"The Experience of a Lifetime"
One of the most difficult questions to answer is the theological question. The question that is hard is, "What is your idea of God?" The range for the answers to that question is wide. There are traditionalist theologians who believe God is a mystery and beyond our understanding.
Some theologians think of God as the "Ground of our being" or "being itself" and they will argue that you must not speak of God as if God were a person or found within the material world as an entity beyond it. God is not a being; God is being itself.
Some theologians think of God as a process that is "calling us forward" from our world of self-interest to a life of self-serving and love. They think of God as a part of the matrix of life itself. We are "lured" by God and not coerced by God as an arbitrary power over us.
Some see God as a force of liberation and God is most present in the struggle for freedom and dignity.
Some will say the God is ineffable. We cannot know what God is and we cannot speak of God with any accuracy.
"What is God?" is a difficult question.
People have trouble answering that question. People don't have any trouble answering the question, "Where do you experience God in your life?"
Some some it was at the time a baby was born. For others it is what happens when they stand in the wilderness looking at the stars at night. For others it's the sense of love between people.
Where to you experience God in your life? John Wesley lifted up experience as a resource of faith. He knew that the experience of God is an important part of what it means to live fully and meaningfully.
Where do you experience God?
If you have thoughts and responses on this write me at charlesschuster@fcfumc.net. If you are willing to share your thoughts click on the box below.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Charles Schuster
Friday, January 29, 2010
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Wednesday's thoughts
"The Experience of a Lifetime"
Randy Maddox is a professor at Candler School of Theology at Emory University. He wrote about Wesley's view of experience and suggested three things about experience that will form the foundation of the sermon this week.
He said;
1. Some experiences are goading. They jar us into reality. The are surprising and start. They get our attention.
2. Some experiences are guiding. They help form us and give us direction in our lives. We are changed by them and we are never the same after having had them.
3. Some experiences are goal producing. They invite us to look beyond the present and the here and now to see the future and to mold the future in ways we would never have seen it before.
Can you name some of the experiences in your life that are goads, guides, and goals?
I'd love to hear from you. Write me at charlesschuster@fcfumc.net. If you are willing to have others read your thoughts click on the box below.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Charles Schuster
Randy Maddox is a professor at Candler School of Theology at Emory University. He wrote about Wesley's view of experience and suggested three things about experience that will form the foundation of the sermon this week.
He said;
1. Some experiences are goading. They jar us into reality. The are surprising and start. They get our attention.
2. Some experiences are guiding. They help form us and give us direction in our lives. We are changed by them and we are never the same after having had them.
3. Some experiences are goal producing. They invite us to look beyond the present and the here and now to see the future and to mold the future in ways we would never have seen it before.
Can you name some of the experiences in your life that are goads, guides, and goals?
I'd love to hear from you. Write me at charlesschuster@fcfumc.net. If you are willing to have others read your thoughts click on the box below.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Charles Schuster
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Monday's thoughts
"The Experience of a Lifetime"
The third resource of faith in the quadrilateral for United Methodists is what John Wesley called "experience". Generally, he like to think of this experience as the spiritual side of faith and he assumed it could and would come at any point in life.
God comes to us in so many ways and so many times and often when we are not prepared to receive it. The experience of the holy is present to us.
Some of us have had formative religious experiences that can be referred to as conversion. There may have been a time when there was a vision or a voice or something that intercepted our usual or dismal lives and forced us to take another look and turn our lives around (repent).
Some of us have never had that kind of event in our lives but we do know the exhilaration of wonder and the imposition of joy that comes to us in days and times. The wonder of the stars at night or the joy of the birth of a baby can fuel our lives with unforgettable experience that can last a lifetime.
What experiences have you had that have changed your view of things? Write me at charlesschuster@fcfumc.net. If you are willing to have others read your ideas click on the box below.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Charles Schuster
The third resource of faith in the quadrilateral for United Methodists is what John Wesley called "experience". Generally, he like to think of this experience as the spiritual side of faith and he assumed it could and would come at any point in life.
