Sharing God's Love and Grace

The Presbyterian Church, 142 N. 4th St., Coshocton, OH 43812

Pastor Karen Crawford

Alice Hoover, organist

Patti Wiley, liturgist

Meditation on Mark 4:26–34

The Presbyterian Church, Coshocton, OH

Pastor Karen Crawford

June 13, 2021

I was sitting on a lawn chair by my backdoor, a couple of weeks ago, enjoying the sunshine when I felt something drop on my head. Looking up, I saw a little head looking down at me—a little beak poking through some grass and twigs. The birds had built a nest inside our light. Again!

Every fall, we get out a step stool and clean out the nesting material inside the light fixture. Jim tried to seal it off with duct tape and Velcro. That didn’t stop the birds from nesting!

When we moved into our house in January 2019, there was nesting material in our light fixture back then!

The bird looking down at me the other day was probably thinking, “What are YOU doing here???” Wild birds are well adapted to life around human beings, aren’t they? They build nests in all sorts of places. They are CREATIVE.  Sometimes a shoe makes a great bird house.

On the back of a plastic or ceramic goose works just fine.

How ‘bout an old, rusted lantern?

Or on a red light?

Once they are nesting in our yard, I don’t want to disturb them. There’s something wonderful about caring for Creation—and having Creation come, literally, to our back door and make their home with us.

***

The birds nesting in my lamp remind me of the birds of the air that rest in the shade of the branches of the greatest shrub of all in the parable of the mustard seed.

   Mark chapter 4 begins with Jesus teaching beside the sea of Galilee. Such a large crowd gathers, that he gets into a boat on the sea while the crowd is on the shore.

He teaches them many things about the Kingdom of God, starting with the parable of the Sower, who sows seed onto a path, rocky ground, in the hot sun, amongst thorns and finally on good soil that brings forth grain—growing up and increasing and yielding thirty and sixty and a hundredfold! “Let anyone with ears to hear listen!” he says.

He tells other stories about the Kingdom and asks provocative questions, such as, “Is a lamp brought in to be put under the bushel basket, or under the bed, and not on the lampstand? For there is nothing hidden, except to be disclosed; nor is anything secret, except to come to light. Let anyone with ears to hear listen!” he says again.

He explains his parables to his 12 disciples when they are alone with him. For they have been given the secret of the kingdom of God, he says. But to those who are not Christ’s followers, “everything comes in parables” so they may not understand!

Not everyone can handle the truth about God’s grace and the call to love without exception in the Kingdom of God. It means giving up old ways of thinking and being—having a different perspective, altogether. Just as the Apostle Paul says in 2 Corinthians: “From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we know him no longer in that way. So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!”

In our gospel lesson today, Jesus tells more parables about seeds and the Kingdom. In the first, the Parable of the Seed Growing Secretly, the coming Kingdom of God is compared to the harvest, when the Lord comes again! But up until that time, the gardener or farmer has one job—to plant and wait. The gardener’s “life follows its ordered round of sleeping and waking, night and day, without his taking anxious thought or any active steps…Then, suddenly, the moment arrives which rewards the patient waiting. The corn is ripe, the sickle is thrust in, the joyful cry rings out, ‘the harvest has come!’ Thus it is with the Kingdom of God…” (NT Scholar Joachim Jeremias)

This brings to mind James 5:7-8—advice on how to live while waiting for the Lord’s return,^“ Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near.”

The Parable of the Mustard Seed begins with a wonderful question that sets the tone for the scene. I can almost see Jesus in my mind’s eye, looking around at his disciples and their surroundings, searching for a familiar image or object that will help them understand and see The Kingdom of God in their midst. The difficulty is recognizing it all around us and anticipating what it will be when God’s new creation is complete!

“With what can we compare the Kingdom of God or what parable will we use for it? It is….like a mustard seed…..”

I can imagine him pointing to the plant that grows wild around the Sea of Galilee and other places, “which when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of seeds on earth, yet when sown, grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs!”

 Then, there’s a startled look on the disciples’ faces! The greatest of all shrubs? The mustard plant???  Yes, it grows to be 8 or 10 feet, but it looks and acts like a weed— nothing like the majestic cedars of Lebanon of which the prophet, Ezekiel, speaks.

What Jesus is saying is expect to be surprised! Don’t judge the Kingdom by its seemingly small beginnings in this world, with a humble Galilean ministry of 12 disciples and an ordinary-looking man named Jesus from the backwater town of Nazareth!

This Kingdom will be resilient; it will never fail, just as a mustard plant can grow in the poorest soil conditions and is considered, in many places, an invasive species! This Kingdom will be an instrument of healing for the world, for the mustard plant, in addition to being used as a spice to add flavor to food, has medicinal properties. In Christ’s time and in some places today, it is used to treat the common cold, pneumonia, back pain, painful joints and muscles, and aching feet.

This Kingdom that is the Greatest Shrub of All will provide shelter in the shade of its branches to all the birds of heaven, meaning Jews AND Gentiles. This foreshadows the ministry to the Gentiles in Acts, when the apostles come to realize that God’s salvation has been opened to all who believe on the work of the one righteous seed of the Lord-crucified, buried, and risen from the grave!

Read in the shadow of the gospel of John, this parable is about the mystery of resurrection—how death gives birth to life, evermore. Jesus says in John 12:24, slide “Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.”

***

The image that remains with me at the end of our reading is how the Kingdom of God gives shelter and nurture to all the birds of heaven who nest in the shade of its branches.

