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November 29, 2007 Advent 2007 – special issue e-HUMHere are a few extra items for you as you plan and celebrate Advent-Christmas. The somewhat weekly issues of e-HUM newsletter and events list will be issued on Friday.
Bishop’s Special Christmas Offering for Children in the mail COMMENTARYBishop’s Special Christmas Offering for Children in the mailMailed resources are on there way to your church’s mailbox for this Special Christmas Offering. These include a letter from Bishop Mike Coyner, posters, offering envelopes and a bulletin insert master for duplication. Also check out the Indiana Area Web site at www.inareaumc.org for PDF documents of these resources plus two PowerPoint documents – one 30-second slide show and one single-slide poster for screen presentation. Click on “2007 Christmas Offering” for online resources. Earlier this year, the area special offering committee distributed more than $109,000 in funds from this past year’s offering, a $20,000 increase above the 2006 offering. These funds were sent to 12 projects here in Indiana, nine projects across the United States and nine projects in other needy places around the world. Those projects are listed on the bulletin inserts and envelopes in this year’s promotional materials. The committee will equally divide this offering into thirds for projects in Indiana, the United States and the world. The 2006 recipients are listed on the bulletin insert and envelope of this year’s Bishop’s Christmas Offering for Children. The role of Mary in contemporary Christian theologyBy Donald Charles Lacy For centuries Christians have been divided over the role of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In ecumenical dialogue among Protestants, Anglicans, Roman Catholics and Orthodox eventually she comes up for debate. Perhaps the only other topic drawing about the same often rigid and divisive conversation is the Papacy itself. The good news is there have been important strides made in this matter in recent decades. The bad news – we still seem to have a long way to go before the great majority have reached consensus. Nevertheless, the Holy Spirit is much at work. reconciling and adjusting. The TIME magazine March 21, 2005 cover story “Hail, Mary” (www.time.com/time/covers/1101050321/) illustrates this very well. There is a sense of mystery in all of this and a healthy “we are not sure where we are going but we are headed in the right direction”! Here are four beginning areas that show we need to share an optimistic attitude with gratitude and sometimes joyful surprise. First, even in this so-called “impersonal world,” we are making some strides in relating to one another in flesh-and-blood and not stereotypes. The mind set, requiring stereotypical thought patterns, has begun to slip from God’s people in ways some years ago we would not have thought possible. Those Roman Catholics really do bleed and their veins are not filled with dogmatic ice water! When they say the “Hail Mary,” it is for good reason. When the Orthodox speak about the Theotokos in soft and mystical tones, that also is for good reason. When Martin Luther calls Mary the “tender Mother of God,” we can appreciate his way of relating to her. We have begun to learn that throwing darts at categories is mostly an academic exercise and says little or nothing about a vibrant Christian faith. United Methodists, if you haven’t done so, throw your arms around a Roman Catholic friend and pray the “Hail Mary” together. You will be amazed at the reconciling release! Second, focus on what Roman Catholics are-in-fact-saying about our universal spiritual mother. The reverence and unique place they have for her does not mean she has replaced her Son as Savior and Lord. Had she not been the mother of Jesus the Christ, we would likely have never known her. Vatican II documents make clear her function is primarily to lead others to her Son. In some circles this is being more and more shared with genuine appreciation. Any professing Christian who would deny her special and singular place in the Faith, must deal with centuries of church history and devotional patterns. I rejoice that it is in humility the numbers are growing among those, who are willingly convinced of the truth revealed. Worship Mary? Really now, my experience is that fewer and fewer are believing there is any truth in that. Of course, the “worshipping thing” has been and is standard for some Protestants. It seems even to be true for those who claim to be steeped in God’s Word. But let us not be too harsh. Third, as cultural and moral values collide, we are witnessing devoted Christians intensely praying for a change of promiscuous and adulterous behavior saturating much of secular society. To whom shall we look for an ideal? When we consult Holy Scriptures and sacred Tradition, we discover the centuries and millions of Christians say the “Blessed Virgin Mary.” There is something essentially significant about sexual purity and marital faithfulness. To be blissfully forgiven of our sins is one thing but to accept a style of living – even among some professing Christians – negating basic moral values is quite another. To do away with the sacramental dimensions of marriage and replace them with a series of relationships with whomever and wherever has the odor of hell-fire about it. Strangely, our serious infractions against imperative ideals have found their way again and again among God’s people. Our Lord’s Mother pleads with us to call upon her Son for forgiveness and restoration. Fourth, Mary is the key to Christian unity in our day and time. Who better to unit us than the most powerful lady the Christian faith has ever known? She rises above male egotism and radical feminism among the clergy and laity. Worldly lords and ecclesiastical princes have even been known to kneel before her overpowering holiness. She gives to women a model of power, purity and purpose. Christian unity is about God’s children living, worshipping and working together. It also is in our day and time about accepting a lovely lady, who calls us to stop crucifying her Son. Surely by the grace of the living God we can stop living the Christian Faith in such a way that makes it scandalous and perpetuates divisions, making it virtually impossible for the world to believe. To love Christ is to love her and make a place for her as one leading to Him and His salvation. It is a means to put our arms around Roman Catholics and Orthodox and share in the wellsprings of the ancient church from which we all drink. For those who have a special interest in this area, I suggest you contact: William L. Ryon, Jr., President – Ecumenical Society of the Blessed Virgin Mary, 9003 Barb Anne Court, Springfield, VA 22152-2601.
