Fire--Good or Bad?

Dear Friends,

            “I baptize you with water for repentance, but one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”  Matthew 3:11

           

These words from John the Baptist allude to the one who is coming after him, who will do things “more powerful” than anything has done or is doing.  There is this notion in scripture that fire is bad—it’s the equivalent of the eternal hell.  It’s often described as “eternal fire”.  It doesn’t sound all that appealing, yet it is language used by Jesus to describe the alternative to following him.  As a pastor, I don’t always know how to talk about this.  What good does it do the kingdom of God to describe hell to people?  I usually see it as fear-mongering, manipulative theology, or coercion into accepting Christ.  I don’t think Jesus was about this kind of message.  But I also have to remember that Jesus had a variety of audiences.  His illustrations always seemed to best communicate with those who were listening.  “Know your audience”—this was taught to me by all of my writing and speech teachers as far back as I can remember.  Jesus knew his audience.  So Jesus also would have known when to speak love, when to speak acceptance, when to speak power.  Speaking hell was speaking power, and it had the effect of adding credibility and authority to his message.

But back to the fire:  this second Sunday in June is Pentecost.  It’s often thought of as the birth of the church in the world—the giving of the Holy Spirit to those who would gather that day from all over the near ends of the earth.  And something amazing happened in that “place”.  Those tongues alighted on them—tongues as of fire.  And this reads as though it was a description of what the Holy Spirit appeared to be—not that it was an actual fire on them, but the appearance of this Spirit that arrived with a rushing, violent wind, and then rested on them in “divided tongues”.  So, the image of fire is used to help describe this appearance.

BUT, then we see these words from John the Baptist, where he refers to the way that Jesus will baptize his followers—with the Holy Spirit and with FIRE!  This is a mysterious Spirit—the Holy One.  It is active.  It is anointing.  It is fleeting, violently windy, and at the same time, powerful.  It is God moving.  It is Jesus at work.  It is so much deeper, and yet elusive, than the simple description of its appearance.

            Pentecost is a time to remember, to celebrate, to pay witness to how this same Spirit, the SAME one, is at work in our own lives today.  Does it appear as a violent rush of wind?  Does is alight on us as a divided tongue as of fire?  (Floridians may be quick to answer this in June)  I have not seen the movement of God in this particular way, but I have no doubt that the Spirit is active and at work.

            There have been more than a few questions about how we are doing in our interim process at First Presbyterian.  I think the answers lie in how well we are paying attention the work of the Holy Spirit.  What kind of stories are you hearing about?  How has this history of this ministry impacted your life?  Where is God calling us, calling you, to be at work in the future?  Have we been baptized with fire and the Holy Spirit?  Well?

Peace, Love, Hope and Joy,  Tim

Ute Sunday

“Let no one despise your youth, but set the believers an example in speech and conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.”  I Timothy 4:12

            This coming Sunday is what we celebrate as Youth Sunday.  It’s meant to give the young people an opportunity to mark the end of their year with some expressions of faith through leadership in worship.  They are giving back, but they are also helping the whole congregation to see how it is that the entire body works together.  Through their talents, gifts and abilities, they are able to sing, pray, and speak the words of faith while encouraging us in our own.

As they continue their journey of faith, they are able to bring a wide variety of gifts into the fold, yet they also need guidance as they spend what may be their last few years in the life of First Presbyterian.  Some will graduate and move on to college.  Some will remain in the area and begin life in the working world.  Some will depart and never attend church again.  And it’s okay if we ask ourselves if we’ve done as much as we could to fulfill the baptismal covenant, if we’ve provided them with the foundation they will need for whatever is next, if we’ve participated in their lives of faith as much as they have in ours.  The accountability is needed, and so is the follow-through. 

The words Paul writes to Timothy are meant for encouragement and example—as are many of Paul’s words to those who shared in his ministry.  Please do what you can to encourage the young people among us.  You may or may not know this, but we have people who come from far away to worship at First Presbytarian Church of Brandon simply because we have young people here—children and youth alike.  Some other churches either don’t have this aspect of their congregation present, or they simply do not encourage it.  We must continue to encourage the education and discipleship of our children from the earliest ages, through our Sunday School classes, through our Preschool Praise, through Vacation Bible School, through our Preschool itself—all of these and much more that help to build this foundation.  If we are building their faith, then they are likely not having it built at all.

     I look back on my own upbringing in the church with mixed feelings.  As a child of a pastor, I was steeped in congregational life.  I was at the church all the time for things, most of them not geared toward children or youth.  When I was in my early teen years, my parents took the important step of sending me to summer camp.  Without those experiences, I’m not sure I would be who or where I am today.  We have lots of options before us, but we must mostly invest in the relationships we build with our young people.  They don’t need the whole world—but maybe just to know that their church family loves them and cares about their lives—just as God does so for every one of us.  Let’s celebrate them on Youth Sunday and in as many other ways as we can.

