UR Dust
I saw this playful wording on one of those small candy hearts in a meme on social media recently. It points to the rare coincidence of Ash Wednesday in the Christian year landing on Valentine’s Day of the calendar year. Yet, while they are seeming distinct from one another, there actually is an overlap in their significance.
Saint Valentine was a third-century Roman saint, commemorated in Western Christianity on February 14 (and in Eastern Orthodoxy on July 6). Since the High Middle Ages, his Saint’s Days have been associated with a tradition of courtly love. Saint Valentine was a clergyman – either a priest or a bishop – in the Roman Empire who ministered to persecuted Christians. He was martyred and his body buried on the Via Flaminia on February 14, which has been observed as the Feast of Saint Valentine since at least the eighth century. (Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Valentine). He properly understood that his life was temporary and given in love to be in service to Christ and to Christ’s people.
On Ash Wednesday, we are given to remember that our life – like Jesus’ life – is temporary and given in love by God to be in service to others.
During our Ash Wednesday service, we will read scripture and engage in responsive readings and silent prayer all allowing us to confess our sin that gets in the way of our living out the mandate Christ has given us for our lives: “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another” (John 13:34). You will not receive a little candy heart, but instead ashes imposed upon your forehead with these words, “From dust you came; to dust you shall return.” It’s a reminder in part that Christ’s life and our faith in that life put to death the sin within us. The words also remind us that we have a finite amount of time on this earth to live out every day the love of that same Christ, placed in us by the Holy Spirit to share with all. It’s a quieter, reflective and darker experience that begins the Lenten journey of prayer and preparation for the Easter triumph.
I invite you to come for worship on Ash Wednesday, Feb. 14, at 7 p.m. in the Sanctuary , not in spite of Valentine’s Day, but because of it.
Connecting God and Grace to Self and Community,
Oh, NOW it Makes Sense!
The most satisfying piece of writing I have ever completed was the 30 pages I wrote in seminary called a “Credo.” Over the course of two semesters, we immersed ourselves in what theologians said about the various doctrines of the church (fun fact: one of those was member Marty Deschner’s father, John). However, the final project was to write our own credo about what we believed.
Though my beliefs have evolved somewhat since that writing 35 years ago, I can still say with reasoned and experiential confidence, This I believe! It feels now like it did then: a place to stand and claim my source of being and my reason for the way I move through life. My credo gives me a grounded sense of worth and purpose, regardless of what comes my way in life.
The Apostles’ Creed gave its writers and hearers that same sense of being, worth, and purpose. As we have stepped through our Apostles’ Creed series, I have been humbled by the comments of many who have found insight, joy, and strength in this sermon series about this ancient credo as we have visited the doctrines of God, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit and the church. One example: I learned of a member’s father who, at 97, never said the Apostles’ Creed because he didn’t “believe in the holy catholic church!” How sad that no one taught him along the way what that line in the Creed actually meant (universal church) … a hundred years before the Roman Catholic Church was created! For others who have recited the Creed all their lives, there have been new realizations that, “Oh, NOW it makes sense.”
This week, the Rev. Dr. Gayle Landis will be preaching on the ”forgiveness of sins.” She has also created a helpful study guide for class or personal use. It is available at our Welcome Center. My hope with this series is that we will feel even more strongly grounded in our faith and proud to say our own credo, This I believe! with our sisters and brothers in Christ at FUMC Plano.
Connecting God and Grace to Self and Community,
It’s Not a Budget; It’s a Ministry Investment
Our Minister to Youth and Families, Sarah Henson, and I were discussing the value of a Summer Intern position and the aid it provides for ministry for a summer season at FUMC Plano.
The person will assist and participate in camps and trips for youth and children. She or he will learn skill sets of time-management, planning, recruiting, and follow-through on details. But the intern will also be participating in spiritual practices of prayer, Bible study, accountability groups, worship, and worship leadership. In short, the intern will be exploring a possible call to ministry within the church, as a layperson or a pastor at some point. That discernment is what our investment helps provide for the future of the church.
