Notes from the Pulpit

I have always been aware that my family had a lot of cancer in it.  We haven’t been so much of a heart problem family, but we sure have had cancer.  My mother got sick at 48 and died at 52.  Many other aunts, uncles, and cousins died of various types of cancer.  That is why I have always looked for things you could do to prevent cancer. 

Last year I reached my 60^th birthday and I figured I had beat the cancer problem in my family.  I then assumed I would die the way my father did….with Alzheimer’s…at age 90.  His father (my grandfather) died before him at age 90 with what they called then hardening of the arteries.  During the past six months or so I thought I might be contracting this dementia problem younger than they did.  Things have not been working so well for me mentally for several months now.  Still, I never would have guessed a brain tumor.  The doctors tell me that this is just a random genetic thing that strikes mostly Scotch-Irish men.  Then I remembered my uncle, Frank McMillan, who died of a brain tumor when I was very young.  And I also realized a truth that I have heard before.  I have been concerned with health and fitness and those things for years, but the truth comes through:  Life is like a box of chocolates- you don’t know what you’re gonna get.  In spite of planning, working, avoiding, and everything else we do in life….a lot of life just happens.  It is an  humbling experience.  We spend so much time and energy trying to control and set things up, and then things “just happen.”

You should know this.  It is OK.  I have been struggling to handle things that were beyond my capacity for some time now, and it is actually comforting to know that I cannot.  Now I can relax.  I know that I do not know…and often misunderstand.  My sons are grown and on their own.  I was 14 when my mother died.  I am glad they do not have to go through that.  I have had 34 years in the ministry.  My wife has a place to move into (we purchased a condo in Simpsonville last year).  Things are OK.

Years ago I remember my father describing life as having three stages.  First you prepare to do.  Then you do.  And, finally, you think about what you have done.  As I remembered this and anticipated moving into the third stage I realized the part he left out.  The last stage is the stage when you focus on the life beyond.  Many people seem to simply believe that the next life is somehow a continuation of this life.  I do not believe that.  Faith teaches us something else.  This life is a mixture of good and evil, of joy and struggle.  Eternal life is life as part of God where there is only life and light and joy and peace.  Nothing else is there.  It is all God.  It is a condition where we spend eternity dwelling on the splendor of God.  If I am in the last stage of life I am sure I will spend some time reflecting on what I have experienced and done.  That is natural I am sure,  but it is not enough.  This is the time to look ahead to the condition of eternal life that is beyond this physical body and this physical world.  I can’t really imagine it, but I can wonder about it.  And I am already starting to do that.

                                                                        Jerry M. James

NOTES ON THE ENERGY CRISIS

Do you remember what it was like before air conditioning? We had an attic fan that cooled our house at night. As I got older there was a window fan in my bedroom. And there was a space heater that had to be lit in the morning in the winter. We survived just fine. The times we felt were hardships were when we visited my grandfather near Anderson. It was always colder there and there was no heat at all in the room where we slept. There was always a stack of blankets and quilts on the bed in that room. It was cold when you got up (or turned over) but we made it just fine.

Do you remember a time when everyone did not have a car? We always had more vehicles that most people because my father had a couple of trucks and a VW that he used in his landscape business. But the kids didn’t have cars. We got along.

One of the images I still remember was my mother’s closet after she died. I never realized she had so few clothes. She always said she would rather have a few nice things than many not so nice things.

We have so much now, don’t we? Most nights there are two televisions on in my house. Tisha and I don’t like to watch the same things. Of course, we also occasionally turn on the computer while the TVs are on to check e-mail or something. I think I am most aware of how much we have when I am talking on the telephone while checking something on the internet and my cell phone rings.

Of course, all this stuff (these extra clothes, TVs, computers, cars, cell phones, bigger houses, etc.) takes more time and energy and resources. Sometimes it makes our lives better but often it just makes us busier and more harried.

We are all worried about the current energy situation in our world. We have always known that if the Chinese tried to live like we do then there would be a crisis in the world. Well, that is exactly what is happening. The Chinese, the Indians, the Brazilians, and others are trying to live like us…..and there is not enough. So we are worried and threatened. Our lifestyle is at risk.

Did you ever think that for some of us that might be a good thing? Maybe some of us would be better off with less stuff and a simpler life? Of course some people say they are already living with too little, and that is true. But for many of us….maybe this is an opportunity to live a simpler and happier life. The beatitudes tell us that “the meek shall inherit the earth.” Simple is good. Perhaps if we have less we will appreciate it more. Possibly there is an up side to all this. Of course people don’t think this way who have lost their job or their home, but in the greater scheme of things…… the economy isn’t God, and the best life is not the life with the most possessions. The current confusion can help us see that a simpler life can be a better life. Remember the story Jesus told about the son who took his inheritance and squandered it on riotous living…and ended up miserable?

Remember the words of George Burns in that great movie “O God,” He said “I still have a plan. It can still work.”

Jerry M. James

Passionate Spirituality….what does that mean? Do you know? I am learning. At least, I am learning what the Natural Church Development people say it is. And the reason that is important is because several months ago the leadership of our Church completed a survey designed to help us identify our strengths and weaknesses. Our MINIMUM FACTOR was passionate spirituality. This is not my judgment, mind you, although I was one of a number of people who completed the survey. This is the finding from the entire group. What does this mean? It means, that of the eight areas the survey measures, this is our weakest area. According to this method of Church development, a church should focus its attention on its weakest area.

