Questions 11 & 12

11. How do you perceive yourself, your gifts, your motives, your role, and your commitment as a probationary member and commissioned minister in The United Methodist Church?
I see myself first and foremost as a servant to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Being a servant for Christ keeps me focused on actively following God who has called me. My hope is that I am bringing honor and glory to Jesus Christ rather than to myself or the church I am serving.
My motive to be in ministry is to help others experience God’s love for themselves and always point them towards God. I could not be in ministry if it were not for what God is doing through me. The only gain that I want to receive out of being in ministry is to see myself continue to grow in my faith and to watch others discover their relationship with God and to continue to mature in that faith.
Anything that I could do to share Christ’s love with others is most definitely Christ working through me and through my weaknesses so I can say like Paul, “I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ; for whenever I am weak, then I am strong.”[1]
At times, I wrestle with my sense of security and wonder about my ability to fulfill the task that God has placed before me. However, during the past couple of years as I waited to come before P & Q, I have felt God’s hand giving me strength to accomplish the task of becoming a Probationary and Commissioned member of the Annual Conference.
Even though I wrestle with a sense of security, my commitment is strong because I know, “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”[2] The process of ordained ministry has at times been hard, but I know that it has also strengthened me because I have had the opportunity to see God work in wonderful and miraculous ways in my life.
I have seen God strengthen and use me during a twenty-four hour stretch with a youth who was facing jail because of false accusation. I have seen God strengthen and use me when a mother of a youth member called me panicked because her father-in-law has disappeared and no one knew where he was.
Through these difficult times of ministry, God has shown me that one of my strongest gifts in ministry, is that I care for God’s children and that I am able to listen without being judgmental and bring a sense of calm to a situation. My prayer is that as I continue in ministry, I will be able to rely on the council that God gives me in order to fulfill the call God has on my life.


12. Describe your understanding of diakonia, the servant ministry of the church, and the servant ministry of the probationary member and commissioned minister.
The term diakonia points to what Jesus was telling his disciples in Matthew 20. When questioned about leadership and the role of authority, Jesus tells his disciples,
You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. It will not be so among you; but whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be your slave; just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.[3]

All members of the church are commissioned at their baptism to be in ministry within the local church and in the world. At our baptism, we are given the task to be the diakonia of the church.[4]
As a probationary member and commissioned minister of the church, I am to place myself under the authority of Christ who gave us the example of serving others instead of trying to bring recognition to himself. Through all that I do, I am to show the example of service for those in my congregation.
On one level, it could be making pastoral visits to the congregation, teaching classes, and making myself available to the congregation in times of need. Another level is recognizing that while in service to the congregation, I will be teaching and equipping the congregation to be in service ministry to each other and the world.
I was talking to my son about the possibility of him becoming a junior counselor at Junior High Camp this upcoming summer. During our discussion, he talked about how great it would be to boss around the other campers, be able to do things first, have the best bed in the cabin and all of the benefits he perceived he would have as a junior counselor.
I reminded him that the purpose of being a junior counselor was to make sure the campers were having a great camping experience. I told him that the leadership of the junior counselor was to show what it means to truly serve Christ and allow others to experience that diakonia and want to then go out and serve others.
[1] 2 Corinthians 12:9b - 10
[2] Philippians 4:13 NRSV
[3] Matthew 20:25 – 29 NRSV
[4] BOD ¶305 pg. 197 - 98

