Good morning!
Being Methodist (Part Three)
How did you learn who God was? I don’t think we began our lives knowing God, at least not in the way we know God as adults. Slowly we began to get a sense of God, what God’s character is like, how God thinks about the world and us, and what God would like us to do.
In the Methodist Church, we believe that we know God through scripture, through the traditions of the church, through our personal experiences and through our ability to reason. Scripture, tradition, reason, experience. Those are the ways that we come to know God.
Experience. I think that is where it begins. My grandson is 6 months old and adorable. And as I watch his father hold him, his mother smiles at him, and his sister dance for him, I think, this is love in action and God is love. My grandson is learning about love. In my life, daily experiences, visiting someone in hospice, hearing the stories of others, watching as others care for one another, and meeting people that are different from me and yet God’s children also. That is when my experience tells me “see God in this.”
Reason. Last Friday I was in Legion Park as the children began to gather for the lunch the West Des Moines Schools were providing. Our volunteers were preparing the bags of food that the children would take home so that they would have food over the weekend. I have a very hard time understanding how there can be so much hunger in our community. At the same time, my reasoning tells me that God expects us to use our minds to address the issues the world faces. It is good that we are handing out food but in addition to meeting the needs on Friday, we need to use our reasoning to discover the solutions that God can lead us to.
Tradition. These are the traditions of the church, the way the church has understood for centuries that prayer is healthy, and baptisms are amazing celebrations that welcome people into the community of grace. We worship because it is our tradition to come together and face God, and ask for forgiveness and renewal. Do you have a favorite church moment that felt like a time when God was hovering close by? Last week during worship, Dan, our organist, sat down at the piano to play and sing a song. Before he did, he told us about the song he was about to sing and why it was important to him. It was a moment of us all together listening to one man sharing his heart. God was hovering close and it was our tradition of worship that made that moment possible.
Scripture. The long story of people, complex imperfect people just like us, and God’s continual persistence in reaching out to us. I love scripture. I love the sweet words that are easy to love: Be still and know that I am God. Psalm 46. And I love the stories that baffle me and humble me and reveal a mystery of God that is beyond my understanding. Last night our #JustRead bible study was reading Genesis 15 where God calls Abraham and promises that his descendants will be as numerous as the stars. Abraham will do what God says and through him, the Jewish faith begins and eventually the Christian faith. In chapter 16 God makes the same promise to Hagar, an Egyptian slave girl and through her the Islamic faith will begin. Why would God make this promise to Abraham and Hagar? I run into that sort of ambiguity in the bible a lot and I have to struggle with scripture and with my own preconceived notion. Consider again who God is.
In the Methodist church, this is how we believe God is revealed to us. In other words, we try to live faithfully and we trust that God is going to meet us in our daily lives, in challenging questions that we have to reason together, in the church where we build friendships and ponder together, in scripture. We are God’s on-going scripture. New stories of faith are being written in us.
Experience, reason, tradition, scripture. May you see God in your life today.
Note: Next week there will be no Midweek Devotion. I will be on vacation experiencing God with my family in northern Wisconsin.
Blessings,
Pastor Cindy
Pastor Cindy Hickman
720 Grand Avenue
West Des Moines, Iowa 50265
515-279-0826
Like us on Facebook or visit us at wdmumc.org
We worship on Sunday mornings at 8:30 in a traditional way and at 11 in a casual way. You are invited.
This week at WDMUMC:
The Parking Lot is done and it looks great! The entrances have been poured and for now, we can only enter from 7th Street. All the entrances should be open by Sunday. Thank our trustees for their leadership on this!
Dedication of the Habitat House! Earlier this year we sold a house t Habitat for Humanity. They have remodeled the house and on Friday at 11:00 AM it will be dedicated. You are invited to attend the dedication. It is always exciting to see a family receive their forever home! The house is at 817 7th Street, right near the church.
Senior Disciple Luncheon on Tuesday, August 20 at 11:30. Seniors in our church are invited to a fabulous lunch and afterward, Pastor Trevor will explain how the heck he became a pastor. You are invited. Call the church to make your reservation.
Blessing of the Backpacks and Car Keys! On August 25th during worship, we will bless students headed off to a new school year!
Continued Prayers for the State Fair Crews!
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