5th Sunday of August

Softly and Tenderly

Softly and Tenderly is an old hymn of the 19th Century written by Will Lamartine Thompson, who lived from 1847 to 1909. He composed gospel, secular, and patriotic songs. He struggled to get his hymns and songs published early in his career, so he founded his own publishing company and self-published his works. 

This hymn became one of his most popular and well-known. It has been recorded by Amy Grant, Reba McEntire, Trisha Yearwood, Kelly Clarkson, Johnny Cash, and Alan Jackson. It has been featured in the movies and shows Junebug, The Accidental Tourist, True Blood, and A Prairie Home Companion, where it was sung by Lily Tomlin and Meryl Streep. 

Thompson was friends and worked with the well-known evangelist Dwight Moody. As he was dying, Moody told Thompson, “Will, I would rather have written ‘Softly and Tenderly Jesus Is Calling’ than anything I have been able to do in my whole life.” The lyrics are a gentle call for those who feel lost and alone to simply, “Come home.” 

Great Is Thy Faithfulness

The hymn “Great Is Thy Faithfulness” was written by Thomas Chisholm in 1923. The song became instantly popular throughout the country and was frequently used in the Billy Graham Crusades. It has been recorded by the Gaithers, Carrie Underwood, and Cece Winans. 

Thomas Chisholm was a schoolteacher in Franklin, Kentucky, which is close to the Tennessee boarder with Nashville. He served as a minister in the Methodist church for one year after a religious conversion, but he resigned due to poor health. He later became a life insurance agent in New Jersey. Some of his other notable hymns include, “Living for Jesus,” and a whole lot I had never heard of. 

Though ministry was not his calling, Chisholm wrote over 1,200 hymns and sacred poems in his lifetime, many of which were published in various periodicals. The music to this hymn was written by William Runyan. This hymn quotes the words of Lamentations 3: 22-23, “The faithful love of the Lord never ends. His mercies never cease. Great is thy faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning.” 

In the Bulb

The hymn, “In the Bulb” was written by Natalee Sleeth in 1985 at a concert celebration of her music at Pasadena Community Church in St. Petersburg, Florida. Sleeth was a longtime composer of music having studied music and piano at Wellesley College in Massachusetts. 

Her husband, Ronald, was a United Methodist clergy and professor at Perkins School of Theology. While serving as music secretary at Highland Park United Methodist, she composed one of her most known anthems, Canon of Praise, which became the highest selling anthem in the history of the publisher. She went on to write and compose more than 200 choral anthems, usually writing both lyrics and music. 

“In the Bulb” has become a favorite for funerals, but that was not Sleeth’s intention. She wrote that the anthem came at a time when she was "pondering the ideas of life, death, spring and winter, Good Friday and Easter, and the whole reawakening of the world that happens every spring." Parts were inspired by a T.S. Eliot poem. 

The connection to funerals likely came when her husband died of cancer shortly after the anthem was written. He requested that it be played at his funeral. Natalie Sleeth often wrote anthems that were theologically accessible to children. The words of this hymn are a very clear and unmistakable promise, “In our death, a resurrection; at the last, a victory, unrevealed until it season, something God alone can see.”  

What a Friend

The writer of “What a Friend We Have in Jesus,” Joseph Scriven, was born in Ireland in 1820. After college in Dublin he was engaged to his sweetheart and love of his life. But horrifically and tragically, the day before the wedding, she accidentally drowned. Scriven never recovered from the shock of this loss. He moved to Canada to get away from everything. 

When word reached him that his mother was seriously ill, he wrote a poem called “Pray Without Ceasing.” He soon fell in love a second time with Eliza. Six weeks before their wedding, she too died. She succumbed to tuberculosis. The 25-year-old Scriven took a vow of poverty, sold all he had, and devoted his life to serving the poor and physically impaired. 

He continued to give all he had to those in need. He refused to do jobs for money, only for those who could never repay. And to all he spoke of the love of Jesus. Thirty-one years later, he was worn and weary and seriously ill. His friend took him in to care for him. In attempting to write Scriven’s last will, his friend found the poem written long ago, which Scriven said was written “between the Lord and I.” 

One morning Scriven was not in his room. Delirious with fever, he had wandered out to a small creek where he was found on his knees, hands clasped as if in prayer, having passed out and drowned in a few inches of water. The words of his poem were set to music and became an instant hymn of comfort and help around the world. Though his life was marked by trouble and turmoil, Scriven always held firm to the hope found in his faith.

Worship Service Video https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?ref=watch_permalink&v=978002825307927

"Very Gifted Indeed"

Exodus 2: 1-10; Romans 12: 1-8

I read a story recently about a guy who could talk his way out of anything. It was his talent. Any trial, trouble, or situation, he could get himself out of it just with the sheer brilliance of his rhetorical skills. One night, however, he faced an insurmountable problem. He had been to dinner and had availed himself of a few glasses of a certain communion element that was NOT grape juice. Having weaved back and forth across the center line, he was pulled over. Unfortunately, he had taken some of his beverage to go in a water bottle. When the offer asked what was in the bottle, he told the officer it was water. Upon examining the liquid, the officer spat it out, and said, “Sir! This is wine!” The guy replied, “Praise the Lord, he’s done it again!” He went straight to jail. 

Perhaps we should be careful how we use our talents at times. What I want you to remember most from this sermon is this: as long as you have breath in your body, you are gifted by God. Romans 12 tells us that through grace, God has given each of us gifts. Now Romans makes a little list here: prophecy, service, teaching, encouragement, generosity, leadership, and kindness. However, this is not necessarily an exhaustive list. It’s a list of things Paul relied on in his church development. However, we may have all kinds of different gifts, and many combinations of gifts. If we have breath in our body, we are gifted by God. 

The point of a gift is to use it. And as people of God, we are to use our gifts for the glory of God and good of humanity. In doing so, we show our love of God and our love of neighbor. But Paul takes it a step further in Romans. To use our gifts for God is transformative in our lives and others. I think we see it too narrowly, sometimes. We think we have to use our abilities directly for the church, but Paul doesn’t say do it just in the confines of a church service. 

