To Do or Not To Do

Jonah 1; Jame 4: 11-17

When I began this “favorite scripture” theme, I did not expect someone to write, “The Book of James.” Now, I, too, am a great fan of this epistle, but I somehow think you all would not appreciate the morning reading being entire 5 chapters or 108 verses of the Book of James. Yet, there is this continuing theme in James’s letter of faith being active and doing within the living of the community. For James, faith is something that is alive, moving, and puts study into practical action within the world. 

Years ago, I visited a long-term member of this church shortly before she died. Her name was Barbara Wright, and she had one of the wildest senses of humor I have ever experienced. She told me during the discussion, “I don’t believe in reincarnation. But if there is such a thing, I sure don’t want to come back as the third verse of a 4-verse hymn in a Baptist Church. You’ll never do anything.” 

James describes his belief in an active and engaged faith in verses 15-17 here, “What you ought to say is, ‘If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.’ Otherwise you are boasting about your own pretentious plans, and all such boasting is evil. Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it.” James’s words here become very simple: don’t criticize and judge, and don’t make plans outside of the will of God. Now, a little context. James and Paul did not always see eye to eye. Paul believed that it was no longer necessary to follow the old Mosaic law for grace. James believed you should keep the law as an ongoing tradition, but follow Christ as part and parcel of this. So, Paul talks a lot about where the spirit leads you, but James focuses on following the commandments and directions God gives. 

At the heart of this epistle is a battle back and forth. James talks about the world in terms of greed, hunger for power, and the lusts of humanity versus the simply following the will of God in your life. For him, faith had to active, moving, doing because that kept you seeking after where God is calling you next in your life and walk of faith. The church at Jerusalem, where James served, was the posterchild for the old saying, “Idle hands are the devil’s playground.” The members were a cluster of very judgy, very difficult devotees of religious law. The followers of Jesus there in Jerusalem do nothing to help Paul when he is set upon and taken into custody at the behest of the Temple religious leaders. The irony of their inaction is not lost on me. 

James, perhaps unintentionally, exposes how easy it is to ignore the will of God when you are not actively seeking to do and go where God says. The other biggest difference is Paul focuses on personal behavior sins. James focuses on systems of sin. We are trapped in a world that prioritizes power and greed as the keys to success. Yet in the way of Jesus, humility and obedience are they marks of a strong and faithful follower. We are told about the tools of criticism, judgment, and manipulation of the rules as a means to success in society, but James says tells us absolutely not on these things. 

James gives us a reminder that just because we live in a sinful world and cannot escape in-built sinful ways, we don’t have to accept them as part of daily life. You can purchase clothing and coffee not made with exploitive child or slave labor. You can live in kindness instead of judgment. You can work for the good of God and neighbor instead of running the rat race of power to success. You can share blessings, and know that God will give you what you need, instead of hoarding all that you receive in life. These signs of living in Christ are how we show faith has changed us and made a difference. 

Let’s look at an example of when the call to follow God is a failure. Jonah was called by God to go and preach to Nineveh. Jonah, a prophet, heard what the Lord said, then, we are told, he did the opposite. He went the opposite way, and he fled from the calling of the Lord. Now it is not unheard of that prophets and leaders would resist God’s call. 

Moses shrank away from Pharaoh and needed a whole burning bush. Elijah fled from denouncing King Ahab and took some convincing to go do his calling. Jeremiah recoiled from prophesying to the nations. All of these important and powerful leaders of faith at one time or another tried to escape God’s call. But Jonah is different. He didn’t talk to God like they did. He not only tried to escape, he rejected God’s call. Furthermore, not only did he ignore God, run from God, and reject God, he also spent a fortune trying to get away. Though most translations of the text make it sound like Jonah paid for a seat on the boat, scholars believe the best translation is that he paid the entire fare of the boat just to get away from God and what God had called him to do. There was nothing Jonah would not do to get away from what God had asked him to do. 

