Devotional: Foundation Board meeting

The following is a devotional I shared with our Foundation Board of Trustees at a recent Board meeting.  

I’m going to tell you a story this morning that might embarrass my younger son, if he were here. It is probably embarrassing for my husband and me, too, but we’re going to ignore all of that. 

Years ago, when Josh was young – in elementary school – we noticed that his bedroom smelled terrible.  Awful. Overpoweringly bad. So bad that we started tearing the room apart to find what was causing the smell. Had an animal died in the wall (I’ve never had that happen or even know if it could be a problem, but it’s what I thought of)?  What had happened that would create such an overwhelming, pervasive stink?

We finally found it. Josh had fixed himself a hotdog one day, taken it to his bedroom, and then decided he didn’t want it, so he threw it away in the small trash can by his desk – the one that should be just for paper. “Josh,” we asked. “Why did you throw a hotdog away in your room?”  His answer – “I didn’t want it, and it is a trash can.”

I still remember how terrible the smell was and how it permeated everything in his room.

I think, sometimes, people can be that way – not that we smell bad, but that our actions as human beings can be so bad that the “odor” of them makes our neighbors wish we were somewhere else, impacting someone else.

But Christ shows us a different way. These words are from 2 Corinthians 2:14-16a

But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession and through us spreads in every place the fragrance that comes from knowing him. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing: to the one group a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. (2:14-16a)

Josh’s room definitely smelled like death.  Do our actions as people and as the Foundation bring the scent of life to our neighbors? What would that be like?

Hear these words from Ephesians 5:1-2:  Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, and walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

We can see how our pleasing fragrance permeates the ministries we support through Jeff’s story of impact each quarter in the Trustees Booklet.  I am the keeper of the yellow Gratitude file that Jeff uses to manage and report on those stories.  I pulled this story out of the yellow file yesterday:

A seminary student, who was about to take out a loan, received the news (and the almost $10,000 check) that she had been chosen as this year’s Redding Scholar by The Foundation.  She wrote to Bonnie McDonald and Jeff, “The check from the UMF came in the mail today! I am absolutely floored. It’s just starting to sink in that this is real, and I am so excited and so grateful! Thank you both for all of your kindness, guidance, help and support on all of this. I am eternally grateful for you both.” 

This candidate for ordained ministry has felt and seen the love of the Foundation and of James Redding, who established an endowment in the early 90’s to provide seminary scholarships. She has experienced a “fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” This will permeate her ministry at least for years to come, and maybe for her entire career. All of those she works with in ministry will know Christ’s love through her.

May the Foundation’s fragrant offering to the world permeate our neighborhoods with the scent of life.

Please pray with me.  Creating, loving, sustaining God, empower us, equip us, and motivate us to be a fragrant offering in your world so that all those who come to know The Foundation will know Christ’s love and life.  In your son’s name, Amen.

Perspectives: A show

 

Seeing Jesus

I've written several posts over the past few weeks, where I share thoughts about how amazing I find some of the nativity and epiphany stories. I'm amazed that Joseph followed the guidance of God through dreams, that the Magi undertook the journey they did, that they recognized a king in a baby, that they were led by their dreams to disobey Herod.  They are all actions of faith, I think.

Now I'm reading Luke 2:22-40. This passage of the gospels features Mary and Joseph bringing their new child to present him at the Temple. There, they encounter Simeon and Anna. Both of these faithful people recognize Jesus as the Messiah. Immediately. With seemingly no questions. 

• Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying, "Master now you are dismissing your servant in peace, according to your word." The Holy Spirit had revealed to Simeon that he would live until he saw the Messiah.  He looks at this child, and he is convinced.
• Anna, who lived at the Temple, saw Jesus. Verse 38 says, "At that moment she came and began to praise God and to speak about the child to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem."

I sometimes hear people wonder why the disciples heard, received, and responded to Jesus' call so easily and quickly. It seems to me that they are demonstrating the same faith that Simeon and Anna did. The same response that the Magi had. They saw Jesus, and knew what to do.

