September 15

Living

The fire in leaf and grass
so green it seems
each summer the last summer.

The wind blowing, the leaves
shivering in the sun,
each day the last day.

A red salamander
so cold and so
easy to catch, dreamily

moves his delicate feet
and long tail. I hold
my hand open for him to go.

Each minute the last minute.

+ Denise Levertov

I wonder if maybe this is something like what it means to “live eternally” here and now, to embrace each moment as if it were the most important moment, as if it were both the Alpha and the Omega, as if it were an eternal moment, as eternal gift. May this poem be a blessing in your day.

Grace and Peace,
Pastor Alan

September 8

Hands, Feet, and Heart of Jesus

If you find Week of Compassion on Facebook, or online, the first thing you will see are “Thank You’s” in response to Hurricane Ida relief. Week of Compassion helps to make this work possible through partnerships with local congregations and non-profit partners. In other words, this work is made possible by you. Here are a couple I saw:

Northshore Disciples and FCC Sulphur, Louisiana are working to provide and distribute water, food, generators, and gas in needy neighborhoods on the Northshore. Many remain without power and others are unable to return home. Meeting immediate needs is making a big difference.

Park Avenue Christian Church in New York: On my way to deliver lunches and communion for those without power. I have gift cards for ride shares for those without transportation and Whole Foods gift cards for the hot bar for those who will be without power longer than today. HUGE shoutout to Week of Compassion for helping make this possible.

Week of Compassion is active throughout the United States and worldwide. The best way to help those affected by Ida right now is to “Stay, pray, and give.” Designate Week of Compassion gifts to “hurricane” to support Ida recovery.

How to give:
-Give online - https://www.weekofcompassion.org/donate.html
-Text WoC to 41444
-Mail checks to: PO Box 1986; Indianapolis, IN 46206

Designate your gift
"Hurricane" - goes to Ida relief
"Earthquake" - goes to Haiti

All gifts go directly to disaster recovery.
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Alan

August 25

Dear Friends,

It is time to share a quick COVID update. While the wide availability of vaccines has offered significant protection for our community and congregation, with the continued mutation of the virus, we are going to be living with this virus for the foreseeable future. With the Delta Variant, the virus continues to spread very rapidly in our community and beyond. So I wanted to share a few of my concerns and a few things offering me encouragement with you all:

Concerns:

• In the Athens Area, ICU wings have been full for the last week, and hospitals are creating new ICU beds as needed.

  • It is my understanding there are 70 ICU beds available in the Athens Area. Since mid-August, the Athens Area has had between 72 and 75 ICU patients daily.

• 94% of regular hospital beds in the Athens Area are currently occupied.

  • The number of beds used changes daily, but has generally trended upward throughout the month of August.

• Today there are twice as many new COVID cases among our children, in all age groups, than there were in January.

  • The number of cases among children has more than doubled over the last two weeks, most of which are too young to be vaccinated. There were 13,020 new cases among children up to age 17 over the last week.

• Active Union members are sick with COVID, both vaccinated and unvaccinated, both at home and in the hospital.

Encouragements:

• We estimate 80% of those attending Sunday worship at Union Christian Church are vaccinated.

• Vaccination continues to offer strong (though not absolute) protection against the COVID virus.

The following statistics are from the Northeast Georgia Health System, including 4 hospitals and 3 other facilities in Lumpkin, Hall, Jackson & Barrow counties.

• Fewer than 1 in 10 patients in the Northeast Georgia Health System have been vaccinated.

• Only 1 in 25 patients in the ICU have been vaccinated.

Each day I ask prayers of protection and healing from COVID-19 for our congregation and our community. Each day I wrestle with the response to this pandemic that I should recommend to our congregation. Please continue to consider your own health conditions as you make decisions about attending locations and events in our community, and in our congregation. And most of all, please continue to consider the health conditions of the most vulnerable among us as you choose mitigation measures (distancing, masks, attention to viral symptoms, etc.) in the community and at church. We continue, always, to respect one another, and trust one another as a part of the Union Church family.