The bigger problem is when we ignore God’s calling, it doesn’t affect just us. Jonah’s willful disobedience put the entire city of Nineveh at risk of utter destruction and desecration. God wanted to redeem those people and bring them back to God’s graces. But Jonah’s desire was for their destruction. He was willing for everyone in Nineveh to perish by withholding the news of God’s hope for their hearts to be turned to what was right. But the sailors and passengers were also innocent victims of Jonah’s disobedience. They were terrified. They lost the cargo. And they were fully prepared that the storm would cost them their lives. Every bit of that was Jonah’s fault. His disobedience caused it. 

When we ignore God’s call and fail to follow God’s will either accidentally or willfully, we create innocent victims in the path of our wrongdoing. That’s why James is so concerned with having an active and doing faith. He knows the ripple effect of our inaction and disobedience. He understands that an inactive faith hurts others who need God in their lives as well as the love of Jesus every day. 

My friends, to fall short in our life as Christ followers includes both the things we do which are wrong and harmful as well as what we fail to do or leave undone. Now circumstances, troubles, and the insanity of life may limit how much we can do. But to completely ignore God, when you feel that little tug on your heart, or in your mind, hurts our relationship with God, and it hurts those who need us to live for God in this world. 

Elsewhere in James 2:17, he says more pointedly, “Faith without works is dead.” It is in our living that we show our believing. It is in our actions that we show God on earth. It is in our doing where we become the proof of what we proclaim. The question for us is not, “Can you say you’re a Christian?” but instead, do you live like one? Faith is not a theological talking point. It is alive, growing, changing, and moving as we mature and change in our relationship to God. 

The two deadliest things to faith, according to James, are stagnation and inaction. If we never grow, then what’s the point of faith? If we never do anything with it, then why do we believe in the first place. Hebrews 11 tells us that faith is not just a wish or hope, but it is evidence and substance. The evidence, or proof, and the substance, or doing, are what show that we have faith. For James, faith requires doing. For Jonah, he went from disobedience to waiting, to proclamation, and finally he talks to God. God can work with reluctance, but God cannot do anything with disobedience. 

I’ve learned a lot of things from my time pastoring this church. Barbara Wright’s comment that she wouldn’t want to come back as the third verse of a 4-verse hymn stuck with me because it was funny. But underneath the cuteness, there’s a bit of theological weight. If we simply exist with our belief and never do anything of substance with it, what good is it to us and to the rest of the world around us. Our faith calls us to live, to do, and to share God’s good news every single day, to every single person, in every single way we can. 

Worship Service Video https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1EwbBcJpNm/

A Clean Heart

Psalm 51: 10-12; Matthew 18: 1-7

There are certain things about humanity that I simply don’t understand. In most restaurants and food service places, there is a sign next to the restroom sink that says, “Employees must wash hands before returning to work.” And I’m sorry, but who is not washing their hands after using the bathroom? Now I get it some bathroom sinks may not look appealing, but most restaurant bathrooms are properly maintained. In 2026 with all we know, all we have access to in our phones, why are we telling adults, ADULTS! to wash their hands? 

Growing up, we often heard the phrase, “Cleanliness is next to godliness.” That idea was instilled in me, and I continue working hard to make sure the spaces I occupy are clean. My grandmother was a cleaning fanatic. She did a deep clean of the bathroom one time with an old school ammonia cleaner. Then for good measure she bleached the bathtub. Shortly thereafter, she went to the emergency room because if you mix Clorox and ammonia, you get a gas chamber. 

It is no surprise that the Psalmist uses this same word… “Create in me a clean heart, O God.” This Psalm stands out for the very heaven lament and guilt that run throughout it. It is a Psalm that acknowledges the shortcomings of the Psalmist and the power of God to restore even in the midst of living with those shortcomings. When the Psalmist says “create,” it acknowledges the power of God because the word for create refers only to work that God can do. The transformation of heart and mind sought in this Psalm is something God does within us, not something we can figure out how to do on our own. 

