If you’re having trouble finding the right words to respond to the recent shooting in Hesston, you might find this article on the Great Plains website helpful.
Link: http://bit.ly/1RzUEFR
Funeral Services for Mary Ardis Londeen
A Service of Death and Resurrection for Mary Ardis Londeen will be held Wednesday, March 2, 2016, at 11:00 am in the Sanctuary of First United Methodist Church. Burial will follow at Mount Hope Cemetery. Jenny and I will officiate.
The Unforgivable Sin
Those of you participating in the 90 Day New Testament Reading Plan recently came across a potentially disturbing passage in Mark in which Jesus says:
28 “I assure you that human beings will be forgiven for everything, for all sins and insults of every kind. 29But whoever insults the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven. That person is guilty of a sin with consequences that last forever.” 30He said this because the legal experts were saying, “He’s possessed by an evil spirit.” — Mark 3:28-30 (Common English Bible)
“Insults” is traditionally translated “blasphemes.” But no matter how the passage is translated, it and parallels in Matthew and Luke have terrified pious, conscientious Christians for centuries. As John Wesley put it:
How immense is the number in every nation throughout the Christian world of those who have been more or less distressed on account of this Scripture! — John Wesley, Sermon 86, “A Call to Backsliders.”
I don’t consider myself particularly pious and conscientious, but for a long time, I was one of those “distressed on account of this Scripture.” The best explanation I’ve found came from Lamar Williamson, Jr. Here is his explanation, with my additions for clarification in brackets:
The intention of this text [Mark 3:28-30] is not primarily to define the unpardonable sin and even less is it to equip us to decide who has committed it. Jesus himself does not state that his adversaries had done so, according to Mark, though he warns them in the most serious terms. Mark 3:30 (not found in the parallels [in the other gospels]) does, however, offer a particular understanding of the unpardonable sin. The sin is to recognize [by the working of the Holy Spirit in the individual] a supernatural power at work in Jesus and yet to call that power unclean or evil. The sin is unforgivable because it rejects the very agent of God’s healing and forgiveness (see [Mark] 2:17 and 10:45). The imperfect tense of the verb in verse 30 is significant: “… because they were saying, ‘He has an unclean spirit.’ ” This indication of repeated or habitual action, unfortunately obscured in the RSV [the Revised Standard Version, the translation Williamson was referencing], suggests a fixed position, a firm decision, and not simply skepticism. The doubt of honest inquirers is always honored in Mark. What places one in mortal danger is considered, deliberate rejection of the God at work in and through Jesus. The text continues to function as a warning to all readers of the seriousness of our response to the One who confronts us here.
Those readers who not only define the unpardonable sin, but believe that they have committed it, should observe, first, that the very fact of their concern means they are not guilty of the deliberate, obstinate rejection of God’s Holy Spirit which alone is unforgivable. Only those who set themselves against forgiveness are excluded from it. — Lamar Williamson, Jr., Mark: Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching.
The above is the most comprehensive explanation of the blaspheme against the Holy Spirit that I’ve come across.
Voice of the Day: N. T. Wright
In a recent sermon, I highlighted Charles Wesley’s concluding line of O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing: “anticipate your heaven below and own that love is heaven.” N. T. Wright gets at the same point when he says that:
Love is not merely the Christian duty; it is the Christian destiny. — N.T. Wright
The destiny of the universe is the new creation promised in the book of Revelation, the union of heaven and earth. Our place in that new creation is secured by God’s love and there we shall love God and neighbor throughout all eternity.
Hat Tip: Sojourners
60 Days of Prayer
Received from the conference office:
The Council of Bishops has invited each of the annual conferences [we’re the Great Plains Annual Conference] to host a 24-hour prayer effort on a specific date, with the intent of creating a groundswell of prayer in the days leading up to the General Conference [the global meeting of United Methodists] in May in Portland, Oregon. The Great Plains will conduct its prayer vigil March 1.
Given all that will be before General Conference this year, prayer is going to be very much needed. There’s a sign-up sheet in the Narthex for those who want to participate. Times of prayer are broken down into 20-minute intervals. You can come to the chapel to pray during church office hours or pray on your own at home or work.
The Upper Room has a devotional guide available in pdf format. It looks like it would be good not only for the 60 days before General Conference, but anytime.
Link: http://bit.ly/1QvJxuk
Bishop Jones Urges Expansion of KanCare
One of the things I most admire about Bishop Scott Jones is his ability to be eminently reasonable and level-headed when faced with an emotional issue. The bishop has written an open letter to Kansas Legislators urging them to find some way to accept the ACA expansion of Medicare Medicaid. I’m urging you to read it.
Link: http://bit.ly/1VvS8RY
Correction: A tip of the hat to Dr. Brian Holmes for catching the fact that I wrote Medicare when I meant Medicaid.
50 New Testaments
In preparation for Lent and Easter, we ordered 50 Rethink Church New Testaments. I’m happy to report that all 50 have been taken. Jenny and I are excited to have so many people reading through the New Testament for Lent and Easter.
Voice of the Day: Soren Kierkegaard
Normally, I don’t share a quote here unless I can verify it by tracing it back to the source it was originally published in. I’ve been unable to do that with today’s quote, but I’m going to share it anyway. I’ve read enough Kierkegaard to know that if he didn’t actually say this, he would have wished he had.
“People have an idea that the preacher is an actor on a stage and they are the critics, blaming or praising him. What they don’t know is that they are the actors on the stage; he [the preacher] is merely the prompter standing in the wings, reminding them of their lost lines.” —Soren Kierkegaard.
We all have times when we need to be reminded of our lost lines.
Hat Tip: Sheryl Cox
No Communion Service this Week
Jenny and I are leaving tomorrow (Tuesday, February 16, 2016) for the Orders and Fellowship Clergy Meeting in Lincoln, Nebraska. We won’t be back until Thursday. Therefore, there will not be a Communion Service this Wednesday.
To the Parents of Young Children
The following was borrowed (with a few changes) from the First United Methodist Church in Hamburg, Arkansas and will appear in next Sunday’s bulletin:
- Relax! God put the wiggle in children; don’t feel you have to suppress those wiggles in God’s house.
- Consider sitting toward the front where it is easier for your little ones to engage.
- Quietly explain the parts of the service and actions of the pastors, musicians, and leaders.
- Sing the hymns, pray and voice the responses. Children learn by mimicking you.
- If you have to leave the sanctuary with your child, feel free to do so, but please come back. As Jesus said, “Let the children come to me.”
Voice of the Day: Jerome of Stridon
Jenny and I, like a lot of you, have taken on Lenten disciplines. I don’t know about anyone else, but for me, Lenten disciplines, while edifying, present an opportunity for the temptation to self-righteousness. The following quote from Jerome of Stridon is just the sort of reminder I need:
“Be on your guard when you begin to mortify your body by abstinence and fasting—lest you imagine yourself to be perfect and a saint—for perfection does not consist in this virtue. It is only a help, a disposition, a means, though a fitting one, for the attainment of true perfection.” —Jerome of Stridon
True perfection is to love God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength; and our neighbors as ourselves. To the extent that Lenten disciplines help us to love as God loves they are a good thing. To the extent that they distract us from that task, they are not.
Note: my educated guess is that by “abstinence,” Jerome means abstaining from certain foods.
Hat Tip: Sojourners
90 Day NT Reading Begins Today
It was our intention that those who are participating in the 90 Day Lent and Easter New Testament Reading program would begin today. Don’t feel bad if you started early. Don’t feel bad if you end up starting late.