http://www.trinitybirmingham.com/news/andys_blog/ Andy's Blog: A Personal Word en hsmith@trinity-umc.org Copyright 2008 2008-08-04T20:03:00-06:00 http://www.trinitybirmingham.com/news/andys_blog/august_5_2005/ http://www.trinitybirmingham.com/news/andys_blog/august_5_2005/#When:19:03:00Z Columnist George Will points out in a recent column that many American workers fail to sign for company pension plans, which are tax free and often matched by employers. It is free money. All that people have to do is opt in. But many fail to do so. Why? It is the power of inertia in human behavior. Even otherwise smart, analytical people often make foolish choices by default. People are busy, their lives are complicated, and they don’t have the time nor inclination to think through even important choices – from health care plans to retirement options. They choose the default option by not making a choice – the option that goes into effect if the chooser chooses not to make a choice. Often the default option is not the one that is in the best interest of an individual. What is the default option when it comes to faith? For Methodist Christians, the default option is grace. God loves all of us, all the time. It is God’s nature to love. Grace is freely given. We do not earn it, merit it, or deserve it. God chooses to love us through no fault of our own! But if God’s grace is faith’s default option, we also believe that we must choose grace.  We believe in free will. We have to accept what God so freely offers. God gives us the choice to accept or reject the love God offers. A faith that heals, saves and restores is not a default option; it must be chosen by us. And that choice must continue if we are to grow in grace, allowing God to form in us the image of Christ. The end is to love as Christ loves. In our Methodist tradition, growing in grace is the ongoing part of what God is doing to save us. This doesn’t happen by default. Because of the power of inertia in human behavior, we have to GROW ON PURPOSE. To grow, we have to intentionally open ourselves to grace through those practices that tune our hearts and minds to God. The work is God’s, but the choice to allow God to do that work in us is ours. We call those ways by which we open ourselves to grace “means of grace.” The “means of grace” are those practices which put us in the place where God can work within us and through us. They include things like prayer, sacraments, scripture and works of mercy. These things are not a matter of duty, but they are a way of life. They provide a way in which we actively choose Christ who has already chosen us. The Christian life cannot be had by default. It is an option we must choose. We have to GROW ON PURPOSE. GROWING ON PURPOSE is our church-wide emphasis for this Fall. There are dozens of opportunities for each of us to make a choice to strengthen our faith – Sunday School, small groups, mission opportunities and more. These options are available on the church website (http://www.trinitybirmingham.com).  On August 17, GROW Sunday, you will also have the opportunity to explore options. Beginning this Sunday, I will begin a sermon series on our Methodist understandings of those practices by which we Grow on Purpose. 2008-08-04T19:03:00-06:00 http://www.trinitybirmingham.com/news/andys_blog/july_29_2008/ http://www.trinitybirmingham.com/news/andys_blog/july_29_2008/#When:14:43:00Z 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 2008-07-29T14:43:00-06:00 http://www.trinitybirmingham.com/news/andys_blog/july_22_2008/ http://www.trinitybirmingham.com/news/andys_blog/july_22_2008/#When:13:21:00Z 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. 2008-07-22T13:21:00-06:00 http://www.trinitybirmingham.com/news/andys_blog/july_8_2008/ http://www.trinitybirmingham.com/news/andys_blog/july_8_2008/#When:14:19:00Z 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.” 2008-07-08T14:19:00-06:00 http://www.trinitybirmingham.com/news/andys_blog/june_24_2008/ http://www.trinitybirmingham.com/news/andys_blog/june_24_2008/#When:14:21:00Z St. Paul was what we would call a bi-vocational pastor. He saw himself as a preacher, a teacher, an evangelist – proclaiming the gospel and starting new churches. But in order to do all this, he had another paying job. He was a tentmaker by trade. He does not talk much about his job. For him, making a living wasn’t the same as making a life. His vocation, his calling, was to preach. His work supported his vocation. If we are lucky, our jobs and vocations mesh. We get paid to do what we love to do – what we feel called to do. But this isn’t the case for everyone. Lots of people find themselves unfulfilled by their jobs. Many folks are bi-vocational. They work to make a living but do other things to make a life. Alan Webber says that all of us need to feed the “three hungers” of life. First, we need to connect with the creative spirit of life. This doesn’t mean we all need to be artists or musicians. What he is talking about is connecting with the creative energies in the world. Being a part of shaping something new, bringing something into being, or taking part in God’s creation. Second, we all hunger to know and express our gifts and our talents. Most of us feel that we are gifted in some way, even if we don’t fully know what that gift is or how to use it. But we know there is something within us that we can contribute. Third, we hunger to know that our lives matter. We all want to make our mark in life or leave behind something of value. We would like to think that the world is a better place for us having passed this way. Fulfillment in life, Webber contends, comes from feeding these three hungers. Sometimes that can happen in our workplace, but other times we must seek other outlets and opportunities to fully express who we are. I suspect, like Paul, most folks need to be bi-vocational to fully live the life God has given them. One of the things we are working on at Trinity is helping people discover their strengths, their gifts and natural inclination, and explore ways these can be put to use.  2008-06-24T14:21:00-06:00 http://www.trinitybirmingham.com/news/andys_blog/june_17_2008/ http://www.trinitybirmingham.com/news/andys_blog/june_17_2008/#When:13:50:00Z For many Methodist Pastors in North Alabama, this is “moving week.” While there are no pastoral moves at Trinity this year, this week always stirs up memories of other times and other moves. Trinity is our sixth appointment. Six times our family has picked up and moved to a new place. Every move has been a mixture of excitement and anxiety, and each has taught us something about hospitality.  