THANKSGIVING WITHOUT THE STUFFING

In the middle of the Children's Message last Sunday I realized how much of my thanksgiving is driven by gladness for what I have. As we talked about Thanksgiving, I mentioned how glad we are to have homes that are warm and dry, clean sheets on the bed, food on the table, and people who love us.  

Now the truth is that there is nothing wrong with being thankful for blessings -large and small- in life. In fact, seeing the blessings is a sign that we are alive, I think. To see food on the table, notice clean sheets on the bed, give thanks for the ability to stand up and walk across the room, feel inspired by the beauty of a book or song or film artfully constructed, to be glad for the ache in your legs as you make your way down a snow covered mountain, to rejoice in the glory of the child you hold in your arms, is such a good thing!

If you have eyes to see these things, and if you have a heart that knows how to dance the thanksgiving jig, you are blessed!

And yet...what if we had few -or none- of these things? How much of our gratitude is driven by the good stuff we have received? Is the core of our thanksgiving about what we have or who it is who has us?

One of my favorite passages, especially at this time of the year, is from Habakkuk 3. The writer rejoices even in a very difficult season of life: "Though the fig tree doesn't bloom, and there's no produce on the vine; though the olive crop withers, and the fields don't provide food....I will rejoice in the LORD. I will rejoice in the God of my deliverance."

As I list all the "stuff" for which I am thankful, I think of my brothers and sisters in places like Guatemala, Haiti, Mali, and Zimbabwe who have very little in the way of soft beds, well-constructed homes, and pantries full of food. Their lives hum with thanksgiving! The act of bringing their offerings forward in worship becomes an exuberant, joyful time of singing and dancing. Their gratitude is fired by their love for God and their experience of God's love for them in Jesus.

The steadfast love of God for us and all creation, the presence of the Risen Christ in every day and every night of our lives, the promise that Love Wins: all these give us a reason to rejoice and give thanks even if we have -in terms of worldly stuff- next to nothing! Paul, in Philippians 4, talks about God's peace that is with the people. He then says, "I have learned how to be content in any circumstance. I know the experience of being in need and having more than enough; I have learned the secret of being content in any and every circumstance, whether full or hungry or whether having plenty or being poor."

Being thankful because of the stuff(ing) in our lives is one thing.

Being thankful because of the grace and truth of God in our lives is something much better!

May your time of Thanksgiving be full of God!

   

In Christ and for Christ,

Mark Fenstermacher

We are the Church: A Recap of our Youth Fall Retreat

For the weekend of November 7-9, almost 40 of our FUMC youth partnered with 16 youth from a church from Ann Arbor, Michigan that we built a relationship with this past summer during our mission trip to Milwaukee. We had a fantastic time! From an awesome worship band, to crazy games, to bible study, to delicious food, to late night bonfires, and meaningful conversations, Fall Retreat 2014 was definitely a weekend to remember.

In keeping with the theme of our two churches coming together as one, the topic for our fall retreat weekend was "We are the Church." All of our content was focused on looking at the first church that spread like wildfire as it is written about in the New Testament book of Acts. Through reading about the miraculous stories and narratives of these saints that have gone before us, we challenged our youth to ask themselves the question, "How can we be like the early church of Acts in our current context?"

It's hard for any of us to really imagine what it was like for the early church isn't it? Things are so different for us now. We don't share everything with a huge group of people like the early church in Acts did, pooling our resources, providing for the orphaned, the widows, and the poor under the roof of our own homes. We have our own houses that we share with no one else besides our family. Our lives are abundant with flat screen TVs, a closet full of clothing, and a whole lot of video games, smart phones, and Apple products.

But during our retreat weekend, for a short period of time, we actually did share a few similarities with that early church from long ago...

• We were crammed into really small spaces with people we knew and people we didn't really know - this was kind of weird, presenting its own set of challenges and forcing our youth outside of their comfort zone.
• We were sharing everything - food, prayers, experiences, four toilets for almost 60 people, and the same schedule. These experiences challenged us to be generous and gracious with ourselves, each other, and our resources.
• We were relatively distraction-free - no TVs, no computers, limited cell reception, etc. This gave us the opportunity to really focus on God and our interactions with each other.
• We all came together in one place, regardless of our backgrounds and denominational affiliations - whether we were Episcopalian, Church of Christ, United Methodist, or Presbyterian, to worship God. Regardless of our varied differences, each one of us was and is an integral part of the body of Christ. There were many parts, but there was and always will be one body.

As our youth lived this experience, we challenged them to begin to ask themselves, what does it look like for you to be a committed follower of Jesus in your church, in your school, in your family, and with your friends? What does it mean for you to be a Christian when you are among other Christians? What does it mean for you to be a Christian when you're with your friends who have different beliefs from your own?

