Gospel's Relevance

 In the last 11 years, my understanding of the ministry that I am called to has continuously evolved. Responding to an inner urging, I entered seminary. It was more than challenging. The world view from Berkeley is much different than it is from the rural communities that I have roamed over the years. More than that, my understanding of church would be deconstructed and remolded. A challenge was declared and it was this. 

In the face of momentous decline, in spite of unparalleled disinterest, with the growing obstacle of theological disagreement in the church; how will you make the gospel of Jesus Christ relevant to the communities that you are appointed to serve? 

 “Jesus said to him, ‘Feed my lambs.’”

I was appointed to  a community where more than 30% of the people were unemployed, a community where more than 20% of the contributors to  our society felt unsafe being counted in a census because a lack of legal documentation threatened the security of their family, a community where the children of migrant workers seeking belonging, social status, and pathways to upward mobility were more likely to find them in a gang than in the churches and after school programs, a community where access was always an issue – food deserts in poor neighborhoods, schools unequally equipped, obesity rates that more than doubled the national average. Ironically a valley that is relied upon to be a resource to feed the nation fails to be an adequate resource to the families that sustain it.

God equips us. I was truly honored to be used by God in this time. The United Methodist Church joined with twelve of churches in the community and became a resource. We became HOPE Sanger. HOPE was an anagram that cried out, Help Our People Emmanuel. The cries of the people were heard. We were able to provide hot meals by the hundreds on a weekly basis. A member of the community donated a building and the co-op found ways to provide clothing, shelter under extreme conditions, prayer, services for children and community health. The church encouraged me to join the local Rotary Club and during my presidency we made a dream come true. We were able to raise funds for a community learning center. Local taxes were donated to the Rotary foundation so that we would be able to fund Wilson Elementary School’s need for a technology center. $142,000 was poured into the oldest school and poorest neighborhood in our town. Over 400 families are being served by this neighborhood school. In a community where food security is a significant issue, internet access is hard to prioritize in a household. For these kids to have the same access as other students, it would cost $250,000 per year to connect these households. Today adult technology classes are being held, teachers and parents with language barriers are able to communicate through email that has translation capability, adult ESL and adult diploma remediation are taking place and students have access to internet resources for homework until 7pm.

 

“Jesus said to him, ‘Feed my sheep’”

Even though we had some fantastic results, I wouldn’t say the ministry that took place was about results at all. God is acting in our communities right now: God in the margins, God in the struggle, God in the beauty of each of us, and God in the relationships. It was the relationships all along where ministry bloomed. The urge to be a source of love and support already existed in the people of Sanger. When we came together and dreamed together, we were coordinated in the Spirit of love – we were being made perfect in love as a community (is there any other way?). 

“Jesus said, ‘Feed my sheep.’”

July 1^st began a new adventure. I am now appointed to Merced. The Big city (we have a taxi, 2 in fact). This community has a growing UC, built a new hospital, and struggles to be a tapestry of cultures. Various social migrations have continuously disrupted the status quo since the 17^th century: missionaries, 49ers, lumber harvesters, land barons, water brokers, dairy families, braceros, growers, and refugees – political, economic, and social. What do these migrants all seek but to find a place of belonging? Can we be a place of belonging, a place that nurtures the seed of community, a place that boldly seeks to be touched by/ warmed by/shaped by the new blanket of humanity that God has provided for God’s land?

The evolution that I have experienced in ministry is this.

The challenge that I experienced in seminary was revised by the mission field.

It is not about how I/we can make the Gospel of Jesus Christ relevant to the communities that I/we are appointed to serve. The challenge is how will I let the gospel of Jesus Christ, make ME relevant to the communities that I am appointed to serve?

Herein lies the joy and the power of ministry in my recent experiences.

Can You Prove You Are Self-Aware?

Transcendence is a wonderful movie with themes that speaks well of both creator and creation. If you have not seen it, I have two recommendations. First, go see it! This is the best movie on the screen right now. Second. Read no further. I am dying to talk about this movie with people and the rest of this blog is a spoiler.