Amazing, to me

A very long time ago - over two thousand years ago - magi traveled from the East, maybe Persia, to Judea, to find a king. They traveled a long distance, following a star. A star, of all things - but they were probably people who studied stars, and they were convinced they should follow this one, and that it would lead them to a star.

Amazing, to me, that they did this.

They arrived in Judea, and traveled to Jerusalem, to the King's house. That's sensible enough - where else would you look for a king? The were able to speak to King Herod. This king was afraid - so afraid that he had murdered his beloved wife, Mariamne, her two sons, her brother, her grandmother, and her mother.  He also killed his first born, Antipater.  The man was not mentally stable, and he had a dark, violent streak.  He (maybe slyly) asked the magi to continue their quest, and to report back to him on what they found.

The Magi continued on their journey, following the star, until they arrived in Bethlehem. They found what they did not expect, I imagine, when they started this journey. They found a baby with his mother, not in a palace, but in a humble house. This? This is the king we are searching for? I don't know if they said that, but I would have.

Amazing, to me, that they were convinced that this was the king they were seeking.

They demonstrated great faith and presented gifts to this Infant King - gifts fit for a king. And they knelt and honored him. They were then warned in a dream to ignore what King Herod had told them, so they returned home a different way. They did not tell Herod where the newly born king could be found.

Amazing, to me, that they believed the dream, disobeyed the orders of the king, and headed home a different way.

What would you have done?

 

Perspectives: Bright colors in winter

At the Bellagio in Las Vegas

 

What does the Lord require?

Loosely inspired by Psalm 15 and Micah 6:8

O Lord, 

who can live with you?

Who can approach - be close - 

Who can stand with you?

Give us the strength to obey 

To live a life you require of us. 

To do what is right. 

To speak the truth from a 

 new heart.

What does the Lord require? 

To do justice 

To love kindness 

To walk humbly.

Help us to not lie about others 

Guide us as we seek to do no evil 

 to friends, to enemies. 

Shame us if we embarrass others.

What does the Lord require? 

To do justice 

To love kindness 

To walk humbly.

Give us eyes like yours, 

Eyes that see beyond the sin of others 

Even through our own sin, 

May we honor our neighbors 

May we stand for the truth, 

even when it has consequences.

What does the Lord require? 

To do justice 

To love kindness 

To walk humbly.

You desire that we do not 

take advantage of others, 

that we lift up the oppressed, 

that we do not deal with others with dishonesty. 

Give us this strength.

What does the Lord require? 

To do justice 

To love kindness 

To walk humbly.

And, o Lord, grant us grace when we fail. 

Give us courage to try again.

 

Real

I'm (slowly) reading the book of a sermons called Between a Rock and Holy Place by Rev. Tom Nolan. I'm reading it slowly because it is a book of seasons through the season (Advent, Christmas ... all he way through Ordinary time).

I'm a little behind and catching up. In what I read today, Tom tells the story of a Christmas pageant in Kentucky. The characters - Mary, Joseph, angels, and others - were played by preschoolers.  Jesus was someone's baby brother.

As the angels left the stage, one of them stopped and stared in amazement at the baby in the manger.  "Look! It's a real baby."

In the Gospel, Jesus tells his disciples that they need to have a child-like faith.  In Matthew 18:3, Jesus says, “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven."

As I read about the angel who was amazed that the baby was real, I am reminded that we can have that kind of faith, too. We can believe that Jesus, the child, the man, the son of God, is real.

What difference will it make in our lives and in the world if we have that kind of faith?

 

Perspectives: Plates

 This is an art piece in the Union Trust Building in Pittsburgh. What impressed me is that it is made of plates.  Individual plates coming together to make an image. Feels church-like to me.

