Gravity, it is the weak force of physics that keeps us strongly rooted to the ground and affects everything from the lightest feather to the grandest sun. It is something we depend upon for life to remain ordered, and it is surprisingly difficult to overcome.

We see that difficulty every time we watch a rocket launch. Massive amounts of fuel are needed to create the thrust energy needed to lift the rocket from the ground. At first it barely moves, and slowly develops forward momentum. Still, that momentum would be almost instantly lost if the thrust were cut off. However, once free of the strong pull of the earth’s gravity, very little energy is needed to change direction or increase speed.

Like the rocket that exerts great energy to free itself form the gravitational force pulling it back to earth, we must also exert great energy to break free from the things that pull us back in life. If we stop too soon, or back off from the effort, the pull of the former things will quickly drag us backward.

The Hebrew people were slaves in Egypt. The Bible tells us the lived in subservience for 400 years. Generation after generation being born and dying in slavery. They dreamed, prayed, and cried out for freedom with a vision that one day they would be free from oppression.

Enter Moses, the man God chose to be the tool of God to liberate the Hebrew slaves. The story is lengthy, but as God moved powerfully through him, Pharaoh relented and set the people free. In the process everyone saw the supreme power of God, and rejoiced that they were delivered from their bondage.

Early in their journey away from Egypt they encountered an obstacle, Pharaoh was coming after them and they were trapped. Having seen the great power of God to set them free so recently, you would expect their faith to be high as they called out to God to deliver them again. Instead, the gravity of their previous life took hold and they began to complain to Moses, “Why did you bring us out here to die? We were better off as slaves in Egypt!” It was a complaint spoken repeatedly in spite of God’s continued deliverance.

Jesus’ apostles were not immune to this pull. After all he taught them; after three years with him; after seeing him manifest the power of God and then doing the same themselves, the shock of his death led them to return to fishing, the vocation many of them possessed prior to his call to follow him.

We are not immune either. The Psalmist said, “The name of the Lord is a strong tower. The righteous run to in and are saved.” Yet, all too often, when the struggle hits, we run the other direction, right back toward where we came from. It happens in individual lives, in families, and in churches. When faced with adversity, unknown outcomes, and obstacles that seem dramatically bigger than our abilities, we try to fall back to what we once knew, before we were walking in the Spirit. We try to solve things in our own strength, or we try to run and hide. The pull of what we knew and where we were is a powerful force to overcome.

Of course, adversity, unknown outcomes, and substantial obstacles are also the foundation for great adventures. They are often the source of grand tales and the stuff of legends. It is when we push to overcome the pull of our past and our fears, we break free from what holds us back and are able to soar with Christ! Imagine the possibilities and discoveries that await us when we break free and pursue the adventure of a lifetime with Jesus. Let that nugget sink in and give you a little more hope, and power to persevere.

In my next post we will look at some forces that draw us back. What do you find tends to draw you back from living the adventure with Jesus?

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As you can imagine, accepting the coming change is a difficult thing. Some people are ready to move forward while others are still trying to adjust to the news. For many this time simply feels like chaos, and questions about the future seem unanswered.

Yet, in the midst of it all, God is present and that is the whole point of what we celebrate on the Day of Pentecost. Some call it the “Birthday of the Church,” but it is so much more. Pentecost is the celebration of Jesus’ promise that God would send the Holy Spirit. It is a celebration of God’s intimate presence with us.

I find it so appropriate that Pentecost Sunday should fall on Memorial Day weekend. In the midst of our national time of remembrance of those who sacrificed their lives for our future, we celebrate the indwelling presence of Jesus Christ who sacrificed his life for our salvation.

Jesus told his followers that the Spirit would remind them of all he said to them and teach them everything. The presence of the Holy Spirit in their lives would allow them to remember all that Jesus did and said so that, from their remembrance, they would be able to look forward to God’s future for them and for the world.

The Spirit does the same for us today. We too, are reminded of the teachings of Jesus’ life and words, and we are equally empowered by his indwelling presence to fulfill God’s destiny for our lives. By the Spirit’s leading and empowerment we are able to face our fears and challenges, even an unknown future, with divine direction and strength.

As we remember those who gave their lives so that we might be able to live, and as we celebrate the presence and power of the Spirit of Christ within us, let us be good stewards of the lives we are given. Placing our trust in God and in the power of his strength, let us boldly embrace the future before us as we savor and celebrate each day. With the presence of God within us, may we walk by faith in such a way that we might leave a legacy of love and hope that enables others to experience the power of the risen Christ and embrace the promise of God for their lives as well.

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There is a stanza in this classic hymn that includes the words, “He breaks the power of canceled sin, he sets the prisoner free.” I cannot begin to imagine how many times I sang these words throughout my life, but I remember the day they broke through my filters and I heard them with fresh ears.

In the midst of my own struggle with parts of my past, the idea that canceled sin could still have power gripped my heart. Certainly, God’s forgiveness through Jesus Christ is complete, but we can allow those forgiven sins to affect the way that we live. If we choose to perpetuate those former sins, or if we choose to live under their guilt, we will not experience the fullness of life God intended for us.

Too often, we get lost in our past and we miss what God is doing in the present to prepare us for our future. We wallow in self-condemnation, self-pity, or some other burdensome understanding of our lives, while we neglect the freedom that comes from laying such burdens on the Lord. It is a tremendous tool of the enemy to keep us bound in false chains and away from living our destiny in God.

Jesus told the woman caught in adultery, “neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more.” Clearly, there was forgiveness and a call to a better way, but there is also the promise that living beyond sins of the past is truly possible, especially in light of the power of God to make it so.

