The Task at Hand

I was recently working on year end reports. It is not something that I typically look forward too. For a small business owner, closing the books for the year, and preparing tax forms can be a daunting task. As a parish priest there are also reports to be made. When I was a younger man, I was always a bit chagrined at the number crunching mentality that seemed to drive these reports. My idealistic piety, would cry out in rebellion, "it's not about numbers, its about people." I'm a bit older now, wiser, and perhaps more honest, about the real reasons we pastors sometimes hate number crunching and reporting. I say "sometimes," because not all pastors hate such tasks, their numbers are good. The real reason we hate number crunching is because our numbers are not good. The pietistic arguement is just a smoke screen to hide that fact, and we know it. And, we are just insecure enough to take it personally-- that monkey on your back doesn't get any lighter.

Now granted, numbers do not necessarily give an accurate assesment of the fruitfulness or success or our ministries. (funny how nobody with good numbers likes that statement:) However they do tell us something true. We as men of God, called to shepherd his people, need to quit making excuses and manfully accept that truth. Sure every church has ups and downs periods of growth, and decline, but extended periods of neither is not "natural."

My point here is not to drag you down. After all, need I say it? I'm one of us. Christ Community is a small parish. It has been so far too long. Let me just say I have as many "good" reasons as anyone. "I'm bi-vocational, I don't have time, we don't have enough money, we are in an economically depressed area, our culture is 'anti-catholic' " and the list goes on. My point is to encourage us to take a brutally honest look at what we are doing. Keep the good. Keep what works and consider seriously the value of what is not working. Above all, I want to bolster your faith. We are here doing what we are doing for one reason: God wants to save people. He takes no delight in the death of the wicked, but wishes that all would come to repentance. He wants us to succeed! He really loves the people of this world, the people of your neighborhood, and wants them to know it and come to him. We are instruments he has chosen to accomplish this. He has commissioned us to make disciples of Jesus. This, friends, is the task at hand. Don't get side tracked by trying to make your numbers look better. Some of us plant, some of us water, but God brings the increase. Know who you are. Understand and accept how God has gifted you for the task he has given you and let's get to work. Let us keep our minds and hearts focused on the task at hand.

God is Good

God has been so good to us over the years. It is amazing to me how as humans we easily remember the negatives in our lives and forget the positives. I dare say it is part of our bent. Just watch the evening news. I wonder sometimes if we don't derive some perverse enjoyment from bad news. As this year comes to a close, I want to encourage you to look for the good.

I am reminded of the blessing it is to serve God, and to be a bi-vocational minister. God has made me priest of a great parish, with a bright future. It is my business that enables me to serve these wonderful people. It is God's gifting, that has made me good at what I do. In spite of the difficulties, the rewards far exceed the cost. Underlying it all is the assurance that God has had his hand in my life at every turn. He knows what is best, and the work he does in our lives will far exceed our best ideas and dreams. Sure, there are times when we have misstepped and found ourselves in a dilemma of our own making. But even these, when we humbly repent and bring our fiasco to him, He is able to mend and renew, and bring good into our lives. More often as followers of Jesus, we find ourselves just "kicking against the goads." The Apostle Paul learned the secret of contentment. We can too. Contentment does not come with trying harder to be content, but in surrender to God, and letting him be sovereign over our lives. He doesn't make mistakes. We do. He is able to change anything in our lives that he wants. We are not able. He loves us, and wants for us what is best. Often, we don't even know what is best for ourselves, let alone how to achieve it. What better King could we have? I want to encourage you in this coming year to find joy and be content in the work that God has given you to do. Let it be an offering, given to God for his glory and honor. Trust that He will be at work in all things for the good of those who love him. Relax. Let God handle it. Its gonna be alright.

More Dust

When I think back over the years I have served the Lord as a "bi-vocational" minister, I would have to admit that the greatest challenge that I have faced, I am still facing: There is never enough time. Time is always at a premium. There is never enough time to do all that could be done or should be done. My life seems to always get boiled down to doing just what needs to be done. It can be discouraging at times, and I find myself envious of those fortunate men who are able to serve full time parishes. However this kind of thinking is not very productive, and ends up stealing more time. I have discovered another way to look at the situation.