The Magi's Decision

Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse (New Hampshire)

I'm still thinking about Matthew 2. In it, the Magi come to Herod (on the way to Bethlehem) and tell him about the Messiah. Herod is jealous, anxious, and threatened. He tells them, "Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage.” (Matthew 2:8b)

They leave, and they find Jesus. They present him with gifts and homage, and when it was time, there was a dream, warning them to not return to Herod.  They go home another way.

As I was thinking about that passage, two thoughts occurred to me:

• It takes courage to "go home another way" when the king has ordered you to return.  When are the times in our lives when we need to stand up for what we believe?
• Did the Magi understand what would be the consequences of not returning to Herod?  I'm sure they didn't. "When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the magi, he was infuriated, and he sent and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had learned from the magi." (Matthew 2:16). The death of the infants can be directly linked to the exit of the Magi. Understand that I am not at all saying that the Magi were to blame, but there are often unintended and unseen consequences to what we do.

Dreams

John Brown's Fort in Harper's Ferry, WV

At the end of last month, in worship, we read Matthew 2. In this chapter, Magi come from the east to see the new Messiah. They stop and have a conversation with Herod who directs them to come back to see him after they find the baby. The Magi follow the star to Bethlehem and find Jesus.  After that, Joseph takes Mary and Jesus to Egypt to escape the slaughter that Herod is about to command.  All of the children two years old or younger in or around Bethlehem are killed.  Later, after Herod dies, Joseph has another dream; it is OK for them to return home. There is one more dream - don't go to Judea, go to Nazareth.

Think about all the dreaming that is in this passage:

• The Magi are warned in a dream to not return to Herod.
• Joseph had a dream, warning him to go to Egypt to avoid the slaughter.
• Later, Joseph has a dream that they can return home.
• Once they are in Israel, he has another dream: don't go to Judea.

I was impressed by all of the dreams, and by all of the following of dreams.  I have many dreams - a few weeks ago, I dreamed Tr@mp was living in a box in my mother's garage. It was a dream that felt very evil. Anyway....  I have many dreams, but I don't see them as messages from God. I can't imagine allowing a dream to direct my actions.

But the Magi and Joseph believe the dreams to be messages from God, and they followed them. And they weren't wrong. How did they know? What in their faith allowed them to believe? I'm not asking the questions because I think God is going to send me messages in my dreams, but for a broader reason. How do we know when God is calling us to action?

I think part of it is that we believe God WILL call us to action. Is that a product of grace? Is that a grace-motivated faith? I think it probably is.

Perspectives: Morning

 

Theology

Last year, I read Voices of Advent by Matthew L. Skinner.  In it he writes:

A friend once shared with me the best definition of theology I've ever heard, because it's accurate, short, and sweet: Theology is talk about God.

He explains that we engage in theology when we have conversations about faith and God. When difficulties arise, and we talk to our friends and family, our church members about God, we are theologians. I think that is a spiritual practice, and it helps (hopefully) our faith to mature.

He goes on to say that often in the Bible, theology is about wondering whether God is active in a situation. When Miriam dances after the crossing of the Red Sea, praising God's work, she is a theologian. When the prophets of the Old Testament wonder about invaders and exile, it's theology.

When does theology become a part of your life? Do you have conversations with others about God? Do you wonder about God's presence in the present? In Sunday school, do you have discussions about the work of God in our lives? Are you open to the idea that God is involved in what happens in life?

For me, that doesn't mean that I think God directs each and every action, but it does mean that God is in how we work our way through what happens. Right now, transportation for my Mom to her various (and numerous) doctors' appointment is a challenge. She has connected with Faith in Action in our community, and they are helping. For me, this is the action of God in our lives, motivating their Executive Director and volunteers to give of their time to help people in this mundane but so necessary aspect of life. I thank God for them. And it shapes my conversations and my theology.

New Camera

Last year, I bought a new camera. I was motivated to do so because my old camera just wasn't taking very good pictures. Never mind that I have an iPhone that takes excellent images.

I bought a full-frame, mirrorless Nikon Z5 II camera. One day last fall, I took it out for a walk.

Perspectives: Christmas Tree

 Yes, the tree is still up.