Author: FUMCWP Admin

This past week, Ryan and I finished watching the mini-series on Netflix called, “All the Light We Cannot See.” It was excellent. It was a book first; maybe you have read it, but it follows two teenagers trying to survive World War II. One teenager is a brilliant and resourceful blind girl and the other teenager is a German orphan pressed into serving the Reich because he has an affinity for fixing and operating radios. They are both connected because they listen to the radio frequency 1310 where they hear “The Professor” share about the goodness of life, the joy, the kindness, the humanity. And how if you look closely enough, you can see the light that no one else can see. The book adapted for TV was beautiful and tragic and deep and reminded me at times of the hope we have in God’s Kingdom to look for the light even when it is hard to find.

While I will never know what it was like for the people in the 1930s and 1940’s living in war-time Europe and trying to resist the evil and oppressive Nazi regime, I do know what it is like to look for the light, even in the darkness. Jesus constantly uses the metaphor of light and darkness to talk about the reality of the world. We all know what it is like to sit in darkness, wait in obscurity, struggle until daybreak and dance when the sun rises. In one way, there is good that happens in the dark. We sleep and rest and our bodies repair themselves. There is quiet in the early hours of morning and at least in my currently reality, a quiet hour or two at night that allows my husband and I to relax and enjoy something on TV. But we never want to stay in the darkness for long; we are people of the light. We yearn to see beyond the shadows and live in the vibrancy of day.

And so as I was watching this show unfold, listening to its beautiful music, swept up in the characters and conflict, I heard the Spirit asking me to put myself in their shoes and also look for the light. When I am weary and overwhelmed by my work and my world, I have to consciously look for the light. When people disappoint and scare me, I have to struggle to see the good. When the Middle East is in conflict again, when Congress can’t agree, when there is one more senseless mass shooting, I angrily demand to see the light. Maybe you can relate. There will always be moments when we find the light more easily, but Jesus says, that what sets us apart is having the compassion, deep faith and spiritual maturity to see the light that no one else can see. And then to point to that light when others only see darkness.

In the famous epilogue of John’s Gospel, we often read these words at Christmas time because they point to Emmanuel, God with us.

“⁴ In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. ⁵ The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”  John 1:4-5 NIV

But not only did light enter into this world 2,000 years ago, but light continues to enter into every hopeless and desperate moment every time a person of the light chooses to point to it, over the darkness.

Said another way:

“What came into existence was Life, and the Life was Light to live by.
The Life-Light blazed out of the darkness; the darkness couldn’t put it out.”  John 1:4-5 The Message

May we live like people who hope in the God that blazes bright for all to see. May we trust that our darkness, their darkness, culture’s darkness will never last. And may we act, and trust and move and believe that the light of life can never be put out.

If you know it, sing it with me.

“This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine.
This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine.
This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine.
Let it shine, let it shine let it SHINE!”

This has been one of those weeks when I could point to God’s fingerprints every hour, all throughout it. When I am open to listening and slow myself down long enough, I am constantly amazed by how God shows up and what I learn in the process. Since this time last week, I have flown to Tennessee where I watched my middle sister become a mommy for the first time and overcome every new parent obstacle with such grace. After coming home last Thursday, I reunited with my big kids and husband, who I missed terribly and then I had the chance to be back in worship with all of you. And then, on Sunday evening, I had the rare opportunity to sit at the feet of some amazing theologians who were here in Orlando at St. Luke’s United Methodist Church for THeoEd, where 6 presenters gave the talk of their lives for 20 minutes about the Christian faith and life.

As I continue to reflect on what I learned, the notes I took and what was stirred up for me, I wish to offer this from my time there learning from author and pastor, Brian McLaren. He started and ended his talk in the same way…”Include…Expand….Include…Expand”.

Brian McLaren shared how he had grown up Fundamentalist and how it wasn’t until he was in High School that he began to develop a Framework around how he understood faith and how it is lived out. My ears perked up because all throughout this sermon series on James, we have been talking about how faith is lived out in our head, heart and hands. Last week, you will recall that we prayed, sang and learned about Wisdom and Godly wisdom that is possessed, not just professed. And so as McLaren shared his story, I heard Wisdom whisper again.

What is Godly wisdom around including and expanding? What do we, as followers of Jesus include in our lives and expand upon? In order to do more expanding and more including, I would argue that some parts of our thought process must be revamped. Like spring cleaning, before I put anything new into closets, I have to take the old items that no longer fit, are no longer comfortable or have been stained and destroyed out and donate them. In much the same way, every year, wisdom whispers to us that which should be revamped or gotten rid of.

McLaren gives us this framework to measure how we are moving along on this journey of faith.