Using our gifts for God’s glory means we take what we’ve been given and use it outside of here to transform the world. Perhaps in leadership, we help guide a non-profit. As teachers we may use our abilities to inspire and uplift children (or adults). As people with generosity, we may work to donate what we can to a place that serves the unhoused or food insecure. If we are gifted with service and encouragement, perhaps we lift up those who are struggling or those who feel unwelcome or marginalized by the church. 

What God gives us is meant to our own small power to follow Jesus in transforming some part of the world or community in which we live. How do we know this? Paul pleads with us to give ourselves to God as an offering because the work God does in and through us is for God’s glory and is holy work. We are never closer to God than when we are willing and open enough to let God work through us to live, and serve, and love like Jesus did. And sometimes, that can happen whether we realize we are doing it or not. 

A friend of mine who grew up in the faith has since left it behind due to some hurts and wounds that have never been healed. Yet in her legal work, she has been a fierce defender of abused women and children and fought against family violence for women who are both rich and poor, and who come from all walks of life. God is using her skills and abilities to help and transform others, even if she doesn’t realize or acknowledge it. But God is also patiently waiting for her to come back when faith once again feels more like a warm hug rather than a waiting dagger. 

Paul talks about this waiting transformation in verse 2: “Let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” When we realize how much good we can do, and how many blessings we can create in this world, we will understand how important this transformation of our life is. Whatever pain, whatever struggle, whatever old, unhealed broken places exist within your life and your life with the church, God’s love for you, and God’s desire to work in and through you have never changed. 

When we allow God to transform our hearts and minds into a place of faithfulness, trust, and hope, we can use our own gifts to transform the lives of others. If we have breath in our bodies, then we are gifted by God to love and serve God and others. 

Sometimes, we don’t even realize the gifts we have, or we become too hard on ourselves to think we can be useful in God’s kingdom. I’m too old, too tired, to jaded, too fearful of the world we live in, too anything to truly make a difference. But if we are tempted to say those things, I present to you Moses. Moses should never have survived infancy given Pharaoh’s cruel edict to kill the children. But he did survive. Moses claimed he was unworthy to lead, too shy, ungifted at speech. When God called him to use his talents, he begged and shouted for God to go to anyone else. But God knew Moses’s capabilities, and God knew what incredible things could be done through Moses. 

The same is true for us. Just as God kept moses safe from evil by putting him to work right in the midst of that same evil, so too, will God go with us when we trust and follow in putting our time, talents, and gifts to work. Having faith is a process of transformation. Moses did not do everything perfectly. Sometimes his anger got the best of him. Sometimes he said and did the wrong thing. But in and through all of this, God still worked with him and brought him back to the incredible path of leadership, transformation, and redemption God had planned. It was through this most unlikely of characters that God saved the entire Hebrew people from Pharaoh’s cruelty and led them to a home and promised land. 

What gifts has God given us? Some of us have musical and artistic skills. Some of us have gifts of encouragement and service. Some of us have gifts of kindness and generosity. Some of us also have the gifts to lead with strength and responsibility and to speak prophetically with wisdom Most folks probably are most unwilling to admit those last two. But we cannot deny how much and how powerfully God can use our gifts. If a plant sits in the dark, it dies. If a plant sits in the sun it burns up. But if a plant gets sunlight, water, good soil and a wise gardener, it will thrive, and it will become a blessing both to the gardener, and to others who encounter it. 

One of the hardest parts of faith is the places where we feel like we’ve failed. I sometimes get a little sad thinking of those who I tried to help and couldn’t. Some had mental health problems that were beyond what I knew how to help with. Some had too many wounds to find their way back to faith. Some were too unhappy with “church” to accept what following Jesus really means. Some walked away because faith was too hard. And for some, it’s like the old saying, “God can’t save you from the demons you’re still in love with.” It’s easy to feel like we have failed God and our loved ones when this has happened. 

But the truth is that it is God who transforms hearts and minds. Our work is to introduce folks to who God is by following Jesus with our whole heart, mind, soul, and strength, and by using out gifts and talents as God leads us. Just as God has worked in and through us to transform our lives, so too can God’s love and grace transform others. Paul’s writings, though sometimes a bit tough, come down to one key point and especially in Romans: there is nothing as powerful, transformative, and overwhelmingly accepting and hopeful as God’s never-ending love for us. And if we follow Jesus, we too, can use our gifts to change the world because remember this one thing: as long as there is breath in our bodies, we are gifted by God. So go out and use your God-given gifts to change the world.

Worship Service Video https://fb.watch/JdyPDde7HC/

”Oh, Brother!” –Rev. Doug Ivey

”Oh, Brother!” –Rev. Doug Ivey

Scripture: Genesis 45: 1-15

worship Service Video https://www.facebook.com/fccmacon/videos/1530954708224666/

Worry... Finding Peace

Psalm 91; John 14: 23-31 

Sometimes my lovely cat brings me great joy and comfort, and sometimes she is an unholy terrorist robbing every bit of peace that I can find in life. Here’s an example. She despises riding in the car, and will often get carsick. To fix that I play cat calming music, and put her where she is very stable. One time, while returning from a vet visit, she somehow got the door open on the cat carrier and escaped into the car.  

I was worried this might enhance her fear and displeasure at a trip in the car, costing both of us our peace. But instead, she quietly sat next to me, looking out the window. What I didn’t know…is that she had poo-ed between the passenger seat and center console. I came back out several hours later to go on an errand, in the summer heat of Macon, and when I got in the car, I had zero peace left for the next 3 days that it took for the smell to go away. Peace can be very elusive. It’s here in our lives one minute then gone the next. But God’s peace is different from what we think of.  

In our Gospel lesson, Jesus talks about the fear and despair the disciples are feeling. He has just told them he must leave and return home. They are worried because this means to them no more Christ, no more peace, no more love. They expect everything to go back like it was before Jesus made his presence known in their lives. But Jesus tells them he leaves them with a gift. It’s actually a two-fold gift. They will receive the Advocate—God’s Spirit within them, and as he says in verse 27, they will have peace of mind and heart.  

