Pastoral Prayer, Mother’s Day, Sunday Easter 3 A

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                              Gracious God, our companion on the way, you walk behind, beside, beyond; you catch us unawares.  Break through the disillusionment and despair clouding our vision, that, with wide-eyed wonder, we may find our way and journey on as messengers of your good news.

            Mothering God, our Holy creator who gave life to the world and who raised Christ from the dead to redeem the world, fill us with new life this day.  We pray for all of our mothers and those who have been like a mother to us.  As we honor the care they have provided, help us to care for others.  As we honor their guidance, helps us to hold each other in loving accountability.  As we honor the confidence they bestowed upon us, help us to confirm the gifts in others.  As we remember the hardships they have faced, help us to carry each other’s burdens.

            On this Mother’s Day let us remember the mothers of faith who have shown us your way.  Let us walk with Deborah, who judged the Israelites with authority and strength.  Let us walk with Ester, who used her position as queen to ensure the welfare of her people.  Let us walk with Mary, the mother of our Lord who heard his first cry in the manger and wept at his last at the foot of the cross.  Let us walk with Mary Magdalene, who wept at the tomb until the risen Christ appeared.  Let us walk with Pheobe, who led an early church in the empire of Rome.  Let us walk in the company of those whose names have been lost or silenced. 

            We pray this in the name of Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God now and forever as we continue to pray saying:

                                                      Our Father, who art in heaven,

Hallowed be thy name

Thy kindom come, thy will be done

On earth as it is in heaven 

Give us this day our daily bread

And forgive us our trespasses

As we forgive those who have trespassed against us

Lead us not into temptation

But deliver us from evil 

For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.  Amen.

Where Was Thomas?

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Several years ago I was on the beach with my father when I asked him how he knows God exists.  He paused for a moment, and then he pointed out toward a sand bar in the distance.  He said, “You know there is a school of fish out there.  Do you see the flock of birds hovering over the water?  They are there because the fish are there.  I don’t have to see the fish to know that they are just beneath the surface.”  And that’s where he left it.  It was up to me to decipher his answer.

                I’m not sure my father’s answer would have satisfied Thomas, though.  Thomas seems to be a realist of sorts.  After Lazarus’ death, Thomas tried to convince Jesus not to go toJudeabecause the last time they went, some tried to kill Jesus.  When Jesus’ mind was made up, it was Thomas who said, “Let us go with him that we might die with him.”  Thomas is certainly not a doubter, at least as far as his faith in Jesus is concerned.  He’s simply a realist.  It’s not that he doesn’t believe that Jesus is capable of being resurrected; rather he wants to see the wounds.

                I was talking to a college student not long ago who had been wounded by the church.  She said she had no faith.  This may not have been the most pastoral thing, but I asked her if she believed that the planet Neptune existed.  “Of course,” she said, with a rather condescending look about her, for which I don’t blame her.  I answered, “Have you seen Neptune?  I’m not questioning your intelligence, but I am questioning your definition of faith.  If we believed simply what we can see, I’m not sure in what we would believe.”  Do the blind believe nothing?  Do you believe in music?  Do the deaf believe in music?  What does justice feel like?  Can we taste love?  I’m paraphrasing now.  I wish I was poetic enough to change this student’s life and baptize her on the spot, but this student did not lack faith, she lacked healing, and this is why Thomas’ story is so important.  He wasn’t questioning the resurrection; he wanted to see the wounds and whether or not they had been healed.

                The story of Jesus and Thomas is important to hear on the Second Sunday of Easter.  On Easter, church’s pull out the stops.  We adorn our sanctuaries with flowers and trumpets and proclaim to the hundreds of people we haven’t seen since Christmas that the tomb is empty and Christ is alive.  Now, I’m not picking on those who disappear after Christmas, I’m saying that the on the Second Sunday of Easter we tell the story of Thomas who was away, who was not with the disciples when the Lord appeared to them.  We don’t know where he was or what he was doing.  We do know that when Jesus did appear to Thomas he didn’t chastise or say, “Shame on you Thomas, you should go to church more often.”  He simply showed his wounds, showed that they had been healed, and Thomas confesses, “My Lord and My God,” a confession the other disciples failed to mention.