Our God is beyond the scope of time, He lives in the present, with perfect knowledge of both past and future. He knows all of our going out and our coming in. He holds time in his hand. That said, we can be assured that he has granted us enough time to do his will. The trick is simple although not necessarily easy. We must make it our purpose to let God order our time. In practical terms, it means praying with our to do list in hand. Seeking God's leading with prioritizing what we plan to do. I have found God faithful time and again, and when I find myself stressing over obligations, He gently reminds me that He is still God, and holds time and my life in his hands.

Ironically, it is this challenge that I face daily, that also serves to help me understand the plight of so many men and women today. I am not the only one too busy. You probably are too. You may be sitting there reading this blog, thinking to yourself, "I don't have time for this..." Here is the beauty though. The way that I am learning to order my days will work for you! What I find myself forced to do, is really not more than the Christian faith, practical Christianity. Do yourself a favor. Admit that you are too busy, and let Christ order your day. You will find him to be a much more gracious master than you are. You will drive yourself. You will push the limits of your own humanity, and then be frustrated when you cannot achieve what you set out to do. As followers of Jesus we must let it go. His yoke is easy, and his burden is light. Dare I say it? Yours is not. But, you too can find rest in Jesus.

Working Vacation

Last week we got to enjoy one of the fringe benefits of being a business owner. Yes, you could call it a vacation. I avoid using the word because I actually planned this trip around some work that I had at Hilton Head Island. So while we were there enjoying the sights, I was also working several days building a custom range hood for an elite house there on the Island. Here is the proof, taken by a friendly stranger who just happened to be walking by as we were putting all the Lemmons together. The next picture is our first morning there, just before sunrise taken from the balcony of the house where we were staying. A new day is dawning.
It is funny how seeing a sunrise, has a way of reminding us of the potential each day holds, un- marred with mistakes or short words. It is fresh and new. We don't see sunrises at our home in Kentucky. We live between two steep ridges and to the east of us is another ridge, so by the time the sun shines in our "holler" it is mid morning. It was refreshing to see the sun crest over the ocean. The very day we were enjoying this sight our Bishop, Frederick Fick, was participating in the meeting of the Federation of Anglican Churches. A new day has dawned in that realm as well. The day is full of potential, for a unified Anglican province in America. The stage is set, the dawn is breaking. The day is fresh and new. How will the bishops of the several continuing Anglican jurisdictions, and the conservative Episcopalians meet this challenge? Will they be able to work together? Will they find the middle ground where orthodox Anglicans of every tradition, will be able to stand? Time will tell. For now, the day is still fresh, new, exciting and full of potential. May it be our continual prayer that a unified Anglican province would become a reality in our time.

Stirring up Dust

Its not always easy. Check that. It is never easy, it just varies on degree of how hard it is. We call it "bi-vocational ministry," which is in fact (at least in my case) a misnomer. I will explain later. This past two weeks has been challenging to say the least. My work load in the cabinet shop had been pretty steady, then someone throws in a "deadline" and things get crazy. Last week was one of those times, when I woke up each morning and prayed, "Now tell me again Lord, Why am I doing this?" By Saturday, all the lofty idealism about "tent making" fades into shades of gray, and becomes just work. Then comes Sunday. The word of life and the bread of heaven. I am rich again and full. Strong enough to head back into the fray. Once again, I give my life to this gracious and loving Savior Jesus, who gave his life for me. I realize that I am the servant that has, "only done what is my duty." His truth shatters my self-pitiful delusions, and His peace quiets my soul.

