Wesley United Methodist Church

Friends,

One of the best parts of spring is waking up to the sounds of birds singing. Without fail and more reliably than an alarm clock, I hear their wonderful chirps, whistles, and caws about thirty minutes before sunrise. Bingo must hear them as well because he starts pacing, going from window to window finally putting his muzzle in my face while moving his feet in great excitement. He is letting me know he wants to go out for his morning walk.

Just the other day, on my way to meet a friend for coffee, a familiar song came on the radio: "Sing, sing a song, make it simple, to last your whole life long. Don't worry that it's not good enough for anyone else to hear. Just sing! Sing a song."

I am sure many of us remember the Carpenters singing this song in the 1970s. As I raced down Highway 169 a flood of memories came, including one of me holding my little transistor radio to my ear with one hand and a fishing rod in the other. I would sit on the dock for hours singing along and thinking I had the best voice in the world. Evidence suggests the fish disagreed, as my bobber rarely went under. Regardless, the joy of singing was more important to me than catching fish. To this day, very little has changed.

On Saturday, I took a short road trip to Duluth to attend a concert by the Victory Chorus. While reading the program, I discovered that since 2019, this choir has worked to create a welcoming space where people living with dementia, their caregivers, and volunteers can experience joy and build community. Directed by a dear friend, it is my favorite concert of the year because the music is great, and I feel the Spirit at work as the singing touches both singer and hearer in profound ways. Through the singing of time-tested melodies hope is restored where it could otherwise remain lost.

We should never underestimate the power of singing. Even John Wesley, in his notes for singing hymns says, "Above all sing spiritually. Have an eye on God in every word you sing. Aim at pleasing God more than yourself, or any other creature."

My prayer is that we take time each day to sing a joyful song unto the Lord, regardless of whether we sing in tune or out of tune, loudly or softly, or in the morning or the evening.

"Sing a song. Let the world sing along. Sing of the love that could be. Sing for you and for me. Sing! Sing a song."

Six years ago, I bought an old house. Shortly after I moved in, I realized the front door needed to be replaced. So, as part of a project for a class at seminary, I invited six friends from across the religious landscape, including my nephew, to discuss what the front door to my house should look like. Over the course of several months, each shared ideas about the purpose of a front door, what type of materials it should be made of, and even if it should have a window, and if so, should it be round, oval, or rectangular. These conversations were rich and powerful. So much so, a few months later, one member of the group, a wood artist, created my front door.

The door was made of many types of wood including pine, oak, ash, cedar and maple, representing the diversity of people in the world. The door has an oval window, representing infinity, unity, and oneness. The window had been salvaged from a door found in a local dump. The builder of the door told me privately that just like the window was reclaimed, he hoped people’s lives could be reclaimed when they passed through the door. With this in mind, he carefully incorporated pieces of unfinished cedar to represent the rough patches of people’s lives. When you rub your hand across the cedar, you can almost touch one’s own pain. But more than that, the door represents the liminal space between Creation outside and Creation inside and for me the door serves as a portal between one’s interior and exterior life with Christ.

My prayer is that we think of our body as a house with a big, beautiful door where the love of Christ enters and transforms our hearts and then flows out to help us transform the world.

“Every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything. We are God’s house if we hold on to the confidence and the pride that our hope gives us.” Hebrews 3:4,6

Monday Musing

Last night, just before I was about to go to sleep, I started looking for a Christmas card a friend sent me last December. On the cover of the card was a picture of a herd of sheep crossing over a small stream surrounded by a lush green wood. In the image, many of the sheep are standing on a small narrow wood bridge that links one side of the stream to the other. The first sheep is wearing a small bell around its neck, which I imagine helps the shepherd find them at night and also helps the sheep stay together. To be sure, I know very little about sheep, but I find them amazing, nonetheless. It is an idyllic photo so just imagine how embarrassing it was for me to call her on the phone to tell her I lost her sheep and then have the courage to ask if she had another one. Not wanting to pull the wool over her eyes, I called her to confess, and she sent me a digital image I could look at until I found the one I lost.

My one experience with real sheep occurred many years ago when I lived in Nevada on the edge of the Sierra Nevada mountains. I had a friend who had a ranch on the California side of the mountain, and I would frequently visit him and his family for holidays or other special occasions. One time, I remember riding with him in his old International Travel All into one of the pastures near his home. He got out of the vehicle and started calling “Nellie, Nellie, Nellie.” Soon, one sheep came running across the pasture followed by thirty to forty other sheep. I was amazed at how Nellie recognized my friend’s voice and how the rest of the sheep would follow Nellie to find safety in a small barn for the night.

Next Sunday is the fourth Sunday of Easter and it is also one of my favorite Sundays of the year. In my youth, while attending the Catholic Church, we called it “Good Shepherd Sunday.” Next week, in the United Methodist Churches I serve, we will pray Psalm 23, “The Lord is my Shepherd there is nothing I shall want,” and later in the service from John’s Gospel, “He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. Whenever he gathers all of his sheep, he goes before them and they will follow him, because they know his voice.”

