Dr. Howell's eSeries

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eGrowthInFaith – we begin

Over the next few weeks, these emails will be devoted to the idea of Growth In Faith – which isn’t merely an idea, but our greatest privilege, our most meaningful adventure, something requiring much intentionality, effort and discipline, and revealing secret delights and considerable depth, purpose and wisdom.

Too often we think of faith as something you have or don’t have, like being pregnant or having a pulse or even owning a computer. But in a way, faith is something everybody has: we all believe in something, we ultimately care about something… and the Bible on every page portrays faith as something to be nurtured, increased, expanded. Trees do not simply exist: they grow, or they die. Businesses seem to grow or die. Relationships (marriages, friendships, coworker networks, parents and children) grow or they become stale and sap the life of out everybody. Faith grows – or faith becomes vapid, rigid, narrow, insignificant.

St. Francis, a great believer whose faith grew stronger and more agile as his body grew more frail over many years, once went into a cave to pray. When he came out, his friend asked if God said anything. Francis shrugged and said, No. They next day he prayed again in the cave, at great length, but on emerging said God again had said nothing. And so he continued, day by day, pouring out his soul to God, offering thanks and praise, confessing his sin, asking God’s will. Finally, after a great many days, he existed the cave; his friend asked if God said anything, and Francis said Yes. What did God say? Francis replied, “More.” To this saint of immense faith, God asked for More – and there always is more, more to God, more within us we’ve never discovered, more in the wonderful relationship with God whose surface we’ve only scratched.

Our goal in eGrowthInFaith will be to dig down and try to find what we’ve been missing, and to enlarge our faith, and get a glimpse of what is mind-bogglingly larger about God that we’ve been missing.

James
james@mpumc.org

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eGrowthInFaith – Jesus grew

How intriguing: Luke 2:52 tells us that “Jesus grew in wisdom, stature, and favor with God and men.” We may harbor some image of Jesus as a little tiny divinity who was from birth powerful and all-knowing; but Jesus was just as fully human as you and I are. He grew – bodily, of course, from a small infant, then a toddler, bumping his head, scraping his knee, walking then running, getting taller, his shoulders broadening, developing a beard.

He grew not only in stature but in wisdom: when he was four there was plenty he didn’t know. His mother Mary taught him the rudimentary facts of the world, and recited Bible and songs to him. He learned more and more about life, and God – and he was eager to learn, which is why he drifted away from his parents to spend time with the teachers in the temple (Luke 2:41-52). Even as an adult, he sought more and more wisdom, which is why he prayed, why he continued to study Scripture, why he pleaded with God to know God’s will.

And he grew “in favor with God and men” (and we can add “and women”). Nowadays, we have too many religious zealots who seem to think that if you know a lot, especially about God and morality, you offend others easily, and some take pompous pride in being obnoxious. But growth in faith brings an increase in favor – surely with God! but also among people. Do we seek God’s favor? And can we connect in healthy, appealing ways to others, family, friends, even those who are difficult? Much of Christianity seems to be about the healing of relationships, the deepening of friendship, growing not just vertically, me and God, but horizontally, among men, women and children.

We may prefer not to think of Jesus growing. We may coddle ourselves by doting on the baby Jesus – who says nothing, goes nowhere, and is tucked quite safely in a manger far away. The grown Jesus walks around and insists we get moving too; the grown Jesus talks, and his words are all truth and life-giving – and therefore his words are daunting, uncomfortable to hear, revolutionary, converting even those who thought they had everything figured out before Jesus spoke. Thank God Jesus grew, and he invites us to grow not merely in stature or our career or retirement portfolio, but in wisdom, and in favor with God and others.

James
james@mpumc.org

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eGrowthInFaith – childlike or childish

But I either believe in God or I don’t! Why speak of “Growth in Faith”? I’ve either committed my life to Christ or I haven’t! Why speak of Growing in Faith? Didn’t Jesus say “Unless you become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven? (Matthew 18:2)?

Indeed. Jesus’ great offer to us, and his most picturesque challenge, is a childlike faith. Hans Urs von Balthasar pointed out that “only the Christian religion, which in its essence is communicated by the eternal child of God, keeps alive in its believers the lifelong awareness of their being children, and therefore of having to ask and give thanks for things.” Children are open, they have more questions than answers, they are receptive, their jaws drop in awe rather easily. Children are under no illusions of independence. They do not hide their treasures, and they share their toys. Their calendars are not yet filled, and they are not in a hurry. Children toddle and are rather inept, and require much mercy.

