Pecot's Putterings

I don’t feel like I have been puttering much in the last few weeks. We have been popping with activity. The sermon series we have been exploring has been as challenging as anything I have taken on, but members of the congregation are talking about it, especially about Dennis’ sermon on boundaries. We have also finished the Seconds on Dessert emergency finance campaign. I was able to meet with so many of you in the different small groups to talk about money. We begin an exploration into spirituality and money that will probably be far more important than the few dollars we have made this month (as important as those few dollars are).

On reflection, however, I am struck by something that has happened twice to us in the last six months. In August, we couldn’t find anyone to teach and were about to scale the whole Sunday School back to even one class because we had no other leadership. In November, we were seeing no other choice than to start laying off staff and cutting our program down to a level we could afford. In both cases, we knew that the strains we have all been under financially, emotionally, and with time, have placed us in the position of not having enough. Wisdom suggests scaling back to adjust our program and energy to what we have. In both cases, wise counsel suggested that we move forward and not backward, and in both cases we ended up with more resources than we had before.

Christians, in the time of strife, give more, love more, care more, not less to do the work of God. It runs against my sense, my intuition, and often my energy. But I think it is true. When people are suffering, we need to be doing more, not less to care for those around us, to support the growth of caring in our congregation and to give more outside. Just when we think we don’t have anything else to give -- and that is often true -- we find the miracle occurs and we have both the time and the resources and the energy to do God’s work. I find it true again and again in my life and we have had two staggering examples of that miracle in our church. The product of this kind of outrageous faith is, of course, hope. We find even in the worst of situations that we have energy we didn’t know we had.

I am grateful to John Dodson, a long time friend and mentor, who reminded me and us this time. I am grateful to everyone in this church, whether they made a new pledge or not, for your time to talk and rethink your commitment.

Ted

Transformation

The next season of the Church that we are getting ready for this year is Easter. If you remember, we are changing around the season of the year. So instead of celebrating the normal church calendar, we have modeled our year after some of the biggest celebrations that we go through as a church community:

Many of us love Easter, so this next season is to explore resurrection, that great transformation in Christ’s life, and ours, that brings in new life.

Whereas new life in Christ is a free gift of divine grace. The process of the changing is anything but free and often anything but graceful. In fact, one of the reasons that folks might avoid the Christian church is that if we are serious about what we are doing, the consequences are truly extraordinary.

One of the most true and deepest criticisms of the church, and most religious organizations, coming largely from the last century’s influence of critical theology, is that the church is simply an institution that supports the prevailing culture and helps numb folks to the very real pain that surrounds them, an "opiate for the masses" is one of the famous quotes.

One of the fun moments on radio a couple years ago was an interview on Fresh Air with the cast and directors of the Sopranos, who spent much of the interview laughing about therapy. Their joke was that therapy didn’t really change anyone, just helped them feel better about who they already were. So a TV mob boss going to therapy is a great joke. It is less funny when we apply the same criteria to churches and support groups. It is tragic if we know people who want to and need to change and come to churches only to find pats on the back and often fear of people who are dramatically off center in their lives.

Gerald May spoke of healing addictions as a wonderful possibility of the Christian tradition because we know about the cross and the empty tomb. We needn’t fear death or failure, because they are both part of our model of real change.

12 Steps

When it comes right down to it, there is no faith group doing more to change lives in this country than the 12 Steppers. In the midst of the almost unsolvable problem of addiction, these small trusted groups, following a tested pattern, are bringing healing and change of life. The pattern suggested by the 12 steps maps a life path in the work of transformation. The steps help change lives, really change lives, and set a course for spiritual growth in the center.

We will be using the 12 Steps as a model, example, perhaps a scripture for talking about transformation in this season.

One element of the 12 Step design that we will not explore as much as we should is a connecting point for Christians, in general, and United Methodists. The spiritual path relies, depends upon a small group of people who are trusted and move in this transformative path. Jesus got the church started this way, and early Methodism began as a small group movement.

Without a trusted group of friends, it is unlikely that someone working the steps will have any chance of success. Lives can be changed in an almost endless number of ways, but in reality, very few changes are made of any significance without a group of support. And, it is probably also true that the best groups of support are made up of people struggling on the same path. The better the group, the more real they get, the better the chances of success.

Certainly changing lives is a gift of grace. However, most often God’s grace comes in the faces, hands, and prayerful concern of other people on a healing journey themselves.

As we learn the steps in the next weeks, we encourage those who need to make changes in their lives to seek out a group that can honestly share their journey.

Originally published in the March/April 2003 Good News Letter of the Morgan Hill United Methodist Church.

United Methodist Church Morgan Hill, California

Transformation

Pecot's Putterings

Transformation

12 Steps

United Methodist Church
Morgan Hill, California