"Margin is the amount allowed beyond that which is needed. It is something held in reserve for contingencies or unanticipated situations. Margin is the gap between rest and exhaustion, the space between breathing freely and suffocating. It is the leeway we once had between ourselves and our limits....we don't know when we have overextended until we feel the pain. As a result, many people commit to a 120-percent life and wonder why the burden feels so heavy. It is rare to see a life pre-scheduled to only 80 percent, leaving a margin for responding to the unexpected that God sends our way."
Richard A. Swenson, M.D.
"Margin - Restoring Emotional, Physical, Financial and Time Reserves to Overloaded Lives"
If you're like me, Dr. Swenson's message about margins makes sense. If you're like me, you know something about overextending yourself, you know something about seasons of 120% living, when you've overextended yourself in ways that have made your life almost unmanageable.
And if you know something about living at 120%, you know the pitfalls. Lack of margin in our financial lives creates a crisis when those unplanned expenses occur. Lack of emotional margin can leave us frazzled and harried, a prisoner to our own fractured emotions that are without anchor. When we don't have sufficient physical rest, we can find ourselves exhausted and inefficient, irritable and unable to perform at our best.
Sometimes I feel like the proverbial hamster on a wheel, running endlessly and getting nowhere. I know what it feels like to get stuck in the rut of an unhealthy 120% life.
And I'll just bet you do too!
So, I'm on a quest for the 80% life. I'm in search of living a simpler, less cluttered life, an orderly, disciplined life that pushes back from the table while there's still food remaining on the plate. I've set my sights on establishing some wiggle-room.
I know this won't happen overnight. Having spent way too much of my adult life living at the edge of financial, emotional and physical crisis due to lack of margin brought about by poor planning, the inability to say "no", breached or non-existent boundaries, the inability to resist the lure of instant-gratification, and an entire host of other miss-steps and blunders that have way too often kept me weary on the hamster wheel going nowhere, I realize that old habits die hard.
But one thing's certain, Dr. Swenson is right. Over-eating, over-spending, over-scheduling and over-working diminishes margin. When we use it all up, and then some, we don't have the necessary reserves to handle life's little unscheduled, unplanned and un-budgeted surprises.
Ever try to quench your thirst with a cup that's been drained dry?
So join me in this noble quest for the 80% life, a life with some reserve, a life that is not teetering on the edge, a life with some wiggle-room, a life with healthy boundaries, a life not driven by appetite but anchored in wisdom....
a satisfied life...
a life with enough...
a life of margin.
Grace and Peace!
Pastor Randy
Sunday, May 26, 2013
Monday, May 20, 2013
What If God's Grace is Bigger Than I Thought - Part 2
This past Sunday, May 19th, like many preachers, I used Acts 2:1-21 as my sermon text for Pentecost Sunday. And working through the preparation for, and preaching of, the sermon I was reminded once again of my limited understanding in the face of the mystery of the Holy Spirit.
I reference that in light of this follow up reflection on God's Grace. Having just recently finished Brennan Manning's Ragamuffin Memoir, "All is Grace", I once again find myself potentially, extremely limited in my understanding of the Grace of God.
Read Brennan Manning, and perhaps like me, you will be compelled to consider whether the boundaries of your understanding need to be expanded. You may wonder, as J.B. Phillips suggested, if perhaps "Your God is Too Small."
So, thanks to Brennan Manning, and thanks to the humbling nature that Pentecost always brings to my theology, here are my "what ifs" for the week....
What if....
What if God's Grace is bigger than I have ever imagined?
What if God's Grace covers Muslims and Hindus, as well as Christians and Jews?
What if God's Grace extends to the unrepentant thief on the cross, as surely as it did to the one to whom Jesus said, "Today, you will be with me in paradise?"
What if God's Grace is sufficient for terrorists and pedophiles, bin Laden and Hitler?