Unholy Week

“’ There is no one who is righteous, not even one; there is no one who has understanding, There is no one who seeks God. All have turned aside, together they have become worthless;
there is no one who shows kindness,
there is not even one.’”  Romans 3:10b-12

             

It’s Holy Week, and I’m not feeling that holy.  I am aware of the sin within and the sin around.  I’m often frustrated in the ways I fall short as a parent, a husband, a pastor, and as a person.  I was just returning to the church on this Maundy Thursday (Mandate Day—to obey what Jesus commands his disciples at the Last Supper), and while eating a candy bar that was masquerading as a granola bar, I must have witnessed 5 or 6 traffic violations—in about a 3 mile drive.  It was frustrating.  Yet, I am also the very last one who should judge or condemn.  Who am I?  Who are they?  What was that diving move that screamed “ME FIRST!” or, “THE LAW DOES NOT APPLY TO ME!”  And what really got my attention was the thought that it could be me breaking that law, or that I could be insisting on going first, or getting my own way.

            This week I am more and more aware that we are incapable of avoiding sin (that’s the John Calvin influence in my tradition).  And today, I also seem incapable of avoiding the naming of others’ sins.  But it is hard when they are thrown in your face.  It’s a constant reminder from God that there is a great deal of difference between God and myself.  There is a great deal of difference between our sin and the substance of God who has offered his own Son as a sacrifice to make that sin all better in our eternal life—but also in our present life.  When losing my patience with my children, overwhelmed by the list of things to do, eager to care for my own needs before the needs of others, I struggle with the balance.  After all, I try to be the patient one, the one who calms and keeps cool, the one who tries to find that balance.  But when I can’t, that sin creeps in and takes over. 

            I think that both the beauty and the stress of this, the thing that John Calvin was getting at, is that there is nothing we can do about it.  So, we turn to Paul’s words in Romans.  If we’re struggling, Paul understands.  And he quotes some of his Hebrew scriptures where the very real struggle of the human condition is expressed.  “There is no one who is righteous, not even one.”  Paul must have been Reformed, even before that was a theological tradition.  He knew the strain of sin about as well as anyone.

            This week we are moving through the reality of the necessity of Jesus once again.  For some it is about the betrayal, the torture, the sense of injustice.  For others the focus is on the death, the brutality, the agony.  For others still, it’s the waiting, the unknowing, the abandonment and apparent hopelessness that pervades.  But no matter where we find our connection this week, the reality meets us at the empty cross, the empty tomb, the astonishing news of life that has been renewed.  We just can’t see our sin, or the sin of anyone, the same way ever again.  This good news should transform us.  It can even turn our greatest cynicism into hope renewed as well.  Thank you for listening.  He is risen, indeed!

YES!

“For in him every one of God’s promises is a ‘Yes.’ For this reason it is through him that we say
the ‘Amen,’ to the glory of God.”  2 Corinthians 1:20

     With this writing, we are preparing to launch the new network of Family Promise of Greater Brandon.
This has been an effort several years in the making, and with this beginning, we are adding another
much needed mission to our Brandon community. The first informational meeting of this ministry took place many years ago, and initial efforts to create a similar network of churches in Brandon (Interfaith Hospitality Network) was received with much interest but little action. Choosing where and how to put our energy is not an easy task — as individuals or as a congregation. Many opportunities come our way that may or may not be consistent with who we are and how we are called to serve. But occasionally, we are presented with ideas that are congruent with our own identity.

     Family Promise has been one of those opportunities which just made sense to so many here. But it has
not been easy preparation, and it has not been popular at times. In fact, some have been offended that
we would consider helping those in need in this way. I do not understand this perspective, but I suppose, like many other hesitations and affronts to our lives, it has to do with fear of the unknown. Additionally, we have not been very good at removing stigmas and stereotypes regarding our homeless population. Some of our labels become political and eventually impersonal and so it becomes easier to detach from the very real circumstances so many are facing each day. One of the reasons Family Promise makes sense is that it involves parents and children. Another reason is that it has a proven record of success. Those who desire to get back on their feet again, find work and/or transitional housing, reclaim their lives no matter the situation that led them to such a place of need — these are the people Family Promise seeks to serve.

     Family Promise offers some amazing stewardship of our resources:
As we continue to see the trends of church membership declining and large church buildings often becoming vacant, space becomes available to give families a place to lay their heads at night — places

that are hospitable, warm, safe, and clean — if not comfortable.  As churches seek to serve but may not have the resources or the space to be a host to those in need, they can provide volunteers to help in other churches that do have space.
     The downward spiral of homelessness is often something we neglect to see. When one loses shelter, food or security, they quickly become incapable of reclaiming any of these things and the pace of falling out of the societal system accelerates. Most churches don’t do much to help these folks. Most of our society doesn’t do much either. We give them a meal, a bag of food, or some items to help them clean up a bit. It doesn’t address the true needs that lie beneath. Family Promise has a process in place that addresses the bigger issues and it includes min- istering to those who have children in the picture.
     Many congregations in Brandon do not have the best history of working together. While each has their mission and their calling through their unique identity, the common foundation of representing the kingdom of heaven to the world has not been an his- torical strength for this community. The last few years have shown more hope through Feed the Bay, the I AM Hope Café, and a handful of other com- munity-wide gestures. Family Promise will strength- en this network and this community as well. Where our county and other non-profit services are limited, our communities of faith have so much potential. I believe this will tap into that more than we can even imagine today. Pray for this way forward, for this important community ministry of dignity and service to those who may be stuck. When we tend to say, “No,” God seems to have a way of saying “Yes.” 

