Sharing God's Love and Grace

Tell Me About Your Garden Series for Lent

Psalm 51:1-17; Genesis 4a-25                      

Ash Wednesday

March 5, 2025

Thank you to the 15 gardeners, ranging in age from 51 to 102, for opening your homes and gardens to me and sharing your stories in the summer and fall of 2024 and as a group in early spring 2025 for my doctoral project for Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary.

Listen to the devotion through this link:

“For Ash Wednesday

All those days you felt like dust,

like dirt,

as if all you had to do was turn your face

toward the wind

and be scattered

to the four corners

or swept away by the smallest breath

as insubstantial—

did you not know what the Holy One

can do with dust?”—Jan Richardson[1]

        I recently became a composter with the gift of two specialized bins from fellow gardeners. I am amazed that my husband and I were able to fill the 50-gallon bin in just a few months, mainly with fruit and vegetable peelings, tea bags, coffee grounds, and leaves. Every day, when I go out to feed the birds, I bring our food waste to the bin, dump it in, and give it a turn. It makes me happy to do this, but I also lament all the years that we have simply thrown our compostable waste into the trash because it seemed like too much trouble or too complicated to compost.

        I am grateful to the gardeners in our flock who encouraged me and taught me how. When I see the big pile of now frozen fruit and vegetable waste, I hear the gardener who gave me the 50-gallon bin saying, “Be patient.” I can’t wait for the magical transformation to wonderful black soil to enrich my garden next summer.

        One of our gardeners, Kaitlyn, says she is learning through composting how to let go and how letting go leaves space for something new. “Sometimes, the plant is spent, and it’s time,” she says, “I tell the plant, ‘You are going to go to a new place. You are going to become soil, again.’”

       On Ash Wednesday, our foreheads are marked with palm ash and olive oil and we remember when God told the first human beings, after eating the forbidden fruit, “you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” Today and throughout this season, we remember our fragility and vulnerability, and our need for and connection to our Creator God, the Holy Spirit that sustains, transforms, and heals us, and the Son, our Redeemer, Lord, and friend.

       The word we translate “dust” is adamah in Hebrew. This word is found more than 200 times in the Bible and means both land and soil.[1] The first human being, adam, was made from adamah. But adamah doesn’t mean “dirt,” like something gets dirty and needs to be cleaned. Soil is both living and life-giving! A mere handful of it “has more living organisms than there are people on the planet.”[2] Soil is a gift from God.God’s love for the soil, say agriculturalist Fred Bahnson and theologian Norman Wirzba, is evident from the beginning, when God does not “create the world from a lofty and disinterested height or through means of violent force.”[3] The Lord, instead, “enlists and … engages the soil so that the earth puts forth all kinds of vegetation and fruit and ‘bring(s) forth living creatures of every kind….’”[4] In the second chapter of Genesis, the “centrality of the soil is (even) more pronounced.”[5] This is when the Lord God “fashions the first human being by taking the dust of the ground into his hands, holding it so close that it can share in the divine breath, and inspiring it with the freshness of life.”[6] Only when the ground is filled with God’s breath is human life, and the life of trees, animals and birds, possible at all.[7]   

     But not everyone loves the soil or gardening. The gardeners in my flock told me about family and friends who don’t want to get their hands “dirty.” One said that none of his friends labor in their own lawns. They prefer to pay people to tend their lawns for them.

     Sometimes, I wonder what Jesus would do, if he lived in our neighborhood. Would the one mistaken for a gardener in John chapter 20 tend his own lawn? Numerous biblical passages reveal his intimate interactions with soil as part of his ministry of teaching and healing. In the 9^th chapter of John, Jesus uses soil to restore sight to a man born blind, spitting on the ground, making mud with his hands, and covering the man’s eyes with it. Then he tells him to go and wash in the pool of Siloam. He does so and comes home seeing.

    In the 8^th chapter of John, when a woman accused of adultery is brought to Jesus for judgment, and the scribes and Pharisees demand that she be stoned, he bends down and writes with his finger on the ground. When they continue to press him, he straightens up and says, “Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” Once again, he bends down and scribbles with his finger on the ground. Most scholarship focuses on speculation over why she was brought alone and not with her male partner, the wisdom of the way Jesus handles the situation, and what Jesus might have been writing. Scholars do not usually discuss the fact that he was directing his attention to the soil, and thereby turning their attention to it, and our attention to it, as if the ground holds answers to the problem of sin.

     One by one, the crowd leaves. No one picks up a stone. Jesus straightens up, turns to the woman and asks, “Where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She replies, “No one, sir.” And he says, “Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin again.”

     Soil was of great interest to the biblical farmer, as well, who was “heir to a long agricultural tradition which originated in the Near East before the Neolithic period (ca. 7000 BCE) with the domestication of plants and animals.”[5] Farmers in ancient Israel faced unfavorable growing conditions; they often lacked fertile soil and sufficient water. Irrigation wasn’t always the answer as it caused salts to accumulate in the soil. “The farmers reacted to the decreased soil quality by increasingly cultivating barley instead of wheat” [6] because barley had a higher salt tolerance. Remember how Ruth and Naomi returned to Israel right at the beginning of the barley harvest?

    The farmer could restore soil fertility through the practice of crop rotation and “green manuring, the cultivation of legume plants to increase nitrogen”  in the soil and fallowing, letting the land rest in the Sabbatical year, as instructed in Ex. 23:10-11, “For six years you shall sow your land and gather in its yield;but the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow, so that the poor of your people may eat; and what they leave the wild animals may eat. You shall do the same with your vineyard, and with your olive orchard.” The other biblical practice, embraced by avid gardeners, is composting, “one of the oldest biotechnologies” of humankind.[7] They used dung, compost, and ash for fertilizing.[8]

    Another plant we hear about on Ash Wednesday, in addition to the palm, is hyssop. In Psalm 51:7, the writer entreats the Lord to cleanse him from his sin. “Purge me with hyssop,” he says, “and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.”

Syrian hyssop is a wild herb that grows “abundantly…among the dwarf shrubbery, usually on stony ground. The Arabs call it zaatar and use it in tea and in cooked and baked food. … Because of its association with cleaning, the hyssop plant was thought to possess powers of spiritual purification.”[1] It is a “handsome plant and… is rare in the Sinai, where Moses ordered the people to take bunches of it[2] in Ex. 12:21-22, and dip it in the blood (of the Passover lambs), and touch the lintel and the two doorposts” with it. It’s mentioned in 1 Kings 4:33 as a plant that wise Solomon, who knew his trees, talked about, from the cedar of Lebanon to hyssop that grows “out of the wall.” And finally, we find hyssop in John 19:28-30, when Jesus, “knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the scripture), ‘I thirst.’ A bowl of vinegar stood there; so they put a sponge full of the vinegar on hyssop and held it to his mouth. When Jesus had received the vinegar, he said, ‘It is finished’: and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.’”

