My Day in Court

The summer is a time when many folks head to the coast to enjoy the fun and frolic of beach, sand, and the like.   I was thinking the other day about a time I had made such a trip to the coast.  I was in a hurry to get home and was stopped by a highway patrol officer that issued me a ticket for speeding.  I was guilty of the charge, but bemoaned that the speeding ticket would possibly mean not only a fine and court costs but also higher auto insurance rates.   As a single parent in those days seeking to raise kids on a pastor’s salary, money was not plentiful in our household.  So, I went to see my local attorney.

Bill Burgwyn was a member of the congregation I had the priviledge to pastor.  He was not only an attorney, but also a District attorney for 25 years.  I went by to see Bill and shared my predicament.   He  listened compassionately, and after I finished, Bill said,  “Randy, hold on a minute.  Let me make a phone call.”  Without looking up the number, he called the clerk of court’s office.  He asked a few questions of the person on the other end of the phone, put down the phone, and said:   “Randy, when is your court date?  I am going to court with you on that date.”  

On my court date, Bill and I headed over to the courthouse in the neighboring county.  Bill was greeted warmly by the courthouse employees when he walked in the door with me.  As a former district attorney, he knew most of them.   After exchanging pleasantries with many of those employees, we headed to the judge’s chambers where he introduced me to the judge who would be presiding at my trial.   I discovered that Judge Grant was not only an old friend of Bill’s, but also a distant cousin.   Bill then told me to go have a seat, and he would take care of everything.     The time came for my trial, and I appeared in the courtroom as the defendant with Bill as my attorney.  The highway patrol officer was there, and he told the judge I had acted very polite to him that day.   When the court case was over, the judge offered me a prayer of judgment.   I not only was found not guilty, but I also had no court costs.   It was a happy ending that happened  all because I had an advocate who knew well the judge.  

 There are perhaps few drivers who can say they have never sped in their travels, and there are certainly no  persons who can say they have never sinned.  Hear the good news of these verses from I John 2:1-3 where we read: 

My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. ² He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.  

            Thanks be to God for the advocate we know in Jesus Christ and for the Father/Judge who forgives us time after time.  Have a joy-filled week.-  Pastor Randy Wall

PRAYER :     O God,  we give you thanks that for your grace and forgiveness that is found in your Son and our Savior Jesus Christ.  Thanks you for your amazing grace.  Amen. 

The God Who Wears a Mask

  

As a child growing up, I always enjoyed watching the old cowboy movies from another era with folks like Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, and the like playing leading roles.   The plots of those movies were often quite simple:  good vs. evil, good guy vs. bad guy.    It was not hard to figure out who were the bad guys in most of those movies as the bad guys were most often the ones wearing the masks (except for that masked man The Lone Ranger, of course) as they robbed a bank or people on a stage coach. 

In the heat of this pandemic in our community and our nation, the people who wear masks are considered by many to not be bad guys, but good guys.   In my state and many communities, it is mandatory to wear masks when you leave home and go to places to shop or to mail packages.   I have noticed now that many stores are posting signs encouraging if not requiring their customers to wear masks.  

Have you ever thought about the truth that God wears a mask!   That’s right though not the kind of mask that folks are wearing as they go shopping or head away from home.   The purpose of the masks we wear  are to protect the wearer and persons they are around from the threat of COVID-19.   Masks in the operating room protect the patient from disease or infection.   

Masks do not only protect and shield; no, they also conceal and there is a sense that God is masked because we do not fully know and understand Him.    God is creator and we are His creature.  None of us is great and knowledgeable enough to understand His ways.   As I Corinthians 13 puts it, we are always “staring at a glass darkly” when it comes to God.   The best glimpse we have into the will and ways of God is through the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Christ Jesus.    Glory and praise to our great and mighty God for his love and care for feeble creatures like us!   Have a joy-filled week.-  Pastor Randy Wall

PRAYER :     O God,   we humbly admit that we do not completely understand your way and your will.  Help us to trust more fully in you despite what we do not know and do not understand; through Christ our Lord.   Amen.   

