Welcoming the stranger

Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters. Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.  -Hebrews 13:1-2

I have grown weary of reading about the acts of violence in our country and around the world.  I have grown weary of reading people's blogs and writings on refugees and whether or not they should be welcomed.  And yet here I am writing.

The hospitality to refugees is a puzzle to me and yet not so uncommon.  When I was in high school our community, church and my family welcomed many refugees and gave of time and resources to get them a safe place to live and jobs.  I remember my mother getting some of our furniture recovered to give them employment.  I don't remember anyone having a problem with welcoming these strangers.

I have seen in many churches how people lump groups of people together.  If you are a teenager you are up to no good.  If you are old you don't know anything.  If you are a single parent on public assistance...  You get the idea.  I have to wonder and even assume that is what people are doing when they say they don't want to welcome refugees for fear they may be terrorists.  I understand (I think) but that doesn't make it acceptable.

The other night we were working in the book "Five Questions of Christmas".  The author had helped us take a look at the question Zechariah asked the angel who had just told him his wife of old age would have a child: How can this be? We considered this a matter of not trusting God.  We say with God all things are possible. But when we are asked to believe in something we know to be impossible we don't trust God.

Then it hit me. How many of us who seek to be faithful and Christlike say we trust God's will for our lives and even propose that we are willing when God calls - how many of us might have a different answer when something difficult is asked of us?  I know I am apt to be there.  You want me to do what God?

Living the Christian life is not easy for anyone. We are asked to do difficult things, love unlovable people and give up control. I also wonder if the state of the church (decline) is because people have not really been willing to do those things in the past? present? 

As a pastor a day does not go by that I do not get interrupted in what I am doing to be with someone when they need me or even when they just want to chat.  Being a pastor has taught me a lot about being present and available for others.  I am often asked to love the unlovable or those people who have the most ridiculous demands or who gossip about me and others... I still am called to love them.

I have come to accept "it is not about me".  It is about a world created by a God of power, might, compassion, love, forgiveness... Each one of us has received freely the gift of God's love and blessings as well as many do overs we don't deserve. It is not about me and  it is not mine to judge. I responsible for springing in to action for those in need and seeking to bring about glimpses of God's preferred future for God's people.

Thank you for sticking with my rambling.  Perhaps I am the only one who needed this but I do pray this might be helpful.

Have a blessed holiday season.  May love always win big time.

Conspiracy

Winter has finally arrived and settled in here in Ottumwa Iowa.  The good news is there are more eagles in town because of the open water on the river.  The difficult news has been every Sunday this year has been snowy, icy, extremely cold,  and we even cancelled worship once.

A colleague of mine (who I happen to live with) suggested there  a conspiracy for our churches to have low attendance so far this year. I don't believe that to be true but I have been thinking about a conspiracy the church might take on.

A conspiracy of kindness, grace and love for those in our community. What if each person in the church were to find at least 3 random acts they could do for different folks every week especially during Lent.

Ottumwa, Iowa has shy of 25,000 people living here.  I have well over 250 active people in my church times 3 a week would be 750 random acts.  If my church alone were to work on this at 750 random acts per week it would take us 33 weeks to saturate the community.

It takes 21 days to make a habit stick.  33 weeks of this kind of conspiracy and we could not stop ourselves.

As the church we often ask the community for things such as attendance at fund raisers.  I would love to see a conspiracy of kindness, grace and love.  If other churches and Christians joined us we could really get people's attention and get them asking about the "conspiracy" of love being shown.

Just a thought or two.

Grace and Peace to you,
Leila Disburg, pastor
Willard Street UMC in Ottumwa Iowa

Time to blog again

I have been back in Iowa for 2 1/2 years and it has been longer than that since I last blogged.  Often when life changes such as a move - old ways get lost. I feel as if this is the time to begin blogging again.

I still hold the same vision of my purpose and the purpose for the church which is to help others see glimpses of the Kingdom of God or God's preferred future.  It seems to be needed more today than ever before.  The church appears to have been left behind by the world.  There is violence everywhere. Wars continue.  There is an unrest.

I believe my main purpose is to help the world see that there is hope. Often after Christmas it is difficult to hold on to that hope as we march in to the new year.  That moment that happens at Christmas Eve worship when everyone is holding a lit candle, the lights are turned off and silent night is being sung - that moment is magical.  The light of Christ reflected on the faces is full of hope.  If we could only hold on to that the rest of the year.

The reality however is that we live in a broken world. We are broken people. Often we like to hide our brokenness pretending we are perfect and all is good.  If only we could claim our brokenness and boldly show the world how we have survived.  Hope would be given to others just knowing they are not alone.

There is an art form used with broken pottery called Kintsukuroi.  The broken pieces are put back together with a mixture containing gold dust.  The result is often times a piece that is even more beautiful than the original piece.

This art form is a reminder that each of us are made more beautiful through the brokenness we have experienced if we have let God use those breaks.  God does not cause our brokenness but God can help us to turn it to something other than a jagged edge.

The most beautiful people I see wear the scars of their brokenness.  In those broken places they have grown stronger and wiser and closer to God's preferred future for the world.

Where are you broken?  How has God used your brokenness?  How could God use your brokenness to bring hope to others?