     In this season of Lent, a time of drawing nearer to God, seeking forgiveness and reconciliation, and loving and serving others, I pray you will begin a spiritual practice, such as composting, which will strengthen your relationship with God and neighbor, and bring healing, fertility, and beauty to the earth. Remember, soil is a gift from God. We were all made from soil—animals, plants, and human beings. And one day, to soil we will all return, and new life will begin, again.

Let us pray.

God our Gardener, please forgive us for the ways we have fallen short of the calling to be tillers and keepers of the earth and lovers of God and one another. Stir us to seek you, with all our hearts throughout this season of Lent. Strengthen our relationships with you and our neighbors and help us to do our part to bring healing, fertility, and beauty to the earth. Thank you for the gift of soil and the promise of new and abundant life in the Son. Amen.

[1] Jan Richardson, Circle of Grace: A Book of Blessings for the Seasons (Orlando: Wanton Gospeller Press, 2015), 89.

[2 Michael Zohary, Plants of the Bible (Cambridge: University of Cambridge, 1982), 22.

      [3] Pamela Dolan, Contemplative Gardening (NY: Morehouse Publishing, 2022), 83.

       [4] Fred Bahnson and Norman Wirzba, Making Peace with the Land: God’s Call to Reconcile with Creation (IL: InterVarsity Press, 2012), 15.

       [5] Bahnson and Wirzba, Making Peace with the Land, 15.

       [6] Bahnson and Wirzba, 15.

       [7] Bahnson and Wirzba, 15.

       [8] Bahnson and Wirzba, 15. 

[9] Oded Borowski, “Agriculture,” in Anchor Bible Dictionary, Vol. 1 (A-C), edited by David Noel Freedman, (NY: Doubleday, 1992), 96.

      [10] W. Bidlingermaier and L.F. Diaz, Annals of Composting (USA: Ingram Content Group, 2021),14.

      [11] Bidlingermaier and Diaz, 8.

      [12] Borowski, 96.

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      [8] Bidlingermaier and Diaz, 8.

      [9] Borowski, 96.

[10] Zohary, 96.

     [11] Zohary, 97.

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 Devotion on Exodus 3:1-17 and Luke 9:28-36

Tell Me About Your Garden series

Pastor Karen Crawford

Transfiguration Sunday

March 2, 2025

“O God, light a candle in my heart.

And sweep the darkness from Your dwelling space. Amen.” – Marian Wright Edelman

Thank you to the 15 gardeners, ranging in age from 51 to 102, for opening your homes and gardens to me and sharing your stories in the summer and fall of 2024 and as a group in spring 2025 for my doctoral project for Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary.

Listen to the devotion here:

    Some of the best moments of my study of Presbyterian gardening spirituality happened during the garden tours. It was all part of the sacred experience, walking the soil together, breathing the air, sharing a conversation more intimate and personal because I had come to visit the gardeners in the most ordinary and familiar places for them—right where they live.

     The walks usually followed the hour-long interviews, which, for all but two that happened outside, took place indoors, sitting around a kitchen table. I scribbled copious notes and recorded the audio during the interviews, being careful to ask all 15 gardeners the same batch of questions. But when we strolled outside, there were no set questions. No script. No notetaking. No recording devices.

      We stepped into the sunlight of August, September, or October afternoons, and the gardeners became my guides. We walked through their yards, stopping at trees, shrubs, flower beds, vegetable plots, fairy gardens, container gardens, and composters. My senses drank in the sights, smells, and sounds.  Gardeners shared more of their stories, thoughts, and feelings. I paid close attention and savored these moments, which ended all too soon.

    Looking back, now that it’s winter, cold, and the days are still short, I remember the glorious, bright sunlight. I can still see the hues of flowers—purple, red, orange, blue, white, yellow; noises of birds, squirrels, and bees, and traffic rumbling by and having to pause the conversation or talk louder to be heard. I remember seeing the leaves drying, crumpling, and changing colors as summer gave way to fall, and blue sky and white, puffy clouds overhead. I remember the warmth and humidity following the August flood. And the mosquitoes and how much more enjoyable gardening would be, the gardeners laughed, if only those pesky creatures would just go away.

I am reminded of something artist Georgia O’Keeffe once said, “When you take a flower in your hand and really look at it, it’s your world for a moment. I want to give that world to someone else. I want them to see it whether they want to or not.” [1] Minister, philosopher, and poet, Ralph Waldo Emerson writes, “Never lose an opportunity of seeing anything that is beautiful, for beauty is God’s handwriting—a wayside sacrament. Welcome it in every fair face, in every fair sky, in every flower, and thank God for it as a cup of blessing.” [2]

When I read these passages in Exodus and Luke describing holy experiences with Moses and God at the burning bush on Mount Horeb and Peter, James, and John on the mountain with Jesus (and Moses and Elijah), I think of the importance of the outdoor setting for these personal, intimate, and terrifying encounters between human beings and their God. If they hadn’t climbed these mountains, they wouldn’t have happened. But in both accounts, the people experience the divine encounters unexpectedly. They are not on a spiritual pilgrimage seeking to meet with their God. Nor are the gardeners, who are just laboring in the soil when they see or hear something beautiful or surprising that catches them off guard and stirs new thoughts and feelings, peace and relaxation. They may not hear God’s voice, but they sense they are not alone in God’s Creation. Some learn spiritual lessons from the plants they are tending, such as when they are pruning. They let go of things they were worried about. Their bodies may be tired from the physical labor, but they often feel happy and satisfied. Kaitlyn says,

“Whenever I go out to the garden, I have that sense of connection. I feel like God is always with me. But I see more physical evidence there, and I am by myself, and I am waiting on things growing, watching the fig tree, and all of a sudden, it happens. And I say, ‘Thank you!’ I just feel so much gratitude…. When I see the butterflies and hummingbirds, they always give me a sense of awe. Each bird species has its own amazing factor. Plants and trees. It is a spiritual practice for me. It’s a combination of physical, emotional, and spiritual.”

