Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Luminary Prayer Vigil

On Wednesday April 16th, we gathered in response to the removal of the women and children from polygamist ranch in Texas. We gathered together to pray and lit 555 luminaries on the front lawn of Calvary UMC. There was one luminary for each of the 416 children removed from the ranch and one luminary for each of the 139 women who voluntarily left the ranch.

Authorities removed the 416 children from the ranch after receiving a phone call from a person claiming to be a 16 year old girl who said she was repeatedly beaten and raped by her 50 year old husband. 139 additional women left the ranch voluntarily. There have been reports of young girls, barely teenagers, being married to men old enough to be their fathers or grandfathers. Authorities are now unsure that the girl who called to complain actually exists.

On Thursday April 17th, the courts began the process of trying to decide whether to keep the children out of the ranch or if the children should be returned to the custody of their parents at the ranch. We gathered Wednesday April 16th, to pray for those associated with the ranch, and for the authorities who must decide what is in the best interest of the children. We ask that everyone continue to keep this situation in your prayers.

When we hear reports of abuse, whether as isolated events or as part of systematic oppression, we often wonder where God is in the midst of so much pain. I can only imagine that acts of abuse and oppression leave the victims feeling as if they are in exile, as if they have been removed from their homes, from the safety and security of what they have known, and even as if they have been removed from God. It is my guess that the children who have been removed from their home on this ranch in Texas, must feel like they are in exile. How scared they must be as they have been removed from their sheltered environment, and separated from their parents. In the midst of such fear and anxiety, God speaks a word of hope.

In Jeremiah 29:11-13, we hear God’s words to the Israelites in exile.

“'For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.’”

This passage reminds us that God is present even in the midst of pain and suffering. God does not intend to harm these children but to bring them a hope and a future. But God also does not intend for us to hurt one another. We were created to live in loving and mutual relationships with one another. Acts of abuse and oppression go against what God has intended for us.

Yet even when we cannot see it, even when situations seem desperate and hopeless, God’s love and grace is actively at work to bring healing. I believe it is God’s grace that gave strength and courage to the young 16 year old girl that enabled her to call for help. I believe it is God’s grace and love that lead the authorities to remove all the children from the ranch. And I believe is it God’s grace at work in our community, that led each one of us here tonight to pray for those affected.

God’s grace is at work long before we realize it. God’s grace is continually at work in each one of us to make us more fully into the image of God, to make us more fully the people God intends us to be. As we grow more fully into the people God intends each one of us to be, God’s grace calls us to speak out on behalf of those who cannot speak for themselves. God calls us to embody the loving mutual relationships God intends for all of humanity. It is God’s grace, active in concrete ways through ordinary imperfect believers like us, that is able to bring hope and healing to a broken world.

Please join us in continuing to praying for this situation and everyone involved.

Thursday, April 17, 2008

Re-Creation

Wow. The last few days have been exhausting. It seems like every moment has been packed with one thing after another. And then we had a few unexpected surprises along the way, namely me getting sick and our basement flooding, to make things even more hectic. And now that it’s Thursday my whole being is yearning for rest.

Because Sunday is a work day for me, my normal day “off” is Friday. I put that in quotes because it is supposed to be my day off but more often than not I find myself finishing up a sermon, making calls, working on a disciple class, or any other number of various tasks. More often than not I find that my time off is used to catch up on the multitude of things still on my to-do list. It’s easy to justify using this time to work. After all, it’s all worthy stuff that needs to get done. It’s all a way of helping other people. All of it needs to happen at some point and since my husband is at work I tell myself I might as well get this done while he is busy instead of working on it when I could otherwise be spending time with him.

I think this is a common scenario in our day and age. Many people work way more than 40 hours a week. In a society where our value is determined by our productivity level, it is easy to guilt ourselves into working on weeks. We feel lazy if we actually take a day to rest and relax.

Yet one of the first things that God commands us to do is rest. I think it is striking that every living thing that I can think of needs some form of rest. Even plants lay dormant for a period of time. All of life needs rest to be renewed, to be re-created. God knew that we would need a day of rest and it would seem that God has made us partners in the creation process. God invites us to a time of rest and recreation so that we can be re-created, so we can be renewed and regenerated.

So tomorrow I will be having a day of much needed rest, a day without sermons or phone calls, a day without prep work for classes or any other ministry. What needs to happen so that you can also have a day or rest? What are the barriers to you experiencing a day of rest each week? And how can you work towards removing those barriers?

