What Are You Doing Here?

Preached by Michael Cheuk
June 24, 2007, Fourth Sunday After Pentecost, Year C
1 Kings 19:1-15a

Before I read our Old Testament Lesson this morning, I want to give a little background context to the lesson. This story took place during the reign of King Ahab of the northern kingdom of Israel, about 100 years after the death of King David. Ahab and his wife Jezebel were particularly wicked rulers. Queen Jezebel sponsored the worship of Baal, the god of rain and thunder. God sent the prophet Elijah to oppose Ahab and Jezebel, and as a result, Elijah pronounced a drought in the land of Israel. In chapter 18, the drought was still going strong with no rain in sight, and Elijah challenged four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal to a contest at Mt. Carmel. Like an episode from Food Network’s Iron Chef, Elijah revealed the secret ingredient to be two slaughtered bulls, placed upon two altars, one for the prophets of Baal and one for Elijah. The challenge was to see which side could summon divine fire to come down to consume the bull. They had a whole day to do it. On the face of it, it was an unfair challenge since there were four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal versus one prophet of the LORD God. Bad odds any way you look at it. But Elijah made things even harder for himself by drenching his bull with water. To make a long story short, the prophets of Baal spent the whole day calling upon Baal to fire up the grill, so to speak, but nothing happened. After they failed, Elijah prayed to the LORD God, and at once, the fire of the LORD fell and charbroiled the beef, the wood, the stone altar, and all the water. With that, all the onlookers fell on their knees and proclaimed, “The LORD, He is God! He reigns supreme!” Elijah then ordered the prophets of Baal slain, and with Baal, the god of rain and thunder totally discredited, a heavy rain finally came down to soak the drought-stricken earth. What an amazing victory by Elijah, and what an amazing display of power by the God of Elijah!

“Simple Church” Part 4 – Simply Linear?

At our leadership group meeting last night, we talked about the process described in the book Simple Church and how Rainer and Geiger seem to assume a linear process: you begin at “Loving God” (in the worship service) then move to “Loving Others” (in small groups) then move to “Serving Others” in ministry.  I suggested that while the discipleship process may begin for a lot of people in worship and then moving on to small groups and then service, for others, the process could begin at other points.  For example, we had unchurched people help out in VBS last week (“serving others”) and as a result, they experienced some of the joys of being connected in a small group of other adult volunteers (“loving others”) and my hope is that the experience would encourage them to attend worship (“loving God”).  And in fact, a couple of folks who helped out at VBS last week told me that they will attend our worship service in the coming Sundays.  The movement we experienced this past week is exactly the REVERSE of what Rainer and Geiger describes, but I do not think that it is less valid.

So perhaps instead of simply a linear process, we might envision a CIRCULAR process whereby people can enter at any point, but they will be encouraged to move to the NEXT point and the NEXT.  This process might be less “simple” but perhaps more true to reality.

Spiritual Temptation: “Leadership”

Last year, my friend Roland Grenouillou introduced me to William C. Martin’s book The Art of Pastoring: Contemplative Reflections. I’ve been reading and re-reading it as part of my devotions, as I’ve found it to be very helpful in centering me on what is truly important as a pastor. I came across this meditation the other day and just wanted to post it here. It gives a vision of leadership that is very different from most other leadership books that I’ve read. And as I try to “lead” my congregation, this vision is one that I try keep in mind.

The pastor refuses to impose her mind.
Instead she honors the minds of her people.
She treats all within the parish
as lovable and trustworthy,
even when they are not.
This makes her difficult to understand.
People wait for her to lead.
Instead she waits for them to know
the voice within their own soul
which will lead them perfectly.

Martin then gives some observations:

Mite-y Provisions

Preached by Michael Cheuk, June 10, 2007
Second Sunday After Pentecost, Year C
1 Kings 17:8-16

Last Sunday, Beth and I had thirty-three of our senior adults over to our house for lunch after worship. We had a wonderful time. We also had plenty of food, although Beth and I had to think carefully about the amount of food to serve because we didn’t want to run out. It helped that those who came were senior adults. We were pretty sure that they weren’t going to eat us out of our house-although Cecil Yeatts did offer to stay so that he could also have dinner with us! Thankfully, we did manage to get him to leave! And in the days that followed, we received many gracious notes thanking us for our hospitality. But frankly, while it did take some preparation to have that many people over, in the big scheme of things, it really was not a hardship on us. It certainly was not a hardship to the extent that the widow of Zarephath initially went through to provide hospitality to the prophet Elijah.

Before we get into the story, let me give you a little background. This story took place during the reign of King Ahab of the northern kingdom of Israel, about 100 years after the death of King David. Ahab and his wife Jezebel were particularly wicked rulers. They introduced idol worship and Jezebel persecuted the prophets of God. So God sent the prophet Elijah to oppose Ahab and Jezebel. And at the beginning of chapter 17, Elijah had just pronounced to King Ahab, “As the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word.” And sure enough there was an extended drought that led to a famine. It got so bad that the water ran out even where Elijah was hiding out. So God told him to go to city of Zarephath of Sidon, where a widow was going to give him food. So Elijah went to Zarephath, and at the city gates, he encountered a widow gathering kindling for a fire. He approached her and said: “Please serve me. Could you get me some water to drink? And oh, by the way, could I also have some bread to eat?”

Ground Rules for Civil Discussion

At our first “Simple Church” leadership group discussion meeting, I distributed this list of “ground rules” to set some emotional boundaries and procedural parameters for our discussion.  This is certainly not an exhaustive list, but I offer it in the hopes that it might help other groups faced with the task of a potentially contentious discussion.  If you have other “rules” to add, please feel free to share them!