Now, often, the Old Testament depictions of God are less than gentle and loving as the New Testament ones. But the Psalms give us a deep insight into the loving, grace-filled nature of God to those who may not have deserved it. When the Psalmist asks for God to save him, it is both from the literal dangers of the world around him, but it also means in a more faith-based sense. Saved means being restored to conditions which make abundant life possible. 

That is what we talk about in Jesus—the one who brings life, hope, grace, and restoration. But God in the Psalms is also a God of restoration. Though we sometimes read of God being punishing and harsh in dealing with humanity’s faults, the fundamental nature of God is geared toward restoration, rehabilitation, and recreation. That is what the Psalmist speaks of: creating a clean heart, rehabilitating the spirit towards God, and restoring the joy of life from a place of wrong and despair. 

The whole work of faith is about cleansing away the things that guilt and burden us and restoring or recreating our hearts and minds in the love of Jesus. That restoration is both in relation to God, but also in mission to the world. It is impossible to love God and not love people. It is impossible to love God and not see God in all of humanity. The clean heart in a follower of Jesus sees others as people who also need God and not in any other belittling or demeaning way. If we become distracted by how somebody is, how they act, how they live, what they look like, then we will forget our ultimate call of showing what the grace and love of Jesus is truly like for them. 

So, what does it mean to live with a clean heart and right spirit? In our Gospel lesson, the disciples are wrangling over who would have the greatest position in the kingdom of heaven. One commentator, in a very snippy way, said, “Not only were they asking about rank in the Kingdom of Heaven, they presupposed they were even in the Kingdom of Heaven.” Jesus was not about to tolerate this behavior. 

Jesus tells them to become like children. To us, this isn’t so shocking. But in a first century society, children were regarded as inferior beings, lacking rights, lacking in status. They were seen as property instead of individual humans with rights and privileges. Telling the disciples to become as children was shocking. It was a call on them to humble themselves, to give up their pretension of importance, to give up their independence and self-reliance.  

Cleansing your heart and becoming as children actually go very well together. As children, the disciples had no abilities on their own apart from God in their lives. When we cleanse ourselves literally, we rely on the soap to do the work. When we cleanse ourselves spiritually, we have to rely on God to do the work. And yet in this, there is a blessing. My friend said the worst thing that ever happened to her was becoming an adult. Her fondest memories of childhood were not paying bills and having energy. 

We are constantly bombarded every day with responsibilities, health issues, work, managing bills, managing a home, figuring out enough technology to use a phone or some other general thing. And for some of us, we have the existential dread of what fresh nightmare tomorrow may bring because we are constantly in a triage mode. 

As simple as it sounds, to rely on God in life and give over our struggles to God is freeing and encouraging. Even for a person who likes to be in control of things, sometimes, turning troubles over to God can be liberating and cleansing. We talk about restoration in terms of salvation and grace, but sometimes restoration is just a reset on your day. After a particularly hard day, sometimes you need to come home, eat some cheese and chocolate, clear the clutter, bad news, and troubles from your mind, and simply rest. That is also soul-cleansing. That is also restoration of our hearts, minds, and lives. 

But I believe Jesus means more for us than just the context of children’s status in society in first century Judea. What characteristics define being childlike? Children are inquisitive. They ask about everything, and they explore everything. Children tend to be trusting—making friends easily and forming quick bonds to trustworthy adults. Children are intuitive and vulnerable. They often can read your mood and work to make you feel better if you seem down. 

A cleansed heart means we trust in God and rely on God. The disciples wanted to be greatest in the kingdom, but for Jesus, the greatest is the least. The expectation for us is to trust, to continue to grow and learn and develop in our faith, and to be sensitive to those in need of love and care around us. A cleansed heart and right spirit doesn’t have time for foolishness because it is always focused on God and the next step in the journey with God. 

