purpose – Salvaged Faith

RESET Purpose

Posted on September 18, 2022Leave a comment

Text: Mark 1:32-39

A few weeks ago, I was leading a meeting with other clergy in our circuit about our shared ministry.

We got to the end and before we closed, I asked the question… is there anything we’d like to do differently for our next meeting.

One of my colleagues timidly raised their hand.

“Do you think we could, I dunno, maybe spend a bit of time in prayer before we start?”

In my last-minute rush to put together the details for the meeting, I had completely left prayer off the agenda.

And since it wasn’t written on the page in front of me, we hadn’t done it.

Before he died in 2021, my friend Junius Dotson wrote a book called, Soul Reset.

He talks about how, when you play baseball, you have to touch first base.

You could have a fantastic hit and make your way around the diamond, but if you miss the bag at first base, the run doesn’t count.

And the same is true in the Christian faith.

Our first base, the most important base to touch, is to touch base with Jesus.

We can do everything else, have the best meetings in the world, launch the best projects… but if we have missed spending time with Jesus… we haven’t gotten anywhere.

We’ve missed the very point and purpose of what we are there to do.

On Monday evening, about 20 of us gathered for a workshop with Rev. Dr. Jaye Johnson to talk about some possibilities for a new leadership structure.

As he talked about how meetings are designed with a single board or one board model, he shared that one third of the meeting needs to be spent focused on our spiritual lives.

We need to spend time with God and one another.

We need to ground ourselves in the love of God and love of one another.

If we leave that out…

If we miss it…

Then we have skipped over the very core of what we are there to do.

We can get so caught up in the agenda and the to-do list.

We can get distracted by the details.

We can feel pulled in lots of directions.

We have to make sure that we touch first base.

We need to center ourselves in God before we do anything else.

Even Jesus takes time to do this.

Our scripture for this morning comes from the gospel of Mark and one of the things about the way Mark writes is that it feels like our modern lives.

Everything happens so fast.

It’s all condensed and you jump from one place to another.

Jesus is here and then immediately goes there.

It is easy to get whiplash!

Yet, even in the midst of that constant movement and urgency, Jesus shows us how important it is to pause and spend time with God and rediscover what we are supposed to be doing.

In fact, maybe it is because everything is moving so fast that this is so important.

In verses 14-34, Jesus begins his ministry, calls disciples, teaches in the synagogue, casts out a spirit, heals people with diseases and drives out demons.

We are told that the whole town gathers at the door!

He has been up late into the evening caring for all of these people around him and it is very easy to imagine that he could just set up shop in the town of Capernaum doing what he does best.

I mean, he is hitting it out of the ballpark!

But the next morning before the sun comes up, he spends some time in prayer.

To go back to that baseball metaphor, he touches first base.

He grounds himself in God’s will and purpose for his life.

And I can imagine Jesus asking questions like…

“Is this where you want me, God?”

“How can I make the most difference?”

“What is the best use of my time and energy today?”

You get a sense that there is still work and healing and ministry to be done in Capernaum, because the disciples come looking for him.

If you look at different translations of this one phrase you find things like:

“[they] searched everywhere, looking anxiously for Him” (AMP)

“[they] tracked him down” (CEB)

“[they] hunted for him” (NRSVue)

You get a sense that they followed him, like stalkers, impatient for him to get back to work.

Any parents in the room feel that way when your kids wake you up early in the morning?

There is always more to do.

There is always something that demands our time.

There is always another meeting, another project, another mess to clean up.

There are things all around us that feel necessary, right?

But because Jesus has taken this time away to center himself, he is able not to react to all of the demands upon him, but to respond out of what God wants him to do.

He is able to set some boundaries.

He is about to be clear about his purpose.

He can live with intention.

So his response to the anxiety-filled requests of the disciples is, “I can’t stay here any longer. I am needed elsewhere.”

He says, “no” to the people of Capernaum, so that he can say “yes” to God’s bigger picture and his greater purpose.

Or, as the writers with Breakthrough Worship remind us, he is able to trust that God will handle the rest.

I remember a story told by Bishop Sally Dyck, who is now retired, about a small church in a bedroom community.

They noticed that young couples would start to attend worship, and pretty soon they were having babies, and they had a lot of toddlers in their church.