Show RESPECT. Each person will have an opportunity to speak. Please do not interrupt until that person is finished.

Be HONEST. Honestly verbalize your personal views and feelings, no matter how “unorthodox” you think it may be.

STAY ON THE TOPIC. There will be times when it will be tempting to go off on a tangent! If an “off topic” is very important to you, write it down for discussion at a later time.

Be IN TOUCH with yourself. If the ideas being discussed are making you really uncomfortable and anxious, ask yourself: “Why am I having the feelings and reactions that I’m having now?” “What could be the cause of these feelings?”

Use “I” statements. Say: “I think . . .” “I feel . . .” “I wonder . . .” “I am uncomfortable . . .” “If I hear you correctly . . .”

Seek first to UNDERSTAND others before trying to be UNDERSTOOD. Ask questions that help people define and clarify what they are trying to say.

Focus on the merit of the IDEAS presented and not on the PERSON presenting the ideas.

“Simple Church” Part 3 – Simply Easy?

I’m coming to realize that the one thing that really attracted me to the notion of a simple church is the one thing that I’ve got to be aware of.  So many of us live lives that are so hectic, cluttered, complex, we long for a life or of a time where things are uncomplicated — “simple” as it were.  But there are things in life that are complex and some of the most important things in life can be hard.  To just go for “simple” — in life or in church — may just be a way for us to avoid the challenge, the effort and the hard work that are needed to do and accomplish things that are truly worthwhile.  In other words, in our consumeristic culture, it is too easy to equate “simple” with “easy” and “effortless.”

I’m glad that Rainer and Geiger issued the warning that a simple church design is not easy.  They say, “Ministry will never by easy.  It is messy and difficult because people are messy and difficult.  A simple process is not easy to implement or maintain.  Leadership in the local church is extremely challenging.  Leading a local church is neither easy nor simple, but the church strategy does not need to be complicated.  The ministry design can and should be simple” (Simple Church, p. 16).

I need to remind myself and our leadership group that becoming a simpler church does not mean that our life in community together will be less demanding, requiring less effort.  What it does mean is that we can simplify the process by which a follower of Jesus can grow more mature in the faith, which will equip us to challenge our priorities and idols that turn our focus away from God and make our lives so hectic, cluttered, complex and complicated in the first place.

“Simple Church” Part 2 – Simply Irresistible?

One of the reasons I am using the book Simple Church as a spring board for our church leadership to begin discerning our vision and mission is that I really resonated with many of the ideas that Rainer and Geiger presented. Many times, church can seem to be too “cluttered” with competing ministries, committee meetings and endless activities that drain the life and enthusiasm out of the “active members” to the point that they drop out. Church programs can take on a life of its own to the point that people are made to serve the program rather than the other way around. This point was driven home to me by a church member who said that, for him, “church was a place of work; it was no longer fun.” I took that to mean that church was no longer a place where he experienced or witnessed life change in a way that drew him closer to Christ.

As I had more conversations with various people in the church explaining the premise of Simple Church, I found that most could readily relate to the idea that church for us had become too complicated, too cluttered, and too unfocused without a clear vision. I was not surprised by this. The glowing reviews of the book at amazon.com show the extent to which this book is resonating with many church leaders and pastors. When I approached twelve church leaders about reading Simple Church and discussing and perhaps implementing its ideas, most of them eagerly agreed to be a part of the group. In the midst of our complicated lives, I was banking that the notion of a “simple church” would be simply irresistible.

I was wrong.

“Simple Church” Part 1 – Simply Fundamentalist?

As I’ve mentioned in an earlier post at the Farmville Baptist blog, I’ve recruited twelve church leaders to read and discuss a book by Thom Rainer and Eric Geiger called Simple Church. I’m hoping to use the book as a springboard to help us discern God’s vision and mission for our church. Well, this past Sunday morning, one hour before our 11 a.m. morning worship service, I had a stimulating conversation with one of those leaders about the book. She hated it. She hated the fact that the book advocated doing away with ministries and programs. At least that’s what stuck with her as she read it.  Furthermore, she said: “I went online and did a little more research about Thom Rainer, and he’s a fundamentalist!” What’s more, she was concerned that I was taking the church in a fundamentalist direction through my leadership style. Now, if that doesn’t get the attention of a moderate Baptist pastor, nothing will!

I hope to unpack more of that conversation in later posts, but for this post, I want to make one simple point: simplistic labeling of others is not only confined to conservatives or fundamentalists. We moderates do it too.

Why We Need a Triune God

Preached by Michael Cheuk, June 3, 2007
Trinity Sunday, Year C
Psalm 8; Romans 5:1-5; John 16:12-15

Today is Trinity Sunday on the Christian calendar, and I must confess, the doctrine of the Trinity is one of the hardest things to understand and explain. When the word “Trinity” appears in our culture today, many young people first think of the heroine in the Matrix trilogy of movies. That’s not the Trinity I’ll be talking about this morning. The Trinity that I’ll be talking about is the Christian teaching that God is One, yet at the same time three Persons. The word “trinity” is not found in the Bible, and there is no doctrine of the Trinity as such taught in the Bible. However, from the very beginning of the Christian movement, Jesus followers have put their faith in one God who was personified in three persons whom they called “Father,” the “Son Jesus Christ” and the “Holy Spirit.” In the Bible, the triune nature of God has been expressed in such passages from the Gospel of Matthew 28:19, where Jesus gave the Great Commission: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” and in 2 Corinthians 13:14, when the apostle Paul wrote: “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”

Still, the notion that God is one, yet at the same time three Persons is a deep mystery. Ever since the second century, Christian theologians have struggled to come up with ways to understand and explain the Trinity.