The Work of our Hands

            Many years ago before cable television and when most persons only had less than a dozen television stations to watch, there was a television show called “Dobie Gillis”.     One of the characters on the show was named Maynard G. Krebs and was played by Bob Denver.   As I remember Maynard G.  Krebs,  he always had an adverse reaction when the word “work” was said.    Maynard G. Krebs was a character who wanted to avoid work like most of us want to avoid a toothache. 

            I think about Maynard G. Krebs as another Labor Day approaches.  I give thanks to God for those who work and add  to my quality of life.    While many folks are looking forward to having a long weekend with a view of the mountains or water,   Labor Day is a time to celebrate the American worker.    Perhaps there was a time when what people ate, wore, and lived in was a direct result of the work of their own hand.   I think it generally true that such a time is no more in the part of the world I live.   Most of us everyday eat food that someone else produced or prepared.    Most of us wear clothes that someone else made and live in homes that someone else built.  In many cases,  we know not the name of the person that produced that food, built our home, or made our clothes.   We are indebted to workers whose names we know not. 

            The feeding of the five thousand is the only miracle of Jesus found in all four gospels.   The stories are similar in nature, but Johns gospel tells us something the other gospels do not mention:  the few loaves and few fish that Jesus used to feed thousands of men, women, and children were the direct result of the generosity of a little boy who shared his food with Jesus.    As Labor Day comes, I encourage you to enjoy a holiday and time away in your favorite places.  However,  I also encourage you to take a moment to give thanks to God for the worker who adds to your quality of life.  You may not know their name anymore than we know the name of a little boy whose food  blessed by Jesus fed thousands long ago.     Have a joy-filled week and Labor Day.-  Pastor Randy Wall

Prayer:  Lord and God, thank you for the blessing of work and the difference it makes in our lives.   I give thanks for those whose name I know not who bless me through the work of their hands; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.  

Where Have You Been?

            “Where have you been?”    That seems like an appropriate question for readers of this blog to ask this writer since it has been about 2 months since I wrote in this blog.    I am glad that to say that I have not been ill of body or spirit nor have I been pouting about a comment someone made about this blog.    “Where have you been?”  Well, let’s see.   Since the last time I wrote in this blog I have had  fun-filled hours playing with my 5 grandchildren… and some short trips to the coast with my beloved wife, Ann.    I have read books and listened to books on CD.   I have enrolled in a conversational Spanish class at a local community college.   I have watched new movies and old movies.    I have exercised regularly and finally started doing a daily log of the foods I eat.   

“Where have you been?”    I know you were specifically asking to know what happened to my blog and the answer is this:  I simply decided I needed to take a break from writing.   Those of you who have known me for several years  may recall that I have been writing a blog of some sort for some time.     The earliest record that I can find is back in 2004, 12 years ago.   I have written a devotion or blog as least once a week for those 12 years though I did take a break over  some holidays.   After 12 years and since I am in this new season of my life called retirement (or semi-retirement),   I felt that I needed to take a break.

            When someone takes a break and goes “below the radar”  we often think that someone must be mad or something must be wrong.    We have this expectation that people must always be busy and productive.    One of the things this new season of life called retirement is teaching me is that it is okay to take a break and rest.    It is not only okay to rest, but it is also Biblical.  We see that truth in the scriptures.    If you read the Bible from the beginning,  you  only read through one chapter of the Bible before you encounter rest in Genesis 2:2-3 where we read:

² By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. ³ Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.

            Everyone and everything needs a time of rest.   I not only wish that for you, but I believe that God desires that for you.    I will be back with my blog again on a regular basis, and will talk to you again soon.    Have a joy-filled day.-   Pastor Randy Wall

 Prayer:  Living God, forgive our arrogance to think that the world is indispensable with us.  Remind us regularly, Lord, that there is a time to work and a time to rest;  through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Remembering the Call

I think about it always  this time of year.  As the Fall means that some birds head south and the Summer means that children want to head out of school and into the pool, so this the month of June will have this to be on my mind.   You see,  it was 42 years ago this month when I was first appointed as a United Methodist pastor at the grand young age of 20 years old.    Though I was quite young, I had already spent two years on a church staff:   one year as a youth director and another year as the part time associate pastor of a church.   

