ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
July 31, 2024
There are so many folks who volunteer their time around the church, and I am beyond thankful for the impact they have on the fulfillment of our mission: Helping individuals and families put love first in all things. Of course, many of these people’s contributions to our work are done behind the scenes and ever-so-quietly. Now let me add a quick apology for what I’m about to do, as it is always dangerous to call out one or two people… so I apologize for all those who have given tremendously but are not included in this email. With that said, I want to thank Debbie Rawlins, who not only serves as our current Board Chair, but during Joel’s sabbatical the last two months, Debbie has done a ton of stuff that Joel would have done. Joel even contemplated giving up his sabbatical as he was concerned about the many things that might fall through the cracks. I’m not saying we were perfect, but Debbie did a pretty fantastic job of keeping the boat afloat. I also want to give a big thank you to James Mike Smith. We have two Mike Smiths, and they are both awesome. Today, I want to say thanks to J. Mike Smith for doing some crazy work in regard to some financial things here at the church. When you are doing money transfers online and it decides to kick off the main person who has access to the account, it is not as simple as putting in your first pet’s name and the color of your first house. We nearly had to ask for an act of Congress to be reinstated, but Mike was willing to make it happen. Thanks!! In Proverbs 11:24, we read: “Some give freely, yet grow all the richer…” Sadly, neither one of these people’s bank accounts saw a dime for the sharing of their time, but I pray that they and all who do good work can feel just a little richer in the good work of love, mercy, and kindness.

There are so many gifts that are shared each day for making your reign of grace real. O Holy God, for every minute offered for this work, we are grateful. Amen.

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
July 30, 2024
It is easy to fall into the trap. I know I have done it more than I’d like to admit, but so often we find ourselves speaking passionately about what we oppose but not what we support. We know what we do not believe, but we struggle to articulate what we do believe. It is easier to declare something to be evil, immoral, vile, or depraved. It is easier to get people to join your righteous indignation, and sadly, that kind of fury can raise a lot of money. Jesus quoted Isaiah early in his ministry as a sort of statement of purpose,

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor (Luke 4:18-19).

Everything in that declaration of missional intention is positive and seeks to uplift others. Right before the pandemic, I was teaching a class at the church in which we were working on our individual purpose statements, and though I had done a lot of work on my own, it never got finished. In this time of negativity, name-calling, and the spewing of what people oppose, it might be good for us to think about what followers of Jesus would affirm.

Call me to a purpose that honors the work of Jesus. Place your Spirit upon me, O Good and Gracious God, for there are many who are seeing recovery, hope, release, and true transformation. Amen.

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
July 29, 2024
Prayer for the Week: Whether it is the stress around children beginning a new year of school or the ongoing suffering of children in Gaza or other places of violence, we bring before you, O Spirit of Hope and Justice, all that weighs upon our hearts. Sometimes our worries at home seem to pale in comparison to the tremendous anguish and trauma in the lives of others, yet your grace chooses to meet us where we are. You work to bring hope into our unique situations so that we are able to speak of hope and act for justice in situations far from our doorsteps. Thank you for loving us where we are, but let us never forget that you love people wherever they are. And as we love you with all of who we are, continue to expand our capacity to love our neighbor, no matter how far away they might be; and to express that love in tangible ways that guide our world toward greater peace and justice. Amen.

