these local pastors are part time local pastors (an oxymoron if there ever was one) and are taking vacation time and personal leave time in order to be here.  Please keep all of our Course of Study and Seminary students in your prayers.

20 Years Ago

20 years ago, on June 24, 1989, Charlene and I were married.  Counting the 12 years that we knew each other before the wedding, I’ve known my wife for 32 years – and she loves me anyway.

Looking forward to many more.

It’s All In the Numbers?

A lot has been said about numbers and how they reflect the relative health of a congregation.  North Alabama has even instituted a “dashboard” on its website so one can see how an individual congregation is doing when it comes to fulfilling the message and mission of the church.

I have to wonder what Bishop Willimon’s dashboard would say about my congregation. I am a local pastor serving a church in Holston just a mile from the Alabama border. We worship between 35-50 on any given Sunday. In my year here, attendance has been flat. We struggle to pay our apportionments and we did not succeed in doing that in 2008 (for only the second time in at least the last 15 years).  No professions of faith, yet. Have one baptism coming up before the end of the month. Yet, we operate a food pantry that has seen a 40% increase in the number of people served in the past year and we’re currently serving over 1300 (distinct) people each month. Before each distribution on the first and third Friday, we hold a worship service for those who wish to attend. Usually there are 20-30 folks who are being served by the food pantry who will attend and receive communion (if they wish). These folks are invited to contact me when they need pastoral care, and some have taken me up on the invitation.  They are all invited to regular worship with any of the congregations that support the food pantry (a combination of UMC, Baptist, and Assemblies of God).

Seems to me that Christ is being offered and the congregation is passionate about feeding the hungry. But just what would the dashboard have to say about us?

Honestly, I could care less.

Wayne Cook
Pastor, Sand Mountain UMC
Trenton, GA

I’m back?

Keith Taylor, commenting on my last post, asked if I was back.

The blogging break continues.   I am alive (obviously) and doing well.  Ministry is going well.  We are up 40% in our food pantry ministry over last year – currently serving over 1300 people per month.  I am overwhelmed by the issue of rural poverty and homelessness as I see it in our area.  Finances for the pantry are in good shape, but we need more volunteers – but what’s new about that?  

Annual Conference starts Sunday.  I’m a teller (note to self: try not to volunteer to be a teller in a year that we’re voting on 32 constitutional amendments).  I’ll spend July at Emory for Course of Study.  In the meantime, I have all of the other things to do that I need to do.

Am I back?  I never went away.  Blogging is at the bottom of the priority list.  Perhaps posting will pick back up in the fall.  We’ll see.

On Leadership

“We are at a time when we need statesmen – men and women who take

leadership seriously and will do what is right – even if it means that

they will not be re-elected for doing so.  Instead, we have a bunch of

jokers who couldn’t lead themselves out the emergency exit if the

building was on fire.”

 

From an email to my state representative – following his reply to an earlier email which I believed was accusing me of being rude.  He later clarified that I wasn’t and apologized for the misunderstanding.  I stand by what I said though.

So Long… For Now

Well, here we are, one month shy of the 4th anniversary of this blog.  And, at least for the time being, I’m calling it quits.  What started as a means of discussing my journey through candidacy and toward ordained ministry has become a burden… especially since the end result of this journey has changed.  Additionally, I just have not been inspired to write anything that I believe anyone else would be interested in reading.

I have enjoyed participating in the discussions within the Methoblogosphere.  I’ve met some good people online,  some of them in person.  But, I’m needing to head in another direction and I’m really not sure how (or even if) the blog can fit in.

To all who have been my readers, thanks.  It’s been fun.  To Jonathon, John and others who encouraged me and helped me find a voice in this medium, thanks.

So, for now, I say good bye.  May God’s blessings continue to be yours.

Wayne, aka TN Rambler.

I am so blessed

Last night at our evening service, I shared with the congregation that this had been a rough week.  I told them about the struggles that I had faced and some decisions that I had made, especially the decision that, at this time, I will not be seeking an M.Div. and that I was abandoning my goal of becoming an Elder in Full Connection in the UMC.  I declared that God had called me to be a local pastor and that I was going to be the best local pastor that I can be, with God’s help.  

