The Tide Comes In, The Tide Goes Out

One of the places where my wife Ann and I make a regular pilgrimage is to the coast.   It is a place that provides rest and renewal as we enjoy lazy days, afternoon naps, beach walks, and water views.  I found myself thinking about the tides along the shore a few weeks ago.  The tide comes in to give us high tide, and the tide goes out to give us low tide.  Day after day, the tides comes in and the tide goes out.

 As the tide comes and the tide goes, such is a way of life for many of us.  Day after day, workers come to work and go home.  Children come home from college for the weekend, and then go back to their institution of higher learning.  Special occasions like birthdays, holidays, and the like take place and family and friends come together to celebrate and then go back to their homes and regular routines.  Like the tide coming in and going out, so we come and go as we move and have our being.

As the tide comes in and the tide goes out, so we that are a part  of the family of faith go about our life as disciples of Christ Jesus.   We gather to worship, and then scatter to serve.  We come together to study and glorify God, and then we go into the world to share the love of Christ with so many to whom love is a stranger.   A boat is not built to only stay in the harbor. No, it can only fulfill its purpose when it launches out to new horizons  before it.   The church gathers and it scatters to serve:  that is when followers of Christ Jesus and the church are at its best.  Like the tide, we come and we go knowing that the One that made the seas always goes with us.   Have a joy-filled week.-  Pastor Randy Wall

Prayer:   O God of sea and sky, ocean waves and ocean depths:   we thank you for the rhythymns of life and faith created in your awesome way and will   In our comings and goings, grant that we gather to glorify your name and have the courage to go and serve you;  through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.  

Things I Wish Mom Told Me

Mother’s Day is only a few days away.  While I celebrate the Mother that my wife, Ann, is and the mothers that 3 of our daughters are and the host of other mothers I have encountered through the years,  there is a hollowness this and every Mother’s Day for me knowing that my own Mother has gone on to her eternal rest.   My Mom (as I called her)  died in August,2001.

There are many folks that have regrets about things that did not say or do after someone they loved dies.   They wish they had done this or said that.  Often, it seems to hang around their necks weighing them down as they swim in the river of their life.  I have had no regrets about what I said or did after my Mom died.  I had the chance to visit with her the day before she died.   I talked to her only hours before she died.   My final words to her in that phone call were:  “I love you, Mom.”    I am grateful for those memories.

What I do regret and miss are the things that Mom told me.   When my birthday rolled around every year,  she would tell me again the story about how she spent 7 months of her pregnancy with me in bed and that the doctors had told her that I would probably be born dead or deformed.    That story reminded me how much I was wanted and how precious my life was.    I miss hearing Mom tell me that  she loved me. While those words were often said when we said our goodbyes over the phone or in person, they were said with sincerity and not uttered lightly.     These are the things I miss most of all that Mom told me.  There are many others.   And yet, I know that Mom was only an instrument to mirror what Someone tells me every day of my life.   Every day, God tells me that I am wanted and precious and I am loved.   All I have to do is look within me, around me, and look in that book called the Bible.   As Mothers Day comes again, if you have a Mom or mother figure still living tell her and show her that you love her and how precious she is.   You never know when it might be the last time to do that.    Have a joy-filled week.-  Pastor Randy Wall

Prayer:  New every day, O God, you tell us and show us how loved and precious in your sight we are.   Thank you for your love, and thank you for the people you place in our lives you use as messengers of your love;  through Christ our Lord.  Amen.  

A Note to a New Grandson

Dear Ezra Worth- 

 I write this note to you with such joy in your birth on April 21.  I am so glad you are born and give thanks that you are a healthy boy.    I have been praying for the same months before you were born.  I write this knowing that it will be years before you can read or you can understand what I share here.  Yet,  I write because my heart is full.

First, let me tell you about your name.  Ezra was the name of a leader of the Israelites.  He was a priest who led the Israelites back from their captivity in Babylon.  Let that Ezra influence who you are in your life.    As Ezra your namesake, give faith a chance in your life.  Let it mold you and in times of weakness hold you.  Also, like Ezra of old, be a leader and not a follower.  Lead those around you to making this world a better place.   Worth was the middle name of my maternal grandfather, Leland Worth Perry, and my uncle, Donald Worth Perry.  Leland Worth was a part time farmer and a part time mill worker.  Even though he died in 1965, I still remember his love for base ball and his kind spirit.  Donald Worth, his oldest son, was a World War II veteran and came back from war starting a construction business.  Most of his business was in commercial construction.  Perhaps some time I can show you some of the buildings his company built.  Let the lives of Leland Worth and Donald Worth form who you are in your life.  As those were dear people to me, so you are already dear to the heart of me. 

