Swords into Plowshares

As a moderate, I am blessed to have friends of all political persuasions. For the most part it's a great thing. I get to experience many different views on pertinent issues, which then influence how I proceed forward.

But. . .

When events like yesterday happen; when our country once again has to deal with a disturbed individual who felt the only recourse for his problems was to take the lives of others, that's when my spot in the middle becomes turbulent.  My Facebook feed yesterday clearly showed the dichotomy at work. Many treasured friends were calling for stricter gun control measures, while other loved ones sought more guns, more protection, more shelter from villains and criminals. 

Two completely different views. Both well thought out and based in various facts. But they have polar opposite methodologies. So which one is right? Which one represents the path that good Christians like us should follow? 

In these cases, I am so glad for the guidance of scripture. Of course, the Bible doesn't specifically mention firearms, as they were created thousands of years after the texts came into being. But scripture does talk about weapons, warfare and the use of violence; all the things that undergird our modern problem. So when you read the Bible, some of the text might seem pro-gun. Protection was important then, as it is now. Many sections  deal with armies at war, or travelers carrying swords to protect them from thieves. One friend on Facebook even pointed out that Jesus himself seems to endorse arming oneself. In Luke 22, he tells his Followers to “take your money and a traveler’s bag. And if you don’t have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one!"  However, it must be noted that later on, when Jesus is about to be arrested, he tells his followers to ""Put away your sword, [for] Those who use the sword will die by the sword." (Matthew 26:52)

See how complicated this gets? Even in the Bible a conflicting viewpoint/argument rages.

Thankfully, scripture does eventually clarify its views when it comes to what people should ultimately do with their weapons. The Prophet Isaiah discusses it in Chapter 2:1-4 of his work when he sees a vision of the "End of Days." It's great times when all the righteous are united in God forever and "In the last days," Isaiah writes that:

  "the mountain of the Lord’s house

    will be the highest of all—
    the most important place on earth.
It will be raised above the other hills,
    and people from all over the world will stream there to worship.
3 People from many nations will come and say,
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
    to the house of Jacob’s God.
There he will teach us his ways,
    and we will walk in his paths.”
For the Lord’s teaching will go out from Zion;
    his word will go out from Jerusalem.
4 The Lord will mediate between nations
    and will settle international disputes.
They will hammer their swords into plowshares
    and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will no longer fight against nation,
    nor train for war anymore."

As Christians, we believe we can limitedly live into this eternal reality now by following Christ. So since this is our goal, when it comes to gun control, doesn't it make sense to seek the overall peace the verse discusses right now? It's a place far from gun violence and more importantly, there is nothing in the section about adding more weapons to the pile to bring forth the Kingdom. Rather, the solution involves working to manage and dissemble the arms we already have.

To me, that is a clear indication about the path we should take. The Bible shows that we need protection to navigate this broken world, but our greater purpose should be lessen the need for arms. We should be working to turn swords into plowshares even now.  So why don't we? What would it look like for us as people? As communities? As a nation? As a world? That path is what we should seek, and I would love to hear where you think it might lie.

Feel free to respond, friends. But lets keep it respectful and sacred.  Thanks everyone.

Bryson

Ask Me Anything Questions

Greetings Friends! If have come to worship at Rinn Church recently, you’ve probably heard of the Ask Me Anything (AMA) box. To give you some quick background, AMA is a segment done by the website www.reddit.com. In it, the public is invited to ask powerful people (politicians, movie stars, inventors, etc.) questions in an interview forum. It’s surprisingly effective and produces some candid answers. Thus, I thought I would bring a version of it to Rinn to help you get to know me as your new pastor. My plan is to answer in future newsletter articles, blog posts, sermons and face-to-face conversations. So please feel free to fire away with your musings! With that out of the way, here are two recent submissions:

 • When you get free time, what do you like to do? –Sharon Thompson

 Good question! I am actually an introvert. So when I get free time, I usually take a moment to zone out in front of the TV or with a good book. It’s hard existing in a hustling, bustling world. Therefore, it helps me to recoup energy before I do anything overtly fun. After this happens, I enjoy activities like cycling and playing various sports. I used to do much more than I do now, but I haven’t been as active since I blew out my knee playing softball a couple years ago. Otherwise, I also love to study history, play various video games and participate in the “geek” culture that is so popular in America., That’s right, I am an avid fan of things like Star Wars, Star Trek and Battlestar Galatica, And whenever I see a trailer for a new Marvel Comics superhero movie, I squeal with joy and watch it several hundred times before joining online discussions about it. Back in high school, this sort of behavior got me teased. Yet nowadays, it is amazingly fashionable. The times, they are a changing!

 • Are you liberal or conservative? Ha ha, just kidding. - Anonymous

 This query may have been made out of jest, but it touches on an important issue. My old barber used to joke that religion and politics were two things he would never talk about in his shop. They were always in conflict, so he felt it better not to bring them up (especially when he had sharp scissors in his hand!). That being said, I believe there has to be some interaction between faith and politics. It must be done carefully, however. One must never come to fully define the other, as stated so well in the First Amendment. This is my one concrete political belief. Other than this, I hold to perspectives from both major political parties and I regularly vote for the person I believe will best carry them out. As far as existing with those who believe differently, I feel Methodism’s Founder, John Wesley, said it best when he wrote:

 “I met those of our society who had votes in the ensuing election, and advised them: 1) To vote, without fee or reward, for the person they judged most worthy. 2) To speak no evil of the person they voted against. 3) To take care their spirits were not sharpened against those that voted on the other side.”

