Category: Religion

Posted in Christmas, Religion, Sunday Reflections

Advent Message of Hope

Posted on by Melissa

The drive to church this past Sunday was done in the midst of a gray, dreary morning. The drizzling rain on the windshield and the road did not provide a cheerful environment. But as I drove and contemplated on those surroundings I was reminded of what was in the backseat of my car. A bag. Inside the bag was a notebook. Inside the notebook was a sermon entitled Waiting with Hope. Also inside the notebook was an order of worship with a small graphic of a small solitary lit candle. A candle symbolizing Hope.

Life has its share of gray, dreary days. Sometimes those days stretch into weeks, months, even years. Yet in this journey of life we travel with a solitary light of Hope inside us. It sometimes shines so dim, that we can barely see it glimmer in the dark. But it is always there. We may try to distinguish it (consciously or subconsciously) with our doubts, worries, fears, anger, depression, or anxieties. Yet, while we are doing that there is a counter force hard at work keeping the flames of Hope lit inside us. The Holy Spirit is there tending to that fire.

I thought of all the survivalist shows I’ve seen where people build fires with tiny twigs and dry grass. Tenderly blowing small puffs of air when a small hint of smoke appears until the flame begins to brighten wherein they can blow stronger gusts of encouragement and add more and more kindling until the fire blazes strong and bright.

If you are experiencing a season of life marked by dark and dreary days, I pray that you will hold on to that promise of Hope. The light may be small. It may seemed tucked away in the backseat hiding in a notebook inside a bag that seems out of reach at the moment. Hold on to the promise that it is there. Trust that God through the work of the Holy Spirit is hard at work tending and breathing life into the flame even in those moments you don’t feel like you can contribute to the work. But as you can, pray, worship, read the Scripture. In doing so you can help add kindling to the fire and enable it to burn bright within you.

Posted in Personal Thoughts, Religion

Again

Posted on by Melissa

The pastor of my home church asked me to fill in for him for the two Tuesday Bible Studies for his Charge while he was out of town. I used the July 10th, 2024 devotional reading, from The Upper Room Daily Devotional along with their provided discussion guide questions for our study.

In addition to that resource, I also included some of my own thoughts and observations on the Scripture text, Psalm 71. I share those here and now with you:

Repetition of Word “Again” (Verses 20-21)
• “Revive me again”
• “Bring me up again”
• “Increase my Honor and Comfort me once again”
In our ailments, pains, and distresses it’s very easy to fall into the trap of only seeing the present troubles and infirmities. This Psalm reminds us to take time to remember and recall God’s faithfulness and deliverance in times past. Don’t be afraid to ask and pray to God a simple prayer requesting “Again.” That one-word prayer can express a lot. It tells God you remember the past help and past answered prayers supplied in your earlier years. It also offers a simple plea for God to do it again. This one word prayer expresses: Gratitude / Thankfulness / Praise / Request.

Psalm 71 encompasses our whole life and its stages along the way.
• Verse 6 – “Upon you I have leaned from my birth; it was you who took me from my mother’s womb.”
• Verse 17 – “O God, from my youth you have taught me, and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds.”
• Verse 9 – “Do not cast me off in time of old age; do not forsake me when my strength is spent.”
• Verse 18 – “So even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim your might to all the generations to come.”

While there is a personal prayer of remembrance and plea embedded in this Psalm, verse 18 reminds us that our faith and our testimony is not just to be used in our personal lives and trials. We are reminded that to be beloved and called by God is a call into a community and to outreach to others. We are “to proclaim (God’s) might to all the generations to come.”

We often like to celebrate, highlight, encourage, and fund the contributions of Youth and the excitement and exuberance they bring to a church community. Yet, we must never do so at the expense of what older members can contribute as well. First, and foremost, their wisdom from lived experience. Secondly, the reminder and example that with God strength and renewal is possible at all ages.

Posted in Christmas, Religion, Sunday Reflections

Are You Ready for Christ(mas)?

Posted on by Melissa

Following is the text of my Sermon for the 1st Sunday of Advent on December 3, 2023

Scripture: Isaiah 64:1-9

Are you ready for Christmas? I’m sure by this point everyone has both asked that question of others and  been asked that question by other people. The typical answers people provide usually run along the lines of recounting how many presents have been bought, how many decorations have been put up, how many baked goods have been prepared, how many party plans have been made and things such as that. All good answers. However, there is a more important question that should be considered during this time. That is this: Are you ready for Christ? This is the first Sunday of Advent. This is a time of waiting and preparation. This is a time when we are invited to once again look for and anticipate a new understanding of the mystery and the wonder of the Incarnation, the coming of Emmanuel with us. God in the flesh to dwell and exist with and among us in a new way.

