September 13, 2009

Trouble

Excerpt from Mark 9:42-50

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Everyone will be salted with fire.

Reflection by William C. Green

God hates suffering and death. Neither is God’s will or
part of some grand design. Jesus was devoted to healing the
sick, and he overcame death. The healing and victory he made
possible are true for us all, however it happens. That’s
gospel truth.

Sometimes we can get overtaken by a contrary view. After all,
aren’t suffering and even death part of remarkable creativity
and great faith? Good artists often suffer from one disorder or
another, prophets are martyred, and in everyday ways death can
sometimes be a blessing. But none of this is just grace in
disguise. Adversity itself may or may not bring anyone closer to
what’s good or God. It can lead us away. We easily
get lost in anger, resentment, or an overwhelming feeling of
helplessness.

Trouble (“fire”) simply comes our way. This is not
God’s will, a divine test or punishment, or a way of making us
more creative and faithful. But as we refuse to let it keep us
down, we do become stronger. We are seasoned and preserved
(“salted”) in circumstances that could make us give up.

It’s probably good that we don’t know in advance what
trouble lies ahead, unless experience has taught us that we’ll
make it and even be the wiser for it. It’s afterwards that
we see how seasoned we can be by the scariest
“fire.” That is real faith and God’s will.

Prayer

Whatever trouble I face, explainable or not, may I focus on you, God,
and what you make possible. Amen.

For the month of September, Scripture texts for the Daily Devotionals
are all from the Gospel of the Year, Mark, rather than from the Daily
Lectionary. Let us know how you like this different approach (just hit
“Reply” to send your response). Tony Robinson, Chair, The Writer’s
Group.

About the Author

William C. Green has served in the local, Conference, and national
settings of the United Church of Christ.

Loving God,
As the calendar page changes, we are reminded that time goes on. Sometimes we can hardly wait for the bad times to be over; other times we wish we could stay in one happy place, basking in the joy that the situation brings us. Remind us that you are a God of every season, that wherever we go, you are already there: both on the journey, as well as at its beginning and ending. All of time rests in your hands. May we feel your comforting and consoling embrace, as well as your energizing and motivating power,both which enable us to make a difference in the world you sent Jesus to save. Amen.

Dear Pr. Kropa, Prayer Team, and Congregation of Huff’s Union Church,

As Pr. Kropa informed us earlier, the funeral for Russell Mest will occur on Saturday, August 29th, at Huff’s.

The visitation hour will occur between 9:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m.
The funeral service will begin at 10:30 a.m.
Interment will occur at Huff’s Union Church Cemetery.
The luncheon after the service will be hosted at Huff’s Chapel, too.

Please do continue to uplift in prayer all those who mourn Russell’s unexpected passing. May the prayers of the congregation and the promises of our Risen Lord comfort all who mourn.

God’s peace to you all,

Pr. Jones

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“Put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope
of salvation.”

Reflection by Talitha Arnold

“Hope is the thing with feathers,” wrote Emily Dickinson, “that
perches in the soul and sings the tune without the words and never
stops at all.”

“Hope is a muscle” wrote the author of a book about a girls’
basketball team.

Hope is a helmet, said the Apostle Paul.

Always the realist, Paul encouraged the early Christians of
Thessalonica to put on “a helmet of hope of salvation.” It’s a great
metaphor. Hope is often under siege, whether in Paul’s time or ours.
One glance at the daily news makes hope seem naive and those who hold
hope appear foolish. We often need the protection a helmet affords to
keep hope alive.

A good friend who is dean of a state college needs a helmet of hope
when her programs are cut to the bone. The young parishioner putting
his college plans on hold due to economics could use a helmet of hope.
The father hugging his Marine daughter as she heads to Afghanistan
needs such a helmet. In our own lives, when like Paul we “do not do
the good we want, but the evil we do not want,” we need God’s helmet
of hope.

Paul says it is the “hope of salvation.” Yes, it’s the saving grace of
Jesus Christ, but it’s also the hope that saves us from despair and
discouragement, be it about our world or ourselves.

So put on the helmet of hope today. You’ll need God’s hard hat for the
hard knocks of life.

Prayer

Clothe us in your hope, faith and love, O God, this day and every day.
Amen.

Talitha Arnold
About the Author

Talitha Arnold is the Senior Minister of the United Church of Santa
Fe, New Mexico.

