Build A Sermon with FCFUMC

Monday's thoughts

2009-07-05T06:54:00.002-06:00

"The Scarlet Letter"
Nathaniel Hawthorne has written a classic in his book about Hester and Dimsdale and Chillingworth and it's a book that has some interesting application as we think about the scandal of the Governor of South Carolina.

Basically, the scarlet letter is the letter "A". It is a symbol for adultery. As is often the case the woman involved is the one who has to carry the worst of the moral indignation of the community.

But Hawthorne has given us a scorned and rejected woman whose mark of disgrace was transformed into a mark of distinction. She, who was shunned, is the only one in the community who is able to have access to the hurting people in the community. Her curse becomes her blessing.

Rather than focus on the morality of a small town or the issue of adultery, this sermon will probably take a look at the way in which the worst we have to take can become the best we have to offer.

How much humiliation do we have to take before we turn our darkest hour into a part of our lives that makes us what we are? How many people are able to grow from their past to the point that the worst that happens to them has become the best?

In issues of morality there is a very thin place for reconciliation. In issues of faith the path toward reconciliation is broad. Being open to the future and to use the lessons of the past can lead us to a future that redeems the past and makes us proud of what we have become.

Christianity is all about being and becoming. It isn't about static states of being that do not change.

What are your experiences in regard to this? Have you read Hawthorne's book?
If you have thoughts on this subject write me at charlesschuster@fcfumc.net. If you are willing to have others read your thoughts click on the box below.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Charles Schuster

Friday's Thoughts

2009-07-03T05:58:00.002-06:00

There is something about our belief system that pushes us to self-deprecation. As people of faith, concerned about being too proud, aware of the concept of original sin, we tend to speak and think less highly of ourselves than we should.
Aware of our imperfections we become consumed with our inadequacies. Cognizant of our short comings we dwell on them.

There is something about patriotism that, sometimes, pushes us to exhibit a dangerous chauvinism. We come to think so well of our country and we are so proud of affluence and freedom that is ours we tend to overlook the flaws of the country and develop an attitude toward the current prophets that suggests, with regard to the nation, "love it or leave it."

This year the fourth of July happens on Saturday. The fifth of July is Sunday. Sunday is the first Sunday of the month and that is the Sunday we celebrate communion.

I think communion has an important corrective. It causes us to reflect on our "soul-searching" and encourages us to look at our faults and work toward compensating for them so that our weakness becomes our strength.

Communion also enables us to consider our patriotic "flag-waving" and to understand that you can love our country and be compelled to face up to its shortcomings.

Coming to the table and taking the bread and the cup has an interesting and important short-term influence. It puts soul-searching and flag-waving into a perspective so that self-image and patriotism are given a healthy posture. We can realize the importance of ordinary people who are able to accomplish extraordinary things to the point that what happened to Anne Frank and her family and friends will never happen again.

What do you think about this?
What is the importance of communion?
Why does it give us this balance in life?

If you have thoughts on this write me at charlesschuster@fcfumc.net. If you are willing to allow others to read your thoughts click on the box below.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Charles Schuster

Wednesday's thoughts

2009-07-01T12:52:00.002-06:00

These sermons never go where I'd like them to go. They take off in directions I would never have imagined. That's true of a number of the sermons including this one.

I thought it would be interesting to explore the nature of freedom and the importance of freedom. I was struck with the nobility of character and the strength of purpose witnessed in Miep Gies who sheltered Anne Frank and her family and who preserved the "diary" Anne wrote for posterity.

The sermon has led me into looking at the way in which ordinary people are able to do extraordinary things. It has prompted me to think about our ordinariness and how we learn to cope with it. It has pushed me to look at the ways in which we compensate for our ordinariness. I have come to the conclusion that most of the great things that have been done in the world were accomplished by ordinary people who found a way to compensate for the inadequacies they discovered.

I think of George Washington who thought he was not worthy of the task he was given. The greatness of Washington was his recognition of his inadequacy and moving forward in spite of it.