We often talk about God’s Word, or the Bible, or the texts herein as the “good news.” Televangelist Peter Popoff used to say in his broadcasts, “I have some real good news for you today.” Here, Jesus tells the disciples what that good news is. It is God’s love and abiding presence with us even when life’s circumstances indicate otherwise. When we suffer and struggle, it often feels like God is gone or not with us. But the same God who brings happiness and blessings with us in the rain and the storm as well.  

When we think of peace, we often thing of relaxation. It’s easy to get the two mixed up. A friend of mine says that his absolute moment of peace is a nice, sunny afternoon, reclined back in his favorite chair watching a movie while drinking what he calls “water blessed by Jesus.” That, for him, is what we’ve often called “going to your happy place.” But being relaxed and at rest is different from being at peace.  

Remember in our Gospel that the disciples are uncertain, worried, anticipating terrible things, and hearing Jesus say that he’s leaving. They are feeling alone, vulnerable, perhaps a bit like they gave everything up for this guy who’s about to leave them. And in the midst of all this, Jesus tells them about peace. My friends, peace is not found in complacency, nor does peace bring you complacency and ease. Peace is a very active engagement.  

A friend of mine from back in Kentucky is very ill. His illness is terminal. I’ve been writing letters and texts back and forth with him. In one he says something to the effect of this being the point where the rubber meets the road. He’s learned, studied, and practiced faith for an entire, very blessed life. Now it’s time for him to keep the faith and rely on God even if the answers aren’t what he wants, and the blessings he gets isn’t the specific one he’s seeking.  

Peace is often an “in spite of” journey. We hear this in the Psalm for today. There are several theories on the origins of this Psalm. Some say it was an entrance chant when the priest went into the temple. Some say it was part of the purity chant during the worship. But most agree that that this is a song of hope and peace to a God who has sheltered a weary one. It references both being sheltered from the enemies and dangers as well as sheltered from the pain of illness and hurt.  

The grand irony is that it is easy for evil intentions to twist something beautiful and holy. These words of hope and reassurance are the very same ones quoted by the devil when he comes to tempt Jesus in the wilderness. At the height of Jesus’s struggle in the wilderness, he also has to endure the devil taking a beautiful passage of reassurance and peace and twisting it for evil intentions. My friends, we can’t let the tempter do that to us as well. When we are most vulnerable, our peace will be disturbed by thoughts that twist scripture, challenge our foundation, and attempt to knock us off the pathway of following Jesus and knowing peace.   

When you are having a rough time in life, don’t also let temptations knock you off the strong foundations of your faith. The Psalm tells us not to dread, not to fear. The Psalm tells us that all the intent of evil, wickedness, and general wrong-headedness in this life will not win. God may not deliver you in the way that you want in this life. But God will most certainly be present with you in the storm and will deliver you eternally. The outcome is absolutely worth the process, even when the process gets kind of hard and messy in our lives.  

The answer is that we must entrust our whole self to God. The Psalm talks about God as both a safe place and a safety on the journey. The Gospel references this same idea. With Jesus, the disciples feel this safe place. Under the shelter of God’s wings, the Psalmist finds a safe place. But life doesn’t allow us to stay in one place. God also gives us safety for the journey. The Psalm says, “For [God] will order [the] angels to protect you wherever you go.” The Gospel tells us that when Jesus’s journey being present with the disciples is over, he will leave them the gift of the Advocate to guide them on the rest of the journey.  

When we entrust our whole self to God, God will give us a place of refuge in that holy presence, and God will give us safety for the journey. That’s not exactly a journey of ease, but it is the gift of peace in whatever we encounter on the journey. Perhaps I shouldn’t say it this way: God is there to give us strength when life drops a big one right under the driver’s seat on life’s journey. Our deliverance, our help, our strength is found in our relationship with God and forged in the love and grace of Jesus giving us wisdom and examples along the way.  

The strength of life, the help we need when troubles come is found in relationships. Are relationships perfect and easy? No. But it is a relationship with God that is the foundation and cornerstone to us being able to find safe journey in this life and a safe place to reside in the storms of life. It is also our relationships with others, friend or family, who offer us help, cook us food, lift us up, help us clean cat dookie out of the car, and strengthen us when we need it the most. Good relationships make for strong faith, and we will be reminded that life is not a lonely endeavor, and pain or struggle are temporary. Peace, however, is eternal.  

Life will hit us at the most vulnerable and inopportune time. I thought all was at peace while driving home from the vet. Little did I know that another mess was getting ready to happen. I told Lilly about the sermon, and she hawked up a hairball on my bed last night at 4 in the morning, so it tracks. Life may get hard. Relationships may get a bit messy. But God will always be a safe place for us, and God will always provide us a safe journey even if that is to our eternal promise. The bonus is that we also are gifted relationships here on earth to help us when we need, whether it’s a furry friend, or a compassionate loved one who reminds us of God’s presence when they are there for us. Our hope, our peace is found in our relationship with God, and our life is blessed by our relationships with one another.  

Worship Service Video https://www.facebook.com/fccmacon/videos/1402287975340180/

Worrying... Unburdened

Nehemiah 8: 9-12; Matt. 11: 25-30 

Years ago, my friends and I decided to go horseback riding. We thought, as Kentuckians, this would be a wonderful thing given the horse industry association with the state. It was, by some measure, one of the most abjectly awful experiences of all of our lives. The trek in the mountains was steep and rocky meaning we had to walk half of it and guide the horses instead of riding. It was hot. It was long. One horse got annoyed and kept heaving loudly.  

And one of my friends got a particularly untrained horse. When we got within a half mile of the stables, the horse decided to unburden himself and get home. He ran at full gallop to the barn. My friend lost his camera, hat, wallet, and the horse nearly unburdened himself of my friend altogether. There are times in life where we are the burden. There are times in life where we become weighed down by burdens. What do we have weighing on us, holding us down, stressing us, worrying us, burdening us with pain and trouble?  