Grace and Peace,
Pastor Alan

August 18

Dear Friends,

Over the next few weeks, our scripture readings will come from the Gospel of John, chapter 6. This chapter begins with The Feeding of the 5,000, followed by Jesus Walking on the Sea. The rest of the chapter is a discourse; a conversation, sometimes heated, about Jesus as The Bread of Life.

The author of John draws on Moses and the Exodus to help those gathered understand who Jesus is, whether they be the crowds, the religious leaders, or the disciples. Written generations after the resurrection, the author also weaves in ancient Passover themes, as well as an understanding of the Lord’s Supper, regularly practiced in even the earliest church gatherings, into the conversation about who Jesus is.

The Gospel of John’s “Bread of Life” discourse gets really dense at points. It is a challenge to follow and try to pull out the vital points he is trying to make in this particular episode. I look forward to exploring this story with you in worship. As we do so, let us continue to pray: Holy God, open our ears to hear your Word. Open our eyes to see your truth. Open our hearts to share your love, in all that we do. Amen

Grace and Peace,
Pastor Alan

August 11

The Regathering Committee met Sunday evening for a COVID-19 update as summer draws to a close and the highly contagious Delta variant becomes the predominant strain throughout the United States. Regathering does not currently recommend any universal changes in church activity.
We ask each person to consider the actions they should take to protect the health of our most vulnerable members (those unable to get vaccinated and/or those with compromised immune systems). For example:

• Stay home if you have experienced any of the following COVID-19 symptoms during the last several days, even if you have been vaccinated.

  • fever or chills, cough, shortness of breath, fatigue, muscle/body aches, headache, sore throat, congestion, runny nose, nausea, diarrhea, maybe loss of taste or smell

  • COVID-19 symptoms are very similar to common cold, flu, or respiratory/sinus infection symptoms

• Consider wearing a mask at church and around others if during the previous several days:

  • you have spent time, even a few minutes, with someone with COVID-19 symptoms, or

  • you have been with large groups and do not have knowledge of the participants' COVID-19 status.

If you would like more details about the Delta variant, contact the church office. As we printed in the bulletin, “We respect one another, and trust one another as a part of the Union Church family.”

The Regathering Committee and Pastor Alan will continue to pay attention to the impact of COVID-19 on our community and the church, so that we may continue to maintain a safe worship environment. Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions or concerns.

Grace and Peace,
Pastor Alan

August 4

I Really Don’t Want To, But…

I really don’t want to, but I am digging my masks back out. Like many of you, I am fully vaccinated. I am confident that I am safe. If not quite as protected from contracting COVID-19 as I felt a few weeks ago, I am confident that I am safe from becoming dangerously ill. If that is the case, why am I digging out my masks?
I am sure you have already heard many of these reasons, but here they are.

• The Delta variant is much more contagious than previous mutations and may lead to more severe illness.

• There are several cases of vaccinated folks contracting and shedding the Delta variant.

• The Delta variant appears to pose a significant, dangerous health risk to those of us who are immuno-compromised, whether it is due to a particular health treatment or medical condition, even if vaccinated.

• COVID cases are becoming more prevalent and more dangerous among younger folks. (Vaccination rates are very high among older folks).

• Emergency vaccination is not yet approved for many of our school aged children.

• 68 cases of COVID were identified in Oconee County the last week of July, up from 25 the week before. (CovidActNow.org)

• COVID hospitalizations in Georgia rose from 1,596 on Monday, July 26, to 2,416 on Saturday, July 31. (CovidActNow.org)

I am afraid I could find more, but that is all that my head can hold at the moment. In short, it is time to once again, think about those around me, especially those who are more vulnerable than me. So, even though I really don’t want to, I am digging my masks back out.

Union's regathering policy currently remains the same, but we are monitoring the situation closely and will update our mask and distancing protocols as needed.

Before I sign off, I want to point out that not all of the news is bad. I give thanks for the continuing good news.

• Vaccines offer a very high level of protection, even for the Delta variant, for the vast majority of people.

• Vaccines offer an extremely high level of protection against hospitalization, even for the Delta variant, for most people.