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
July 28, 2024
On Friday, I spent a lot of time in my car. There were three hospital visits and an additional visit to make, and of course, they were about as far away from one another as they could be. I’m not complaining at all, as making visits is a part of the job that I find meaningful and purposeful. But I spent just over five hours in the car, driving between stops. It was raining, and especially driving to the Medical Center, it took a long time to get there in the heavy rain. I know that salespeople and other professionals spend a great deal of time in the car, going from one customer to the next. But when I have those days, I am mindful that the church is paying me (quite well) to sit in traffic. I try to make the most of that time. It might be a couple of phone calls to church people, or maybe listening to a podcast or an audio book that has some relevance for an upcoming sermon. There are other days when I use that time to pray (eyes wide open) for those in the congregation. But there are other times when I just pray. Years ago, a retired minister who attended the church I was serving said to me, “This church pays you to pray, and not just to pray for us. We want you to be deeply connected to God; otherwise, you can’t lead us into a deeper connection with God.” Those words have come back to me again and again, as there are times when I do that well and other times when I do it very poorly. And like the retired pastor suggested, it has significant implications for the church as a whole. Now let me be clear: I do pray even when I’m not on the clock, but I hope Cypress Creek Christian Church is not only comfortable but enthusiastic about its staff praying during office hours or on a drive to visit someone in the hospital… including those prayers that are about the staff members' connection with God.

Invite us, O God who came to earth, to continue to seek you out and to grow more deeply in love with you and your dream for this world. Amen.

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
July 27, 2024
In 2nd Timothy 1:6, we read: 

For this reason I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands; for God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline.

Today, like every day, will present everyone with a challenge or two or even more. It doesn’t matter where you are or what you are doing in life. Of course, when we choose to make faith a priority, challenges are not necessarily a negative, an inconvenience, or painful. Challenges are what motivate us to rise in the morning and give of ourselves. Rekindle the gifts you have to offer to meet the challenges of this day, for God has not given you a spirit of cowardice, but a spirit of power and love.

Merciful God, may the challenges of this day bring forth the best within me. Amen.

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
July 26, 2024
As those who have been forgiven, we are called upon to forgive. I would guess that most followers of Jesus would agree with those words, yet I hear people adding exemptions to that premise. For them, there are certain limitations to forgiveness, though Jesus seemed to challenge some of those exceptions, even the ones we find really challenging. Using a parable, Jesus responded to a question from Peter about how often a person should forgive. Peter felt pretty generous when he said, “Should I forgive as many as seven times?” The parable is about a Master who demonstrates mercy by forgiving a servant who owed the Master a great deal. Of course, the parable goes on to suggest that the same forgiven servant shows absolutely no mercy to another servant who owed just a little. It sounds like an excellent teaching parable, though I will confess some discomfort with how the parable closes. Right after Jesus had told Peter and the other disciples about the expansive nature of God’s forgiveness, the master in the story forgives once, but not twice. Again, I don’t necessarily believe that was the purpose of the parable. Like any fable or analogy, there is always a point at which it begins to break down. Nonetheless, it is probably important to recognize that we might have greater appreciation of the gift of forgiveness given to us if we are able to forgive someone else for something less significant.

May I treasure the depth of you merciful kindness and forgiveness, O God, and not simply in some sort of theoretical way. When I choose to forgive others, understanding the difficulties and complications of doing so, it is more likely that I will appreciate what you have done for me. Amen.

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
July 25, 2024
In his book, “Just Mercy,” Bryan Stevenson writes, 

“We are all implicated when we allow other people to be mistreated. An absence of compassion can corrupt the decency of a community, a state, a nation.”

Like yesterday, those words can cause one to feel uncomfortable, as it sure feels as if those words are spoken with judgment in our direction. Guilt can create defensiveness, but realization and repentance can stretch us toward becoming the people God has called us to be in Jesus. While I see some amazing acts of compassion, including among the people of Cypress Creek Christian Church, there has definitely been a pushback against compassion in our culture. In place of compassion, we blame, shame, and scapegoat. Every expression of community has a soul, that is, an essence that speaks to its true identity. I’m not talking about the one that can be fabricated with flowery language and pithy declarations. That’s not the soul of a community. If you want to understand the soul, look for those acts of compassion that have the community stretching itself beyond itself.

May the compassion I have received take root within me, O God of Expansive Grace, for I cannot place the call for empathy and kindness as someone else’s responsibility. Amen.

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
July 24, 2024
From the book, “A Black Theology of Liberation,” James Cone wrote, 

“Jesus is not a human being for all persons; he is a human being for oppressed persons, whose identity is made known in and through their liberation.”

