We Have Something to Say

HT Bloggers: Olivia Metcalf, Jason Veach, Libby Tedder Hugus, Corey Macpherson, and Carla Sunberg

Meet some of the Holiness Today bloggers, young ministers who are passionate about their personal faith and their public service to Christ and the church.
 
Don’t Forget the Joy
 
by Olivia Craker Metcalf
 
Money. What a sensitive subject. Jesus is clear in saying money is something that can separate us from God. It's hard for the rich to enter the kingdom, Jesus tells all who listen.
 
For some of us we love to shake our heads at the wealthy, proud of our impoverished status and rather certain that we are in the right. For others, there is great pity on the poor for not receiving the blessings of God. Who is right?
 
I'm pretty sure it's wrong to think of oneself as better than anyone else. I'm also pretty sure that to attribute money to blessing is a slippery slope. Does that mean that our brothers and sisters who make very little are not blessed? Does that mean that celebrities and world leaders who may care nothing about the love of God in Christ are blessed because of their monetary wealth?
 
The problem is perspective. Blessing isn't about me being rich. Blessing is about me pouring out what I have on others. So whether I have a lot or a little to give isn't important. What matters is that I give to someone else in need. I become a blessing.
 
As Christians the greatest blessing we receive is our salvation and sanctification through our gracious and loving Father, through Christ our Lord, by the power of the Spirit in us. When we experience the grace of God, we should want to bless others. We ought to want them to know what we have experienced by living in a relationship with God. We need to long for the world to experience the transformative work of Christ and the freedom that comes from the Spirit. We really should want to give—give everything.
 
Then why is money so problematic? Why is it hard to talk about? Why do some Christians give so little to the work of God through the church?
 
It is because we have forgotten. Sometimes we have forgotten the joy of our salvation. Everyone needs to be reminded of the amazing gift grace really is for us. Sometimes we have forgotten that things don't last and don't bring happiness. Perhaps we need to be reminded that we can't buy enough stuff to save our souls. We've forgotten that the church is what Christ has provided the world. He is building it. He is using us to bring about his kingdom. So we need to reorient ourselves to this place of belonging and giving and serving.
 
We need to give. Yes, our talents and our time matter but so does our money. If we don't bless others we may miss out on all God wants to do through all he has given to us. I don't want to keep what I have to myself. I want to share and give and bless others as I have been blessed. May we all be faithful givers to the work of God in our world.
 
1 Corinthians 16:1-4
Now about the collection for the Lord’s people: Do what I told the Galatian churches to do. On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with your income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made. Then, when I arrive, I will give letters of introduction to the men you approve and send them with your gift to Jerusalem. If it seems advisable for me to go also, they will accompany me.
 
Olivia Craker Metcalf co-pastors the Mountain Home, Idaho, Church of the Nazarene with her husband, Dustin. They are the parents of two sons. She has degrees from Northwest Nazarene University and Nazarene Theological Seminary.

 
Getting Our Hands Dirty

by Jason Veach

I glanced down to see numerous dark smudges on my fingers and hands. I had tried to wash them away but a hint of smudge remained, a solemn reminder of this Ash Wednesday worship gathering. The haunting phrase I had spoken to each participant as I traced the cross in ashes on their foreheads was still ringing in my ears, “Remember you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”

In our fast-paced frenzied culture, we don’t often take time to consider our mortality, not least when people actually die. Trends suggest that we are ever-laboring to expedite the grieving and burial process. We want it as quick and painless as possible, at least on the exterior. To a certain extent, I can understand it. Death is difficult. It’s shrouded in mystery. It’s scary.

Yet the need to look death squarely in the face is greater than ever. In a self-sufficient culture such as mine, where eternal youth is a relentless pursuit, we need a reality check. We are made of ashes and dust, and someday we are going to die. It’s a stark truth but a certainty nonetheless. Perhaps this is why Ash Wednesday and the season of Lent is a double-edged sword.

On one hand, it’s terrifying to look at oneself in the mirror. In the quiet moments, between the hustle and bustle of everyday life, we must stop to take an honest assessment of the self. It is a frightening thing to pray with the Psalmist, “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. (Psalm 139:23) only to realize that we then need to pray, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” (Luke 18:38).