Essentially, I am an independent who tries to love everyone as God loves me, while letting that belief guide who I vote for. I know that’s a real brief explanation, so please feel to follow up with me in person if you are interested. I think that’s a great start to this AMA experiment. If you’d like to participate, the box will be outside the sanctuary for the next month or so. Or feel free to email me your queries at rinnpastor@gmail.com. Keep writing friends, and I look forward continuing the awesome start I’ve had with you! Until next time.

In Christ,
Bryson

A New Place for Old Memories

I recently moved to serve a new congregation, Rinn United Methodist Church in Frederick, Colorado. It should come as no surprise if you've read the undercurrent of my previous posts. Things weren't going well in Wellington, or at Fort Collins for me. So a new start was desperately needed. It has been great so far. Rinn Church is so different, with so much possibility. So I pray that God will bring forth the growth and vitality that was so illusive in my previous setting. Thoughts on the past are heavy on my mind as I write this note. How can I not be nostalgic? This is my first time back to the ol' blog in some time. So much has happened, making this place and time a natural location to sit back and reflect.

Additionally, I finished setting up my new office today. It now holds all my books, as well as the many knickknacks I've picked up over my 7 years of ministry. Many of these items hold a great deal of significance. There is the battered handle of a hammer, broken off by a well meaning lug of a kid who didn't realize his own strength during a mission project. I will always remember the look on his face when he realized what had happened. The hammer had gone up, but not come down having broken off mid swing. The there is the mini trophy given to me at FUMC Independence's Youth Group End of the Year award party. It was a gag award ceremony, and my particular trophy surely is that. It recalls how I nearly destroyed the church van's emergency break, while driving around with it on without realizing it. I can still smell the smoke that built up in the passenger compartment, letting me know something was amiss. And I will always remember the hooting laughter of the kids when they remembered how frustrated I got. There are many more items. My bobble head John Wesley from Annual Conference. A container of rice and a piece of brick from a latrine made by a Fort Collins mission team in Cambodia. The Green Lantern doll I won during a night out with the family of a close colleague. . . and so much more.

 Each item is yoked to a memory, all speaking of the man I have been. And yet in this place new life is dawning. What I was, all the previous instances of God working in my life through my ministry will feed into what I become, all because of grace. I am grateful for this, friends. And you should be too. So take a look at your own knickknack shelf tonight. What experiences do the items there represent? And how has God made you through them? How is the Divine Life continuing to transform you using the foundation the memories give? I hope you can recognize this in your lives this week, friends. May you see the way the Potter is molding the clay.

In Christ,
Bryson

Thoughts on the Neutral Zone

My Friends,

As you know, we have been enduring a difficult time in the life of our Fellowship. So much is happening so fast. We've made decisions to let go of who we once were by trying to sell our building and bring in new pastoral leadership. There are so many other changes too, all of which are propelling us towards becoming a new entity. And yet, nothing is emerging in front of us. It's like we are trapeze artists caught between swings. . . there is nothing to hold onto right now! So we feel like we are struggling in midair with a huge potential drop below us.

Thankfully, we are not alone here. We have each other and some very wise people around us. One such person me pointed to a valuable resource today. It's a book called Managing Transitions by a business expert named William Bridges. In it, Bridges mentions that all organizations naturally go through a "neutral zone" after deciding to make a big change. One section in particular caught my attention, as the author used a Biblical story to explain how the Neutral zone operates as space between what was and what will be. Or as Bridges writes:

"The neutral zone is like the wilderness through which Moses led his people. That took 40 years, you remember- not because they were lost but because the generation that had known Egypt had to die off before the Israelites could enter the promised land. Taken literally, that's a pretty discouraging idea: that things won't really change until a whole generation of workers dies. But on a less literal level, the message of Moses' long journey through the wilderness is both less daunting and more applicable to your situation: the outlook, attitudes, values, self-images, and ways of thinking that were functional in the past have to "die" before people can be ready for life in the present.  Moses took care of the transition phase when he let his people out of Egypt, but it was the 40 years in the neutral zone wilderness that got Egypt out of his people. It won't take you 40 years, but you aren't going to be able to do it in a few weeks either.

[In this], the neural zone is not a wasted time of meaningless waiting and confusion that it sometimes it seems to be. It is a time when reorientation and redefinition must take place, and people need to understand that. It is the winter during which the spring's new growth is taking shape under the earth.

People need to recognize that is it natural to feel somewhat frightened and confused at such a time. As the old patterns disappear from people's minds and the new ones begin to replace them, people can be full of self-doubts and misgivings about their leaders. As their ambivalence increases, so does their longing for answers. This is why people in the neutral zone are so tempted to follow anyone who seems to know where he or she is going - including, unfortunately, troublemakers and people who are heading for the exits. No wonder the neutral zone is a time when turnover increased (Moses even had that problem himself, although in his day it was called worshipping strange gods.)"

Sound familiar? Because it's almost exactly what the Fellowship is going through right now. I don't know about you, but I feel much better about things after reading it. For it tells us that what we are experiencing is normal. It's difficult, painful and demanding, yes, but ordinary all the same. So our task now it to last it out like the Israelites of old, and stay hopeful knowing that a new thing is emerging in front of us.

We still aren't sure what exactly our future will be yet. However, as I write this, I am seeing a flurry of emails between our Superintendent and a team in Wyoming who are interested in serving our congregation. This opportunity may come to fruition any time now, or it could be something else entirely. Whatever it is, new life is guaranteed to come forth, friends! No matter what path we take, even if its towards apparent demise, God's grace and love will still meet us. It's so reassuring remember this fact. So can we stay in the neutral zone for a while longer, enduring the trial but knowing that God is indeed at work? My prayer is that we can; that we can continue to endure and embrace God's new life as it comes.

It is coming, so stay strong people. God is far from finished with us. And as always, I am so proud to the pastor of such a resolute group. Blessings on you all in this Lenten Season.

-Bryson