Civil War, Ku Klux Klan, and anonymity

      In the aftermath of the Civil War, there were some in the south who felt powerless because they had lost and their desired way of life was no longer available to them (i.e. owning slaves and getting to act like the GOD over those slaves). When they lost that, they resorted to going out at night, hiding their identity with white hoods and sheets, and trying to bully the ones they used to be able to intimidate as slaves. They started intimidating and bullying their own neighbors when the neighbor did something to irk them. And people never talked about those things because you never knew who was, or wasn't, a member of the Ku Klux Klan organization. They just kept the town secrets to themselves for fear that they would be the next one on the receiving end of the intimidation.

     Nowadays, as far as I know, it's not the KKK that does the bullying. Even in the church, there are the "anonymous" letter writers who hide their identity in order to bully others. And most of the time, the letter recipient is so devastated that they never tell others and so nothing ever changes. And the church of Jesus loses another person that Christ himself died for.

     A friend of mine recently got two anonymous letters telling her what to do and what not to do, even going as far as telling my friend she could no longer attend her church. The authors of these letters apparently are ticked off about something that happened (or didn't happen) and feel they "just have to" take action to set things right. And so they hid their identity by calling themselves a "Concerned Parish member" and a "regular [church] attendee."

     As a pastor, I've received my share of anonymous letters. And they're worthless! There's a reason that newspapers specify that they will not print letters to the editor that aren't signed. Because if there is something important that needs to happen, people will own up to the idea or the critique and help DO SOMETHING about whatever problem there is. Those who are just ticked off because they don't get their own way, and know they'd be wrong if they openly confronted someone about their concern, try to be anonymous. Folks, if your beef isn't worth YOUR name and YOUR time being associated with it, then it's not worth our time and attention either.

     JESUS taught us, in Matthew 18:15-17, that if we have a problem with someone else WE are to GO TO that person that offended or hurt us... alone and in person. That way, you can hopefully get things worked out and a friendship is maintained. If that person doesn't respond by making things right, then you get a couple of other people to go with you next time. In my religious tradition, that quite often is either the pastor or the Staff-Parish Relations Committee (SPRC). If the person STILL doesn't make things right, then you treat her or him like you would a common sinner.

     HOWEVER, if YOU remember that YOU are the one who has hurt someone else by your words or your actions, then Jesus explained in Matthew 5: 23-24 that it is up to you to go approach the one you hurt to try to make things right. That doesn't mean they forgive you (some will, some won't), but you must do your best to make it right if you want God to bless what you do.

     As Christians, we ARE in a Civil War today. Those who ought to be subjects of the Almighty King (Satan & his demons) have rebelled and refuse to bow their knee to their rightful King and Lord. Furthermore, when Jesus died on the cross, and then was raised from the dead, he defeated Satan completely. JESUS WON THAT WAR!!!

     However, in the same way that the KKK was unwilling to admit defeat and tried to intimidate those who had been made free, so it is with the devil and his hordes of followers. When we are following what Christ taught us, we are dangerous to them and we become targets for the evil tactics of a frustrated, defeated enemy. Since Satan cannot get at God, he sends his remaining demons to try and make life so difficult for the believers that maybe, just maybe, he can get us to give up on church and on God.

     OH, by the way, there is one more concern to take into account for those who would jab and fight from under the cover of anonymity: you are NOT anonymous to God. He sees what you do and knows the evil you intend, whether you burn crosses or send unsigned nasty letters.

     FOR THOSE OF US who know someone who's been on the receiving end of a bully's evil efforts, there are a couple things we can do.

     First, PRAY! Pray that God would cover the letter recipient with his love and comfort and grant them the courage and peace they will need to be able to deal with such evil.

     Second, find a way to let that person know how much they ARE loved and how little that bully speaks for the group. Talk, listen, spend time with him or her. (And facebook, twitter, and my space don't count! The one you are trying to encourage needs to be able to hear the empathy and love as you are with them... online doesn't allow that and even great thoughts can seem hurtful at times).

     Third, don't just react to them. I mean, they need to feel loved and connected, but if you and I just get MORE offended and take his (or her) problem on as our own, then we can't help as much. Usually, it ends up sounding like a gripe session where EVIL is the only topic of discussion and the God of love is left out. (Again, that's another reason to avoid the online treatment of such an important matter.)

     GOD knows who is a bully and a coward trying to destroy one of his loved ones. Let's make sure that can NEVER be said about us.

Whose Job Is It Anyway?

Here are my sermon notes from this morning's sermons at Reynoldsville: First UMC.

"WHOSE JOB IS IT ANYWAYS?"

Scripture Text: John 13: 3-17

 

I visited my home church, Shinglehouse UMC, a few years back and noticed this in their bulletin:

Pastor: Rev. Randy Headley
Organist: Barb Wheeler
Ministers: All The People

ALL THE PEOPLE are the ministers! It reminds me of the Scripture in Matthew 25 where Jesus tells the story of the sheep & the goats and how doing things like feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the sick & those in prison, are all ways of showing love to Jesus himself. His words there are "because you've done these things for the least of these my children, you've done them for me..."

That little church has captured that... the Pastor is there as a servant and an administrator and as a preacher, but most of the ministry of the church actually comes from the lay people who sit in the pews each and every Sunday. The ministry of the church comes primarily through them, even though most people will still speak of the pastor as “the minister.”