My prayer is that amid today's chaotic world, we will find comfort as we pray the words of Psalm 23 and carefully listen to Jesus who knows our voice and unconditionally welcomes everyone to gather and become a loving community—the true flock of the Risen Christ.

Monday Musing

A few days before Easter, I brought communion to some friends. As always, after our wonderful conversation and a few laughs, we spent a few moments in prayer and sharing communion. As I got up to leave, someone asked what I planned to do for the rest of the day. I mentioned I needed to get a haircut. Quicker than you could say "shave and a haircut," someone pulled a large black garbage bag over my head, and I heard the whir of clippers buzzing near my ears. In just a few minutes, I was transformed. It is amazing how a haircut can make you feel so much better! After we said our goodbyes and I headed home I felt grateful for this time together. Indeed, this was true communion because Christ's presence was with us in everyone's giving and receiving. In this way, it was not just the haircut that was transformative!

Last evening over Zoom, a classmate from the seminary shared about his life in Myanmar. In his sharing about his life, listeners from around Minnesota received a wonderful testimony about the needs of others around the world—those we may never see or meet in person. And yet, as we lifted up the people's needs at the close of our time together, the bonds of friendship and connection were nourished. When asked how we could help his ministry, he said the most important thing was prayer. In a world so rife with conflict and despair, it is easy to forget the power and the importance of prayer. Whether we pray at home with family and friends, at a barbershop, restaurant, or church, or even virtually over Zoom, the potential for transformation, by the grace of God, is always available. When people gather to pray, community forms us in ways not possible just by ourselves. Through prayer we are shaped and formed into Christ's body—the very same Christ who rose from the dead and now invites our community of believers to heal, comfort, feed, and most importantly, love our neighbors near and far.

In Acts 2: 42-43 it says:

"The believers devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching, to the community, to their shared meals, and to their prayers. A sense of awe came over everyone."

My prayer is that we gather with others to pray. We can pray with others while donning a garbage bag and getting a haircut in a living room, over Zoom with strangers, or by attending a local church on Sunday morning. The best part of praying with others is that we build community. Through this communal action, as Christ's body, we can continue the work Christ began by helping those most in need of love and care. Through prayer, the same sense of awe that came over Jesus' early followers after his resurrection will also come over us today. Amen.

Monday Musing

Not too long ago, I stopped by a Chinese restaurant to enjoy its buffet. I sat down for just a brief moment before eagerly getting up to sample the salads, Chinese specialties, American food, and of course, desserts. The wonderful thing about this buffet was the amazing variety of food. Thankfully, this was one of those rare occasions when I was not in a hurry, I had intentionally taken a few hours off my regular routine to enjoy a good meal. I started with a salad: spinach, black olives, onions, tomatoes, carrots, sunflower seeds, cheese, and hard-boiled eggs topped with blue cheese dressing. My next course consisted of egg rolls, lo-mien, cashew chicken, and pork fried rice. Next, I put a few chicken wings, popcorn shrimp, and some fried fish on my plate. After a break, I ordered a cup of coffee and had a piece of cheesecake and some soft serve ice cream. I entered the restaurant hungry and left feeling full and satisfied.

Yesterday, we kicked off Holy Week by waving palm branches, commemorating Jesus' joyful entry into Jerusalem on a donkey's back. On Thursday, we will sit with Jesus at the table as we share in the Last Supper and then watch him wash His disciples’ feet. Friday, we walk with Jesus to the cross where he will be crucified and then laid in a tomb. Next Sunday, we will celebrate the Resurrection.

Friends, just like I came into the Chinese restaurant hungry, many of us are entering Holy Week starving, craving love and longing for hope. Although the Holy Week journey can be difficult, complicated, and confusing, it offers many opportunities to help us move from Jesus' entry into Jerusalem on a donkey to the Passover meal taking place in the upper room. When we are confronted with the pain of the crucifixion, we can eventually find relief by discovering true joy in the Resurrection. My prayer is that each of us takes time away from our busy schedules to feast on all these encounters with Christ during Holy Week. In this way, when we finally gather as Christ’s body on Easter Sunday, we will have been well prepared to enjoy and participate in the unconditional love Christ offers us in the ordinariness of each and every day thereafter.

Friends, 

I have a fear of heights. It was not always so. I remember riding four different rollercoasters in one day while entertaining friends in Las Vegas. More recently, however, I frequently have nightmares about falling off a cliff or being dropped from a plane without a parachute. What I fear the most are bridges, especially tall ones. There have been times when I plan a trip and check if I can bypass all bridges.  Last week, while returning home from Kansas City, I started panicking as I took the exit from Interstate 435 to Interstate 35 near Des Moines, Iowa. The exit ramp curved sharply, taking me high above the surrounding cornfields. I began to panic a bit, so I just repeated, "The Lord is my shepherd, there is nothing I shall want. He lets me rest in grassy meadows, leads me to restful waters, and keeps me alive." After leaving the exit ramp, I merged onto Interstate 35, and my body relaxed, allowing me to get home in record time. I do not know why high bridges bother me but I also know you cannot travel far if you refuse to cross them.

