Ordained elders in the United Methodist Church serve as itinerate pastors. During ordination, we promise to go where the bishop sends. It’s like signing a blank check with the currency of your life, trusting another to spend it wisely.

In April, Bishop Sue Haupert-Johnson announced the pastoral appointments for the North Georgia Annual Conference. She has appointed me to serve as the new senior pastor of Northside United Methodist Church in Atlanta. This Sunday, June 11, I will preach my final sermon at First United Methodist Church of Lawrenceville.

God has richly blessed  during the past four years in Gwinnett County. I often tell people that pastoral service resembles dog years—one has to multiple the number of years by 7 in order to obtain the true age of a pastor! Using this math, I have actually served First United Methodist Church of Lawrenceville 28 years over the last 48 months.

The past weeks have been a roller coaster ride of emotions. This is home, and we love this congregation dearly and will miss the community greatly. However, we are also excited about the fresh opportunity to serve Northside United Methodist Church.

The bishop has assigned Dr. Royeese Stowe as the new senior pastor of FUMC of Lawrenceville, and her first Sunday will be on June 25. I have no doubt the congregation will welcome Dr. Stowe with graceful love. I solicit your prayers for the pastors and congregations involved during this time of transition.

Sometimes more than letters are lost in contractions. Consider the word “Goodbye.” The term actually shortens the phrase: “God be with you.” So today I don’t say farewell to Christ’s saints in Lawrenceville.

Instead, my prayer is that God will be with you . . . until we meet again.

In 2004, Patrick Lencioni published a book entitled Death by Meeting. The author had me at the title. During my career, I have endured many murderous meetings. They didn’t kill me, but I almost died of boredom at times.

Like them or not, we all spend a lot of time in meetings, including: business meetings, church meetings, school meetings, civic club meetings, Little League meetings, Scout meetings, homeowners’ meetings, and more. We even plan pre-meetings to organize meetings and post-meetings to debrief how previous meetings met!

Many times I would prefer to just do the work myself rather than meet with others. For the same reason, I never liked group projects in school. The weakest link determines the strength of a chain. I preferred to earn my own grade rather than depend on someone else’s efforts.

This solo approach works well in any organization with one member or less; however, it does not work in groups of two or more! Like children in preschool, we must learn how to work and play nicely with others.

From a Biblical and theological perspective, each person is a valuable, worthwhile child of God. The Lord gifts every human being with talents and abilities. Meeting enable people to share their talents in order to benefit the group.

Business leaders use buzz words like “synergy” to describe this process. Dictionaries provide a formal definition of the term; however, a simple math equation illustrates the principle:

Synergy occurs when 1 + 1 = MORE THAN TWO!

Such synergy enables the whole to be more than the sum of its parts. In other words, groups become more together than apart as individuals. We see the principle illustrated in athletic teams, jazz bands, project groups, and barbershop quartets.

The Bible uses many images to describe the church, including the body of Jesus Christ: one body, many members, all gifted in their own way. We complement one another in ways that enable the church to accomplish God’s work.

Death by meeting . . . well, maybe it feels that way sometimes.

Life by meeting . . . it turns out that’s how God does business.

During my childhood, Memorial Day signaled the unofficial start of summer. I never thought much about the holiday’s deeper meaning. For a boy, enjoying a day off from school seemed significant enough.

In the aftermath of the Civil War, Major General John A. Logan issued General Order 11. It designated May 30 as Decoration Day—a time of remembrance for fallen soldiers. Arlington Cemetery hosted the first major observance in 1868. The annual event quickly grew into a national holiday.

Today our nation observes Memorial Day on the last Monday of May. The holiday honors military personnel who have died during wartime. Parades, speeches, flags, and cemetery floral arrangements mark the occasion.

We remember the men and women who have given their lives in the service of their country. We also honor remember armed forces’ personnel who presently serve at home or abroad. Our liberties come at a high cost, and we recognize those who lay aside self-interest for their country’s sake.

We remember military families who also make their own sacrifices. Each member of the Army, Air Force, Navy, Marines, Coast Guard, Reserves, and National Guard leaves behind a family at home. Our service personnel wear a uniform; however, parents, siblings, spouses, children, and friends support them on the home front.

