Out Of The Comfort Zone

"Now The LORD said to Abram, "Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house into a land I will show you." (Genesis 12:1)

When I was in Jr. High and early High School, I can remember reading stories of missionaries like Jim Elliott.  Stories of people going into  the remotest places on earth to share the gospel with people who had never even heard of Jesus. In my mind's eye I could see them, machete in one hand, Bible in the other, narrowly escaping death time and time again to bring the Word of God to the world.  It was souped up Christianized version of Indiana Jones.  It all seemed terribly exciting and, I thought, the life for me.

Eventually reality set in.  I realized that Jim Elliott died as a missionary, killed by the very people he was trying to help.  But also my temperament is simply not the make up of a good missionary.  I admit it, I am okay with comfort. My vacation dreams have never consisted of me in a tent on a remote mountain. Ever. I enjoy the technology I have at my finger tips.  I said enjoy, not addicted, no matter what other people say.  I can quit at any time.  I also like my routine and have never suffered well those people or situations that disturb my routine.  None of which exactly makes for a good missionary, at least in the traditional sense.

So how did I find myself slogging through the mud in Mexico on a mission trip this past weekend?  In part because I was asked. Two dear friends of mine were heading up a medical mission and wanted to know if I would be willing to go along as the spiritual director of the team. It would involve working at the clinic in some capacity, being with the people who come, and leading worship along with whatever other pastoral duties I could come up with. And because they are dear friends I said yes. Twice.

So this past weekend I found myself in a strange place sleeping on a foam mattress, with little access to communication at certain times of the day.  The community had been affected by recent storms along the coasts. Certainly nowhere to the degree of other communities. But it had rained for almost three weeks, turning the local dirt roads into a muddy nightmare of travel.

It's an important mission.  We helped many people and were even able to do a few house calls in the process.  We helped some people who hadn't had any health care in their area for years.  They were incredibly gracious.  But for all of that, and the good it did, I will admit there were times when I wondered, why me? I'm not trained for anything medical.  I don't have that "I love roughing it" mindset. So why has God called me twice to do such mission trips?

Precisely because it is a situation in which I am not comfortable.  I believe it is when God calls us out of the familiar, out of our comfort zone that we experience His presence the most.  Our greatest moments of growth spiritually come when we are willing to step out from the familiar into the unknown  and trust that God will catch us.  It's only when we reach those moments where we are both positive God has called us, and sure he has called the wrong person but go anyway that we most experience His grace in life.

This is a recurrent theme in the Old Testament.  God calls ordinary people out of their comfort zones and then does extraordinary things to them and through them. God calls Abram out of Ur. Is Abram a godly man before this? Certainly that's why God calls him.  But if you read his story there is no doubt we see an incredible change in Abram when he steps away form his homeland.

We see this when God calls Ruth to go with her mother in law to Israel. She is a strange woman in a strange land.  Yet God causes great things to happen because she does. Amos, Jeremiah, even Moses are all positive God has the wrong person when He calls them.  Yet they trust Him. And when they go out of their comfort zone God does a mighty work.

At some point in your life, God is going to call you out of your comfort zone. He is going to ask you to step out of the familiar and into the unknown. It could be an invitation to go on a mission trip. It could be a move to a new area. It might be a change in your life circumstances, a new job or relationship.  Will it be a new ministry? Might it simply be a calling on your heart to let go of some old sins and ways of looking at the world because God has something new for you?

Who knows?  I certainly don't. Live long enough and it's probably all of the above. God never tires of calling us out into unfamiliar territory.  He calls. You answer. And soon that new territory becomes familiar territory, and so God calls you again a little further out or in a new direction where all you have to rely on is Him.  Why? Because He loves us.  He sees gifts and graces in you that you can't see because your eyesight is clouded by the familiar.  He wants you to be in a place where you must trust and rely on God because He is all you have.

I don't know where God will call you, only that He will. I hope you answer and go.  If we stay where we are we will always be who we are and not who God has designed us to be. So get ready. God will call you. Will you listen? Will you go?

In Christ,

Rev. Dr. Brian Jones <><

 
 

The Church is not a building

I was always told that a church isn’t just the building; it’s the people in attendance. For seventeen years, I have attended the same church – Trinity UMC. I was baptized and confirmed there, and yet I never really knew what went on behind the scenes. I knew about the ministers and the secretary, but that was about it, and I was ignorant about everything else going on. For my senior year at Columbus School for Girls (CSG), I was assigned a senior project (Senior May Program) to go out and intern for the month of May. I barely knew what I was having for breakfast the next morning, let alone the entire month of May! My mom suggested contacting Rev. Katy Wheat, who is the Associate Minister for Mission and Small Groups, to see if she would allow me to work with her for the duration of May. When Rev. Wheat accepted, I had no idea what was in store for me. All I could do was eagerly wait.

