"He Can't Be Fixed"

A few weeks ago, I found myself on an airplane heading home.  Those who have travelled on an airplane know it is close quarters as you wait for the plane to arrive at its destination.  I could not help over-hearing a conversation of two men sitting on the row behind me.  One man was telling a fellow passenger about his nephew.   The man had offered for his teenage nephew to live with him after he had gotten in trouble in his hometown of Ohio.  His mother was exasperated on what to do with her wayward son so she readily accepted the offer of her brother for her son to come to N.C.    Unfortunately, the plight of the boy did not change.  His destructive behavior continued even in the Tar Heel state.   As the conversation came near the end, the Uncle and airplane passenger sighed and said,  “He can’t be fixed.” 

All of us have our stories of people like that man’s nephew.  They are our co-workers, neighbors, family members, or persons in our church.     They are men and women, boys and girls who are in constant contact with trouble and destructive behavior.   The television news is filled with stories that are similar and often more alarming.     “He can’t be fixed.”  We lament that that young man or young woman cannot change their behavior anymore than a leopard can erase their spots. 

In the Book of Acts, we are introduced to a man named Saul of Tarsus.   He was a Pharisee of the zealous variety who went from town to town arresting individuals who were a part of a group called The Way.  We know that group today as members of Christ’s Church and as followers of Jesus.   The very mention of the name of Saul brought ire and fear to the hearts of many.   The Book of Acts tells us that one day as Saul was walking down the road to Damascus he experienced something he had never experienced before.  He encountered Jesus.  It had such a powerful effect on Saul that a man that could not be fixed became not just a follower of Christ Jesus, but a missionary for the Church.   No earthly figure could change or fix Saul;  only God could change him.  Oh, what a change that God brought to the life of Saul (better known to Christians today as Paul) and what a change God can bring to the life of people even today.   

I wish I could tell you the rest of the story about that man’s  nephew.   I cannot, but I can tell you that I am praying that somehow God will change him even as I pray that God changes me more fully into the perfect likeness of His Son, Christ Jesus.   That same God can change all who surrender their hearts to Him  Have a joy-filled week.-  Pastor Randy Wall

Prayer:   O God, we pray for ourselves and all those who need your redemptive, transforming love.   Speak to them, and transform us more fully  into the image of Christ Jesus;  through Christ our Lord.   Amen. 

Where's Waldo?

Back in the 1980’s when our children were young, I recall a book that found its way to our home that fascinated all of us.   I believe it was titled Where’s Waldo?    The book features a slender boy wearing glasses and a red and white striped shirt named Waldo.   Though it was a book, it also was a game as the intent of the author was for the reader to search on a page filled with many people and many activities until you discovered where is Waldo.   I can remember in the corners of my mind sitting there for long periods of time with my daughter, Ginger, looking at the pages of that book as she searched her eyes on each page to discover where is Waldo.  Many times, it was a challenge trying to discover where was Waldo on the busy page.

I share that story from my past not just because it a sweet memory, but because I think it is metaphor of sorts about our relationship with God.   As the pages of that book were busy with many people and activities, most of us find ourselves busy with the activities of day to day life-  work, family, household tasks, and a myriad of activities.   Think about it for a moment if you will.  When a friend or family asks how you are doing, most of us respond with a comment detailing how busy we have been.   Oh, we are so busy just as the pages of that book about Waldo. 

However, just as Waldo was on each page of the busy pages of that book, so the living God is there in the midst of every day.  Sometimes, it is hard to see God particularly when we are consumed by trial, trouble, or tragedy;  other times, it seems the sight and voice of God is so clear that it seems that God is shouting as us.    Oh, to have the ability to see Him in the good times and the bad, in the busy times and the times where life is less consuming.