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One could argue that seeing the Lord is the farthest thing from Moses’ mind that day on the mountain. It is a day like any other day, tending to his father-in-law Jethro’s flocks. This bush that burns without being consumed is an angel of the Lord, we are told. We eavesdrop on Moses’ thoughts, “I must turn aside,” he says to himself, “and look at this great sight and see why the bush is not burned up.”  The bush of this passage holds my attention, as well. Who is this God who speaks from bushes? Michael Zohary, professor of botany at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, tells us,

“Rarely has an ancient nation attributed holiness to so many plants as did the Hebrews during the biblical period. Scripture abounds with rites, feasts, and commands associated with plants and their cultivation. Numerous passages indicate that trees and woods were used as places of worship… Mighty and aged trees were adored and deified, serving as symbols of godliness and divine power. The Hebrew allon (oak) and elah (terebinth) are identical or cognate with the words for ‘god’ and ‘goddess’ …  Perhaps the crowning example of the association of plants with holiness is embodied in the story of the ‘burning bush’ where God made his revelation to Moses.” [3]

Zohary believes this bush was an ordinary tropical shrub, Cassia senna, that likes warmth and grows up to one meter high in “stony wadis (or mostly dry riverbeds) both in the Sinai and in southern Israel.” [4] It has medical uses, “as a stimulant and purgative, under the name folia sennae.” [5]

When Moses hears God calling his name from the ordinary bush, he answers the Lord immediately, and removes his shoes, hearing that he is standing on holy ground. Peter, James, and John are also on holy ground, though they are only expecting to go up the mountain to pray with Jesus. They are the chosen three of the 12, who will experience unforgettable sights and sounds, when the one who has called them suddenly changes in his facial appearance and his clothes become “as bright as a flash of lightning.” [1]

      Luke lets us know that Jesus and the ancient prophets are talking about “the exodus, which they are about to fulfill in Jerusalem.” This exodus was begun at the burning bush, with God calling him to go back and set free the captives from their misery and bring them to a land where they will be nourished and blessed, for it is “flowing with milk and honey.” A cloud overtakes the three disciples who are fighting sleep, and they hear a voice, “This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!”       We are now just a few days from Ash Wednesday, the beginning of our Lenten journey. We have learned from these readings that divine encounters are waiting for us outside in God’s Creation. And that ordinary plants and bushes can speak to us in extraordinary ways. French novelist Marcel Proust reminds us that we don’t have to go far to have a transformative experience. He writes, “The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeing new landscapes but in having new eyes.” [1]

      Let us be ready for the unexpected—prepare our hearts, minds, and eyes to see what the Lord would have us see as we go about our daily routines, in our most familiar places, right where we live. For we, too, may be changed and used for God’s work, like Moses, Peter, James, and John, one day on a mountain with God.

Creator God who speaks from ordinary bushes, lead us outside to hear your voice and experience your presence in your Creation. Remind us that everywhere in this world we are standing, we are standing on holy ground. Speak to us with wise and gracious words. Keep us on the right path on this Lenten journey. Open our hearts, minds, ears, and eyes to see the world and ourselves with your vision. Draw us nearer to you and one another and teach us to love and wonder more. Amen.

[1] Marian Wright Edelman, “Hope” in Giving Thanks Giving Thanks, Poems Prayers and Praise Songs of Thanksgiving, edited by Katherin Paterson, 41.

[2] Georgia O’Keeffe quoted in F. Lynne Bachleda’s Blue Mountain: A Spiritual Anthology Celebrating the Earth, (Birmingham: Menasha Ridge Press, 2000), 43.

   [3] Ralph Waldo Emerson quoted in Donna Sinclair’s Spirituality of Gardening (Canada: Northstone Publishing, 2005), 93.

[4] Zohary, Plants of the Bible (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1982), 45.

   [5] Zohary, 141.

   [6] Zohary, 141.  

[8] Marcel Proust quoted in Donna Sinclair’s Spirituality of Gardening, 92.

Meditation on Luke 5:1-11

First Presbyterian Church of Smithtown, NY

Pastor Karen Crawford

Feb. 9, 2025

As we prepare to celebrate our 350^th anniversary, I have been looking through old directories and history books. This week, I came across a black and white picture directory from 1968, featuring many young families. Who was here in 1968?

I recognize some names. Adele and Harold Carson, with their kids—Barbara, David, and Donna.  Guido and Mabel Agostini, with John, Janice, Richard, and Linda. Lillian and Neil Munro, with Michele and Neil. Ethel and Karl Kraft, with Kenneth and Deborah. Charlotte and Edward Cheatham with Andrea and Gregory. Harriet and Henry Yost, with Catherine, Deborah, and Kenneth. Lois and Andy Netter, with Jeffrey, Stephen, and Carla.  Evelyn and Ross Saddlemire, with Marcia, Terry, Lori, Susan, and Sandra. George and Virginia Newcomb with Gretchen. George Ludder with his family. Lucia Spahr with hers. And Bill and Shirley Russell. They look like teenagers! 

Who was the senior pastor in 1968? The Rev. William E. Brown, Jr. from Erie, PA. He graduated from Yale University and Divinity School. He was installed in 1962, following Rev. Raymond Case, who served as our minister for 24 years beginning in 1938. One remarkable thing that I learned about Rev. Case was his close relationship with the Shinnecock Nation. He was recognized as “a blood brother” in 1935 and was given the name Chief Speaking Wind.

Rev. Brown had served as assistant minister at Montview Boulevard Presbyterian Church in Denver, CO, before he accepted the call here. His wife, Margretha, earned a master’s in theology from Union Theological Seminary in NY. She served as Secretary of the Commission on Ecumenical Mission and Relations for our denomination, the United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. When the Browns moved here, their son, Neil, was 4, and Stina was born while they served here. Rev. Brown was called to serve as the Associate Executive for Synod Ministries with the Synod of the Covenant in Columbus, OH, in 1973. We also had an associate pastor in 1968: the Rev. Donald Knight.

At the time, our church’s ministry featured a large Sunday Church School that met during both services. We had a Sunday night Senior High Fellowship, Westminster Night on Wednesdays for Jr. High and a three-year Confirmation program, culminating in a 9^th grade pastor’s class. We had Senior Choir, Chapel Choir for 7^th through 12^th grades, and Junior Choir for 4^th through 6^th grades, all directed by Mr. Robert Lawton. Our organist was Mrs. Gloria Sandbeck. The church office was “staffed by Miss Mary A. Hackett of Greenlawn,” says our directory, “who combines quiet efficiency with diplomacy, a gentle humour and genuine concern. Her equal would be hard to find.” Our ministry included United Presbyterian Women, with 8 circle groups, the Kirk Club, a Parish Program with 33 leaders; the Village Presbyterian Pre-School that opened in 1965; a Flower Guild led by Ethel Greenleaf; and a whole host of sports, recreation, community service, and prayer groups.