And then, we challenged them to think about the FUTURE church. What are your dreams for what God is calling you to do in the future? When you get to high school, when you start college, when you move to a new town and start your first job...what will it mean for YOU to be a part of the body of Christ, to be a Christian, to be a part of the church then?

These are tough questions. But I think they are questions that all of us here at FUMC need to ask ourselves. What can we learn from these crazy stories we read about Paul, Peter, and everyone else in the first church in Acts? What does this narrative have to say about who we are, and who God is calling us to be?

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. The youth of our church are an exceptional group of young people. Welcoming each other with open arms, reconciling with one another when they have disagreements, and showing a sincere love and acceptance, in spite of our differences, for our "parallel" youth group from Ann Arbor, MI. Whether we bleed cream and crimson or blue and gold, our fall retreat weekend further reiterated to me that there IS hope for the future of the church. These students understand fearless unity in the midst of diversity, and the gracious acceptance of differences within the body of Christ in ways that continue to challenge and inspire me. We are the church! And this year's Fall Retreat was a beautiful reminder of that truth.

God's best,

Sarah Sparks-Franklin

Director of Youth and Jubilee College Ministries

THE EYES HAVE IT

Our family is all mixed up. (In all sorts of ways. Like all families...)

I was born a Ritter. My Mom's maiden name was Owen, and her people were from the Vincennes area. My Dad, Max, was from the area around Anderson, Indiana. Max died in Africa as a young missionary, and my Mom remarried a wonderful young missionary doctor-to-be name Bob Fenstermacher. His people were from Upland by way of Cleveland, Ohio. Young Bob asked my Mom if he could adopt my brother, Eric, and me on the same night he proposed to her. So we're all mixed up. I wear the Fenstermacher name, but there is an Owen and a Ritter in there. Like I said, our family is all mixed up.

This past week Sharon and I have been in the beautiful, small town of Silverton, Oregon with a side of the Owen family to celebrate the long and good life of my Aunt Betty. The funeral took place, believe it or not, in a town called Mount Angel. The area, which looks much like the area outside Stuttgart, Germany, was settled by German settlers.

Someone turned to Sharon and asked, "Is your husband related to the Owen family?" Sharon simply said, as we gathered for the service, "Look at his eyes and then look at the eyes of Pat, Susan, Trevor, Dane and Vanessa." The person who had asked the question studied us and said, "Oh, my!"

The eyes have it. Our eyes give us away. The eyes indicate that there is a deep connection between us. We belong to one another.

What is it that gives us away as followers of Jesus? How will people see that we are connected...that we belong to one another?

Jesus gives us clues in John 16. Those who follow Jesus will keep his commandments, and they will do that because those commandments keep us in his love. Jesus said people will see his joy in us. The most distinctive trait, though, will be the way we love one another. "Love each other just as I have loved you," the Carpenter says in verse 12 (Common English Bible).

When someone asks if we are related, the Carpenter says, "Look at the way they love one another."

You can recognize the members of our branch of the Owen family by studying our eyes. Members of the Jesus fellowship give themselves away by the way they love one another.

The eyes have it!

   

In Christ and for Christ,

Mark Fenstermacher 

GOOD EAR OR BAD?

I have a "good" ear and I have a "bad" ear. My right ear has always had a limited ability to pick up certain sounds. Low end hearing and high end hearing are just fine, but the middle range, in that left ear, is just missing. So my left ear has compensated by becoming very sensitive.

My mom always told me the hearing loss in my right ear (hearing assist devices won't help) was due to high fevers I had as a child suffering with tonsillitis, but audiologists at IU Med Center a decade ago said the hearing loss was a congenital birth defect. At some point the right ear stopped developing, and then later -in utero- it began to develop again. A study of the hearing range, in that right ear, looks like the Grand Canyon. There is a sudden drop-off in hearing ability in the middle range.

My parents accused me of using the hearing loss to my advantage. They said I had "selective deafness." If I was asked to carry out the trash or do the evening dishes, I suddenly had a profound and nearly complete hearing loss. If my Mom, two rooms away, whispered to my Dad, "Would you like a dish of ice cream?" I would shout from my bedroom, "I heard that! I'd like some too!"

I learned to cope. I'd sit near the front of my classes. I'd be sure to sit to the left of a speaker so the "good" ear was in a great position to pick up what was being said. I'd adjust the sound balance on my home stereo. When the kids were infants I would be sure to sleep on my "good" ear so that their crying didn't wake me up. (Sharon's gentle nudge with her elbow did the trick, though.) Even now, if I am sitting to your left and you speak to me, I'll turn my head to put my left ear where I can hear you best. If a noisy truck or emergency vehicle goes by the sidewalk where I'm walking, I'll turn my head so my "good" ear is away from the traffic.