I think of Anne Frank who took the limitation of being imprisoned in a secret room behind a bookcase and who never lost her sense of hope and joy of life.

I think of Paul, the Apostle, who wrote in 2 Corinthians 12 of the "thorn in his flesh" and how he was weak and through his weakness he was strong.

I wonder about all of us and they way in which we are in touch with our imperfections and the struggle to compensate to the point that our weaknesses make us strong.

How does that work for you?
If you have thoughts on this subject write me at charlesschuster@fcfumc.net. If you are willing to have others read your thoughts click on the box below.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Charles

Monday's thoughts

2009-06-28T06:52:00.004-06:00

"Ann Frank Remembered"
On the Sunday after the fourth of July we want to think about our freedom and we want to be sure we don't take it for granted. Miep Gies is the woman who did Ann Frank and her family from the Nazis shortly after the Frank family escaped to Denmark. Miep is the one who preserved the diary that has become a famous archive of the atrocity of the persecution of the Jews and the rising above that persecution of the spirit of love as found in the words of a child.

In the introduction of the book Miep writes, "In some instances many of the details of events recorded in this book are half-forgotten. I have reconstituted conversations and events as closely as possible to the way I remember them. It is not easy to recall these memories in such detail. Even with the passing of time, it does not get easier.
My story is a story of very ordinary people during extraordinarily terrible times. Times the like of which I hope with all my heart will never, never come again. It is for all of us ordinary people all over the world to see to it that they do not."

How do we see to it that freedom is preserved? How do we protect the freedom we have and work to maintain it?

On the Sunday after the 4Th of July we remember the founding of our nation in spirit of freedom that declared an independence over all attempts to subjugate us to the arbitrary will of a foreign government.

As I work through the week I am going to be thinking about freedom and how to preserve it. I'm going to think about personal freedom and corporate freedom. I'm going to think about how we are free to express ourselves in this country and how we are called upon to allow all people to express that freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and freedom of thought.

Where do you experience a lack of freedom? How should we, in our day, battle to keep the freedom we have? to insure the freedom for others?

If you have thoughts on this subject write me at charlesschuster@fcfumc.net. If you are willing to have others read your thoughts click on the box below.

In the words of Miep Gies, "My story is a story of very ordinary people during extraordinarily terrible times. Times the like of which I hope with all my heart will never, never come again. It is for all of us ordinary people all over the world to see to it that they do not."

I look forward to hearing from you.

Charles

2009-06-28T06:52:00.001-06:00

Friday's Thoughts

2009-06-25T21:20:00.002-06:00

This is my last sermon at FUMC; well, at least it is my last sermon as an associate appointed to serve here. I have been thinking about the way each of you have touched my life and have helped to mold me and shape me into the clergywoman I am today.

Those who have challenged me have empowered me to take authority and claim it and stand on it as a minister of God. If we have disagreed, it has made me stronger because I had to listen to you, figure out why I disagreed with you and whether that was valid or not, and then take a stand.

Those who have shared classes and support groups and circle meetings and committee meetings and coffee shop conversations (and so on) with me have helped me to connect to the world around me. Your special touch, in whatever capacity, has enabled me to see connections I never knew before and to connect old ways with new and old people with new. I have learned to pull you all into the same boat and to connect you with other boats sailing on the same sea.

Those who have been with me through all of the good and bad times here have changed me. I am not the same person I was when I arrived two years ago. I am stronger, more determined, and hopefully, I am a better minister than I was in 2007. I owe all of my successes to you and what you have meant to me, and I shoulder any of the failures as my own. I have truly been changed for good because I have been among you for the last two years.

This is a great church. The people here are strong, supportive, courageous, and abundantly generous. Anyone who is fortunate enough to walk with you for part of their faith journey is sure to be truly enriched and enormously blessed. I know I have been.

Peace,
Pam

Wednesday's Thoughts

2009-06-24T15:23:00.002-06:00

The way I see it the interwoven stories in Mark 5 of the woman with the hemorrhage and Jairus' daughter explore three themes related to 'touch' and what it means to 'touch another person.'