It's really not bi-vocational at all. I only have one "vocation." Cabinet making is only a part of this singular calling to be a minister of His gospel. I realize that this is not always the case. Some who are "bi-vocational" were called to His ministry later in life, sometimes after many years in another vocation. These truly are "bi-vocational" ministers, but only in the sense that they are in there second vocation chronologically. In my case, I have known what is my calling, my vocation since I was sixteen years old. It is who I am. Oh, I have done a lot of other things. I have worked in a cemetery, on a Christmas tree farm, as a corrections officer in a prison, and since 1997 a cabinet maker. But these other jobs were aimed at one thing, answering the call of God to his service as a priest and pastor of his people. The minister is a lot like a musician or an artist. There are those artists who are in such a place financially as to be able to devote their time entirely to doing art. However, many perhaps most cannot. That does not stop them from painting or sculpting. They cannot stop. It's who they are. They paint. They sculpt. They create at their own expense. Such is the case of a man called to the ministry of the Gospel. The "bi-vocational" just pays for the privilege of serving. When I think about it, it really is a small price to pay. No complaints. No regrets. His yoke is easy and his burden is light.

Remaining Anonymous

Honestly, I do not know who said it first but it was a mission statement that has stayed with me for years now: To make Jesus famous while remaining anonymous. Perhaps it was John the Baptist who first said it when he said of Jesus, "He must increase, I must decrease." So much of our culture, even church culture, revolves around the great personalities like Billy Graham, or Rick Warren. Not trying to take anything away from the great work that they do and have done, but the vast majority of ministry still takes place in small corners of the world by virtually unknown pastors, pouring themselves out for the sake of the gospel. These men of God, will not write best sellers, or pastor mega churches. They may never get the chance to proclaim the good news to a stadium full of people. Nevertheless, the work they do is real, and their position worthy. "No one can receive anything except what is given him from heaven." It is not given that there be more than one Billy Graham in the world.
When I was in college, I have to admit I was smitten at times by the temptation to desire a name for myself, to find a position in a large church or teaching in a college, where I could be well paid, respected, and highly esteemed. Aspiring to greatness is not a bad thing. Jesus did not criticize his disciples for wanting to be great, but for their ideas of what greatness was. He said instead that he who would be great, must be a servant. The one who would be first must be a slave of all. God forbid that we would twist Jesus' instruction to justify complacency or mediocrity. Instead we see it as a royal incentive to strive for excellency at what ever task we are set to, big or small. It was this ideal that set me on a course to be a "missionary" in rural Kentucky. I initially chose to serve in this area, not because it was a career move that would get me somewhere else, but because I perceived a great need for the gospel, and for trained ministers to serve here. No regrets. Its not about me, its about Jesus. If, in the few years that I am granted on this earth I can faithfully proclaim his good news, love and care for the souls he has placed in my charge; if I can give my very best to whoever, wherever he sends me, I will be satisfied making Jesus famous while remaining anonymous.

Are They all yours?

I cannot begin to tell you how often we get asked that question. It began when our fourth was born, and has not stopped. Sometimes this question was followed up with, " are you done yet?" As time goes on we have come across some creative answers for these questions, but have never become comfortable with the deeper meaning underlying them. These questions reveal a prevailing attitude that haunts the western world. Having children is an option, a luxury, an inconvenience. This attitude is reaping its effects in Europe where some nations are in population decline. It is the reflection of a culture that is increasingly self absorbed. Not only have we forgotten history, we have dismissed the future. We are wrapped up in our own little world, our own pleasure, our own careers, getting our own slice of the pie. But in so doing we have missed out on one of the greatest joys and purposes a married couple can enjoy--children. They are a gift and a joy. They do not cost us they enrich us. Our children add more to our lives than words can describe. They are ripples in the pond of the human race that will reach ever widening circles, increasing exponentially the meaning and purpose of our own lives. Our children will carry our legacy, each one adding his or her own story and passing it on to their children, impacting further reaches of the world. It is a legacy of faith- faith that does not cut itself off from the world, sending it away to "hell in a hand basket." Rather, it is faith that embraces life, this good earth that God has created and the people of this world whom God so loved that he sent his only Son, Jesus, to die for. God has not abandoned this world, he has embraced it, investing himself in it as a tiny seed, two thousand years ago, in Palestine. That seed has grown, and spread much like the little yeast that works through the whole dough. He himself has been present in his disciples, bringing hope and a future to the lives of all those who accept his gift of salvation.
This is the faith, the hope, the mission that we pass on to our children. Is eight children enough? Are we done yet? What would you say?