As I study our history, the leadership and ministries of the congregation, and as I see the smiling photos of all the young children and families, I think about our faithfulness as a congregation. I am thankful for the many children and adults who have grown up and served here, for generations. Some, continue to serve! I wonder, though, what happened to those children in 1968 who aren’t here anymore? Did they get married, take employment, move away? Are they still on Long Island? Did the seeds of the gospel sown here take root? As did the first fishermen who responded to Christ’s call, did they drop their nets and follow him? Did they become fishers of people?

I’ve never actually caught a fish before. Who here has caught a fish? Great! How’s that feel? How’s it feel to fish for hours and not catch a single one? Let us try to imagine working as a fisherperson in Jesus’s time, piloting a small boat without a motor and working at night, all night, while the world slept. In the First Century, those fishing on the Sea of Galilee, today in northeastern Israel, near the borders of Jordan and Syria, may have caught 27 different species of fish. [1] The ones most talked about are carp, catfish, sardines, and tilapia (nicknamed St. Peter’s fish probably because of this passage). Scholars think that the day Jesus fed 5,000 people with five loaves and two fish, they were probably tilapia. The Jewish people may not have eaten the catfish because they were bottom feeders, therefore unclean. On the morning that the risen Christ fed his disciples grilled fish for breakfast, in John 21, they were probably tilapia, too.

If the fishermen were using nets that day with Jesus, they wouldn’t have caught fish as small as sardines. We are left pondering which of the 26 species of fish filled those two small boats and nearly sank them on the Sea of Galilee, the lowest freshwater lake on Earth. Or maybe you aren’t curious about the fish. It’s OK. The point really isn’t what kind of fish. But the enormous catch is a sign for those three, tired fishermen who had nothing to show for their work. And it’s a sign for us today. Still, Simon Peter lets Jesus climb into his boat, and they put away from the shore a little bit, so he could inspire the crowds with his preaching and teaching.

We don’t know what he said to the crowds that day. That doesn’t really matter, either. The actual sermon wasn’t preached with words. The sermon was the miracle catch, which came when a reluctant fisherman revealed a tiny spark of faith in a stranger whose knowledge of commercial fishing didn’t come close to his. Simon answers Christ’s request to go out into the deep water and drop down the nets, “Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets.” That tiny spark of faith was all that was needed. “They caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to burst.So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both boats, so that they began to sink.”

Simon Peter is overcome with emotion. He didn’t really think they were going to catch anything. He was waiting to say, “I told you so.” He can’t ignore this Jesus, who seems to look right into his soul. And he does. “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!” he says.

I don’t know about you, but I can imagine this kind of scenario happening with Jesus and me. Maybe not in the context of fishing, but certainly in the context of ministry here in Smithtown.

I get discouraged, too. I get caught up in the day-to-day work and long hours because I haven’t learned how to say, “No,” yet. I take on more than I need to do. In the back of my mind, I think I am afraid I will disappoint someone—maybe I am worried about letting God down. Because of this problem of not being able to say, “No,” I end up carrying a heavy net around with me, wherever I am. Wherever I go. I’ve answered the call, but that big ole net gets in the way of following the Lord, freely and unencumbered, with no concern for the future or the past—successes or failures.

That’s what God’s grace is all about. We need to accept God’s grace for ourselves, just as Christ had grace and a plan for Simon Peter. He comforted him, saying, “Do not be afraid.”

The congregation looks different today. We don’t have as many groups and activities. We don’t have as many children. We only have one worship service and two, multi-age Sunday School classes. But that congregation in 1968 knew the future would be different from the past. The history in the directory that year concludes, “This Church, with its illustrious past, is our heritage. A heritage not alone of timber and stone, but of Love and Devotion to God. Its past is in our hearts. Its future is in the hands of the inheritors and their heirs.”

Our calling, love, and devotion to God and one another hasn’t changed in more than 2,000 years. We are still invited to trust in the faithfulness of Christ, the work of his cross, the promise of resurrection, and the guidance of the Spirit every day of our lives.

There will be sometimes when we take on more than we can handle, forget to ask for help, fail to rest when we need to take a Sabbath, and feel tired and discouraged, like the three First Century fishermen who worked all night, caught nothing.

The Spirit of the Lord is reminding us of our call. Do not be afraid. At this moment, we are invited to leave our boats on shore. Drop our nets. Follow him. And fish for people.

Let us pray.

Holy One, we are grateful for your invitation to leave the things of this world behind and follow you. Thank you for your love and grace and faithfulness to your church, for many generations. We pray for all those children in 1968 and all the children with whom you have trusted us to love and nurture in the faith today. May the seeds that were sown take root and grow. Help us to respond to your call, with hope and joy, without hesitation. Stop us when we take on too much, forget to rest, forgo the Sabbath, and get discouraged. Teach us how to fish for people, day by day. Amen.

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      [1] https://aleteia.org/2020/04/16/what-kind-of-fish-did-the-risen-christ-feed-the-apostles

Meditation on Jeremiah 1:4–10 and First Corinthians 13:1-13

Pastor Karen Crawford

First Presbyterian Church of Smithtown, NY

Feb. 2, 2025

I wrote a long letter and emailed it to my friend, Britt, this week. She lives in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, where the weather forecast for today is -11 degrees F, with a wind chill making it feel like -33F. Whenever I want to complain about how cold it is in winter, I remember Britt, and I stop complaining.

We met in the first class of my doctoral program three years ago. We entered the program at the same time, and we have been in every class together, twice a year, since then. We have often been study partners and have worked together on group presentations. She taught me how to communicate on WhatsApp, instead of texting or calling her.  But I hadn’t talked to her since last July, maybe, when the seminary approved my research proposal.

She has an ecumenical spirit. She is a pastor of more than 25 years in the United Church of Canada, which came about on June 10, 1925, in Toronto, Ontario, when the Methodist Church, Canada, the Congregational Union of Canada, and 70 percent of The Presbyterian Church in Canada entered into a union.

She is a strong preacher on peace and justice issues. She is compassionate and empathetic. She gave me a pin of a red beaded dress last summer so that I would remember the missing indigenous women who receive unequal treatment by law enforcement in Canada, who make excuses for their disappearances and don’t spend much time or effort searching for them.

