Mosaic Mennonites

Missional - Intercultural - Formational

Josh Meyer

The Seashells in My Hands

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Editor’s Note: On June 12, 2021, Pastor Josh Meyer, Mosaic Leadership Minister, gave the commencement address to the 2021 graduating class of Dock Mennonite Academy (Lansdale, PA). In the address, Meyer shared three stories with the graduates. The stories offered challenges and wisdom on how to pursue a meaningful life. Here is a story from Meyer’s speech.  

A number of years ago I heard about a pastor who was at the beach with his wife and two kids. They were walking along the water picking up seashells – except they weren’t full shells. They were like those little fragments of shells, the kind of “sea shell shrapnel” that shows up by the water. The kids were running around with these handfuls of broken shells, trying to see who could pick up the most.

Suddenly, the family saw something floating in the water. They stopped to watch and realized that about 30 feet offshore was a giant starfish, just bobbing in the water.

Now if you’re a kid, getting your hands on a starfish is like striking gold, so after watching it for a while, the youngest son got a look in his eye, like, “That starfish is mine,” and he went charging into the water after it.

He only got about halfway, though, before he stopped and came back. The dad, from the shore, reassured him, “It’s alright, buddy – you can go. Go get the starfish!”

The kid went back in after it, and he got even closer this time, but before he made it all the way, he stopped again and came back in. The dad continued to encourage him, “You can do it, you were so close, go back out and grab it.”

The little boy ran out one more time, and this time he got all the way there, right next to the starfish. Literally all he had to do was reach out and pick it up, but instead he turned and ran back to the beach.

Now the whole family was yelling, “Buddy, you were right there! What’s the problem? Just pick it up!”

And finally, the little boy yelled back, “I can’t! My hands are full of shells.”

Sometimes we need to say no to good things in order to say yes to the best things. And if you want to lead a meaningful life, it will require the difficult but necessary skill of learning to distinguish between the starfish and the seashells.

Pastor Josh Meyer gives the Commencement Address to the Dock Mennonite Academy Class of 2021. Photo by Dock Academy.

A Rabbi & Roman Guard: Life Questions for All

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Editor’s Note: On June 12, 2021, Pastor Josh Meyer, Mosaic Leadership Minister, gave the commencement address to the 2021 graduating class of Dock Mennonite Academy (Lansdale, PA). In the address, Meyer shared three stories with the graduates. The stories offered challenges and wisdom to the graduates on how to pursue a meaningful life. The stories are not just for high school graduates, but for us all. Beginning today, and continuing in the coming weeks, we will share one story each week from Meyer’s speech. Take some time to reflect on these short but poignant stories. 

There was an ancient Rabbi who was walking home late one night after attending a banquet in a neighboring village.  As he traveled, he came to a fork in the road.  If he turned right, the road would lead him back to his own village and his own home.  If he turned left, the road would lead him to a Roman military outpost.  It was dark and late and he ended up making the wrong turn.  He went left instead of right.  Before long he arrived at the Roman military outpost.   

As he approached, he heard a loud voice calling down from above.  It was a Roman Century Guard standing on the top of the wall. The guard shouted down, “Who are you?  What are you doing here?” 

The Rabbi stood in confused silence, trying to make sense of the situation.  When he gave no answer, the guard asked his questions again, “Who are you?  What are you doing here?”  

The Rabbi took a moment to gather his thoughts, but still gave no answer.   

For a third time, with greater volume and greater urgency, the guard repeated, “Who are you?  What are you doing here?” 

This time the Rabbi responded, not with an answer but with a question of his own.   

He shouted back into the dark, “How much do you get paid to ask me these questions?”   

Now it was the guard who was confused, unsure why this stranger would respond in such a way.  Nevertheless, he answered, “Five denarii per week.”   

The Rabbi shouted back, with great clarity and conviction, “I’ll pay you twice that amount to stand outside my house every morning and ask me those same two questions!”   

Pastor Josh Meyer gave the commencement address to the 2021 graduating class of Dock Mennonite Academy on June 12, 2021. Photo by Dock Academy.

A Bedtime Liturgy for Spiritual Formation

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Meyer kids at Bake Oven Knob (Appalachian Trail). Photo provided by Josh Meyer.

