Dear Lord, Not Again...

Sometimes I wish God would just leave me alone.  Okay, not really - that would be the end of me. But can't God just let me take it easy for a little while?  Perhaps I should explain.

As some of you know, Mel had some complications after our son's birth this past January and had to have surgery.  This, of course, resulted in absurdly high bills.  We applied for financial assistance, which lowered it some, but not enough for us to be able to pay it.  To cut short a long story, I was sitting in the sanctuary of the church this morning praying and I just confessed to God that I was worried about it and that I wasn't really in the mood to pray...but I prayed anyway. And as of right now, that debt is no longer a problem.  God dealt with it.  Just like that.

So I'm pretty happy about this, obviously, as I sit in my office at the church listening to music.  I was thanking God for His providence and for His grace which provided resources that we neither had nor deserved to take care of a problem that, in the whole scheme of things, was nothing - when it happened.  Quietly, as I prayed a prayer of thanks, God planted the following thought in my head:

"This is what happens when my people pray."

And then for some reason I had the urge to listen to Pete Grieg's musical version of the vision for the 24-7 prayer movement.  Can you see where this is going?

I'm getting the feeling that God wants our little church here in Oklahoma City to pray like we've never prayed before...and it terrifies me.  I tried this once before, and it didn't exactly go as planned.  I don't want to go through that again.  But the idea is stuck in my head and in my heart.  So now what?

I guess I pray...and if this is truly what God wants May Avenue Wesleyan Church to do, then He will provide the motivation and the power...

Again.

Holy Irrelevance

"...I am deeply convinced that the Christian leader of the future is called to be completely irrelevant and to stand  in this world with nothing to offer but his or her own vulnerable self.  That is the way Jesus came to reveal God's love."

 - Henri Nouwen

If such a thing is possible, I simultaneously love this quote with all my heart and despise it with all my being.  I love it because it reminds me that God has not called me to be an answer guy who always has the correct verse or the correct theological solution to whatever situation the people with whom I come in contact might be facing.  Rather, God calls me to just be me and to show up and to love people.

If Nouwen is right - and it will come to no surprise to you that I believe he is - I am free from the necessity to make my ministry "relevant" by having catchy sermon titles and cool video graphics and the latest techno-junk that everyone else has.  Instead, I am to stand up in front of people and lay bare my soul and say, "Here is Jesus."  And I absolutely LOVE that!

Unfortunately, not everyone in the church around the world believes this to be true.  And THAT is why I despise Nouwen's words as much as I love them.  There are still so many people who expect the pastor to pontificate piously from the pedestal upon which they have placed him or her.  They don't want a vulnerable, weak pastor - they want the "Bible Answer Guy" (apologies to Hank Hanegraaf).  They're not so much interested in the Jesus of Good Friday as they are in the Jesus of Resurrection Morning and in the Jesus of Cleansing Temples.

There are still so many pastors and churches that believe that relevance is the only way for a church to grow and that no one will be attracted to the gospel unless we bend it and mold it to shape the culture.  That is why there are hundreds of conferences out there that teach pastors how to be "culturally relevant" and preach from the newspaper or from primetime television with a smattering of Scripture verses thrown in.  That is why there are so many churches that look like shopping malls...or warehouses...or department stores...or anything but churches.

Here's the problem.  For so many people - in fact, I would say for MOST people - irrelevance is not something to be embraced, it is something to be feared.  If I am relevant, people notice me and affirm my value.  If I am relevant, they compliment my sermons or Sunday School lessons.  If I am relevant, the world knows that I, Joseph Eugene Boggs, exist and am significant and make an impact on the people around me.

The same cannot be said of irrelevance.  If I am irrelevant, no one notices me and few people affirm my value.  If I am irrelevant, people may or may not compliment my teaching or preaching, and they may even not like what I have to say.  If I am irrelevant, I still exist, but the purpose of my life isn't to prove my significance or importance or even to make an impact on the people around me.  When I, Joseph Eugene Boggs, embrace the kind of holy irrelevance Nouwen describes, the world no longer sees me or knows me.  

Instead, the world comes to know that Jesus, the Christ, the Holy One of God exists and is significant and makes an impact on people's lives.

Well, I Never...

