General Board of Church and Society

Jim Winkler’s address to the General Board of Church & Society Board of Directors at its fall meeting Sept. 15-17 at the Lake Junaluska (N.C.) Conference & Retreat Center.

Sermon based on Micah 6:6-8.

"Charities cannot offend, justice must."

"Justice rarely begins with feeling good."

God in the Spirit revealed in Jesus Christ, calls us by grace to be renewed in the image of our Creator, that we may be one in divine love for the world.

Today is the day God cares for the integrity of creation, wills the healing and wholeness of all life, weeps at the plunder of earth’s goodness. And so shall we.

Today is the day God embraces all hues of humanity, delights in diversity and difference, favors solidarity transforming strangers into friends. And so shall we.

Today is the day God cries with the masses of starving people, despises growing disparity between rich and poor, demands justice for workers in the marketplace. And so shall we.

Today is the day God deplores violence in our homes and streets, rebukes the world’s warring madness, humbles the powerful and lifts up the lowly. And so shall we.

Today is the day God calls for nations and peoples to live in peace, celebrates where justice and mercy embrace, exults when the wolf grazes with the lamb. And so shall we.

Today is the day God brings good news to the poor, proclaims release to the captives, gives sight to the blind, and sets the oppressed free. And so shall we.

A COMPANION LITANY TO OUR SOCIAL CREED

God in the Spirit revealed in Jesus Christ, calls us by grace to be renewed in the image of our Creator, that we may be one in divine love for the world.

Today is the day God cares for the integrity of creation, wills the healing and wholeness of all life, weeps at the plunder of earth’s goodness. And so shall we.

Today is the day God embraces all hues of humanity, delights in diversity and difference, favors solidarity transforming strangers into friends. And so shall we.

Today is the day God cries with the masses of starving people, despises growing disparity between rich and poor, demands justice for workers in the marketplace. And so shall we.

Today is the day God deplores violence in our homes and streets, rebukes the world’s warring madness, humbles the powerful and lifts up the lowly. And so shall we.

Today is the day God calls for nations and peoples to live in peace, celebrates where justice and mercy embrace, exults when the wolf grazes with the lamb. And so shall we.

Today is the day God brings good news to the poor, proclaims release to the captives, gives sight to the blind, and sets the oppressed free. And so shall we.

A reflection on International Women’s Day By the Rev. Dr. Tracy S. Malone

As we celebrate International Women’s Day, we join together with others around the globe to honor the intelligence, strength, courage and beauty of all women regardless of their national identity, language, cultural, economic or political differences.

Many women have paved the way and risked their lives. Their incredible strength and witness have shaped this nation, this world and our lives into what and who we are today.

Women have been at the forefront and continue to be leaders in the peace and justice movement all across the globe:

Women who God has used as instruments to build roads through unknown and untreaded territories;

Women who by God’s spirit have carved out paths that would have been otherwise blocked;

Women who by God’s grace have not been paralyzed by the pain of the past but with faith and courage are forging a new future.

Pause to remember

Today we pause to remember and to honor all women.

I’m not just talking about women who sit in classrooms, courtrooms, board rooms and corporate tables; nor just women who are leaders in our churches, governments, agencies and non-governmental organizations.

I am also speaking of women who travel lonely roads standing and acting on behalf of others even if it means standing by themselves:

Women who refuse to be distracted by those voices that tell them they should or could not pursue their convictions or callings;

Women who have been denied opportunities in their lives;

Women who live everyday with faith and courage in the face of violence, war, famine and disease;

Women who give themselves away to their families — even if it means going without so their children can have.

We all either know these women or have witnessed their stories of struggle or pain and heard their cries. Today we give thanks to God for their witness, courage and strength.

And today we do more than remember and celebrate. It is not enough to simply identify with the pain of women and to stand in solidarity with them. We must commit ourselves:

To join the struggle toward justice;

To end the violence and abuse against women;

To promote gender equality.

Network of mutuality

Let us not forget the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who said: “We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”

I recently read an article in the United Nations Chronicle, titled “Confronting Violence Against Women.” It states:

That while global statistics on gender-based violence are uneven, estimates show that one in every three women has been beaten, raped or otherwise abused in her lifetime. By threatening the safety, freedom and autonomy of women and girls, gender-based violence violates women’s human rights and prevents their full participation in society and from fulfilling their potential as human beings. (Volume XLVII, 2010)

I am reminded of the words of Dr. Benjamin Mays, “When we build fences to keep others out, erect barriers to keep others down, deny to them the freedom that we ourselves enjoy and cherish most, we keep ourselves in and hold ourselves down; and the barriers we erect against others become prison bars to our own souls.”

I am encouraged by all the progress made toward the equality and advancement of women. I stand as a living witness.

But I am also convinced that we have far to go. Consider for a moment my own context of ministry.

What’s wrong with picture?

Here it is in 2010: I am serving as an elder in a denomination perceived to be progressive. I am appointed in an annual conference perceived to be liberal. I am among only a handful of women serving as a senior pastor in a large church. And yet many of our clergywomen are appointed in small two-point rural churches and/or have a life-time ministry career as an associate.

Something is wrong with this picture.

Here it is in 2010: I am serving a church in Wheaton, Ill., known as the metropolitan religious center, Bible Belt of the North. I recently learned the story of a woman who has earned a PHD and serves as a professor at Wheaton College. But this same women could not teach Sunday school to boys beyond eighth grade nor teach men at a church located within blocks from the same college where she teaches.

Something is wrong with this picture.

I thank God that I am in a blessed position to be a pastor in a denomination where we have open doors, open hearts and open minds, and are ever striving toward justice and equality.

Where to begin

We all have stories to tell about where there is progress and where we have yet to break down barriers. For a problem so big and so complicated, where do we begin? How do we pave the way?

We must listen to women’s stories, hear their cries and educate ourselves about their situations, circumstances and seek out opportunities to make a difference. We must start within our families, churches, communities and schools.

And then we must ask ourselves:

What am I in a position to do?

What is my church in a position to do?

How is God leading us to act? To speak? To risk?

And, after living with the questions, we must move beyond the questions to action.

Universe’s arc

Dr. King said, “The arc of the universe is long, but it is bent toward justice.”

But it does not bend on its own. All of us are challenged to do our part. We must bend the arc.

Let's bend that arc toward equality and justice for all women. Let’s bend it beyond age-old stigmas, philosophies, fears and prejudices.

We must bend it in our homes and in our places of worship; in our deliberations and in our decision making; in our public lives and private lives; in season and out of season; when all eyes are on us and even when nobody’s looking.

In each of us there is a capacity to make a difference. It is our call and challenge in whatever corner of the world we live and in all the places we work to fight for what is right and strive for what is just. We must pave the way.

The prophet Isaiah reminds us that God is building a road. God is carving out a path for justice and equality of women. God calls us to be alert and present, to seize the moment. God is doing something brand new.

It is bursting out, don’t you see it?

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This sermon commemorates International Women’s Day. It was delivered at the United Methodist Building on March 10 during the weekly worship in the Simpson Memorial Chapel. The sermon is based on Isaiah 43:15-19.

Malone, pastor of Gary United Methodist Church in Wheaton, Ill., chairs the Peace with Justice subcommittee of the General Board of Church & Society.

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Editor's note: The following sermon was delivered by Tori Butler at the July 8 worship service in the Simpson Memorial Chapel in the United Methodist Building in Washington, D.C. Butler, a student at the Duke Divinity School, is serving as a Peace with Justice Intern at the General Board of Church & Society this summer. She has been coordinating the weekly chapel worship services. Several other summer interns participated in the July 8 service as well.

The gospel lesson for the service was Mark 6:1-13.

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In today’s gospel lesson we encounter Jesus reentering his hometown of Nazareth, after a long stint away. He is returning as a known healer, exorcist, prophet, and even one who has the power to raise the dead back to life.