    And yet so many people in this world are suffering—and don’t know where to turn. They can’t find peace and rest. They don’t know where to make their nest. They don’t look to the Bible for answers. They’ve given up on prayer. They’ve given up on God. God hasn’t given up on them! Trust in churches is at an all-time low.

    I read a Gallup poll report from March of this year about how U.S. church membership has fallen below the majority for the first time in the eight decades of the Gallup polling. Only 47% of Americans said they belonged to a church, synagogue or mosque, down from 50% in 2018 and 70% in 1999.

     I don’t believe the report’s conclusion—that more decline is “inevitable.”

     I believe their methodology is flawed. Calculating the number of people on member rolls or even the number of worshipers at church on Sunday morning isn’t the same thing as measuring the Body of Christ, the Church of every time and place, that continues to grow and grow and grow…by the power of the Spirit.

     By the will of God, who is love.

    We walk by faith and not by sight. We no longer regard anyone from a human point of view, bearing witness to the Risen Christ. We are the Redeemed of God. New Creatures! Today!  Everything old has passed away!

     The Kingdom of God is coming near! And it’s already here! For we belong to the Kingdom!

     From a tiny but mighty mustard seed to the greatest of all shrubs!

     Resilient, it will never fail! It has the power to heal the world.

Let us pray.

Holy One, Thank you for Jesus, Your Son, the righteous one, who continues to teach us through your word about the Kingdom through parables. Help us to see your Kingdom that is in our midst, and have patience and faith for its completion—when all things are made new and your Son returns for His Church. Strengthen our ministry so that we may touch more lives and share the hope of your salvation with all the birds of heaven—all the world. Lead us to reveal your Kingdom to those who are suffering and stir us to compassion to help people in need. May we be bringers of joy and makers of peace, who join with others to love and serve you and your Kingdom, the greatest shrub of all. In Christ we pray. Amen.

Message on Colossians 3:12-16

The Wedding of Ashley Albertson and Alex Lippencott

Pastor Karen Crawford

Ashley and Alex have waited for this day for a long time—to make their promises before God and all these witnesses—to love one another, as long as they both shall live.

So much has happened since 2019, when we first met to plan the wedding service and imagine the marriage. So much has happened in the world and our families, and in the lives of Ashley and Alex.

 Today, when they come to say yes to one another and we ask God for His blessing on their marriage, it is fitting for us to consider and give thanks for the people who have helped to shape them and us to be who we are today.

Some of those people are here in person, celebrating this couple whom God has brought together and nurtured the gifts, hopes, dreams, ambitions, imagination, grace and faith that Ashley and Alex possess. You have been there when they needed you. You have helped to make them who they are! You have encouraged them to be all they can be and persevere. Your presence reveals your love and support as they begin a new life together—husband and wife.

For this, Ashley and Alex are truly grateful.

And there are people who are not with us in the flesh but who are with us in loving memory and spirit today who have helped shape the lives of Ashley and Alex and all our lives. They are in the Great Cloud of Witnesses cheering us on as we run the race of faith. Let’s take a moment to remember and give thanks for them.

One of these people is John Baird, Ashley’s grandfather. I had the honor to meet and preside over his celebration of life on March 28, 2020. JW, as Ashley called him, had a great influence on his youngest granddaughter. She told me that the choices she has made in life, what she has become, is because of his advice, teaching, encouragement, and example. He was the rock of the family. Tough and stubborn, but also gentle and patient. He was a calming presence in her life. And though she can no longer call him every day just to talk, like a best friend who listens with care and compassion, she senses his calming presence with her, even at this very moment.

In the same way, Ashley and Alex have impacted our lives. As they have been surrounded and supported by love and friendship, they have brought much joy, love and friendship to those who are blessed to know them. Knowing Ashley and Alex has changed us and helped to make us who we are. We are better because of knowing and loving them.

Ashley and Alex, I encourage you to bear with one another in your marriage and all your relationships. Be patient, just as you did for this special day that will forever change your lives.

And to all who gather here, forgive quickly. There will be days, months, and years that won’t go as planned. Forgive as God has forgiven us. In this is freedom! In this is love, that binds everything together, in perfect harmony.

And be thankful. When we are thankful, we open our hearts to Christ’s peace and joy and leave no opening for anger or hurt.

As they say yes to one another in a few moments for a lifetime, let us remember that God adds his yes to their yes and our yes on this special day.

Ashley and Alex, as Bonhoeffer wrote long ago, “God’s will and God’s way have brought you here… God is guiding your marriage. Marriage is more than your love for each other….In your love you see only your two selves in the world, but in marriage you are a link in the chain of the generations… In your love you see only the heaven of your own happiness, but in marriage you are placed at a post of responsibility toward the world and all (humanity).”

Together, as a married couple, guided and empowered by the Spirit, you will continue to make the world a better place.

For this and all God will do through you, we are thankful!

Amen!

The Presbyterian Church, 142 N. 4th St., Coshocton, OH 43812

Pastor Karen Crawford

Mark Wagner, organist

Ron Geese, liturgist

Meditation on Isaiah 6:1-8

Trinity Sunday/Memorial Day Weekend

The Presbyterian Church, 142 N. 4^th St., Coshocton, OH 43812

May 30, 2021

     I talked to my friend Bob from Florida on Friday. He’s a veteran of WWII and Korea. I called to see how he was—especially since the loss of his wife, Donna, in January after a long battle with Alzheimer’s. They were separated during the pandemic when she was in a care center—and that was so very hard. He is trying to adjust to this new life without her—after more than 60 years of marriage.