                The wounds had been healed.  Interestingly, the scars were still there, yet they had been healed.  This is what Thomas wanted to see; not that his hands and feet had no signs of struggle or suffering, but that his body had been healed.  Resurrection, new life, hope in communing with God in heaven is not the belief that our wounds will be erased; rather that God through Christ in the power of the Spirit will heal them.  There’s more to the story than an empty tomb on Easter Sunday.  It is a story of forgiveness, reconciliation, and healing.

                This is one of the reasons why we have Burnt Offerings right after Easter.  Tonight we will gather together and eat with one another and in so doing we will raise funds which will enable us to go out into the world and heal wounds.  Through our fellowship and our sharing we will help families make ends meet.  We will send missionaries toCubaandRussia.  We will serve food to the hungry and beautify schools.  We will wrap new born babies in new clothing and mentor children on the way of hope.  We will change lives.  Easter is far more than an empty tomb, and this is why Thomas asks.  Thomas doesn’t doubt the Resurrection.  He’s questioning whether or not it matters.  If Thomas were here today I would say, “Look at the children who have hope.  Look at the hungry who are being fed.  Look at the Gospel which is being shared on the other end of the world,” to which Thomas would reply, “Christ is Risen!  Christ is Risen indeed.”

                So, we don’t have to see the fish just beneath the surface to know they are there.  Christ opens our eyes to see the birds who have gathered because of the fish.  Christ opens our eyes to the needs of the world, so that we might meet those needs with the Easter story of hope.  You know, the reason my father and I were on the beach that day is because my uncle owned a condo onPensacolabeach.  My uncle died on Wednesday after suffering with Lou Gehrig’s disease for nearly a decade.  It’s a terrible disease.  It’s senseless and devastating, yet we have hope.  Through Christ’s senseless and terrible death, God raised him to new life.  And if the Risen Lord was patient enough and loving enough to show his healed wounds to an absent Thomas, to restore his hope, then Christ will do, and does, the same for us.  How I wish faith made us immune to suffering, but it doesn’t.  It does something greater.  It transforms our suffering into hope.  Praise be to God.  Amen.

Pastoral Prayer, Sunday Easter 2 A

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          Gracious God, father of our Lord, Jesus Christ, in whom we receive living hope, may we who have received forgiveness of sins through the Holy Spirit live to set others free, until we enter the inheritance that is imperishable and unfading.

            Holy Father, you raised up Jesus Christ as your faithful witness and first-born of the dead.  By your Holy Spirit, help us to witness to him so that those who have not yet seen may come to believe in him who is, and was, and is to come.

            Sovereign Lord, Father of all in the power of the Spirit, you have called us to follow in the way of your risen Son, and to care for those who are our companions, not only with words of comfort, but with acts of love.  Today we pray for our brothers and sisters who have experienced the devastation of tornados, the oppression of injustice, and the suffering of loss.  Pour out your Spirit upon us today, so that we might be good stewards of our prayers, presence, gifts, service, and witness.

            Almighty and everlasting God, who in the mystery of Resurrection established the new covenant of reconciliation: Grant that all who have been reborn into the fellowship of Christ’s body may show forth in their lives what they profess by their faith, and inspire those who have remained in the body to be strengthened and rejuvenated by the holy possibilities resurrection affords.  We pray this in the name of Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever as we continue to pray saying:

Our Father, who art in heaven

Hallowed be thy name

Thy kingdom come, thy will be done

On earth as it is in heaven 

Give us this day our daily bread

And forgive us our trespasses

As we forgive those who trespass against us

Lead us not into temptation

But deliver us from evil

 For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.  Amen.

The Royal Wedding, The NFL Draft . . . I'm Watching Neither

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With the Royal Wedding, the NFL Draft, and the NBA and NHL playoffs, how does anyone have time to do anything else?  Being the father of two toddlers, I haven’t found time to watch any of these events, and I haven’t regretted a minute.

The other night the family gathered to play the Wii, which is quickly becoming an evening tradition in our household.  In one game on Wii Fit, I was tight rope walking in order to work on my posture and balance (both of which are in desperate need of some intervention).  About halfway on the rope, which is suspended between two tall buildings, I lost my balance, and my mi plummeted to the earth.  My daughter was quite upset.  She started crying and holding onto me.  I tried to convince her that daddy was ok, but I’m not sure she bought it.  For the rest of the evening, during bath time and bedtime story reading, she kept repeating, “Everything is fine, everything is fine.”  My heart sank.  I didn’t expect that she would take what was happening on the screen so literally.  It gave me great pause.

