This originally was written for our January 2010 newsletter
There is a magnet on the metal file cabinet in my church office that I had never really paid attention to. It was there when I was appointed to Bethel.
I noticed it last week when I was sitting at my computer, looking around the office, out the window and as I was trying to slow down a bit to catch my breath. The last few weeks have been going at “warp speed” (if you are a Star Trek fan you know what that means.)
The magnet reads,
“Every Day, Find a Way, Practice the Presence of God”
This magnet reminded me of a classic devotional book bearing the same name, “The Practice of the Presence of God” which was compiled from conversations and letters, after Brother Lawrence died.
"My most usual method is this simple attention, an affectionate regard for God to whom I find myself often attached with greater sweetness and delight than that of an infant at the mother's breast. To choose an expression, I would call this state the bosom of God, for the inexpressible sweetness which I taste and experience there." This is how "Brother Lawrence" describes his constant practice of speaking with and reflecting upon God amidst the mundane tasks of life. Nicholas Herman (c. 1605-1691) was born in Lorraine, France, and served as a cook and shoe repairer at a Carmelite monastery. He was only a lay member of the order, and walked with a limp from injuries incurred as a soldier, yet his private thoughts provide a wellspring of devotional insight and refreshment.”
“His method was to cultivate at all times a consciousness of the presence of God. According to Brother Lawrence, wherever we might find ourselves, whatever the task at hand, we should perform our duties with a consciousness of God’s loving presence. With such an awareness all our activities were hallowed; we would thus find ourselves in a state of continuous prayer or conversation with God… Brother Lawrence made no distinction between great works and small. As he liked to observe, God, ‘regards not the greatness of the work, but the love with which it is performed.”
I don’t usually make New Year resolution because by February, they usually peter out but my wish for all of us would be that we would cultivate “the practice of the presence of God”, that we would be ever more mindful that God is with us always. In order to do this, I believe we need to hear/feel God. For more introverted persons like me, this means I need to slow down (Elijah heard God in the still small voice - a gentle whisper - not in the wind or the earthquake or the fire – 1 Kings 19:11-13); for the more extroverted among us, this may mean something else but I suspect we all need to slow down daily. I believe that without this awareness we will not follow God’s guidance well because we won’t know what that guidance is.
May we be ever more open to God’s guidance this year, not only as individuals but as a whole church.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Annual Conference
Angie Hartman, our lay delegate to Annual Conference, and I participated in a historic event this past week: The first Annual Conference of the New Indiana Conference. (You might wonder about the meaning of the word Conference and why it is used differently in this same sentence. Annual Conference is a yearly event bringing together both lay and clergy delegates to work on the business of the Church but also to worship together and have fellowship. The New Indiana Conference is a geographical area, encompassing what were formerly the North and South Indiana Conferences. As you have read above in Dan’s article, the districts lines have also been redrawn. The Michiana District and parts of other districts will now be known as the North District. This North District is comprised of the counties of Lake, Porter, LaPorte, St. Joseph, Elkhart, Marshall (except Culver Emmanuel, Poplar Grove, Santa Anna, Richland Center, and Burton), Kosciusko (except for Pierceton, Morris Chapel, Packerton, Center, Mentone, Burkett, Akron, Beaver Dam, and Talma), plus DeMotte from Jasper County.
Our first Annual Conference of the New Indiana Conference also took place in a new location. For years, we had gathered at Purdue University in West Lafayette. This year, and probably for the next couple of years at least, we gathered at Ball State University in Muncie.
Because of the coming together of two geographical Conference areas, the number of delegates basically doubled at over 2000. I don’t recall the exact number which was given to us by the Bishop on the first day. That large number of delegates combined with a new, unfamiliar – at least for me – location was interesting. Needless to say that if you need to find someone, you better have their cell phone number, in order to get hold of them and set a meeting place.
We did conduct the business of the church but for me the best part of Annual Conference is the worship and preaching, fellowship and ordination service. Have you ever heard “O for a Thousand Tongue to Sing” sang by over 2000 people? Pretty cool! The praise team did a great job. I guess I am biased too because I have some friends singing in it. We heard good speakers, in Rev. Adam Hamilton and Rev. David Bell and a thoughtful ordination message from our Bishop Mike Coyner. He called it “Finish the Song”. It was a reminder that we are serving together and that when someone is in trouble, we are called to help them “finish the song” by supporting them and loving them. We should be in ministry serving together not as isolated as too many are.