God comes to us in so many ways and so many times and often when we are not prepared to receive it. The experience of the holy is present to us.
Some of us have had formative religious experiences that can be referred to as conversion. There may have been a time when there was a vision or a voice or something that intercepted our usual or dismal lives and forced us to take another look and turn our lives around (repent).
Some of us have never had that kind of event in our lives but we do know the exhilaration of wonder and the imposition of joy that comes to us in days and times. The wonder of the stars at night or the joy of the birth of a baby can fuel our lives with unforgettable experience that can last a lifetime.
What experiences have you had that have changed your view of things? Write me at charlesschuster@fcfumc.net. If you are willing to have others read your ideas click on the box below.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Charles Schuster
Friday, January 22, 2010
Friday's Thoughts
"The Bright Idea"
This week I have been thinking about the whole world of ideas and the importance of reason. I know it is important to have confidence in our ability to think. Jesus was reported to have said that we must love God with all our mind. John Wesley lifted up reason as an important resource of faith.
In the reading and research on Wesley it is clear that Wesley did not believe in "pure reason" as an important resource of faith. He was criticised as an "a religious enthusiast" with the implication that he was locked into an approach to religion what was primarily emotion and that denied the value of reason. Wesley believed in reason but not in reason alone. Reason helps us interpret scripture but it is not a substitute for the value of scripture. Reason helps us find balance in tradition but it is not to replace tradition.
But reason is important. The intellect does provide balance to the affect. The sermon will look at those things in our lives that blunt the power of reason. I will explore three factors that stifle reason. They are:
1. There is that within our own sense of confidence that makes us feel inadequate when it comes to our ability to think.
2. There are people around us who put us down. Sometimes they don't even know they are doing it. Sometimes they are trying to do it? It causes us to question ourselves and we begin to distrust our ideas.
3. There is that in life that stifles us. Things happen to us and we question what we can do or how we will face it.
Descartes "I think therefore I am". He was right. Our ability to appreciate our thought is directly tied in to our self-understanding.
Reason is important way beyond the thoughts we might have. It is a measure of who we are and who we see ourselves as becoming.
What do you think about what you think about how you think? If you have some thoughts on this write me at charlesschuster@fcfumc.net. If you are willing to have others read your thoughts click on the box below.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Charles Schuster
This week I have been thinking about the whole world of ideas and the importance of reason. I know it is important to have confidence in our ability to think. Jesus was reported to have said that we must love God with all our mind. John Wesley lifted up reason as an important resource of faith.
In the reading and research on Wesley it is clear that Wesley did not believe in "pure reason" as an important resource of faith. He was criticised as an "a religious enthusiast" with the implication that he was locked into an approach to religion what was primarily emotion and that denied the value of reason. Wesley believed in reason but not in reason alone. Reason helps us interpret scripture but it is not a substitute for the value of scripture. Reason helps us find balance in tradition but it is not to replace tradition.
But reason is important. The intellect does provide balance to the affect. The sermon will look at those things in our lives that blunt the power of reason. I will explore three factors that stifle reason. They are:
1. There is that within our own sense of confidence that makes us feel inadequate when it comes to our ability to think.
2. There are people around us who put us down. Sometimes they don't even know they are doing it. Sometimes they are trying to do it? It causes us to question ourselves and we begin to distrust our ideas.
3. There is that in life that stifles us. Things happen to us and we question what we can do or how we will face it.
Descartes "I think therefore I am". He was right. Our ability to appreciate our thought is directly tied in to our self-understanding.
Reason is important way beyond the thoughts we might have. It is a measure of who we are and who we see ourselves as becoming.
What do you think about what you think about how you think? If you have some thoughts on this write me at charlesschuster@fcfumc.net. If you are willing to have others read your thoughts click on the box below.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Charles Schuster
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Wednesday's thoughts
"I Have A Bright Idea"
Sunday we want to celebrate the resource of faith that comes to us in logic or reason. It is an important part of our belief system. We need to have some way to challenge our old out dated ideas. We need to have a part of our logic to take a look at what we believe. If we do not look at our faith it becomes routine and if it becomes so familiar to us it is routine then it is useless.