The people of Jesus’s day were no strangers to being burdened. Jesus references the burdens the pharisees placed on people’s ability to be present with God. A life of faith was a life of rules and constant mistakes. There was a barrier with direct communication with God. The religious leaders had the power not only over your worship but to also punish you up to and including death for violating their religious rules. When Jesus speaks of an easy burden, it’s a slap in the face to the religious rulers. Not only is Jesus saying he lessens the burden of faith and life because Jesus doesn’t condemn or chastise; he also adds that he is gentle and humble. The implication is that the religious leaders are arrogant and proud.  

Jesus gives a “yoke” that is easy. Years ago, I had someone ask whether that meant the yellow inside of the egg. A yoke was the harness used on an animal to pull the plow in the garden. Over the years, it has become another way to talk about oppression. We say “under the yoke of slavery,” or “under the yoke of tyranny.” It was a burden on the animal to hold and pull for most of the day. For us, yoke can be considered God’s will, God’s plan for us. Instead of a heavy burden that weighs us down, oppresses us, or causes more suffering, God’s yoke is easy. God’s yoke, God’s will, is something holy, not heavy. Jesus says that the yoke of faith is easy to bear, and the burden is light. Indeed, in following God, we have done all we need to do because God will give strength for the rest.  

We see this echoed in the Nehemiah lesson. This was after the people had returned to their home from their captivity in Babylon. They had forgotten many of their laws and traditions. This was the point where Nehemiah reads the law and re-instructs the people in how to live rightly. Because they were so in the wrong, the people weep in fear and sadness. They feel burdened, worried, and like failures. But Nehemiah tells them that this is a day of celebration, of feasting, and not of sorrow. They have heard God’s words and understood them. They again had this right relationship with God. We cannot burden ourselves by neglecting our spiritual well-being in this life.  

What we see from Nehemiah is that God is a God of restoration. God didn’t want to punish, to subjugate, to oppress the people. God wanted to restore and lift them up. It was not a time to mourn their failures and be burdened by what they have done wrong. It was a time to celebrate, for restoration, and to remember that the joy of the Lord is their strength.  

What we must remember is that our walk of faith is not a calling or invitation to a life of ease. Jesus delivers us from the oppression of human action, not all struggle in life. We do not have to worry about all the evil, the cruelty, the punishments, and control of the religious leaders of Jesus’s day. That behavior may still exist. Heaven knows you’ve met them in some churches. But it doesn’t affect our ability to have a relationship with God. Humans can create burdens, messes, trials, and troubles all day. None of that needs affect your life of faith unless you let it. Life may not be easy, but life is best lived with Jesus at our side.  

Some of us live very burdened lives, and those cause us to worry day in and day out. What things do we carry around that still bring us guilt even from 20, 30, or more years ago? Some of us still have old wounds that cause pain and hurt in our lives. Some of us are very fearful but we cover it over well. Some of us are just plain tired, but we dare not speak of it. I was watching a video the other day of this table in someone’s living room. A family got home from a trip, and they dropped one suitcase on it, then another, and finally, after third big duffle bag, the table collapsed. How many of us are that close to giving out from the stresses and burdens we carry on a daily basis like giant bags on our backs?  

In some ways, the church is also exhausted. I saw a study the other day that said around 48% of Gen Z won’t go to church because of so many churches’ vocal support of a particular politician. Another study showed how different demographics struggle with church because they, “don’t identify with that particular church’s political stances on issues.” And I have a question. Why do churches have political stances? 

A House of God stands and speaks what is faithful, truthful, and biblically grounded. If a church is preaching politics, it has lost its way. But also, if church members find a truthful word politically offensive, that’s a faith problem within themselves. The job of the church is to grow a life of faith and speak the truth of what Jesus said to us. Because when we focus on what Jesus said to the church, we can remember that his yoke is easy and his burden is light. What we have to ask ourselves on a daily basis is this: do we consume more political news or more words of faith and Christ on a daily basis? One is a burden, the other reminds us that the joy of the Lord is our strength.  

True Sabbath, true rest is found in Jesus. The demands of humans placed in charge of things will weigh us down. Just like the table piled with suitcases, we may collapse under the weight. If we listen to other people instead of Jesus, or if we politicize all of life, we will drive ourselves crazy. It’s a burden we don’t have to bear. We are called to follow Jesus, love as Jesus loved, and speak the truth we find in God’s word to us. In doing these things, we find joy instead of worry, dread, fear, guilt, anger, or any other negative and burdensome emotions in life.  

A writer discussing the Nehemiah passage penned a very wise observation. The whole job of the law is to accuse. It’s intended to point out faults, shortcomings, and bring guilt and punishment to those who stand in violation. But God restores, redeems, gives freedom, and offers love and joy. We are invited to do the same when we come into a life of faith.  

The church has a mission in this world. And if almost half of a young generation don’t trust or want to come to church, we are failing. And perhaps that is a burden we need to sit with for a minute. But if we stand on redeeming, restoring love of Jesus, and teach God’s truth of what it means to live in a life of grace following the one who loved so much that it cost him his very life, then we can remove even that burden. And we can show younger generations how to be filled with the Spirit of God instead of doubts and burdens.  

Years ago, my friends and I went horseback riding. The experience was, shall we say, a worrisome burden? One of my friends was nearly chucked off his horse as the horse galloped to the stables for food and to be home and at rest. Friends, we need to be like the horse, running to God like the horse getting to the stable home. What we cannot be is the rider, the burden, that the horse was trying to toss. May we never be the burden in life. May we also never be overwhelmed by our burdens when God is waiting with love and joy for us. But most of all, may we rest our lives in Jesus, who gives peace and joy, for it is the joy of the Lord that is our strength.  

Worship Service Video : https://www.facebook.com/fccmacon/videos/28285494227734860/

Worrying—Just Don’t

Psalm 130; Matthew 6: 25-34 

I was at Jekyll Island for conference this week, we experienced a bit of a storm. I have learned that down on the Georgia coast, the weather can change from bright and sunny to an all out severe thunderstorm in a matter of minutes. It starts with one small dark cloud, then in seconds there’s a whole lot of them brooding over the far side of the water. Everything turns dark. Visibility drops in the clouds and the torrential rain. Thunder and lightning crack loudly overhead, and everything in the storm’s path becomes drenched in the blink of an eye. Interestingly enough, however, just as quickly as the storm came, it disappears. The sun returns and everything steams like the seafood at the restaurant.  