What I think about is not just the details about my life that I mentioned above, but the wonder of the fact that God called me to be a minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ.   There were a lot of people that were better students of the Bible than I was.   There were also many folks who were more familiar with the ways of the church  and the Christian faith than I was  at that time as  I had been a Christian and a member of the church for less than 5 years.    Despite it all,  I had the audacity to say (as had Isaiah the prophet years before):   “Here am I.  Send me.” 

Years ago, there was a preaching professor at Duke named James T. Cleland.   He had retired from Duke before I became a student there.  However, I had the chance to hear him preach in my early days of ministry.  I remember him challenging the congregation (including this newbie preacher)  to “remember their conversion experience”.      It is good and right for each of us to remember over and over again  not only the fact that Christ Jesus called us to follow him but also to remember our calling to   be a pastor, a Sunday School teacher, and the like.

 I read the entire Book of Acts  at least once a year.   One of the things I noticed is that the apostle Paul recounts his calling by God on the Damascus Road several times.   One place where we hear the story of Paul’s calling is in Acts 22 where we read: 

Then Paul said: ³ “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city. I studied under Gamaliel and was thoroughly trained in the law of our ancestors. I was just as zealous for God as any of you are today.⁴ I persecuted the followers of this Way to their death, arresting both men and women and throwing them into prison, ⁵ as the high priest and all the Council can themselves testify. I even obtained letters from them to their associates in Damascus, and went there to bring these people as prisoners to Jerusalem to be punished. ⁶ “About noon as I came near Damascus, suddenly a bright light from heaven flashed around me. ⁷ I fell to the ground and heard a voice say to me, ‘Saul! Saul! Why do you persecute me?’⁸ “‘Who are you, Lord?’ I asked.“ ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting,’ he replied. ⁹ My companions saw the light, but they did not understand the voice of him who was speaking to me. ¹⁰ “‘What shall I do, Lord?’ I asked.“ ‘Get up,’ the Lord said, ‘and go into Damascus. There you will be told all that you have been assigned to do.’ ¹¹ My companions led me by the hand into Damascus, because the brilliance of the light had blinded me.

Every once in a while, each of us who live under the banner of Christ need to remember our calling by God.   I find myself doing that this time of year, and I encourage you to do the same every once in a while.   Have a blessed week.-     Pastor Randy Wall

Prayer:  O Lord and God, thank you for calling me to be your servant.  Give me a heart to hear your call in this day;  through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.  

Making The Better Choice

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

-       “The Road Not Taken, Robert Frost

In these days of high school graduations,  I have been thinking today about choices.  Above you will find words from Robert Frost’s classic poem, “The Road Not Taken”, where a person decides to take the “road less travelled by.”  We face choices everyday- what to eat… whether to answer a phone call or text message… what way to travel to work or other places.    Some of those choices are quite important and others seem to be trivial and inconsequential.   

I have been thinking today when I faced a choice many years ago.  I had accepted the invitation to speak at a high school graduation ceremony.  I had my address ready and prepared.   On the day of the event, something came up that was important.  What should I do faced with two important events on the same day?  What choice would I make?       To the chagrin of the headmaster,   I backed out of the address to the high school graduates.    What was so important that I made that choice?    I made that choice because about the same time that day my oldest daughter, Heather Elizabeth, was born.    I felt it was more important to be there for the birth of my daughter than to be there to speak to the high school graduates as a pastor.

