A Prayer for January 9, 2017

O God, you say 'where your treasure is, there will be your heart.' Let us treasure Justice, Humility and Mercy. Amen. Lk 12:34 Mic 6:8

A Prayer for January 7, 2017

O God who calls us to shout out your love, remind us that 'the stones of the wall will cry out, and the beams of the woodwork will echo it' should we not proclaim your love, your mercy.  Amen.   

Habakkuk 2:11

Luke 19:40

A Prayer for January 6, 2017

God of community, your vision to focus on the common good is long standing.  Sadly, we often wrestle with what the common good means or what the common good looks like.  Often we are like Jacob wrestling with the Angel on the lonely side of the Jabbok. 

May we -- your children, here, your children now -- emerge from wrestling with you spiritually changed.  

     May we make your vision clear.  

          May we inscribe it on the tablets of our day so that in reading, all creation's children may focus on your vision of common good.  

Amen.  

Habakkuk 2:2

Encountering Jesus

As a deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs for you, O God.

My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.

When shall I come and behold the face of God?

My tears have been my food day and night,while people say to me continually,“Where is your God?”

Psalm 42, Verses 1-3, NRSV

C.S. Lewis in Mere Christianity suggests we are created with needs for which the means exist in the creation for those needs to be met. Examples are food, water, rest. He suggests that God is just such a need: a need for which the divine encounter fulfills. He posits that we seek the divine, the transcendent, through time and space. Said another way, seeking the divine has been true across time and across cultures. It is a universal constant. That need is for Lewis, and he has persuaded me, a deep inner need for the spiritual.

David in Psalm 42 addresses that fundamental need for God through the image of longing. 

I have heard it suggested that we have a God-sized hole in our souls, and we are incomplete until we allow that hole to be filled. We long to have that hole filled, and the world is ready to provide suggestions on how fill it for us with work, commodities, and self-worship. That is an abbreviated list. The world is far better financed and replete with marketing savvy than faith communities to persuade us to buy their hole filling element du jour. 

Our theme for the month is Encountering Jesus. I pray that seeking this encounter is our daily, weekly, monthly, annual, and life theme. In December we did a lot of encountering Jesus at the Rescue Mission and we have more opportunities to encounter Jesus this month through Family Promise. 

We do need to be clear that in this encounter, we are expected to walk away from it different. Jacob wrestles with the angel in Genesis 32, and he walks away physically and spiritually changed. His very name is changed: Israel – one who wrestles with God. We are all at some point, Israel: one who wrestles with God. But at the same time, our “soul longs for you, O God.” 

Lewis does not remotely suggest that the hole in our soul is filled in exactly the same way for each of us. If that were true, then we would all find the same kind of music, preaching, service organization, readings, to be filling. I know you know that is not the case. For many, the hole in their soul is not filled with activities inside of Hilltop, but specifically interactions with those like Family Promise and the Rescue Mission:  many gifts, many elements, all together making up “the body of Christ.” 

I observed earlier about Jacob wrestling with God and then arising from that match with a new name: Israel. Immediately after that cosmic wrestling match, he encountered his brother. He was fearful that in that encounter, his brother’s righteous indignation over the way Jacob left years earlier would continue to be present. Instead, the reunion was a happy one, and the one who had wrestled with God said seeing his brother was like seeing “the face of God.” We see the Face of God when we encounter those around us. 

I have no idea what 2017 holds for us. 

But I believe that turning down the volume of the world message, and turning up the volume of the Jesus message comes about when we encounter the sacred. Are we travelers passing through this world or is this world our permanent address? Our biblical message is that we are traveling through, not staying. 

When we buy into the idea of encountering Jesus, we say that we are prepared to take up the values of Jesus, and tell the values of the world to move back a row or two in our pantheon of values. 

Peace be with you and I wish you way more than luck in 2017, I wish you an encounter with the sacred in the form of Jesus. 

Pastor Dennis

A Prayer for January 5, 2017

Creating and Nurturing God, restore to us the joy first experienced when we first answered, "Here I am" to your call in the night.  At that moment our spirit was so willing, so eager, so ready to serve.  We were full of awe -- awe full.  Bring into this now that past sense of awe that led to such clear purpose so that our tomorrows become living portraits of your vision. Amen.