This kind of storm formulating over the ocean waters is a perfect analogy for worry in our lives. It comes out of nowhere. It hits us quick and hard. Then just as fast as the problem resolves, things clear up, and we are left with the aftermath of all the worry in our lives. Worry can be immediate and acute—such as when we worry we forgot something. But worry can also be long-lasting and settle into everyday life such as when a loved one is sick for a long time. For some of us, worry becomes this never-ending sense of dread that seeps into all aspects of our lives. My Granny was much like this. She worried constantly about everything: burglars, kidnappers, choking, accidents that never happened, flying, driving, death, life…everything to her was a reason to worry.  

Jesus talks about worrying in the scripture for today. There’s not a real 3-step plan, guidebook, or anything else found in this Matthew text. Jesus simply says, “Don’t do it.” He starts out right to the point, “I tell you not to worry about everyday life.” Jesus tells the disciples that everything we can worry about, we see God providing in life around us. He makes the comparison to lilies and birds noting that God provides for their needs. Likewise, God will provide for us.  

Now, I want to make a caveat here. I say this from Matthew’s Gospel, and I hear the response of people saying, “But there’s starvation, poverty, suffering…all these things are rampant in our world!” Here’s the catch. Just because God provides all we need does not mean we use it wisely. There is more than enough in this world for the people in this world, but there are some bad stewards who hoard up God’s blessings and turn a blind eye to those who suffer as a result. In that sense, God doesn’t create worry. We do. As an example—when COVID hit, there was no toilet paper available—people hoarded it up and left many without. Less than 5% of COVID types have bathroom issues associated. But all the toilet paper was gone and was often sold on the black market for higher prices.  

 Worry comes from situations that are self-inflicted. But worry is also a very different experience for humans than other emotions. Grief is a direct response to pain, hurting, and many times loss, especially of a loved one. Grief comes from a real and painful event in our lives. Anger responds to injustice, to bad behavior, or something done to hurt us by others. Anger is often a direct response to some triggering event in our lives. Worry, however, responds to nothing. The vast majority of things we worry about are “what if’s.” Worry most often stems from situations, problems, difficulties, and pains we anticipate facing, not that we have already faced.  

In that sense, worry is a thief. It steals from us the joy we should be feeling and replaces it with this intangible fear about anything and everything that COULD happen. I am worried about getting a presentation done for Tuesday. I am worried about court coming up in the next couple of weeks. I’m worried about getting my bills paid. I am worried about whether my elderly cat will get sick. My friend worries about whether aliens would like us if they existed or not. None of these things have happened or will happen for some time, and when they do, they will be handled.  

But what if we have family that is sick? What if they could die? Jesus says to us, “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.” When we worry about everything in the future, worry about sickness, pain and death, we lose out on the time we have today. A friend of mine several years ago had terminal cancer. It was miserable because she had beaten it 3 previous times. Her death was going to orphan her 16-year-old daughter. I asked her what she needed, and she responded, “Everybody treats me like I’m dying. Can I please just have today? One normal interaction for today? We can worry about tomorrow, tomorrow. Don’t let worry rob you of all the beauty you can find in being present in the present.  

Living in worry will cripple your life physically, mentally, and spiritually. Physically, worry can cause muscle contractions, headache, dizziness, lack of sleep, long-term heart and blood pressure issues, diabetes, weakened immune system, loss of memory, and constant digestive issues. Living in a constant state of worry can destroy physical health. But also, worry can lead to memory loss, fatigue, mood disorders, anxiety issues, and suffering. Jesus says, “Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?” No, they rob you of those moments. Spiritually, worry and faith are direct opposites. The greater the worry, the less the faith. Over time, letting worry win over faith will be destructive to faith. Jesus said right in the middle of this discussion, “Why do you have so little faith?”  

The remedy for worry is a combination of trusting and seeking. Our Psalm says, “I am counting on the Lord; yes, I am counting on him…hope in the Lord, for with the Lord there is unfailing love.” The Gospel says, “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and [God] will give you everything you need.” This is no guarantee against hard times. But it is a promise that God’s unfailing love is with us, that we can trust in God, and we can seek God in all circumstances whether it’s a storm off the coast or calm waters.  

It’s very hard to find this space to live in. We understand that troubles exist in this life, but we find enough trust and hope to not constantly worry about those troubles we will endure. Yet worry is a thief. Worry will steal every bit of joy in your life, every tidbit of happiness, and every peaceful moment. God, however, is a restorer and redeemer. God is the giver of peace. God is the author of unfailing love. God is the keeper of all promises. God is the source of joy. For us, the choice is how and where we want to live our lives—in the never-ending pain of worry or the strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow found in trusting God.  

In life, we are going to face troubles. We are going to experience grief. We are going to experience anger. But what we don’t have to live with constantly is the suffering of worry. Worry creates a fear in us about things that have not happened or may happen. And that will rob us of our peace and joy. This week I watched the storms engulf the land and water between Saint Simons Island and Jekyll Island. Visibility came to zero. Thunder, lightning, wind, and pelting rain took over terrorizing those who were wandering around downtown. But in just a short time, the rains stopped, the clouds lifted, and you could see the sun coming up in the distance.  

Friends, let us live our lives in light of God’s love, God’s peace, and God’s grace. There is no need to fill our lives with unnecessary pain and struggle, for in all of life’s circumstances, God is with us, and God’s love is unfailing.

Worship Service Video : https://www.facebook.com/fccmacon/videos/1697239581553734/

In Hard Times—Be Ready

Sermon : “In Hard Times—Be Ready”  Rev. Darrell Vandervort

Worship Service Video https://www.facebook.com/fccmacon/videos/1031366786338842/

Time to Plant

Isaiah 55: 10-13; Matthew 13: 1-9, 18-23 

Gardening and farming runs extensively in my family. Every year, on my dad’s side, they would plant a large garden of fruits and vegetables including beans, corn, pumpkins, watermelons, peppers, cucumbers, and potatoes. It was almost always an incredible harvest followed by canning things for winter. On my mother’s side, my grandmother had tons of flowers on her porch, and my grandfather could do a great garden as well, though on a smaller scale.  

