Transition Meditation 5/26

Pioneering:  Meditations for Transforming Our

Carlisle United Methodist Church

Number 25                                                                 May 26, 2013

Self-Assessment and Self-Commitment

Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.  See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.  Psalm 139:23-24

Memorial Day is the traditional time to put away the winter clothes and bring out the summer styles, as I’m reminded by someone who shares a closet or two with me.  Memorial Day was traditionally the day one could wear white shoes to church.

I’m sure those of us who have experienced three score or more Memorial Days could tell stories of how this special day has changed in our lifetimes from a day to pay our respects to the honored dead of the American Civil War to one more excuse for a long weekend and an escape to the beach or anywhere away from “here.” 

I guess we could divide our fellowships with the question: Do you feel Memorial Day should be celebrated on May 30^th as originally established (Decoration Day), or as the federally-established final Monday in May each year?  I suppose there are remarkable reasons, perhaps arguments, for or against each position. 

As we move to the creation of Carlisle United Methodist Church, a lot of questions like this have arisen, and are bound to rise as we become more deeply immersed in the devilish details of unification.  And I suppose many of us are left wondering “does anyone care how I feel?”

The simple and honest answer is “Yes.”  But one talent that none of the Leadership Council has, and one not listed in any spiritual gifts list is the ability to read minds.  So I propose that the question that answers the previous question is: “Have you actually talked with anyone about how you feel about something?”  More directly, have you talked to someone our combined church fellowships have commissioned to make judgments about these matters?

If we won’t talk out our feelings or our ideas, believe me, they will just fester and corrode ourselves from the inside.  We know this to be true in every aspect of life.  And bottling up our opinions and not giving them a real airing, and a good self-examination is, I believe, is one of the best tools in the arsenal of Evil.  It’s not that we’re evil, or “they’re” evil, but Evil grows in darkness; it cannot stand the light.  It cannot stand before truth, only in the shadows.

And that’s why I’m asking each of us to spend a little time in self-assessment, in self-examination of the concerns we have and the attitudes we have developed because of them. 

I ask you to honestly try.  And I’m going to give you the rest of this meditation to write things down so you can look at them.

  

What is bothering me?

 

Why is it important to me?

 

Is there something more important?

 

Will what I want help to build Christ’s church?

 

What would I say to Jesus say to me about this?

 

What would Jesus say to me about this?

What am I willing to do?

Common Prayer.  Lord God, grant us the courage to look into ourselves.  Grant us the intellect and wisdom to examine our concerns.  Give us a way to voice them to someone we trust.  Give us an ear to hear what we are saying; the response our friend gives us, and the whisper of your response.  And then, when our hearts and minds and souls are settled, let us strive to do as you lead us.  Guard us as we approach the day of our unification as one church.  In Jesus’ blessed name.  AMEN.

Transformation emphasis for the days ahead:

The Pastors; the Leadership Council; implementing the recommendations of the Communications, Grow, and Transitional Facilities Focus Groups; forming the new staff; strengthening the Worship and Connect Pillars; church staff recognition and appreciation; the upcoming combined worship events.

Thank you to those who have encouraged me in these meditations.  May they continue to be a blessing to you as they are for me.  Send your feedback to Charles L. Reynolds at papoo99@comcast.net. 

 

Transformation meditation 5/12

Pioneering:  Meditations for Transforming Our Carlisle United Methodist Church

Number 24                                                              May 12, 2013

Our Pentecost

Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd.  Acts 2:14a.

The ten days between Christ’s ascension and the arrival of the Holy Spirit is glossed over in Luke's account in Acts.  Christ has told them to stay in Jerusalem and wait for the Holy Spirit.  This must have been a faith-testing time considering that they were uncertain about their own safety.  They were balancing the great joy of having been with their Risen Lord against the belief that they were still vulnerable to the judgment of the Jewish authorities who maneuvered Rome to crucify Jesus.

Try to imagine yourself waiting for some unknown amount of time.  It’s not like waiting for Christmas, or waiting for the birth of a child, where you have some expectations of the time or the results.  This is more like waiting for some complex test result that will map the course of the rest of your life on earth.