And yet a childlike faith need not remain a childish faith. To be childish is never to get beyond me as the center of the universe, never to get past a “gimme, gimme, gimme” kind of religion, never to think broadly, and with the complexity God wove into the fabric of the universe. To be childish is to cling to my own toys and live in perpetual fantasy. There is a certain charm to Neverland, but as Christians we never wish to be Peter Pan, refusing to grow up or go to school.

Children do ask questions, and beware any idea that an adult faith knows all the answers! We ask as children, and as adults we learn even better questions to ask. We realize simple answers are insufficient, and even if we’ve graduated from school, we are always zealous to learn more. Years ago I sat with a 90 year old who was dying. I asked how it felt; he said, “I feel curious.” He said he wanted to know more about life, and about God, and expected that his lifelong quest to learn and grow would continue even after death. Let us hope so – and be about the business of growth in faith until then, and after.

James
james@mpumc.org

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eGrowthInFaith – maturity

Lately I’ve been thinking about these remarkable words from Hebrews 5, which I hope you’ll read, re-read, and reflect upon with me: “About these things we have much to say which is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. You need milk, not solid food; for every one who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their faculties trained by practice to distinguish good from evil.”

When I was a kid, I hated to be labeled “immature.” I wasn’t entirely sure what “maturity” would look like – but I wanted to get there. Maturity is coming to one’s fuller purpose, leaving behind half-baked, unproductive, silly thoughts and actions. Maturity isn’t knowing all the answers, but having a large perspective on the questions. Maturity is the wise embrace of your own being, and a kindness toward others – getting beyond me and my self-indulgent whims and becoming part of something larger. Faith maturity begins when we in determination promise ourselves and God, “I will not be immature.”

Notice in Hebrews 5: Maturity in faith is patient, and probes deeply, expecting there is more than mere “milk.” There is “much to say,” and a lot of it is “hard to explain”; the mature of faith don’t settle for simple answers, and intuitively grasp that there is always more to God than we can unscramble. Maturity is a “skill”; it is all about “practice” – having our “faculties trained.” We will weigh these practices over the next few weeks, but for today we notice that maturity only comes with time, effort, discipline, mistakes and improvement.

We learn best to become mature by being around those who are mature – and for faith to grow toward maturity, we need some solid examples, some wise mentors, people who will converse with us about matters of faith, tell us the truth, and share in the quest.

What does faith maturity look like? Perhaps we begin life like Narcissus, seeing pretty much me and nobody else. I want God to bless me. But then we move toward caring for others, trying to be a blessing for others. Instead of saying “God, bless me,” we say “God, use me.” Sacrifice is understood, and accepted. Instead of saying “Lord hear my prayer,” we say “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.” We become patient, and wise; we serve faithfully, and can weather quite a few storms. And we learn to make a difference, and even share the wisdom we’re fortunate enough to have accrued.

James
james@mpumc.org

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eGrowthInFaith – the body and the Body

The Christians in ancient Corinth were a little bit crazy, and Paul wrote stern letters to them, hoping their faith would not be forever self-indulgent, laid-back, and contentious. His strategy was to speak of the Church as the Body of Christ. His readers would have heard this before: emperors, consuls and generals used this all the time, to keep the rabble in check, to squash down any hint of dissidence: you are part of the “body,” so stay in line, do as you are told. Paul heals that way of thinking about the Body, and instead says You are the Body of Christ, and since it is Christ’s Body, everybody matters, everyone should flourish; Christ exists so all of his people can be their best and noblest; we value the weakest, nobody is shunned, those society ridicules are honored in our Body.

In his same stern letters, Paul speaks of the body of an individual: your body was not only made by God, it is the Temple of the Holy Spirit! So what you do with it, what you put in it, where you take it, matters, and might even be a walking illustration of the goodness of God.

These two are interrelated: what I do with my body, and my place in the Body! If I am lazy, or dabble in something tawdry, it’s not just about me; the community is effected. But if I strive to be holy, if I refrain from mimicking society, if I let God be manifest in me, all boats rise, others are healthily impacted.

We need each other if we are to grow in faith. A shallow, childish faith enjoys being around people who mirror my biases back to me. A mature faith seeks out friends who will help me to be wise, who will force me to stretch, who don’t mind asking about my soul, who wish to join hands and pursue the things of God together. All good things in life require the help of others: to succeed in business you need partners, to be physically fit you may need somebody to run with, to grow old you hope somebody is there with you to share the journey. My body thrives when I am part of the Body; and the Body needs me, and you, all of us.

John Wesley said we grow with others, “to watch over one another in love, to help each other work out our salvation” – and Søren Kierkegaard suggested that “to help another person to love God is to love that person; to be helped by someone to love God is to be loved.”