Sometimes,  the choices we face in life are  not between good and evil, but between things that are both  important.   What is the better choice at the time?     I thought being there to witness the birth of Heather Elizabeth was more important, and I have no regrets.    We hear a story in Luke 10 about a choice that was made by a follower of Jesus, Mary.   Listen to the story:

³⁸ Now as they were traveling along, Jesus^[z] went into a village. A woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. ³⁹ She had a sister named Mary, who sat down at the Lord’s feet and kept listening to what he was saying. ⁴⁰ But Martha was worrying about all the things she had to do, so she came to him and asked, “Lord, you do care that my sister has left me to do the work all by myself, don’t you? Then tell her to help me.”   ⁴¹ The Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha! You worry and fuss about a lot of things. ⁴² But there’s only^[aa] one thing you need. Mary has chosen what is better,^[ab] and it is not to be taken away from her.”

I cannot recall what I had prepared to say to those high school graduates many years ago, but what I would say to them today is this:    Life is filled with choices.  Make the better choice.    Have a joy-filled week.-   Pastor Randy Wall

Prayer:  O Lord and God, give us wisdom as we face the choices that are before us in this day, this week, and this life; through Jesus Christ our Lord.   Amen.

Christian Conferencing

I am still processing my attendance at  the General Conference of the United Methodist Church  in Portland, Oregon in May .   In a few weeks,  I will find myself attending the Annual Conference Session for the Western NC Conference of the United Methodist Church at Lake Junaluska.   Christian conferencing is one of the things that the people called Methodists do.  John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement, even said that Christian conferencing was a “means of grace” like worship and prayer. 

Steve was among the old friends I saw while I was in Portland.    We started in the ministry as pastors about the same time and in the same area of North Carolina.   I have been thinking in recent days about a time when Steve and I made a little trip to a landmark in Methodist History.    The time was the early 1980’s, and Steve and I were counselors at a week-long youth event being held at Louisburg College in Louisburg, North Carolina.    During a break one day,  we went to visit the Green Hill House just outside of Louisburg.

For those who have never heard of the Green Hill House or have forgotten, let me tell you about that Methodist landmark.  Following the Christmas Conference in Baltimore, Maryland  in December 1784 where the Methodist Episcopal Church was founded, the Green Hill House was chosen to host the first annual conference meeting of the brand-new church.   Methodist history buffs tell us that from April 20-24, 1785, twenty Methodist preachers from North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia met in the attic of that home.

I don’t know if it  was the brashness of our youth or our ignorance that led us to knock on the door of that private home with no forewarning of its occupants.   A kind lady answered the door and welcomed us in as Mr. and Mrs. Hill welcome Methodist preachers long ago.     She led us upstairs to see the attic room where these early Methodist preachers conferenced under the leadership of  Bishop Francis Asbury and Bishop Thomas Coke. She told us that the early Methodist circuit riders did not need to worry about no nearby Holiday Inns or eating establishments  because Mr. Green Hill and his wife showed great hospitality by feeding the pastors meals and   allowing the preachers to sleep on the floor.

Many lament the debates on issues  that took place at the General Conference in Portland and will take place at Annual Conference at Lake Junaluska.    While many wistfully long for the “good old days”, the first Methodist Annual Conference that took place at the Green Hill House had its debates.    What issue did these Methodist preachers debate in April, 1785?   Why, they debated the issue of slavery.     This would not be the last debate that the people called Methodist had about slavery.  Later, that issue would divide the church.  Despite the debates that took place at the Green Hill House in 1785, there was something that knit this group of Methodist preachers together.   Though they differed in their opinions, they were united in their faith in Christ and their calling by him.   The apostle Paul puts it this way in Ephesians 4:4-6 where he writes:

⁴ There is one body and one Spirit. Likewise, you were called to the one hope of your calling. ⁵ There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, ⁶ one God and Father of all,who is above all, through all, and in all.                  Have a joy-filled week.-   Pastor Randy Wall

Sayings of Your Parents

“Can’t never could do anything.”

“Two wrongs don’t make a right.”

“An education is something that nobody can ever take away from you.”

