Life is so short and so fragile. Just the other day, a tour traveling on the Pennsylvania Turnpike ran off the road, flipped over, was struck by two transfer trucks causing a horrific accident. Five people lost their lives and well over 50 more were hospitalized! In an old Eagles Song (New York Minute) the first words of the chorus go, “In a New York minute, everything can change!” That is a very true statement.
Someone once said, “Life is fragile, handle with prayer!” We are not guaranteed tomorrow, just today and that is suspect sometimes! The point to this is that we must always be prepared for death. Death often comes with no notice whatsoever! There are 34 verses, 32 of which are in the New Testament! Most of them are written about the second coming of Jesus but, for those who die before that time, death too comes like a thief in the night! The scriptures remind us that we are to “stay awake” (Mt 24:43-44). This same passage reminds us to also be ready because the “Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect!” (Mt 24:44 ESV) What does it mean to stay awake and be ready? I would say to you this morning that it means literally to be aware of the world around you and what is going on. That is the “stay awake” part. How many of you know people who go through life almost in a daze and they miss so much of what is going on in the world? The second part, “be ready” is a little more obscure. As a Christian, to be ready means you study your Bible often, (every day would be much better). In 2 Timothy 2:15 Paul encourages his portage Timothy to study so that when he is tested, he will know the answers, he will know what to do. That imperative applies to you and to me still today! By the way, that is the first passage of scripture I memorized as a child, even before John 3:16! My first Sunday School teacher made sure that we knew from a very early age the importance of studying God’s Holy Word! Today, what if today became that day—the day you leave this earth? Would you be ready to stand before God and give an account of your life? I hope you would and I hope you understand that Jesus will be right there with you, standing beside you and advocating for you. That is, IF you are a Christian and part of God’s great and wonderful family! Amen. Well, welcome 2020! Ready or not here it is! How many of you make “New Year Resolutions?” I used to but none of them lasted more than two weeks, so why bother? It amazes me that we think we need a special day to make some changes in our lives that we have probably needed to make all year long in the first place.
I do understand that this is the beginning of a new year, and we have an opportunity to begin 2020 with a “clean slate” so to speak. Take some time and see what things you may need to change, and make a commitment to change those things without calling it a resolution! Just do it because it is the right thing to do. That should make it easier to keep, maybe. Now, as a church family, what are some things we may need to change or at least do better? We certainly do lots of things outside these walls. We help people where we can in this community and in the larger picture as well through Week of Compassion. But I do think there is always room for improvement. Maybe there is something that you personally would like to become involved in, such as Crosslines or Harvesters. There is always room for more help! There are also spiritual things that we all can do better. Bible study takes place each Wednesday morning at 10 am and 5:30 pm. There are always empty seats and there is a place there for you. I also have started a grief support group called Grace for the Journey. We meet on Tuesday at 1 pm and again there is a place for you. There are other opportunities to serve as well in helping to prepare and serve communion and we can always use Elders! As we begin 2020, let us look for new and improved ways to serve out our calling to “care for the least of these” as well as caring for ourselves both physically and spiritually. Happy New Year to all y’all! Well, the waiting is over and today we get to light Christ Candle! I trust that you did get what you wanted for Christmas and that all the stress and the waiting, and the wrapping and unwrapping, and cleaning up is all over and finished, at least until next Christmas!