But when the children got a bit older, those families would move to a larger church in the nearby city.

The church was distressed by this and felt like they were failing.

They didn’t have the resources to expand their ministry and compete with the children’s program at those bigger churches.

This church community began to pray and seek God’s will and what they discovered when they really listened is that they had a purpose.

Their church was an incubator for families.

Their job was to help these families get off to a good start and then bless them as they launched into other places.

There is always more that we could do.

Another ministry to start.

Another project to undertake.

But we don’t have the energy and the resources to do it all by ourselves.

And we don’t NEED to do it all.

To take that baseball analogy one step further… you can’t play all of the positions at once.

Someone among us has the skills to be the pitcher, but they need someone else to play catch with.

Our task is to figure out our piece… our purpose… and to trust that God will take care of the rest.

Whether that is equipping another congregation or another person… we can trust that there are others on the team, working for the Kingdom, and that we just need to play our part.

As a congregation, we have spent time with God over the years and have figured out our core vision and purpose.

We will live lives of love, service, and prayer so that all who are hungry are fed by God’s grace.

We feed people in worship through music, prayer, and sacraments.

We feed people who are hungry for connection through elder buddies and coffee time.

We feed people who are hungry to go deeper in their knowledge and love of God through small groups and classes.

And, we feed people who have empty bellies with our little pantry, Joppa, and other local ministries.

We can’t do it all, and we don’t need to do it all…

we just need to focus on doing our part and trusting that God is building up and equipping other churches and congregations and community organizations to do the rest.

The same is true in our individual lives.

There are things that are tugging at you from every corner.

Projects that need done, people that need attention.

Everything is important, isn’t it?

Have you ever been busy doing good and worthwhile things, but felt like something was missing?

Maybe it is because we are simply reacting to what is in front of us, running to and fro.

What would it mean instead to set some priorities for this season?

What would it mean to figure out your role, your position?

What if you created space to spend time with God and to listen for your purpose?

There are a lot of different ways that we can go about this.

Jesus had to get up before dawn to find a quiet space to be with God.

Maybe it is your morning commute.

Maybe it is a day a month you set aside to be in nature.

Maybe you create a spot in your house where you can sit and pray and listen.

And I think you can simply ask a few questions like…

“Is this where you want me, God?”

“How can I make the most difference?”

“What is the best use of my time and gifts and energy in this season?”

When we know our purpose it makes it easier for us to say “yes” and “no”.

Because we know WHY we are saying yes and no.

We can be intentional about what we give our energies towards.

But… it also means that we can start to let go of the guilt we feel when say no in order to focus on a greater good.

We can spend that time in prayer placing it in God’s hands… trusting that God will make a way and is already at work helping that need or situation to be cared for.

Friends, each and every single one of us is beloved by God, just as we are.

And we all have been called and equipped for a purpose.

So, let’s step up to bat.

Let’s ready ourselves to do God’s work.

And let’s not forget to touch first base… to touch base with God… as we set out into the world.

If we do… whatever we do… will be a home run.

Taste and See God’s Purpose

Posted on June 28, 2022Leave a comment

Text: Matthew 5:1-13

In his translation of the Sermon on the Mount, recorded in Matthew’s Gospel, Eugene Peterson concludes the Beatitudes with these words:

“Let me tell you why you are here…”

You see, this sermon from Jesus is full of instructions for the people of God.

It reminds us of the attitudes we are supposed to carry with us into the world.

Jesus tells us what to do and how to live and how we can serve his Kingdom and what our purpose is for being.

“Let me tell you why you are here…” he begins. “You’re here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavors of this earth.”

I must admit, when I dove into studying salt into the scripture, I thought that I would just find these passages from the New Testament about being salt and light in the world.

But salt is woven throughout the Bible as God forms a relationship with the Hebrew people!

In the Ancient Near East, salt was often a part of covenants between two parties – as they broke bread, and signed deals, they also ate salt, as part of their promises to fulfill their responsibilities.

So when God makes a covenant with the people, they were also salt covenants.

In Leviticus 2, Numbers 18, and 2 Chronicles 13:5, we find this language of the salt covenant.