We all handle tragedy differently, whether real or imagined.  My Uncle passed away on Wednesday, and every member of the family has handled sorrow in his or her own particular way.  My aunt thought about heaven.  My sisters and mother wept.  My father was pretty silent.  I’m very much like my father in this respect (and tons of others ways for that matter).  I don’t like to talk when my emotions are in a knot.

It’s not that my uncle’s death was unexpected.  He had suffered from Lou Gehrig’s disease for nearly a decade.  It’s a terrible and senseless disease.  While watching my uncle slowly fade away, my aunt has remained a hopeful realist.  Hopeful about heaven, but a realist toward human finitude and frailty.  Early in the diagnosis, some of her friends said that they would pray for a miracle.  She declined their offer, not because she’s faithless or bitter, even though she has great reason to be; rather she’s theologically savvy enough to know that escaping death is a promise God never made.

Faith in God is not believing in the impossible, it’s trusting in God’s promise.  God does not promise that faith will make us immune to suffering, or that through faith we will escape death; rather God promises that death will not be the final answer of our life.  God promises to be with us, to transform suffering into hope.  Oh how I wish faith was immunity.  I imagine Jesus prayed the same in the garden, “If I don’t need to drink from this cup . . . but thy will be done.”

Those who promise that trust in God saves us from suffering, or that our fidelity is rewarded with prosperity, health, and wealth, make God out to be an Idol who maintains a cosmic exchange rate, allowing our faith to be cashed in for our earthy desires.  This is not the God Jesus reveals in his life, suffering, death, and Resurrection.  The God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, the God who dwelled in the flesh of Jesus, is the God who promises to suffer with us, the God who promises to be present in the breaking of bread, the God who promises that death has been defeated so that it is no longer a period, but a comma in our life’s story.

So, please watch the Royal Wedding.  Keep tabs on the NFL draft.  I’m not so bitter to be blind to what these events offer . . . a future.  After all, isn’t that what God promises?

The Royal Wedding, The NFL Draft . . . I’m Watching Neither

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With the Royal Wedding, the NFL Draft, and the NBA and NHL playoffs, how does anyone have time to do anything else?  Being the father of two toddlers, I haven’t found time to watch any of these events, and I haven’t regretted a minute.

The other night the family gathered to play the Wii, which is quickly becoming an evening tradition in our household.  In one game on Wii Fit, I was tight rope walking in order to work on my posture and balance (both of which are in desperate need of some intervention).  About halfway on the rope, which is suspended between two tall buildings, I lost my balance, and my mi plummeted to the earth.  My daughter was quite upset.  She started crying and holding onto me.  I tried to convince her that daddy was ok, but I’m not sure she bought it.  For the rest of the evening, during bath time and bedtime story reading, she kept repeating, “Everything is fine, everything is fine.”  My heart sank.  I didn’t expect that she would take what was happening on the screen so literally.  It gave me great pause.

We all handle tragedy differently, whether real or imagined.  My Uncle passed away on Wednesday, and every member of the family has handled sorrow in his or her own particular way.  My aunt thought about heaven.  My sisters and mother wept.  My father was pretty silent.  I’m very much like my father in this respect (and tons of others ways for that matter).  I don’t like to talk when my emotions are in a knot.

It’s not that my uncle’s death was unexpected.  He had suffered from Lou Gehrig’s disease for nearly a decade.  It’s a terrible and senseless disease.  While watching my uncle slowly fade away, my aunt has remained a hopeful realist.  Hopeful about heaven, but a realist toward human finitude and frailty.  Early in the diagnosis, some of her friends said that they would pray for a miracle.  She declined their offer, not because she’s faithless or bitter, even though she has great reason to be; rather she’s theologically savvy enough to know that escaping death is a promise God never made.

Faith in God is not believing in the impossible, it’s trusting in God’s promise.  God does not promise that faith will make us immune to suffering, or that through faith we will escape death; rather God promises that death will not be the final answer of our life.  God promises to be with us, to transform suffering into hope.  Oh how I wish faith was immunity.  I imagine Jesus prayed the same in the garden, “If I don’t need to drink from this cup . . . but thy will be done.”

