Walking With Jesus

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“Walking With Jesus”  [Read Luke 24:13-32]

Luke records an interesting story in the 24th chapter of his gospel about two disciples who were on their way to the village of Emmaus.  This was just after Jesus had been crucified and they were still confused and sad over the events that had happened.  I imagine they had based their acceptance of Jesus on the fact that he was the Promised Messiah.  Yet now, for them, he was gone.  They were defeated.

Then Jesus walked with them.  The interesting thing about this text is that they failed to recognize him.  Jesus walked with them, he talked with them, he explained the scriptures to them, and still they did not know who Jesus was.

Many times we are really the same way.  Jesus promises never to leave us alone.  He walks with us, and if we will listen, Jesus talks with us as well.  All we need to do is look around and we see the love of God everywhere.  Yet we fail to recognize Jesus when we encounter him.

However, this story ends on a high note.  Jesus shares a meal with these disciples.  In the breaking of the bread they are able to recognize who Jesus was.  Then they remembered how their hearts had been warmed when he shared the scriptures with them as they walked along together.

If you are failing to see Jesus, if you think you are traveling the road of life alone, may I suggest that this Easter Season you do what these disciples did.  Join us for worship where we share the scriptures together.  When we have a church dinner, join us when we break bread together.  Join us at Holy Communion where the Bread of Life is shared together.  Those disciples felt their hearts burn within them when they realized they had been with Jesus.  Worship can still do that for you today.  Join us and see for yourself!

Richard

Pastoral Pondering – Tis Midnight and on Olives’ Brow

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     “Tis Midnight and on Olives’ Brow” 

 [Read Luke 22:39-44]

Of all the texts that give us the details of Jesus’ last week, the one that touches me the most is Luke’s account of Jesus praying alone in the Garden of Gethsemane. While all three of the synoptic gospels-Matthew, Mark and Luke-tell the story, Luke gives us a closer look at the struggles and suffering the human nature of Jesus endured there. While I love John’s Gospel, it deals more with the divine nature of the Christ than the human nature of Jesus, so Gethsemane gets glossed over.

lighted cross monument atop burlington hill, skagit county, washington stateNow I know that many scholars will argue that verses 43 and 44—the angel and the sweat drops of blood—are lacking in some of the ancient authorities and therefore were not a part of the original text. This would mean that they were probably added by the early church and not written by Luke. However, for me, they fit nicely with Luke’s understanding of just how human Jesus really was. After all, Luke is known as the Beloved Physician and shows us that Jesus was really wrestling with whether or not he would face the cross.

For you see for me, Jesus had to struggle his whole life with what did it mean to be who he was. What kind of Messiah would he be: the triumphant warrior king, which was exactly what the people expected; or the suffering servant pointed to by so many of the ancient writings. I believe that early on Jesus choose to be the Suffering Servant knowing full well that choice would lead to the cross. However making that choice was not the end of Jesus’ struggles. The temptation to find an easier way and to avoid crucifixion was always with Jesus. From the time the Tempter offered him all the kingdoms of earth if Jesus would bow down and worship him, to Caesura Philippi when after Peter had affirmed that Jesus was the Christ and Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and die and Peter rebuked him and said: “That shall never happen to you.” [Mark 16:21-22], to now in Gethsemane the temptation to avoid the cross was very strong.
If you really want to understand just how much Jesus loves you, see him praying alone on Olives’ Brow until his sweat becomes like great drops of blood! I believe it was at that point the power of sin was broken. Jesus had resisted the final temptation to find an easier way and when he prayed the final time “Yet not my will but yours be done!” and got up off his knees all the forces of Hell could not have kept him off the cross! Jesus loves us that much!
William B. Tappan captures the meaning of Luke’s account so well in the words of “Tis Midnight and on Olives’ Brow” – Here they are for you:

‘Tis midnight and on Olives’ Brow – The star is dimmed that lately shown’
Tis midnight in the garden now – The Suffering Savior prays alone.
Tis midnight; and from all removed – The Savior wrestles lone with fears
E’en the disciple whom he loved – Heeds not his Master’s grief and tears.
Tis midnight, and for other’s guilt – The Man of Sorrows weeps in blood;
Yet he who in anguish knelt – Is not forsaken by his God.
Tis midnight; and from either plains – Is borne the song the angels know;
Unheard by mortals are the strains – That sweetly soothe the Savior’s woes.

