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Mar 1 2017

photo by Herzi Pinki (CC BY-SA 3.0)

The day after last week’s presidential debate I went to the Internet, curious to read people’s responses to it. On Twitter I found that the back-and-forth over which candidate is a puppet had spawned a flurry of tweets with the hashtag #GotNoStrings. While I understand the desire not to be thought of as a puppet, there’s Biblical wisdom in acknowledging, “I’ve got some strings on me.”

I find fascinating the books of Exodus through Joshua. They tell the story of God’s people from their escape from slavery in Egypt through settling the land of modern-day Israel. In between those events come books of legal code specifying rules for everything from religious rituals to economic transactions. The stories and legal code bear witness to God trying to shape the character of a new nation, and it’s clear they’ve got some strings.

Near the end of the book of Joshua, Joshua gathers the people together, recounts their history and God’s role in it, and then says:

Now therefore revere the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness; put away the gods that your ancestors served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. Now if you are unwilling to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served in the region beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.

Joshua 24:14-15

Joshua takes for granted that he and the people he leads are puppets of a sort. They willserve some god. They’ll either serve old gods, new gods, or the one God. The freedom they have is not to choose if they’ll be a puppet but to choose who’s pulling their strings.

What gods pull your strings? I have strings binding and pulling me to a need for approval and a desire to be seen as smart by others. Those aren’t good. I also have strings that bind me to family, friends, church, and community. They pull me in various directions and mostly – but not always – to the good. Joshua’s words remind me to acknowledge my puppet-like nature and to address it.

God, make me aware of the strings that bind me to false gods. Help me to choose to serve you and you alone, to commitment first and only to you and to let all other commitments flow from that one. Amen.

In Christ,
Rich
#GotSomeStrings

Rich Rindfuss
Access Pastor
First United Methodist Church Richardson

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Mar 1 2017

My music tastes have changed a bit over the years. As a preteen I had a Lionel Richie cassette. On Saturdays I would drop it into my imitation Walkman and soft-rock out to “Hello” and “Stuck on You” as I mowed the yard. I’m not entirely sure what caused the change, but over time Lionel got pushed aside by people with names like Axel and Ozzy, and the color palette of my cassettes shifted towards that of Metallica’s “black” album. Speaking of which, Metallica has a new album, and the title track has some solid theology.

About a month ago one of our church members posted a link on Facebook to the title song from Metallica’s new album, “Hardwired… to self-destruct.” The machine-gun drumbeats and intense guitar that started the song were classic Metallica. The message of the lyrics, however, was classic John Wesley, founder of the Methodist movement.

“Hardwired” communicates that the world is a mess, it’s only getting worse, and the reason is that we’re “hardwired to self-destruct.” John Wesley said something similar:

Is man by nature filled with all manner of evil? Is he void of all good? Is he wholly fallen? Is his soul totally corrupted? Or, to come back to [Genesis 6:5], is “every imagination of the thoughts of his heart evil continually”? Allow this, and you are so far a Christian. Deny it, and you are but an heathen still.

To summarize Wesley, if you believe people are inherently good, you’re a heathen. If you don’t, then “so far” you’re a Christian. Well done, Metallica.

The closing lines of “hardwired” ask the rhetorical questions, “Do you feel that hope is fading? Do you comprehend? Do you feel it terminating?” and conclude, “In the end we’re… hardwired to self-destruct.” Metallica’s song ends with hopelessness, but Wesley’s “so far” means Christian faith must go further. Sorry, Metallica, but still, nice start.

Wesley and the Methodists that came after him believed that we’re “hardwired to self-destruct,” but that a loving God intervenes. We believe that God infuses into our corrupted nature a bit of grace, an unearned gift that gives us the ability to act against our nature. With God’s grace and our cooperation, we turn away from self-destruction and towards self-sacrifice. Our actions help and heal. Hope spreads.

In these weeks leading up to Christmas, don’t deny the mess our world is in. But don’t get lost in despair over it either. Christians long ago chose to celebrate the birth of Christ in the season when days are short and nights are long in order to remind themselves of the promise of John 1:

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it… The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.

Have a great weekend, and make sure to check out an album that’s even better musically and theologically than Metallica’s: the new Access EP, Songs We Sing.

In Christ,
Rich

Rich Rindfuss
Access Pastor
First United Methodist Church Richardson

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Mar 1 2017

Outside the Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem

Modern-day Bethlehem is not a place where “all is calm, all is bright.” When a group from our church visited a few days after Christmas last year I saw signs of conflict and poverty. But in nearby Jericho a Palestinian told me, “You being here brings hope.” It seemed that the tougher the situation had gotten, the more people had left and stopped visiting. Those that remained felt forgotten. As I consider the similarities between 1st century Bethlehem and the Bethlehem of today, I believe God chose that birthplace in part to communicate to everyone feeling forgotten, “God notices you.”

Today a large wall separates Bethlehem in the Palestinian-governed West Bank from Israeli-controlled territory. Chips carved away by bullets and black marks scorched by fire testify to conflict. Driving through a checkpoint I noticed signs of greater wealth like more elaborate construction and cleaner streets on the Israeli side of the wall. Of all the places and times God could have chosen to come into the world, God chose 1st century Bethlehem, a place as familiar with poverty and conflict back then as it is today.

I believe God chose Bethlehem for Jesus’ birth in order to say to people of all places and times, “I notice you. You are not forgotten.” During Jesus’ adult life when women were often ignored, he promised that a woman’s anointing him with oil would always be remembered (Mark 14:9). Jesus promised that sparrows don’t die without God taking notice (Matthew 10:29) and that “even the hairs of your head are all counted” (Matthew 10:30).

Tomorrow and Sunday we will celebrate the birth of Jesus. Across the globe people will take note of what God has done. I hope that you will worship with us and join in that celebration and that also you will remember that even as millions of people take note of Jesus, God notices you. You are of worth and of value, a beloved child of God.

Merry Christmas!
Rich

Rich Rindfuss
Access Pastor
First United Methodist Church Richardson