In the sermon I want to have us consider what makes us reluctant to think. What holds us back? What stifles our initiative?
There are people who don't believe our thoughts are valid. Life itself has a way of putting us down.
To think is to risk. To imagine that we have something worthwhile to think about we have to have found the confidence to put forward an idea.
Descartes said it, "I think therefore I am". Our ability to conjure up an idea affirms our very existence.
Wesley knew reason was an important resource of faith. Rebecca Miles said, "If you push to discover the meaning behind the word 'reason' Wesley often appealed to reason in this broad sense to explain or justify a conclusion or a decision. At times he used the world 'reason' to refer to conclusions that any reasonable person would accept." How do we apply reason? What causes us to question our ability to use it?
What do you think? How would you reason to answer the question about reason?
If you have thoughts about this write me at charlesschuster@fcfumc.net. If you are willing to have others see your response click on the box below.
Charles Schuster
Sunday we want to celebrate the resource of faith that comes to us in logic or reason. It is an important part of our belief system. We need to have some way to challenge our old out dated ideas. We need to have a part of our logic to take a look at what we believe. If we do not look at our faith it becomes routine and if it becomes so familiar to us it is routine then it is useless.
In the sermon I want to have us consider what makes us reluctant to think. What holds us back? What stifles our initiative?
There are people who don't believe our thoughts are valid. Life itself has a way of putting us down.
To think is to risk. To imagine that we have something worthwhile to think about we have to have found the confidence to put forward an idea.
Descartes said it, "I think therefore I am". Our ability to conjure up an idea affirms our very existence.
Wesley knew reason was an important resource of faith. Rebecca Miles said, "If you push to discover the meaning behind the word 'reason' Wesley often appealed to reason in this broad sense to explain or justify a conclusion or a decision. At times he used the world 'reason' to refer to conclusions that any reasonable person would accept." How do we apply reason? What causes us to question our ability to use it?
What do you think? How would you reason to answer the question about reason?
If you have thoughts about this write me at charlesschuster@fcfumc.net. If you are willing to have others see your response click on the box below.
Charles Schuster
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Monday's thoughts
"When Religion is Unreasonable" Sunday January 24th
In the series on the four resources of faith for United Methodists (the quadrilateral) we look at reason as an important part of our faith.
If we forget reason we allow religion to take a dangerous and arbitrary turn. If reason is not permitted to balance our faith we are apt to fall for a faith that become irrational. Of course, there is a part of faith that goes beyond reason but that does not mean reason is not an important check or balance.
Aquinas once said, "faith transcends reason." He also said, "But that does not mean faith is unreasonable."
Jesus advised his listeners to worship God with all our hearts and all our souls and all our minds.
When I think of the formative people in my faith I think of theologians who have encouraged me to ask questions. Sally McFague, and Teilhard de Chardin, and Abraham Heschel, and Paul Tillich, and Sue Monk Kidd all raise important questions of faith for me and push me into a deeper level of belief.
I hope the children of our church will come away from the religious education they receive here with a healthy appreciation for reason. I hope they will never be afraid to ask questions and dig deep in their pursuit of conviction and faith.
What is your experience and value of reason in your journey of faith? How does reason help and how does it hurt?
Do you think it's a good thing to say, "When you come to First United Methodist you are not required to check your brain at the door?"
If you have a response to this write me at charlesschuster@fcfumc.net. If you are willing to have others read your thoughts click on the box below.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Charles Schuster
In the series on the four resources of faith for United Methodists (the quadrilateral) we look at reason as an important part of our faith.
If we forget reason we allow religion to take a dangerous and arbitrary turn. If reason is not permitted to balance our faith we are apt to fall for a faith that become irrational. Of course, there is a part of faith that goes beyond reason but that does not mean reason is not an important check or balance.