James
james@mpumc.org

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eGrowthInFaith – recuperative exercises

It is not merely that we are at a good faith place and might wish to step up a little higher. Because we live in this world, and in a vapid, self-centered, craziness obsessed culture, we suffer setbacks, attrition, even injury between Sundays and devotional times.

Years ago, a friend of mine was in a car crash, surviving multiple fractures to her hip, legs and feet. The bones healed, but she had to battle through months of physical therapy before she could actually walk. Not only had her muscles atrophied for lack of use; the doctor suggested the neurological linkage between her brain and muscles had fallen asleep.

You were made in God's image, intended for beauty, goodness and holiness. But repeated collisions with a culture that thinks nothing about God (not to mention your sinful nature) wreck your God-given beauty. You get flabby. In your laziness you adjust to the mess of your life. The delicate fibers tying soul, heart and spirit into real life shut down. If you care about God and the life of faith, you have to get in shape, and climb up and out of the old life via the regimen of worship, prayer, Bible reading - not just "nice" activities, but the difference between languishing flat on your back and being able to run and dance.

Or maybe the Christian life is akin to a foreign language. I wish I could just start speaking and comprehending Spanish. Listen to a single Russian tape, drop by an Arabic class twice, and your confusion will be dizzying. A language demands an investment of time, study, gradual improvement, embarrassing failures, toddling steps of progress, commitment; eventually you begin to understand, the grammar sinks in, you communicate. Even if you learned French once upon a time, you lose it if you don't use it. Christianity doesn't "take" in childhood Sunday School, without lifelong persistence.

Faith will never assume lovely shape as long as you worship when it's convenient, if your relationship with God is limited to a seventeen second prayer here and reading Howell's email there. Jesus called "disciples" - a word meaning both "students" and "discipline." The antidote to a bumbling, lackluster faith is discipline, regularity, a re-carved schedule, so prayer is not a quickie, so the Bible isn't something I "ought" to read, so getting involved in mission isn't a nice idea I'm glad the teenager down the street is doing. The disciplines of the faith are the divine origami whereby our mis-shapen souls are revamped into God's image.

Christianity isn't merely like a language or exercise. Faith is something you do with your body: reaching out, serving, sweating, refraining, touching, hammering, kneeling, smiling; new skills and literal muscles are required. Faith really is another language, with a peculiar vocabulary, a grammar alien to the way the rest of the world thinks. So lift that Bible, fall on your knees, open that tight fist, and use that open hand to be generous, to welcome a stranger, or just to signal to God that you're available.

James
james@mpumc.org

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eGrowthInFaith – heroes

The Church has always known that children – and adults! – inevitably adopt heroes, people they wish to emulate, notables who inspire; and so we have always lifted up saints for your consideration, heroes of the faith who have been holy and courageous, faithful and humble. We know them through stories and books, and even dare to depict their faces on icons and in stained glass.

Among our saints, both the official ones like Francis of Assisi, and the unofficial ones like my grandfather, some have uttered words that thrill, and reshape how we think; Martin Luther King, Jr., gave voice to God’s vision for humanity. Other saints inspire us by their deeds: somebody quits a high paying job to be in ministry with inner city youth, some Christians still get killed for speaking up for Christ, John Wesley said Let’s get serious about faith, Dorothy Day said The Church really does have a social program, and I’ll be the first to befriend the needy. We have them even today in our cities, and in our own Churches.

Can you find somebody to mimic, the way children do a professional athlete or rock star? What we don’t realize is that we are always imitating somebody: the secret is to be intentional and active, not accidental and passive, about it. Our souls are being besieged constantly with images of the sophomoric shenanigans of celebrities, politicians and athletes who violate trust, loud-mouthed egomaniacs, rude pundits who shout and never listen, television characters who are dysfunctional and hedonistic.

How do we counter the poison? and plant the seeds for beautiful growth in our souls? Read about faith heroes, nail a photo of Mother Teresa on your wall, carry a saying from Thomas Merton in your pocket, seek out someone who is steeped in the faith and ask them simply to share with you, and pray for you. To grow in our faith we need others, especially those who’ve done a good bit of growing themselves.

James
james@mpumc.org

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eGrowthInFaith – means of grace?

If we are Methodists, one of our best ideas stems from John Wesley, who didn’t really want to found a denomination, but did want people to grow spiritually. To him, God has ordained a handful of quite practical “means of grace”: prayer (in private and together with others), Scripture (reading and reflecting on the Bible), the Lord’s Supper (Wesley truly believed that Communion changes who you are!), service among the poor (without which we are forever distant from God), fasting (doing without! oh my…), and Christian “conferencing,” conferring together, speaking of the things of God, encouraging one another toward God.

