Weekly Worship

Friends,

For some time I have not been posting sermon transcripts to the church website.  When Covid-19 began spreading in the Spring, worship moved to an online format, which I have continued moving forward.

Worship can be found at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrc10vWQwWOoWCrIyBjm-SQ each week.  The videos usually are made live on Sunday morning.

The peace of Christ be with you,

Rev. Timothy Holton

Coming back together on July 5, 2020

Greetings to you all,

The Caney Spring UMC Administrative Board met on Saturday, June 13, 2020, for the purpose of evaluating coming back to the building for worship on Sunday mornings.  After discussion, the decision was made to come back to one another’s presence beginning Sunday, July 5, 2020, at the regular time of 9:45 am. 

In order for the United Methodist Churches in the future Tennessee-Western Kentucky Conference to reassemble safely, toward the end of April, the bishop assembled a 14-member task force consisting of clergy and lay persons, with varying backgrounds in education, social work, and healthcare.  I am honored to serve on this task force, leaning into my first-career in infectious disease and research.  We bathed our work in prayer, continually asking the Spirit to guide and direct us in this important task.  A few weeks ago, the preliminary guidelines and recommendations were released, with the expanded, full guidelines released today. This can also be found on the bishop’s blog, along with an accompanying blog entry at https://bishopbillmcalilly.com. Please go to the blog and review the 24-page guidelines document.

Out of an abundance of care and concern, the local church leadership reviewed the published guidelines from the task force and have applied them within the context of our setting.  While not every recommendation is applicable, I’m going to highlight what impacts us at Caney Spring UMC, while asking you to keep in mind that this pandemic is fluid in nature.  We are all learning as we go, and when we know better, we will adapt.

Coming back to the building will look different from when we left.  There are a few things we are asking you have with you to ensure your safety and the safety of others.  To protect our most vulnerable members, we are asking that you bring with you a mask or face covering (that covers both your mouth and nose) for yourself and everyone who is coming to worship with you, and wear the mask or face covering for the duration of worship (placing it on your face prior to entering the building and waiting to remove it until you are back in your vehicle).  We are also asking that you bring hand sanitizer, as frequent disinfecting of your hands is essential to your health and the health of those around you. 

Upon arrival, we are asking you to enter through the front doors of the sanctuary, so you can be screened in.  If someone is waiting to enter, please stay in your vehicle until they have entered prior to approaching the entrance.  Screening procedures have been put into place to protect everyone in attendance.  Your temperature will be taken  to ensure it is 99.9° F or less before you enter the building.  You will be asked a series of non-privacy protected health questions.  This is all being done to protect you, and those with whom you worship.  If you are feeling ill, we ask you to refrain from attending in-person worship.  It may be helpful to arrive to the building sooner rather than later, to avoid a last minute rush.

When you enter the sanctuary, you will notice many things have been removed, notably the United Methodist Hymnals, Cokesbury Worship Hymnals, Pew Bibles, and all pew paraphernalia.  This was done out of an abundance of caution to remove the risk of cross-contamination.  You will also notice some pews have been roped off in order to maintain social distancing.  You may find yourself in a different seat than you normally occupy.  For social distancing considerations, if you were around people from church during the safer at home period, it would be ok for you to sit with those people, otherwise, please seat yourself in a fashion that insulates the 6-feet social distancing margin recommended by the CDC.  Once seated, please only leave your seat when essential.

Likewise, worship will be markedly different.  Our services will be shortened, to prevent the risk associated with prolonged exposure.  We have chosen to follow the scientific based guidance of refraining from congregational singing at this time.  All spoken liturgy will continue; however, you will remain seated for the duration of the service..  Weekly worship bulletins will be emailed to you in advance and hosted in the Google Drive assigned to me by the Conference, and you are encouraged to either load these to an electronic device you bring to worship, or print and bring from home where able (if you are not able, please let me know so a bulletin can be printed in advance for you).  At this time, we will not be celebrating Holy Communion while we are together, and there will be no ministry with youth or children per the governor’s guidelines for houses of worship (this includes the children’s message, Sunday School, and Vacation Bible School).  At the end of service, we ask that you exit orderly, back to front, inside to outside. 