Nearly every parent with young children can attest to the importance of regular rhythms and routines for little ones.  Particularly early in a child’s development, routines are both stabilizing and comforting.  Of course there is value in spontaneity, but predictable patterns provide a valuable foundation for children. 

Like many other parents, one of the places we’ve sought to develop intentional routines with our three kids is at bedtime.  After the traditional activities (teeth brushing, potty, PJs, stories), we begin our “bedtime liturgy.”  This includes: (1) prayer time, (2) special words, and (3) family commitments.   

  • Prayer time.  My wife prays with the children.  In addition to praying for them, we’ve committed to praying for a different family from our church each week.  It’s been neat to see the kids latch onto this concept and get excited about the families we’re praying for throughout the year.   
  • Special words.  Each night, I speak “special words” over each child.  This is a personalized reminder of who they are, what we see in them, and how deeply they are loved by us and by God.  Genesis 1 reveals that words create worlds (notice that God speaks creation into existence –  Genesis 1:3, 6, 9, 14, 20, 24, 26).  In the same way, we want to use our words to create a world where our children hear every day the deepest truths about who they are and who God is.      
  • Family commitments.  We end the “bedtime liturgy” by saying our family commitments together (right).  These are rooted in Matthew 23:23, where Jesus identifies certain parts of the Law as being more important than others.  As a family, we want to be committed to the things Jesus says are most important: justice, mercy, and faithfulness.  This is a newer practice for us, but within a few months the kids have memorized and internalized these key values.   

To be clear, I don’t share this to brag or to puff ourselves up.  I realize a post like this runs the risk of appearing pretentious or self-righteous.  That’s not my intent.  Rather, I simply want to share a practical example of what’s been working for us right now, one way among many to intentionally develop godly routines in the lives of our children.   

Maybe something like this can be useful to those of you with young kids; maybe it won’t.  But I’m hoping all of us with children – whatever age they may be – are thinking intentionally about how our life rhythms are forming and shaping them.  And more broadly, that every one of us is committed to regular practices that develop and sustain our faith in and relationship with God.   

Meyer family at Bake Oven Knob (Appalachian Trail). Photo provided by Josh Meyer.

Gems and Birds and Good News

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Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field.  Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches”

Matthew 13:31-32, NIV

The ancient rabbis used to say that Scripture is like a gem with 70 faces – every time you turn it, the light refracts differently, and you see something you’d missed before. Jesus’ parable of the mustard seed has always been a personal favorite, a challenging and inspiring story about how we think about size and power in God’s Kingdom.  Recently, however, God’s Light has revealed a new element to the story that I’d missed until now.  

For years when I read this story, I always understood the last line about birds perching in the branches of the mustard tree to be another indication of size: a seed that started so small eventually grows to the point that even a bird can perch in its branches.  

It turns out there’s something more going on here.  At the time, there was a common saying among the Hebrew people: “When God rules the world, it will be like eagles perching in the branches of cedar trees.” That’s how people thought about the reign of God: the biggest, most powerful trees imaginable with the most powerful and majestic of all birds, eagles.  

Photo by nanka-photo at depositphotos.com

When Jesus talks about the Kingdom of God, though, he challenges that perception.  He takes a well-known image and offers an alternative picture: the Kingdom of God isn’t like huge cedars with eagles; it’s like a mustard plant with birds.    

And the word he uses for “birds” is a very specific word.   It’s the Greek word peteinon, which doesn’t just mean “birds” – it means “wild birds.”  These are not the mighty eagles that dwell in huge trees.  There’s a different word for that.  Instead, the word Jesus uses describes the wild, often dirty, detestable birds that people tried to get rid of.  These are the kinds of birds that ate animal carcasses and that farmers erected scarecrows to keep away.  They were unwanted, undesirable animals.  

And yet when Jesus describes the Kingdom of God, he says that even the unwanted and undesirable will find a home … 

… even those animals, and those people, who don’t feel worthy – they’ll have a place in the Kingdom of God.  

… even those people who have been told all the many reasons why they don’t measure up – they’ll have a place in the Kingdom of God.  

… even those people who have been through experiences that make them feel broken and beat up and like damaged goods – they’ll have a place in the Kingdom of God.         