Still I miss things. (If you say something to me as I walk by or while we're in a crowded room and I don't react, you might tug on my sleeve and check to see that I've heard you. Because what you said may not have reached my "good" ear!)

On my college dorm floor at Wilkie, the Resident Administrator knew that when a fire alarm went off he would have to come to my room, unlock my door, and wake me up because I had the ability -after a long night of vigorous studying- to sleep through a fire alarm screaming just outside my door.

I tell you all of this because we are in a season of listening here at FUMCB/The Open Door as we consider the Fruitful Congregations Journey (FCJ) "Ministry Action Plans." (Please open your email and read the Consultation Report we've emailed to you, look at it on our web site at www.fumcb.org or pick up a copy at the Welcome Desk this Sunday.) Will you bring your "good" ear or your "bad" ear to this time of discernment, conversation, and prayer? Will you bring your "good" ear or your "bad" ear to the Town Hall meetings where we can say what excites us about the FCJ recommendations and what puzzles us?

The truth is that most of us have moments when we practice "selective deafness." We hear what we want to hear. We tune out what we don't want to hear. You see this when you watch a political debate, or you are in the middle of a business meeting, and people just miss what the other person is saying.

Often what we hear is what we want to hear or what we expect the other person to say. I've had a few wonderful people share their concern over what the FCJ report says. When they tell me FCJ is saying we'll end traditional worship, trade in the Chancel Choir for a U2 cover band, disband their adult Sunday school class, and "dumb down" the mission of the church to simply getting more people in the pews as the single definition of Christian discipleship ("it's a corporate takeover" someone kept insisting the other day), I listen and say, "Where does the report say that?"

Fear makes it hard for us to listen clearly.

The truth is the FCJ Consultation Report says none of those things. The FCJ report is pointing us towards a future that is more healthy, faithful, loving, and effective. Where we are prayerful, thoughtful and strategic about what we do. Where we are prayerful, more willing to trust, more respectful, and more loving with one another.

More than six years ago the leaders of FUMCB, long before I arrived on the scene, read a book by a UM bishop who outlined fruitful practices of healthy congregations. Robert Schnase wrote that healthy churches practice radical hospitality, passionate worship, intentional faith development, risk-taking in mission and service, and extravagant generosity. In essence, that's what a lot of this comes down to.

Just last week in worship we looked at the passage in Luke 12 where Jesus was offering some life-giving lessons about how to handle tough times. A man in the crowd appears to have missed it all because he was distracted by the disagreement he was having with his older brother over the family estate. That's what he was thinking about, that's what was churning inside him, and he missed what Jesus was saying. He was there, but the man was using his "bad" ear. In Mark 6, Jesus is speaking in his hometown synagogue, but his neighbors don't hear him because they quickly wrote him off as he was once just a kid in the village, the son of a carpenter and his young wife. They never gave Jesus a chance, and so they were there, in worship, but they didn't bring their "good" ear.

I want to invite you to do your best to bring your "good" ear not just to Sunday evening's Town Hall meeting (two other Town Hall meetings follow in the coming week and a half, see the times and dates below), but to our life as a community, your life at work or in the classroom, and your family relationships. It's a loss when we miss the truth and grace in others because we only appeared to be listening.

Just this week I heard Russ Abel of Fort Wayne St. Joseph UMC say that one of the best gifts we can give others is to tell our story. Russ also said that one of the best ways we can love others is to listen to their story.

Will you be using your "good" ear or your "bad" ear in your encounters with God today... with others...or in our Town Hall gatherings?

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Please remember to bring your food donations for the Wednesday Pantry this Sunday morning. Let's fill the front of the Sanctuary/theater!

Join us in worship as we continue our series "More or Less." What do we really need, what do we have, and how can we begin to choose reckless generosity?

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As I write this I am 30,000 feet over Kansas (or is that Iowa down there beneath those scattered clouds?) on my way to Portland, Oregon for the Saturday funeral of my Aunt Betty. I learned a long time ago that love means we show up.

Let me tell you why I'm going. When I was three years old my Dad died on the mission field and was buried in central Africa. At the time my Mom, Anita, was seven months pregnant with my baby brother. We returned to the States and by the time we got to NY my Mom was so sick with hepatitis that she had to be carried off the airplane. My Aunt Betty, who was an RN, took us into the suburban home she and my Uncle Dan had outside Syracuse, NY. Betty and Dan not only gave us shelter, but Betty nursed my Mom back to the point where she (and I) could travel on to Indianapolis.

So I'm going because I think my Mom would want me to be there with the family. I'm going because I love my cousins, Susan and Pat, with whom I have a special connection. I'm going because love shows up.

 

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I'm thankful for you. I'm praying for you even when you're out of my sight, you know?

In Christ and for Christ,

Mark Fenstermacher