Sharing God's Love and Grace

 

World Communion Sunday

Merritt Island Presbyterian Church

   Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, for the sake of the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus, To Timothy, my beloved child: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. 

 

I am grateful to God—whom I worship with a clear conscience, as my ancestors did—when I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day. 

Recalling your tears, I long to see you so that I may be filled with joy. 

I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that lived first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, lives in you. For this reason I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands; for God did not give us a spirit of fear, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline.

 

Do not be ashamed, then, of the testimony about our Lord or of me, his prisoner,

but join with me in suffering for the gospel, relying on the power of God, who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works but according to his own purpose and grace. This grace was given to us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. 

For this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher, and for this reason I suffer as I do.

But I am not ashamed, for I know the one in whom I have put my trust, and I am sure that he is able to guard until that day what I have entrusted to him. 

Hold to the standard of sound teaching that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. Guard the good treasure entrusted to you, with the help of the Holy Spirit living in us.

***

My friend, “Sis,” gestured for me to come to her table after our church supper on Tuesday. She was holding a blue bag and a wicked, sweet smile. “I have something for you,” she said.

She had found a treasure while shopping and thought of me–a hand towel embroidered with Matt. 19:26, “With God, all things are possible.”

I thanked her and gave her a hug.

How did she know I needed encouragement? But then, we all do! Can you recall a time this week when someone encouraged you? A card or note? A small gift? Gentle word? A phone call? A hug? How did you feel? What did you do? Did you pass it on–and encourage someone else?

 

As we headed home that night, thunder boomed. Lightning flashed. Raindrops splattered our car. Soon, it began to pour! The windshield wipers couldn’t keep up with the water flowing down; we could barely see the road.

I felt afraid. Silently, I prayed for safety and comfort in the storm. As I prayed, I looked down and saw that I was still holding my gift from Sis. Suddenly, the familiar scripture took on a deeper meaning.

 

This is the God of power who calms the wind and the waves and the storms of our lives, with, “Peace. Be still.”

This is the God of love who calls us beloved, who is ALWAYS with us, closer than we think.

His Spirit lives in you; it lives in me.

It’s this same God, God the Spirit– with and in us, changing and empowering us, uniting us in Christ–with whom all things are possible!

***

This is Paul’s message of encouragement to young Timothy, his friend and co-laborer for the gospel. Did you ever wonder why Paul’s letters were kept, hand copied and shared for thousands of years?

Why would Timothy, first of all, keep Paul’s letters after he read them? One reason is because they attest to the apostle’s approval for his ministry, if anyone might question Timothy’s qualifications and call. This would be particularly important for a young man like Timothy having to stand up to older men teaching wrong doctrine in his church. Paul, in v. 1, attests to his own authority, saying he is “an apostle of Christ Jesus, by the will of God” and that he was the one to “lay hands” on Timothy at his ordination to empower him for ministry (v. 6).

But why would Timothy keep the letters throughout his lifetime? Have you ever kept any cards or letters people have sent you? I kept all the cards and notes people sent me after my surgery. Why? They lift me up, warm my heart and make me smile, especially on a hard day or in a tough week. They strengthen me to endure, persevere, and even be joyful during trials in this “holy calling,” as Paul calls it in v.9 — serving the Lord, seeking God’s purpose for me and the church and always God’s grace. For we are not saved “according to our works,” but by grace given to us in Jesus Christ, Paul tells us, “before the ages began.”

Paul is an encourager. He speaks with affection, calling Timothy, “my beloved child,” (v. 2) with echoes from the baptism of Jesus (Mark 1:11), when the Spirit descends like a dove and a voice from heaven says, “You are my beloved son…”

 

He reveals his sorrow at their separation, saying he is praying for him “constantly”–“night and day” and remembering Timothy’s tears at their parting. He longs to see Timothy, (v. 4), and be “filled with joy.” He speaks of Timothy’s “sincere faith,” which isn’t just a set of laws, traditions, and rituals devoid of meaning, done without thinking and feeling. Timothy’s faith is in sharp contrast to the Pharisees and scribes, whom Jesus calls “hypocrites” (Matt. 23:27): “You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean.”

 

Timothy’s faith “lives” in him just as it “lived” in his mother and grandmother.

It’s important to know that Paul is writing these encouraging letters when he is prison in Rome, awaiting execution.

 

He is not feeling sorry for himself; he is not ashamed, he says in v. 12, “for I know the one in whom I have put my trust.” Jesus is the one he continues to serve and obey, calling himself the Lord’s “prisoner” (1:8). Paul urges Timothy not to be ashamed of him or the testimony of the Lord. He says, in essence, follow my example; prepare to die. (v. 8) “Join with me in suffering for the gospel, relying on the power of God.” He is passing on the mantle of leadership, much like Moses and Joshua,

 

and Elijah and Elisha.

 

Paul says (v. 7), Don’t be afraid! God didn’t give us a spirit of fear! The Spirit is “power, love and self-discipline” or self control.

Paul (v. 6) reminds Timothy to “rekindle the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands.” The gift of God can be understood differently; it may mean a spiritual gift that God has given Timothy or you can see it as the gift of God, meaning God IS the gift. Paul means it both ways. For the Holy Spirit is God, we confess in our Nicene Creed, come to dwell with us, “the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified.”

Paul’s reminder to “rekindle” the gift puzzled me at first. What does Paul mean? The word translated “rekindle” is literally “fan into flame” or “stoke up the fire.” Building or stoking a fire is something people in Paul’s time did every day for cooking, warmth and light, or to refine and shape metal or silver and bake clay into bricks.

 

But Paul isn’t referring to every day uses of fire.

Fire is a symbol of the Lord and His presence throughout the Bible. Hebrews 12:29 says, God is a “consuming fire.” In Exodus 3:2, God appears in a fire that burns on a bush, without consuming it.

 

Fire is an instrument of God’s judgment (Numbers 11:1, 3; 2 Kings 1:10, 12) and a sign of God’s power (Judges 13:20, 1 Kings 18:38.) Religious sacrifices were lit by God and burnt by fire (Lev. 9:24). Priests were charged to keep the altar fire burning (Lev. 6:13). In Matthew 3:11, John tells those he baptizes with water that Jesus will baptize “with the Holy Spirit and fire.”

In Acts 2, the disciples are filled with the Holy Spirit and “tongues of fire” rest on each one.

Paul tells us in 1 Cor. 6:11 that the Spirit cleanses us from sin and makes us holy, ^“And this is what some of you used to be. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.” In Luke 24:32, two disciples travel the road to Emmaus and encounter the risen Jesus, though they don’t recognize him until the breaking of the bread. Later they say their hearts were “burning within us.”

With “rekindle the gift of God,” I believe Paul is telling Timothy, “Stoke up the holy fire that is burning within you and use it for all its potential to do what God is calling you to do.”

 

***

I was blessed to attend our annual Women’s Retreat at Riverside Presbyterian in Cocoa Beach yesterday.

The theme was, “Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend,” but it was really all about encouragement for women of God, weary from the struggles of this world. As I entered the fellowship hall, I received smiles, hugs and a white gift bag decorated with a cross.

Attached was a diamond-shaped card with a quote from Charles Spurgeon: “The entire person of Christ is like one diamond, and His life in every dimension leaves one lasting impression.” Inside was a large, plastic “diamond” ring, a blue and gold pompom,

 

Hershey kisses that said, “Keep calm and sparkle on,” and a devotional called, More Precious than Diamonds.

We talked, ate, worshiped, and some shared inspiring personal testimonies about “Diamonds in the Rough.” We laughed at Lorrie’s stand-up

 

and a hilarious skit called “Diamonds are Forever.”

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I was truly sad that I had to leave before making Pat’s candle craft and enjoying the liturgical dance and evening worship with Communion by candlelight. How did the women who planned and prepared for this wonderful event know that this is just what we need? I sensed the rekindling of the Spirit burning in our hearts. Now I hope to encourage you!

Friends, don’t forget the real treasure–the Spirit of God–with and in us, changing and empowering us, uniting us in Christ–with whom all things are possible!

Let us pray.

 

Holy Spirit, thank you for dwelling with us and in us, changing us and empowering us to walk by faith and love and serve you and our neighbors each day. Thank you for giving us your Spirit, so that we may have the power, love and self control to do your will and use for your glory. Help us trust you throughout every storm of our lives and to cast all fear aside, for it is not from you. We ask that you rekindle the gift of your Spirit and help us to share the gospel with all we meet and to be encouragers, like Paul was for Timothy. Thank you that your Spirit unites all believers as One Body of Christ, in every time and place, something we celebrate especially today on World Communion Sunday. Help us to truly live out the vision of Kingdom–when all Creation will be renewed and at peace, when your work of reconciliation will be complete. In Christ we pray. Amen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

       “Of course, there is great gain in godliness combined with contentment; for we brought nothing into the world, so that we can take nothing out of it; but if we have food and clothing, we will be content with these. 

But those who want to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 

For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains.

But as for you, O man of God, shun all this (or flee from these things); pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, gentleness. 

Fight the good fight of the faith; take hold of the eternal life, to which you were called and for 

which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

In the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession,

I charge you to keep the commandment without spot or blame until the manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ, which he will bring about at the right time—he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords. 

It is he alone who has immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see; to him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.

      As for those who in the present age are rich,

 

command them not to be haughty, or to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but rather on God who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. 

They are to do good,

to be rich in good works,

generous,

and ready to share,

 

thus storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of the life that really is life.

***

We were on our way to Cocoa Beach on Monday–my day off– when we pulled into the drive at Lori Wilson Park.

 

A creature was stepping out into the road as our car rolled past. Jim and I both said at the same time, “A turtle!”

 

I begged him to turn around and go back–so I could see the turtle up close. He was moving pretty fast for a turtle. We were back in a jiffy, but he had already crossed the paved driveway and made it to the grass. He was heading towards the playground.

 

I jumped out of the car and tried to take his picture without getting too close and frightening him as he moved along purposefully–this turtle on a mission.

 

Like us, he was headed to the ocean–or at least, the green, wild area that borders Cocoa Beach. He had a long way to go, with his little stubby legs, carrying his house with him. But he knew where he was going and why.

 

He wasn’t afraid to journey alone. I smiled as the old saying came to mind, “Slow and steady, wins the race.”

 

We parked and walked to the beach entrance.

Jim led the way. I paused on the wooden ramp to adjust my flip flops that would carry me across hot, mid-day sand. It was my first time at the beach since before my surgery– several months or more. I was still moving slow, plodding along, like a turtle, but enjoying my surroundings, stopping to look around at children playing, people lounging in chairs, birds flying or tiptoeing on the sand, catching fish in their beaks.

 

 

I stopped to take pictures with my phone–and Jim was soon far, far away. I motioned for him to stop, so I could catch up. He did, but soon he was far off, again, leaving me to meander and poke along.

