In The #SCJ2016 Room When It Happens

I have not seen Hamilton the musical, perhaps you have and if so I would love to hear your thoughts about it. As I sit here at the South Central Jurisdictional Conference in Wichita, Kansas, I cannot help but think about the song "In the Room When it Happens" from this hit musical. For those who have not heard this song, here ya go:

Burr wants to be in the room when these decisions are happening, but he is not. Hamilton is in these rooms in part because he has a clear vision of what the country could be in the coming future. Hamilton has a vision and a voice, while Burr seems to have skills that are not valued in this new thing being created. Burr does not have that vision but wants to be in the room nonetheless. 

In the SCJ meetings so far, there seems to be two types of people in the room: Those that have a clear vision of what the UMC needs to do/be and those who want to be in the room when it happens. Those with a vision state it and are willing to work for it. Those who want to be in the room often use language that diminishes the work of those with a vision.

Perhaps the most common example of language used by those who want to be in the room when it happens is some version of this: "I am not into the politics."

The word politics is tarnished right now, but the reality is politics is just the name we use to talk about the work it takes to get things done. Wikipedia defines politics as: " is the process of making uniform decisions applying to all members of a group." Those who have a vision are willing to do the work of decision making (politics) and those who are not doing the work are just in the room when it happens.

Of course all those in the room when it happens get a share of the glory and prestige. Those who are working and deciding take on a disproportionate amount of risk and potential shame. Which may explain why we have more Burrs than Hamiltons in our time.

I desire to be a leader who is not afraid of the work of decision making (politics) because that is how the work of the Body of Christ accomplishes a good number of things.

I want to be more Hamilton and less Burr, but right now I am just in the room while it happens.

Referees and Preachers: It is all about location, location, location

A retired gentleman in a study I participated in the other day stated that he was a basketball referee as a younger man and as he grew older he would then train other referees. In his training he would tell new referees that when they are in a game they need to know that any call they make they will upset half of the people. Since that will be the case it is important to not try to please the crowd as you will fail in your task. As such there are a few rules that he would tell his referees:

1. Be where you need to be
2. Make the call
3. Trust that your location has given you the best location to make the call, even if people walk out of the game cursing your name

Not bad rules for a preacher in training as well. 

1. Be where you need to be - practice the disciplines, be in people's lives, read the news, repent and reflect
2. Make the call - preach the message that you have been given
3. Trust that your location has given you the best location to make the call - Trust that God is working in and through you such that even if people curse your name you can stand confident that you were as faithful as you could be to the message delivered

Referees don't always get the call right, they are human and they are subject to all human failings. Preachers are the same. We don't always make the right call. We are subject to all human failing. But it is often not for lack of trying but because we are not always in the best location. When preachers fail to practice the disciplines you can be sure preachers will no be in the right location to make the call. 

How to Avoid Drowning in the Living Waters

As religion develops the role of the priest was born as the person who was the mediator between the people and the divine. We see this from the High Priest in ancient Jewish tradition to the priest in the Catholic Church. Protestantism argued that the control the Church had over people was not what God intended and that one way the Church exerted control was to elevate the role of the priest and the saints as mediators between the people and God. Since Protestantism protested the economic monopoly of the Church of the time, the protest toward mediated access to God became a rallying cry. Protestants are proud to say that "we no longer need a mediator and we all have direct access to God." Which is true, but direct access makes me recall the story of Moses and the people on the mountain.

Moses asks to see God and God says that it would not be a good thing to do, since to do so would be death. God then gives permission to Moses to view the God's cloak and backside. While Moses is viewing the backside of God, the people at the base of the mountain are told to not even touch the mountain or they too will die. 

If Moses cannot handle direct access to God, can we?

The role of mediator is not to be the one who limits access to God. Rather the role of the mediator is the one who makes it so that we can take in a portion of God that will not kill us.

Imagine that God is like a mighty waterfall. This water is powerful and yet the source of all life. It is life giving and yet if you try to drink directly from the waterfall you will be hurt or even killed by drowning. However, if we were able to lay a series of pipes so that the water can flow through them in a less powerful way we can drink from the waterfall. These pipes are the mediators and Saints of the Church. They are the ones who channel the water of life to us so that we can drink. 

For all the boasting of my Protestant tradition about not needing a mediator we forget that we have a mediator in Jesus Christ. Jesus as the mediator to all creation which is why Jesus is able to offer living water in the Gospel of John. If it is Jesus or St. Mary or St. Patrick or St. Teresa then, Catholic or not, I celebrate the mediators that help us all drink from the waterfall of God because they help us from drowning.