"The Widow's Might"
The title is a play on the words "might" and "mite" and the story in the 12th chapter of Mark about the woman who put two coins onto the temple altar and how Jesus viewed her gift as the largest of all because she gave from her poverty all that she had while the wealthy gave from their great riches a small portion.
Giving is relative. What we give is relative to what we have and the spirit of generosity is an attitude that always allows us to see that we have more whereas the spirit of scarcity leads us to think about what we have lost.
In the next several weeks we will be thinking about our church and its future. We will have an opportunity to think about the Widow's Mite for the next three weeks. I will be preaching the first two Sundays and Eugene Lowry will be with us on November 21st. He will be preaching on that same text.
How much do you give to the church? I don't know how much people give and I don't want to know. That's really not anything I should know. It's personal and private. Do you give from a sense of abundance or a sense of scarcity? That's the most important question.
When we live a life of abundance we will receive more than we give.
It's what is meant when Jesus said he came that we might live abundantly.
We will answer that question about abundance or scarcity on November 21st. It will be a great Sunday for the church.
Eugene will be in the church on Saturday evening speaking about John and Charles Wesley. On Sunday morning he will preach about the Widow's Mite, and on Sunday evening he will speak and play the piano and his topic will be "Dancing the Mystery".
What do you think about giving and receiving?
If you have thoughts on this write me at charlesschuster@fcfumc.net. If you are willing to share your thoughts with the congregation click on the "comments" box below.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Charles Schuster
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Friday, October 29, 2010
Friday's thoughts on Sunday's sermon
This sermon is taking an entirely different direction. I am now looking at the approach to the bible from Sandy Sasso who suggests that we fill in the spaces of the sacred texts with our imaginations to bring the text into our lives. She urges us to allow the text to interpret us.
The Gospel of Luke approaches the Risen Christ as if he were present to us in the stranger on the road to Emmaus. It's in the 24th Chapter. "That same day two of them were on their way to a village called Emmaus...As they talked and discussed it with one another, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; but something held their eyes from seeing who it was."
There are two examples in the sermon that will end with a major point. The examples from my own experience ask the question:
1. Did you ever meet a stranger and realize it was your best friend?
2. Did you ever meet a stranger and realize your stranger was a hero?
The primary point:
In the strangeness of life did you ever think it was God in the strangeness trying to tell you something?
In this sermon we attempt to find God in the strangeness and to find Christ in the stranger so that our eyes are no longer held back from seeing.
What is the strangeness you encounter that might represent something of the God you worship?
If you have thoughts on this write me at charlesschuster@fcfumc.net. If you are willing to have others read your thoughts click on the 'comments' box below. I look forward to hearing from you.
Charles Schuster
The Gospel of Luke approaches the Risen Christ as if he were present to us in the stranger on the road to Emmaus. It's in the 24th Chapter. "That same day two of them were on their way to a village called Emmaus...As they talked and discussed it with one another, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; but something held their eyes from seeing who it was."
There are two examples in the sermon that will end with a major point. The examples from my own experience ask the question:
1. Did you ever meet a stranger and realize it was your best friend?
2. Did you ever meet a stranger and realize your stranger was a hero?
The primary point:
In the strangeness of life did you ever think it was God in the strangeness trying to tell you something?
In this sermon we attempt to find God in the strangeness and to find Christ in the stranger so that our eyes are no longer held back from seeing.
What is the strangeness you encounter that might represent something of the God you worship?
If you have thoughts on this write me at charlesschuster@fcfumc.net. If you are willing to have others read your thoughts click on the 'comments' box below. I look forward to hearing from you.
Charles Schuster
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Wednesday's thoughts on Sunday's sermon
Norman Perrin in his book Resurrection does a comparative study of the synoptic Gospels (Mark, Matthew, and Luke). We have been studying the Perrin book in the Men's Bible Study at the Egg and I restaurant on Friday mornings.
He writes:
"What actually happened on that first Easter morning, according to the evangelists, is that it became possible to know Jesus as ultimacy in the historicity of the everyday(Mark), that it became possible to live the life of a Christian within the church(Matthew), and that it became possible to imitate Jesus in a meaningful life in the world(Luke). With these claims these ancient religious texts become modern, and it is the validity of these claims that must concern us if we are to read the resurrection narratives as the evangelists who wrote them intend them to be read."