Union Christian Church, sometimes I feel like a broken record when I say again how much you love and lookout for one another, the local community, and all of God’s creation. I keep saying it, because you keep showing it over and over again. I give thanks for you, and your commitment to the needs of the whole community. You inspire me and give me hope. May we continue to promote the healing of our community and all of creation in all that we say and all that we do.

Grace and Peace,
Pastor Alan

July 14

Thank You to the Regathering Committee
In late Summer 2020,  the Regathering Committee came together as Union Christian Church (DOC) sought possibilities for getting together regularly and safely, especially for worship.  The Regathering Committee guided the development of Outdoor Worship and has helped the congregation navigate reopening the church to the congregation and the community. 

The Regathering Committee has recommended our facility be considered fully open and available for use by groups in the congregation and community, as it was pre-COVID; we are excited to be sharing our facilities with the community once more.  Union remains cognizant of COVID in our community and are asking groups using the church to do so as well.  The Regathering Committee will remain intact but does not currently anticipate meeting unless called together in response to a COVID concern.  Pastor Alan and Peter Cook will continue to monitor pandemic conditions in the community. 

I don't know if we can say a big enough "THANK YOU" to the Regathering Committee for all they have done.  Their work, commitment, and leadership has been an example of God's life-giving presence in the world.  It has, indeed, been a gospel light held high. 

Thank you, Regathering Committee, for everything!
 
Reverend Alan Cloar, 
on behalf of Union Christian Church (DOC)

Regathering Committee

JR Beckwith, Julian Beckwith, Patti Clark, Alan Cloar, Peter Cook, Angie Eades, Earl Elsner, Holly Green, Alan Hickerson, Patsy Orr, and Gary Wall 

July 7

The Books of Samuel, Uniting the Children of Israel with David

As we spend the next several weeks with David in worship, I will offer at least a couple of articles offering some basic background to Samuel. This week, I thought I would share a general outline. Samuel was composed as one book, that was divided in "later publications" because of size. The books of Samuel carry us from the time of the Judges, when Israel is being led by tribal leaders through the establishment of a dynastic kingship under Saul, and then David. It begins with the story of the birth of Samuel, the prophet, and takes us through the rebellion of David's son, Absalom.

There is a lot that happens. Through the majority of these stories, God is in the background, rather than the forefront. Still, God is there; God is active.

Here is the bird's eye view of the books of Samuel:

1. Samuel is chosen as God's Prophet The story begins with Samuel's mother, Hannah, and the birth of Samuel, followed by his apprenticeship under Eli. (1 Samuel 1:1 - 4:1)

2. The Philistines and God's Covenant Chest The Covenant Chest is captured by the Philistines, and returned. (1 Samuel 4:1 - 7:2)

3. Samuel Leads Israel (1 Samuel 7:2-17)

4. Saul Becomes Israel's First King Samuel acquiesces to Israel's clamoring for a king, Saul is chosen, and finally acclaimed. (1 Samuel 8:1-12:25)

5. Saul's Battles, Saul is rejected by Samuel Saul has early success, but also displays bad judgment, and lack of trust in God. (1 Samuel 13:1 - 15:35)

6. David, the Future King David Is Chosen as the future king, spends time in the royal court, and flees. (1 Samuel 16:1-31:13)

7. David Becomes King We follow the story from Saul's death until David captures the Jebusite city that is renamed Jerusalem. (2 Samuel 1:1 - 5:10)

8. David Consolidates the Kingdom This section details David's Kingdom and it's relationships with neighboring kingdoms. (2 Samuel 5:11-8:18)

9. David's Family and Sins In this section, the holy history of Israel pulls know punches regarding the, sometimes devastating, humanity of David and those around him. (2 Samuel 9:1-20:26)

10. Concluding Traditions about David Here we find a collection of stories that have not been already incorporated into the Book of Samuel. (2 Samuel 21:1-24:25)

Already, this year, we have shared the story of David desiring to build the Temple from section 8, when we first came back into the sanctuary. We remembered God selecting David through Samuel from Section 6, to begin our "David" series. Last week, we skipped forward to David bringing the Ark to Jerusalem, also from Section 8, because it seemed a better selection for July 4th than the story of David and Goliath. We will backup to the story of David and Goliath in worship this Sunday, also from Section 6. Frankly, I'm not sure what this sermon will look like. I covet your prayers for Godly wisdom between now and then. In the following weeks, we will continue with stories from the last three sections of this outline.  