1. Touch empowers people. Jairus knows that Jesus has the power to make his daughter live again. But it isn't until Jesus reaches out and grabs her hand that she does indeed live. She has been empowered to live a new life, a resurrected life. We lay hands on each other in ceremonies like ordination as a ritual 'empowering' persons for the work of ministry. What other ways do we touch each other to empower?

2. Touch changes people. The woman with the hemorrhage knows that she can be forever changed if she can touch Jesus' robe. She reaches out and seeks the change, takes a big leap of faith, and grabs the robe. She is forever changed. Is it something Jesus did, or something her reaching to touch Jesus did? We change ourselves and each other when we touch one another's lives.

3. Touch connects people. Jesus has his back to the woman, but he immediately senses the power when she grabs his robe. He senses the connection between them. Touch can connect people in ways we can't necessarily see on the surface, but we can feel deep in our bones. The ways we touch each other leads us to connections far beyond the initial encounter. How do our connections at FUMC reach way beyond our walls?

I'd love to hear from you. Email me at pameverhart@fcfumc.net or click the comments link below. : )

Peace,
Pam

Monday's Thoughts

2009-06-21T22:51:00.002-06:00

In the Broadway musical "Wicked," the two main characters, Elphaba and Glinda, share a song ("For Good") in which they tell each other of how they have been changed just because they happened to meet each other in their journey through life. One of the most poignant lines in the song is: I don't know if I've been changed for the better, but because I knew you I have been changed for good."

The author of Mark, Chapter 5, tells us the miracle stories of the woman with the hemorrhage coming up to Jesus and touching his cloak and being healed just from the touch. She touches him, reaches out to him, and is forever changed for the better.
Also in this story is Jesus reaching out to touch Jairus' dead daughter, who is, just by Jesus' touch, resurrected. Changed for good.

We all touch each others' lives in different ways and none of us can be quite sure how our encounters with one another change not only ourselves, but also change the world. This sermon will explore the way our lives touch and connect with one another.

I will miss being with you here at FUMC when I move on to St James, Central City, beginning July 1. I am thinking a lot about the countless ways you have all touched me during my two years here as associate pastor. Because I knew you I am changed for good.

If you have comments you would like to share with me on this topic, email me at pameverhart@fcfumc.net or click the link below.

Peace.
Pam

Friday's Thoughts

2009-06-12T10:18:00.002-06:00

"A Word To The Wise is Superfluous"

What can we say to someone who is moving to a new place? What advice can we give them? What help can we provide if the place is the problem and if the people are impossible?

Some places are like that. What can we do if the place is a problem?
Our job is to work toward the transformation of the world. If the place is a problem then we are appointed there; we are put there for a reason. Our job is to transform the place we are put.

What if the people are impossible? What if their behavior is hard to understand? How do we handle their strangeness?
We are sent to places where the people are impossible for a purpose. Our job is to make disciples of Jesus. That doesn't, necessarily, mean converting people to our faith. It isn't about evangelism in the sense of making people become Christian. It goes deeper than that. Our task is to employ the essence of the Christian faith to help the people become disciples of a way of life that understands the God of love, the Grace of God, the good in the world; doing for others; reaching out to those on the periphery.

If we are put into a strange place our job is to transform it. If we are put in the middle of strange people our job is to make disciples of the Gospel of Jesus.

That's what we can tell someone who is moving to a new place and that's what we can remind ourselves to do as we look at the places we have been put.

What do you think? If you have ideas about this write me at charlesschuster@fcfumc.net. If you are willing to have others read your thoughts click on the box below.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Charles Schuster

Wednesday's thoughts

2009-06-10T10:44:00.002-06:00

"A Word to the Wise is Superfluous"
The sermon represents a word I'd like to share with Pam Everhart since this will be the last time I can do that. Next Sunday Joel and Pam and I will be at Annual Conference in Grand Junction, and the 28th Pam is preaching in her final Sunday with us.

