Make New Friends, But Keep the Old

I ran into one of our Scout Leaders early last Sunday morning as he was preparing to take the Troop to their summer camp in Oklahoma.  After he left I found myself reminiscing about the Scouting experiences I had had as a girl.  This song came to me that I learned beginning in my first Brownie Troop.  The first verse goes like this:

Make new friends

But keep the old

One is silver

And the other, gold.

I bet some of you are singing it right now!  This fun song is the one the Acts 16:5 Initiative uses to help us remember the value of long-time friendships and the importance of making new friends.

In Jesus Christ, becoming faithful people is what we all are striving to do.  Our own transformation and the church’s transformation will take place in energetic ways when we put this powerful idea to work.  Here’s a reminder of the way it works:  Next time you invite “gold” friends over for a meal or for dessert, invite someone that may be relatively new or “silver” to your gathering.  It could be an office co-worker or a neighbor or someone who’s been visiting the church.  The big challenge is NOT to talk about the church during your time together, because, of course, that would leave out the people who do not know the church well.  Bringing others into our circle of friends is how our own lives of faith are enlivened and stretched.  One of the fun things about meeting “silver” friends is learning about who they are and finding out about their lives, their interests and their faith.

Today in our busy and full lives, it may be too much to ask to have people over to our home, so another option is to change the venue.  Meet at a restaurant and have a meal together.  Meet at an ice cream parlor on one of these hot summer evenings and have conversation while enjoying cold, creamy cones.  Another alternative is to invite gold and silver friends to a game of some sort.  The possibilities are endless.

On the 4^th of July, my husband and I were invited to a parishioner’s home for dinner and homemade peach ice cream.  Yum!  There were people there, some of which we knew and some of which we did not.  What an enjoyable evening we had in lively conversation with both “gold” and “silver” friends.  It was an important reminder to me of making the effort to expand our circle to include those to whom God will surely lead us.

Journey of Holy Week

Brennan Manning is an author, friar, priest, contemplative and speaker.  Here is a quote from him that came up in one of my devotional emails this morning:

We have gotten so used to the ultimate Christian fact--Jesus naked, stripped,                                     crucified and risen--that we no longer see it for what it is: a summons to strip                                ourselves of earthly cares and worldly wisdom, all desire for human praise,                                         greediness for any kind of comfort; a readiness to stand up and be counted as                                    peacemakers in a violent world; a willingness to let go of those pretenses that                                would have us believe that we really aren't worldly. Even the last rag we cling to--                             the self-flattery that suggests we are being humble when we disclaim any                                           resemblance to Jesus Christ--even that rag has to go when we stand face to face                               with the crucified Lord.  (from The Signature of Jesus)

He also said this:

The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians who                                          acknowledge Jesus with their lips and walk out the door and deny Him by their                            lifestyle.  That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.   (from Wikipedia website)

These hard words make all of us stop, I pray, and look at ourselves and the faith we claim to live or not to live.  We are about to enter the most demanding week of Jesus’ life and, perhaps, the most demanding week for us.  It is so demanding that many do not attend the services of Holy Week because they are too hard or too depressing.  (Even if you choose not to worship next week, I pray you will find some resource - daily lectionary readings for Holy Week are one possibility - to contemplate and study each day.) 

Our arrogance of faith surfaces when we think we already know the end of the story so; therefore, do not have to go through Holy Week.  The funny thing is that we go through the movements of the week throughout our lives, for there is no resurrection without Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday.  What I mean by that is that we experience it in our families and cities, and see the Good Fridays going on in our world every day.  It is difficult to keep walking through the raw, painful and grief-stricken experience of death.  Death can come in a variety of forms: real death, but also the death of a relationship or of control we thought we had or of seeing such violence that we wonder where God is.  We do not mature as Christian people without the death of things that keep us from completely relying upon God.

I invite you to fully participate next week in the journey of our Lord and to experience the love that only God can give.

In Christ’s Service,

Anne Clifton Hebert

Trusting God At All Times

I recently came across these fine words from the poem, Patient Trust, by Pierre Teilhard de Chardin.  These are the first two verses:

Above all, trust in the slow work of God. We are quite naturally impatient in everythingto reach the end without delay.We should like to skip the intermediate stages.We are impatient of being on the way to somethingUnknown, something new.And yet it is the law of all progressthat it is made by passing throughsome stages of instability -and that may take a very long time.