Richard

Pastoral Ponderings

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 “February – The Double L Month” 

February, while the shortest month, is still very important.  Two of the events that happen this month that makes it important are symbolized by the letter ‘L’.  The first is Valentine’s Day which reminds us of love.

Love is one of those words in English that can have a wide variety of meanings.  We use it to express everything from a craving for ice cream, “I love chocolate,” to our support for a favorite sports team, “I love the Redskins,” to our feeling for our spouse, “I love you,” to our relationship with God, “I love the Lord.”  Unfortunately a lot of the times we never note the difference between our love for ice cream and our love for Jesus.

This is not true in Greek, the language of the New Testament.  There are three words that are translated as love, yet they each have different meanings.  The first is eros which means a physical type of love.  We get our word erotic from this root.  Next there is phileo which means kindly affection or brotherly love, Philadelphia being the “City of Brotherly Love.”  Then there is agape of a self-sacrificing, God-like love.

It is because of this agape love that the second L word comes into being.  February usually marks the beginning of Lent.  The season of Lent is forty days, not counting Sundays, before Easter.  Lent is a time when we prepare ourselves to remember that Easter is all about love.  “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” [John 3:16 K.J.V.]  And again: “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” [John 15:13 K.J.V.]  So you see, Lent and love do go hand in hand, making February the ‘Double L” month.

Lent begins with Ash Wednesday (Feb. 10th this year), which marks a time of repentance and traditionally many people choose to give up something they love as a way of remembering the sacrifice Jesus made.  I encourage you to do so.

However, I also challenge you to do more.  Rather than just giving up something, why not let your love shine this Lent by doing something positive.  Visit more, pray more, study the Bible more, volunteer your time in service to others more than you have been doing.  Then, when you say “I love Jesus”, it will really mean something.

                                                                                              -Richard

“When the Man of Principles Becomes a Man of Faith”

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Matthew 1:19 reads:  “Joseph was a man who always did what was right, but he did not want to disgrace Mary publicly; so he made plans to break the engagement privately.” [T.E.V.]   

Joseph is often the forgotten character in the Christmas story.  He was a man of principles.  Undoubtedly Joseph was a law-abiding, scripture-reading, synagogue-going man.  He may even have been a leader of the mainstream Judaism of his day.  Being engaged gave the man all the same rights that a husband had.  Even the right to charge his intended with adultery which, by the way, was punishable by stoning.  Therefore, when Mary told him she was pregnant Joseph had every right to bring charges against her.  Indeed, that was the morally correct and principled thing to do.

We catch a glimpse of Joseph’s character in the verse quoted above.  Not wanting Mary to be disgraced publicly implies that Joseph at least cared for Mary.  However you would think that if he really loved her Joseph would have gone ahead and married Mary even knowing that the child she carried was not his.  Many engaged couples of that day lived together as husband and wife so the birth of before the marriage ceremony was not unusual and therefore would not have caused scandal.  But Joseph was a man of principles!  And we all know that principles must be stronger than anything else!  If a man does not have his principles, he is no man at all!

Yet when we try to follow abstract principles we are most likely to dismiss God’s miracles.  We become unable to recognize God’s surprises and often close ourselves off from God’s grace.  But isn’t it amazing how sometimes God breaks in and touches our lives?  For Joseph it was the angel of the Lord speaking to him in a dream.  For you and me it was the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ that changes us and allows us to live by faith.

When Joseph awoke he was able to go beyond doing what was “right” according to his principles and be faithful to God’s loving command.  Joseph let go of his cold absolute morals and went with the loving God who needed him to carry out God’s purpose in the world.  This Christmas season let us move from uncaring principles and begin to live by faith.  Maybe God also has a work for you and me to do.  Are we faithful enough to do it?