After several days of thinking about this process the best way I can describe what these results are telling us is this….we have many good characteristics in our Church, but we are not really that concerned with spiritual things. And, if I can editorialize, we are really more concerned with Church traditions, social activities, and non spiritual things. This is disturbing for one simple reason….it is completely out of line with our purpose statement….

“to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ, to develop disciples that produce fruits of the Spirit, and to relieve suffering.”

For me, the question is really this, “how do I address this?” As I have thought about these things one thing is very clear: I can only present opportunities to be addressed. The addressing must come from the individuals and groups that make up this Church. To be more spiritual does not mean we have to come to Church more. Nor do we have to do more programs or study. This is really a very simple thing. Each of us must ask, “do I desire to live a more spiritual life,” not just in my Church life, but also in my daily living. The old Methodist way of saying this is “do I want to be more holy?” An even older way of stating the concept is “do I want to walk in the Christian way in my daily living?”

What do you think? Brother Lawrence suggested we do this by practicing the presence of God in our daily living. He did this in such a way that even when he was peeling potatoes he felt the presence of God with him. I pray that each of us seek the presence of God wherever we go, whatever we do. This is true holiness. It does not make you a snob, or a self-righteous person. It simply allows us to live in the awareness that we are God’s every minute of every day.

There will be more said about passionate spirituality in the months ahead, and there will be occasions to help us live more spiritually aware. But for now, please know, Christianity is not really about the Church building, the preacher, the choir, the budget, or the size of the Church. Christianity is about persons living Christian lives; lives made different because they walk in the way of Jesus. Plant this thought in your mind….

everything I do, every where I go, every decision I make, involves my Christian life and my Christian witness.

And, so you do not misunderstand…this survey does not say we are not doing this now. It simply suggests that we think this is our weakest area.

Jerry M. James

PASTOR’S NOTES

What does Pentecost mean to you? I suspect it means one of a number of possibilities. First, it is a reminder of some magical story from long ago where strange things happened that we cannot possibly understand. Second, it might be understood by you as the birthday of the Church. It was on the Pentecost after the Resurrection that the Spirit came and the Church was born. This is true, but it places Pentecost in the ancient past.

Another understanding of Pentecost is a call for the Church to be born again, or anew. John Wesley understood this in the beginning of Methodism. The Church was there, but it was locked in old forms ministering to those who were comfortable in the established Church of the time. Their idea was….if all those “other” people out there want a Church….here we are. Wesley took the Church to the people. He preached where they were and he and his brother Charles adapted many well-known tunes of their time into hymns. They used existing tunes and wrote new words. In other words, they Christianized the secular.

Pentecost is a time to remember the “continuing creation of God.” The Holy Spirit is a very NOW thing. It cannot be put into a box. As we remember how the Church faced resistance from the established religion at the time, we need to also realize that we are prone to put our faith in the past rather than in a present moving to a greater future. Traditions can be useful and helpful, but they can be limiting. Sometimes we need new wine skins.

As we celebrate Pentecost this year understand it as a call to be open to the Spirit. In spite of our desire to have religion comfortable and familiar, the Spirit moves us and calls us to step out in challenging new directions. This is the same Spirit that called Abraham, who was an old man, to go to a place he had never been. There is a difference between a whim and the Spirit, of course. We need to be grounded in the basics of the faith to handle the new thing. But make no mistake; the new thing does come. We are called to move forward, no matter how old or comfortable we are in the faith. Pentecost is a reminder that faith calls us forward to the new challenge God has for us.

This year Pentecost is May 11. That date, however, is only a reminder of our being given a fresh day every day. Faith on.

Jerry M. James

Easter is the season of new beginnings, of the unexpected surprise, of wonder, and of grace. Those of us who have been Christians know this. We observe and remember this every year. Yet isn’t it interesting how we even use the occasion of Easter as a time of “doing the same old thing.” We get caught in the trap of holding on to the tradition even when the tradition is the unexpected surprise. Leslie Weatherhead’s question is as relevant now as it was years ago when he first asked “Which side of Easter do you live on?” Are we stuck in the old or open to the new thing God is doing?…has already done?

As older adults we have to ask ourselves if we are alive today or stuck in the past. When the question is asked we always answer “I live for today,” but our actions often betray us. The fact is, as we get older we need to work at doing new things. We do not need to change everything, of course, but we need to continue to learn new things and have new experiences to keep us from becoming stagnant. Science tells us that our brains actually need to be exercised to fight dementia. Our brains need new experiences to keep vital. Actually, so do our lives. Easter reminds us that there is an unexpected surprise awaiting each of us and all of us. Are you open to it, or are you stuck on the other side of Easter…still in Lent? Nothing is more deadly than the same old thing over and over again. There is no life in it. Everything doesn’t have to change at once, of course, but we can and need to make regular small changes to keep things vital, to keep us open to new possibilities.

The basic requirement to living a life of faith is looking ahead rather than looking back. This is a message that our society needs to hear, receive, and practice. We are in the midst of a rapidly changing world where the call is not to go back but to find the way forward. The challenge is to find our way through the problems to a better tomorrow. Scripture is full of times like this. The story of Joseph in the Old Testament and Joseph in the New Testament are stories about such challenging times. Moses faced such challenges during the Exodus. And the disciples certainly faced change and unknown after Jesus.

So, the basic question we ask ourselves is this. Are we looking back or ahead? To live looking back is to be forever forlorn and wistful. To live looking ahead is best described by the prophet…”and their old men shall dream dreams and their young men shall see visions.”

With the perspective of faith, of the good news, life is great. And when you hear someone say “who changed things?” you will know you are still alive and Easter is still real.

Jerry M. James