The lectionary Gospel passages focus on the ministry and teachings of Jesus, especially as they relate to the Kingdom of God (hence the name Kingdomtide). The term Ordinary Time makes this season sound boring and plain, but it is a wonderful season for growing in our understanding of the Reign of God through the teachings of Jesus Christ. In fact, the word “ordinary” refers not to the lack of exceptionality of the season, but rather the counting of the Sundays using ordinal (1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc.) numbers.

This year, we will be turning to the Old Testament books of 1 and 2 Kings in worship during the summer months. We’ll hear some well-known stories about Solomon and Elijah, as well as some of the lesser-known stories, such as those of Naboth, Naaman and Josiah. Additionally, the youth choir will lead us in worship after their choir tour on June 23. Following Choir Camp, our children will be leading us in worship on July 14 with a musical version of the Elijah story.

At the end of the spring semester, we waited with anticipation and dread as our English teachers would hand out the “Summer Reading List.” Sometimes the list would include grueling, non-beach-friendly tomes like books like Plutarch’s Lives. Always there was a Shakespeare play like Romeo and Juliet or Othello. And often we had classics like The Sound and the Fury or fun stories like The Once and Future King. (Is it strange that I remember so many of these summer reading books?)

As much as we moaned and groaned about having to read real literature during the summer (whine, whine), I actually looked forward to getting that Summer Reading List every year. I’m a geek who loves books, and I enjoy reading books that people I respect tell me are good. So, I read every dang word of Plutarch’s Lives and am glad I did. Well, I’m glad now that I did. At the time, I did my share of whining.

If you are a geek who loves good books, or if you are looking for some good summer reading, I’d like to invite you over the next two months to open up the Old Testament and read 1 Kings and 2 Kings. This two-volume history tells us the story of what happened in Israel after the death of King David. We hear about people like Solomon, Elijah, Ahab and Jezebel, Elisha, the Queen of Sheba and all sorts of other colorful characters. There’s war and intrigue, faithfulness and betrayal, righteousness and evil. We get to see Elijah in a showdown on Mount Carmel. There is compassion and healing as well as selfishness and idolatry. In other words, there are some great stories captured in these two books.

These stories will be our focus in worship over the next two months. It’s been awhile since we’ve gathered around the Old Testament in worship, so we’re going to let the books of Kings be our foundation for most of the summer. Starting this Sunday with 1 Kings 8, we will follow the kings, queens and prophets of Israel and see how God worked with them or in spite of them. And hopefully their stories will inspire us to be more faithful in our own life with God.

There won’t be a test at the end of the summer, but if you take the time to read this ancient book I think you will be glad you did.

Well, before the summer kicks into high gear, I wanted to give you a few updates from the church office. I have some good news and some not-so-good news. First, the not-so-good news, which you may have heard announced in worship a couple of weeks ago: Janet Howell, who has served for over four years in the church office as an administrative assistant and coordinator of publications, has moved with her husband Mike to Delaware. We will miss them both a lot, but they are excited to be moving closer to family.

Our Staff-Parish Committee has posted the job of Communications Coordinator and is now receiving resumes. (The job description is up on the church website, if you know someone who might be interested.) In the meantime Mike Deweese, Robin Kennedy and our fabulous interim-helper Brenda Anderson are keeping things going smoothly in the office. Say a big thank you to them when you see them!

Now for the good news: As you know, David Ssebulime has served as our Turner Fellow for three years while he has been studying at Vanderbilt Divinity School. That fellowship officially comes to an end this month. In fact, we received a kind letter from Rev. Tom Laney, Director of the Turner program, thanking us for serving as David’s host congregation for the past three years: “We celebrate the fact that Christ UMC has been such a wonderful learning laboratory for David. In getting to know and love the people of the church he has been exposed to the challenges of pastoral leadership and the dynamics of congregational life in the midst of joy and stress. These learning opportunities are only possible when a church truly opens itself up to the student and lets him be fully a part of the community…. Know how grateful we are to you for your vital role in David’s formation as a future leader of our United Methodist Church.”

Fortunately for us, even though David’s fellowship is officially ending, he has agreed to stay on at Christ UMC. He will be taking a group of folks from Christ and Blakemore UMC’s to Uganda in June, and then he will step in on a part-time basis during my renewal leave this fall to help with some teaching, preaching, and pastoral care. He will also be continuing his studies at Vanderbilt as he works to complete his M.Div. degree.