Aquinas once said, "faith transcends reason." He also said, "But that does not mean faith is unreasonable."
Jesus advised his listeners to worship God with all our hearts and all our souls and all our minds.
When I think of the formative people in my faith I think of theologians who have encouraged me to ask questions. Sally McFague, and Teilhard de Chardin, and Abraham Heschel, and Paul Tillich, and Sue Monk Kidd all raise important questions of faith for me and push me into a deeper level of belief.
I hope the children of our church will come away from the religious education they receive here with a healthy appreciation for reason. I hope they will never be afraid to ask questions and dig deep in their pursuit of conviction and faith.
What is your experience and value of reason in your journey of faith? How does reason help and how does it hurt?
Do you think it's a good thing to say, "When you come to First United Methodist you are not required to check your brain at the door?"
If you have a response to this write me at charlesschuster@fcfumc.net. If you are willing to have others read your thoughts click on the box below.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Charles Schuster
Friday, January 15, 2010
Friday's Thoughts
Tradition is a resource of faith. It's one of the four resources of faith we hold as United Methodists. How we use it is important and the sermon will look at the use of tradition.
We are recipients of tradition and realizing that we come to understand that what is right with the world and what is wrong with the world, it didn't begin with us. We take and learn from those who have gone before us. We receive their understanding of ritual and truth and we employ it in our lives.
We do have a responsibility to use tradition that has been handed to us in a way that makes it relevant to our day. Tradition becomes treacherous when we fail to contemporize it. It becomes stagnant and stale. We will want to apply tradition handed to us and build on tradition and establish traditions for our day.
There comes a time in life when we realize "it didn't begin with us" but "it didn't end with those who gave it to us" and "we must pass it on".
It isn't age related and the earlier we think about this the better it is for everyone. If we realize it doesn't end with us then we can think about future generations and we can live our lives to pass it forward. If we all lived our lives that way it would be a better world because our concern would lead to the generations yet to come. It impacts the way we spend our money, our concern for the environment, the use of resources, and all other areas of our commerce. We become stewards of what we have as we work to ensure others who come after us have a claim on it.
Tradition is what we receive, what we mold, and what we pass on.
What are you doing with tradition? How have you received it, how are you molding it and how are you passing it on?
If you have advice or thoughts about the write me at charlesschuster@fcfumc.net. If you are willing to have others read your thoughts click on the box below.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Charles Schuster
We are recipients of tradition and realizing that we come to understand that what is right with the world and what is wrong with the world, it didn't begin with us. We take and learn from those who have gone before us. We receive their understanding of ritual and truth and we employ it in our lives.
We do have a responsibility to use tradition that has been handed to us in a way that makes it relevant to our day. Tradition becomes treacherous when we fail to contemporize it. It becomes stagnant and stale. We will want to apply tradition handed to us and build on tradition and establish traditions for our day.
There comes a time in life when we realize "it didn't begin with us" but "it didn't end with those who gave it to us" and "we must pass it on".
It isn't age related and the earlier we think about this the better it is for everyone. If we realize it doesn't end with us then we can think about future generations and we can live our lives to pass it forward. If we all lived our lives that way it would be a better world because our concern would lead to the generations yet to come. It impacts the way we spend our money, our concern for the environment, the use of resources, and all other areas of our commerce. We become stewards of what we have as we work to ensure others who come after us have a claim on it.
Tradition is what we receive, what we mold, and what we pass on.
What are you doing with tradition? How have you received it, how are you molding it and how are you passing it on?
If you have advice or thoughts about the write me at charlesschuster@fcfumc.net. If you are willing to have others read your thoughts click on the box below.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Charles Schuster
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Wednesday's thoughts
Tradition
What is the value of tradition?
I think it does two things for us. It reminds us that it didn't begin with us. It tells us that it didn't end with them.
I think it is important to value tradition but it is also important to understand that we have a role to play in the expansion of tradition. We will want to listen to the voices of the past. We will want to pay attention to the things that have been but we don't want to be slaves to tradition even as we honor it.