What I would like to say to her is the fundamental premise of the Christian faith that we are resident aliens. Our world is a strange place to us. We are in the world but not of the world as people of faith.

Wil Willimon and Stanley Hauerwas have written a book entitled Resident Aliens. They promote the idea that we are living in a world in which we are not altogether at home.

That idea wasn't original with them. They learned the truth of it in their understanding of the gospel.
This is what they wrote;
Here [in the sermon on the Mount] is an invitation to a way that strikes hard against what the world already knows, what the world defines as good behavior, what makes sense to everybody. The Sermon, by its announcement and its demands, makes necessary the formation of a colony, not because disciples are those who have a need to be different, but because the Sermon, if believed and lived, makes us different, shows us the world to be alien, and odd place where what makes sense to everybody else is revealed to be opposed to what God is doing among us. Jesus was not crucified for saying or doing what made sense to everyone. People are crucified for following a way that runs counter to the prevailing direction of the culture…

Do you experience a certain strangeness in the world that you know? Do you find yourself wondering why things are as they are and how to make thing the way they should be?

Do the values of the culture we are in seem at odds with the faith that you embrace as Christians? If so then we are seeing something that we should be seeing. How do we respond to it?

What do we do about it?

The book written by Edith Wharton that is directing my thinking is Ethan Frome. Ethan Frome lived in the town of Starkfield. It is described as a place where there was a "contrast between the vitality of the climate and the deadness of the community." It was a place where it was said, "Most of the smart ones get away."

In the 137th Psalm the words, "How do we sing the Lord's Song in a strange land?"

That is our problem and that is our challenge. We live in a strange land. We are resident aliens. We are in the world but not of it.

What advice do we give Pam as she leaves our church and moves to Central City? It is a strange land. Every place is somewhat strange. How do we sing the Lord's Song?

If you have thoughts about this write me at charlesschuster@fcfumc.net. If you are willing to share your thoughts click on the box below.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Charles (aka Chuck) Schuster

Monday's thoughts

2009-06-07T06:55:00.002-06:00

"The Age of Innocence"

This sermon will be based upon the book by Edith Wharton. Edith was born in 1862 to a wealthy New York family. She grew up in a house with a large library so literary interests were a part of her life given the environment from which she came.

She married a man who was much older than she and was not happy in her marriage. She was inspired to write as a result of trying to come to terms with some bad decisions she had made and the various ways she had ruined her life.

The book The Age of Innocence addresses some of the problems of a societal order that has changed and the ways in which class systems clash as people try to come to terms with what they do not like and do not understand.

I equate much of what I found in this book to our present age. We are living in a time of great societal and political upheaval. We are looking at a future that is unknown and there are two groups of people in a struggle with each other. There are people who have benefited from the status quo who are afraid of change. There are people who are hoping for a change in the status quo and are anticipating better times ahead. We are seeing the rising of expectations along with the falling of old systems. People are confused and afraid.

That was the environment about which Edith writes and that is the environment in which we find ourselves these days.

What do you see in the current climate and situation in the world and in your life? Are you hopeful or afraid of the future? Is change coming? Will it be good?

If you have thoughts on this write me at charlesschuster@fcfumc.net. If you are willing to have others read your thoughts and respond click on the box below.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Charles Schuster

Friday's Thoughts

2009-06-05T09:28:00.002-06:00

How important is it to:
1. Make a name for ourselves
2. Establish a reputation that is congruent with our self identity
3. Leave a legacy that will remain beyond our death

How important is it to think about this and attempt to form identity, reputation, and legacy?

We live in the tension between being concerned about those things to the point of being preoccupied, and caring so little about those three things that we fail to live with any intentionality.

If we are preoccupied with identity, reputation, and legacy we will create something that is distorted and indicative of nothing.

If we ignore the importance of identity, reputation, and legacy we are apt to live a life that is random and not thought through.