I had long hoped to inherit this skill. I had dreams of growing my own tomatoes, veggies, and having a small garden, especially when I owned a house and land. But alas, I have learned a hard lesson. Not only can I not raise plants, I could kill silk and plastic flowers. A green thumb, I do NOT have.  

I think Jesus has a soft spot for those of us without a green thumb when he tells us this parable. Many preach on this parable and simply reiterate the conclusion he shares later on in Matthew. But that tends to just repeat Jesus and not fully explain his meaning of what it means to plant and sow in this world. We know Jesus speaks in the form of a parable here. It’s one of his earliest parables in the Gospel of Matthew. Now, a parable is essentially a comparison, or “using something else to explain” your ultimate meaning. But more importantly, a parable doesn’t communicate a life lesson, a moral, or a note of encouragement. A parable communicates something to us about Jesus and his work in our lives.  

In this parable we get a comparison of the Word of God and planting of seeds. It’s a story about the Good News and how ready hearts may be to receive it. The parable talks about those who are too shallow to understand and receive the Good News. It talks about those who don’t have the depth to maintain their faith and commitment. It talks about those who let all the worst parts of life choke out the goodness of God’s word, and all of God’s blessings. And finally, the parable tells us of fertile soil, warm and open hearts ready to receive what God says and follow God in all ways. But a parable is more particular than the life lesson that we need ot have open hearts and minds to listen to God.  

A parable, remember, teaches us something about Jesus and his work in our lives. So, what more can we glean from this parable? There are three characters at work here in the story. First is the farmer or sower of the seeds. Second is the seeds themselves, and third is this unseen power. A farmer can toss out seeds all day, and seeds can land on ground till the cows come home, but there is something we don’t see and experience and do that makes those seeds sprout and grow. They cannot grow without a farmer to sow the seed. Nothing will grow without seeds themselves. Seeds also usually need some tending—water, fertilizer, weeding—but it’s not completely necessary. But ultimately it is this unseen power that brings some kind of life out of this seed that is most important. This new life can burst forth from a seed with or without our help and influence. It is something unseen and powerful within the seed itself.  

The important part of this parable is this mysterious, concealed working of God who miraculously brings the harvest. Isaiah tells us the same thing in God’s own voice: “It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it.” God’s work and God’s plans work in and above and sometimes against human pretentions and expectations. This word is a prophecy to the people. Where there were once thorns and briars, there will be trees and gentle vegetation.  

Thorns, briars, and nettles signify judgment, and the removal of those is a story of restoration and hope. But, God warns there must be repentant and willing hearts, eager to listen. Isaiah emphasizes for us that repentant hearts make for willing ears. Perhaps that gives us a better explanation of the parable when we think of infertile and bad soil as a judgment, unresolved issue, or pent up anger, often imposed by us and independent of all the goodness God wants to do in our lives. Those who have been hurt by church or church folks often become the foot path. They don’t want the seeds to take root because the last time it ended in hurt and brokenness.  

Those who have rocky soil want a quick fix and easy life, and learning that faith is a road of commitment and not a quick medicine to life’s troubles is not going to work for them. Those who are the thorns and briars have something in their lives that they love more than God. As much as they want to have faith, they are stuck in something here that stands in between: pride, old angers, addiction, a deep-rooted love of something that’s thrilling but ends in harm, the way they want things done and control. When God says no, or when God’s call comes into contact with one of their carefully manicured thorns, it dies.  

That is because the fertile soil, the germination and growth of the seed is something we cannot control. It is something that happens unseen and outside of our best abilities. We cannot go down in the dirt and make it happen. We can only plant the seed, nurture it, and pray with all our being that it miraculously sprouts forth into new life. We are told in the parable that where there is fertile soil and this unseen work of God, the harvest will be incredible.  

Ten to fifteen times harvest to planted seeds was considered huge. For Jesus to say 30, 60, or 100 is an unbelievable number to the crowd. So, here’s the hard part of the lesson for us: what we plant today doesn’t immediately sprout up. Planting a garden or a flower bed is an investment in the future. It may take months for the harvest to come in, or it may take one year for the flowers to truly reach their own. Sometimes you may not see the fullness of what you plant in your lifetime. As an example, Macon is full of Yoshino cherry trees. That didn’t happen overnight. A cherry tree of that variety takes 10-20 years to fully grow.  

It is the same with the seeds we plant in faith. I remember growing up in church we always had a long prayer time. Folks would request prayer for the same family members over and over to find faith and trust in God. It took years, and in some cases decades, but eventually every single person on that list was inspired to know the love and grace of Jesus for themselves.  

What you do today in faith is an investment in the harvest of tomorrow. You teach your children about faith and living like Jesus, so they can live into that goodness in adulthood. You give generously and lovingly to those in need because it plants a seed of God’s love in their hearts. You work to better yourself and overcome old habits and the bad places of life, so that you can live for God each day thereafter. Any teacher will tell you that the fruit of that labor is seen years down the road. Planting seeds is an investment in the future not an act of immediate return here and now.  

Whether or not we are blessed with a green thumb, whether or not we could kill plastic flowers, we can all plant seeds of faith and hope. For our part, we must plant the seeds and pray for a fertile soil. Then we wait. The other part of this equation is that God will work in miraculous and powerful ways to take that seed and call out life from it. A good garden of faith and hope need both of these things: willing planters and a little bit of trust in God. Don’t give up planting the seeds of God’s love and faith. We may not know when, but one day, the harvest will come, and it will be more incredible than we can ever imagine.  

Worship Service Video https://www.facebook.com/fccmacon/videos/1325724126211757

Can’t Win for Losing

Psalm 145: 8-14; Matthew 11: 16-19, 25-30 

My grandfather had a lot of old sayings he’d offer to us at what could be both the most opportune and inopportune time. Some of these I’ll share with you this morning. Others I can’t say from a pulpit or in polite company. He’d often say “You can’t cool all outdoors,” when it was hot and the door was open. He’d quote the country song, “Here’s a quarter, call someone who cares.” Occasionally he would offer that we should wish in one hand and do a bodily function in the other to see which gets full first. And never will I forget him singing along to “At the Cross” with these words, “It was there by chance I tore my Sunday pants, and now I have to wear them everyday.” But I often remember when things would go wrong, he’d say one of two things. It was either, “If it weren’t for bad luck, I’d have no luck at all,” or “Can’t win for losing.”  

