spiristirrer

Recently a lay leader at Squyres told me about a quiz he was giving his students the next day. The quiz was about the Five Characteristics of Living Things:

1. Are organized or have an orderly structure.
2. Respond to their environment- this includes homeostasis: mantaining proper internal conditions.
3. Take in and use energy.
4. Grow and develop: individual cells grow and the organism grows by adding new cells – over a lifetime, living things develop and change.
5. Reproduce.

Upon hearing these characteristics a “light bulb” went on and theological senses heightened. Here is my version of the theological characteristics of living churches:

1. Are Community: are organized and structured communally.
2. Are Missional: Respond to their environment.
3. Are led by the Spirit: Take in and use the Spirit’s power.
4. Are Maturing: grow in & develop their discipleship (sanctification).
5. Are Reproducing: make disciples by sharing the good news with others.

So is our church “alive?” What can we do to make sure that it is? What are your thoughts?

Peace, Juan+

In a recent congregational letter I invited our members to journey with us. For those of you who know me this will not be a surprise. I am one who has been deeply formed by the idea of life as a journey, especially as a person of faith.

I have been on a journey my whole life. I have moved many times, went to many different schools, different churches, and have met many wonderful people. There have been heartbreaks along the way but by and large it has been a wonderful life. In fact, I would not be who I am if I had not been on those “adventures”(as my family sometimes refers to our travels).

Being on a journey is an intentional decision. You prepare for it and within it are always aware of where you are, taking it all in, knowing that at every point God is there guiding, prodding, and inviting.

In baptism we have been initiated in a communal journey. Our walk is not solitary but instead it includes all the faithful from the beginning of time. That community takes shape in our worship on the Lord’s day as we gather around font, word, and table. In the gathering of God’s people we rehearse what it means to be on this journey, what it means to be in it together.

I am thankful for the many who have walked this journey with me. Father and mother who got me started, a sister who was an early companion, now a wife and children who walk with me hand in hand. There have also been others: friends, colleagues, teachers, mentors, and strangers. All have been companions, all have been Christ for me at different times, all have made a mark in my life.

God is constantly inviting us to be part of this great adventure that we call a life of faith. I wonder if we will take God on that invitation? I wonder if we will join him and the community of faith in this journey?

Peace, Juan+

In a recent blog my best friend, brother, and colleague Josh Hale asked the question “What is it like to be a priest, a prophet, a preacher, a pastor, a parson?” it was interesting that he asked the question because I have been asking it about myself in the last few weeks. What is like and what does it mean? Why do I do what I do each day? What does it mean to feel called to it?

I agree with Josh that most of us do a poor job at describing our vocation. Complaining, sharing “war” stories and whining does not help those called to answer that call. In fact for many it’s probably a big turn off when they hear pastors describing what they do in such negative ways.

I do what I do because I believe! I believe in the transformative power of the gospel. I believe in the amazing empowerment of the Spirit that the gathering called the church has to carry out God’s vision in the world. I believe that some of us have been called by God to lead God’s people into that fullness into God’s own work. I believe that the work is grounded in the incarnation as we become the body of Christ for the world. I believe passionately . . . maybe at times to my detriment.

All of this to say that I believe in the church and in its power to be God’s agent in the world. Every church has that response-ability in their own community where ever they are. I believe in our own congregation Squyres UMC and in its potential to be this kind of transformative community in this place. I Believe . . .

Peace, Juan+

“Later of course we realized that such a day-brightener as Alex wouldn’t want to be held close by grief. Now I see him best when I grieve him least.”

William Sloane Coffin in Letters to a Young Doubter

My dear Garrett,

I can’t believe it has been two years. In some ways the memories of that day are still so raw, maybe even permanently chiseled in my soul. Yet in other ways much has happened in the last two years. We have celebrated the arrival of your brother Nate, baptized him, and are now amazed to see how much he has grown. Avery has become a great baseball player and we celebrate that legacy, your legacy in his life.

And then there was my move to a new church. Although excited there was some sadness that we would not be close to your parents and to our circle of friends. In the last year since the move we have realized time and time again that the bond we share is one that is stronger than miles in between and paralleled lives. Your leaving in some ways cemented what we knew was there long before.