Over the course of the 27 years of my life, I have been called a lot of things...a LOT of things. Some of them have been good, many others have been not so good.  Yesterday, though, I was called something totally new, something I've never heard before.

It happened at the Pharmacy.  I went to pick up a prescription for my wife - a prescription that, to this point in our marriage, has never been covered by insurance.  So the gal at Walgreens imports our insurance information and it turns out that our new Blue Cross/Blue Shield insurance does cover the prescription.  You can only imagine my excitement.  Then she told me that, out of the $29.99, the insurance covered $2.70.

At which point, I smiled and commented, "Hey, over the course of 12 months, that works out to getting a month free."  I was genuinely happy for the $2.70.  The pharmacist on duty heard me and looked down to me and called me a name - the one I've heard before but never been called - she called me an optimist.

Apparently, Walgreens pharmacists and pharmacy techs have to deal with a bunch of people who complain about the inadequacy of their insurance coverage.  Personally, I don't get it - it's not like the Walgreens people have any input on insurance.  But they complain nonetheless, and this pharmacist was surprised by my optimism.

Now, those of you who know me know that, at heart, I tend to be a pessimist.  It is easier for me to see the negatives than the positives.  But apparently God wants that to change, because I've noticed in myself a growing tendency to "look on the bright side."  It's a whole lot easier to be a pessimist than an optimist.

But then would that pharmacist have ever noticed me?

How to Preach...

For those of you who are paying attention, I added a couple of blogs to my list of blogging friends on the sidebar.  One of them (secretariat) belongs to a friend of mine.  The other, Kingdom Musings, is my official "Pastor's Blog" for May Avenue Wesleyan Church in Oklahoma City.  I'll still be writing on here, but the Fool of God may turn into a more theological/deep thought blog.  Just a fair warning.  Now on to my topic for this post.

Ever since I was at Olivet studying to be a pastor, I've been a fan of series preaching - you know, picking a series of sermons that has a creative title and that will appeal to the congregation.  You theme them around Advent and Easter and other church weeks, or you do a "family" sermon series and and a "back to school" series, etc.  There are benefits to this style of preaching - pastors can tailor a preaching schedule that meets the understood needs of the congregation.  Since I was a student, I have believed that this is an acceptable way to preach, perhaps even the favored way.

The other alternative I learned about was centered around what is called the lectionary - a group of four readings - Old Testament, Psalm, Gospel, Epistle - that is chosen for each Sunday by the church.  There are two generally accepted lectionaries - Catholic and Anglican.  All Catholic priest select their sermon text from one of the week's lectionary readings, so the text is pretty constant all throughout the world.  Further, the lectionary is set up on a three year cycle and designed so that, each three years, the priest or pastor will have preached on all the significant doctrines or passages of Scripture.

I always thought that preaching the lectionary was dangerous - what is a pastor to do when the passages from the lectionary are "irrelevant" to her people?  People will be bored and will quit coming because the preaching "doesn't apply" to them.  Because of that concern, I have always planned on being a series preacher when I pastor.

That is, until I got to praying and thinking and reading about preaching in series.  When a pastor preaches only in series, she risks avoiding - whether intentionally or unintentionally - avoiding the hard texts and the hard topics in favor of staying relevant or keeping the congregation happy.  At least with the lectionary, the pastor cannot avoid certain passages of Scripture or certain doctrinal issues.

All that to say that I am officially in a quandary.  I can't decide what God wants me to do as pastor of May Avenue Wesleyan Church.  I have a responsibility as pastor to preach the whole of Scripture and to do so in a way that the people will understand and will come to believe and follow its teachings.  Can I do that as a series preacher?  Can I do it by preaching the lectionary?This may be the most critical decision I have to make, and I have no idea...

In the end, I guess it won't matter too much, as long as I continually take the time to place myself before God's throne and humbly ask Him what I need to be preaching.  Unfortunately, that doesn't make the decision for me.

Appointments Set by God

Have you ever had one of those moments where you knew that what was happening in your life at that time was most definitely a God thing?  Have you ever met someone and, after ten minutes you are completely sure that person crossed your path because God wanted him or her to?  I had one of those moments this evening here at Wesleyan Family Camp.