I got to see pastor friends I had not seen in a long time because they are appointed pretty far from here. I shared a room with a good friend who was ordained this year. I remembered my ordination last year too but I think I was more excited about her being ordained than I was at my own ordination. Go figure…
I wrote briefly about community in our June newsletter. What I experienced at Annual Conference was community. A gathering of all kind of folks, different folks, with the same love for Jesus and desire to see His Kingdom grow here as it is in Heaven. Community is not always neat; it can be a little chaotic and messy but we are still the Body that Jesus has commissioned to do His work. We are a bunch of goofs and some would snicker that if we are the ones Jesus has commissioned to do His work, we are in deep trouble. In view of the declining membership of our churches and the fact that we are not reaching unchurched population as effectively as what Jesus calls us to, one could believe that but Jesus is clear that we are the ones. Someone said that we are the ones we have been waiting for. Indeed. No others are coming. We’re it! May the Spirit continue to grant us power and boldness for the task at hand! May we be known by our love and not our division.
Our first Annual Conference of the New Indiana Conference also took place in a new location. For years, we had gathered at Purdue University in West Lafayette. This year, and probably for the next couple of years at least, we gathered at Ball State University in Muncie.
Because of the coming together of two geographical Conference areas, the number of delegates basically doubled at over 2000. I don’t recall the exact number which was given to us by the Bishop on the first day. That large number of delegates combined with a new, unfamiliar – at least for me – location was interesting. Needless to say that if you need to find someone, you better have their cell phone number, in order to get hold of them and set a meeting place.
We did conduct the business of the church but for me the best part of Annual Conference is the worship and preaching, fellowship and ordination service. Have you ever heard “O for a Thousand Tongue to Sing” sang by over 2000 people? Pretty cool! The praise team did a great job. I guess I am biased too because I have some friends singing in it. We heard good speakers, in Rev. Adam Hamilton and Rev. David Bell and a thoughtful ordination message from our Bishop Mike Coyner. He called it “Finish the Song”. It was a reminder that we are serving together and that when someone is in trouble, we are called to help them “finish the song” by supporting them and loving them. We should be in ministry serving together not as isolated as too many are.
I got to see pastor friends I had not seen in a long time because they are appointed pretty far from here. I shared a room with a good friend who was ordained this year. I remembered my ordination last year too but I think I was more excited about her being ordained than I was at my own ordination. Go figure…
I wrote briefly about community in our June newsletter. What I experienced at Annual Conference was community. A gathering of all kind of folks, different folks, with the same love for Jesus and desire to see His Kingdom grow here as it is in Heaven. Community is not always neat; it can be a little chaotic and messy but we are still the Body that Jesus has commissioned to do His work. We are a bunch of goofs and some would snicker that if we are the ones Jesus has commissioned to do His work, we are in deep trouble. In view of the declining membership of our churches and the fact that we are not reaching unchurched population as effectively as what Jesus calls us to, one could believe that but Jesus is clear that we are the ones. Someone said that we are the ones we have been waiting for. Indeed. No others are coming. We’re it! May the Spirit continue to grant us power and boldness for the task at hand! May we be known by our love and not our division.
Community
Community. I have been thinking quite a bit about community recently. True community is hard to come by in our society yet it is what we were designed for. We were never meant to do life alone. We see this early on in Genesis, when God creates everything including man. It is very soon apparent that something is missing. God says, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” (Gen. 2:18) We were created for community because God is a community God. He is, after all, a triune God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We were created for community and we all need community.
I think of community because we celebrated the day of Pentecost on May 31. Pentecost Sunday is the final Sunday of Easter. We celebrate Pentecost (see Acts 2) as the “birth” of the Church – this corporate faith community. The Church emerges - out of a frightened band of followers - after the resurrection of Jesus and after he goes back to Heaven (celebrated on Ascension day). The Holy Spirit who comes forms the church by making the Risen Christ manifest in power.
The church is a community called together by the Spirit of the Risen One. As such, it is different than other “organizations” such as the Rotary or Kiwanis for example. “The Greek word for church (ekklesia, from which we derive “ecclesiastical” means “those who have been called forth or summoned, much as one is summoned to appear in a court of law. And we are called as a body of interdependent parts, not as separable individuals (see 1 Corinthians 12:4-31)… Participation therefore is not something we do on the basis of personal choice or need; participation in the Body of Christ is inherent in being Christian… Therefore Christians participate in the church not so much for what they can get as for what they can give, for what they can offer as an alternative to the dominant ways of the world.”