I just returned from a week of interviews of persons called of God to set-apart ministry within the UMC as an Elder or a Deacon. In nearly all of their stories, there is a church who saw the call of God within them, nurtured them in that calling, and invested in opportunities for them to explore that calling within the life of the church. It is holy work, and I am proud that FUMC Plano is a church that not only looks for persons with gifts for ministry, but also invests in their calling and their discernment. It is so much more than a budget that we are building for 2024. It is an investment in people’s lives and their ministries – both lay and clergy – working together to extend the love of Jesus Christ in so many varied and wonderful ways. Thank you for supporting that investment.
Connecting God and Grace to Self and Community,
Thank You for Your Grace and Generosity
With the holidays behind us, I sit humbled in the wake of an incredible wave of grace and generosity that rolled over our staff and our church during the season.
Your staff worked hard to create a series of meaningful worship and musical experiences that drew more people in December and Christmas Eve than we have seen in four years; we had nearly 700 at the 7 p.m. Christmas Eve service alone. It was breathtaking and exhilarating for us. New people attending and members coming back have encouraged all of us. Additionally, your cards, e-mails and delicious goodies fueled us in body and spirit throughout the season.
The other surprise was the generosity of giving for the year-end Christmas Offering. There was not one, extraordinary gift that made the difference; it was dozens of persons and families giving faithfully that enabled FUMC Plano to finish “in the black” for the second consecutive year, making it possible to maintain our $130,000 reserve and build on that with proceeds from the land sale this year (see update in this week’s e-Newsletter).
This in turn provides time and space as a “Futurist Team” elected by our Church Council, does the deep work this year to prayerfully discern what FUMC Plano needs to look like as she right-sizes for the mission before her in a changing culture and mission field. As Bishop Saenz Jr. has said, we are interested in building a church for our children and grandchildren’s generations. What does that look like and what is the “business model” to sustain that outreach? This group will explore those questions and more in concert with our Council. Add to that the physical changes that will come with new construction around us, 2024 is shaping up to be a very exciting year.
In the meantime, on behalf of our staff and leadership, I praise God and thank you for being vessels of God’s surprising grace and generosity for the mission Christ has given all of us. Blessings upon you in this new year.
Connecting God and Grace to Self and Community,
I Believe in Jesus Christ ...
This past Sunday we had our first installment about “God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth” in our 6-week series, “The Apostles’ Creed – What do we REALLY believe?” This Sunday we explore the meaning of what we say when we recite together, “I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son our Lord.”
I think that in our individualized, compartmentalized, and consumeristic culture, it’s easy to fall into the trap of “I” and what “I” want to believe; what I want for “me” and “my” salvation. This starts from the wrong side of salvation. Salvation begins with God and God’s grace upon each one of us, and us collectively as God’s people. As I often say, the Bible knows nothing of “Lone Ranger Christianity” (or Judaism, or Islam). “I” am understood by God to be part of a greater “we.” This has important implications for us and for the world.
Our prayers can unconsciously become focused on what “I” need God to do for “me.” But what Jesus of Nazareth’s prayers witnessed in his 3-4 year ministry was a focus on others’ needs first and what he could do for them (Matthew 9: 18-26, John 17:9, Hebrews 7:25). When this stance increasingly becomes the stance of a congregation, then mountains start moving; healing of wounds and transformation of lives begin to happen; hope is created and restored. Jesus told his disciples (i.e., us) that they would do what he did and greater things still (John 14:12). This becomes the progressive effect of us saying individually and collectively, “I believe in Jesus Christ.”
Upon finishing an Emmaus Walk – a retreat short course on the Christian faith – participants are given a medallion which reads, “I am counting on Christ, and Christ is counting on me.” The writers of that curriculum and process got it right. See you Sunday; Christ is counting on you for what Christ wants us to do in the world.
Connecting God and Grace to Self and Community,
What a Great Place to Begin and Believe!
