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  • About Us
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The Jonah in Us All - Jonah 1:1-3

7/23/2019

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It is a story we have all been a part of.  We have all said no, not yet, or “I will never” and whether we knew it at the time or not, it was something God was working into the story of our lives and in turn the story of God’s restoring love for humanity.

Jonah was unlike any other prophet and his story is told unlike any other story.  One of the twelve prophets, Jonah is atypical in the book of prophets. More reluctant than Amos, more fearful than Jeremiah, less confident than Hosea or Isaiah, Jonah was a prophet all to himself. 

While others tell history and contain much biographical material, and stand firmly on Israelite soil proclaiming God’s Word to God’s chosen people, God had to chase Jonah a bit first.  Then God told Jonah to speak God’s Word in a foreign land to sworn enemies of God. It is a wild tale, with only a small portion being prophetic word and a large portion being a lesson in how God both pursues and persuades; never giving up and always using opportunities, moments and experiences in our lives to reveal God’s presence and purpose...to reveal that place where worth and purpose reside.  Our worth - God’s purpose. 

If you knew anything about Nineveh, you would run too.  Nineveh was a long-time capital of the Assyrian empire - the largest empire ever to rule the Middle East in ancient times.  At its largest, it stretched from Iran to Egypt and as far north as the Caucasus Mountains. It took three days just to walk across this massive powerhouse city.  

Nineveh and its king were the most powerful political and military force in the known world of the time.  As such it represented to Jews the cruelty of Assyrian warfare and iron rule. They were an evil, ruthless people.  If you are Jonah - you might be thinking it's one thing to give my own people bad news of their behavior and God’s expectations, but it's another to speak such truth to the enemy.  Not the first place I would want to go. 

Jonah gets a bad rap but if we are honest, I am certain, not many of us would have done any different than he did.  That is why I think there is a Jonah in all of us, and we too run in the opposite direction sometimes.

Why do we say no to God?  Perhaps we are afraid of what God is asking us to do or be?  Maybe we fear failure, judgement, or criticism? We tell ourselves we don’t have time, we aren’t trained enough, we don’t know enough.  We tell others we are busy, it someone else’s job, or its just not our thing. We may not run away to timbuktu Tarshish like Jonah and we may not physically run, but we run in other ways - emotionally, spiritually and even mentally turning our mental focus and energy elsewhere.  
We say no for all kinds of reasons but mostly I think we say no because we are afraid to say yes.  We are afraid to do what we know is good, true and beautiful in the eyes of God. We have been conditioned by culture, social norms, governments, institutions or even long standing good intentioned traditions - if they say no, we say no.  We are afraid of how we might be perceived, treated, left out or labeled. We are afraid we might have it all wrong. We are afraid of being vulnerable with others and with ourselves. We are afraid of pressure and expectations. And so we say no.  

No is easier.  Yes is hard. No is safe.  Yes is risky. No puts us in control.  Yes puts God in control. No is small and manageable.  Yes is big and colors outside the lines. 

I invite you to think about what you are saying no to and by saying no what are you actually saying yes to.  When we say no to God are we not saying yes to our selfishness, our limited understanding, and our narrow sighted perceptions?  When we say no to the ways we are to treat others, those the bible calls our “neighbors;” the least, the last, the lost; the widows, orphans and children.  When we say no to them, are we not saying yes to fear? Our fear of the other? Of what is different or unknown? When we say no to peace, forgiveness, and unity, are we not saying yes to division, hate, and shame? When we say no to surrendering all that we are to God, are we not saying yes to that which takes us farther and farther away from God?

I don’t know what God is asking you to do with what you have, who you are, or where you are in your life.  I don’t know where God is asking you to go with your relationships, your vocation, your decisions, retirement, future, investments of time, money, and skills.  I don’t know where God is asking you to go with your heart, mind and soul.  I don’t know how God is calling for your attention, or asking for you to say yes, but I do know God did not give up on the prophet Jonah, nor does God  give up on the Jonah residing in each one of us.  

Wherever you are beloved, working on your yes or searching through your no, God will chase you - pursue and persuade you.  Not as a threat or punishment, but because you have something valuable to offer. God has something to say through you and your life.  God has a promise that is bigger than you but that needs you in order for it to be told. 

It is time the Jonah in us stops running. 