As Margaret Feinberg writes, “In each instance, God is asking the people, priests, and kings to enter into a permanent commitment to his purposes.” (Taste and See Bible Study, page 83)

This covenant was remembered through the regular grain offerings, but even in the post-temple Jewish faith, during the Sabbath meal, bread is dipped into salt and then eaten. It remains a symbol of God’s covenant.

What is that covenant?

Well, there are quite a few covenants in the scriptures, but all of them have to do with our purpose.

In Genesis 9, God makes a covenant with Noah after the flood, renewing the blessings of creation and reaffirming that all people are made in God’s image. God promises to preserve humanity – an expression of love and mercy. Our purpose is to bear God’s image and be God’s caretakers for this world.

Just a few chapters, but many years later, we read about the covenant God made with Abraham. It is the promise of land, descendants, and blessing, and through this family, God’s blessings would extend to all the earth. Our purpose is to be a blessing for all the world.

In the book of Exodus, the story of God’s people continues with liberation from oppression in the land of Egypt. God rescues his people and establishes a covenant through Moses, saying “I’ll take you as my people, and I’ll be your God” (Exodus 6). Part of what it means to be God’s people, holy and set-apart, is to live a certain way. God promises blessings if we obey his commands, and consequences if we don’t. Our purpose is to commit ourselves to God’s ways because they are the ways of life!

There is also a covenant with David, a promise that God would lift up a descendent that would make the promises of Abraham and Moses a reality – a never-ending kingdom dedicated to God. Our purpose is walk in the way of the Lord.

And then, we have the new covenant. Spoken of in scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, God sees all of the ways that we have failed to hold up our end of the deal. But rather than give up, God promises to write these commands on our hearts, forgive our sins, give us the Spirit that will finally allow us to be God’s people, and renew the heavens and the earth. Our purpose is to accept the gift of God through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit that will allow us to do all of the other things that we had promised to do and to be a witness to all the earth.

These covenants, whether officially “salt covenants” or not, all remind us of our salty purpose.

Our job is to point to the hidden work of God in this world and bring it out.

We are supposed to help the world taste and see and feel and experience the blessings of God.

We are God’s people.

We are the salt of the earth.

I must confess that I have watched more than my fair share of cooking shows.

And one of the things that I notice is that salt is vital for good food.

Whenever a dish is being judged, whether or not it has enough salt seems to be essential for its success.

When you sprinkle salt on watermelon or tomatoes, the flavor of those fruits become sweeter and more crisp.

When you add salt to soup, it becomes rich and deep.

When added to roasted vegetables or French fries… let me tell you – you almost can’t have enough salt on French fries.

Salt takes what is there and brings out the flavors.

And that is our job.

We are called to be out in the world and point to all of the ways that God is moving among us.

Our purpose is to bring out the “god-flavors” of the earth and to help others get a taste of heaven.

But what God is doing in this world is about more than just some spicy good deeds and blessings.

It is about salvation, healing, and abundant life, too.

Which seems a bit ironic, since too much salt can destroy land and turn it into a barren waste.

We talk about rubbing salt into a wound as if it is a bad thing.

But salt is an agent of healing, preservation, an anti-septic, and is essential for life.

In fact, many fertilizers incorporate sodium or potassium chloride as ingredients and salt is needed even in manure placed on crops because it breaks it down so that plants can absorb the nutrients.

If you head to the hospital, one of the first things they will often do is hook you up to a saline drip, because salt is critical to the functioning of our cells, enables our nerves to transmit impulses and stimulates our muscle fibers (Taste and See 103).

My husband and I will often watch the History channel show, Alone, in which ten contestants are dropped off in the wilderness to survive on their own for as long as they can. They can choose to bring with them only ten survival items and for the first time in nine seasons, a contestant has chosen to bring a block of salt. So often, that salt deficiency has played havoc with the health of contestants who are pulled before there are ready to quit.

Feinberg recounts in her book about how the Romans saw salt as vital to the expansion of their empire. As the armies were sent great distances to conquer new lands, salt deprivation was impacting their efficiency – causing “confusion, seizures, even brain damage.” So the Romans, “began including salt, sal in Latin, in their soldier’s pay. This is where we derive the word ‘salary’.” (Taste and See, p. 103-104).

We find this in our scriptures as well.

Elisha tosses salt into a cursed spring in order to purify the waters.