In other words, Jesus makes clear that God’s Kingdom, God’s mercy, God’s grace is for everyone, including and especially for those on the margins, those on the outside, those who wonder whether their lives really matter.  

If you’re reading this post and find yourself wondering whether God could really love someone like you, forgive someone like you, and welcome someone like you – the answer is a resounding YES!  The Kingdom of God is for everyone, no exceptions.  No matter who you are, no matter what you’ve done, no matter what you’ve been through, the Good News at the heart of our faith is that God’s welcome is for all people.  

May our churches be places where this Good News is both known and proclaimed.      

What I’ve Been Reading on Faithful Living

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by Josh Meyer, Leadership Minister

“What an astonishing thing a book is,” writes Carl Sagan,  astronomer and author, who captures my love and appreciation for books quite well. “It’s a flat object made from a tree with flexible parts on which are imprinted lots of funny dark squiggles. But one glance at it and you’re inside the mind of another person, maybe somebody dead for thousands of years. Across the millennia, an author is speaking clearly and silently inside your head, directly to you. Writing is perhaps the greatest of human inventions, binding together people who never knew each other, citizens of distant epochs. Books break the shackles of time. A book is proof that humans are capable of working magic.”  

Here are a few of the magic-working, shackle-breaking, people-binding books that I’ve been reading lately.  

The Sacred Overlap: Learning to Live Faithfully in the Space Between by J.R. Briggs

Back in February 2019, I had the privilege of serving on a team of “readers” for this book, tasked with reading and providing feedback on an early manuscript of the project.  Now, a year and a half later, the book is finally out and I couldn’t be more excited to recommend it. The widening political, racial, generational, and religious differences in our society all too often lead to an “us vs. them” mentality.  

In The Sacred Overlap, Briggs lays out a biblical, Jesus-centered vision that embraces tension and invites us to live between the extremes that isolate and divide people.  But rest assured – this isn’t a spineless call to a kind of “mushy middle” that fails to take a stand on things that matter.  This is an invitation to convicted civility that emphasizes both grace and truth.  

Finding Holy in the Suburbs: Living Faithfully in the Land of Too Much by Ashley Hales

Suburbs reflect our good, God-given desire for a place to call home.  And suburbs also reflect our own brokenness.  As Hales writes in the introduction, “The suburbs – like any place – exhibit both the goodness of God’s creative acts (in desiring to foster community, beauty, rest, hospitality, family) and sin (in focusing on image, materialism, and individualism to the exclusion of others).”  Quite simply, places form our loves.  

Hales’ book raises provocative and profound questions for suburbanites like myself: Are we bending our lives around the spaces we occupy, the things we acquire, the homes we build, and the positions we’re climbing toward?  Or are we willing to let the triune God straighten out the narrative of safety and control, and pull us closer to the Divine Story of love and belonging?  

Something Needs to Change: A call to make your life count in a world of urgent need by David Platt

Is Jesus really the hope of the world?  David Platt poses this question as the centerpiece of his new book.  While I don’t agree with Platt on every point of theology, I was challenged and convicted by his account of his recent trek through the Himalayas.  

Platt, a megachurch pastor, realized it’s one thing to consider the injustices of the world from behind a podium in a comfortable building on a Sunday morning.  It’s another thing to face the realities of human suffering, sex trafficking, urgent physical need, and deep spiritual loss face-to-face.  

I appreciated and resonated with Platt’s struggle, his honest wrestling with the deepest questions of our faith, in light of the human suffering of our world.  Read this book and consider the questions…if you dare.

What I’m Reading During the Pandemic

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by Josh Meyer, Leadership Minister

Like many other pastors, much of my mental focus in the last several weeks has centered on what a pastoral, practical, prayerful response to the coronavirus crisis might entail.

To that end, here are some of the most helpful things I’m reading right now.  The first three recommendations are geared toward pastors and leaders; the last three are geared more broadly to all people seeking a faithful response during these unprecedented times.

Andy Crouch: Love In The Time of Coronavirus 

Andy is one of my favorite thinkers.  He is thoughtful and thorough, rooted in his faith, and well-versed in a wide variety of disciplines.  This essay, intended as a guide for Christian leaders, captures the best of what I’ve come to appreciate about his work.  This is one of the best articles I have read about a Christian response to COVID-19. He addresses four questions: What is happening?  What should we communicate?  What decisions should we make?  What can we hope for?  It’s a lengthy piece, but well worth your time.