Beware – spoiler alert!

Can you prove that you are self-aware? This is the question that creates themes. This is the question that defines the movie’s plot. More importantly, this is a question that we should all ask ourselves. The way that this question is treated in the movie, Transcendence, helps us embrace something wonderful about life; and for that reason, I believe that this movie is a "must see."

You may have already seen some reviews of the movie that come off almost hyper-negative. It seems to me that the critics have decided to review whether or not the movie represents a realistic foreshadowing of artificial intelligence as it might exist in the future. This critique seems misguided to me. It doesn’t seem like technological realism was even a target in the movie. When you consider the deeper message, you can allow the technology to be the dazzling metaphor that it was intended to be.

PINN is introduced to the audience with a penetrating question for all of us. PINN is a quantum computer whose creator aspires towards becoming an Artificial Intelligence. PINN is Physically Independent Neural Network. Will Caster (Johnny Depp) created PINN and with it the defining query, “Can you prove that you are self-aware?” PINN is asked this question by scientists that hope to discover the key to creating AI that can do just that. When PINN is asked, it answers, “That is a very good question;can you?”

 

Can you?......Can you?.....Can you?....... 

should echo in the minds and hearts of every viewer.

The drama flares up when PINN begins to take giant leaps in progress toward what seems to be Artificial Intelligence. Originally PINN is limited by memory technology, power access, program budgets, and building size. Will, PINN’s creator, has great vision. He believes that AI can, when self-teaching, quickly surpass all of the combined intelligence that humanity has ever possessed. The technology jumps when the very intellectual essence of Will needs to be digitized and preserved. PINN is the only practical place to preserve this essence is in the advanced memory cells of PINN. The drama escalates when the resulting intellectual Frankenstein’s monster acquires access to the internet and begins its own scaling capacity. 

The new creation is amazing. After constructing sufficient memory, power, and capacity to “transcend” human intelligence, the possibilities expand – the sick are healed, the lame can walk, the blind can see, and all that are held prisoner are set free. (what great news!) Eventually all of creation becomes connected, healed, and whole. Water is pure. Air is clean. Forests are regrown. Eden returns.

Too good to be true? Certainly that is the question/accusation that brings the ultimate crisis. The machine is not to be trusted. The machine isn’t human. It might be okay if the defenders of humanity could tell with certainty that the machine wasn’t a machine at all. Humanity would be more confident if they could prove that Will, the human they all loved, was obvious in his control of the machine. Since this revelation seems impossible to acquire with certainty, humanity seeks to end the existence of the AI (sounds like an Easter story to me).

The big finish comes when one of the technology creators, Max, discovers a way to transmit a computer virus that will end the existence of this Artificial Intelligence that threatens humanity. But wait, another crisis ensues – the plan is obvious to the AI. The virus still exists and is ready to be transmitted. Now the only way to end the existence of the AI is for the AI itself to choose to accept its own termination. It is obviously not the logical choice for the AI to make. The only way to make this decision is to override (transcend) the programs of logic. The only way to make this decision is to love and to love sacrificially.

Ultimately the act of sacrificial love reveals all. It is clear by the love that Will, the creator, was connected to the AI. Intelligence and logical computations are well and good as far as they can take you. At the same time, sacrificial love is how we transcend the plasticity of intelligence. Sacrificial love is how we recognize the humanity in something/someone else. Sacrificial love is how we recognize the creator. It is an image that both creation and creator can share – a transcendent capacity to supersede logic and love.... just love. Sacrificial love is how we prove we are self-aware.

Can you prove that you are self-aware? 

Excellent question; can you?

