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Son of man, can these bones live?

In the 37th chapter of the book of Ezekiel, God takes the prophet to a valley covered in mounds of dry bones.  He takes Ezekiel by the hand ‘back and forth among them,’ so he can see the magnitude of the death and decay up close, over and over.  And only then does God ask the question.  Can these–even these, all of these–bones live?

In this season, it’s not our bones but our spirits that feel dried out and full of death.  We’ve been living with the fear and rage of this pandemic for so long. Our hearts break for the suffering of lives devastated by fires, floods, earthquakes and wars.  Our hope is crushed by the power and pervasiveness of systemic racism and the feebleness and futility of our attempts at healing and reconciliation.  

Can the bones in that valley–after all that time dessicated by death–live again?
Can our spirits in this season–crushed by sin, despair, fear and death–be full of holy life again?

Our prophet brother Ezekiel knew that this is not a question for us humans.  His answer was really a question. ‘Sovereign God, you alone know.’

The God who re-membered those bones is the same God who re-members our spirits.  Listen and hear why we, especially now, have reason to hope.

Peace,

Pastor Kate

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Scripture:  2 Corinthians 4:7-18 (NIV)

In the midst of life, we are in death…

That’s the first line of an ancient Gregorian chant believers used to sing each week in worship.  It’s a song modern hearts refuse to sing.  It may be a true statement, but most of us would prefer not to be reminded of it.  We build our worship services around the truths of our faith that inspire and encourage us.  

And that may be our mistake.

This month, we remember our spirits, and seek courage and wisdom and hope for these difficult days.  And our problem isn’t that we don’t know Jesus or love him enough.  I think our greatest spiritual challenge is wrong expectations.

Our expectations of life with Jesus here on earth are wrong.  Somehow, we’ve gotten the idea that if we love Jesus and Jesus loves us, we will be supernaturally shielded and protected from all pain and suffering.  But this is not what Jesus promised us.  Our ancestors knew that–which is for them that song was a source of encouragement and strength.  They expected trouble and sorrow on earth–and so they sought the Lord in it.

Maybe they learned these right expectations from Paul.  In his second letter to the Corinthians, he testifies:

We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body.

Part of the burden of these days is not just the pain and fear–but the nagging thought that it wasn’t supposed to be this way, that something’s gone horribly wrong.

But scripture and faith teach us to expect seasons of pain and loss.  Jesus promises not to save us from these days–but to bring abundant salvation life into those days.  The good news isn’t God is good when life is good–but that God is good even when life isn’t good.  Because, on this side of eternity, often it isn’t.

That song the monks chanted is true–in the midst of life we are in death.  But in Christ, the reverse is also true.  Because of Jesus, even when we are in the midst of death, we have life.  Come and see…

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The Bible talks a lot about faint-heartedness and that used to seem like an antiquated phrase–but now, I understand.  And I know I’m not the only one.  There is nothing cute or inspiring about resilience anymore.  

Covid, Haiti, Afghanistan, the storms, the fires–we are drenched in death and despair; we can no longer power through. And we don’t have to.  Because our God doesn’t demand that we try harder or adjust our attitudes or perform gratitude.  We can, as the psalms teach us, take our faint hearts to ‘the rock that is higher’ than we are.  We can acknowledge, unashamedly, that we need spiritual renewal to face the days that lie ahead. 

Our September worship series is called ‘Remember Your Spirit,’ and together we will seek God’s provision, wisdom, strength, and solace for our weary souls. Because beloved ones, even if our worst fears are true, even if this is the very worst it’s ever been, even if it’s not getting better any time soon…

Even if…God is still enough. Especially when everything is not okay, our spirit can be renewed in the Lord.  God’s promises are for such a time as this.

This Sunday we look at the very earliest picture of life in the church in Acts 2:42-47 and discover how those saints, who knew a bit about rapid disorienting change, received abundant joyful life in Christ through foundational spiritual practices.  Together we’ll learn that, while this season is unique in its challenges, the path to joy and peace and growth is unchanged and deceptively familiar.

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Scripture: Luke 18:9-14 (NIV) – The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector

What if a lot of what you’ve learned about God isn’t right?
What if the gap between what scripture says and what we’ve been told it means is bigger than we imagined?
What if what Jesus said doesn’t mean what we tell ourselves it means?