Questions 13 & 14

13. What is the meaning of ordination in the context of the general ministry of the Church?
Ordination is a gift from God that affirms the ministry of people who have been set apart by God and empowered by the Holy Spirit. It is through ordination that men and women commit their lives to the proclamation, and living out of the gospel. The end result of this proclamation and holy living is to fulfill the great commission of making disciples for Jesus Christ.[1]
The United Methodist Church upholds two orders of ordination: the order of the deacon and the order of the elder. These orders are established to provide a connection for deacons and elders, and to provide a place for support in ministry. These orders also provide a place where clergy can deepen their relationship with God together.
The deacon is called to the ministry of service and to equip those in the church for ministry. The deacon equips through teaching, worship, and other specialized ministries of the church. The deacon also assists the elder in the administration of the sacraments. The task of the deacon is to serve as the bridge between the worship life of the congregation and the service of God in the local community and the world.
An elder in the United Methodist Church is given the responsibility to be in ministry of Word, sacraments, service and order. The elder has the responsibility to teach God’s Word to the congregation. The elder has opportunities to do this through the sermon on Sunday morning and establishing classes where adult, youth and children have the opportunity to discover God’s Word and discuss it among their peers. The task for the elder is to challenge the congregation with God’s Word and help the congregation to discover how to apply God’s Word to their lives every day.
The elder is also charged with teaching about and presiding over the sacraments of baptism and holy communion. Teaching and presiding over the sacraments are important to me because it brings God’s gifts of the sacraments to the congregation so they may be brought into covenant with God.
The task of the elder is to educate the people of the church and provide opportunities for them to go and be in mission to the world. The body of Christ is not effective unless the body is reaching out to the world and sharing Christ’s love with all people. It is not the task of the elder to lead all service opportunities of the church, but the task is to encourage and equip the body to serve the world with their own unique giftedness that God has given each member of the church.
Finally, the elder is responsible in taking care of the day-to-day organization, stewardship, budget and vision of the church. Again, it is not the task of the elder to run the church by him or herself, but to encourage and lead the congregation in taking care of what God has given them.


14. Describe your understanding of an inclusive church and ministry?
As a church, we are called to reach out to all people regardless of race, color, national origin, status or economic condition.[2] We must be reminded that the church was not established for one group of people, but the church was established so that all people can come in community to experience Christ together, to serve together and to help encourage one another to grow in their faith.
As we form an inclusive church, we must hold firm to standards of membership that holds our membership accountable to what the church believes, but through this accountability, we encourage everyone who is a part of the church to move from where they are into a deeper more fulfilling relationship with Jesus Christ. When I think of being an inclusive church, I see its inclusiveness being demonstrated through its ministry outreaches. The church should be proactive, looking throughout the community to find ways to reach out to God’s people and inviting them into a relationship with Jesus Christ. If we are called as a church to be imitators of Christ, then we need to reach out to the sinners where they are and take Christ’s unconditional love to them. At times, this may seem controversial, but when we look at who Jesus pursued we see that he reached out to the people that the religious leaders of his time would consider useless and unworthy of being included in the synagogue.
Paul writes in his letter to the Galatians, “There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.”[3] We see from this scripture that Paul, a Jewish Christian, worked to include the Gentiles into the life of the new church. In the book of Acts we see the conflict between Paul and the disciples centered on the inclusion of the Gentiles. The idea that God was not with the Gentiles was prevalent in the early church, and Paul encountered opposition as he included them in the life of the church. Paul’s point was that God is with everyone and that is why we as a church must minister to all people.
Today there are people who feel excluded from the life of the church for social, racial or economic reasons. Our ministry should include them, but we should also hold them accountable to what God is calling them to do and help them move toward perfect love of` God and perfect love of neighbor.
[1] Matthew 28:17
[2] 2004 Book of Discipline, Article IV of the Constitution; pg 22
[3] Galatians 3:28 NRSV