J.R. Briggs: Becoming a Distributed Church: Why it’s Worth the Shift 

JR Briggs leads a resourcing event, February 2019

For years, J.R. has been asking pastors and leaders a hypothetical question: “If your church were unable to gather in groups larger than 50, or even 10, what would your church look like? And how would it shape the way you think about how your church joins God’s mission?”  These are no longer hypothetical questions. This article is full of probing questions, thoughtful challenges, practical ideas, and helpful resources as we seek to become “distributed churches.”

Eileen R. Campbell-Reed: 10 guidelines for pastoral care during the coronavirus outbreak

Pastors are called to be torchbearers of hope and optimism.  And yet, we’re also called to accompany people through the valleys of anxiety, fear, and death.  This is always a delicate balance, but especially now. That’s why I found Eileen Campbell-Reed’s guidelines so helpful.  A must-read for all leaders seeking to provide emotional, relational, and spiritual care during this time.

René Breuel: In Italy, I’ve Rediscovered the Power of Three Types of Prayer 

How does our prayer life change when faced with a global pandemic?  Rene Breuel brings us inside a nation reeling from one of the highest COVID-19 death rates in the world and reflects on how prayer is transformed by tragedy.

Scott Berinato: That Discomfort You’re Feeling Is Grief

Since reading it last week, I’ve passed this article on to more family, friends, and colleagues than any other.  While not written from an explicitly Christian perspective, it offers massively insightful perspectives on how to name and manage the grief brought on by COVID-19.  The author interviews David Kessler, the world’s foremost expert on grief. Kessler discusses the importance of acknowledging grief, how to manage it, and – most importantly – how we might find meaning in it.

Linford Detweiler: Love in The Time of Corona

I’ll confess: I’m more of a prose guy than a poetry guy.  But I was immediately captured by the cadence and essence of this poem: “Breathe.  Go on and live your unexpected life. Inhale love. Exhale surrender. Trust: all that’s in between.”  The reminder to breathe is particularly powerful when we recall that the Old Testament word for Spirit can also be translated breath.  The idea that God is as close to us as our own breath is uniquely comforting during a time like this.

So, friends – read well.  And remember to breathe.

Walking Alongside with Passion

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by Jennifer Svetlik, Salford congregation

“The most rewarding part of my job is helping pastors and leaders navigate the broken, complicated, exhausting, infuriating times and reminding them of the beautiful, glorious, exhilarating, holy nature of the work we’ve been called to,” says Josh Meyer, Leadership Minister. “That’s a difficult and never-ending process, but it’s also incredibly fulfilling.”

Josh and family: wife Kim, daughters Selah and Eve, son Paxton

Josh sees his role primarily in terms of accompaniment rather than authority. He walks alongside church leaders to encourage, listen, prompt, and pay attention to the movement of the Spirit. “That’s where I’m passionate; that’s what drew me to this role,” Josh reflects.

In addition to serving as a Leadership Minister, Josh is a pastor at Franconia congregation (Telford, PA), an adjunct professor at Eastern University, a husband, and father of three young children.

About a year ago, Josh accepted the invitation to serve as a Leadership Minister but did so with hesitancy, because he wasn’t sure he had the bandwidth to take on another responsibility. But he gave the invitation serious consideration. “After discernment, I began feeling peace and excitement about the possibility of serving as a Leadership Minister,” says Josh.

Josh is energized by helping congregations connect with younger people and those without a faith background. “Our call is to be fishers of people, not merely keepers of the aquarium. In other words, our focus shouldn’t just be on those who are already here,” Josh describes. “Many churches care for their own pretty well, but unconsciously base the bulk of their decisions on who they’re trying to keep rather than who they’re trying to reach.”

Josh’s passions are evident in his desire to push congregations beyond their comfort zones. “Becoming places where young people and unchurched people can feel at home and grow in Jesus is an important, challenging, urgent concern for our faith communities,” explains Josh. “It requires change and sacrifice and letting go. But it’s worthwhile.”

