Devotional 10-30-09

All Saints Day

Mom and I were traveling north on I-79 earlier this week. It was a beautiful, crisp, fall day. The mountains in West Virginia were a glorious patchwork of deep brown, red, orange, yellow, and green. At times, when the sun was just right, it was almost too beautiful to be real. I’ve always loved this time of year. Growing up in the steep mountains of the southern West Virginia coal fields, I never took the beautiful fall colors for granted…I knew it was only a matter of a few weeks—less if there was any significant wind and rain—before the mountains would give up their colors for dreary gray.

There’s a melancholy in the autumn, too. We know that cold, dark, and gray are just around the corner. If we can hope past the winter, we know there’s a spring that waits to be bursting with fresh new colors.

Dad loved the autumn, too. We would go to Grandma Mitchell’s in Lewis County and gather nuts—hickory nuts, hazel nuts, butternuts, but especially the black walnuts. People can be divided into two categories: those who love black walnuts, and those who hate them. We loved them. My brother and I liked to climb up in the tree and shake the limbs to knock down the walnuts. We laughed at the dirty looks Dad would give us when he would walk under the tree thinking we were finished, only to get pummeled with nuts. It was all part of the game. We wore gloves to keep from staining our hands as we knocked off the outer hulls. Eventually, the stain would bleed through the gloves. Dad would spread the walnuts out on the garage floor to dry. After several days of drying, he would crack several at time with a hammer, and then, sitting in front of the television, begin the painstaking process of picking walnuts out of the shell. No one else had the patience for it. Fortunately, his patience paid off for all of us when we enjoyed the cakes and pies with the delicious unique black walnut flavor.

Dad loved autumn. Mom told me that as she stands at her rear window looking at the fall splendor, she can hear Dad’s voice saying how beautiful it is. She told me she caught herself saying out loud the other day, “I know it’s a lot prettier where you are, honey.”

What a great attitude! What a faith, and a hope in the resurrection! Mom knows and trusts God’s promise that death is not the end, but the beginning of something else, something better. “[H]e will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away. And the one who was seated on the throne said, ‘See, I am making all things new.’ Also he said, ‘Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true.’” Revelation 21:4-5.

Oh, when the saints go marching in;
Oh, when the saints go marching in!
Oh, Lord I want to be in that number
When the saints go marching in!

Jeff Taylor

Today’s Thought; Are you Blessed?

Please read:
Job 42:1-6, 10-17
Psalm 34:1-8 (19-22) (UMH 769)
Hebrews 7:23-28;
Mark 10:46-52

I was Blessed even before my birth. My Heavenly Father had a plan for me. Are you Blessed? I was Blessed with two loving, guiding and caring parents. Are you Blessed? I was and I still am blessed by the many loving and caring teachers and Pastors at Johnson Memorial UMC. Are you Blessed? I have been Blessed by God for guiding me to marry a loving, caring, thoughtful wife and mother of our children for thirty-eight years. Are you Blessed? We were blessed with three wonderful, caring and loving children and grand children. Are you Blessed? I was guided by God’s plan to a position of helping others in time of need. Are you Blessed?

Now you might feel that I am “tooting” my own horn but the purpose of this is not to show off the Blessings God has given me, but to guide you to think about the Blessings in your life. We all have been Blessed by the grace of God in many ways. Sometimes we just need to think about those Blessings.

Just like Job, God had a plan for him, and once Job listened to God and allowed God into his life he was Blessed many times over until the day he joined God in heaven.

You are Blessed!!!

Shalom
Fred Herr

Pray: God my Father in Heaven thank you so much for all that you have Blessed me with and help me to see those Blessings. Help me to use the talents, gifts and Blessings you have given me to help others. I pray this in the name of your Son Jesus Christ. Amen

Devotional 10-16-09

Share and Share Alike - Yeah Right!
Have you seen on TV or maybe in your own house the exercise where an item is to be divided (usually between children – each wanting the lion’s share) and the adult says, “One of you cut, the other gets to pick.”? This kind of ensures an equitable division of the booty. Growing up with one brother might seem to some as a prime opportunity to have worn, day and night, a custom made “selfish suit” with one brother always trying to outdo the other and always wanting the most, the best, the biggest, etc. I don’t remember it that way at all. Rob and I are two years apart in age and have always been nearly the same size. The size thing was great because we could share clothes. This meant more for both – Hmmm. All, that is, except for shoes! I don’t know whose big, flat feet I inherited, but my shoes were my shoes; as big as the box Rob’s came in. We never had to fight over food or treats and other than wanting what he had because he was older and cooler and I wanted to be cool too, I don’t remember us arguing about any of that ‘kinda stuff’.

We lost Mom is August. As her end drew near and during our time of honoring her life, the stories told and the memories shared opened my eyes. Mom was a “share-er.” It’s not that fighting or selfish behavior was forbidden; it’s that we just didn’t see it to know that it was a possible way to be. Mom’s mom, our Grandma Toby, was the same. She raised two daughters on her own. Financially strapped and continually moving from one small apartment to another, she only voiced one regret that I can ever remember hearing from her. During a cold winter’s bus ride one evening, she encountered a child on the bus. The child did not seem to be dressed warmly enough, and my grandmother always wished that she had given the child her coat.

Because Rob and I are named in Mom’s will, we have had to sign a certain number of documents.

I am glad that there are lawyers to keep all of these things straight, and I am equally glad that I am not one of them. The wording is fairly technical and, I am sure, universal. It contains the kind of language understood across the industry to keep everyone singing off the same sheet of music. There is one phrase in her will that although it is ‘legal-ese’, sounds so much like her. With regard to certain parameters, if Rob and I were to have to divide her property, it says, “Share and share alike.” I can just hear her; “You boys share that now, share and share alike.”

