This passage from 2 Corinthians (aka “Two Corinthians”) has provided a reflective spiritual lens for me.
“God was in Christ reconciling the world to God’s self.” (2 Cor. 5:19)
This writing is being formed at the Portland International Airport as I prepare to return from the 2016 Pre-General Conference Briefing and three days with my colleagues on the Association of Directors of Connectional Ministries. That scripture verse had entered my thoughts and meditation times prior to these vital gatherings of United Methodist Christian leaders. While here in Portland it continued to bring into focus where we are as a major denomination in the world today, and where God may be moving us into God’s future for our witness and work. What we learned, discussed and prayed about here and how we engage these considerations from May 10-20, 2016 at the General Conference will have long term impact on our potential to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.
So when you think of the “world” what images does that stir within your mind?
There can be the world, simply and complexly, as the geographic mass spinning and travelling around the sun. Yet, this rapidly spinning sphere has multiple “worlds” and ecosystems within that larger world. Land, water, weather systems, fauna, forests, fowl, fish, mammals (including human beings), reptiles, insects, etc. all are a part of that grand world. These worlds interact and impact one another.
Have you ever explored the complex network of tunnels and roles within a large ant hill, discovering that this is a world unto itself, yet a world still integrally related to all that is around it? When an oil spill contaminates the Gulf of Mexico or the Kalamazoo River it does not take long to see the immediate and long term impact of toxic disruption and the danger to multiple “worlds”, such as the water quality, fish and wildlife habitats, human use of the water and their sources of livelihood. One world is not separated from the other—they are all inter-related. Any time one “world” unravels it can impact multiple others.
We have seen this all too painfully these past several months in the human-made water crisis in Flint. When one world system unravels it requires significant response from other worlds to “reconcile” and make wholeness come once again. (Please read the ways in MIConnect and our website on how you can respond to this specific broken world to make it whole once again.) Whenever I consider that God was in Christ reconciling the world I know that this is not only about my personal salvation and healing. The Gospel of John makes clear that “In the beginning was the Word, … All things came into being through him…” (John 1:1a, 1:3). God cares about and is actively involved in making all things, all worlds large and small, whole.
While on renewal leave a couple of years ago I purchased two fairly large jigsaw puzzles, a 1,000 piece one for nostalgic fun and a 2,000 piece one of the World. It gave me an opportunity to set aside social media and emails in order to engage my brain and thoughts in a different focus. The World puzzle was an intentional choice on my part to begin to pray for each unique “world” within the “World”. I wanted it to keep me mindful that behind the narrow versions of daily news are real people, places and circumstances that matter deeply to each of those smaller worlds. It is a reminder to me that “my world” is only one small part of the whole, and that the United States is only one of many worlds across the World.
I am only now getting around to putting this puzzle together. It takes time, intentional time, to focus on how the parts all fit together. It takes searching to truly know where they all fit. Each piece I place educates me about places I know little about and gives me an opportunity to pray for people and environments that I am called by God to care about.
As I began to search for puzzle pieces for the continent of Africa I began to think about the United Methodist Central Conferences in West Africa, Central Africa and Southern Africa. As the Middle East began to take shape on the board I thought of individual families that simply want to live out daily life in meaningful ways, yet find global politics and war a toxic disruption into their smaller worlds. It moved me to pray and wonder how “God in Christ (was/is) reconciling those smaller worlds to God’s self”. I have identified the many pieces that will make up Asia and am looking forward to gaining a deeper prayerful appreciation for the multiple cultures and places that comprise the continent, and how many of those cultures and languages are an important part of life here in Michigan and a vital part of our Michigan Area UMC. As I carefully placed the pieces of the Caribbean and South America I thought of the deep relationships of the World Methodist Council and the Methodist Church of the Caribbean and the Americas. This movement of Methodism, and the EUB parts of the larger movement, have had long term benefit and healing in the World and many smaller worlds. I deeply believe that we have been a part of God’s reconciling healing of the world over our history.
I share this as a backdrop to ask all United Methodist here in Michigan to be prayerful and mindful in the months ahead. Will the actions and attitudes we bring to the listening sessions with the New Conference Design Team help God’s efforts in keeping all the pieces of the puzzle coming together? As you and I hear narrowly defined news about what will be considered at General Conference 2016 will our responses bring wholeness, or will we create toxicity in our smaller worlds and the larger World of United Methodism? To be sure, United Methodism as we once knew it will need to go through major changes over the next decade to remain relevant, vital and viable in our World today. The same can be said for creating a new annual conference here in Michigan. And, truly, it can most likely be said for many of our local churches. How we approach these changes together can be the source of God’s reconciling and healing hope in Jesus Christ, or we can be a further source of toxic disruption.
To close, I want to invite you back to the process of putting a jigsaw puzzle together. Anyone who enjoys doing puzzles of this type likely has their own methodology or approach to the large task. Some prefer to lay out the edges or boundaries so they know the expanse and limitations of their work. Others like to start with something that may seem most familiar or easy to construct so that all things begin to flow from that point. I deliberately chose to start outside of what was most familiar to me, i.e. the United States, so that I could view the World from a different center of focus. I started with Africa and then Central and South America. I then began pulling together the many pieces that will make up Asia and the Philippines, though I still have that complex work to do. Only then did I go back to my smaller world of the U.S.
In many ways that is the challenge facing us as we seek to live into a denomination that is growing rapidly in those regions outside of the U.S. It may also be symbolic of the need for our local churches to first focus on the changing neighborhoods and communities in which they reside, and then to begin to focus on how to pull their “pieces of the puzzle” together.
May the grace of Jesus Christ and daily movement of the Holy Spirit reconcile our worlds to God, and guide us to be a part of that healing reconciliation to others. In my February “Perspectives on Hope” I will highlight some of the pieces of the puzzle that we will be considering at General Conference. In the meantime, be in prayer!
Blessings,
Rev. Dr. Jerome (Jerry) DeVine
Director of Connectional Ministries
Last Updated on October 20, 2023