Questions 15 & 16

15. You have agreed as a candidate for the sake of the mission of Jesus Christ in the world and the most effective witness of the gospel, and in consideration of their influence as ministers, to make a complete dedication of yourself to the highest ideals of the Christian life, and to this end agree to exercise responsible self-control by personal habits conducive to bodily health, mental and emotional maturity, integrity in all personal relationships, fidelity in marriage and celibacy in singleness social responsibility, and growth in grace and the knowledge and love of God. What is your understanding of this agreement?
I understand that as a minister of God’s Word, I should set an example for the congregation to follow. By following this agreement, I am stating that I will live my life in a way that demonstrates that I am holding myself accountable in all areas so that the church can be confident that my focus is on Christ and not on worldly matters.
I will take care of my physical body by staying in shape and following the guidelines of the church’s wellness initiative. I will take care of my mental and emotional health by continuing to advance in study and by making sure I take Sabbath rest. Following these guidelines, I will show that I hold to what Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians that our body is Christ’s temple and, “If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person. For God’s temple is holy and you are that temple.”[1]
Having integrity in all personal relationship shows that as a pastor I will honor all relationships in which I am involved. When the trust of spouses, friends and congregation members are betrayed, the effectiveness of ministry is affected. In such situations, whatever we may teach has the chance of becoming null and void because of the trust that was lost and it can be a long difficult struggle for the congregation to recover.
Finally, as a pastor, I must be a trusted witness of Christ to the community at large. If the church does not minister to the community, we will be deaf to injustices that occur, and we will not know how to respond to them. The call of the church is to share God’s love with the community. When the pastor is aware and active in the community, he or she can truly shepherd God’s people in the direction God is calling them to go. By being active in the community the pastor is leading the church showing that the church’s doors are open to the community at large. When a pastor is not aware of what is happening in the community, or refuses to be a part of what is happening in the community, the church can become paralyzed and become an unhealthy community.


16. Explain the role and significance of the sacraments in the ministry to which you have been called.
The two sacraments that the United Methodist embraces are baptism and holy communion. These two sacraments are outward signs of an inward grace that we receive from God. The sacraments were either instituted[2] or commanded[3] by Christ in the Gospels and convey God’s grace and love to us using words, actions and physical elements.[4]
The role of the elder is to teach about and administer the sacraments. I believe that the sacraments are a means of grace that are given by God not to be chores that make us worthy, but instead are acts that we participate in that draw us closer to God and become available to the grace that is offered through the sacraments. There are different interpretations about the sacraments and the importance of them throughout the different denominations. As an elder of the United Methodist Church, I will teach and uphold the Wesleyan tradition of the sacraments of baptism and holy communion.
Baptism is the start of a lifetime journey for the participant. We participate in the sacrament of baptism because we are celebrating the initiation of the baptized person into the life of the church, the sign of our new birth in Christ, and the representation of the divine act by which we are redeemed from our sins and brought into reconciliation with God. We must remember and teach that while we participate in this ritual, we are not the instigators. Through the sacrament of baptism, God is the instigator that offers the gift of God’s grace to us and by participating; we are accepting that gift from God.
When we baptize, we recognize that it is the power of the Holy Spirit working through the water and the word. Because of the Holy Spirit’s work, we affirm that age or mental capabilities cannot disqualify a person from being baptized. God’s grace is available to all and the act of baptizing persons from infancy to adults shows God’s grace given to all.
Holy communion is a sacrament that binds the church together, not just the present congregations in our world today, but it connects us with the saints that came before us as well as those who will follow in our footsteps. Through the gift of bread and cup, we remember Christ’s sacrifice for us, but we do not stop at the cross. We are reminded by the bread and the cup that Christ is always with us. As we receive the elements we are reminded that we are Christ’s hands and feet to the world and we are to take Christ with us wherever we go, sharing the Good News that Christ died for us so we can have a personal relationship with God.
Another significance of holy communion is that we celebrate an open table. This open table signifies that communion is a gift that Christ has given to the world, to draw the world closer to Christ. It is through the open table that we as a church can practice reconciliation. While we have different ideas that may draw us apart, the reconciliation that we participate in by sharing the same body and blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ helps us to express what we say in our liturgy: “Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf.”[5] It is through the sharing of the bread and cup that we are to be Christ’s body in the world and through Christ’s sacrifice, we are able to bring reconciliation to the world by reaching out together as redeemed people of God.
[1]1 Corinthians 3:17 NRSV
[2] Matthew 26:26 – 30, Mark 14: 22 – 25, Luke 22: 15 – 20
[3] Matthew 28: 19 - 20
[4] By Water & The Spirit: A United Methodist Understanding of Baptism, Nashville, TN: Discipleship Resources p. 7
[5] UMH pg. 11

Questions 17 & 18

17. What is the United Methodist understanding of the process of salvation?
The process of salvation is about the grace that God gives to us. Each “step” is first an action by God given to us. Wesley wrote,
All the blessings which God hath bestowed upon man are of his mere grace, bounty, or favour: his free, undeserved favour, favour altogether undeserved, man having no claim to the least of his mercies.[1]