Writing a Christmas StoryBy Todd Outcalt For many years now I have observed a personal tradition of writing a Christmas story for the congregation – an original piece that I publish and distribute to everyone on Christmas Eve. It’s a kind of discipline for me, but also a great pleasure, to give the story as my gift to others. A small thing really, but then gifts don’t have to be large to be meaningful. This year I am offering up an essay entitled “Windows on the World” – a piece I wrote several years ago, and which has been previously published in various forms. It’s a personal reflection, really – four pastoral observations I wrote while looking out of my office window during spring, summer, fall and winter. I offer this portion as my gift to you. The little boy at the south window is playing in the snow with his grandfather. They throw snowballs at each other. Soon they are sitting on the front porch together, rocking on the swing, their breath coming and going like little ghosts rising up and evaporating into the blue. Simplicity. Innocence. These things happen every day. In the neighborhood to the south of the church – as in neighborhoods everywhere in the world – people laugh and play and love. There is a great deal more of this – more joy and hope – than we might assume. Perhaps we choose to see the misery, or to remain miserable ourselves, only because we cannot admit that most people are happy. There are children on the West Bank who laugh. There are mothers and fathers in Northern Ireland, in African huts, in squalid New York City apartments, who find enough joy in each new day to carry on for one more day. Homeless people tell jokes. Cancer patients in the ICU watch sit-coms. Iraqi mothers sing lullabies to their infants as they put them to bed. Why is it difficult for us to see these universal hopes and joys in others? If we are to find purpose and meaning in our existence, surely, we do not have to look very far. We can discover the purpose and possibilities of a new day by searching the faces of the people we meet, by choosing to carry some small portion of the world’s suffering and celebrate the world’s joys. We may find purpose in our work – as our business and service intersects with the needs of people. And there is purpose in love. Especially love. And perhaps, as some have suggested more simply – we need to lighten up a little. Perhaps the world needs a good dose of levity. Not to make light of our predicaments and sufferings – but if the world is created by God, then there must be some goodness and joy to be found in each day, in each person, in each moment. Maybe we need to loosen our grip on our “possessions,” open a window, throw back the drapes of our shabby little worlds to let the sun shine in. I’m going to try. You try, too. Together, we can make a difference in the world.
The meaning and message of the Wesleys todayDecember 18 is the 300th birth anniversary of Charles Wesley By Dean McIntyre I was recently contacted by someone writing an article on Wesleyan spirituality today for the 300th anniversary year of Charles. He was contacting people in various leadership positions in the church to ask two questions. Since I am a lay person and a musician by calling and by training, that is the context out of which I responded. Here are his two questions and my responses. 1. What of the Wesley’s teachings and music has touched you the most in your ministry, encouraging you to move forward with Christ? I have been inspired and strengthened by a number of things in the Wesleys’ lives and hymns, including the following:
2. What do you believe is the message of John and Charles Wesley to United Methodists today? Very simply:
See many free downloads of Wesley resources for music and worship at www.gbod.org/worship/default.asp?loc_id=17,627&act=nav_loc Copyright © 2007 The General Board of Discipleship of The United Methodist Church (Dean B. McIntyre, Director of Music Resources); PO Box 340003; Nashville TN 37203-0003; telephone 877-899-2780, ext. 7070; Web site www.umcworship.org. Used by permission. May be reprinted in church newsletters or bulletins with the inclusion of the complete copyright citation on each copy.
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