Several have asked if this is the right time for them and their families to return to worship.  If you or your family do not feel comfortable returning to in-person worship at this time, virtual worship will continue each Sunday.  If in doubt, I encourage you to have a conversation with your healthcare provider who can help you navigate this decision.  Page 14 of the TWK Conference guidance details the phases for reassembling. 

I, in conjunction with our Conference and the lay leadership of the church, will continue to monitor the already rising COVID-19 positive cases in Tennessee, and will adjust as needed.

For reference, proper techniques for hand washing and mask wearing are detailed in the guidance; the following videos links are helpful for some people as well:

Mask:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNjTLT-VQbo

Hand Washing:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PmVJQUCm4E

Hand Sanitizer:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xC-_7ZiQoY

If you are planning to attend in-person worship on July 5, please email, call, or text me and let me know so we can plan accordingly.  If you do not have a mask or face covering, please alert me of that as well so we can have one for you at the church building.

This email and the guidelines have a lot of information, and if you are feeling overwhelmed, know you are not alone.  I am here and want to help you feel comfortable in this season of change.  Please don’t hesitate to contact me.  If you feel we need to have a Zoom question and answer time, I am open to it.  Together, we will get through this. 

Grace, peace, and love to you all.

Pastor Tim

Fifth Sunday in Lent, March 29, 2020

Continuing our worship virtually, this Sunday's recorded liturgy and sermon can be found at:

https://youtu.be/9K7VHxcnuso

The order of worship/participant program can be found at:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YJeU0CqenWDVsC7zQ0qqV8H4krSiuy6d/view?usp=sharing

Third Sunday in Lent Cyber Worship

Continuing our worship virtually, this Sunday's recorded liturgy and sermon can be found at:

https://youtu.be/UG7kmxGPnlo

The order of worship/participant program can be found at:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-9oXv6eh0jv_QOlvhONAGhoOnYpvpfUa/view?usp=sharing

Third Sunday in Lent cyber worship

This Sunday, the decision was made to suspend service in light of the rapid spread of Coronavirus COVID-19.  This decision was made based upon the recommendation of Bishop McAlilly, the Center for Disease Control, and out of care and concern for our loved ones.  

An abreviated "cyber" worship has been recorded and posted to YouTube at 

https://youtu.be/R-kg1u7od38

Copy and paste the link in any browser to view.

There are many links mentioned in the broadcast, and they are as follows:

Cyber Worship, Third Sunday in Lent, The Berlin Circuit of The United Methodist Church

The Berlin Circuit: http://theberlincircuit.blogspot.com/

Bulletin, March 15, 2020: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1eSU7ENRQOUIIon-dCSkRMekp7fOzmMfj

Choral Call to Worship: "Sweet, Sweet Spirit" http://discovergrace.us/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/328-PIANO-Sweet-Sweet-Spirit.pdf

Hymn of Praise: "There's Within My Heart a Melody" https://hymnary.org/hymn/CEL1997/page/712

Offertory Hymn: "Fill My Cup, Lord" https://musescore.com/user/30522520/scores/5455022

Hymn of Praise: "Blessed Assurance" https://michaelkravchuk.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Blessed-Assurance-D-Major-1.pdf

Hymn of Invitation: "How Great Thou Art" http://www.hymntime.com/tch/pdf/h/o/w/How%20Great%20Thou%20Art.pdf

The Shift

Today we are going to talk about someone who is a prominent figure, but we actually don’t know that much about him; today we are going to talk about Nicodemus. 

Today’s appearance of Nicodemus is only one of 3 times we encounter him (today’s account, when he defended Jesus to the Sanhedrin, and when he helps Joseph of Arimathea with Christ’s body after the crucifixion).  John’s Gospel is the only Gospel account that makes any mention of Nicodemus. 

Nicodemus is a Pharisee.  This is plainly stated for us.  We also see that he isn’t just a Pharisee, but we see that he is a leader.  This is someone who is set apart.  He was also a member of the Sanhedrin Court or Council, which was a collection of 23 or 71 elders in the Jewish tradition that convened to sit tribunal, given the authority to rule in matters of law (think adjacent to our Supreme Court). 

Nicodemus would have been a highly educated man, having attended the best schools with the best education.  He was respected, revered, and sought after. 

