Category Archives: Religion

July 24, 2020 · 9:51 am

Psalm 42: Prayers for help

Hello, Friends,

     I know I am way behind sharing with you, but these past months have greatly altered our daily lives.  After I started working with the local UMC, my time use has shifted.  Anyway, I will continue to share whenever I can, and today is the sermon I gave on July 19.  Hope you are all well and know you are in my prayers even when I do not connect every week.

                                                      Susan

Summer with the Psalms:

Psalm 42–Prayers for help

     Growing up in the 1960s, music seemed to fill my world.  Mom and Dad sang in the church choir, so my brother and I sang in the choirs throughout our school years.  We wore those little white robes, too.  

     We also took piano lessons from Mrs. Updyke, who lived in Wellsville.  My cousins and I would even carpool from our Buell farms and have to sit on the front porch while we would wait through the half hour lessons one at a time.

     This was the time when the world seemed filled with strife–Vietnam and race riots filled the evening news.  And we farmed, so we had the typical ups and downs of drought, Army worms, weeds, and the flies that seemed to swarm the cattle constantly.

     Troubles are simply part of our life and music seemed to soothe the days.  And music changed a great deal during those years between World War II and the 1970s:  from big band music to the advent of rock and roll, from steel guitars of country to electric guitars of heavy metal.

     What did I pick?  Even though my very first cassette was Jimi Hendrix, I quickly settled into easy listening; and Simon & Garfunkel rose to the top of my listening.  Music lifts our spirits and are our prayers for help.  The psalms, with which we are spending our summer, are the ancient hymns filled with praise and prayers.  Please join me in prayer: 

Dear God, 

     When time gets tough and we seem lost,

     You are there.  

     When we feel alone, 

     You are there.  

     Open our hearts to your words,

    Knowing you are always there.  –Amen

                  Spending the summer with the psalms is spending the summer with music.  If there was ever a time we need to sing, it is now–and ironically that is one of the very things we are asked not to do during public worship for fear of spreading COVID-19.  That puts us in a bit of a predicament as the psalms were the earliest hymns of the Israelites, but we read them today and can ‘hear’ the lyrics in our minds.

     Therefore, since we can’t even reach out and pick up a hymnal while sitting in our pews, let me share words from one of its introductory pages which lists the directions for singing written by John Wesley in 1761.  The first one reads, “Learn these tunes before you learn any others; afterwards learn as many as you please.” 

     That line reflects what we know about Jesus and his knowledge of the psalms.  Even as a pre-teen, when he stayed behind in the temple “sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions.”  (Luke 2:46) 

     Jesus learned and used the psalms in his ministry.  We need to follow his example and know the psalms well enough that we can turn to them when we face difficult times.  As Pastor Peter began this sermon series, he provided the daily scripture readings aligned to the six themes found in the psalms.

     Our first week focused on the wisdom psalms and the second week centered on the hymns of praise.  This week’s theme is prayers for help.  The human condition, as explained through various sources, simply means dealing with the positives and the negatives which are experienced throughout one’s life.  Knowing the psalms, provides us the words we need to manage the positives and negatives that pop up in our lives.  

     Just like when we were kids and we fell and scraped our knees, we turn to our parents for comfort, for wiping away the tears, for cleaning up the torn skin, and for assurance that we are going to be ok.  Turning to the psalms is going to our Father for comfort.  

As a deer longs for flowing streams,

     so my soul longs for you, O God.

My soul thirsts for God,

    for the living God. (Psalm 42:1-2)

Words comfort us and for me these first two verses make my heart sing, because I am immediately taken back to my childhood on the farm.  The words trigger connections to my mom who loved the deer, the birds, the trees, the wildflowers and all nature.  These are my comfort images, so to speak.

     Throughout history, psalms have provided God’s people the words to express what ails them.  Psalm 42 was transformed into a hymn that is now included in numerous hymnals of various denominations including the Faith We Sing hymnal usually found in our pews–number 2025 to be exact.

     Marty Nystrom, a music graduate from Oral Roberts University, transformed this psalm in 1984 into the modern hymn we now use.  The opening words:

                  As the deer pants for the water

                  So my soul longs after You

                  You alone are my heart’s desire

                  And I long to worship You . . . 

This hymn and Psalm 42 have become connected to my own spiritual life because it takes me close to my own family experiences and Mom’s passion for the deer.  I see deer, and I hear these opening words of the psalm and the hymn.  I know the meaning of God’s presence in my life just like the deer turn to water for their sustenance.

      We must deal with the reality of life and it can exhaust us, physically and mentally.  Using the psalms can direct our energies to stay focused on God, to talk with God, and to trust God.  Psalm 3 tells us this:  

                  But you, O Lord, are a shield around me,

     My glory, and the one who lifts up my head. . . 

                  I lie down and sleep;

      I wake again, for the Lord sustains me.

When we are challenged with an ongoing issue, the days can be drained of any joy that we typically experience.  The sunshine can be clouded when we are facing a long-term problem.

     On the farm, there is always the looming concern of a drought.  The days, the weeks, and the months without rain can drain a farmer’s resolve and even love for nature.  Watching the crops struggle, wither, and fail makes an entire lifestyle difficult as it effects the land, the livestock, and even the soil itself. 

     Getting up each morning, knowing that there is nothing one can do to effect a positive change can destroy not just the farmer, but his entire family and even a community.  Trusting God is the shield. Does not that trigger another familiar hymn?  

“Trust and obey, for there’s no other way

To be happy in Jesus,

But to trust and obey.” ( UMH #467) 

Trusting God makes it possible to lie down, sleep and wake again happy.

     Turning to the psalms guides us to find comfort and assurance in challenging times.  Even as a drought looms ahead of us even today, we know that the cycles of life continue.  The dry days may seem to last forever, but rain will once again soften the soil:

                  O God, you are my God, I seek you,

                       My soul thirsts for you;

                  My flesh faints for you,

                        As in a dry and wary land where

there is no water.

                  So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary,

                       Beholding your power and glory.

                  Because your steadfast love is better than life,

                       My lips will praise you.

                  . . . for you have been my help,

                       And in the shadow of your wings I sing for joy.  

[Psalm 63:1, 3 & 7]

These are the words David wrote while in the wilderness.  The trials of the ancient world are the same as those today.  The words build us up, give us confidence as we continue to manage the daily challenges.  

     In more recent history, but not specifically the last century, the challenges of the American slaves reflects how the psalms provided them the spiritual prayers and the comfort of a relationship with God.  Do you recognize these words?  

                  Nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen;

                  Nobody knows but Jesus.

                  Nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen; 

                  Glory hallelujah.

                  Sometimes I’m up; sometimes I’m down;

                  Oh yes, Lord.

                  Sometimes I’m almost to the ground; 

                  Oh yes, Lord.

                  Although You see me goin’ along,

                  Oh yes, Lord.

                  I have my troubles here below;

                  Oh yes, Lord.

                  What makes old Satan hate me so?

                  Oh yes, Lord.

                  He got me once and let me go;

                  Oh yes, Lord.

                  Nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen;

                  Nobody knows but Jesus.

                  Nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen; 

                  Glory hallelujah.

How many times have you thought the very same thing?  How many times have you turned to this hymn in your soul and sang it out loud?

     Turning to Psalm 34, we hear David teach us how to use the psalms and even how to teach the psalms as a way to deliver or to keep us from trouble

                  Come, O children, listen to me;

                       I will teach you the fear [respect] of the Lord.