 

I watched water rush around my feet and let my toes sink in the sand. I looked for pretty rocks and shells and saw little fish caught in pools the tide carved out. Then I watched a wave come to their rescue and carry them back out to sea.

 

 

I was content, though I was a gopher turtle, still moving slowly in my recovery, but moving steadily, sure of where I wanted to go–and why I wanted to get there. Not worried about how far, aware of every step I was taking. Not concerned that I might be the only one going that way.     Isn’t that what our Christian journey is like, friends? And along the way, we do ministry as the Lord leads us.

Watching the water swirling at my feet, I thought about starfish. Where had all the starfish gone? When I was little girl, visiting Daytona Beach with my family, we would find starfish on the sand.

 

I could tell when they were still alive and when they had been out of the water and in the sun too long– dry and hard, devoid of life. Like the starfish tourists bought for 75 cents at souvenir shops. I thought of the old story about starfish. Hundreds, no thousands, of starfish washed up on a long, lonely stretch of beach–drying out in the sun.

 

An older man, who had a habit of walking the beach each morning, watched as a young woman picked them up, one by one, and threw them out to sea. Smiling, he said, lightly mocking her, “There are stranded starfish as far as the eye can see, for miles up the beach. What difference can saving a few of them possibly make?” Smiling, she bends down, picks up another starfish and tosses it far out over the water. She says, I imagine, with gentleness, “It certainly makes a difference to this one.”

 

 

***

 

The Apostle Paul tells Timothy, “Fight the good fight,” in our epistle reading today. But it’s not what you might think. He is talking about a spiritual battle fought with love and faith, clinging to the promise of eternal life. The occasion is Timothy’s commissioning for ministry to the people of Ephesus. Paul, perhaps writing around 62-67 CE, is concerned about “certain people” and their teaching in the church at Ephesus. They desire to be “teachers of the law without understanding what they are saying,” Paul says. They are busy with “myths” and promoting “speculations rather than divine training that is known by faith.”

Paul meets Timothy in Lystra (in modern day Turkey) on his second missionary journey.

They become friends, and co-workers, along with Silas.

 

Timothy’s name in Greek–Timótheos–means “honoring God” or “honored by God.” His father is Greek and not a Christian. Timothy’s faith, says Paul in 2 Tim. 1:5, comes from his grandmother, Lois, and his mother Eunice–Jewish women who believe in Jesus the Messiah.

Timothy is younger than Paul, who encourages him to be a strong, confident leader, despite his youth. He says in 1 Tim. 4:12, “Don’t let anyone think less of you because you are young. Be an example to all believers in what you say, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity.”

What strikes me is how relevant Paul’s observations and instructions to Timothy are for today. Could it be that our society struggles with the same problems, sins and temptations that the people of Paul and Timothy’s time struggled with nearly 2 thousand years ago?

Paul tells Timothy to be content, for “we brought nothing into the world, so that we can take nothing out it.” Doesn’t that sound like, “You can’t take it with you?” But that is exactly what people believed back then–that you take your wealth and status into the next world. Egyptian pharaohs’ remains were laid in elaborately painted caskets and adorned with golden death masks.

 

They were entombed with jewels and other belongings, food, and offerings to the gods in the afterlife. Paul isn’t completely anti-wealth, however. Recall he did work for a living; he wasn’t like John the Baptist dressed in camel’s hair and a leather belt, living like a hermit in the wilderness. In verse 10, Paul says it’s the love of money that is “a root of all kinds of evil”–that pursuing wealth and accumulation of things is what plunges people into ruin and destruction. Wealth also leads to haughtiness, Paul suggests in verse 17, and to people setting their hopes on the “uncertainty of riches” rather than “on God who richly provides for us and everything for our enjoyment.”

When Paul, in verse 11, calls Timothy, “man of God,” and tells him to shun “all this,” or “flee these things,” he points back to a list of sinful behaviors and attitudes that begins in verse 4 with conceit and ends in verse 10 with the love of money. The good fight is the struggle to pursue what is good — to be faithful to be what the Lord calls us to be– faithful to our baptismal vows, as Paul suggests in verse 13, as Timothy made the “good confession in the presence of many witnesses. In the presence of God, who gives life to all things…”

Christ’s fragile humanity and suffering for our sakes is emphasized here, without even mentioning his death. The cross looms over us as we read, “and of Christ Jesus who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession.” And with the image of the cross and Paul’s encouraging words in this ancient letter of commissioning, we have the promise of eternal life–not far off in the future, waiting for us when we die, but right here in this world, to be grasped. “Fight the good fight of the faith,” Paul says, “take hold of the eternal life, to which you were called.”That list of good pursuits Paul urges on young Timothy?

This list is for all who seek to follow Christ. Paul says, “pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, gentleness.” The word that stands out is gentleness because of its position at the end of the sentence. Paul means to emphasize this to Timothy and all who would hear his instructions. Gentleness was in short supply in Paul’s “manly” world.

Gentleness is in short supply in our world today.

 

***

Friends, going back to the starfish stranded on a beach and one woman’s efforts to save them, I recall that the story doesn’t end where I left it, though I can’t find a different ending on the Web. The story I remember ends with the man watching the woman for a while–and then joining in–following in her loving, gentle example. Though there were thousands needing rescue, and they would gain nothing in this world, but contentment, perhaps even joy. The older man reached down, ever so gently picked them up, and threw them back.

One by one.

Will you pray with me?

 

Holy One, we seek your face, grateful for your Son’s suffering on a cross for our sake. Thank you, Lord, that you have done all the work for our eternal life–that we only must reach out and accept this precious gift. Thank you that this life isn’t something far off in the future, waiting to be grasped, but something we can hold onto in this world as we struggle to shun or flee from sin and pursue the good works you lead and strengthen us to do. Teach us how to be righteous, godly, faithful, and loving, enduring temptation, trials and persecution until you come again. Stir us to be gentle in this world of anger, hatred and violence. Help us to make a difference as we seek to reach out and rescue this broken, hurting world, one soul at a time. In Christ we pray. Amen

       Then Jesus said to the disciples, ‘There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was squandering his property. So he summoned him and said to him, “What is this that I hear about you? Give me an account of your management, because you cannot be my manager any longer.” 

     Then the manager said to himself, “What will I do, now that my master is taking the position away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. I have decided what to do so that, when I am dismissed as manager, people may welcome me into their homes.” So, summoning his master’s debtors one by one, he asked the first, “How much do you owe my master?” He answered, “A hundred jugs of olive oil.”

He said to him, “Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it fifty.”  Then he asked another, “And how much do you owe?” He replied, “A hundred containers of wheat.” He said to him, “Take your bill and make it eighty.” 

And his master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly;

for the children of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light. And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth so that when it is gone, they may welcome you into the eternal homes.

     ‘Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much; and whoever is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much. If then you have not been faithful with the dishonest wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to another, who will give you what is your own? 

You cannot serve God and money or wealth.’”

 

****

Other children were laughing, talking, and gluing colored pompons on pinecones–making Christmas tree crafts in Kids Klub.

 

But not one little girl, new to Kids Klub this fall, along with her older brother. They wore uniforms from ACA–the Christian charter school for special needs children here on our campus. The little girl was off by herself, staring at the glue on her fingertips with a blank expression. Her pinecone had only a few pompons.

“Hello, I’m Karen, ” I said, then asked the little girl her name. “Jacey,” she said, shyly. I sat down and started gluing pompons on another pinecone, showing her how I put the glue on the pinecone — not the pompons, as she had been trying to do. I was hoping she would want to do more with her craft. But she stared at me and then back at her gluey fingertips. I asked, “Don’t you want to glue some more pompons on your Christmas tree?”

“No,” she said. “I want to wash my hands.”

Another child approached me for help, then, so I left Jacey and didn’t notice her again until she needed help gathering her things, when most of the other children were already lined up. A teen volunteer had helped her wash her hands. Yes, there was something special about the little girl and her older brother. But the specialness went beyond learning differences, their grandmother, Deb, told me after Kids Klub. Deb, with her husband, are raising their two grandchildren. While she and I talked, Jacey and Tyce watched the Fellowship committee lay out desserts for our Tuesday night supper. They stared longingly at the cupcakes, cookies, and ice cream before asking me what they were for.

   I invited them to stay for our church supper–for meatloaf and mashed potatoes, vegetables, and biscuits, and, of course, dessert. Deb hesitated before saying she didn’t have money for the supper that evening. Pork chops and leftovers awaited them at home. But the children continued to look longingly as the hot food trays were carried out from the kitchen. “Why don’t you stay?” I said. “Don’t worry about the money.” And so they did. We sat together, with other church members at a long table. The children ate. And ate. And there was plenty of food left over.

The following Tuesday, a similar scene played out. This time, it was their grandfather who stayed with the children because Deb had a meeting. A girl named Elly sat across from Jacey and called Jacey her “best friend.” They had only known each other from two afternoons of Kids Klub. The children ate. And ate. And there was plenty of food leftover.

I had a crazy idea last summer about the Tuesday night suppers. I asked session to allow the children and families of the childcare center to stay for our meals–without requiring them to pay. Some of them truly are struggling financially. The session first asked questions, such as where would the money come from to pay for the food? Then, they approved my crazy idea, which wasn’t logical in this world’s reasoning, but in Kingdom reasoning, it made perfect sense. The suppers are an opportunity for our church to reach out and share the gospel through friendship and a small act of kindness — revealing the grace and welcome of the people of God. Our hope is that more members will come to the suppers to greet and welcome new people and eat with them, too. And we hope that more members will want to join those who help serve the meals, truly embodying the warmth of God’s love.

By giving and actively participating in this ministry and other exciting ministry opportunities at our church, you are answering our Lord’s question, “Who do you love–God or wealth?”

If we are faithful in just a little, we are faithful in much!

 

***

“Who do you love?” is the question Jesus poses to his disciples, the Pharisees and all of us listening in. This is a “don’t be like the Pharisees” story because they are “lovers of money,” as Luke says in the passage immediately following today’s reading.

 

After this parable, the Pharisees ridicule Jesus for teaching that we demonstrate faithfulness to God when we extend hospitality to the poor and use wealth and friendship to further God’s Kingdom.

Unlike the parables of the lost sheep,

lost coin,

and Prodigal Son,

this one is not meant to be an allegory! Jesus isn’t telling us to take any of these roles–not the “shrewd” or “dishonest” manager, as Jesus calls him, and not the rich man. This parable is drawn simply from daily life; it is what Jesus’ audience takes for granted about the way the world works.

The wealthy man–is he good or bad? Not a very likeable guy, is he? He really is rich in that the quantities of the debts owed to him are large, reflecting a considerable olive grove with an acreage of 20-25 times more than an ordinary family farm.

Jesus is talking to a Greco-Roman audience where friendships and economics are inseparable. Like The Godfather, the exchange of money created, maintained and solidified various forms of friendship.