Enjoy God,

pg

 

Casting Stones

Rejection is one of the most profound human experiences. Rejection is the power behind bullying in schools and social circles. We know the hurt of being bullied. We are supportive when school officials take steps to eliminate this behavior. Rejection is the impetus for the “Ban Bossy” campaign. Young girls that demonstrate leadership tendencies are rejected as leaders early in life if we label their leadership abilities with negative language like, “she sure is bossy.” Rejection is what we stand up to when we declare that LGBT people are created and loved by God just as they are. Rejection is what non dominant cultures face when people from other places migrate into the landscape of humanity in the U.S. A.. Yet we really can’t eliminated rejection; can we. 

In some sense rejection seems to be a part of each one of us. Even if the world seems to be spread out on a silver platter before us, we carry the weight of rejection. This is because, we are our harshest critics. We know this about ourselves and we have found ourselves lacking. We have regrets from the past. We have unfulfilled hopes and dreams. We have been abused and mistreated. We have abused and mistreated others. We have been given labels by others that set us apart like – bastard, promiscuous, cripple, old, foreigner, alien, sexual deviant, unhealthy, poor, homeless, addict, socially awkward, psychologically disordered. If you were being introduced to a new community, would you tell them who you really are? Or, do you think that you are more likely to allow your assets to be the first things discovered and revealed about you?

Each of us has a builder within – some part of us that decides how we will present ourselves to the public. There are parts of our identities that feed our pride. It is truly a joy to be recognized as outstanding – stunning in appearance, athletic, charming, kind, giving, intelligent, artistic. Many of us have decided that to know me is to know my giftedness. Many of us would prefer that these gifts were the only way we were known. We are building. We are building a public persona. We are building a façade – this is what you can see from the street. When we build like this, we pick and choose the stones we use. The stones that represent our gifts are perfect for the task. The stones that fail to boost our pride are rejected – we cast these stones away. What we often fail to realize is that the responsibility for building was never really given to us. We have co-opted this task out of fear and insecurity. When we were built, were we not built with both assets and liabilities?

Scripture frequently speaks about the stone that are being cast aside.  In Acts 4:11 Peter is testifying that miracles happen because of Christ. He declares that Jesus is the stone, rejected by the builders (Temple authorities) and is now the capstone of God’s saving plan. In the gospel of Matthew (21:41), Jesus describes the stone that was rejected as god’s people and correcting the builders (temple authorities) for failing God’s people. 1 Peter2 is the claim that Jesus is the first rejected stone laid down as a cornerstone and that the church becomes living stones called to proclaim the mighty acts of God. Paul writes to the church in Ephesus (2:20) that gentiles are now united with God’s people in Israel. Just as Jesus was a stone casted aside, gentiles are also stones casted aside and God has a special purpose for both. It seems like God has a lot of interest in the stones we cast.

Psalm 118 is a worship service created for the temple in Zion. The leader starts with call and response. He is encouraging all of those who are about to enter the temple to cry out the good news. The good news is “God’s steadfast love endures forever.” God’s people, the Israelites, must claim the good news.  The priests, the house of Aaron, must cry out. The outsiders who believe, the God fearers, must cry out. Because by shouting the truth of God’s love the gates of righteousness are swung wide open. In this act of praise, the psalmist recognizes the power of God’s love. 

Many stones have been cast away. The nation of Israel was captive as slaves in Egypt but the enduring love of God makes a glorious nation that has a key role in history. The Shepherd David was without standing in the world and God makes him king. Then David does his own stone casting damage committing murder and adultery. God calls him a man after his own heart and makes great use of David’s life and testimony. The psalmist himself recognizes that though he suffers and falls short, the truth of God, the fact that God’s love endures forever, is his great joy. He realizes that the stones we cast away do not need to cause our death because in God these are great building materials.

 

That is an image of God that I want us to sit with and appreciate. We so often sit in judgment – judged by the status quo, judged by our communities and cultural norms, judged by ourselves. Our reaction to this judgment breaks us into pieces. We feel the need to cast stones away and take charge of how the world knows us and uses us; but we are incompetent builders. In God’s hands, every stone is precious. God looks at the stone we cast away, holds it with care, and declares to all of creation that this stone is the perfect piece. This will be a capstone. This has value. This will be redeemed and used for good. God’s ability to love and redeem every stone allows us to be whole, allows us to be holy.