A very memorable experience is when I accompanied the pastoral staff to two home blessings at the Forum, which is a retirement community in Columbus. One of the women knows my mother and it was such a meaningful experience that I won’t ever forget. I saw these women gain instant comfort once their home was blessed; it was unbelievable!  It was not just comfort - it was the joy I could see in their eyes that made it such a happy and unforgettable experience.

Deciding to work at Trinity UMC was one of the most eye-opening experiences that I have ever had. I had the opportunity to work with so many different people and groups in and out of the church that I would have never gotten to otherwise. One of the things that touched my heart the most was being at New Life United Methodist Church on a Sunday morning. I had the chance to lead a Sunday school class that had four “tween” girls in attendance. Before I went to New Life Church, I had never had much experience in this kind of situation. I went to Upper Arlington schools through 8^th grade.  Most of the kids who go there have parents in an very comfortable financial situation. Then, for high school, I transferred to CSG. Almost all of the girls there have fairly wealthy parents. Between Upper Arlington and CSG, money wasn’t an issue for most people and I never knew of anyone who didn’t have enough money to buy food. Growing up, I never knew anyone who was in a situation any different from mine, and that’s just how it was.

When I walked into this Sunday school class, I had no idea what to expect. They didn’t seem any different from 13-year-old me, but I started noticing differences when they were telling me their grades. I was going into eighth grade when I turned 13, and they were going into sixth. Then they started talking about a girl who wasn’t there. When I asked where she was, and one of the girls said “In a homeless shelter.” I was not expecting this at all! I have never known anyone who had to go to a homeless shelter; the only experience I ever had was when I was volunteering. Later I found out that having to live in a homeless shelter was always a worry in the back of those girls’ minds. This experience helped me realize: it’s not only foreign countries that need our help - our neighbor’s right here in Central Ohio need assistance, too.

            All these opportunities strengthened my faith in so many ways. I saw people who had been Christians for 80 years, and I saw girls in situations where they were in fear of losing their houses, but still able to keep their faith in God. I thought that my faith would be strengthened by the amount of time I spent in worship, but I was completely wrong. All the new people that I met made up the Church, whether they were spending their free time volunteering or going about with their daily business. I never thought these people would change my life and teach me to be so thankful for everything I have. My faith is so much stronger especially because of what I learned from these 13-year-old girls. I learned that my faith may be shaken, but never broken. I feel God put me with Rev. Wheat to experience new situations outside of my comfort zone and my faith is so much stronger because of it.

Ellie Thompson is currently a senior at Columbus School for Girls and will be graduating on June 6, 2013. In the fall, she plans to attend Xavier University where she will double-major in marketing and finance. While at Trinity, Ellie’s main focus has been on communication and mission work. 

The Global Church

"Now You are the Body of Christ, and individually members of it."  1 Corinthians 12:27

I got into an interesting discussion with another pastor the other day if the United Methodist church is really an international church. His arguments were compelling to be honest.  He noted that we all have different issues. Concerns for us here in the US are not the major issues facing the church in Africa for instance. We have cultural differences. We have different economic issues.

He also noted what he saw as an imbalance in the church. Because the church is exploding in the third world, they will have an increasing influence and voice in the denomination. Yet the US, and Europe to a lesser degree, will bear most of the burden economically.  "Why should we be forced to pay and they not carry more of the burden?"

All fair questions to be sure.  Fair, but they also illustrate a wrong understanding of what the church is.  If we were talking about a business that had stores all over the world his arguments would make a lot of sense. But we are not. We are talking about the church. And the church is unlike anything else we have ever seen.

We do not get to dictate the parameters of what the church is. Only the one who created it, the foundation itself, can define what the church is.  The church is global because Jesus has declared it to be so.  In fact as we look at Scripture I don't think Jesus looks at the church as the Asian church, the European church, the rural church or the upper class suburban church. Jesus simply sees the church. Each group working together with the blessings they have to further the Kingdom of God.

Early in 1 Corinthians, Paul talks about the love feast, the regular celebration of the church. The people of God would join together each bringing what they had, as they had been blessed by God, and they would share it together. They would celebrate. There was no place for arguing over who brought what, or to whom more was due.  In fact Paul goes to great lengths to tell the people they should no do this.

I see now Paul is talking about more than how we should behave at potlucks. The meal serves as an example of what the church is. This incredible, fallible, stumbling blessed instrument is somehow being used by God to tell the world about Jesus, from the home church in China, to the mega church in Texas, from Trinity to Scum of The Earth Church (It's actual name) in Denver.