                  Which of you desires life,

                       and covers many days to enjoy good?

                  Keep your tongue from evil,

                       and your lips from speaking deceit.

                  Depart from evil, and do good;

                       seek peace, and pursue it. (Psalms 34:11-14)

The psalms we study are filled hymns of praise and prayers for deliverance.  We are the 2020 version of humanity and there is the common reality of the human condition that exists since the beginning of humanity.  We experience the positives and the negatives of our earthly experience, and we can rely on these ancient words to keep us grounded in faith.

     Just as the American slaves lived through trying times, we all live through trying times.  Rely on the words of the psalms to guide us.  Rely on the lyrics of the hymns to deliver us from troubles and from our enemies.  David knew how difficult it is to defend one’s self:  

                  How long, O Lord?  Will you forget me forever?

                       How long will you hide your face from me?

                  How long must I bear pain in my soul,

                       And have sorrow in my heart all day long?

How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?  

(Psalm 13:1-2)

Yet his words continue to show that remaining faithful will lead to triumph over the troubles and even over one’s enemies:  [

                  But I trusted in your steadfast love;

                       my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.

                  I will sing to the Lord,

                       Because he has dealt bountifully with me. 

(Psalm 13:5-6)

     Spend time with the psalms, look up your favorite hymns, and listen to the music of our times knowing that we are never alone.  This is the final direction for singing that Wesley shared

Above all sing spiritually.  Have an eye to God in every word you sing.  Aim at pleasing him more than yourself, or any other creature.  In order to do this attend strictly to the sense of what you sing, and see that your heart is not carried away with the sound, but offered to God continually; so shall your singing be such as the Lord will approve here, and reward you when he cometh in the clouds of heaven. (UMH p. vii)

Today our troubles and our enemies are looming all around us.  Spending time with the psalms and with our hymns lifts us up and keeps us grounded.

     In closing, I cannot ignore another set of lyrics that surface

                  When you’re weary, feeling small

                  When tears are in your eyes, I will dry them all, all

                  I’m on your side, oh, when times get rough

                  And friends just can’t be found

                  Like a bridge over troubled water

                  I will lay me down. . . 

                  I will comfort you.

These words from Simon and Garfunkel may never have been written in our ancient psalms or be found in our pew hymnals, but the lyrics are a prayer and God will be our bridge over troubled waters.  We long for God, especially when we are down and out, when we are on the street, when darkness closes in on us.

     As we close today, let us return to Psalm 42, but this time from Eugene Peterson’s 

                  A white-tailed deer drinks from the creek;

                  I want to drink God, deep draughts of God.

                  I’m thirsty for God alive. . . . 

                  “Why am I walking around in tears,

                       harassed by enemies?”  

                  They’re out for the kill, these

                       tormentors with their obscenities,

                  Taunting day after day,

                       “Where is this God of yours?”

                  Why are you down in the dumps, dear soul?

                       Why are you crying the blues?

                  Fix my eyes on God–

                       Soon I’ll be praising again.

                  He puts a smile on my face.

                       He’s my God.

Let us close with this as our prayer:

                  Dear Lord, our God,

                  Thank you for the words of the psalms

                  Thank you for the words of the hymns

                       we sing today.

                  Thank you for these bridges

                      that carry us over troubled waters.

                  Let us sing out loud,

                       fixing our eyes on you.

                  Let our words be your words

                       so others may hear you speak.  –Amen.

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May 19, 2020 · 8:11 pm

Learning from the New Testament couple Priscilla & Aquilla

Growing up in the Methodist Church in Montgomery City, my world was expanded by the people with whom our family worshiped.  I would like to introduce you to Burt and Beth.  My mental picture of them is watching Burt open the car door outside the church, reach in for Beth as she stood up.  He then walked her into church with his hand cupped around her elbow.

[Insert slide of Burt and Beth.]

            Beth had polio as a young woman in the 1950s.  She was left with a limp, but she always stood up straight as an arrow with the brightest eyes penetrating you with her smile.  He was a dairy farmer, so his mornings began very early, even before church on Sundays, but he never missed church and he was always there beside Beth.  

            This strong couple demonstrated love of God, love of family, and love of neighbors throughout their life of personal challenges.  They were among my personal role models much like Pricilla and Aquilla were role models in the churches Paul established during his missionary trips around the Mediterranean Sea.

            I am Susan Smith, the associate pastor of the Warrensburg First United Methodist Church, and I invite you to make sure you have a Bible, a pen or pencil and paper handy so you can follow along with the scriptures, make notes or even jot down a reminder to share questions or stories of your own later on as a comment or post to our Facebook page.  Please join me in prayer.

            Dear Lord,

                 As we take this moment to pause and clear our minds,

                 We ask that you open our hearts and minds 

                 To the lessons we learn from your servants Priscilla and Aquilla.

                 May we, too, grow in our faith and our love for each other

     So our lives reflect your love for one another.  –Amen

            Then Paul arrives in their community.  

A group of people on a bed Description automatically generated            Let’s meet Pricilla and Aquilla by stepping back into those first years after Jesus’ death and resurrection.  Life was so very different without all the technology we now have.  The business of living was labor intensive, and the needs of the community were met by skilled craftsmen.  Aquilla was trained as a tentmaker, and where he lived along the Mediterranean Sea, he filled a demand as people needed his skill to make and to repair the sails for the boats or the tents for their homes.  Priscilla joined him working as a tentmaker, too.

[Insert slide of the three working on tents]

The couple were faithful Jews, and they listened to Paul.  They heard the good news.  Soon they were devoted new Christians.  They quickly developed a special bond with Paul because he too was a trained tent maker, which we learn in Acts 18:1-3: [Insert slide of verses.]

After this Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. 2 There he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to see them, 3 and, because he was of the same trade, he stayed with them, and they worked together—by trade they were tentmakers.

            Even as a missionary, Paul would work in the community in which he was preaching.  The three of them became co-workers with Paul even living with them while in Corinth.  Can you imagine how close they became working, living and worshiping together?

A picture containing text, map Description automatically generated            The book of Acts, written by Luke, shares the story of Paul meeting Priscilla and Aquilla on his second missionary journey.  

[Insert slide of Paul’s second journey.]

During Paul’s year and a half in Corinth, the Jewish people became upset over his teachings causing problems in the temple, so much so that the Jewish leaders took the issue to the Roman proconsul Gallio.  Gallio dismissed it saying it was an internal problem.  The turmoil becomes unsafe, so Paul decides to leave for Ephesus–Priscilla and Aquilla go with him.

            Consider this.  You are well-established in a community where there is plenty of work providing a good income.  Why would you suddenly decide to get up and leave it?  Priscilla and Aquilla were called to continue in ministry with Paul and they had protected him in the midst of the Jewish riots.  He no longer taught in the synagogue but began a house church next door to Priscilla and Aquilla.

A sculpture of a person Description automatically generated            When Paul decided to leave Corinth, the couple decided to follow Paul to Ephesus.  What a decision to make!   But Priscilla and Aquilla, partners in life, did just that.  This decision exemplifies the qualities of the couple not only as disciples, but as a Christian couple who follow God’s call to serve.

[Insert slide of the busts.]