Well, what Jesus told in story form there in the end of Matthew, he retells the night before his death, in very easy to understand, hard to miss terms by using an example.

Read with me our Scripture passage for this morning: John 13:3-17 (New Living Translation)

Jesus knew that the Father had given him authority over everything and that he had come from God and would return to God.  So he got up from the table, took off his robe, wrapped a towel around his waist, and poured water into a basin. Then he began to wash the disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel he had around him.


When Jesus came to Simon Peter, Peter said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”


Jesus replied, “You don’t understand now what I am doing, but someday you will.”


“No,” Peter protested, “you will never ever wash my feet!” Jesus replied, “Unless I wash you, you won’t belong to me.”


Simon Peter exclaimed, “Then wash my hands and head as well, Lord, not just my feet!”


Jesus replied, “A person who has bathed all over does not need to wash, except for the feet, to be entirely clean. And you disciples are clean, but not all of you.” For Jesus knew who would betray him. That is what he meant when he said, “Not all of you are clean.”


After washing their feet, he put on his robe again and sat down and asked, “Do you understand what I was doing? You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and you are right, because that’s what I am. And since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet. I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you. I tell you the truth, slaves are not greater than their master. Nor is the messenger more important than the one who sends the message. Now that you know these things, God will bless you for doing them.

Even though the apostle John spends several more chapters on what Jesus did that final night, and what he taught, this teaching on service is the final night before his crucifixion. He wanted the disciples to remember these things, because they are some of the most important aspects of following Christ: the whole idea of service.

And Jesus goes about it in a way that they cannot forget.

He, the leader, the master, the teacher, the KING, starts acting like one of the lowest of slaves... He gets down and washes their feet. He serves them.

verse 4 "so he got up from the table..." Later in verse 26, he is back sitting at the table and dipping the bread.

‘So what?’ you might ask... ‘What you getting at preacher?’

Just this...
Jesus shows us here that service sometimes is inconvenient... maybe even in the middle of a meal. Yet, by his own example, we see that even a meal, the very meal that was to become the most famous meal in all of history, The Last Supper, even a meal is no excuse to keep us from serving others.

In my life, it was my grandmother who showed this behavior best. I'm thinking of the big Sunday dinners, or for that matter the everyday evening meals, where most of the way through the meal she is up & down, back & forth, making sure there were enough potatoes or meat or beverage or vegetable or whatever... but if she saw that one of us needed something, especially my grandpa, she would drop her fork, with food still on it, and get up to go get whatever was needed. Then she would return to her meal and the food on her plate.

Jesus does that here. Even though it's the middle of the meal, he stops eating and takes off his outside coat, rolls his sleeves up (so to speak), grabs a towel, and starts washing the disciples’ feet.

Sometimes service as a disciple of Jesus Christ will be equally inconvenient, yet still necessary. Yet how many times do we say, ‘Wait a few moments, or a few days, and then I'll be able to help?’

Notice also that Jesus also washes Judas Iscariot's feet. They all sit down to the meal and are eating, when Jesus gets up and washes the feet of the disciples. Then he goes back to the meal and tells everyone that the one who will betray him is the one he gives the bread to. In fact, Scripture even records Jesus talking to Judas after the meal. There is no question about it... Judas was there when we are told that Jesus washed his disciples’ feet.

How many times do we say we want to serve Christ, but then when he deliberately puts us in a place where we need to serve him by serving others, we refuse to serve some just because they've been mean to us or hurt us in some way? We are more likely to say something like “If that's the way she's going to be, then see if I ever try to help her again!” Yet here is Jesus, who already knows what Judas is up to and what he's about to do, and still he is shown the love of Jesus like every other disciple.

And lest we think that this is just a message for just the “church leaders on how to serve their church and their God, look again at verses 12-17:

After washing their feet, he put on his robe again and sat down and asked, “Do you understand what I was doing? You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and you are right, because that’s what I am. And since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet. I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you. I tell you the truth, slaves are not greater than their master. Nor is the messenger more important than the one who sends the message. Now that you know these things, God will bless you for doing them.


ANY of us who call ourselves followers of Christ are his disciples and are called to serve him and follow his example. We are to be involved in service... through the local church and as individuals. It reminds me of the story I once read about “Who's Job Is It?”

"This is a story about four people named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody. There was an important job to be done and Everybody was sure Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it. Somebody got angry about that, because it was Everybody’s job. Everybody thought Anybody could do it but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn't do it. It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done." (author unknown)

We are to be involved in service... through the local church and as individuals. We are called, like Jesus said in verse 17: “Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.”

Jesus is our example here. We are to serve, we are to serve even if it's inconvenient, and we are to serve even those whom we don't like or who hurt us. But how we serve speaks of how we love our Lord.

This morning we have dedicated our service of others, to the Lord by our acceptance of positions of service here in the church. The committee chairs and members, the secretaries, the communion stewards, the ushers, the musicians, the custodians, the historians, and the financial people.

Some of the positions may seem “important” or even “spiritual” while others may not. Yet, each job, from chairperson to committee member to the cooks to the custodians is an indispensible part of the way that we, as a united, unified group of believers, serve our community and our Lord.

As we prepare for our final hymn let me just remind you of what was said to people attending the little Quaker church as they were preparing to end their worship time and then go home: They were told: “The service starts when the meeting ends.”

We worship this morning, but our service is how we work together and individually for the kingdom of God.

(Adapted from a sermon I preached January 5, 1997)