Devotional 6-19-20

Genesis 21:8-21 (King James Version)
 
These verses set out the circumstances wherein Abraham sends his maid servant Hagar and her son Ishmael away from the compound.  After his son Isaac is born, Sarah, his wife, sees Ishmael mocking Isaac.  Sarah tells Abraham he must send Hagar and her son away. 
 
Abraham agonizes and reluctantly agrees to send Ishmael and Hagar away after being assured by God that the boy will be the father of a great nation.  So, Abraham sends them off into the wilderness with a bag of water and instructions to go find her own people.
 
While wandering in the desert, she apparently gets lost, runs out of water and is ready to die. 
 
God hears her cries, rescues her, give her water and again promises that the boy will be the father of a great nation. 
 
What I find interesting in this passage are two things.  First, even though Abraham does not want to send Hagar and Ishmael away, he does so, not only because his wife tells him to, which should be reason enough for any man, but also because I think he foresees the problems that will arise after his death in terms of inheritance and other issues.  Secondly, and most importantly, Abraham consults God as to what he should do.  God does in fact take care of the boy and his mother after they are lost in the wilderness.  I think the ultimate message sent in this passage is that God cares for all people, not just Jews and Christians, but all people of the world who worship God. 
 
Lee Oxley 

Devotional 6-12-20

Responding to God’s Love

 

Genesis 18:1-15, 21:1-7
Psalm 100
Romans 5:1-8
Matthew 9:35-10:23

 What could these four seemingly disjointed passages of scripture possibly have as their common thread?  Is there some connection between God’s appearance to Abraham in the form of three visitors, the Divine who promises a son to Abraham and Sarah; the Psalmist who proclaims, “Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth…Worship, sing, know, give thanks, bless His name.” In the Romans passage, Paul addresses the challenges new Christians are facing, their suffering, yet assures them that God is working to do a new thing, even in their difficulties; and in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus visits cities and villages, teaching in the synagogues, sharing the Good News, healing the sick, showing compassion for the poor and downtrodden.  He then sends out the 12 to do the same because “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.”

In answer to the question first posed, I believe we can see that God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit tend to show up at the most unexpected times.  And our response should be one of wonder, hospitality, reverence, appreciation, and asking what we might do to further the goodness of God’s Kingdom, share the Good News - with our actions – not merely our words, and listen with our hearts to those we encounter.

Where might we find Jesus today, amid our current turmoil and strife?  Where, indeed?  I believe He will be found wherever the poor, disenfranchised, cast aside, “least of these” are found.  Look for Him!  Draw hope and courage from Him!  He surely will fill the empty, show compassion to the broken, offer words of encouragement and loving welcome to all who step out in faith to follow His words spoken so long ago, but still resonate today with power, purpose, and steadfast love and understanding. May our journey with Him continue.
 
Loving God, hold us and steady us to keep us walking with You on the paths You open for us.  Keep us noticing signs of Your Presence, working for good in our fearful, anxious world. Give us patience, persistence, and a willing, loving heart as we respond to those we encounter along our journey with You. In the name of Christ, our LORD, we pray, Amen    
 

Linda Summers

Devotional 6-5-20

“God is Calling—Anyone Listening???”

Lectionary Readings: Genesis1: 1--2: 4; Psalm 8; 2Corinthians 13: 11-13; Matthew 28: 16-30.
“God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him male and female he created them.  God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number;” Genesis 1: 27-28a.
Sunday, June 7^th is Trinity Sunday and the lectionary readings for this week remind us of the three persons of God:  Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  The Genesis passage provides images of God, Our Creator.  Psalm 8 echoes God the Creator and adds God the All Powerful: “Lord how majestic is your name in all the earth.” Matthew 28 contains the Great Commission of Jesus “to go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”   2 Corinthians highlights the Three in One: “the amazing grace of the Master, Jesus Christ, the extravagant love of God and the intimate friendship of the Holy Spirit, be with all of you.” 
This marvelous trio is unique, and often difficult to comprehend:  How could they be separate and yet all one.  I will leave the theological discussion of “how” and “why”, etc. to more learned minds to explain.  All I need to focus on is that the essence and the being of the Trinity is LOVE.  God is LOVE!  Jesus is LOVE!  The Holy Spirit is LOVE!  And just a few chapters earlier in Matthew 22, Jesus answers a question with: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.  This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

2020 been a challenging year so far:  full of fear, conflict, and unrest. We are faced with new and uncertain health, economic, religious, financial, and political issues and concerns.  It seems that many have not taken the commandments of Jesus to our hearts with the depth needed to change actions.  We have not learned the lessons of our Sunday School teachers, our pastors and religious leaders and scholars. We also have not fully learned the lessons of our history regarding how to treat all others with kindness, compassion, understanding, fairness and love.