Like other places in his gospel, Luke doesn’t portray the rich in a favorable light in this reading. He pronounces misfortune on the rich in 6:24, on those who find their security in wealth in 12:16, and those who invite only their friends, relatives, and rich neighbors to their homes for dinner in 14:12, so they may receive invitations in return. Jesus says, in verses 13 and 14, “But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind. And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

The manager is more interesting. Is he good or bad? Jesus calls him “shrewd” and “dishonest.” A “manager” in the Roman context is a slave or a freed slave, who acts as his master’s agent in his business affairs. Though a slave, he would have a high status because of his master’s wealth. Think of Joseph, from Genesis!

 

People actually sold themselves as slaves to manage rich people’s wealth; it beat living in poverty, doing manual labor or begging– the manager’s choices when his master discovers he has squandered his property. Without his job as manager, a slave would have no home, no place to go.

After a brief moment of indecision and a soliloquy that reminds me a little of Hamlet’s, “To be or not to be…?” the manager hatches a plan. Are you surprised when the master, though his ex-manager has just cheated him out of more money, praises him for his “shrewdness?” For the manager has secured himself a home with his newly made “friends,” who will welcome him, despite their humble means, because he reduced their debts as much as 50%.

As the parable draws to a close, Jesus speaks directly to his audience, contrasting his disciples–the children of light–with those firmly entrenched in this present (“evil”) age. He encourages the children of the light to be as shrewd with their wealth as the “children of this age,” with their worldly pursuits. He urges us to use “dishonest wealth”–meaning “worldly riches”–to further God’s Kingdom. For everything we have belongs to the Lord. We are called to be stewards–caretakers, managers– of God’s gifts to us, using all that we have and all that we are to welcome, befriend and win souls for the Lord, securing for them “eternal homes.”

***

Deb, Tyce and Jaycee’s grandmother, called me a couple of days ago and I shared how I ran into her grandchildren while I was visiting their ACA classroom. Tyce’s teacher said he had been talking about the church supper ever since that first Tuesday night, telling all the other kids about it. Deb said she couldn’t believe how much her kids ate that night–especially Jacey, who gobbled down Carl’s meatloaf, but won’t touch meatloaf at home. She was sorry to miss the supper last Tuesday because of her meeting, but her husband thought it was great. She has been telling others about our suppers, though she attends another church regularly. She gave me permission to share her family’s story because she wants our congregation to know how grateful she is for our ministries to children and families, such as Kids Klub, which meets social and emotional needs for her special needs grandkids. She worried that because a large crowd hadn’t stayed for our first two Tuesday night suppers, we might think they were not worthwhile. For her family, she said, they are “an answer to prayer.”

Friends, we may not be a large congregation compared to some, but we are a church with a heart to love people and help those in need.

Through your giving of your time and talents, energy and enthusiasm –you are keeping our ministries going and growing–furthering God’s Kingdom purposes! Through your prayers and financial support, you tell all the world whom you love–God, not wealth.

You are faithful in little, faithful in much.

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Let us pray.

 

Loving Lord, thank you for your grace that covers all our sins! Thank you for giving so generously to our church–pouring out your Spirit so we would have an abundance of gifts, talents, and resources to use for your salvation purposes. Help us, Lord, to reach out to our near neighbors with kindness and compassion, welcoming and winning new friends so they may secure eternal homes. Stir us to give generously from all that we have and all that we are, not seeking anything but your peace in return. Bless us with your joy and laughter as we take creative risks with our ministries–seeking to grow them and your Kingdom, this day and forevermore. Amen.

Rally Day: Merritt Island Presbyterian Church

   “Now all the tax-collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, ‘This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.’ So he told them this parable: ‘Which one of you, having a hundred sheep

 

and losing one of them,

 

does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it? When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices.

 

And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, 

Just so, I tell you,

than over ninety-nine righteous people who need no repentance.

‘Or what woman having ten silver coins, if she loses one of them, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it?

 

When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, 

Just so, I tell you,

 

***

Friends, I am happy to be back with you, my flock, to worship and study God’s word together again! Jim and I have just come back from Montreat, NC, where we took a continuing education course for pastors and spouses called the “Art of Transitional Ministry.” I wanted to learn how to lead and support my congregation through the challenges of change–within the church and outside the church. I wanted to learn more about training, equipping and inspiring leaders to discern God’s vision and plan for our future ministry. I ended up learning a lot about myself–not just as a pastor–but as a person, a child of God. A beloved sheep of the Good Shepherd. Lost and found, but often needing my Good Shepherd to lift me up on His shoulders and carry me home!

On our way to Montreat, we encountered a roadblock. Literally.

In July, a U-Haul driver attempted to exit the gate, despite signs that say, “No trucks.”

 

The beautiful, old stone gate–owned by Montreat Conference Center– was severely damaged. They plan to restore the gateway using the stones from the original arch, along with new materials and methods of construction. Something old. Something new. Honoring the past. Serving the Church of the future, whatever form and shape the Savior leads us to be.

Jim and I easily took the detour loop around the gate and made our way through still lovely, serene surroundings to the Assembly Inn–a far cry from Montreat’s tent camping beginning in 1897!

 

The camp was founded to be a place of spiritual and physical renewal. And that is just what we needed! My physical therapy at Montreat included walking a seemingly endless number of steps!

 

I came to appreciate the padded benches whenever I saw them and took a rest now and then.

 

Our conference was in Convocation Hall,

 

connected to Assembly Inn by, you guessed it, more steps!

At the conference, we worshiped the Lord together, and I learned, once again, how quirky pastors are. When I saw a cartoon about the Church–with Jesus herding cats–

I thought of the faculty as our shepherds and us pastors as the cats. I felt sympathy for the faculty, who struggled to keep pastors on task. They are always talking! They struggled to persuade them to follow instructions. The first night, the leader invited us to join her in the Call to Worship and half the room started speaking the ONE part instead of the ALL. The leader had to stop the liturgy and explain, when everyone didn’t immediately catch on, “No, I am the ONE and YOU are the ALL!” The second night, the same thing happened again!

We laughed together in Montreat, especially when one of our teachers, Susan McGhee, opened the daily announcements with what became a running joke about bears.

Bears in Montreat, you say?!

 

Don’t worry, they aren’t grizzly bears, she would say with a smile, just black bears

but don’t go near the dumpsters! Don’t leave food in your car! And don’t hike up Lookout Mountain at dusk or dawn.

 

“Cause there be bears in those hills!” she would say, pausing for effect.

None of us expected to see any bears, of course. Then, one morning, we read an announcement by the dining hall,

 

Next to the announcement, was a picture of a conference attendee, mouth wide open and hands raised in mock alarm. None of us expected that the next day, bears would been seen on the grounds–and that they had been searching for food in the dumpsters. “Don’t go near the dumpsters!” Susan said again.

Humor helped us persevere through our intense schedule of lecture and small group discussion and tasks as we sought to apply our learning to our own situations. The first night, my group of 6 was given a frustrating task–at least it was for me. It was late, I was tired, and we didn’t know each other well. Now we had 15 minutes to plan a series of worship services for a liturgical season. Pastors don’t usually plan worship with other pastors they have just met, first of all. And the series had to be a transitional ministry theme, using scriptures and focus areas the teacher supplied. Within minutes of the assignment, I strongly disagreed with two of my tablemates–one on either side of me– and the emotion that rose up in me surprised me.

I was so upset, I was speechless. We sat in an awkward silence, before finally struggling through the exercise, finishing the task, but not to anyone’s satisfaction. I was relieved to go back to my room that night and collapse into bed!

The next day, God’s grace triumphed over human emotion and fatigue. I showed up a couple minutes late for group–not intentionally– and saw worry on their faces. They asked how I felt and gave me encouraging smiles. They gently restored me–a sheep who, the night before, was feeling more than a little lost and out on her own.

***

I would guess that when most people who have been Christians a long time read this passage in Luke 15 about the lost sheep and lost coin, they identify with the 99 righteous ones, needing no repentance or the 9 coins that aren’t lost. The lectionary leaves out the third parable in the chapter, but all 3 fit together to complete the teaching–the lost sheep, lost coin, and prodigal son. All are Jesus’ responses to the Pharisees and scribes or legal experts grumbling when the outcast and marginalized of the Jewish community — “tax collectors” and so-called “sinners” — are gathering around Jesus, anxious to learn from him, grateful for his kind treatment of them.

The Pharisees and scribes grumble loudly enough to be heard by everyone, but without speaking directly to Jesus. This is to emphasize their dislike and disrespect of him. Not “rabbi” or teacher, they call him, “this fellow,” or “this guy,” to use modern lingo. “This guy welcomes sinners and eats with them”–meaning Jesus has made the outcast his friends and even his disciples, as they are recipients of his teaching.

 

The 3 parables have 3 main characters in common. The first is the one seeking and hoping for what is lost and rejoicing when it is found–the shepherd, father and “woman.” She is a village peasant, living in a house with no windows; hence, she must use a lamp and a broom to look for her coin. She lives in a barter economy, so 10 coins likely represent the family savings–not a great sum, but to her, it would be significant to lose even one. Ten silver coins are the equivalent of about 10 days’ wages. The 2nd main character is the one that is lost or goes astray-the rolling coin, wandering sheep or rebellious son. And the 3^rd are the ones who are not lost–those who remain in the flock, with the other coins, or with the father, when his younger, rebellious brother takes off.

Of the 3 parables, the one that leaves me with unanswered questions is the lost sheep. Where does the shepherd leave the 99 when he goes to find the one that is lost? In the wilderness! To leave your flock in the wilderness is to risk losing 99 to wild beasts or thieves. Or they, too, could wander off. Why would Jesus leave His own flock to perish on their own? That isn’t the Jesus we know–who promises to be with us always!

The words “grumbling” and “in the wilderness” are important to our understanding of this parable. They would especially be meaningful to the original Jewish/Christian audience who would recall the story of Moses and the Israelites, led from captivity to wander 40 years in the desert wilderness–hungry and thirsty, tired and frightened, angry and emotional. But the wilderness is also a good place to be. This is where they are with God, relying on him for their faith and all their needs–to guide their every step. And the wilderness is where they receive the hope of a brighter future in the Promised Land.

Reading these parables in the context of Jesus’ response to the Pharisees and scribes grumbling about his friendship with the outcast, we see that Jesus is calling you and me– as he is teaching them–to be more like Him– the Good Shepherd, who cares about and seeks to rescue every person in need! He invites us all not to grumble or doubt but to rejoice with him — and all the angels of God–when what was lost is found!

You have already guessed that I often identify with the lost sheep. That tells you something about me! I struggle with my own high expectations for myself. Too often, I see only my failures and weaknesses–the times when I am tired or doubtful of a difficult task I must do–like I was that first night at Montreat. Maybe you struggle with these same unrealistic expectations for your own life of faith.

