On Beginning

Where to begin? Ah yes, at the beginning. 

Hello! My name is Rev. Tim Clifford, and I am excited to be your new pastor. As I write this, it is the afternoon of my first official day here at Lake Cities UMC. My books are still packed away, my office is still bare, but the work has already begun!

Beginnings are weird, aren’t they? People always say they do not know how to say “goodbye,” but I wonder how good we really are at saying “hello.” Part of the problem, in my estimation, is that we learn beginnings from stories. We learn “Once upon a time,” and “a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away,” but these are clean beginnings. They set the tone for a new story being told separate from others told before it. Our lives don’t work that way. Indeed, you and I began our stories years and years ago, and have been writing them everyday since! Today, then, is not a beginning fit for “Once upon a time.”

Instead, maybe we should begin with “In the beginning.” That’s how the Gospel of John begins – In the beginning was the Word. I am not comparing myself to the Gospel author, nor to the Word, but I have chosen the opening verses of this Gospel as the first scripture in our first worship series together. The series is called Storytime. Over the next four weeks, we will explore our stories as individuals, the story of this church, the story of God, and look at how all of these stories are woven together in the great tapestry of love. 

Transparently, I have chosen our first scripture passage mostly because it is my favorite passage in the entirety of the bible. I love the Gospel of John for the beauty of its prose, but also for the claim it makes on the Incarnation of God in Jesus Christ, which is seen in the opening words of the Gospel. These words name Christ as part of the Godhead, the Trinity. More than that, they name Christ as the Word. Karl Rahner, a 20th century German theologian, would come to call Jesus “the self-communication of God.” Jesus is, to put it differently, the ultimate example of the story of God and the story of humanity woven together. An example after which we can pattern our lives as we seek to live woven with God.

The truth is, my friends, we are all stories being told. Our stories began when we were born, and developed background and tone as we grew up. Each day, we tell another page of our story. Because of this, I am aware that I do not begin at the beginning of anyone’s story. I am entering a story in the midst of being told – the story of Lake Cities UMC. It is a story that has unfolded over decades and decades of ministry, joy, beauty, heartbreak, and loss. It is a story that will continue to unfold long after I have left its chapters. Today, it is a story into which I am being woven. 

I look forward to getting to know your stories. The ones you tell with smiles and laughter, and the ones that bring our tears and long moments of silence. I look forward to writing new pages together in the story of Lake Cities UMC. The story of a church that seeks to show its community what it looks like to live woven into the tapestry of God’s love. As we embark on the beginning of this new chapter in the story of LCUMC, I think I know just where to begin. 

Hello, my name is Rev. Tim Clifford. I am excited, because the work has already begun. 

Grace, peace, and love.

Rev. Tim