I think we have to be able to answer the questions:
Who are we and do we like who we are?
How do others see us and is their opinion justified in light of how we see ourselves?
Will we leave something in our life for the people who follow after us that is representative of the best we have to offer?

How do you answer those questions? Is it important to live intentionally? I think it is.

What are your thoughts?

Write me at charlesschuster@fcfumc.net. If you are willing to have others read your thoughts click on the box below.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Charles

Wednesday's thoughts

2009-06-03T11:57:00.002-06:00

When we look at William Faulkner's book and when we think about Absalom, third son of David several important truths come forward.
It is important that we make a name for ourselves. There is part of life that calls for us to find out who we are and to live in such a way that fulfills that identity. We see ourselves as generous, or talented, or compassionate. We have a sense of ourselves and it is important to develop that. We have to find a way to be at home within ourselves. We have to make a name for ourselves and we will want to be comfortable with that.

Also, there is what other people think of us. There is a reputation to consider. We develop a reputation by trying to convince there people around us that what they see in us is what we are. Sometimes, we want to persuade others that we are something other than what they see. Sometimes we will want to perpetuate an image so that others will see more in us than there is. It is a dangerous approach to life to live this way. In fact, we will want to try to develop congruence between who we see ourselves as being and who others see us as.

Identity is important to us as we make a name for ourselves. Reputation is important to us as we strive to have other people see us in a positive way. Congruence comes when our reputation is the same as our identity.

What is your reputation?
What is the name you have made for yourself?

The final stage of this has to do with legacy? I will write about this on Friday if I can get the sermon to that point.

Do you have thoughts about this? If so write me at charlesschuster@fcfumc.net. If you are willing to have others read your thoughts click on the box below.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Charles Schuster

Monday's thoughts

2009-05-31T06:54:00.002-06:00

"Absalom, Absalom"
The sermon will be based on the book by William Faulkner. The way in which we explore the Faulkner book is the use of Faulkner's method. He explores the life of a man named Thomas Stutpen and his family. The method is the presentation of the story in a non-chronological manner. We are never sure of the time or place as Faulkner writes but the story peels off the various layers of the story so that by the end of the book we have a significant glimpse of the family and the primary figure in the book.

There is a complexity in every life that defies the telling of the story in a simple manner. That is true of each of us. That is true of the characters in the Bible.

What we are to ourselves as we see ourselves to be may be very different as we are to others and what they see in us.

Who we are as we relate to our friends and family will not be exactly the same as how we related to business associates or school classmates or the people at the church. We are complex people and there is a sum total that is the measure of us. Sometime we are aware of it and sometimes we are not.

In the next few "build a sermon" inputs I will share more about where this book is taking us and how we can apply it to our faith.

For now I ask you to consider what we might find if we peel away the layers of your life? How are you to others? How are you as you see yourself in comparison to it? Is there a difference? Are they the same?

If you have thoughts about this write me at charlesschuster@fcfumc.net. If you are willing to have others read your thoughts click on the box below.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Charles Schuster

Friday's Thoughts

2009-05-29T10:00:00.002-06:00

"The Flat Earth Society"
Thomas Friedman's view that the world is flat; that we have much in common and can learn to celebrate that.
Pentecost was a time when people from different cultures and countries spoke in their own language but everybody understood each other.

Pentecost brings to us the idea of the power of the Holy Spirit and the birthday of the church.

We think about when Pentecost happens;
Three aspects of Pentecost
1. When people, in the worst of times, gather to be thankful.
2. When people, in the midst of change, believe that the mighty wind blowing will take us to a better time.
3. When people who are different are together in a common mission and understand each other, in spite of the differences.

Gratitude
Optimism
Diversity

Pentecost
The Holy Spirit
Tongues of Fire
The rush of a mighty wind

Have you experienced such an event? What brought it on and what difference did it make?
Write me at charlesschuster@fcfumc.net. If you are willing to have others read your thoughts click on the box below.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Charles Schuster

Monday's thoughts

2009-05-24T07:05:00.002-06:00

"The Flat Earth Society"
Thomas Friedman in his book "The World is Flat" has this observation:
"The two greatest dangers we Americans face are an excess of protectionism--excessive fears of another 9/11 that prompt us to wall ourselves in, in search of personal security--and excessive fears of competing in a world of 11/9 that prompt us to wall ourselves off, in search of economic security. Both would be a disaster for us and for the world."