Sandy Sasso, in her book God's Echo suggests the way to understand the Biblical texts is to look at the way the sacred writings interpret us rather than concentrate on the way we interpret the sacred writings. Her approach is called "midrash". It calls for us to put ourselves into the texts and allow the writings to say something to us as we find ourselves in the middle of the flow of the sacred word.
Sunday I am going to try to do two things:
1. To discover how we find examples of Jesus in the people we know. Christ events happen all the time. Often we miss them.
2. To hear a story that seems to be merely contemporary and to find something in the story that parrots our Biblical texts.
I will share more about the story on Friday. It involves a high school reunion and a group of graduates meeting to pay tribute to one of their most important teachers.
The Biblical text comes from the Gospel of Luke. It is the story of the disciples, after the crucifixion, meeting Jesus in the stranger on the road.
Who are the Christ-characters you know?
What are their characteristics?
How do you recognize them?
If you have thoughts on this write me at charlesschuster@fcfumc.net. If you are willing to have others read your response click on the 'comments' box below.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Charles Schuster
He writes:
"What actually happened on that first Easter morning, according to the evangelists, is that it became possible to know Jesus as ultimacy in the historicity of the everyday(Mark), that it became possible to live the life of a Christian within the church(Matthew), and that it became possible to imitate Jesus in a meaningful life in the world(Luke). With these claims these ancient religious texts become modern, and it is the validity of these claims that must concern us if we are to read the resurrection narratives as the evangelists who wrote them intend them to be read."
Sandy Sasso, in her book God's Echo suggests the way to understand the Biblical texts is to look at the way the sacred writings interpret us rather than concentrate on the way we interpret the sacred writings. Her approach is called "midrash". It calls for us to put ourselves into the texts and allow the writings to say something to us as we find ourselves in the middle of the flow of the sacred word.
Sunday I am going to try to do two things:
1. To discover how we find examples of Jesus in the people we know. Christ events happen all the time. Often we miss them.
2. To hear a story that seems to be merely contemporary and to find something in the story that parrots our Biblical texts.
I will share more about the story on Friday. It involves a high school reunion and a group of graduates meeting to pay tribute to one of their most important teachers.
The Biblical text comes from the Gospel of Luke. It is the story of the disciples, after the crucifixion, meeting Jesus in the stranger on the road.
Who are the Christ-characters you know?
What are their characteristics?
How do you recognize them?
If you have thoughts on this write me at charlesschuster@fcfumc.net. If you are willing to have others read your response click on the 'comments' box below.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Charles Schuster
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Monday's thoughts on Sunday's sermon
In November Rabbi Susan Eisenberg Sasso will be speaking in our church. She is the author of a book we are studying at the church entitled God's Echo. It is a book that gives us an approach to the bible called "midrash". The sermon Sunday will be my attempt to do a midrash approach to the biblical text in preparation for Rabbi Eisenberg's visit.
What is midrash?
Susan defines it this way:
"Reading midrash allows us to become more familiar with the values, problems, and theology of another generation and invites us to consider how we too might add our own voices to the biblical text so that it continues to speak to our generation...Midrash does not challenge the idea that the Bible is divinely inspired or revealed...Midrash is both a product---a body of literature written over a period of time, and a process--a way of interpreting sacred text that continues to the present day."
Sunday I will be a piece of our sacred writing from the Bible and try to retell the story in such a way that it becomes intensely present.
If you have thoughts on this write me at charlesschuster@fcfumc.net. If you are willing to have others read your thoughts click on the box below.
One question: Do you think the Bible is easy or difficult to understand?
I look forward to hearing from you.
Charles Schuster
What is midrash?
Susan defines it this way:
"Reading midrash allows us to become more familiar with the values, problems, and theology of another generation and invites us to consider how we too might add our own voices to the biblical text so that it continues to speak to our generation...Midrash does not challenge the idea that the Bible is divinely inspired or revealed...Midrash is both a product---a body of literature written over a period of time, and a process--a way of interpreting sacred text that continues to the present day."
Sunday I will be a piece of our sacred writing from the Bible and try to retell the story in such a way that it becomes intensely present.
If you have thoughts on this write me at charlesschuster@fcfumc.net. If you are willing to have others read your thoughts click on the box below.
One question: Do you think the Bible is easy or difficult to understand?
I look forward to hearing from you.
Charles Schuster
Friday, October 22, 2010
Friday's thoughts on Sunday's sermon
"The Main Thing"
How do we keep the main thing the main thing?
What is the "main thing"?
The sermon will look at the importance of who we are as a moral example. We have a task to do in a world that has become increasingly cynical and despairing. What are we to do?
