Focus:
Hope
Function:
Peace in uncertain times
Form:
Storytelling
Intro:
I
want to give thanks to you on behalf of the Michigan District and
Camp Brethren Heights for giving me the opportunity to serve the
district on your behalf by being the male counselor at Camp Brethren
Heights last week.
I
admit, counseling at camp has always been one of the the things I
look forward to during the busy time of summer ministry and
vacations.
However,
I am starting to feel the age.
I
had 6 young men in the cabin, 4 of them were an absolute delight,
always volunteering even though others were clearly shirking their
chores, they just kept on serving Christ by serving others.
I
had another young man who was also a delight, but took a lot of
attention. He was obviously gifted and he already possessed a college
level vocabulary. It was fascinating to watch and see his
intellectual development. But he was a little young for the camp.
Now
before we get to the last child, let me just say that I am a
different person as camp counselor than I am as pastor.
Typically
there is a spiritual director at camp, so I get to be a
mentor instead of the pastor to the kids.
Instead of telling them what they need to hear, I try to listen and
guide them.
Now
the last kid. I actually thought it might be best to send him home
and yet I spent two sleepless nights praying for the kid and the
obvious emotional damage that he has experienced. I shudder to think
what kind of environment could produce such an oppositional attitude.
Because
of him, we had to limit the cutting up that Junior High kids like to
do because he would immediately take it to the extreme with his
aggression. That made it difficult for me to get a good bond with the
rest of the kids because the one child took almost all my attention.
I
finally decided that my success with the boys for the week might be
measured by preventing him from committing an act of violence against
one of the other campers. Twice I physically had to stop him from
striking two different children.
But
God is good. And even though I was ineffective with the kid, the
other campers were not.
At
Camp Brethren Heights, something always seems to happen in spite of
all the problems that are automatically going to come up in any
situation that is run on a shoestring budget with some of the most
amazing and committed staff I have ever worked with.
And
that something is that people meet God there in a special way.
Friday
night worship and campfire is always something that is moving both
spiritually and emotionally.
Michele,
the camp dean, decided to do a foot-washing and then bread and cup
communion with the young men and women.
Of
course, the idea of washing feet is gross to some of us Brethren, so,
think of how it seemed to some of the kids who didn’t come from
Brethren backgrounds.
We
gave them the option of washing hands instead of feet and most of the
kids were relieved that they could do that until, the Holy Spirit
took over and it wasn’t really an issue anymore.
The
first thing we did was demonstrate to the kids just how a foot
washing ritual transpires.
I
mentioned that Michele brought in a separate Spiritual director, and
God really used him with the kids. He engaged them about the
teachings of Jesus in the context of there home, schools, churches,
neighborhoods and the world.
It
was prophetic! And every time we went into session, one could see the
kids respond to him in a positive way. I know him, so I wasn’t
surprised that it happened.
But
as I bent down to wash his feet, we could both feel a move of the
Holy Spirit. He responded to the Holy Spirit by embracing me with two
Holy Kisses before I washed his feet. That was not something we had
not discussed. And then I washed his right foot.
Our
exercise was to bring the teachings of Jesus closer to the kids in a
worship setting.
And
we were hoping that the tradition of the Church of the Brethren might
be inspiring.
You
have heard that Tradition is the living faith of those now dead and
Traditionalism is the dead faith of those now living.
Traditionalism
is the elevation of tradition above what is meaningful in worship.
Tradition is the bringing alive of our historic faith in a modern
context.
Sometimes,
then, tradition is best served by breaking the form of tradition with
something new.
And
the way those holy kisses worked, surprised those kids. I heard a few
of them gasp. But we kept on.
Instead
of the possible Junior High reaction of kids laughing to cover up
either their fears or t their discomfort, the mood got more solemn.
But
just as I bent down to wash his left foot, it was like my vision
changed and his tired old feet... -and they were tired old feet-
...they seemed to radiate with life; it looked almost as if they
started to glow pink, like a baby, and they were beautiful and I
wanted to kiss his foot.
Now,
I knew I was going to do this demonstration, and I had considered the
idea before, but I had discounted it because 1), it might be to
extreme and 2), I did not want to take attention away from God.
(Explain -I did not want to prove I was more humble by abasing
myself more than he did) So, I decided to wait until the moment
to see how the Holy Spirit lead me.
So,
as I hovered over that foot for what seemed to me to be a few
uncomfortable moments longer than what anyone was expecting, I
prayed.
Immediately
our scripture from this morning came into my mind, “How lovely on
the mountains are the feet of the messenger who brings good news,
announcing peace, proclaiming news of happiness, Our God reigns.”
Now,
those who remember those early teen years remember how awkward,
gangling, odd and insecure youth can be. It is all about image.
Imagine
when two grown men, symbols of extreme authority in this environment,
kiss each other in an highly religiously symbolic fashion. Instead of
grossing them out, all of a sudden, the mood got real serious and all
the kids sensed that we were in the presence of God. I think that was
a divine moment where the Holy Spirit was touching the hearts of the
kids.
Out
of the corner of my eye, I witnessed a young Brethren girl, first
time at this age group, take off her shoes in preparation. So we
decided to instruct the kids to remove their shoes if they wanted to
have their feet washed, otherwise, they could use the hand tub.
Obviously,
the foot tub moved around the room much faster than the hand tub.
But
what might have had a more profound effect on the room was when that
younger girl removed her shoes. She was the one girl who stayed in
the back, had that same gifted child sense of humor and social order
that the one young man in my cabin had. She stayed back all week
until the end when she led the kids in getting ready for the foot
washing.
I
saw her feet, and again, it looked like they were glowing with that
same surreal hue of pink that I saw on the Spiritual Director and I
thought again of that scripture, “how lovely on the mountains,”
and I realized that she too, had become a preacher of good news. She
broke down a wall.
I
saw God lead the kids through what seemed to be one of the more
unlikely sources. I saw God use her in a way that humbled all of us.
Now,
there is another young woman who was supposed to be with the High
School camp, but it was canceled.
She
was with us last year. She is always the loudest girl in the camp,
not as disruptive as my boy, but very much in need of attention.
She
comes from the foster care system and is connected with us through
the ministry of one of our urban churches.
She
freaked out at the idea of touching someone else’s feet.
And
all of a sudden, it seemed as if God decided to speak to all the
children through her.
She
started washing all the kids feet. The first time she did it, I wept.
A few other young men and women got their feet washed by her but when
she went to this boy, the one who was disruptive -who was also the
other person with which I had to physically intervene before that
child’s poor impulse control caused him to harm someone else- the
one she clashed with all week, and asked to wash his feet, I knew
that God was really moving in our midst.
And
he said yes!
And
that opened up a lot more kids who were resisting the notion because
it didn’t fit their image.
More
and more socks came off of feet. And that young woman went around the
room washing several feet.
And
we got to see them take a genuine and very difficult step in deciding
to be like Jesus.
Now
to the Scripture. (Reread)
How
lovely on the mountains are the peacemakers, the men and women of
God, who are willing to maintain hope and faith in the midst of
uncertainty and remind both themselves and others that God is alive
and well and that God still reigns.
We
need those messengers to remind us of God’s faithfulness.
And
I find them everywhere. If God used three unlikely, one who seemed to
me to be very unlikely to lead the rest, then God is still on the
Throne.