Following our weekly communion and before dismissal, my certified lay speaker said this, “Friends, James 5:13-16 tells us that if any among us are suffering or sick that we should call the elders and they should be annointed with oil and prayed for.  Our pastor isn’t physically ill, but he is heart sick.  We need to lay hands on him and pray for his healing.”  I knelt at the chancel rail.   As he annointed me with oil and as the congregation laid their hands upon me as they prayed, I could feel the warmth and the love of this group  surge through my body as the tears poured from my eyes.  At the conclusion of this prayer for me, there was not a dry eye in the group as we shared hugs and encouragement with one another.  We could all say “Surely the presence of the Lord is in this place.”

I am so blessed to be part of this congregation that has loved me in spite of myself.  My family and I thank God for them continually.  I pray that God will continue to lead me toward growth in my gifts and graces as a pastor and that in all things, I will serve Him.

This is my Son, the Beloved, Listen to Him!

The following is the sermon that I gave at the Sand Mountain UMC on Transfiguration Sunday, February 22, 2009.  The text was based upon Mark 9:2-9.

Let us pray:  Gracious God, open our ears that we may hear your truth, open our eyes that we may see your kingdom and open our hearts and minds that we may hear the cry of those brothers and sisters who are hurting and hungry and dying without the knowledge of your love for them.  May the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be pleasing in your sight, O Lord our Rock and our Redeemer.  Amen.

 

Don’t we love our mountaintop experiences?  There is nothing quite like the feeling that you get when you are on the mountain, taking in the view and seeing for yourself how small and insignificant our troubles can be when viewed from on high.

That’s the experience of the disciples as they travel with Jesus to the mountaintop.  But in their case, they encounter an experience of a different sort as they watch as Jesus is transfigured and joined by Moses and Elijah.  They are astounded by their appearance so much that Peter suggests that they build a monument to the occasion (leave it to Peter to want to build a tourist attraction -can’t you see the billboards now “See Transfiguration City – where Moses and Elijah live on”) – but in the process of making this suggestion, a voice out of the heavens booms out “This is my son – the beloved – listen to him!”

One thing that I noticed in studying this text was the tone of exasperation, almost a tone of pleading – listen to him!

Over 2000 years later, as so-called Christians have done more harm in the name of Christ – the plea stands out as a command – listen to him!

So, I ask the question, if we were to just listen to Jesus, what would we hear him say?

Well, I don’t think that it takes a biblical scholar to get that Jesus’ message to us is a message of love.

When Jesus was approached by the young lawyer who asked of him “Rabbi, what is the greatest commandment?” how does Jesus reply?  He said “You are to love the Lord your God with all of your heart, with all of your soul and with all of your mind.  This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: love your neighbor as you love yourself.  All of the law and the prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:36-40, NRSV)

Love God. Love Neighbor.  Everything is based upon this.  All of our relationships.  All of our encounters with one another are based upon these two commandments: Love God.  Love Neighbor.  It seems so simple when we hear it, but living it is anything but simple.

What else did Jesus say?

Well, in the 13^th chapter of the Gospel of John, after the last supper and just before Jesus predicts Peter’s denial, Jesus says this “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another.  Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.  By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”  (John 13:34-35, NRSV)  Three times he tells them that they are to love one another – you’d think that we might get it if it is repeated enough, but we don’t.

Our nature is to do anything but love one another.  We like to gossip too much or find things to tear one another down rather than to build one another up.

You might even think that loving one another would be a given in the church, but sadly, the church is sometimes the last place that some would find love.  In fact, there are “churches” where Jesus himself would be unwelcome if for no other reason than the folks that he associated with.  But you know, I think that we can at least try to love one another – and I mean everyone, with no exceptions.  It shouldn’t matter to us if someone is gay or straight, immigrant or native, Christian or Jew or Muslim or Hindu, black or white or Latino or Asian or whatever.  We don’t have to accept their sins, if, in fact, someone is openly committing sin – but their sins do not give us any reason whatsoever to not love them.

