out on the weekend
The week has been a full one. I participated in the second round of Board of Ordained Ministry interviews. I have listened to the reflection in the blogosphere about BOM processes across the connection, and join in the consensus that all of this is far from perfect. I also heard Gil Rendle, of the Texas Methodist Foundation say earlier in the week that the mistrust of institutions seems to be accelerating---I knew this, but it helped to give me a context for what I was thinking and hearing about the ordination process. And of course the immediacy of internet communication makes the responses more visible. Evaluating candidates for ministry is a grueling process, and I can say that there is no joy---absolutely no joy---in the deferring of any candidate. I can also say that that the discernment process is not only about the dreams and needs of the candidates; it is also about the dreams and needs of a local congregation, somewhere, but even, at a deeper level, it is about the dream of God and the needs inherent in God's mission.
**
So I headed into the weekend way behind in my sermon process. I am working through a series on the seven last words of Jesus from the cross. Tomorrow's word is from John 19; Jesus says to Mary, "behold, your son", and to John, "behold, your mother." As background I have plowed through Scot McKnight's The Real Mary (an evangelical response to our ignorance of the mother of Jesus), a brief collection of Carylye Marney's Holy Week sermons, another brief collection of Fleming Rutledge's Holy Week sermons, a glance at Raymond Brown's magisterial commentary on the fourth gospel, and a scanning of Tom Wright's John for Everyone. I have never preached on this passage, and although I have read these words, and heard them sung at Good Friday services, I have never given them a great deal of thought. The series has been helpful to me in this regard. The sermon that is taking shape is about the grief that is the legacy of Jesus, the presence of women there and what that means, and what this unfinished grief means for God's agenda in our world.
**
I met with a couple this morning who are to be married in the summer. This was the first of two premarital conversations. I always enjoy these appointments, even as I mourn the unrelenting commercialization of the wedding scene, which increasingly brings stress into the whole experience and especially to the couple, and of course much of this outcome is self-induced---finally the couple must accept responsibility, as adults, for what is happening.
**
After this I went to make a couple of hospital visits. It was not my "day" to visit (actually our Stephen Ministers visit on the weekends), but these were two people that I cared about, I had missed connecting with them all week, and sensed that next week might be more of the same. On Saturdays there is relatively little traffic in Charlotte, and the hospital parking lot was fairly empty. It turned out to be a good day to visit Neal and Robert. I was somewhat amazed that Robert watches a dvd of the weekly sermon, which is taken to him by a lay member of our parish.
**
Then I drove home, ate lunch and watched ACC basketball. UNC lost, Duke won, some kind of "great reversal" of last weekend's game. I love the ACC tournament, and am generally happy for teams that get less acclaim (like FSU, in this case) to progress through the weekend. The last day is almost like the last few miles of a marathon: these teams have been playing all weekend, most of the games have been decided in the final seconds, and it is all about endurance. Then a breather, then March Madness, which is its own kind of fun.
**
Then out to celebrate with two friends who have been married fifty years. Too much food and drink, lots of laughter, years of relationships, seeing their grandchildren grow up to now be in college and high school...it was well done, and a reminder that a busy week can quickly become, before you know it, a busy life, a week becomes a year and a year becomes ten years and ten becomes fifty. The couple had achieved objectives professionally, working in three countries, traveling a great deal, always magnetically drawn back to Charlotte and yet there were threads that tied it all together---a gourmet dinner group, a golfing group, a sunday school class. It was all quite moving.
**
A side conversation at this dinner with a friend who manages a very nice restaurant in Charlotte: could he give me some gift certificates to pass along to persons in our congregation or community who are having a difficult time, gift certificates that would cover the cost of a meal. This was a reminder to me that ordinary Christians are making the connection between the economic crisis we are living through and their own gifts and resources.
**
Tomorrow should be a great day: Holy Communion at the first service, new members at both services, an update on our strategic plan, a meeting of our worship and music leaders, and a community lunch for anyone who wishes to join us, no cost, donations welcome.
**
So I headed into the weekend way behind in my sermon process. I am working through a series on the seven last words of Jesus from the cross. Tomorrow's word is from John 19; Jesus says to Mary, "behold, your son", and to John, "behold, your mother." As background I have plowed through Scot McKnight's The Real Mary (an evangelical response to our ignorance of the mother of Jesus), a brief collection of Carylye Marney's Holy Week sermons, another brief collection of Fleming Rutledge's Holy Week sermons, a glance at Raymond Brown's magisterial commentary on the fourth gospel, and a scanning of Tom Wright's John for Everyone. I have never preached on this passage, and although I have read these words, and heard them sung at Good Friday services, I have never given them a great deal of thought. The series has been helpful to me in this regard. The sermon that is taking shape is about the grief that is the legacy of Jesus, the presence of women there and what that means, and what this unfinished grief means for God's agenda in our world.
**
I met with a couple this morning who are to be married in the summer. This was the first of two premarital conversations. I always enjoy these appointments, even as I mourn the unrelenting commercialization of the wedding scene, which increasingly brings stress into the whole experience and especially to the couple, and of course much of this outcome is self-induced---finally the couple must accept responsibility, as adults, for what is happening.
**
After this I went to make a couple of hospital visits. It was not my "day" to visit (actually our Stephen Ministers visit on the weekends), but these were two people that I cared about, I had missed connecting with them all week, and sensed that next week might be more of the same. On Saturdays there is relatively little traffic in Charlotte, and the hospital parking lot was fairly empty. It turned out to be a good day to visit Neal and Robert. I was somewhat amazed that Robert watches a dvd of the weekly sermon, which is taken to him by a lay member of our parish.
**
Then I drove home, ate lunch and watched ACC basketball. UNC lost, Duke won, some kind of "great reversal" of last weekend's game. I love the ACC tournament, and am generally happy for teams that get less acclaim (like FSU, in this case) to progress through the weekend. The last day is almost like the last few miles of a marathon: these teams have been playing all weekend, most of the games have been decided in the final seconds, and it is all about endurance. Then a breather, then March Madness, which is its own kind of fun.
**
Then out to celebrate with two friends who have been married fifty years. Too much food and drink, lots of laughter, years of relationships, seeing their grandchildren grow up to now be in college and high school...it was well done, and a reminder that a busy week can quickly become, before you know it, a busy life, a week becomes a year and a year becomes ten years and ten becomes fifty. The couple had achieved objectives professionally, working in three countries, traveling a great deal, always magnetically drawn back to Charlotte and yet there were threads that tied it all together---a gourmet dinner group, a golfing group, a sunday school class. It was all quite moving.
**
A side conversation at this dinner with a friend who manages a very nice restaurant in Charlotte: could he give me some gift certificates to pass along to persons in our congregation or community who are having a difficult time, gift certificates that would cover the cost of a meal. This was a reminder to me that ordinary Christians are making the connection between the economic crisis we are living through and their own gifts and resources.
**
Tomorrow should be a great day: Holy Communion at the first service, new members at both services, an update on our strategic plan, a meeting of our worship and music leaders, and a community lunch for anyone who wishes to join us, no cost, donations welcome.
posted by Ken Carter at 6:47 PM
Carter's Roost
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