That’s why we are spending August considering the mind of Christ and opening our spirits up to the terrifying liberating truth of Jesus.  Because (spoiler alert) Jesus thinks differently than we do.  That’s why he taught in parables–to expose the gulf between our expectations and God’s truth.  This Sunday we are considering the church through the lens of the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector, where the one who was confident in himself remained far from God and the one who despaired was saved by grace.  Like the Pharisee, too many of us Christ followers come to worship full of ourselves.  We seek out the faith communities that will justify us.  We want churches to exalt our righteousness and condemn the sins of our neighbors.

But salvation comes not to the (self) righteous, but the repentant sinner.   Our church shouldn’t confirm our suspicion that we are righteous, it should lead us to repentance.  

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This Sunday we are excited to welcome our friend Pastor Cedric Lundy into the pulpit to share the next installment of our worship series on the ‘Mind of Christ.’  Cedric is a native of Ann Arbor, MI, who moved to Charlotte, NC, after completing his ministry degree to begin a career in pastoral ministry. He has served as a youth pastor, a pastor of justice, and he owns a coffee roasting business. He currently serves as a Street Leader Director for Urban Promise. He is also the co-host of the podcast, Token Confessions where he and Sanchez Fair share stories of life as men of color living in predominantly white spaces.  You can read more about Cedric’s story and passion for Jesus in this recent feature from ‘The Faces of Charlotte.’  Cedric’s sermon on the parable of the persistent widow will explore the intersection of prayer and persistence and justice.

Peace,

Pastor Kate

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This Sunday is a big deal in the life of our congregation.  Our friend and sister Shardae Henry will be preaching her first sermon from our pulpit.  During her time at the Grove, the Lord has called Shardae to ordained ministry and she begins her formal seminary studies this fall at Union Presbyterian Seminary in Charlotte.  And like I said–this is a big deal for ALL of us.

Because one sign of a vital life-giving church is people ‘coming alive’ and discovering previously unimaginable callings to serve Jesus in extraordinary ways.  ‘Behold–I do a new thing in your midst!’ God declares through the prophet Isaiah.  That is true for us as a community–and it is also true for us individually.  God’s call to ministry was a surprise to Shardae–but those of us who have grown to know and love her over the years saw it coming and celebrated its arrival. 

So this is a big beautiful moment.  Shardae will share how Jesus’ words ‘I am the vine and you are the branches’ in John 15 reveals the mind of Christ for ministry.  And the act of stepping into the pulpit will itself be a revelation for those of us with eyes to see.  Because we think we know ourselves, our limits, and our capabilities well.  But Jesus knows us better–and Jesus calls us into life beyond our wildest imagination (and equips those he calls).

So I hope you will join us this week.  I am coming ready to be filled–because I know that Jesus will use our Shardae to challenge, inspire and stretch us in the same way he has filled, challenged, inspired, and stretched her.  May we respond as faithfully!

Peace,

Pastor Kate

Scripture Reading: John 15:1-8 (NIV)

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I visited my family in Kentucky last week and took long walks every morning.  Since I grew up here, they’ve laid a sidewalk that runs parallel to the main road.  The project was funded by selling bronze plaques now inlaid with the concrete.  It’s beautiful.  As you walk along you see messages of what neighbors hold most dear.  The names of family members long departed.  Scripture citations.  Blessings and wishes for days full of health, gratitude, joy and love.  And one brass plaque that simply reads:  Our Confederate Dead, 1863-1983

It stopped me in my tracks, and I’ve been wondering about it ever since.  The ones who paid dearly to lay that marker, what were they trying to say to us? Those who fought in the Civil War on behalf of the Confederacy–that choice isn’t the only true thing about them.  They were also sons and fathers and brothers and neighbors, perhaps wonderful ones.  But their legacy is aligning with an evil cause.

My point isn’t that the people memorialized on that plaque are monolithically evil.  It’s much more disturbing than that.  I believe they are just like us.  Those men and women were the same mixture of goodness and fear and shallowness and glory as the rest of us.  They were the beloved for whom Christ died, just like us.  Except they probably read their Bibles and worshipped more frequently than we do.

And yet, when it was time to pick a side–they choose the wrong one.

Which is why we need the mind of Christ as it is revealed to us through scripture and by the Holy Spirit–because there are moments when living by Kingdom values will be seen as a betrayal of all those we love hold most dear.  And we must be salt and light anyway.

These parables we are studying are lifelines, tethering us to the way of the Lord when the whole world pulls us elsewhere.  As scripture commands us, we must work out our faith with fear and trembling and renew our minds in Christ.  Saved by grace, we can’t be confident in our own wisdom or righteousness.  Because much as I’d love to confidently declare otherwise, who can say what choice I’d have made if I’d grown up in my home town 150 years ago?