Just as bridges and exit ramps are essential for travel, our lives are full of metaphorical bridges as well. In Junior High, I was in a one-act play called, "Bridges...Are When You Cross Them" by Melvin Shaffer. It is a comic satire about a very uptight father who takes his family on a vacation to San Francisco. Fearful of leaving the hotel, the father views the sights through a telescope from a hotel window. He sends the rest of the family to designated spots in the city but requires them to report their findings later. The daughter has none of it and spends her day at the ocean, even seeing the Golden Gate Bridge which isn't visible from the hotel.  Later, the daughter enthusiastically describes the Golden Gate Bridge to the family. Since the unimaginative family members do not see the bridge for themselves, they declare it doesn't exist.

Sometimes, we avoid crossing bridges out of fear. This includes the fear I experienced while driving on a high exit ramp or the fear of the father too scared to leave his hotel room to enjoy a family vacation. Other times, we may avoid crossing a bridge because we lack the imagination to see what awaits us on the other side. This is like the daughter's family who could not share in her joy of seeing the Golden Gate Bridge because they could not imagine it for themselves.

My prayer is that we find ways to cross life's bridges by trusting in Jesus even though we do not see Him, and by allowing our imaginations to rejoice in the new possibilities waiting for us on the other side. Bridges are meant for crossing and help us traverse difficult terrain.

"Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil because you are at my side...You bathe my head with oil, my cup is so full it spills over. Yes goodness and faithfulness will pursue me all the days of my life. And I will live in the Lord's house, as long a I live."  Psalm 23:4-6

Among the items I inherited from my brother is an old green tackle box. This box does not hold fishing lures, flies, or other types of tackle. When you open it, there are hundreds of postage stamps in small envelopes or sandwiched between carefully cut paper. For the better part of two years, I ignored the tackle box and its contents. Recently, I opened the little envelopes and was pleasantly surprised. Most of the stamps are from 1930 to 1962 and cover all kinds of topics. There are stamps commemorating the Oregon Trail, Minnesota Statehood, and the International Red Cross. There are stamps featuring presidents, military academies, and national forests. There are stamps promoting Freedom of Religion, Freedom of the Press, and the Thirteenth Amendment. There are stamps featuring dogs, birds, and horses. Most of the stamps are in groups of four, eight or more. One particular stamp however, caught my eye more than any other. It reads, "Friendship-The Key to World Peace, Children's Stamp 1956."

Although this stamp is not as colorful as many others in the collection, its message speaks loudly and is more valuable than the 3 cents it cost in 1956. Although friendship can be given freely, it is obviously absent in the world today. Whether at a local coffee shop, a family dining room table, the boardrooms of Fortune 500 companies, or the halls of government, friendship has been replaced with self-interest, greed, and suspicion. Recently, I listened to a recording of children singing, "Let There Be Peace on Earth" and "How Beautiful Are the Feet" from Handel's Messiah. Their voices held more wisdom than I have heard from most adults in recent memory.

Today, our world is rife with war, and world leaders, unlike children, fail to see that friendship with those different from themselves is not only the key to lasting peace but also part of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Jesus says, "You are my friends if you do what I command." And of course, we all know what Jesus commands us to do, we are to love both God and neighbor. Jesus does not stop there however, because he also tells us that our neighbor is anyone to whom we can show mercy. As we move into the third week of Lent, while the world careens toward more war and violence, it is time for all of us to listen more to children by embracing friendships with neighbors and discovering new opportunities for peace to help heal this broken world.

"How beautiful are the feet of those that preach the Gospel of peace." Romans 10:15

Friends, 

This year for Lent, I decided to go through boxes of old photos. While sorting, I came across a photo of me wearing the clown costume my grandmother sewed for me on my 6th birthday. If you are wondering where I got my fashion sense, this grandmother also gave me paisley print bell bottom trousers when I was 8 and plaid school pants when I was 10. Although I loved all of the clothes, I loved the clown costume the best. If it fit me today, I would wear it with pride on any festive occasion including Christmas and Easter. Of course, we grow up and clothes from our childhood no longer fit. 

Costumes are wonderful because they help us imagine ourselves differently: as kings, princesses, monsters, and especially clowns. At the end of the day, however, when we take off our costumes and look in the mirror, we see ourselves as we are. For example, after taking off my clown costume, putting on my pajamas, and being tucked into bed by my parents, I returned to being just John, a loquacious six-year-old boy. That was more than enough for my parents.

Lent is a time when we reflect on changes we can make to become closer to Jesus. Just as we discard clothing that no longer fits as we grow up, Lent is a time to discard behaviors we've outgrown or actions that block us from being the person Christ calls us to be. The best part is that we never outgrow Jesus. As we follow Jesus’ commands to love God and love neighbor, his love expands with us like a super stretchy body suit.

Furthermore, as we grow in our love of Christ, we no longer need to cover ourselves with costumes, pretending to be people we are not. Jesus loves us just as we are and just as we have been created, in the image of God.  My prayer is that each day when we wake up, we put on the garment of Christ and save our costumes for parties, parades, and other festive occasions. Blessed Lent!