Mom was not actually a share-er; she was a give-er. She would not share her time, money, possessions, love -- she would give them to you and never expect anything in return. As my memories run like an endless reel of film, she always put others first. She would endure personal discomfort if it meant that you would be comforted. She would sit in a straight back chair next to your hospital bed so that you would not be alone. She would gladly give you the sweater she was wearing because you needed it or just because you commented on how much you liked it. She did not share and share alike. She gave and gave and gave. She found joy in making others happy.

A little boy cries out in the night, frightened from the storm outside his window. As his parents arrive he announces that he was scared to be there by himself. Trying to console him and at the same time not show any sign of agitation, they respond that he was not alone – that God was with him. He thinks for a moment and responds back that while that is all well and good he sometimes needs God with skin on. You do not have to travel far to run into WWJD. Bracelets, bumper stickers, tee shirts and even spray paint on a building wall. We read the Bible and go to church and study and speculate. In THIS situation, “What Would Jesus Do?” We hope we get it right. Sometimes in our lives (and we all know someone; or several someones) there is that person that is Jesus with skin on -- someone that lives the answer to the question.

In Mark 10:35-45 we read …the first among you must be slave of all. Mom lived her life with a servant’s heart. She was a great role model. and I am blessed to have known her, learned from her and been loved by her.

Steve Matthews

Devotional 10-9-09

Lectionary: Hebrews 4:12-16, Mark 10:17-31

What does it mean to have grace? Several months ago we heard in the Sunday sermon that we should choose grace over wealth, power, fame. Just how do we choose grace? What is the meaning of grace? This is a topic that causes me much contemplation, and has since my teen years when i heard about the man who sold all of his clothes except for one suit. He travelled wherever he was called, he represented his church, and he wrapped his life around the needs of the people in whatever situation he found himself. It was as difficult to imagine then as it is today. How easy is it for us to do God’s will?

In the lectionary reading for today in mark, the word is concerned with what we must do to have eternal life. First of all we must obey all of the commandments. Then Jesus tells us to sell all we have and give to the poor, and we will then have heavenly wealth. His request is for us to follow him. We can follow if he leads us with a good life; can we follow when the road gets rough?

Jesus said, “do you know how difficult it is for people who ‘have it all’ to enter God’s kingdom? It is easier for a camel to go thru a needle’s eye than for the rich to get into God’s kingdom.”

The disciples ask, “Then who has any chance at all?”

Jesus replies, “No chance at all if you think you can pull it off by yourself. Every chance in the world if you let God do it”

Read in mark to get the rest of the story. Jesus has a promise for those who follow his request and then also a bonus.

I believe in God’s promise of good gifts, and I know of the burden of troubles that also come. We can rejoice in the gifts we receive which are hundreds of times more than we deserve to receive and thus we know that Jesus is the ultimate source of grace. So as Christians we choose to strive for this grace. Grace over wealth, power, fame. By the way, the bonus --eternal life.

God help me to show grace and mercy to those around me. Help me to have feelings of love enough that I can live my life with purpose, love and joy, and know that the love comes from the center of who I am. In God’s name I pray. Amen.

Marilyn Holleron

Devotional 10-2-09

Was Job the First Boy Scout?

Job 1:1
There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was blameless and upright, and who feared God and shunned evil.

Psalm 26:1
Vindicate me, O Lord, for I have walked in my integrity. I have also trusted in the Lord; I shall not slip.

When I first read the lectionary for today, I have to admit that the Boy Scouts of America was not the first thing that came to mind. However, the more I thought about the above scriptures, and as I tried to define the phrase, “I have walked in my integrity”, I remembered the Scout Law.
A few weeks ago I heard Luke Finley’s father (Luke is a scout in Johnson Memorial’s Troop 20) compare the virtues of Scouting and the Scout Law to the Ten Commandments at Luke’s Eagle Award Ceremony. The more I thought about the twelve points of the Scout Law, (It is one law with 12 points, and not 12 laws as all young Scouts are sternly reminded) I reflected upon the character of Job.
How would I describe a man who was “blameless and upright”?
As the Scout Law states: A Scout is Trustworthy, Loyal, Helpful, Friendly, Courteous, Kind, Obedient, Cheerful, Thrifty, Brave, Clean and Reverent.
I have omitted any discussion of Job’s cleanliness, since I did not see it specifically addressed in the Book. I have no doubt he was probably a very clean man, in both thought and action, given the circumstances he found himself in.
Neither did I find any discussion of Job’s cheerfulness, although I believe that he was as cheerful as one could be having lost all of your children, as well as your wealth, while afflicted with boils.
Clearly, Job was Thrifty. We are told in Verse 3 that he owned thousands of sheep, camels, oxen, donkeys and had many servants. One commentary that I read indicated that that much livestock was worth several hundred thousand dollars alone. A Scout is taught to work to pay his own way, and to help others. He conserves and protects natural resources.
He was Trustworthy, Loyal, Courteous and Kind. Apparently, he was known as the “greatest of all the people of the East," according to Verse 3. One does not receive that kind of praise without exhibiting traits of courtesy, kindness and trustworthiness.
However, what really sets Job apart is that he is brave, obedient, and most of all reverent. He steadfastly refuses to blame God for the horrible calamities that befell him. When his wife tells him to just “curse God and die," he responds that we should be willing to accept adversity, as well as good from God, and refuses to abandon his faith in the Lord.
So, in conclusion, the simple answer to the initial question posed is no. Job was not the first Boy Scout, but he “walked in his integrity," and in so doing, fulfilled all of the points of the Scout Law long before Baden Powell wrote the law that formed the foundation of his organization.

Lee Oxley