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Housecleaning

My husband and I are getting ready to move from our house in Damascus to a smaller house here in Mount Airy. As we prepare for our move we have begun the arduous process of repacking most of our belongings. We began this process last weekend and as we looked around the house at the task before us, we realized there were still several boxes that had never been unpacked.

As an army brat who moved around a lot, I’m used to this process of packing, unpacking, and repacking. And with every moved we made in life, no matter how long or short our stay had been, there were always at least a few boxes that had never been unpacked from the previous move.

Those boxes are mostly filled with old papers or toys, well loved stuffed animals or the occasional trophy. But more than anything else those boxes are filled with tangible reminders of past memories. Some of them are happy memories, some of them remind me of how proud I felt after particular accomplishments, some of them remind me of painful times in my life. I have old report cards that remind me how proud I was to have earned an A in a particularly hard class. But I also have letters that my father wrote to me while he was stationed in Iraq back in the 90’s. The letters remind me of the painful time of my life and yet I can’t bring myself to throw them out. Those boxes are filled with the stuff of my memories, and I carry them with me, wherever I go.

But this past weekend, I realized that just like those boxes in my basement, most of us have unpacked emotional and spiritual boxes we carry around in life. So often we go through life, carrying with us the scars of our past. We carry the guilt of things we’ve done and things we left undone. We carry the anger and resentment caused by past wrongs and wounds. We carry the fear and anxiety that our previous experience has taught us to expect the worse possible outcome. We all have past baggage we carry with us wherever we go.

Sometimes we need to take some time to clean our houses and our hearts. We need to be intentional about inviting God and the Holy Spirit into our lives to help us remove the unnecessary baggage we carry around with us. God wants to help us clean out our hearts.

I encourage you to consider what needs to be removed from your heart? And what would you like God to place within you?

If you would like a scripture to help you think and pray about this question, read Ezekiel 36:25-28.

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

Identity Theft

We live in a world where Identity Theft is the newest kind of theft. With a few bits of personal information such as name, date of birth, and social security number, strangers can take on our identity. They can take money out of our accounts. They can open new accounts in our name and not pay the bills. They can even take out loans. In the electronic world we live in, they essentially become us.

This Identity Theft affects the way we live. It can takes years to sort out the purchases and accounts that we made from the fraudulent ones made in our name and it can be difficult to rebuild our credit scores. Since Identity Theft can be so difficult to correct after it has happened, most of us take a lot of precautions to prevent it. We shred anything with our name on it, we put passwords on all our accounts, and we guard our social security number as if our lives depended on it. Identity Theft is something most people are concerned about but perhaps it's not as new as we think it is.

Identity Theft has been something that people have struggled with through out the ages. When Israel was conquered by other empires, many of the Jews would be dragged into exile where the conquering empire would do whatever possible to erase their Jewish identity. The Jewish elite would often be taught the language of the conquering empire, they would be given new names, and they no longer had access to the temple in Jerusalem.

In order to preserve their Jewish identity even in exile, many Jews would keep strict food observance, as well as observance of the sabbath, even though they were not able to go to the temple or offer sacrifices. Additionally, many Jews would live in community with other Jews in exile. They would observe special holidays together and would continue to tell the stories of their corporate Jewish history. These historical stories became even more important to tell and retell. These stories reminded them of where they had come from and who's people they were. These stories reminded them of God's previous acts among them and that God is still God even outside of Israel.

It occurred to me recently that, like our forefathers in faith, Christians also struggle with Identity Theft. We are bombarded by a variety of language and cultural differences that are counter to our Christian identity. We are told over and over again that money is how we keep score, that looking out for ourselves, and getting even is the only way to succeed in life. We're told that demeaning language and harsh words are the only way to gain respect. We're told that sex, drugs, alcohol, and the latest electronic gadget will make us happy. With all the pressure coming at us from every angle, Christians struggle with how to live out their Christian Identity in today's world.

So what is it that we can do to combat this Identity theft? What can Christians do to support one another in living out their identity as God's children? In many ways, this is where being part of a Christian community comes in. Having other Christians around to encourage us, to share our corporate story, and to hold us accountable helps remind us of our identity as God's children and that we are called to live in a particular way.

There are many different ways that we can guard against our Christian Identity Theft. What are your thoughts? What can we do to combat this Identity Theft?