Grace and Peace,
Pastor Alan

June 30

Celebrating our Hopes
This year, July 4th falls on Sunday. Many of us will have an opportunity for a long weekend, perhaps to travel, or gather with family for the first time in quite a while. Whatever your plans, I wish you a joyful holiday weekend.

Our story for Sunday will be the story of the Ark being brought to David’s new capital of Jerusalem. In this passage we see glimpses of the twelve tribes working to bind themselves into a “unified people,” a “unified nation.” Even in this relatively small landscape, they have different patterns daily life, different demands for sustenance in each of their particular corners of the holy land. They have, even in these relatively few generations, different traditions and practices. They are a diverse (and stiff-necked) people. They sound a bit like us sometimes.

We will also see in this passage, that David can be mistake prone and hot-headed. Can’t we all? And yet, they celebrate. They do not celebrate their perfections, but their hopes, and trust in God’s providence. I pray as we celebrate July 4th this weekend, we celebrate our hopes for this sprawling, unique nation and all who live within its bounds. I pray we celebrate the best of our Declaration’s and Constitution’s vision, in order always, to “form a more perfect union.” And may we work, always, to bring those hopes and visions into being as a Christ-shaped among our manifold and sundry neighbors.

See you Sunday!
Pastor Alan

June 23

Dear Church,

Over the next several weeks in worship, we will be sharing the story of David. Specifically, we will remember the following stories:

• God demanding Samuel continue to look for the future king of the children of Israel, until they finally bring the boy David in from the fields.

• David brings the Ark to Jerusalem

• The story of David and Goliath

• David is anointed king

• Nathan confronting David with Bathsheba and the death of Uriah

• The story of Absalom's rebellion

The lectionary readings for this summer contain several more stories of David. We are going to miss some of them. David is one of the most important characters in the Hebrew Bible. I am grateful the lectionary offers us this opportunity to spend this time with David during his high's and his lows.
See you Sunday!

Grace and Peace,
Pastor Alan

June 16

The Fear of Miracles
Mark 4:35-41

Do you think the disciples were more frightened before the stilling of the storm or after?
The answer should be “the storm” of course. It was a great windstorm” and “the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped.” The disciples were frightened for their lives. But the scripture ends, saying, “They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”

Dr. David Lose once shared a couple of thoughts from the book Peace Like a River by Leif Enger. In the opening pages of that story, Reuben Land, the narrator, tells of the apparent miracle by which his father saved his life when he had just been born. He then reflects on how often we tend to domesticate miracles, using the word to describe all manner of things that merit our attention and appreciation but that are not, finally, truly miraculous.

“Real miracles bother people, like strange sudden pains unknown in medical literature. It’s true: They rebut every rule all we good citizens take comfort in. Lazarus obeying orders and climbing up out of the grave — now there’s a miracle, and you can bet it upset a lot of folks who were standing around at the time”

Later in the book, Reuben quotes his sister, saying, “People fear miracles because they fear being changed.”

I wonder if this is, perhaps, an unrecognized part of the disciples fear, the fear of being changed.
And make no mistake, Jesus is asking the disciples to change. In this very moment he is drawing them from the familiar territory of Capernaum to the strange and foreign land of the Garasenes. And he is moving them from being fishermen to disciples. And he is preparing them to welcome a kingdom so very different from the one they’d either expected or wanted.

The change they are facing is real, and hard, and inevitable, and all of this becomes crystal clear as they realize the one who is asking them to change has mastery over the wind and see and is, indeed, the Holy One of God.

What is the change we fear? Not the kind of change we anticipate and plan for. And not even the kind of change that is unexpected and can seem life-threatening. No, I mean the kind of change that happens when we are encountered by the living God and realize that life will never be the same again. See you Sunday!

Grace and Peace,
Pastor Alan

June 2

Let Evening Come
As we close the school year and anticipate the change of pace we will experience for a while afterwards, I offer you this poem as a regular evening blessing. It reminds me of the Margaret Wise Brown classic, Good Night Moon. I "discovered" it at the SALT website. May this poem bring you evening peace that helps you receive God's blessing.