            Following Paul reminds me of today’s missionaries.  As I shared about Beth and Burt, we also had members of our community that went to India to serve as missionaries.  Even though I am struggling to remember their names, I remember wondering how in the world could they get up and leave for India.  Their boys were basically my age, they were residents in my hometown, and they were fellow church members.  But they, like Priscilla and Aquilla, left to serve God in ministry.

            And then there is Priscilla herself, one of the strong women listed in the New Testament as disciples of Christ.  The references to her always place her first and always with Aquilla.  Based on how she is always listed first, scholars believed she was from a higher social status than Aquilla which was out of the ordinary for ancient times; and another difference for the couple was that they had no children.  Priscilla does not follow the stereotypical roles for ancient women.  Yet Priscilla worked and worshipped alongside her husband as an equal, not in a subservient role.  She became a leading teacher in Christianity, a strong woman serving as a disciple.  Priscilla broke the stereotypes of her culture.

            Finally, consider Priscilla and Aquilla as teachers.  Reading in Romans 12:6-8: [Insert slide of verses.] 

6 We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; 7 ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; 8 the exhorter, in exhortation; the giver, in generosity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness.

we know that Paul must have identified the skills that these two had, and especially Priscilla as indicated by the placement of her name in relation to Aquilla’s.  When the couple followed Paul to Ephesus, they resumed their trade as tentmakers and as faithful disciples.  Their home became a church meeting place.  They were leaders in the faith community, and there they met Apollos.

            Apollos was a gifted speaker and was spreading the news that he learned from John the Baptist’s preaching and prophesying, but he did not know of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.  Therefore Apolloa, while developing a following, did not know the fulfillment of John’s prophecy.  

            Luke shares the story of Apollos’ ministry and how it developed through the mentoring of Priscilla and Aquilla in Acts 18:24-26: [Insert slide of verses.]

24 Now there came to Ephesus a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria. He was an eloquent man, well-versed in the scriptures. 25 He had been instructed in the Way of the Lord; and he spoke with burning enthusiasm and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John. 26 He began to speak boldly in the synagogue; but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained the Way of God to him more accurately.

            Priscilla and Aquilla were able to take Apollos and teach him the about Jesus’ life, ministry, death and resurrection.  Their gifts transformed one man’s ministry and the growth of the church continued as is recorded in Acts 18:28: [Insert slide with verse.]

28 for he [Apollos] powerfully refuted the Jews in public, showing by the scriptures that the Messiah is Jesus.

            Priscilla and Aquilla are a team.  They demonstrate to us today that faith can bind us together enriching our lives, especially our daily lives working together.  Luke refers to strong women in his gospel and in Acts, emphasizing their strength for leadership in ministry.  The fact that this married couple are referenced repeatedly in Paul’s letters indicates the level of his friendship with them and that the different churches also recognized their leadership.

            Priscilla defied the stereotypical role of women in the ancient culture, but her strength and her spiritual gifts placed her in a leadership role within the early church.  Today’s culture may have lifted the social barriers for women leaders in faith, but Priscilla’s story is one for us to preserve and model.

            Consider the image I have of Beth and Burt growing up.  I can add others to the list of strong women of faith in my life; and when I do, I realize their spouses were important to their leadership, too.  I can add my own mom and dad to models of spiritually-focused leaders.  I can stop and look around me today, too, and know that here in Warrensburg I have been blessed with other models of faith:  Mary Belle and Paul, June and Tom, Ruth and Harold, Nan and Bill are just a few to mention.

            And what about today’s generations?  They are present, too.  Look around and spot the faith leaders you know.  I recognize several:  Beth and Bryan, Kim and Dan, Krystle and Brain are just three faith-filled couples.  The church continues thanks to the leaders of our church.  The couples gain strength together and we see the future of God in their lives.

Amanda, Kaylie, Neal, and Alyssa            In closing, today, I would like to share one more story of a strong couple leading in discipleship.  Just like I watched Beth and Burt growing up managing to put aside the trials of a pandemic, I am watching a new generation.  My cousin Neal married a young woman who also is a teacher.  They are living in quarantine just like the rest of us, but they have a vulnerable daughter who was born with Downs Syndrome just a few years ago.  Meet Amanda, Kaylee, Neal and Alyssa.  [Insert picture of family.]  

            Despite the challenges that all of us face in our lifetime, without faith we falter.  With faith, we strengthen.  Amanda has grown in faith and uses the platform of Facebook to chronicle the life of her daughter and her big sister growing in faith.  She testifies how God supports her and the family through all the medical and educational challenges they face.  She is Priscilla.  Neal is Aquilla.  

            Are you living your life in a manner that shares the good news?  Are you modeling your faith life and your daily life after Priscilla and Aquila?  Are others watching you and seeing that God has been with you, is with you, and will always be with you?

A close up of a sign Description automatically generated            Just remember–you are strong.  During this pandemic, we live with uncertainty, but we turn to those strong teachers in our lives to discover our own strength.  My cousin sent a message through Facebook that I want to share with you: [Insert sidewalk chalk screen.]  Her daughter Alyssa is the artist: “God will shower us with his comfort through Christ.”

Let us close in prayer:

Dear Lord, 

Thank you for all the strong women

     you have shared with us through scripture

     and throughout our lives.  

Thank you for all the disciples,

     both men and women,

     who worked to teach us about Jesus.

Thank you for all the Priscilla and Aquilla couples

      you have placed in our lives

     so we may know you personally.  –Amen

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May 17, 2020 · 7:13 pm

Surprising times challenge faith, Redefine today’s lifestyle, goals

How many times do we experience something in our lives and we cannot believe what just happened?  Maybe it was a near accident, maybe it was a health issue, maybe it was a work achievement.  Afterwards, we just walk away and marvel at the outcome.

Maybe we are in the midst of another amazing experience.  I know that the coronavirus has forced our daily lives to come grinding to a halt, wait a bit, and now we are trying to restart.  And that restarting process is almost more frightening than the shutdown has been.

None of us can predict what the future will look like, but one thing for sure it is will never be the same.  And I am not sure, but I am betting we have learned valuable lessons and should not even consider returning to life as usual.

As an observer, I am witnessing major lifestyle changes that I believe demonstrate a hunger for healthier balances in our priorities.  In my neighborhood, I watch families out walking together.  Not just one family, but a variety of families, some walking through the neighborhood just to add more steps in their walk.   I see pets with their owners that I never recognized before.  

Having been an at-risk teacher, I knew broken family units and the resulting damage more than I saw family units who supported one another in all types of endeavors.  Watching the family units join together for time outdoors without all the fanfare associated with sports is a heart-warming experience.

This pandemic is forcing family units to redefine themselves.  The stay-at-home orders have made the decision for many that society seemed to want but battled against due to the cultural expectations of two adults working away from the home while the kids were in school or in a day-care setting.

A spinoff adjustment has been to the work force.  Maybe the first evidence of needed/forced change was in education.  All the sudden schools closed their doors.  With many schools that literally closed down the school year after just three quarters, not the typical four.

This abrupt change not only forced the students to stay home, but it forced schools to rethink how to teach.  It placed the onus on the parents to see that their children continued in their studies while the teachers scrambled to find ways to provide instruction away from the classroom.

Education must place the needs of the students before anything else.  I will never forget attending an ASCD regional meeting and listening to the head of Iowa’s state education department.  Instead of worrying about how to hold teachers and districts accountable to a process or a set of standards, he said they had only one guideline:  What is best for the student?