The truth is we are all lost sheep–and we are all found! — saved by God’s grace and not through the good things we do! So stop trying to be perfect! Just be who God has made you to be. We are His beloved! Today, and especially on Rally Day, we celebrate. Our Savior has found us and will be faithful to lead us. And when we are tired, he will carry us home.

 

Let us pray.

 

Dear Savior, like a Good Shepherd, lead us in the way you want us to go. Give us joy for this wonderful journey we walk together. Thank you for loving us and promising to never leave us. Thank you for our congregation–your Church!– and the children you have brought to us to nurture in the faith. Bring us more, Lord, and more workers for the harvest, too! Thank you for all who have said yes to your call to minister to children and youth and their parents. Remind us that although we may feel scared, lost or alone, we are found and securely in your fold. Help us to reach out with love and kindness to people in need all around us, sharing the gospel through words and deeds, drawing people who don’t know you closer to you. Dear Lord, keep them and keep us in your tender care. Amen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now the word of the Lord came to me saying,  ‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.’ 

 

Then I said, ‘Ah, Lord God! Truly I do not know how to speak, for I am only a boy.’ But the Lord said to me, ‘Do not say, “I am only a boy”; for you shall go to all to whom I send you, and you shall speak whatever I command you. 

Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, says the Lord.’ Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth;

and the Lord said to me, ‘Now I have put my words in your mouth.  See, today I appoint you over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to pull down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.’

     I came back from the Montreat Youth Conference, and everyone asks, “How was Montreat? Did you have a good time?” And I answer, “Yes, it was great!” But then you start to talk about what happened at this huge PC (USA), 5-day youth gathering, and you don’t know where to begin!

The setting is so important.

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The people you come with are SO important.

 

Your attitude is SO important. It takes faith to listen for God’s voice and commit to the Spirit’s work, to have your own identity and calling as a child of God–loved by God, used by God for God’s glory– confirmed. It feels like magic when you’re there; I don’t know how to explain it, except that it’s the Spirit of God that draws us, embraces, refreshes, heals and challenges us in our comings and goings, year after year.

The theme was “A World of Difference”–emphasizing the acceptance and embrace of differences in the Body of Christ and the great diversity of the world! It was also a call to discover and live out our different callings–every one of us, but most of all, the youth–and Make a World of Difference TOGETHER, loving and serving God and people in new, creative, and bold ways.

“Prophesy!” one speaker urged us. “Prophesy to the Church!”

We only had 1 youth from MIPC go this year–a young man who has attended youth group faithfully and has happily gone to Montreat several years in a row. But we all proudly claimed Jacob as our own! At times, I think Jacob looked after us as much as we looked after him. Since this was my first Montreat Youth Conference, I was always asking Jacob questions–especially how to get to where we were going. He led me and his mom, Leslie, on footpaths (shortcuts) we would probably not have found on our own! He’d walk ahead of us with his long, youthful strides up and down steep slopes–grassy–rocky and sometimes paved, but usually not. We would follow, more slowly and carefully, behind him, sometimes struggling a little to keep up. He’d smile and toss helpful phrases back at us: “Don’t fall!”

We had a zillion jokes about how there were 4 adults to watch over 1 youth–5 if you count Elizabeth who went as a small group leader and stayed in different housing. Larger youth groups filled up entire pews during worship and keynote. We had plenty of space to spread out on MIPC’s pew!

 

Cindy, our back home leader, organizer, and driver, would say, as we prepared for worship or another activity, “Let me check and see if everyone is here.” She would pretend to look around, before pointing to Jacob sitting right in front of us.

“One!” she’d call out. “OK, we’re all here!” But sometimes we’d get overconfident about Jacob, who is really a young adult. He graduated from high school this spring and works full time. Sometimes, we would be talking to each other and we’d suddenly realize that Jacob wasn’t with us. We’d look at each other and say, “Where’s Jacob?” And laugh–because here there’s 4 or 5 chaperones–and we’ve lost track of our one youth!! He was usually ahead of us and we’d meet up with him soon after. He has the confidence of one shaped by Montreat experiences and the Spirit of nurture with his family and his church!

Worship happens every morning and evening at the conference. Worship is active, begins with something called “Energizers!” which are difficult for uncoordinated, middle aged people like me! But they get us all up and moving and bring smiles to our faces. I loved that worship was packed with visuals, such as video clips, photos, and skits. Youth are involved in every aspect of worship –flying banners, carrying lit candles, bearing pieces of a heart that come together and other symbols of the Spirit’s presence and uniting, healing, power among us!

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Worship leaders played piano and guitar with traditional and contemporary pieces, including original compositions, such as the theme song for our week, “A World of Difference.”

 

The words to every song–original, modern and traditional– were projected on two large screens on either side of the stage.

 

Twice a day, youth and some adults led or participated in small groups. We studied scripture and discussed serious topics relevant to teenagers raised by the keynote speaker or evening preacher. One teen shared how she had stayed up late the night before listening for 2 hours as another teen shared a problem he had, a struggle he had never shared with anyone else. She had tears in her eyes as she described how they prayed God would heal him–as God had healed her, when doctors and counselors could not.

I celebrated my birthday at the conference with my back home group that gave me, among other gifts, a Montreat T-shirt and an adorable card with kitty voices meowing “Happy Birthday.”

And I celebrated my birthday in my small group, bringing cookies to share. They made me a beautiful card and signed my Montreat shirt–so that I would remember them by name and pray for them by name. I promised I would! :o)

 

They let me take their pictures. Here are some of my new friends!

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***

The Jeremiah reading fits perfectly with the day we celebrate youth and share about our annual trip to Montreat. What a powerful passage this is–the call of Jeremiah, coming just a few years before Jerusalem is destroyed, and Israel is captured and exiled to Babylon, about 600 years before the birth of Christ. The call is more like the call of Moses than the call of Isaiah, who has an elaborate vision.

Moses, who has a speech problem, hears God’s voice plainly, but like Jeremiah feels unworthy and unable to do what God wants him to do.

Jeremiah protests, “I’m just a boy! I don’t know how to speak!” But the Lord doesn’t say, “Oh, yeah, you’re right. You’re just a boy. What was I thinking?”

God says, “You’re the one I want. No one knows you better than I! I have known you since before I formed you in your mother’s womb! I’ve been planning this all along; you are consecrated–set aside as holy–to be my prophet to the nations!!”

The call of Jeremiah brings to mind the call of Abraham, as well, for the Lord doesn’t specify Abraham’s final destination. He says, “Go, to a place I will show you!” The Lord assures Abraham that He will be with him wherever he goes; he needn’t be afraid!

 

The Lord, in a similar way, assures Jeremiah, “You shall go to all to whom I send you, and you shall speak whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you.” God’s mighty word will lead to the “plucking up, pulling down,” and destruction of nations. But the promise is there for God’s people, though they will suffer greatly in their captivity and exile of about 50 years. Our God of mercy will also “build” and “plant.” In Jeremiah 29:11-13, we are assured of God’s wonderful plans that are still true for us today! “For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope. Then when you call upon me and come and pray to me, I will hear you. When you search for me, you will find me; if you seek me with all your heart.”

***

Someone asked me what I liked best about Montreat. “That’s easy,” I said. “Getting to know the people from my own church!!” We had lots of uninterrupted time together, in between scheduled conference activities. We stayed in a 100-year-old house without a/c, TV, radio, or Internet.

 

It was a simple life, except you had to go outside and down a flight of stairs to go from the bedrooms to the kitchen, dining and family room

where we ate meals, played Uno, and snacked endlessly.

 

The bathrooms were interesting. Glad we didn’t have to use the heat; it was ancient!

 

Also for entertainment, Jacob and Mike played a rope game on the back porch.

And an orange kitty came to visit one afternoon.

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I was sad when I had to leave a day early. I needed to get back to prepare for Sunday worship and a funeral Sunday afternoon. I was sad to leave Montreat, at all. For at Montreat, our group was united and renewed in faith; we had our callings as children of God, loved by God, used by God for God’s glory, confirmed! We grew to know and love more the Lord and one another. I missed the last night when Jacob and all the other high school seniors gathered around Lake Susan. They lit candles.

 

Then the adults and other youth laid hands on them and prayed for God’s blessing.

 

That Friday night, I was with them in spirit. And I continue to pray for Jacob and the youth I met at Montreat, the youth of our congregation, and the youth of our community we haven’t yet met. My prayer is that they will seek the Lord and hear God’s voice as clearly as Jeremiah heard God calling to him when he was “just a boy.”

I pray the Lord will continue to lead us and all our young people to make a WORLD of difference, as we sang in our theme song at Montreat.

        

Will you pray with me?

 

Holy God of mercy, thank you for claiming us, calling and equipping us to love and serve you with our lives! Refresh and renew us by your Spirit, filling us with the gifts we need to do your will. Awaken in the hearts of every believer a better understanding of your plan and purpose for them, a plan that you have had for us since you formed us in our mother’s womb. Restore unto all of us the joy and peace of our salvation. Lead us to boldly and creatively reach out to the children and youth in our community with your love. In Christ we pray. Amen.

29 “By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as if it were dry land, but when the Egyptians attempted to do so they were drowned.

    ³⁰By faith the walls of Jericho fell after they had been encircled for seven days.³¹

 

 

 

By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient,^* because she had received the spies in peace.

32 And what more should I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson,

 

Jephthah, of David

 

and Samuel

and the prophets—³³who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions,

³⁴quenched raging fire,

escaped the edge of the sword, won strength out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. ³⁵Women received their dead by resurrection.

Others were tortured, refusing to accept release, in order to obtain a better resurrection. ³⁶Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. 

³⁷They were stoned to death, 

 

they were sawn in two,^* they were killed by the sword; they went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, persecuted, tormented— 

³⁸of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains,

 

and in caves and holes in the ground.

 

39 Yet all these, though they were commended for their faith, did not receive what was promised, ⁴⁰since God had provided something better so that they would not, without us, be made perfect.

 

12Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, 

²looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of^* the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame,

 

and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.

3 Consider him who endured such hostility against himself from sinners so that you may not grow weary or lose heart.”

***

I am happy to be back with you today! The recovery from my surgery 2 weeks ago has been challenging. Your kindness has helped me so much!

 

Thank you for your prayers, cards and pictures,

for the books you shared with me,

 

for your meals, flowers and other gifts,

 

for your many expressions of love! This is one of the shawls from Heavenly Handmade.

They say that laughter is the best medicine. I was blessed with some laughter during that first week, when I really needed it! I received funny notes from folks in our congregation. One member wrote to tell me, among other things, that he had “three surgeries of consequence and the happy news is that two of them turned out well…. We are glad you are safely home and under a mosquito net.”

 

I have had help from a few non-humans, too!

 

Nurse Melvyn demonstrated a “wholistic” approach to my healthcare. He walked up and down my whole body when I came home from the hospital and was resting in bed. He clowned around to make me laugh–rolling from side to side and lying on his back, paws sticking up in the air.

He demonstrated healthy recovery habits, including many hours of sleeping.