I have lived a quiet, fairly naïve life. I didn’t really know I lived a privileged life, but it must be true. I had two parents who demonstrated love and compassion.  I have been affiliated with wonderful role models and friends as I have grown and matured, worked and worshiped. I have not known the fear and oppression that many in our country describe.  But I am aware that it is there.  I miss volunteering at Ebenezer because I want to make a difference in the lives of the children who attend the programs there.  I have seen their fear, hurt, mistrust and observed many actions that signal the distress that they experience.  One little girl has so much anger that she is constantly in trouble, disrupts games and craft time and pushes others away.  She has built up a protective wall that is hard to penetrate.  I have no idea of her home life and don’t need to know.  But it takes a lot of extra energy to show her love instead of frustration and negativity.  I don’t always say or do the right thing and have to apologize or spend extra time with her the next week.  She is a child of God, worthy of His Love and my time and attention.  God is calling us in these times. I’m not always sure of the specifics, but I am sure He is calling us to surround others with love and care; to do whatever we can to show with our actions that there are loving ways to behave.  The great commandments are not suggestions or recommendations, they are God’s expectations for our lives.  Episcopal Bishop Michael Curry said this week that the opposite of love is not hate, but selfishness.  When we do not first love God and others as ourselves, we are being primarily selfish beings.  May our actions grow more loving each day!!!

Dear Father, forgive us as we have not always been effective stewards of your creation.  My Jesus, thank you for inspiring the peaceful demonstrations and walks taking place in our city and state.  But we are all worried about the violence and chaos in other places. You have called us to seek peace and justice and we have not found a way to make them a priority.  Oh, Holy Spirit come to us.  Rain down on us with your healing power, comfort and care.  Grant us insight to guide our actions and strength to persevere in your calling. Help us to listen with our whole being and heed your direction. AMEN.

Chyrl Budd

Devotional 5-29-20

Brief Encounters

I am one of the editors for the 150th Anniversary of Johnson Memorial book which will be available in September (trust me, you will want one!). As you can imagine, I am learning lots of interesting facts about our church. I've been struck by the long-lasting legacies of two men who had only brief relationships with JM.

Rev. Jefferson W. Johnson came to Huntington's First Methodist Episcopal Church South in 1889. The congregation was outgrowing its building at 1022 4th Avenue and Rev. Johnson envisioned a new structure, encouraging the members to raise funds for a new church at the present location. Tragically, Rev. Johnson died in an accident in 1890, never seeing the completion of the church which would bear his name: Johnson Memorial.

Edward T. Jones began teaching the Wesleyan Goodwill Sunday School Class at Johnson Memorial in June of 1945. He died suddenly on December 30 of that same year. The members voted to change the name of the class to the E.T. Jones Class to honor him. If you've had any association with JM in the years since 1946, you know that the E.T. Jones Class has been a strong, close-knit group whose members served the church in many capacities.

Both Rev. Johnson and Mr. Jones had a huge impact on the church for generations to come after spending very little time there.

Think of some of the brief encounters Jesus had with individuals that changed their lives: the Samaritan woman he met at the well (John 4: 7-42); the crippled beggar (John 5: 1-15); Jarius (Mark 5: 21-43); a hemorrhaging woman (Mark 5: 24-34), and Zacchaeus (Luke 19: 1-10) to name a few.   I found a site with info about how Jesus interacted with people which you may find interesting. https://bible.org/illustration/how-jesus-interacted-people

How about our own brief encounters? In previous devotions I have mentioned our former member Anita Unger Campbell saying her grandmother always said everyone has an invisible sign around their necks that says, "Make Me Feel Good." I don't kid myself that being kind to someone for a minute will change their life, but it might make their day. In these days of Covid 19, I like to say to clerks at the grocery stores or pharmacies, "I'm smiling at you under this mask." I can tell they're smiling back by looking at their eyes.

Remember, you can share the love of Jesus with even the briefest of encounters.

Anita Farrell

Devotional - Easter Sunday

The Hope of the Resurrection

I can imagine Mary, the mother of Jesus, gazing at her newborn son with immediate love and tenderness. Mothers do that. And I can imagine Joseph thinking of this child’s years growing up, and all they would do together. Fathers do that. As parents seem to do, Mary and Joseph must surely have wondered about His future, this tiny baby boy, who was sent by God for them to care for and watch over.
   
I think it’s easy to imagine Jesus as a child, playing with his siblings, running and laughing, sometimes helping his mother with chores. He’d watch Joseph working, learning all He could about carpentry, for He knew Joseph expected Jesus to follow in his footsteps.
       
When Jesus was twelve or thirteen, the family made a trip to Jerusalem during Passover. And while they were there, they visited the Temple. Jesus must have decided he was old enough to challenge the elders, and he did. They were amazed at this young man’s extensive knowledge and they wondered how he knew so much as they talked.

Meanwhile, Mary and Joseph left for home thinking Jesus was with the others in their group. He wasn’t!  So they made the trip back to Jerusalem to find him still with the elders in the Temple. Mary admonished Jesus, perhaps embarrassing him. Mothers can do that when they’re worried. Jesus responded by asking her why they were looking for him. Didn’t they know he must be in His Father’s house?   

As time passed and Jesus was on his own, his magnetism drew others to follow him—especially a diverse group of twelve men whose callings were to become His disciples. When Jesus had asked them to follow him, they did. When Jesus began his ministry, he greatly depended on their help. They were with him as He ministered to all his followers, including his disciples. He performed miracles that amazed them. I imagine when Jesus spent time with friends eager to share a meal with him, his disciples were asked to come along.

I imagine Jesus was a rather serious young man who nevertheless enjoyed the companionship of his twelve dedicated followers. We know from the Bible he was a gentle and kind man. And He was compassionate. But we know he could also get very angry and impatient. Some in the crowds didn’t trust him. Many feared him and despised him. And in the end, they crucified him.

But it’s hard to imagine Jesus’ Resurrection, how it happened. It seems an impossible outcome after Jesus’ crucifixion! But it was part of God’s plan, and Jesus wanted to appear before his disciples to explain His Resurrection. Then He told them He would soon be gone. He reminded them what they needed to do once He left them to be with His Father in Heaven. They were to remember all they had taught them, and do as He had done, because they were Christians.

Jesus has also taught us to follow Him as Christians. We are to serve him faithfully as his disciples, doing all he expects of us. When we do…we shall have eternal life. That is the hope given to us—the hope of the Resurrection.

Diane Feaganes

Devotional 4-11-20

They sat together

Around a table

The only light filtering through

Small holes in the wall.

There was darkness around them.

It was too quiet

Lonely

And they were afraid.

Their friend,

The Messiah.

The hoped-for one.

The promise

Had been crucified.

He had died.

They were so lost

They couldn’t remember

The words he had given them.

Words of hope

Of love.

Of life.

They could not see

That Saturday would be the last day

They would live without hope.

Without light.

They could not see

That tomorrow would be different.

We live in an unexpected time.

A time of fear and anxiety.

We sit in our homes,

Around our tables,

And it is too quiet.

There are those who are sick,

And those who are dying.

There are those who are grieving,

And those who are afraid.

But we don’t live a Saturday life anymore.

We live a Sunday life.

We may not be able to see the light,

But we know it is there.

We may not be able to hear the music of friends,

But we know that they are singing.

Christ has died.

Christ has risen.

And he comes back every day.

Tomorrow we will say alleluia.

We know it.

Because we are Sunday people.

Kim Matthews

Devotional 4-10-20

No Thanks. I Gave That Up for Lent

 Lent: a time period, by name anyway, that seems to have morphed from the 40 days between Ash Wednesday and Easter to the “how long can you hold your breath” time period of GIVING SOMETHING UP. Based in the solid theology of sacrifice, it has grown legs and walked away. Posts on social media, and talk around the office water cooler bring out the ever-looming Easter question, “What are YOU giving up?” Almost as if comparing lawn mowers or bar-b-que grills, “My suffering is going to be greater than your suffering!” With the hope of actually thinking of suffering and loss when the desired ‘given up’ thing is wanted, we (notice I said WE? Me too) give up things like deep fried, caramel covered, dill pickles or only bingeing on five episodes of a favorite show instead of eight. Blah Blah Blah…

Notwithstanding the fact that Christ GAVE UP his life – the scriptures outlining his ministry and the narrative that follows his ride into Jerusalem…to die, never seem to point at him giving up – anything. Instead the focus seems to be on GIVING. Giving encouragement: “Blessed are the …For they shall…” Giving sustenance: “You give them something to eat.” Giving forgiveness: “Forgive them for they know not what they do.” Giving hope: “For today you will be with me in paradise.” Giving security: “Woman, behold your son.”

Two things near and dear to my heart are sweets and coffee. Over the course of the years I have given up both. Did I suffer? Enh…  Did it make me think? Maybe. Did it help ANYBODY else? NOPE!

I think my plan will be to only give up – self and to make everything else about giving. If asked for money on the street > don’t judge – give. If asked to help > don’t complain- give. If spoken to harshly > don’t retaliate – give. Give until it sinks in that THAT is way it is meant to be.

For God so loved the world that he gave…

Steve Matthews