Sharing Time with Sharon: You can’t get there from here!

April 2009

Every year, worship planners must figure out what the itinerary for Holy Week, those days between Palm Sunday and Easter, will look like in the church. The task is to bring folks from the excitement of Palm Sunday’s “Hallelujah!” when Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, through the throes of his pain and passion of his last week on earth, to the glorious wonder of Christ’s resurrection on Easter morning.

Anticipating that people’s lives are too busy to come back to church mid-week for another service, many churches try to divide the pre-Easter Sunday between the palm welcome and the agonizing crucifixion, all in 60 minutes. What you end up with is emotional whiplash.

Too much really important stuff happened during that week, and the theological and emotional significance takes time to soak in to really become part of our spiritual journey. Other churches have been known to skip the midweek destinations all together, believing that they’re too depressing. Better, in our already anxious times, to keep the worship celebrations cheerful and positive. So they leapfrog from happy Sunday to happy Sunday, with just a footnote about the intensity of emotion and raw passion that Jesus experienced in those days in between.

Well, friends, here’s the deal. There just isn’t any way to get to the joyous destination of Easter, if you don’t stop and experience Good Friday, dwelling in the how and why of Jesus’ arrest, trial, and death. You have to travel with the disciples and his mother to the foot of the cross and hear the agony of his whispered prayers. You have to sit with the sin that kept Jesus on that cross in order to feel the giddy rush of freedom offered by the empty tomb.

Oh sure, if you travel directly to Easter morning, you can still enjoy the flowers, sing the old traditional hymns, and wear your new bonnet. But the goose-bumpity glory and power of the empty Easter tomb in rooted in that wretched Friday cross. If you don’t hang out there first, it will be like watching somebody else’s travel slides instead of experiencing the texture and tastes of the journey for yourself.

I’ll see you at the cross,
Pastor Sharon

From the Wilder View - March 2009

In a moment we can change a sad day into a joyful one.

In a moment we can share our love for a dear one.

In a moment with just a glance we can invite or exclude.

In a moment our world can change.

In a moment we can transform the world.

One Thursday evening, I was talking with a couple that I will marry in May. There was joy in the anticipation of their wedding day. We talked about who would stand where and all of the details of the ceremony. The groom decided that he would like to walk his mother down the aisle before the wedding. There was great joy in that discussion. A few hours later, he received a call. His mother was on the air- plane bound for Buffalo, and she had been killed in the crash. In a moment, his world was turned upside down.

In a moment, we meet a stranger in a grocery store. Who knows where they have been, or what they have experienced in their life? Who knows if they are hurting and need the comfort of God’s love? Do we get frustrated as they move a bit too slowly emptying their cart, or do we smile and share God’s love? In a moment, we encounter a coworker who has discovered they have a serious illness. They feel lost and afraid, yet how could they share that with someone at work? Do we get angry because they seem distracted and not engaged in the meeting, or do we pause and listen?

In a moment, a neighbor is faced with the reality of losing their home. They feel shame, despair, and hopeless. Do we give them a hard time for filling up the trash dumpster or do we try to help them pick up the pieces?

There are so many moments in life where a simple action on our part is the difference between life and death in someone’s life. The odd thing is that we rarely know about these moments. The season of Lent is a moment in which we are invited to take time to pause and reflect upon our life. Ita moment to prayerfully listen to God and evaluate our habits to see if they lead us towards life. Ita moment that we might be in tune with the Holy Spirit so we can be used as God’s hands to those around us who are hurting.

May this Lenten season be one of holy moments in which we encounter God.

Grace and Peace,
Pastor Kathleen

Time with Sharon: We Are One

March 2009

“ As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer males and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. ”

Galatians 3:27-8

In the month of March, we will be celebrating another Confirmation class at LPUMC. The confirmation experience is a process of growth and introspection...a time of learning about God, about ourselves, and about Christianity as it is expressed through the United Methodist tradition. Most generally, a Confirmation Class is composed of young people in their junior high or early high school years. This year's Adult Confirmation Class has yielded folks from many faith traditions, or noneall, some who have already made their first confirmation journey many years ago in another church or denomination, and some who have never attended a religious class before in their life. Together, all have laughed, questioned, made new discoveries (and friends), and thought about whatmeans to be a follower of Christ, and more particularly, to be a United Methodist Christian.

During our time together, we have explored the early roots of the Methodist revival planted by John and Charles Wesley in England and cultivated by the Circuit Riders crossing the frontier of the American colonies. We have learned how the Methodist movement has been characterized by Wesley's unique understanding of God's Grace,connectional system, and the deep value of holy conferencing. We've discussed the pro's and con's of the itinerancy system, the beauty of apportionment model, and how each member of the church has the potential of effecting change at the General Conference level. We have shared precious conversations about the sacraments of Baptism and Holy Communion, and pulled the Social Principles apart and put them back together again, looking for the truths that we each hold dear. Finally, we have celebrated that this is a church body that holds each person to be uniquely and wonderfully made, inviting all persons to the Lord's Table of Grace.