As we move into a new year, what do you think is in store for Countryside Christian Church? This church is involved in so many things in the area and outside this area as well, but there is always room to do more. Suzi Gibbs has worked with Harvesters and each month that has five Saturdays, Harvester will deliver food to be disbursed at Shawnee Mission North High School. It is an amazing process as people literally drive through in two lines and volunteers put all kinds of food into their vehicles! Actually, because of leap year, the next event will be on Saturday, February 29th, 2020! There are other things we can do as well, that we are not doing. Shawnee Mission North needs people to come and just walk their halls any time from 8am to 3 pm Monday through Friday. All you need to do is check in with security (you need to have your drivers license with you), stop in the office and tell them that you are there to walk the halls! Also, if you have some specialty you would like to share with high school students, each Thursday morning (I think 10:30) during what is called Seminar time, you can schedule a date to go and share your talents with these young people. What will 2020 hold for us—the sky is the limit. There are opportunities out there to serve others—all we need to do is to be willing to volunteer and then go find a way to live out the Matthew 25:31-45 passage of helping those who are considered “the least of these.” When we do that, amazing things will happen, just watch and see! ,Today we light the third candle of Advent as we celebrate the Sunday of Joy. Today we light the pink candle. Do you know why this candle is different from the other three? And why is it pink as opposed to some other color? The answers to these questions go back to the beginning of worship in the new “Christian” church. Liturgical worship began somewhere between 300 ACE – 400 ACE. The original practice centered around two important dates: Easter and Epiphany. Easter, of course dealt with the crucifixion, resurrection and ascension of Christ, and Epiphany was centered around the birth of Christ.
Since these two important dates required a time of reflection and repentance, two other periods of celebration began. Advent preceded Epiphany, lasting four weeks and Lent preceded Easter lasting for 40 days, not counting Sundays. Each of these are times of reflection, repentance, and hope. As Advent evolved, candles were used to celebrate each week with each week moving closer to the coming of the Christ Child. Initially, the liturgical colors for both Lent and Advent were purple, indicating royalty, repentance and suffering. However, even in the midst of the solemnness of Advent, there is still the church which never ceases to rejoice. In the attitude of rejoicing, on the Third Sunday of Advent and the fourth Sunday of Lent the church changed its paraments and vestments from purple to pink! (Actually rose!) There are two candles before the pink candle and two after – one purple and the final candle – the Christ candle. So, in the middle of all the mess of this world, there is a reason to rejoice. In fact, Philippians 4:4 reminds us, “Rejoice in the Lord Always, again I say, rejoice!” Amen. This Sunday is the Second Sunday of Advent – the Sunday of Peace. You only need to watch the evening news, either local or national, to know that this world is far from peace! The passage of scripture that reads, “For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places.” (ESV) is most certainly true. There are ten “official” wars and eight military conflicts recognized by the United States going on right now (https://www.reference.com/government-politics/many-wars-going-world-right-now-ffd6236450ccb7ae, last viewed 12/3/19). That shocks and saddens me!
But, let’s take this down to a family level. In Luke 12:53 we read, “They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.” (ESV) Today, the family unit is in shambles. According to the 2015 Census, there were 13.7 million single parents living in the US. Those 13.7 million were responsible for the care and nurture of 22.4 million or 27% of all children under the age of 21 living in the US in 2015. (https://www.verywellfamily.com/single-parent-census-data-2997668, last viewed 12/3/19). Again, to me, it is sad that 27% of our children live in a one-parent household. And yet on his Second Sunday of Advent we celebrate the Sunday of Peace. How can that be? Didn’t the Christ Child come to bring peace? Didn’t the angels sing to the shepherds, “Peace on earth and good will to all men?” Yes and no! If we go back a few verses to Luke 12: 51, we learn that Jesus did not come to bring peace but division! The peace we celebrate today is an inner peace that is found only in the Christ Child of Christmas. It is peace that no matter how vile and dangerous this world becomes, as Christians, we know that this world is not our final home. I am reminded of the words to an old Southern Gospel song that says, “This world is not my home, I’m just a passin’ through!” We also find peace in knowing that because of this Christ Child, we will live in Heaven for all eternity. Not only will we live in Heaven but all those of our families and our friends who have died before we die will be there as well. As we celebrate this Sunday of Peace, please take heart in the fact that because of this Christ Child, we find a peace that passes our feeble understanding! Take heart that this world is not the end – it is simply a stop along our journey. God give us grace for that journey! Amen. This Sunday is the Frist Sunday of Advent – the Sunday of Hope. While the nation of Israel hoped for a Savior, what they really wanted, really expected was a “warrior” type, such as David, who could free them form Roman oppression. That is not what God had in mind at all! Isn’t it strange how we don’t always get what we want—but, more times than not we do get what we need!