Grace and Peace,
Pastor Alan

Let Evening Come
Let the light of late afternoon
shine through chinks in the barn, moving
up the bales as the sun moves down.
Let the cricket take up chafing
as a woman takes up her needles
and her yarn. Let evening come.
Let dew collect on the hoe abandoned
in long grass. Let the stars appear
and the moon disclose her silver horn.
Let the fox go back to its sandy den.
Let the wind die down. Let the shed
go black inside. Let evening come.
To the bottle in the ditch, to the scoop
in the oats, to air in the lung
let evening come.
Let it come, as it will, and don’t
be afraid. God does not leave us
comfortless, so let evening come.

+ Jane Kenyon

May 26

Trinity

This Sunday of the Christian year is commonly designated as Trinity Sunday. And so, let me share with you a brief musing on the Trinity by the writer and preacher, Frederick Buechner. As is often the case, he has given us poetry written as prose. He says a lot in just a few words. I just wish he didn’t demand that we re-study formal grammar to fully get it. I hope the quick “verb definitions” help. It is a great reading to sit with as a devotional one morning. I hope you enjoy.

Grace and Peace,
Pastor Alan

"The doctrine of the Trinity is an assertion that, appearances to the contrary notwithstanding, there is only one God. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit mean that the mystery beyond us, the mystery among us, and the mystery within us are all the same mystery.

Thus the Trinity is a way of saying something about us and the way we experience God. The Trinity is also a way of saying something about God and the way God is within himself, i.e., God does not need the Creation in order to have something to love because within himself love happens. In other words, the love God is, is love not as a noun but as a verb. This verb is reflexive (a verb that reflects back on the subject, God) as well as transitive (a verb that act on anything, even us).

If the idea of God as both Three and One seems far-fetched and obfuscating, look in the mirror someday. There is (a) the interior life known only to yourself and those you choose to communicate it to (the Father). There is (b) the visible face which in some measure reflects that inner life (the Son). And there is (c) the invisible power you have in order to communicate that interior life in such a way that others do not merely know about it, but know it in the sense of its becoming part of who they are (the Holy Spirit). Yet what you are looking at in the mirror is clearly and indivisibly the one and only You."

— Frederick Buechner

May 12

“The World I Live In” by Mary Oliver

I have refused to live
locked in the orderly house of
reasons and proofs.
The world I live in and believe in
is wider than that. And anyway,
what’s wrong with Maybe?

You wouldn’t believe what once or
twice I have seen. I’ll just
tell you this:
only if there are angels in your head will you
ever, possibly, see one.

+ Mary Oliver

I have always been a very analytically minded person, someone who wanted to know the why and the how behind the what, someone who would be thinking, “prove it.” We learn a lot that way.

Somewhere along the way, I also learned to ask the question Mary Oliver is pointing to in this poem, “I wonder if that was God?”

Sometimes it is nice to celebrate without needing to explain. And when we finally do explain, my guess is, we will find life no less holy or miraculous.

Grace and Peace,
Pastor Alan

May 5

The Spirit of Mother's Day

During the 19th century, women's peace groups in the United States tried to establish holidays and regular activities in favor of peace and against war. A common early activity was the meeting of groups of mothers whose sons had fought or died on opposite sides of the American Civil War.

Even before then, in 1858 Ann Jarvis had organized Mother's Day Work Clubs in several Appalachian communities of what would become West Virginia during the Civil War. These clubs began initiatives to provide assistance and education to families, raising money to buy medicine and hire help for families impacted by tuberculosis and other health issues, and developing programs for milk inspection. During the Civil War, they fed and clothed soldiers stationed in the area, both Union and Confederate, and nursed soldiers during typhoid and measles outbreaks. Following the war, Ann organized a committee to establish a "Mother's Friendship Day", the purpose of which was "to reunite families that had been divided during the Civil War." She wanted to expand these into an annual memorial for mothers.