What about tradition should be held? What should be left behind?
If you have ideas about that write me at charlesschuster@fcfumc.net.
If you are willing to have other read your thoughts click on the box below.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Charles Schuster
What is the value of tradition?
I think it does two things for us. It reminds us that it didn't begin with us. It tells us that it didn't end with them.
I think it is important to value tradition but it is also important to understand that we have a role to play in the expansion of tradition. We will want to listen to the voices of the past. We will want to pay attention to the things that have been but we don't want to be slaves to tradition even as we honor it.
What about tradition should be held? What should be left behind?
If you have ideas about that write me at charlesschuster@fcfumc.net.
If you are willing to have other read your thoughts click on the box below.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Charles Schuster
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Monday's thoughts
"When Tradition is Treacherous"
I am going to do a series of sermons on how Untied Methodists think theologically. I want us to look at what we call the Quadrilateral. As United Methodists we don't have a creed and we don't have a firm doctrine that is unique to us and different from other Christian denominations but we do have the quadrilateral.
There are four resources of faith that we employ to think theologically and make our decision. They are scripture, tradition, reason, and experience. Each week for the next four weeks I am going to explore one of these int he sermon.
January 17 Tradition
January 24 Reason
January 31 Experience
February 7 Scripture (one of the other preachers will handle this one)
What tradition directs our thinking?
a. The ethical monotheism of Judaism
b. The sense of ritual of Catholicism
c. The idea of the priesthood of all believers of the reformation
d. The "catholic spirit" of John Wesley "We think and let think"
What are the important parts of our tradition that mean something to you? What tradition should we retain and what should we reject?
If you have thoughts about this write me at charlesschuster@fcfumc.net. If you are willing to have others read your ideas click on the box below.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Charles
I am going to do a series of sermons on how Untied Methodists think theologically. I want us to look at what we call the Quadrilateral. As United Methodists we don't have a creed and we don't have a firm doctrine that is unique to us and different from other Christian denominations but we do have the quadrilateral.
There are four resources of faith that we employ to think theologically and make our decision. They are scripture, tradition, reason, and experience. Each week for the next four weeks I am going to explore one of these int he sermon.
January 17 Tradition
January 24 Reason
January 31 Experience
February 7 Scripture (one of the other preachers will handle this one)
What tradition directs our thinking?
a. The ethical monotheism of Judaism
b. The sense of ritual of Catholicism
c. The idea of the priesthood of all believers of the reformation
d. The "catholic spirit" of John Wesley "We think and let think"
What are the important parts of our tradition that mean something to you? What tradition should we retain and what should we reject?
If you have thoughts about this write me at charlesschuster@fcfumc.net. If you are willing to have others read your ideas click on the box below.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Charles
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Tuesday's Thoughts
BUILD A SERMON FOR JANUARY 10.
This Sunday's sermon will be entitled "A Plumber's Aha", and will be based on three scriptures:
Old Testament - Psalm 118:19-24
New Testament - Matthew 13:10-17 and 21:45-46
We are in Epiphany, which in the Christian tradition is celebrated on January 6. Epiphany can also mean "a sudden insight" or "new awareness"....an "AHA". I am sure you have experienced many AHA's in your life-time. Some have been minimally thought-provoking and others have been dramatic. I believe when Jesus spoke in parables, many insights crawled into the minds and hearts of his listeners, when they least expected it, and caused those folks to step back and ask, "is he talking about me?"
Sunday I will lift out two Epiphanies or AHA's that have had meaning for me, and I trust will also resonate with each of you. Are there any sudden insights about life in general or your life in particular....you know, those unexpected blessings.....that you would share with me as I continue to prepare for Sunday?
Robert Frost said that he learned one basic fact about life, and it is this: "it goes on". So....as life goes on for all of us may we be ever mindful of all the AHA's we have experienced, as well as those yet to be experienced. I look forward to seeing you this coming Sunday in church as we continue to celebrate Epiphany.
David
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