He says it is like the truck of a tree that starts with one ring, and then expands and includes the first ring but grows another ring outward and so on and so forth. There are four stages to this framework which I outlined below:

1. Inner Ring of Simplicity- value and benefit (us or them, friend or enemy, black or white)
2. Next Ring of Complexity- there is some validity to each approach, and these are different ways of approaching the world make us more flexible and curious. But the problem is that if you ask a lot of questions, your friends will say…why don’t you just shut up and stop asking so many questions and doubts
3. Next Ring of Perplexity- critical thinking and relativism, feels like the floor is falling out from under you because you are questioning everything, and it is also referred to as the dark night of the soul.
4. Last Ring Harmony- when I am able to look inside myself and accept all that I see as legitimate parts of myself, and this ring gives you permission that you can be right where you are now

As you read through the order of this framework, where would you find your faith at this current moment? Where would you say that the majority of the people of our church are located? And where would you like to be?

I loved that he used the image of the tree, because just like wisdom, it takes time to develop and grow. Trees also have deep roots and I hope we are developing followers of Jesus with deep roots whose tree stump is sturdy and serves as a safe place for the world to sit and contemplate.

This framework also helped me process why I struggle with the ways that some people talk about the Bible, faith, Christianity and social ethics. It could be that they are in a completely different ring than I find myself in and that’s okay. As long as I am finding a way to include and expand, not to cut off, cut down or avoid.

I pray that the words of Brian McLaren and my meditations from this week will challenge and encourage you as you look for which ring you may be living in during this season and how you might, with God’s help, grow towards including and expanding more.

If you are reading this today, count yourself lucky. It means you have power to turn on your computer and a WiFi connection to read this email. I don’t know what the aftermath of this Hurricane Idalia will be and whose homes and churches will be damaged and whose homes and churches will be spared. I don’t know if we will lose power, or have school canceled for another day or if most of the damage will be north of us. I have been a Floridian all my life and I have lived through many hurricanes, but one thing I always look forward to during Hurricane season is the calm right after the storm. There is something so visceral about the stillness that follows. Maybe it is because my soul desperately needs the pause and the moment to take a deep breathe. Or maybe because it is a moment of humility because no matter how strong, educated, healthy, on my game or “successful” I feel that I am, these storms remind me that life is fragile, and that nature is a powerful force that does what it wills. Ultimately, these kinds of storms remind me, that I am NOT in control.

On Monday, I went to Sam’s Club for gas and a few items we were running low on and almost 2 hours later, I finally left because of the chaos, the crowds, the mild panic (of others, not me) and it got me thinking about how others face these storms. Is there a sense that if I buy enough snacks, water bottles, batteries, and adult beverages; that I can face anything and can control my outcome? I would hope not, but I find myself sometimes slipping into the lies the world tells us when we face the unknown. The power of God, the presence of the Spirit and the calm after the storm always bring me back to this amazing story from 1 Kings 19 where the Prophet Elijah is running for his life and God tells him to wait and listen for the Lord will pass by. Read it with me please:

“And the word of the Lord came to him: “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

¹⁰ He replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.”

¹¹ The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.”

Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake.¹² After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. ¹³ When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.

Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

 (I Kings 19:9b-13)

Now while I hope that we will not experience a literal great wind, earthquake and fire, I do know that we will experience these metaphorical storms in our own lives if we haven’t already. There will be seasons when the problems just keep coming, when there feels like no break in sight and where it seems like we could be destroyed at any moment. I think it is worth noting that while in this story from 1 Kings the Lord wasn’t in those particular examples, the Lord is with us in the spiritual and emotional storms of our lives. But like the end of the hurricane, when there is the calm that follows the storm, I invite you to look for God in that moment.

While the wind is whipping around you, give God thanks that you have a faith that grounds you to the firm foundation and while you may be tossed, you will not break. When the earth is shaking beneath you and everything that was once ordered is now in disorder, give God thanks that you have a chance to test your limits in the chaos and that you have been given the wisdom to see things from a new perspective. And when there is great fire, know that the strongest medals on earth are only shaped, changed and refined in the flames and so we too can see how God shows up to transform, challenge and leave us looking more like Jesus after we have walked through a tumultuous time. But today I want to rest in the truth that God is there in the sheer silence; in the calm after the storm.

What is God saying to you in the silence? Are you listening closely enough, and are you open to the voice that is most quiet? Because, the voices that are easiest to hear are often those voices to whom I should listen to least. And the listening I need to hear most is often the hardest to hear, because it is quiet, and like God to the Prophet Elijah, it speaks only in the stillness after the whirlwind has passed.

Whether you have just walked through a fire, an earthquake, a whirlwind, or another Florida hurricane; are you listening to the stillness, are you tuned into the quiet, are you sitting in the calm ready to hear the voice of God?

Stay safe and keep listening.

If our campuses are back open again on Thursday, I invite you to join me on the Winter Park campus, in the parlor anytime between 11am and 1pm. Bring your own lunch or snack and join with me and others for conversation around any of the latest devotionals.