One other piece of good news: Rev. Paula Hoos, who served as one of the pastors of this congregation several years ago, has also agreed to help out during my leave this fall. She will be doing mostly visitation and pastoral care.

As quickly as the summer has come upon us, the fall will be here before we know it, and I wanted you to know about the people who will be working and serving in this place while I am out on leave. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Let’s get ready to enjoy a summer full of ministry, mission, fellowship and fun together!

As I went to bed on Sunday night, I took a few moments to pray the Examen and to reflect on the day that had past. My mind and heart were filled with images of the day and all of the many ways I had seen God at work, and I’d like to share some of those images with you.

The first image that came into my mind was from our wonderful service of worship on Children’s Sunday. I remembered standing beside two beautiful children as they served communion to many who came to receive the sacrament. I saw their sweet hands lifting up the bread and the cup, and I saw grown-ups bending down to receive the gift of God’s grace offered to them from the hands of a child. It was a glimpse of the kingdom of God, where the last shall be first, the greatest will be a servant and “a little child shall lead them.”

Another image that came to mind was of the Angel Choir singing “The Lord’s Prayer” as part of the communion liturgy. It was so clear in that moment that we were praying together. Their song was not a performance. It was not an opportunity for us to showcase the adorableness of our children. It was worship. It was an offering to God. It was a holy moment that pointed beyond the children to a God who is pure and loving and faithful.

As my Sunday night prayer continued, my mind wandered to, believe it or not, the Town Hall meeting that we held during the Sunday School hour. We had a wonderful crowd of folks, nearly 90 in all, and our conversation was open and thoughtful and loving and inspiring. As we talked about the capital campaign to pay down our debt, we shared concerns and ideas and excitement. I came away from that gathering feeling the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and expecting God to do more among us than we have planned for!

Finally, as I closed my eyes to sleep, my mind was drawn to a moment of prayer with the Murillo family. On Sunday evening we gathered in a circle in a waiting room off the ICU, and we prayed. We prayed for Sam in faith and hope and trust. And I experienced the truth that “where two or three are gathered in Christ’s name, there he is among them.” We all continue to pray and wait, because this is what we do. Together. In the unity of the Spirit.

I am so grateful for the many ways that God is present each and every day. Sometimes, God forgive me, I get too busy or distracted to notice. But may God keep our eyes, ears and hearts open so that at the end of each day, we can go to our beds recounting God’s goodness and saying, “Thank you.”

“Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where they can be eaten by moths and get rusty, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where they will never become moth-eaten or rusty and where they will be safe from thieves. Wherever your treasure is, there your heart and thoughts will also be. 

“Your eye is a lamp for your body. A pure eye lets sunshine into your soul. But an evil eye shuts out the light and plunges you into darkness. If the light you think you have is really darkness, how deep that darkness will be! “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”So I tell you, don’t worry about everyday life — whether you have enough food, drink, and clothes. Doesn’t life consist of more than food and clothing? 

“Look at the birds. They don’t need to plant or harvest or put food in barns because your heavenly Father feeds them. And you are far more valuable to him than they are. Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? Of course not. ”And why worry about your clothes? Look at the lilies and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. And if God cares so wonderfully for flowers that are here today and gone tomorrow, won’t he more surely care for you? You have so little faith! ”So don’t worry about having enough food or drink or clothing. Why be like the pagans who are so deeply concerned about these things? Your heavenly Father already knows all your needs, and he will give you all you need from day to day if you live for him and make the Kingdom of God your primary concern. ”So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.” (New Living Translation)

Today, let us trust; there is enough. Let us rest in God and not simply our own abilities and work ethic. May God bless you today with peace and a deep, abiding knowledge of God’s persistent grace.

The Service of Confirmation gave me hope not only for the world around us but also for our congregation. We continue to grow in many ways. We are growing in numbers, yes, but we are also growing in ministry. Just this past week at our Administrative Council meeting, we heard about a new ministry, Justice for Our Neighbors, which is an outreach ministry with immigrants in our community. Also at that Ad Council meeting, we endorsed David Ssebulime as a candidate for ordained ministry in The United Methodist Church. If my counting is right, David is the sixth person we have endorsed since I became Lead Pastor in 2009. That, my friends, is a sign of a faithful church!

As we look into God’s future together, I want to share with you something else that the Administrative Council decided last week. Our faithful Finance Committee has done an amazing job keeping our budget balanced and finances healthy. As they look at our budget, they have recognized how much our mortgage payments cost us each month. They see the strain that our debt puts on our budget, and they have begun to dream about what our congregation could do and be if we were free of that debt.