Ezekiel describes how newborn babies are rubbed with salt after they are born – a cleansing practice as salt serves as both an exfoliant and disinfectant.

In the incense for worship at the tabernacle and temple, salt was an essential component and the scent played a role in reminding people of their relationship with God.

But, therapies related to salt inhalation have also been used since the 1800s, and is seen as beneficial for breathing, stress, and your immune system… so I do wonder what positive impacts such practice might have had for the people.

And the very root of salvation, is that same Latin base word, sal.

Salvare means to save.

To preserve.

To rescue.

When Jesus calls us to be the salt of the earth, he reminds us of our purpose.

“Let me tell you why you are here…”

Jesus is asking us to be his hands and feet in this world.

To be his people.

To serve his Kingdom.

And what God is doing through us is bringing life, healing, blessings, renewal, and salvation to this world.

Feinberg shares in her book some wisdom from the Talmud that says:

“if someone is suffering and in need, and you can take away 1/60 of their pain, then that is goodness, and the call to help us from God…. Your one little grain of salt can help with something someone else’s grain can’t. And when all [our] grains get mixed and sprinkled together, preserving and flavoring and helping others flourish occurs everywhere.” (Taste and See p. 114).

Friends, I know that this country is starkly divided about a lot of things.

There are major conversations happening as we speak about rights related to abortion, guns, and human sexuality.

In some of cases we are expanding those rights and in so many places, laws and work is being done to curtail them.

And I keep thinking about the role of salt.

Too much can be deadly and it can destroy a land.

But a healthy dose is necessary for life.

I keep thinking about my sisters who have had to have procedures that in some places would be illegal in order to preserve their lives or to care for their bodies in the wake of a miscarriage or even delivery.

You have to pay attention to what someone or something needs and be able to respond with the right kind of care to provide for healing, blessing, renewal, and salvation.

My colleague, Elizabeth Brick, shared some words yesterday that I wanted to borrow and adapt to share with you.

As your pastor, but also as a fellow Christian on the road with you, “I will drive you to your medical procedure, no matter what it is, and I will care for you afterward if you need, because that is what love looks like.”

I will support you as you seek the opportunities that bring you life… whether it is playing sports or getting married or simply holding down a job… no matter your gender or gender identity, because you are a child of God.

And in all of our decision-making, I promise to hold you accountable and set before us all the vision of responsibility and care that God has invited us to practice towards one another.

“I will be there for you, as you have been here for me, as together we will be there for others, because this is what a healthy community looks like.

This is how we continue to create, grow, and nurture a world of mutuality, compassion, and joy, not just for ourselves, but for those who follow behind us.”

God is working through us to bring life, healing, blessings, renewal, and salvation to this world.

We are called to preserve the teachings of Christ and carry them forward.

We are called to reach out and point to the sweetness, hope, and joy of a life with God.

We are called to influence others, bring out new life, and offer mercy and compassion and love.

But we don’t do it alone.

It is God working through us.

It is us pointing to God already busy and active in the world.

And just like with salt added to a meal, even a little bit makes a difference.

Follow the Star: Service

Posted on February 7, 2021Leave a comment

Text: Mark 1:29-38, Isaiah 40:21-31
Today, as we follow the star, we hear an invitation from God to serve.
Why do we serve?
Is it because we are trying to earn our salvation?
Is it to gain brownie points with God or with others?
Do we serve from a sense of duty or obligation?
Or is our service simply the fruit of a life spent focused on God?
The way we demonstrate our gratitude for the gifts that have blessed our lives?

Today we have two passages to consider and before we dive into these powerful words from Isaiah, I think we need to situate them a bit in history.
Isaiah was a prophet of Judah, or the southern half of what was Israel.
After King David died, his kingdom was split into two. The blue part of this map was known as Israel and the yellow portion is the southern kingdom of Judah.
God wanted the people to serve.
To trust.
To let God be the king of their lives.
Not because God needed anything from them, but because it reflected God’s desires for the human family.
But both kingdoms had basically said, “No thank you, Lord! We want to try to do this ourselves.”