Our society tends to isolate us more and more. Families are distant, geographically and too often emotionally. People move quite a bit. We seldom know our neighbors. Isolation and loneliness are rampant.
I believe that what the church – at its best - can offer is a community that cannot be found outside of it: A community which points to Jesus, as the source of everything; a community where love and forgiveness and healing can be found in the midst of the craziness of this world; a community which worships the God who gives purpose and meaning to life; the God of our salvation.
I hope and pray that we are – that we can be - that kind of church.
I think of community because we celebrated the day of Pentecost on May 31. Pentecost Sunday is the final Sunday of Easter. We celebrate Pentecost (see Acts 2) as the “birth” of the Church – this corporate faith community. The Church emerges - out of a frightened band of followers - after the resurrection of Jesus and after he goes back to Heaven (celebrated on Ascension day). The Holy Spirit who comes forms the church by making the Risen Christ manifest in power.
The church is a community called together by the Spirit of the Risen One. As such, it is different than other “organizations” such as the Rotary or Kiwanis for example. “The Greek word for church (ekklesia, from which we derive “ecclesiastical” means “those who have been called forth or summoned, much as one is summoned to appear in a court of law. And we are called as a body of interdependent parts, not as separable individuals (see 1 Corinthians 12:4-31)… Participation therefore is not something we do on the basis of personal choice or need; participation in the Body of Christ is inherent in being Christian… Therefore Christians participate in the church not so much for what they can get as for what they can give, for what they can offer as an alternative to the dominant ways of the world.”
Our society tends to isolate us more and more. Families are distant, geographically and too often emotionally. People move quite a bit. We seldom know our neighbors. Isolation and loneliness are rampant.
I believe that what the church – at its best - can offer is a community that cannot be found outside of it: A community which points to Jesus, as the source of everything; a community where love and forgiveness and healing can be found in the midst of the craziness of this world; a community which worships the God who gives purpose and meaning to life; the God of our salvation.
I hope and pray that we are – that we can be - that kind of church.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Surprising Grace
There are moments in life when hard stuff seems to come in bunches. These past few weeks have been like this. Our church is facing challenges. Then health stuff in the form of stomach flu for Steve and I and then the worst sinus infection/cold that I ever remember getting for me, requiring antibiotics, which I am still on. I am usually never sick. Is that God’s way of saying it is time for a vacation?
This week-end we were in the Columbus, Ohio, area for me to do our 21 year old niece Jennifer’s gravesite service. She dropped dead with no warning on Steve’s birthday 1/29. I officiated at her funeral on 2/4 and the family asked me to come back on 6/6to commit her ashes, along with her dad’s ashes. Dwight, Steve’s older brother, died of cancer 10 years ago on Easter Sunday and his wife’ Carol had held on to his ashes until then. His birthday was on 6/5. Carol felt she was now ready to let go, so that we could bury Dwight’s ashes along with Jennifer’s. We got to the cemetery in Pataskala Saturday late morning, with a bunch of family and friends gathered, only to find out that nothing was ready. The plot was not marked. There was no hole dug and no one from the funeral home or the cemetery to greet us. Inquiring phone calls remained fruitless till after we decided to proceed, hole or no hole. After the service we found out that a miscommunication had occurred and that the funeral home/cemetery had us down for July 6 instead of June 6! Carol had to go home with the urn that day. Not the way it was supposed to be…
Then on Sunday morning I find a voice mail on my cell phone from the husband of Sara, our church secretary, announcing that she had died in her sleep during the night. She had just had cancer surgery over the Memorial Day week-end. We had all thought that things had gone well. So well in fact that Sara said she felt good and she wanted to come back to work! And she did for a couple of days against my better counsel.
Several weeks back, we got a call from the new owners of Steve’s boyhood home in Pickerington, OH. They had tracked us down through the internet and wanted to hear more about the house and stories associated with it. Since we were going to be nearby for the gravesite service, Steve told them we could stop by. They invited us to an early dinner at 2 pm.
Frankly, visiting these folks, Sunday afternoon, after hearing about Sara’s death and still battling this sinus infection/cold was the last thing I wanted to do. But Steve was so excited at the prospect of seeing the inside of the house he had lived in from age 5 till he graduated from High School in 1973, and sharing with these people and seeing what they had/were going to do to the house, that I did not want to disappoint him and I decided that staying away mopping would not help anybody anyway.
