Dear Friends:  Please join us for the first webstream broadcast of "Free of Encumbrance" to be held Sunday, January 22nd, at 3pm Pacific.  Details to be announced soon. 

What's in a Name?

Lectionary Scripture Focus – Luke 2:15-21 (NRSV)

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us."  So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger.  When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them.  But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart.  The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.  After eight days had passed, it was time to circumcise the child; and he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

Lectionary Reflection:

The scripture above reflects blessings that follow on the heels of life-changing experiences.  As those blessings continue and accumulate over time, we name and identify them by some means or another.  As with Mary, we ponder them.  We remember them.  We retell them.  We treasure them.   In the end, the blessings mold and shape us.  They lead us to do right by others in a world struggling to find its way.

For instance, many of us ponder and treasure names like Gandhi, Buddha, Mother Teresa, the Prophet Mohammad, Moses, Jesus, Martin Luther King.  We equate these names with accomplishing much good in the world.  Their names and memories exist as statements of faith and promise for what is possible in our troubled world, especially because of the great sacrifices each one made or endured trying to help the world be a better place for us all.

For me, I also think of lesser known prophets and teachers.  Having returned to publicly funded mental health work this past August, I am in awe of my mental health colleagues where I work now.  A staff of six hundred accomplishes a phenomenal amount of good every year for 16,500 people at or below the poverty level who need mental health and addiction services.  Miraculously, the staff accomplishes that mission each year with very limited resource.  For instance, most of their workspaces need repair, updating or outright replacement.  An insufficient amount of equipment and up to date equipment challenge and frustrate work efforts almost daily.  Office space lacks adequate climate control.  In fact, my team calls our space “Siberia!”  The word “cramped” describes everyone’s workspace.  Storage space barely exists and the space that does qualifies for a TV episode of “Hoarders”.  Many staff could command higher salaries elsewhere, but they stay with the organization out of commitment to a mission to help the poor who suffer addictions or mental illness.  Overall, the sacrifices of these lesser known prophets and teachers are herculean.  And when one asks the name for such an organization, one simply answers by saying, “LifeWorks NW”.  What a name for a phenomenal community of staff and clients.

If we pause to consider what’s in a name as I did above with LifeWorks NW the answer is, “Everything!”  In the shepherds’ case after leaving the presence of Mary and Joseph and Jesus, it was the very same thing.  They went to make known to others what had happened to them regarding Jesus.  If we stop to ponder everything in terms of you and me, the same results occur if we have been responsive to the blessings God has placed in our lives.

For instance, after applying last summer to LifeWorks NW and the agency subsequently decided it wanted to hire me, my references needed to be checked.  In other words, LifeWorks NW needed to talk to people that had a history with me, i.e. people who had known and worked with me.  One of my references later told me that when he was called by LifeWorks NW, he jokingly said, “What would you like to know?  I can tell you about the time Brad walked on water or when he parted the Red Sea.  Which one would you like to hear first?”  My friend and I had a good laugh over the comments, but as you might imagine his remarks and affirmations touched me deeply.   Most certainly his words helped me get the job.

So what’s in a name?  Everything!  Names obviously have influence.  Names have power.  Recently I met with a senior vice president of a corporation headquartered here in Portland, Oregon.  The visit involved me seeking a charitable donation of several thousand dollars.  When calling to request the appointment, I casually asked what most of us tend to do, “How are you today?”  The executive replied, “Well, I’ll answer that question honestly if you will do the same in return.”  Jokingly I replied, “Well before you start, let me warn you that you not only have a fundraiser on the phone but also a pastor and mental health professional, the last two of which I have been doing the past thirty years.”  Laughing and delighted, the executive and I spent the twenty minutes visiting on the phone.  At the end of our conversation, we made an appointment for a week later to further discuss the charitable gift.  “Dennis” is the man’s name and his name will always have the power to evoke this initial first memory of him as well as the memory of the gift he later made.  Both memories constitute blessings and I shall not forget them.

All the names noted above have power and influence because of the blessings associated with them.  And lest we be confused over what constitutes a blessing, one religious scholar defined it best this past week when he said that “a blessing is when one commits oneself wholeheartedly to the well-being of another in tangible action.”

So here’s my request of you:  Leave a comment here or on our FaceBook page describing a time when you committed yourself wholeheartedly to the well-being of another through tangible action.  And if you can’t think of such a time, please feel free to share a story about someone else.  I realize you may feel a bit self-conscious about such a request, but I’m asking that you trust yourself and get beyond that and share your story openly with the part of our world that visits here at Free of Encumbrance Ministries.  In doing so, your tangible action will be a blessing to others.  If you have difficulty posting your story, please email it to me and I’ll be sure it gets posted.

Blessings and Peace,

Pastor Brad Shumate, M.S.,M.A.,LMHC

Free of Encumbrance Ministries

Vancouver, WA

Email: brshumate@freeofencumbrance.net

Please remember to mark your calendar for the first webstream broadcast of "Free of Encumbrance" to be held Sunday, January 22nd, at 3pm Pacific.  Details to be announced soon.


Reader Comments:

In response to your request, I can’t help but relive the two years that I cared for my mom until her death a few years ago.  Having not had the best of relationships with her for many, many years – I moved into my parents’ home.  Doing so meant that I lost all freedom that I had.  I now had no furniture of my own, no home, limited books, etc.  My stuff had to go because of course it was their home.  But more than the physical items that I lost, I also lost my freedom to worship in my own home.  I no longer had a place for a worship center, I could no longer play the Christian music throughout the house every day.  My life became a very routine, get up, fix mom and dad coffee and maybe breakfast, go to work, come home, fix dinner, attend to mom’s needs, spend time just talking with her and then going to bed.  All to start again the next day.  I felt alone and lost in this new lifestyle but there were those who cared enough to make sure I was fed some spiritual food on occasion.  As I sat by her bed, as I watched her take her last breath, I said, “Mom, Jesus and Timmy are waiting.  Can you see them?” She opened her eyes, looked up and smiled, then passed quickly.  (Tim was my brother who was killed almost 30 years ago in a plane crash.  Mom always called him Timmy and never really got over his death)  Blessings did come from that experience, none the least of which is a firm belief that God does hear us and provide for our need.  And, I now am more qualified as I care for my father in the same way.  Blessings come in many ways.  I found many in those few years – a new relationship with my mother, not as a child but as her friend and caregiver, a deeper understanding of the pain God felt as I watched her past to another place and a feeling of love as never before.  Blessing still abound.

Cheryl 

A Promise Kept 

(graphic used with permission from churchpowerpoint.com)

Scripture Focus – Luke 2, verses 1-20 (NRSV)

In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be enrolled.  This was the first enrollment, when Quirin'i-us was governor of Syria.  And all went to be enrolled, each to his own city.  And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be enrolled with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.  And while they were there, the time came for her to be delivered.

And she gave birth to her first-born son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.  And in that region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.  And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear.  And the angel said to them, "Be not afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which will come to all the people; for to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.  And this will be a sign for you: you will find a babe wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger."  And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom he is pleased!"

When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us."  And they went with haste, and found Mary and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.  And when they saw it they made known the saying which had been told them concerning this child; and all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them.  But Mary kept all these things, pondering them in her heart.  And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

Lectionary Reflection:

There’s a scripture from Isaiah 9:6 which uses the words “wonderful”, “counselor”, “prince of peace” to describe and promise that a special child will be born to us.  The scripture further promises that the presence of God will reside in this child.  For many Christians, Jesus was the fulfillment of such a promise.  And when Jesus comes again, he will usher in an era of endless peace and justice for our world.  Many Christians today wait in fervent hope for such a time to come.

I wonder though if my non-churched friends take seriously such hope and promise of endless peace.  Many of them ask quite skeptically, “When will this eternal peace happen?  It couldn’t come any too soon, you know.”

No doubt many churched persons reply with words like, “Have faith, accept Jesus as your personal savior.  Everything will work itself out.”  I can also imagine the un-churched being told to…..

• simply wait out the times,
• endure the injustices committed by the greedy and powerful,
• not be distracted by the ever widening gulf between “the haves” and “the have-nots”,
• regard everyone as the author of their own troubles and responsible for their own solutions,
• always avoid taking a stand on anything, or be so nuanced that no one will be made uncomfortable,
• make sure government and political leaders are always empowered to commit acts of war, acts of impoverishment, acts of domination, and crimes against humanity whenever they wish,
• lastly, make sure that the 10% of the world’s population controlling 85% of the world’s wealth gets all the advantages possible so they’re enriched even further and their wealth trickles down a bit to ease the sufferings of the poor.

In light of these realities, both today and millennia ago, there isn’t much reason for anyone to believe that a small child born into poverty and obscurity could be anything promising in terms of worldwide justice and endless world peace.

But what if the promise from so long ago meant something very different today, something other than waiting around for the sky to fall or the heavens to part?  What if all those events about Jesus from ages ago were actually signs of a promise to the world about you?

What if Jesus was merely the forerunner of you and what you, at your best, can be and do for the pursuit of peace, justice, reconciliation, and healing of the human spirit?  What if all that stood between you and the promise you represent for the world was simply your willingness to be the miracle you are?  Wouldn’t heavenly host sing of you, like they did about Jesus, that God is well pleased?  “No way,” you say?  Well, I beg to differ because that’s precisely what’s going on.

Over twenty years ago when I began to preach routinely as a minister and pastor, I would use a particular sermon illustration from time to time from Knight’s Master Book of Illustrations (1956).  For a long time, I never grasped completely why the story meant so much to me, but in recent years, I came to know why.  The story dates back to a medieval time in a small European village.  The village baker and his wife had a young daughter whom they adored and loved very much.  Next door to them lived the blacksmith who owned a large dog.  Both men had thriving businesses from their trades.

One day, villagers heard terrified agonizing screams from the baker’s daughter.  Everyone ran to her aid.  When they arrived they saw the blacksmith’s dog mauling the young child.  Quickly they pulled the dog off the child but unfortunately they were too late.  Severely injured, the girl died soon after the attack.  Devastated, the baker and his wife mourned the loss of their beloved daughter as did the rest of the village.

Racked with guilt and remorse, the blacksmith tried to makes amends with the grieving parents and village but his efforts availed him nothing.  Soon after, no one patronized his blacksmith business and the village shunned him completely.  With no resources and no where to go and no one caring if he lived or died, the blacksmith grew depressed.  Before long, he sickened into a shell of the man he’d been.  Even the field of crops he hoped to raise for food languished because he was too weak to plow the ground.

Seeing the blacksmith’s plight, the baker lay awake in bed night after night unable to sleep.  Something about the situation and everyone’s treatment of the man and the baker’s beliefs in a forgiving God conflicted with each other.

Finally the night arrived when the baker could stand things no more.  So he got out of bed and went to the blacksmith’s field.  There, by moonlight, he plowed the field completely and returned home.

When the baker crawled back into bed by his wife, she asked where he had been.  He told her what he had done.  Upset and wondering why he would do such a thing for the man responsible for their daughter’s death, the baker replied, “I did it so God might be.”

Whenever any of us does such things for such reasons, we are -- in that very moment -- a manifestation of God.  In that singular moment we have eradicated poverty.  In that singular moment, the distinction between “haves” and “have-nots” no longer exist.  In that moment, the powerful have no greater standing than the least and poorest person on earth.  In that moment, endless peace and healing occur.  In that moment a promise has been kept because an incredibly gifted child, whom God gifted to the world, came into the world with a calling to show us what it means to honor the God Presence who resides in each one of us.  And if we did so over time and as fully and completely as possible, this child of God affirmed to us a critically important teaching, “Greater things shall you do than I have done.”

So just as a village struggled so very long ago through a horrible tragedy and ultimately found its way to healing and peace because of a small prophetic kindness by one of its members, so also are you needed “so God might be” for others.  With enough of us getting beyond the ways in which we wall ourselves off from the world -- and yes that even means the walls of our churches – a promise is therefore kept and a time of endless peace approaches. 

When people have asked me about the changes in my life over the past several months ( My Recent Journey, My God Encounter) and why I have done the seemingly senseless things I have done and been so public about it, I can’t think of a better answer than to say with the baker, “I did it so God might be.”  Nothing carries more hope of a promise to be kept than what each of us does every moment of every day “so God might be” for someone else.

May the Blessings of God's Peace and Hope for God’s coming attend you always,

Pastor Brad Shumate, M.S., M.A., LMHC

Free of Encumbrance Ministries

Vancouver, WA

brshumate@comcast.net 

P.S. Mark your calendar for the first online gathering of "Free of Encumbrance" to be held Sunday, January 22nd, at 3pm (Pacific).  Details to be announced soon. 

He Shall Be Called Son of God

(Graphic used with permission from ChurchPowerPoint.com)

Lectionary Scripture - Luke 1:26-38 NRSV

In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary.  And he came to her and said, "Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you."  But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.  The angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.  And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus.  He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David.  He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end."

Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I am a virgin?"  The angel said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God.  And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren.  For nothing will be impossible with God."  Then Mary said, "Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word." Then the angel departed from her.

Lectionary Reflection

In summarizing a worship resource for Sunday, December 18^th, it comments that God’s greatest gifts to us may not be convenient or increase our personal security, but they change the world.  It goes on to state that God’s means for bringing us such gifts often involves surprising people receiving surprising blessings.  In this regard, our trust and courage and respect toward such persons -- and the blessings God has given them -- are things far more important for us to pay attention to.  They are far more important to pay attention to than the status a human institution might grant to a particular person.  They are far more important than the expertise we regard someone to have because of their education or training.  Lastly, such things are far more important and impactful than what the wealth of money or wealth of power or wealth of influence a person, or persons, might have or wield.  For when we see surprising blessings happen to surprising people and subsequently witness the things those persons set in motion, it draws believers together in extraordinary ways -- no matter what their faith tradition or faith journey has been.

Relevant questions from the resource then ask us to think of a time when has God gifted us with a calling that conflicted with one’s personal security?  Another good question is how God brought more wholeness to your life from a surprising calling?  And if you have experienced such things happening to you, what character or promise from scriptures do you most identify with?

As I reflected on Mary’s experience this week, it certainly seemed the case that a very surprising blessing came to a very surprising person.  Little more than a child herself, yet at a state of physical development that made her capable of bearing a child, an angel of God confronts Mary with a calling that changes the world.  The calling involves her birthing a child so gifted and attuned to God that others will call  him “Immanuel” or “God with Us”.  And what’s amazing about it all, is that everything that Mary needs for completing her call of birthing, raising, and nurturing Jesus into the man he becomes, is completely and totally within her grasp and abilities.  And what’s not within her grasp, God sees that it is provided, even in matters regarding the personal safety of Jesus; that is until Jesus fulfills his own calling upon the tortuous cross of the Roman Empire.

I appreciate and understand the fear Mary experienced when a divine presence broke through human dimensions of space and time to enter her mortal reality with a profound calling for her life.  For me, it happened this past May.  And in response, I ended up in largely the same emotional and spiritual space reflected in Mary’s words, “Here I am, let it be with me according to your word.”  If you’re confused and wondering what I’m speaking of, you can go to my blog post “My Recent Journey – My God Encounter.” 

Ultimately, like Mary, I knew that broadcasting my “God Encounter” with the world meant considerable risk to my personal security.  And so, like her, it remained a treasure in my heart, shared with only a few close and trusted friends, until the time was right to announce it to the world.  Mostly that involved the need to move on from my former denomination which was also my previous employer, only because it lacks the freedom and ability at this point in time to embrace a calling like the one I have received. 

What also speaks to me in the scripture above is God’s recognition and understanding of our need for independent corroboration.  Many of us know such needs all too well when decisions regarding a calling have to be made.  For when surprising blessings come to surprising people life then life can never return to what it was, especially if we are the kind of person who says, “Here I am, servant of the Lord, let it be with me according to your words.”

So in the case of an invisible naïve poverty stricken teenage girl from millennia ago, or an aging obscure insignificant minister like me, what are persons like Mary and me to do when God enters our lives so profoundly and brings with that encounter a new calling ?  What sense are we to make of such phenomenal happenings in our lives?

Being someone who is also a mental health professional, the first place my head goes is to the question of my own sanity or the question of having some severe form of ego dysfunction.  So I ask myself how could it be that in all my years of ministry and mental health training and related work did I miss confronting and attending to such serious personal issues.  Thankfully God knows our self-doubting, self-questioning, and self-defeating ways before we even go there ourselves.  For Mary and her bewilderment, God provided the sign of her cousin, Elizabeth, as being with child though everyone long ago considered her barren.  When Mary subsequently visits her cousin, Elizabeth reveals her pregnancy to Mary.  Thus, the word and calling of God are confirmed.

For me, God provided independent corroboration through friends and loved ones.  The most recent of these corroborations took place this past weekend after remarking to a long-time friend that I continue to struggle trying to figure out what to do next in response to God’s call “to establish a church free of the encumbrances of the world.”

My friend who’s a very quiet and reserved fellow, and never goes to church, said these words to me, “I have no problem understanding what has happened to you, Brad.  I want you to know that you have my support.”  It was a stunning “pregnant” moment that renewed my energy.  I would have never anticipated or thought my friend would say such a thing to me.  Later the next day, I received an email from another friend telling me she had been reading and re-reading my experience as shared in blog post “My Recent Journey – My God Encounter.”  Her email then expressed the following:

I am continuing to pray that enlightenment will come.  You are a very strong person to have left what you’ve always known and embark on the unknown.  Not many would do that.  I wish you God’s peace through this joyous season and look forward to our continued friendship.

My friend’s email could not have been timelier and as I look to next month’s first online gathering of “Free of Encumbrance” for Sunday, January 22^nd at 3pm (more details to follow); I realize that God had been answering my friend’s prayers.  In turn, her prayers had sustained me.

With each passing year, it can often become harder and harder to sustain what you have known.  If that’s the case for you, just remember that God gives surprising blessings to surprising people.  May you accept the blessing God has for you, may you have the strength to move on from what you’ve always known.  May you have the courage to embark into the unknown.  May you, like Mary, proclaim to the Being of Light who touches your life, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.”