With all Biblical characters, there are some we can easily relate to and others not so easily.  For me, personally, Nicodemus is someone I can easily relate to.  If we were to psychologically profile Nicodemus, he would be someone who would be left brain dominant, preferring finite and measurable tenants (such as law) over more ambiguous matters.  He would be someone who was probably fairly matter of fact, who thought deeply before he spoke, and who chose reason over emotion.  He would have immersed himself in his work and his position and would have taken these things very seriously. 

The law that the Pharisees studied and maintained was, as we know, Mosaic Law; this being the rigid set of laws and guides Moses instituted many years prior.  We are all familiar with these laws as recorded in the Torah, particularly Books 2-5 in our Canonized Bible (Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy).  It was through this qualitative measure that religion was found.  And we’re all familiar with these laws; these laws taught us how to treat our slaves, how to sacrifice, the disenfranchisement of women and children, what clothing not to wear, how to and not to plant your crops, when you (women, particularly) could and couldn’t come into town or the temple based on cyclical medical conditions.  Not only did the law lay out these terms, it also quantified punishment for violation; what happens if you committed adultery, what happens if you murdered, what happens if you broke a contract, what happens if you steal, etc. 

This law and its adherence was the end sum of their religion.  Following the law meant a happy God; not following the law meant an unhappy God.  And that’s how things had always been…until….

We don’t know when, or where, or how, but Nicodemus has heard of Jesus and his teachings, and has gone in the cover of night to talk to Jesus.  I’m sure the things he had heard, whether first hand or through traveling word, were upsetting to Nicodemus.  Here is a man who claims to have the authority to make a new way; a way not of law but of love.  This is contrary to everything Nicodemus knows and stands for. 

We are all familiar with the conversation that follows.  Nicodemus knows that Christ truly is of God…he believes this based on the signs and miracles Jesus has performed.  While he understands this, he doesn’t understand the next statement from Jesus:  “no one can see the kingdom without being born from above”.  Now, Nicodemus’ response may seem odd to some and logical to others.  We have the benefit of the entire Gospel’s understanding when we read this text, but he did not.  His rebuttal was very literal: how can a grown man physically go back through the birth process again?  But being a very literal man who dealt in the literal interpretation and application of the law, I can totally see why he would have thought that…and if I were in his shoes I’m not sure I wouldn’t have thought the same thing (spoiler alert: I tend to be extremely literal and gullible if you didn’t already know that).  Jesus continues on explaining that this rebirth isn’t physical, it’s of water and the Spirit.  And then we get to probably the most famous text in all of the Bible:  John 3:16.  All of us an quote John 3:26…people who have never read the Bible can quote John 3:16. 

If the law was the end sum of religion as Nicodemus knew it, John 3:16 became the end sum of the new thing God was doing.  And as easy as John 3:16 is to understand, I’m sure Nicodemus struggled with it all the same.  That was, after all, not how they had ever done or understood things before.  And I would imagine that this good news wasn’t good news to Nicodemus at the time.  He had invested a lifetime in ritual holiness.  But at some point, Nicodemus actually got it…he overcame his intellectual and legalistic obligations and opened himself to this new thing that was happening; even if it didn’t make sense.  This was a tremendous leap for Nicodemus, and this is exactly what faith is.  Nicodemus was moving from a system of checks and balances to a system of grace and love. 

We as 21^st Century Christians have never been required to live under this Mosaic Law and a system where God keeps score in this way.  We entered into this relationship with God through Christ knowing John 3:16…but do we realize that?  In our relationships with others, with the church, and with the world, are we living and offering this grace through love, or are we still stick, like poor Nicodemus was, keeping score using an old system of laws that no longer hold value or contextual necessity?  We who are gathered here today…we know that Jesus came because God so loved the world and that whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life, and we know that to be true for ourselves; is there anyone we think this isn’t true for, because they aren’t worthy?  Because they don’t fulfill the law?  Because they don’t deserve it?  Suddenly, maybe the struggle Nicodemus faced has come into focus and isn’t so foreign after all….

The love God has for us knows no limitations…it’s a love that we struggle to understand, and because of our human limitations probably can’t fully, but I would challenge you today to stop quantifying people based on their actions, their lack of actions…and start offering this grace through love based on the simple qualification of all people being a whosoever.

