LAITY CIRCLE NEWS

LAITY Circle went on a road trip to Tavern 12 in Amanda for their July meeting. During a brief business meeting, we voted to support our Community Kitchen by donating the coffee supplies that they requested. Some of these supplies will also be used to support our Sunday morning coffee hour. We will also be donating baby wipes in support of our local Community Action Organization. Kathie’s daughter, Jenna, requested this item because they are always in short supply.

August’s meeting will be held on Wednesday, August 12, at 1 pm, in our Gathering Area. Hostesses will be Gail and Loretta. The program will be an informative talk on John and Charles Wesley. A summer salad lunch will be served. Please bring your own drink.

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PASTOR'S NOTES. Experiences of God.

“With this in mind, I was traveling to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests, when at midday along the road, your Excellency, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining around me and my companions. When we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It hurts you to kick against the goads.’ I asked, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ The Lord answered, ‘I am Jesus Whom you are persecuting. But get up and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you to serve and testify to the things in which you have seen Me and to those in which I will appear to you.”

(Acts 26:12-16, NRSV)

The experience of the Apostle Paul (born Saul of Tarsus) on the road to Damascus (described first in Acts 9:1-19 and recounted in Acts 22:3-16 and 29:4-18) is very familiar to many of us who grew up in church life. One thing that has bothered me about the story, however, is not in the story itself, but how I heard the story used. I often heard preachers and teachers talk about Paul’s experience as if it is supposed to be the norm for Christians. I recall a preacher arguing that every Christian should have a conversion experience, that is a 180-degree turn in their life (or at least 135-degrees) that brings them to a vibrant, contagious faith in Jesus. And the reason that so many of our churches seem so boring and unenthusiastic is that they are filled with persons who have never had an experience of God, and this also explains why Christian folk so often behave in unchristian ways, and why most Christians have never led another person to faith in Christ. This was not an uncommon thought when I was a teen.

While it is true that in every church there are persons who are “exploring Christ” (that is, they have an interest in Christ and the church, but they have never made a personal commitment to Him), I don’t believe that this is true for most Christians. While John Wesley (one of the founders of the Methodists) described his “heart strangely warmed,” Philip William Otterbein (one of the founders of the United Brethren) described his faith as “growing step by step” throughout his life. I heard an evangelist talk of Wesley’s experience as a kind of Damascus Road experience (though less dramatic), and Otterbein’s as a kind of Emmaus Road experience (Luke 24:13-35), where the Lord had been with him the whole time but he only realized it in hindsight. I’ve thought of a couple other kinds of experiences, like the Desert Road experience of Acts 8:26-40 where nothing dramatic happens to the Ethiopian, but the coincidences of him reading Isaiah 43, someone just happening to be walking by who relates it to Jesus, and this someone who takes him through scriptures (such as Isaiah 56:3-8), are just too improbable to ignore. Another might be the Bethel Road experience of Genesis 28:10-22, where it all happens in a dream.

Not everyone has a Damascus Road experience. If you ask persons who have had some miraculous healing or recovery over addiction, they would say that is a good thing. It is good that you never went so far off that it took a 180-degree turn to bring your life to Christ.

But I believe every Christian has a responsibility to tell their story:

“But in your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord. Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and reverence.^” (1 Peter 3:15-16a, NRSV)

The apostles were called to teach (Matthew 28:20) but their teaching was primarily their witness (Luke 24:48, John 15:27; Acts 1:8, 22; 2:32; 3:15; 5:32; 10:39, 41; 13:31; 14:17; 22:15, 20; 23:11; 2 Timothy 2:2; 1 Peter 5:1; Revelation 2:13). For most of us, however, telling our story requires practice, possibly even writing things down at first. We need to remember that though our story might not seem interesting compared to the stories of others, it might be just the story that resonates with someone around us. As we tell and re-tell our story, we also come to an expanded understanding of how God was working in us (notice how Paul’s experience in Acts 9 takes on more detail as he describes it in Acts 22:14-16 and in Acts 26:15-18).