On Pentecost Sunday, which is next Sunday; May 31st, the disciples met to celebrate a harvest festival and they were impacted by the Holy Spirit. People spoke in different languages but everyone understood. It was a time like our time without the clarity of understanding. Is it possible for people to speak in their own language and for understanding to happen?

That is what a present day Pentecost could and should become. Can the Christian faith enter into conversation with people of other faith traditions? Is it possible for clarity amid the confusion? Do we not have an important role and seeing to it that it happens?

This sermon will have us look toward the future and to isolate the unique responsibility the Christian Church and the United Methodist Church has today. We will think about the world as it is and as we would like it to be. We will consider what we can do, here in Fort Collins, and how the dialogue that begins here will have consequence beyond us.

What do you think the role of the church should be today with regard to interfaith dialogue? If you have thoughts on this subject write me at charlesschuster@fcfumc.net. If you are willing to have others read your thoughts click on the box below.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Charles Schuster

Friday's Thoughts

2009-05-22T08:06:00.002-06:00

"It's All Right To Be Left"

On this Memorial Weekend out thoughts turn to those who have served our country through military service and to the friends and loved ones who have died. What we all have in common is we are survivors. Three thoughts occur to me related to that. These ideas are driven by the 24Th Chapter of the gospel of Luke and the final conversation the disciples had with the Risen Christ:

1. He opened their minds; we have revelations concerning life and death. We realize it is hard to love after loss but important to do so.

2. He led them out; we have resolutions that come to us as we think of ways to honor those who have died. We resolve to keep their spirits alive by what we do with our lives.

3. He built them up by blessing them; we have renaissance and rebirth when we realize that the best way to honor those who have gone before us is to live our dream to the fullest.

Sunday will be all about revelation, resolution, and renaissance.

We reflect
We resolve
We are reborn

We become fully ourselves and give to others our greatest tribute as, inspired by their memory, we learn to reach the potential God gave us.

What are your thoughts? How best can we honor those who have gone before us? Write me at charlesschuster@fcfumc.net. If you are willing to have others read you ideas click on the box below.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Charles Schuster

Wednesday's thoughts

2009-05-20T09:45:00.002-06:00

"It's All Right To Be Left"

The concept I am struggling with is the idea that it is more difficult for survivors than it is for those who have gone before us. The writer who has put this idea into my mind is Forester Church and in his book Love and Death.

This is what he has written:

"Few of us are unafraid of death. Death is the ultimate mystery. But there is a way to counter this fear. It lies in our courage to love. Our courage to risk. Our courage to lose. Many people have said it in many different ways. The opposite of love is not hate. It is fear.

There are so many instances in our daily lives when our fears stand in the way of our potential to love. How many ways we find to armor and protect ourselves. We sense the risk, of course. That is the main reason we act in the ways we do. Every time we open ourselves up, every time we share ourselves with another, every time we commit ourselves to a cause or to a task that awaits our doing, we risk so very much. We risk disappointment. We risk failure. We risk being rebuffed or being embarrassed or being inadequate. And beyond these things, we risk the enormous pain of loss.

For instance, however much we try we cannot fully protect our loved ones from fatal illness or accidental death. However much we love them, we cannot insulate them from failure and disappointment. However much we would wish to, there are times when we are powerless to heal or save.

We pay for love with pain, but love is worth the cost."

Forester Church is reflective about these matters because he has learned he does not have long to live. He is thinking about his loved ones and the legacy of his life.

Is it harder to love than to die?

Some think so.

What do you think?