At the same time, and perhaps counter-intuitively, Ash Wednesday is a particularly hopeful moment. The Christian gospel is not that when we were at our lowest point, we finally mustered up enough will to reach out to God. No. The good news is that God reached down to us. He lowered himself and took on the dust of humanity: “Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness” (Philippians 2:6-7). That same Lord was crucified “for us and for our salvation.”* God received the ashes of humanity and redeemed it through a cross.

Thus, the paradox of the Christian faith is powerfully symbolized in Ash Wednesday, Lent, and Easter. As we humble ourselves, we are exalted. As we repent, we are forgiven and set free. As we die with Christ, we are raised to new life. For 40 days during Lent we walk with Jesus from the desert to the empty tomb. As we follow the crucified Lord, we are called to humble ourselves before God and our fellow ash-bearing neighbors and find the freedom that comes through getting our hands dirty.

The Nicene Creed
 
We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen.
 
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father. Through him all things were made. For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven: by the power of the Holy Spirit he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary, and was made man. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried. On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.
 
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified. He has spoken through the Prophets.
 
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come.
Amen.

*A key phrase in the Nicene Creed that speaks to the mystery of the Incarnation.

Jason Veach serves as the pastor of Eden Community www.edenpdx.org, a new congregation affiliated with Portland, Oregon, First Church of the Nazarene. He has served in pastoral ministry in Kansas and as a chapel supervisor and lecturer at European Nazarene College in Bu¿singen, Germany.


When the Going Gets Tough

by Libby Tedder Hugus

You’ve heard the idiom “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” Digging into Scripture provides a different picture when it comes to God’s people. Christians get peaceful when the going gets tough. Listen to this plea from a highly trusted apostle, “I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:1-3 nrsv).
 
If you’re like me and grew up with siblings, you more than likely fought with your brothers or sisters. What was the reconciliation policy in your home? I don’t remember specifics about making up after fights with my only brother, but I do remember having to apologize sincerely when I had done wrong, and I remember lots and lots of compromising.
 
What happens when the family of God quarrels? It has been happening since the beginning of time:
Remember:

• Cain and Abel (Genesis 4)
• Jacob and Esau (Genesis 25)
• Paul and Barnabas (Acts 15)
• Eodia and Syntche (Philippians 4:2)?

 
The list goes on between neighbors, nations, and among churches. The Scriptures are full of wisdom on how to navigate conflict and they promise that it is God who is the ultimate peacemaker.
 
Concentrate on Ephesians 4:1-6. By now, you’ve realized the body you’re living in is the only one you’ve got. It’s similar to what the apostle is trying to hammer home in Ephesians 4:4: “For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future” (NLT).

Just as we cannot choose the families into which we are born, we cannot throw out members of the body of Christ when we get annoyed or even hurt by those with whom we share our church. We are one by the nature of our worship of one Lord because there is “one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all” (Ephesians 4:5-6 nrsv).

Written to “God’s holy people in Ephesus, who are faithful followers of Christ Jesus” this letter was an encouragement to the recently planted Gentile church (nlt). The apostle-author is begging the readership to live lives worthy of their calling. What sort of lives are worthy? Lives characterized by humility, gentleness, and patience. Holiness doesn’t get clearer than that.The apostle recognizes patterns that are already in place for faithful Christians in Ephesus, urging them to keep it up! Holy living is communally oriented and defines what it means to live in unity.

The appeal to “bear with one another in love” is the core of this plea for unity. I love the way the New Living Translation puts it, “Making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love.” It gets straight to the point doesn’t it? We’re all a bit faulty, family of God not excluded, but love creates enough space for holiness to flourish.

Then, this little sentence, “Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace” (Ephesians 4:3 NLT). The ironic thing about the apostle begging for his church plant to be bound in peace is that he himself is in physical chains, restrained from freedom. Here, he challenges his readers to chain themselves together with peace, to allow peace to restrain their actions. That’s the fullness of salvation in a nutshell!

What’s the take home for the family of God? Conflict is a sad reality of our broken world, and it happens even in the safety of the church. By living lives worthy of our callings—humility, gentleness and patience—we make room for the other and help to heal the brokenness. It is time to chain up, brothers and sisters, making every effort to live united in the Spirit and restrained by peace.