One of the early founders of the faith tradition that I am apart of was an English clergy man named John Wesley.   They say that when John Wesley was on his death bed, his final words were these:’  “The best of all is this:  God is with us.”   Oh, to know that truth each and every day.  Have a joy-filled week.-  Pastor Randy Wall

Prayer:   Living God, give us hearts to perceive and eyes to see you each and every day of our lives.  Forgive us for the times that we allow the times we allow the cares of this world to stifle our spirits from seeing you and knowing you;  through Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Believing Shows

I was talking to a neighbor the other day.  We talk every now and then.  We have a few things in common besides the fact that we live in the same neighborhood.  Among the things that we have in common is that he is former church organist.  Though he is Catholic, my neighbor knows well the work that is behind those worship services that many take for granted.  He spoke a little about some of the worship services he had played for especially funerals of priests.   As we talked,  I asked him,  “Where do you and your family attend church now?”   There was a long silence.   As I waited patiently for his response,  I wondered if I had brought up a subject that is taboo for him.  Finally, he responded,  “I don’t go to church anywhere now.”   After a few moments, he added, “But that does not mean I do not believe.”

That same day, I was listening to WSM 650 radio out of Nashville with the help of the internet.  That is the radio station that is the home for the Grand Ole Opry.    I heard for the first time in some time a song written by Ronnie Dunn and performed several years ago by country music duo Brooks and Dunn.  Here are some of the words of the song:

Old man Wrigley lived in that white house
Down the street where I grew up
Momma used to send me over with things
We struck a friendship up
I spent a few long summers out on his old porch swing

Says he was in the war when in the navy
Lost his wife, lost his baby
Broke down and asked him one time
How ya keep from going crazy
He said I'll see my wife and son in just a little while
I asked him what he meant
He looked at me and smiled, said

I raise my hands, bow my head
I'm finding more and more truth in the words written in red
They tell me that there's more to life than just what I can see
Oh I believe

What does it mean for us to believe, really believe?  I believe that when it comes to faith in God and being followers of Jesus Christ is more than what is inside us;  no, I believe belief shows.  The writer of the book of James says this about faith (or believing):  “As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.”   Does your believing show in your life?   Have a joy-filled week.-  Pastor Randy Wall  

Prayer:   O God, grant that what we believe in our heart may be known not just through our lips but also what we do and who we are daily; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen. 

Remember You Are Dust

For Christians around the world today this is not just your average, ordinary Wednesday.  No, it is a special Wednesday that they call Ash Wednesday.   It is beginning of the season of Lent, a time of preparation for Easter.   Today, faithful Christians around the world will go to the churches of their choice for worship.  While they are in the Ash Wednesday Service, a pastor or priest will place ashes on their forehead saying something like this:  From dust you have come and to dust you shall return.  Repent, and believe in the gospel.   In some faith traditions, the ashes used in the Ash Wednesday Service are made by burning the leaves of the Palm Sunday branches from the previous year.

Remember that you are dust.   That statement has its origin in the creation story of Genesis where we read that the Lord takes dust of the ground and creates Adam, the first human.     The very word “human” comes from the latin word “hummus” which means earth.   It is also the origin for the word “humility”.   We are dirt and dust.    There is something dirty about us not just in how we are formed, but in who we are.   The dirt and dust placed on our foreheads on Ash Wednesday will wash off with soap and water, but it cannot touch  our dirty hearts.  

     

The great missionary of the early Church, the apostle Paul, not only wrote in his letter to the Romans “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God”  (Romans 3:23)  but he also declared that he was  chief among sinners.  And so we come to worship on Ash Wednesday not because we are perfect, but because we are sinners in need of a merciful God.  Our foreheads are dirty and dusty on Ash Wednesday, but our hearts and souls are dirty each and every day as we yearn for the grace that is ours in Christ Jesus our Savior.  Have a joy-filled week.-  Pastor Randy Wall

Prayer:  O God, we give thanks on this Ash Wednesday that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.  Hear the cries of our hearts seeking the grace that is found to all who humble themselves before your throne of grace; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.