This blog in it’s original version can be found here: http://community.ucc.org/post/Jerry/blog/hey_wise_guy_.html?cons_id=&ts=1250078704&signature=3ea6eef75b7579af47a36c2105bdd600

Weimar Wanderings

This is the blog that I have created for friends and members of Weimar United Church of Christ in Weimar, Texas. As pastor of the church, I want to share some of my thoughts and allow those who may read them to reflect and share their feelings also. So, read and reflect and write if you wish….come along for the journey!
————-
Hey, Wise Guy
Posted by: Jerry on August 10, 2009 at 2:56PM EST
If you could have three wishes, what would you wish for? How about if it were reduced to one wish? What would be the one thing that you would wish for? Most human beings I know would want to wish to be able to win the lottery or to have enough money to be comfortable, maybe to buy with the money all the things they have always desired. Maybe a genie will come out of a bottle or we can rub a magic lamp and we would get our wish and then life would be all we would want it to be.

Solomon hears from God and God asks him what he would like, just ask any one thing and God would grant it. Solomon thinks about the task in front of him, to be king over the people of Israel, and he asks God for wisdom, for the ability to discern between good and evil, to have understanding so as to govern God’s great people. God replies that since he did not ask for riches or long life or revenge on his enemies, then God would give him what he asked for. Sure enough, Solomon is regarded as the wisest of all and had to make decisions that required a lot of wisdom.

What does it mean to be wise? How often are we called upon to make decisions that require great wisdom? Many of us have to make wise decisions on a daily basis. Sometimes even the smallest of decisions calls upon us to use some wisdom in responding. Our lives would be much different if we had made different decisions. I thought about that a week or two ago as I contemplated all the decisions that people make in the course of their lifetimes. What if they had made a decision differently? How would their lives be different? What if you had married a different person? What if you had taken a different job or chosen a different career? What if you had bought a different house? What if you had made many other decisions differently? What would your life be like now?

Solomon realized that he needed divine guidance in order to rule the people of Israel in a way that would be pleasing to God and that would benefit God’s people. He could not do it alone, just in his own power and thought. When we understand that we are not in this life alone, but we need God’s presence with us daily, we will make decisions differently than when we think the burden is on us entirely.

I was a school teacher in another life and one year I had the class that no one could conquer. It was taking me down physically and mentally and everyday I pulled into the school parking lot I took the time to say a prayer that went something like this, “God I know that I cannot handle this class by myself. I need you to be with me and to help keep this class under control. If you are not with me, I will not be able to do this by myself.” When I remembered to pray, it seemed like things went a bit smoother. When I forgot to pray, it seemed like the day fell apart quickly.

We need God’s presence in our life. We need to talk to God daily. We need to ask for God’s guidance and wisdom in our lives. God will provide the help we need.

Friday, July 17, 2009

The Force of a Hint

Excerpt from Jeremiah 10:17-25

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“The way of human beings is not in their control… Correct me, O
Lord.”

Reflection by William C. Green

It’s said that men can take criticism only once a week. I doubt
that women are much different. Few of us want to be criticized
or corrected.

I’m not sure I really want God to do that either, but it’s not often I
hear God speaking clearly. God’s Word hits us less with the
power of a megaphone than the force of a hint. It’s not spelled
out in the circumstances we face. We move ahead with divine
guidance and forgiveness, but we still have to act on our own.
God can’t correct and direct us if we stay stuck, worried about making
another mistake.

Mark Twain speaks of “a good man in the worst sense of the
word.” That’s someone whose goodness is but timidity and a fear
of being caught doing something wrong. A good person in the best
sense does not need to be right all the time and is at ease knowing he
or she will make mistakes.

God’s correction is not punishment for doing something wrong.
It’s direction for doing something right. The trouble we bring
about can be taken as simply God’s judgment on us for being so dumb
and faithless. God’s assurance that there’s still hope and a
good way to go may be but a hint. It can come to us in the sound
of silence after we’ve given up trying to control everything
ourselves.

Prayer

When we fear the worst, God, may we stay true to the best, trusting
your guidance and strength. Amen.

Bill Green
About the Author

William C. Green has served in the local, Conference, and national
settings of the United Church of Christ.

A Book of (Un)Common Prayers–new from The Writers’ Group.
Extraordinary prayers for ordinary occasions.

