Blog
Three years ago when I started at Embrace I made a decision: I'm going to love people more than I judge them. I can't imagine standing before Jesus in the last days and hearing him say to me: "John, I wish you had judged people more." If I'm wrong, I rather be wrong on loving people too much than judging people too harshly.
In T.I.'s song, "Dead and Gone," Justin Timberlake sings:
Ohh, I've been travelin' on this road too long
Just tryin' to find my way back home
The old me is dead and gone, dead and gone
And ohh, I've been travelin' on this road too long
Just tryin' to find my way back home
The old me is dead and gone, dead and gone.
This is what practicing resurrection is all about. Sounds awfully similar to Paul in the New Testament, "I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race." Paul makes two things clear Philippians 3:10-14:
Baptism is the beginning of this journey. It marks a shift in a person's life. This shift is a radical conversion, meaning "to the root." Giving our lives to Christ means that we are changed to the root of our existence; new roots mean new fruit.
This past Sunday Estella, Angel, and Brisa were baptized at Embrace. Their mom, Olga, joined the church alongside them. The three girls are sisters, yet they all decided separately they wanted to be baptized. They've learned about following Jesus at Common Good, Embrace, Aldersgate Camp, and Asbury.
Sunday was full of resurrection joy. The three girls went under the water, signifying that the "old me is dead and gone." Then they rose up from the water as if they were rising from their graves to a new resurrected life with Jesus. Praise God for new beginnings and fresh starts!
John Wesley famously declared, "I look upon the world as my parish." Christians today have taken his words as a missional charge to evangelize the world. While I support world evangelism, I'm not sure this interpretation of Wesley's statement is very helpful for the local church. We may declare, "The world is my parish!," along with Wesley, while turning a blind eye to our neighbors right outside our church doors.
At Embrace we care about our world. We’ve sent missionaries to far-away places. But we recognize that the best ministry happens person to person in real friendships between diverse neighbors. This type of community happens best in neighborhoods. Perhaps before we declare, "The world is my parish!," we should embrace the smaller vision: "My neighborhood is my parish."
I like the word “parish,” though I think it's lost its meaning. In our denomination we refer to our churches as “parishes.” The word “parish” finds its origins in a Greek word meaning, “to dwell alongside a sojourner.” The idea is that a group of Christians, the church, moves in and lives in a community alongside other people. The “parish” doesn’t just refer to the church, but has historically referred to the entire community surrounding the church. A pastor was assigned to a parish, which meant she or he was responsible for the entire community, not just the people within the church walls.
In their book, Making Neighborhoods Whole, John Perkins and Wayne Gordon argue that we need more “parish-minded” churches. To be a “parish-minded” church means that the church sees its ministry setting as the entire community, not just within the the four walls of the church building. This means that the church is present in the community, involved in the community, living life among the people in the community.
What if people in our neighborhoods knew us?
Because we volunteered at the school.
Because we held community events at our church.
Because we helped maintain the park.
Because we visited with the sick and shut-ins.
Because we marched with people fighting for equality and justice.
Because we showed up at neighborhood association meetings.
Because we got involved in other ministries in our neighborhood.
Because we fought for equal access to food and services.
Because we showed at the basketball court or the community center and played with the teenagers.
Because we played Frisbee at the park and invited others to join us.
What if we get outside of our church walls, and truly claim this community as our parish, our place of ministry, where we are called to live out our faith?
REAL LIFE EXAMPLE:
This past Saturday our church celebrated with our neighbors the dedication of our neighborhood futsal court at Castlewood Park. For those who don't know, futsal is a modified form of soccer played on a hard surface; a type of street soccer that doesn't require a large field. Some students at Common Good, our local ministry partner in our basement, had a dream to build a futsal court at Castlewood Park. They applied for a local grant through the NOLI CDC and received $2,500 award to make this project a reality. With the help of mentors from Common Good and Embrace they worked hard for over a year meeting with our city council-member, Parks and Recreation, and other community stakeholders. They even put in hard work on the weekends to build the court.
On Saturday we celebrated their accomplishment alongside hundreds of neighbors. This wasn't an Embrace event or an official Embrace initiative. Though our church sees our community as our place of ministry. Dozens of people from Embrace were there because they see the North Limestone and Castlewood neighborhoods as their parish.
I believe our church is called to have a faithful presence in our neighborhood. Our website URL is embraceyourcity.com. We certainly want to embrace our city. However, I don’t believe we can actually reach our entire city because we can’t be present in every part of our city. I believe God has us on North Limestone for a reason: to work with our neighbors to see our community live into its God-given potential.
Jacques, one of the student founders.
Council-member James Brown receives his signed soccer ball from the student founders.
PKs!
Last week I read some stuff that blew my mind. Much of it came out in my sermon yesterday. Here are some key insights:
-Radical means, "to the root." A life with Jesus is radical, all-consuming, to the root of our existence. New roots=new fruit.
-Practicing resurrection means traveling a journey from death to life, moving from the the old life to the new radical life with Christ.
-One movement must be: From Anxiety to Trust.
-Anxiety stems from a Latin word, "angustia," which means "narrowness." When we are anxious our focus becomes too narrow, honed in on a particular issue or problem. We fail to see the bigger picture.
-In order to move beyond anxiety we must pray. Henri Nouwen writes, “Prayer pulls us away from self-preoccupations, encourages us to leave familiar ground, and challenges us to enter into a new world which cannot be contained within the narrow boundaries of our mind or heart. Prayer, therefore, is a great adventure because the God with whom we enter into a new relationship is greater than we are and defies all our calculations and predictions.”
-We become more free from worry, anxiety, and fear when we learn to trust God more. Prayer lifts us above our narrow focus and helps to see the vastness of of God more clearly. It reminds us who we are: children of God who are deeply loved by him.
You can hear the sermon at this link!
This world is a mess. MLK's three evils of society - militarism, racism, and poverty - are rampant and out of control. News headlines describe war, mass killings, brutality, suicide, and pain. Countless people have sunk into deep cynicism with no hope that things can change.
Desmond Tutu: "I'm not optimistic, no. I'm quite different. I'm hopeful. I am a prisoner of hope."
He's draws upon language from a prophecy in Zechariah 9. The prophet refers to God's people as "prisoners of hope." To be prisoner of hope means that you refuse to give up hope no matter what. You go on, moving forward, holding on to his promises.
The resurrection makes this kind of hope possible. I love the line from this song, "Adelina" by Johnnyswim.
"Darling can’t you see that you’re my sea and sun?
Oh, the battle rages but the war is won.
Adelina, Adelina, Adelina, oh, there’s hope for us.
Adelina, oh there’s hope."
Jesus rose. His countercultural life and message were vindicated. He is the way, the truth, and the life. The battle rages but the war is won.
There's hope for us.
Check out my Easter sermon here: