What does it mean to be "innocent?" The dictionary says that to be innocent one must be "free from guilt or sin especially through lack of knowledge of evil." With that in mind who amongst us is innocent?
It's funny that when you go to a court of law everyone talks about their innocence. But no one is innocent. That is why if you win a criminal court case you're found "not guilty" rather than innocent. We are all guilty of something. To be found "not guilty" in court just means that you don't have to pay the price for the wrongs you have done.
The only person in the Bible who is said to be truly "not guilty" and innocent from birth is Jesus Christ. In Isaiah 50 the prophet prophecies about the innocent Jesus standing in front of His accusers during the Passion. Jesus asks, "...who will declare me guilty?" In St. Matthew's Gospel narrative of the Passion, Pilate's wife is said to have dreamt about Jesus and she warns her husband to "have nothing to do with that innocent man..." Even Pilate, who examined Jesus at His trial asks the crowd, "...what evil has He done?" Obviously the answer to the question is "nothing." Jesus never has nor ever will do anything wrong. He has no sin and He has no guilt. He is innocent. But we are guilty. Pilate was guilty of murdering Jesus even though he proclaimed himself innocent of His blood. The crowd was guilty. The Pharisees were guilty. We are all guilty. Think of every sin you have ever committed as a hammer blow to the nails that hung an innocent Man on the cross.
But even as human beings condemned Him to the cross He was using the cross to proclaim us "not guilty." Even as our sin murdered Him He was using His death to set us free from the punishment of sin, and as St. Paul tells us, that punishment is death. Christ chose to die in our place. He died a horrible, gruesome, physical death so that we wouldn't have to die spiritually.
Do you understand that Jesus, the One Who died for you, is also the One Who will prosecute you in the court of Heaven. God the Father will be the Judge and He will hear your case. If you have been baptized into the Faith Jesus will stand before the Great White Throne and say these words, "Your Honor, I do not wish to prosecute this person. They're Mine and I've already paid the price for their sin." Then the Great Judge will say, "Not guilty! You're free!" That is what the Passion of Christ is all about. The Prosecutor of your soul died in your place. He took your punishment so that the Great Judge would declare you "Not Guilty."
Let our tongues sing His praise for what He has done for us. How could we do anything less?
Fr. Rick
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Come On In, The Water's Fine
This is the second chapter of my book in progress on my pastoral ministry.
Enon Church is a historic church. Founded in 1760 as an independent congregation it eventually became a part of the fledgling Methodist movement that had migrated from Georgia. It had belonged to the Wesleyan Methodist connection, the Methodist Episcopal Church, the Methodist Episcopal Church (South), and eventually the Southern Methodist Church. The original building and cemetary were located on what is now the Fort Jackson Army Training Facility. The U.S. government moved the congregation before the outbreak of World War II. The log cabin church building is gone now, but the cemetary is still there and maintained by the Department of the Army.
The new building was built on Percival Road in Columbia, South Carolina in 1948. A parsonage was added in 1950. It hasn't changed much since it was built. Some new carpet, vinyl siding, and an electric sign are about the only updates to the tired old building. The parsonage remains virtually unchanged.
This was the ship that I had been called to captain. She was weather beaten and worn. Her crew was undisciplined and spiritually starved. The task ahead was truly daunting, but I was too immature to realize it at the time. If it hadn't been for the grace of God the ship would have sunk years ago with all souls aboard lost.
My first year contract with Enon was, believe it or not, an improvement on the arrangement I had with Faith Community Church. At Faith Church I literally lived in the church and paid rent on it. I was paid 20% of the weekly offering as my salary. The average offering was $25.00 a week. You can do the math. No one could accuse me of being an overpaid pastor. At Enon I was given $50.00 a week plus the use of the parsonage. All utilities were paid by the church, except for the phone bill. I thought I had died and gone to heaven!
The congregation was made up of mostly elderly couples and miltary retirees. There were a few young adults and virtually no children. A Sunday School program was in place but it was poorly attended. There were three services during the week: Sunday morning, Sunday evening, and Wednesday evening prayer service. Enon's programs were all smoke and mirrors. A Sunday School existed on paper, but no one taught or attended it. The first Sunday morning service I conducted was attended by seven people although there were over a hundred people listed on the membership rolls. The Sunday evening service was little more than a song fest. The Wednesday night prayer service consisted of conversation and very little praying. Enon Church looked good on paper, but the reality was drastically different.
Enon had a lot of things going for it; history, location, facilities, etc. Unfortunately she was lacking one thing - the Spirit of the living God! A plan was needed to salvage what was left of this congregation. The problem was that I didn't have one. I had very little experience in these matters. The last church I had pastored folded like a piece of paper. What formal education I had was all theological. I had recieved no formal education in running a church. I had no one to turn to but God Himself. Thankfully God was listening and answering when I cried out to Him for guidance.
Before entering the ministry I had been the chief of a small, rural police department. God revealed to me that building a church was a lot like building a police department. First, goals must be set. People need a vision, a dream, something to strive for. So with this in mind I announced to the congregation that we were going to have at least 50 people in attendance on Sunday mornings before my first anniversary as pastor. Secondly, God showed me that the people needed to be trained in order to obtain their goals. An ongoing program of systematic training needed to be instituted in order to sustain the membership. Thirdly, the group needed to tap into their available resources in order to maximize efficiency.
With these three things in mind I formulated a plan of attack. I began by preaching expository sermons from the pulpit. On Sunday evenings I held classes on Church doctrine and history. On Wednesdays we formulated a prayer list and then we actually prayed. Sunday School classes were consolidated so that only the most experienced were teaching. On top of that each Sunday School class was given the task of contacting inactive members in hopes of bringing them back to the church.
With God's help the plan worked. By my first anniversary at Enon we had an average attendance of 55 on Sunday mornings. People were being converted and baptized. Sunday School classes began to swell. As an extra bonus the weekly collections even went up. Life was good at Enon, at least for the moment.
Enon Church is a historic church. Founded in 1760 as an independent congregation it eventually became a part of the fledgling Methodist movement that had migrated from Georgia. It had belonged to the Wesleyan Methodist connection, the Methodist Episcopal Church, the Methodist Episcopal Church (South), and eventually the Southern Methodist Church. The original building and cemetary were located on what is now the Fort Jackson Army Training Facility. The U.S. government moved the congregation before the outbreak of World War II. The log cabin church building is gone now, but the cemetary is still there and maintained by the Department of the Army.
The new building was built on Percival Road in Columbia, South Carolina in 1948. A parsonage was added in 1950. It hasn't changed much since it was built. Some new carpet, vinyl siding, and an electric sign are about the only updates to the tired old building. The parsonage remains virtually unchanged.
This was the ship that I had been called to captain. She was weather beaten and worn. Her crew was undisciplined and spiritually starved. The task ahead was truly daunting, but I was too immature to realize it at the time. If it hadn't been for the grace of God the ship would have sunk years ago with all souls aboard lost.
My first year contract with Enon was, believe it or not, an improvement on the arrangement I had with Faith Community Church. At Faith Church I literally lived in the church and paid rent on it. I was paid 20% of the weekly offering as my salary. The average offering was $25.00 a week. You can do the math. No one could accuse me of being an overpaid pastor. At Enon I was given $50.00 a week plus the use of the parsonage. All utilities were paid by the church, except for the phone bill. I thought I had died and gone to heaven!
The congregation was made up of mostly elderly couples and miltary retirees. There were a few young adults and virtually no children. A Sunday School program was in place but it was poorly attended. There were three services during the week: Sunday morning, Sunday evening, and Wednesday evening prayer service. Enon's programs were all smoke and mirrors. A Sunday School existed on paper, but no one taught or attended it. The first Sunday morning service I conducted was attended by seven people although there were over a hundred people listed on the membership rolls. The Sunday evening service was little more than a song fest. The Wednesday night prayer service consisted of conversation and very little praying. Enon Church looked good on paper, but the reality was drastically different.
Enon had a lot of things going for it; history, location, facilities, etc. Unfortunately she was lacking one thing - the Spirit of the living God! A plan was needed to salvage what was left of this congregation. The problem was that I didn't have one. I had very little experience in these matters. The last church I had pastored folded like a piece of paper. What formal education I had was all theological. I had recieved no formal education in running a church. I had no one to turn to but God Himself. Thankfully God was listening and answering when I cried out to Him for guidance.
Before entering the ministry I had been the chief of a small, rural police department. God revealed to me that building a church was a lot like building a police department. First, goals must be set. People need a vision, a dream, something to strive for. So with this in mind I announced to the congregation that we were going to have at least 50 people in attendance on Sunday mornings before my first anniversary as pastor. Secondly, God showed me that the people needed to be trained in order to obtain their goals. An ongoing program of systematic training needed to be instituted in order to sustain the membership. Thirdly, the group needed to tap into their available resources in order to maximize efficiency.
With these three things in mind I formulated a plan of attack. I began by preaching expository sermons from the pulpit. On Sunday evenings I held classes on Church doctrine and history. On Wednesdays we formulated a prayer list and then we actually prayed. Sunday School classes were consolidated so that only the most experienced were teaching. On top of that each Sunday School class was given the task of contacting inactive members in hopes of bringing them back to the church.
With God's help the plan worked. By my first anniversary at Enon we had an average attendance of 55 on Sunday mornings. People were being converted and baptized. Sunday School classes began to swell. As an extra bonus the weekly collections even went up. Life was good at Enon, at least for the moment.
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