 

What’s been hard is not just the pain, but the limitations on my usual activities, including my ministry activities. I missed the joy of leading worship with you these past 2 Sundays and being with my church family. I was sad not to able to be there to help our staff last week and to welcome Cheryl Carson on her first day. I didn’t like not being able to visit members who were sick.

I did experience blessing, though, through all this. I enjoyed precious time with my family. I discovered our couch is really comfy! I hadn’t noticed before–probably because I haven’t spent much time on it–or relaxing at home. Jim and I watched “My Fair Lady,” “The Sound of Music,”

 

and the Olympics,

 

with modern day heroes who inspire us to try harder, to keep on going, and always do our best. My favorite part of the Olympics was watching the USA women’s gymnastics team. Tears sprang to my eyes when Simone and Aly won gold and silver.

I had heard of their very human struggles–had watched some of them play out during the games. Their moment of victory follows many years of preparation, practice, pain and sacrifice. Both have had no time for “a social life” growing up. No football games or proms. Simone, 19, adopted by her grandparents, was homeschooled and began gymnastics when she was 6 after a daycare field trip to a gym inspired her. Here’s some of what Simone can do now.

 

It’s hard to believe that in 2013, she did so poorly that she feared her gymnastics career was over. Now, people are calling her one of the best gymnasts ever!

This is beautiful Aly, 22, who has been doing gymnastics since she was a toddler.

 

 

I almost couldn’t bear to watch her struggle through one of the events at Rio–earning her coach’s scolding while the cameras rolled. She looked shaken, but she didn’t give up. She went on to perform her best floor exercise routine to date, with the audience cheering her on, sharing their joy in her triumph. She waited anxiously for her score. Then the tears came.

She had won!

She had never been alone, though she may have felt that way when she was struggling–just as we sometimes do. Along with millions of witnesses around the globe, she and Aly have had the support of their coaches, teammates, friends and families, without which, they never would have made it to the Olympics!

 

***

I thought of the Olympics when I read our passage in Hebrews this week. The first Olympics were held in 776 BC in honor of the god Zeus and were staged on the ancient plains of Olympia, a sanctuary of ancient Greece on the Peloponnese peninsula.

 

The games continued every 4 years until Emperor Theodosius decreed in 393 A.D. that all such “pagan cults” be banned and were not revived until the 19^th century. The author of Hebrews is thinking about an Olympic event when he continues his teaching on faith to a 1^st century Jewish/Christian Greek-speaking audience. He elaborates on how faith isn’t just believing in what we cannot see and hoping for the best, but enduring trials with courage, believing in the joy of the Lord that will come. With the “great cloud of witnesses” passage, he compares our lives of faith and our struggles with sin as a faith community to running a long distance relay race. He is referring to the “stadion,” a sprint event of about 180 meters that was the first and only event for the Olympics from 776 BC to 728 BC.

The stadion was named for the building in which it took place. The word became stadium in Latin later became incorporated into English.

In Hebrews 12, the runners are watched by multitudes from generations past that have already handed the baton of faith and are waiting as invisible spectators to encourage those who run last. The word translated “race” or “contest”–agon–implies struggle, and is the origin of the English word, “agonize.”

The author of Hebrews writes for those who know Hebrew Scripture well. He jogs their memory of Bible heroes such as Gideon, Samson and David without saying anything but their names and the rhetorical device, “What more am I to say?” He doesn’t need to go into detail when he mentions the Red Sea; of course he is talking about Moses and the freeing of the Israelite captives. When he speaks of the drowning of the Egyptians, they know he means Pharaoh’s soldiers who pursue the Israelites and attempts to kill the former slaves. They know of Joshua and the battle of Jericho. The list of heroes includes men and women–none of which are perfect in their obedience to the Lord (recall the sins, for example, of David). The list includes Rahab, whose occupation (prostitute) is emphasized, perhaps to encourage us all that God can and will use every believer for God’s purposes. Rahab welcomes Joshua and his men, embraces the God of the Israelites before they capture her city, hides the spies and lies to save them from her own king’s men.

While more can be said of the heroes on or missing from the list in chapter 11, the beginning of chapter 12 intrigues me more. First, the allusion to lay aside every weight brings to mind the ancient practice of removing one’s clothing before running a race, such as the Olympics, which was only open to men in ancient times.

 

Competing without clothing required a certain confidence in oneself and willingness to be more vulnerable. Does that speak to our need to be more confident as we follow Christ and allow ourselves to be vulnerable to one another as we run this race?

Second, this race is not of our choosing; it’s God ordained– set before us–every one of us– and it has been run by others, including our Savior, the first to complete it. He is not only the greatest example of faith, he is the pioneer, the source of our faith, which he has perfected for us through his work on the cross.

 

Third, what is the joy that lay before Jesus that allowed him to endure? It is the joy of knowing he is obedient to God and will be with His Father in Heaven, seated at the right hand of the throne of God, as we read in 12:2. It is the joy of knowing that His suffering is the cost of God’s redemption of a world God so loves. And it’s the same Spirit of joy that Christ gives his disciples on Pentecost, a joy that only comes from the Lord that will be our strength, as the prophet tells us in Nehemiah 8:10.

And finally, what is the “sin” that “readily clings” to this 1^st century Christian community, a marginalized minority suffering persecution that isn’t to the point of bloodshed, but is shameful and humiliating, all the same? We often think of sin as malicious or selfish deeds against God and neighbor. But that isn’t the “sin” Hebrews is talking about. This is anything that hinders their courageous, enduring faith and their continuing on in the example of Jesus, who, as Paul tells us in Philippians 2:7 was God who emptied himself of divinity to become human– slave of all. This sin is despair or discouragement–giving up hope.

The word this early Christian community needed to hear–and the word our own faith community needs today is spoken in 12:3: Don’t grow weary. Don’t lose heart. Don’t lose sight of your goal–following Christ. You aren’t alone! We have each other–the Church in every time and place! The great cloud of witnesses!

And we have Jesus, the source and perfecter of our faith. In times of suffering and times of trial, remember that it is He who longs to give you His joy that will be your strength for every day!

Let us pray.

Holy One, we thank you for your Word that inspires us to keep running the race to enduring, courageous faith, a race that you have set before us. We open our hearts and minds now to receive and embrace your joy that is and always will be our strength. Thank you that we are not alone in this race and our trials–that Jesus our Savior has run the race to completion, has suffered died and risen again for our sakes, and is with us now, though we may struggle, stumble and fall. Forgive us for our sins. Help us, Lord, to persevere and not grow weary. Never lose heart! Help us to keep our eyes focused on our goal–following Jesus Christ. In his name we pray. Amen.

 

 

 

 

 

Meditation on Luke 10: 10:25–37

July 10, 2016

Merritt Island Presbyterian Church

 

 Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he said, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

He said to him, “What is written in the law? What do you read there?”

    He answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” And he said to him, “You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live.”

      But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

       Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead.

Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.

 

So likewise a Levite when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.

 

But a Samaritan while traveling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity.

He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them.

 

 

Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him.

 

 

The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.’

 

 

 

 

   Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?”

    He said, “The one who showed him kindness.”

     Jesus said to him, “Do this and you shall live.”

 

***

We sat around tables in the fellowship hall, like we usually did, after worship on Sunday about, oh, 15 months ago. I was serving a church in rural Minnesota. A man, who was not usually unkind, started telling jokes about Native Americans. Some of his audience, lingering over black coffee and cookie bars, wore guilty smiles. Some let out loud guffaws, while sending me sideways glances. They knew how I felt. They were not pleased with the mission trip I was planning with another church to Spirit Lake Tribal Nation last August.

We were planning to teach an Outback-themed VBS at a community center and serve one full meal and snacks each day. Native Americans living on Reservations have some of the worst levels of poverty and unemployment in America;

 

they report the highest rates of substance abuse and dependence of any ethnic group; 46% of Native American women have been victims of abuse.

 

Children often live in single parent households or the parents are absent altogether–having left the Reservation; many grandparents are raising grandchildren.

Local churches on the Reservation, in nearby Devil’s Lake, ND, and in other parts of the country are responding to this mission field, reaching out with love and kindness, supplying food, clothing, toys and school supplies, friendship and faith–revealing the God of mercy who sent His Son to redeem and heal a broken world.

We learned of these ministry opportunities at Spirit Lake Indian Reservation through the PC(USA) Website and Joe Obermeyer, a youth pastor from Bdecan Presbyterian Church, one of the churches on the Reservation.

Few families on the Reservation of about 6,600 people attend church, but parents will drop their kids off for VBS. They see it as a safe place, free food for their kids, and “free daycare.” I had never led a mission trip or VBS before going to Spirit Lake. But when we learned of the children in need, the 20 or so people on our mission team who traveled to the Reservation were moved to compassion! We had to DO something to bring hope and joy and the peace of Christ.

We were determined to go, despite the disapproval of some who didn’t believe that VBS on an Indian Reservation would make a difference. It was a waste of time and money that could spent in their own community.

When we arrived at the Tokio community center where we would host VBS, members of Devil’s Lake Presbyterian church showed up with a picnic meal after our 6 to 8 hour drive. But I looked around at the un-air-conditioned building, the flies, the dirt, and the mugshots of local sex offenders barred from the premises, and I had my misgivings.

I thought, “Welcome to the neighborhood.”

 

***

The Good Samaritan story is perhaps one of the most familiar passages of the New Testament. It has become a cliché. Everybody knows that a Good Samaritan is someone who comes to the aid of a stranger. Sermons often focus on the stranger who helps the Jewish man, who was beaten, robbed, and left for dead by the side of the road.

 

 

The one who helps is of a faith, culture and ethnic group that happens to be an enemy of the Jewish people in Jesus’ time. Obviously, this point is important to Luke because the word for Samaritan is placed at the beginning of the Greek sentence for emphasis. The noun (subject) usually follows the verb and can even be at the end of the sentence or omitted altogether. Jews and Samaritans begin their mutual contempt in the 8^th century BCE when the Assyrian conquest of Israel leads to the forced migration of foreign peoples into Samaria, the ancient capital, now on Israel’s West Bank.

 

We see evidence of the adversarial relationship in the chapter that precedes this passage. In Luke 9, a Samaritan town refuses to receive Jesus on his way to Jerusalem; James and John want to call down fire from heaven on them, but Jesus rebukes them. (9:51-56). Some preachers focus on the self-absorbed, uncaring so-called religious people who pass by the suffering man and do nothing.

 

 

 

What intrigues me is why Jesus is saying all this–and what it means for us! He is speaking not with his disciples, but a hostile man called a “lawyer” in the NRSV, but he is really a scribe– an expert in the interpretation of Mosaic law. He knows the Torah! We know he’s hostile because in verse 25 he stands up “to test” Jesus, asking a question that puzzles me.