Those who promise that trust in God saves us from suffering, or that our fidelity is rewarded with prosperity, health, and wealth, make God out to be an Idol who maintains a cosmic exchange rate, allowing our faith to be cashed in for our earthy desires.  This is not the God Jesus reveals in his life, suffering, death, and Resurrection.  The God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, the God who dwelled in the flesh of Jesus, is the God who promises to suffer with us, the God who promises to be present in the breaking of bread, the God who promises that death has been defeated so that it is no longer a period, but a comma in our life’s story.

So, please watch the Royal Wedding.  Keep tabs on the NFL draft.  I’m not so bitter to be blind to what these events offer . . . a future.  After all, isn’t that what God promises?

Pastoral Prayer, Easter Sunday

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                Gracious God, in whom we know the power of redemption, you stand among us in the shadows of our time.  As we move through every sorrow and trial of this life, uphold us with knowledge of the first morning when, in the glorious presence of your risen Son, we will share in his resurrection, redeemed and restored to the fullness of life, forever freed to be your people.

            Holy Father, creator of the universe who restores all things in beauty and glory through Jesus Christ, we pray that wherever your image is still disfigure by poverty, sickness, selfishness, war and greed,  the new creation in Jesus Christ may appear in justice, love, and peace.

            Sovereign Lord, Father of all by the power of the Spirit, open our hearts to your power moving around us and between us and within us, until your glory is revealed in our love of both friend and enemy, in communities transformed by justice and compassion, and in the healing of all that is broken.

            Almighty God, who through your only-begotten Son Jesus Chrsit overcame death and opened to us the gate of everlasting life: Grant that we, who celebrate with joy the day of the Lord’s resurrection, may be raised from the death of sin by your life-giving Spirit.  We pray this in the name of Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever [and for the River] as we continue to pray saying:

Our Father, who art in heaven,

Hallowed be thy name

Thy kingdom come, thy will be done

On earth as it is in heaven 

Give us this day our daily bread

And forgive us our trespasses

As we forgive those who trespass against us

Lead us not into temptation

But deliver us from evil

 For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.  Amen.

Affirming the Tuba, Rev. Matt Rawle

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 Thursday, April 21, 2011

Affirming the Tuba

 Rev. Matt RawleSeveral years ago a youth director decided to form a youth praise band in the congregation which he served. He simply made an “all call” to any youth who were interested. Jamie and Wendy wanted to sing, Scott grabbed his drum sticks, Jim restrung his guitar, and Jeff . . . well, Jeff tuned his tuba. The youth director wasn’t quite sure how this was going to work, but as he remembered from his Vacation Bible School days, “All God’s creatures have a place in the choir” (even though “praise band” is never explicitly mentioned—he was never a literalist, so he went with it). At the first rehearsal the youth tuned up and plugged in and played “Lord, I Lift Your Name on High . . . whomp, whomp, whomp, whomp.” It was pretty terrible, tragic really. The tuba was an obvious elephant in the room. What is a youth director to do?

During the rehearsal there was considerable feedback in the sound system. The youth director didn’t really know how to fix the problem, so he asked the band for ideas. Jeff jumped up and said, “I know how to fix it.” He set his tuba down, walked behind the sound board, fixed the feedback, and there he stayed—to everyone’s liking, including his own. From then on, they made beautiful music together.

In 40 Days Living the Jesus Creed, Scott McKnight talks about affirmation. He writes, “Affirmation creates a wave of considered appreciation of others. We are wise to avoid flattery and insincere affirmations, but otherwise, the Jesus Creed shapes the kind of love that leads to the open acknowledgment of others.” It would have been easy to say “No” to Jeff and his tuba. The band would initially have sounded better, but eventually the feedback would have crippled any concert. The band needed Jeff. Jeff needed the band. Failing to recognize one’s desire to be a part of the group, even if he or she brings considerable baggage (in this case, a tuba), would have erased the beauty God was trying to express. Which of your gifts needs to be recognized in the church? Whose gifts do you need to celebrate?

How Much Do You Love Me, Rev. Andy Goff

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Tuesday, April 19, 2011

How much do you love me?

 
Rev. Andy Goff

Do you remember as children hearing someone you loved or held in high esteem say these words: “How much do you love me? This much or THIS much?” of course the bigger the hands were outstretched the more they knew we loved them. As we begin this week known as Holy Week, we will also be asked this question by Jesus. What will your answer be?

Scot McKnight reminds us again that the Jesus Creed is at the heart of our love for God. This week as a community of faith we will be challenged to walk with our Lord to Calvary. How will we respond?

Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God,
the Lord is one.
You shall love the Lord your God
with all your heart,
and with all your soul,
and with all your might.
(Deuteronomy 6: 4-5)

I suspect that the above quote is a start for us. My prayer is that my love for my Jesus will not be this much but T-H-I-S much for he who gave me SO much. How about you?

How much do you love him?

Almost the Benediction, Rev. Elenora Mackey Cushenberry, Th.D.

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Tuesday, April 19, 2011

ALMOST THE BENEDICTION

 
Rev. Elenora Mackey Cushenberry, Th.D.

Almost to the benediction…that’s the way we could look at these last few chapters of 40 Days Living The Jesus Creed. Just four more chapters (days) to go. The equivalent of extinguishing the candles or taking the Christ light out into the world, recessional hymn, benediction, congregational fellowship/dispersing. McKnight almost made it! But, then, he dropped the bombshell—that onerous and divisive “M” word. “You see, that’s why I don’t like Church,” I could hear someone say. “Money always has to come up!”

In 1973, the O’Jays recorded one of their hit songs, “For the Love of Money.” With this song, we are reminded that we “do thangs, do thangs, do thangs – bad thangs with it.” Yet the aim is to “do thangs, do thangs, do thangs – good thangs with it – yeah.”

Almost the Benediction!

Money is a part of our lives. Money is also a part of the DNA of Jesus’ ministry. “Hey, you over there, isn’t your Rabbi going to pay taxes just like everyone else?” (Matthew 17:24) Judas carried the purse and stole from it (John 12:6, 13:29). And, there were women who traveled with them and gave of their resources (Luke 8:2-3). Interestingly, money was used to accuse Jesus: “They began to accuse him, saying, ‘We found this man perverting our nation, forbidding us to pay taxes to the emperor, and saying that he himself is the Messiah, a king.’” (Luke 23:2)
As I mediate on today’s reading, Matthew 25 comes to mind. Matthew 25, the passage describing the final judgment, gives us a good picture of both the importance of money and how we should use our money “to do thangs, do thangs, do thangs, good thangs with it”: When I was hungry, you fed me.” This takes money. When I was thirsty, you gave me drink. This, too, takes money. When I was naked, you clothed me. Used or new clothes—money! When I was sick, you took care of me; imprisoned, you visited me.” Yes, money, money, money—especially if we take into consideration the cost of gasoline for driving.

I’m happy that McKnight saw the necessity of including the topic of money before giving us the benediction. In this way, the “almighty dollar, money” is dethroned and the Almighty God sits on the throne of our lives, our ministry, our worship, our money. The offertory is an integral part of our worship of God and the ministry of Jesus Christ!

For the love of God, we will give and use our money to do thangs, do thangs, do thangs, good thangs with it…and let the Church say, “YEAH!” or “AMEN”!
All things come from you, O God, and of Your own have we given!

Now, let us move on to the Benediction.

Lyrics of “For the Love of Money” copied from http://www.stlyrics.com/lyrics/allaboutthebenjamins/fortheloveofmoney.htm
We are reminded that the offertory consists of more than just monetary gifts. It also consists of offering memorial gifts, our talents and gifts, etc.

Love is Enough, Rev. Wayne Evans

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Love is Enough

 
Rev. Wayne Evans

I was visiting my Aunt Ernie in the nursing home. Dementia brought on by Alzheimer’s Disease caused her to no longer know who I was. I sat there in her room and told her of my fond memories so many things she did for me when I stayed her while my parents attended sessions of the Annual Conference in Shreveport. She cooked wonderful meals, and treated my siblings and me as if we were her own for that week. They had a huge home that I marveled at as we explored it to find all the treasures there. Their entire home was air conditioned! They must have been rich! She loved children, and after hers were grown she spent over twenty-five years in the nursery at FUMC of West Monroe every Sunday caring for the little ones of the congregation. She would sing to them and tell them how much Jesus loved them.

In her final months my aunt could only say “Uh-huh” as I asked questions
which called for an affirmative response. She had otherwise lost the ability to engage in conversation with me. Before I left I began to sing “Jesus Loves Me.” She began to sing along with me. Even though she did not recognize who I was, she had a profound relationship with her Savior who loved little children. He had claimed her as one of his own. She could no longer serve him or do for others, but she knew his love was there for her. Her arms could no longer hold little children, but she was confident that this One was now holding her in His. Love is all that remains.