In the Old Testament lesson from last Sunday, there is the story of Abraham welcoming three strangers to his tent. He provides water for them to wash their feet from the journey and bread for their hunger. Little did Abraham know that these strangers were messengers from God, and what a message they brought. Sarah, Abraham’s wife, would bear him a son in his old age. It was a message he would have missed had Abraham not welcomed them.  When we have moved, we have had an advantage. People in those new churches knew we were coming. We were not really strangers. We were met with smiles, graciousness and food. Those simple acts quieted our fears and made us feel like we had found a new home.  One of the root words for hospitality means to “equalize/compensate.” Hospitality recognizes that there is an inequality between hosts and guests. To be hospitable is to compensate for this gap; to make strangers not feel so strange. At the heart of the ministry of Jesus was the practice of hospitality. He welcomed tax collectors and sinners. Diane Butler Bass reminds us that “hospitality holds special significance: Christians welcome strangers as we ourselves have been welcomed into God through the love of Jesus Christ. Through hospitality, Christians imitate God’s welcome. Therefore, hospitality is not a program, not a single hour of ministry in the life of a congregation. It stands at the heart of a Christian way of life...” Each week at Trinity, we have dozens of visitors who find their way into our church. It takes courage to walk into a new place as a stranger. They have taken the first step – just showing up. The next move is ours. How will we receive them? Will we bridge that gap and make them feel like this is a place where they can be at home? Will our hospitality reflect the welcome of Christ? Be alert on Sundays for our guests. Take a moment to speak, to see if they need help, and to extend the hospitality of Christ. 2008-06-17T13:50:00-06:00 http://www.trinitybirmingham.com/news/andys_blog/june_17_20081/ http://www.trinitybirmingham.com/news/andys_blog/june_17_20081/#When:13:50:00Z For many Methodist Pastors in North Alabama, this is “moving week.” While there are no pastoral moves at Trinity this year, this week always stirs up memories of other times and other moves. Trinity is our sixth appointment. Six times our family has picked up and moved to a new place. Every move has been a mixture of excitement and anxiety, and each has taught us something about hospitality.  In the Old Testament lesson from last Sunday, there is the story of Abraham welcoming three strangers to his tent. He provides water for them to wash their feet from the journey and bread for their hunger. Little did Abraham know that these strangers were messengers from God, and what a message they brought. Sarah, Abraham’s wife, would bear him a son in his old age. It was a message he would have missed had Abraham not welcomed them.  When we have moved, we have had an advantage. People in those new churches knew we were coming. We were not really strangers. We were met with smiles, graciousness and food. Those simple acts quieted our fears and made us feel like we had found a new home.  One of the root words for hospitality means to “equalize/compensate.” Hospitality recognizes that there is an inequality between hosts and guests. To be hospitable is to compensate for this gap; to make strangers not feel so strange. At the heart of the ministry of Jesus was the practice of hospitality. He welcomed tax collectors and sinners. Diane Butler Bass reminds us that “hospitality holds special significance: Christians welcome strangers as we ourselves have been welcomed into God through the love of Jesus Christ. Through hospitality, Christians imitate God’s welcome. Therefore, hospitality is not a program, not a single hour of ministry in the life of a congregation. It stands at the heart of a Christian way of life...” Each week at Trinity, we have dozens of visitors who find their way into our church. It takes courage to walk into a new place as a stranger. They have taken the first step – just showing up. The next move is ours. How will we receive them? Will we bridge that gap and make them feel like this is a place where they can be at home? Will our hospitality reflect the welcome of Christ? Be alert on Sundays for our guests. Take a moment to speak, to see if they need help, and to extend the hospitality of Christ. 2008-06-17T13:50:00-06:00 http://www.trinitybirmingham.com/news/andys_blog/june_11_208/ http://www.trinitybirmingham.com/news/andys_blog/june_11_208/#When:19:33:01Z We used to talk about a “summer slump” when it comes to church. You know people are out of town, busy doing other things – they don’t have time for church. As a result, some churches cancel Sunday School during the summer, reduce worship services, and tread water until fall rolls around. And for some churches, that is wise. Attendance does plummet. But Trinity is not one of those churches. Our average worship attendance for the summer months is only down about 10% over the remainder of the year. But overall, if anything, there is a kind of summer surge here at Trinity.  • Our Youth Choir has just returned from a successful California tour. • Student ministry will be sending mission teams to SOS in Memphis and South Alabama and they will celebrate the annual Youth Week, as well as carry on the normal Sunday activities. • Children’s ministry will go into high gear with art camps, music camps, basketball camps, day camp, Vacation Bible School and Sumatanga Sleepover. • Our mission group will send a team to Bolivia and continue with in-town service through the Birmingham Hospitality network and Firehouse Shelter. • New small groups for adults are meeting in the summer. Take your vacation – but know we are here every Sunday worshiping, growing, and serving. We will keep an eye out for you. Also, summer is the time when people move. Keep an eye out for new folks in your neighborhood, meet them and invite them to a great church. 2008-06-11T19:33:01-06:00 http://www.trinitybirmingham.com/news/andys_blog/june_4_2008/ http://www.trinitybirmingham.com/news/andys_blog/june_4_2008/#When:07:14:01Z $4 a gallon for gasoline! What is the world coming to? Of course, ask people from other parts of the world, and you will find that they have been paying this much and more for years. As a result, other countries have developed more fuel efficient transportation and effective systems of public transportation. America has the highest per capita energy usage in the world. If there is an upside to the present rise in energy costs, it may be that it presents us with the opportunity, even the demand, that we develop more sustainable lifestyles. This is not just an economic/political matter, it is deeply theological. How we use the world’s resources is a question of stewardship. Our United Methodist social principles state: All creation is the Lord’s, and we are responsible for the ways in which we use and abuse it. Water, air, soil, minerals, energy resources, plants, animal life and space are to be valued and conserved because they are God’s creation and not solely because they are useful to human beings. God has granted us stewardship of creation. We should meet these stewardship duties through acts of care and respect.  In relation to energy, the statement goes on to support energy policies that protect the future of God’s creation.  We urge wholehearted support of the conservation of energy and responsible development of renewable energy sources, that the goodness of the earth may be affirmed. If we are faithful to the biblical understanding of the stewardship of creation, we must: • Recognize that creation is God’s – “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof.” It is not simply ours to do with whatever we please.  • Second, as stewards, we are to look after the earth, not as we please, but as God wants it looked after. • Third, we have a responsibility to the rest of creation as ones who stand in the place of God. Our stewardship of earth is to be carried out with a dependence upon and partnership with God.  • Fourth, we are accountable to God for the use/misuse of that which he has entrusted to our care. May the time come when we will hear, “Well done good and faithful servant.” I remember back in another time of energy crisis, President Carter asked that we turn down our thermostats. He was ridiculed for the suggestion. Maybe we are finally to the point that we recognize the stewardship of God’s creation is not a laughing matter. 2008-06-04T07:14:01-06:00 http://www.trinitybirmingham.com/news/andys_blog/may_28/ http://www.trinitybirmingham.com/news/andys_blog/may_28/#When:14:16:00Z We are all aware of the rising costs of gasoline, food, and other items. It’s the law of supply and demand. When supply goes down and demands remain the same or go up, the costs go up. And the rise in costs is passed on to the consumer. If we want it, we pay more, or we do without.  The church is a bit different. God’s grace doesn’t operate on the same principle of supply and demand. His grace is free and never in short supply. As recipients of that grace, we live lives of gratitude as ‘stewards of the mysteries’ of God. We don’t have to pay God back for His grace. All God asks is that we pass that grace on. We are fortunate at Trinity to have so many great ministries for every age and stage.  Our church reaches out to the world in a remarkable way, and this costs money.  Everything from utility bills to nursery works to Sunday school supplies, the music that blesses us in worship, the mission teams we send out, the children for whom we provide special care, the students we nurture in faith – all of these require resources.  We have no way to pass on costs of ministry. If we want to do these things, we pay for them, or we do without. Coming into 2008, we actually received fewer commitments than we had in 2007. As a result, to be wise stewards, our budget was reduced. Staff members did not receive raises, and other items were reduced. A third of the way through the year, we reviewed our giving and discovered that we still were facing a shortfall. Again, to be wise stewards, the Finance Committee recommended and the Board concurred that we reduce our program ministry budget by 25%.  I think it is within us to restore these reductions. If those who have made commitments for this year and are able would join me in increasing your giving by $100 (about two tanks of gas!), it would make up the difference. If you did not complete a commitment for this year, I invite you to call the Finance Office and join in sharing all the great things God does through our church. As members of the One Body of Christ, we all share the gifts and responsibilities of the Body.  We are so blessed at Trinity. Share the blessing! 2008-05-28T14:16:00-06:00