This is the God of all creation!
This is the one who sets the stars in the sky and raises up nations and kings!
This is the one who had rescued them from Egypt and had given them the land in the first place!
Instead of having hearts full of gratitude…
Instead of allowing their lives to be shaped by the one who had given them life…
They turned their backs on their Redeemer.
And God let them fall.

As Isaiah is called to prophesy to the to the kingdom of Judah, Israel, the blue portion of this map had just been conquered by the Assyrians.
They were wiped off the map and out of history, never to be heard from again.
And the word that comes to Isaiah is this:
I am the God of all creation.
I am everything that you need.
Tell the people of Judah that if they don’t start to follow me, if they try to trust in their own might, they will only find ruin.
My way is the way of life… yours is the way of death.
For 39 chapters, this is what Isaiah preaches to the people of Judah.
He warns them.
He pleads with them.
All he has to do is point to the north and remind them of what happened to their neighbors.
But his words fall on deaf ears.
And the consequence of their failure to trust and obey and live faithful and fruitful lives is that the Babylonians come in and Judah is conquered.

But here is the really important part.
God does not forget the people in exile.
God calls Isaiah once again, this time with a message of comfort and hope.
This chapter you see, chapter 40, is a turning point.
The people realize they can’t do it on their own.
They realize how futile it is to try.
And now, when they have hit rock bottom, God is right there offering strength and hope and life.

Isaiah tells them that even young people will faith and grow weary if they try to do it on their own. They will fall exhausted by the side of the road.
Youth is not a prescription for strength.
Military might will not save you.
Protein shakes and weights will not build the kind of muscles you need.
If you want to be spiritually strong and whole and full of life the only place to turn is the Lord.
Those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.

Those who wait for the Lord…
Does it mean that we sit quietly and patiently?
That we stop everything else we are doing and just see what happens?
Not at all.
In fact, the Hebrew word for “waiting” is the same as the word used for twisting – like making a rope.
Far from being passive, this kind of waiting invokes the idea that you are being worked on, formed, and bound together.
Waiting on the Lord is being open and available to what God wants to do with your life.
There is the old joke about the man who prayed to God that he might win the lottery… but he never went out and bought a ticket.
This kind of waiting isn’t just sitting back and seeing if God will act.
It is active.
It is expectant.
It is full of hope and tension and we put our lives in the right place by waiting upon the Lord in service and worship.

I have been thinking about the process of bringing new life into the world through pregnancy. Any mother can tell you that this kind of waiting is not passive.
It is painful and full of uncomfortable moments.
You can’t just sit back and wait for something to happen.
What you eat matters. What you drink matters. How you move matters.
And in the process, two lives are entwined and bound together.

That’s what it is like to wait upon the Lord.
Our live becomes entwined with Gods as we serve and worship.
In the process, God’s strength becomes our strength.
And then God takes the single cord that is our life and twists it together with others in the church so that we are made even stronger.

Which brings me to Simon Peter’s mother-in-law.
In our gospel reading for today, Jesus enters this home and discovers that she is ill.
This isn’t just a cold, she is confined to bed with a fever.
Jesus enters the room and gently takes her by the hand and the fever is gone.
He helps her to her feet.
The very next thing she does… is to wait on them.

Now, there have been many times in the past when I have read this verse with a little bit of indignation.
I mean, what kind of a sexist message is being taught here, that the instant a woman is well, she jumps out of bed to serve the men?
But if we examine the text a little bit closely, we discover something interesting.
She waits upon them… like we are called to wait upon the Lord.
Her labor is not a menial household task, but the word we find here in greek is diakanos.
Diakanos is ministry.
It is the same word used to describe how the angels wait upon Jesus in the wilderness.
The same word Jesus uses when he washes the feet of his disciples and calls them to serve.
The same word used by the church to send out the first deacons.
Those who wait upon the Lord renew their strength.
Those who serve the Lord find abundant life.

