The Connection/Connexion

One of the things I appreciate most about being part of the Methodist family, which includes all the denominations that trace their theological and historical roots back to Wesley, is the connection, or as the British Methodists say, connexion.  In its original sense, this meant the preachers who were connected to John Wesley and authorized by him to preach. Similarly, today it’s about Methodism as a larger connected community.

In the United Methodist Church, whenever one is ordained an elder or a deacon, she or he is received into full connection with the Annual Conference and by extension with the UMC as a whole. This is a relationship that implies mutual support and encouragement and also discipline, linking pastors and churches and Conferences in a sticky web of connection. At the heart of it all is an understanding that Christian community is the Body of Christ composed of many different parts. 

I spent most of this week working on a project at the World Methodist Museum. It may surprise you to hear that such a thing even exists!  In 1881, around 400 delegates representing 30 Methodist bodies gathered in London for an Ecumenical Methodist Conference, and eventually this grew into a Council that is representative of worldwide Methodism. In 1956 the World Methodist Council established a permanent headquarters and a museum at Lake Junaluska in western North Carolina. The museum concentrates on the story of early British and American Methodism through its many artifacts, paintings, Staffordshire pottery, and other Wesleyana but is also a celebration of the ongoing story of worldwide Methodism. I helped update the Susanna Wesley exhibit case to highlight her role as spiritual director, educator, worship leader, and Christian role model. Excitingly, I also worked on integrating the story of the preaching ministry of Mary Bosanquet Fletcher and Sarah Crosby with that of the men involved in field preaching.

As I walked around the museum, looking at at those bits and pieces of our history, I marveled at the determination of ordinary folks like you and me to tell the good news of Christ throughout the centuries. They were animated by the Spirit to share what God had done in their lives so that others could be part of the Body of Christ, part of the connection.

Charles Wesley's hymn "And Are We Yet Alive" came to mind, for we have surely had our share of troubles and conflicts aplenty, but we also boast of a Lord whose power and love can save us all and even perfect us in love, no matter how grim things appear in the present. And that is a heritage and a connection well worth being a part of! Thanks be to God!

And are we yet alive,
and see each other’s face?
Glory and thanks to Jesus give 
for his Almighty grace.

Preserved by power divine
To full salvation here,
Again in Jesus’ praise we join,
And in his sight appear.

What troubles have we seen,
What mighty conflicts past,
Fightings without, and fears within,
Since we assembled last!

Yet out of all the Lord
Hath brought us by his love;
And still he doth his love afford,
And hides our life above.

Then let us make our boast
of his redeeming power,
which saves us to the uttermost,
till we can sin no more.

Let us take up the cross
till we the crown obtain,
and gladly reckon all things loss
so we may Jesus gain.

Epiphany

A time
to celebrate the manifestation
     of Christ to all nations
to search for the Source of all that is,
     the One in whom we live and move
to go forth and shine as
     light in a world of shadows

A time
to pray especially for
the unity of the Church
     and for the peace of the world —

What??  You mean now??

In the midst of the fracturing and        
     splintering of the Body of Christ

In the midst of rushed deployments and    
     renewed battle cries

In the midst of consuming fires that
     ravage and destroy and kill

In the midst of fear and anxiety
     being ramped up another level

How, Lord?

Where is your Light,
     in the midst of so much darkness?

Where are we to look
     for you, Christ Child?

Does your natal star yet shine?

In the beginning was the Word,
     and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
He was in the beginning with God.
     All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing
     came into being.
What has come into being
     in him was life,
and the life was the light of all people.

The light shines in the darkness,
     and the darkness did not overcome it.

Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief.

"To Chase Our Darkness"

picture of the moon brooding over the waters of a loch in Scotland

I try to pay attention when certain words or themes keep cropping up, and the past few days have been filled with the repetition of two motifs:  Light and Forgive.  Since it's almost Epiphany, I thought I'd muse a bit on the idea of Light with you with the help of Charles Wesley. Following the lead of the writers of scripture, Charles uses the imagery of light in many of his hymns, especially in reference to the coming of Christ into the world.