It seems like Jesus is saying much the same thing in our Gospel lesson for today. He’s telling the disciples and the followers of John the Baptist that they are disagreeable to everything. John didn’t eat or drink at fancy tables, and he was called demon-possessed. Jesus dined with anyone who invited, and he was accused of being a glutton, drunkard, and in cahoots with the tax collectors and sinners. It seems like…can’t win for losing. One of the hardest places to be is in the presence of someone or a group where nothing you do is right, and everything you say and do is negatively critiqued.  

Jesus often found himself in this place: speak the truth, and they hate him; dine with sinners whose lives change dramatically, and he’s hated again; keep to himself, and they hunt him down. For Jesus, the toxicity of a fickle crowd of naysayers is constant and overwhelming. He offers them a pointed prayer calling them proud and self-righteous. Then he reminds them to be childlike, inquisitive, and eager to learn and grow.  

Perhaps as we celebrate Independence Day weekend this year and recognize the 250th anniversary of our country, life feels to us much like it did to Jesus. Everywhere we turn and everything we do and say is wrong. It doesn’t matter what crowd you are in, it’s wrong. We hear a lot about polarization and pastoring “purple churches.” And now in a country founded partly on religious freedom, we find ourselves, and especially preachers, constrained because anything we say is filtered through a political lens and not a Biblical lens.  

There are certain things in the Bible and in faith that are simply an unchanged truth which many feel become political. These things cannot be changed even when it feels harsh to us. I, as the pastor, cannot change what is uncomfortable as much as I would like to. What Jesus said about marriage and divorce cannot be changed. That women were property, and slavery was commonplace in ancient Judea cannot be changed. And for those who like to summon up Deuteronomy and Leviticus from time to time, it cannot be changed that they both say to welcome the foreigner as if they were your own. There are many places where the Bible records hard lessons and truths which to a modern audience sound political, but that polarized political lens is our problem, not the Bible’s problem.  

We have politicized too much in life in an unhealthy and disruptive way. I saw a quote this week from Bishop C. Andrew Doyle from the Episcopal Diocese of Texas. It says, “Our citizenship is baptismal before it is national.” Never forget in a world that is turbulent, polarized, and angry who you belong to first and foremost. We can debate, discuss, and shout until we are blue in the face, but fundamental change in the heart and soul of another person does not happen until they meet God and let God work in their life. Our job is not to win every political and social battle here on earth, because the ultimate victory over all that is wrong here is already spoken for.  

Our mission, should you choose to accept it, is to tell the story of Jesus over and over again until politics, Christian Nationalism, anger, division, and all these toxic things are shut down in the light and life of a faith based on sacrifice, love, and redeeming grace. An old hymn, “Redeemed How I Love to Proclaim It,” reminds us, “I think of my blessed Redeemer. I speak of him all the day long. I sing, for I cannot be silent. His love is the theme of my song.”  

And why is Christ at the heart and theme of our words, our songs, and our lives? We see it in those last verses of the Gospel. “Then Jesus said, ‘Come to me all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke up on you…and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.’” In a world where we are tired of being inundated by bad news all day, it is refreshing and restoring to hear that Jesus offers us rest.  

The other day my friend used a new phrase I’ve never heard before: “exhausterwhelmulated.” It means over-exhausted, overwhelmed, and over-stimulated all at once. Many of us have been feeling that for years as the anger, division, and disgruntled feelings of our entire nation and world continue to rage on. Whatever little bit of good news we get is swallowed up when we are inundated with all the bad news. We can’t win for losing.  

But this sense of can’t win for losing is not an eternal problem. We may not be able to fix the exhaustion, the obnoxious political ads all the time, and the vitriol that we see in our society and even homes, or the ugliness and hatred in some of humanity. But we can remember that Jesus gives us rest for our souls. Here’s the thing—we may still struggle with all of the bad things and problems in life. They may become overwhelming. We may still have days of being “exhausterwhelmulated.” We never, though, have to worry about the outcome. Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection remind us that God is over all, in all, and will work out all that happens. That is why the burden is easy, and that is why we can find rest for our souls.  

We may deal with problems on a fairly regular basis, but we don’t have to fear about the ultimate outcome, for God is in control. The same God who was with Israel through their good and bad times, their good and bad leaders is still with us today as we endeavor to serve and follow the One who created us and loves us so very much.  

But most importantly, if we ever want to change the society we live in, we must introduce everyone to this loving, redeeming, and generous Christ, who gave of himself and still pours his goodness into us this very day. Everything we do, everything we say, every word we write, every moment, every breath should testify to the goodness and love of God within us. Remember that Jesus doesn’t give us the opening to have enemies. We are to bless those who curse us and turn the other cheek to those who wish us harm.  

In the Kingdom of God with Jesus as our guide, every person is an opportunity to demonstrate the true and unending love of God. If you live every moment in that love, in that peace, and in that presence of Jesus, you will be able to overcome the misery, exhaustion, and politicization of life. For Jesus said told us that if we carry a heavy burden, if we have a heavy load to carry, he will give us rest. In Jesus, we will find rest for our souls.  

In life, we may often feel like we can’t win for losing, or like all the world around us has gone a bit crazy or mean. You may rest assured, though, that Jesus is still at work. May we give thanks for 250 years of blessings for our nation though we are still imperfect in many ways. May we also remember that God’s love still has power beyond anything we know and understand to change hearts and minds, and if we fully trust and live in this faith in Jesus, we will find rest for our souls.  

Worship Service Video https://www.facebook.com/fccmacon/videos/1323706576609787/

Appalachian Supper

Jeremiah 28: 5-9; Matthew 10: 40-42 

Growing up in Appalachia, I lived what I would describe as “holler adjacent.” Bob’s Creek was a holler next to where we lived. Now, a holler is a small valley or depression between two mountains, usually with a creek, where people would build their homes. Some of the foods to come out of the hollers include soup beans and cornbread, often with hot chow-chow, fried taters, hominy, and Sauer kraut with hot dog wieners. My grandparents often had soup beans and cornbread almost every single night for supper.  

