...from the Pastor's Study:

The GPS took me to an old townhouse village in Germantown, MD. It was there I met up with another United Methodist pastor (Ken) who took me to a United Methodist church in Silver Spring, MD where we met yet another United Methodist pastor (Bob) who is a high school friend. From there we proceeded into the heart of Washington DC for the game between the Washington Nationals and the Los Angeles Dodgers. The team with the worst record in baseball against the team with one of the best records. The final score of 14-2 was as predictable as Skip’s 3 degree guarantee. We parked (for free) at the RFK stadium and took a bus (once again, free…but the AC in the bus was suspect and it was crammed with people) to a place closer to the Nationals’ stadium…which had a back door view of the nation’s Capitol. We walked at least a half mile to the stadium from the bus. The chili burger, fries and coke came to a whopping $16.50. BUT, it WAS free t-shirt night. We sat in the upper deck behind home plate. No foul ball even came close to us. Ken is the Nationals fan. Bob in an Orioles fan. Both of their teams are in last place. (I consoled them with the fact that I was a Duke football fan!) Bob says he doesn’t even go to Orioles games when they play New York or Boston because it’s easier for the fans to either drive or take the train to Baltimore to watch their team play than it is to get tickets to the home games there!

Anyway, I tell you all of this to tell you what Ken said. Despite the losing record, he was decked out in his Nationals t-shirt, his Nationals hat, and carried his Nationals jacket (which was not needed!). Bob watched the scoreboard to see the Orioles’ score (they lost to Toronto in extra innings after leading the whole game). But Ken finally looked at me and said “Bad baseball is better than no baseball.”

His words have stuck with me. I think a lot of times we take that approach with Christianity: bad Jesus is better than no Jesus. As long as someone’s talking about Jesus, it can’t be awful, we think. At least someone’s talking about Jesus. But I will caution you. In human history, more bad things have been done by people of faith than anything else…people who actually believed they were acting according to God’s will. Islamic extremists believe 9/11 was God’s will. Some thought Hurricane Katrina’s devastation in New Orleans was God’s will. I heard some say that AIDS was God’s punishment to certain segments of our population.

I know Jesus told his disciples that those who were not against him were for him. But I still think we must be wary. It’s why we have worship and why we study the Bible. It’s why we do United Methodist Youth, Men, and Women’s groups. It’s why we have Sunday School and preschool and preaching and all sorts of small groups. It is to make sure that we don’t get wrapped up in the bad things of religion…where people try to get their way by saying that God speaks to them, where selfishness overwhelms the spirit and jealousy drowns the spirit.

Every day society changes in another way. Every day we are tempted to throw up our hands and surrender to the evil of the world. Every day we are tempted to give in to the simple answers of faith…which lead to intolerance and judgment instead of love and justice. Just because it’s Jesus….beware. Stay close to the church…and we will reason together. (RM)

September remembered......

We ended August with the start of preschool. There are over 100 children who come through our halls every week to learn, to see, to hear, to sing. The people with all the letters after their names tell us that children really can’t remember much because they haven’t learned the ways of narrative. Until they can tell their story, they don’t remember. We remember the stories of life much more than the precepts of life. And as we learn the stories, we apply the precepts…or something like that. So we’re not giving our children the knowledge as much as we’re allowing them to begin to tell their story. In our economy, preschool is a luxury. It isn’t day care because we only keep them four hours in a given day. These are children whose parents want them to begin to develop social skills and relationships. It isn’t necessary, but it is agreed that every bit helps.

The Finance Committee has decided to go with Church Funding Associates out of Lake Junaluska to help with our next financial campaign. They work primarily with United Methodist churches and we will again enter a campaign as we work to retired the debt on our sanctuary as well as provide the funds for our every day ministries. This is as important to our history as anything else. In a sense, this is a most exciting time. We are going to be asked to continue to contribute and move forward in ministry. It means that the church will move to the front of our priorities. And this will be good. Again and again, I will remind you, church is not just a nice thing to have…it is vital in every way we look at our lives. It is something as necessary as the very air we breathe because it not only teaches us, it inspires our living, it reminds us of what’s truly important, and it takes care of that which is deepest in us and makes us what we are.

In September we continued to prepare for the Pumpkin Patch. Prairie dogs and hail ravaged the crop in New Mexico. It was replanted three times. But they assure me the pumpkins are beautiful. As I write this, our pumpkins are on the way to us.

We are also preparing for Faith In Action Sunday. While this is new, the concept is as old as the church. Get out and do…take care of others…spend part of one Sunday working with others in the church to do good things for others.

We welcomed Randy Fitzgerald into our fellowship along with his children Anthony and Nicole. We have celebrated baptism and communion. People have continued to work around the church on various projects. Thanks again to those who take care of our lawn-mowing. As they built the sidewalks, my only thought was “there’s more work for those of us who take care of the lawn”.

So it’s on to October. Orion appears in the sky. The harvest moon seems to shine brighter. The pumpkins arrive. The church becomes a place of activity and fun and peace and laughter. Join us. As Dad always said, “I’ll see you in church.” (RM)

Parting Comments:

It’s all about vision. We do what we do because we are looking for any way we can tell others about our faith. The pumpkin patch is not just a way to make money to renovate the old sanctuary into a new fellowship hall. It’s an opportunity for others to see our faith, to see our dedication, to see our church alive, to meet us in the patch, to see that Jesus means something in our lives. Worship is about reaching out to God…and allowing God to reach into our hearts. Our vision is for things to happen, for lives to be changed, for the very core of faith to become charged with energy and hope. It’s not about finding God, but understanding that God’s always been there. (Thanks for that, Dora!)

Northwoods is not just a place to plant our bodies a couple of times a week. It’s a place where we can invest our hearts. And I mean invest. We can save, which isn’t bad. But we can invest…which means we keep saving. And then there will be interest. And THAT…well…will be…..interesting! (RM)