Notice, it is student, not studentS.  Education as we know it is education for the masses.  If a student could not fit into the norm, then they failed.  If they were excelling and failing, they likely were bored with school and needed to accelerate rather than ‘fit into the norm.’  

The stay-at-home directive has shifted the methods of education to one-on-one instruction.  The Zoom meetings can be refined to individual tutorials or small groups or to a full class.  The younger students seem to be adapting well as they sit in front of the camera and talk one-to-one with the teacher.  They are learning.

And between the Zoom sessions, the parents are there tutoring the kids.  They are providing the encouragement, connecting with the teachers right alongside their children.  Many parents are learning their students interests and talents for the first time and discovering ways to enrich their educational experience on their own.

Granted, for many young people, the stay-at-home directive has had the complete opposite.  They are forced into a home where abuse, addictions, and hunger exist.  For these students, there is no education, there is only fear and danger.

How does our culture handle the pandemic crisis for these at-risk students?  These are the students who need the daily sanctuary of school so now is the time to redesign the educational system to meet the critical needs of the at-risk who cannot depend on a family structure to nurture them into adulthood.

Where does a society turn to find new direction?  

The pandemic protocols are forcing all institutions to reassess their basic foundational beliefs.  The hospitals are rewriting how they treat patients–and they are treating them in solitude without the very critical emotional support of family and friends. 

Business are learning that work can be more productive if workers are at home, away from the office.  Work weeks are being redefined by work production.  Priorities are readjusted to support the families with children in the home.

Hopefully businesses are learning that the almighty dollar is no longer the guiding principle.  Now the guiding principle is protecting the human assets of the company.  Valuing the employees above the profit margin will lead to a healthier society.

Our society was at-risk when the coronavirus started its race around the world.  Our sense of elitism blinded us to the reality and the risks that were stretching across the oceans to reach us.  We were so busy finding the easiest way to amass wealth.  We were sacrificing the foundational principles that created our culture.

The one constant in my life, and I expect in many lives is my faith.  I know that the history of mankind has experienced pandemics before.  I know that change is a guarantee.  But as I have lived, experienced, and studied history, the one common thread throughout all cultures is faith.

My faith system is based on the principles of Jesus Christ who as the son of man and the son of God walked among the human race demonstrating and teaching how to live in harmony with one another.

One simple rule:  Love on another as we want to be loved.

Now, in the midst of stay-at-home directives, of social distancing, of economic crisis, this one principle can guide us through the storm.  Love one another as you want to be loved.

True, the sudden changes in our society even affect the way we do church.  We cannot open the sanctuaries to host a worship service in the same manner we were accustomed to doing.  We cannot sing our hymns together; now we must don a mask.  We cannot pass the communion cup or break off a piece from the main loaf of bread.  We cannot find our favorite seat next a dear friend.  

What the church can do is to teach, to worship, to serve one another in any way that it can so all may know Jesus.  We can give whatever we can to assure that others have the basic necessities in life–food, clothing and shelter.  We can reach out to one another through phone calls, hand-written notes, texts, emails, or any other viral means of communication.

We do not know what tomorrow will look like, but I am confident that with faith in God and in living the life Jesus modeled for us, we will discover that life does not have to be what always has been.  We will find that being the church is doing all the good we can in any way we can for whomever we can, whenever we can.

Let’s keep the focus on the positives this pandemic can provide.  Let’s follow the recommendations of the scientists, the specialists, and the doctors.  Let’s allow families to be families first.  Let’s redesign our world so put God first, then we put loving one another like we want to be loved.

Schools will continue, but education will be different.  

Businesses will continue, but the design and the workforce will be different.

Government will remember that it is for the people and by the people.

And churches will be an active force meeting the needs of one another through one principle:  Love one another as you want to be loved.  

Let’s leave the past in the past and surge forward to a new and better world.

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April 5, 2020 · 8:55 pm

Life during the pandemic: The pain of it all hits home But look at all the good, too

     Today is Palm Sunday.  And today I will sit in my living room and watch the service on Facebook.  I will be watching the work of our tech team, our pastor, our music team, and myself.  

     We worked this week, reporting to the sanctuary at different times, to video tape all the elements of the service to be pieced together and posted to our Facebook page this morning–scheduled to air at 9:30 AM.  

     We had to cancel the order for the palms that traditionally are handed out during the service, added to the kids’ time, and laid on the altar.  Not using them this year.  Granted there are several pastors and churches and craft-lovers who are finding dozens of ways to share the palms in new and different ways, but the pandemic protocols has taken away the traditions, the normalcy, the human touch. 

     There is pain in these days.  We are feeling the emotional pain of change.  We are feeling the numbing sense of loneliness.  We are feeling disheveled without the usual daily routines–not to mention the fear of even being infected by COVID-19.

      But as real as the pain is during this insanity, there are so many new and exciting experiences, changes, and inventions developing as a direct result of the forced restrictions in our lives.

     First, look at what is happening to our churches, switching almost instantly to streaming worship services through Facebook, the YouTube channel, or their own web pages.  The skills were not already in place for many, but we learn and grow.

     Second, schools suddenly lost the classrooms.  Teachers cannot depend on the one-on-one contact in person, now they are learning how to use the virtual resources to do the same thing.  This is probably more difficult for the elementary teachers, but I remember how I needed help with high school math.  Losing the contact with the teachers is forcing educators to rethink virtually every facet of teaching.

     Consider our family structures, too.  Our culture finds households dependent on two incomes, we encourage mothers to be professionals in the work force.  This has led our society to step away from the core family roles.  Now families are forced to restructure what their daily family life is, especially since so many have been sent home to work or forcing them into unemployment.

     The list grows of all the ways the pandemic is forcing us to create new ways to manage our lives.  Oddly enough, there is so much good that is developing from this crisis.

     Sadly, the forced changes do create pain.  Yesterday I felt that pain personally.  As our state shut down, I had to make a decision.  I had to decide whether I could do something I felt passionate about doing to support my own family, or whether I had to close the door and become one step more isolated.

     I am amazed how a virus can spread completely around the globe and affect me so personally even when I still have no contact with someone infected or have no health issues.  

     My roles clash–wife, mother, grandmother, teacher, and pastor–when decisions have to be made under these conditions.  It is personally painful today; but I am part of a community that has grown from the 1970s rural world of family farms to a global community where influences from the farthest reaches of the globe can be delivered right to your own door.

     This morning, after hours of tears and misery from submitting to another restriction separating me from the very grandmother, teacher role I loved, I have gotten up, fed the pets, taken a shower and dressed for a full day–makeup and hair, too.  The weather has improved, the trees are leafing out, and it is a new day.

     In a few moments, I will switch over from the news, open Facebook on the smart TV, and join in Palm Sunday worship.  The good is winning over the pain.  The changes are going to force new normal patterns in our life.  We witness the outpouring of love as our communities rally to support one another through the drive-by parades, the chalk talk on the walks, and the list grows.  

     The pandemic restrictions may be in place, but I believe the good will erase the pain. 

Please join me in prayer:

Dear Heavenly Father,

We may be in a winter of our human history,

But we are in the spring of your glorious world.

Let us look forward to the new world

As we struggle to manage under the virus.

Help us to see how we are all suffering 

And know we are never alone.

Thank you for strengthening our resolve,

For sharing in our pain,

For opening our mind to new ideas,

And for our family and friends

doing all they can to comfort and care for us.

