A big thank you to Peacehaven Community Farm Core Member Jeff for sending us this video. We want you to know that we are very excited to see you and Rev. Buck Cochran tomorrow night as part of our Food & Faith study. These are exciting times for Peacehaven Community Farm and for First Baptist Church of Jamestown and we are grateful for your willingness to come share your story with us tomorrow night.
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I ran into someone recently that I knew from high school and he started telling stories about this person and that person and “Remember when we went here?” And “Remember when this happened, or when that happened?” With each new story the excitement level grew bigger and bigger for him, but for me I couldn’t help thinking that was years ago which led me to think this friend was still living “BACK THEN” like he had never left that period of time. I even wondered, were those the best years of my friend’s life?
All of us know people like my friend, don’t we? But don’t get me wrong, a little reminiscing is wonderful, necessary, even healthy. Yet there is a huge difference between discovery, learning or reminiscing and being stuck. As wonderful, necessary and healthy as reminiscing can be, the destructive nature of a life stuck in the past is devastating. At its worst, being stuck in the past robs us of hope for our future. You might say it strips us of imagination. You see, if your sole focus is your past life and past experiences you never have to imagine what your future might look like. You never have to concern yourself with the places you will go, or the places to which God is calling you. As Pastor Rob Bell says, “There is a certain kind of despair that sets in when we believe that things were better back then. When we’re stuck back there. When we’re not fully present. When we’re still holding on to how things were, our arms aren’t free to embrace today.” God’s Hope-Filled Dreams During Jeremiah’s Day It is precisely this mindset that Jeremiah was dealing with and like all biblical stories, Jeremiah 29:10-11 has a context, and like I have said before, it is very important and helpful to know the context. Knowing the scenario in which these words were spoken makes them and the promise even more powerful. Jeremiah, as you might recall, was a prophet to the major historical crisis of the last days of God’s people in Judah. Jeremiah’s life and message coincided with the destruction of Jerusalem and the devastation of the temple in 587 BC. As theologian Walter Brueggemann, says, “this crisis – the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the temple in 587 – is the dominant and shaping event in the entire OT. It is precisely in here, after the worst catastrophe in the entire history of God’s people: 1) the holy city has been reduced to rubble by Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians; 2) the people barely existing after a forced march into exile, feeling pretty sure God had abandoned them forever, where God’s people are reminded of the promises of a hope-filled future. Precisely when they were unable, or un-willing to imagine a future of hope for themselves, Jeremiah is there with this powerful reminder. [Jeremiah 29:11] “For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the LORD, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope.” These words come at a time and in a context of extreme hopelessness. Some have said, if we want to know the good news of God, the gospel message, there is no better summary. During Our Day What about us today? Are we able to see ourselves in Jeremiah’s audience? Don’t we sometimes wonder if our government can function with any credibility and effectiveness. We might wonder what is happening with the decline of the mainline church: is faith still relevant? Is the desire to follow Christ still relevant? We might see changes and challenges in our lives that rob us of our hope. We might be totally perplexed and sad about what is happening in and around our small part of the world, or even the world at large. We might even have major doubts about what God is doing. Yet when Jeremiah was writing all of this is happening – and more - at the same time: the city of Jerusalem – so long the treasure of God’s care – has been sacked. The king – long the embodiment of God’s leadership and care – has been overthrown. The people – in lasting covenant with God – had been carried away in exile. The future – seemingly once secure in God’s hands – is absolutely uncertain and frightening as exile looms. And it is precisely in this place where we hear about God’s plans for our welfare and future full of hope. MLK Jr. Celebration Tomorrow is a very special day of remembrance and celebration as this is the day our country has set aside to remember and celebrate Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. For me, tomorrow represents a first, as I have been invited to stand with other Triad area Clergy at 3 annual events commemorating and celebrating the life and legacy of this remarkable child of God. Not only am I honored to be a part of this diverse group of Clergy, I am honored to represent our Church within this diverse community. It is important to me and I hope it is for you that FBCJ be included and present in this way. In fact, I can think of no better way to live out God’s plans of a future full of hope than by participating in events that remember, honor and celebrate the life of someone who himself hoped for and dreamed about a future in which justice for all of God’s children became a reality! While tomorrow’s celebration is about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., other names come to my mind too. Names like, Rosa Parks, Nelson Mandela and Mother Teresa. All of these people imagined a future reality through HOPE FILLED eyes. And whether