Psalm 8

Psalm 51

January 4, 2017

‪Loving and self-emptying God, regularly in your ancient words, humility leaps out as a key, core, guiding, governing principle in our faith walks.

Steer us this day, this week, this month, this year, and, yes, this lifetime, towards the principle of our serving You through regular and sincere examples of humility of demonstrable value.‬

‪      Remind us of the Christ who trod the humble, and sometime stony, path.‬

‪         Remind us when offered the choices of humility or hubris, the ancient words point to humility.  ‬

‪            May our self-emptying embrace of Your Grace make this so.  Amen.‬

‪Phillipians 2:3‬

‪#humility‬

A Season and a Time

Ecclesiastes 3: 1 (NRSV) “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven …”

Ecclesiastes 3: 7b (NRSV) “a time to keep silence, and a time to speak …”

Sometime during a misspent moment in my youth, I was humming and singing along with a vinyl version of the Byrds to their hit “Turn, Turn, Turn” when somebody disarmed me by noting “you know that is from the Bible.”  I was in that moment of life where the Bible held no truths.  I was convinced she didn’t know what she was talking about.  I was – of course - wrrrrrrong, utterly wrong. I might even have been mistaken! 

At times this has been a scripture with tremendous centering power for me.  At times this divine insight pierces my soul.  It is at one and the same time, brilliant and true. 

There is a season and a time for everything and even as we enter the season of Advent and Christmas, we are still in the season of stewardship and budget development. I confess when it comes to talking about money, I am inclined to follow the injunction to “keep silence” and forget that the counter weight to that silence is “to speak.”   Even though we are in the spiritual, soul-healing business, we cannot ignore and neglect the everyday “business” of the church. To support your spiritual journey and your witness to the power of creator God, we have to address the funding side of life.  Every time we turn from the challenging, we run head long into divine insight that invites us to turn and has an impact on our soul.  My soul is pierced, again. 

Over the last twelve months (November, 2015 to October, 2016) we have had the highest level of congregational giving in the last five years - $372,000.  Our previous high was a little over $368,000 in January, 2012.  I am going to use this time to speak the voice of gratitude for your trust in the leaders of your church.  Thank you.  Thank you very much. 

You have made much possible through the generous sharing of your treasure.  We are making a difference in Sandy, in Utah, and in the World. With humility, paraphrasing Luke 4: 18-19, the Spirit of the Lord is upon us because we are bringing good news to the poor and we are setting captives free, we are helping with the recovery of sight, and we are proclaiming the year of the Lord’s favor.  I love the message of God’s unconditional Grace, slathered out on each of us.  To be a follower of this radical Jesus requires us to think and act radically. 

One of my goals for 2017 is to get your staff to a higher level of compensation, Jim Collins writes in Good to Great, “Great vision without great people is irrelevant.” I pray you agree with me that we are blessed with exceptional staff. We want them to be fairly paid for their talents and contributions to the health and growth of Hilltop, but we still have much uncertainty over what our income will be for 2017.

Now is the time for those who fully intend to eventually turn in a pledge form to do so. Now is a time to speak with your trust and commitment 

For those of you who do not intend to turn in a pledge form, might I invite a conversation with your church leadership so we might understand why you cannot speak with your trust and commitment. 

For those who have turned in a pledge form, we are praying for a ten percent increase in congregational giving in 2017.  I am mindful that at a time when we are at our highest level in nearly five years, we are praying for a new highest level. Our goal is to support your staff.

Candidly, your church leadership assessment is now is the season, now is the time.

Know that I am spiritually, emotionally, and financially invested in Hilltop.

Many others are as well. 

Are you? 

If not you, who? 

If not now, when?

Now is the season.

Now is the time. 

As a community, let’s make 2017 a year when we proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor to all who have ears. 

The year of the Lord’s favor starts now. 

The year of the Lord’s favor starts with you. 