The disciples had to exhibit far more trust in something they couldn’t imagine, except that Christ promised them the Holy Spirit.  And thanks to their patience and faith, Christians today can experience the presence of the Holy Spirit and the beginning of the Church. 

Proverbs tells us that the Lord disciplines those he loves.  It seems to me that Peter, of all the Twelve was the one most disciplined.  Jesus took Peter’s human traits and transformed them.  The fisherman who tried walking on water, who said “wash all of me”, and “I’ll never deny you”, and “I am ready to die with you,” began to be transformed from close follower into mighty apostle when the Risen Christ told him to “Feed my sheep.”

Pentecost, the day of the rushing of the Mighty Wind and the descending flames, was the day Peter’s transformation was complete.  “Then Peter stood up… and addressed the crowd.” Today some might say he was on performance-enhancing drugs.  But we know it was the Holy Spirit in him.

Peter concluded this first mighty sermon with these words:

“And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.  The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.” Acts 2:38b-39

Peter’s first sermon led to the conversion of about three thousand souls and completed his transformation .  The promise he proclaimed that first Pentecost is ours as well.  We only have to claim it.

Four things happened at the first Pentecost.  The Holy Spirit arrived in full force to set the believers on fire.  The church was born in that upper room where Jesus asked his disciples to remember him in the breaking of bread and drinking the cup.  The church first boldly witnessed to the world.  And the Risen Lord fulfilled the promise that He made to send the Comforter.

But I believe in reading the rest of the book of Acts that, Pentecost was not a one-time event; I believe that Pentecost occurs every time the Holy Spirit descends upon us.  It is Pentecost that energizes the Church Universal and each church, from house church to mega-church.  And since we are human, just like that first morning cup of coffee or tea, we need a regular refill.  In fact, I believe what keeps Church alive is being filled with the Holy Spirit every chance it gets.

On May 19th the entire Christian world will celebrate the anniversary of the first Pentecost, as it did the Savior’s birth and the first Easter.  That day is the day we can claim as our own first Pentecost, the Pentecost of Carlisle UMC.

How can we do this?  Acts chapter 12 gives us a clue.  One year after the first Easter, Peter was arrested, chained and placed under round the clock guard.  The night before he was to go on trial, probably for his life, an angel appeared, freed him and guided him to a place in the city, and left him.  Peter recognized where he was and found his way to a house where the Believers were in fervent prayer for him.

He knocked on the door and a servant girl named Rhoda answers, recognized him and, in her great excitement, rushed back to the prayer meeting without opening the door, and announced that Peter was here!

No one believed her.  (Does this remind you of the women at the tomb on Easter Day; no one believed them either.  They must have been Pennsylvania Dutchmen.)  “You’re out of your mind,” is what they actually said to the poor girl.  But Peter kept knocking, and they finally let him and “were astonished.”

I believe the key to our Pentecost is fervent prayer by all of us praying as one, as Jesus told his followers.

As the believers in that house in Jerusalem prayed fervently for the release of Peter that night, we can pray fervently for Carlisle UMC, its pastors, its family, and its mission today. This can be our Pentecost.

Fervent prayer is so amazing that we can’t believe it works, no matter how sincere we are in praying, no matter how often we pray.  We cannot pray fervently with one hand on the doorknob, ready to leave the room.  Fervent prayer is not holding onto anything but the Cross of Christ. 

We are building our church from the inside and outside.  As long as we are faithful and pray regularly for one another, for our pastors and all those in responsible positions God will bless us.  Believe it!  This is OUR Pentecost!

Common Prayer.  O Christ, teach us to pray with boldness.  Let us experience the refilling power of Pentecost daily.  Let its power gush forth from us into our fellowship, our community, and our mission field.  Help us to stand up, to raise our voice, and to speak to the crowd. AMEN.

Transformation Emphasis for the days ahead:

Let’s be in fervent prayer all this week for the arrival of the Holy Spirit next Sunday.  Pray singly; pray in groups.  Pray that your heart be opened; pray for boldness; pray that ears tingle; that hearts are turned; that Jesus reigns!

Thank you to those who have encouraged me in these meditations.  May they continue to be a blessing to you as they are for me.  Send your feedback to Charles L. Reynolds at papoo99@comcast.net.