This is when God’s grace totally blew me – us - away. We had stopped by Home Depot to pick up a planter to bring with us as a gift.
I carried the plant with me and as soon as our hostess opened the door, she greeted us by hugging us and proceeded to talk to us as if we had been friends forever. While I was surprised at getting hugged by a total stranger, there was nothing forced about any of it and she made us feel like family. No airs, no pretense, just genuine friendliness.
Steve’s youngest brother and his wife and 9 years old daughter had been invited too and they joined us shortly thereafter. They were greeted in the same warm manner. Steve and I had thought of only staying just long enough to not be rude and his brother Tom and family thought they would just come for a Coke. Next thing we know, we are helping set up the table outside on the patio and carrying food out and helping ourselves to some pop and ice tea. We all ended up staying till 8:30 pm that night and Jane and Sam (the new owners) acted like they were genuinely sorry to see us leave. We exchanged email addresses and phone no. and I do hope we stay in touch. I heard stories after stories of growing up and good times in this house and heard about what had changed and what had not. We walked all over the large backyard and along the creek at the back of the house. We saw every room in the house. Jane and Sam and their 15 years old daughter Sophie were the most hospitable folks I ever remember meeting. We found out common interests etc. Several of us mentioned afterward that this was in fact a God thing. It felt that way as we were visiting and eating great food – the best homemade chocolate cake! - and enjoyed gracious, unforced company. Turns out Jane and Sam are Christians, Catholics. But not overbearing just genuinely caring folks. She is a former teacher, turned nurse. He has a long title I can’t recall but it has to do with medical research.
The company, the great food, the memories shared felt like a healing balm and a Godly embrace. It was as God were saying, “I know that things have been a little rough lately but I am here and I love you. You will be OK.”
This week-end we were in the Columbus, Ohio, area for me to do our 21 year old niece Jennifer’s gravesite service. She dropped dead with no warning on Steve’s birthday 1/29. I officiated at her funeral on 2/4 and the family asked me to come back on 6/6to commit her ashes, along with her dad’s ashes. Dwight, Steve’s older brother, died of cancer 10 years ago on Easter Sunday and his wife’ Carol had held on to his ashes until then. His birthday was on 6/5. Carol felt she was now ready to let go, so that we could bury Dwight’s ashes along with Jennifer’s. We got to the cemetery in Pataskala Saturday late morning, with a bunch of family and friends gathered, only to find out that nothing was ready. The plot was not marked. There was no hole dug and no one from the funeral home or the cemetery to greet us. Inquiring phone calls remained fruitless till after we decided to proceed, hole or no hole. After the service we found out that a miscommunication had occurred and that the funeral home/cemetery had us down for July 6 instead of June 6! Carol had to go home with the urn that day. Not the way it was supposed to be…
Then on Sunday morning I find a voice mail on my cell phone from the husband of Sara, our church secretary, announcing that she had died in her sleep during the night. She had just had cancer surgery over the Memorial Day week-end. We had all thought that things had gone well. So well in fact that Sara said she felt good and she wanted to come back to work! And she did for a couple of days against my better counsel.
Several weeks back, we got a call from the new owners of Steve’s boyhood home in Pickerington, OH. They had tracked us down through the internet and wanted to hear more about the house and stories associated with it. Since we were going to be nearby for the gravesite service, Steve told them we could stop by. They invited us to an early dinner at 2 pm.
Frankly, visiting these folks, Sunday afternoon, after hearing about Sara’s death and still battling this sinus infection/cold was the last thing I wanted to do. But Steve was so excited at the prospect of seeing the inside of the house he had lived in from age 5 till he graduated from High School in 1973, and sharing with these people and seeing what they had/were going to do to the house, that I did not want to disappoint him and I decided that staying away mopping would not help anybody anyway.
This is when God’s grace totally blew me – us - away. We had stopped by Home Depot to pick up a planter to bring with us as a gift.
I carried the plant with me and as soon as our hostess opened the door, she greeted us by hugging us and proceeded to talk to us as if we had been friends forever. While I was surprised at getting hugged by a total stranger, there was nothing forced about any of it and she made us feel like family. No airs, no pretense, just genuine friendliness.