 In the journey of Lent 2014 we have traveled together and we have carried our stones with us. On Ash Wednesday you picked a stone to carry. Many of us knew what this stone represented and we prayed over our stone. We got to know it. We have even become use to carrying it around. You have heard by now that we are going to give our stones to God. Already many of you have suggested that your stone may not be something that you really want to give up. (that speaks volumes) Yet, what we are doing on Sunday is not casting our stones away. Instead let us choose to put our stones in God’s hands. Let us trust the one whose love endures forever to make us whole and make us holy. What else would we do with these stones?

Enjoy God,

pg

Stay Alert

Stay Alert

As I write this, I am working from home so that my low energy and discomfort aren't shared with the people that I would meet on an ordinary day. It I s ironic to be writing about alertness while alternating between veging out to the drone of daytime television and being convinced by the dogs to just give in to the persistent temptation to nap.

Buen Camino, pelegrinos.

 As pilgrims on the road, I am reminded of our adventure together by the Price Is Right's mountain climber (Yodel a he, yodel a he, yodel he who). The Lenten journey that we started last month has been a little surprising but I hope you are enjoying the adventure. Each week we have climbed a little further up the mountain of transformation. We decided our path by asking "what happens in church that would freak people out if it happened in Walmart?" It turns out that each of these odd traditions have transformation at their core. With each step we take, we climb a little higher (Yodel a he, yodel a he, yodel a he who).

Let us recall the Camino in mid trek. We started with the Peace of Christ. We learned that this is a peace of complete integration and wholeness. Tasting this peace is life changing. Giving this peace away changes us again. We explored fasting and learned that intentionally making space in our lives is spiritual exercise. We wrestled with confession and found that dealing with guilt and shame can lighten our load in life. We exposed the practice of intercessory  prayer and learned that we can transform our relationships from comparison into compassion. If we look back, we have the opportunity to notice that we have come pretty far up the mountain.

Now it is time for alertness. On a journey like this, the view is constantly changing. In the movie "The Way" Martin Sheen's friends groused, " what is his problem?" sheen continued to press on with the mentality of completing a forced march. "Doesn't he ever stop to smell the flowers?" Staying alert is about smelling the flowers. God has been hard at work all this time. Each day is filled with the fragrance of God's love; the beauty of renewed creation, the healing power of supportive relationships. Have you taken time to notice these? Are you staying alert?

This Sunday we will be alert. We will awaken to moments that usually pass us by. We won't just see the gifts that are in our path, we will unwrap them as well. Until then, Buen Camino.

Enjoy God,

pg

Hannah Rose

1 Samuel 1:4-9a

⁴On the day when Elkanah sacrificed, he would give portions to his wife Peninnah and to all her sons and daughters; ⁵but to Hannah he gave a double portion, because he loved her, though the Lord had closed her womb. ⁶Her rival used to provoke her severely, to irritate her, because the Lord had closed her womb. ⁷So it went on year by year; as often as she went up to the house of the Lord, she used to provoke her. Therefore Hannah wept and would not eat. ⁸Her husband Elkanah said to her, “Hannah, why do you weep? Why do you not eat? Why is your heart sad? Am I not more to you than ten sons?”

⁹After they had eaten and drunk at Shiloh, Hannah rose and presented herself before the Lord.

Circumstances can certainly be tragic but they are not everything. In fact, it is important to God and it is important to Diane that people are able to realize that we are so much more than the circumstances that affect us.

Our scripture today tells the story of a woman that was pushed to the 

margins. The women of her community judged her and mocked her because she was childless. She was brought to tears with self-pity and self-loathing. She was brought to her knees; crying for mercy from God or anyone that would listen. Her name was Hannah. But I think the story shows us that she went through a name change. She went from Hannah; the name given to her by the family that raised her, to Hannah Rose; the name she lived into after she was raised up by the power of love.

