What's Ordination Anyway?

            I’m a pastor.  On a day to day basis I do the things a pastor does.  I visit the sick, lead Bible studies, pray with the hurting, preside at Holy Communion, conduct premarital counseling, prepare sermons, baptize babies, attend church meetings.  And so for many it is surprising to hear that I am not ordained.

            In the United Methodist Church, ordination is understood to be a gift of God whereby baptized Christians with particular gifts and graces are called forth to lead the church in its mission and ministry.  Based on the example of the apostolic church in the book of Acts, ordination is the act of setting apart persons with a particular calling and giftedness to preach the Word, administer the sacraments, model the servant ministry of Jesus, and order the life of the church.

            The reason I’m not ordained yet is because we also believe that ordination is not a gift to be taken lightly.  Ordained ministers make a conscious commitment to live out the whole gospel, and proclaim the truth of Jesus with their lives.  The call to ordained ministry cannot be discerned alone or with haste, but requires the entire Christian community to spend time in prayer and conversation, discerning who the Holy Spirit has gifted and called to ordained ministry.

            12 years ago, I began to sense that God was calling me to ordained ministry.  I began talking and praying with my pastors and other members of my church.  In time, my home church named the gifts of God within me and formally recommended that I become a candidate for ordination.  I then spent seven years in schooling, studying the scriptures, learning Christian orthodoxy, discovering the art of pastoral ministry.  During that time I met regularly with Methodist lay and clergy persons, who helped me discern God’s call and gifts in my life.

            Upon completion of my schooling I was commissioned for ministry and sent to serve my first pastoral appointment.  For the past two years I have been surrounded with a community of prayer and support.  I have spent time with clergy mentors, received continuing education, and been permitted time to write and reflect deeply on the Christian faith.

            And now, after years of prayerful discernment, I find myself two weeks away from my final ordination interviews. 

            The ordination process has been long, but I can’t help but be thankful for it.  More than a bunch of hoops to jump through (though there are some hoops along the way) this process has helped me take my own discipleship to a deeper level.  It’s amazing what happens in your life when people are constantly surrounding you in prayer, asking you to think about what God is up to, and challenging you to faithfully live out the gospel of Jesus.

            In the midst of it all I have discovered that ordination is not about receiving some special standing in the Kingdom of God.  Ordained ministers are sinners in need of God’s grace just like everyone else.  Rather, ordination is about learning to follow Jesus, so that others might be shown the way.  My prayer is that as an ordained minister, I can be part of the discernment process with others, praying with them about what God is up to in their lives and how Jesus is challenging them to “follow me.”    

Out of the Ashes we Rise

Ash Wednesday Worship at Faith UMC:
February 22nd at 7:00 p.m.

This coming Wednesday, we will mark the beginning of Lent by coming together to put ashes on our foreheads.  Ash Wednesday worship is one of the least attended services in our congregation’s life and ministry.  The reasons for this vary, but I think a prominent one is that many find the imposition of ashes strange, and even depressing.  Yet, if we take a moment to think through the meaning of the ashes, perhaps we can be freed to see the beauty of Ash Wednesday.

The ashes take us back to the beginning, when God formed the first human being from the dust of the ground (Genesis 2:7).  When we place the ashes on our foreheads we remember that we are dust.  We have been created by God, and our very being is dependent upon God’s gracious, creative, life-giving presence.  

The reason we need ashes is because we often forget that we’re creatures of God.  Perhaps the best way to describe human sin is our tendency to forget God, and to think that we can determine our lives.  That’s what Adam and Eve did in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:1-7).  They chose to compete with God for dominance, and to choose their own path in life.  They forgot that they were nothing more than dust, and that their lives depended on God.

The result: “you are dust and to dust you shall return” (Genesis 3:19c).  When we compete with God for dominance we lose.  We die.  We return to the dust from which we were created.  And so the ashes not only remind us that we are dust, but also that we will return to dust.  The wages of our sin is death (Romans 6:23).  The ashes are a chilling reminder that without God, we are nothing.

The ashes remind us that we are human and destined to die, unless God should choose to save us.  They invite us to turn toward God in repentance, to cry out for mercy, and to confess that we need a new path in life.  We need God to lead us out of the dust and into new life.