I am not where Coffin is . . . I am trying to grieve you less. I am trying to honor you in my work each day. Then Sunday after Sunday I get on my knees and see little hands outstretched, little hands begging for a little bread. Little hands eager, open, ready, to hear the words “every time you eat this bread remember you are a beloved child of God.” And there you are, part of the great communion of saints that interceded for us and who gathers with us in the braking of the bread. So I am trying to let go and to celebrate your “day-brightedness” by grieving you less.

And then there are those that you have given life! Those understand Coffin well. Thanks to your gift of self others have found life when death was so near. So on this 2nd anniversary of your leaving us I celebrate life! I invite all those who want to make a difference to consider the giving of themselves in organ donation. I invite them to read your story and talk to their loved ones about this important issue.

Your mother sent us a text recently reminding us that in some ways we were all your godparents. What an awesome and honored place in your life! So I am thankful that I had the opportunity to remind you of the love of God for you, in a small way I did my duty as a godparent without even knowing it.

Thank you again for your constant presence, for the constant reminder that I am doing God’s work, for me, each day. I’ll see you soon!

Peace & much Love, Juan+

It had been there a while. I could not remember at what point it emerged. In some ways I think it had always been there, I had always known.

And then there was that moment when I was 12. It was the practice of our congregation to allow children at age 12 to read scripture during worship. I remember anticipating that 12 birthday and how excited I was when soon thereafter I received my first reading assignment. I do not remember the passage, I do remember standing before my congregation barely seen behind that pulpit and reading God’s word to them. I believe this was the moment when I knew! God was calling me to be a proclaimer of this word!

Life happens though. Like many other pastor’s kids I let my own experience (painful at times) of my father’s pastoral work to make me forget that moment. By the time high school came I was sure that the last thing I wanted to be was a pastor.

The church remained faithful to their calling. They supported me in immeasurable ways, gave me opportunities for leadership and saw gifts in me that I could not see in myself at the time. Discernment was a communal experience.

I could write pages on the next few years as I went into college, majored in religion, left the church (in spirit although not in body) and then found my calling again at a different congregation, this time in The United Methodist Church. At each of these turning points the community of faith continued to call, continued to be God’s voice, continued to give me opportunities to experience leadership in a christian community.

It has been a little over four years since I finished seminary. It seems like just the other day that I walked on the campus of Candler School of Theology, it seems like an eternity! Since then I have pastored, first as an associate and in the last year as a solo pastor of a rural congregation. It has not all been easy but there is not a day that I am not reminded that this is what God has called me to do!

The process took time. There were many forms to fill out, many interviews, many assignments, many conversations. At each step there were opportunities for continual discernment and exploration. Opportunities to hear God’s voice calling again.

God calls all of us. Us with different gifts, abilities, and life stories. God calls us to faithful proclamation and active engagement for the life of the world. Some are called to leadership in christian communities, around table & bath, around towel and basin. These are the cornerstones of ordained ministry.

Sometimes I still feel like that twelve year old. Am I tall enough for the pulpit, for the table, for moments of holy conversation? At these times I remember the church gathered on that day long ago, their smiles, their attention, their knowledge that God was calling.

That same God still calls each day! Discernment never ends!

Peace, Juan+

P.S. If you are exploring a call to ordained ministry please consider attending Exploration 2009!

As a pastor I am blessed to be there during important times in people’s life. Among my favorite times

In the latest Christian Century magazine (November 3) David J. Wood, senior pastor of Glencoe Union Church in Glencoe Ill., reviews a book called From Midterms to Ministry: Practical Theologians on Pastoral Beginnings, ed. Allan Hugh Cole Jr. His review of this book solidified my own need to reflect more deeply on my own beginning and on what has transpired since.

I don’t yet have the privilege of decades in ministry. I am one of those young pastors who only has years behind him, and few at that! I’m now on my fifth year being called pastor . . . five years of attempting to lead a faith community, five years of joys, disappointments, and continued discernment.