This morning we lit the Candle of Hope. We must start the time of Advent with a focus on Hope. We must cultivate an attitude of Hope to be ready to continue the preparation to look for the Peace, Joy, and Love that is also being presented and offered during this time. When people feel hopeless, they aren’t in a place to be ready to expect good things. So, we must begin with Hope.

At first, this Scripture from Isaiah doesn’t seem to be a good choice for a message of hope. It is a message of lament. A cry of desperation in the midst of trouble. Where is the hope? It’s there. And we will get to it. But first, it helps to know the context of this passage of Isaiah. The prophet’s words come during the time of the Israelites return from exile. They have returned to their land but things aren’t all back to the glory days yet. The temple has not been rebuilt. They are not feeling God’s presence in a powerful way. We started with the words, “O that you would tear open the heavens and come down, so that the mountains would quake at your presence.” Isaiah, on behalf of the people, is imploring God to make his presence known in a powerful and unmistakable way. I think we can all relate to that feeling. We all have moments when we are waiting to hear a message from God and we long to have it delivered in a way that makes it clear and easy to receive. I know I have longed for that in my life many times when I feel God has been too silent and too quiet for too long.

When I read that passage it brought to mind one specific Christmas memory from my childhood. It was the year I had requested that Santa bring me a typewriter as my gift. I woke up Christmas morning and there it was. That was exciting enough to see. But to top it off, there was a sheet of paper loaded in the typewriter with a note from Santa thanking us for the cookies and milk and wishing us a Merry Christmas. A personal message from Santa Clause – now that was really exciting. Not to mention that now I had proof that he existed for all those doubters in my life. So, while I read these words in Isaiah, I thought how I would rewrite and reword it in my own words. I would say, “O that you would open my computer and come down and compose a letter, email or text message to show me your presence.” It would be helpful at times to hear so directly from God.

Isaiah continues and reminds God of the awesome deeds of the past and how the mountains had quaked at his presence. But, it had been a long time since things like that had taken place. Now, Isaiah does declare and admit and confess on behalf of the people why that is true. The people had sinned, they had turned away from God, they had been full of iniquity. They were not blameless. They were deserving of punishment and correction from God. But, Isaiah doesn’t stop there. He goes one step further. He implicates God as part of the problem as well. In verse 5 he says, “But you were angry, and we sinned; because you hid yourself we transgressed.” He doesn’t completely say it’s God’s fault necessarily. But, in what I see has a kind of gutsy move, he does imply that God can’t ignore his role in this situation as well. What I hear in these words is Isaiah saying something along the lines of, “Look God, you know how we people are. You know we have trouble always being obedient. We are prone to make bad decisions and stray from the right path. When you hide yourself from us you should expect and know by now that on our own, things are going to get worse.” Isaiah is not exactly trying to excuse the people’s misbehavior and sin. He is acknowledging that this relationship is broken and in shambles. And he is saying that both parties have had a role in that.

Again, so far, we don’t see much of a message of hope in these words of lamentation. Isaiah continues in verse 6 and admits the people “have all become like one who is unclean” and their “righteous deeds are like a filthy cloth” and they “all fade like a leaf” and their “iniquities, like the wind” have taken them away. Yep, not seeing too much hope in those words.

It is in verse 8 when we finally begin to see a turn. It is here that Isaiah’s words become less lamentation and more of a plea. It is here that we begin to see a message of hope. This turn begins with a very powerful three letter word. Isaiah says, “Yet.” It’s a small but powerful word that signals a change in tone. It is what begins to offer a small glimmer of light in a dark situation. Despite the mess, despite the troubles, despite the desperate situation Isaiah expresses the hope that things not only can change but that they will change. Hear the words of verse 8, “Yet, O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand.” This harkens to a similar passage, which is one of my favorites, in Jeremiah where that prophet is sent to the potter’s house to receive the message and lesson that it is God who shapes and molds us. What a wonderful and personal image of God. This is an image of an up close and personal God directly involved in our lives. I hope you have at some time seen either in person or a video of someone working at a pottery wheel. It’s a messy, hands-on process. Initially, the process is not so much violent, but is intense. The potter begins by slapping the mixture of clay and water together and begins to form a rough outline of whatever the work is meant to be. Then as the process continues, the work becomes more delicate and focused on minor details. That is how God works in our own lives. First, it is in a broad manner. The purpose is to awaken in us an awareness of who God is and how he loves us and more importantly our need and dependence on him. Then as we continue to yield ourselves, our plans, and our decisions to his guidance God then begins the more delicate workings in our lives, gently and lovingly making us into the uniquely designed image of the Creator he has destined for us.

