General Conference 2008

A Prayer

O God of unfathomable depths and mysterious ways, when we think about it, there is really so little that we understand. Whether it's a storm that passes one house and destroys another, a war that seemingly has no end, or a church that sanctions exclusion, we are left shaking our heads and wondering what it all means. Wondering how we can possibly find you in the midst of the mess. How long must we wander in this wilderness, O God? How long must we ask to serve you and be told NO? God who moved over the face of the waters and who hovers still over the chaos of our lives, we are weary of the noise. We are tired of the cacophony of rattling sabers, the endless distractions that shift our gaze to lines drawn in the sand, to distinctions of mine and yours, and to legal language of right and wrong instead of words of love and grace and justice and mercy. God who breathed life into fashioned clay, breathe into us now that we may be formed into your people once again. Quiet the storm within our denomination that the wave of your grace may roll over us. Heal us and all those who suffer from oppressive measures that we may find hope in this despair, pride in the shame of it all, courage in our fear, and resolution in defeat. Shift our eyes from a downward glance to stars outshining the darkest nights. Let us find water in the rock and life in dry bones. Raise us once more to new life and make of us something strong and full of grace. Free within us the courage to be vulnerable enough to offer a hand to clasp. Heal us that we may be bread to eat, wine to share, and mortal fools for your kin-dom. Fill us that we might be bold enough to take a stand, or speak a word, or shed a tear, or to make again the decision to follow you and, in so doing, that we will, by grace, come to life abundant and come to dare, and come to hope and love your future in.
Amen.

Sent to Brandon Wollerson from a fellow reconciler

Devotion for May 5, 2008

1 Peter 8-9.  Finally, all of you, have unity of spirit, sympathy, love for one another, a tender heart, and a humble mind.  Do not repay evil for evil or abuse for abuse; but, on the contrary, repay with a blessing.  It is for this that you were called – that you might inherit a blessing.

“A life defined by love will not seek to protect itself or to justify itself.

It will be content simply to be itself and to give itself away with abandon.

If denied, love embraces the denier.

If betrayed, love embraces the betrayer.

If forsaken, love embraces the forsaker.

Love never judges.

Love simply announces that neither the person you are nor the deeds you have done have erected a barrier which the power of this invincible presence cannot overcome.

If life is holy and if love creates and enhances life, then love is also holy.

…Love and God cannot be separated and that to share love is nothing less than sharing God.”

John Shelby Spong.  A New Christianity for a New World, (San Francisco:  HaperCollins Publishers Inc., 2001) p. 140.

Dave Smith
Hennepin Ave UMC

Devotion for May 4, 2008

But Yhwh said to Samuel, “Pay no attention to appearances and height; I have rejected (this one).  Yhwh does not see as mortals see; mortals see only appearances but Yhwh sees into the heart.                                                                           
                                                                       I Samuel 16: 7, From the Inclusive Bible.

A friend of mine told a story of spending time with someone who “knew it all” and had no use for anyone else’s opinion or actions.  She talks about working hard to see God in that person as she spent time with him, praying for God to reveal a side of that person that showed The Light in him.  And she worked really hard at believing that person was a child of God.

It is hard sometimes to understand that God sees, not as we see, but into the heart; that God knows us and “those others,” and loves the heart of all of us.  God’s plans depend on us, and on those we just can’t understand; even those we can’t stand to be around.

When our hearts -- the seat of our values and our will -- are well formed, we can see much more clearly, too.  When we accept that each person is a child of the Light, and look for their Light, our eyes are open to their hearts.

God, open our hearts to see as you see; to accept ourselves and those around us as Your chosen ones; to see not just appearances, but into the heart of each of Your children.  Amen.

Monica Swink
RMN Board Chair

Devotion for May 2, 2008

Mathew 17: 1-7

Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves. 2And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white. 3Suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. 4Then Peter said to Jesus, ‘Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you wish, I* will make three dwellings* here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.’ 5While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved;* with him I am well pleased; listen to him!’ 6When the disciples heard this, they fell to the ground and were overcome by fear. 7But Jesus came and touched them, saying, ‘Get up and do not be afraid.’

Two summers ago I was carrying boxes with my friend as he left the United Methodist Church where he had a student appointment.  Despite his great love of the Church that raised him and his calling to be a pastor, life in the closet had started to suffocate him and rather than endure a long painful death, he left.  As I carried his boxes through hallways of deafening silence, watching people look past us with absolute indifference as fear engulfed us all like a gas that poisons the lungs; I was ashamed.  I was ashamed to be part of the United Methodist Church, ashamed that they let him step out of the door without even a parting word, ashamed that they couldn’t imagine him preaching one more Sunday, and ashamed that I could be there while he could not.  That day walking into his new office with the UCC, for now is probably the closest I will ever be to the transfiguration or the spirit descending like a dove.  Welcome and the waters of hope washed over us both, as a squadron of women with dollies met us at the curb, unloading boxes before I could even turn off my car.  I have rarely felt the warmth of human hands, the kindness of words, and the bittersweet taste of cool lemonade so intensely as that day and there were moments when I thought for sure the walls were dazzling light.

That is why we are here.  We are here to witness the transfiguration and celebrate our shared journey to perfection.  To stand in solidarity and to work for justice through an ethic of love that welcomes honest critique rather than shuttering only to glance away in fear.  We are the hands of hope and the bearers of peace; we are present to bear witness to the possibilities.  May we fill this place with dazzling light this day and everyday to come, Amen.