     And I called because it is Memorial Day Weekend, when we remember and give thanks for our veterans and especially those who gave their lives serving their country. Bob has dedicated many years of his life looking for the remains of his relative, Jimmie Browne, who died in WWII when he was just 21. Bob’s search for him is the subject of one of his books, The Hunt for Jimmie and his latest article in Aviation History magazine, “Epitaph for a Hero.”

     

Jimmie was five years older than Bob, a pilot, cousin, neighbor, role model and Bob’s “hero.”

He was“personable, good-looking, intelligent and brought joy to our families,” Bob says.

     Adopted by loving parents virtually at birth, he was “a happy boy in suburban Winnetka outside Chicago, but he was curious, restless and inclined to push the limits of his older but tolerant parents.” His parents sent him to a military academy in Gainesville, Ga., in high school where he was an average student, except in aviation.

“When he was first introduced to flying he knew he had found his calling,” Bob says. “His passion was flying—anything, anywhere—and apparently he was good at it.” Here’s his photo from the military academy.

Jim graduated in 1940 and had already received his private pilot and multiengine licenses. “The world was exploding,” Bob says, “and he felt the need to do his part.”

    He tried to enlist in the U.S. Army Air Corps flight training program, but it required at least two years of college at the time. He joined the British Air Transport Auxiliary in England, instead, “ferrying aircraft to scattered British bases… He traveled to England and flew Spitfires, Hurricanes, Blenheim bombers, trainers, amphibians—anything except four engine bombers. Here is a photo.

     He came home after 10 months and took another flying job, ferrying U.S. aircraft to Africa for Pan American Airways. But before he got started with Pan Am, the Air Corps canceled the Pan-Africa contract. As Pan Am owned 45 percent of the China National Aviation Corporation, Jim was invited to join with five other new recruits to work for CNAC. The Chinese airline had a U.S. Air Corps contract flying supplies on “underpowered, overloaded, worn-out transports over the mountains” on the Himalayan “Hump” route from India into China.

     Three of the six recruits would be lost.

     On Oct. 7, 1942, Jim started flying the route that began on the flatlands of Assam, India, and crossed three major rivers—the Yangtze, Salween and Mekong— before reaching the Himalayas

Forty-eight days later, on November 17, 1942, his parents received a telegram saying that Jim’s plane was overdue and presumed missing. The U.S. State Department certified his death 7 months later, though neither body nor wreckage were recovered.

“In those days there were no search and rescue units to look for downed pilots,” Bob says. “CNAC and AAF airmen were asked to look for wreckage as they flew their routes, but snow and high winds soon concealed lost aircraft. Jim’s C-47 joined the ranks of aircraft and crews lost on the pitiless Hump route, ranks that would tragically grow to unpredicted lengths in the coming months.”

      Jim’s mother was devastated. She destroyed his letters, photographs—all memorabilia; in her brokenness, she tried to wipe away all traces of his life.

      But if Jimmie’s calling was flying and serving his country that way, Bob’s calling, in addition to husband, father, grandfather, banker, Presbyterian elder, friend, and more, was to make sure that Jimmie’s life and death were not forgotten. He was determined to find out what happened and bring home his remains from the mountains of Southwest China.

     Finally, in September 2011, when the U.S. and Chinese governments could not or would not help him in his quest, Clayton Kuhles of the nonprofit group, MIA Recoveries, pinpointed what he thought was the location of the crash site. He led an expedition up the treacherous slopes of Malong Peak on Cang Shan.

After three arduous ascents he found the site and identified the wreckage from the Douglas Aircraft construction number, 4681.

Against all odds, he had found CNAC no. 60, but there was no evidence of the crew.

***

      The call of Isaiah through a vision of the throne of God echoes through the centuries to inspire all who are seeking to be faithful to God’s call. To answer the Lord’s, “Whom shall I send?” “Here am I. Send me!”  

     Of course, that isn’t Isaiah’s first response. His first reaction as the seraphim sing and the “house” of God fills with smoke is to have a meltdown in the presence of the divine, “Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”

     Old Testament scholar John Goldinjay compares Isaiah’s vision with Paul’s vision on the Damascus road, “which revolutionizes his self-understanding; maybe up to this minute he has not realized how polluted Judah is and how polluted he is.” It’s at the moment of self-understanding that he realizes his need for God’s purification! Holiness for Isaiah is a gift of God’s grace! The Lord makes holy Isaiah’s lips with a burning coal. Now, God may use his prophet!

     I never noticed before, but unlike Moses and Jeremiah, Isaiah volunteers for God’s service, responding to the question, “Who will go for us?” And I am intrigued that God says “us” instead of “me.” Some Christians see this as a reference to the Trinity in Hebrew Scripture. But scholars say no; when God says “us” he is referring to “his entire heavenly cabinet.” Scholars DO see the Trinity in the repetition of the singing of, “holy, holy, holy.” Just as we sing in our old, familiar hymn slide: Holy, holy, holy! Lord God almighty!…God in three persons, blessed trinity!

    With Isaiah volunteering to serve the Lord, without first hearing what God would require of him, we find a good example for all of us seeking to be obedient to the Holy Spirit’s leading in our lives. After Isaiah replies, “Send me,” the Lord tells his prophet to go and declare judgment on the people!

    Isaiah cries out in 6:11, like the psalmist, “For how long, my Lord?”  The Lord’s answer is—until the country crashes into ruins and desolation. God is speaking of the conquests of Judah in 598 and 587 BC and the captivity of the Jewish people in Babylonia.