As a society here in the good ole USA, we have turned Christmas into such a secular/commercial thing, and it amazes me how people want to change it to “holiday” instead of what it really is, Christmas! If December 25 was not Christmas we would not be celebrating “holiday!” Every time someone says to me “Happy Holidays,” I respond quickly with, “Merry Christmas!” I would encourage you to do the same. On this Sunday of hope, my hope is that there are still some companies out there who will allow their employees to say “Merry Christmas!” Today, as Christians we do have hope, even in a world that is so busy, so convoluted that there does not seem to be very much hope around. We should be hoping that Christ will return quickly! It is possible that will happen, but it is not likely! In our scripture reading for today, Jesus makes it clear that when he returns, his return will be “at an unexpected hour!” Truth is, no one knows when the Second Coming of Christ will occur. We simply know that it will happen and that gives us hope. Because of that promise, we have hope for a better world. We have hope that one day, Christ will return and take all his children home, out of the trials and tribulations of this world. We have hope that one day, there will be a new heaven and a new earth because the old will have passed away. And we have hope that one day, we will dwell in the house of the Lord forever—and that is a long, long time. Hope is a wonderful thing!! Amen. Have you ever known someone who had been frightened so horribly bad that they could not speak? This rarely occurs but sometimes, something happens that causes the mind to block out remembering the event and in extreme cases, the person cannot even speak at all!
However, that is not the case with Zachariah in our scripture reading for today. In Luke 1 we read the Zachariah story. Zachariah was deemed to be a righteous man, and one day while he was serving as a priest, he was chosen by lot to be the one to offer up incense. As he was doing this, an angel of the Lord came and spoke to him, telling him that he and his wife Elizabeth were going to have a child. This child would be a very special child and would be filled with the “spirit and power of Elijah!” (Luke 1:17a) Zachariah questioned this angel telling him that he was old and “my wife is getting on in years!” (1:18b) The angel is then identified as Gabriel and he is not happy with Zachariah because he doubts what he has been told. Gabriel tells Zachariah that he will become “mute, unable to speak, until the day these things occur!” (v20b) In our scripture reading for today, Zachariah finally can speak! John the Baptist has been born and is filled with the Holy Spirit and he begins to prophecy! What can we learn from this incredible story? First, if an angel appears and speaks to you, it would behoove you to listen! Zachariah didn’t believe Gabriel and he was silent for roughly 9 months! The second thing is that we learn when we are silent! More than once God reminds us that we need to be still, be silent and listen to God speaking through the Holy Spirit. We live in a busy, push-and-shove world and many times, the “noise” is deafening! We need to take time to “be still and know God!” (Psalm 46:10) It is in the silence and the stillness where we can really listen to God. Try it sometime – you may be surprise what happens! And you just might like it as well! Tomorrow we celebrate Veterans Day, a day set aside to remember all those who have served this country in one of our branches of the military. On November 11, 1919, the nation celebrated the one-year anniversary of the signing of the armistice that ended World War One. Congress then passed a resolution in 1926 that made November 11 the “official” Veterans Day. In 1938, November 11 became a national holiday.