Maybe the fact that it’s so fresh allows me to remember more vividly the transition. Those painful mornings when I would arrive in my office wondering what I was supposed to do. Or those “firsts:” funeral, visit, someone makes an appointment to “see” you, ICU visit, sermon, broken pipe, leaky roof, “personnel” problems . . . the list could go on!

I also remember the pain of letting go of my life as a student. It could be described as a grieving process. No longer part of a community of learning. No longer part of this important rhythm of learning, prayer, service. In some ways it was a deeply formative rhythm in my life.

Getting up early to lead morning prayers in the chapel. Going to class and soon finding myself back in the chapel, this time for word and table. Then after more classes and one more chapel service I would find myself in chapel again to close my week. This time the rhythm slowed as we gathered, heard, reflected, and broke bread! Now empowered I was ready for whatever came my way.

I found it jarring not to have this communal rhythm of learning, prayer, and service in the local church. It was almost like I could not find my way without it . . . I was not sure I even knew who I was without it.

It was replaced by a more mundane one. Phone calls, e-mail messages, paperwork, and people “stopping by.” And then there were the meetings, deadlines (another newsletter had to go out) and a run to the hospital. No morning prayer, no lecture or exciting theological conversation, no word and table . . .

Then Katrina came! We had no floods of water where I lived, we had floods of people. Anxious people, tired people, scared people, people hungry for good news! Collared I went . . . to where people were, oil stock in hand, ready to listen. The stories came, the tears, the sadness, the fear and little by little their stories and the stories of the many others since, became my rhythm.

I’ve tried to leave many times . . . to run away to a better, more fulfilling vocation. I have tried to convince myself that I’ve been called to other things, to less mundane things, to more heavenly things! But then a knock on the door of my office, a ringing phone, an invitation to come by is all it takes; someone wants to talk, someone wants to share their story. The words of morning prayer ring in my ears “O Lord Open My lips, that my mouth shall proclaim your praise!”

I’ve been called to this and God is still calling me to it. It is the mundane that God has called me to, it is the ministry of healing, forgiving, and reconciling. The ministry of blessing, breaking, sharing; the ministry of being present in the name of the anointed and poured out One, Jesus the Christ.

Now if I could just remember that each day is a pastoral beginning!

Peace, Juan+

This past Friday my sister in law woke up early to be at a local department store at 2:45 in the morning. She wanted to be part of so called “black Friday,” the day after thanksgiving shopping extravaganza that supposedly kicks off the holiday shopping season. She was there with hundreds of others who were hoping to find “great deals” on gifts out of their holiday list.

I personally do not understand it. Why would you get up so early to shop? What kind of deal is worth showing up at a department store at 2:45 in the morning? What does it say about us that this is the way that we kick off the holiday season?

This past Sunday many of my parishioners showed up to church still “high” from a few days of shopping. They spent all weekend listening to Christmas songs, seeing Christmas decorations, and buying Christmas gifts. Many woke up before dawn on Friday to get a great deal and will probably have trouble staying awake for the worship service (if they show up at all).

Instead of the loud crowds, bright decorations, and cheery music they will encounter a quiet atmosphere, purple paraments, and reflective music. They came from a Christmas world into an Advent space. There could not be a bigger contrast and for some a more difficult culture shock!

A sense of culture shock continues with the readings. The gospel has Jesus warning his disciples about the end of things. Creation, nations, and people are all a part of this in-braking, of this transformation, of this end. Jesus tells his disciples to recognize the “signs” and to be “alert.” Although all of this sounds scary, disciples of Jesus should not be afraid, instead we should “stand up and raise [our] heads, because [our] redemption is drawing near.” (Luke 21:28)

All of this comes together to give us a different view of what is really needed in the world and in each of us. Gifts, spending, and long lines are not needed according to the Advent message. What is needed most is a savior.

In line there are people who are looking for something. Many look forward to this time of the year to get a reprieve from their life. Others are hoping that the gift giving, the music, and the excitement of others will rub off so that they can find the peace that they are looking for. And there are still others on the margins who observe all of this happening wondering if this year will be any different.