Debra McKnight

First UMC,

Omaha

Nebraska

Devotion for May 1, 2008

O God, who dost forgive our iniquities and heal our diseases,
we cry unto thee.
Our strength has been brought low,
and we know not what the future
holds. In our bodies, there is pain;
in our souls there is anxiety and unrest.
If it may be, restore us to health.
We ask no miracle of deliverance,
and if in the order of nature our suffering must continue,
help us to accept it without rebellion.
If it must lead us toward the valley of the shadow,
help us to fear no evil, but to go bravely into thy nearer presence.
In thy good keeping, all is well.
Into thy hands we commend our bodies and our spirits.
Do with us as thou wilt. Amen.

Georgia Harkness

Submitted by Robbie Warren Gill
MoSAIC

Devotion for April 30, 2008

How can those who would follow Christ assume that they are more beloved of the Creator than any other part of His creation, when God created everything, and saw that it was good? And if God created man in His own image, male and female, than all, all of humankind is part of that image, known or unknown, served or betrayed, accepted or denied.

Madeleine L’Engle[1]

We are Christians in the business of reconciliation. We work to reconcile brothers and sisters in Christ who have been marginalized from the Church through a policy of exclusion. L’Engle’s quote, then, is easy for us as reconciling Christians to understand. What might be harder is the application of this idea to those Christians in the business of exclusion – those brothers and sisters in Christ who, in our understanding of divine love and acceptance, betray, deny, and hurt the very people we have worked to include in the body of Christ. In Romans 14 – 15:7, Paul offers good advice for dealing with divergent spiritual convictions within a community of faith. Pray today that we find a way to love also those brothers and sisters in Christ who don’t agree with our terms for reconciliation. “May God…give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus” (Romans 15:5).

Anastasia Hacopian

Former RMN Board Member

[1] L’Engle, Madeleine. And It Was Good: Reflections on Beginnings. Crosswicks, Ltd., 1993: 51 in L’Engle, Madeleine. Glimpses of Grace. Daily Thoughts and Reflections. Ed. Carole F. Chase. New York: Harper Collins, 1996: 32.

Devotion for April 29, 2008

In elementary school, children quickly learn the capabilities and
limitations of Elmer's nontoxic school glue. One limitation: undoing
what has been done. Once two pieces of paper are glued together, they
cannot be separated cleanly and swiftly. Rather, trying to take the
pieces together causes them to tear, and a portion of the first piece
will stay stuck to the other piece. Paper that has been glued together
cannot be separated, and if we try, we make a mess.

Paul assures us in his letter to the Romans that nothing can separate
us from God's love. I am encouraged when I think of construction paper
and Elmer's glue, which cannot be separated, because our relationship
with God is the same way. We cannot be separated from God's love, and
if we try to be, we don't succeed in doing anything but making a mess,
because nothing can separate us from the love of God. When the world
tells us otherwise, we can ignore the world and be hopeful and
faithful; we cannot be separated from God's love.

Leland Spencer
MoSAIC

Devotion for April 28, 2008

"What's lost is nothing to what's found, and all the death that ever was set next to life would scarcely fill a cup." -- Reverend Frederick Buechner

It is easy to lose perspective. Particularly around General Conference.  The passion we have for the issues at hand can often cloud the larger reality. Sometimes it feels as if our life was hanging on a vote. But, of course, it is not—our life is hidden, found, sustained and nourished in Christ.

As we go through these days. . . . let us remind each other of this. Let us remember that if all the death that ever was (including that readily available in Ft. Worth 08) was set next to life  . . . . it would scarcely fill a cup.  A bitter cup, for sure, but only a cup.

Jorge Lockward

Devotion for April 27, 2008

Whatever else happens today, you can bet you will disagree with someone, see something important to you differently from someone else, maybe even be deeply hurt by these differences of opinion and perspective.  You will probably hear calls for "finding unity," amid all of the difference.  I believe we do not have to "find" our unity; I believe we "have" our unity.  We may have different feelings, opinions, perspectives--about which we feel strongly and passionately--but we already have our unity in God.  We are all created human (one of a wonderful diversity of animals); we are all beloved (certainly by God, hopefully by others); and we all have the capacity to love, to weep, to rage, to laugh, and to hope.  Today, give thanks to God for this great diversity of life, and give thanks for the lives of those who differ from us, offering them and ourselves to God's eternal and powerfully transformative grace.  Amen.

Rev. Sharon L. Moe
PNW Conference

Devotion for April 26, 2008

I was reading an article by Howard Zinn, and two quotes stuck out to me:

“Don’t let ‘those who have power’ intimidate you.  No Matter how much power they have, they cannot prevent you from living your life, thinking independently, speaking your mind.”

“Small acts, when multiplied by millions of people, can transform the world”.[1]

As we are at General Conference these words give me hope.  They remind me that every action or resistance is important, and every voice is needed.  To be Christian in a changing world, we must all continue to speak truth to those in power even when we are sure that they are not listening.  Words from people such as Zinn have inspired me to think that extraordinary things happen everyday, and what we might think is impossible one moment, in the next becomes reality.  Let us during General Conference have our actions be multiplied by millions, and may we not be intimidated or deterred. Rather let us continue to have hope, to believe that the future can be different, can be better, for we are on the side of the Spirit. Nothing can deter the Spirit of Christ moving through the people.

Rachel Birkhahn-Rommelfanger
RMN Board Member

[1] Zinn, Howard. “Optimism of Uncertainty” in Paul Rogat Loeb The Impossible will take a while (New York: Basic books 2004).