Inaguration Day

I just watched online as Barack Obama was inaugurated. Very cool. I've been wondering in the days leading up to today about how much hype there normally is before an inauguration. I don't remember this much excitement when previous Presidents took office. But then again both of George W. Bush's elections and at least Clinton's second election left the country divided. Obama's election doesn't feel that way. Even most people who voted for McCain are at least willing to give Obama a good shot.

Here's the amazing thing to me, though. Bush and Obama are so very different from each other in style and substance. Yet they had breakfast with each other this morning, say nothing nasty about each other, and we have a completely peaceful transition of power. I like what I heard Tony Campolo say a couple years ago. As he spoke about U.S. foreign policy he referred to us, and the rest of the world, as Babylon. We're in exile in Babylon. When he was questioned about calling the U.S. "Babylon" and not being thankful for all the good things our country does, Campolo said something like "don't get me wrong - if I have to live in Babylon America is the Babylon I want to live in." I like that. Our country, our world, is full of problems, sin, and evil. As Christians, we're called in part to be a light pointing to a different way of living. But if we've got to live in Babylon, I'm grateful to be in this one.

May God grant President Obama and all of us wisdom and discernment for the days ahead.

The 12 Days of Christmas

Here's a copy of my column for the local paper that will come out today. Happy reading and have a very merry Christmas - all 12 days of it.

Soon the decorations will be put away. We’ll drive down the streets and see just white street lights. No colored lights, no decorated trees. Inside our homes snow globes and poinsettias, Christmas trees and ornaments, will all disappear. We’ve spent weeks getting ready, and on December 26^th we’ll start getting ready to take it all down. It wasn’t always that way, though. In the traditional Christian calendar a holiday or festival day is the beginning of a season, not the end. Easter marks the beginning of the 50 Days of Easter, ending on Pentecost. In the same way, Christmas Day is not the end of the Christmas season. It’s the beginning. Just like the song says, traditionally there are 12 days of Christmas, from December 25^th until January 6^th , the day of Epiphany when, depending on your tradition, Christians celebrate either the 3 Wise Men arrives to see Jesus or the Baptism of Jesus. Our society moves so quickly. One holiday ends and we’re ready for the next one to begin. We often suggest that we should try to keep the “Christmas Spirit” alive 365 days a year, but we don’t get very many suggestions for how we can remember to do that. Perhaps one suggestion could be simply that this year we slow down a little. Let’s wait to put the decorations away for 12 days, until the end of the traditional Christmas season. Let’s spend 12 extra days focusing on what we’ve been preparing for these last several weeks. Put away one or two decorations each day giving thanks for the person who gave it to you. Light a candle each day and say a prayer of thanksgiving for one reason you are grateful to God for Christmas and for Christ. Do a “random act of kindness” each of the twelve days. Keep playing your Christmas music (preferably music with more references to shepherds and wise men than reindeer and sleighs). Maybe most of us can’t spend the whole year in the “Christmas spirit” even though we know we should. If that’s you, let’s start simple. Try just twelve days and see how it goes. Maybe we’ll come away inspired to turn the twelve days into twelve months and we will truly celebrate the miracle of the baby born in Bethlehem the whole year long as God intends for us to do.

Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving! I'm taking a full 2 days off, which I haven't done for awhile, and then after Sunday have a full week off becasue of eye surgery (minor) on Monday. God's blessings to all of you

the election

Just got back from voting, and I voted for ... someone who's name I will not reveal! It's my right! But I'm happy to vote. Looks to me like as election day has neared the polls have tightened up. My guess is that it will be a closer election than Obama would want but not quite as close as McCain would want. I'll go ahead and predict wins in the electoral vote 302-236 and that the Democrats gain 8 seats in the Senate. I'll be up watching tonight just for the political intrigue.

Whoever wins, beginning on November 5th it's our job as Americans to be supportive of the President-elect and our job as Christian to pray for the person who will be in office to make decisions that will benefit our country and our world. The worst of us comes out in election season when people insult the opposing candidates, even threatening lives in some cases. There have already been reports of voter intimidation. This shouldn't happen in the U.S. When you look around the world, it is amazing how peaceful our transitions in government are. Riots are common in many countries after elections. Civil war breaks out. Leaders are deposed or killed. But not here. We elect a new leader, sometimes take a new direction as a country, and stick with each other for better or worse. For better or worse, I hope that you will stick in there with our country, encourage others to do the same, and discourage those who would insult, belittle, and begrudge the results, whatever they may be. No election stealing talk if McCain wins, no socialist/communist talk if Obama wins. Just be grateful that win or lose you had the opportunity that so many don't have to cast a vote for the person who will lead the nation.

KEEN

Several of us "younger" clergy in the Kansas Eat Conference are attempting to organize a new way of doing and being United Methodists in Kansas. Among our hopes is to truly live out a connectional polity - to really be one Church, one people, of Jesus Christ. I'm excited by the prospects of younger people taking leadership roles in the Conference and asserting effective leadership in local churches. At the same time, I am aware of some more experienced pastors who are leery. I would imagine that if I had been a pastor for 20-30 years and some of my younger colleagues began saying that we need significant changes in style and leadership that I might be offended or put off. I hope we can all agree that for better or worse we stand on the shoulders of those who have come before us. I have too many mentors to count from those who have preceeded me in ministry. Many are still actively and vitally serving churches today. I imagine every generation thinks it can do some things better than the previous generation. I also think every generation gains more from the previous generation than we could ever realize on our own.

So, I am very excited about KEEN. I am excited for the future of the United Methodist "brand" of Christianity in Kansas. I am excited about young leaders stepping up in important ways, respecting but not being overly restricted by precedent and official polity. I also am very thankful for those who have helped shape my spiritual and professional life and who continue to inform my practice of ministry. I hope that we will continue to learn from each other and serve together for years to come.

Essentials and Nonessentials

Last Sunday I finished a series of sermons on "What Makes a Methodist." The last sermon I quoted liberally from Wesley's "Catholic Spirit" sermon. Our focus was on mutual love as a defining mark of Christians and one that takes precedence over many of the specific beliefs and opinions we have. Wesley was also clear, though, that this desire to share love for one another cannot make us mushy about what we believe. We should hold firm to what we beleive are the essentials of the faith while at the same time recognizing that others may hold just as firmly to another set of beliefs. I suggested in the sermon that traditionally for United Methodists, the list of essentials to the faith is pretty short. But I wonder where we might agree and disagree on what is essential. Not for the purposes of starting a debate, but just out of curiosity, what do you think are the "essentials" of Christianity? I'd start with the Great Commission and the Great Commandment, the divinity and resurrection of Jesus. What would you add or take away?

COR Leadership Institute

I'm in a sermon seires called What Makes a Methodist (for those concerned with technicalities I omitted the word "United" before "Methodist" because most of what we're talking about is common to all the denominations that come out of John Wesley's work). Last Sunday the focus was on the Connection. How appropriate that the sermon came just two days after Church of the Resurrection's Leadership Institute. I've been there probably 5 times before and it's always good. This one seemed like the best to me. I really appreciated the messages from Adam Hamilton and from Jim Wallis. The workshops were great. Closing worship was amazing. I thought the best part of all, though, was the simple fact that 500 churches and 1,600 people would gather together from around the nation to work together for a common purpose, making disciples for Jesus Christ. I think this is exactly what John Wesley would want for an Annual Conference (meaning the annual meeting, not the organizatoinal unit). I think it is a partial fulfillment of Jesus' prayer "that they may be one as we are one". I pray the spirit of cooperation and collegialilty will continue.