Secondly,  I have some important things to share with you and with not just your sisters, but all of my grandchildren.  I want you to  know that you have a family that loves you and wants the best for you.  You have a wonderful mother and father.  I know there will come a time when you will think that don’t know anything and want to stifle your life.   Know that they love you and want the best for you.    Be gracious and forgiving of your parents even as I hope they are gracious and forgiving of you.   It is a hard job being a parent and children do not come with an  operations manual.    Don’t forget that you have grandparents, sisters, aunts, uncles, and cousins who also love you.    They are as close as a phone call or a visit.  Let all of your family be blessed by sharing life with you and you will be blessed by them.  Don’t ever forget that God has a plan and purpose for your life.   I know not what that plan and purpose is, but I am certain it will not be like my own or exactly like your parents.  Earnestly seek to discover that plan and purpose and live it out.     Finally, make this world a better place.    As a boy scout, I was taught to leave a place where I camped better than I found it.  I have let that lesson instruct how I have lived  my life hoping that I made the little part of the world I lived better than I originally found it.  I hope that you will do the same.  I look forward seeing what life offers to you in the years to come and sharing time with you.  --   Love, Randy Wall AKA “Grandpa”, “Pop Pop”

Prayer:   O God, thank  you for children.  Bless them and help them be a blessing.  Amen.  

The Bloom of the Irises

Above this blog you will find a picture of Irises in my front yard.   I display the picture not as a subtle pat on the back about my gardening skills or simply because Spring is here.  I share this picture because there is a story behind the Irises.   I planted these Irises last Spring, our first Spring in our home.  Our yard was bare of any perennials.   Since the Iris is one of my favorite perennials,  I wanted to have some Irises in our yard. 

One day, I visited with Carol, a member of our church congregation.  Since Carol was experiencing declining health and had become homebound,  I visited her regularly last Spring.  As I was going into her home,  I noticed that she had a yard full of Irises.    When I asked Carol about her Irises,  she generously offered to share them with me for our yard.    One day last Spring,  I made a trip to her home not to sit in her den but to dig in her yard.  With shovel and bucket in hand,  I journeyed to her back yard to dig up some of her Irises.   Carol stood on her back porch and watched my work with a look of approval.    A day or so later,  I planted the Irises in our front yard.      I am watching and waiting excitedly for the Irises Carol shared with me to be in full bloom.

A few weeks after I planted those Irises last Spring, Carol’s health took a turn for the worse.  She died last May at our local hospital.    I had the priviledge to be a part of her funeral in late May.   In this season when we celebrate the resurrection and Easter, I find myself thinking of Carol and that verse in John 12:24  that says:   

²⁴ Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.

Thanks be to God for the wonder of  His handiwork and for the new life that is found in Christ for Carol and all who are in Christ Jesus.  Christ is risen, He is risen indeed.   Have a joy-filled week.-  Pastor Randy Wall

Prayer:   O God, we give you thanks for the wonder of your handiwork as Spring unfolds around us.   Give us eyes of faith to see the new life that is found for all who trust in you through your resurrection promises;  through Christ our Lord. Amen.  

Paying Taxes

⁶ This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. ⁷ Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.-   Romans 13:6-7

²⁰ Keeping a close watch on him, they sent spies, who pretended to be sincere. They hoped to catch Jesus in something he said, so that they might hand him over to the power and authority of the governor. ²¹ So the spies questioned him: “Teacher, we know that you speak and teach what is right, and that you do not show partiality but teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. ²² Is it right for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”   ²³ He saw through their duplicity and said to them, ²⁴ “Show me a denarius. Whose image and inscription are on it?”   “Caesar’s,” they replied.   ²⁵ He said to them, “Then give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”   ²⁶ They were unable to trap him in what he had said there in public. And astonished by his answer, they became silent.-   Luke 20: 20-26

The  deadline to file and pay your 2016 taxes happened this week.  I look at tax filing and collection in a little different way than most people because of family connections to the tax business.   First, my Dad served as tax collector for my hometown of Burlington, NC for 7 years back in the mid to late 1960’s.    Even though I was a child and a teenager in those days, I saw the stress in my Dad and heard  negative comments from friends about paying taxes.   Secondly, my wife, Ann, is a professional tax preparer and has been the same for many years.   Sometimes, she is the messenger of good news for a client and other times she shares bad news.   She does not make the laws that affect people’s tax burden, but only is the messenger for how the tax laws impact hard-working people in our state and nation.

Everyone pays taxes whether they like it or not whatever their  age.  In the place I reside, you pay taxes when you purchase such items as a snack at the store, a new or used car, or the clothes you will wear on your back.  Most everyone wants some of the things that our tax dollars provide such as good schools, good roads, care for our elders, and a strong national defense.  However, it is safe to say that none of us completely agree with how our tax dollars are used on the local, state, or national level and we voice our complaints about the same from time to time.  Yet, let us never forget that decisions about how our tax dollars are used are made by persons elected by the people and that we have a say about  who are elected when we go to the polls and vote for the candidates of our choice.     

Paying our taxes is our civic duty and obligation as much as voting, serving on jury duty, or serving in military service.   When I was younger,  I saw my payment of federal taxes as a way to help provide social security income for my grandparents.   In more recent years, I have seen my payment of taxes as a way to provide the equipment that my son in law needs as he serves in our nation’s military or providing social security income for my parents. 