These blessings lead us from the depths of our sinful selves leading us onto perfection where all of our actions are motivated by love of God and love for our neighbor.
The process of salvation starts with God’s prevenient grace. This is the grace that God extends to humanity before humanity knew God. We see this written in the book of Jeremiah where God tells the prophet, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”[2]
Prevenient grace says that God is continually active in reaching out and loving all of God’s creation. We see this written in the Gospel of John where Jesus tells Nicodemus, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.”[3]
The prevenient grace that God has given us constantly pursues us and calls us into repentance and into relationship with God. God is constantly showing us his grace in order for us to repent, turn from our sins, and accept Christ as Lord and Savior.
Justification is the moment when we understand that we can no longer go on by ourselves, but we accept the pardon that is given to us through Christ’s death and resurrection. In justification, a decisive change occurs in our heart and we turn from the sin of the past in order to live a new life. It is God’s actions through the person of Jesus Christ that accepts us and removes our sin. Wesley writes, “His sins, all his past sins, in thought, word, and deed, ’are covered’, are blotted out; shall not be remembered or mentioned against him, anymore than if they had not been.”[4] This is all done through the actions of Jesus Christ on the cross, dying so that we may have life fully.
When a person makes the decision to accept what Christ has done for them it marks the beginning of a lifetime journey called sanctification. While justification takes our sins away, sanctification is the “process of gradually changing the person from the sinful state to becoming increasingly perfect.”[5] The work of sanctification changes our hearts through the power of the Holy Spirit. This work of the Holy Spirit draws us to what Wesley called having a heart “habitually filled with the love of God and neighbor” and “having the mind of Christ and walking as he walked.”[6]

18. What is your understanding of itinerant ministry?
The itinerant system is an important trait of The United Methodist Church. In the itinerant system, an elder of The United Methodist Church is sent to a congregation by the bishop and the cabinet of the annual conference. Through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, they look at the elder’s gifts and graces and match them with the needs and growth areas of local congregations. It is through this system that the elder places him or herself in covenant with the annual conference and echoes the words of Isaiah, “Here I am, send me!”[7] I agree with the itinerant system and I am looking forward to placing myself within this covenant.
The itinerancy system has been instituted to help effectively minister to the local church, the elder and the local community. The bishop and cabinet examine the different needs and characteristics of the local congregation, which include the general situation of the church, its theological stance, and the ministry of the congregation within the local community. After the church’s needs are evaluated, the bishop and cabinet review the elder’s gifts and graces, the elder’s spiritual commitment, any personal/family relationship issues, the elder’s theology and experience, gifts in different areas of ministry, and how the elder would relate with the new congregation and community setting. Finally, the bishop looks at the community to see how the congregation and appointed elder could best reach out to that community to make disciples for Jesus Christ. While on the outside, the itinerancy may look like just a system to appoint pastors. I believe it is an important way to uphold the covenant among all the elders of the church. The itinerancy is an effective tool to bring continuity to the ministries of the local church and build support between all of the elders of the connection.
[1] Wesley, John. Sermons: An Anthology, ed. Outler, Heitzenrater Nashville: Abington Press, 1991 pg. 40
[2] Jeremiah 1:5
[3] John 3:16 NRSV
[4] Sermons pg 115
[5] Jones, Scott J. United Methodist Doctrine: The Extreme Center, Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2002 p. 179
[6] 2004 Book of Discipline pg. 47
[7] Isaiah 6:8 NRSV

District Board Questions Part 2

Here is the last two parts of my District Board Paper for my District meeting on the 27th of August. Please feel free to comment .

How do you interpret the statement Jesus Christ is Lord?

