Chris Lehman for CA Senate

Lay Leader, band member, and co-chair of Joyful Healers’ Finance Team, Chris Lehman has announced his candidacy for the State Senate, 2nd District. I find this to be extremely exciting news as I know of nobody with more integrity, commitment, energy, and intellect. Chris is a lifelong Methodist, well anchored in his faith and its application to social and political issues. Chris’ wife, Danielle is also active at Joyful Healer and has used her passion for children and education to enrich our Joyworks program. Chris’ parents, Dave and Mary are also a part of our Joyful Healer family and serve as membership secretary and co-chair of the Finance team. Last but far from least we have Natalie, Lizzy, and soon a little brother.

The Lehman family will need our encouragement and prayers as they embark upon this rigorous and difficult journey. We at Joyful Healer have a wide variety of opinions on social issues and political views. Thanks be to God! We certainly don’t all agree on everything. But I think we can all agree that the Lehman family needs our prayers and encouragement. And we should always celebrate when anyone in our church family makes a new commitment to serve the common good in a new way.

Go Chris! We love you and pray God’s blessings upon you and your family.

Pastor Steve

Summer 2013

Summer is upon us and that means recreation -- re-creation and for many, time away. I look forward to our United Methodist Annual Conference held in Sacramento. Other Joyful Healers who will be going to conference with me are April Sousa, Hillarie Beyer, and Jason and Bethany Cseh. Keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we represent Joyful Healer at this meeting of United Methodists from all over northern California and Nevada.

I want to remind all of us that summer time is often a time that churches fall behind in their financial obligations. Last year that did not happen because whether you were in town or out of town you kept your commitment to Joyful Healer! With that and a great fund raiser (the fireworks booth), we got through the summer in pretty good shape last year. It is up to each of us. Remember what I said a couple of weeks ago -- you are not customers here. You are co-owners. So let’s help things run strong whether we are in town or away on vacation. And by the way, we are doing the firework booth again this summer and will need your help.

I found this little piece written by a young woman named Kim Harvey.  I share it with you:

Why I Give

It’s as simple as this -- I feel very blessed and believe that God is the source of my blessings. God has been a companion who has held my hand during troubled times and elevated me during times of joy. I am humbled by his gifts and will never be able to repay what I have gotten (and continue to receive) from God and my church family. At church I find a sense of community, spiritual health and growth, support and inner peace. The fabulous news is that God doesn’t ask or expect repayment. God gives his grace freely. I believe my contributions are a way to pay grace forward. I want others to experience what I have and if the church can thrive and grow, it creates a space where others may find their own sense of grace. I believe supporting outreach, community and spiritual health through my church is one of many ways I can Praise God from Whom all Blessings flow .

Summer Blessings to you all! Shalom,

Steve

Risk

I came upon this quote today by the early 20th century modernist writer, Katherine Mansfield.

"Risk! Risk anything! Care no more for the opinions of others, for those voices. Do the hardest thing on earth for you. Act for yourself. Face the truth."

What a great quote! Many of us know this struggle of forever worrying what others think. I have often noticed how much my feelings of security or insecurity are based on what I think my approval ratings might be at any given moment. This makes acting for yourself and facing the truth, difficult.

In a few days it will be Palm Sunday, the beginning of Holy Week. The week begins with shouts of approval as this strange teacher enters the Holy City to cheers and the waving of branches. Popular opinion seems to be high. By the end of the week, the tide has turned, the opinion poll has crashed, and the same crowds are yelling, "Crucify him!"

Jesus stands tall through it all. He doesn't seem to be particularly surprised whether the shouts are "Hosanna!" or "Crucify him!" He is centered in himself, connected to God, and bearing witness to the truth.

Worth pondering. Are you standing tall? Are you risking anything? Are you centered in yourself, connected to God, and bearing witness to the truth?

Why I write what I write....

I was noticing that the last three times I wrote here it was of a controversial nature -- gun control, homosexuality, and the social concerns that caused me to be hopeful about the results of the fall election.

The other day we were discussing this at the Staff Parish Relations Committee meeting. This is the group that evaluates, supports, and challenges me. The conversation was about how some people do not like the pastor writing or speaking about controversial social issues. This led to a rich conversation and encouragement to write about it.

Here's the thing --- the bible addresses all of life. It knows nothing of boundaries between private spirituality and public morality. Central to what we call the Old Testament, is the story of liberation from oppression as Moses led the Hebrew people on a dramatic escape from slavery. The Hebrew prophets continually challenged the status quo with concern for the poor and a call for justice and to not put too much trust in military strength. They advocated for the hungry and the immigrant. Jesus was executed for treason by Rome. Central to his teachings was an alternative, counter-cultural Kingdom. This Kingdom could be described by bread for everybody, healing for all (health care), economic justice, forgiveness of debt, and the peaceful resolving of conflict.

