Would you like some good news? Yeah, so would I.

So I’d like to announce that this edition of the Kessler Park UMC Newsletter will be entirely full of good news only. Seriously. For a few minutes, at least, ignore the headlines and turn away from the TV.

Here’s some exciting news — the last two weeks, a total of 12 people have joined the church! And I hear a rumor that we will have even more joining this coming Sunday! I’m not sure exactly what has caused this mini-surge, but obviously we’re experiencing some energy and excitement. I think it’s related to the fact that people are discovering that KPUMC is an authentic community of faith, where you can be yourself and yet also grow into the likeness of Christ.

Speaking of this Sunday morning, we’ll also celebrate the baptism of Preston Lynndon West, son of Chad West and Brad Bleeker. Baptisms always fill me with hope, because they remind me that God has claimed each of us; God has marked us with a symbol that transcends race, gender, culture, language, and nationality.

Unfortunately, this Sunday we’ll also be saying farewell to Norlynn Price … wait, wait! This edition is supposed to be good news only, so — never mind! Forget what I just wrote there.

I’m also excited these days about a new adult Sunday School class that has started in the chapel. John Ogren is leading this group, which last week, had an inaugural class of nine people. Some of the couples came because there is now a Sunday School program for pre-kindergarten kids in the nursery, led by Wendy Ogren. Thanks to the Ogren’s for helping facilitate expanded ministries in the church!

Last week, we launched our fall Wednesday Night Live programming with a delicious fried chicken meal. Two adult groups meet after that — one is a new lay pastoral care group, headed up by Mike Smith and Ken Kelley; the other is a new Social Justice team, led by Susan Baxley. Two more ways in which KPUMC will be making a difference in our community in the future!

After last night’s Wednesday Night dinner, children and youth assembled the flood buckets gathered and donated by church members over the last few weeks. These buckets will be packaged and sent to UMCOR’s depot in Louisiana for use in the flood-affected areas of south Texas, as disaster recovery efforts unfold … oh wait, sorry — I’m veering toward bad news again …

OK then, can I also mention that it was great having a contingent of KPUMC members at the Dallas Pride Parade last Sunday? It was an extremely warm and muggy afternoon, and the parade started late, BUT regardless, it was inspiring to walk with the members of the other Reconciling churches in Dallas as one group together, committed in our affirmation of our LGBTQ neighbors. People along the parade route were truly encouraged and excited to see Christians walking to show their support.

Oh, and I just learned today that the Reconciling churches received the 2017 Dallas Pride Parade Category Award for “Best Social Commentary”! See, isn’t that good news?!

May the rest of your day — and week — be filled with news that is hopeful, life-affirming, positive, and optimistic.

If you took a close look at my stole last Sunday, you might have noticed that it was a detailed illustration of the story of Noah’s ark. It’s a beautiful piece of art, but I don’t wear it often because it doesn’t fit any church season very easily.

However, you can guess why I chose to wear it last week. And I’m going to wear it again this coming Sunday.

I keep finding myself reading and re-reading the story of the flood in Genesis these last few days. I’m searching for some kind of interpretive clue for making sense of the tragedy unfolding in Houston these days. Unfortunately, it is difficult to find comfort in the Noah story.

For one, according to Genesis, God causes the flood — no, to put it bluntly, God uses the flood for genocidal purposes. He wanted to purge the earth of human beings and start all over. So he picked Noah, who seemed like a good guy at the time, and gave him alone the lifeline he and his family would need to survive the flood.

I don’t believe that this is really the true explanation for the flood, let me be very clear. I do believe that there was a big flood in the ancient past; other ancient civilizations and cultures also have stories of a major, earth-altering flood. But the Noah story sounds like a very early, weak attempt to make sense of its widespread destruction, which is something we humans are always trying to do.

When tragedy occurs and disaster strikes, we work hard to make sense of it. We find it very difficult to accept the idea that storms happen because of a complex of factors related to atmosphere and barometric pressure and winds. We shrink from the thought that sometimes random things happen, or that accidents occur.

Sometimes the human authors of the Hebrew Scriptures struggled with this very tendency. They found it easier to ascribe a cause to the flood; since the only thing that could possibly cause a worldwide flood was God, then obviously, God must have caused the flood. And why? Well, isn’t it obvious that people can be evil?

It might have made for a plausible scenario for early civilizations, but the story sounds absolutely horrifying to 21st century people. This doesn’t sound like the God we know, nor like the God we come to know in the rest of the Bible.

When I consider the “meaning” of Hurricane Harvey and the subsequent flooding, I don’t ask, “Whose fault is it?” I’m not angry with God for “letting it happen,” nor do I think God caused it to happen.

Rather, when I look at what is happening in Houston, I see God at work in the aftermath of the storm through all the ordinary people who have put their own lives on hold to be in service.
Haven’t we all seen God at work in extraordinary ways? We have seen scores of inspiring photographs and videos of people helping people. We have watched journalists reaching out to assist elderly Alzheimer’s patients, uniformed officers carrying women and children, and teenagers piloting boats and canoes down flooded streets to save families. Every time we see someone else being saved, we are watching God’s salvation work happening.

This Sunday, we have the opportunity of participating in this salvation work. As a church, we are joining together to put together a number of flood buckets, which will be immensely helpful over the coming weeks as the flood cleanup begins. The church will provide the five-gallon buckets, but we need you all to bring the supplies. Here’s a list of what is needed, and you’re invited to bring them this Sunday morning. Bring them to your pews with you, because the service will be interactive and participatory. We’ll be putting together flood buckets AS an act of worship, and taking Holy Communion, too. See you Sunday morning!

Blog

Harvey, Noah, and God's Saving Work