First of all we note that hope was something that was before there was anything else. The foundation of the universe is hope. It was from the beginning of time and before time as we know it.
Secondly, the word becomes flesh. It isn't enough to say what we believe to be the truth we have to live it. The truth become in fleshed through us.
Finally, the word becomes flesh and it dwells among us. The more we live it the more people see it the more other people live it and the more it is seen. It begins to pick up speed and it takes a life of its own.
It's in the Gospel of John. We are told "the Word became flesh, and dwells among us.
This sermon will pick up on that theme and will give us the task of making that true in our day.
What do you think? How do you think this works in your life; in life in general?
If you have thoughts about 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.
Charles Schuster
How do we keep the main thing the main thing?
What is the "main thing"?
The sermon will look at the importance of who we are as a moral example. We have a task to do in a world that has become increasingly cynical and despairing. What are we to do?
First of all we note that hope was something that was before there was anything else. The foundation of the universe is hope. It was from the beginning of time and before time as we know it.
Secondly, the word becomes flesh. It isn't enough to say what we believe to be the truth we have to live it. The truth become in fleshed through us.
Finally, the word becomes flesh and it dwells among us. The more we live it the more people see it the more other people live it and the more it is seen. It begins to pick up speed and it takes a life of its own.
It's in the Gospel of John. We are told "the Word became flesh, and dwells among us.
This sermon will pick up on that theme and will give us the task of making that true in our day.
What do you think? How do you think this works in your life; in life in general?
If you have thoughts about 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.
Charles Schuster
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Thursday's reflection on Sunday's sermon
I found this poem in one of Fred Craddock's books and I plan to use it in the sermon. It raised an important question and I'm wondering what you think about it.
"If your outlook on things has changed this is not the main thing.
If you feel like laughing at old dreams this is not the main thing.
If you recall errors of which you are now ashamed this is not the main thing.
Even if you know what you're doing now you'll regret some other time this is not the main thing.
But beware, lightheartedly, to conclude from this that there is no such thing as the main thing. This is the main thing."
What do you think the main thing is?
Is it God?
Truth?
Jesus?
Good News?
Hope?
Joy?
What do you think the main thing is?
If you have a thought on this write me at charlesschuster@fcfumc.net. If you are willing to have others read your thoughts click on the 'comments' box below.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Charles Schuster
"If your outlook on things has changed this is not the main thing.
If you feel like laughing at old dreams this is not the main thing.
If you recall errors of which you are now ashamed this is not the main thing.
Even if you know what you're doing now you'll regret some other time this is not the main thing.
But beware, lightheartedly, to conclude from this that there is no such thing as the main thing. This is the main thing."
What do you think the main thing is?
Is it God?
Truth?
Jesus?
Good News?
Hope?
Joy?
What do you think the main thing is?
If you have a thought on this write me at charlesschuster@fcfumc.net. If you are willing to have others read your thoughts click on the 'comments' box below.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Charles Schuster
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Monday's thoughts on Sunday's sermon
"The Main Thing"
I am putting together some thought on how we keep "the main thing" the main thing. Given the confusion in our world and the way in which people are bullied and manipulated and driven by greed we need to be reminded of some of the basic and foundational values that should motivate us.
We need role models and examples of moral behavior. We need to see ourselves as providing such direction for others. What is this world coming to? Why do we find such corruption in politics and religion and almost every aspect of life? How do we turn this tendency around?
John Miller wrote a book entitled Jesus at Thirty. He reflects on the influences and factors in Jesus life. He writes:
"Against the backdrop of his father's death and Jesus' subsequent role as breadwinner and guardian of his father's family, many another facet of his emotionality become luminous as well: his fierce battle with 'satanic' hubris (the psychological after-effects of a precocious assumption of his deceased father's role): his 'Age Thirty Transition' and baptism at the Jordan (where he humbled himself and experienced God as gracious Father); his emotional bonding with John the Baptist (a surrogate father and mentor for Jesus in this crucial transitional period of his life); his joyful creativity and courage (after John's arrest) in his new-found 'calling' as 'generative' prophet-evangelist of God's love for the 'lost' (a father now himself with a 'family' of his own, one 'born not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the human will, but of God,'; his extraordinary faith and intuitively wise 'father-like' talent for relating helpfully to all types of people and situations (the fruit in part, no doubt, of an emotionally secure childhood and his years of leadership in his deceased father's family)."
