Tag Archives: Service

Saved to Serve

Lent

March 3, 2022

Scripture Reading:

Romans 10:8b-13

But what does it say?
‘The word is near you,
   on your lips and in your heart’*
(that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved. The scripture says, ‘No one who believes in him will be put to shame.’ For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and is generous to all who call on him. For, ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’

What does it mean to be saved? We may first conjure an idea of prepaid admission into heaven. Paul’s writing tends to perceive salvation as a part of living our faith in the here and now. How to live like Christ in our everyday life. The Greek word, sózó, translated here as saved means to deliver out of danger and into safety; used principally of God rescuing believers from the penalty and power of sin – and into His provisions (safety)**. That seems to say to me that salvation allows us to be the persons we are called to be without the interference of sin. Christ, the Holy Spirit, saves us from the distractions of the world that separates us from God. We have already been instilled with gifts that are needed to carry out the work that faith requires. Being saved allows us to answer our call to serve without fear and with courage because we work within the safety of God’s love.

Prayer:
Thank You Lord For Saving My Soul,
Thank You Lord For Making Me Whole,
Thank You Lord For Giving To Me,
Thy Great Salvation So Full And Free***. Amen.

*The quote cited above at the beginning of the scripture is derived from Leviticus 18:5, You shall keep my statutes and my ordinances; by doing so one shall live: I am the Lord.

**https://biblehub.com/greek/4982.htm

***Thank You, Lord, for Saving My Soul by Seth Sykes, Bessie Sykes. See at https://divinehymns.com/lyrics/thank-you-lord-for-saving-my-soul-song-lyrics/

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Do Something Good

Epiphany

January 16, 2021

Scripture Reading:
John 1:43-51
The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, ‘Follow me.’ Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and said to him, ‘We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth.’ Nathanael said to him, ‘Can anything good come out of Nazareth?’ Philip said to him, ‘Come and see.’ When Jesus saw Nathanael coming towards him, he said of him, ‘Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!’ Nathanael asked him, ‘Where did you come to know me?’ Jesus answered, ‘I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you.’ Nathanael replied, ‘Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!’ Jesus answered, ‘Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than these.’ And he said to him, ‘Very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.’

None of us are called to do everything; all of us are called and skilled with the ability to do something. My mother died on January 13, 2007, and my father died on January 15, 1984. So, this is usually a time of remembrance for my siblings and me. Such dates are encoded in the very fiber of our beings. Funny, I always remember the month and the day, but I had to double-check the years. It does not seem possible that Mom has been gone 14 years. My mother probably taught me that I could not do everything, but I can do something. I find it somewhat amusing to say that because I do not know of anything, my Mom could not do if she set her mind to it. She added a bedroom to our house when she thought my older brother needed a room of his own. The one thing she did not do much is sing. She added that skill to her reparatory by marrying a man with a beautiful baritone voice.

What was it that Jesus discerned about Nathanael when Jesus saw him under the fig tree? Perhaps he perceived some unique skill that fit perfectly with the other disciples. My mother started her career as a Deaconess in the Methodist Church, serving first along the border in Texas and then moving to work in West Virginia during the Depression. She was a dedicated letter writer and card sender in her older years.  When she could no longer do that, she dedicated herself to intercessory prayer.

What is God calling each of us to do as Disciples of Christ? Are we answering that call?

Prayer: Lord, write on my heart how I can serve you more nearly and where I may fall short in training or resources guide me to others who can help me on my journey as I can help them. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Finding Our Faith Niche

Eastertide

May 20, 2019

Scripture Reading: Acts 16:9-15

During the night Paul had a vision: there stood a man of Macedonia pleading with him and saying, ‘Come over to Macedonia and help us.’ When he had seen the vision, we immediately tried to cross over to Macedonia, being convinced that God had called us to proclaim the good news to them.
–Acts 16:9-10

This is often noted as a key scripture because it records the first indication that Luke had joined Paul in his travels. It is the first use of Luke writing in first person, we/us. He felt he had been called to proclaim the good news along with Paul. Luke was a doctor and Paul had some sort of reoccurring health issue, which has made me wonder if Luke join the crew to be available if Paul needed medical care.  In any case, Luke identified as a lay leader sharing the call of ministry like most of Christ’s followers.

