Dear Family of APUMC,

Here is a question for you: Where did you first learn about community?

Was it at home? At church? At school? On a team? In a gang?

Looking back, much of my early exposure came from my early obsession with the Peanuts cartoons. From the days of my youth, I was fascinated by all of these kids with different personalities who would constantly navigate all sorts of hurdles in their experiences of life together. 

Lucy could pull the ball out from Charlie Brown one moment and be there to offer him psychiatric help the next (for a small fee). Linus could be offering a word of bold proclamation in one caption and then be cowering in fear under his blanket the next. Peppermint Patty seemed to have an answer for everything, so long as Marcie never left her side. Pig-pen is almost always a mess, yet he is never excluded from the party. Like most of us, these characters have plenty of layers.

Without fail, they could be hollering in block letters at each other in one moment and then somehow still dancing together around Schroeder’s piano at the end of every episode. I used to wonder how they learned to do that, especially when all the directive that their parents, grandparents, and teachers could give them was “wah, wah, wah, wah, wah.”

But my favorite relationship of all was between Charlie Brown and Snoopy.  Here we have this boy with a real commitment for the care of his beloved dog. As a young reader, I was inspired by his sense of responsibility, even when the rest of Charlie Brown’s life was not exactly following his many wishes and personal dreams. 

In retrospect, I suppose that my first lesson in the virtues of stewardship came not from John or Charles Wesley, but rather from Charles Schultz. For me, at least, his portrayal of using what you have to express your love for others was a dynamic image of discipline that opened up all kinds of lessons in ‘growing up.’

The challenge for Charlie Brown, of course, is that while Snoopy is always in tune with his hunger, he often falls short in his response of gratitude.  

Granted, it takes him a while before he learns the joy of stepping up to serve, but he does get there eventually.

What a conversion! Despite every pessimistic view to the contrary, part of the wisdom of the Peanuts gang is that old dogs really can learn new tricks! 

And how can this be?

In his profound reflection on the nature of the Christian community, Eberhard Arnold wrote that

“...the love of work, like the work of love, is a matter of the Spirit. When working men and women voluntarily join hands to renounce everything that is self-willed, isolated, or private, their alliances become signposts to the ultimate unity of all people, which is found in God’s love and in the power of his coming Kingdom…we must live in community because God wants us to respond to the unclear longings of our time with a clear answer of faith.”  

That phrase, “the unclear longings of our time” resonates with me. I often wonder what you or I ‘long for’ these days. Do we even know how to name our present hunger? In our secular age, driven by individual consumption, it may not be so easy to identify.  And who has time to think of these things, anyway? 

Is there a hole in your soul? What a question! If there is, how would you propose to fill it? Is there an app for that? Perhaps another Amazon purchase? One more photo opportunity/ extra activity for the kids? One more fishing rod? One more round of —? 

Friends, I’ve tried all of these things and more…

This Sunday, we’re going to swim against the tide of our self-made stories and begin a new series of preaching and teaching called Truly the Community. With inspiration from some of my favorite thinkers on the subject, such as Eberhard Arnold, Marva Dawn, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and Peter Block, we will be ‘slowing down’ to do a deeper dive into the 12th chapter of Paul’s letter to the Romans and reimagining what it means to be the church of Jesus Christ. 

There is a great deal for us to consider here, and I do not want to rush through it. I believe God is calling the people of APUMC to this conversation. Therefore, as we prepare for worship this fall, your pastors are planning to stay on this theme through the middle of October.

What are your worship plans this fall? Who else is involved? What kind of community is shaping you? Whose disciple will you be?

This Sunday, the message is Intro to Hilarity based on Romans 12:1-8. Consider this the start of what could be our best ‘semester’ yet. 

I hope to see you on Sunday.

Grace to You,
Darren.