Comedian John Crist has a joking song about checking your heart. In it, he lists a number of things that show you need to check your heart, to include: showing up late to practice with the worship team every single time, illegally driving in the HOV lane, rolling through a stop sign, disappearing on someone you’ve dated, being in appropriate with someone who doesn’t want the advance, giving up on your daily Bible reading, being enslaved to social media, and very oddly specific, having gin and tonic in a Sonic cup. The point is that a right spirit, and cleansed heart, and restored soul are found in the little things we do that can create big problems. 

Germs are also small. But if we never wash them away, they can create big problems in our lives. When President James Garfield was shot by an assassin, it was not the bullet that ended his life, but the infection from contact with unclean hands on the wound. Little cheats can add up quickly to big problems. That is why we correct children’s bad behaviors. That is why we wash hands. And that is why we check our hearts and keep seeking God. 

I don’t know how to tell a fully grown adult that they need to wash their hands. I thought that was something we all just generally learned and agreed on. But as my grandmother said, “Cleanliness is next to godliness.” So then, let us trust in God to cleans our hearts, give us right spirits, and restore us to the joy of salvation in God. Create in me a clean heart, O God, that seeks after you. Thanks be to God for the work  God does in our lives.

Worship Service Video  https://www.facebook.com/fccmacon/videos/1606782187464403/

Justice, Mercy, Humility

Michah 6:8; Matthew 18: 23-34

A friend of mine said the other day, “I wish we [as a society] were as obsessed with mercy and humility as we are with justice.” And by that, he does not mean a sense of righteous justice. He means watching the latest murder trial.  Lately, our society has been obsessed with watching the Lindsey Clancy trial. And I’m sure we’re all tired from hearing about it. Yet this is not the first courtroom drama many have tuned in to watch. It seems to be trial after trial, over and over again. I have learned that the two best experts in the world are the person sitting in the stands at a football game and the person sitting at home without a law degree critiquing a trial.  

I was asked about the case at dinner one night. I offered my opinion on what little I had seen. Suddenly, someone with no legal training whatsoever, pointedly disagreed and said I was wrong. Politely I googled it to show what I said about the law was correct, and she proceeded to tell me that I “fixed” the google search to make it up. So, I was still wrong. And in that moment, I thank the good Lord for keeping my mouth shut and reminding me about mercy and humility.

Biblically, we are called to live in this world with justice, mercy, and humility. Micah 6:8 tells us directly that the Lord has shown us and told us what is good, right, and expected of us in this world: to do justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with God. What often undercuts our ability to do this is the general and overarching sense of entitlement we see in society. A simple definition of entitlement as a personality issue is this: “An unearned, rigid belief that you are inherently owed special rewards, preferential treatment, or immediate gratification without putting in the effort.” 

We see all three of these…justice, mercy, and humility…at work in the parable of the unforgiving servant. Justice would have been the man who owed millions being imprisoned for the debt. That was right and proper in that society. Mercy what when the debt of millions was forgiven in addition to this man going free. Humility would have been recognizing the grace he received and, in turn, showing it to those who owed him. Yet right in the middle of all this, the unforgiving man was filled with entitlement instead of mercy and humility. 

This problem runs throughout our society. We want justice for ourselves. Those who wrong us need to be punished. Revenge is celebrated, and cruelty reigns over any sense of gentleness within the world of justice. I’ve often said if someone gets shot, they find Jesus and forgive the shooter, but if you steal their tv, they ask for the death penalty. Yet even as we want justice for ourselves, we don’t want to take accountability for ourselves. Give me justice, but don’t subject me to justice. It’s very natural for us. We like justice, but we aren’t so fond of accountability. 

God is a God of justice. To those who are unloving, unkind, unforgiving, unfaithful, and un-Christlike, God will bring accountability. The decisions we make have natural consequences in this world. I remember years ago a friend told a story of a man who couldn’t figure out why no one at church spoke to him or was friendly. Finally, the person who had sat next to him in the pew for 20 years said, “It’s because you’re mean to folks.” The startled man replied, “But this is church, you have to love me in the name of Jesus.” The pewmate said, “We do, but that doesn’t mean we have like you or put up with your meanness.” We love justice. We struggle with accountability. 