If you have thoughts on this subject write me at charlesschuster@fcfumc.net. If you are willing to have others read your thoughts click on the box below.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Charles Schuster

Monday's thoughts

2009-05-17T07:11:00.004-06:00

"The Most Frightening Thing on Earth"
Sermon for Sunday, May 24Th.

Forester Church is dying. He has a terminal illness. He is a preacher and an author. He is the son of Frank Church, a famous congressman. Forester Church is dying.

He has written a book about what he is experiencing now. He is convinced the thing he most fears in the world is not death. What is more frightening than death is love. Love means we attach ourselves to others knowing we may lose them. To love is the most frightening thing in the world.

His book is full of wisdom. (The title of his book is "Love and Death").

He writes:
"Religion is our human response to the dual reality of being alive and having to die.
We are the religious animal; knowing that we must die, we cannot help but question what life means.
We are more alike in our ignorance than we differ in our knowledge.
God is not God's name. God is our name for that which is greater than all and yet present in each.
Whether or not there is life after death, surely there is love after death.
The one thing that can never be taken from us, even by death, is the love we give away before we die.
The purpose of life is to live in such a way that our lives will prove worth dying for."

I think these are profound ideas. What do you think? What strikes you about death/life/love?

If you have insights write me at charlesschuster@fcfumc.net. If you are willing to share your thoughts with the congregation click on the box below.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Charles Schuster

Monday's thoughts

2009-05-17T07:11:00.001-06:00

Wednesday thoughts

2009-05-13T09:33:00.002-06:00

Bishop Richard Wilke is preaching Sunday. Bishop Wilke is one of the authors of the Disciple Bible Study. He is one of the most influential Bishops in the United Methodist Church and he will dedicate the church members who have been through the Disciple Bible study this past year.

His sermon "A Famine in the Land" focuses on the importance of integrity and the ways we miss it.

This is one of Bishop Wilke's favorite stories from his childhood:

"When I was a teenager, I worked summers raising alfalfa hay. We had no cattle, so I would sell the hay to farmers and ranchers. One day a Mennonite farmer bought my hay, shook hands with me, and agreed on a price: $20 a ton in the field. Then he added, 'My dog will be in the cab.' I was only sixteen, so I told my dad about the transaction. He nodded in agreement with the price, smiled at the handshake, but then grew very serious when I mentioned the dog. 'What did he mean,' I asked, 'the dog will be in the cab?' Bad carefully explained that the driver would weigh his truck, empty, and then would weigh it again, loaded with hay. The elevator operator would note on the weight ticket whether the driver was in or out of the truck. But the dog? If the dog were weighed in the empty truck but jumped out of the loaded truck, I would be cheated.

Now I was only 16, but I started figuring: $20 a ton, a penny a pound. If the dog weighed 27 pounds, I would lose 27 cents. I smiled, but Dad was thoughtful. 'He wanted you to know that his handshake meant absolute integrity.'"

We are in for a treat listening to Bishop Wilke. What examples do you have of absolute integrity? Write me at charlesschuster@fcfumc.net. If you are willing for others to read your response click on the box below.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Charles Schuster

Friday's thoughts

2009-05-08T05:43:00.002-06:00

"Momma Mia"

There are stages we go through with our mothers. The sermon will look at those stages. This is what I'm thinking as I reflect upon the stages Jesus went through with his mother.

1. Momma, look at me!
Jesus in the temple at age 12. His mother said to him, "Didn't you know how worried your father and I would be?" And he said to her, "Momma, look at me. I am about God's business."

2. Momma, let me be!
Jesus and his mother at the wedding at Cana. The wine ran out and Jesus' mother, Mary, told him what he ought to be doing about it. He said to her, "What has this to do with you?"

3. Momma, let me see!
Jesus on the cross saying to John, "Behold, my mother!" There came a time when he looked at her and there was a level of mutuality they had never had before.

We go through stages with our parents. It moves from needing their support, feeling their interference, to having an, almost, peer relationship.

If our mothers are still living it is good to think about this and develop it. If our mothers have died we look back and remember with a sense of pride and wonder.