 

 

 

Friends, what do we have to do to “inherit” anything? Nothing! It’s a gift from a relative after they die. It’s a trick question, an open challenge to the authority and insight of this Galilean without any credentials as a “Teacher” of the law, which is exactly what the man calls Jesus, probably without sincerity! Jesus answers with a question. “What is written in the law (the Torah)? What do you read there?” Or as some translators say, “How do you read it?” The scribe answers with 2 verses from the Torah, connected and slightly changed. He adds dianoia — “mind” to Deut. 6:5, the command to love God with all heart, soul and might. And then he leaves out part of Leviticus 19:18, which is, in full, ¹⁸ “You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.” Yes, that specific verse does refer to loving your own kin and community–which is the scribe’s point, when he asks Jesus, trying to “justify” himself by only caring about his own people, “And who is my neighbor?”

Jesus answers by telling a story of a man moved by compassion to give of himself, his time, and his possessions for a man who isn’t his kin or from his community, a man that the scribe would think of as his enemy. Then Jesus asks, “Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?”

The scribe answers, “The one who showed kindness.” “Do this,” Jesus commands, “and you shall live.”

What is the whole point of this exchange between Jesus and the know- it-all-scribe? Jesus wants to teach the hostile man that to love God and neighbor and to walk in the path of eternal life means being kind and compassionate to all. Jesus is also teaching us –and all the generations who hear God’s Word and take it to heart–to be kind and show compassion to all people. And just as importantly, Jesus is urging us to model and teach kindness and compassion to those who are hostile to the radical inclusivity of the gospel. The love and grace of God aren’t just for white people, Americans, Christians, English speakers, heterosexuals and people of a certain political party. John 3:16 assures us that God’s gift of eternal life through His Son is for ALL the world that God so loves!

The question is never, “Who is my neighbor?” For everyone is our neighbor, especially someone who needs our help, someone whom God places in our path. The question is always, “How can I be a neighbor and show love and compassion, like Christ has shown for me?”

 

***

The first day of our VBS at Spirit Lake was pretty much a disaster–or at least it felt that way. The children were wild, unruly and uncooperative. They wouldn’t sit still. They wouldn’t sing. They were used to running around and playing with balls in the space that we had turned into centers for music, games, crafts and Bible. The only thing they seemed to be interested in was eating. They were hungry! We never had leftovers, not even salad! The kids ate everything on their plates or they took their plates and drinks home with them, carrying them around till it was time to go.

But on the second day, things changed. Maybe we had changed in our expectations. Maybe the Lord was just testing our faith. All the children came back. And more came! We served more than 50 children over 4 days, ending the program with a family program and ice cream social. The children came in like little lambs, put on their nametags without a fuss, and waited in line, without pushing and shoving.

We met the children at the door, surprising them by greeting them by name, with affection, despite their unruliness the day before. They responded to the simple kindness and generosity of strangers, who talked funny, had different colored hair and really white skin–or at least, some of us did. They hugged, laughed and sang with us, eagerly memorized their Bible verse with the motions and volunteered to recite it. They held our hands and climbed into our laps and onto the shoulders of their crew leaders. Yes, praise God, it was, “Welcome to the neighborhood.”

 

 

 

Let us pray.

 

Holy One, we praise you for the work you are doing in our hearts and lives! Thank you for Jesus and for your Spirit that convicts us of our sin of prejudice. Forgive us for being unkind to even our own kin and community and our lack of compassion for people of different faiths and cultures that may frighten or bewilder us. Forgive us for holding onto our money and possessions, rather than using all that we are and all that we have to build up your Kingdom and your Church. Help us to love you with all heart, soul, mind and might. Lead us to love our neighbors as ourselves and to change the world with our words and deeds– so that the oppressed go free, and children are nurtured in your ways –and never go hungry for food or love. Let justice flow down like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream! In Christ we pray. Amen.

 

 

 

 

 

Meditation on 2 Kings 5:1-14

July 3, 2016

Merritt Island Presbyterian Church

 

 

 

 

 

Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Aram, was a great man and in high favor with his master, because by him the Lord had given victory to Aram. The man, though a mighty warrior, was a leper.

 

 

 

Now the Arameans on one of their raids had taken a young girl captive from the land of Israel, and she served Naaman’s wife. She said to her mistress, ‘If only my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.’

So Naaman went in and told his lord just what the girl from the land of Israel had said. And the king of Aram said, ‘Go then, and I will send along a letter to the king of Israel.’ He went, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten sets of garments. He brought the letter to the king of Israel, which read, ‘When this letter reaches you, know that I have sent to you my servant Naaman, that you may cure him of his leprosy.’ When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and said, ‘Am I God, to give death or life, that this man sends word to me to cure a man of his leprosy? Just look and see how he is trying to pick a quarrel with me.’ But when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent a message to the king, ‘Why have you torn your clothes? Let him come to me, that he may learn that there is a prophet in Israel.’

So Naaman came with his horses and chariots, and halted at the entrance of Elisha’s house.

 

 

Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, ‘Go, wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored and you shall be clean.’

 

 

     But Naaman became angry and went away, saying, ‘I thought that for me he would surely come out, and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, and would wave his hand over the spot, and cure the leprosy! Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them, and be clean?’

 

 

He turned and went away in a rage. But his servants approached and said to him, ‘Father, if the prophet had commanded you to do something difficult, would you not have done it? How much more, when all he said to you was, “Wash, and be clean”?’ So he went down and immersed (dipped) himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God; his flesh was restored like the flesh of a young boy, and he was clean.

 

 

 

Jim and I watched one of my favorite movies this week– “The Princess Bride.” The 1987 classic begins with an elderly man reading the fairy tale, “The Princess Bride,” to his young grandson, home sick from school. At first, the boy can’t tear himself away from his video game to listen to the tale, but he becomes more interested after his grandpa promises “sports” in the story– “fencing, fighting, torture, murder, pirates, revenge, true love and miracles.”

Once upon a time, a beautiful maiden, Buttercup, and Wesley, a poor farm boy, fall in love. He leaves the village to find his fortune, planning to return and marry her.

 

But the Dread Pirate Roberts attacks Wesley’s ship, Buttercup learns, leaving no survivors. She grieves and vows to never love again. Then, evil Prince Humperdink, chooses Buttercup to be his wife.

 

 

 

But he hires 3 men –Inigo, Vizzini, and Fezzik–to start a war by kidnapping and killing her and blaming another kingdom for her death.

 

Wesley, who masquerades as the Dread Pirate Roberts, returns just in time to save Buttercup.

 

But the Prince captures him and sends him to be tortured in the Pit of Despair. Inigo and Fezzik go looking for Wesley to help them avenge Inigo’s father, who was killed 20 years before by a 6-fingered man.  They find Wesley, but he’s already dead. Not giving up, they take him to Miracle Max, and give him all the money they have (which isn’t much) to restore him to life.

Max agrees when he learns that it will mean humiliation for Humperdink, who fired Max.

 

Max and his wife, Valerie (Carol Kane), make a magic pill for Inigo and Fezzik to give to Wesley. “The chocolate coating makes it down easier,” Valerie says. “But you have to wait 15 minutes for full potency…And you shouldn’t go in swimming after at least…” “An hour,” Max finishes.

 

“Have fun storming the castle!” they say, waving to Inigo, Fezzik and the still unconscious Wesley. Valerie asks Max, “Do you think it’ll work?” Max says, “It’ll take a miracle.”

 

But everything works out perfectly, because it’s a fairy tale. After some adventures and misadventures, Buttercup is saved from the evil prince. The miracle pill restores Wesley’s health. Inigo’s father is avenged. Buttercup and Wesley and their friends ride off into the sunset–to live happily ever after.

***

A miracle is what the great Aramean warrior, Naaman, needs in our reading in 2 Kings today. What is startling, right away, is learning that the one who desires healing and seeks it in Israel’s God is Israel’s archenemy. Naaman, which means “fair” or “gracious,” is the commander of the army of Aram, also called Syria.

Aram was one of Noah’s grandsons and one of Shem’s sons (Gen. 10-11).

The two kingdoms that are almost continually in conflict are experiencing a rare peace when the “young girl” captured in a raid from “the land of Israel” and made to serve Naaman’s wife wants to help the one responsible for her capture and enslavement! She is the one who has faith in the God of Israel and God’s prophet Elisha–not the king of Israel. We don’t know exactly when this miracle took place, since neither the king of Aram (Syria) or Israel is identified.

Naaman is called “a leper,” but we aren’t sure what his skin disease actually was–or its severity. He doesn’t appear to be suffering from the “leprosy” that is known today as Hansen’s disease, which causes pain, widespread infection of the joints, eventual loss of limbs and gross disfigurement. He is not forced to live in quarantine. He isn’t ritually unclean or subject to the regulations of Lev. 13. Naaman learns of Elisha in Samaria indirectly from his wife, who listens to her young servant. Naaman, without hesitation, it seems, approaches his king with this information and the king of Aram, writes a letter for Naaman to take to the king of Israel. Strangely, the king of Aram fails to mention the prophet in the letter, and the king of Israel doesn’t turn to Elisha for help. The king of Israel immediately jumps to the wrong conclusion, believing that the Syrian king is looking for an excuse to go to war.

Let’s consider the gift Naaman brings. One talent is about 32 kilograms; a shekel weighs about 30 milligrams. Naaman’s total gift would amount to about 340 kilograms of silver (about 749 pounds) and 90 kilograms (198 pounds) of gold. This is an enormous amount!! He would need an army of horses and chariots to carry this gift! This speaks of Naaman’s great wealth, his determination not to be ignored, his great desire to be healed, and his willingness to pay a steep price for it.

Naaman’s request and the king’s fearful response somehow reach Elisha, who is probably still in Gilgal (where he was in ch. 4) with his students. Elisha sends a messenger to the king, saying, “Let him come to me that he may learn that there is a prophet in Israel.” Naaman, with his parade of horses and chariots and silver and gold, goes to Elisha’s house, but Elisha isn’t there!

 

 

There’s only a messenger, who says, “Go wash in the Jordan 7 times!” This is not the reception or cure that the mighty warrior expected, desired, or felt he deserved.

He wants a miracle like Miracle Max –a chocolate-coated, magic pill–so that he can have life, just as he imagines it to be without his disease. “Washing” in the Jordan is an insult to Naaman, who is quick to defend the rivers of his homeland. But this healing isn’t just about Naaman being cured of disease–it is about his being brought to the faith–his conversion to belief in the gracious, merciful God of Israel. Elisha sends him to the Jordan because of its significance for Israel– who crossed it to enter God’s Promised Land.

 

Elijah and Elisha crossed the Jordan together before the Lord took Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind.

 

 

In the New Testament, John will call sinners to repentance in the Jordan. Jesus will be baptized there to show us the way.