Thankfully, though God loves justice, through Jesus, God deals with us in mercy. The unforgiving man owed a debt he could not pay. There was no way he could come up with the million dollars. Yet the king went far beyond just giving the man more time. He went beyond setting up a payment plan or working in small ways to get partial payments. The king forgave the debt in full, not because it was earned, but out of the goodness and kindness within his heart. To those who are given mercy, showing mercy is expected. 

The man who was forgiven and shown mercy, became himself, cruel and unmerciful. Not only did he fail to forgive the debt owed to him, he grabbed his debtor by the throat and then punished him severely. He was fake, cruel, and hypocritical. It was not his lack of mercy that was so bad, but his apparent manipulation of the king. The unforgiving man is portrayed as a sociopath—playing the king for a fool and dealing cruelly with those he does business with. 

Friends, the story is a metaphor. God is the king who has forgiven debts we could never pay, has shown mercy instead of the harshness of true justice, and has freed us from the burdens that saddle our lives and souls with debts. Too often, however, humans live as the unforgiving servant. We are ruthless, cruel, demanding, unforgiving, greedy, and manipulative. Mercy is the way God deals with us, and mercy is the way we are expected to deal with each other. Accountability and mercy are not mutually exclusive. A person can find both in their life. Accountability means we are sorry for where we live in unkind ways. Mercy means we are forgiven the worst of the consequences for those behaviors. 

That brings us to walking humbly. I don’t really know why God is merciful. I don’t really understand how justice and mercy often work together. Too often it seems like there is neither justice nor mercy, and absolutely no one walking humbly. In those times it is okay to admit we don’t understand, or that we don’t like something. There are times in life we don’t get justice, or we struggle to find mercy or to be merciful. We don’t understand. It hurst and frustrates us, and that is okay. Walking humbly means we aren’t always enthusiastic about how God works in our lives, but we keep walking because we humbly trust that God knows the right way forward. 

A friend wrote a poem on walking humbly with God several years ago. I want to share parts of it with you. “Drop the heavy cloak of self, / Leave behind the lure of wealth, / Bend the knee and quiet speech, / Let His mercy gently reach. / Step by step upon the road, / Sharing in another's load, / Doing justice, loving kind, / Leaving selfish thoughts behind.” 

It is often hard to walk humbly. We are trained to be proud and sufficient. We have a natural inclination to care for self. Yet walking humbly is a daily practice wherein we rely on God to be with us. It is in that humble walk that can allow ourselves to learn from the accountability of justice and show the mercy that is a free gift but so hard to share. 

The unforgiving man couldn’t show mercy and wanted to avoid all sense of justice because he lacked in humility. Living humbly doesn’t mean we are miserable, put upon, or allow ourselves to be manipulated and abused. Instead, it means sacrificing the sense of entitlement we often have in life. It involves turning the belief that we are owed into the understanding that we are called. The unforgiving man felt that he was owed—the King owed him mercy, and his debtor owed him justice. But nowhere in there did he feel called to be accountable before the king or called to be humble and merciful to his debtor. He was simply entitled in life. 

Our society has an obsession with court drama and trials. We can see it in how many people post about cases, watch the trials, and commented, especially on this recent Clancy trial. We know and understand justice and what we think it is supposed to look like. We comment with the authority of an experienced lawyer simply from watching on our computers and phones. But in our obsession with justice and the justice system, we forget the remainder of our calling in Micah 6:8. 

It is not just doing justice. That goes hand in hand with loving and showing mercy and walking humbly every day with God. My friends, we are called to act with justice in this world. But in our actions, may we also remember our call to love mercy and to walk humbly. May we hear and respond as God calls us to all three.

Worship Service Video https://www.facebook.com/share/v/19zHZ8hd7Z/

The Reasonable Thing

The Reasonable Thing

Genesis 1: 1, 26

John 1: 1-14

Worship Service Video https://www.facebook.com/fccmacon/videos/1541167830592569/

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.

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”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.  

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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.  

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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.

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