Now that the sting of the UMC Special General Conference is not as fresh, what is next? How can those who are dissatisfied with the work done by the delegates in St Louis organize and be better prepared for GC2020?
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We have missed the mark, and so on Ash Wednesday, the marks on our foreheads are a reminder to us to ask for forgiveness and try again. The Good News tonight is that on the cross and in the victorious empty grave we will find on Easter morning we are made righteous before G-d.
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Mainline denominations have known about their image problem for at least a decade. It’s why money has been poured into campaign efforts like, “Open Hearts, Open Minds, Open Doors.” As more and more people no longer see the necessity to be connected to a faith community, headlines in the New York Times and Washington Post have not helped Methodists make their sales pitch.
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It is Transfiguration Sunday, the day we recall the fullness of Jesus’ identity being revealed and confirmed, connecting Jesus with the liberators and prophets of Israel’s past. While little of what happened in a once indoor NFL stadium resembled a group of people following Jesus, today, a few days removed from General Conference, Jesus is still the transfigured Messiah, guiding his disciples down the mountain, heading towards the cross.
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Not all young people are progressive. There is no mainline church anymore/Congregations are now part of the great sort. Crackers & Grape Juice debriefed the Special General Conference of the UMC with Emma Green, the religion writer for The Atlantic.
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The United Methodist church has been home for me for almost half of my life, all of my adult life. I’ve never felt like an outcast or an outsider. I’ve been welcomed into stranger’s homes because of our commonality of being a United Methodist. I’ve baptized our children in the United Methodist church. I’ve debated theology and polity, I’ve asked hard questions, and every single time it’s been welcomed with open minds and thoughtful consideration.
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Let’s be clear, today’s vote is not about sexuality.
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In an effort to provide honest conversations from the 2019 Special General Conference, the Crackers & Grape Juice team invited supporters of all of the plans being considered by the United Methodist Church’s governing body to explain why the plan they support is the correct plan.
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We all operate in worlds distant from others living in the same community. Culture, history, socio-economics, and geography cause our worlds to be distant from those who are our neighbors.
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“Visions are messages. They are messages transmitted through the medium of our senses. We see things, hear things, even feel or smell things that we accept as real…We do not generate or control them. We cannot fix them into a particular time or space.”
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Jesus sought these three men out. Before he was teaching on the banks of the Sea of Galilee they were a group of business partners who had a bad night at work. Before Jesus stepped into Simon’s boat, Simon was just a guy trying to clean his fishing gear and go home. But that’s the way discipleship works. Before you or I decided to be a follower of Jesus, Jesus revealed the awesome abundance of G-d.
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In advance of the Special Sex Conference in St. Louis, Jason and I talked with journalist, blogger, and former UMC pastor Christy Thomas. Christy breaks down the various proposals before the UMC regarding sexuality, why the Traditionalist Plan is the Mean Girl Plan, and why there’s no future for me in the UMC.
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The awesome thing about the identity we receive through our baptism is that this identity is freely given to us without reservation and with the promise that the One who was chased from his hometown will be with us.
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Like the magi, we approach the manger not knowing all of the answers. We approach the manger not having all of the junk in our lives we continue to carry with us not quite figured out. We approach the light of the manger still struggling to over come the curse of sin that we fall back into no matter how many times we think we have overcome it.
What does 2019 hold? Time will only tell, but you can be sure it will include more posts about my kids on Facebook, sermons focused solely on the grace of G-d, and graduation (again) from Wesley Theological Seminary. You can keep up with all these exciting things by ‘Liking’ my Facebook Page and by also subscribing to ‘Brewing Theology’ on iTunes, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.
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What does faithful living look like in the shadow of Christmas? Is there a difference between praise and gratitude? Are we allowed to wear hats to the dinner table?
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The reality of what happened in Emmanuel laying in the manger is found in those who had forgotten or ignored the promise made by G-d. The good news changes the reality for all people, and invites all of creation to enter into the grace of G-d regardless of what the powerful say. Regardless of what the darkness of sin says.
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This is what makes the Good News different from the promise of security and peace offered to us by empires and the elite. The Good News of Emmanuel is a particular promise available and revealed through particular yet unlikely means, in particular yet unlikely places, and at particular yet unlikely times. We can expect the Good News to be revealed to us through powerful kings and prophets but also through those we are told are not capable of bearing such a promise and those who had forgotten the promise all together.
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The preparation John is calling for is a change in orientation, not pointing to guilt or shame, but instead facing in a new direction. A direction that allows the refiner’s fire to burn away the damage sin has done to creation and then live in the hopefully light of the coming Christ.
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