Therein, lies our hope. A loving God who wants to be that close and involved in our lives. And to do that, he sent Jesus, the Word made flesh, into this world as a tiny baby in a manger. The God who has the power to tear open the heavens and make the mountains quake in his Presence, instead decided to enter this world as a helpless little child. This willingness to so embody himself to truly experience what we experience is an amazing example of love. We talk often of Jesus and his willingness to die for us. But it starts here. It starts with him willing to live with us. To live with humanity in all of its messiness, struggles, and trials.

The author C. S. Lewis wrote:

God could, had he pleased, have been incarnate in a man of iron nerves, the Stoic sort who lets no sigh escape him. Of his great humility he chose to be incarnate in a man of delicate sensibilities who wept at the grave of Lazarus and sweated blood in Gethsemane. . . . He has faced all that the weakest of us face, has shared not only the strength of our nature but every weakness of it except sin. If he had been incarnate in a man of immense natural courage, that would have been for many of us almost the same as his not being incarnate at all.

Hope. The Israelites hoped for and waited for the coming of their promised Savior. Remembering their time of hoping and waiting and learning and drawing on the inspiration of the faith they exemplified is part of what we are doing during this time of Advent. Admittedly, their moments of faith had its ups and downs and highs and lows. But, we can learn lessons from both their successes and their failures. Their hope was realized on that holy night of Christ’s birth.

And as I thought of all that time of hoping and waiting, I couldn’t help but leap forward a little in the story of Jesus’ birth narrative. Not far. Just forty days after his birth. That was when we read of his presentation at the temple by Joseph and Mary the purpose of which was to fulfill Mary’s ritual purification after childbirth and to perform the redemption of the firstborn which was in obedience to the Law of Moses. Hear this account of what happened while they were there.

From Luke 2:25-32

 25 Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him. 26 It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. 27 Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, 28 Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying:

29 “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised,
    you may now dismiss[d] your servant in peace.
30 For my eyes have seen your salvation,
31     which you have prepared in the sight of all nations:
32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
    and the glory of your people Israel.”

At this moment in time Simeon represents and embodies all of that time of hoping and waiting. He had righteously and devoutly committed himself to the waiting of the consolation of Israel. Led by the Holy Spirit he showed up at the temple courts at the time the child Jesus was brought in. And he took the child in his arms, praised God, and said he could now be dismissed in peace because his eyes had seen God’s salvation. Think about that. Not only had he seen God’s salvation, but Simeon had also literally held the Hope of the World in his arms.

Hope. I said part of Advent is remembering Israel’s time of hoping and waiting. The other part is acknowledging our current period of hoping and waiting. We know the story of Jesus. We know how the rest of it ends. We know that the salvation work of the Cross has been accomplished. So, our hoping and our waiting are different. We are hoping and waiting for the return of Christ in his glory to fully redeem and restore the world and all of humanity. So we hope and we wait. But we don’t sit back and wait passively. It is time of active waiting and preparation.

As we heard at the end of the song In the Bleak Midwinter sung earlier in the service, give God what only you can give. Give him your heart.

Be open to letting the Potter mold you.

And know that like Simeon we can hold the Hope of the World in our arms. Not in a literal sense has he did. But still, as we look for a new revelation and understand of hope remember the Hope of the World is present with us here today.

I end with the question I began with. Are you ready for Christmas? More importantly are you ready for Christ? Are you ready to meet him once again anew and in a fresh way?

Posted in Christmas, Personal Thoughts, Religion

Waiting to Hear from God

Posted on by Melissa

O that you would tear open the heavens and come down, so that the mountains would quake at your presence –

Isaiah 64:1

While I am fortunate that I have many fond Christmases memories from my childhood, this year I have thinking about the year I got a typewriter from Santa Claus. I don’t remember how old I was. Now, it was not a fancy professional typewriter that one would find in a business office. Yet, it was more than just a toy typewriter. It was fully functional with a ribbon and held regular size paper. What made the gift more awesome that year was that Santa actually took the time to type out a short little note with it and leave it sitting in the typewriter. If I had ever doubted his existence, I didn’t that year – because I had proof!