The founder of the Methodist movement, John Wesley, worked tirelessly for an end to slavery, labor laws that protect children, and assistance to those dealing with food insecurity. He was also very concerned about addiction and what the abuse of alcohol was doing to people.

So you see there is this long tradition of applying faith to all of life. In the United Methodist Church we use scripture, tradition, reason, and experience to grapple with the important issues of the day. So you see, when I comment on peace, poverty, sexuality, and violence --- I am trying to speak from my perspective as a deeply committed follower of Jesus and one trying to love God with all my heart, soul, mind and strength --- and my neighbor as myself. I am speaking as one who is a part of this Methodist movement that talks about social holiness.

As a follower of Jesus and a pastor in the Methodist tradition, I will continue to write about the issues and concerns of the day. I believe I can offer an important perspective. You are always free to disagree. I may be wrong. Tell me what you think. Use the United Methodist guidelines -- scripture, tradition, reason, and experience. And let's try to be prayerful about it.

I was jotting down my new year hopes and prayers the other day. You know what made the top of my list? New and tougher gun control laws in the United States of America. It is not only sad and scary, but it is also shameful. So when I started my new year resolution list, I didn't even have to think about it. It was at the top of the list immediately. Listen to this from an article from Eugene Robinson of the Washington Post:

In 2010, guns took the lives of 31,076 Americans. Most of the deaths were suicides; a few were accidental. About a third of them -- 11,078 -- homocides. That's almost twice the number of Americans who have been killed in a decade of war in Afghanistan and Iraq.

In Britain, by comparison, the number of gun homicides in 2010 was 58.

Other interesting studies suggest that guns actually make the owner more vulnerable. Yet we are talking about more armed citizens and teachers. An investigative report by Mother Jones magazine found, "Not one of the 62 mass shootings in the United States over the last 30 years has been stopped by armed citizens. More broadly, attempts by armed civilians to intervene in shooting rampages are rare -- and are successful even more rarely. Two people who tried it in recent years were gravely wounded or killed."

A guy named Bruce Maiman who occasionally attended with his wife, the church I served in Rocklin, wrote the following in a special to the Sacramento Bee:

If we conclude, as happens on a daily basis, "Boy, there's somebody who shouldn't be driving," what makes you think that doesn't apply to gun ownership? And we're far more thorough with car ownership than we are with gun ownership.

Let's pray for and work for or support those who are working for tougher gun laws in our country.

Advent Reflections

I grew up in a great home and the Advent/Christmas season was always very special.For one thing, Grandma always came for the holidays, and the moment she stepped off the airplane, we were showered with blessings for the stomach and soul. Our first stop on the way home from the airport was Sees Candy and this was just to hold us over until she had the chance to start baking. Oh my, Christmas cookies, coffee cake, rolls, chili, and more. Grandma and I played endless card games and she helped me practice my spelling words. Sometimes I would study her face as she sat in front of the stereo and listened to Handel's Messiah in a trance like state.

This was as close to a Norman Rockwell Christmas as one could get. However, I do remember observing a stress, tension, anxiety on the face of my mother and older sister who seemed to bear the responsibility for making Christmas perfect, especially when Grandma was no longer with us but the same expectations continued on.

Years later, as a pastor, I saw how difficult Christmas could be for people for a variety of reasons. I also saw how the ideal American Christmas did not match  reality for most people and did not match the reality of the first Christmas --- the birth of Jesus. Cow poop, genocide, and an unplanned teen pregnancy are not exactly what you find in a Norman Rockwell painting. But it is what you find in the Christmas stories in Matthew and Luke's gospels.

The first Christmas was pretty messy, and life today is pretty messy --- but God shows up in the middle of the mess to bring goodnews of great joy! What are our own unrealistic expectations for the "perfect" Christmas? Maybe we can work on giving up on perfect and instead nurture simple awe and joy.

The election is over....the work is ongoing

Yes! The election cycle is over. I personally am relieved that Californians have passed prop 30. We are still in for hard financial times but I could not even think about the potential devastation to our public school system without its' passage,. As far as the re-election of President Obama, I am personally happy about this. Now, I know that our country is split almost right down the middle. There is a huge divide that is troubling. Pray for a spirit of tolerance and compassion and a understanding that we are all in this together.

I personally find President Obama to be intelligent, thoughtful, and a person of integrity. He values many of the things that I value --- tolerance, education, concern for the poor, care for the environment, access to health care for all, etc. I also know that his job is almost impossible and even with the best values and motives there are huge limits to what he can truely accomplish.

Politics is the art of compromise and working together, something that our nation is not particularly good at these days. No leader or group will usher in a golden age or the Kingdom of God. Faith communities guided by spirit and ancient wisdom must engage in the world and do everything we can to serve the common good and embody the best teachings of our faith. Spiritual communities should always be challenging nations to care for the least and to work for peace, no matter who is in office.

As the Hebrew prophet Micah reminds us --- we are called to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God.