There were several observances of Mother's Days in different parts of the country throughout the 1870's & 1880's. Julia Ward Howe, author of "Battle Hymn of the Republic," led a "Mother's Day for Peace" anti-war observance throughout the 1870's. In these celebrations, mothers all around the world would work towards world peace.

Mother's Day was officially proclaimed a national holiday in 1914, asking us to remember those mothers who had lost sons in war. Through the years we have, appropriately, I think, expanded those we celebrate on Mother's Day to include our own mothers, and those who have shared God's mothering love with those around them in all of the different ways we might imagine. I believe acknowledging and encouraging that active mothering love of God in one another hearkens back to the spirit of Ann Jarvis' Mother's Day Work Clubs, and Julia Ward Howe's "Mother's Day for Peace," and so many others like them through the years. When we remember and celebrate those (especially women) who have cared for and shaped us this Sunday, and when we join them in caring for and shaping other's, all of God's children all year long, we are living the spirit of Mother's Day, indeed.

Grace and Peace,
Pastor Alan

April 28

Dear Church,

Over the next several weeks (perhaps consecutively) I would like to share with you Rev. Eric Law's framework of Holy Currencies as an exploration of missional ministry. Union Christian Church is a "missional" church. In other words, Union wants to make a difference in the life of the community, as well as the life of the congregation and its members. Holy Currencies arose out of Eric's research and work with congregations to be both "missional" and "sustainable" around the time of the 2008 financial crisis.

The Holy Currencies framework focuses on six currencies including 1)Time and Place, 2)Gracious Leadership, 3)Relationship, 4)Truth, 5)Wellness, and 6)Money.

While thinking and talking about these currencies, Eric would encourage always to remember:

• Currents Flow

• Currencies are meant to be exchanged

We are most engaged in God's missional work when we exchanging those currencies we have in abundance for those currencies that are most needed in our community and/or church. I will share a quick definition of those six holy currencies below. I see each of these currencies present in Union Christian Church (DOC). As you read through them, here are a few questions to think about along side of them. We will continue to ask these questions as we look at each of these currencies.

• Where do you see this currency in Union Christian Church (DOC)?

• Do we, as a congregation, have an abundance of this currency?

• Do we, as a congregation, need a bit more of this currency?

• Who in our congregation or community does have an abundance of this currency?

• Who, in our congregation or community, could use more of this currency?

Holy Currencies from Eric Law and the Kaleidoscope Institute

• Time and Place - Time of church leaders (paid and volunteer) offered to church and ministry. Properties owned by church and ministry and/or properties from which church and ministry operate.

• Gracious Leadership - ability to create "gracious" environments where mutually respectful relationships and discernment of truth may be shared together by drastically different people, within and beyond the congregation.

• Relationship - all of mutually respectful connections within and beyond the church, possessed by leaders and members of the congregation and its ministries

• Truth - ability to hear and articulate, individually and together, inclusive and healing truth.

• Wellness - being physically, socially, economically, ecologically, and spiritually healthy, individually and together in our church, ministry, neighborhood, creation and everywhere in between.

• Money - anything generally accepted as a means of payment or to have a measure of value.

Grace and Peace,
Pastor Alan

April 14

Pentecost is Coming!

Now at that time there were a lot of delegates gathered in Atlanta, religious people from countries all over the world. So when they heard this great noise, they all came running together. And then they heard these folks talking to each one of them in their own native tongue, and were they excited! Amazed and astounded no end, they said, “Look, aren’t all these speakers Americans? Then how is it that each of us is hearing it in his own native tongue— French, Spanish, German, Portuguese, Chinese, Russian, Italian, Greek, Turkish, Burmese, Hebrew, Swedish, Afrikaans, Hindi— in our own languages we are hearing them tell of God’s mighty doings.” Everybody was dumfounded and puzzled, saying one to another, “What’s the meaning of this?” But others sneered, “They’re tanked up on white lightning.”
from Happenings [Acts] 2:5-13 Cotton Patch Gospel - Clarence Jordan

Pentecost is coming!  And some may become concerned that we are tanked up on white lightning.  In truth, we are excited by the resurrection life we have received through Jesus, and we want to celebrate that resurrection life with our DOC brothers and sisters in Northeast Georgia.  Therefore, on Pentecost Sunday, May 23rd, we will be gathering for a joint outdoor worship service with several of our sister churches in Winder, GA.