While at a pastor’s prayer retreat, the leader of one of our sessions offered the following insight:

Anytime the devil brings up your past it is because…
1) He hopes you are ignorant of the truth
2) He fears your future
3) He wants to rob you of God’s best

There is powerful truth in those words. Just like the truth found in the words of the hymn reveals the power of cancelled sin to imprison us, the revelation shared at that retreat reminds us that our past is in the hands of God and through his mighty acts of salvation, we are no longer a slave to that past. We need to know the truth that we are delivered from our past, that God has a future for us, and that evil is always working to steal God’s best from our lives, but we do not have to surrender it.

If we are walking with God, it is time to lay down the heavy weight of our past and its sins. It is time to embrace the freedom and newness of life given to us by God while we walk in its joy and wonder. It is time to allow the Holy Spirit to break the power of canceled sin and set us free from our self-made prisons. It is time to live the abundant life that is already ours.

Today is a great day to leave the weight of our past behind, choose life and walk in it toward the future divinely created for us. May it be so.

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Occasionally, people would erect standing stones, large stones placed in an upright position that made it clear it was done by human hands. At other times, piles of stones would be made for the same purpose. This way, along with creating places to remember the mighty acts of God, symbols were established that helped encourage the telling of the story to future generations. As people traveled, a child or new member to the community might see these altars and stones and ask, “What happened here?”

For me, one of the most significant parts of these symbols was their redemptive focus. Instead of merely being remembrances of events, they were places to remember God’s activity in the midst of human experience, even in the face of painful circumstances.

Today, many of us will gather in worship and remember. We will remember God’s activity in our lives. We will remember the saving act of Jesus Christ and the acts of so many followers of Christ that made the Good News known throughout the world. We will remember our corporate and personal history with God and give thanks for God’s activity in our story. And, being the tenth anniversary of the tragic events of September 11, 2001, we will remember those images and stories as well.

It is important for us to remember significant days of our journey, even days of great pain, but as we remember, we must keep in mind that we are a people whose trust and hope is in the Lord. We can reflect on the tragic loss that occurred that day, on those who lost their lives, and on those who gave of themselves to respond. We can pause to ponder the brokenness of our world, the horror of violence and the pain of devastating loss. We can do all these things, but as people of faith, we do them as a form of sacred remembrance.

We do not remember to sensationalize the past, nor is our recollection just an expression of patriotism. We certainly do not remember for the sake of anger and hatred. We are a people who do not grieve as the world grieves. We remember so that we, like all those who went before us, can affirm God’s activity in our past and in our present. We look back, so that we can look forward, believing in God’s promises for our future.

This does not mean that we are not filled with deep emotion, or that we deny our feelings. Rather, we own those emotions and feelings and present them to God. We allow our pain to become a passion for change. Where we would be tempted to embrace anger, we choose to take hold of peace. Where we would want to fracture relationships, we seek to build them instead. We choose to look for God in the midst of our story, so that we can tell God’s story in the face of our adversity.

None of us who recall the images and events of that day, will likely forget the fear, pain and emptiness we felt. Hopefully, we will not forget the images of compassion and service we saw that day as well. Hopefully, we will not lose sight of what held us together and Who holds us in the palm of his hand today as he did that day. Then, as those who remember, not just events, but the actions of God and people who demonstrated the heart of God, we can work for a better world. We can choose to be people who demonstrate divine love, compassion and peace.

Today, we remember, but then it is time to go to work and be the people of God and seek God’s will in our day. It is the time to be the city set on a hill that cannot be hid, a beacon of light to a darkened world. It is the time to demonstrate by word and deed that there is another way, a way that leads to life. May our sacred remembrance lead us all to holy actions that future generations may look back and remember what God did to bless the world through us.

Peace be with you, with the world and with us all.

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At the same time, there is something exciting about the new: a new outfit, a different vacation destination, the latest technology. We take the scenic route to discover new sights and places. We visit new restaurants to follow-up on the recommendations of friends. We look forward to the differences that make life interesting and enjoyable; that create variety amid the routine tasks of daily life.

Our lives are lived in the balance between the familiar and the fresh, the common and the creative, the known and new. We hold on to the things of meaning from the past, while joyfully embracing the possibilities of our future. We celebrate where we have been and anticipate where we are going.

Jesus said, “Therefore every teacher of the law who has been instructed about the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old.” (Matthew 13:52) Indeed, even in our faith journey, there is a place for what God has done and what God is about to do. “See, I am doing a new thing!”, God says, “Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.” (Isaiah 43:19)

Recently, our church went through an exciting change. Although very little of that change has been felt at the moment, a part of our identity and ministry is new. The former Western New York Annual Conference concluded its business as we said goodbye to a Annual Conference that we’ve known for over a century. At the same time, the Upper New York Annual Conference was created and is now giving birth to our mission and vision for the future.

As I attended these two historic Annual Conference sessions, I found that I did so with mixed emotions. I confess that I found it challenging to let go of the familiar things I have known since I began attending Annual Conference nearly 25 years ago. During that time I’ve become accustomed to knowing the people and procedures. In short, I was comfortable.

At the same time, it was exciting to begin to envision the new thing that God is doing in our midst. The opportunity for new friendships, new opportunities for ministry, and the possibility of breaking free of the trappings of former routines is exhilarating. What might tomorrow hold in this new vision God is revealing.

So it is with the Annual Conference, our church and our lives. Changes come that call us forward into the new thing God is doing, while carrying the treasures of our past. We must not cling to what has been, but, trusting in God, step faithfully into the destiny that awaits us. With wisdom we share our treasures old and new, we embrace the new thing God is doing in our generation, and we let our hearts joyfully, “sing a new song unto the Lord.”

As we continue to discover God’s plan for us in this season, we unite our hearts with him, and with one another and share the journey to our future together.

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