   But there is hope in the remainder of a tenth of the land that will once again be restored for grazing, “like a terebinth tree or like an oak of which there is a stump after their felling. Its stump is the holy seed.” (Isaiah 6:13).

***

    When I talked with my friend, Bob, I hoped he would share some of his story, as well as Jimmie’s. There are not many WWII veterans still living to tell their stories! But like most veterans, he was reluctant to share.

   He did tell me that he graduated from high school at 17 and enlisted in the Army Air Corp’s new aviation cadet program on Dec. 17, 1943.

He had earned his private pilot license in high school. He went to college for 6 months, while the war was winding down, but then he and a buddy transferred to infantry, went to basic training, and he was sent to U.S. Officer Candidate school at Fort Benning, GA. The war ended in August 1944, before Bob would have been sent as an 18-year-old officer to an invasion of a Southern Japanese island scheduled for November.

     He served in the Army again in early 1951, being sent to Korea to work as a wireman, laying wire for communications. He still had one class to finish before he graduated from Knox College with a bachelor’s in economics, and he managed to do it through correspondence school. His degree was delivered to him while he was in a foxhole! At the time, he said, he would have traded it for being warm. “I was the coldest I had ever been in my life,” he says. He had to be evacuated because of frostbite.

   He later would discover that he was sent to Korea because of a clerical error. The report of his failed physical exam didn’t reach his commander until 3 months after he arrived in Korea.

   Bob is still determined to bring recognition to Jimmie for his sacrifice. He applied for an Air Medal and a Distinguished Flying Cross and was turned down because there was no eyewitness of the event. He applied for a gravestone at Arlington National Cemetery and was told Jimmie doesn’t qualify; at the time of his death, he was a civilian, but after the war the government gave veteran status to Pan Am pilots who served in combat areas and referred to them as “active-duty designees.”

     Finally, Bob’s family purchased a stone to be placed with his parents in Memorial Park Cemetery in Skokie, Ill. It is Jim’s only memorial in the U.S.

     But China has honored Jimmie’s service. A bust of him was recently placed in the Square of Chivalrous Friends of China, at the Jianchuan Museum near Chengdu.

And he is listed, twice, on the Monument to Aviation Martyrs in the War Against Japanese Aggression in Nanjing.

And he has been added to the list of those lost in a CNAC plaque in Beijing’s National Aviation Museum.

     In 2015, Bob and his son, Tom, came the closest so far to being reunited with Jimmie’s remains. The Chinese Government sent them to Dali where Jim’s crash site is located on Cang Shan Mountain. About 20 villagers surprised them with an impromptu ceremony at the cable car platform at 9,400 feet. They presented Bob with yellow flowers.

    Bob took the flowers to a corner facing the crash area and had a brief prayer.

***   

    Sometimes, friends, I think we make the calling of God more complicated than it needs to be. We worry too much. We don’t have to know all of God’s plan! We just have to trust our Triune God, who has sent His Spirit to live with us today. And we have to be ready to say yes to God today. To volunteer, as Isaiah did, to love and serve the Lord however the Spirit leads us, trusting the power of love within us.

   Are you ready to say yes today to God?

   “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?”

    “Here am I! Send me!”

Let us pray.

Holy Triune God, we give you thanks and praise for our salvation through the Son. Thank you that each of us are your Children. Help us to trust, Lord, and be ready to say yes to you, to say yes to your Spirit to lead us in your will, revealing the details of the call day by day. Humble us, Lord, as you did Isaiah, so that we remember our great need for you and how your Spirit always wants to help us! Stir passion in us, Heavenly Father, as you also did for Isaiah, so that we answer your call without hesitation. Give us your patience and perseverance, such as you gave to my friend, Bob, looking for Jimmie, so that we may do your work and never give up. Comfort him in his grief as he mourns the loss of his wife, Donna. And we pray for all our troops, like Jimmie, who are Missing in Action in foreign lands, that they may be found and returned to their families. In the name of our Holy Three-In-One we pray. Amen.

Meditation on John 15:26; 16:4-13

Pentecost

May 23, 2021

Pastor Karen Crawford

                                                                                                                                                  

What a joy it is honor our graduates during worship today—on Pentecost! What better time to celebrate the Spirit’s work in the lives of our youth and young adults? 

     We have the pleasure today of hearing their voices—their dreams and stories—and encouraging them in a more formal way to keep on going the way God is showing them. To our graduates, I say, “Hold onto your dreams and listen to your heart.”

     Sometimes we are tempted to set goals that we think other people want for us—and we want to make them happy. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to please your parents and grandparents. But, ultimately, it’s between you and the Lord. Seek God! Trust Him! Trust yourself, as well! You are fearfully and wonderfully made! (Psalm 139)

    My heart goes out to each of you. This is both a wonderful and anxious time. I am sure your parents and grandparents are worried about you. The future is not going to be a repeat of the past. You are moving into something new.

   I remember how hard it was for me in my teens and 20s—trying to figure out the way I was supposed to go. My future was a mystery. Other people knew exactly what their plans were. Not me.

    Scripture and the Spirit helped me find my way. An older, wiser women in the faith showed me Proverbs 37:4, “Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” She explained that God would put His desires in my heart, when I take delight in him. And then, God would give me the desires of my heart. That was reassuring.

    I knew only in part then, what I have come to know a little more with the years that have passed. I needed to learn to trust this God who loves us so much that He has come to dwell in us as our Advocate, our Comforter, the Holy Spirit. He lives with us and empowers us to not only shine the light of Christ, but be a flame in the darkness of our world.