This weekend fly the flag. Take your hat off when the National Anthem plays. Speak the words of the Pledge of Allegiance in a strong voice. Express your appreciation to a veteran. Visit a cemetery. Place a flower arrangement. Say a prayer. Remember.

America, God mend thine every flaw,

confirm thy soul in self-control, thy liberty in law.

Grief possesses a timing and logic all its own. It lurks in shadows and skulks around corners, appearing at the most unexpected of times.

Mother’s Day reminded me of this phenomenon anew.

My mother died four years ago in the midst of our move to Lawrenceville. A massive stroke eventually led to her death. I spent a frantic week rushing from Cartersville to Kennestone Hospital to Lawrenceville and back and back and back again.

I preached my first Sunday at First United Methodist Church of Lawrenceville on Sunday. She died 36 hours later on Monday night.

People grieve in different ways. In some ways, the busyness of serving a new congregation eased the pain. In other ways, I put grief on a layaway program, paying installments over time.

Four years later I still find myself surprised by grief. During December, I saw a gift and thought, “Mom would like that for Christmas.” This March I almost called to wish my parents a Happy Anniversary. Perusing Mother’s Day cards last week, I saw one she would have loved.

Grief possesses a timing and logic all its own. It lurks in shadows and skulks around corners, appearing at the most unexpected times

However, sorrow is nothing more than the long shadow cast by love. If we did not love, then we would not grieve. If we did not possess, then we could not lose.

In a poem entitled In Memoriam A. H. H., Lord Alfred Tennyson wrote:

• I hold it true, whate’er befall;
• I feel it when I sorrow most;
• ‘Tis better to have loved and lost
• Than never to have loved at all.

In times of grief, Christians claim what we proclaim: believers who have loved and lost never really lose their loved ones at all. Grief lasts but a moment, and joy endures forever.

A recent sampling of my weekend emails revealed the following offers:

• Sermon for tomorrow—immediate access!
• Sermon for this Sunday. Reliable. Professional. Easy.
• Sermons freshly written for the Easter season.
• Sermons professionally written for every Sunday.

Based on the subject lines, a thriving red-letter market exists for preachers interested in purchasing Saturday Night Special sermons.

In full disclosure, I certainly borrow from others in sermon preparation. After 2,000 years of Christendom, no one achieves originality. Dr. Fred Craddock, who taught homiletics at Candler School of Theology, warned: “He who steals from me steals twice.” And Fred probably got that statement from someone else!

However, preaching store bought sermons as homemade homilies smacks of intellectual dishonesty and spiritual slothfulness. Like Esau, clergy that settle for “reliable, professional, and easy” store bought sermons have traded their birthright for porridge.

Preachers worth their salt labor over proclaiming the Gospel in a unique time and place to a particular people and parish. The integration of Word and World requires a pastor to stand with one foot in the sanctuary and another in the street.

Like Jacob at the Jabbok, faithful ministers wrestle with the Lord and struggle with the text. We limp away from the encounter to share with others our hard won experience.

A homemade homily prepared with love and preached with faithfulness may not be “professionally written,” but it inspires the hearts, minds, and souls of God’s saints.

Each January I select a single word to serve as a focal point for the entire year. The spiritual discipline shapes my daily devotions and spiritual life.

During 2017, I am focusing on being GRATEFUL.

I begin and end each day with the question: “What am I grateful for today?” An attitude of gratitude directs my eyes from the gift to the Giver. It prompts me in a variety of ways to simply say “Thank you ” to the Author of all good and perfect gifts.

Gratefulness begins with God and overflows to others. The Lord graces us with life-giving relationships with family, friends, and others. Our human nature leads us to take people for granted. A focus on being grateful has inspired me to both experience and express my appreciation for those around me.

Gratitude also helps inoculate my soul against whining, complaining, and grumbling. Gratefulness leads us to focus on blessings rather than inconveniences. It’s difficult to moan and groan while praising God and loving others.

We tend to be a forgetful people, so I’ve seeded each day with small reminders. It’s my first thought when I awake, and it’s my last thought when I fall asleep. The word forms (part!) of my computer password. And I’ve even taken the radical step of exercising gratitude while stopped at one of Gwinnett County’s many traffic lights!

During 2017, I am focusing on being GRATEFUL.

What’s your word?

A group from our church traveled to the Holy Land in 2015. We took a walking tour of Jerusalem on the final day of the tour. Entering the Old City, we walked the Via Dolorosa and prayed at the Stations of the Cross.