This dream was first imagined at the very beginning of 2020.  Before planning could begin in earnest, we were overwhelmed by the COVID-19 pandemic.  Now, as we begin to imagine a post-pandemic world, the dream of gathering together as a larger church has re-emerged.  

Come with us, to the lawn of First Christian Church Winder, for a Pentecost celebration at 11:00 AM on Sunday, May 23rd.  

There are many details yet to be finalized, but here are a few I can share with you today.

• The Service will be outside, observing pandemic protocols comparable to our own Sunday morning service.

• The service will include leadership from each congregation in attendance (at least 4 congregations including FCC Lawrenceville, FCC Winder, FCC Watkinsville & Union CC).

• There will be "car worship" spaces for those who need them, and radio broadcast of the service. Good parking spaces are limited and the lawn is large, so bring your chairs and some shade.

• We will provide alternative opportunities to participate for those unable to be there in person through live-streaming and/or recording of the service.

We are excited to share this joint worship opportunity together.  Let's show out, Union Christian Church!  Let's be the biggest congregation present!  May God bless our gathering, and share in our excitement to be together this Pentecost!

Grace and Peace, 
Pastor Alan

April 7

There Was Not a Needy Person Among Them

"Now a single heart and soul was in the body of believers. Not one of them considered his property to be private, but all things were shared by them. With mighty power the apostles were giving the evidence of Jesus’ aliveness, and upon them all was a spirit of abounding goodwill. You know, there wasn’t a person in the group in need. For owners of land or houses were selling them and bringing the proceeds and placing them at the disposal of the apostles. Distribution was then made to everyone on the basis of his need."
Acts 4:32-35, The Cotton Patch Gospel: The Complete Collection, Clarence Jordan

During the Easter Season we will be drawing our scripture readings from The Acts of the Apostles. At first read, this narrative seems unbelievable. It appears to be pure fantasy, foolishness some might call it. It tells the story of a world, a community that is very hard to imagine. But, as Paul reminds us in First Corinthians, "God's foolishness is wiser than human wisdom." The image depicted in these few verses from Acts, is a picture of God's radical hospitality fully alive in the church community.

Clarence Jordan, author of the Cotton Patch Gospels, along with his wife, Florence, and Martin and Mabel England (former American Baptist Missionaries) established an interracial Christian farming community in Southwest Georgia in 1942. They named it Koinonia, or "Communion" Farm. They bound themselves to the equality of all persons, rejection of violence, ecological stewardship, and common ownership of possessions. They went largely unnoticed, crazy church people, until their commitments to equality and economic justice began to be reflected beyond their 440 acre farm, for example, in the civil rights movement. Through the 1950's and 60's they endured stifling economic boycotts and repeated violence including several bombings. Fools indeed.

Koinonia Farm is still there today, as an intentional Christian community, committed to those same Christian values.

The Season of Easter is a time to celebrate the new, eternal life offered through Jesus the Christ, here and now, not just somewhere-someday. It is also a time that we are called to live fully into God's Infinite Love, Healing Grace, and Radical Hospitality. I am sure, more than anything else, the Koinonia residents have been called various kinds of fools.

"God's foolishness is wiser than human wisdom." 1 Corinthians 1:25a

May we give thanks for communities like Koinonia, showing us even today, that Christ is alive, at work among us, and continually calling us into holy, Christlike community.

Grace and Peace,
Pastor Alan

March 31

His Steadfast Endures Forever, Psalm 118:29

I would encourage you to read Mark 14:22-42 Thursday or Friday. These verses carry us from the Disciple’s Passover meal to Jesus’ arrest. While doing so, I would encourage you to focus on the hinge, the one sentence that holds together the two events: “When they had sung the hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives” (verse 26).

At first glance, this sentence seems unremarkable. It is preceded by Jesus’ last supper and his institution of the Lord’s Supper. It is followed by his betrayal by one disciple and the desertion by all the rest. And what did they do in between? They sang the hymn.