or not you subscribe to the transformative power of HOPE, there is no doubt HOPE dominated the way in which these particular world changers saw the future for all of God’s children, and it seems to me, at least, that their hopeful imagination became the driving force toward monumental change. Each, in their own way, dreamed of a world in which all people were treated fairly and respectfully. Where everyone knew the identity of their neighbor, because their neighbor was everyone else. How else can we explain why these people made the decision to pursue the radical change they did. These world changers imagined a hopeful future, not only for themselves, but for everyone. There is no doubt that their HOPEFUL IMAGINATION was their reason for continuing their journey. You and I may not have their particular battle to fight, but we should always seek to discover who we are and who God is calling us to be. The journey, whether for an individual or an organization, is always about discovery of true self. This is one reason the journey forward becomes so difficult, and makes us believe it is just easier to walk the path of others, or stay stuck in the past. What Life Has been Like for Me the past couple of weeks
When I close my eyes:
Friends these are the images I have been seeing for the past couple of weeks each and every time I close my eyes and think about God’s hope-filled plans for FBCJ’s future. These have been my dreams for the past couple of weeks and it seems these dreams have two things in common. They are all Jesus kind of dreams…and they all serve to create an environment where people can find hope and meaning and purpose for their lives. But that is not just in our projects or our buildings…it needs to be in each one of us. This future is not just mine, it is our together. So what do you see because you can rest assured IF YOU BELIEVE THAT FBCJ’S BEST DAYS ARE IN YOUR PAST, THEY ARE. BUT IF YOU BELIEVE OUR BEST DAYS ARE AHEAD OF YOU, THAT IS POSSIBLE IF WE ARE FULLY OPEN TO GOD’S VISION FOR US. IF WE ARE WE WILL LIVE INTO OUR FUTURE WITH BOTH HOPE AND IMAGINATION. My father-in-law once shared with me that the most important thing God will ever tell you is the next thing. Like he did as Senior Pastor of FBC Wilmington, I wonder and pray a lot about what the next thing is for us at FBCJ. With both hope and imagination, my prayer is that we will all be faithful in our church and in our own lives to God’s call …to the next thing…because it…whatever it may be…is the most important thing God has for us to do. In Jesus’ name…Amen. John 1:14-18
Over the past couple of weeks I have heard a lot of people express excitement about saying goodbye to 2016. While some were able to say why, others just seemed to feel that way. Like the world had beaten them down and they were ready to start a new. This desire for a new start is something I suspect we all know. I freely confess this desire has happened more than once in my own life. There have been times when I was able to recognize this need for a reboot and there have been times when loved ones saw it before I did. As hard as it is to admit, aren’t there times when our loved ones are better clued in to our lives than we are. Better yet, don’t we need those influences in our lives sometimes. What might our life look like if we embraced this need instead of pushing it away. If only we could recognize that this need is not unique to us. If only we could find eyes to see and ears to hear, history could be our greatest teacher. And make no mistake, it will take a new set of eyes and ears because as best I can tell, more often than not history has served only to foretell the future. You see this need for a reboot has been handed down from generation to generation to generation. And I believe once we can recognize this need in our own lives we come ever closer to accepting God’s never-ending gift of Grace. When the law became a tool of oppression, God was there. When Kings, Rulers and Emperors Lorded their perceived power over others, God was there. And all along the way, God always reminded his people of his Love, and protection and promise of liberation. No matter what they did, or said or lacked or possessed, God’s love remained. God’s promises remained. God remained. While our Old Testament stories are filled with God’s use of Prophets and Angels as Messengers, our New Testament stories give us Jesus, and in and through Jesus, God chose to live among us. Why? Why would God choose this? During those times gods remained in their lofty otherworld looking for ways to punish the lowly wrongdoers, while occasionally offering them a blessing. Sacrifices were made to various gods in hopes that they would find favor with certain people. Those gods would never stoop so low as to live among the people. I wonder sometimes if we still believe in this type of god. Nothing about that understanding of the nature of gods would lead any of us to a better understanding of Grace. And if we still have such a view of God, then we can’t expect to understand the most radically selfless gift we have ever, and will ever receive, the gift of GRACE. In his book What’s so Amazing About Grace, Philip Yancey writes, “from nursery school onward we are taught how to succeed in the world of ungrace. Work hard for what you earn. The early bird gets the worm. No pain, no gain. There is no such thing as a free lunch. Demand your rights. Get what you pay for. I know these rules well because I live by them. I work for what I earn; I like to win; I insist on my rights. I want fairness, I want people to get what they deserve – nothing more, nothing less.” If any of you are like me, the world Yancey describes sounds very familiar. You see this is the world of un-grace which we seem to know all too well. This is the world of un-grace which seems to lure us in before