 ***

This is what the disciples need to learn to be faithful to their calling—to trust the Lord and his everlasting presence with them. The Risen Christ had commissioned them for ministry in Matthew 28: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Those who will be his apostles—sent out with the message of salvation through belief in the Risen Christ—often need encouragement on this journey—just as we do—and it comes in many forms. After the Ascension in the first chapter of Acts, they are encouraged by two angels who tell them Jesus is coming back the same way he left.

They return to Jerusalem and gather in an upstairs room to wait and pray for the promised Spirit. It is the Jewish holiday of Shavuot, a Hebrew word that means “weeks” or pentekostos, a Greek word meaning 50^th for it is celebrated on the 50^th day after Passover. Pentecost is a harvest festival for first century Jews, the day farmers offered the first sheaf of wheat from the crop to God as a sign of gratitude for God’s provision and as a prayer that the rest of the crop would be safely gathered in. Shavuot or Pentecost was also a celebration of the giving of the Torah 50 days after the Passover when the Israelites came to Mount Sinai and Moses received the law that would shape their life in community and enable them to carry out God’s purposes.

Our Acts passage is the fulfillment of Christ’s promise in John 15 to send One who will remain with the disciples, to be their Advocate—someone who intercedes on the disciples’ behalf and empowers them to testify, a legal term, to the truth of what they have seen and heard and know. He says, “When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father, he will testify on my behalf. You also are to testify because you have been with me from the beginning.”

 Now what of the languages that are being spoken by the disciples so that every person could hear the gospel in their native tongue? That’s fascinating to me! You would think that God would choose a simpler way to get the message out. Why didn’t the Lord have the disciples speak Greek, which was, at the time, spoken all around the Mediterranean world as a second language, going back to the conquests of Alexander the Great 400 years before?

   The answer is because our loving God comes to us, descending from the heavenly places to right where we are—physically, emotionally, mentally—just as he emptied himself of his divinity to take the form of frail humanity, blank slide as Paul says in Philippians 2:5-8. The Spirit, like Jesus Christ our Emmanuel, is God with us.  The Lord shows his care of each person by speaking through Christ’s followers in the native languages of each so that everyone receives the message and fully understands! No translation necessary! God who knows us completely wants to be known.

Reading the familiar passage in Acts 2 today about the coming of the Spirit, I am taken by the diversity of the Body of Christ, which includes followers from “every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem.” The Spirit, like the Torah, gives shape and unity to the community and empowers them to carry out God’s purposes. This is a fulfillment of Christ’s prayer in John 17:20 for his disciples in every time and place. “My prayer is not for them alone,” he says. “I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.”

This diverse gathering of believers in Christ foreshadows the diversity of Christ’s Body around the world today. It foreshadows the Great Banquet we glimpse every time we celebrate Communion— when Christ’s followers from every time and place come from east and west, north and south to sit at table in the Kingdom of God. When Christ comes down to us, and we recognize his presence with us in the breaking of the bread.

It has been a long journey since my 20s—when I struggled to know God’s will for my life. I didn’t know that I would end up going to seminary to pursue ordination in the PC(USA). This is my dad and me at my graduation 11 years ago from Princeton Theological Seminary.

It seems like a lifetime ago! Of course, it’s hard to not feel emotional when I see this photo, since my dad passed away two years ago August. Dad, even though he was Jewish, was one of my biggest encouragers when I told him that I thought God was calling me to be a pastor.

I have had many encouragers on my journey—and I am so grateful for them! The Spirit has used each one of them to help me on my way. Who are the people who have encouraged you on your journey with the Advocate? Will you take a moment and hold them in your hearts? Maybe you want to whisper their names?

    The Spirit of truth, sent to empower the Church on Pentecost, is still very much alive and well with us today, strengthening us to do ministry in ways we never thought we could or would.

    Remember to keep on praying for our graduates—our youth and young adults—as they are led by the Spirit to do great things. Remind them that the Spirit that came like a mighty, rushing wind with tongues of fire will always be with them, wherever they go.

    May they be faithful to testify to Christ and bear his light. May we all be a FLAME in the darkness of this world.

Let us pray.

Holy Father, thank you for sending your Spirit, the Advocate, on Pentecost to empower the Church to testify to the truth of Jesus Christ at the risk of their very lives. Thank you that your Spirit dwells in and among us now and that wherever we go—your Spirit is with us. Make us one, Lord, though we are a diverse group of people in this community of faith. Make us one in You, in spite of our differences. Thank you for all you have done for us, especially the work of our salvation in Christ when we couldn’t rescue ourselves from our sins and be reconciled with you! Help us to be faithful to our unique callings as we seek your will each day. Place the desires of your heart in our hearts as we delight in you. Watch over our graduates and keep them in your tender care as they come and go. Accomplish your purposes through them and us. In Christ we pray. Amen.

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The Presbyterian Church, 142 N. 4th St., Coshocton, OH 43812

Pastor Karen Crawford, with Janice Sycks

Graduates: Jacob Heading, Gage Haines, Lukas Sycks, Dr. Kimberly Sycks

May 23, 2021

Meditation on Acts: 1-11

Pastor Karen Crawford

The Presbyterian Church, 142 N. 4th St., Coshocton, OH 43812

May 16, 2021

I don’t usually do this. But I looked back at one of my messages that I preached a year ago—on Ascension Sunday. Just because it was last year and 2020 was SUCH a struggle. I had a feeling that if I looked back a year ago at what we were experiencing, I would find encouragement for today.