Here was a woman who was trapped in her bed by her illness, much like the Judeans were in exile.
And yet, she waited in expectant hope.
She actively lived a life ready for God to work through her.
And just as God reached out to bring the people of Judah out of captivity, Jesus stretched out his hand to lift her up.
Her act of service in this moment is not just out of gratitude for what God has done and is doing in her life.
It is the fruit of a lifetime spent attentive to God’s will in her life.
And before even her own son-in-law figures out what he is doing as a disciple, she is already at work saying yes to God.
As Megan McKenna notes: “the first four followers of Jesus become five…”

Throughout this season of Epiphany, we have been following the star.
We’ve explored how God is revealed in our lives and reclaimed our identity.
Together we have received the invitation to follow… along with the call to repent.
Last week we talked about what it means to allow the authority of God to shape our realities.
Each of these star-words have been a step in a journey.
A journey that helps us to let go of the idea that we can do it ourselves.
A journey that reminds us that it is only in God that we find the strength and the power to keep going.
Only when we place our lives in God’s hands, in worship and service, will we truly discover life.

In her weekly reflection, Debie Thomas shares a quote from Annie Dillard’s book, The Writing Life: “How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives. What we do with this hour, and that one, is what we are doing.”
Even as I say those words, I think about how many hours in the last year I have spent on the couch watching shows on Netflix.
So often, we have grand plans for how we will live out our faith in the future.
I’ll be a disciple someday when I have time, or more energy, or the kids are grown.
As Thomas notes, they are “days filled with intention, purpose, and meaning. Days meticulously scheduled and beautifully executed. Days marked by attentiveness, order, devotion, and beauty. When I get around to living those days – maybe tomorrow? Maybe next month? – then I will begin to sculpt my life.”
What if instead, we simply allowed Jesus to take us by the hand and we got up and began to serve?
What if we stopped trying to do it our way and instead allowed God’s strength to lift our weary spirits and to twist and shape and transform our moments.
What if we stopped passively waiting for a mountain top moment, but claimed this day, right now, as when our life in God can begin.
How will you spend this day?

salvaging a forgotten purpose

Posted on January 10, 2013Leave a comment

Six years ago, I purchased a FranklinCovey planner.

And then technology changed and I started keeping track of my calendar through gmail and with a smart phone it is so convenient to have that electronic copy everywhere. The planner had long since been hiding in a closet.

But as I have been traveling and having meetings, I realized it is helpful to have a paper calendar with the ability to take notes and remember who I talked to when and what about. So I dug out that old planner, purchased a new weekly calendar to put in it.

In the process, I found the section of the planner that is really the “franklincovey” benefit – clarification of mission, values, roles and purpose… along with questions and activities to help you discover them. Talk about finding something from the past and wanting to salvage it!

It is fascinating to look back and to see what those values, roles and purposes were and how they have or have not changed:

Values… most of which have not changed one bit!

authenticity
simplicity
hospitality
physical well-being
communication
embodiment
rhythm/balance
relationships

Roles

Fiancee/Partner (Now wife!)
Ministry Intern (Now minister, fundraiser, organizer)
Graduate Student (So glad I’m not worrying about classes now!)
Daughter/Granddaughter/Sister
Friend

What is one thing you could accomplish in your professional life that would have the most positive impact?

Creating a change of paradign within the United Methodist Church that would allow us to value embodiment, ritual, authenticity and would be inclusive of all people. This would creat opportunities for individuals and communities to have real and life-changing experiences of God.

What is the one thing you could accomplish in your personal life that would have the most positive impact?

Practice the spiritual life with my family in such a way that we are aware of our connection/dependence upon God and this creation; truly live according to a discipline that values simplicity and the rhythm of life.

The kind of person I want to be:

joyful
simple
compassionate
authentic
relaxed
open
hospitable
accepting
loving
relational
empathetic
holy
merciful

All the things I would like to do:

visit the Czech Republic
get married (done!)
have children
plant a garden (done!)
connect with a monastary
work with the dying (I have LOVED funeral ministry)
preside over the sacraments (yes!)
join a CSA
host weekly dinners (well, we don’t host, but we have them!)

All the things I would like to have:

a home with a garden (yes… although our current house will have a container garden)
a large kitchen for entertaining
a plan for retirement

I actually never completed the section that has you draft and then finalize your purpose statement, but I think in many ways what I had written gives voice to that purpose. As I think back upon these last five or six years, many of those values and desires have been lived out. I truly tried to minister in my congregation and in this conference with that “vision” of what I wanted to accomplish professionally in mind – although not with great intent. It is part of who I am, however, and so even without specifically trying, it has been a part of what I do. Even in my work with Imagine No Malaria, I can help us to do work with our hands and feet, truly engage our communities, and share what we know and have experienced with one another. I want to involve everyone in this amazing effort to do something great for (and with) God.