Those words have already caused some of you to prickle just a bit because the late Dr. Cone suggested that Jesus was not a human being for all people. I think Cone would want those of us feeling uncomfortable to sit with the discomfort for a while. Christianity today has too often become a religion for the comfortable, and when people are made to feel uncomfortable, they get someone fired at the church or they leave. I try to read something each week that challenges me, and though my opinion is not always changed, I am often forced to ask myself some pointed questions. Am I uncomfortable because some complacency or sinfulness has found its way into the light of judgment, and it is no longer easy to ignore it. I can’t say for sure if I know what Dr. Cone intended with those words, but I think he was suggesting that Jesus is not for those who are on the side of oppression and injustice. In his ministry, Jesus was clearly for those who were oppressed and recipients of injustice. Of course, Jesus also invited one of those on the side of oppression to share a meal with him, and though Jesus was not for him in the sense of being in favor of what he was doing, I believe Jesus still loved him. And it was that love that cast a light upon the sinful and unjust actions of Zacchaeus, and in that experience of love, Zacchaeus began to live for the liberation of others. At that moment, I believe Jesus was for Zacchaeus. 

Thank you for loving me even through the discomfort and the pushback I give when I am challenged in a way I do not wish to be challenged. Holy God, where there are things hidden in the shadows of my life, I pray for your glory to bring them forth where I must acknowledge them and deal with them. It is only by your grace that such a thing is possible. Amen.

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
July 23, 2024
It happens on a pretty regular basis. I receive an email from someone in the world who wants to school me on the Bible, often in regard to what they believe the Bible says about homosexuality. I received another one of those emails just yesterday. For a number of years, I responded to every single one of them, which often was the spark for many more emails. I am not the brightest tool in the shed (my grandfather mixed his analogues, so I do it for fun), as it took me some 200 exchanges that went nowhere before I decided it might not be the best use of my time. What has fascinated me with all these emails is how no one has ever said, “I know you went to school for this, but I disagree with you and would like to discuss this further.” Everyone of them has said something like, “You are allowing the devil into your church, and he is going to take you and everyone in your congregation to hell.” Again, I am not asking everyone to agree with me. That would not be a good Disciples of Christ approach, but I think it is fair to expect that most people should know how Christianity has never been monolithic. In fact, what has been considered orthodox Christianity throughout history has most often been determined by those with the biggest army… which ain’t very Christ-like. In all those email exchanges, I never called anyone a name or insinuated that they did not know what they were talking about. I have offered alternative ways of thinking about scripture, often presenting different historical opinions. And in almost every case, people have doubled down on expressing how I am clearly possessed by a demon. I share this as a way of encouraging you to be cautious when you disagree with someone. Name-calling, or suggesting one’s soul is owned by Beelzebub, is not a helpful tactic. In fact, those and other approaches tend to communicate that the one who is name-calling or implying demon possession does not have the capacity to engage in a civil conversation. I understand that for some of these people, they are concerned about saving souls, and if they don’t try to save my soul at whatever cost, their souls are in jeopardy… or at least that’s what they’ve been taught. If those of us who claim to follow Jesus cannot disagree with some semblance of civility, then how do we think that we will ever introduce the world to Jesus, the one who said, “They will know you are my disciples when you love one another” (John 13:35)?

The current approach ain’t getting us anywhere, O God of Grace and Goodness. Being ugly, shaming those who disagree with us, and name-calling are not very Jesus-like. Help us, Merciful One, as we seek another way, as we seek the way of Jesus. Amen.

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
July 22, 2024
Prayer for the Week: Show us your mercy, O Lord, when we are tired. Show us your mercy when we are tired of being tired. Show us your mercy when our exhaustion turns to frustration and complacency. Show us your mercy when our faith has fallen flat and we are left with doubt, confusion, and feelings of failure. Show us your mercy, O Lord, yet even this lackadaisical and easily dissuaded faith believes that you will always be merciful. So as you show us mercy, we say, “Thank you, O Lord.” Amen.