"New" News

“Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old. I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?” Isaiah 43:18-19

It was just the other day in the car when one of our children asked, “Why do they call it the news?” Well . . .because it’s about things that are new. That was our answer. It made sense, but then I started to think that this isn’t necessarily true much of the time. In this day and age of 24 hour news coverage—both on the television and on the internet—there is always something that could be considered “new”. But there is a whole lot of time to fill with news that is essentially old. And when news gets to be old, those who report and essentially “sell” their stories to the highest bidders and advertisers need to make the old new again. So, they speculate, they project, they infer and do whatever it takes to sell the story—even if it’s old news. They bring on experts to get their perspectives, their opinions, and their expertise. And if I were them, I guess I could see the need to do the same thing. But behind much of what we receive, there are people making decisions as to what is going to be news and what is not. So, rather than hear about a broad range of information that is actually new, we may have to hear the re- hashing of news that is no longer such.

The importance of news, I believe, is so that we might know how to direct our prayers most of all. If we are not engaged in the world community through prayer, then we are simply consumers of information, and this is not our pur- pose. If we don’t take what we are offered, think critically about it, and pray about what we have come to know, then about the relationship we have with others, it is only a one way aspect of consumption. Those who sell the information are counting on this, because they know that we have an insatiable appetite for more. It assures their business and their bottom line. To some extent, this is what they do and this is how we generally respond. But we must know when to question the information, when to pray for the most important things—and especially when to turn it off. If we continue to feed off of so many things that really lack substance, we will cheap- en our relationships with others.

This is a real challenge when everything around us tells us to buy more, spend more, and feed our needs. Figuring out exactly what those needs are may be the best place to start. I’m hearing breaking news today about the closely followed story of Malaysian Airlines Flight 370. They have concluded that it did indeed crash in the southern Indian Ocean. And while this is a new certainty, it is hardly news. There is still so much to learn. Yet we have been glued to the story because of its mystery and intrigue. My prayers are for the families and communities involved and affected, even as we continue to live in the dark about exactly what happened and how we may avoid such tragedy in the future. In the meantime, we speculate even more, and we feed off of the possibilities of the unknown details.
May we be strengthened in this season of examination and reflection, to place the most importance on our lives of faith. For this is where we grow closer to God and to one anoth- er and because of this relationship we have come to know as very real and very much new each and every day. Peace be with each of you.

Rend Your Hearts

“Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. And even the hairs of your head are all counted. So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows.”  Matthew 10:28-31

             

It is a repeated message of Jesus that we should not live in fear.  In several places, he uses the phrase, “Do not fear, only believe.”  Easier said than done, Jesus.  And we might ask, can one both believe and still be afraid?  Here Jesus says that we should fear the one who can destroy the soul and the body.  The message of Ash Wednesday is still fresh in my mind and in particular a passage from Joel 2 that is used for this day each year.  “…return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; rend your hearts and not your clothing.”  I haven’t done the theological thinking or splicing to try to understand the differences between the term “heart” and the term “soul”, but I think they must be connected.  Jesus seems interested in our inward transformation.  So if one were to somehow destroy the heart, this may be a greater loss than anything that could happen to the body.

There are many ugly things taking place in the world today.  Many of these are much closer to our lives than we would like to admit.  There is a huge problem with sexual predation, with child pornography, with human trafficking, with the associated mental illness that often accompanies these areas of what can only be described as evil.  What is more disturbing is that many who perpetrate these behaviors have perfectly logical rationale for doing so.  This, to me, is the destruction or absence of the heart.  The conscience seems completely gone.  Someone or something has taken away the soul of those who would otherwise be doing some good in the world.  Much of it is secret and hidden, but as we start to see more attention given to this kind of crime in the world, some of it is starting to come to light.

I believe, according to this passage, that God can redeem even the deepest and darkest parts of the world—and even the deepest, darkest parts of the lives of those who are stuck in such horrors as these.  But without the Light, the darkness continues.  How is it that we are called to shine Light into these places?  How is it that God can use us to help bring about this inner transformation?  During this season of Lent, we have much to reflect upon as we think about the transforming love of Jesus—and the often repeated instruction he gives us—do not fear; only believe.  I think this must be the focus of our prayer as well as we look forward to the day of resurrection.  Peace be with each of you. . .