We know what that hymn was. Jesus and his disciples were celebrating the Passover. The Passover meal begins with singing Psalms 113 and 114. It ends with singing Psalms 115, 116, 117, and 118. The closing hymn was Psalm 118. This Psalm concludes with verse 29, “O give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.”

These words carry Jesus, and I believe the disciples as well, through the events of the next three days, and beyond them into the confusion that follows their discovery of the empty tomb. Whatever the Romans have done to Jesus, whatever our own Kind Herod and the Temple Leaders have done to Jesus, whatever the crowds have done to Jesus, we remember and hold onto each day, “O give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.”

All that follows that Passover meal is dependent on faith in this truth.

Jesus, knowing what he was doing and what was going to be done to him, sang bravely and boldly, “His steadfast love endures forever.” In the weeks to come, finally, the disciples will emerge to proclaim God’s Good News through Jesus the Christ remembering, “His steadfast love endures forever.”

As we walk through the days of darkness we encounter as the church, leading to Easter Sunday, I encourage you to remember and repeat “His steadfast love endures forever.” When you face your own dark days and do not know where to turn, I encourage you to remember and repeat, to claim as your mantra, “His steadfast love endures forever.” May it be for us, even now, God’s flickering candle that can never be extinguished.

“When they had sung the hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.” I invite you to reread all of Psalm 118, especially the final verse, the last thing Jesus sang before his arrest, and crucifixion “Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.” There is our Savior.

Grace and Peace,
Pastor Alan

March 24

Proclaiming Kingship (Subverted and Redefined by God)
Mark 11:1-11

All of the Gospels, Mark included, go to great pains to make sure we all understand Jesus is the Anointed One, the Messiah, regardless of our religious tradition and education or lack thereof in the first century Roman Empire. Jewish expectations of the Messiah, perhaps especially in this time period, included the expectation of God's anointed King returning in these last days to defeat God's enemies, and restore God's people - even creation itself - to a state of everlasting peace.

The gospels lean into symbols of this historic Jerusalem kingship. But they also reinterpret it, just as the prophets have often tended to lean into historic memories and symbols, and reinterpret them to help us refocus on God's nature, God's expectations, and God's call in a particular time and place.

And so, Mark shows us Jesus arriving in Jerusalem in great fanfare as the "Anointed One." The ground is ceremoniously covered with cloaks, calling to mind the coronation of King Jehu of Israel once upon a time (2 Kings 9:13). Branches are waved, echoing the reconquering of Jerusalem from the Greeks by Simon Maccabeus (1 Maccabees 13:51). What kind of army will God summon to install Jesus as the end-time king? But Jesus knows, as does the gospel writer that this path doesn't lead to the palace throne. Instead it leads to just another cross bringing punishment and death. It's not that Jesus was born to die, or that God sent Jesus to die. Jesus knows that his unbridled approach to human wholeness is too disruptive, offensive, too dangerous for those in power.

Jesus chooses death because toning down God’s healing love—to avoid death—is not an option for the Messiah. Being the anointed sovereign is not about subduing God's creation. God's law is not about destroying that which is broken. Jesus can only love at full speed. And Jesus knows that this same love will overcome death itself (Mark 8:31; 9:31; 10:34; 12:18-27; 14:28). Jesus arrives as creation's Messiah, the Anointed One, but this is not your normal power-wielding, army-raising king.

Even Jesus riding the colt boldly declares clear, sovereign authority, fully redefined. Zechariah 9:9 celebrates the coming of the triumphant King, riding on a donkey, a colt. The Roman governor will be arriving in Jerusalem for Passover, on a mighty war horse, leading the invincible Roman Legion, to make sure the Judeans don't forget who is in charge in their holiday enthusiasm. Entering on a colt, appropriate for God's Anointed One, reminds us of God's expectation of humble, servant leadership.

God does not raise up leaders to conquer peoples and land, or enforce cultural conformity or religious doctrine. Jesus came to restore broken humanity to its divinely created wholeness. That is the kind of king Mark calls us to follow. That is kind of healing work we are called to lead. That is the kind of kingdom Jesus calls us to help create and enter.

Grace and Peace,
Pastor Alan