While people are taxed in the United States whether they have faith or no faith, it is very fair to say that the Lord Jesus and early Christian leaders like Paul had no problem with paying taxes.  Paul clearly affirms the payment of taxes in the passage printed above.   While there are some subjects that Jesus does not speak about, he does speak about paying taxes and certainly is not contrary to  the same.  So, let us pay our taxes.  There was a price that was paid for followers of Christ Jesus to know salvation, and so there is price that must be paid through our taxes  for us to live in this land where we call home.  Have a joy-filled week.  -   Pastor Randy Wall 

 Prayer:   O God, give us eyes to see beyond the dollar signs to what our taxes provide in this land.  We pray for wisdom for our leaders who make decisions about how our tax dollars are used;  through Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.  

Bare Feet in a Maundy Thursday Snow

It was an unusual night.  In the first place, it was not often that we had worship at that Piedmont NC church on a weekday night much less a Thursday night.  In the second place, it was a snowy night.  It would not have seen unusual if the month had been January or February, but it was April and farmers were planting corn just across from the church. 

It was a special night and not just any old night.  It was the Maundy Thursday of Holy Week, and the family of faith was coming together to worship.  The gospels tell us about two things that happened on that Thursday of Holy Week.  First, they tell us that Jesus gathered together with his disciples for the Passover meal.  As they were eating, he took a piece of bread saying “this is my body” and he took a cup and said “this is my blood”.   It was a fortaste to what would behold in the life of Jesus less than 24 hours away when he died on a cross outside the city of Jerusalem.  Secondly, the gospel of John alone tells us that Jesus also did something else on that special night: he washed the naked, dirty feet of the disciples like a servant would.   

The night became ever more unusual during the worship service when the front door of the church opened and  in walked  a man, woman, and children  that were unknown to this pastor.  After the service, I became aware that no one else knew the folks either.  While it might be normal for some churches to have guests regularly, guests that no one knew were the exception rather than the rule at that rural church. After the service ended, I discovered that the family was there not just for worship but for another reason.  That reason was that they needed help. 

They told me and a layman of the church  their story:  The man had been promised a job in New York, and so the family had driven from Texas to New York.  Unfortunately, the job did not work out and they were on their way back home.  They were out of money, and could our church provide some food, lodging, and some gas to get them closer to home in Texas.  While I still remember their story over 30 years later, what I remember the most of that Maundy Thursday encounter was the bare feet of their son walking through the snow of that April evening.

 Christians will gather in many places and many lands this Maundy Thursday to  eat the bread and partake of the cup.  They will remember the gift of Christ Jesus for them and for all.   We do well also  on Maundy Thursday to remember  the act of Jesus to wash the feet of his disciples.  As Jesus served as he washed the feet of his disciples long ago, let us remember the opportunity to serve that sometimes is right there at our doorstep on snowy April evenings and other times.  Have a joy-filled week.- Pastor Randy Wall

Prayer:   O God, move us with compassion to serve others even as Christ served. Amen.  

Look at the Palms

Look at the palms.   I have found myself  making that statement as I gazed at the Palm trees along the road from an airport in Central America and along the water is the island paradise of the Florida Keys or on the Hawaiian island of Oahu.     Just the phrase brings memories of beautiful sunsets, tropical breezes, and easy life.

Look at the palms.   That phrase will also come to mind next Sunday when the family of faith gathers to worship in churches large and small.   In rural places and urban centers,  children and adults will wave their palm branches and perhaps place them at a cross.    The church militant will remember Palm Sunday, the day that Christ Jesus entered Jerusalem for the last time with the sound of loud ”Hosannas” in his ears and the sight of palm branches at his feet.    We will remember the One who for a moment was treated like a King knowing that in a matter of days those chants of his kingship would turn to shouts to “crucify him.”  

Let me look at your palms.    I think back to that request of a friend years ago who believed they could look at someone’s palm and tell what the future holds.   Long life or short life?   Trials or triumphs?   I cannot recall the message they saw as they looked at my palms.  But I know this?    You can tell a lot when you look at someone’s palms.  What story could your palms tell?     When was the last time the palm of your hand held the hand of someone you love?     When if ever have your two palms been clasped together in prayers of thanksgiving for the goodness God gives you or in prayers of petition for yourself or someone else?      When was the last time the palms of your hands held a hammer or other tool to make repairs for a home far away or a home nearby?    When did your palms hold a cloth to cool the forehead of a child with a fever or of a friend who was in their final days of life?    When did your palm clasp the arm of a friend or acquaintance as you prayed for them?    Look at the palms, even the palms of your hands.   What story do they tell about the service you have and are rendering in the name of the Lord? The palms of Christ were nail-scarred as he served others.  Who do palms serve?   Have a joy-filled week.-    Pastor Randy Wall 

Prayer:    Loving and living God, we give you thanks for the gift of Christ Jesus.   Help us to open our hands and hearts to new ways to serve the world around us;  through Jesus Christ our Lord.   Amen.