In the everyday of life, in the mess of things, in the brokenness of things a savior comes. God knows that in the midst of the celebration there is sadness, pain, and strife. We as people of faith are called to pay attention, and to be alert so that we can be the bearers of the good news.

Are we paying attention to the signs around us that tell us what people are searching for? Are we as people of faith too busy ourselves to recognize our own need for salvation? Are we too caught up in religious things, not noticing the groaning of creation and the silent cries of humanity?

In small ways we are being called to actively rehearse the coming of God in the world. People are obviously hungry for good news, they might not even know of their deep hunger, they might not realize that what they need is not another gift, they might not know the real reason for this time of the year. I commit to look around, to see the signs everywhere, to pay attention, to tell the world that our redemption is drawing near!

Advent is a time of reflection and preparation for the coming Christ in us and in the world. I know about preparation for a child well. For each of my three children the preparation has been different but important. In fact just 13 weeks ago we welcomed Lucas to the world. In the midst of much activity, he came and all of a sudden nothing else mattered but him.

Shortly after Lucas’ birth I received a call from a friend congratulating me on Lucas’ arrival and reminding me that when I was ready she had a place for me to “get away” and have a “day apart.”

That was over two months now. But this past Monday I got in the car and drove a few hours to have this time with God. I did not realized it when I set up this time but by the time it came it was desperately needed.

A colleague joined me in this time as a fellow companion and seeker. We sat, prayed, practiced much silence, and journaled along the way. Little by little that stuff that hides deep in our souls began to come to the surface.

I was tired, exhausted, and wondering about what was next. I needed a savior too!

By the time the afternoon came there was much clarity and a deep sense of calm. I’ve been with God. We had an opportunity to be together and chat about some very important things. Now I felt ready for what was unfolding in my life. Now I was ready to go back to life, to the everyday, knowing that God is there along the way, walking with me, even when I don’t realize it. I knew this already, but the truth is that all of us need this reminder in our lives.

All of us need “a day away” every now and then so that we can be reminded, as W Paul Jones tells us in A Season in the Desert, that in our living and practicing, the Christian life “emerges as pilgrimage, as we seek meaning through the sacralizing of time and space, with their intersection understood as revelation.”  p. 48

In this renewal we are once again face to face with a God for whom real life matters and who takes that life and makes it holy.

As we continue waiting we long for the coming Christ who makes this renewal of time and space possible. May we take this time to reflect upon this promise and make this season a “season away” as we wait.

Soon many of our churches will be filled. People will gather from different places and find time to sing Silent Night and light candles. Some there are family members that are visiting for the holiday, but most are “members” of your congregation that you only see at Christmas and Easter.

Last night in a conversation with a colleague this topic came up. We were discussing the difficulties of preaching on a night like Christmas Eve. Both of us felt committed to the important theological message of the incarnation, yet were aware that most who gather on that day have no compass point that helps them understand this message and many do not even care. Should the preacher take this into consideration?

I am aware that during this time of the year the people that gather are in different places. Some come rejoicing, others grieving; some come willingly, others unwillingly; some come to hear the great story, others to sing the traditional songs; some come with high expectations others with no expectations.

So in the end my task is to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ! Trusting the Spirit’s work in the community of faith, trusting that those who are willing will experience Christ’s birth in their lives once more.

This year I’ll be thankful that these Christmas Christians have gathered. God has called them once more and they have responded (even if they do not know it; prevenient grace) Maybe this will be the year, maybe this will be the new beginning they need. I’ll resist the urge to make a point, to take a count, to try to convince. Instead I will provide hospitality, tell the great story of salvation, and gather the community around table.

They might come just to accompany grandma, appease the spouse, to do their Christian duty, or just to hear the songs. We know that God has called us to gather and as we do this will be our prayer:

Hail the heav’nly Prince of Peace!
Hail the Sun of Righteousness!
Light and life to all He brings,
Ris’n with healing in His wings.
Mild He lays His glory by,
Born that man no more may die.
Born to raise the sons of earth,
Born to give them second birth.

Hark! the herald angels sing,
“Glory to the newborn King!”