Scripture Readings: Luke 15:18-10 – Matthew 13:44-46 – Matthew 13:31-32

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When he walked this earth, there was one group of people who failed to see the goodness of God in Jesus.  One group of people who not only didn’t recognize Jesus as God’s son–but believed they were honoring God when they persecuted him.

It wasn’t the sinners or the sick or the poor or the gentiles or the foreigners.

It was the people like us–people of faith.  The people who prayed for the Messiah were exactly the ones who didn’t recognize Jesus when God sent him in answer to their prayers.

That should unsettle us.  Why did they miss him?  Why did the very ones who longed for the Kingdom miss its coming?

Because he wasn’t who they expected him to be.  They thought they knew God, they thought they knew salvation, they thought they knew scripture and understood the prophecies.  What they thought they knew blinded them spiritually.  Jesus had no trouble healing the blind–it was those who didn’t know they were blind who remained unchanged–because they rejected the light that pierced their darkness.

This Sunday we start a new worship series called ‘Mind of Christ.’  We’ll be looking at the parables–because these holy little stories show us the gap between our comfortable religious expectations and holy reality.  Parables are a peek into the mind of Jesus.  They disturb and unsettle us–and that’s the point.  They help us get used to being surprised by God.

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From his prison cell, Paul writes to his friends imploring them to ‘clothe’ themselves with ‘compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience;’ and then to ‘put on love’ on top of all that, because love will ‘bind them all together in perfect unity.’  I think of Paul writing that letter in his prison garb–having lost the freedom to do something as simple as dress himself.  I imagine this idea came to him as he wrestled with the shame and humiliation of incarceration–the Holy Spirit reminding him that even though he appeared powerless, he was still and fully empowered to live boldly as a citizen of the Kingdom of Heaven.

Wherever we are, whatever our circumstances–nothing has the power to limit our choice to live with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.  No one has the power to prevent us from clothing ourselves in love.  This isn’t a sentimental, decorative, inspirational thought–this is a decree.  Paul, in chains, says–this is how we fight our battles.  This is our kingdom strategy.

This is the work of the church–the body of Jesus and it is how the Risen Christ is redeeming and reclaiming the world.  Are you in?

We live in a culture that screams that might makes right, that violence makes peace, that money and authority and privilege determine impact.  In chains, as he writes letters that will change the world, Paul testifies to otherwise.

A friend shared this thought on social media this week–inaccurate eschatology causes the church to: wait for a King who already reigns, wait for a Kingdom they’re already in, wait to become who they already are, wait for an age that’s already come, wait for a victory that’s already won, wait to do what they should already be doing.

Beloved–we already have everything we need to live as the people of God.  And we have a uniform – the first step is putting it on.

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The Apostle Paul wrote most of the material we find in our New Testament. But not while sitting at a desk drinking coffee. He wrote letters to his friends while he was imprisoned for treason, inciting riots, and leading an insurrection. Paul knew eventually he would be executed by his jailors (and he was). But he did not pray for freedom or ask God to rescue. His only plea was to have ‘sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.’  Paul was not desperately begging for God to restore him to his old life–‘for to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain…I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is better for you that I remain in the body.’  Paul was ready to die and be with Christ (which he considered ‘better by far) but he was also eager to ‘go on living in the body, which will mean more fruitful labor for me.’  Wherever he was, he was going to serve Jesus.

Sitting in his prison cell, Paul had a foot in both worlds–the life on earth and his life with Christ in the Kingdom of God.

This week, along with Paul’s prison letters, I’ve been reading the letters Nelson Mandela wrote while in prison.  Like Paul, Mandela was convicted of treason and inciting riots.  He was sentenced to life in a hard labor prison camp.  Though he had grounds for appeal and powerful friends, he refused to appeal his sentence.  He wanted his imprisonment to bear witness to the evil brutal injustice of the apartheid regime.  He fully expected to die on Robbins Island.  And yet—he completed multiple degrees while he was imprisoned.  His letters are full of requests for textbooks and examination registration forms.  He also mentored other activists in non-violent philosophy, wrote tender letters of encouragement to his wife and children and continually badgered prison officials and politicians. 

Sitting in his prison cell, Mandela also had a foot in both worlds.

How were these brothers able to live with such courage and hope while enduring the dehumanizing trauma or prison?  Where did they find so much wisdom and love to pour into others?  How were they able to live so passionately and yet hold their lives so lightly?  I hope you’ll join us as we learn from these two great saints how to live with hope and power in the midst of great suffering.

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