A Day In The Life…Foundation
May 26, 2011
I couldn’t ever get very deep into the James Michener novels. It seems his beginnings were always, well, long! Apparently, it was important to him that we know where we came from. No, not RR 2, but he had molten magma rolling upward out of the bowels of the earth, mountains thrusting up out of the sea, great cracks in the earth’s surface–you know, your basic geologic cataclysmic events.
A recent devotional reading has me thinking about the geologic formations hereabouts. It seems easiest to see some of the great rock formations along waterways. Check out Crabtree Creek (around the dam at Lassiter Mill) here in town to its banks at Umstead Park. Where the water has faithfully flowed, exposing the ancient depths, the foundational formations are evident. We walk around each day without realizing that the terra firma is really firma!
The reading was rooted in 1 Peter 2:1-10. The teaching is about Christ, the “living stone,” the one that the builders rejected, but chosen by God to be the rock on which the spiritual house is built. That scripture quotes Isaiah, a Psalm, Hosea and Exodus, themselves all good “rocks” on which to build! Read this:
See, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame…The stone that the builders rejected has become the very head of the corner.
Now that is foundational. For people of the Spirit, for Christ followers, Jesus the “cornerstone” is more important than any bedrock beneath our feet.
When Jesus and the disciples made it to Jerusalem, it’s clear that some of the “boys” had not been there before. There was lots of “oo-ing and ah-ing” going on for sure–the Temple was really something. With what we’d regard as pretty primitive technology, vast slabs were carved out of the earth, transported on specially made ox carts, and somehow hoisted and leveraged into place. Check out some photos on a website that shows the “Wailing Wall” in Jerusalem–that is the last wall standing from the last temple, the one King Herod built.
The disciples and everyone else regarded those stones as memorials to permanence. But Jesus said, no, those walls, even those, will come a-tumblin’ down. The Temple’s denizens were incensed, verily, insulted, but Jesus was proven right. When the insurrection of 70 AD took shape, the Temple became a prime target of Roman wrath, and down it came. (It was such hard work to destroy, they left one wall as a memorial to their destructive strength!)
I get it, I really do. But it’s hard to imagine the impermanence of even this church building– isn’t it? That in the end, at long last, one hopes far in the future, it, too will not last.
We come from families, and from places, but we people of faith claim as our real foundation Christ the rock. We sing “On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand.” How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord!* Amen.
* UMH 368 and 529
Pastor Steve
A Day in the Life…MERCI
May 13, 2011
A creative team met together. The goal was clear, to honor Bishop Marion Edwards through something that what was important to him and to the conference he had led for eight years. At his retirement, a first-for-NC “relief center” cried out for such an honor. Bishop Edwards had frequently commented that he blew into town–and he did arrive about the same time as Hurricane Fran. The indelible image of him passing out water to passing motorists is a worthy memorial. United Methodists are big on acronyms, and the team was close. Marion Edwards Recovery Center Y…what starts with Y? Oh no! The scramble was on, dictionaries were divined, thesauri thesaured… no luck. I said they were creative–they went with Initiatives. Thus MERCI…which according to my last remaining flicker of French means “thank you.” Did they have that in mind as well?
The Center had been in operation for some time. Hurricane Floyd had put a powerful hurtin’ on eastern NC, and United Methodists were experienced, equipped, and eager to help. House by house, people’s homes were restored, and with them, hope.
MERCI (check this website! http://merciumc.org/ ) has diversified. We are proud to have within our conference’s bounds a UMCOR* depot, where relief goods can be collected in large quantities, processed and prepared for shipping. The recent Haiti earthquake showed MERCI to be a vital link in the relief effort, ten of us worked there. This spring, Barbara and Ann took a load of goods from around the district.
You’ll also notice on the website that there are a variety of spiritual experiences offered. A Fairmont youth team was at MERCI for the second ever youth “Footprints” mission week.
I don’t want to steal (or even borrow) the thunder from today’s speaker, Bob Pavone. But I will use the space to plug two things:
First, following the spring tornadoes, the immediate need for these items:
Pop top canned food and packaged dried food, diapers (any size), baby food and supplies, layette kits, health kits, school kits, tarps, plastic roofing nails, rope tie downs.
Second, there is Early Response Training (ERT) on June 14, 8 am – 5 pm, at MERCI. “The mission of an early response team is to provide a caring presence in the aftermath of a disaster, under very specific guidelines that enable a team to be productive and caring while causing no further harm or being a burden to the affected community.” Classes are offered by authorized UMCOR* trainers, and those trained will receive ID badges as evidence of their training. At $35, it’s an incredible bargain – and an investment!
Be sure to catch Bob at lunch with your questions about MERCI. Want to volunteer? Call 888-440-9167, or email torndaoresponse@nccumc.org. Thanks for coming, Bob!
Pastor Steve
* UMCOR is United Methodist Committee on Relief
A Day in the Life…Coffee Time
May 6, 2011
Do you ever wonder–who sets all the special days? Lots of them are worthwhile, some are downright fun. My UMCOR update says that May 14 is World Fair Trade Day. In a world where unfairness abounds, this sounds worthy of investigation.
UMCOR, the United Methodist Committee on Relief, has been much on our minds. “Our” church agency with world-wide reach has been at the forefront of relief from the recent tornadoes, both here and across many states. We think of them being in distant lands, but UMCOR was the key agency in the relief and recovery efforts after Hurricane Katrina–why else would FEMA have entrusted them (us!) with $65 million? By the way, the United Methodist Church raised a like amount!
UMCOR has developed a working relationship with Equal Exchange, a worker-owned co-operative dedicated to fair trade. Equal Exchange is a democratically organized, worker-owned co-operative, founded in 1986, to pioneer a new model of trade built upon fairness and stronger relationships between farmers and consumers. When you purchase Equal Exchange coffee, tea, chocolate, and other products, you join a network that enables farmers in Latin America, Africa, and Asia to stay on their land, support their families, plan for the future, and care for the environment. Through Fair Trade we can create a more equitable world. Equal Exchange applies the principles of democracy, ownership, participation and transparency to its own model; each worker has an equal stake, an equal vote and a voice in key decisions.
UMCOR’s partnership with Equal Exchange is a way of linking United Methodist congregations with small farmers and their families. Here’s how UMCOR works: “Compelled by Christ, UMCOR responds to natural or human made disaster–those interruptions of such magnitude that they overwhelm a community’s ability to recover on its own” (UMCOR website). Such an interruption is evident, too, when poverty overwhelms. So the partnership fits.
World Fair Trade Day is a time to put it into practice. Purchases of coffee, tea, chocolate and craft items from fair trade distributors help ensure a better life for farmers and artisans globally. The UMCOR Coffee Project provides a way to encourage these struggling families while also enjoying fellowship and an excellent cup of coffee. Your support of the UMCOR Coffee Project <http://list.gbgm-umc.org/t/4131305/775336/1345/0/> also provides income to UMCOR’s sustainable agriculture projects.
If you want to sample the wares, Ten Thousand Villages in Cameron Village carries several Equal Exchange products. Here’s a proposal: what if we at Fairmont began to use exclusively such products as these? Let’s talk!
Pastor Steve