we even know what has hit us. We so easily fall victim to seeing this world as a world of un-grace. What if our way of seeing needed a slight adjustment? What if we needed to adjust the way we receive gifts? What if the only way to accept Grace was to open yourself fully (whole heart, whole mind and whole body)? I know we all know how to receive gifts in that way and I suspect we did just that last week as we unwrapped gifts given to us by our loved ones. Are the gifts from our loved ones easier to fully accept because we feel like we already know what we are supposed to do with them. We seem to know what those gifts are asking of us. Grace is altogether different though, isn’t it? What if we allowed Grace to work on us, instead of thinking we had to work on Grace? If Grace worked on us and we opened ourselves up to its benefits, could we better accept ourselves? Could we better accept others? How radical might such an approach be for you, for me, for FBCJ? In my estimation, these are the very questions we should be asking and we need to be open to the possibilities of where the answers will take us. For Philip Yancey, questions like these led him to write the award winning book What’s So Amazing about Grace. When asked about his motivation, he said “I wrote this book because Grace is not the first word that comes to mind when people think of Christians.” It was impossible for Yancey to reconcile the words of John’s gospel (“In his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace”) with knowing that Grace was not how people thought of Christians, and he was bothered by that. We should be too. He was able to find such a grace-filled community and they happened to meet on Tuesday nights in his downtown Chicago Church. The people of this community were alcoholics coming to an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting and before Yancey himself attended a Tuesday night meeting he was confused about one thing: why did they come to church on Tuesday nights instead of Sunday mornings. One Tuesday night Yancey went to that AA meeting and came away with a new set of eyes and ears, and a new understanding of the transformative power of Grace. He said, “It became clear to me why people were drawn to those Tuesday night meetings and not the Sunday morning ones because it was at those Tuesday night meeting that everyone found GRACE ON TAP.” I want you to know, I have seen the Grace on Tap of which Yancey speaks, and I pray I never forget it. Years ago, Amy & I had the privilege of attending an Open AA meeting in support of a loved one receiving a significant “chip” commemorating a specific number of years of sobriety. Attending this meeting opened our eyes to a world previously unknown. In this new world, people were free. Free to bare their wounds. Free to acknowledge their mistakes. Free to admit their powerlessness, and most transformative for me, they were free to love themselves and be loved by others. NO MATTER WHAT! Friends, this is who the church is called to be. I want to see a church where people are accepted when in need - not having to pretend they have it all together. Even in my relatively young state, I know people are looking for a measure of love, acceptance and forgiveness. People are looking for Grace. Church needs to re-claim its place where broken people come to experience healing for their soul, a place where their life can be put back together again. Church should be a place where people experience God’s Grace on Tap! This is at the heart of Jesus’ life, Jesus’ message. Jesus is a game changer, and yet for Christians it is so easy to take it all for granted. The reality that God has come to us, not in words on a page, or even words spoken by others, but in human form — that is utterly and completely amazing. God can no longer be relegated to some distant kingdom of clouds, listening to angels jamming on harps morning, noon, and night. Neither can human beings, regardless of religion or background, be treated as if they do not matter. No, Jesus transforms our understanding of ourselves, of what it means to be human. Jesus’ presence in the world forces us to come face to face with a present and active God in our midst. A God whose very being is love and desires for us to become the same. Jesus compels us to recognize in every person the gift of God’s revelation that each of us make God known and present in ourselves. The life, death, and witness of Jesus call us to rearrange our priorities and values. In our own lives sometimes we have to be willing to move aside, to make room for someone else to shine. It is important to remember that it is not all about me. We share the stage with all those around us and we must continuously ask ourselves if we are you making room for them to shine too? God’s Grace asks this of us and John, a very old man when he wrote these words, reminds us of as much. [Read vs.14] Full of grace…full of forgiveness…full of truth…and ultimately full of hope…hope for the hungry, the thirsty, the imprisoned and the lonely. That is who Jesus is and this is what Jesus revealed to us about who God is…the One who finds us…and saves us…and helps us to see the world…like he sees the world. It is my hope that as we leave here today, we do so asking ourselves if we are making space for God to shine through us. Are we doing what is necessary to make space for others? How about making space for God. This is the best way we can accept God’s gift of Grace. Open our hands, receive and let it transform us so that we become dispensers of Grace ourselves. Grace is a gift, free of charge. It’s on the house. All that is required is that you open yourself and accept it. This, my brothers and sisters is the GOOD NEWS of the Gospel. And Thanks be to God. Amen. Scripture: Matthew 1:18-25
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