The same feelings of sadness, dismay and frustration washed over me as I read my message. I remembered how I felt when the reality of the pandemic and what it would mean for our ministry sunk in! It was like staring into an abyss.

I had come back to the church to record my message to encourage you, I said, and help me to feel closer to you. I was missing you! “This was one of the hardest weeks for me since we first started sheltering in place,” I said.  “This building is a reminder of the happy days we have had together, worshiping and loving one another in this place—and the happy days that we will have, once again, in the future, when we are together face to face.”

The most troubling thing that happened that week, bringing the crisis closer to home, was the loss of one of our members to COVID-19—Bill Timmons. His wife, Mary, had tested positive for the virus and was struggling with her breathing.  “We are holding her and the family in our prayers,” I said.

      Then on the same day, another one of our members, the husband of one of our staff, went home to be with the Lord. She and her husband had endured long separations during his illness, when he was hospitalized and staying in nursing care centers during coronavirus restrictions. On Thursday of that difficult week last May, I joined with more than 50 pastors and elders, our general presbyter and synod executive, for a video conference to discuss what it will mean for churches when we try to re-open our buildings and restart in-person ministries. Our presbytery was developing a manual of guidelines for churches.

    Some things that were talked about were limiting the size of gatherings, sitting 6 feet apart, requiring masks and providing them for those who didn’t have them. Taking attendance for contact tracing—things that have become our “new normal” since we began re-gathering for worship some last fall and then, after we closed again, in mid-February 2021.

     Other things would change. No sharing of food and drinks indoors, no fellowship meals or funeral receptions. Baptisms and weddings would be indefinitely postponed.

    “One of the most upsetting things to me that we have learned is that singing is dangerous,” I said, “both choral and congregational, even while wearing masks. And we are a church that SINGS!!”

    I was worried about our emotional and spiritual health. “The stress of isolation and the generalized anxiety and tensions of life with the virus is truly taking its toll,” I said. “People are more fragile than they have been, more vulnerable to depression and overwhelming sadness and feelings of hopelessness.  I have heard people say, ‘I can’t handle this.’

      “Yes, it’s true. None of us alone, in ourselves, can handle this,” I said. “But we aren’t going to handle this alone. We have one another. And we have the Lord. As Jesus says in John 15:5,  “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”

       “His Word is truly a lamp for our feet that will guide us on the right path. He will, when we seek him faithfully in prayer, enlighten the eyes of our heart—give us understanding and clarity when we feel uncertain, fearful, or simply exhausted from dealing with it all.”

    These feelings of dismay, discouragement, sorrow and perhaps frustration are experienced by Christ’s first disciples on the day of the Ascension of our Lord.

   He had come back! They had had the Risen Christ for 40 days, with them in the flesh, presenting himself “alive to them with many convincing proofs.” Eating bread and fish. Revealing his scars to those who doubted. Sharing his peace. Telling them not to be afraid. Teaching them how what had happened—his death and resurrection—was for a purpose to be revealed—like his ascension is part of God’s plan for salvation. Teaching them how to find him in the Holy Scriptures—the Hebrew Bible—when he is gone. Speaking about the Kingdom of God. And preparing them for the baptism of the Spirit “not many days from now,” he says.

      What’s interesting to me is how, when the disciples come together, they reveal their misunderstanding of why the Risen Christ had come. They ask a political question, wanting Christ to be an earthly king, with themselves in positions of power, says one theologian.   

    “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom of Israel?” they ask.

    Jesus gently corrects them, as he has done so many times before.  “It’s not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority.”

    The ascension does have a political aspect.  It points to Christ’s rule over every power and authority.  But at the moment, when the disciples are gaping at the sky—their beloved Jesus passing from their sight—they can only feel the pain, sorrow, and confusion. They can only think,  “What now?” They are wondering, “What else is going to happen to us?”

     Aren’t you glad that God sends his angels at the precise moment they are needed to guide God’s people? They say, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

 Words of comfort, encouragement, promise. But also words to shake them from their inactivity and wallowing in misery and stir them to faithful action. They return to Jerusalem to pray and wait, together, on the Lord—for the baptism of the Holy Spirit AND Christ’s return as he promised—by the same way that he left.

    We had some good news from the CDC and our governor this week for people who are vaccinated. The CDC said that we don’t have to wear masks or remain physically distanced from each other, except when required by law. Governor DeWine announced this week that on June 2 the COVID-19 health orders, including the mask mandate, would be removed. Our Session is meeting Wednesday night to discuss how this will impact our congregation’s worship, fellowship, and ministry to the world. I’ll let you know what Session decides!

     It has been a long journey, hasn’t it?  As we move toward a return to a more normal existence, I urge you not to hold onto the painful memories. I have said this often, but this is a time for grace—for yourselves and others. Don’t get stuck as the disciples were tempted as they gazed at the sky as the Lord Jesus disappeared from their sight.  The angels were there to correct them—and remind them of their hope—and our hope—that Jesus is coming again, soon, the same way that he left!

     There are many things, mysteries in this world, that we leave to the Lord’s understanding. Amen? God’s thoughts are not our thoughts; his ways not our ways!  As Jesus told his disciples when they misunderstood the Risen Christ’s mission—preparing them for their mission when he is gone. And they ask a political question, “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom of Israel?” The Lord welcomes all our questions but won’t always answer the way we want Him to. This is how it was when he tells the disciples, “It’s not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority.”