The surprising and often missed transfiguration of Christ

Today is the Transfiguration of Christ Sunday.  Transfiguration…that’s a word you and I don’t use a lot, if ever.  It we go back to the original Greek, we see the root and basis for this is “metamorphosis”, which is a little more familiar to us; it means change.  The transfiguration is one of the miracles of the Gospels, and is the only miracle to happen to Christ instead of from Christ during his life.

We find Jesus, James, John, and Peter on a high mountaintop, but this mountain is not identified for us, to pray.  While there, Jesus begins to shine with bright rays of light, and the prophets Moses and Elijah appear with him and speak with him.  Then a voice from the Heavens repeats nearly the same words as we heard at the Baptism of Christ “This is My Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him”. 

Every year on the last Sunday before Lent we observe Transfiguration Sunday, and the text throughout the Synoptic Gospels is relatively the same.  Last year we talked about us being transfigured people.  This year I want us to focus more on this change that Christ experienced and how that impacts us in a time when Jesus physically doesn’t walk the earth the way Peter, James, and John experienced it.

I’ve had a few things happen to me this week that drove me in a different direction to this text.  More than once this week, I’ve had conversations centering around “taking the hand of Jesus”.  One was a friend’s teenage daughter who, with tears in her eyes, told me that she needed to take Christ’s hand, but she didn’t know how.  This, paired with the other conversations, made me stop and think about the times I’ve struggled to take the hand of Jesus, and how many people one degree of separation from me face the same challenge. 

Over the past few weeks we have talked at length about the Sermon on the Mount and throughout Epiphany the light that emanates outward through us from Christ.  Too often we think in these terms exclusively; we know with what we are tasked and we begin to focus on these tasks, but we often fail to understand why we are doing them, or even seek why.  We become so focused on doing that we don’t stop to think of the why – the theological aspect.

When we think of taking the hand of Christ, the first images that likely are conjured are turbulent.  We think of Christ extending his hand to Peter when he stepped out onto the choppy waters of the Sea of Galilee, or at least I do.  Then I begin to think of the stormy seasons in my life when I needed to reach for Christ for stability; the times when I wasn’t able to stand on my own and was in need.  I tend to think in the construct of when I needed saving, and it’s within this construct that I began to see how my entire view of this was wrong.

Just as Christ was transfigured on this mountain top, so too are we transfigured people, changed by baptism and confirmation.  We shed our old, and take on new with the light of Christ beaming out from within us, a light so bright that it shines like that city on the hill.  Today, I ask, how has this transfiguration changed us?  How are we different and new?

I’m sure everyone has stuck with me until this point; but from here forward, we need to have one of those hard conversations that are difficult for your introverted pastor. 

I think the first step in taking the hand of Christ is realizing what exactly Christ has been changed into, being that he no longer roams the earth physically with you and me.  At the transfiguration, Christ’s physical and supernatural entities came together in one divine being for all to behold.  This transfiguration continues today in the very light we have spoken so much about and have heard about ever since we were children, the light that is in every single person who ever was, who is, and who will ever be. 

I realized this week at Nicholas Sutton’s execution, when the clergy person took his hand to pray with Nick one final time, that clergy person took the hand of Christ.  When the counselors at the pregnancy resource center here in town reach out to those men and women, they are taking the hand of Christ.  When someone hands someone living on the street money, or a meal, or whatever act of compassion they are handing off, they are handing that into the hands of Christ.  When we extend an embrace to someone in pain, we are embracing Christ. 

In that same spirit, we need to realize that not only the good, but the bad is also true.  When we exclude, deny, or pass judgement on people because of ill formed beliefs, we are excluding, denying, and judging Christ.  When we prevent justice or equality for someone based on their race, or gender, or socioeconomic status, we are likewise doing those things to Christ.  When we cut social programs aimed to help those who aren’t as advantaged as us, or make the requirements so ridiculous that we have people that go to bed hungry, we are starving Christ.  When we deny immigration to those who are seeking to escape violence in their homes, we are denying Christ safety.  When we value some lives over other lives we are devaluing Christ.  When we worry more about our rights than we do our responsibilities, we begin to recognize the depth of our idolatry that clouds our vision.

I don’t have the answers to these difficult things you and I are faced with every day, and I don’t know how to reconcile with the compounding sociological-divisional issues we grapple with; I do know that instead of waiting until I’m in need to reach for the hand of Christ, I will choose to stop looking inward and start looking outward for the hand of Christ that needs me to grab it.