— Richard

Anytime Is The Time For Salvation

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FUMC-Sanctuary

“The harvest is past, the summer is ended and we are not saved.” [Jeremiah 8:20 N.R.S.V.]

I confess I do not like Autumn! I will admit the colors of the leaves are beautiful, the days are often bright and crisp, and the sky clearer than any other time of the year. Still I know that when Autumn comes, Winter cannot be far behind! As the days get shorter and shorter, daylight becomes less and less, and I get more and more depressed. Aches and pains that are not noticeable in warmer times cry out for attention and remedy when the weather gets cold. Spiritually I find myself wanting to go into hibernation until Spring comes as if God is only with us in warm weather.

 
This seems to be what the prophet Jeremiah was saying in the verse quoted above. Spring and Summer were the times when armies went forth to battle. When the harvest was past, the time for fighting was ended. The armies of Babylon had lain seize to Jerusalem. The leaders of Judah, both the priests and the king’s advisors, believed that God would fight on their side. They remembered when the Assyrian army threatened Jerusalem after the fall of the Northern Kingdom in 721 B.C. Just when it seemed that the city would be defeated, the Assyrians withdrew. The city was saved. They believed that God had saved them.

 
So when faced with this threat from Babylon they simply waited for God to save them once again. Great hopes were there when Spring came. Surely during the season of battles God would defeat their enemy and drive that army away from Jerusalem. It did not happen! Now the time of fighting was over. The harvest is past and Summer ended and they were not saved. They must have faced Autumn and the coming of Winter with the same depression I do! And we both are wrong!

 
For you see God is not just with us during the Spring and Summer, rather God is with us all the time. Anytime is the time for salvation! So if you have never accepted God’s love for yourself, if you have never publicly professed your faith, if you are not saved, you do not have to wait! Often we think that salvation can only come during a Confirmation Class or time of Revival; but anytime is the time for salvation. Why don’t you invite Jesus into your heart today?

 

Also, please take the time to remember that God is still with us during Autumn and Winter as well as in the Spring and Summer.

Richard

Choosing to Serve the Lord

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AUTUMN-HARVEST-TIME

“Now if you are unwilling to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served in the region beyond the river, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” [Joshua 24:15]

There was going to be a change in leadership. Joshua who had faithfully and successfully led the Children of Israel into the Promised Land would soon be gone. Also going away with him was the people’s link back to Moses who had led them out of Egypt and also given them the law. So this was an important change indeed. Joshua gathered the people together for a farewell address. After he reminded them of all that God had done for them, Joshua asked them to choose who they would serve. Two of the options Joshua mentioned are still valid today as we struggle to choose who, or what, we will serve.

 

worship-services

The first choice was to serve the gods your ancestors served. How many times do we elevate traditions in the highest position and worship them more than we worship God? Some of the most discouraging words a pastor ever hears are: “Preacher, we’ve never done that here,” or “Preacher, we’ve always done it this way.” One of the best definitions for insanity is keeping on doing what you have always done and expecting a different outcome.

Now traditions are not all bad. In fact, some are really good: they become sinful when we serve them rather than serving the Lord. I once served a church in which the piano lamp was broken. My pianist had to “fix” it each time before it could be used. However to even talk about replacing it was considered blaspheme because someone had given it as a memorial gift for an ancestor. Often we choose to serve the “gods” of tradition and worship the past.
The second choice was to serve the “gods” of the people around them. In Joshua’s time that may well have seemed to be the best choice. Serving the gods of the Amorites would allow the Israelites to blend in and become a part of that society. Now while the reasons may be different today the temptation to blend in and be just like everyone around us is still very strong.

Surveys tell us that peer pressure may be the most defining thing in our youth’s lives. Also most of us, regardless of age, want to be accepted and to fit in with those around us. This may be on the job, in school, or just in the community at large. Far too often we compromise our Christian beliefs and find ourselves serving the “gods” of those around us.

However, Joshua also presents a third choice, serving the LORD. In one of the best affirmations of faith in all scripture Joshua said: “But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” Oh how I hope and pray that we all can make that same affirmation of our faith!