Selah, Pastor Dennis

Dream On

Dreams are key contributors to the narrative of both important biblical Josephs.  Let’s focus on the Genesis 37 to 50 Joseph rather than the husband of Mary Joseph.  The Genesis Joseph has two dreams in Canaan and tells his family of them.  The telling of these dreams help get him sold into slavery and sent to Egypt.  In Egypt, he makes use of dream interpretations to change his life circumstances:  when he assists fellow prisoners and when he assists the Egyptian Pharaoh.  ‘What do these dreams mean’ is a key integrative tool used by the narrator.  The dreams in Canaan help get Joseph into trouble with his family.  The dream interpretations in Egypt help get Joseph to a place of redemption. 

Our theme for October is “Dream on.”  Often this phrase is used in a sarcastic or cynical way having a meaning similar that this will be true “when pigs fly.”  But we don’t mean this in a winged razorback kind of way, rather we mean for this phrase to be understood in terms of aspiration and vision.  Steven Tyler of the rock group Aerosmith writes in Does the Noise in My Head Bother You?, that their defining song ‘Dream On’ is “about the hunger to be somebody: Dream until your dreams come true.”

‘Dream on’ then is about our communal hunger, and our migration of that hunger to be a community that is a collection of some bodies who care about those in various needy places.  Said another way, to dream on, is about us being having dreams that are consistent with God’s dreams and vision for us. Frederick Buechner describes what that looks like:  “The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.”

How and towards where do you “dream on” for Hilltop? 

Do you perceive that telling others of your dreams will lead to a Joseph like banishment from the Promised Land?  

Or do you see the possibility that in hearing the dreams of others, you can help with interpretation that leads to a different future? 

I would hope and pray that our dreams as a community indeed take us to a ‘place where our deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.’  But at the end of the day – continue to dream on.  And should people resort to listening to you and replying to your visions in terms of winged razorbacks (i.e. flying pigs) you can continue, Joseph like, to be optimistic and hopeful for a Spirit Filled Future for the Children of God here at Hilltop. 

Selah, Pastor Dennis

Global, United, Inclusive: Pick Two – An Update

For the June/July Hilltop Newsletter, I spoke to the idea of how the United Methodist Church sees itself in terms of three key words and values: global, unified, and inclusive. I lamented that we were approaching a time when we might need to pick two. Rethinking that a little, I wonder if we are not actually at a place where we must pick one.

I wrote in June that “The 1996 General Conference in Denver had the motto, often attributed to John Wesley:  ‘In essentials unity, in non-essentials liberty, in all things charity’ … [and] If … we are not to be in unity, I pray we will be charitable.” The World of Wesley often said charity where we now use love. I pray that we show love if we are not unified. My lens on the Jesus message is one of love:  God, my fellow human creature, and, at some appropriate and healthy time, myself. All three in a healthy Trinitarian dance.

 

We are becoming disunited over the issue of human sexuality.

 

Several hundred spiritually centered United Methodists, laity and clergy, from across the West, gathered in Arizona in July and examined the credentials of candidates for Bishop. They elected the most qualified person. Everyone I have spoken to who was there said that Reverend Doctor Karen Oliveto of the California-Nevada Conference was in a category all her own. They spoke to her vision, her presence, her charisma, her spirituality, and her leadership.

 

There was a time when the most qualified leader in the church also had the additional responsibility to have been created by God male. That is no longer true.

 

There was a time when the most qualified leader in the church also had the additional responsibility to have been created by God white. That is no longer true.

 

There was a time when the most qualified leader in the church also had the additional responsibility to have been created by God heterosexual. At least for now, in the West, that is no longer true.

 

Bishop Karen Oliveto is married to another woman. Effective September 1, Bishop Karen is our Bishop.

 

I shared pastoral thoughts at both services on Sunday, July 17^th.  My comments that morning were supportive. I deeply appreciate the reciprocal support shown back to me by many of you, and potentially, Bishop Karen. The comments have been overwhelmingly, but not exclusively, positive. I do not say that to guilt or shame those who are not positive on this. I note that those troubled by this action seem ready to stay at Hilltop, for which I am grateful and hopeful. This community called Hilltop, a place to belong, believe, and become, with its special unique gifts and graces is important to them.