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Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America,
adapted. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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ELCA NEWS SERVICE
July 2, 2009
ELCA Presiding Bishop Emphasizes Unity in Message to Church Leaders
09-145-JB

CHICAGO (ELCA) — The presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) expressed “heartfelt commitment” to the unity of the ELCA and “deep confidence” that unity will not be lost because of decisions that will be made at the 2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly.
The Rev. Mark S. Hanson commented on church unity in light of a proposed social statement on human sexuality, and a report and recommendation on ELCA ministry policies to be considered by the assembly. His remarks were contained in a June 30 message to ELCA professional leaders. The ELCA Churchwide Assembly meets Aug. 17-23 in Minneapolis.
Hanson wrote that he is thankful for “thoughtful and respectful” discussion on both proposals at spring assemblies of the church’s 65 synods. However, he wrote he’s aware that ELCA members have a variety of opinions about the proposals and such differences have raised concerns about whether the ELCA is headed toward “a church-dividing decision.”
“Sometimes, when I hear concerns about division in the ELCA, I worry that they express a fear that unity depends on the actions of church leaders or assemblies,” Hanson wrote. “Our unity, however, comes to us because God gives it freely and undeservedly in Jesus Christ. Although everyone in leadership shares responsibility for stewarding our unity in Christ, it will not be won or lost at the churchwide assembly in a plenary session vote.”
Hanson invited ELCA leaders to view the assembly as an opportunity for “faith-filled witness to the larger human family that struggles with division, and yearns for healing and wholeness that is real and true.”
“We live in a polarized culture equates unity with uniformity and equates differences as a reason for division,” Hanson wrote. “This moment, and our witness as a church body in the midst of it, deserves something better from us. We have the opportunity to offer the witness of our unity in Christ — diverse, filled with different-ness and differences, broken in sin, and yet united and whole in Christ. This moment deserves the witness of a community that finds and trusts its unity in Christ alone, engages one another with respect, and seeks a communal discernment of the Spirit’s leading.”
The presiding bishop said he is not advocating for any position on the proposals to be decided. “It is an honest expression of my conviction that the gospel of Jesus Christ, God’s mission for the life of the world, and the members of this church deserve this witness from us: In Christ we are members of one body serving God’s mission for the life of the world.”
Hanson invited the professional leaders to join him “in confident hope, grounded in Christ, where we meet one another not in our agreements or disagreements but at the foot of the cross.”
A task force developed the proposed social statement, “Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust.” Social statements are theological and teaching documents that form the basis for policy in the ELCA. The “Report and Recommendation on Ministry Policies” asks the assembly to consider a process to change ministry policies that could make it possible for Lutherans who are in “publicly accountable, lifelong, monogamous, same-gendered relationships” to serve as ELCA associates in ministry, deaconesses, diaconal ministers and ordained ministers. Both documents were mandated by previous churchwide assemblies.
—
The full text of the presiding bishop’s message is at http://www.ELCA.org/Who-We-Are/Our-Three-Expressions/Churchwide-Organization/Office-of-the-Presiding-Bishop/Messages-and-Statements.aspx on the ELCA Web site.
Information about the 2009 Churchwide Assembly is at http://www.ELCA.org/assembly on the ELCA Web site.

Happy Birthday, Ancestor John! Michael Ciba, Valley Northwest Regional Minister of the Connecticut Conference, reflects on church life today.

July 10 is John Calvin’s 500th birthday, an event that will be observed with varying degrees of seriousness by some Christians in different parts of the world. Calvin’s thought deeply influenced the theology of all of the four ecclesiastical “streams” that joined to form the United Church of Christ. This influence continues today, even though we are often unaware of it.

One of Calvin’s greatest legacies is his understanding of the church. Conscious of human sinfulness, Calvin sought to prevent one individual or a class of individuals from accumulating power in a tyrannical way. He created a set of offices in the church–pastors, deacons, teacher, elders–each with specific responsibilities, each accountable to God, to the whole church, and to one another in a covenant relationship. We see his ideas about church polity reflected in the way we “do church” in the United Church of Christ. Authority is shared between clergy and lay in ways that are sometimes difficult to understand. Sometimes the committee structure seems better able to hinder bold action rather than to encourage it. But, when our polity works best, the whole body is able to discern the will of God, however imperfectly, and act to do God’s work in the world.