Two years ago, when we went to Ghost Ranch, NM, for our summer seminar, she gave me a pin of an orange shirt and told me the story, how we wear orange in September to remember the indigenous children forcibly taken from their families and sent to cruel government boarding schools at an early age to be indoctrinated and americanized. Everything they loved and that made them who they were was taken from them—families, clothing, hair styles, language, foods they were accustomed to eating, all aspects of their culture and personal identities. These government schools operated in the US and Canada until the 1960s—and, as you can guess, living in such harsh conditions, many children died of malnutrition or other preventable illnesses and those who survived, were traumatized.

Britt is the only Canadian in our class. She was teased because of it. Even one of our professors made a joke about how nice Canadians are when he was flying on a Canadian airline. It’s kind of a stereotype—the nice Canadian. She didn’t mind being teased. She always had a great comeback, such as, “You’re just jealous of our free healthcare.” I don’t want to say she has an accent, because we New Yorkers have accents, too. Right? But when she says “a-b-o-u-t” (how do you say it?) “about,” it comes out sounding like she’s speaking of footwear—“a BOOT.” I think I have heard, “You betcha” a few times. She says, “Aye” instead of yes sometimes. And she extends the “o” vowel sometimes, and gives it a musical tone, going from high to low, such as at the end of the word “so.” It comes out like “sooooooooooo…..”

She responded almost immediately to my long email with an equally long email, beginning, “Karen, I am soooo glad to hear from you.” And there were 4 o’s in her so.

But even though she is teased a little because of her Canadian citizenship and accent, everyone listens when she speaks. Not just because of the way she talks, but because of what she says and how she carefully chooses her words so as not to hurt others and really engages with the people around her because of her knowledge and passion for the subject. She isn’t shy, but she doesn’t dominate the conversation. Britt speaks when she has something important to say, and she says it with sensitivity, good humor, and love, the greatest of all spiritual gifts.

We can tell that Britt, like Jeremiah, was called to be a prophetic preacher since she was young. She has learned to hear God’s voice and respond. Ministry was and has always been God’s purpose for her, the God who has known her since the Lord formed her in the womb, as God tells the reluctant prophet Jeremiah at the beginning of his book, which is by the way, the LONGEST book of the entire Bible. 52 chapters. More than 1,300 verses! The book contains many different genres of writing: poetic oracles, sermons, prayers, and prose narratives, sometimes all woven together. A notable image of Jeremiah is as the “weeping prophet,” (Westminster Study Bible, 1031) which has influenced art of Jeremiah over the ages.

Jeremiah contains one of my favorite passages, chapter 29, beginning with the 4^th verse:

Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare. 

       Britt writes in a follow up note to me of an earlier call to ministry in a rural, very conservative part of Alberta, “After 9-11, I remember talking very briefly about how anger could not lead us to hate Muslims. Not a popular topic but thankfully nobody ran me out of town. In that place I was the person the nurses came to quietly to ask if I would visit a gay couple where one of them had cancer. So that was my place – to be the quiet corner of love in a community that got to know me as that kind of minister. I was admittedly pretty young then and not so certain about myself. I think as the years have gone by, I have obtained a more steady assurance of faith.”

      Jeremiah grew in confidence as the years went by, as well. He served the Lord in a prophetic career that spanned 40 years—627 to 587 BCE, during the historic reigns of Kings Josiah, Jehoiakim, and Zedekiah, son of Josiah of Judah. “This was a chaotic and tumultuous time of war in the ancient Near East” (Westminster Study Bible, 1031). “Judah…was geographically caught between the superpowers (Assyrian and Babylonian Empires and Egyptian leaders). Judeans contended with political, social, ecological, economic, and theological instability, and these realities are reflected” (Westminster Study Bible, 1031) in Jeremiah’s book.

       Before he served the Lord for 40 years, he had that moment of reluctance, hesitation, the first time he heard the Lord commissioning him a prophet to the nations (plural). He thought maybe the Lord got it wrong, saying, “Ah, Lord God! Truly I don’t know how to speak, for I am only a boy.” The Lord quickly answers, “Don’t say, ‘I am only a boy.’ For you shall go to all 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.”

      You heard me tell the children today that it doesn’t matter how old we are, or what gender we are; the Lord calls to all who listens and wants to serve God and neighbor. The Lord knew Jeremiah since before he was born. The Lord knew my friend, Britt, since before she was born. And the Lord knew that we would meet and become friends and encourage one another in our ministries. At times, I have really needed her encouragement. At times, she has really needed mine. We can be the loving voice of God at times for one another.

The Lord knew you and me before we were born, too. God promises to lead us to the places the Lord wants us to go. For Britt, that was Alberta. For me, it was Long Island. It doesn’t matter if we have a funny accent. God promises to give us the words to say and lead us to say them when the Lord wants us to speak. Don’t be afraid.

      I leave you now with the encouraging words of Jeremiah to God’s people, to all of us who are serious about hearing God’s voice and desire to be faithful. This is Jeremiah 29:11:

     ^“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.”

Let us pray.

Lord God, thank you for knowing us before we were born, and having a plan for our lives, a plan for our welfare and not for harm, a future with hope. Forgive us when we, like Jeremiah, might be reluctant to be your prophet to the nations. Thank you for allowing us to hear your still, small voice, for leading us to the places you want us to go, strengthening us when we get there, and for giving us the words to say, when you want us to say them. Grant us the greatest spiritual gift of all so that whenever we speak, we will speak from a place of love. In Christ we pray. Amen.

Meditation on Luke 4:14-21

Pastor Karen Crawford

First Presbyterian Church of Smithtown

Jan. 26, 2025

This is a happy day for our congregation. Today, we will ordain and/or install our Elders and Deacons to active service. Ordination is truly God’s gift to the church—the Lord’s way of equipping and caring for the people of God. When I consider those who have said yes to serving, I am filled with gratitude to God and to all who agreed to serve. I know about the variety of gifts and talents these people possess. The longer I am here, the more I see and appreciate them!

And I know that we are united as Christ’s Body. We have the same passion; we love the Church; we love the Lord. And while we are many members with different gifts, we are ONE, drinking of the same Spirit, as Paul says in his first letter to the Corinthian church. In this passage in chapter 12 that we read today, notice that Paul uses the word ONE at least 10 times. Whenever there is a repeated word in the Bible, the writer is emphasizing that word. Paul wants you to remember ONE, if nothing else, from this passage.

Friends, there is not ONE member who is unimportant. At the Church at Corinth, they were a competitive group of people. There were some egos. They all wanted to be important. Paul tried to set them straight and keep them from being divisive. He wanted them to care for the members who were not being treated as well as they should. Our example for leadership is always Jesus. We are called to be servant leaders. Jesus came not to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.

