"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.  

Untied Methodist

Several decades ago, the United Methodist Church met in Indianapolis for its General Conference.   I recall seeing at that time of a picture of an Indianapolis hotel that was seeking to warmly welcome the United Methodist Church to its town.   Evidently, the person that had the duty of tending to the sign was not a very good speller because the sign proclaimed:   Welcome Untied Methodist.

I just returned late Tuesday night from a special session of the General Conference in St. Louis.  I was there not as a delegate, but as an observer in my capacity as the President of the United Methodist Rural Advocates for the United Methodist Church.   Though the founder of Methodism, John Wesley, stated that Christian Conference was a “means of grace”,   I witnessed how untied Methodists are.   The consequences of the decisions remain to be seen.     It was one of the most painful church gatherings that I have been a part of in recent memory.   Here are a few observations of that gathering:

·   Though there is much that United Methodists agree on, they are sharply divided on the issue of gay/lesbian issues.   By a vote of  approximately 54%, the General Conference voted in essence to maintain its current stance banding same sex marriages and gay/lesbian pastors.  

·         All present  in St. Louis whether they advocate for changes in the current stance or not are passionate about their love for Christ and His Church

·         All present at the General Conference value the Bible but sharply differ on how they understand it

·         We live in one world, but people around the world sharply differ on how they view issues relative to human sexuality

One friend of mine asked the question,  “Were there any winners in St. Louis?”   I do not believe there were.    There were people in pain in St. Louis and beyond because of the decisions there.   In the church, we believe that when one person in the church suffers, all suffer

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Despite it all, the church continues in all its human frailities and imperfections.   The needs of the world are great.     As I boarded the plane, I encountered on Tuesday a man going home to bury his mother who needed a resurrection hope.   On the phone yesterday, I heard the story of a  family from Venezuela here in the United States that needs   to be welcomed.    At the hospital, I encounter patients who wonder if they are in their last days who need comfort.     A man stops me on the way to the airport saying that he needs food to eat.    There is much work for the Church to do its brokenness because the there are many lives who are broken.   -  Pastor Randy Wall

Prayer:   Heal your church, O Lord.   Let your Spirit fall afresh on it.  Tie your cords around it.   Save us, O Lord, from our divisions that we might together reach out to your hurting world;  through Christ our Lord.  Amen.  

Thomas Jefferson and the Bible

President’s Day was just a few days ago.    Since the birthdays of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln are this time of year,  we normally think of them at Presidents Day.   I want to focus on another one of our presidents today:  Thomas Jefferson.  He was our third president and served in the office from 1801 to 1809 after having served as vice president.   Thomas Jefferson lived in the state of Virginia and has a beautiful home outside of Charlottesville, Virginia that is called Monticello.   

A few years ago, my wife Ann and I visited Monticello and its lovely grounds.   We took a walk down from the house to the cemetery where Thomas Jefferson is buried.    By Jefferson’s instructions, his gravestone notes that he founded the University of Virginia and was the writer of the Declaration of Independence but makes no mention to the fact that he was President of the United States.  After visiting the house, grounds, and grave site, Ann and I went into a small gift shop on the grounds.   Amid the post cards, shirts, and the like is the Jefferson Bible for sale.    What you might not know about Thomas Jefferson is that he wrote his own Bible.   It is a little different from the Bible you may have in your house in that Jefferson takes out parts of the Bible he does not like.  Technically, it is not a Bible as the official title is The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth.    According to tradition, Jefferson took a razor to an actual Bible and pasted those parts of the Bible that he wanted to include in his work that was published in 1820.

I share this  because I suspect most of us  (like Thomas Jefferson) have parts of the Bible that we like better than others.   Our congregation this year is reading the Bible in its entirety.  In recent days, we have read books of the Bible such as Leviticus and Deuteronomy which perhaps are not in the “top ten” list of favorite books  of the Bible for most folks.       I encourage you to open your Bible and discover all of it.    It might surprise you.  Have a joy-filled week.-  Pastor Randy Wall  

Prayer:   O God,  praise and glory be given to you for the Holy Scriptures, a light for our path and a lamp for our feet.  Give us the discipline to read your Word and study it.  Let your Spirit fall afresh on us to give us open hearts to what you would say to us; through Christ our Lord.  Amen. 

A Love Like No Other

Valentines Day is here again.   People approach Valentines Day in different ways.   Some simply see Valentines Day as another day with no special meaning for them.   Of course, there are others who approach Valentines Day with anticipation and excitement because they are in relationships with people they love and/or love them as they are lavished with candy, cards, flowers, and the like.   Finally, they are people who are sad when Valentines Day rolls around for all sorts of reasons:  they are facing their first Valentines Day with their heart feeling the pain of a marriage has ended or a relationship has severed… their spouse or significant other has died or is in the hospital. 

This year, I encourage you or challenge you to do something different this year whatever Valentines Day means for you and it is this:  tell someone or even better show someone that God loves them.    You don’t have to spend an enormous amount that you cannot afford on candy or flowers.  When you get right down to it,  human love is fleeting.   Those of you who have suffered the loss of someone you love know that simply because your loved one is not living on this earth  anymore.   Those of you that have faced a breakup in a relationship know that human love is fleeting because you do not know the love of that person anymore.  However, the love of God is different because “God is love”.    Tell someone or show someone that God loves them this Valentines Day.   Isn’t that what followers of Christ are supposed to do all the time.  Have a joy-filled week.-   Pastor Randy Wall

Prayer:   O God, we give you thanks for your unconditional and eternal love.  As you have loved us,  let us tell others and show others your love; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.