It is ALWAYS See You Later

 

She lived in a little two room house on Highway 50 just miles from  the capitol of North Carolina.   Even though I always had running water in the house where I was raised and the house I called home,   she did not.  She got her water from a well behind the house.    A bathroom was located behind the house  instead of next to her bedroom.   She heated her home with a wood stove that made the house quite toasty and sometimes made me hot.    

While she was in her 80’s, I was young in age and even younger as a pastor.   A student at Duke by day learning from professors and books, and a pastor at night and on Sundays learning from people like her who had been “soldiers of the cross” longer than I had been alive.    I would stop by her home regularly as pastors would visit homes in those days especially the homes of the elderly, homebound, and the like.     I would often find her listening to radio station WPTF in Raleigh that she would quickly turn off when we would began our visit.     Most of the time, our visits would end with me as her pastor offering a prayer that seemed appropriate with what we had talked about that day.     As I went out  the door heading to my Plymouth Duster, she would follow me chattering the whole way.    “Goodbye”,  I would say as I began to get in the car.   And often, she would say back to me as she wagged her finger:   “No, no.  It is never goodbye, but see you later.”

A few years went by, and there came a time for me to leave that parish.    With a diploma from Duke in hand, I headed to my first full time appointment as a pastor.    One day a few years later my heart sank  when  I received the call that she had died.   I headed back to  Raleigh to be among those who gathered in that church to celebrate her life and mourn the death of a woman who taught me as much about being a follower of the Lord Jesus and a pastor as the professors at Duke Divinity School.    As I left the graveside that day,  I thought back to those words of her to me from years earlier that she said to me more than once:  “No, no.   It is never goodbye, but see you later.” 

I think about her every now and then even though it has been over 40 years since I was her pastor. For those in Christ who live in the truth of the resurrection, it is never goodbye, but see you later.   We are people of the Empty Tomb, the Easter people and that means that this  world is not the end.   That is my hope that I have staked  over 40 years of my life and ministry on.     When I am in the Raleigh- Durham area again,  I suspect I will make a little field trip back  to that cemetery where she was buried many years ago and I will say a French phrase that she  probably never said:   “Au revoir.”     It is the French phrase is often said  when people are parting.   While some think it means “goodbye”, it literally means “till we see each other again.”   Have a joy-filled week.-  Pastor Randy Wall  

 

PRAYER --  O God,  we praise you for the resurrection of Christ Jesus and the hope it offers now and for eternity.   Through your Spirit, help me to rise to new heights in loving and serving you;  through Jesus Christ the risen Lord.  Amen.  

The Living Room Was Never Used

 

Note:    The following is written by my friend and fellow pastor, Rev. Carl Ellis, who lives in Kansas.   I am sharing with his permission.  I found it quite meaningful and hope you do as well.-     Randy Wall

 

 

Rev. Dr. Carl K. Ellis | July 11, 2022 Open configuration options “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill can not be hid. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a bushel, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. Let your light so shine before all that they may see your good work and give glory to your God, who is in heaven.” ~ Matthew 5:14-16 In Junior High, I was invited to a friend’s house for a sleepover. We were not allowed in the house except to use the bathroom. His parents pitched a tent in the backyard so that we would not mess up the house. Just before bed, we went to the bathroom and noticed that all the furniture in the living room was covered with plastic sheets. I asked why do you keep your sofa and love seat covered with plastic? My friend replied that his mom only uses the furniture when special guests come to visit. How often do you have company? He replied once or twice a year.  I had often wondered why they even had a “living room” when nobody was allowed to live there. Why would you have comfortable furniture if nobody sits in it and you can’t gather to watch television or play a game together.  When I was growing up, our living room was where we gathered for family talks, watched television, played games like charades, put up a Christmas tree, and entertained family and friends. We wore out sofas, carpets, and easy chairs. We lived in our living room. Just as I wonder why some never use living rooms, I wonder why we cover up our faith and our church buildings. Jesus said, You are the light world. Why would we want to keep our faith and sanctuary for a few select people. Yes, it is time to uncover our faith and open our sanctuaries to all people. For example, when children are restless during church – making noise and struggling to sit still – let us not stare and ask them to leave, let us go to them with a coloring book and encourage them to color or take a small white board and play tic-tac-toe while we listen to the sermon. When the doors of our church stay locked Monday through Saturday our light does not shine. Maybe it is time for the lights of the church to shine seven days a week not just for one hour on Sunday morning. Let’s open our doors for community meals, community game night or movie night, a monthly mid-day senior meal, or morning coffee break. It is time we find creative ways to use our space so the light of Jesus will shine throughout out our community.  Let the light of Jesus shine all around our neighborhood. Let our light shine as we open the doors of our church and hearts to people of all ages in our community and world.

 

 

The "F" Word

 

7/15/2023-    The “F”  Word

 

I believe  it was one day when I was in Mr. Rutledge’s class that I learned a new word at school.  I was introduced to the word not by Mr. Rutledge, but by one of my classmates, Steve.   It was the “F” word.   At that point in my life, I had never heard the word and was not quite clear what it meant.    In the course of  conversation later that day after I got home from school, I uttered the “F” word to my Mom.

     As I looked at the shocked look on her face, I soon realized that I had said something I should not have said.   Her quick, short lecture informed me that was a word that was not only not to be uttered in our home, but from my lips.  The “F” word is a word that television censors treat with disdain and caution.   It certainly is not a word that you expect to be mentioned in a blog by a minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ.   

I want to speak to you today about another “F” word.   This “F” word is considered by most to be totally acceptable for conversation with your parents or on television and it has more letters that the 4 letter “F” word that many treat with contempt.   This “F” word is fairly easy to say, but more difficult to put into practice.   You probably have already figured out the “F” word I am speaking about.  It is the “F” word of forgiveness. 

Most everyone wants to receive forgiveness whether that forgiveness comes from a loved one, a friend,  a teacher, a pastor, or a society.   We want forgiveness offered to us often and in double portions.  While we are eager to receive forgiveness,   it is  more difficult to give forgiveness.  I suspect many of us can recall a childhood experience where an authority figure (e.g. parent, teacher, coach, etc.) urged us “say that you are sorry”.    An apology is hard sometimes to say, but forgiveness is difficult for many of us to  really offer.    Lately, I have found myself encountering many folks who struggle with this “”F” word.   They are black and white and Hispanic, young and old, male and female.     They seem as eager to avoid the “F” word of  forgiveness as my Mom cautioned me many years ago to avoid another “F” word I had heard at school.

I have news for all of you.   For some of you, it is not so much news as it is a reminder you really do not want to hear.   That news or reminder is found in some simple but important words in a prayer many of you have said.   It is these words from the prayer that the Lord Jesus taught His disciples:  “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us”.    The news is that there is a connection between our forgiveness of others and God’s forgiveness of us.   Some of you probably do not like it.  If you do not like it, you have a problem not with this pastor but with God.    Oh, for the ability to not just say the “F” word of forgiveness, but to practice it in our relationships with others in this season and everyday.   Have a joy-filled week.-  Pastor Randy Wall

PRAYER --  O God,  we ask your forgiveness for the times we are so eager to receive forgiveness and so resistant to offer it.  Soften our hearts through your Spirit;  through the One who bore the cross that we might be forgiven, Christ Jesus.   Amen. 

A Mysterious Journey, A Certain Destination

A few months ago, Ann and I celebrated our 25^th wedding anniversary.    We have been through moves to new churches to serve and to new homes… seeing children grow to adulthood… and celebrating weddings of our children and the birth of our grandchildren.     One of the things that we have done most every year of our marriage is go on a secret trip.   Most every year,  I will plan for a trip with just Ann and I to a secret destination.     We have gone north, south, east, and west… to big cities and high mountains… down to the coast and to places we have never seen before.   Though Ann does not know what is our destination until the day we depart,  I try to provide some guidance to assist in her preparation.   She knows how many days we will be gone,   what kind of clothes she needs to pack, and whether the weather there will be warm or cold.   This secret trip requires for Ann to have trust in me, and I try to fulfill the first point of the Boy Scout law and to be trustworthy.  