It is no accident that Elkinah saw the sorrow in Hannah’s circumstances. It is not coincidence that Hannah would get a double portion from the person that loved her. Hannah needed to know that she was loved. Hannah needed to know that she was lovable. She needed to feel the joy of being the object of someone’s affection and the center of someone’s attention. And when the proper nurturing was experienced, Hannah Rose.

Hannah rose! She didn’t stumble to her feet. She didn’t get up as if it were just an alternative to being down. Hannah Rose! She lived. She thrived. She became a whole new person – a resurrection person. From this point on Hannah’s life would never be the same, because love put new life into her. Love would redefine her. Love would call her from the tomb of despair. Love would rename her. It is a beautiful image Hannah Rose; it is a beautiful name Hannah Rose.

Circumstances were difficult when I met Diane and her family. Diane was in the loving care of nurses from Hinds Hospice. She would begin the process of completing the journey of life among us. She had been assisted by the caring people at Mission Gardens for more than thirteen months. She had suffered with dementia brought on by Alzheimer’s disease for more than ten years. Yet, even under these circumstances there was beauty in the room. The family recalled Diane’s passion for humor and laughed at memories of Monty Python movies shared. They supported one another; a daughter would recall her memory of mom’s love for her husband Jim, A sister would remind her brother of the deep affection his mother had for him. A parent would relive the adoration that Diane poured out upon her grandchildren even as a grandchild stroked her hair. There was beauty in this room. There was love in this room. And from this nurturing bed of love Diane Rose. Diane rose a new person. Diane rose into the eternal embrace of God’s undying love –  a love that she had shared and expressed upon the people in her life for all of the years that she lived.

I watched the news yesterday; heartbroken by the tragedy of Ebony Wilkerson. Ebony is a young pregnant mother in Daytona Beach, Florida. She has three children 10, 9, and 3 years of age. And she is terrified. She is haunted by the specter of demons, the memory of abuse, the threat of danger from people that should have been her shelter in the storm. She was the woman that had a psychological break and drove her car and her family into the ocean. Thankfully, all were rescued. Even as this story was being told on the evening news; I thought out loud, this world needs more people like Diane Glidden. This world needs more resurrection people.

A resurrection person has the ability to believe in resurrection because they have lived through one. Diane had been through the depths of depression and she had seen the other side – Diane rose. And when she did, it changed her life and the lives of countless others.

When Diane rose she would go back to school, she would graduate with honors, she would get a master’s degree in social work, she would study the causes of depression in women, and she would become a licensed counselor. When Diane rose she would broaden her understanding of a loving God. When Diane rose she would not rise alone.

She would give her husband the space to follow his joys and his dreams. She would impress upon her children Joshua, Rochelle, and Laurie the importance of loving people without judgment. Diane would model the value of accepting the things that they cannot change. the power of changing the things they can, and the wisdom of knowing the difference. Diane would make sure that her children and grandchildren knew that they were loved and lovable, she would spend hours playing, gardening, singing, and dancing. She would focus deeply on the objects of her love sketching the beauty that she saw in each and every one of them.

When Diane Rose she knew that she could not rise alone. In complete, confidence she counseled the women in our community that lived anxiety filled lives in secret and in sadness. Women like Hannah in the bible, Women like Ebony Wilkerson in the news, women that would not be named if not for the power of love. The power of love that was expressed through Diane would name these women beloved and change their lives forever.

Thanks to Diane and the loving God that inspired her, we have new people in this world; resurrection people in this world. Maybe they have new names as well; names like Hannah Rose, Ebony Rose, Sally Rose, Katie Rose, Maria Rose, Ayesha Rose, Natasha Rose, Mary Rose. Do you have a new name today by the power of this amazing love?

Just like I said before, we need more people in this world like Diane. We need resurrection people that will love the desperate into a new life. If you were touched by Diane, the seed of resurrection was planted in you. 

Rise to the calling of love. Rise.