We saw this last week as our annual conference joined together to bless the plane we helped purchase for Wings of the Morning. As we prayed, it struck me we prayed with a great crowd of witnesses, those missionaries who first went to the Congo, to the Christians there who prayed for this miracle, to the saints who took a young man in and helped him get his education and pilots license, from the churches that made great monetary contributions, to the child who emptied her piggy bank. Each one of us is a part of this great ministry.

Yesterday we brought 19 young people into membership of the church.  Not the four walls that bear our name, but the church I described above. For this we should be thankful. The church indeed is a wonder. And at times, when we work together, a miracle.

In Christ,
Dr. Brian Jones <><

An indescribable and glorious joy

1 Peter 1: 3,8

³ “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead … ⁸ Although you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy”

As I reflect on these past few days in mission in Nuevo Progreso, I will forever have in my memory the love and joy that I saw in the faces of the parents and children for whom we built a home. They live in such great material poverty but radiate the riches they have in Christ. The children were so full of joy and laughter as they played together in the blowing dust, making toys out of whatever they could find around their home. What we may call trash is possibly treasure in their eyes. I felt I wanted to give them so many things but realized that God’s love and grace is enough. The last day was so very full of emotion, not only for the dear family, but for all of us. Manuel, the father of the family, expressed how so grateful he and his family was for a mission such as ours and in a time such as this, that we could find it in their hearts to come so far to help and love as Christ calls us to do.  The family’s appreciation brought so many tears of joy, because they saw in all of us the hands and feet of Christ working right along beside of them building them a better shelter.  Manuel and Paula (parents) said they will forever have us all in their hearts, as we will also. Their hospitality was so wonderful. They gave us a feast – a beautiful meal to thank us all.  We broke bread together, giving thanks to God for the fellowship we shared with each other and for the new friends we made. I thank God for working through me to joy to bring smiles and hope to such gracious family far away yet so close to my heart. It is such an overwhelming feeling to feel such satisfaction in and through Christ.  It was so hard to say our farewells- I must say it leaves a hole in my heart!  I am so thankful and grateful for the opportunity to be a servant of the Lord, receiving joy in return. I hold the five precious children and their parents in my heart and pray for the Lord to keep a circle of protection around them and for the doors of opportunity to open for them.  I pray for their faith and joy and hope in God to remain steadfast in the midst of great poverty and drought. 

Psalm 126:2b, 3  “The LORD has done great things for them.  The LORD has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy.”

Liz Winfree

What I'm taking away

As the mission team finishes up their work today and prepare to return home, Rev. Wheat has asked us to reflect on “what are we taking away from Mexico?” We certainly all have some many memories of laying cement blocks, roofing and painting endless number of boards which seem to just keep coming. I have acquired many memories of the families. I think everyone has very fond memories of the children playing in the yard. They certainly were very curious about what was happening to their home. They laughed, sang and played games with the volunteers. I was most surprised with how helpful they were with keeping things picked up and cleaned up. The mother was so excited to see each step of the build. As soon as the windows were installed, she was busily cleaning them. As we left, they family was busily moving into their new space. It was such a blessing to see the excitement in their eyes.

The area we are building in is so different from my world. The buildings are small and most are just 2x4s and plywood cobbled together. These peoples are just scratching out a life in a dry and barren land. They have no electricity and the water must be trucked in. Yet they are so thankful for everything they have. The children run and play through dirt roads and always seem to be smiling. A simple game of tag or playing with a sling-shot make them very happy. They so enjoyed being spun around by their arm. It makes me very happy to know these children will have more room to life and grow in. It looks like the 5 children have been sharing 2 beds. With the new addition the boys will be in one room and the girls in another. They will still be sharing beds but will now have spaces of their own.

I fill blessed to have been part of this mission and will treasure these memories for years.

John Fisher

Mas is better?

Well folks, after shoveling ourselves out of the snow, the VIM team to Mexico finally made it to Nuevo Progreso. Our goal: build two houses in three days for two families in desperate need. I have never built anything in my life let alone a house, so tackling two seemed quite daunting. Today we began by laying the block for the walls of the house and painting the wood for the roof. Within five minutes of my arrival I had a trowel in my hand and I began “buttering” the bricks. I quickly realized that despite the obvious language barrier, everyone was getting along quite well.

The word of the day was “mas.” For those of you who are a little rusty on your Spanish, “mas” means “more” as in “I need ‘mas’ (paint, mortar, bricks, wood, etc.)” Without fail, English-speaking or Spanish-speaking folks would respond with whatever the item you needed “mas” of. Together, we buttered mortar onto bricks and slathered paint onto wood. Everyone, from the young partially-paralyzed son of the family to the interpreter who pitched in not only his language skills but his masonry talents, worked together as a team to build this house.