I confess to being amazed at the numbers of people who kept coming in on Sunday, Dec. 24. Between rain in the morning and the Cowboys in the afternoon, my expectations for attendance were very modest. Historically, Christmas Eve attendance is a little over double the average Sunday attendance. Our in-house Sunday morning average has been around 310. I estimated we would have somewhere around 700 for Christmas Eve services.
We worshipped with 1,156. That is in addition to the 170 who came for the fourth Sunday of Advent that morning. As Rev. Gayle Landis said, “the ushers really had to ‘ush’ at the 7 p.m. service, there were so few seats left.” And the children filled the front in their manger costumes as the story was told at the 5 p.m. service. It was a glorious Advent and Christmas season for FUMC Plano, and the attendance speaks for the hunger that people have for something more, something profound, something deeply personal, something they can hold onto and believe. As our church sign says, “This is a GREAT place to start your year.”
This Sunday, we begin a new series, “The Apostles’ Creed: What do We REALLY Believe?” An accompanying study guide by Rev. Dr. Gayle Landis is available for small groups’ and individual’s use. For six weeks leading up to Lent, we will explore the basic tenets of our Christian faith and the answers they provide for our deepest questions. As we begin a new year, I can think of few places to better ground ourselves: the historic faith and this church family. I look forward to seeing you in person and online.
Blessings upon you and the year where God is waiting for you with grace, strength, and peace.
Happy (Re)New(al) Year!
Such an odd thing, having Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve on a Sunday. Because it only happens every seven years, it surprises us with its timing. I am still wondering how many people came to our “regular” Sunday morning service last week thinking it would be a Christmas Eve service! Hopefully they came back for one of those services in the afternoon and evening.
Because both of this year’s “Eves” land on Sunday, I thought we would do something different this Sunday morning – a Wesley Covenant Service.
From the time of John Wesley over 250 years ago, Methodist people have variously renewed their covenant with God and the church with a liturgy of readings, prayer and holy communion. This was done each year in the Methodist “societies” in the evening of New Year’s Eve – back when alcohol was completely taboo. I did not think that either of these conditions would lead to very good attendance. So instead, we will incorporate the covenant-making into our morning worship services along with a time of prayer at the prayer rail. It is an opportunity to be on our knees and reflect on God’s grace in our lives, God’s calling upon our lives, and our covenant to live into that calling in 2024. Think of it as a holy new year’s resolution!
As I said in a sermon a few weeks ago, I cannot change the war problem, the race problem, the economic problem or the pollution problem. But by the Spirit of the living God, I can change what I do – one decision, one person, one opportunity at a time and trust that in covenant with other like-minded, like-hearted people, it makes a difference.
See you at the renewal rally at the rail this Sunday,
Christmas Trees and the Christ in You
I learned something new this past week in one of the daily devotionals from Father Richard Rohr of the Catholic Church. Up until the 13th century, the Church only celebrated Holy Week and Easter; the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus was the whole focus of the church up to that point. Then Father Francis came along.
Francis understood and believed deeply that, “In the beginning was the Word(the Christ)” and that all things that came into being came through him” (John 1: 1-3). Because of that belief, Francis thought the church should celebrate the birth of Jesus in addition to his resurrection from death. So it was that in the 13th century, the Christ Mass or, “Christmas” slowly came to be celebrated.
Because all things came into being through the Word with God, Francis believed the image of God to be in all things, animate and inanimate – rocks and birds and animals and … trees. So it was that Francis also encouraged people to put lights in their trees at Christmas, celebrating the light of Christ in all things.
This Christmas Eve, along with the lights in our Christmas trees, we will all have a candle to be lit from the Christ Candle after we share Holy Communion together. We will lift our burning candles to “Silent Night,” celebrating the Light coming into the world again this Christmas. But I want you to know that we also lift our candles celebrating the Light – the Christ – within you, a light that was placed there by God from your very conception. You are the image of God and I for one will thank God for that joy to the world.
Connecting God and Grace to Self and Community,