Libby Tedder Hugus is the daughter of two continents: Africa and North America. Libby loves to preach, teach, write, and shepherd in pursuit of God’s reconciliation mission. She earned a BA in pastoral ministry from Northwest Nazarene University and an MDiv Nazarene Theological Seminary. Libby lives with her husband, Jeremy, in Casper, Wyoming.
 

Compassion and the Kingdom

by Corey MacPherson

In writing an article for Holiness Today, I wrestled over whether or not I should use the term “social justice.” I did not want to cause division among readers just because they saw the dreaded “SJ” term.

At the Nazarene college where I serve, students are very passionate about social justice. However, a misunderstanding exists by many in our churches as to what young people mean when they speak and live out lives of social justice.

Throughout the history of the church, Christians have prayed for God’s kingdom to come, and God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven.” If we truly want to see God’s kingdom on earth, we must move in the direction of eradicating things that are not part God‘s kingdom in heaven.

Here’s one example: poverty and the systems or structures that lend to it are not part of God’s kingdom.

Compassionate ministries usually meet the immediate needs of people, whether those needs be housing, food, or clothing. When we are caring for and meeting the immediate needs of people, we are truly being a Christian people.

Christians who are passionate about social justice, however, address issues such as poverty by getting to the systemic root or cause of the poverty, and seek to remove it and break the cycle. So, when we see people in our communities who are so poor they can’t even afford to feed their families, we not only feed them (compassionate ministries), but we strive to eliminate any systems that may contribute toward causing the poverty (social justice).

One system that is often contributing to impoverished neighborhoods is poor public schools. Education is the best way to get a person out of poverty. But if a public school is under-resourced and underfunded (which is almost always the case in poor neighborhoods), those students will have a much more difficult time doing well in school and getting into college.

In turn, they become trapped in a system that keeps them impoverished and unable to earn a college education and get better paying jobs. These educational systems are an injustice, for they keep people trapped in cycles of poverty.

Many students in Nazarene colleges and universities are now aware of injustices such as the “education gap” described here. They are so passionate about these types of injustices that they desire not only to address the issue (which can happen in many ways), but do away with it all together. It truly is a Christian endeavor.

We have allowed a simple term like “social justice” to divide us far too long. Let us now regroup, refocus, and work together in being a Christian people who seek to advance God’s kingdom, on earth as it is in heaven.

Corey MacPherson is vice president for spiritual development and church relations at Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy, Massachusetts.


Put Away the Folding Table

by Carla Sunberg

As young people at family gatherings, we often had to sit at the folding table which was either in another room or added to the end of the “big peoples” table. We might have to sit on the piano bench and, our worst fear, share it with our brothers. Somehow, we all survived those days and we were grateful for the day when we were invited to sit at the big table and a new, younger generation had to sit around the folding table.

In the Church of the Nazarene, we have had a lovely folding table around which sits the youth. I can hear them in the other room laughing and having a great time. They are spending time in prayer, they are worshiping the Lord, and then they even open up their laptops, phones, and iPads and have fellowship with their friends from all over the world. Sometimes I want to sit at that table and embrace the vibrancy felt there.

The plan in life is always to move up from the folding table to the big table. Today it seems as if we haven't made enough room around the big table to invite those who have been around the folding table. Not long ago Matt Price from Mount Vernon Nazarene University gave a presentation at a district Nazarene Youth International convention. He talked about the characteristics of adolescents and what it takes to grow up. He explained part of that growth is to take on responsibility within the greater body.

For a while in the Church of the Nazarene, we kept lifting the age limit for leaders within our youth organizations. So eventually, instead of growing up and mentoring new leaders who would be invited to the big peoples' table, we simply left them at the folding table for an extended period of time. Then, as some outgrew the folding table, all the seats at the big peoples' table were already filled and the younger group no longer felt welcome at the family gatherings.

For the survival of the church, we desperately need our young people. We need their passion, excitement, and vision for the future. Maybe it's time to put away the folding table, enlarge our family table, and invite everyone to come and fellowship together.

The Church of the Nazarene has a great future, if we will remove all barriers to the future. The Holy Spirit is being poured out among our young people who have a passion for service and a humble holiness lifestyle. Let's welcome them in from the other room and allow them to help shape our future.

That is our hope.

Fold up the little table—it's time to put it away.

Carla Sunberg is president of Nazarene Theological Seminary in Kansas City.

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