I loved watching The Waltons when I was growing up. (Actually, I still do.) John Boy was my favorite character. I harbored a dream of growing up to be a female John Boy spending afternoons and evenings sitting at a desk typing away and producing pages and pages of insightful writing. I guess in a way that dream has come true. I have spent a lot of my life writing. Journaling, blogging here, writing for the church newsletter, and now as a pastor writing a weekly sermon. The determination of whether all those pages of writing are insightful or not I guess is left to others.

As I’m sitting here planning and working on my sermon for the First Sunday of Advent, I feel drawn to the Isaiah 64:1-9 portion of the Lectionary Readings. And as I read the first verse where Isaiah cries out, “O that you would tear open the heavens and come down,” I thought of how often I too cry out to God wanting to feel a powerful unmistakable feeling of the Divine Presence. And even more, a clear and discernible word telling me what to do, where to go, and how to be. If I could be allowed to re-write Isaiah’s words in my own way I would say, “O that you would open my computer and leave me a written note, text, or letter.” I mean, if Santa can do it I know God can do it.

And while I do believe, because I have proof of it as well from past experiences, God does speak to us and does give us messages it doesn’t always happen as clearly and visibly as I would like it to. Advent is a time of waiting. But it’s a time of active waiting. Advent invites us to wait and seek a new inspiration of a message of Hope from God. We hope to be encouraged by God’s Peace, Joy, and Love that is provided to us. And we hope to be inspired to find ways to continue to share that with others.

And so I will wait. But, as I wait I will remember and reflect on verse 8 of Isaiah 64: “Yet, O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand.” As I wait I will be open to being reshaped and remolded as a vessel of God’s work. I will let God continue to make me what God wants me to be. And I’ll keep checking my computer for a special typed note. Well, because you just never know.

Posted in Personal Thoughts, Poetry, Religion

God’s Creation – My First Poem

Posted on by Melissa

When I first started sharing some of my poetry on this site, I swore to myself that I would never share this one. Because when I read it now I cringe and think about how awful it is. How it seems to be an example of everything a poem should not be from all my years of studying Literature and getting a degree in English. I recently changed my mind about sharing it and I’ll explain why below. But first, here is the very poorly written first poem of my life. 

God's Creation

God created us all
Winter, Summer, Spring, and Fall.
He created the sun so bright,
That comes up in the morning and goes 
down at night.

He created trees with little green leaves.
He created voices to talk,
And legs to walk.

He created our sphere,
And divided it into hemispheres,
So we could live a good life,
Without any strife.

I’s okay if you cringed when you read it as well. I forgive you. It’s not great and it’s not full of beauty. Forced rhyme scheme. No imagery. Tells instead of shows. I could go on and on.

Except that I’ve come to realize that there is beauty in that poem. But to recognize that beauty you have to know that I wrote that poem in 1979 at the ripe old age of 9 years old. So now, the beauty to me is found in acknowledging, remembering, and respecting the fact that a 9 year old girl was trying her best to figure out who God was, what knowing who God was meant to her personally, and even what that meant to everyone else around her. That 9 year old girl was trying to find meaning and purpose in her life. Perhaps awkwardly, but at least she was trying. As an aside, this is about the same age of my life that I was trying to decide whether when I grew up if I wanted to be a bread truck driver or a missionary. I’ll share that story in a later post. It’s a great lead-in to the Call Story that I’ve had to share and present to others recently in my journey into ministry.

I often wonder what it would be like now, 44 years later, to go back in time and talk to that young girl. I wonder how she would feel if I told her that her search for answers, purpose, and meaning, and questions about God would still be ongoing. That even now that search is not complete. Would she find the news exciting and challenging, anticipating a life-long search of knowledge and learning? Or would she be discouraged and disappointed to discover that even that many years later she would still be struggling to know who she was and what she was suppose to be in relation to God? And even trying to figure out the mystery of this God in her life and others.

Perhaps, and most likely, it would be a little bit of both just as it is for me today. Sometimes the prospect of studying, thinking, struggling to discover new things is exciting and challenging. Other days I wake up and think, “This again? Life is too hard. I’m tired of trying to figure it all out.”

