400,000 People and Counting

 

            Music has always been important to me.   Sometimes, the words of a song capture well what I am thinking and feeling.   In recent days, I have had come to mind a song of my youth by singer/songwriter Joni Mitchell.   The song is titled “Big Yellow Taxi” and it includes these words:

Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you've got till it's gone

            A few days ago, the news reported that there is now a grand total of 400,000 people in the United States who have died of illness related to this pandemic.   To put that into perspective, it is reported that there are approximately  464,000 people who live in Raleigh, the capitol city of North Carolina.   Can you imagine most of the people of Raleigh dying in less than a years time?   Yet, that is what has happened across this nation.   Those people are more than a number and a statistic.   They are more than another patient in the hospital or another death for a funeral home.   They are people who touched lives and had an impact on the world where they lived.  .  I think of some of the people that I have known who have died of illness related to this deadly virus:

·         The man who  was a father and husband

·         The person  who was a leader of not only his local church, but who was known as a man of faith in leadership across the state and nation

·         The fella who spent his retirement days working at disaster recovery sites providing food for the volunteers

·         The guy  who started  and ran a successful family business

·         The man who was a counselor-educator who taught people about grief in over 15 countries around the world

·         The fella who was a teacher, coach, and driving education instructor for over 50 years

“Don't it always seem to go  That you don't know what you've got till it's gone”, Joni Mitchell wrote and sang many years ago.      One of the things I have seen done by families when someone has died is to leave an empty chair at the dinner table on a holiday or other special occasion as a reminder that there is an emptiness and void at their table and in their lives.  In these days, many families are not only knowing an empty place in their world because a loved one has died from the coronavirus, but our world is  also a little emptier.   Thanks be to God for the lives of each and every one.  May God swiftly show mercy on us that this pandemic will be in our rear-view mirror.   Have a joy-filled week.-   Pastor Randy Wall

PRAYER:     O God,  we give you thanks for  all those who we know and do not know that have died from COVID-19.   We thank you for the many lives that were touched by each and every person.  We pray for their families and friends who have experienced loss that they might know your peace.  Thank you, God, that you see us through all the challenges of life; through Christ our Lord.   Amen. 

Take a New Look at Jesus

 

Most everyday, I read some of Philip Yancey's devotional book Grace Notes.   Yancey offers in the book excerpts of his various writings  for each day of the year.   In an excerpt for November, Yancey shares the story about a little girl who was heading down the hospital hallway to get her first look at her newborn baby brother.   Knowing with certainty that the infant must have insider information about God since he had just arrived in this world after coming from heaven, she peeked into the basinet and asked this question:   "Quick, tell me what God is like?"  

 I suspect that little girl is not the only one who wants to know the answer of that question.    Whether we be a deep person of faith or whether we skeptical about even the existence of God, all of us at some point in our life want to have a deeper insight into God.   In Luke 2, we hear the story of a man named Simeon.   While his health  might have been feeble because he was advanced in years, he was strong in his faith in the Lord.  The Spirit had revealed to him that he would see the Messiah.   At the same time that Simeon was in the temple one day, there  also were Mary and Joseph bringing the infant Christ for the rites of dedication as the Jewish law required.    We do not know exactly how Simeon encountered Mary and Joseph.   I wonder if those new parents were frightened when Simeon took their newborn child in his arms?      I wonder how Luke knew this story as he wrote his gospel?   Was it shared with him by Mary?      Luke tells us the words that Simeon uttered as he held that newborn child from Mary's womb in his arms:    "“Sovereign Lord, as you have promised,you may now dismiss[d] your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation which you have prepared in the sight of all nations."     Simeon knew when he peeked into the eyes of the infant Christ child that he had seen God.   

During these early days of 2021,   I encourage you to take  a new look at Jesus.   Notice that I did not say for you to take a new look at the church.   The church is not perfect now and it will never will be perfect because it is filled with people like you and I who are saved only by grace through faith.   I encourage you to take a new look at Jesus.   Study the  words of  the gospels that tell us about the life and death of Jesus.   Pray again or pray for the first time even though it might feel clumsy if prayer is not something you do regularly.   Take a new look at Jesus in these 2021 days.   If you do and really and earnestly give him a chance, you will discover that He is the answer to all your questions in your life.  Have a blessed and joy-filled week.-  Pastor Randy Wall

 

  PRAYER

            O God,  I believe; help me in my unbelief.   Forgive me for the times that I have focused on the wrong things in life.   Help me, Lord, to give you a chance in my life;  through Jesus Christ our Lord.   Amen.   

