This past week was the Annual Conference for the Western North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church at Lake Junaluska in the mountains of North Carolina. The weather was great, and the setting, as always was peaceful and picturesque. The worship and Bible studies were moving, inspiring and provocative. It was a rich time of, what John Wesley would describe as, Christian Conferencing.
The history of gathering for Annual Conference can be traced back to 1744, when Wesley gathered Methodist Clergy together to focus primarily on matters of theological doctrine. And he understood that such gatherings were a vehicle through which God was pleased to pour out God's Spirit, in other words - a Means of Grace.
I've been attending Annual Conference by the Lake in the mountains of Western North Carolina for somewhere the neighborhood of 25-30 years. For the past 22 years as a clergy member of Conference, and several years prior as a member of the laity.
And for me, both spiritually and personally, this was one of the best.
I found the worship to be uplifting, and the preaching relevant, challenging and hopeful. Every time I hear really good preaching, I look forward to getting another crack at the pulpit myself. Hearing good preaching inspires me to be a better preacher. Receiving Good News stirs my own desire to deliver Good News.
Dr. Elaine Heath, Professor of Evangelism at Perkins School of Theology in Dallas led three Bible Study sessions. The Holy Spirit has used Dr. Heath to birth new expressions of Christianity, new covenant communities that are providing new models of being church. She has been instrumental in the founding of new missional communities, a new kind of monasticism where people live together in community for the purpose of sharing and offering Christ together, guided by a shared Rule of Life.
Her words to us were challenging, provocative, timely, and most of all - hopeful. She came to us at a time when our penchant for hand-wringing is at a fever pitch. Declining church membership and attendance continues to be a discouraging trend, as the church tries to discern ways to be relevant and faithful in this present age.
Dr. Heath shared a vision that reminded us that the God we serve delights in making all things new. Reflecting on Jesus words about the folly of trying to put new wine in old wine skins (Luke 5:33-39), she invited us to consider these new days as days of "holy fermentation," as a time when the new thing(s) of God need room to grow and expand.
Maybe my heart was just ripe for breaking and re-shaping, maybe my heart was a just a bit more receptive to the moving of the Holy Spirit than usual, maybe I was just a tad more focused and a bit less distracted...but, for whatever reason, I found myself continually wiping away tears and jotting down valuable quotes. I found these past days to be rich days for me spiritually.
And I found these days to be rich for me personally. In the midst of the work of Annual Conference, I had the opportunity to spend meaningful time with my family and valuable time with a number of friends, both lay and clergy. These were very rich days for me on many levels.
When we came to the close of our sending worship service on Sunday morning, I listened as our Bishop, Larry Goodpaster, admonished each of us to get to work being the outreaching, relationship-building, kingdom-embodying church, as he closed his sermon with these words - "brothers and sisters, go! Get out of here! Get busy!"
As we sang our closing hymn, I looked up toward the ceiling. And there, on the light fixture of section number 5 in Stuart Auditorium, was a fairly large cobweb. Perhaps it had missed the close inspection and obvious hard cleaning of the Lake Junaluska crew before our arrival, or maybe it had sprung up since we arrived. Whatever the case, it was one bit of imperfection that had found its way into an otherwise perfect Sunday morning, at the close of an otherwise perfect time of conferencing together.
And I couldn't help but smile.
It was a gentle reminder to me that the imperfections of life can be found, even in the most perfect of places, even in the midst of the most vital worship, the most loving community, the most Spirit-filled gathering. I was reminded that cobwebs can be found, sometimes even in the most pure of human hearts. I thought of how ministry is often messy in the local church and in the world.
Spiritual Writer and Catholic Priest Henri Nouwen once wrote of the folly of demanding perfection from life, as if life could be lived in a sanitized laboratory, free from infection. He reminded his readers that those who would know real joy, must be able to find it in the midst of the messiness of life.
And those of us who would follow Jesus, really follow Jesus, must be willing to do ministry in the messy places, in the muck, mud and mire of real life. We can't love our neighbor without having a willingness to walk among the broken shards of shattered lives.
So here's the word of the Lord to me today - don't be afraid to wade into the cobwebs.
Because Christ is already there!
Grace and Peace
Pastor Randy
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