You see my dilemma. I'm not arguing for universal salvation here, though I do think you can find some biblical backing for the idea. I'm firmly steeped in my own theological tradition that fully embraces the understanding that salvation comes through faith in Jesus Christ. It is the only gospel to which I've been intrusted, the only message that I have to offer. So, no need to share Scripture references with me that speak to Jesus as the only way to salvation. I know them well, and they are fundamental to my faith.
Yet, whenever a grieving family member has asked me my opinion concerning the eternal welfare of a recently deceased non-Christian relative, I find that the only answer that seems remotely satisfying or faithful is one that speaks to the mystery of God's Grace.
As a Christian Pastor, I seek to offer Christ through faithful preaching and teaching and by way of an authentic life of discipleship. And, would that all may come to the joy of experiencing saving faith through Christ in this lifetime. Would that all might know the freedom of being released from the shackles of sin, the horse-collar of regret, and the boulder-like weight of shame while walking among the living. All of that, I believe, is available through the One who came to save the world and to offer abundant life.
But, if one's eyes are closed in death without coming to faith in Christ. I have but one word of solace and hope to offer - Grace.
And so every now and then, I'm challenged to consider God's Grace in a new way. Every now and then, someone like Brennan Manning comes along, someone who is broken and bedraggled, beaten to a pulp by life, a combination of sinner and saint who has been given such a message of profound hope, and who owns such a child-like faith in the unshakable, unconditional love of God, that I cannot help but consider Grace in a new light.
What if....
What if, just maybe - I don't have all the answers to God's Grace?
What if, at the end of the day, God's Grace will redeem everything and everyone?
What if, in Jesus Christ, God truly is reconciling ALL things to himself, even the worst of scoundrels and most unrepentant of sinners?
What if, God really didn't send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that whole world, all of Creation, would eventually be saved through him?
What if, what Jesus did on the cross, really truly covered it ALL, everything, for everybody, for all time, whether they realize it or not, whether they acknowledge it or not, whether they believe it or not?
You see my dilemma.
On one hand, I do not align myself with a theology of universal salvation, and yet sometimes I just feel challenged to consider Grace in a broader, more radical, unconditional, inclusive, and may I say - absurd and somewhat disturbing way than my current theology allows.
You see, if the truth be told, the idea of God's Grace redeeming some folks is most unappealing to me. I find it hard to stomach the thought of salvation coming to those who have perpetuated all kinds of evil upon the weak and the innocent, and who have died with an unrepentant smirk on their faces. To consider God's Grace, in these instances, is not so much comforting to me as it is annoying.
I'm the grumbling worker upset that everyone is receiving the same wages at quitting time. I'm the Pharisee thanking God that I'm not like the sinner beside me who can't even lift up his head while he's praying.
You see my dilemma.
Before I bring these reflections to a close, I want to invite Brennan into the conversation - he's the one that stirred all this up for me after all!
"My life is a witness to vulgar grace - a grace that amazes as it offends....This vulgar grace is indiscriminate compassion. It works without asking anything of us. It's not cheap. It's free, and as such will always be a banana peel for the orthodox foot and a fairy tale for the grown-up sensibility. Grace is sufficient even though we huff and puff with all our might to try to find something or someone it cannot cover. Grace is enough. He is enough. Jesus is enough." ("All is Grace, A Ragamuffin Memoir")
What if Brennan is right?
It might just mean that God's Grace is really a whole lot bigger than I thought.
Grace and Peace!
Pastor Randy
I reference that in light of this follow up reflection on God's Grace. Having just recently finished Brennan Manning's Ragamuffin Memoir, "All is Grace", I once again find myself potentially, extremely limited in my understanding of the Grace of God.
Read Brennan Manning, and perhaps like me, you will be compelled to consider whether the boundaries of your understanding need to be expanded. You may wonder, as J.B. Phillips suggested, if perhaps "Your God is Too Small."
So, thanks to Brennan Manning, and thanks to the humbling nature that Pentecost always brings to my theology, here are my "what ifs" for the week....
What if....
What if God's Grace is bigger than I have ever imagined?
What if God's Grace covers Muslims and Hindus, as well as Christians and Jews?