    There may be times that we feel, as the disciples did at the Ascension, as if we are separated from the Lord— that He is a long, long way from us.Maybe you have felt that during the pandemic, when your trials seemed so unfair or your suffering or the suffering of a loved one too much to bear. Or perhaps it seemed like God was silent and you longed to hear God’s voice—booming like He did at Christ’s baptism and transfiguration, “This is my Son, the beloved. Listen to him!”

     Or maybe you who felt a long way from the Lord before the pandemic are now experiencing a rekindling of your faith. You have seen evidence of the hand of God in your life! The Spirit is opening your heart to new ways of being and believing.  Possibilities and opportunities for ministry await you!

    The Ascension reveals that Christ’s separation from his flock is only temporary and with good reason. One theologian says that the author of Luke-Acts seems to be telling us that the very same Jesus whom the disciples experienced bodily (as a human being) is still very much with them. (Lance B. Pape).”   In fact… Jesus must leave them in order to truly be with them.” Ascending to the Father leads to a new and more powerful presence with the followers—the Holy Spirit! With the Spirit guiding us in the Father’s will as we seek Him, Christ’s followers are able to fulfill our gospel mission to the world.

     While I remember the struggles and divisions that brought hurt during the last year, I also remember many times when I sensed the love and grace of God surrounding me. Do you recall times when you sensed God with you? Praise the Lord. And here’s an answered prayer from a year ago. Mary Timmons, who was struggling to breathe when she and her husband had COVID, is doing well today. Thank you, God!

       This building is still a reminder of the happy days we have had together, worshiping and loving one another—and the happy days that we will have in the future, in here and out ministering as Christ’s Body for the world. I look forward to the day when we are no longer wearing masks, seeing the expressions on every face! Giving hugs. Shaking hands. It’s coming, friends! The one who has been with us and has helped us thus far is with us now and will be faithful to build, rebuild, and strengthen His Church. For we belong to Him!

     Because of his love and grace, we are forgiven and empowered to forgive.

     The one who loves unconditionally and desires to bless us is coming again soon—the same way that he left!

   Let us pray. Heavenly Father, we long for your Son’s return in glory! Prepare our hearts and minds so we are ready when he comes again—soon—the same way that he left. Lord, thank you for the Ascension of your Son, whom you raised up in the heavenly places to be seated at your right hand and praised and exalted by all Creation. Thank you that you have a plan for our salvation and the Ascension is part of it, coming before the arrival of the Holy Spirit that gave birth to your Church! Lord thank you for sending your angels when the disciples were gazing too long and mourning their loss. Send angels to guide us, Lord, if we lose our way or get stuck in our journeys of faith. Help us to hear your voice, see your works of grace in our lives, and be an instrument of your grace and peace to others. Open opportunities to share your gospel with people whose hearts you have already prepared to receive the good news, but don’t yet know you Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Give us energy, creativity and joy for your gospel mission to the world! Amen.

The Presbyterian Church, 142 N. 4th St., Coshocton, OH 43812

Pastor Karen Crawford

Alice Hoover, organist

Debbie Clark, liturgist

Ron Geese and Sarah Swigert, soloists

Meditation on Acts 1:15-17 and 21-26

The Presbyterian Church, Coshocton, OH

Pastor Karen Crawford

May 9, 2021

     I cleaned house this week to get ready for Mother’s Day. Did any of you clean your house? While I was cleaning my house, I couldn’t help but think of my mother and grandmothers—and what they taught me. You know, simple instructions for life.

     While I was vacuuming with my lightweight vacuum, scaring the cats with all the noise I was making, I was remembering my Grandma Springer, my mom’s mom, who was a housewife and longtime caregiver to my grandfather, using what she called a sweeper. It didn’t use electricity. She pushed it back and forth, back and forth, on her carpets. It was hard work. Did any of you ever have a sweeper that didn’t use electricity?

     I also remember Grandma teaching me how to polish silverware and candlesticks. Does anyone do that anymore? Somehow, she made it fun. She also taught me how to sew buttons that had come off my grandfather’s shirts and cardigan sweaters, darn holes in his socks and sew old, frayed ties. A young woman in the Depression years, Grandma wasn’t someone who took anything for granted or bought new things very often.

Here are some pictures of my mother’s parents.

   

Both of my grandmothers were great cooks, although Grandma Springer (Mom’s mom) made almost everything from scratch, including her desserts, and Grandma Kornspan (Dad’s mom), who worked full time in a government job before she retired, bought all her desserts. Here’s a picture of her early in her career with the Bureau of Engraving and Printing in Washington, D.C.

Store bought and homemade, all of my grandmothers’ desserts were delicious. I still remember how Grandma Kornspan would slice vanilla, chocolate and strawberry ice cream and serve it on plates. Here is a photo of Grandma Kornspan with my grandfather.

    As my grandmothers grew older, they taught me many more important things. They taught me about having grace through all of life’s transitions and struggles. My dad’s mom was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in her later years, and it was hard on her and the whole family, losing her, in many ways, bit by bit.

Here she is with my uncle in a happy moment, at one of her birthday parties. I learned from my grandmothers that life doesn’t always go as planned, and that the roles of caregiver and receiver may change throughout the seasons of our lives.

   And when the unexpected happens, as it will, we can only pray, trust God, and do the next right thing.

***

    And this is what happens to the remaining 11 disciples after Judas Iscariot betrays Jesus—betrays all of them—for 30 pieces of silver. How horrible they must feel when the one who was their friend and fellow chosen follower of the Lord turns against him and his actions lead to his arrest and death!