The Shattered Stain Glass Window

My friend, Dennis Gray, moved in recent days with his wife, Pat, to the mountains of North Carolina.   Dennis is the new pastor of three churches in Ashe County outside of West Jefferson.    Though I will miss my association with Dennis as he moves several hours away from where I live, I was pleased that he was becoming the pastor of these three churches in Ashe County because I was pastor of those 3 United Methodist Churches many years ago.   I will always have fond memories for the people of those churches and be grateful for their love and grace to me. 

The photo above is a window in the fellowship hall  of Clifton Church.  Nestled at the foot of a mountain and within sight of the New River, Clifton is a beautiful setting where some faithful  followers of Christ Jesus gather to worship regularly.   There is a story behind this window that I was reminded of a few weeks ago and that story is as follows:

They built the fellowship hall of Clifton Church back in the 1980’s  a few years before I served there as their pastor.   The beautiful window was not so beautiful at one time.   It seems that many years ago that a car was making its way down the steep road beside the church.   The brakes of the vehicle were not working so the car crashed into the side of Clifton Church.   Damages to the church included a beautiful stained glass window that was shattered into pieces.     Thinking that the window was not repairable, church leaders put its pieces into the attic  of the church.   When they began building the  Clifton Church fellowship hall, they discovered the shattered remnants of that stained glass window that had been forgotten about.   Wondering if perhaps the pieces of stained glass would be fashioned into something of beauty for the new church fellowship hall,  church leaders took its pieces to a stained glass artist outside of Boone.   You can see in this picture what a wonderful job the stained glass artisan did.   It indeed is a thing of beauty.

I share that story because it is a fitting metaphor for what Christ does with our lives.   I don’t know about you, but there have been times when my life has been shattered into pieces.   Sometimes, the culprit has been  the actions of others and sometimes my life has been shattered through what I have done or not done.   Thanks be to God that we can bring the shattered pieces of our lives to the Great Artist, Christ Jesus, who takes us as we are and makes us a New Creation through the wonder of his grace and redeeming love.  II Corinthians 5:17 puts it this way:  “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come;  the old has gone, the new is here!”    Have a joy-filled week.-  Pastor Randy Wall

PRAYER :     O God,  we give you thanks for the new creation you make every day through the power and wonder of your love in Jesus Christ.  Create us new, O God, into the image of your son and our Savior, Jesus Christ.   Amen.  

A Different Independence Day

This was a different Independence Day for many folks.  Many communities that have the tradition of having festivals, parades, and the like did not have them this year due to the pandemic.  I suspect that there were some who normally travel to a favorite vacation destination who chose to stay home.    Perhaps the void of festivities and celebrations helped us see with clarity  that  the 4^th of July is the birthday of our country as we remember that on July 4, 1776 the Declaration of Independence was signed as a signal that the leaders of our country wanted us to have a sovereign, self-governed country. 

            Some time during these days, I am sure that I will hear that classic patriotic song of Irvin Berlin, “God Bless America”.  “God bless America, my home sweet home”, the song says.   As both an American citizen and as a Christian, that song prompts in me this observation:   we cannot expect God to really bless America if Americans are not blessing the name of our God.   The Psalmist knew something about blessing and praising the name of our God.  We hear the Psalmist say in Psalm 103:1, “Bless the Lord, O my soul; And all that is within me, bless His holy name.”     It is a privilege to be an American;  we have freedoms without rival in this world.    Let us not forget that the blessings in our nation come from God. Let us bless and praise the name of our God in this country by putting into practice the motto of our country:  “In God we trust”. 

PRAYER

            Thank you, God, for this country that I live in.  During this time of celebrating our country’s birthday, help me to not be blind to what this holiday is all about.  As we celebrate our nation’s independence, help me to bless your name by depending more fully and completely on you;  through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.