As a minister, he has produced much fruit and now he returns to the desolate land of Nazareth. A place that is unidentifiable on the map. The Ghetto of Galilee. It is the place of the despised. Even one of Jesus’ chosen disciples, Nathanael asked, “Can any good come out of Nazareth?” After a personal encounter with Jesus, however, Nathanael knew he had met the Son of God.

But those in Jesus’ home church, the people who equipped Jesus for the ministry, could not see what Nathanael, what the other disciples and even the crowds who followed him could see: that Jesus was the Messiah, the anointed one.

Yes, the people of Nazareth were amazed at Jesus’ knowledge and wisdom. Yet, they could not get past that Jesus was Mary’s son, that he was a carpenter, that he was common just like them.

They could not see that God can do something extraordinary with the ordinary.

Think about it: God chose Jacob the trickster, the one who stole his brother’s blessing to become Israel; God chose Moses who had a stutter to go before Pharoah to demand freedom for his people; God chose David, a little shepherd boy, to slay Goliath, a giant who tormented Israel.

Brothers and sisters, I stopped by to tell you that God even chose you, the intern, the lay leader, the pastor serving in extension ministry to carry on Jesus’ ministry of healing the sick, exorcizing demons, and speaking truth to power, on Capitol Hill and in your everyday lives. Jesus promised us that we would be able to do greater things than even he did.

But, as we go out into the world spreading the gospel, fulfilling our callings, it is important to remember that not everyone will receive our message. Jesus himself said, “Only in his hometown, among his relatives and in his own house is a prophet without honor.” Meaning it does not matter if we calmed the sea, or healed a woman who suffered for 12 long years, or advocated for legislation to end the war, or taught the Social Principles in a far-off land, there are just some people in our lives who cannot understand the call. They cannot imagine that God could possibly use us to preach, teach, evangelize, organize over a 1,000 people to support health-care reform, or even have the boldness to be the voice on Capitol Hill of those who cannot speak out for themselves.

We, like Jesus, become perplexed at the unbelief of those who have set the foundation for our faith. Our text for today encourages us, however, to press forward even when people do not have ears to hear or hearts to receive the message of repentance and the call to discipleship we are required to offer.

When Jesus gives the disciples the commission to go out to village to village, he tells them to expect rejection. He cautions that some will openly receive them, offering bread and a place to rest; but there will be some who will not heed their message and for those they must dust their feet off and keep on moving.

Brothers and sisters, as disciples we should expect rejection and opposition. That is a sure indication that we are walking in the will of God.

But, I do want to caution you to be careful when you decide to dust your feet. Sometimes we want to dust our feet and walk away when God has not told us to move. We want to dust our feet off at reconciliation ministry. We want to dust our feet off at ministry to the homeless. We want to dust our feet off at legislation that is not moving in the direction we want it to go.

Brothers and sisters, we must realize that sometimes God calls us to stay in the muck. The muck is not pretty. It is messy and discouraging. But God never told us the call would be easy.

The Lord beckons us to trust that God will never leave us nor forsake us, but be there in the midst. Brothers and sisters, as you return to your respective duties remember that no matter the opposition God has anointed and appointed you for such a time as this.

I love to read, and I use a number of reading approaches and styles.

Sometimes I want to zip right through what’s before me, gobbling up a fun who-done-it by Patricia Cornwell or P.D. James, or a grabber of a story by Dan Brown or Lemony Snickett.

Other times I’m in the mood to learn something, and I read studiously. I have Marcus Borg’s The Last Week, and I’ll read it that way.

Sometimes I want to sink into the beauty of words, cherishing each image. I approach Frederick Buechner and Madeleine L’Engle in that way.

I’ve come to the new Social Creed Companion Litany to the United Methodist Social Principles in all three ways. I’ve read it as a wonderful, zestful statement, the tune ringing in my ears. I’ve thought about what each item might mean: How should I understand “justice and mercy embrace”? And, I’ve been living in the beauty of “that we may be one in divine love for the world.”

We: each of us individually. One: all of us together. Professing, living out and creating “divine love for the world.” Individuals, groups and organizations, working for the common good.