Melissa and I were eating dinner when another pastor on the district came over to introduce himself.  Ironically, his name is Joe.  He pastors in Missouri and is probably at least 20 years older than I am (Joe, if you read this and I'm wrong about that, please forgive me).

Anyway, we get to talking and I started sharing a little bit about my experience of journeying with God over the last several years and how God got the whole process started.  When Joe stopped and asked me what it was that served as the catalyst for God's work, I told him that it all began when I picked up A New Kind of Christian by Brian McLaren.  Joe's eyes lit up and he gave me a high five - apparently Joe is a fan of Brian McLaren.

As the conversation continued, Joe and I began to realize that God had brought us on somewhat similar journeys, at least recently.  Joe is, like me, a not-so-conservative Christian who is living in middle America and trying to figure out what it means to follow Jesus and how we can work together as a church to help people see that the truth of Christ is far more than what is seen on TV.

If this story isn't already unbelievable enough, our conversation continued and I mentioned that I am a Henri Nouwen fan.  Yes, Joe is a reader of Nouwen, so much so that he makes it a point to take an annual trip to a monastery for a week long silent retreat.

At this point, I'm starting to get a little freaked out, like one of those commercials on TV for retirement funds where young people have encounters with older, retired versions of themselves.  I'm thinking, "Is this guy me in 20 years?"  Well, God decided to show off even more by bringing to light that my new friend Joe, who likes Brian McLaren and Henri Nouwen, and who is a more progressive thinker, also happens to use an Orthodox Prayer Rope for reciting the Jesus Prayer and prays the Daily Office each day.

I can't even begin to express how much of an encouragement it is to find another pastor who happens to use the same odd combination of ways of prayer to communicate with God - and one who is successful, at that.  I have been worrying lately that my use of Orthodox prayer ropes and Catholic prayer books would cause issues within the church God has called me to lead here in Oklahoma.  They still may, but at least I know that there is one other guy - named Joe - who has figured out how to be successful with them.

God is sometimes funny, and God is most definitely always good!

We're HE-EERE!

Okay, so it's been a little bit since I've blogged, and I'm sure that there are some people who wish that I would do so.  Forgive me, it's been a little hectic getting everything done and unpacked here in Oklahoma City.

First things first, we absolutely love it here so far.  The city is great, if a little hot, and the church is even better.  God has had his hand in this and we are so thrilled with where he has called us.

We are off today to District Camp and Conference in Bartlesville, OK...so I won't be able to do too much on  here until a week from today.  But at least those few of you who read this are updated!

Peace,

jB

The Necessities of Life?

Just a few minutes ago,  I watched what is probably the single most aggravating and offensive commercial I've ever seen.  I was playing around on the computer and not watching TV too closely when I heard the following voice over, "I'm tired of seeing people suffer for the lack of life's necessities" (Or something to that effect).

I looked up from my computer game, expecting a Red Cross commercial or an ad for some other charitable organization.  Instead, what I got was a commercial for a local retailer of washers and dryers.

Really?  Is that what we're calling "life's necessities" these days?  Are there people out there whose lives are coming to an end because they don't have a matching set of Maytags?  And here I was under the impression that things like food and clean water and medicines for common diseases were life's necessities.  It's a good thing that the guy from the washer and dryer store is there to enlighten me.

Normally I would just roll my eyes at the combination of stupidity, ignorance and arrogance typical of most of us Americans (myself included).  However, I recently started reading a book by noted economist Jeffrey Sachs called The End of Poverty - a book that begins by detailing the appalling numbers of people dying for lack of life's REAL necessities, stories of people dying from malaria because they can't get nets and of AIDS hospitals that have the dying stacked so deep that there are two to a bed and often one on the floor next to the bed.  It makes me so mad!

And you know what the worst part is?  As I mentioned in a previous post, Melissa and I are getting ready to move to Oklahoma City.  The house we're moving to does not have gas, so our gas dryer isn't coming with us.  Which, of course, is a tragedy.  As I said to my wife, we can't just hang up our clothes around the house to dry (as probably the majority of people in the world do, when they get the chance to wash their clothes), we need an electric dryer.

So in the end, I can't be too mad at the guy on TV.  After all, it's me he's talking to...and I can't seem to stop listening.