Miller has raised an important question in his search for the psychological factors in Jesus' life. He has provided the means for us to reflect upon the influences on Jesus' life and the way he served as an example for us.
Who have been your mentors? What responsibility do we have to be role models for others in this time when there is concern about what it means to be ethical and honest?
What is our responsibility?
Do you have thoughts on this?
If so write me at charlesschuster@fcfumc.net. If you are willing to have others read your thoughts click on the "comments" box below.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Charles Schuster
I am putting together some thought on how we keep "the main thing" the main thing. Given the confusion in our world and the way in which people are bullied and manipulated and driven by greed we need to be reminded of some of the basic and foundational values that should motivate us.
We need role models and examples of moral behavior. We need to see ourselves as providing such direction for others. What is this world coming to? Why do we find such corruption in politics and religion and almost every aspect of life? How do we turn this tendency around?
John Miller wrote a book entitled Jesus at Thirty. He reflects on the influences and factors in Jesus life. He writes:
"Against the backdrop of his father's death and Jesus' subsequent role as breadwinner and guardian of his father's family, many another facet of his emotionality become luminous as well: his fierce battle with 'satanic' hubris (the psychological after-effects of a precocious assumption of his deceased father's role): his 'Age Thirty Transition' and baptism at the Jordan (where he humbled himself and experienced God as gracious Father); his emotional bonding with John the Baptist (a surrogate father and mentor for Jesus in this crucial transitional period of his life); his joyful creativity and courage (after John's arrest) in his new-found 'calling' as 'generative' prophet-evangelist of God's love for the 'lost' (a father now himself with a 'family' of his own, one 'born not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the human will, but of God,'; his extraordinary faith and intuitively wise 'father-like' talent for relating helpfully to all types of people and situations (the fruit in part, no doubt, of an emotionally secure childhood and his years of leadership in his deceased father's family)."
Miller has raised an important question in his search for the psychological factors in Jesus' life. He has provided the means for us to reflect upon the influences on Jesus' life and the way he served as an example for us.
Who have been your mentors? What responsibility do we have to be role models for others in this time when there is concern about what it means to be ethical and honest?
What is our responsibility?
Do you have thoughts on this?
If so write me at charlesschuster@fcfumc.net. If you are willing to have others read your thoughts click on the "comments" box below.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Charles Schuster
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Tuesday's thoughts on Sunday's sermon
David Dalke is the preacher for Sunday, October 17th.
The sermon will call up for us one of the primary ideas of the Christian faith. We will hear a sermon about "unconditional love". We will be reminded that we are loved and cared for and the best we can do in life is to pass that on to others.
When we make mistakes there is the opportunity to try again and the God we worship forgives our mistakes. When others have done unto us what we do not appreciate we can apply that same sense of unconditional love to them.
Who are the people most difficult to love? Are they the ones who are most like us or most unlike us? Are they the ones we know best or we know least?
When have we most felt the need of love? When we have been overlooked? When we have sinned? When we have failed to live up to our values?
David Dalke would love to hear from you. His email address is ddalke37@cs.com.
If you are willing to have others read your reflections click on the "comments" box below.
I am posting this for David.
Charles Schuster
The sermon will call up for us one of the primary ideas of the Christian faith. We will hear a sermon about "unconditional love". We will be reminded that we are loved and cared for and the best we can do in life is to pass that on to others.
When we make mistakes there is the opportunity to try again and the God we worship forgives our mistakes. When others have done unto us what we do not appreciate we can apply that same sense of unconditional love to them.
Who are the people most difficult to love? Are they the ones who are most like us or most unlike us? Are they the ones we know best or we know least?
When have we most felt the need of love? When we have been overlooked? When we have sinned? When we have failed to live up to our values?
David Dalke would love to hear from you. His email address is ddalke37@cs.com.
If you are willing to have others read your reflections click on the "comments" box below.
I am posting this for David.
Charles Schuster
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Thursday's thoughts about Sunday's sermon
It has been on our minds lately with the miners trapped in Chili and the suggestion by the President of Chili that he thinks they may be able to free them by the 15th of October.
What does it mean to be trapped?
Have you ever felt trapped?
Some of us are trapped in a job and we don't see any way out of the situation. Some of us are trapped in a situation of poverty and we cannot imagine how things we ever be resolved.
The Christian faith has a lot to say about what it means to be trapped. It encourages us to think about way of being liberated and how we can liberate ourselves. It forces us to think of God as the source of our ultimate freedom.
What do you do when you are trapped into something and see no easy way out? If you have thoughts on this email Rebecca, our preacher for Sunday. Her address is rebeccamcfee@gmail.com.