As I wondered about all that, I listened with new ears to Holly Near’s song, “Planet Called Home.” In it, she gives the history of the world, up to the time that our “planet called home” was at the threat of decline. The lyrics tell us:

They moved as one being, even though each would arrive here alone. They promised to work in grace with each other to save the beautiful planet called home. There was no promise that they could save it, but how exciting to give it a try. If each one did just one thing beautifully, complex life on earth might not die.

Two ideas to think about. First, each person was called to do “just one thing beautifully.”

Star struck

I don’t want to make myself sound too much like a kid in from the country, but I was star-struck when I attended my first meeting as a member of the Board of Directors of the United Methodist General Board of Church & Society (GBCS) last fall.

There I was, meeting Jim Winkler, the famous, influential, sometimes controversial Jim Winkler. There were the other staff members, with their amazing portfolios. There was Fred Brewington, one of my heroes from General Conference 2008. There was Faith Fowler, an incredible force in the Detroit area, a woman whose reputation for good works I know well. Bishops, clergy, incredible lay people gathering from all over the world.

That was a foolish worry.

Many were returning for their second four years as a board member. They were moving through the process with ease and confident assurance. It was both daunting and exceedingly exhilarating. How could I ever live up to what each of those would bring to the board?

But, of course, that was a foolish worry. I’m not to live up to what all the other board members bring. I’m not called to “be them.” I’m called to “be me,” to bring to this group those small, individual things that are mine to do.

The Bible reminds us often of the necessity, the importance, of each piece of the body, and the need for all to work individually for the whole. The Message tells it this way:

So since we find ourselves fashioned into all these excellently formed and marvelously functioning parts in Christ’s body, let’s just go ahead and be what we were made to be, without enviously or pridefully comparing ourselves with each other, or trying to be something we aren’t.

If you preach, just preach, just preach God’s Message, nothing else; if you help, just help, don’t take over; if you teach, stick to your teaching; if you give encouraging guidance, be careful that you don’t get bossy … keep a smile on your face (Romans 12).

Do one thing beautifully

Or, in the words of Holly Near, do one thing beautifully. Amory, don’t worry about Jim’s thing, or Fred’s, or Faith’s, do your one thing beautifully.

Holly Near’s song has two prescriptions: one, each of us is to do “just one thing beautifully,” and, two, we are to “work in grace with each other.”

We are to ‘work in grace with each other.’

I also had a mighty bout last fall of the-work-of-this-board-is-overwhelming syndrome: Alcohol and Other Addictions, Economic and Environmental Justice, Human Welfare, Peace with Justice, United Nations and International Affairs. Phew! Oh my goodness, phew!

But, easy, Amory. We’re doing this together. Staff and board, each working in grace with each other, to tackle these concerns of our hearts.

The Message, in Ecclesiastes 4: 9-10, says:

It’s better to have a partner than go it alone. Share the work, share the wealth. And if one falls down, the other helps … by yourself you’re unprotected. With a friend you can face the worst. Can you round up a third? A three-stranded rope isn’t easily snapped.

There we are: a board committed to the work and to each other, a multi-stranded rope that certainly cannot be snapped!

U.N. Commission on Status of Women

Despite being so new on the GBCS board, I have already been so blessed by my membership here. The first two weeks of March I stood as a representative of the board at the 53rd gathering of the United Nation’s Commission on the Status of Women (CSW). A functional commission of the United Nations Economic & Social Council, CSW is dedicated exclusively to gender equality and advancement of women.

That theme … opened up a realm of related topics.

CSW is a principal global policy-making body. Every year representatives of Member States gather at the U.N. headquarters to evaluate progress on gender equality, identify challenges, set global standards and formulate concrete policies to promote gender equality and advancement of women worldwide.

Linda Bales, who directs GBCS’s Louise and Hugh Moore Population Project, and I were among hundreds of members of non-governmental organizations there to witness worldwide deliberation on the priority theme: “The equal sharing of responsibilities between women and men, including care giving in the context of HIV/AIDS.”

