THE WRIGHT WORDS FOR WHERE WE ARE

In the midst of doing some preparation for our January/February 2014 worship series (yes, we are already looking ahead that far,) this morning I came across an interview of one of my favorite writers, N. T. Wright, on the subject, "Rethinking Life After Death." As part of a great interview, Wright observes: "Let's be quite clear - We do not build the kingdom of God by our own efforts; we build FOR the kingdom. God will build the kingdom..." 

Last week, I received from our District Superintendent, Rev. Hadley Edwards, the packet that we will complete in preparation for our annual Charge Conference. Looking over these 39(!) pages, I started thinking specifically about the Report of the Pastor, and this led me to reflect on what all God has done in and through the people of North Cross UMC over the past year. I'm not going to get into all that now, but after watching Dr. Wright's interview, I am once again reminded that we do what we do here not for our own sakes, not for our own desires, not for our own preferences, not to prove to God how good we are, or to earn God's favor...rather, we do what we do as our part of the work of the Kingdom of God. This work was inaugurated long before creation came into being, was made manifest through Christ, is being sustained by the Holy Spirit, and will be complete when Christ comes again.

We do not build the kingdom of God by our own efforts...

One of the blessings of North Cross, a blessing I'm thankful for every Sunday, iS the music ministry of our congregation. When I see men and women who put time and effort into sharing their God-given musical talent (under the direction of the finest director I've ever worked with - Shannon Hogg,) the joy & wonder I experience is how God's grace flows through every note. Make no mistake about it, we have some very talented people - but the result of their efforts is God's grace being shared as part of a much larger event, all of God's people gathered not for what we get out of it, but for what God puts into us as part of the Divine's work in building God's kingdom

We build FOR the kingdom. God will build the kingdom...

Over the past couple of weeks, more than one of you has been kind enough to stop in, call, e-mail, or pull me aside and note how much of a blessing life is around North Cross in all aspects, not just Sunday morning. God deserves all the credit for this. The more all of us - myself, Kathy, Jeff, Shannon, Vida, our MDO teachers, our lay leadership, the members of our music ministry, our volunteers, those who are participants in the ministries of the church - embrace the reality that ours is work that is being done FOR the kingdom, and that we are blessed to participate in such hopeful, redemptive work, the more, I believe, we will awaken even more to God's gracious presence in our lives, and spread the message of hope, peace, grace, mercy, and love to each other, our families, our community, and to all the ends of the earth.

Today was the first day of our Mother's Day Out fall term, and for more than a few of our little guests, today was their first-ever "first day of school." From what I saw in the parking lot and in the hallways, those dropping these precious ones off were having a harder time than the children themselves. As I saw Landry Holcomb's little hand holding on to her father's finger as she headed down the hall for her next adventure, I think I caught a glimpse of how the Almighty sees things. Landry held on to her daddy's finger trusting completely that her daddy was taking her somewhere safe, completely confident that her daddy would take her down the right path.

I wonder, dear friends, how things would look in our own lives, the life of our congregation, the life of our community, and the life of the world, if we held on to God with the confident attitude and sure trust that a 2-year-old little girl places in her daddy on her first-ever first day of school.

May we set aside ourselves - our egos, our worries, our fears, our disappointments, our pain, our sorrow, and all the other baggage we bring to life - and simply trust God to lead us where we need to go, today and always. Then, it can be said, "We build FOR the kingdom. God will build the kingdom..."

See You Sunday!

Lamar