She would look forward to hearing from you.
What does it mean to be trapped?
Have you ever felt trapped?
Some of us are trapped in a job and we don't see any way out of the situation. Some of us are trapped in a situation of poverty and we cannot imagine how things we ever be resolved.
The Christian faith has a lot to say about what it means to be trapped. It encourages us to think about way of being liberated and how we can liberate ourselves. It forces us to think of God as the source of our ultimate freedom.
What do you do when you are trapped into something and see no easy way out? If you have thoughts on this email Rebecca, our preacher for Sunday. Her address is rebeccamcfee@gmail.com.
She would look forward to hearing from you.
Monday, October 4, 2010
Monday's thoughts on Sunday's sermon
Rebecca McFee will be preaching this Sunday in the 8 am Chapel service and in the 9:15 and 10:45 services in the sanctuary.
The Crosswalk, alternative service at 10:45 in the Chapel will feature a group from Nashville called "The Weather Folk".
It will be another exciting Sunday at First Church.
Sunday evening's talent show was a remarkable combination of talent, and multi-generational interaction. We had young children featuring a puppet show, we had older children baton twirling and hula hooping, playing the piano. We had teenagers singing, playing violin and flute, we had college students who played cello, and carried out a humorous song "the pot luck queen", we had older people acting older than they were, and we had a tuba player who rewrote a song taken from West Side Story "Some Day A Van For Us". It all ended with a balladeer who sang "So Long, It's Been Good To Know You" and we had one church member who tried to insert herself into the event intermittently and humorously.
The food was great and significant money was raised toward the church van for the youth mission trips. There were between 150 and 200 people in attendance.
Last Sunday was Children's Sabbath and it was Communion Sunday and we had so many people we almost ran out of bread and juice. The Stover Street Stompers and the Joyful Noise Children's Choir sang and there were balloons all over the place.
At the end of the morning there were over 20 college students who met together for lunch and we had 10 people attending the membership meeting.
The church is thriving and growing and last Sunday was exciting.
I met with people from the worship services to get their ideas. If you have thoughts about worship in our church write me at charlesschuster@fcfumc.net.
Rebecca will give her "build a sermon" thoughts in this space soon but I wanted to share some of my observations about last Sunday. I have to attend a church meeting in Nashville next weekend. I am sorry to miss with is going on at the church. I'd rather be in Fort Collins.
Charles
The Crosswalk, alternative service at 10:45 in the Chapel will feature a group from Nashville called "The Weather Folk".
It will be another exciting Sunday at First Church.
Sunday evening's talent show was a remarkable combination of talent, and multi-generational interaction. We had young children featuring a puppet show, we had older children baton twirling and hula hooping, playing the piano. We had teenagers singing, playing violin and flute, we had college students who played cello, and carried out a humorous song "the pot luck queen", we had older people acting older than they were, and we had a tuba player who rewrote a song taken from West Side Story "Some Day A Van For Us". It all ended with a balladeer who sang "So Long, It's Been Good To Know You" and we had one church member who tried to insert herself into the event intermittently and humorously.
The food was great and significant money was raised toward the church van for the youth mission trips. There were between 150 and 200 people in attendance.
Last Sunday was Children's Sabbath and it was Communion Sunday and we had so many people we almost ran out of bread and juice. The Stover Street Stompers and the Joyful Noise Children's Choir sang and there were balloons all over the place.
At the end of the morning there were over 20 college students who met together for lunch and we had 10 people attending the membership meeting.
The church is thriving and growing and last Sunday was exciting.
I met with people from the worship services to get their ideas. If you have thoughts about worship in our church write me at charlesschuster@fcfumc.net.
Rebecca will give her "build a sermon" thoughts in this space soon but I wanted to share some of my observations about last Sunday. I have to attend a church meeting in Nashville next weekend. I am sorry to miss with is going on at the church. I'd rather be in Fort Collins.
Charles
Friday, October 1, 2010
Friday's thoughts on Sunday's sermon
This is how it seems to be related to who we are and how our identity is formed as Christian United Methodists.
1. Judaism has provided a sense of the profound power and awesomeness of God. Yahweh is the God is Isreal. Yahweh is "I am that I am". The Hebrew identity was formed by the understanding of that. The word Hebrew comes from the a form of a word that means "the leftovers". The people who were captive in Egypt had no sense of identity and little sense of belonging. The faith tradition that developed centered around the idea that they were a people of God; a chosen people. In fact they were the only non-chosen people and their God was the God of all people. They became the unchosen people who helped everyone realize that God was the God of all people. This is the God of justice and judgment. This is an ethical monotheism that is compelling and important. Moses is the source. Had it not been for Moses there would have been no Yahweh, no Elohim, no Adonai; no God to worship.