Richard

State of the Church

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Each year for Charge Conference the pastor is asked to do a report of the state of the church that he or she is serving. Below is my report for this year.

FUMCGalaxoldchurchweb-1024x734

 

This has been another hard year for our church. Both membership and average attendance, for both Worship and Sunday School, is down. One promising thing is that the percentage of decrease is less than it has been in the past few years. Also troubling is the fact that our giving is down. At the end of July we were over $7,000 behind our budgeted donations and over $10,000 behind last year’s giving. We need to do better!

Easter eggs in grass.

© Donar Reiskoffer / Wikimedia Commons / CC-BY-SA-3.0

However, there are some encouraging signs. Ruth Sizemore, our Children’s Committee Chair, did a great job with our Easter Egg Hunt and our Vacation Bible School “G-Force=God’s Love In Action”—was really successful with an average of over 20 kids each night. God is good!

Our Mission Outreach continues to do great work; with our Health and Welfare Assistance program each Tuesday making a real difference to those in need.

Our United Methodist Women remains one of the strongest units in the Wytheville District. Several members of our local unit serve in leadership positions on the district level.

Our Music Department does a great job—this adds so much to our Worship. However, our brightest light may be our Kid’s Junction ministry. Started with the help of a Holston Conference “Change-for-Children” grant, this has not merely survived but grown greatly. This school year we were able to provide fifty plus backpacks for students as well as other needed school supplies. This is in addition to our on-going distribution of coats, clothes, diapers and personal hygiene items not covered by SNAP benefits. Way to go church!

AUTUMN-HARVEST-TIME
This is a time of change for First Galax United Methodist Church as we transition from the type of church we used to be and become the church God wants us to be now. Change is always scary but if we seek God’s will to commit to doing what God wants, we will have a bright future.

Richard

INDEPENDENCE DAY

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The Fourth of July is a very special day. It is the birthday of our nation and the time when we celebrate our freedom. It may be my favorite holiday of all. This is partly true because it comes during the summer which is becoming more and more, the older I get, my favorite time of the year.

While the Fourth has always had meaning, it seems to have become more important after the tragic events of September 11, 2001. After the terrorists attacks, you seem to hear the phrase “God bless America” much more than you did before. Each time I hear or see those words I ask myself what do they mean? Especially, what do I mean when I say them?

Sometimes we forget that the Fourth is not a religious holiday. I am afraid that we often worship our nation almost as much, or more than, we worship God. Now please do not get me wrong. I love the U.S.A. as much as anyone. My heart beats faster when I see the flag or hear the national anthem; but we cannot allow anything, even our nation, to be the thing we put above our worship of God. We need to hear again the words of Jesus regarding how we treat civil leadership of any nation: “Render to Caesar the things that are Ceasar’s and to God the things that are God’s.” [Mark 12:17 K.J.V.] This teaches that God must be the ultimate thing in our lives above all else, even our love of country.

Furthermore, we need to remember that God is God of all nations and God loves all the world’s people. Now God does not approve of the evil some people do and terrorism done in the name of religion must break God’s heart. However, when I hear “God Bless America” I cannot help but think of the words of Lloyd Stone’s hymn entitled “This Is My Song.” Let me share those words with you now:

‘This is my song, O God, of all the nations, a song of peace for land afar and mine. This is my home, the country where my heart is, here is my hopes, my dreams, my holy shrine: but other hearts in other lands are beating, with hope and dreams as true and high as mine. My country’s skies are bluer than the ocean, and sunlight beams on cloverleaf and pine. But other lands have sunlight too, and clover, and skies are everywhere as blue as mine.’

Now please do not get me wrong. It is not wrong to love your country and to pray for God to bless the U.S.A. as long as we do not mean by blessing our country that God would harm some other country. Maybe one of the hardest teachings Jesus gave us is to love our enemies. If we are to love our country as we should, we have to love God more.

So I hope this Independence Day you celebrated your freedom and enjoyed this great nation of ours, only keeping God first in your heart.

Richard

KNOWN

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“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you.” [Jeremiah 1:5a N.R.S.V.]