What I have missed out on and am trying to reclaim in my life right now is that sense of rhythm. A schedule, a discipline, for every day life. In the past few weeks, I have been working on precisely that so it was amazing to rediscover that in the pages of this planner. I have been establishing a pattern for myself that includes dishwashing before bed, laundry on Saturdays, coffee and devotions in the morning, and a plan for meals that allows us to eat simply and healthily. I’m not stressed about those things… they are finding their place, although gradually. And I’m grateful to reclaim that rhythm as a core value in my life.

Cloud of Witnesses

Posted on July 14, 2012Leave a comment

Funeral Meditation based on Ecclesiastes 3:9-15 and Hebrews 12:1-3

What are we here for? What is our purpose? That is the question that the author of Ecclesiastes wrestles with and although he is filled with cynicism, he finally settles with the understanding that God has given us a job to do. And this man writes that our purpose is to be happy and enjoy ourselves as long as we live. And even more than that – that it is God’s good gift for us to eat and drink and take pleasure in all that we do.

I turn to that scripture often because it is a reminder of the blessing of life that God has given us. It is a reminder that we are meant to find joy in this life and in the simple things that God has provided. And after hearing her children and grandchildren, her sister and her husband talk about Colleen’s life – I think that she figured out that little secret. She enjoyed herself and her family and her friends as long as she spent time on this earth.

As her family shared with me the many things that they will carry with them – memories of they have of Colleen – they mentioned how much she loved the things that came into her life. She loved her family and while she did work for a while, she also loved to spend time at home as a mother and a homemaker. Harold told me that while she didn’t know how to cook when they met, she soon learned and her family related to me the many delicious lemon meraigne, pumpkin and rhubarb pies that they enjoyed through the years. She loved music as well and took joy out of playing her organ. And she loved to tell stories. She and her sister Bonnie would feed off one another building tales of cowboys and Indians and about their cousin Joe – stories that grew and blossomed and were filled with joy so that the whole family would be overcome with laughter.

I think one of the most amazing things that I heard though was about who Colleen was deep inside. She was an incredibly positive person. She had a peace about her that allowed her to remain calm and not get angry and more than anything she strove to see the good in other people.

I shared with you today a passage from the book of Hebrews and this scripture talks about the great cloud of witnesses that surrounds us. I believe that Colleen is not only among that great cloud of witnesses today, but that through her life, she has inspired her family and her friends to be more, and to be better, than they imagined. You see, that cloud of witnesses is like the cheerleaders or fan section at a great track meet. We each have a race to run, a path that is set before us, we too, have been given a job to do on this earth. And Colleen, your wife, your mother and grandmother, your friend, your sister, is urging you on. She wants you to experience the joy and the love of a life lived in God’s presence. She wants you to reap the benefits of Christ’s love.

That doesn’t mean that the race is easy. There are hard and difficult times in all of our lives and this day is one of those. On this day, we celebrate Colleen’s life, but we also mourn the loss of her presence. We mourn the things that we no longer get to share with her. Special days will come into our midst, like yesterday – which would have been her 80^th birthday, or this coming Monday – which would have been the celebration of 57 years of marriage to her husband, Harold. And those days bring sadness and tears.

And we do mourn.

But we will be comforted.

When Christ stood among his disciples and told them that his time on earth was coming to an end, one of the first things he told them was “do not let your hearts be troubled.” He shared with him the comfort of his presence, and then also the promise that this time on earth is not the end of our relationships together. He told them that in his Father’s house… in our Father’s house, there is room for us all. A place is prepared for each of us in the family of God. And Christ will take us there himself. Christ will show us the way.

As Colleen’s family shared with me her various loves and things she enjoyed, one of those was a deep and abiding love for John Wayne. And her daughter said that they sometimes think of her up in heaving, riding on a horse heading off into the sunset. And that brings us joy and laughter and smiles, because it was the kind of person that Colleen was. That joy for imagination and creativity and seeing the best in all things. And we know that her love of God and God’s word sustained her in this life and that it has brought her to that everlasting rest, that eternal joy and peace, that is found only in God. Amen.