Trustees, though they are not ordained in the Church, are still answering the call to ministry and using all their God-given gifts and resources to serve the Lord and the family of God. The work of the Deacons, though they are ordained to their special kind of service, isn’t less or more important than the work of the Trustees and the Elders. The work of the Elders, though they are ordained to their special kind of service, isn’t less or more important than the work of the Trustees and the Deacons.

What about the rest of the Church? Do we need everyone else, too, or is it enough to just have the minister, Trustees, Deacons, and Elders? We need everyone in the Church to complete the Body of Christ. We especially need the children!!! We need everyone. We need you. We would not be the same without you. Every member of the Body is needed, just like a human body without an ear, eye, arm, hand, mouth, leg, foot, or toe, is incomplete. All are needed for our ministry in this place.

We are with Jesus in his hometown of Nazareth in our reading in Luke chapter 4 today. He’s been in this synagogue before. He grew up here. Who has been in this church for at least 30 years? How’s it feel to come back, again and again, to this house of worship, to these people? It feels good, right? Comfortable. He’s been in this synagogue for 30 years, ever since he was a child, though he wasn’t born in Nazareth, of course.

Jesus knows everyone in the synagogue here. Indeed, everybody knows everybody. They don’t just see each other on the Sabbath. They see each other probably every day. It’s a small town, maybe a few hundred people. These are all working class folks, most not highly educated. News about Jesus—what he’s been up to—has traveled around the region. They didn’t need Facebook or cell phones back then. It was all word of mouth. People are talking about Jesus, all the good things he has done.

They are proud of him, until he stands up to read from the prophet Isaiah. Everything is going well until he finishes, rolls up the scroll, sits down. And announces that he is the Messiah, the one with the Spirit of the Lord upon him, the One with a capital O, anointed to preach good news to the poor, release to the captive, sight to the blind, freedom to the oppressed. They know this scripture like they know the back of their hands. But Jesus has now changed the whole meaning of this familiar passage. He is saying, “Isaiah was talking about me.”

Here is what happened after that. Beginning at verse 22,

²² All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They said, “Is this not Joseph’s son?” ²³ He said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ‘Doctor, cure yourself!’ And you will say, ‘Do here also in your hometown the things that we have heard you did at Capernaum.’ ” ²⁴ And he said, “Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in his hometown.”

He then goes on to assure them that he isn’t going to do all the deeds of power, all the healings and casting out of demons, that he has done in other places. He won’t be able to do them because of their lack of faith. He reminds them how the work of the prophet Elijah, during the 3 and a half years of famine in the land, wasn’t sent to help the many needy widows of Israel; he was only sent to a Gentile widow outside of Israel. Many struggled with skin diseases in Israel, but the only one Elijah cured was the Gentile, Naaman the Syrian.

The people in his hometown can’t take any more of their native son. Filled with rage, they get up, drive him to the edge of town and attempt to hurl him off a cliff. He mysteriously passes through them and continues on his way, heading to Capernaum in Galilee, where he teaches on the Sabbath and heals a man with an unclean spirit.

The lesson here for us is that Jesus had plenty of bumps in the road during his ministry. And he was Jesus, the Son of God! The people he loved and knew the most let him down, right from the beginning. He went home and wasn’t welcome there, anymore. But he didn’t stop doing what God had called him to do. He kept going. He persevered.

I’m in my last few months of my doctoral program. At this point, I am working on the research and writing every day. I try to give at least two hours a day to the project. But sometimes, life happens, and plans change. Some days, I work more than two hours on the project. I sit down with my books at the computer, and I start writing and then I look up, and it’s dark outside. Four, five, six, eight hours have passed. How does that happen? And there’s still more work to do.

Most of the time, I feel happy as I do this research and writing piece. Writing is one of my gifts and spiritual practices; it brings me closer to the Lord and reminds me of my identity as God’s beloved child. I feel peace. I usually remember to take breaks, change gears, go outside and walk, make a pastoral call, eat meals, spend some time relaxing with my family. But sometimes I lie in bed at night wondering if I will ever finish this 100-page paper. And if I do, will it be good enough? Then, in the morning, in the light of day, I climb out of bed and, with the Spirit of the Lord upon me as I seek to be obedient to my ministry calling, I have new energy, new thoughts and ideas, new hope, new joy for the journey ahead.

Those of you who will be ordained and/or installed to active service as elders and deacons today, I want to encourage you that your baptism is sufficient for your calling. You have what you need to do the ministry God desires you to do. But sometimes, you might lie in bed at night and ask yourself, “What was I thinking? What was I thinking when I said yes to serving as a Trustee, a Deacon, or Elder?” Just remember, you are not alone. Work together with the other Deacons. Work together with the other Elders and Trustees. And I’m here to help. And your church family is here. We are all praying for you and cheering you on. Remember that no matter what happens, you are God’s beloved children. Nothing you do will ever change that. And other people are having those same anxious thoughts and moments, maybe not at the exact same time you are, but they have, and they will. Remember that things are always brighter in the light of day. You need to get enough sleep! We have new mercies from our faithful God, even when we, like the people of Christ’s hometown, may be running short on faith. We have new mercies from God every morning. New energy, new hope. New thoughts and ideas. New joy for the journey ahead.

What is the word that Paul wants you to remember from today’s passage? ONE. As you seek to be obedient to your calling, remember that while there are many members, there is only ONE body of Christ. Look around you. This is YOUR BODY. A body without an arm, leg, hand, foot, or toe is incomplete. And that while there are many gifts, there is only ONE that is the most important. Check it out in First Corinthians 13. The most important gift needed for serving in this church and the body of Christ in the world? LOVE.

So, keep going, like Jesus. Persevere through the bumps in the road. Trust the Lord to provide for you and guide you on what will be for you and me a surprising journey of faith. Remember to love. And remember the words of the prophet Isaiah that Jesus read at his hometown synagogue. They were true for him and, now that he has claimed you in baptism, they are true for you, too.

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me.”

Let us pray. Holy One, thank you for your love. Thank you for raising up new leaders for our congregation and leading them to say yes to serving. We trust you to guide, empower, and provide for all our leaders, that when they are discouraged, you will stir the Church to lift them up. When they are tired, anxious, or frustrated, you will grant them peace, joy, and rest. Bless them and all of us—the One Body of Christ—in our labor of love for you. May we always feel your presence and give you thanks for your loving Spirit forever upon us as we seek to be obedient to your will. Amen.