God’s grace is a palpable, constant, universal reality – but how do we “access” it? How do we let it come close, and into our hearts and minds? Through prayer, worship, the Bible, Communion, service – and we do this together.

These means of Grace presume we want to advance in the Christian life, to gravitate closer to God, to serve God more nobly. Wesley spoke often of “going on to perfection.” Perfection? I’ll never be perfect! But as a friend of mine put it, “If you aren’t moving toward perfection, what are you moving toward?” We settle for no less than perfection, realizing we’ll never get there, and taking delight in the pursuit that at least manifests a deep desire for God and an increasingly passionate zeal to be holy and to serve generously.

These “means” guide us through a lifelong process. We learn something about God, which raises more questions, and we learn more, which raises more questions: how fun! We learn harder truths, about ourselves, our sin, our lackluster devotion, and so we repent and grow, only to discover new, hidden ways we’ve been in rebellion against God, and we appeal to the Spirit to transform us, which happens, at least partially, and then we discover new ways to repent and grow. And we flex our spiritual selves and begin to take flight, we get the hang of following Christ, and nothing could be more fulfilling.

In a sermon, Wesley described what could happen for each of us: “A stupid, senseless wretch is going in his own way, not having God in his thoughts at all, when God comes upon him unawares, perhaps by some frightening experience. Awakened to his desperate state, the enlightened sinner purposely goes to church to hear how it may be done. If he finds a preacher who speaks to his heart, he is amazed, and begins searching the Scriptures, to see whether these things are so. The more he hears and reads, the more convinced he is; and the more he meditates on these things day and night. Perhaps he finds other books which explain and enforce what he has heard and read in Scripture. And by all these means, the arrows of conviction sink deeper into his soul. He begins to talk of the things of God, which now preoccupy his thoughts. And he begins to talk with God; to pray to him. He prays, at first, with fear and shame, for he scarcely knows what to say. He observes others go up to the table of the Lord. He considers, “I am not worthy.” After struggling with these scruples awhile, he breaks through. And so he continues seeking to know God's ways, in hearing, reading, meditating, praying, and partaking of the Lord's supper, until God speaks to the sinner’s heart, “Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.”

James
james@mpumc.org

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eGrowthInFaith – practices

Over the past 25 years, Christian theologians have tried to think a lot about spiritual formation, and how faith happens (or doesn’t happen) – and their best framework to help us to grow in faith is what we call the “Practices.” We practice the piano, or a presentation we’re about to make; a doctor joins with other doctors in a “practice.”

The life of faith requires the repetition of certain acts, so they become more natural, less forced, and they leave their imprint on the soul. If I kneel, fold my hands, and close my eyes, over and over, day after day, I gradually become more humble, dependent on God, grateful. And we practice with others in our “practice” – which really is the family of God, the Church, as we band together to pull off the faith in real life.

We might think we prefer what Dietrich Bonhoeffer called “cheap grace,” but somewhere inside we know better. If Christianity requires no effort, is easy as pie and not remotely difficult, it becomes vague and pointless. It is precisely because the Christian life is hard, and elicits courage, discipline and determination, that it is meaningful.

Over the next few weeks we will take a look at the basic practices of Christianity. A lot of what we’ll assess will seem utterly mundane, not as exciting or exotic as we might wish. I wouldn’t mind if we had a more glamorous, less routine shortcut to intimacy with God and fulfillment in service to God. But God, in God’s wisdom, made it simple, humbling, anybody can do it, and considerable diligence and doggedness is rewarded.

In your own mind, begin to think what you might do, regularly, routinely, that would help you toward God, or limit that inevitable slide away from God. Next week I will begin to walk through, one item at a time, the classic Christian recipe for growth in our life with God.

James
james@mpumc.org

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eGrowthInFaith – prayer

As people who are pressed to be productive, in a world where more is better, in a culture that is a din of noise and visual stimuli, we probably find it hard to pray. We are as quick at prayer as we are in grabbing fast food or deleting an email; or we wish prayer would itself be productive, that it would “work” and make good things happen for us.

Prayer does not “work” – or at least it doesn’t work like some kind of spiritual machine that induces God to aid our projects. Prayer is a relationship. Prayer is togetherness. Prayer is quiet reflection by God’s side. Prayer is learning God’s language and thoughts. Prayer is being embraced on God’s lap.
The posture of prayer is intriguing: we bow our heads, close our eyes, and fold our hands – a vulnerable position to be in, a humble disposition embodied, not shutting out the world but trying to see God in the darkness, or being seen and heard by God.

Prayer is talking, but it is also listening, or simply being in the silence with God. Prayer waits. Prayer readies me for what God will ask me to do. Prayer is a waste of time, but like young lovers who simply gaze at one another, the waste of time is the most precious time conceivable.

