Dear Partners in Ministry,
EASTER EYES. During Lent, one of the practices I have been following, along with special times of prayer and fasting, is rereading Wesley's thirteen sermons on the Sermon on the Mount. Wesley's four volumes of standard sermons, along with the Articles of Religion (found in the front of the Book of Discipline) and Wesley's "Explanatory Notes Upon the New Testament" provide the doctrinal standards of the United Methodist Church....in case you were ever wondering. It's been a long time since I read some of this sermon. It has been a spiritually exhilarating experience....although I still wonder how 4,000 coal miners could stand in the fields listening to these sermons....but then, by God's grace, somehow people get through listening to even some of my sermons.
In his sermon on the Lord's prayer, which goes on for twenty-one pages, Wesley reflects on "give us our daily bread.” He says, "When we pray for daily bread for this day, we are 'not to worry about tomorrow'....Beyond each new day, we are to see nothing but eternity." Reading this, as I did in Lent, I thought of Easter....the risen Christ opening the doorway to eternal life for all who believe in Him. You and I may have the assurance of this day we are living....but beyond this???? With Easter eyes we see God's infinite love and eternity beyond, which transforms the way we live today, and our confidence about what is next....no matter what!!!!
Posted on big billboards around Boston is the announcement, "May 21 is Judgment Day." Someone seems to be certain, even though Jesus said that no one knows the day or the hour (Matt. 24:36). Frankly, I'm not worried. As my Sunday School teacher would remind us when we were teens, "If you are with Christ today, you don't need to worry about where you will be tomorrow, whatever."
May the risen Christ grant you the Easter eyes to "see nothing but eternity" ahead. Let Him change your life and view of things. And share that Good News with someone else this Easter.
ALL THE PLAYERS WORE #42 throughout major league baseball last Friday, April 15. Why? Because April 15, 1947, was the first time an African American ever played for a major league baseball team....the Brooklyn Dodgers....his name: Jackie Robinson....the man who made that decision was General Manager, Branch Rickey. Actually his full name was, Wesley Branch Rickey....and therein lies an important part of the story. Rickey was born and raised a Methodist, and had made the decision to follow Christ in all that he did. He was never afraid to stand up for what he believed. A graduate of Ohio Wesleyan, he traveled the country as a part of the temperance movement, encouraging people to give up drinking because of its damage to so many lives and families. He was hired to play for the Cincinnati Reds, but later fired because he was committed to keeping the Sabbath and would not play on Sundays. But, other teams hired him and he eventually rose into the ranks of baseball management starting innovations such as the "farm club system" and "knot-hole clubs" for kids who couldn't afford to attend games.
Rickey's concern for "loving our neighbors as ourselves" led him to struggle over the racism in baseball and society. One of the first inklings that he might actually do something about it came in a sermon he preached as a Methodist lay preacher. Later, he went to see his pastor in Brooklyn and spent nearly an hour in conversation and prayer with him before making the final decision. He said, "This was a decision so complex, so far reaching, fraught with so many pitfalls, but filled with so much good....I had to talk to God about it and be sure what He wanted me to do."
On the day before Jackie Robinson was to take the field playing for the Dodgers, a sports reporter approached Mr. Rickey and said, "Tomorrow, all hell is going to break loose!" Rickey replied, "I believe tomorrow all heaven will rejoice!" The film maker Ken Burns called it "one of the finest moments in all of American history...not just sports history."
Rickey went on to be general manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates and hired Roberto Clemente, one of the first Latinos in the major leagues. He continued all his life as an active Methodist, known for his deep faith and commitment to both "personal holiness and social holiness." In spite of his place in the world of baseball, as long as he lived, he never played, attended or coached a baseball game on the Sabbath, nor used alcohol or profanity. He was noted for his commitment to justice and equality as an expression of his Christian faith. And heaven rejoices, and the world is different.
Disciples of Jesus Christ, by God's grace, do transform the world. That is one reason our United Methodist mission is "to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world." How are you and your congregation doing in this mission?
WORSHIP FOR SUNDAY SCHOOL TEACHERS. Palm Sunday I was blessed to be at Grace Church, St. Johnsbury, VT (yes, I drove through a "spring" snow storm to get there...but then I remember snowy sunrise services in Pittsburgh....the lilies blended right in). As most of you know, I believe the best format for Sunday morning, and serious Christian growth is to have worship and Sunday School at two different times so that both children and adults can benefit from both of these very important facets of the Christian life. Is two hours or so too much to give to the Lord on the Sabbath?
I also know that having worship and Sunday School at the same time is very prevalent here in New England (a significant surprise to me when I came to serve here). Grace Church has addressed at least a part of this dilemma by having a brief worship time for the Sunday School teachers at 9:30 a.m. (Sunday School and the main worship service start at 10). It was a good, informal spiritual time in which I gave a "reader's digest" version of the sermon which, I hope, provided these very dedicated teachers with some centering for both their teaching and entering Holy Week. If you are not yet ready to have worship and Sunday School at different times, at least have some worship for your Sunday School teachers who serve so faithfully....and also deserve the gift of worship.
OUR FIVE SUMMER CAMPS (in ME, NH, VT, MA, and RI) offer outstanding opportunities for life-changing Christian experiences for children, youth (and the adults who are there too). A number of our churches have created "campership funds" to help make sure that their youth....and any youth from the community....who want to go to camp can do so. Faith Church in Chicopee, MA, where I preached recently, has a great, active youth group called WHAM..."We Have A Mission." It was started by a small group of youth from that church who went to Camp Aldersgate together....and came home on fire for Christ, and wanting to be engaged in fellowship and mission with each other...and now more youth are joining!
Check out all of our camp offerings on the Conference website (www.neumc.org/camps ....or find it under "Mission and Ministry" click "Camps and Retreat Centers").....and make sure youth from your church and community get there.
CHRIST IS RISEN...EMERGING EASTERS. I spent much of the past week in the semi-annual meeting of our denomination's General Board of Global Ministries (GBGM). Here's some of what we worked on: the United Methodist movement is growing so quickly in Vietnam that we now have 244 congregations.....six months ago we had around 150! Our United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) is already at work in Japan following the earthquake and tsunami and we are entering new stages of our long term commitment to work with the Methodist Church of Haiti for spiritual and material renewal. Thank you for your prayers and support. In a move to have more effective governance and good stewardship in our United Methodist mission work, the United Methodist Women's organization reduced the size of its Board and became structurally separate from GBGM while remaining in mission partnership. In turn, the GBGM approved cutting its Board size from 90 to 32.
This is an amazing time of "rethinking" our church. And why? So that more and more people in Vietnam, Japan, Haiti, and around the world might know the resurrection hope of the risen Christ and the eternal love God. You and I are a part of God's continuing miracles....emerging Easters....all around the world.
It is a great blessing to be partners in this ministry with the risen Christ and you.
Grace and Peace always,
-Pete