In sum, the ashes invite us to confess our sin and turn to God for mercy.  It may not be the most pleasant thing to do, but it’s necessary.  It’s like taking out the garbage: if you don’t remove the trash from your kitchen, not even a fresh baked apple pie will smell good.  Ash Wednesday invites us to take out the garbage so that our hearts might smell the goodness of God’s mercy and love.  It’s only when we root out our sin that we can see the goodness and mercy of God.

This Wednesday (3/5) at 7:00 I hope you’ll join us for Ash Wednesday service at Faith UMC.  We’ve planned an evening of deep personal reflection.  It’s a service that I hope will invite us to see that it’s okay –even a good thing – to put ashes on our foreheads.  After all, since the very beginning God’s been in the business of raising us up from ashes. 

     

Put on Your Running Shoes: It's Baptism Time!

Several years ago I came across this video of a young man, about 12 years old, doing a cannonball into the baptismal pool at his church.  Take a moment to watch the video by clicking on the picture above.

I love this video.  Not only is it quite funny (my favorite part is seeing a pastor rendered speechless), but it also points to a great truth.  When it comes time to celebrate a baptism, we shouldn’t just mosey on over to the church.  We should run!  We should jump right in!  We should be knocking down the doors to get a front row seat!

Why?  Because in baptism the saving power and grace of Jesus are on full display.  More than a touching ritual, baptism marks our adoption as the children of God.  The water that is poured over us symbolizes the overwhelming flood of God’s grace that cleanses us of sin and nourishes us unto eternal life.  Baptism marks the beginning of each Christian’s journey of salvation – the journey of healing, wholeness, restoration, and forgiveness.  There is nothing more exciting than that!

This Sunday at Faith UMC, we get to come to the baptismal waters.  We’ll be participating in the baptism of 5 month old Raegan.  While I don’t expect her to come running and jumping into the baptismal font, the excitement of her baptism is no less real.  If you’re coming to worship this Sunday (and why wouldn’t you?), then I hope you’ll come running, filled with excitement and anticipation!  The very power and presence of God will be on full display.

Oh yeah, and by the way, there’s going to be a pretty awesome pot luck luncheon after the service too!!!!  

If these Doors Could Talk...

Portal of the Last Judgment at Notre Dame de Paris

Notre Dame de Paris is one of the most recognizable Cathedrals in the world.  People travel from all over the world to see the architectural mastery, artistic beauty, and holy wonder of this sacred space.  Above the central doorway of the Western facade (the main entrance to the cathedral) is the Portal of the Last Judgment.  Carved into the stone is a detailed depiction of Christ seated on his throne, judging the living and the dead.  If you look closely, you'll see some persons being led to heaven and others to hell.  The doorway's message is clear: be careful how you live your life, lest you end up on the wrong end of eternity.

I've always thought that was a strange way to welcome people to a worship space.  While Jesus was certainly serious when he spoke of judgment, and our need to lead holy lives, that typically wasn't the first message out of his mouth.  Jesus spent much of his life offering up hospitality, making sure that people knew they were welcome in the Kingdom of God no matter what kind of life they had led to that point.

Stained Glass by Beth Hinkle

At Faith UMC, we've just put the finishing touches on new front doors, featuring stained glass windows made by our own Beth Hinkle.  When Beth and I discussed the design for those windows we knew that they would be the first thing people see when they enter our church.  We wanted to send the right message.

The result is stained glass windows inspired by John 15, where Jesus says "I am the vine you are the branches."  The message of the windows is two-fold.  First, they say that to be part of this church community is to be connected to Jesus Christ, the true vine and life-giver.  The windows send a message up front to all who enter here: this is a place for connecting with Jesus.  Second, the windows remind us that our doors also connect us to the world, as we branch out into the community bearing the fruit of Christ's love in the world.

No offense to the artistic designers of Notre Dame, but I think Beth Hinkle bested your effort.  I'd much rather the first message people encounter at our church express our connection to Christ and desire to share Christ in community than be a message about judgment.  I think Jesus would prefer it that way too.