Steve’s youngest brother and his wife and 9 years old daughter had been invited too and they joined us shortly thereafter. They were greeted in the same warm manner. Steve and I had thought of only staying just long enough to not be rude and his brother Tom and family thought they would just come for a Coke. Next thing we know, we are helping set up the table outside on the patio and carrying food out and helping ourselves to some pop and ice tea. We all ended up staying till 8:30 pm that night and Jane and Sam (the new owners) acted like they were genuinely sorry to see us leave. We exchanged email addresses and phone no. and I do hope we stay in touch. I heard stories after stories of growing up and good times in this house and heard about what had changed and what had not. We walked all over the large backyard and along the creek at the back of the house. We saw every room in the house. Jane and Sam and their 15 years old daughter Sophie were the most hospitable folks I ever remember meeting. We found out common interests etc. Several of us mentioned afterward that this was in fact a God thing. It felt that way as we were visiting and eating great food – the best homemade chocolate cake! - and enjoyed gracious, unforced company. Turns out Jane and Sam are Christians, Catholics. But not overbearing just genuinely caring folks. She is a former teacher, turned nurse. He has a long title I can’t recall but it has to do with medical research.
The company, the great food, the memories shared felt like a healing balm and a Godly embrace. It was as God were saying, “I know that things have been a little rough lately but I am here and I love you. You will be OK.”
Monday, June 1, 2009
Stuck in my head
I have a tendency to get stuck in my head. If I am not careful I can get overly cerebral. I want to analyze stuff too much at times. I find myself doing this in times of stress in particular. I get very physically and mentally active and I retreat in my head and I stuff my emotions. God stopped me in my tracks with that this week. It took an image in a devotional publication that I love called Alive Now. It is a publication of the Upper Room which helps me surrender to God and helps me get out of my head. The May/June issue is written by the folks, both clergy and lay, from our Indiana Conference. Deals with change and the difficulty of change and the resource we have in God. On page 17 there is a picture of cracked rocks and from the cracks come out green leaves and tiny purple flowers. I found myself with tears in my eyes looking at this picture. I was surprised by that. Again, I started asking myself why I felt that way and I started analyzing: Let’s see, I feel this way because this picture reminds me that in the dry moments of our lives, God can bring life. Well, this picture looks like something out of the parable of the sower… Stop! Get out of your head! Receive the picture as a gift to be cherished. Just let your heart be touched. Yeah… Thanks God.
Oh, another way I get out of my head is by reading Calvin and Hobbes. Why do we always have to be so grown-up and responsible!
PS: The picture herewith is not the picture in Alive Now but it is something like that.
Friendship and Grace
Friendship is a gift and grace is undeserved love. I have been on the receiving end of both love and grace, especially these past two weeks. A friend is someone who loves you even when you don’t feel like you deserve it and when you are weird. People who know me best probably would say I am weird all the time. My significant other tells me that – in all fun and love.
God showed up through a couple of friends recently when I really needed to hear I am loved even when I am weird. You guys know who you are. Thanks. Love you back.
Do you have someone in your life who loves you like that?
God showed up through a couple of friends recently when I really needed to hear I am loved even when I am weird. You guys know who you are. Thanks. Love you back.
Do you have someone in your life who loves you like that?
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Comfort in rough times
Printed in our May church newsletter
I was sitting at a local Body Shop this week waiting for the folks there to reinstall a strip on one of the doors of my car. Several weeks ago my car was damaged while parked as I was grocery shopping. I found the other driver. We talked. Turns out she remembered me from a funeral I had officiated at for a relative. Small world. Finally we got things resolved through her insurance company and mine.
While sitting there waiting for my car to be serviced, I pulled my Bible and a little pocket prayer book from Upper Room that I have had for several years. The cover reads, “Prayers for Courage-Words of Faith for Difficult Times.” (May-June 2003 Extra Issue.) I began to read these prayers. Several “jumped” at me.
The Lord is my Light and my Salvation; Whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid? (Psalm 27:1)
When I am afraid, I will trust in you. (Psalm 56:3)
Thus says the LORD, He who created you, O Jacob, He who formed you, O Israel:
Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers; they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the LORD your God. (Isaiah 43:1-3)
Why am I sharing this with you? We have been facing some rough times, especially these past few months. This economic recession we are going through has hit most of us pretty hard, at some level. Folks talk with me; call me or email me; ask for prayer. Times are uncertain; I hear questions of “end times” in Sunday School; jobs are jeopardized or have ended… Money is tight. It’s not only jobs and moneyI hear about: Marriages or other relationships are rocky; health is failing for many of us…
Life has a way of bringing us face to face with the fact that things never remain the same; earthly things are temporary. We don’t have any control over most things. All these are sources of anxiety. But we have one thing that we can control and that is how we react and respond when we feel anxious and scared.