The Finance Committee and the Administrative Council have cast a vision for us: What if we could be free of debt by 2020? Imagine the ministries we could do if we freed up the nearly $170,000 a year that we currently pay on our mortgage!

The first step toward this goal is a capital campaign this fall to raise $500,000. We plan for 10% of whatever we raise to go toward missions with the poor, as a sign of our continued commitment to the world around us. You will hear more as the fall approaches, but we wanted to invite everyone to our first “Town Hall Meeting” on Sunday, May 5, at 9:45 in the sanctuary.

We have many new members who have joined our church since the opening of the new sanctuary, and this is an opportunity for you to help in a new way. There are others, I know, who participated in the building campaign and in the most recent debt-reduction campaign, and you may wonder why we need another. Please bring your questions, your thoughts, your enthusiasm, or your concerns to the Town Hall meeting on May 5. We want everyone to be informed, to have a voice and to consider what we could be!

On Sunday morning at the 11:00 service, these dedicated confirmands will be “accepting God’s grace for themselves and professing their faith openly.” They will be confirmed as disciples of Jesus Christ and as members of the church. This is a huge moment for them and for our congregation! I hope you can be there. And if you can’t be there, I hope you will pray for them, will write notes of support to them or will find other ways to encourage them.

From what I have seen in this group of young people, they understand a lot about what it means to love God and love their neighbors. They really do love each other, and they want to make a difference in God’s world. To put it another way, they know what it means to be in relationship with Christ, with one another and with God’s world. They have learned that from you. May all of us continue to learn together what it means to be followers of Jesus Christ, and may we welcome joyfully our newest companions on the journey!

When we first arrived, we took a tour of the facility. We heard about the Campus’s programs for daily feeding, for temporary and permanent housing, for drug and alcohol treatment, for job training, for health and for hospitality. I watched my children as we took the tour, glad that they had a chance to learn about how some of our brothers and sisters live and the struggles they must deal with on the street.

Once the tour was over we were put to work. Some of us had the job of painting “cubbies” that the guests use for their backpacks and belongings. After several months of use, they were scratched and chipped and scarred. Others in our group went outside to clean the courtyard. A few lucky kids got to scrape up chewing gum off of the concrete. And, believe me, there was a lot of it. At one point I looked out at those kids scraping gum up off the sidewalk. They were on the ground, wearing latex gloves, using nothing but plastic scrapers. They worked for several hours, and there was still gum on the ground when we left. I wondered if they felt like their work was worthwhile.

Scraping chewing gum might not seem like a big thing, and it’s certainly a dirty thankless job, but I think it made a huge difference. Imagine being a homeless person who has walked eight miles to get to the Campus in downtown Nashville in the only pair of boots you own. It’s a hot day, and as soon as you step into the courtyard your foot lands in a wad of gum. And then another. And another. How frustrating and demoralizing that could be. You could end up feeling like the discarded piece of trash that has now ruined the only shoes you have.

As I watched the Christ UMC volunteers scraping gum and washing the sidewalk and painting the cubbies, the image of Jesus washing the disciples’ feet came into my mind. Washing those feet was a dirty and thankless job. And those feet were going to get dirty again as soon as they left for the Garden of Gethsemane. But that tender act of love and hospitality made all the difference in the world. Literally.

Now, when one of our homeless neighbors makes his way to the Campus for Human Development, he will find a beautiful courtyard where he can sit, soak in the sun and rest his tired feet. And when someone drags the heavy backpack that she’s been toting around all day into the common area inside, she will find a newly painted cubbyhole where her belongings will be safe and cared for. These friends will never know who made the space more welcoming for them. They might not even notice. But that’s not the point. The point is that a group of people went out in the name of Jesus Christ to make the world a more beautiful, safe and hospitable place for those who need more beauty, safety and hospitality in their lives.

May we all look for ways to “go and do likewise.”

Throughout this season we have been exploring some of the basic practices that shape our lives as Christian disciples, and we have devoted each Sunday of Lent to a different practice: reading Scripture, giving, praying, inviting, sharing in covenant and worshiping. If you remember, though, we began the season with seven spiritual practices. But we only had six Sundays of Lent. So, which one have we not explored yet?