But this leads us back to a basic question, how do I know this experience is of God? This was a major point in the long talk Jesus gives to His disciples shortly before He arrest in John chapters 13-16. While Jesus would be physically gone from their presence, they would experience the Holy Spirit (John 14:16). And they would know this Holy Spirit (as opposed to other spirits) because:

“I have said these things to you while I am still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you.^” (John 14:25-26, NRSV)

“This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”

“When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father, He will testify on My behalf.^” (1 John 15:12-13, 26, NRSV)

“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own, but will speak whatever He hears, and He will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify Me, because He will take what is Mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is Mine. For this reason I said that He will take what is Mine and declare it to you.^”

(John 16:12-15, NRSV)

My reading of this is that we know the Holy Spirit by whether it is consistent with the Jesus we witness in the Bible. So in telling our story, we reflect not only on our experience, but dig deeper into the scriptures to understand better this Jesus. We read that His daily life was devoted to doing good for others; He showed that true love is at no one else’s expense, except for the lover; He spoke about the Kingdom of God where the most important people are the slaves, the children, the sick, and the forgotten. And He challenged the religious leaders that every act of healing and love is a witness to the presence of God (John 5:36; 7:18; 10:37-38). Finally, He allows them to expend their fury on Him in beating, torture, and death – while not striking back, but offering forgiveness instead.

So, in the simplest terms: wherever there is healing, reconciliation; wherever there is true love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control (Galatians 5:22-23) – there is an experience of God. It doesn’t matter if it doesn’t feel like it is. And if you’ve experienced any of this, then you have had an experience of God. And you have a story to tell.

Yours in Christ,

Kevin

MISSIONS NEWS

Missions will meet on September 14, at 1 PM.

11 from Maple Street Visit CD4AP in Columbus

Recently the Missions Team sponsored a field trip to learn about Community Development for All People (CD4AP). Eleven persons from Missions, Free Store, and Community Kitchen learned a lot about the facts and attitudes of their services.

First, something about attitudes. We were impressed by the loving, caring attitudes of the 3 leaders who spoke with us. They stressed the importance of showing respect to all people of all kinds, and making them feel included and loved. They talked about connecting people to resources that could help with addictions or mental health issues, and following up with them. They spoke of resisting the urge to call them “those people,” and to remember that to some of them, we are “those people” too. And they encouraged us to remember how Jesus taught that if we help the needy among us, we help Him.

Now, some facts. This started in 1999 when several United Methodist churches in the Columbus area came together to start a Free Store on Parsons Ave. to provide free clothing to needy people. (People from Maple Street went to see it about 15 years ago and then started our Free Store.) Today their store is open 5 days a week.

Next to come was a United Methodist Church for All People. Today they have 2 services, Sunday school for children, and Vacation Bible School for kids and adults. Their sanctuary looks like our downstairs dining area and during the week is a gathering area for those waiting to use the Free Store or escape heat and cold. There is a short worship service before the Free Store opens each day. We learned CD4AP is now a non-profit organization, still with a UM Church.

We were surprised to learn they do not serve meals like our Community Kitchen does. Another mission a block away does lunches, and people can bring their lunch to the church area to eat if they wish. On Fridays, volunteers from churches bring “Soup for the Soul” in midafternoon. On Mondays, there’s a Game Day. Area churches bring a meal on Sundays.

We were impressed to hear about the Fresh Market for All People across the street. This is like a grocery store and carries fresh produce and dairy, free to qualified low-income customers. Customers can come once a day—350-400 of them. The produce comes from various sources—most interestingly from various community gardens CD4AP has started. Last year the gardens raised 2 tons of food, some of which went to Fresh Market, and some of which went to the local residents caring for the gardens and having a section for themselves. Medical and Dental busses stop there 2-3 times a month to provide services to the needy. The Fresh Market also has classes on nutrition, navigating insurance, and dealing with Alzheimer’s.

There is also a Bike Ministry, repairing donated bikes for use by needy for transportation. And several more ministries.

CD4AP has 40 full-time and part-time employees, helped by many volunteers. How do they pay for all this? We learned about the Divine Economy of Abundance. The Lord provides enough for all of us. Free Stores get plenty of donations. If we do the work, the resources will come. If we get to know people and organizations who have resources, they will help provide. So who helps CD4AP? Children’s Hospital, nearby, gives $300,000 a year. City of Columbus and Franklin County are their community development partners. Columbus Foundation and United Way help. And some wealthy individuals attend the Church for All People and support the ministries.

With these partners, $160 million has been invested in low-income rental housing units in their Parsons Ave. area. We passed several buildings.

We learned a lot, came back with some new ideas, and some inspiration! It was good to see what United Methodists are doing in this area, working with others.

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