Right now, in the northern hemisphere, these are some of the darkest nights of the year.  It's not surprising that our thoughts turn with great yearning to longer daylight hours with their gift of greater light.  These are also dark days for reasons that have nothing to do with the tilt of the Earth on its axis.  There have always been times of violence and chaos, and there have always been things that go bump in the night, but for many, especially the most vulnerable and least noticed, these are strange and fearful days indeed.  It is fitting and oh-so-relevant that the scriptures of the Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany cycle are filled with images of light. One of the Christmas Day scripture passages comes to us from the first chapter of the gospel of John with these familiar powerful words:

 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being 4 in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it. 

A year or two ago, I took this picture of the silvery light of the moon breaking through clouds in the  depths of velvety darkness of a Scottish night, and I must confess to being quite pleased with it. Haunting and beautiful even though it might be perceived as gloomy by some, it illustrates the power of light in a way different from but no less powerful than a photograph of a sunrise or sunset, because we don't fully appreciate the presence of light until we walk in its absence.  We can't necessarily make the darkness go away, but when we perceive the watery beams of the moon or twinkling of the stars in a night sky, it fills us with a sense of awe and thankfulness at the presence of that light.

little pinpricks of light show up in the darkness

And so it is with the more metaphorical darkness that surrounds us.  The beams of Christ's light may seem weak when viewed from the perspective of the shadows surrounding us, but it is nevertheless there, and the darkness cannot obliterate it.  Not only is that very good news, Ephesians 5: 6-13 gives us the unexpected news that we are now Light, just as Jesus is Light!

6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes on those who are disobedient. 7 Therefore do not be associated with them. 8 For once you were darkness, but now in the Lord you are light. Live as children of light— 9 for the fruit of the light is found in all that is good and right and true. 10 Try to find out what is pleasing to the Lord. 11 Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. 12 For it is shameful even to mention what such people do secretly; 13 but everything exposed by the light becomes visible, 14 for everything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says,

“Sleeper, awake!
    Rise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you.”

I don't know about you, but that is startlingly good news but also a bit of a challenge.  On my best days, I think I might possibly be holding a flickering flame in my hand; on my worse, I feel that it's been snuffed out.  But I tell you this, as someone who lives with the twin specters of depression and anxiety, the Sun of Righteousness has come, is here, and will always direct beams of divine Light and Love and Life into our world, and you and I are part of it, through the powerful presence and guidance of the Holy Spirit.  As Charles Wesley says in this hymn, the Christ Light gilds the gloom around us, chases the darkness away, and guides us through the "dreadful shade" of death itself.  Our own spirits become Christ's dazzling throne, as he leads us as he travels with us to conduct us safely home.  May this good news of the Incarnation, of  the Light of the World, of God-made-Flesh dwelling among us, with us, and in us give you hope and inspire you to let your Light shine, not only in the Christmas season, but always.  Let us joyfully and faithfully live as children of the Light who came "to chase our darkness" and gloriously shines upon and through us.

Stupendous height of heavenly love,
Of pitying tenderness divine;
It brought the Saviour from above,
It caused the springing day to shine;
The Sun of Righteousness to appear,
And gild our gloomy hemisphere.

God did in Christ himself reveal,
To chase our darkness by his light,
Our sin and ignorance dispel,
Direct our wandering feet, aright:
And bring our souls, with pardon blest,
To realms of everlasting rest.

Come, then, O Lord, thy light impart,
The faith that bids our terrors cease;
Into thy love direct our heart,
Into thy way of perfect peace:
And cheer the souls, of death afraid,
And guide them through the dreadful shade.

Answer thy mercy's whole design,
My God incarnated for me.
My spirit make thy radiant shrine,
My Light and full Salvation be;
And through the shades of death unknown,
Conduct me to thy dazzling throne.

light in St. Oran's Chapel, Isle of Iona