Andy's Blog: A Personal Word

July 2008 Archive

July 29, 2008

Jul. 29, 2008

The Little New Year

We may celebrate the New Year on December 31st, but our calendars often have a “Little New Year” marked on them as well: the first day of school. Even those of us not directly involved in educating and raising children begin thinking about our time differently. Though the days are still hot, and the last light of the sun lingers in the sky until 8 o’clock, we know summer is winding down. We wrap up vacations and begin planning toward fall and even (gasp!) Christmas. We smell the scent of new erasers and notebooks in the back to school aisles of the stores.

This time resembles the New Year in another way, too: many of us make resolutions. We say, “when it gets cooler, I will exercise outside more. I will get back in the habit of going to worship. I will get more sleep. I will try to keep in touch with my friends.” We need these seasons of renewal and recommitment, these rhythmic cycles of rest and work. In that rhythm we hear the call of God to become the disciples we are created to be.

At Trinity, we celebrate the chance to grow in Christ at GROW Sunday, on August 17th at 9:45 AM. We highlight the Bible studies and growth opportunities available this fall, and we get excited about the lives that will change as a result. These are more than just programs and curricula – they are opportunities for small communities of people to form and for hearts to be changed. We stretch our roots deep into scripture, tradition, reason, and our own experience, and we are nourished by the living water we find there. As we do, we find that we grow up toward God and out toward our neighbors. We produce fruit in our lives.

I hope that this season, in this “Little New Year,” you will resolve to grow on purpose – that you will intentionally open yourself to the life-giving Spirit of Christ through Bible study, fellowship, and prayer. You can register for a study at GROW Sunday on August 17th, but you don’t have to wait until then. There are registration forms available in the entrances to both the Large and Small Sanctuaries, or you can register online at http://www.trinitybirmingham.com.

Peace,
Dave Barnhart

July 22, 2008

Jul. 22, 2008

Somewhere I ran across the story of a Russian Czar who came out one day and saw a sentry standing next to a patch of weeds. He asked the sentry why he was there and the sentry said, “Well, I don’t know. I’ve just been ordered to stand here from the captain of the guards.”

The Czar went over to the captain of the guards and asked, “Why is this sentry posted at this patch of weeds?” The guard said, “The regulations require it.” He then set about to try to find out why the regulations required that a sentry be standing next to that patch of weeds. He could find no living person on earth who could explain it. Finally, he went back to the archives, and there, he discovered the reason. Decades before, Catherine the Great had planted a rose bush in that spot and had ordered a sentry to guard it so no one would trample upon it.

So, 100 years later, men were ordered to stand guard over a spot for a reason they knew not why for a rose bush that had long since died, planted by a woman who had long since died.

People and institutions are always in danger of losing any sense of purpose other than doing what has always been done without really understanding why. When this happens, we fall into “mission drift” – straying from the purpose and intentions for which something is done or exists. When mission drift occurs, atrophy, decline and deadness set in.

As United Methodist Christians we have declared our purpose as a church is “to make disciples of Jesus Christ.” We are here because Jesus has called us into relationship to himself and given us the commission to go make disciples.  At our recent General Conference in Ft. Worth, TX, that statement was amended to read that our purpose is to “make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.”

I like this new phase. Jesus doesn’t call us to just to stand around. Jesus calls us into a relationship with himself, and he gives us work to do – the same work he did – teaching, healing, reconciling and casting out the demons of this world so that God’s kingdom can come on earth as it is in heaven. Ours is a faith that takes seriously the conditions of this world that Christ came to save. He has called us to be His transforming agents in this world.

July 8, 2008

Jul. 8, 2008

You have probably heard the news that Birmingham ranks as the most generous city in America, according to a study that measured 60 metropolitan areas in terms of percentage of household income given to charity. Birmingham-area residents give 3.6 percent of their household income to charity, just ahead of several other Southern cities, the study said. So why the generosity?

It doesn’t have to do with our level of income. Birmingham is not anywhere near the top of the wealthiest cities. In fact nearly 20% of Birmingham’s citizens live below the poverty level. Studies actually indicate that people at the lower end of the income scale give at higher rates than those at the upper end of the scale. Author Anne Lamott began attending a predominantly African American church in a poor neighborhood when she was expecting a child and out of work. A member of that congregation who was on Social Security would hand Ann a handful of coins – nickels, dimes, quarters – every Sunday in church. Maybe poor folk have a clearer sense of their dependency on grace than those of us who think we are self-made.

Not surprisingly, there is a strong correlation between faith and giving. People of faith recognize that what we have is a gift. Faith teaches us compassion and concern for neighbors. “As you have done it to the least of these….”
Faith moves us outside ourselves.

Certainly, we see that generosity at work at Trinity. Whether it is reaching out to children with special needs, helping with home repair in the inner city, housing the homeless, participating in mission trips – our folks are generous with their resources and their time. 

This is as it should be, of course. We serve a generous God whose love and grace far exceed our deserving. “Freely we have received – freely give.”

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