We just celebrated Easter. We talked about the Easter power that is made available to us through the Holy Spirit. We talked about the fact that we are empty-tomb people and the fact that Jesus was raised from the dead and this means Hope and Life for his followers. So we can claim this Power, this Hope, this Life or we can let fear paralyze us into despair and inaction.
Old timers, who remember the Great Depression of the 1930’s and remember World War II, remind us that “this too shall pass.” It is a call for us to remember what is important and to whom we look for strength and courage.
Perspective: Jesus said, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:19-21) Where is our heart?
The thing about fear, if we let it control us, is that it can make us inward-looking people: We can start worrying so much about ourselves and our well-being that we become blind and uncaring about the people and needs around us. We can forget the track record that God has with His people – us – we can forget the promises offered in the Bible and we can forget to be the Church.
These are testing times for sure. How will we respond to fear and seemingly endless needs?
Will we be the Church?
We have many opportunities to be the Church. One such opportunity will happen on May 9 as United Way and the Post-office - partnering with areas churches and Church Community Services and other local food pantries – have their annual mail-carrier food drive to gather a lot of food for people who are hungry. Before that day, you will receive an empty grocery bag to take home and fill up to capacity. Further instructions are forthcoming about this.
“All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all. There was no needy persons among them.” (Acts 4:32-34)
As the hymn says, “The church is not a building, the church is not a steeple, the church is not a resting place, the church is a people. We are the Church” (UMH 558)
Let it be so!
I was sitting at a local Body Shop this week waiting for the folks there to reinstall a strip on one of the doors of my car. Several weeks ago my car was damaged while parked as I was grocery shopping. I found the other driver. We talked. Turns out she remembered me from a funeral I had officiated at for a relative. Small world. Finally we got things resolved through her insurance company and mine.
While sitting there waiting for my car to be serviced, I pulled my Bible and a little pocket prayer book from Upper Room that I have had for several years. The cover reads, “Prayers for Courage-Words of Faith for Difficult Times.” (May-June 2003 Extra Issue.) I began to read these prayers. Several “jumped” at me.
The Lord is my Light and my Salvation; Whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid? (Psalm 27:1)
When I am afraid, I will trust in you. (Psalm 56:3)
Thus says the LORD, He who created you, O Jacob, He who formed you, O Israel:
Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers; they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the LORD your God. (Isaiah 43:1-3)
Why am I sharing this with you? We have been facing some rough times, especially these past few months. This economic recession we are going through has hit most of us pretty hard, at some level. Folks talk with me; call me or email me; ask for prayer. Times are uncertain; I hear questions of “end times” in Sunday School; jobs are jeopardized or have ended… Money is tight. It’s not only jobs and moneyI hear about: Marriages or other relationships are rocky; health is failing for many of us…
Life has a way of bringing us face to face with the fact that things never remain the same; earthly things are temporary. We don’t have any control over most things. All these are sources of anxiety. But we have one thing that we can control and that is how we react and respond when we feel anxious and scared.
We just celebrated Easter. We talked about the Easter power that is made available to us through the Holy Spirit. We talked about the fact that we are empty-tomb people and the fact that Jesus was raised from the dead and this means Hope and Life for his followers. So we can claim this Power, this Hope, this Life or we can let fear paralyze us into despair and inaction.
Old timers, who remember the Great Depression of the 1930’s and remember World War II, remind us that “this too shall pass.” It is a call for us to remember what is important and to whom we look for strength and courage.
Perspective: Jesus said, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:19-21) Where is our heart?
The thing about fear, if we let it control us, is that it can make us inward-looking people: We can start worrying so much about ourselves and our well-being that we become blind and uncaring about the people and needs around us. We can forget the track record that God has with His people – us – we can forget the promises offered in the Bible and we can forget to be the Church.
These are testing times for sure. How will we respond to fear and seemingly endless needs?
Will we be the Church?
We have many opportunities to be the Church. One such opportunity will happen on May 9 as United Way and the Post-office - partnering with areas churches and Church Community Services and other local food pantries – have their annual mail-carrier food drive to gather a lot of food for people who are hungry. Before that day, you will receive an empty grocery bag to take home and fill up to capacity. Further instructions are forthcoming about this.
“All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all. There was no needy persons among them.” (Acts 4:32-34)
As the hymn says, “The church is not a building, the church is not a steeple, the church is not a resting place, the church is a people. We are the Church” (UMH 558)
Let it be so!
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