I Give Myself Away.....sort of

Dear Crossroads Community,

There is a song we sing at Crossroads called “I Give Myself Away.” The lyrics go like this…”Take my heart, take my life…as a living sacrifice. All my dreams, all my plans…Lord I place them in your hands. I give myself away so you can use me…”

It takes a lot of trust to sing that song…and mean it. Throughout Lent we have been talking about cultivating mindfulness. We have been practicing the presence of God. Moving towards this mindfulness is confusing in that it does require us to be intentional about our ongoing awareness of God’s presence, and at the same time simply allowing it to take root in our hearts. Yet, we find that one of the most challenging aspects of this is to become more aware of our own self-centeredness. An awareness that on this journey in the wilderness we become more and more alert (hopefully) that it isn’t all about you or me. Some of us truly come by this the hard way.

Growing mindfulness requires a sacrifice. It requires a humility that opens up space for us to love others sacrificially. It takes the emphasis off of us and places it on others. In the process of this giving up of ourselves, we potentially gain so much more. Jesus said in John 12 “ …unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” (NRSV John 12:24).

This doesn’t mean we give up our dreams, hopes, plans, desires. In our mindfulness, though, we do listen for those places where God is inviting us to give up a little in order to be used. It does mean that what we desire is shaped by God’s spirit that breathes life into us.

What needs to fall away and die in order for us to give our lives so that we might be used fully? Where are those places that are rough that need to be smoothed by grace so that we can sing, “Take my heart, take my life…as a living sacrifice…”?

Let’s explore this together. We probably won’t figure it all out, but whatever we do, we will do as a community even as we sing “I give myself away…”

I hope to see you on Sunday at 5 PM. I can’t wait to see what God is going to do.

Jimmy

Cleaning out and letting go...

Did you give up something for Lent? Was it hard to let it go? Did you take on something for Lent? Is it hard to keep it up? As we are moving through this season of self-examination, there are points along the way where perhaps the disciplines we are engaging in become rather difficult. The temptation to retreat from the wilderness becomes overwhelming. The simplicity of enjoying fellowship with God becomes another chore to do. The call by Brother Lawrence, the Carmelite monk we’ve been learning about, is to enjoy constant conversation with God in ALL that you do. But, there are always things ready to stand in our way. Maybe there’s something within us or in our lives that is holding us back?

When Jesus drives out the moneychangers at the Temple in John 2, in essence he is “cleaning” up the place. He is preparing it for something new that God is doing in and through him. It’s a powerful metaphor for our own spiritual lives. What needs to be “cleaned out” in order to make room for new life (the promise of Easter)? What material things might we need to let go of in order to fully seek God? What misperceptions, stereotypes and prejudices might we need to rethink in order to fully live into who God is inviting us to be? How might we move towards a simplicity that allows us to be linked with the divine presence in our lives?

I don’t know exactly, but I do know it may require a little “cleaning out” and letting go.

Jimmy

"Feed the hungry"

On the first Sunday of each month, our community participates in the Salvation Army's Grate Patrol ministry. We make sandwiches for our unhoused neighbors downtown. We then bag those sandwiches up with water, fruit, and protein bars. For many who are homeless, it is their only nightly nourishment. This past week, we included a "hot meal" to what we served. A team gathered on Sunday afternoon to make an awesome chicken and vegetable soup
that was served along with sandwiches.

I am humbled and grateful to be serving along side folks who give their time to serve others. Getting something to eat is a very basic need that we all have. In Matthew 25, Jesus tells us that the way we welcome him is to, among other things, feed those who are hungry. Feeding the hungry goes beyond a "call." It is an imperative given to us by the one who taught us humility and sacrifice.

Indeed, we walk by faith and not by sight. However, there are things that we witness, that we experience, that we get to be a part of that remind us that, ultimately, our love for one another (expressed in many ways) is what rises above all else.

As we grow together, I pray we will be able to expand to another night so that we might feed more. I pray that we will harvest from our community garden plenty of food that will be shared with others. I pray that as we continue to grow in our faithfulness and our service, that God will continue to take a few of us and multiply us so that we can love others just as God loves us.

I am grateful to serve along side of each of you at Crossroads and in the Metropolitan Cooperative Parish.

Practicing the Presence of...trust

Oh, the first week of Lent. It's much like the first week of January when we make all sorts of resolutions, and we are waiting to break them. When we give up something or something for Lent, it is also very difficult to keep up with.

How has your first week of Lent been? Are you exploring the depths of the wilderness? Have you given up something and found it to be terribly difficult Have you taken on something and found it to be terribly difficult? I encourage you to continue to seek your hearts and to continually practice the presence of God in everything that you do. Seek a “constant conversation” with God as your grow in faith and trust.

I hope you will join us this Sunday at 5 PM for our worship celebration. We will continue with our Lenten journey of mindfulness. This week, we will go to the depths of faith and trust. Trust is something that is very difficult for some of us. For others, it is easy and natural to put your whole trust in someone. God asked Abraham to do that when God told him that he would be the father of many nations. How does our trust of God allow us to be in constant conversation with God? We’ll explore that and bring in some excerpts from Brother Lawrence’s the Practice of the Presence of God.