You know, back before Christmas, I had put up on the sign out front “God loves you and we do too.”  I let that stay up for a day or two before changing it to read “God loves you and we’re trying.”  Do you know why I changed it?  Truth in advertising.  It’s hard to love others, especially if they are so dog gone determined to make it hard to love them.

The voice said, “This is my Son, the beloved one, listen to him!”

So what else, did Jesus have to say to us?

Well, when he was talking about the final judgment he said this:

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.” (Matthew 25:31-40, NRSV)

 

When you did it to the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.  In this passage of scripture from the 25^th chapter of Matthew, Jesus pretty much lays it out for us.  He tells us that we are to feed the hungry, give something to drink to the thirsty, welcome the stranger, clothe the folks who need clothing, take care of the sick, and visit the prisoner.  And when we do this, we do it to him.

A dear friend and I were chatting the other night and he asked me to covenant with him to pray for the men who are currently condemned to death row.  And I did.  We are currently in the process of getting the names of the men (and women, if there are any) who are on death row in Georgia, Tennessee, and Virginia and we have covenanted with one another to pray for these people.  Why, because every one of them is a child of God.  The crimes that they have committed may have been heinous, but God loves them just the same… and the least that we can do is pray for them.  You know, I’m always impressed by the faith of someone who is the family of someone who has been brutally murdered, yet they offer forgiveness to the murderer, because it is what Jesus has commanded of us.  I don’t know if I could do it if Charlene or Monica were harmed, but I would be challenged to at least try.  And only with God’s help would I be able to do it.

This love stuff just isn’t easy is it?

This being a follower of Jesus isn’t easy either.

This is my son, the beloved, listen to him!

Just before Jesus ascends to heaven, he gives some parting instructions to the disciples who have gathered there when he says to them “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18b-20, NRSV)

The disciples didn’t have time to rest.  Jesus gave them marching orders and he expected them to carry them out.  In this great commission he tells the disciples, and us, to take action.  Do you hear the action words there?  That word that we are to go, to make disciples, to baptize, to teach, and, most importantly, to remember.  To remember that God is with us, that Jesus is with us, how long? To the end of the age.

If you had been with us last night at Trenton UMC for the benefit singing for Camp Lookout, you would have heard Cal Newton sing a song about how the God of the good times is the God of the bad times as well, God never leaves our side, although we can and do leave him.

The Beatles had a song that said, “All you need is love, love is all you need.”  With Christ, through Christ and in Christ we have all we need when we live our lives in a way that shows our love of God and our love of neighbor.

 

This is my Son, the beloved, listen to him!

After nearly 2000 years, don’t you think that maybe it’s time that we started?

 

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Hazing, pure and simple

As usual, I am a little late to the party.  But I could not let this post by Will Duell get by without comment.  And commenting is happening in several places on the Methoblogging network.  Please read the post and then stop back by for my thoughts.

What Will and others have described is hazing, pure and simple. Hazing has been outlawed on our college campuses and it is high time that it should be outlawed in our denomination as well.

Speaking solely as a 50 year-old local pastor in the course of study, I am about to abandon all thought of pursuing ordination. Why? Finances for one. With a daughter entering college in 3 years, the thought of pursuing an M.Div. and assuming that debt with little chance of recouping the investment would be foolish at best. For another, what I hear of the process is really unattractive to me and, frankly, I don’t tolerate crap as well now as I might have 20 years ago.

As a licensed local pastor, I am serving where I have been called. As long as I can continue to bring the word of God to this community and provide the sacraments of baptism and eucharist to the charge to which I am appointed, then what difference does it make that I am not an elder in full connection? Granted, I have to be interviewed annually and deemed worthy of continuation by the district committee on ordained ministry, but the tradeoff of burdening my family with a tremendous load of debt so that I can wear a stole, vote for general conference delegates and have the security of guaranteed appointment would be the very definition of insanity.

John Meunier proposes that we take a systematic look at the process in order to get hard data on the process from all of our conferences.  By having the data instead of just anecdotal evidence of abuse of power, perhaps we can move toward a system that serves the purposes of the church and the Kingdom without resorting to power plays and abuse.