On March 29th, we will celebrate the conclusion of our Confirmation experience by honoring those who have completed their study. Some may make the decision to wed their spiritual journey with Lafayette Park United Methodist Church by becoming members. All will be acknowledged for their presence with us and their desire to seek deeper understanding of a life lived in Christ through faith. I know you will join me in celebrating their hunger to (re)connect anew with God in a meaningful way.

It has bee thrilling to watch God's Spirit weave together the hearts of these folks who are from such diverse paths into a caring group. There is "no longer Jew or Greek,... slave or free,...male or female". God's Spirit has drawn us together for purposes of learning, sharing, and ultimately serving. That's what the Holy Spirit does so well. As our spirits are touched by God's, we become One in Christ Jesus. It's amazing grace.

Peace,
Sharon

From the Wilder View - February 2009

So did you make a New Year’s resolution? How are you doing on keeping it? I have to admit that I have given up making New Year resolutions. It seems that I always have lofty goals; lose weight, start exercising, spend more time reading, do more of this or more of that, and on and on. But somehow in just a couple days into the new year and somehow my best of intentions would be blown away. So I am going to work on longer term goals rather than the traditional New Year’s resolutions with the hope that maybe one day I will be successful in my personal transformation hopes.

As I think about long term goals I am reminded of a poem and a song. The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock by T. S. Elliott is about a man who evaluates his life using images of his life being measured by coffee spoons and wondering if they dare disturb the universe. He looks at the end of his life with regret that there were moments that he could have made a significant difference in the world, but possibly didn’t have the courage to stand up or speak out in that moment, and thus his life is measured by coffee spoons. The song that I hold in contrast is called “Everything Possible” by Fred Small and sung by The Flirtations. It ends with this phrase, “But the only measure of your words and your deeds will be the love you’ve left behind when you’re gone.” Where the poem and the song come together for me is that each day we are presented with many opportunities to heroically love in this world. Each moment of our life we are given the opportunity to make a decision to transform the world around us with love. We can demonstrate love through speaking out, standing in protest, humbly serving others, or just listening to someone. The question is, will we make the effort to love and risk disturbing the universe, or will we sit back and not engage. Will our words and deeds create love or will they perpetuate the status quo?

Perhaps if I am focused on my words and deeds, sharing the love of God with those around me, my life might be measured in something more important than coffee spoons. Perhaps my life resolution should be to be intentional that each day my words and deeds communicate God’s love for the world. I would hazard to guess that living out God’s love might just change the universe, and hopefully, my personal transformation might also help God transform a little corner of the world.

My hope for you this New Year and for the years to come is that we all might live our lives filled with words and deeds that communicate the love of God.

Happy Loving!

Pastor Kathleen

Time with Sharon: A New Adventure!

February 2009

* This is a day of new beginnings,
time to remember and move on,
time to believe what love is bringing,
laying to rest the pain that’s gone.

Most people consider January 1st the beginning of the new year, where all things are fresh and new. Time to forgive and forget, time to start over, to zero the counters and see where we can go from here.For a lot of businesses, the fiscal year is July 1. After having closed out their books, and counted their inventory, they give each other a bonus and go to Florida for a little R and R.

But in the church, the Liturgical year begins right after Thanksgiving with Advent. All through the four Sundays before Christmas, we prepare to receive Emmanuel, God with Us, in the form of a baby-child. By the time January 1st rolls around, we have celebrated the birth of the Christ Child, and heard the scriptural story of Baby Jesus being consecrated at the Temple, ending with verse 40 in the second chapter of Luke: “The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him.” Jesus was getting ready for ministry. He was preparing for the adventure of his life.

Now is not the time to get started…because our adventure with Jesus has already begun. But it is a time to evaluate, get fresh perspective, and seek new possibilities…and then to begin again. To risk, to pray, to stretch, to grow. Now is a time to be readying ourselves to carry on Christ’s ministry on earth.

Then let us, with the spirit’s daring,
Step from the past and leave behind
Our disappointment, guilt, and grieving,
Seeking new paths, and sure to find.

Look behind you…what have you been doing this past year that uses your gifts and talents to help Christ love people? Now look ahead…what can you do that you have never done before (with that ministry or a new one) that will reach someone new, or in a new way? What do you need to know? Who do you need to talk to? What extra resources will you need? Who might join you in your adventure? Now is a good time to assess what we’re doing, and figure out how we can do it better, smarter, with greater love, and to invite others to join us.

Christ is alive, and goes before us
To show and share what love can do.
This is a day of new beginnings,
Our God is making all things new!

I look forward to hearing about your adventures,
Pastor Sharon