Meditation on John 2: 1-11

Pastor Karen Crawford

First Presbyterian Church of Smithtown, NY

Jan. 19, 2025

Have you been to any weddings lately?

The story of the wedding at Cana always makes me remember the little things that go wrong at weddings. One time, when I was presiding over a wedding in Ohio, the best man dropped the rings. They rolled across the wooden chancel floor and dropped down into the congregation. There was an audible gasp in the room; 200 people or more waited while one of the bridesmaids found the rings and handed them back up to us.

This was right after I had jokingly said to the best man before the wedding, “Don’t drop the rings.” I had never said that before. I’ve never said it since.

 I always assure the bride and groom during the pre-marital counseling sessions that even if something unexpected happens, everything will be alright. They will still be married. The bride and their wedding will still be beautiful. I encourage them to keep going, as if nothing happened, and more often than not, no one else notices something has gone wrong.

Running out of wine at a wedding reception in biblical times would be pretty difficult to conceal. An abundance of wine was especially important at weddings in Jesus’ time. Everyone drank wine. Wedding parties went on for days and nights, sometimes as long as a week.

Jesus, his mother, and the disciples were invited to this wedding, so they must have known the families involved. The reality is that we don’t know anything about the wedding itself, even though the story is always talked about as “The Wedding in Cana.” We don’t know who presided over the service or where it took place. We never actually meet the bride and groom. (The groom is mentioned near the end of the passage, but he doesn’t have a speaking part, and he never finds out what really happened, not that we know of.)

I’ve always thought the problem was that the bride and groom and their parents would have been embarrassed if they ran out of wine and the party ended prematurely. But I never thought about who would be persecuted if that happened—the servants, some that might have been hired expressly for helping at the big event.

Mary’s relationship with the servants, the bride and groom, and the families is something of a mystery here. Why was she helping behind the scenes and, in fact, in charge of the servants of someone else’s household? This passage presents her as a take-charge kind of individual and compassionate—not only for the bride and groom and their families, but for the servants.

Her behavior and attitude remind me a little of Jesus. But that shouldn’t surprise us, since she is his mother! What a treasure this passage is for us; it acts as a window into their relationship. He is ALWAYS Mary’s son, just like our children will always be our children, no matter how old they are or the importance of their jobs and callings. Mary appears to be unafraid to speak her mind to Jesus and tell him what to do, when he needs it, even if he is the Son of God, Messiah, and Savior of the World.

There’s been a lot of talk about Jesus refraining from calling Mary “Mother” in this passage. He calls her, “Woman.” Right? We don’t know what he is thinking or feeling at the time, just that he disagrees with her, at first. Maybe he’s saying “Woman,” with a smile teasing at his lips and a gentle tone. We can’t tell from the text. Scholars assure us that Jesus calling her “Woman” was a term of respect and not uncommon. That Mary is called “the mother of Jesus” and not “Mary” in this passage was also a sign of respect, affirming her relationship with the Son of God.

Reading the passage this week, I began to think that Jesus and Mary seem to know each other’s minds, which is more evidence of their close relationship. She doesn’t tell him to do anything about the wine problem. She doesn’t tell him what to do, at all. She says, “They have no wine.” I am imagining she’s using a certain tone to her voice and maybe a raised eyebrow, as she looks intently at him.

Jesus knows his mother wants him to fix the problem. But he tries to tell her that it isn’t his problem. Or her problem, either, for that matter. It makes you wonder if they have had these kinds of conversations before. He asks her, “Woman, what concern is that to you and to me?” Maybe he wasn’t in the mood for miracles. Maybe he didn’t think a wedding reception was the time and place. Maybe he was just messing with her and knew that he was going to do a miracle, all along.

He says, “My hour has not yet come,” foreshadowing when he will tell his disciples in John 12:23, after some Greeks come looking for him at the Festival of the Passover, “The hour is come that the Son of man should be glorified.” And there’s another foreshadowing in this passage—at the very beginning, when we learn that the wedding in Cana of Galilee happens “on the third day.” What else happens on the third day in Christ’s story? Yes, he will rise from the dead!

Mary doesn’t answer her son’s protest, that this isn’t the time or place for miracles. She just ignores him and tells the servants to do whatever he asks of them. The wedding at Cana reveals the faith of Mary, faith in his power and willingness to help, even if it seemed like his answer was no. She doesn’t know how he will do it, but she is sure that a miracle will happen. And for this, she is a model for us—to believe in Christ’s power and willingness to help us in our time of need. And to be surprised by the abundance of our blessings!

There’s no trumpet fanfare. No attention drawn to Jesus, his mother, and the disciples. This isn’t like the feeding of the multitude, where everyone experiences the miracle together. This is a quiet, behind the scenes miracle, a story unknown to the bridal party and guests, but shared with Christ’s followers with joy, over and over again, for generations to come.

Jesus, the one who will say in John 15, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing,” tells the servants to fill six stone jars with water, then draw some out and take it to the chief steward. The steward, not let in on the secret, confirms that the wine that was just water tastes better than the wine served at the beginning. “Everyone serves the good wine first, and the inferior wine after the guests have become drunk,” the chief steward says to the bridegroom, maybe with a wink. “But you have kept the good wine until now.”

So, my friends, now that you have considered the first of Jesus’ signs, the wedding in Cana of Galilee—when Jesus turned water into wine—I ask you, what signs have you seen that have revealed the presence of God to you, the ONE who is living and active in your life? When have you felt your abiding in the vine? When have you and others seen you bearing much fruit because of your abiding?

When have you realized your need for Jesus –and that apart from him, you can do nothing? And that with God, nothing is impossible.

As we continue in the season of Epiphany, a season of revelation, a time to recognize the arrival of God’s plan in Jesus and to look forward to God’s ongoing action through Christ….

Are you ready to be surprised by joy as you encounter the Lord’s goodness and mercy, abundant blessings that overflow from your cup, like David’s cup in Psalm 23, all the days of your life?

Are you ready like Mary for the power of God to be made known in Christ’s everyday miracles, maybe behind the scenes, quietly, but miracles, nonetheless, that signal the pouring out of God’s love, like water into wine, a love that never runs dry.

Are you ready, like his first disciples, to be strengthened in your faith when you see more signs that reveal Christ’s glory?

Let us pray.

Holy One, thank you for calling us to be your branches in the vine of Jesus Christ. And the assurance that if we remain in Christ, we will bear much fruit, but apart from Him, we can do nothing. Thank you for the example of Mary, who trusted in her son, Your Son, and the power of his miracles, such as the turning of water into wine at the wedding at Cana, the first of His signs, a revelation of his identity. Thank you for your willingness to help us in our time of need. Open our eyes, Lord, so that we recognize your goodness and mercy and abundant blessings that overflow daily from our cups, like David’s in Psalm 23. May we see Christ’s glory through everyday happenings and be strengthened in our faith. Amen.