2. Christianity was a branch of Judaism and it came through Jesus, who was Jewish, and who gave us the idea of the God of love. For Jesus God was an eternal, caring, and supportive presence. Jesus gave us a loving God; a forgiving God; and a present God. Had the Magi and Jesus parents not protected him when he was an infant there would have been no Christian faith and we would not have the idea that at the source of creation and life there is a loving creator.
3. Methodism was brought into the world by John Wesley, an Oxford scholar who had the idea that we could and should exhibit what he called "social holiness". His brand of religion encouraged expression and emotion as well as reason. He believe that there is social action and he believed in the power and importance of grace and faith. John Wesley was a blend of the best of Judaism and the best of foundational Christianity. Had 5 year old John died in the house fire in his father's parsonage there would have been no Methodism and we would not have a way to blend the Old Testament with the New Testament in an approach that honored scripture, tradition, reason, and experience.
Each of us will have our own bias. We will lean toward the sense of the awe of God or the idea of the compassion of a loving God. We will have to find a way to allow those concepts and feelings to merge. As United Methodists we have found a good way to do just that.
Is it the Judaism that you are most attracted to? A distant God who compels justice and who requires worship? Is it a Christian God who encounters the love of God and the presence of God? Is it both at the same time? Is it the Methodist tendency that merges the variants?
How has your faith been formed?
It would be very different if Moses, or Jesus, or John Wesley had not been protected and saved when they were children.
If you have thoughts about this write me at charlesschuster@fcfumc.net. If you are willing to have others read your thoughts click on the "comments" box below. I look forward to hearing from you.
If you would like me to email the sermon draft to you later today or tomorrow morning let me know you would like to read it and I am happy to send that to you.
Charles Schuster
1. Judaism has provided a sense of the profound power and awesomeness of God. Yahweh is the God is Isreal. Yahweh is "I am that I am". The Hebrew identity was formed by the understanding of that. The word Hebrew comes from the a form of a word that means "the leftovers". The people who were captive in Egypt had no sense of identity and little sense of belonging. The faith tradition that developed centered around the idea that they were a people of God; a chosen people. In fact they were the only non-chosen people and their God was the God of all people. They became the unchosen people who helped everyone realize that God was the God of all people. This is the God of justice and judgment. This is an ethical monotheism that is compelling and important. Moses is the source. Had it not been for Moses there would have been no Yahweh, no Elohim, no Adonai; no God to worship.
2. Christianity was a branch of Judaism and it came through Jesus, who was Jewish, and who gave us the idea of the God of love. For Jesus God was an eternal, caring, and supportive presence. Jesus gave us a loving God; a forgiving God; and a present God. Had the Magi and Jesus parents not protected him when he was an infant there would have been no Christian faith and we would not have the idea that at the source of creation and life there is a loving creator.
3. Methodism was brought into the world by John Wesley, an Oxford scholar who had the idea that we could and should exhibit what he called "social holiness". His brand of religion encouraged expression and emotion as well as reason. He believe that there is social action and he believed in the power and importance of grace and faith. John Wesley was a blend of the best of Judaism and the best of foundational Christianity. Had 5 year old John died in the house fire in his father's parsonage there would have been no Methodism and we would not have a way to blend the Old Testament with the New Testament in an approach that honored scripture, tradition, reason, and experience.
Each of us will have our own bias. We will lean toward the sense of the awe of God or the idea of the compassion of a loving God. We will have to find a way to allow those concepts and feelings to merge. As United Methodists we have found a good way to do just that.
Is it the Judaism that you are most attracted to? A distant God who compels justice and who requires worship? Is it a Christian God who encounters the love of God and the presence of God? Is it both at the same time? Is it the Methodist tendency that merges the variants?
How has your faith been formed?
It would be very different if Moses, or Jesus, or John Wesley had not been protected and saved when they were children.
If you have thoughts about this write me at charlesschuster@fcfumc.net. If you are willing to have others read your thoughts click on the "comments" box below. I look forward to hearing from you.
If you would like me to email the sermon draft to you later today or tomorrow morning let me know you would like to read it and I am happy to send that to you.
Charles Schuster
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