Today we celebrate this day in a variety of ways. Regardless of how you celebrate this special day, take some time to reflect on the price of freedom. Our freedom is something we take for granted. We are not required to have “papers” that allow us to cross from one state into another. In some parts of the world that is not the case. We are free to choose where we worship, where we live and shop and, to some degree, even where we work. We can have as many children as we want or if we chose not to have children at all, that is ok as well. Our nation is a great nation and a great place to live. Now, all this freedom did not just happen, nor was it at a low cost. To date, this nation has lost 1,319,604 in all the wars and conflicts in which we have been involved. The Civil War accounted for almost half of those fatalities with 625,000 lives lost. The total number of people killed in World War I was over 17 million; 11 million military and 7 million civilians! World War II was worse with about 15 million military killed. One more fact that may surprise you. Germany was required to pay reparations for both WWI and WWII. They completed payments for WWI on October 3, 2010 and they are still paying reparations in the form of pensions which actually began in July, 2018! The cost of war is not cheap! As we celebrate Veterans Day, celebrating an armistice that was signed 100 years ago, let us be thankful for all those who have served so that today we enjoy our freedoms! How many times have you said, “My thoughts and prayers are with you,” when someone is sick, or someone has lost a loved one to death? That is a phrase we use often –thoughts and prayers. I know that I have said that often and I would venture to say that you have as well. But do you mean it, I mean really mean it? Or is it just something to say when you can’t think of anything else to say? You know what I mean—something like, “How are you feeling?” when you really don’t want to know how they feel at all!
My hope is that when you do say that to someone you will follow through and actually think about that person and actually include them in your prayers. Our ability to go directly to God in prayer is one of the greatest gifts we find in living a life with Christ as our “personal lord and Savior.” Prior to Jesus’ coming into the world, the nation of Israel prayed through the priest and many times were required to offer some form of animal sacrifice to accompany those prayers. That sacrifice could have been as small as a dove, but a sacrifice had to be made. Once Jesus came, he taught His disciples to pray and that changed everything. We can go boldly to God in prayer anywhere, anytime for any reason. There is no prayer too small or to great that God doesn’t hear, and, God is faithful to answer them. Now, that does not mean we will always get what we ask for in our prayer, but there is always an answer. Just like a loving parent sometimes says, “no!” to their child, God will sometimes say the very same thing to us. We may not always know what is best for ourselves (although we think we always know) but God does! Prayer is a line of direct communication with God. There is no one that goes between us and God. Prayer is a direct line, without a dial tone or call waiting. God is always available. The scripture tells us that God never sleeps and is always on duty, so to speak. (see Psalm 121:4) So, no matter what, you always have time to truly live out your words to keep someone in your thoughts and prayers. Give it a try and remember, there just may be someone who has you in their thoughts and prayers! Amen. Today, more than ever, it is time for us to really understand that the word “Christian” is a verb and NOT a noun! Most of the time we think of that word as not only a noun, but a proper noun. Sometimes we may say, “I am a Christian!” (in which case the Christian is actually an adjective) Maybe what we should be saying is “I want to Christian today!” So, what does it mean to “Christian?”
To fully understand that, we first must understand what it means to be a Christian from the proper noun standpoint. The dictionary definition of the word “Christian” is: “relating to or professing Christianity or its teachings” (adjective) or “a person who has received Christian baptism or is a believer in Christianity” (noun). In reality, the word “Christian” means “being like Christ.” I have a copy of a book written in Latin in 1418-1427. It is a handbook for spiritual life arising from the Devotio Moderna movement, of which Kempis was a member. This was a movement which began in the late fourteenth century and flourished in the Low Countries and Germany, but came to an end with the Protestant reformation. It was a call for renewal through the rediscovery of genuine pious practices such as humility, obedience and simplicity of life. (https://www.britannica.com/topic/devotio-moderna) That is a long explanation to simply say follow Jesus! Now, today, when we put our faith into action we actually Christian (as an action verb!). We are to care for the poor beginning right here in Mission, Kansas. We do ok with that, but could we do more? You have the answer to that! However, we live in a world that does not take things that way. Our world today is more take than give. More times than not, the question is asked, “what have you done for me latterly?” when we should be asking “what can I do for you right here, right now?” Do you feel like actually being a Christian today? My hope is that you do. So then, as Jesus said, “Go, make disciples…” (Mt 28:19 paraphrase mine) Amen. |
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This blog consists of reflections written by the minister each week for the Sunday bulletin. We hope that you enjoy the musings! Archives
January 2020
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