Help us with our patience as this season passes

And a new season erupts before us.

Help us to join in the new and push aside the old.

Let us carry forth the lessons we learn

So the future remains welcoming and exciting.

We can do this with all the grace and mercy

You show us as modeled by your son Jesus Christ,

It is in your name, God our Father,

And in your son’s name, Jesus Christ,

And through the Holy Spirit, we pray.  Amen.

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March 21, 2020 · 6:46 pm

Guess What I Saw!

Today is truly spring, and yesterday I discovered it at a time I really needed to find a breath of fresh air:

A picture containing grass, outdoor, sitting, small Description automatically generated

I did not plant this jonquil here.  It is actually coming up with some wild onion that I have had before and cannot seem to get rid of.  

So I was genuinely surprised to discover this flower blooming in the midst of the cedar mulch under the deck. 

I needed this harbinger of spring because earlier that morning I had made the trek to Walmart in order to get my usual supplies.  I knew there were issues with stocking, but still what I found was a shock.  

There was no cereal except for less than a case of a couple of brands.  Only one box or two of instant oatmeal.

There was no rice!

There were very few cans of vegetables.

There was no toilet paper as I had heard and discovered from other outings the weekend before.

Finding items was a challenge because not only is our local Walmart managing the pandemic, it is also going through a major remodel, so everything is everywhere.

I left shaken.  

Throughout history humanity has faced crisis; we are not different.  And there really is no reason we should feel protected from a global pandemic as the world comes right into our homes if by no other means than videos. 

Then today, we took a long drive down to Truman Lake because it was sunny and pleasant.  We would not interact with other people just by taking a drive, so why not?

The fishermen were still out on their boats despite the near freezing temperatures.  The Sonic was delivering meals to the car windows as always.  And there were cars, well more pickups and SUVs, on the road.

The small towns were ironically the same as they always appear.  Even the little mom & pop restaurants seemed to be doing their normal lunch hour business.  I almost felt like we were outside of the Center for Disease Control (CDC) parameters.

We all need to look for the little reminders that God’s world is filled with his glory.  We need to see all the spring flowers popping out from the mud and grime of the wet, cold winter.  We need to see the families outside in their yards–together.  We need to hear the peepers as they announce spring.

And we all must realize that humanity is going to continue even though the going is extremely trying right now.

We must return to God’s scriptures and the story of how he joined us on earth as Jesus Christ, son of man and son of God.  

Easter may not be what we expect this year.  There may not be any worship service to attend.  The Easter outfits may not get to be worn on April 12 as planned.  The Easter Bunny may have to wait a bit before families and friends can get together.

But the good news is that God is good all the time and all the time God is good.  We just need to look for the good.  We need to hear how all the communities are finding new and inventive ways to love one another.  We need to consider what we can do, too.  

This Sunday, March 22, and the coming Sundays our churches are joining forces to fill the social media with church services.  There may be more people “in church” this week than ever before thanks to the technology and the social media that has developed.

Sharing the good news will be a breath of fresh air along the airwaves right alongside the news broadcasts.  Share with others in any way that you can the story of Jesus Christ.

Open up the computers, the tablets, the cell phones, and even the smart TVs and find the worship service of your own church or maybe someone else’s.  You can visit as many as you want this week and during the coming weeks.

I think the on-line church service and devotionals is much like finding the jonquil blooming in the most unexpected place in my yard.  May the services open up your heart and you experience the renewal of faith this first spring Sunday.

Please join me in prayer:

Dear God, 

Thank you for the gift of spring.

Be with your children around this world

     struggling with the angst filling today’s world.

Let us join together in worship

     in any way we can, wherever we can

     so we may experience 

     the joy of Christian community.

Guide us as we continue to move forward

     through these uncertain times.

     heal those who are sick;

     protect those who rush to their aid;

     and show us new and wonderful ways

     of loving one another 

     so all may experience the transformation 

     that comes when we accept Jesus Christ.  Amen.

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March 12, 2020 · 9:09 am

Living in midst of pandemonium

Our pastor’s Lenten series is titled “Confronting Evil” and each week he covers a specific topic.  First was bitterness, then betrayal, and third cynicism.  

As we experience the flood of information and the dramatic changes that the coronavirus has created, I am realizing how those individual topics can be translated into this very experience.

Though I have not experienced the virus yet, nor know anyone personally who has, I have to admit that I could understand that this virus is a 21st century evil–or at least can spiral us into a mindset that stirs up the very characteristics we might identify as un-Christian responses.

This week the series subtitle is “Putting Satan behind You.”  We cannot put the temptations or the emotions behind us in dealing with evil, we must address it.  We live in community, not isolation, therefore we confront a wide range of evils.

Using the Wesley Study Bible, I often read the sidebars.  Today as I read about Jesus confronting Satan during his 40 days in the wilderness, I noticed that one of Wesley’s core terms is ‘temptation’:

“. . . Wesley knew that temptation more often comes to us in subtle ways.  Our bodies are frail and subject to pain, which inevitably brings temptation.  The human environment in which we dwell is also a wellspring of temptation, and our character is constantly being formed and reformed by the influences, both moral and immoral, around us.  Sadly, believers who fall 

short of perfect love are also a source of temptation, for they are still in the grip of inward sin.  Their pride, jealousy, and other “unholy tempers” can provoke the same tempers in others. . . “(p. 1166)

As I read through this explanation, I realized that right now, today, in the midst of the global battle against a virus, we confront evil in how we manage even this event.  

As we confront the virus, be alert to the emotions that we must manage:  bitterness, betrayal, and cynicism.  We are humans who must rely on God even in the midst of a pandemic.

I close with verse 10 from Matthew 4:1-11 reading:

“Away with you Satan! for it is written,

     ‘Worship the Lord your God,

          And serve only him.’”

Even Jesus had to confront evil, but he lead by example and we should follow his model.  Let’s face the reality of a pandemic, but rely on God.  Serve one another in love in all the ways that you can following all the medical advice that you can.

Dear God,

Heal our bodies, minds, and souls

so we can fend off evil

and love one another

 with total abandon.   Amen.

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February 21, 2020 · 9:08 am

No, I didn’t fly south for the winter . . .

I live in the Midwest, and I live through the four seasonal changes for better or worse.  In fact, I think if I did not live those cycles, I might not fully appreciate those wonderful days of late Spring, Summer and early Fall.  And what about those picturesque Winter snow days?  There is something about living through the seasons that enriches our lives.

Still, I have had to acknowledge that this winter, my season did not follow the typical ‘at rest’ pattern that often develops in the heart of winter.  This winter the days have filled to overflowing with a new direction.

I have shared that I needed to take a year off for rest, but I also know that during that year I was refueling for the next phase whatever it might be.  Resting was difficult and I filled time with the full year-long Bible study.  I did my best to maintain weekly blogs and connections.  And the year passed quickly.

How easy it is to fall into the classical use of Ecclesiastes 3:1-8:

 For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:

2 a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up 

what is planted;
3 a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
4 a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
5 a time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
6 a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to throw away;
7 a time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
8 a time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace.

The passage is referenced often as we make transitions in our life and remains a staple in our Bible library.  Its wisdom is timeless and reminds us that we all do go through various seasons in our lives.  We are human and the Bible repeatedly reminds us that all of humanity experience the same patterns in our human lives.