Prayer is repetitive. We say the same prayers over and over, giving thanks, sharing our woes, pleading for those in need, admitting to failure, opening yourself to a new power that can transform. Like a runner taking to the streets each day, or swallowing the medicine that keeps you alive, the one who prays thrives on repetition.

There is no one way to pray. You might pray best out loud, or writing on paper. But you will never pray unless you block out some time in which you will flat out never do anything else. Something always comes up, there is always another thing to get done, an interruption… so then you never pray. Block out a reasonable time, book it in ink, and then don’t answer the phone, or let yourself rush to the store. Since you can’t do anything else during this sealed off time, you simply waste it, with God; you start sharing, and listening, and just being.

This practice will enlarge your heart, and change you into somebody beautiful; you will know the heart of God.

James
james@mpumc.org

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eGrowthInFaith – worship

We do not associate the words “worship” with “practice” very often. Perhaps the choir practices, or a lay reader might practice the Scripture before the service. But do the worshippers practice? Is worship itself practice?

Historically, the Church has declared attendance in worship as an obligation. It’s hard in America to obligate any free person to much of anything. We cherish our freedom to worship God only if we want to, and if we want to, we worship “the way we want.” But does God want us to worship? and do we worship the way God wants? Is it pleasing to God?

Worship, like a low cholesterol diet or an exercise regimen, isn’t about my preferences or pleasure. Worship is about God, and it probably will make me squirm a little, and it might blow my mind. Annie Dillard suggested that “we should lash ourselves to the pews and wear crash helmets if we have the foggiest idea what sort of power we so blithely invoke.”

In worship we invoke God’s power. God is there, God is acting. God listens to what we sing. God empowers the willing heart. God forgives those who repent. God sends down grace at Baptism. God becomes quite real in the bread and cup at Communion. God is pleased by a sincere heart. God is delighted by the fellowship of loving hearts as we worship together.

We learn to worship – not merely how to sit still as children, but throughout life. We practice our worship, getting more agile at praising God, cultivating an ever more grateful heart, developing our ability to hear God in an anthem or a sermon, advancing in that elusive disposition of the soul we call “reverence.” In the quiet, recognizing the sacredness of the space, we tremble and yet we stay in the very presence of God.
Too much attention is paid to the “style” of worship these days. It is all about content, it is the palpable presence of God that matters. Whether worship “suits” me is quite beside the point; does our worship “suit” God?

Worship is a practice that recrafts our souls over a lifetime. You might review an email series I did a couple of years ago on worship – but most importantly, simply make worship an obligation, and see if together we might become more adept at it.

James
james@mpumc.org

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eGrowthInFaith – stewardship

Stewardship is a spiritual practice? It feels more like the inevitable business side of the Church, bills to pay, budgets to meet… and yet with a personal edge: How much do they really need? Is there enough transparency for me to feel my money is put to good use? Do I support what they are doing with the money?

Jesus seems to have thought up the idea of stewardship, and he didn’t manage a budget or provide payroll. When he taught, he stood outside and pointed to real vineyards his listeners could see, in which many of them worked. Every vineyard was owned by some rich person who didn’t do manual labor. He hired a steward, someone to be sure the vineyard was productive. The steward didn’t own the vineyard, but his task was to prosper the owner, and to be sure all the workers had enough food to eat to keep working; his delight was in the good of the owner, and for those who needed the vineyard to survive.
This is what stewardship really is. God owns the vineyard: the earth, all the stuff you come into contact with, your money, house, talents, time. You exist to prosper, not yourself, but God, and those who need what’s in the vineyard God owns in order to survive.

Our society, unquestionably, lifts up money as its ultimate idol. We really do believe money is the fullness of life, that problems are solved best with money, that more money would make whatever situation better. Money is a powerful instrument, and much good can be done with it! – but money is God’s most arrogant rival, and so when we part with it for God, and for those in dire need, we actually shed layers of insulation between ourselves and God. Generosity gives birth to a more spiritual heart; greed, or clinging, or the thought that I am cool or secure or in control because of my money, actually digs out an unbridgeable canyon between ourselves and God.

So we give to the Church, not to pay bills, or because they need some money (which we do!), but because we need to grow closer to God; we recognize that the hollowness we bear in the soul is there because we have let money usurp the role God desires to fill in our lives. Generosity matters for the needy whose plight breaks God’s heart, for those eager to learn about God, for the hurting and hopeful who look to the Church for solace.

Methodists have always taught “tithing,” giving 10% of whatever we earn to the Church. Sounds manipulative, I know – so it’s worth mentioning that John Wesley, our founder, was opposed to tithing. He thought 10% was simply too little to give to the work of God – and might create the foolish illusion that 90% of my money is mine! It all belongs to God: how we spend it all, whether my spirituality lowers the temperature on my feelings about money, how we invest, or give, or even speak about money. It is a spiritual practice, and an attentiveness to its place in our heart is perhaps the key to growth in faith.

James
james@mpumc.org

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eGrowthInFaith – stewardship – part 2

When Jesus spoke of a steward who was responsible for the owner’s vineyard, he was thinking of someone who worked out of doors, with his hands in the earth, tending to things that grow. Christians grow in their faith as they grow in their appreciation for God’s world, as they take responsibility for the things God has made.

The environment, global warming, and industry policies stir much political debate. But for Christians, we care for the earth because God made it. Step away from the computer and go outside: look up, look down, look all around, not at the manmade stuff but at what God made – if you can find any! This is the theater of God’s glory, the testament to the grandeur and power of God, to the tenderness and sheer delight God takes in making and sustaining life. The best preachers on TV are those cameramen who show us the haunts of an eagle or undersea mountain ranges, a nebula whose light has been streaming our way for a few thousand years and amazing 7500 mile migration of the bar-tailed Godwit from Alaska to New Zealand (and back) each year. God did that.

St. Francis wouldn’t step on a bug, and he thought about the way a bird or a flower give praise to God simply by being. St. Francis was “green,” not for any political reason, or even because he wanted to save planet earth; rather, he loved and adored God so much that he loved and adored and was tender with all God made – perhaps the way a parent doesn’t take a child’s coloring and just toss it in the trash. You gasp over the beauty, you frame it, and pay the coloring (and the colorer) many compliments.

To grow in your faith, get out of the city, look up at night, pet a dog, read Annie Dillard’s Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, giggle like a child if you see a hummingbird or a worm; notice God’s craftsmanship, protect it when you can, and give praise to the Creator.

James
james@mpumc.org

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eGrowthInFaith – stewardship – part 3

Stewardship is about money, but it is also about how we think about and treat the world – and the people in it, including ourselves. God created humanity and told them to “have dominion” over what had been made (Genesis 1:31). How do we begin by exercising “dominion” over our own selves? And since the word “dominion” is related to the way we’ve spoken over the centuries about Christ the Lord (as in A.D., anno domini?), could it be that stewardship of my self means I treat myself in the ways our Lord treats us?

Jesus encouraged care for the body; Paul declared that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19). So healthy habits and exercise help us grow in our faith. God has crafted each one of us with certain abilities, passions, quirks, and fascinations: so how do we let them be for God? Years ago I wrote these words: “The Holy Spirit must have terrific fun while working in that secret factory where people are created, smiling over yet one more unique individual, creasing each fingerprint at a never before seen curvature, devising a maddeningly new personality, even between so-called identical twins. A passion for Mozart, mixed in with a head for numbers, sobered by a mental block with foreign languages, yet a flair for pastry crusts, a smile no one has ever anticipated, laughably surprising permutations, the Spirit strewing gifts and talents all over like that sower Jesus told us about (Mark 4). If we want to be close to God, if we crave fulfillment in life, then we must first look to whatever little or big skill we have, lift our heads in gratitude to the Spirit, and then confess ‘My life is not my own. Use me as you will.’”

Stewardship is about who you are and the way you are wired, and a generous availability to God. Stewardship therefore is about time. The racing clock seems to strangle our spirituality; but the only way to grow closer to God is to engage in a careful inventory of time, how it is consumed, what really matters – and to adamantly block out time for God, for the life of faith and service – and when we do we discover the bolstering presence of God in all our other hours and days, and we grow.

James
james@mpumc.org

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eGrowthInFaith – Scripture

Last year we provided an 11 month email curriculum called Year Through the Bible; it’s still online if you missed it. Sometimes we feel like the recommendation that you read the Bible is like a reminder to watch your weight, or clean the bathroom, do your math homework… evoking a little twinge of guilt, maybe a little sporadic sampling happens, but the Bible never becomes a buoyant, vitalizing presence in real life.

Partly it’s just a big, long book, and you probably need a Bible dictionary or commentary – or to be in a group with a plan. Okay, get some help, join a group! Archived on our web site are email series I’ve done over several years on manageable sections of the Bible, likeThe Lord’s Prayer, or the short and wonderful book of Philippians, some of my favorite Bible verses, the books of the Bible, information on how the Bible was written or whether it is historically accurate, and much more.

We also have flawed expectations of what we might find. We want the time invested to be productive – but Bible reading is like prayer: wasting time with God, maybe like sitting on the porch with your grandfather or granddaughter and simply telling stories, sharing thoughts.