Pastor Brad Shumate, M.S., M.A., LMHC
Free of Encumbrance Ministries
Vancouver, WA
brshumate@comcast.net

"The Lord has Done Great Things"

Lectionary Scripture - Psalm 126 (NRSV)

When the LORD restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dream.  Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy; then it was said among the nations, "The LORD has done great things for them."  The LORD has done great things for us, and we rejoiced.

Restore our fortunes, O LORD, like the watercourses in the Negeb.  May those who sow in tears reap with shouts of joy.  Those who go out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, carrying their sheaves.

Reflection on the Scripture:

A worship resource for the above scripture states that God can be trusted to bring us from despair to hope, from sadness to joy.  It affirms that God has done wonderful things for us and we’re blessed as a result.  It also goes on to affirm that even in difficult times, God is with us and will restore us.  The reader is then asked to consider when he or she has felt the need to be restored and how was God present to the individual during that time.

A number of years ago as a young pastor, I was living my dream.  I and my family had been called to serve a well-established small church.  After visiting the church and its lay leaders and scouting the area for a home, we eagerly accepted the call.  We did so with much hope and anticipation for a successful ministry and many years of association with our new church family.

After a couple of years, a small circle of antagonistic members made it their mission to get rid of me.  The reason is familiar to a lot pastors, i.e. the antagonists did not want things to change.  Two individuals in particular nursed grudges almost a decade old against others in the congregation.  The individuals and their followers determined that until injured feelings had been repaired to their liking, the congregation had no right to any other focus or mission.

For me, the situation constituted my first dealings in a faith based setting with persons struggling with personality disorder.  As a mental health professional, I had dealt in the clinical setting with such matters, but never in a church.  In the clinical setting, these health concerns were much easier to treat and manage.  In a church setting, I found my efforts at interventions to be nearly impossible.  This occurred mostly because my denominational overseers failed to grasp the concept of such disorders, let alone how to intervene appropriately and effectively so the congregation could be healthier for mission.  Eventually, I came to see that this lack of understanding and willingness to intervene existed throughout the denomination I had been part of all my life.

After two years of trying to bring enlightenment and understanding, especially to the persons suffering such disorders, I finally realized I could achieve nothing that God hoped for the congregation.  My options basically amounted to little more than being a care-taking maintenance-oriented pastor who spent his days and weeks and months trying to get people through the relational messes caused repeatedly by the congregational antagonists. 

Eventually -- because of who and what God is in my life -- there was no other self-respecting option than to resign and relocate.  The blow of that decision devastated my family and me.  I felt a failure as a minister and pastor.  I felt that I had let my family down.  For a year, I remembered that our very young daughters kept saying they wanted to go back the town we left.  I think for all of us, the move to a different metro area felt like its own kind of exile.  Great sadness occupied our thoughts and hearts.  For me, I despaired in thinking that I had failed God and failed my call from God to further the cause of God’s just and peaceable reign.  My wife eloquently described the time as “the death of a dream.”

But God did wonderful things for us in that we found a home in our new community that we absolutely loved.  I also secured a job with a mental health center under the supervision of a man that to this day I would describe as a saint sent by God during that trying and difficult time.  Nearly twenty years later, some of our first friendships in our new community remain our best and closest friends today.  In time, I rose through the ranks of local public mental health to have oversight for the entire adult system of care in our county.  There couldn’t be a more apt description than the Psalm's proclamation that God “restored our fortunes.”

In time, I tried working again for the church and did so for over twelve years.  Once again however, when serving as a pastor, the same kind of problem with a small circle of antagonistic persons occurred.  As one bright and perceptive supporter in the congregation told me, “You must feel like you’re going through the same thing all over again.”  The person couldn’t have been more accurate.  This time, when resignation became necessary, the devastation was much easier to manage.  I was older, understood people better, and was far more aware of my limitations (and my former denomination’s limitations) in trying to intervene with a group of toxic individuals. 

And once again, God did wonderful things, particularly as reflected in my recent post of “My Recent Journey – My God Encounter”.  Today, I’m back working full time in publicly funded mental health services.  I feel that I am a part of something truly making a difference in people’s lives in the community.  Lastly, I have the hope and call from God “to establish a church free of the encumbrances of the world.”  Indeed, God is doing wonderful things.  And the future, in my humble opinion, couldn’t be brighter or more hopeful for what such a church will be and do and accomplish for God.

Brad Shumate

Vancouver, Washington
peace-n-justice@comcast.net