I am just one more who has to be reminded that I am human and that I, too, must experience life transitions.  I must admit that I have my limits and how I live my life revolves around the priorities I establish–and those priorities change from season to season.

You, too, know this truth.  You, too, must realign your lives based on the seasonal changes that you experience.

Therefore, I must forgive myself for the lapse in writing a blog for the last month.  I must ask your forgiveness for not reaching out to you personally.  I must realign reality with my priorities.

My first priority is to God, true, and he expects me to worship him, to serve him, and to do all that I can to make disciples of him for the transformation of the world–more importantly for the personal transformation that occurs for those who come to know God through the life of Jesus Christ, his son.

With that understanding, I returned to an active pastoral role in my home church.  The work is a passion and I want to do all that I can for this community of faith.

At the same time, I know God expects and understands that my family is a priority and for seven months that has included the emotional and physical support needed as the result of a tremendous accident.

Therefore, I must balance my passion for ministry with passion for my family.  The pause in blogging is the result; and the reality is that I have no idea how I will balance these three elements on into the seasons ahead.  

I did not fly south for the winter, which is in our country a phenomenon that happens when winter hits the Midwest and the North and individuals reach retirement–or now can work remotely during the winter-ravaged months.  

I make no promise to the regularity of my posts, but I want all to know that God is present in my life and in your life.  I pray that all who read these words know they are part of my faith family and that I love them as God loves them.  May your seasons be filled with God’s glory and for us in the Midwest, may the sun shine, the daffodils pop up, and spring begins to creep in.

Dear Patient Father,

Thank you for your everlasting, ever

     present love in our lives.

Thank you for the words of Scripture

     that guides us in the transitions of life.

Thank you, too, for the community

     of believers who love one another.

Guide us in accepting our humanness

    and grow into our faith.

Guide us in loving one another,

     so they, too, may experience your love.

Amen.

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January 22, 2020 · 8:32 am

Path to Spiritual Health

Nothing can be more exciting than jumping in the car and taking off for a trip.  Even planning for the trip can be exciting as you map out where you want to go.  Maybe you have a bucket list destination or maybe it is time to visit family or maybe you just want to follow the wandering roads that crisscross the country.  

A wooden table Description automatically generatedGrowing up on the farm, road trips were far and few between.  I remember four, to be honest:  two to Minnesota, one to Colorado, and one to Albuquerque by way of Colorado.  And making those trips meant following a map.  I am not sure when I became fascinated with maps but check out the map pockets in our vehicles or this map basket and you will see I still depend on them. 

Now we have the maps on our phones and even built into the dash of our cars, but I want a paper map to hold in my hands.  I need to see the big picture.  I want to see the point on the map to which we are heading, and I want to see all the ways to get there.  The map puts me into an interactive relationship with the final destination. 

Our faith journey needs to be mapped out, too.  We need the Bible, we need advice, we need worship, and we need prayer to stay in close relationship with God.  Please join me in a prayer:

Open our minds, Lord, so we may learn to walk in relationship with you by walking with one another.  –Amen

Everybody has lots of advice when they discover you are planning a trip:  Go see this.  Make sure you do that.  Don’t forget to eat at that restaurant.  Take this road for spectacular views.  The advice is abundant and difficult to ignore.  The same thing happens along our spiritual journey.

Spiritual journeys are not always well planned; sometimes they seem to just happen.  Life comes at us and we just go with the flow.  Such unplanned journeys do not always go smoothly and may end up in disasters; spiritual journeys that follow a road map to God’s kingdom equip us with the skills to manage the wrong turns and roadblocks. 

The first map for our spiritual journey was provided by word of mouth and is available to us through scripture, our Bibles.  Today we can find those same words in a wide range of formats.  We can even download an app on our phone, or we can click on a website on our laptops.  The words are easy to find, but sadly, we do not even think about reading them.

Why is it so hard for us to acknowledge that we need to read scripture?  Just like our own children, we can be told over and over what to do or how to do something, but we ignore the advice our parents gave us and just drive on.  Jesus read scripture.  He knew it so well that when his family left Jerusalem after Jerusalem after Passover, he remained at the temple talking to the other learned scholars:

45 When they did not find him, they went back to Jerusalem to look for him. 46 After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. 47 Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers.

As much as I like using road maps when we are on a journey, I admit that reading scripture was not always a daily practice for me.  Stepping into the pulpit came with the unwritten expectation that I knew the scripture.  I knew it casually, not formally; therefore, as I began preparing sermons or taking the courses, I began reading more formally.

When my spiritual journey took another turn and was advised to take a year off to rest, I suddenly found myself at a loss.  I had no structure during those first few months and I felt lost.  I still followed my daily devotional practice, but the practice of reading lectionary and studying the scripture to prepare for Sunday service was gone.  I was missing something and just could not find the direction I needed.

Then as the year closed, I heard God’s nudge.  I do not have a formal bucket list, but I always wanted to read the Bible cover to cover in one year.  I almost felt a sense of guilt that I had never done that even though I had read the lectionary for several years.  (The lectionary is designed to read through the Bible every three years.) Starting with Genesis and reading straight through Revelations was not a route I had taken.  But during the transition from 2018 to 2019, I was presented with the possibility.

A picture containing text, table Description automatically generatedI picked up the one-page list of readings designed to read the entire Bible in one year. I looked it over and was surprised to find that it paired an Old Testament reading with a New Testament reading.  I needed that map in order to check off one goal from my bucket list.

Reading scripture is a practice that is like following a road map. There are so many options today to make reading scripture easy to add into one’s daily schedule.  There are devotionals like Upper Room, Guideposts, or The Daily Word which include scripture references to read.  One can even subscribe to a devotional that is delivered to your email’s inbox daily.  

Of course, you can turn to your favorite translation of the Bible itself and simply pick it up and read a few verses or a few chapters.  I used to randomly open the Bible and just read a bit–a practice sometimes called Bible Roulette.  No real plan, just something said to pick it up and read (another God nudge). 

A close up of a book shelf filled with books Description automatically generatedNow I have quite a selection of Bibles that I turn to for deeper insight. They include study Bibles, different translations, and one is even a chronological Bible.  The Bible is our road map for living faithful lives.  We must include them along the path to spiritual health.

No trip planning is complete without consulting others (i.e. small groups).  Even if you decide to make a trip completely on your own, it is wise to ask others for suggestions.  Where did they go?  What roads did they take?  Which stops should be included?  Do you know good places to stay and to eat?  

If the journey includes others, you talk among yourselves to lay out a plan.  Your itinerary includes choices for all those going along.  Decisions are made that involve give and take, compromise, putting others’ wishes ahead of your own.  The journey is mapped out carefully to meet the wishes of all involved often providing unexpected experiences and memories.

The spiritual journey is no different.  We do not travel the path alone, we travel together.  Jesus selected twelve disciples to join him along his journey.  Certainly, he was there to teach them, but he laid out the path for their spiritual health and that model continues to serve us today.  We do not take our journey alone, and when we come to a roadblock or hit a chughole, we need others.

For some, the family is the small group that supports each other along the spiritual journey–going to church together, saying grace at meals, and joining in mission together.  For some, the small group may be neighbors who watch after each other–greeting each other over the fence, walking their dogs together, or picking up the mail when needed.   For some, working partners become a small group that help each other through challenges–they gather in the workers’ lounge, go to lunch together, and sometimes include each other’s family in special events.