The theme for this, the 30th anniversary, resurrection was that each and every one of us is known by god.

Thirty years ago three pastors in the Holston annual conference had an idea for a youth event each year in Gatlinburg, tn. They were inspired to name the event resurrection and presented their idea to the conference council on youth ministry. Reluctantly CCYM agree to back their idea and the first resurrection was held. It was attended by between three hundred fifty to four hundred youth and adult counsellors.

From that humble beginning resurrection has grown into one of the largest youth events in the southeastern united states and the second largest United Methodist youth event in the world! And oh how god has used it!

Literally thousands of young lives have been touched and changed attending resurrection. Thousands of souls have been saved and scores of young people have answered the call to fulltime Christian service as preachers, youth pastors, Missionaries and by other avenues of service for Christ and his church.

This year’s speaker was Reggie Dobbs who is an excellent preacher. His messages were built around the fact that god knows you and has a plan for your life. No matter whom you are how small, young, weak or insignificant you think you are, god has given your life a purpose and will strengthen you to live out that purpose. Now you have to choose to accept him as your savior, obey him, and seek to know god’s will for that purpose to happen.

Sometimes this is not easy. Sometimes we wait, hope and pray and it seems as if god never answers. Sometimes it even seems as if god does not even hear. Faith, however, tells not to give up. I constantly have to remind myself that god’s time is different than my timetable. What we think is forever may just be god waiting for the right time.

I do not know why some people are miraculously physically healed while others are not; i do not know while some Christians seemly are blessed in all they do while others struggle in all things, but i do know that god is always there and that god cares for us all!

One thing Reggie said will stick with me forever. It is this: “don’t let your situation dictate you savior, let your savior dictate your situation.”

So in all things, trust JESUS!

Richard

THE GREATEST GIFT OF ALL

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“And when they had come into the house they saw the young child with Mary His mother, and they fell down and worshipped Him. And when they had opened their treasures they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense and myrrh.” [Matthew 2:11 N.K.J.V.]

Christmas is the time of gift giving. This practice is traced directly back to the gifts the Three Wise Men gave to Baby Jesus. Sometimes the practice of giving gifts causes more problems than it offers benefits. Many families overspend on Christmas and wreck their financial well-being in an attempt to keep up with their friends. I can remember as a teenager hating to go back to school after Christmas when all my friends would brag about all they had gotten for Christmas, and I never got as much. Up until that time I really did not realize that by material standards how poor my family really was. I was embarrassed to have to admit that I only received one small gift, and there were years I did not get that much, while my friends had gotten so much more. Sometimes I was tempted to lie about what I had gotten, but I knew lying was wrong.

Looking back on my life, I now can see that while my family was lacking in material things, they were able to give me the greatest gift of all. Realizing now that, even as a teenager facing all the peer pressure that teenagers face, I was still able to know that lying was wrong was a great gift indeed. Telling a lie might have made me be better accepted, but not giving in to that temptation speaks volumes of how rich spiritually my family really was. The greatest gift of all that my family gave to me was faith and trust in Jesus Christ.

I cannot remember a time when prayer was not a part of our life. Blessings were said before each meal. Children were taught to pray as the last thing you did at night and the first thing you did the next morning. There was never a question of if we were going to church—if the church doors were open, we went. Some of my earliest memories are of my playing around my mother’s feet as she worked on a quilt and told me the stories from the Bible. I honestly cannot remember a time when I did not know about Jesus. The strength and the comfort of the Christian faith sustained and kept me, even during those times I rebelled against that faith. What a great gift my parents were able to give me.

So this Christmas give your children, your grandchildren, or the neighborhood children, the gift of faith. Take the time to tell them the stories of Jesus. Live a life that brings honor and glory to God before them. Be their example of who a Christian really is. Long after the material gifts that you may give them are broken, lost, or worn out, or become “boring”, the Christian faith will still be with them and it can change their lives. God gave the world His Only Begotten Son at that first Christmas and that is the greatest gift that ever was. The greatest gift that you can give is to share Jesus with others.

Richard