How is it with you and your mother?

How was it?

How will it be?

If you have thoughts write me at charlesschuster@fcfumc.net. If you are willing to share your thoughts with the congregation click on the box below.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Charles Schuster

Wednesday's thoughts

2009-05-06T13:30:00.002-06:00

"Who is My Mother?"

If we look through picture albums we will discover snap shots of our childhood, young adulthood, advanced adulthood. We will be able to look at the way things were and the way things are and we will realize something about who we are and who our mother was to us.

For some of us our mother was a supportive presence. She was there for us. She watched us in our sport's games, our piano recitals, or dramatic portrayals, and our struggle for identity and clarity of self.

For some of us our mother was the impetus that propelled us into action. She goaded us and hassled us and irritated us until we began to realize she was right and we acted as she thought we should or we acted in a manner that was right for us against her wishes.

What about the person she was or is, in and of herself? What pleases her? What troubles her? What did she do when she discovered her limitations? How would she have lived her life if she had lived at a different time and place?

How do we get to know our mothers as human beings?

Who is your mother?

Do you know her?

If you have thoughts on this write me at charlesschuster@fcfumc.net. If you are willing to have others read your thoughts click on the box below.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Charles Schuster

Monday's thoughts

2009-05-03T07:18:00.002-06:00

"Mother's Day" May 10th

I am working with several ideas for the Mother's Day sermon. Sue Monk Kidd in her book, "The Secret Life of Bees" develops a fictional story about a young girl whose mother was killed. She struggles with the idea that her mother left her and tries to come to terms with the idea that she is a "motherless child". The book pursues the question, "Who is my mother?" and concludes that one has parental role models. No matter what our mother was able to do for us or failed to do for us; no matter if we know our mothers or if we never knew her; no matter how much we appreciated our mothers or how much we failed to understand her, there are parental role models. When Sue Monk Kidd asks the question, "Who is my mother?" she looks out and sees many people are her mother. There is comfort in that.

I think what I am going to try to do with this theme is to lift up the importance of knowing who our mother is and allowing her to be who she is. Our mother was not perfect; she was not divine and yet the imperfections made her special.

What does our mother want from life? Is she happy with her lot in life or would she have wanted to take a different path? Was motherhood restrictive or liberating? If she had lived at a different time and place would she have chosen a different path? In a world where men dominate does she ever wish she were a man?

I'd love to hear what you know about your mother. What is special about her; odd about her; wonderful about her?

Write me at charlesschuster@fcfumc.net. If you are willing to have others read your thoughts click on the box below.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Charles

Wednesday's Thoughts by David

2009-04-22T09:58:00.000-06:00

This Sunday I will be addressing two scriptures in a sermon entitled "Hidden Truths on the Rungs of a Ladder". They are: Genesis 28:10-16 and John 18:33-38.

The emphasis will be on TRUTH. Pilot asked the profound question to Jesus: "What is truth?" Jacob discovered the answer to this question in his dream. The ladder that stretched from earth to heaven, according to Genesis, was symbolic of a connection between Jacob and God: "I am with you....I will keep you wherever you go." Jacob needed this reassurance. It was a truth he could believe in.

Ladders have a way of helping us sort out the truths in our lives. We go up the rungs of the ladder, believing we know what is right and true. Ah, but we might miss it. For instance, the bottom rung on the ladder speaks to our experiences about life. The next rung represents the meanings we put on these experiences. In other words, we begin to tell ourselves a story. The next rung is where we draw conclusions. My story must be correct! And, then our hurt or happy feelings follow and we believe we are operating out of a truth, which in reality might be only a partial truth, or no truth at all.

I suspect the most fragile relationships are between two people who believe they know the truth about one another, only to find out later they missed one of the rungs on the ladder. Sunday we will speak to the importance of seeking the truth. We need it like we need food, water or air. Truth, in relationship to one another and in relationship to God, is life-giving. Just ask Jacob!

I look forward to seeing you Sunday.

David