When I think about the statement that Jesus Christ is Lord in my life, I am reminded of the sacrifice that Jesus Christ made for me. That sacrifice was not made in order for me to do whatever I please, but that sacrifice was made in order for me to have a closer relationship with God and to place my trust in God. The sacrifice is only possible because of Christ’s perfect state, “and having been made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.”[1]
Because of what Christ has done for me, He is the Lord of my life and I live my life to be in service to Christ. It is because of Christ’s example of serving others that I as a follower of Christ must take on the mantle of a servant and not boast in what I have done, but as Paul writes in 2 Corinthians, let my boast be in the Lord.[2]
With Jesus Christ as my Lord, I release control of my life and place my life under Christ’s authority. There is a song that we sing at our church titled “Holiness.” In the chorus of this song the prayer is that Christ will “take my heart, and form it; take my mind, transform it; take my will, conform it; to yours, to yours, oh Lord”.[3]
It is my prayer as a person who has submitted his life to Christ that every moment of my life I live fully surrendered to the authority of Christ and live in the ways that Christ has called me to live.
[1] Hebrews 5:9 NRSV
[2] 2 Corinthians 10:17 NRSV
[3] “Holiness”, Scott Underwood, 1995 Mercy/Vineyard Publishing


Explain the role and significance of the sacraments in the ministry to which you have been called.

In the United Methodist Church, we hold to two sacraments - the sacrament of holy communion and the sacrament of baptism. These two sacraments are foundational not only in the United Methodist Church, but in the church universal.
The role of the elder is to teach about and administer the sacraments. I believe that the sacraments are a means of grace that are given by God not to be chores that make us worthy, but instead are acts that we participate in that draw us closer to God and become available to the grace that is offered through the sacraments.
Baptism is initiation into the body of Christ as well as the symbolic act of the washing away of our sin. Through baptism, we are stating that we are chosen by God to be involved in bringing God’s kingdom to earth. We receive the gift of baptism because it is not our act, but it is the action of God that brings us into the church, and it is Christ’s sacrifice that washes away our sin. Because baptism is a means of grace and a gift from God, we baptize infants as a witness to the power of God’s grace and its availability to all persons regardless of age.
Holy Communion is a sacrament that binds the church together, not just the present congregations in our world today, but it connects us with the saints that came before us as well as those who will follow in our footsteps. Through the gift of bread and cup, we remember Christ’s sacrifice for us, but we don’t stop at the cross. We are reminded by the bread and the cup that Christ is with us and as we receive the elements we are reminded that we are Christ’s hands and feet to the world and we are to take Christ with us wherever we go, sharing the Good News that Christ died for us so we can have a personal relationship with God.

District Board Questions

Here is three parts of a paper I wrote for the District Board on Ordianed Ministry. Feel free to comment

Call to Ordained Ministry
This summer I was blessed to participate at junior high camp at Bridgeport. Every year, we have a call to ministry, which is an opportunity for youth to stand up and start their discovery and journey toward some form of ministry. One of the youth from my cabin walked up to me and shared with me felt like he had a call to ministry and thought it would be something good to “fall back on” in case his first option doesn’t pan out.
My call to ministry is not a “fall back” option in my life. It is where God is calling me to be in service to God’s people. I tried to do different things in my life, but I have always been drawn back to being in service to God’s people and the church. One of those things that I realize that I need to do is to remain true to the calling God has put on my life.
My call to ministry came to me while I was in high school and through some detours in life. I am excited to see where God is leading me as I continue on the path to ordained ministry. Over the past two years, I have had the opportunity to see different ministry settings and develop tools to help me grow in my faith and also be a more effective minister for Jesus Christ.
The tools that I bring to ministry are an openness to what God has in store for my life, a willingness to serve those in the congregation, and integrity to follow God’s plan and not to let my own agenda prevail. I am dedicated to helping God’s people discover their gifts and talents to make disciples for Jesus Christ.

Describe your personal experience of God and the understanding of God you derive from biblical, theological, and historical sources.

