Ebenezer United Methodist Church

Growing up in St. Paul Minnesota, church worked a certain way. Fifteen minutes of worship, followed by thirty seconds of “greeting your neighbor,” followed by a forty-minute sermon, followed by one more song, and then the benediction. Zip, bang, done. And essentially, the churches I go to these days are the same.

But at Ebenezer United Methodist, things are different. It’s an African American church here in my neighborhood which Amy and Nathan (my sister and brother-in-law) attend. I went with them this morning after missing my new church because of daylight saving’s time.

For starters, when they do the “greet your neighbor” thing, it lasts at least ten minutes. Really. Ten minutes. And you know what? It’s awesome. I’ve only been to Amy and Nathan’s church a handful of times, but people there know who I am. And truthfully, this amazes me, though I suppose the fact that I was one of three white people in the building today may have had something to do with it.

For close to an hour, church was led by the kids. We sang various songs (with solos by kids as young as five!) and we read a couple different chapters of scripture. Ezekiel 37, about the dry bones being made whole and new, and John 11, about Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. You should understand, two full, long chapters is about five times as much scripture as I hear on a typical Sunday. Maybe ten times.

The sermons at Ebenezer are different too. The pastor, an amazingly warmhearted woman named Margaret, is never in a hurry. She is merely saying the things that she believes God has given her to say.

Practical advice: “Remember to get exercise. You’ll be healthier, and it will help you work off stress. Also, get a partner, someone who will help make sure you keep it up.” (Somehow, the fact that I heard this in church was hilarious to me. In a good way.)

Politics: “People are so ignorant when they say that Barrack Obama’s middle name ‘Hussein’ is a Muslim name. It is an Arabic name. It is just as silly as saying that ‘Margaret’ is a Christian name. No, it is an English name. But I am a Christian.” (I think the implication was, if Barrack says he’s a Christian, then he’s a Christian.)

Tough Reality Check: “As Christians we are called to be servants. We serve in order to live as Christ lived.”

Self Image: “Be grateful for the way God made you, because God made you beautiful. If you are comparing yourself to someone else, you are forgetting that God made you beautiful in the way that He wanted you to be.”

And then her main sermon, which had three points: Point one; Jesus wept for Mary and Martha’s pain over Lazarus (as well as His own pain at the loss), and He still weeps for our pain and suffering today. Point two; Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, and he is still raising people from the dead today. People who are emotionally dead, spiritually dead. Physically dead too. Point three; after Jesus brought Lazarus from the dead, Jesus told Mary and Martha to take care of Lazarus’ bandages. And Jesus still includes people in the healing process today.

These are all things I heard in the sermon this morning. (I paraphrased a little.) And it was all pretty straightforward, but man, if I took everything she said to heart… I would be a different person.