That theme, while it sounds fairly narrow, opened up a realm of related topics: sex trafficking, prevention of parent to child transmission, religion and sexual reproductive rights, female and male condoms, etc. Those topics were explored through a series of parallel events throughout the ten days.

Awe at the process

Holly Near’s prescription — working in grace with each other, with each one doing just one thing beautifully — was surely vibrantly alive at the United Nations.

It’s a refreshing process to see the member from the smallest of countries having equal status with the U.S. member.

I am in awe of the process, women from all the Member States, one voice for each country. It’s a refreshing process to see the member from the smallest of countries having equal status with the U.S. member.

As messy as it is, and as many compromises that need to be made to have it happen, the consensus process gives me hope for the world. It also caused some mighty reflection on the polarizing nature of our voting at the United Methodist General Conference, our denomination’s highest policy-making body.

I can’t think of any place that more represents “each one working in grace with each other” than the United Nations. Messy and contentious as it might be from time to time, “each one working in grace with each other.”

Church Center at the United Nations

I can’t think of anything that gives me more pride than the Church Center at the United Nations, a 12-story building, directly across from the delegates’ entrance to the United Nations. Prophetically built in the 1960s by the Women’s Division of the United Methodist General Board of Global Ministries, it is a proudly labeled beacon of ecumenical pride and activity. The Rev. Levi Bautista and Joe Kim are housed there to conduct GBCS’s United Nations and international affairs ministry.

It is a proudly labeled beacon of ecumenical pride and activity.

The CSW session was surely a time of people doing just one thing beautifully. The U.N. building was a beehive of activity. The body as a whole, doing the work to be done. Individuals staking out their “one thing”: staffing information tables, faxing and texting messages to delegates, crafting morning worship. And meeting one another. I’ll never forget the incredible gift of having conversation and shaking the hand of a woman from Iraq.

I’m not intimidated any longer. I’m fired up, ready to live out with all of you the Social Creed Litany call “that we may be one in divine love for the world.” However I read it, it’s a life changing message.

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Editor’s note: Amory Peck of Bellingham, Wash., is Lay Leader of the denomination’s Pacific-Northwest Conference. This article is based on her remarks at the closing worship on March 22 at the spring 2009 meeting of GBCS’s board of directors, which was held in Washington, D.C.

Message for Wednesday, February 11 at The United Methodist Building (12:10 pm) Scripture - Mark 1:40-45

The story is simple. A leper comes begging. He is unnamed. Unclean. Untouchable. He is known, before and above all else, for being dirty. And diseased. He is begging. Desperate. Jesus, Jesus! “If you choose…” Do you dare? If you are willing. Might you be moved? And Jesus hears the need. And responds.

Frederick Buechner reminds us of call—where the world’s deep hunger and our deep gladness meet. The Greek word willing, is the same as delight. If it will make you glad, the leper asks, his hunger for healing, deep. If it will bring you delight. The leper is calling Christ. And Jesus, moved with compassion, so delights. Without hesitation. Without consulting religious authorities or doctrinal statements. Immediately. Jesus, this one of kingdom connection and beloved community, so desires. Jesus reaches out his hand, we are told. When the rest of the world recoils, Jesus reaches out. Touches the untouchable. And because connection is made, healing happens. Boundaries are broken. This man, set apart, isolated, is restored to community. He comes alive. Proclaims the good news of this one who embodies Love.

After these past 60 hours or so together, the world’s deep needs have me feeling dazed and confused. Filled to overflowing. Statistics and stories swirl. Exhausted and cracked open, I wish I could stay. And I don’t know if I could absorb any more. Restoring our connection. Recommitting to justice. Remembering our calls. Here are a few snapshots tucked away for my further examination. Remember: Clayton Childers calling us into God’s rebirth. Anothen. Torn apart, top to bottom. Never to be the same. Remember: Neil Christie’s Simple Sentence Call. That which is impossible, and will not let us go. Remember: O’Donnell. His witness at the Vietnam War Memorial. His story. His struggle. His call for solidarity. Remember: Steve, formerly Big Daddy, crying out: If you so choose, God, let me die. Bury me in this hole I have dug. “God threw dirt on me,” he said. “But God being God, God didn’t bury me. God planted me.” Remember: Emanuel Cleaver, finding grounding in God by placing himself at he center of the chaos. A crisis is a terrible thing to waste, he said. Remember: John Hill connecting us with Jeremiah, standing at the crossroads, seeking rest for weary souls. Remember: the photographs from Palestine; remember those who are dislocated, without food and water, living in violence; Remember: the senseless violence and utter human disconnection in BumFights. Will we have the sense to blush? Remember: looking at each other across the room, facing our difference, then gathering at table, somehow, still. Remember: Standing in circles, face to face, sharing stories and faith. Remember: “If you so choose…”