 

 

Just like at the beginning of today’s passage in 2 Kings, we find, at the end, that those with great faith and wisdom are those with the lowest status! When the mighty warrior turns away from Elisha’s messenger in a rage, his servants muster the courage to approach and ask, ‘Father, if the prophet had commanded you to do something difficult, would you not have done it? How much more, when all he said to you was, “Wash, and be clean”?’  The miracle is that Naamann listens–and his heart is moved to obey. He immerses or “dips” himself in the Jordan 7 times–and his healing is complete. The verb translated “immerse” or “dip” is unusual in the Old Testament, often referring to objects dipped in blood. Even when it refers to objects dipped in water (such as 2 Kings 8:15) or in other liquids (Deut. 33:24 and 1 Sam. 14:27), it is not a synonym for “washing.” His flesh is “restored like the flesh of a young boy”– language that brings us back to the young, innocent child at the beginning of his story, caught between the two warring kingdoms–the Israeli slave who stirred Naaman to search for his cleansing of body and soul, though he didn’t know it at the time. What Naaman needed more than anything was to be made whole.

Friends, we may be tempted to approach God like he’s Miracle Max in a fairy tale, wanting the magic, chocolate-coated pill that goes down easy and sweet–so everything can be how we want it to be–perhaps as things used to be, when we were younger. And we can be prideful and stubborn like Naaman–and stop listening to God’s word because it isn’t what we want to hear. We may end up making things more difficult for ourselves than they have to be. We may even miss out on the healing work God has planned for us and the opportunity to witness to God’s amazing power–and our own obedience to him.

After Naaman is healed, he returns to “the man of God,” in verse 15, and stands before him with all his horses and chariots and men. And Naaman says, “Now I know…” “Now I know that there is no God in all the earth, save for Israel.” Naaman’s extravagant gifts are not needed. The Lord’s gift of wholeness–body and soul–is not something that can be bought or earned. But God’s mercy and grace should stir a heart-felt response in us, as Naaman’s healing does for him. The mighty warrior and former enemy of Israel vows to build an altar in his homeland of Aram so that he can worship and serve the One True God. Think of the witness that this man of great reputation will have in enemy territory! Think of all the conversions and healings that will come!

The words of the prophet stir us today to recall our baptisms, when we first tasted the Spirit-filled life and began to listen for God’s voice.

 

 

Let us heed God’s call to love and serve with fresh commitment, not expecting a fairy tale life and “happily ever after” but simply to live in grateful obedience to the Lord. “Go, wash in the Jordan! Wash and be made whole!”

 

Let us pray.

 

Holy One, thank you for your Spirit that continues to fill us, guide us, and wash us clean from all our sins! Thank you for our baptisms and for the way you continually respond to our cries for healing–and your desire to make us whole. Father, we are in need of your healing now for our bodies and souls! Forgive us for our stubbornness and pride wanting you to work in us and our lives the way we want you to do. Humble us and make us grateful for the miracles we experience and witness every day. Stir us to respond with loving service to you and your people, like the lowly servants in your Word. In Christ we pray. Amen.

 

 

 

Meditation on Isaiah 43 (Selected verses)

Witness to the Resurrection/Celebration of Life

 In Memory of Barbara Montesion

June 28, 2016

August 16, 1927 – April 18, 2016

 

But now thus says the Lord,
he who created you, O Jacob,
he who formed you, O Israel:
Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name, you are mine.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;
when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,
and the flame shall not consume you.
For I am the Lord your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.
I give Egypt as your ransom,
Ethiopia and Seba in exchange for you.
Do not fear, for I am with you;
I will bring your offspring from the east,
and from the west I will gather you;
I will say to the north, ‘Give them up’,
and to the south, ‘Do not withhold;
bring my sons from far away
and my daughters from the end of the earth—
everyone who is called by my name,
whom I created for my glory,
whom I formed and made.’…
I am the Lord, your Holy One,
the Creator of Israel, your King.
Do not remember the former things,
or consider the things of old.
I am about to do a new thing;
now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
I will make a way in the wilderness
and rivers in the desert.
I, I am He who blots out your transgressions for my own sake,
and I will not remember your sins.
Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts:
I am the first and I am the last; Besides me, there is no god.

Do not fear. Or be afraid.

***

It was one day last April. I had just sliced and wrapped bread and poured juice for my home communion kit, when Barbara’s caregiver and friend, Deborah, called the church office asking for the pastor. I listened as she shared about her friend’s recent cancer diagnosis and grim prognosis, delivered by a healthcare professional in a matter-of-fact voice. I heard of Barbara’s pain, anxiety and fear, and my heart went out to her. Being new here last fall, I hadn’t met Barbara, yet, or heard her story. Because of her health, some years had passed since she had been able to come to church. She had been active in the congregation for a number of years; her portrait with her husband, Frank, appears in two of our church directories. She had friends here and happy memories. “Barbara Williams Bishop” joined the church on Dec. 15, 1991. She married Frank Montesion here on Feb. 15, 1994.

Deborah asked if I could come to Barb’s home in Rockledge that day. Would I come and pray? I came that afternoon, with an elder, Marilyn Smoot. It was a mysterious thing, I remember thinking at the time, a rare thing, really, to have, at the last minute, some space opening up in my visitation schedule. It had never happened before. It was part of a divine plan for Marilyn and me to meet with Barb, members of her family and her friend, and share moments of sweetness, amidst the pain. Barb welcomed us and took my hand. We communed with Christ and one another at Barb’s bedside, a little tray with juice and challah bread balanced on her nightstand. We ate and drank spiritual food, experiencing a glimmer of the great banquet–when God’s people come from east and west and north and south to sit at table in the Kingdom of God. The bread and cup stirred a glimpse of the new creation–when we will all be made new. No more suffering. No more pain. No more tears. No more fear.

Barb, with Deb’s help, shared some of her story– that she was from Mount Vernon, NY. How she attended college in New Jersey and earned a degree in math. She planned to be a teacher, but became an accountant. She smiled as we talked about her ballroom dancing and her beautiful gowns. Her daughter, Pat, told me later that her mom took ballroom dance lessons for the first time when she was 53 just to “keep busy” after her first husband, John Bishop, died. It didn’t take long before she became involved in competitive ballroom dancing. In more recent years, she taught water aerobics and enjoyed walking.

At Barb’s bedside, Deborah mentioned that Barb loved to travel. I assumed she went on some cruises, took a few trips. I underestimated her spirit of adventure! She and John traveled around the country extensively, beginning with a cross-country rail trip in 1968. They boarded a train in Chicago and went to Albuquerque, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Victoria British Columbia, Banff and Minneapolis. They traveled to the American West several times and went to Nova Scotia. And, yes, they took some cruises. After her first husband died, Barbara traveled with her daughter, Pat, to Bermuda, Alaska, Germany, Switzerland, British Isles, Greece, Mexico, and Tahiti.  With her second husband, Frank, she went to Northern Ireland, Scandinavia, Hawaii, the Panama Canal, and the Caribbean.  She didn’t give up traveling until the 1980s, when it became too hard for her to get around. She missed it.

As we talked, Barb hugged a large, brown stuffed bear that we brought her, its maroon velvet necktie perfectly matching her maroon bedclothes. The stuffed bear is one of our church’s “blessed bears,” its tag declaring that it was blessed by prayer and scripture as it sat on a pew during worship. It was a reminder for Barb of 1 Cor. 13:7– that love “bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” We always think of that scripture as talking about human love–or at least what our love should do and be– but the love Paul speaks of is God’s love available to us through the Spirit to all who seek the greatest gift. We wanted to make sure that Barb knew that God would always be with her, helping her to “bear” all things.

She told us that she often thought about the church and wanted to come back and see us. She said she was looking forward to meeting the new pastor. Marilyn and I laughed–and she joined in– after we told her that she had already met the pastor. Guess I wasn’t what she expected! :o)

Barb was hungry for God’s Word. She had regularly attended Bible studies, when she was feeling better, and was a member of a Christian women’s association. When we were together that day in April, I don’t remember the scripture I read, but something stirred me afterward to ask Barb if she believed. I sensed she needed reassurance of God’s forgiveness and the promise of everlasting life with Him.

“Oh, yes,” she said, nodding her head. “Oh, yes!”

She wanted to go home to be with the Lord. But she needed to be assured that she still belonged to Him, that she was a lamb of Christ’s flock. She needed to be reassured that nothing can separate us from God’s love shown in Jesus Christ, as Paul in Romans tells us.

We are always God’s people, and the Lord is always our God.

“You are REDEEMED,” says the Lord through Isaiah. “You are MINE.”

 

***

 

Israel also needed to be reassured of God’s forgiveness and love at the time of the exile. Prophets such as Isaiah were telling the people that the Babylonian destruction of the Temple and the Holy City and their exile was God’s punishment for their unfaithfulness. The people had fallen away from the God of Israel. Even the priests had taken foreign wives and had adopted their pagan ways. They were worshiping idols.

The author of Isaiah 43, living between 550 and 515 BCE, tells the people how unlovable they are just before today’s reading. In 42:18-25, Isaiah calls them blind and deaf to God’s presence. Israel deserves God’s wrath and punishment! And then, in chapter 43, Isaiah says, “But now…” What follows “but now” is all good news– a healing balm for God’s people, feeling broken and unloved. The One who created us for His glory knew, from the foundation of the world, that we would be unfaithful. But God loves us anyway. He chose to forgive us, Isaiah says, for “his own sake”! He wants to be with us, to delight in a loving relationship with us. But we are no different than the ancient Israelites. We have idols. We care about ourselves more than the Lord. We spend too much time thinking how we can be happier, how we can change what we don’t like about ourselves, our lives and other people, rather than seeking God’s face, living in gratitude to the One who gave us life and so many blessings–so that we will be a blessing to others and to Him.

Why do we waste so much time being afraid and anxious? Why do we worry that God can’t possibly love and forgive us, even when God’s Word tells us He does? The problem is that we can’t see ourselves as God sees us–through the redemption of Jesus Christ. We only see the darkness of our sins! “We see through a mirror dimly,” Paul tells us, with only the promise that someday we will see our Savior “face to face.” We can only trust in the Spirit that lives in and among us now, guiding and empowering us to do His will each day. We can only seek the Lord in prayer–and keep on seeking Him. We can only cling to the promises of God in His Word.

It was less than a week after our visit with Barb when her friend, Deborah, called me again. Barb had gone home to be with God, her creator who made her for His glory. Her Savior, Redeemer and Lord.

Listen now to the promises of God’s Word! Listen with your heart. See Christ with your hope and faith, believing without a doubt that someday you will, like Barb, see Him face to face.

“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. … Do not fear, for I am with you…I am the Lord, your Holy One, the Creator of Israel, your King. Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old. I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. I, I am He who blots out your transgressions for my own sake and I will not remember your sins. Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: I am the first and I am the last; Besides me, there is no god. Do not fear. Or be afraid.”

 

Let us pray.