As I thought about the word “mas” I thought about a familiar phrase – “more is better.” As I looked around at the bleak, barren surroundings and saw poverty like I had never seen before (these folks have no running water, plumbing, electricity, shower, washing machine, school , trash removal, toilet, or car) I saw children laughing, running, playing with their siblings and standing side by side to slop paint onto the wood slats. I saw their parents smiling admiringly at the wall they had just constructed together – she bringing him bricks and he buttering them before carefully laying them into place. I saw a happy family, just being thankful in the moment for what they had and the blessing of a new home. I saw people who were not looking for more, but were thankful to know that God had provided this opportunity. I am reminded that while we might think that we need more of XYZ, God already knows what we need.

As we continue to build in the next several days, I wanted to share a passage that reminded me of God’s power to “build” and provide: “So all of you holy brothers and sisters, who were called by God, think about Jesus, who was sent to us and is the high priest of our faith. Jesus was faithful to God as Moses was in God’s family. Jesus has more honor than Moses, just as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself. Every house is built by someone, but the builder of everything is God himself. Moses was faithful in God’s family as a servant, and over God’s house. And we are God’s house if we keep on being very sure about our great hope.” (Hebrews 3:1-6)

Grace and peace,

Tasha Ruth

On expectations; or, why injustice destroys the world

I began to learn Spanish when I was 12 years old, and loved it so much that I went on to study it as a minor in college at Baldwin-Wallace. And imagine my joy when I discovered that following college, my work as a US-2 Young Adult Missionary would include community organizing and ESOL work with local Spanish-speaking communities! I’ve had the great privilege to travel to many places and work with people from many cultures, but I’ve never set foot in a Spanish-speaking country. It’s something that surprises many people; “How can you speak the language if you’ve never visited a place where they speak it?!” Ignoring the obvious answer – that I live in the US, where Spanish is spoken regularly – it’s a valid expectation of someone who speaks Spanish, I suppose. When I set foot in Mexico tomorrow, I’ll finally live up to this particular expectation, and, it must be said, dream of mine.

I’ve seen pictures. I’ve read books. I’ve watched documentaries. I’ve heard stories, so I have expectations of my own as to what I will encounter when our Volunteer in Mission (VIM) team sets foot in the colonias of Nuevo Progreso, Mexico, tomorrow. Our team from Trinity (Tasha, Liz, John, and Katy) will join with 29 other folks from Glenwood and Scioto Ridge UMCs, as together we construct two casitas (small homes) and serve folks in the Manos Juntas Medical Clinic. I’m curious, excited, and anxious to begin. I’m ready to see how my expectations stack up to reality.

Upon a first reading, Psalm 82 is a curious text. “God has taken his place in the divine council; in the midst of the gods he holds judgment”, verse one reads. And we think: what? It certainly doesn’t meet our expectations of how our God rules. But if we take a step back to consider the teaching this psalm offers, rather than the face-value message it presents, we discover this: this psalm is about God’s expectation for how the world is ordered. God rules the world, and in this scripture God our heavenly Parent is putting on trial all the competing claims in our lives. God rules the world, and thus the things that concern God most must be human concerns. God is declaring that our time, our resources, our actions, our knowledge and understandings, must be used in ways that honor God’s gracious rule, and used in ways that live into God’s vision for our lives, and for our world.

It’s very clear what God expects of us:

“Give justice to the weak and the orphan;” the psalmist cries in verses 3-4. “Maintain the right of the lowly and the destitute. Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.’” Injustice – which we see so often when our brothers and sisters go hungry, when folks lack adequate shelter, when they go years without adequate medical care, when they don’t have shoes or a coat – is a violation of God’s desire and will for our world. And justice and righteousness aren’t abstract understandings. They’re not principles God cares about in theory. And I know this because we see Justice and Righteousness incarnate in the person of Jesus Christ, the Son of God whose anointed ministry on this earth was categorized by bringing “good news to the poor,” proclaiming “release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind.” (Luke 4:18) Jesus came so that all the oppressed might go free. So should we too, who love and follow Jesus. Doing justice means building relationships with the widow. It means taking the orphan into our homes. It means providing palliative care for the sick (and preventative care for the healthy).  It means building homes for those who have no homes. The expectation of justice which God lays out for us begins with work like that we’ll be doing this week in Nuevo Progreso. These are the foundations upon which God's Kingdom is built. It’s clear that in God’s eyes, anything less than this sort of justice destroys the world.

More tomorrow!

Pastor Katy