Yet, in today’s society, these traditional groups are ever shifting.  Families do not necessarily live in close proximity or attend the same church.  Neighbors often do not know each other’s names especially in mobile communities like ours near a military base as well as a university.  Today, thriving churches serve as the hub for small groups who meet together and grow in spiritual health. 

Being in a small group of fellow believers is a practice that leads to 20/20 spiritual health.  Jesus modeled the importance of being in relationship with other believers.  It is where we learn.  It is where we are held accountable for our decisions.  It is where we find support for the wrong turns, the potholes, and the roadblocks in our lives.  The small group is where we grow and enrich our spiritual health.

The path to spiritual health takes us to the church.  We read scripture, we join in small groups, and we meet one another at worship each Sunday.  Think a bit about Jesus’ ministry.  The Jewish faithful were expected to participate in Sabbath practices each week.  The rules were clearly laid out–and followed.  The spiritual journey was defined, and all were kept to that path.  To not follow the law lead to negative consequences, even banning from the community.  

Moses assembled all the congregation of the Israelites and said to them: These are the things that the Lord has commanded you to do:  2 Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day you shall have a holy sabbath of solemn rest to the Lord; whoever does any work on it shall be put to death. 3 You shall kindle no fire in all your dwellings on the sabbath day.  –Exodus 35:1-4 (NRSV)

Jesus changed the rules.  Love one another.  Pure and simple, even when judging one another use love as the filter which leads to forgiveness.  Jesus’ message spread through the region by word of mouth.  Those that heard, joined the crowds sitting and listening to his sermons.  They were in worship with one another.  The path to spiritual health was paved by the message of loving one another.

Joining with one another in worship strengthens us for the week in a world filled with challenges.  When Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment, we find his answer in Matthew 22:37-38: 

Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ (NRSV)

Worship is the practice of publicly loving God.  Certainly, it is easy to stay home when the weather is bad, or we feel exhausted from a stressful work week, or family decides to visit, or . . . the list of excuses multiplies.  Maintaining our spiritual health needs to include attending worship.

Worship is where we join together in fellowship.  We sing, we pray, and we learn–it is a rest stop each week along our journey.  No one requires us to attend; no one is going to punish us for not being in church on Sunday morning.  But God knows whether we are there or not.  No journey can be enjoyed if we fail to take care of our health–spiritual and physical.

Attending worship each week is a practice that assures us that our spiritual health is strong enough for the journey we are on.  Preparing for a journey, one checks the fluids, the tire pressure, and other details before loading the car and climbing in.  Attending worship is that same type of preparation for our spiritual journey.

Today, you are here worshipping God and preparing for the week’s journey ahead.  The path to spiritual health takes effort on our part, but the work we do provides us the successful journey to reach God’s kingdom.  

One more essential in the path to spiritual health is prayer.  Prayer is our personal conversation with God.  As we get into our vehicles and begin our journeys, a simple thought prayer may be “God, protect us and guide us.”  God is with us always and he hears our words whether uttered aloud or simply formed in our minds.

The thoughts we form while reading scripture is a conversation or prayer with God.  The discussions we have in our small groups are heard, too.  The table graces we speak, the bedtime prayers we say our children, the final thoughts that we share as we fall to sleep, the words of joy as we watch a morning sunrise or an evening sunset. 

Prayer is the glue that pulls all our pieces together into a relationship with God.  We find ourselves struggling through a day and we call out to God for help.  Our bodies ache and are racked by fever, and we plead with God for healing.   Good news such as the birth of a child or grandchild arrives, and we thank God for the gift of life.  We hear the songs of the spring robins and thrill with God’s gift of the new season.

The path to spiritual health is not always easy, but if we discipline ourselves to follow the maps God has given us, the journey is amazing.  We must read scripture, we must be in relationship with one another, we must join together in worship, and we must pray.

Without these, the path to spiritual health becomes unclear.  We falter and take wrong turns.  Thankfully, God remains steadfast even handing us the very tool to use when lost, The Lord’s Prayer.  As we close our morning together, let us join in the timeless words Jesus taught us:

Our Father, who art in heaven,

     hallowed be thy name.

Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done

      on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our trespasses,

     as we forgive those who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation, 

     but deliver us from evil.

     for thine is the kingdom, the power,  

   and the glory forever.        –Amen

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January 5, 2020 · 6:25 pm

Traveling the Spiritual Journey

After more than a year out of the pulpit, I returned this week to fill in for our senior pastor. So as the new year starts, I start a new phase, too. I pray this message helps you. Thank you for reading.

Remember playing hide & seek?  The rules are simple: one closes their eyes and counts while the others run to find hiding places.  Then when the count is finished, the counter must go off and find the hidden ones.  

Posssum with me on the Missouri River at Portland, MO.

Now my buddy Possum has a little twist to the game.  When we brought him home, he loved to be chased.  He would look at me, then take off running and I was supposed to run after him.  He ‘hides’ under the bed, but his tale always sticks out so it is easy to ‘find’ him.

The game continues when I tag him, and he takes off running again.  My job is to chase.  And to add to the picture, he likes to run with a toy or a plastic bottle.  If I throw it, he takes off, grabs it and heads right back under the bed where I ‘find’ him.  

Fortunately, Havanese puppies love to run and play in short spurts.  After about three or four times down the hall and up and down the stairs, he suddenly just stops.  Game over. 

Here is my question:  Is our spiritual journey like a hide and seek game with God?  

Let us begin with prayer:

Open our hearts, Lord, so that we see you in our faith journey and help others find you in their lives, too.  –Amen.ˆ

            We all have a story about our life journeys, and mine landed me in Warrensburg when the Johnson County school districts inaugurated an alternative education program.  This professional move dropped me into a new community where the one thing I knew would be familiar was the Methodist church.  I joined choir, something I had long missed.  I started attending Sunday school and gradually moved into teaching the MeMarCo class.

            The professional move did not begin my spiritual journey, but this church nurtured me and has been instrumental in God finding me.  You see, I had been playing hide and seek with God’s calling and it ended here when I was asked one simple questions: “Why haven’t you been a preacher?”

            Throughout my Methodist life, I have known many ministers, but I had never sat down and shared my story; but something sent me to sit down in this church’s office to share my story.   That conversation led to one simple question, “Why haven’t you been a preacher?”  I was startled and realized I had only one answer, “No one had ever asked me.”  

Each one of us has a story filled with people, circumstances, challenges and successes, but how many of us still are in a game of hide and seek with God.  My story is probably very similar to yours, and I have been blessed that I was raised in a faith-based family.   Still, I know that for years, I played hide and seek with God.

After completing the discernment process, my spiritual journey became more formalized attending the Course of Study.  And what I had suspected about spirituality developed into a clearer picture, especially in understanding John Wesley’s means of grace.

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Our spiritual journey begins with our birth; and for those raised in a Christian family we have the advantage of knowing that God loves us from the  very beginning.  We are born with the Holy Spirit drawing us to God; this is Wesley’s prevenient grace.

As we grow up, our spiritual journey begins.  For myself, I was nurtured by my family and I am thankful for the teaching because it helped me learn how God loves us and forgives us when we make mistakes.  For Wesley, the ability to understand that our sins are forgiven is the means of grace called justification.  