Calvin understood that, while the church was composed of imperfect and sinful human beings, it also was able to embody the presence of God. But this is only possible through the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit needs to shape and inform all that we do, both individually as believers and together as the people of God. When believers prayerfully read scripture, the Spirit helps them to understand how God is speaking through these words. The Spirit helps pastors prepare their sermons and helps believers to hear God’s Word in and through the words of the preacher. The presence of the Spirit in a church meeting helps us to discern God’s intent and provides us with the courage to act on it.

It’s easy for us to ignore the presence of the Holy Spirit in the life of the church. It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking it’s all about us. We limit God to the prayer at the beginning of the meeting or we even forget to do that. We dig into the practical matters of church life, sometimes forgetting the great truth that God is incarnate in all of creation, even the most boring and contentious church meeting.

The Preamble to the Constitution boldly proclaims that the United Church of Christ “claims as its own the faith of the historic church expressed in the ancient creeds and reclaimed in the basic insights of the Protestant reformers. It affirms the responsibility of the church, in each generation, to make this faith its own in reality of worship, in honesty of thought and expression, and in purity of heart before God.”

Perhaps a fitting birthday present for John Calvin would be a commitment on our part to earnestly attend to the presence of the Holy Spirit in our generation. To listen for the Word of God in the words of Scripture and in the words we speak to one another. To look for the presence of the Holy Spirit in all aspects of our collective and individual lives of faith.

Heavenly God, We pray for all who feel overwhelmed today, all who feel tired, all who feel they have been pleading and begging, and who wonder why things cannot be resolved quickly and for the good of all. Please give them patience, and the assurance that, even when you seem distant, you are as close as our breathing itself. Help all who are in pain to breathe in your love and healing power, the power of your almighty Holy Spirit. May they feel the peace that surpasses our human understanding, today and every day of their lives. Amen. Romans 8: 24-39. 24 For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. 26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. 27 And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. 28 We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn within a large family. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called; and those whom he called he also justified; and those whom he justified he also glorified. God’s Love in Christ Jesus 31 What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? 32 He who did not withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us, will he not with him also give us everything else? 33 Who will bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is to condemn? It is Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us. 35 Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep to be slaughtered.” 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:24-39 (NRSV)

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

The Dry Bones of Depression

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Excerpt from Ezekiel 37:1-14

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The hand of the Lord came upon me…and set me down in the middle
of a valley; it was full of bones…and they were very dry. He
said to me, “Mortal, can these bones live?” I answered, “O Lord God,
you know.”

Reflection by Lillian Daniel

A woman sits at her kitchen table after the children have left for
school. She was barely able to muster a goodbye smile, and now that
there is no one else to perform for, she gives into the absolute loss
of energy that sweeps her every morning. There are dishes to do and
errands to run, but it will be an accomplishment if she spends the
school day awake and does not give into the overwhelming temptation to
get back into bed.

Can these dry bones live?

A boy’s thoughts turn to the end of his life. Would anybody miss him
if he were gone? The anguish inside him seems so great that death
appears to be the only relief. He perseverates on the way it might
happen.

Can these dry bones live?

Her husband sits in front of the television for hour after hour. They
have not spoken more than a few words to one another in days. She
remembers when they were dating; they could spend hours at a coffee
shop, discussing big ideas. Now, he rarely has an expression on his
face. His eyes have been drained of joy, and he stares blankly at the
screen.

Can these dry bones live?

For people who live with depression… for people who love people
with depression… these scenes are all too easy to imagine. But
God called the prophet Ezekiel to prophesy to the dry bones, and
promised that by God’s healing power, flesh would appear and those dry
bones would live again.

Prayer

On this day, hear my prayer for those who suffer from depression,
whose bones seem dry and lifeless. Be also with their loved ones, the
doctors, the therapists, the researchers, the scientists and the
healers, so that once again those bones might live. Grant us
understanding of the complexities of the human mind, because God, we
trust that you do know how to make dry bones live again, and that you
want this healing to be available for all your children. Amen.

Lillian Daniel
About the Author

Lillian Daniel is the senior minister of the First Congregational
Church, UCC, Glen Ellyn, Illinois and the author of  Tell it Like
it is: Reclaiming the Practice of Testimony.

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Read more from Lillian Daniel in “The Bible and the United
Church of Christ.”
http://act.ucc.org/site/R?i=rS-YnTVe_KOjKI7uOQAZ0A..

The Stillspeaking Daily Devotional is a free service and is supported
by your gifts to Our Church’s Wider Mission. Scripture quotations are
from New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989 National
Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America,
adapted. Used by permission. All rights reserved.