    But more unexpected things happen to the disciples—and continue to happen when Jesus is risen from the dead and appears to them, assuring them that he is alive!

And that his death is part of the plan for God’s salvation! He tells them to wait and pray for the Spirit, that will empower them to be his apostles, no longer just disciples or followers. Apostles are those being sent out to bear witness to his resurrection and eternal life through him.

     Beginning at Acts 1:12, they return to Jerusalem from Mount Olivet, a sabbath day’s journey away, and they go to the room upstairs where they are staying: Peter, John, James, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James.

    They are doing the one thing they knew to do. “All these were constantly devoting themselves to prayer, together with certain women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, as well as his brothers.” (Acts. 1:14)

    And then we come to today’s passage—when Peter is speaking to 120 believers by this time! Another disciple needs to be chosen to fill Judas Iscariot’s place—12 disciples, one for every tribe of Israel.

     Isn’t it interesting how the 11 disciples choose the one? First, they narrow it down to two men who seem the best candidates, who have been with them since the beginning of Jesus’ ministry—at his baptism by John. We may be tempted to overlook the many disciples outside the inner circle. But the choosing of a 13^th is a good reminder that there were many, many more, including women, and that Jesus tells us to pray for more! In Luke 10, Jesus appointed “70 others and sent them on ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he himself intended to go.He said to them, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.’ ”

   The two who are chosen are Joseph called Barsabbas, which means “son of the Sabbath”—so he was probably born on the Sabbath. He’s also known as “Justus,” a Gentile name, which was common for Jewish people of that time. Eusebius, a 4^th century bishop and historian of Palestine, said this Joseph (Barsabbas) “when challenged by unbelievers, drank snake venom in the Lord’s name and suffered no harm.” (–F.F. Bruce)

    But it’s Matthias, not Joseph, who is chosen to replace Judas Iscariot.

    Eusebius will say that Matthias was one of the 70 disciples in Luke 10 that Jesus sends out in pairs. Some authorities say that Matthias became a missionary to Ethiopia (F.F. Bruce). Others say he ministered in Judaea and brought Christianity to “Cappadocia” a mountainous district now in central Turkey, later journeying to the region of the Caspian Sea, where he was martyred by crucifixion.” –Brittanica

    In any case, he is never mentioned again in the New Testament! What’s more important than his identity is how the 11 disciples trust the Lord to guide them in this important decision, when things haven’t gone as they hoped or planned. After choosing two candidates for the calling, they pray, “Lord, you know everyone’s heart. Show us which one of these two you have chosen to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.’ And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias…” (Acts 1:24-26)

     When we hear about casting lots, we might think that sounds an awful like gambling, and it is like throwing dice or flipping a coin today, only with a more holy intention. The High Priest of Israel, at times, casted lots to make important decisions, as Proverbs 16:33 says,  “The lot is cast into the lap, but the decision is wholly from the Lord.”

    This passage stirs us to consider in what new ways God may be calling us to minister for him. Matthias, up until the moment the lots were cast, had no idea God was calling him to be not just a disciple, but an apostle, a leader of the faith! Before that, he was just “one of the 70.”

    The mission in Christ’s name continues through us! I hate to say this, but as denominations and congregations are shrinking, there may be fewer of the faithful to do the work of ministry in the world! YOU ARE NEEDED to build the Church of Jesus Christ! The question is how can you use your gifts for His glory? How are you building your treasure in heaven?

   On this day when we honor our biological and spiritual mothers and grandmothers in the faith, it is good for us to consider how we may be passing on our faith to the next generation—like our mothers and grandmothers did for us? Are we being obedient to God’s Word and responding to the testimony of believers? How are we looking for the hand of God in our lives, seeking His presence? Are we revealing the kindness and compassion of God to our children and children’s children? You know just by being in church today is a witness to family members who choose not to attend.

     Let your life boldly speak your faith!

***

    I am thankful on this day, most of all, for my mom. Here are some photos of Mom with her family.

She is spending a second Mother’s Day without my dad, as my dad passed away in August 2019. She is spending it without any of her children or grandchildren with her. And yet, she does it with grace. She is eating dinner with and caring for her friends at her senior living community in Florida. She often serves neighbors in need, welcoming the stranger, befriending those who are grieving or lonely, encouraging those who are sick or caring for loved ones.

    Life hasn’t always gone as she has planned.

    Unexpected things have and will happen to us. Amen? We can’t know what tomorrow will bring. That’s why we need to be fully present with loved ones today. Show and tell them how much we love them! Share the testimony of your faith, which leads you, when the unexpected happens, to pray, trust God, and do the next right thing.

  Simple instructions for life.

Let us pray.

God of Compassion, we thank you for your love and grace that fills our hearts and overflows into our lives. Thank you for the strength and courage you give us when things don’t go as we hoped or planned, but somehow, somehow, everything works together for your purposes and glory. Thank you for all our biological and spiritual mothers and grandmothers—and for the way you care for us and provide for our needs through our loved ones. Bless all the women in our lives, Lord, on this special day and always. Help us to nurture the next generations – our children and children’s children—in the faith through the way we speak, spend money, give of ourselves, and live for you each day. Thank you for our callings and the gifts you have given us for ministry. Teach us to pray, Lord, and be open to new ministries. And to ask you, before making important decisions, to lead us to do the next right thing, just as the 11 disciples did when they chose Matthias long ago. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.