Our spiritual journey develops through the four levels of grace.  For those raised in a Christian environment, the transition from one phase to the next is logical, but for others God uses his disciples (which can be us) or experiences to reach out to them.  Yet we do learn that God is beside us through all the earthly challenges that confront us.  We learn that even when we make a mistake, God is there waiting for us to ask for his forgiveness and return to a faithful relationship with him.

Still, life keeps racing forward and we have a tendency to return to that game of hide and seek with God.  We may walk through the practices of being faithful, but we may not consciously seek him.  Learning to ‘hear’ God speaking to us is often difficult.

            Despite how different our spiritual journeys began–whether born into it, married into it, or forced into it by life experiences bringing–we find God and discover he is speaking to us.  

            When we reach the third level of Wesley’s means of grace, we hear God more clearly.  Sanctification is the point in our spiritual journey that we know God personally and have a love for him that translates into love, unconditional love, for one another, our neighbors. We reach a new level of spirituality that sends us seeking God rather than hiding from him.

            When I was asked that one question, “Why haven’t you been a preacher?”, I had to stop and examine my own spiritual journey.  Hear Paul speaking to the Corinthians in his second letter:

5 Examine yourselves to see whether you are living in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not realize that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless, indeed, you fail to meet the test! 6 I hope you will find out that we have not failed. 7 But we pray to God that you may not do anything wrong—not that we may appear to have met the test, but that you may do what is right, though we may seem to have failed. 8 For we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth. –2 Corinthians 13:5-8 (NRSV)

I challenge you to examine yourself.  Are you still playing hide and seek, or are you in the process of growing in love with God and one another?  The spiritual journey never stops; there is no retirement or aging out along one’s spiritual journey.  We must continue to grow in faith moving toward the final level of grace:  perfection.  Wesley defines perfection as “growing in love for God and our neighbors, and he believed that the kingdom of Heaven could be reached even before death. 

Our earthly journey can challenge us in so many ways that our spiritual journey gets sidetracked or overpowered.  At those times, we need a support system or spiritual practices to weather the storms along the journey.  A Christ-like life takes discipline.  

God challenges us to use our gifts to serve one another in love, unconditional love:

4 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; 5 and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; 6 and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. 7 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.  –1 Corinthians 12:4-11 (NRSV)

            God gives us these gifts so that we can serve as his hands and feet.  It takes all of us using these gifts to help each other along the spiritual journey support ing one another through relationships, experiences, and learning.  We help discipline each other.

Through my spiritual journey, I can list the people who have guided me in developing my faith.  I can also list experiences that filled my developing years:  the 3rd-grade gift of a mustard seed necklace, a summer youth minister, the United Methodist Women sending me to their mission school, and even being assigned to the religion page in journalism school.  The landmarks in my spiritual journey just kept popping up and I did not ‘see’ them.  I kept playing hide and seek with God.  

Consider the Magi, the wise men of the East.  They saw a star and it called them to follow it to find the baby Jesus in a manger.  They were not Israelites.  Yet they saw the star and decided to go and see what it was calling them to learn.  They were ‘seeking’ God, no longer ‘hiding’ from his call.  They listened; and they followed what God told them, leaving and not returning to Herod with their new knowledge.  

Preparing to lead Rick Warren’s 40 Days of Purpose campaign, I came to that one chapter, the one I call the Wesley chapter (I believe it was chapter 33.).  There was the quote from John Wesley:

Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can. 

The words stopped me cold.  I was a cradle Methodist and I was so surprised that Warren was using it because he was a Baptist minister!  I was preparing to lead the church’s 40 Days of Purpose campaign, and there I sat on the front porch in awe of what God was telling me.

            I knew the scriptures, I attended church regularly, I felt like I was doing what I was called to do—teach alternative education.  I was doing all the good that I could—or least I thought I was.  And then came that question, “Why haven’t you been a preacher?”

Each one of us has a spiritual journey.  We live our lives growing up in families who do or do not attend church.  We go to work at jobs that may or may not be fulfilling.  We go in and out of relationships with family and friends that can be hurtful or enriching.  We can get in our cars and drive from one destination to another without incident or we become entangled in an accident.  

Our lives are journeys, but how we live them makes such a difference in the quality of that journey.  When I finally had to stop and review the journey that I was living, I had to realize that I had been playing hide and seek with God.  He had been calling and I had not heard him.

Today we are closing out the Christmas holiday season with Epiphany tomorrow, January 6.  Our journey continues much like the Magi.  They chose to return to their homes knowing they had met the Messiah.  They listened to God’s direction, not to Herod’s.  

As we continue our own journeys, we must make sure that we no longer play hide and seek with God.  We need to turn around and realize God sees us and is asking us to follow him.  I challenge each of you to seek God rather than hide from him. Examine your practices to see what needs improving in order to move from one type of grace to the next. 

Today, make the decision to improve your spiritual journey.  Decide what you can do so your spiritual journey moves you on to perfection?  Are you able to use your gifts to help others along their spiritual journey as part of sanctification?  Or do you want to improve your own understanding of God’s grace through study and Christian conversation?  

As Paul told the Philippians, in chapter 4 verse 13:

13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me. (NRSV) 

Do not be afraid because God will make sure you can do all that you can for all you can in any way you can.  God has loved you, loves you, and always will love you.  It is your turn to seek him.

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December 3, 2019 · 10:21 am

Believe it or not, it’s ADVENT!

And I feel like celebrating.  I admit there are some Advents that I have not felt like diving into the Christmas madness, but this year I am ready.

Why?  Maybe it is the cold, but also maybe because I have invested the full year in that year-long Bible study and am so excited to be nearing its conclusion.  

As Christians, and especially if we have been raised as a Christian since birth, Christmas has always been so important.  Sadly, though, we can often fall into such a rut that it loses significance.

Maybe that is what happened.  I also know that with kids it is part of the parenting role to be excited, but then the kids grow up and have their own kids.  Christmas develops its own pattern and you must readjust yours to meet the season of your own life.

Whatever the case is, Advent has arrived, and I have decorated more than I have in years—probably thanks to my daughter’s push.  And I still have more to do.

But why, again?  As I have continued the study this year, I feel like I have been given new insights into the entire development of Christianity.  It is a gift that will just keep on giving.

Therefore, as we begin the process of saying farewell to 2019, look forward to 2020.  Consider adding a Bible/scripture reading plan into your life on a daily basis.  It is the gift you give yourself.

Just in case you have none available to you, check a few different ones I found by googling “Bible reading plan 2020”:

2020 Year of the Bible Reading Guide
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&ved=2ahUKEwjW_pDL7pnmAhVhTd8KHSKnBKgQFjABegQIBBAB&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.biblestudytools.com%2Fbible-reading-plan%2F&usg=AOvVaw2IRgx4_ssBb4yVcftQk-vu
365 Day Bible Reading Plan- Adwords (OI)

One of my favorite websites is BibleGateway and they provide a variety, too, at this link:

https://www.biblegateway.com/reading-plans/?version=NIV

I could go on, but this is a starting point for you to prepare for January 1, 2020.  If you try to read the entire Bible in one year, be prepared to allow 45+ minutes a day.  If you add in study notes, it can take more.  I was on a year of rest so I had time to focus on the reading.  At this point, I do not know what I will do for 2020, but I am beginning to ‘shop’ around.

Please join me in prayer:

Dear Lord, 

We know you are The Word, but we so often fail to read your words.  Thank you for speaking to me through scripture and for speaking to those who turn to your words.  Speak to them, renew them, and guide them in loving one another.  –Amen

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