The one thing I do know is that I do still believe there is a God who created us all. And though the poem doesn’t possess the word “Love” in it, I do think that my 9 year old self was trying to say there is a God that loves us. And that is what my 53 year old self is still trying to say today. Both to others and to myself. Most days I still kind of do so in a very awkward manner. But beauty is found in the attempt and the earnestness and not necessarily always in the manner of conveyance. I pray that even the worst sermon I ever preach, whether in words or actions, still somehow conveys the love of God to someone. I’ve embraced (well mostly embraced) the fact that I’m always going to feel awkward in this world. But if God can use that awkwardness, I feel like all the worry, searching, and longing will be worth it in the end.

Posted in Personal Thoughts, Religion

Prevenient Grace: God’s RSVP Before the Invitation is Sent

Posted on by Melissa

One of the major tenets in Wesleyan theology is the belief in Prevenient Grace. I know. It sounds intimidating and hard to understand. But it really shouldn’t be. Basically, it is the belief that God’s grace, God’s love, and God’s presence shows up in every place, time, or situation before we do. God is the One who goes before us and waits for us.

As I was mulling this week’s upcoming sermon, the idea of Prevenient Grace came to mind. And I began to look at it in a way I never had before.

Most of us have been there. You’re planning a party or a celebration and you send out invitations to the people you want to share this special day with. And you include a polite request that they respond to let you know if they can attend or not. Having a head count always makes it easier to plan for food, space, and other accommodations.

I realized that God gives us an RSVP promising to attend to every event and moment in our life before we even have the foresight and understanding of who God is. The moment we are born, and daresay even prior to that, God makes plans to be with us anywhere and everywhere we find ourselves to be. Not only plans to be there, but plans to arrive early to meet us there. God promises to be with us in all the major parties and celebrations of our lives. But, perhaps even more importantly, God promises to be there in the difficult times in our lives. When you are sitting at home alone, feeling lonely and burdened down with the cares of the world God is there just waiting to be invited into your pain and hurt.

Notice I now use the term invited. God does it a little backwards compared to what we are used to in our society. He offers the RSVP before we extend the invitation. Yet, he still waits for the invitation. Oh, he certainly shows up. But he waits to be invited into our lives before he fully participates.

Prevenient Grace. The RSVP card that arrives before you have even had a chance to put a postage stamp on the Invitation card. God showed up early. God is waiting. I hope you will consider inviting him into your life.

Posted in Personal Thoughts, Religion

Not That Kind of Preacher

Posted on by Melissa

Last December I made plans to attend a Christmas concert at Lenoir-Rhyne University with a friend of mine. Her daughter is a member of the band there and would be performing in the concert. My friend’s daughter shared with her boyfriend that her mother was bringing a friend with her and that I was a preacher. (Technically, I wasn’t one yet but had begun the process.) The boyfriend responded with, “I guess that means I need to behave.” She then replied, “Oh no, don’t worry. She’s not that kind of preacher.” After sharing that story with me, later on both my friend and her daughter reached out and offered to apologize to me if I had been offended by those words. I assured them both that rather than being offended, I took them as a great compliment.

You see, I knew exactly what the daughter was trying to say. She knew I wasn’t the type of person to show up somewhere with a pious, holier than thou, judgmental attitude towards the people I find myself with. I don’t expect or want people to go out of their way to change who they are just because I’m around. I don’t mind seeing and knowing the real “you” that resides inside. Obviously, when we meet new people in any situation neither side needs to share everything about themselves with each other. Relationships certainly need to build trust before some hard things are revealed. But even on a first meeting with someone I don’t mind if they let the cracks show of who they are and what their personality is like even if they have this feeling that it’s something a preacher wouldn’t want to know.

When we look at Jesus’ ministry, we don’t see that he sent out advance teams of disciples or followers to the towns and houses to tell the people to tidy their homes, lives, language, and attitudes because someone holy was on the way. Instead, Jesus showed up right in the midst and messiness of peoples lives and sat with them and listened to them. It was then he would share the news of love, hope, and salvation he had to offer.

That is my goal for the kind of preacher I do want to be. I want to be able to show up, sit with people right in the midst of the messiness (and also joys and celebrations) and listen to them. And then share the news of love, hope, and salvation God has to offer. And hopefully, will be able to tailor it better to their particular situation.

I’ve jokingly told others that I thought about putting the tag-line “Not That Kind of Preacher” on business cards to hand out to people. At least it would be a good conversation starter and hopefully an ice breaker to people to allow them to know that I am open and willing to hear as much honesty from them that they are comfortable to share.

As I sit here and write this, I have just woken to the first day of my license as a Local Pastor being in effect. I pray that for as long as this is part of my life that I will continue to be “Not That Kind of Preacher” and instead be more and more like Jesus every day.

Blessings to you All!