My personal experience of God is that God is a loving God who wants all of humankind to be connected to God. We see this in the biblical narrative where God created humankind and was in relationship with them in the Garden of Eden. After eating the forbidden fruit and the banishment from God’s presence, the Old Testament tells the story of how God continually called God’s people to come back and be in relationship with God.
God provided laws and covenants for the Israelites, not to give them rules to live by but to provide opportunities for the Israelites to draw closer to God. The prophets were also sent to tell God’s people that they were moving farther away from God. In order to bring us closer to God, God sent Jesus to bridge the gap between humankind and God. With God becoming flesh and living as we live here on earth, we have a personal connection with God.
Paul writes that we are the body of Christ, and that when the body of Christ is actively serving others, we a taking Christ to the world. I have personally seen this while working with the youth of my congregation and being in mission around the country and in Mexico. When the body of Christ is working toward bringing restoration to God’s people either in the local church or outside the church walls then we are all connected as one to the One who created us.

Discuss your understanding of the primary characteristics of United Methodist polity.
The primary characteristics of the United Methodist Church consist of the constitution, doctrinal standards, ministry of Christians, social principles, and the organization and administration of the church. Each of these characteristics connects our congregations together for the goal of making disciples.
As the church uses the itinerate and connectional systems, I am reminded that the church does not belong to one specific pastor, but the church belongs to God and I am a servant of the church. The use of the itinerancy places the importance on the different gifts and graces given to individual pastors and congregations by the Holy Spirit to live out the Great Commission in Matthew 28:19 – 20.
Being a connectional church allows all congregations of the United Methodist Church to expand their reach in the world. Looking beyond the walls to the local community or country the polity of the church helps each congregation expand their reach to make a difference in people’s lives for Jesus Christ.

Sermon on July 29, 2007

Here is my Manuscript for my Sermon on July 29, 2007.

The Spirit of the Lord is with US!
Luke 4: 14 – 21
7/29/2007

It has been a wonderful summer for youth ministry. Before I start preaching, I just want to take a moment to thank all of you for your prayers and support of youth ministry here at Grace. The value our church places on youth and children’s ministry is evident. Each mission trip is different and has wonderful stories that need to be shared and I hope you are able to take a few moments to listen to some of the stories from our youth about their experience in the Appalachian mountains of Tennessee.
Because we are celebrating the youth mission trip to Sneedville, you get to hear my story. One of the many aspects I love about mission trips is the opportunity to get to know the family and talk with people of the community. Well, we had the chance to talk with a resident of Sneedville on our last working day. We finished up before noon and hung out with our family and some of their extended family memebers. Around 2:00, we took the van over to a car wash to vacuum it out and wash the exterior. David Sutter and I were standing outside the van when a man about my age walked up to us and asked if we were from one of those churches that are here to repair homes. We told him where we were from and what organization we were working for and he got a real frustrated look on his face and asked us to close the van doors so that the youth we had with us wouldn’t hear what he had to say.
He started to ask us questions like, how can you do that type of work for those lazy people? Don’t you think that they should be able to do it for themselves? Don’t you think that God will let the weak perish and provide for the strong? As soon as he asked those questions, I stood in shock just wondering how in the world I would respond to such harsh questions.
I was in shock not because I was outraged that he said those words, but I was shocked because I have at one time thought or even said those words myself. It is so easy to look at someone who is having a hard time making ends meet and say that they should be able to pull themselves up by their own bootstraps, but is that what Christ is calling us to do.
I invite you to turn into your Bibles to Luke chapter 4 starting at the 14th verse. If you don’t have your Bible with you this morning, we have the scripture written on a bulletin insert that you can follow along.
Then Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding country. He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone. When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to say to them, "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing."