The Bible isn’t a Ouija board or a compilation of the answers to every question. The Bible invites questions, and asks more questions back to us as we read! Reading the Bible, over time, is like getting a pair of corrective lenses that help you see yourself, others, and the world the way God sees them. We don’t use the Bible like ammunition to fight our battles; we receive its stories, poems, and saying as windows into the heart of God.

Growth in faith won’t happen without some kind of regular Bible reading – and not merely reading quickly, the way we might a detective novel, but reading slowly, reflectively, retracing our eyes over the words, probing between the lines, asking a question or two, talking with a friend, or family member, or the pastor about the meaning and significance. The very effort to read, and understand, is pleasing to God, and simply trying to read expands our faith. And we discover the richness of the Word, which is never exhausted, and even repeated exploration of a single passage unveils more and deeper meanings.

James
james@mpumc.org

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eGrowthInFaith – Servant Ministry

Think how faith can grow. I begin like Narcissus, thinking only of myself, and expecting God to be like a butler or personal assistant to help me. Then I give a little one day, a bit of spare change, like the quarter my parents used to hand me to put in the offering plate. Then one day I donate an old coat I didn’t need any longer. Later I actually go shopping and put together a kit to be sent to someone in need. Convenience shifts toward sacrifice. Growing deeper, I show up one day and do something for somebody. Later I actually get to know someone in need, and it is the friendship that helps the other person – and me too.
This is how faith grows. Servant ministry, taking the time and trouble to use my talent and energy to make a difference in another person’s life: this is the way to God. And without serving, we get stuck at a willfully chosen distance from God.

Why can’t I just cozy up to God and stay home or in the sanctuary? Jesus was a servant: he washed disciples’ feet, touched the untouchables, fed the hungry, and so to be close to him we serve, we imitate him. We even discover his face in the face of those in need. God wants us to stretch and find ourselves in uncomfortable zones, so we will learn dependence, and build hope.

We like to avoid thinking of Church work as “volunteering.” If I “volunteer,” the feel is that my time is my time, and I quite nobly donate some time I could use for myself. But in God’s good kingdom, my time is God’s time, so I do not donate it so much as I joyfully fill it doing things God needs done, since the time was God’s anyhow.

Servant ministry is not the haves doling out to the have nots. Christians are never to be paternalistic. When we serve, we are served, and with the person in need we discover our shared poverty of soul. Often when we think we are about to help someone in need, we are surprised by an immense, joyful faith in the other person, something we’d been missing staying at home.

Lots of people and groups engage in service projects without thinking twice about God. Are we special? We are different, because of the Why and How of our work. We serve, not to pad our resume, relieve guilt, or feel good about ourselves – or even to change the world. We do it to honor God, and to love Christ, and to discover spiritual truths about ourselves in the mirror of the other person, and to witness to God’s goodness. This frees us to be more generous, and we are not too disturbed by failure or the slowness of results: we do it for God, we know our own failures, God has been patient with us, we do what we do to love Christ, and so the labor is never wasted, and we grow in our faith.

James
james@mpumc.org

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eGrowthInFaith – Reconciliation

Perhaps the most daunting, yet most rewarding, path to growth in faith is Reconciliation. Jesus quite astonishingly said “Love your enemies” – and you get the idea he meant for us actually to do so, and to join in his crusade of reconciliation. His whole life was about the reconciliation of those who were at odds with one another.

Within broken families, between the races, after shattered business ventures, perhaps just with an annoying neighbor or Church member with whom you disagreed, we find constant need to reconcile with others. But we are schooled in society to be “right,” or to strike 50/50, I’ll rub your back, you rub mine deals. The world never says “reconcile”; the world says fight, win, climb on top. Partisan politics requires a senator to strive relentlessly for the defeat of the other party, even if they have a lovely idea. Litigants in court seize as much as they possibly can. Television dramas divide good from bad, and the good hopefully win by simply killing or imprisoning the bad.

But Paul puts the burden on you, not the other person, and renders a lack of relationship unacceptable: “If possible, so far as it depends on you, live in peace with everyone” (Romans 12:18). Peace isn’t avoiding the prickly person or the silent treatment. Find the one who is angry with you, or who gets on your nerves, or with whom there has been a wound, or an explosion, and make peace. “Blessed are the peacemakers” (Matthew 5:9).

The logic? Christ has reconciled us to himself, made peace with us who were estranged from him; therefore we are entrusted with the ministry of reconciliation among each other (2 Corinthians 5:18-19). I am broken, you are broken, I can’t be healed until you are, until we together are. Instead of ruminating darkly in my mind that you were so very wrong, to grow in faith I go to you, listen, ask, share, seek forgiveness, offer forgiveness, try to find a healthy strategy to live at peace. This is our calling, and our faith toddles until we engage in this labor.

