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It’s Complicated

If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. 11 I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete. 12 This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” John 15:10-12

On Facebook there is a place where you can put in your relationship status, and one of the options is “It’s Complicated”. So I ask; what human relationship is NOT complicated? And how much more so, then, is our relationship with the Almighty, Omniscient, Omnipresent, Creator and Sustainer of the universe?

Something amazing happens in this message Jesus gives to his disciples. In it he gives the usual call to “bear fruit”, or go out and make a difference in the world, but he also takes the relationship with his “students” to another level. They are no longer just his followers; now they are also his “friends”. But this was not instant; this came after three long years of following, learning, and working as Jesus’ disciples.

Most friendships do not include commands and talk of “following the master”, but then most teacher/student relationships do not involve “loving one another” and “laying down one’s life” either. This relationship was definitely beyond what we would call “normal”.

Most Christians fall into one of two different camps; either they see Jesus as their Master and Lord, one to be feared and obeyed, or they see Jesus as the gentle Shepherd or Friend, who loves them no matter what. You could say these are classic conservative/liberal ways of seeing Jesus.

But, just as Jesus’ message is often difficult to wrap our heads around, so our relationship with him can be confusing and complicated at times. The fact is that Jesus is our Lord and Master, and he is our Brother and Friend. It’s when we try to fit Jesus into our typical mold of human thinking that things get messy.

God is not simple.

So, our relationship with God is “complicated”. We are loved and cared for by our Savior, the greatest Shepherd to ever live. But we are also called by our Lord and Master to follow his commands, live by his rules, and strive toward his perfecting goals for us.

And today’s command is to “love one another as I have loved you.”

Grace and Peace,
Pastor Ken

What then is the mark? Who is a Methodist, according to your own account? A Methodist is one who has ‘the love of God shed abroad in his heart by the Holy Ghost given unto him.’” ~ John Wesley, 1742 (from The Character of a Methodist)

In our recent new member’s class, I was reminded (even though I’ve taught those classes over a dozen times) just how much there is to being part of the world-wide Church and what makes being part of the Methodist movement so important to me and to so many who have come before us.

In the early days of Methodism, John and Charles Wesley would train preachers to go into all parts of England, and eventually into the colonies in America, in order to spread the Gospel and train new disciples for Jesus Christ. As the movement spread, Wesley saw the need to define the doctrines and disciplines which both connected Methodists to the “universal” church and defined their unique call in the world. In 1742, he published “The Character of a Methodist” as a way of explaining that call and giving the new up-starts a good foundation to build on.

Many of those early Methodist preachers were not college educated, yet they were Spirit-filled, passionate speakers who wanted to serve God. In order to help them preach with confidence and strong theology, John Wesley began publishing his sermons for them to use as they traveled around. This practice continued as a big part of the Methodist Church as the “Circuit Riders” spread out across the frontiers of the U.S. These were ordained pastors who would start several new churches in an area then travel their “circuit” to one church each week, where they would preach, perform the sacraments, and train up new leaders to guide the congregation and preach in their absence. And this practice continues throughout the world today!

And so, as a start to the New Year and in preparation of Lent, I am excited to share a series of messages through January and February based on what the “marks of a Methodist” are through the doctrines and teachings of John Wesley. As Christians we have the foundations of Jesus and the Bible, as well as almost 300 years of solid Wesleyan doctrine and disciplines, to learn from. I hope we will all be strengthened in our faith by taking time to remember our roots!

Grace and Peace,
Pastor Ken