Pastor Jenothy Irvine

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Long Live the Weeds - Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

7/16/2019

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​As a pastor, I often receive questions about God when tragedies happen, or when accidents take place, or when tyrants and bullies try to force their plans on others and seek to crush the opposition and no one seems to be held accountable. Sensitive persons will ask, time and again, why is God silent? Why doesn’t God do something? Is God really just? Is God really concerned?

We need to understand the Parable of the Wheat and Weeds in light of these questions. Indeed, there are several parables in Chapter 13 of Matthew’s Gospel that are not direct answers to these questions but are indirect ways that speak to how God rules over this world and seeks to rescue it.

For example, in the Parable of the Sower, we hear about the way a farmer scatters the seed on all kinds of ground. The farmer scatters the seed, but it does not always take root. Nevertheless, the farmer (i.e., God) plants the seed deep within those who will respond. The promise is that the seed will someday bear fruit, but that it will take time (13:18-23).

The Parable of the Mustard Seed is also part of this section. The mustard seed, of course, is one of the smallest of seeds in the world, but it also takes time to grow, becoming one of the biggest of shrubs, providing shelter for birds Again, such growth does not happen overnight, but when it happens it is full and beautiful (13;31-32). A similar thing happens when a woman bakes bread: it takes time for the leaven to rise (13:33-34).

And the Parable of the Wheat and Weeds? Well, if these other parables are about waiting, then this parable is also about waiting: it is about servants who want to act quickly, especially in the face of wrongdoing; but it is also about a farmer whose patience wins the day; i.e., it is about a farmer who is willing to let God have the final say, even when the temptation to rush to judgment is so present. For who wouldn’t want to go after the enemy who sowed weeds among good seed? Who wouldn’t want to settle the score right then and there (Matthew 13:25)? After all, isn’t it tempting to want to get out the Roundup or Weed-B-Gon and simply spray the weeds and get rid of the problem once and for all? 

The problem is, as the farmer says, when we do so we can kill the good stuff too (Matthew 13:30). This is nothow God works. We can do more damage by pulling up the weeds too soon than by letting the weeds and wheat grow together until the harvest (Matthew 13:29). Yes, it will take more time, but the wait is worth it. 

That’s what Jesus is teaching. How may we not rush to judgment and thus do more harm? How may we trust God in God’s judgement? How may we live with the confidence that God is working for our good?
​
Pastor Andy Kinsey
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Prodigal Spirit - Luke 15:11-32

7/9/2019

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Not making good is why we typically call the younger son “prodigal,” or “wayward” in the parable of the prodigal son. The problem is that this is really not what prodigal means: To be prodigal means that you spend and spend until you have nothing left; it actually means extravagant recklessness (Tim Keller). 

It is why there is really more than one prodigal in this story. In fact, we may want to consider how extravagantly reckless the father’s love truly is. For what is more prodigal, more reckless, than the father’s preemptive forgiveness, than the father’s all-embracing, extravagant love toward both his sons?
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Typically, when we read this story, we read it through the lens of American individualism, which means that when we read this story, we read it as a story of individual repentance: it becomes a story about how “I” as an individual can no longer find “my” way. “I” am lost. And then one day, when “I” come to my senses, when “I” decide to go back home. “I” say “I” am sorry. “I” then return home, receive a banquet in “my” honor, and “my” family’s love exceeds all human reason.

There is nothing wrong with this understanding of the parable of the prodigal son. As individuals, we do lose our way; it is part of the human journey, no matter the age!

My wife Peggy and I got lost hiking last week in Brown County. Take wrong turn and oops! We are not in Brown County State Park in anymore! Even with GPS, we can get lost! In fact, I heard on the radio the other day that we all are getting worse at finding our way because of GPS! That is, we all are losing a sense of direction – both internally and externally.

What are way we are lost today, or cut off from community, from family? How we may return home and be reconciled? What are the ways we may read this story as a story of reunion and come to our senses?

Pastor Andy Kinsey
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Found It - Luke 15:1-10

7/2/2019

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The Parable of the Lost Sheep, a Modern Retelling.
It was early spring and a wet, heavy snow was falling.  I spent the night with my best friend out on her parent’s ranch, five miles from town.  Staying with her always meant early morning feedings for the animals and egg gathering duty.  In the winter and spring, it also meant calf checking. I’ve never understood why, but in Wyoming calving season runs the middle of winter and into spring.  

