Sticks and Stones

The children's rhyme, Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me, has been around for at least 150 years, according to some sources.  One source, dating from 1862, referred to the phrase as an "old adage", suggesting that it has been around even longer.  The rhyme is intended to teach children not to retaliate or engage in physical violence when others taunt them.  While it is certainly to caution children against the use of physical violence to solve problems, it is clear to all of us today that words and names do in fact hurt others, sometimes very badly.  I wonder if the person or persons responsible for this rhyme had ever read James 1.26, where we are warned, Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless.  

Years ago, when our dog, Kasey, was just a puppy, we kept her in a crate as a part of her "housebreaking."  Of course, even with the crate, accidents did happen.  One time, upon discovering our dog in, uh, mid-accident, shall we say, I began yelling at her very angrily.  She ran up the stairs to the boys' bedroom and into her crate.  I followed her and continued my tirade.  As I stood over her crate yelling at her, I was taken aback to notice that she was huddled in the back corner of the crate, trembling at my anger.  Like a bolt out of the blue I saw something in that moment I had not truly seen before.  Of course I felt guilty for scaring my dog so badly.  Even more, however, I saw in her response a metaphor for the impact my angry and careless words have on my children when I am upset over something they have done.  Just as Kasey shook on the outside, so my children (and others) tremble on the inside when I do not keep a tight rein on my tongue.  Words hurt.  Anger hurts.  And if I wasn't willing to take note of this and do something about it, James 1.26 warns me that my careless words might very well render my religion worthless - at least in its impact on my relationships and interaction with the world.

In Matthew 5.22, Jesus warns us that ongoing anger with another renders us "subject to judgment," and the Apostle Paul teaches that we are not to let the sun go down on our anger (Ephesians 4.26).  That is, we are to find constructive ways to move past anger and find healing and restoration in our relationships.  Life is too short to stand there yelling at the dog every day.  Who wants to live that way, anyway?  No, there is a better way to live, a kingdom way.  And it begins with keeping a tight rein on our tongues.

My prayer for you and for us all is that we would truly see the impact our words and anger have on others, and that we would politely, but resolutely refuse to engage in the anger of our age - toward people we know and people we may never meet.  You and I are faced with so many opportunities to speak ill of or to others every day.  May the grace of God so freely given to you and me in Christ Jesus enable us to show grace to others, regardless of who they are, what they believe or how they may differ from us.  Amen.

- Pastor Stacey Littlefield

What "No One" Wants to Read

A hotel in Great Britain has recently announced that they will be removing Bibles from their guest rooms -- and replacing them with the best-selling erotic novel, Fifty Shades of Grey.  Why?  Because the manager of the hotel believes the Bible is a book "no one wants to read," and the novel is one that "everyone wants to read."

This is a sad statement on the times, I'm sure you'll agree.  It may anger you or simply make you shake your head in dispair.  The reality for me, however, is that one of the reasons I think "no one wants to read" the Bible is because there is so little evidence that it makes a difference in our lives.  We've been hearers, but not doers.  We've looked into the mirror, walked away and forgotten what we've just seen, rather than looking intently into Scripture and allowing it's truth to become a part of our lives, conduct and relationships.  Compare this rather powerless view of the Bible with some of what Scripture itself teaches us.  Paul instructs Timothy,

But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.  All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3.14-17, italics mine)

Or as the writer to the Hebrews describes,

For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. (Hebrews 4.12, italics mine)

Hmmm.  Now that I think about it, who wants to be corrected and judged and rebuked and divided between soul and spirit, joints and marrow?  Sounds painful.  Maybe the hotel manager has a point.  Maybe "no one" wants to read the Bible any more because to do so is to be confronted with our own imperfect, sinful reflection staring back at us.  Of course, that's the point, really.  The Bible is not just a book of stories or a catalogue of principles.  It's a book for life.  It's history paints pictures of both saints and sinners; it's teaching trains the righteous and confronts the wicked; it's poetry inspires the seeker and challenges the apathetic.  In its portraits, literature and teaching you and I can see ourselves as we are, as we hope to be and as we can become, when we yield our lives to its truth.  

As I said on Sunday, we should not feel condemned or guilty because we do not read the Bible enough.  I just pray that, wherever you are, you will begin.  I suggest that you go to youversion.com and pick out a reading plan (I'm currently reading an excellent one called "Lent for Everyone") you can keep up with on your computer, phone or tablet, and simply begin.  