God so chooses. So desires. So delights. For us all, every one. Deep gladness, restored.

To follow this call, we need each other. And we need God. And God needs us. Every one of us. And every one of our sisters and brothers.

To restore and resurrect. Until the hurt is so deep we share it. Until the fears are so sharp we name them, and lay them to rest. Until the shame shivers away, and we laugh our way, together, toward becoming whole. Until we are delivered from just going through the motions, and wasting everything we have: a chance, a choice, our creativity, God’s call. Thanks be to God. Amen.

Nakba Exhibit opening remarks February 3, 2009 Jim Winkler

The photo exhibit that brings us together tonight commemorates 60 years of the Nakba, or catastrophe, that has befallen the Palestinian people. The very notion of a ‘Nakba’ is disputed by some and, of course, there are those who continue to deny the reality of the Holocaust. There was and is a Nakba and there was a Holocaust. This exhibit reminds us of the reality of the Nakba. Hundreds of Palestinian villages were completely and deliberately destroyed by Israel and hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have lived in refugee camps lo these many years.

This exhibit does not negate the terrible suffering of the Jewish people over the ages. I would remind you that each and every exhibit need not be comprehensive and all encompassing. For example, an exhibit portraying the tragedy visited upon Native Americans by my people need not include a depiction of the centuries of autocratic rule in Europe experienced by my ancestors to be authentic or complete.

We also gather in the wake of a horrible invasion of Gaza by the Israeli Defense Force in which hundreds of Palestinians died and thousands were wounded and is in the midst of continuing violence.

Today’s New York Times reports:

Palestinian militants on Monday fired two mortar shells from southern Gaza at Israel and Israel carried out an air strike against what the military said were members of the launching squad as they tried to flee in a vehicle, further straining the tenuous two-week-old Gaza truce. At least one militant was killed and three others were wounded in the strike, according to news reports from Gaza. The mortars directed at Israeli territory fell in an open area, causing no casualties. After the rocket attacks, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of Israel signaled the Israeli bombing raid with a warning of a “sharp” and “disproportionate” response. The United Methodist Church desires a safe and secure Israel. The only way to accomplish that is for there to be a safe, secure, viable, and contiguous Palestine next to it. The Occupation must end, the settlements must be dismantled, the right of return must be addressed, Jerusalem must be a shared city. Occupation never works anywhere, anytime. It never promotes peace, harmony, and understanding, only bitterness and hatred. We are friends of Israel and of Palestine, but we are not uncritical friends. Uncritical friends are not true friends.

I have been invited to pray a ‘Christian prayer’ tonight. Please join me in prayer.

O God, grant us peace. Strengthen us as we stand for peace and justice. We come today, O God, amid the clamor of our nation’s capital, noise to which we have grown accustomed, to see a new vision, one that moves beyond killing fields and tanks, one that recalls feeding the hungry and giving drink to the thirsty, clothing the naked and liberating the prisoners. A vision that embraces the least and last, a vision of generosity and open hearts. In these moments of silence and dedication, O God, help us not only to catch the vision but to forsake the ways of argument and anger, the ways of divisiveness and backbiting, of slander and arbitrariness. Bring us back to the vision of Jesus of Nazareth. Make us peacemakers and cheek-turners who possess enough humility and enough courage to stand for truth. We pray in the name of all that is Holy. Amen.