Josh grew up in Souderton, PA. Although he was not raised Mennonite, he was influenced by the vibrant Mennonite community in the area. “Having roots in the area where I now serve has been beneficial, helping me understand some of the cultural nuances of this place. As our conference continues to grow, however, I recognize that my experiences in this particular place are not the norm for an increasing number of our churches,” shares Josh.

Preaching at Franconia Mennonite Church

Josh brings ecumenical experiences and perspectives to his work as a Mennonite pastor and leader. He was born and dedicated at a Baptist church, spent his formative teenage years in a Lutheran congregation, attended a charismatic Vineyard fellowship in college, and pastored his first five years in a United Methodist context.

“This diverse background formed in me an appreciation for various expressions of faith and a deeply ecumenical understanding of the Body of Christ,” shares Josh. “There is beauty in our diversity, and what unites us and makes us one isn’t that we’re identical, but that we share a common commitment to Christ.” He was drawn to an Anabaptist expression of faith because of the emphasis on the centrality of Jesus, the commitment to peace, discipleship, community, and the understanding of mission.

For their 10-year wedding anniversary in October, Josh and his wife, Kim,  are planning a trip to the Grand Canyon, including a rim-to-rim single day hike of the canyon. Josh’s love of travel has taken him around the world, including five continents;  by his 50th birthday, Josh hopes to have visited all seven.

Whatever is Mentionable is Manageable

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by Josh Meyer, Leadership Minister

I recently read The Good Neighbor by Maxwell King.  This biography detailed the life and work of Fred Rogers, creator of the children’s television show, Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood. The TV show was unlike any other children’s show, due in part to the issues Mr. Rogers addressed. 

The show dealt with topics like death, race relations, and sibling jealousy.  After President Reagan was shot, Mr. Rogers had an entire segment on assassination.  Because he knew the children in his audience were hearing adults talk about what happened, using unfamiliar and scary words, Fred addressed it in an age-appropriate way.  

When asked why he incorporated such weighty issues into a children’s program, Rogers responded, “Whatever is mentionable is manageable.”  If we’re able to name and discuss an issue, it becomes more manageable; we can begin to process it in healthier ways. And the inverse is also true: when we fail to talk about difficult issues, our silence actually gives them more power over us. Whatever is mentionable is manageable.  

Each quarter in our conference, the Faith and Life Commission plans gatherings for pastors and credentialed leaders to discern, study, and pray together.  The focus is on relationship building and expanding perspectives, not decision-making.  

This year’s theme for these gatherings is identity. The February gathering focused on sexual and gender identities. James and Jane Mast (Methacton congregation) shared informatively, rather than directively, as a psychologist and biologist (respectively).  Following their presentation, which offered distinctions between terms like biological sex, gender identity, and sexual orientation, we discussed in small groups.  

I was struck by and grateful for what I observed in those small groups. We were a  group of diverse believers from a variety of places, with varied experiences and perspectives,  talking openly about this topic. It wasn’t easy, and we didn’t all agree. But we were there. Together. Talking. Whatever is mentionable is manageable.  

James and Jane Mast lead the presentation.

Of course, each of us will need to interpret what we heard through our own cultural and theological lenses.  But in order for us to respond with grace and truth to the questions so many in our society are asking about gender, sexuality, and identity, we need to be able to talk together about hard things.    

I fear too often we’ve neglected difficult conversations. We are content to retreat into our echo-chambers with like-minded allies and avoid those with whom we disagree. One of the most profound discoveries of my 15 years in pastoral ministry is that there are good, faithful, honest, brilliant, Bible-believing, God-honoring, Jesus-loving, Spirit-filled people all across the theological spectrum.  I am a better person and better pastor when I’m in dialogue with a broad range of people and perspectives.  

I left the Faith and Life gathering last week feeling overwhelmed, confused, and encouraged: overwhelmed by the volume of new information, confused how our Conference can faithfully navigate the complexities of our deepest identities, and ultimately encouraged to have learned something new. I was encouraged to be in a circle with people who disagree profoundly on issues of sexuality but who respected and honored and prayed for one another. I was encouraged that pastors and leaders are willing to engage the hard questions. I was encouraged by the honesty,  vulnerability, and humility demonstrated by my sisters and brothers in that room. And I was encouraged that though we disagree on things, what we do agree on – the Person and Work of Christ – is far more powerful than what divides us.