While I keep hoping that the pace of life will slow just a bit my time continues to be filled with a full share and more of ministry opportunities.  In addition, when I think about the process of church transformation, or any kind of transformation for that matter, there are definitely “some stages of instability.”  I understand instability, in this case, to mean those times when we are not sure what God is doing, but still believe God to be working.  And, while we believe God to be working, sometimes it’s surely hard to see it!  Hopefully, whether we find ourselves in personal, church, job or family related transition, it will not take a “very long time.”   In the middle of it, however, it may not take long to feel “very long.”

Trusting God at all times, as the psalmist reminds us, rightly includes the periods of being in the middle, in the intermediate and in times of instability.  May God bless our days with the ability to savor “the intermediate stages” filling them with worship, prayer, meditation on scripture and in simply taking a deep breath.  Let us not miss the journey for being impatient to get to the destination.  May our “trust in the slow work of God” only deepen as we experience and share in the ministry of Jesus Christ.  

In Christ,

Anne Clifton H

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bert 

Building One Another

Vol. 11, No. 6    Dear Friend, We live in an age of criticism and complaint, yet encouraging people is so incredibly easy to do. Are you as quick to offer words that build up as quickly as words that tear down? So are you an encourager?  One who builds up others?  Do the people in your life see you that way? The motivation for this weekly letter for some twenty years is this word of the Apostle Paul to the Christians in the town of Thessalonica: “Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.” I Thessalonians 5:11* Whenever you see a “therefore” in Scripture you should ask, “What is it there for?” In this case the preceding words have everything to do with why we are asked to build up one another. “For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him.” I Thessalonians 5:9-10 Whether we are awake or asleep, whether alive or dead on this Earth, we are alive to our Lord that we may live with him and for him.  So encouraging one another makes huge sense. Be known as a people builder!  Whether by voice, email, Facebook, and/or texting, offer the words that encourage the hearts of those who are connected to you in some way, “Hang in there, you’ll make it, you are doing a great job, I am praying for you, I am with you.” May you be aware of our loving Lord building you as you build others! With joy- E. Stanley Ott Copyright 2012 E. Stanley Ott *Scripture from the NIV

Our Lives

Building One Another - Vol. 11, No. 3
Dear Friend, One of the loveliest comments in the writings of the Apostle Paul is his word to the Christians in the town of Thessalonica:                                          “So deeply do we care for you that we are determined to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you have become very dear to us.”  I Thessalonians 2:8 You immediately see these people were people to Paul and not merely objects, students, customers, patients, or parishioners to whom he had something to offer but with whom he had no relationship. Indeed he had a very deep and personal friendship with them and makes it clear they were so dear that he and his team not only shared the good news about Jesus but entered into the complexities that come of shared personal lives. It’s a joy and a calling for each of us to teach and share the truth and wonders of God’s Word to people. Never forget, however, that they are people who long to be known personally.  Enter into their complex lives as you come alongside and share your own personal life with them. One joyful way to read what the apostle wrote is to re-read it and ask yourself if Jesus would say the same words, “So deeply do I care for you that I am determined to share with you not only the gospel of God but also my own self, because you have become very dear to me.” You see immediately that is exactly what Jesus would say, exactly what he did do, and precisely what you and I are invited to do as well.
With joy- E. Stanley Ott Copyright 2012 E. Stanley Ott *Scripture from the NRSV
To view archived issues and to subscribe:  www.buildingoneanother.org

Turn Serve Wait

Building One Another - Vol. 11, No. 2
Dear Friend, Occasionally while reading Scripture for the shear pleasure of opening ourselves to a word from the Lord who loves us we come across a wonderful pithy summary of the life of faith. I Thessalonians 1:9-10 is just such a succinct word: “For the people of those regions report about us what kind of welcome we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols, to serve a living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath that is coming.”I Thessalonians 1:9-10* The apostle Paul was explaining how the people of Macedonia summarized the response of the people of the town of Thessalonica to the good news about the person of Jesus. They turned – from idols.           They served – a living and true God (that is to say the            real God).                     They waited – for Jesus (the Jesus whom the real                     God raised from the dead).   What a wonderful summary of the entire Christian life. In your life – make the “turn” from that which is less than the God who loves you – choose to “serve” the God who loves you – and between now and the time you are face to face with Jesus – “wait” for him in trust in him. May the one who rescues us from the wrath to come encourage your heart this day.
With joy- E. Stanley Ott Copyright 2012 E. Stanley Ott *Scripture from the NRSV
To view archived issues and to subscribe:  www.buildingoneanother.org