I share this personal anecdote to make a point and that point is this:  WE ARE ON A JOURNEY IN LIFE AND MORE TIMES THAN NOT WE DO NOT KNOW WHERE WE ARE GOING.   Oh, yes we have our plans and dreams and may be working our plan.   However, life has taught me that it is not unusual for something to happen and those plans  to change (sometimes for the better.)    30 years ago, I certainly did not have as one of my goals to be married to  a beautiful, wonderful woman like Ann Wall.   Yet, here I am 25 years later married to a woman who is a gracious gift of God.   

 In Genesis 12, we hear the story of the call of Abraham.     Hebrews 11:8 says this about the call of Abraham: ⁸ By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.   Despite our goals and dreams, we never know where the path of life will take.     Yet, we can live with confidence in a God who is faithful and who walks  with us.       Thanks be to God.    Have a joy-filled week.-   Pastor Randy Wall

PRAYER --  O God,  thank you  that though we do not know the future, we know you and can trust you are with us each day of our lives.    Amid the challenges of each day, help us to trust you more;   through Jesus Christ our Lord.   Amen.      

Some Things Do Not Change

 

I went back a few months ago to a community where I formerly lived   and served as pastor.  The reason for my visit was to attend the funeral of a dear lady in that congregation who ministered to me more than I ministered to her when I served as her pastor.   My visits to that community have been rare in the last 25 years since I lived in that place.   I was struck by how much the community has changed in those 25 years.   Major businesses where many people worked have closed.   When I lived in Ashe County, I had to drive 45 minutes to get to Walmart.   Now, Walmart has come  to the county bringing joy to some consumers and bringing  scorn to some  local small businesses that  have seen  their business suffer.  While Ashe County had  3 high schools years ago, they have been  merged into one high school for the entire county.    The county continues to have a hospital, but any major medical  issues for residents are dealt at hospitals outside the county minutes or hours away.  

Amid the changes in that community in the last 25 years, I was struck  by the constancy of the church.   As the New River continues to meander through the hills and hollers of that county, the church continues to worship and serve.   Despite the fact that the heads of its members are grayer than 25 years ago and the church pews are not as full, it continues to be as faithful as the rising and setting of the sun.    When my wife Ann and I were married, we had in the service a congregational hymn.    The words of the first verse are found below:

Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father
There is no shadow of turning with Thee
Thou changes not, Thy compassion's, they fail not
As Thou hast been, Thou forever will be

 

Thanks be to God for His faithfulness and thanks be to God for people  that continue to serve.  Have a joy-filled week.    -   Randy L. Wall

 

PRAYER --  O God,  thank you  for your abiding, faithful love and thank you that though seasons change and the years bring change your people continue to serve.   Thank you, God; in Christ’s name I pray.  Amen.  

Seeing a Masterpiece

Have you ever seen a real masterpiece?   A work that is quite valuable if not priceless?    I think back to my visit to the Israel Museum in Jerusalem when I got the chance to see not only fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls that are priceless but also to see real copies of paintings of Picasso.   I also think of the chance I had a few years ago to visit the Metrolitan Museum of Art in New York City.   There were some masterpieces in those places.

Of course, there was works of nature that are masterpieces in my estimation.   I think of the time that Ann and I visited the Grand Canyon in Arizona after a small snowfall in April and saw that beautiful, massive site.    I also thinking of seeing the beauty of a sun set on the island of Oahu in Hawaii a few years ago. 

Have you ever seen a masterpiece?   Even if you have travelled to New York City, Hawaii, or Jerusalem I believe you have. You have seen a masterpiece even if you  are not an art lover or a world traveller for one reason:  YOU HAVE LOOKED IN THE MIRROR.  Don’t take my word for me.   Take God’s word for it.  Read these words from Ephesians 2 paying special attention to the words I have in capital letters here: 

⁴ But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, ⁵ made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. ⁶ And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, ⁷ in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. ⁸ For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— ⁹ not by works, so that no one can boast. ¹⁰ For WE ARE GOD’S HANDIWORK , created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.    (Ephenians 2: 4-10)

The New Living Translation used the word “masterpiece” in this passage  for the word “handiwork”.    Despite the television commercials that might belittle you because you having used this or that product, you are a masterpiece for this reason:  YOU ARE MADE BY GOD AND MADE IN THE IMAGE OF GOD.  