Last week, there was great evidence of the Spirit's movement. I am fully expecting that to have happened throughout the week, and again when we meet on Sunday. I hope to see you there at 5 PM. Find out more at metrocrossroads.org

Happy Lent?

A friend of mine sent a message to me on Thursday that simply said, “Happy Lent.” I quickly wrote back and said, “happy Lent?” She wrote back and said, “Yes, happy season of penitence.” I couldn’t wrap my mind around this because often all I can envision is sackcloth and ashes (symbols of mourning and repentance). As I reflected further, I could begin to see why this could be “happy.” It has nothing to do with our “feelings” about Lent. It has to do with the possibilities that lay before us in the water, the wilderness and the presence of God.

The season of penitence and self-examination began with Ash Wednesday. The mark of the ashes reminds us of our own mortality, but also calls into a period of reflection. We will be doing that at Crossroads and across the Metropolitan parish through our series on mindfulness. We will journey into the depths of our being as we seek to experience and practice the presence of God in our everyday lives.

The season of Lent beckons us to dive into this journey with all of our hearts. Whether you are giving up something or taking on something, I pray this will be time of praying, fasting, and practicing spiritual disciplines that will lead us to a deeper relationship with God.

My prayer is that in our worship celebrations each week that you will be equipped with resources, time, space, music, words of confession, and fellowship that will enhance this journey. I hope to see you (and I encourage you to invite someone to experience this as well) at 5 PM on Sunday. I can’t wait to see what God is up to as we begin this journey together…

Happy, er, Lent?!

Jimmy

Belonging

Since our days on the playground, there has been an innate desire in most of us to belong. We wanted to be a part of the group hanging out near the swings, or the group that was playing on the basketball court. As human beings, we long to belong. That is why community is so important. In true community and genuine Koinonia (the Greek word for fellowship), one experiences a place of acceptance and belonging.

This is not to say that we all conform to the same likeness or that our churches look the exact same. That is not to say that we do not have diversity. Rather, we have the authentic community that fosters a sense of belonging and purpose. This is exactly what happened in the early church. After Pentecost, Luke tells us in the Book of Acts that those who had believed in Jesus began sharing life together. There was probably a sense of belonging and purpose as they would sell their possessions and give the proceeds to those who needed them. There was something abuzz about this new community. It’s freedom. It’s joy. It’s love was something that was palpable and its actions very convincing.

This coming together in community in the early church probably created a sense belonging. From this belonging came a movement that spread throughout Israel, the Mediterranean, and beyond. I want to invite us all to consider the power of belonging and how it helps to create a movement. When we feel a part of something, energy is created, the group dynamics change, and we began to feel less alone and more a part of something. We hope that happens when we come together around the communion table, around the table to prepare sandwiches for Grate Patrol, and when we sit down around the table to eat on the third Sunday of each month, and we come together to celebrate in worship. The belonging that we feel creates the synergy that propels the movement that we are a part of.

I hope you will join us on Sunday at 5 PM. I will be preaching about continuing to create a movement (or continue the movement that was created 2000 years ago.) As well as how our sense of belonging is rooted in this movement. I can’t wait to see what God is doing among us, and I can’t wait to hear how God has been at work in your life this week.

What's in a movement?

I have always been curious about how a movement gets started. How does one go from an idea in the head or a conviction in the heart to creating a movement? My guess is that it might be those who have the conviction in the heart who are spurred to move. Nonetheless, there have been movements throughout the course of history. In Church history there was the initial early church movement that was referred to as “The Way.” The was the Protestant Reformation led by Luther. There was a movement to make bibles accessible to the masses. There was John Wesley’s Methodist movement. Outside the bounds of organized religion there have been many other movements, most recently our country’s own struggle with the Civil Rights movement, the human rights campaign, the movement for marriage equality, and, of course, you can’t forget The Occupy Wallstreet movement.

Why do some movements stay with us and others fade away? What is the importance of faith in a movement, if any? How do movements affect our lives, and how do we contribute? Might there be another movement within the church to take us to the next place that God wants us to go? Tomorrow, we begin a three week series that will hopefully speak to each of us an individual level (how the Gospel is moving each of us) and on a corporate level (how might we become a movement where we become a blessing to others?) During this series, we will dream, design and explore our destiny as a community of faith. This week we will focus on what gives life to our movement and the synergy created by “first followers” Next week we will explore the power of belonging in a movement, and finally we will close out the week before Lent begins looking at our purpose and the purpose of movement. I hope you will join us and invite others who may be looking for something to be a part of that is bigger than themselves.

Remember, this Sunday night is Grate Patrol. We will make sandwiches that will be delivered following the service.

We will share our God sightings as well. In what ways have you seen God working this week? I look forward to seeing you tomorrow at 5 PM! I can’t wait to see what will happen!

Joy and Peace,

Jimmy