Struck Dumb By Silence?

What if the primary call of the Church of Jesus Christ, on planet earth, this December is sharing God's gift of silence??? Sharing silence..... with a world, and a Church that is often bent on filling the silence with noise. Have we become uncomfortable with the gift of silence? Do we work diligently to fill every moment of time with something, or can we be still.....and wait......and listen for The Coming One?

In, When God Is Silent,  Barbara Brown Taylor helps us to ponder the gift of silence, writing:  "....silence is as much a sign of God's presence as of God's absence - the divine silence is not a vacuum to be filled but a mystery to be entered into, unarmed with words and undistracted by noise - a holy of holies in which we too may be struck dumb by the power of the unsayable God."

Philips Brooks, an Episcopal clergyman, and later Bishop of Massachusetts, penned the verses of, "O, Little Town Of Bethlehem" after returning from a trip to Palestine in the late 1800s. We can hardly imagine an Advent or Christmas in which we wouldn't sing this hymn. At the dawning of Advent 2013, this is the verse, in particular, that the Church seems called to embody and proclaim. Will we dare to share God's gift of silence ? .....

                                 How silently, how silently,
                                   The wondrous gift is given;
                                 So God imparts to human hearts
                                   The blessings of His Heaven.
                                 No ear may hear His coming,
                                   But in this world of sin,
                                 Where meek souls will receive Him still,
                                   The dear Christ enters in.

Still In ONE Peace,

Jon(theMethodist)
                      

Movements and Museums

Last Saturday I wandered off the beaten path - just a wee bit  - to visit one of my favorite spots on terra firma. It happens to also be a site from my early days of pastoral leadership - Hebron UMC near Oakville, N.C. Now I know that address may not leap off the page, so let me be a bit more specific. Hebron UMC, or as it is now known, "Historic Hebron", is located in Warren County, NC near Lake Gaston. The congregation which once gathered in this place dated back into the late 1700s, and is mentioned in the journal(s) of Bishop Byrd in his circuit-riding adventures across the Roanoke River into the Carolinas.

In the early 1980s  Hebron was still a vibrant center for weekly worship, but had already transitioned from a people in mission together to a place of significance. The Greek revival architecture employed by builder, Jacob Holt, was completed in 1848. Windows of hand-blown glass provide clear vistas to the world of "Six Pound Township"; but oh how that world has changed in over 200 years.

Now the building is on The National Register Of Historic Places. A couple of times each year the trustees of Historic Hebron (all friends of mine) open the doors to the public. Author, Reynolds Price, was raised only a few scant miles away in Macon. He included Hebron in one of his writings about a Christmas Candlelight Service he attended as a child. That tradition continues - even today - the Wednesday before Christmas.

Last Saturday I peered through the hand-blown glass to get a glimpse of a place that holds significance for me. I gazed at the pulpit I stood behind twice per month as the people endured the cutting of my homiletical teeth. I saw the framed placard which has hung behind and above that pulpit for generations: "Lord Teach Us To Pray". I remembered how the initials of two young people in love had been carved beneath one of the pews; straight-backed and made of heart pine - termite proof, but not relic proof.

I remembered conversations between a young, idealistic pastor and leaders of his congregation; discussions of expanding worship schedules (which were thwarted) - of the need for fellowship space (with indoor plumbing) - of a nearby lake community which would one day transform the declining population with an infusion of "new blood". Though I was loved and respected and encouraged beyond measure, I could not lead that flock of God's sheep to new pasture. Though we actually grew the flock in number and baptized a child or three, the congregation whose roots were sprouted beneath a brush arbor never got over locating themselves in Jacob Holt's artwork. Once the last window pane was installed their ability to see diminished; a form of macular degeneration set in.

Movements share a central common characteristic - they move.  Museums, on the other hand, are static, immovable and demand that we come to them. Movements serve others. Museums demand the price of admission. Movements are adaptable. Museums focus mostly on preserving the past. How ironic - to think that the "Methodist Movement" in England spilled across the sea to America and expanded beyond anyone's wildest dreams on the emerging frontier. And in the case of Hebron UMC.......became a place to visit rather than a launching pad for transformation..................

Still In ONE Peace,

Jon(the Methodist)