What if God's Grace extends to the unrepentant thief on the cross, as surely as it did to the one to whom Jesus said, "Today, you will be with me in paradise?"
What if God's Grace is sufficient for terrorists and pedophiles, bin Laden and Hitler?
You see my dilemma. I'm not arguing for universal salvation here, though I do think you can find some biblical backing for the idea. I'm firmly steeped in my own theological tradition that fully embraces the understanding that salvation comes through faith in Jesus Christ. It is the only gospel to which I've been intrusted, the only message that I have to offer. So, no need to share Scripture references with me that speak to Jesus as the only way to salvation. I know them well, and they are fundamental to my faith.
Yet, whenever a grieving family member has asked me my opinion concerning the eternal welfare of a recently deceased non-Christian relative, I find that the only answer that seems remotely satisfying or faithful is one that speaks to the mystery of God's Grace.
As a Christian Pastor, I seek to offer Christ through faithful preaching and teaching and by way of an authentic life of discipleship. And, would that all may come to the joy of experiencing saving faith through Christ in this lifetime. Would that all might know the freedom of being released from the shackles of sin, the horse-collar of regret, and the boulder-like weight of shame while walking among the living. All of that, I believe, is available through the One who came to save the world and to offer abundant life.
But, if one's eyes are closed in death without coming to faith in Christ. I have but one word of solace and hope to offer - Grace.
And so every now and then, I'm challenged to consider God's Grace in a new way. Every now and then, someone like Brennan Manning comes along, someone who is broken and bedraggled, beaten to a pulp by life, a combination of sinner and saint who has been given such a message of profound hope, and who owns such a child-like faith in the unshakable, unconditional love of God, that I cannot help but consider Grace in a new light.
What if....
What if, just maybe - I don't have all the answers to God's Grace?
What if, at the end of the day, God's Grace will redeem everything and everyone?
What if, in Jesus Christ, God truly is reconciling ALL things to himself, even the worst of scoundrels and most unrepentant of sinners?
What if, God really didn't send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that whole world, all of Creation, would eventually be saved through him?
What if, what Jesus did on the cross, really truly covered it ALL, everything, for everybody, for all time, whether they realize it or not, whether they acknowledge it or not, whether they believe it or not?
You see my dilemma.
On one hand, I do not align myself with a theology of universal salvation, and yet sometimes I just feel challenged to consider Grace in a broader, more radical, unconditional, inclusive, and may I say - absurd and somewhat disturbing way than my current theology allows.
You see, if the truth be told, the idea of God's Grace redeeming some folks is most unappealing to me. I find it hard to stomach the thought of salvation coming to those who have perpetuated all kinds of evil upon the weak and the innocent, and who have died with an unrepentant smirk on their faces. To consider God's Grace, in these instances, is not so much comforting to me as it is annoying.
I'm the grumbling worker upset that everyone is receiving the same wages at quitting time. I'm the Pharisee thanking God that I'm not like the sinner beside me who can't even lift up his head while he's praying.
You see my dilemma.
Before I bring these reflections to a close, I want to invite Brennan into the conversation - he's the one that stirred all this up for me after all!
"My life is a witness to vulgar grace - a grace that amazes as it offends....This vulgar grace is indiscriminate compassion. It works without asking anything of us. It's not cheap. It's free, and as such will always be a banana peel for the orthodox foot and a fairy tale for the grown-up sensibility. Grace is sufficient even though we huff and puff with all our might to try to find something or someone it cannot cover. Grace is enough. He is enough. Jesus is enough." ("All is Grace, A Ragamuffin Memoir")
What if Brennan is right?
It might just mean that God's Grace is really a whole lot bigger than I thought.
Grace and Peace!
Pastor Randy
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
"What if God's Grace is Bigger than I Thought? - Part One"
For the past several years, I’ve
served on a District Committee on Ordained Ministry. As an extension of the Conference Board of
Ordained Ministry, our task is to work with Ministry Candidates and Local
Pastors to provide a setting for support, encouragement, evaluation and
accountability.