 

Holy One, thank you for your Word and your promise of forgiveness and everlasting life if we believe in your Son and His work on the cross for our sakes. Forgive us for our doubts, fears and anxieties–and for our sin of idolatry, for loving you less than we love ourselves and seeking happiness and security in the things of this world. Help us to walk in Christ’s loving ways and be more eternally minded, more and more seeking your face, resting in your grace. Make us truly grateful for your gift of life and your faithfulness to us. Grant us your peace in the knowledge that we belong to you. That you are OUR God. May we feel your comforting, healing presence with us always. Stir our hearts to contentment and acceptance of ourselves, other people, Your church, and Your will. Heal us with your joy. In Christ we pray. Amen.

***

In Memory of

Barbara A. Montesion

August 16, 1927 – April 18, 2016

Obituary

 

Barbara Montesion, 88, of Rockledge, FL., passed away Monday, April 18, 2016 at home.

She was born in Mt. Vernon, New York, and came to Brevard County in 1991 from Pluckemin, NJ. She was an Accountant before retiring.

She is survived by her sons; John (Sue) Bishop and David (Debbie) Bishop, daughter; Patricia (Stephen) Carlson, stepchildren; Stephen Montesion, Mark Montesion, Catherine (John) Redmond, Marcia (Gary) Secallus, grandchildren; Liam Lawry, Asa Bishop, Rod Leith, Vanessa Volpone, Miklyn Montesion, Gionni Montesion, Catherine Secallus, Gary Secallus, and John Redmond. She also leaves her great grandchildren; Grace Redmond, Sophie Redmond, Brayden Volpone, and her sister-in-law; Sue Bishop. She was preceded in death by her husbands; John L. Bishop, and Frank P. Montesion.

She was a 1948 graduate of Trenton State Teachers College (Barbara Williams), and a former volunteer for Meals on Wheels in Brevard County, Florida. She was also a member of the Merritt Island Presbyterian Church, and the Women’s Christian Association. She was an avid traveler and ballroom dancer.

 

 

Meditation on 2 Kings 2:1-15

June 26, 2016

Merritt Island Presbyterian Church

   Now when the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven by a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal. Elijah said to Elisha, ‘Stay here; for the Lord has sent me as far as Bethel.’ But Elisha said, ‘As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.’ So they went down to Bethel.  

 

     The company of prophets who were in Bethel came out to Elisha, and said to him, ‘Do you know that today the Lord will take your master away from you?’ And he (Elisha) said, ‘Yes, I know; keep silent.’

     Elijah said to him, ‘Elisha, stay here; for the Lord has sent me to Jericho.’ But he said, ‘As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.’ So they came to Jericho. 

The company of prophets who were at Jericho drew near to Elisha, and said to him, ‘Do you know that today the Lord will take your master away from you?’ And he answered, “Yes, I know; be silent.’

      Then Elijah said to him, ‘Stay here; for the Lord has sent me to the Jordan.’ But he said, ‘As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.’ So the two of them went on. Fifty men of the company of prophets also went, and stood at some distance from them, as they both were standing by the Jordan. 

 

Then Elijah took his mantle and rolled it up, and struck the water; the water was parted to the one side and to the other, until the two of them crossed on dry ground.

     

When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, ‘Tell me what I may do for you, before I am taken from you.’ Elisha said, ‘Please let me inherit a double share of your spirit.’ He responded, ‘You have asked a hard thing; yet, if you see me as I am being taken from you, it will be granted you; if not, it will not.’ 

As they continued walking and talking, a chariot of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them, and Elijah ascended in a whirlwind into heaven. 

 

Elisha kept watching and crying out, ‘Father, father! The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!’ But when he could no longer see him, he grasped his own clothes and tore them in two pieces.

    He picked up the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan.

 

 He took the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, and struck the water, saying, ‘Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?’ When he had struck the water, the water was parted to the one side and to the other, and Elisha went over.

 When the company of prophets who were at Jericho saw him at a distance, they declared, ‘The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha.’ They came to meet him and bowed to the ground before him.

***

 

     My friend, Erma, turned 96 in January. This is a photo of her when Jim and I visited her in Renville, MN, in May.

 

She was in her kitchen, about to serve us her homemade rhubarb pie. Yes, she still bakes pies, though not as much as she used to. Perhaps more startling is that on her 95^th birthday, I received a Facebook friend request from her! Her family had bought her an IPad. She had never used a computer before! Now it is easier to stay connected with her and her family–and for her to stay connected with me.

I met Erma in July 2011, when I first arrived in Renville. Her husband, Chet, who died in 1972, had been a pastor and served my former congregation, Ebenezer Presbyterian Church, for about 11 years. Under Chet’s leadership, the church of the 1950s needed more space for Sunday school! They built a 2-story addition. And Erma, who had taught in a one-room school, started a Sunday school class for 3-year olds!

She and I became close friends. She nurtured my faith and encouraged me to walk confidently in my call to ministry. I looked forward to my visits with her, and hearing her stories about family, her life long ago, and the church in the old days. I felt a special touch of the Spirit when we prayed. Whenever I felt discouraged, Erma was there for me.

I am truly blessed that she is one of many people whom the Lord has used to help me find me way and become more comfortable with the person the Lord has called me to be!

You may have a similar story to tell! You are in church today because someone cared about you, shared the Lord with you, and helped to nurture you in the faith. You are who you are today–a follower of Christ–because someone loved you, took time to teach and encourage you and make you feel special, too.

***

In our 2 Kings reading today, we encounter Elijah and Elisha in a godly, helping relationship. Elijah, whose name means “YHWH is my God!”, is in his last days of ministry. Last week, we read how Elijah ran to the wilderness, fleeing Jezebel, who wants to kill him.

Weary of his prophetic call, he asks the Lord to “take away his life.” God sends angels to feed him and prepare him for the work to come.

Hiding in a cave, Elijah hears God in the “sound of sheer silence.”

The Lord tells him to return to Damascus and anoint new kings of Aram and Israel. Along the way, he will train up and anoint Elisha to take his place. God will send the tired, lonely prophet help and encouragement.

Elijah finds Elisha when he is plowing a field with 12 oxen in Abel-mecholah in northern Israel.

“Abel-mecholah” means, “Meadow of Dancing.” Elisha, probably in his 20s, is the son of a wealthy landowner named Shaphat. Elijah throws his loose outer garment or “mantle” over Elisha as he passes by.

Elisha, whose name means, “My God is Salvation,” recognizes the call to prophetic ministry. He leaves his oxen, runs after Elijah. This reminds me of how Jesus calls his would-be disciples while they are working, too. They leave their nets–their way of life and making a living–and follow him.

Elijah regrets his invitation when Elisha asks to first kiss his father and mother goodbye. “Go back again,” Elijah says, “for what have I done to you?” Elisha, to prove his commitment, returns from following him only long enough to slaughter the oxen, cook the meat over the wood of the plough, and feed it to his friends and relatives, in effect, declaring that he was not going back to his old life!

Elisha’s call story may be compared to the call of the would-be disciple in today’s gospel reading in Luke 9:61-62. Someone approaches Jesus and says, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me bid farewell to my family. Then Jesus declared, ‘No one who puts his hand to the plow and then looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” Jesus’ reference to the plow–and looking back– is likely a reference to Elisha!

We hear nothing of Elisha again until about 4 years later, when we are nearing the end of Elijah’s ministry. Today’s passage in 2 Kings begins, “Now when the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven by a whirlwind…” Elijah is the only prophet taken to heaven, without dying first, though Genesis 5:24 tells of another man–Enoch–who didn’t experience death. He “walked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.”

Elijah will try 3 times to persuade Elisha to leave him–to stay in Gilgal, Bethel, then Jericho. Three times, Elisha insists, “As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” This may be a test for Elisha. His 3 proclamations of commitment may be compared with Peter’s denying Jesus 3 times before the cock crows

and the risen Jesus asking Peter 3 times, after he denied him, “Do you love me?”

 

Do you wonder who this “company of prophets” are who keep asking Elisha, ‘Do you know that today the Lord will take your master away from you?’ To which Elisha always answers, ‘Yes, I know; keep silent.’ Be quiet!! Doesn’t he sound annoyed? Other translations say, “Sons of prophets.” But they are not prophets; they are students, perhaps, or “groupies.” They threaten to distract Elisha. With his curt reply, we get a sense of his grief at the thought of losing his friend.

Finally, Elijah and Elisha are at the Jordan, where so many important things happen in the Bible. The Israelites, in Joshua, cross the Jordan to reach the Promise Land. They, too, cross it on dry land as they follow the ark of the covenant.

 

The mantle striking the water and the water parting points back to Moses at the Red Sea.

 

 

After they cross the Jordan, Elijah asks Elisha what he may do for him. Elisha asks to “inherit, a double share of your spirit.” He is asking for the status as rightful heir to the prophetic leader’s role. The phrase means twice as much as any other heir, not double the amount that Elijah has! Then we find out why Elisha has been so persistent to stay with Elijah. If Elisha is permitted to see Elijah being taken, then his wish to follow in Elijah’s footsteps will be granted.

While they are walking, a chariot and horses of fire separate them; Elijah ascends in a whirlwind. For some reason, art often depicts Elijah riding the chariot.

 

But the Bible doesn’t say that he actually rides the chariot and horses of fire–only that they separate them before Elijah is taken up. Scholars are puzzled over the horses and chariot of fire. Chariots and horses are transportation, of course, for war. Wind and fire are associated with God, the Holy Spirit, as in Acts 2. In the OT, the “whirlwind” is a symbol of God’s judgment. Elisha’s cry is also puzzling–not the “My Father, My Father” part, which is a common address of respect for a mentor or teacher. But the rest, “The chariots of Israel and its horses!” We hear the cry again in 2 Kings 13:14, but this time it’s Israel’s King Joash who says it, weeping as Elisha dies.

We learn today the importance of the mentor relationship, the godly friendship. It takes investment of heart, mind, and time. God brings people together for a season and for good reason–so we can learn together–and love, serve, hear and know more the God of our salvation. God helped Elijah when he was exhausted and discouraged by bringing him Elisha. But the blessings were there for Elisha, too. Remember his commitment to his mentor and friend, “‘As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.’

I am grateful for Erma–for our friendship that will last, despite the distance. I am grateful for the many people God is using to help me grow and serve Him with all my gifts, with all my life. I am also grateful for the opportunities God has provided for me to help others. I am happy to see God is using you, too!

 

 

Who will you reach out to with Christ’s love–and your friendship?

 

Yes, it will take your heart, mind and time! Whose faith will you touch today?

 

Let us pray.

Holy One, thank you for sending your Son, who has promised to be with us always, even to the end of the age! Thank you for your forgiveness and your Word, which assures us that your will is for us to have godly friendships–to love one another and help one another as we seek to serve you with our hearts, minds and lives. Build up our faith as we seek to nurture the faith of others. Bless our relationships. May they always be Christ-centered and glorifying to you. Strengthen our commitment to one another–and to you, who are the Rock of our Salvation, our hope and inspiration. In Christ we pray. Amen.