Musings Along Life's Way: The "E" Word

Dear Friends,
There has been a lot of talk around here recently about the E word, or dare I even write it, Evangelism. Maybe I should use all CAPS to write it, as EVANGELISM has become quite the scary word for us in the progressive church -- in conjures up images of two people coming to the door with big, floppy, black bibles and a bunch of gospel "tracts," with scary questions, "Do you know how you will spend eternity?" or "Are you washed in the blood of the lamb?" or the simple "Are you saved?" When asked the latter I always wonder to myself, "what is it that I am supposed to be saved from?" Life is beautiful and blessed. If anything, the more I enter into my life, into the beauty, the connection, the joy and love, the more saved I feel. So, I share with you a certain suspicion of EVANGELISM -- the big and scary one. Yet, if we take that word to its roots, it says something altogether different from what most of us think of when we think of EVANGELISM.

The word evangelism comes from the Greek of the Christian scriptures (transcribed as "euangelion"). In the Greek it is a compound word comprised of eu, meaning "good," and angel, meaning "I bring a message." Before it was ever used by the early church, it was used in common parlance as "a reward that is given to a bearer of good news." The alternative to giving a reward to the bearer of a message would be to "shoot the messenger." I am not sure what the Greek is for that one. At any rate, evangelism has to do with bringing "good news." You see in the transcription above there is embedded in the word the Greek root, "angel." Yes, you've got it, that's angel, you know that heavenly creature with wings whose job is to bring messages from God (good news -- see Gabriel's appearance to Mary in the gospel of Luke 1:26). So, you see UCC evangelism, rooted in this early understanding of the greek work, is quite different from the EVANGELISM that I experienced in my home state of Kentucky. So, where does this leave us?

In the United Church of Christ "Handbook for Planting New Congregations," the authors say, "We are to share the story that has transformed our lives, and in so doing, we will transform the lives of others." So, the way I see it, evangelism in our church has more to do with invitation, hospitality and welcome - qualities that lead to a transformation of life -- than it does with doctrinal purity or assent to somewhat bizarre affirmations of faith. Evangelism has more to do with a accepting the gift of love and community that we have received and sharing that gift with others. Joy is something we hope to share with our friends, as is hope, and love. Basically, we take what is most precious to us and share it with others. That's beautiful, I think, and in wonderful sort of way that makes us angels, the "messengers of the good news." And I figure that's not such a bad thing.

On February 11th, we will have an "Invite a Friend" Sunday here at church. This Sunday, at the congregational meeting, we will have a short presentation on "how to invite someone to church." There we will give you materials that will help you make the invitation and we will reveal that there is no secret on how to make the invitation. In fact, I'll reveal the "no secret" right here: When you invite someone to coffee you say, "Would you like to go for coffee?" Inviting folks to church we begin the conversation, "Would you like to go to church with me this Sunday?" That simple.It is all about sharing what is precious.

I would like to thank Bill Gibson and the members of our evangelism work group for the ideas presented above. Indeed, this group of committed church folk (De Williams, Bill Gibson, Judy Gibson, Gayle Madison, Coral Cogbill, Rebecca Schroeder, Andrew Metcalfe and myself) is all about taking the scary CAPS out of evangelism and returning to the good news that we can all share.

Blessings,

David

Musings Along Life's Way: Confidence

My Friends,

Last Sunday, we had a wonderful time in worship talking about confidence. By reflecting on the confidence of Jesus as he preached to the synagogue in Nazareth, we reflected on personal confidence, our confidence as the body of Christ and looked again at what it might mean when we say, "Reaching out, we become what our hearts can see." We explored what it means to practice intentionally being who we are so that we can take "who we are" out into the world. After church, I was talking with someone about our spiritual confidence building when it occurred to me that the confidence that we have is a confidence not in doctrine or dogma, but a confidence that in the unknowns of our lives we are OK -- that the universe is set up in such a way that, ultimately, and finally we are loved and cared for. This is the "Blessed Assurance" that Franny Crosby sang about in her hymn. With this "blessed assurance" we have what we need to "get up and do what has to be done." That's a wonderful, wonderful thing.

I want to draw your attention to what's happening in your church on February 11. On the 11th we will be celebrating our friends in worship. In order to celebrate our friends we need to invite them to be with us in church. So, we'll have an "invite a friend" Sunday at both worship services, 8:30 and 10:30. In each, we will enjoy fantastic music and extraordinary community. And of course, we hope to interest our friends in joining us more often. In addition, we will unveil a major overhaul of our Sunday School on February 11.

Up to this point, our Sunday School has been quite traditional, looking a lot like a school. We will be moving from a "strict" classroom approach, with desks and chairs quietly listening to the teacher, to a more active and hands-on approach to Christian Education, featuring "stations" with different activities centered on a particular theme. The first theme for February and March will be "Noah's Ark." The children will listen and tell stories, sing songs, experiment with drama and video, color pictures, make crafts and perhaps make and bake something.

This is an important move in the life of our church. Bring your children and grandchildren and heck, its "bring a friend Sunday." Have them bring a friend.

Blessings and Peace,

David

Musings Along Life's Way: Focus

Today I had a wonderful conversation with Ron, our Director of Music.

We were talking about focus, as in, what do you focus on? It was a satisfying talk, the gist of which went something like this: In life we need to be very careful about where we pay attention. Most of us, and I am leading the way on this...most of us focus on what is not going right, what is not happening, this dissatisfying aspect of our life, that "problem" that we must solve or maybe that relationship that makes us unhappy. Soon our minds are so full of "problems" that we don't notice the kindness being show us, don't feel the warmth of the cat as she jumps in our lap, are numb to the laughter and joy of the toddler as she runs down the hall. We miss it all. As Ron and I were talking, it occurred to me: most of life is blessing, most of it is joy. The "problems" only distract us and keep us from seeing the blessings all around. Think about it -- joy is available to us at almost any moment -- it is up to us to see it.

So, this Sunday we will be reading the story of Jesus' first miracle at Cana of Galilee. He is at a wedding when towards the end of the party folks run out of wine. After conversation with his mother, he changes some water into wine. When the wedding guests taste the wine they are amazed that the hosts saved the best wine for last. God's abundance in like that -- we get the best, early or late, anytime. Life Abounds!

So, see you in church. Early church, The Gathering starts at 8:30 AM, Worship Celebration at 10:30 AM.

Love,

David

Musings Along Life's Way: "Behold, I make all things new!"

"Behold, I make all things new!"

In the book of Revelation the Holy One on the throne proclaims, "Behold, I make all things new!" This is the promise that is ours in Jesus Christ: each day, each moment is made new. God's newness is irrepressible, that all things are new in God. For us, this is good news. It means that our lives are made up of beginnings without end and that there is always a second chance, and a third, and a fourth, etc…. Our New Year's celebrations can be a wonderful reminder of the possibilities present to us in God's newness.

Each year new year's resolutions take at least a small amount of our attention. What would we change in the new year? Who might we forgive? How might things be different in our lives? In actuality we could make these resolutions on any day, but New Year's Day is a good day to remember that God is the author of newness in our lives, creating possibility, opening life. So, the Holy One calls out from the throne, "Behold, I make all things new!" Let us join God in newness of life.

Blessings, David