 

Let me invite a dialogue here, not a monologue. Should any wish to speak to me on this, I am open to a conversation. I will respectfully listen and I will share your pain.

 

As I indicated on July 17^th, I plan to support Bishop Karen fully to the best of my ability. This is how I supported Bishop Elaine.

 

I am faithful that those who gathered in Arizona in July were prayerful and Spirit-led people. It is my fervent hope that Hilltop will be prayerful and Spirit-led as well.

 

I pray that in order to be inclusive, we lose neither our unity nor our global nature, but if I have to pick one, I am faithful to the idea that picking inclusive is the most Jesus-like response.

 

Let’s be in healthy Christian conversation.

 

Selah, Pastor Dennis

Gifts of the Spirit

1^st Corinthians 12: Verses 4–7: Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.

Galatians 5:22-23: By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things.

Galatians 5:19-21: Now the works of the flesh are obvious:…impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these.

 Scripture is NRSV

Paul is big on the idea of the Spirit. The Spirit is clearly an important theological idea for Paul. References to the Spirit fill Paul’s letters as he coaches his far flung flock. Three are quoted here. Paul was having trouble with both Corinth First UMC and Galatians Community UMC. Things had fallen apart after he had left.

 

Things are not falling apart at Hilltop UMC, let me assure you. We are doing well.  We can do better. 

I personally like to think of the two Galatians readings in terms of car dashboard lights. When we are in proper relationship with God, our fellow co-laborers in the church and ourselves, our dashboard lights are green. Love, joy, peace and other good things are displayed consistent with what Paul enumerates in Galatians 5: 22-23. The machine should work well when the lights are all green. However, we need to check our spiritual engines when the dashboard lights are red with strife, anger, factions, envy and the like. In the car dashboard world, green is normally good, red is normally a problem. Fruits of the Spirit are good; Works of the Flesh are not. Galatians 5 helps us understand and measure how we are doing with this relationship stuff. The passage is an indicator of relationship.

 

If Galatians 5 is about how we are doing, 1^st Corinthians 12 helps us frame what it is we should be doing.

 

Paul’s specificity in Galatians is largely absent in the Corinthians. In Galatians Paul gives us the names of lights we can read as green or red. In Corinthians Paul resorts to an illustration of the church as a body and points to body parts as how the body should function. An ear listens but it does not see. His illustration is very good.  I augment the body illustration from Paul in terms of team, and as a baseball fan, I see it in terms of baseball. You need a variety of different skill types to play baseball, and a team made up of Yogi Berra’s, a Hall of Fame catcher and pontificator, might be a good one for providing pithy quotations, but it might have trouble pitching effectively. 

The church, like a team, like the human body, needs different skills, as given to us by the Spirit, to be put to labor on behalf of the Kingdom of God.

 

What are your God-given gifts? Sometimes we know what they are: I am good at numbers, and I am not particularly good at small engine repair. But I didn’t know I was good at numbers until I got dropped into a position in 1973 that called for me to be a numerical analyst. I struggled for a while but mentors and coaches helped me and turned that struggle into strength. What we now see as a gift was at one time not a gift. It was honed and developed by others, enhanced by my own willingness to be coached to success. I had to be a numbers disciple, a student, for a while. In reality, I am still a numbers disciple, constantly looking at web sites and articles about how to better display data so that it becomes information, but I digress.

 

I had to trust others to see that gift in me that I didn’t know that I possessed. 

In my learning and growing here, I didn’t become angry or exercise poor self-control. In fact, this endeavor became an object that lead to joy. When it comes to being a numerical analyst, my dashboard lights here were never red, always green.

 

Here are some thoughts:

• Gift Assessment Axiom: When you don’t think something is a gift, you might be mistaken. 
• The Converse to that Axiom: When you think something is a gift, you might be mistaken. 
• The Corollary to that Axiom: Listen to others about your gifts. Another might see your gifts more clearly than you. 

Look to the dashboard lights and crosscheck them against Galatians 5.  Green is good.  Red is not good.  Listen to your heart.  Listen to others.  Listen for God.  Remember that God sometimes speaks in a small, still, voice, except when small, still isn’t working. 

Selah, Pastor Dennis