            -Shirley Frances Perry Wall Wyrick

I have found myself thinking recently a lot about some of the sayings that my  late Mom used to say.  You will find above a few of those sayings.   Even though it has been almost 15 years since she died, I still remember them well.     I do not think those sayings are necessarily original to her, but they certainly were important to her.  She imparted the same to me time and time again.  As I think about those sayings,  it occurs to me that those sayings are not only etched in my memory, but they also have greatly influenced my values and behaviors through the years. 

For example, my Mom quit high school at the beginning of her senior year after marrying my Dad.  She thought education important enough to go back and get her GED when I was a child.      Even though I started to school in the late 1950’s,  I am still taking classes at a local community college almost 60 years later.  I think one of the reasons why I have been a life long student is because of my Mom.      Do not under-estimate the impact of the sayings on you of your parents nor the things you say in the presence of  your family.  Perhaps those sayings  are the greatest legacy you might leave your children and grandchildren.    The writer of Proverbs put it this way in Proverbs 22:6 where he writes:

Train a child in the way appropriate for him,
    and when he becomes older, he will not turn from it

 Have a joy-filled week.-   Pastor Randy Wall

 Prayer:  O Lord,  I thank you for the legacy of values and faith that has been passed on to me through my family.    Help me to go and do likewise;  through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen. 

Pentecost in Portland

When the day of Pentecost was being celebrated,^[a] all of them were together in one place. ² Suddenly, a sound like the roar of a mighty windstorm came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. ³ They saw tongues like flames^[b] of fire that separated, and one rested on each of them. ⁴ All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in foreign^[c] languages as the Spirit gave them that ability.  ⁵ Now devout Jews from every nation on earth^[d] were living in Jerusalem. ⁶ When that sound came, a crowd quickly gathered, startled because each one heard the disciples^[e] speaking in his own language.⁷ Stunned and amazed, they asked, “All of these people who are speaking are Galileans, aren’t they? ⁸ So how is it that each one of us hears them speaking in his own native language:^[f] 9 Parthians, Medes, Elamites, residents of Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia,¹⁰ Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, the district of Libya near Cyrene, Jewish and proselyte visitors from Rome, ¹¹ Cretans, and Arabs, listening to them talk in our own languages about the great deeds of God?”   ¹² All of them continued to be stunned and puzzled, and they kept asking one another, “What can this mean?”¹³ But others kept saying in derision, “They’re drunk on sweet wine!”    -   Acts 2: 1-13

Pentecost is one of the  high days in the life of the Christian Church.     We hear the story of the first Pentecost in the life of the church in the passage of scripture printed above.  It is read in these days in many churches and in different languages.   As a group of devout Jews and followers of Jesus from across the known world  were together in Jerusalem,  the Holy Spirit comes upon them and turns them into a bold, believing community.  The power of the Spirit breaks down the walls between them and knits them together into the body of Christ, the Church.      

It is the day of Pentecost in Portland, Oregon as I write this.    In some ways,  Portland  today is like Jerusalem in that passage printed above.    There are people here for the General Conference of the United Methodist Church from every continent in this big, beautiful world.   As on  the day of Pentecost long ago,  people here speak different languages.   The languages they speak include French,  Spanish, English, and other dialects, but the languages they speak also are filled with passion for important causes.    Sometimes, I sense people  do not understand the languages that are spoken even when they are from the same country.         In the midst of it all, there is one language they speak that unites  all:   the love of Christ Jesus.     I believe in my heart that the brothers or sisters I see around me  love Christ Jesus and are loved by him.     Before his ascension back to the Father,  Jesus told his disciples to wait for the coming of the Holy Spirit.      I am in Portland, waiting for the Holy Spirit to take one and all and mold us not into my way or into my will but into the way and the will of God.     Come, Holy Spirit.  Come.   Have a joy-filled week.-   Pastor Randy Wall

Prayer:  Come, Holy Spirit, come.  Mold us and make us into the image of Christ; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.