Meditation on Luke 3:15–17, 21–22

Baptism of Our Lord Sunday

Rev. Karen Crawford

Jan. 12, 2025

We have just made a new memory together! One more for the history books!

We remembered our baptisms and recognized those who have been baptized in our church. Most of those present today who were baptized in our church were baptized with water from our beautiful marble baptismal font, dating back to 1939.

Did you know that our baptismal font has eight sides? Do you know why? Eight is for the day after the Sabbath, when Christ was raised, and there was a NEW CREATION.

YOU, my friends, are now raised to live abundantly and eternally with Him.

Edward N. and Samuel H. Abbey gave the font to the congregation in memory of their parents. Dr. Edward Abbey served as minister here from 1903 to 1937. Our history book says, “He was a stately and dignified man who was active in the community. He helped establish the first bank; campaigned for an organized fire department; worked earnestly for a new public school. His wife Augusta Hammill Abbey died in 1934. Three years later, in his 89^th year, Dr. Abbey retired for health reasons.” He died in his sleep that same year. But at his 89^th birthday party, he said, “People are my hobby. I love to meet them and help them with their troubles. And when I can no longer help people, I shall know my mission is over.” [1]

From what I have heard about Rev. Dr. Abbey, I believe his caring, servant spirit captures the spirit of our congregation, the First Presbyterian Church in Smithtown. Yes, we are a Church of Jesus Christ. We belong to Him. But we are all about people. Our calling, as Dulcie McLeod shared in her Epiphany message last Sunday, is to BELIEVE. We believe in people, and we make it our aim to help one another find our callings and live out our baptisms, knowing and doing the Lord’s will for our lives and our church. And we believe in ourselves, as God has made us, and the Spirit is transforming and recreating us, and as we are affirmed by the love and grace of one another. And we believe in our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who brought light into our darkness, claims us in our baptisms, and strengthens us daily to live faithfully.

Merriam Webster says BELIEVE means “to be true or honest, to accept the word or evidence of, or to hold as an opinion,” or “suppose,” such as “I believe it will rain soon.” When we say BELIEVE IN, we change the meaning slightly, “to accept something as true, genuine, or real, to have a firm or wholehearted religious conviction or persuasion,” such as regarding “the existence of God as a fact” or “to have a firm conviction as to the goodness, efficacy, or ability of something” or someone. To NOT BELIEVE is “to be astounded at.”

This word we sometimes translate in English as BELIEVE is pistis in Greek, with some different connotations than our English word. Pistis “in Greek mythology was the personification of good faith, trust, and reliability.” Pistis in the New Testament is often translated as “faith” and shown to be the opposite of fear. After Jesus calms the storm in Mark chapter 4, he says to his disciples, cowering in the boat, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” Faith here is pistin—same root as pistis. But when the New Testament talks about BELIEVING IN something or someone, that word pistis may be translated TRUST.

TRUST, to me, is different from BELIEVE. TRUST involves commitment and loyalty. TRUST isn’t just a matter of the mind or intellect. TRUST engages the heart, mind, and soul and empowers us to do what we never imagined we could have done before. Like the Apostle Paul says in Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Him that strengthens me.”

In our passage in Luke today, the people are coming in droves to be baptized, filled with hope and anticipation that they will meet their long-awaited Messiah. They expect him to be John the Baptizer, but then God surprises them, exceeds their expectations. The heavens open and the Holy Spirit descends on Jesus like a dove. A voice speaks from above, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”

A few days ago, I said to my husband, “What was I thinking when I went away to seminary? Driving to Princeton every week for two years and leaving my husband and family behind in York, PA?” That must have seemed crazy to the rest of my family. It certainly did to my editors at the newspaper where I worked as a journalist. It was a hard thing to do. Many times, I cried myself to sleep at night, with only my shelty, Molly, at my apartment in Princeton for company. I wiped away tears as I made the 2 hour and 15-minute drive one way on the Pennsylvania Turnpike every Monday morning.

Looking back, I know I was living into my baptism—seeking to follow God’s will for my life. It’s easy to see that now, but then, it was scary. What empowered me was that I was so grateful for God’s faithfulness to my family and me. I wanted to be a blessing to the Church. The only way I could have done such a thing was with the loving support of my husband, Jim. I could not have done it without him. He believed in me. His love strengthened me to trust in our relationship, trust in myself, and trust in the Lord, who exceeded, without a doubt, my expectations.

This year, as we celebrate God’s faithfulness for 350 years of ministry in Smithtown and 200 years in this sanctuary, let us TRUST in one another. May we encourage everyone to live into and live out our baptisms more than ever before. May our TRUST build our love, unity, and peace, and strengthen us for ministry for the next 200 years.

May our TRUST in ourselves rub off on others, so that they who may be insecure or fearful may be emboldened and delighted to serve, to stand firm as God’s Beloved, who can never fail!

May we, as Proverbs 3:5-6 tells us, Trust in the Lord with all our hearts and lean not on our own understanding. In all our ways, may we acknowledge and give thanks to the Lord God, who directs our paths.

This is my hope for you this year, my friends. May you be filled with expectation, like the crowded coming to be baptized by John, that you will meet your Messiah every time you enter into worship with your church family. May you leave your doubts outside these old walls, doubts about other people, doubts about yourself. Leave them all behind in the parking lot! And don’t pick them up again when you depart from this place in the love of God, peace of Christ, and power and unity of the Spirit.

Sisters and brothers, we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us!

TRUST in the One who will meet all your needs and help you moment by moment, day by day.

TRUST in the One who will fill you with hope and exceed your expectations.

Will you pray with me?

Holy, Triune God, thank you for your love for us and the whole world and for revealing Your Son, the Messiah, at the River Jordan, where for us and our salvation, he was baptized by John. Thank you for your faithfulness to our congregation, for guiding and equipping us for ministry in Christ’s name for 350 years. Strengthen us to live into and live out our baptisms every day, led by the Spirit, seeking to be obedient to your will. And as we learn to TRUST in other people, in ourselves, and in you, most of all, fill us with hope. Grant us peace as we anticipate that you will exceed our expectations. Amen.

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     [1] J. Richard Mehalick. Church and Community (1675-1975) The Story of the First Presbyterian Church of Smithtown, 2^nd edition, 2010.