Everyone has days or times when they feel bad because of something they have done or  not done or something that someone has done against you.   When you are in that place, go look in the mirror and remember that despite it all you are a masterpiece.  You are priceless because you are made by God and in the image of God.  Have a joy-filled week.-  Pastor Randy Wall

PRAYER --  O God,  thank you  for creating me and redeeming me through the grace found in Christ Jesus.   Praise you for your love and mercy; in Christ’s name I pray.  Amen. 

Memories of March 8, 1998

 

March 8, 1998.   25 years ago today.   I woke up early and prepared for a busy day fixing breakfast for a house full of people before I headed to Roberta United Methodist Church where I taught Sunday School and led Sunday worship.   My sermon must have been rather forgetful because I do not remember the scripture or the title.  I then went to the parsonage where I prepared lunch for a house full of people.   A couple of hours later, I headed back to church for an important event:  I was getting married.   On March 8, 1998, I stood before God, family, friends, and  a beautiful woman named Lora Ann and  vowed that  I  would  “love, honor, and cherish”  her till we are parted by death.  

After the wedding and the reception, we headed to the parsonage and our new home together.   The house was filled with our children and family.   It was a crazy time as we prepared to head out to spend our wedding night at the Hilton in Charlotte before we headed to the Charleston area for our honeymoon.  First,  I backed the van into the side of the  house.   Fortunately, little  damage was done  to the car or house.  After that, in the excitement of the day I locked the car keys in the van and we had to wait on a locksmith before heading on our way.

We finally arrived at the Hilton off of Tyvola Road in Charlotte.    We had a lovely room with a balcony and a platter of fruit and chocolates.     After dinner at a nearby restaurant, we returned to our hotel room.   Shortly thereafter, Ann and I changed into our sleepwear.   As we sat on the couch in the suite,  I did what few men do on their wedding night as they sit near their beloved:   I opened the Bible and began to read.    I read the following passage of scripture from Genesis 33: 1-10:

When Jacob looked off in the distance, there was Esau coming toward him, accompanied by 400 men! So Jacob divided Leah’s children, Rachel, and the children of the two servants into separate groups.^[a] 2 Then he positioned the women servants and their children first, then Leah and her children next, and then Rachel and Joseph after them. ³ Then he went out to meet Esau,^[b] passing in front of all of them, and bowed low to the ground seven times as he approached his brother.  ⁴ Esau ran to meet Jacob and embraced him. Then he fell on his neck and kissed him. And they wept.  ⁵ When Esau eventually looked around, he saw the women and the children. “Who are these people^[c] with you?” he asked.  “The children, whom God has graciously given^[d] your servant,” he answered. ⁶ Then the women servants approached, accompanied by their children, and bowed low. ⁷ Leah also approached, and she and her children bowed low. After this, Joseph and Rachel approached and bowed low. ⁸ Then Esau asked, “What are all these livestock for?”  “To solicit favor from you,^[e] sir,”^[f] Jacob answered.  ⁹ But Esau replied, “I already have so much, my brother, so keep what belongs to you.”  ¹⁰ “Please,” Jacob implored him, “don’t refuse. If I’m to receive favor from you, then receive this gift from me, because seeing your face is like seeing the face of God, since you have favorably accepted me.

After I read the passage,  Ann unwrapped a small gift  I had for her.   When she opened it, she found a necklace with a heart on it.   On the heart, I had a local jeweler inscribe the following words:    “I see the face of God in you.”  

25 years later, those words  still ring true for me.   The grace, goodness, and generosity of Ann toward me and many others continues to show me the face of God.    I am a blessed man and am so grateful to God.    With an open heart, I suspect that there is someone in your life in who you see the face of God.   Give thanks to God for them, and go seek to be the face of God to someone else.   Have a joy-filled week.-  Pastor Randy Wall

 

PRAYER --  O God,  thank you for persons  around us who give us glimpses of you and your love.    Through your grace and the power of the Spirit, help us to go  and do likewise;  through  Christ our Lord.   Amen.