When the topic turns to theology, at some
point we will want to hear some reflections on Grace. To be entrusted with pastoral leadership in
a United Methodist Congregation, it’s essential that the “theologian in
residence” be able to articulate a clear working knowledge of Grace in our
Wesleyan heritage.
So, feel free to find
yourself a United Methodist Pastor and ask about Wesley’s understanding of
Prevenient, Justifiying and Sanctifying Grace, and he or she should be able to
talk at length without batting an eye!
Grace is fundamental to our
theological heritage. Every aspect of
our understanding of Salvation is bathed, informed and shaped by Grace. A common phrase you may hear from good
Methodist-types is “grace upon grace.”
Grace.
I’m thinking about grace
these days. And though I’ve been
immersed in a theological tradition dripping with Grace, every now and again I feel challenged to consider my own, potentially limited, perceptions of Grace.
Is it possible that God’s Grace could prove to be even more sufficient, than even I (a good Methodist “theologian
in residence”), might believe? Could it
be that God’s Grace might possibly extend even beyond the fairly broad boundaries I have
crafted for it in my very inclusive theology?
Hmmm….
Stay tuned…….
Grace and Peace!
Pastor Randy
Sunday, May 5, 2013
What's a Pastor to Do?
I love to preach. I really do. I honestly feel I've been called by God to deliver good news to people who are hurting, struggling, hungry, satisfied, sinful....well, you get the idea. And on some Sundays, I experience the preaching moment as a powerfully divine moment. There are times when I experience God's presence in transforming ways.
And then there are other Sundays.
There are those Sundays when the words seems flat, and the Spirit seems distant, and the congregation seems distracted, and the benediction can't get arrive quickly enough for me, and probably for my parishioners also.
But, whether I felt the Sunday Sermon was a keeper or more suited for the trash-heap, I'm always glad for the opportunity to turn my attention to the next sermon, whether to keep up the good momentum or to redeem myself.
The truth is, some sermons just seem to matter more than others. Some sermons just seem to speak to a deeper place in the human soul than others. Some sermons just seem to leave me completely spent and wasted more than others. Some sermons leave a greater impression on the preacher, and the hearers.
So, what's a pastor to do?
I'm not really sure, but here's some thoughts:
1-Remember, this is not about me.
2-Don't stop believing I'm doing the right thing.
2a-Don't stop trying to do the right thing.
3-Pray!
4-Rest.
5-Serve.
6-Love.
7-Laugh.
8-Study.
9-Read.
10-Write.
11-Did I mention pray?
12-Trust God.
13-Sing.
14-Play.
15-Pray some more...
After all, no matter how good or bad last Sunday's sermon might have been....another Sunday is just around the corner.
Thanks be to God!
Pastor Randy
And then there are other Sundays.
There are those Sundays when the words seems flat, and the Spirit seems distant, and the congregation seems distracted, and the benediction can't get arrive quickly enough for me, and probably for my parishioners also.
But, whether I felt the Sunday Sermon was a keeper or more suited for the trash-heap, I'm always glad for the opportunity to turn my attention to the next sermon, whether to keep up the good momentum or to redeem myself.
The truth is, some sermons just seem to matter more than others. Some sermons just seem to speak to a deeper place in the human soul than others. Some sermons just seem to leave me completely spent and wasted more than others. Some sermons leave a greater impression on the preacher, and the hearers.
So, what's a pastor to do?
I'm not really sure, but here's some thoughts:
1-Remember, this is not about me.
2-Don't stop believing I'm doing the right thing.
2a-Don't stop trying to do the right thing.
3-Pray!
4-Rest.
5-Serve.
6-Love.
7-Laugh.
8-Study.
9-Read.
10-Write.
11-Did I mention pray?
12-Trust God.
13-Sing.
14-Play.
15-Pray some more...
After all, no matter how good or bad last Sunday's sermon might have been....another Sunday is just around the corner.
Thanks be to God!
Pastor Randy
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