The Question is Not When but How

REFLECTIONS
November 23, 2008

Have you seen God lately? Well over time and space many believers say they have. The concept of the sacred and how we express and define our experience of the Holy are issues the faith community has written, and at times argued about over millenniums.

A large part of the ethos of faith is to encounter God in our midst. One of the names for God in Hebrew translates literally “God of the mountains.” The patriarchs Moses, Abraham, and Jacob each had personal encounters with God. Likewise the prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Amos and Hosea to name a few, were called by God in person and given instruction throughout their ministry. The prophet Joel even suggested this experience was not for prophets alone. In chapter two, verse twenty-eight and twenty-nine he writes, “Our sons and daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. Even upon the menservants and maidservants in those days I will pour out my spirit.” In the Christian scriptures Matthew, Mark, and Luke each record a version of the transfiguration. Here Jesus is seen by Peter, James, and John in an other worldly appearance along with Moses and Elijah.

Such visions are yet happening today. However, it is with increasing regularity that they are seen in tree sap weeping from a tree in someone’s backyard, a paint splotch viewed at a unique angle or a computer generated graphic. The term for this is simulacra, and according to William Doble who writes for Homiletics magazine, one person saw Jesus in a burned fish stick and another saw the Virgin Mary in a burned grilled cheese sandwich. In most cases these images are preserved and sold for profit. Which causes one to ponder in question, is this what God had in mind by drawing near and allowing folks a glimpse of Holiness? Does God appear for the purpose of religious trading card memorabilia? When the psalmist wrote, “Look unto the hills from whence does my help come? My help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth.” Do you suppose the author left off the words for fun and profit intentionally?

Psalm 100 is a so called thank offering; scholars think it to be a call to thanksgiving for the goodness of God, or perhaps a kingship Psalm, or a sung response to the thank offering in the temple. The author clearly believes that God is available and worthy of human devotion. The writer looks at life, acknowledges the Holy presence available as an asset for worship and wonder. The only value to be found in the heart and soul of creation and creatures responding in love. Yet the modern finagler in us cannot help but just imagine what a transfiguration trading card would go for on eBay.

Dr. Joey K. McDonald
First United Methodist Church
4832 Tujunga Avenue, North Hollywood, CA 91601

Market Volatility and Faith's Value

REFLECTIONS
November 16, 2008

Any of us who have not been in a cave for the last eighteen months are acutely aware of the strange financial climate we live in at this point in time. With bank failures and corporate bankruptcies announced on a weekly basis it is a nervous time for workers and retirees alike. While historians and economists report that this financial fallout does not approach the Great Depression of 1929-1938, our fears are not calmed for that was a very long time ago, and this is happening to us, now. The parable of the Talents is in Matthew 25:14-30, and in Luke 19:11-27. Though very similar in style and pattern, Matthew's is set in a section near the end of the book which deals with eschatology, or final things. Matthew writes that the work Jesus modeled for those who followed him was one which called for accountability. The parable says the master called the workers and gave one of them five talents, another he gave two, and the last, one talent. In modern terms the talent's value even today is quite great. For one talent is the rough equivalent of thirty years wages. We are told the first worker turned the five talents into ten. That is one hundred fifty years of wage into three hundred years in terms of value. Likewise, the one with two talents doubled it to four and the last worker returned only the one given. He was afraid to lose what he had been given so instead he buried the thirty years of wage.

It is easy to look at this text and see only judgment. However, that would keep us from understanding the grace inherent in the original trust of the master giving so generously to his workers. Think of it. If all we have and all we are is a gift of grace from God, why not invest ourselves in making some return on that generosity? If this parable is less about judgment and more about grace then the value factor becomes heightened by our personal choices as followers of Jesus. Simply put, the question becomes one of either or. Do we hide in fear of the end of days and hide the values God sees in us, either literally or figuratively in the ground, or do we live fully and wildly toward the love Jesus taught and spoke of knowing full well there is great risk?

We know the early church believed Jesus would return soon and judge all of creation for faithfulness or lack of therein; hence, the note of harshness at the end of the passage. Although the passage deals with money, we know it's really about the true currency of life, namely faith. Jesus spoke often about money, however, not in such a way to glorify it, but rather how important it is not to let it interfere with one's relationship with God. Remember the story of the rich young ruler who came to Jesus asking what he must do beyond following the commandments, and how sad he was when Jesus said sell all you have and give the money to the poor then follow me. Jesus was neither for or against money. his chief interest was faithfulness. The story of the lost coin, where the poor widow searches all over her house for the coin of very small value has merit according to Jesus not because of the monetary value, but because of commitment and determination. For it was all she had speaks volumes about the market value of her faith.

Dr. Joey K. McDonald
First United Methodist Church
4832 Tujunga Avenue, North Hollywood, CA 91601

"Community Day"

REFLECTIONS
November 9, 2008

The spiritual part of faith is internal. It’s possible to be profoundly spiritual without outward appearance of being religious. Divergent views of faith formation and service is as old as the Bible. In his writing Paul wrote of salvation in terms of Justification, Sanctification, Regeneration and Grace. Paul minces no words in Romans 3:23 “For there is no distinction; since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, they are justified by God’s grace as a gift through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus.” Though a great model of ministry and mission, Paul saw the work of faith in spiritual formation rather than service.

James on the other hand was just as clear. In his writing and ministry for the Church in Jerusalem he said one should be totally immersed in service to the Church. In his letter he wrote to that thinking; 2:14-17 “What does it profit my friends if a person proclaims faith but has not works? Can faith save this person? If a brother or sister is without adequate clothing and in lack of daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, be warmed and filled,’ without giving them the things needed for the body, what does it profit? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.”

Movement from the experience of faith to the work of faith begins when we feel the need to express faith in actions. It can be as simple as finding a Church home or attending worship regularly, or complicated as answering a call to ministry. Most of us fall somewhere in between, so it never hurts to be aware of God’s working in our lives, and those around us.
In I Corinthians 12:4-7 Paul writes, “Now there are a variety of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of working; but it is the same God who inspires them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.” What Paul seems to be saying is Faith is more than attending worship or being a member. It is identifying the gifts we have, celebrating them and then putting service where our faith is.

Dr. Joey K. McDonald
First United Methodist Church
4832 Tujunga Avenue, North Hollywood, 91601