This is the Word of the Lord, Thanks be to God. Would you pray with me? May the words of my mouth and the meditation of each heart here be pleasing and acceptable to you oh Lord my strength and my redeemer. Amen
Hearing the words of our new acquaintance brought to mind the family we just served by placing a cinder block foundation under their home. The dad, Perry was a lumberjack that worked for a company that went into locations and removed selected trees marked by the property owner. This was called spot cutting. The estimated salary of the Collins family was approximately $1000 a month. For a 40-hour week, that is $6.25 an hour. While we were there, we had the chance to spend a day with Perry because he could not go into work due to it being too wet for them to do their job, ultimately resulting in Perry loosing a days worth of wages.
During one of our breaks, we sat down with Perry and started to talk about his job, his home and his land that he loved. Even though the mobile home was over 20 years old, Perry bought it outright just three months earlier and the family had just been in the home for two months.
Perry was asking if we knew how to square corners of a building because he was in the process of building a garage to store items that were spread throughout the house in order to give the family more room in their home. He was proud of the $300.00 pile of lumber he purchased bit by bit and the $250.00 pile of tin for the roof of the new garage. He took pride in what he owned and he even got underneath the house with Luke Johnston to help finish digging one of the holes while we were there.
Perry was an example of someone who wanted the best for his family but had very little means to provide for his family and needed a little extra help to make his families home safer, and energy efficient. With the help we gave the Collins family, they will be able to use the $1000.00 a month to provide more for the family.
I believe that the root behind our car wash stranger’s question was more why are you here. Why did you drive 14 hours in the span of two days, spend the week living in an abandoned hospital, with two other churches having to be flexible in sharing freezing cold or scalding hot showers, restrooms, eating faculties and well everything.
My answer to his questions is rooted in our scripture lesson this morning. I believe that God wants the weak to perish so God can take care of the strong. I believe that God wants to make sure all of God’s children are provided for. Jesus had started his ministry with a bang. He has done his own little tour of Galilee and has returned home to worship. He comes home to share his purpose statement that was originally written by the prophet Isaiah.
In this passage, Christ reads that he had been anointed to “bring good news to the poor, proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. This anointing on Christ’s life is what Christ was proclaiming to the synagogue in Nazareth. He was proclaiming not a new way, but a way to get reconnected with the tradition of Torah, to be connected to God’s original purpose of what the Israelites should be doing.
Jesus anointing was evident in the ministry that he provided during his reign on earth. One of the things that Jesus did in his ministry was to provide ways for people to learn from him and then go and do themselves. We see this when Jesus sends out his disciples with the authority to heal and cast out demons. We also see this before Jesus ascended into heaven, and he spoke to his disciples giving them the great commission to “Go and make disciples” and with that, the church was born.
I think part of Jesus sermon wasn’t just announcing his purpose but it was to announce that the Israelites were supposed to be involved in the same work that Christ came to earth to be involved with. I would further suggest that the writers of the New Testament are telling every one of us that we have the same anointing as Christ. Paul in his second letter to the Corinthians writes that God who establishes us with you in Christ has anointed us, by putting his seal on us and giving us his Spirit in our hearts as a first installment.”
This good news is that we are anointed to be the Body of Christ. This is to not only share the good news of Christ, but we are to be about the same business of Christ in bringing good news to the poor, proclaiming release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.
That is the reason why we go to Appalachia, or to Mexico, or to help in recovery for Katrina or Rita. That is why we as a church reach out with our legal clinic or help with great days of service or a habitat build. It is because we are anointed as a church and as individuals to make a difference in the lives of people around us.
If you have a chance to see the video from our trip, you will notice that one of the tasks we helped with was building a picnic table for the community. Every Thursday evening, ASP holds a community picnic. At this picnic, we invite our families to come and join us for an evening of fun, horribly cooked hamburgers and fellowship. This year we went to the beautiful Elrod Falls Park. As of the week we were there, it was kind of hard to get to and there wasn’t any place to sit down to enjoy the view. A brand new fence and remodeled covered area were placed to make this area a place of pride. Our ASP staff thought it would be a great idea to build picnic tables for this park area so people of the community could come and enjoy this outside area.
When we completed our table, we were given a marker to write our names on the table and also to dedicate our table. On one side, we wrote our names along with a dedication to Priscilla Bowers for all of her dedication to all of the mission trips that Grace UMC has launched. The other side in huge letters we wrote Grace United Methodist Church.
At the time that we wrote Priscilla’s name and the church’s name, I didn’t realize the symbolism behind our pen strokes. Those names aren’t just marking a picnic table to mark the table. Those names are showing an anointing that is on this congregation to be a part of God’s story to fulfill the words of Christ mission in Luke 4.
My hope and prayer is that as anointed people of Christ, we actively search out ways that we can make a difference in people’s lives helping them to see that the actions we do as Christians are not actions for action sake, but that all that we do is actions to show the world Christ love for them.