The Church of the Holy Sepulcher marks the traditional location of Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection. Although the claim cannot be supported with historical certainly, Christians have worshiped at this sacred site since the fourth century.

Altar marking Golgotha

Past the entrance we climbed a stairway on the right that ascended to the site of Golgotha. Under an elaborate altar, pilgrims knelt and touched the rock where the crucifixion took place. The Chapel of Adam is located beneath the altar. Legend claims the blood of Jesus seeped through the rock and covered the skeletal remains of First Man.

A large rotunda left of the entrance houses the traditional site of Jesus’ tomb. I stood in a line winding around the sepulcher. The anteroom contained the “Angel’s Stone” which is purportedly a piece of the stone that sealed Christ’s tomb. A priest stood inside, directing three people at a time to enter the second chamber of the tomb itself.

The low entrance forced us to bow while entering the site of Jesus’ burial. An altar marked the place where Joseph of Arimathea placed the body. We knelt in silent reverence on holy ground.

The Garden Tomb

Later in the afternoon we visited a second site claiming to be the possible place of the cross and empty tomb. Golgotha (Calvary in Latin) literally means The Place of the Skull. A British general and amateur archaeologist named Gordon found a rock formation outside Jerusalem’s walls that resembled a skull. He then unearthed a tomb nearby bearing a striking resemblance to the Gospel’s descriptions of Jesus’ burial place.

The Garden Tomb certainly gave us a sense of what the tomb might have looked like. Our British host talked about the various claims supporting the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and Gordon’s Calvary. Finally, he paused and said in true English fashion: “However, ultimately it doesn’t matter which site is authentic. The important thing to remember, you see, is THE TOMB IS EMPTY!”

The Crucifixion and the Resurrection bisect history. History swings on the hinges of the cross and empty tomb. On the far side of Easter, nothing remains the same.

The Easter angel’s words continue to ring down through the centuries and in our ears: Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here—he is risen!

God has conquered sin and death. Jesus Christ is the firstborn of the resurrection, and he invites us to receive life, abundant life, and everlasting life. Easter people need not fear the grave because we serve the Lord of Life.

The important thing to remember, you see, is THE TOMB IS EMPTY!

During Holy Week, the church rehearses the final days of Jesus’ life. We began the week on Palm/Passion Sunday. The dual title recognizes the twin realities of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem and Christ’s agonizing death at Golgotha.

This week Christians experience the extremes of the human condition:

• Palm Sunday
  • Passion Sunday
• A parade
  • A death march
• Palms
  • Nails
• Cries of Hosanna!
  • Cries of Crucify him!
• Laughter
  • Tears
• Celebration
  • Grief
• Life
  • Death

Many believers skip from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday, from palms to lilies, from celebration to celebration, skipping the Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday which separate the two Sundays. In doing so, they fail to witness the unimaginable height, width, and depth of divine love.

During this Holiest of Weeks, we are called to follow in the footsteps of Jesus on the Via Dolorosa—The Way of Suffering—which leads to Golgotha. Let us journey together to the foot of the cross . . . and beyond.

Ordained elders in the United Methodist Church serve as itinerant pastors. During ordination, we promise to go wherever the bishop sends. It’s like signing a blank check with the currency of your life, trusting another to spend it wisely.

This past Sunday Bishop Sue Haupert-Johnson announced the pastoral appointments for the North Georgia Annual Conference. In June, she has appointed me to serve as the senior pastor of Northside United Methodist Church in Atlanta.

The opportunity to serve Northside fills me with both excitement and humility. The church’s website highlights a community of faith that invests in the congregation and community. I am excited about the fresh opportunities and challenges, and I am humbled to follow other pastors who have led so capably.

I also grieve over the prospects of leaving First United Methodist Church of Lawrenceville. God has richly blessed during the years here, and it has been my privilege to serve such a grace-filled church. My gratitude for the church’s graciousness and support goes beyond words.

Although Methodist elders take formal vows of itineracy, God calls ALL Christians to go where they are sent. Faithful disciples walk in the footsteps of Jesus. We don’t know what the future holds, but we know who holds the future.

We serve the God who is and was and is to come.  So we enjoy the present, cherish the past, and embrace the future.

Go where you’re sent, and you’ll find the Holy Spirit there.