In the meantime, let us pray that the hotel manager's decision does not become a trend, because the word of God has power to transform lives.  May it do so in your life and mine, this day and always.

- Pastor Stacey Littlefield

The Gift of Abundance

While exploring the words of James last week to be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry, I mentioned my own personal theory that the extent to which we live this out often depends on whether we ourselves operate out of a sense of  abundance or lack. 

For many year of my life, I operated out of lack.  Having been raised in a home with the instability of an alcoholic father and then adding to it out of my own insecure and destructive choices, the world became for me a place of uncertainty and even danger.  Other people were competition and self-protection my primary goal.   And God? Well ... He was pretty much non-existent.  At least for someone like me.

That was until I met a man who would turn my thinking around.  So exhausted was I by my lack mindset that I was willing to risk stepping into the church in which he pastored in hopes of finding a new way of thinking and living.  And it was a real risk too. I was fearful of being judged for my past choices, or my father's current one which I suspected was evident to others when he joined me for church on occasion.

But Pastor Donn Engebretson met my desperation and fear by speaking words of abundance over me. He told me how I was more than my past and more than my father's addiction. He shared stories from Scripture to affirm that truth and prayed over me to receive and trust in it.  And for the first time, a new sense of personal worth and dignity began to be formed in me; a worth and dignity grounded in Christ Jesus.

Pastor Donn would also take steps to do the same in my father's life though I would discourage it at first.  My anger towards my father kept me from considering he too was worthy of such a gift or even desiring of it.  But God reminded me of the transforming affect Pastor Donn's abundance had on me personally and I knew I needed to respond in kind to my Father.  

That decision would lead to a family "Intervention", which required our entire family to invest an entire summer preparing for because as we are learning in James, responding out of abundance towards another does not come naturally to us.  Even less so when provoked by years of addiction.  But the choice to pursue it was a good one and my father did seek treatment for his alcoholism as a result.

Most profound for me, however, was his motivation for doing so.  On numerous occasions he said the motivation to pursue healing came largely from the overwhelming abundance shown him through words of love, forgiveness and hope.  It ignited a hope that God might still do something for good in His life and in the life of our family - a hope that I have had the joy of seeing him live into everyday since.

A Challenge to Ponder:

If  you have come to know the grace of God in Christ Jesus, then you too we have experienced His abundance.  Consider for a moment who God might be placing in your life that is operating out of lack instead.  Ask God if He might be calling you to bless them by sharing your abundance with them in such a way as to set them free with the help of the Holy Spirit.  

- Pastor Dawn Bodi

Taking the "R"

As I was preparing last week's sermon I ran across a great story about Coach Don Shula, to date the NFL coach with the most wins, at 357, I believe.  Naturally, people want to know Don Shula's "secret" to winning.  I don't know what his secret was to winning, but I discovered one about losing that I'd like to share with you.

Apparently, during a live game one evening, Shula lost his temper and accidentally let fly with a stream of profanity near an open mic.  I hate it when that happens, don't you?  As you might expect, viewers were shocked and upset with what they heard and sent in letters to the network complaining.   Shula could have made excuses or blamed the technician responsible for leaving the mic on, but he didn't.  He took responsibility for his actions.  He personally replied to every letter that was sent in, as long as there was a return address to send it to.  In the letter he apologized and stated that he was sorry he had lost the viewer's respect and would work very hard to regain it.  How many letters were there?  How long would something like this take?  Who knows?  It didn't matter.  As some management and leadership circles like to say, Shula "took the  R" - that is, he took responsibility - for his mistake and sought to make it right.

The secret to losing?  Take responsibility for your sin.  Own up to it and seek to make it right whenever possible.

In our passage from James (1.9-18) on Sunday we were warned of where sin comes from: it comes from us.  We are tempted and dragged away and enticed by our own evil desires, he says.  In the original language it is more emphatic.  There may be other things in our lives and circumstances that make resisting such a temptation more difficult for us, certainly, but we must begin by owning up to our own sinful desires and the idols to which we bow down.

In this week's Mission Briefing we gave you a prayer exercise on dealing with sin, on taking responsibility and giving ourselves to the process of being conformed to the image of Christ for the sake of others.  I hope you have already begun this process, but if not, please do.  Our journey of "becoming" depends on each of us and our willingness to take responsibility and do the work.

I pray God meets you in powerful ways in the remainder of this week.  May grace, mercy, humility, authenticity and integrity be yours as you seek to place yourself in this process of spiritual formation.  Amen.

- Pastor Stacey