We had done the feedings and egg collecting and it was time to go check on the calves and their mommas.  Everyone in the barns were doing fine - warm and dry. Then it was time to ride horses to the back pasture and check the cows there.  Some of them were soon to be mammas and they always tried to keep an eye on them and move them to the barn for the birthing.

We bundled up, saddled the horses, who were not super thrilled to be going out in the spring snow, and rode down the two-track road toward the back field.  

It was incredible - beautiful huge flakes, fell as if in slow motion and  we became part of the silence around us. The river to our right and the red / brown hills to our left.  The sound of the horses breathing, their hooves pushing snow and the sound of the leather saddle / bridle moving in time with their bodies.  

It remains one of the most memorable rides I have had in my life.  But it wasn’t because of the snow and silence. It was because of what happened next.  

By the time we made the mile ride, the snow was coming in a little faster and harder.  We got to the cows and for the most part they had gathered up near the corner of the fence where a couple trees provided some shelter and their body heat kept each other warm.  

Then we saw her.  Number 257 - one of the soon to be mamma cows out in the middle of the pasture all alone.  She was facing away from the other cows as if looking across the field. She bellowed a couple times but never turned around.  

As we approached we soon discovered why.  She had given birth out in the pasture! I held Anita’s horse while she dismounted and checked the cow, making sure she was o.k.  She was fine, but there was no calf. It appeared she had been trying to get to the other cows but the calf couldn’t make it, or she had to leave it.  We weren’t sure.

About that time, Rick, Anita’s dad, came riding through the snow.  He saw the snow getting heavier and faster and wanted to make sure we were o.k.  He obviously saw what we saw and now the search was on for the baby calf. I don't know how big this particular pasture was but they own 600+ acres and this was one of the larger fields along the river.

We led the horses in a wide circle around the mamma.  No calf. We headed out in the direction momma was facing, and rode the fence line.  No calf. Rick rode up through the herd huddled by the trees. No calf. We came back and much like a search and rescue team does, we rode 3 across in a straight line and started going back and forth across the field. No calf.

I don’t see a lot of cattle ranches in Indiana but I have come to know and care about some corn, soybean, and winter wheat farmers who if they lose a crop, they lose a lot more than just a crop.  Even one field lost can be a big loss. So it was for Anita and her family. One calf lost, even though they ran hundreds of cattle, was still a big loss.

I don’t know how long we looked, but it was long enough that the storm settled in good, the wind picked up, and visibility was bad.  Not to mention my hands, feet, face, and the tops of my legs were wet and cold. The horses kept trying to turn their heads toward the barn.  

We made another pass through the field and I had to skirt a drainage ditch area.  That’s when I heard a noise - the faintest little cry for help you can imagine. I rode up to the lip of drainage area and there he was.  A little black dot against the falling snow. I hollered, “I found it! I found it!” And forgot all about being cold and wet.

Rick jumped off his horse, slid down the bank, scooped up that calf, opened up his coat, tucked him in against his chest and clammored back up to his horse.  I still don’t know how he hung on to the calf, grabbed the reins and slung himself back up on his horse but he did and we were off.

We went back to the mamma and Rick let her sniff and nuzzle her baby inside his coat and she knew to follow us back up to the barn, which is exactly what she did - bellowing, mooing and telling anyone who would listen, two legged or four,  that her baby was found. Even before we got to the barn the other mammas and babies were joining her celebration.

And I must admit, all three of the humans were smiling, laughing, and cooing over that silly calf.  Even Anita’s mom came down to the barn with blankets out of the dryer and a bottle of warm milk for the baby.

If I can feel that way about a cow, I can only imagine how God must feel about finding one of us!

That is the message Jesus illustrates in Luke 15:1-10.  Two stories of God yelling out, “found it” and the reminder to believers everywhere that God’s love reaches far beyond any law or tradition.  Two stories that reveal the very nature of God.

May we hear again and find security in how incredible God’s love is and how we need to join the celebration rather than fear, judge, or squelch to Spirit.  

Pastor Jenothy Irvine
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Grace United Methodist Church
1300 E Adams Dr,
Franklin, IN 46131

Phone: 317-736-7962
grace@franklingrace.org

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Saturday: 5:30pm 
Sunday: 9:00am & 11:00am

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