Serving. Serving will be our theme on Thursday night, as we gather for Maundy Thursday worship. It is in that service that we read John 13 and remember how Jesus knelt before his disciples and washed their feet. We will hear him say to us, “As I have loved you, so you also should love one another.” We will remember that as followers of Jesus Christ, we are called to give ourselves away for others.

To serve is to love. To serve as Jesus serves means we set aside ego and convenience. To serve means we give up controlling the results. To serve others in Jesus’ name means we do not worry about their deserving or their worthiness. We do not ask whether others can return the favor or give back. We simply give. Help. Feed. Build. Tend. Clothe. Visit. Love.

This congregation has a serving heart. There are countless ways that we are sharing the love and grace of Christ in the world. We are visiting the imprisoned every week. We are feeding and housing the homeless through Room in the Inn and Open Table. We are sharing clothing with the poor through Christ’s Closet. We are building homes through Habitat. We are helping children in Sierra Leone and Uganda to go to school, to be healthy and to feel loved. We are helping to educate children in Nicaragua. And, as you know, the list goes on and on.

And then there are the myriad ways that we serve one another within the church: teaching Sunday School, singing in the choir, helping with Wednesday Night supper, being a Stephen Minister, giving rides to church on Sunday, etc. For our congregation to be who God is calling us to be, each one of us must find ways to give of ourselves and to serve. Not everyone can teach Sunday School. Not everyone can go to the prison. But every one of us can serve in some way.

One of the things that we must guard against as we grow is the 80-20 rule. You’ve heard it before: eighty percent of the work is done by twenty percent of the people. This congregation has never lived by that rule. We have always had widespread participation in ministry and service. Let’s keep it up! Let’s help each other find ways to serve. Let’s look for new ways to spread God’s love in the world. The world needs us to be servants. Our own souls need us to be servants. As we move through this Holy Week experiencing how much God has done for us, let us gratefully respond by asking what we can do for others.

Easter is the oldest of our Christian festivals. In fact, it is because Christ’s resurrection happened on a Sunday (the first day of the week) that we, for nearly two millennia, have chosen to worship on Sundays rather than the Jewish Sabbath of Saturday (the last day of the week when God rested in the creation story). Each Sunday, then, is to be a mini-Easter, a celebration of the Resurrection, but there is something holy, sacred and special about Easter Sunday

I am sure some of it, for me at least, is the traditions (both of the church and my family) surrounding Easter of changing the paraments and our robes to white, decorating the cross with flowers, speaking our Alleluias again, hunting for eggs, giving baskets to our children and even shaving my winter beard. Some of it is memories of past Easters from my childhood and other churches I have served, and reflecting on how life has changed and how it has remained the same. One constant for me, as a United Methodist, is that we have always sung Charles Wesley’s hymn on Easter Sunday. Even when I was serving a church that only had a “contemporary” service, I still insisted that we sing it.

The words to “Christ the Lord Is Risen Today” are etched in my memory and remind me of what lies at the heart of our faith. The first verse calls us to join in with all creation in praising God for all of God’s mighty works, but especially that of the Resurrection. The second and third verses get at the theological heart of what God is doing. The Resurrection is an act of love, an act of redemption, an act of salvation. The words here favor a Christus Victor understanding of the atonement (a much earlier understanding than the now-prevalent among Protestant churches penal substitution model) in which Christ defeats the powers of evil and death, which have oppressed humanity from the beginning. Finally, the fourth verse calls us to follow Christ, even unto suffering and death, with the promise of eternal life

Now that Easter Sunday is in the past, you might be asking yourself, “Now what?” I believe our hymn instructs us well: praise God, join in Christ’s victory and follow wherever Christ leads. May we do so and thus become people of the Resurrection!

Christ the Lord is risen today, Alleluia!
Earth and heaven in chorus say, Alleluia!
Raise your joys and triumphs high, Alleluia!
Sing, ye heavens, and earth reply, Alleluia!

Love’s redeeming work is done, Alleluia!
Fought the fight, the battle won, Alleluia!
Death in vain forbids him rise, Alleluia!
Christ has opened paradise, Alleluia!

Lives again our glorious King, Alleluia!
Where, O death, is now thy sting? Alleluia!
Once he died our souls to save, Alleluia!
Where’s thy victory, boasting grave? Alleluia!

Soar we now where Christ has led, Alleluia!
Following our exalted Head, Alleluia!
Made like him, like him we rise, Alleluia!
Ours the cross, the grave, the skies, Alleluia!