I Have Found Today

I was recently going through a copy of an old college yearbook and I came across a poem that I wrote many years ago that was published in the college yearbook.   I share it with you as I believe that it is an appropriate piece in the early days of this new year of 2021.   It had meaning for me as I wrote it almost 50 years ago, and I hope that it has meaning for you in these days.   Have a joy-filled week.-  Pastor Randy Wall

Tomorrow is in the past,

Its sorrows and mishaps

I’ve  closed and locked the door

On past failures and heartaches

And now I’ve left yesterday behind

To seek another home

And furnish it with faith and laughter

And not a bit of  gloom.

No not a thought shall enter me

That has a hint of hate

And every malice and prejudice

Shall never there in reside

I’ve closed out yesterday

And locked the door behind-

Tomorrow holds hope and life

Since I’ve found today.

PRAYER:     O God,   you are alpha and omega, beginning and the end.   Thank you for new chances and new beginnings.  Bless us as we face the joys and challenges of this new year of 2021.  Help us to go forward with confidence knowing that you go  with us whatever the future holds; through Jesus Christ our Lord.   Amen.  

Let's Celebrate: It's January 6!!

 

Did you remember?  Today, January 6 is the day.   It seems that there is something that is celebrated most everyday besides the birthdays of friends and family.  There is administrative assistants day… Mothers Day… Fathers Day… Grandparents Day… and so many more!  Today is a special day for all those who are people of faith that gets lost as we deal with the residue of Christmas and New Years Day that were only days ago.  Today for those who follow Jesus is the Day of Epiphany, the day tradition has it that the wise men or Magi arrived from their journey to see and worship the Christ child.   We hear the story in Matthew 2: 1-12 where we read:

 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi^[a] from the east came to Jerusalem ² and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”  ³ When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. ⁴ When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. ⁵ “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:

⁶ “‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
    are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for out of you will come a ruler
    who will shepherd my people Israel.’^[b]”

⁷ Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. ⁸ He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”

⁹ After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. ¹⁰ When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. ¹¹ On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. ¹² And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

Though the fact that Christ became incarnate in human flesh is surely worthy of celebration, that is not the end of the story.   While it is important to celebrate and remember the journey of God in the flesh in Christ Jesus, it is also memorable to celebrate the journey of these wise men to see and worship Christ.   Take time on this January 6 to not only remember the journey of the wise men to worship the Christ child, but take time to remember your journey to Christ.   The wise men of old brought gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.  The gift that Christ desires of wise men, wise women, and wise youth that  journey to him today is not a valued metal, but the gift of our hearts.   A few weeks ago, we celebrated that Christ came to earth;  today, let us celebrate the joyous fact of people making the journey to Christ.  Have a joy-filled week.-  Pastor Randy Wall

  PRAYER

            Mighty and merciful God, we celebrate that you came among us full of grace and truth but we also celebrate that through the ages countless men and women, boys and girls made the journey to worship and serve you.  In these days, give us your power and presence that we might be brought closer to you; through Christ our Lord.   Amen.  

A Christmas Gift Never Given

I  have found myself thinking much about my late Mother in these December days.  Some of that I am certain is because my mind always thinks of family members who are deceased this time of year and the fact that her birthday is December 12.   20 years ago this month, my Mother had surgery at Duke Hospital that was the beginning of the course of events that led to her death about 9 months later.   When Christmas came around in 2000,  Mom was literally in the hospital at Alamance Regional Medical Center.   I rose early that Christmas morning and made my way to Burlington to visit her before returning home to spend Christmas Day with family.   With Mom being in the hospital that year,  we made the decision in our family to not exchange gifts until Mom was home.   I had bought a nightgown for Mom for that Christmas since she was spending most of her time in gowns those days.   I even wrapped it myself though my wrapping certainly did not measure up to the superb wrapping job that Ann and the girl always did.  When we made the decision to not exchange gifts till Mom  was home from the hospital,  I placed her gift on a shelf in one of our closets.   As the days and months passed and Mom transitioned to the hospital to a nursing home and to a rehab center, that gift stayed on that closet shelf.  Unfortunately, it was a gift that was never given and never received.

In some ways, Christmas 2020 is like that Christmas 20 years ago.   20 years ago, it was a different kind of Christmas for my family.  Christmas 2020 has been different for many families in all sorts of ways:   no Christmas parades… no children sitting on Santa’s knee… families staying away from each other  for health and safety reason instead of getting together… families struggling to pay the rent, mortgage, or pay the bills.    In these December days, Christians remember and ponder the wonder of the precious  gift that God gave to the world:   Emmanuel, God with us in the flesh in the form of the Christ child.   This is a precious gift given to one and given to all.   Yet,  a gift is not really a gift unless the gift is both given and received.    God has made the gift of  himself in Christ Jesus.  It is a gift that was wrapped not in ribbons and pretty paper, but in swaddling cloths lying in a manger.    I invite you to receive anew or for the first time the gift of Christ.  It is a gift that is sorely needed by all of us and by all the world.   Have a joy-filled week !-  Pastor Randy Wall

 PRAYER

            O God,  you are as close to us as our heartbeat and breath.   We thank you for the gift to pray and to be prayed for.   We pray for the people we know and do not know.  Remind us daily that we need you;  through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.    

What To Give??

            I don’t know about you, but Christmas is coming fast.  It is almost here!    There are still many people to see and things to do.  I find myself thinking about giving in these pre-Christmas days.    I enjoy buying Christmas gifts for friends and family.  While my wife, Ann, always seems to “second guess” herself on the choice of gifts for others, I usually settle on a gift in my price range fairly quickly.    

            In Matthew 2, we hear the story of the visit of the wise men to the Christ child.  With help from a bright star in the heavens and the instruction of members of King Herod’s court, they arrive to offer the Christ child their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.   Those wise men were wise not only because they searched and sought out the Christ child, but they also knew exactly what to give Him. I find myself pondering what I will give God in these days.  What do I need to give up to make room for Christ to be  more fully present in my life?   What do I need to yield to Him?     I invite you to join me in asking those questions of yourself.  The answer, I believe, can be found in what money cannot buy.   Have a joy-filled Christmas  week.-  Pastor Randy Wall

PRAYER

            O God,  thank you for the gift of Christ Jesus, God with us.  Through the power of your Spirit, grant that I may receive Him anew in these days and allow Him  to rule my heart;  through Jesus Christ our Lord.   Amen. 

Waiting For A Baby

 

In this month of December and this season of Advent, Ann and I  find ourselves in a place where we have been before:  waiting for a baby.   Decades ago, I found myself waiting for the birth of a child.   This season like many other times, my wife Ann and I find ourselves waiting for the birth of a new grandchild in a few months.  Ann and I are mightily blessed with having 7 precious grandchildren as old as 14 years old and as young as a few months old.  They are all precious and a joy, and this season we wait for our 8^th grandchild. 

I find myself wondering  things serious and things inconsequential about this child:

·         What will he or she look like?

·         What kind of world are Ann and I leaving  for all our grandchildren?

·         Will this child be a Duke fan like me or will the child be a Carolina fan like their Mom?

·         What hopes and aspirations will  this precious child have as they grow to adulthood?

In these Advent days of December, I find myself reading again and again the stories about the birth of  Jesus.   In Luke 2, we read:

²⁶ In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, ²⁷ to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. ²⁸ The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”  ²⁹ Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. ³⁰ But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. ³¹ You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. ³² He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, ³³ and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”  ³⁴ “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”  ³⁵ The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called^[b] the Son of God. ³⁶ Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. ³⁷ For no word from God will ever fail.”  ³⁸ “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her

There are times I feel troubled like Mary as we wait for this coming grandchild,  and there are times I feel blessed and highly favored also like Mary.    But time after time, I come back to the fact of not only do we have so much to give this coming  grandchild but that this coming  grandchild has so  much to give us just as did the Christ child who came as our Saviour long ago and still comes!  Have a joy-filled week.- Pastor Randy Wall

 

PRAYER

Mighty and merciful God, we thank you for the gift of life.  We thank you for the gift of children.  Especially in this season, we joyously yearn for the Christ that has come and is coming.  Come, Lord, Jesus, and save us from our sins;  through Christ our Lord. Amen.