James
james@mpumc.org

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eGrowthInFaith – Church history

Just as immigrants hoping to become American citizens must have a passing knowledge of American history, so Christians benefit from a basic awareness of our religious past – not merely the Biblical founding of the faith, but how heroic and thoughtful believers and the Church itself has embodied the faith over two thousand years.

Church History sounds like a seminary course – and it is. But we can, over time, learn about great Christians, like St. Francis or John Wesley or Therese of Lisieux or Dorothy Day or St. Augustine, how they wrestled with problems we wrestle with, and still have wisdom to share, and how they courageously lived out their faith in imaginative ways we might mimic.
The very fact that the Church is still here: the dogged resilience of this worldwide institution says a lot about the inherent wonder of its truth, despite all the foolishness, wrong turns, and embarrassments. As we say before each Baptism, “The Church is of God and will be preserved to the end of time.”

The British novelist (and close friend of C.S. Lewis) Charles Williams wrote a history of Christendom and entitled it The Descent of the Dove. The Holy Spirit has birthed all that is good about the Church; and the same Spirit has borne patiently the trifling stupidity of the Church. The Spirit kneads both the wondrous glory of the Church and the embarrassing floundering of the Church together, and we have a feeble yet curiously beautiful witness to the Spirit, for my life with the Spirit is lived out with other Christians in the Church or not at all.

Today is yet another chapter in the long history of the Church – and an exciting one. While Christianity is a bit flabby in western civilization, in many places (especially the southern hemisphere) the Church is writing dramatic stories of growth and vibrancy. In countless new manifestations, Christianity is taking root. Mark Noll summarizes the startling facts of the Church’s ongoing history:

Christianity appears more and more as an essentially pluralistic and crosscultural faith. It appeared first in Asia, then Africa and Europe. Immediately those who turned to Christ in these “new” regions were at home in the faith. When they became believers, Christianity itself became Asian, European and African. Once Christianity is rooted in someplace new, the faith itself also takes on something from that new place. It also challenges, reforms and humanizes the cultural values of that place. The Gospel comes to each person and to all peoples exactly where they are. You do not have to stop being American, Japanese, German, or Terra del Fuegian in order to become a Christian. Instead, they all find rich resources in Christianity that are perfectly fitted for their own cultural situations. It is by its nature a religion of nearly infinite flexibility because it has been revealed in a person of absolutely infinite love.

This always has been and always will be the history of the Church, and every single individual congregation: Infinite Love, God incarnate, flexibly finding another situation in which to be the Body of Christ, where faith surely grows.

James
james@mpumc.org

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eGrowthInFaith – eLentenReflections

For the past five weeks, we have been thinking together in these emails about growth in faith. A crucial element in the adventure of getting close to God and more profoundly discovering the life of God in our lives is the way we mark time, and let the pace of time be an offering to God, and filled with meaning.

So, Christians have almost always and everywhere observed a holy calendar, theological seasons – and this week, we are upon a great teaching season: Lent. Our bodies and our work, school and social schedules are driven by the Winter segue into Spring; in our spiritual lives we are about to embark upon a forty day season of repentance, fasting, and hope, as preparation for Holy Week, and Easter.

I had a friend who argued that Lent was made up by the Church, and he preferred to be a Bible believing follower of Jesus. But what could be more biblical than a forty day season of renunciation, prayer, and seeking after God? Moses went up on the mountain for 40 days (Exodus 20-34); Elijah was in the desert for 40 days (1 Kings 19); and Jesus spent 40 arduous days in the wilderness fasting and being tested (Matthew 4). Forty is long enough to be daunting and educational; and yet forty is mercifully short, as God does not demand that we fast forever, or repent endlessly. Easter is coming; a respite, a rediscovery of the joys of God’s goodness is the whole point of Lent.

The world defines you as a consumer: you must eat, drink, possess, more, more, more; but in Lent God says You are not a consumer. You are my beloved child – and it is in refraining from consuming, at least a little, that we discover our inner hunger, not for more consuming, but for God; and in our hunger for whatever we are doing without, we are schooled in solidarity with those who are not choosing to be hungry for Lent, but are always hungry.

The world defines you as a producer: you must work, fill your time, turn a profit, stay busy, busier, busier; but in Lent God says You are not a producer. You are my beloved child – so be still, rest, reflect, pray, be alone with me for a while.

Lent begins on Wednesday. Join me in this holy season by planning to fast from something that will help you grow in your faith; block out time to think, reflect on God’s Word, and pray – and notice then you are, by this very simple decision about your calendar and habits, much closer to Jesus.

James
james@mpumc.org