But there is a long tradition in the mountains. There’s always a little extra food fixed, and an extra place held open just in case. As The Lost Mountain, which documents Appalachian traditions and folklore notes, “You never knew who might come up the holler hungry, and you never turned anyone away from your table…neighbor or stranger didn’t matter.” A full table is not about how much food you have, but about how wide you are willing to set it.  

That ties into our scripture in Matthew. The Gospel lesson talks about the importance of receiving those who need shelter. Some of the nuances of this scripture tend to be lost on modern audiences. Matthew was written for a more Jewish audience as opposed to Gentile. Matthew was also written during a time of great persecution. This writing would have coincided with the destruction of the Temple and war between Judea and Rome in a Jewish uprising. Matthew, per many scholars, was an attempt by second generation Christians to provide a written recording of the recollections of the first-generation Christians before they died off. This Gospel was written during a time of great tribulation and persecution.  

Many even describe Matthew’s church as a Martyr church where fear and destruction were part of the daily life. For us that is a bit foreign of an idea. We live in a time where there is comfort, and we don’t face daily persecution and poverty holding us at the brink of life and death. When we read this Gospel scripture, we read it as a lesson in grace, kindness, and hospitality. It is from your abundance of kindness that you receive a prophet, a righteous one, or even the least of the followers.  

I’ve even heard this connected to inviting the preacher over to dinner after church or one evening as receiving the prophet or pastor. But for Matthew’s writer, this was not a question of grace or kindness. This was a question of life and death. If you are receiving a prophet or a righteous one, you are receiving them to provide shelter and care away from the potential destruction that could come their way. Giving a cup of water to the least of the followers could prevent death. But it also put the host in harm’s way.  

In Roman law, a person who harbored a Christian could face charges of high treason or unlawful assembly. Those charges carried punishments of possible fines, prison, confiscation of property, or even death. This was not a question of providing a little bit of food, water, and refuge. This was a question of risking your own life and well-being for the good of the kingdom of God, to harbor God’s prophets, to safeguard God’s righteous ones, and to care for all even the least of those in the kingdom of God.  

The same was true living up in an Appalachian holler. There’s a lot of wilderness land, a lot of scary things in the mountains, and for those who believe in it, if the bears don’t get you the “haints” will. Welcoming someone into your home for a meal or some water could mean the difference in their safety. Wandering onto the wrong property could get you killed. Wandering too far in the mountains could get you lost for good. It’s easy at dusk to miss the bobcat, the bear, and the den of rattlesnakes. This sense of welcome and hospitality, of receiving someone, protected them from the dangers that lurked in the mountains around them.  

One author calls this the “decommercialization of evangelism.” It is simply receiving and showing God’s love and grace without photographs, a social media post, or well-funded outreach drive. It’s a bit counter-cultural, the circumstances are often more dire, and there is a greater sense of life and death. One of the best-known modern examples is those who hid Jews and other targets during the prelude to World War II. When the Nazis came for those they wanted to send to the camps, many folks facilitated escapes or hid out Jews in secret parts of their houses.  

We, too, are called to this same sense of first century receiving. When we welcome refugees who have lived in war-torn countries, when we welcome those who are suffering, hungry, and escaping from suffering, when we protect someone from an unjust suffering or unjust death, we are doing what Jesus said here. When you help victims of a major earthquake as well. If you even give a cup of water to the least of these followers, you will be rewarded.  

This type of receiving is a hard calling for us. We are trained to be wary of strangers. We listen to podcasts and watch shows of people being murdered by strange travelers. We are, by all accounts, a suspicious society. And in many ways that is justified. Yet we must also find how we can practice the kind of hospitality that Jesus calls on us to do. Jesus picks three complicated people for the righteous to receive here in this Gospel lesson.  

The first is a prophet. As we hear from Jeremiah, no one really liked prophets. Most of them came to predict doom and gloom. If you saw a prophet in Jeremiah’s day, rarely were you going to get good news. And those who did bring good news were often tasked with offering proof of their prophecy. Jeremiah offers a measured response knowing that the prophet’s words of peace and hope come from a “royal theology” or from a nationalistic hope as opposed to what was actual reality. Prophets were heard, but very uncomfortable guests and presences.  

The righteous were also problematic because sometimes you didn’t know whether you were getting the holy righteous or the self-righteous. The Gospel of Luke calls this out when the righteous ones walk past the injured man while the Samaritan helps him. This plays into our own fear that you never know what kind of person may show up for your good graces. And finally, there’s the least of all the followers, who only get a cup of water. We’re not told who this could be. But the implication is that you may not want them staying at your house. Yet we are called to give them a cold cup of water because receiving someone in the name of Jesus is important in the Gospel lesson.  

It is also hard for us to be this hospitality oriented. Safety is a concern. We never know who or what version of whom may show up to our home. Yet we care called to receive with generosity just the same. You don’t have to give someone the spare bedroom, but even a cold cup of water is important. To really bring this home, let me give you an illustration.  

In 2017, a mentally ill man, who by all accounts was not violent, knocked on doors in Deepstep, Georgia, asking for some water. He was on foot from Milledgeville to Sandersville. A concerned resident called police, who encountered the man, attempted to detain him for a crime they couldn’t actually articulate happening subsequently tasered him till he was dead in the ensuing back and forth. Most legal scholars say he was improperly detained and lawfully could leave the officers’ presence. How different would this have been if the man had just been given a cold cup of water as he was the least of these, God’s children and followers.  

In an Appalachian supper, a little bit of extra food is fixed, whether it’s beans, taters, cornbread, or something out of the garden, because you never know who is going to wander up the holler in need of some grace and generosity. Likewise, in the kingdom of God, we are called to give generously to all, whether prophet, righteous, or the very least, for in each we see Jesus on our doorstep.  

Worship Service Video https://www.facebook.com/fccmacon/videos/2698148657247963/