Paul outlines in 1 Corinthians 12 the diverse skills needed to complete the work we are called to do as we work together to usher in the Kingdom of God. All our varieties of talents are needed. As with Paul and Luke some preach, and some enable preaching. The list includes the following:

Apostles
Prophets
Teachers
Deeds of Power
Gifts of Healing
Forms of Assistance
Forms of Leadership
Gifts of Speaking in Other Languages

Most have skills for more than one of these areas of work, some multitask while others concentrate on one specific area. When I was a child my mother was almost always a teacher, and usually a leader, and one of the hardest working people around. I noticed as she aged, she shifted out of things she no longer had the stamina to do. My guess is she sent at least one get well, thinking of you, in sympathy card, to someone every day. Even when she was bedfast and to weak to write she practiced intercessory prayer. We have the same call as we work together to become one and change the world into one being ruled by love.

Prayer: Lord, we thank you for equipping us to serve you more nearly. Help us each to find our niche and develop it fully. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Mission Oriented

Ordinary Time
February 2, 2018

Scripture Reading: 1 Corinthians 9:15-23

For though I am free with respect to all, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I might win more of them. To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though I myself am not under the law) so that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law) so that I might win those outside the law. To the weak I became weak, so that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, so that I might by any means save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, so that I may share in its blessings. –1 Corinthians 9:19-23

I began my work as a social worker in public service during the turbulent 60’s when our culture was in a state of constant and challenging change. The mini skirt was all the rage but forbidden by our dress code, and when I started, females were not allowed to wear slacks to work. When I became a supervisor, I was required to enforce the dress code. I dealt with both my bosses and staff on the issues it raised. I suggested to my superiors that wearing well-tailored pantsuits might be more acceptable to the public than mini skirts. With my staff, I posited that if the client they were serving was more concerned with the way they dressed than what they were attempting to accomplish, they could not do their job. Wearing a mini skirt while talking with a teenage girl might win a worker points for her dress. Wearing a mini skirt while working with either an older female adult or a teenage boy would be a distraction for very different reasons.

I think this is the point Paul is trying to make in the above scripture. If anything we are doing or not doing is diverting attention from our intentions of doing God’s work, we need to be cognizant of it and make appropriate adjustments to it. When I toured Mosques on my trip to Turkey a few years ago, I wore a scarf and removed my shoes before entering. If we offend someone before we even are introduced, true dialogue will be impossible.

Prayer: Lord, help us prioritize our behavior to reflect your love for the other in all ways. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

The Lord’s Reward

Loaves and fishesEastertide
May 5, 2016

Scripture Reading: Revelation 22:12-14, 16-17, 20-21

‘See, I am coming soon; my reward is with me, to repay according to everyone’s work. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.’

 Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they will have the right to the tree of life and may enter the city by the gates. –Revelation 22:12-14

What do you think would be a meaningful reward to Jesus? Being good to attain some future reward has never really set right with me nor am I a supporter of instant gratification. I prefer to do things that are rewarding in their own accomplishment. Eating right and exercising regularly every day is how I lost weight. I cannot even image what my reaction would have been if two years after all my dieting and exercising I went to bed one night grossly obese and out of shape and awoke the next morning trim and fit. I doubt very seriously that I would have even lasted two months before giving up, if I had seen no results. Jesus’ reward was in loving every day. He delighted in the one leper who returned to thank him for his healing touch; the dedicated service of Mary Magdalene, who after being freed from seven demons devoted the remainder of her life in service to God; and in the little boy who offered his fish and bread to feed the masses.

That said, Abraham was promised outcomes he knew he would never see and the writer of Hebrews encourages us to work for the future of the faith that will continue after we are gone. I hear more and more people longing to provide a better world for their children and grandchildren.

In systems theory we learn about something called throughput, the amount of resources invested in achieving a desired outcome. Being productive as the Body of Christ in the world today is essential in hastening the realization of the Kingdom of God. I think that is the reward Jesus wants for us all.

Prayer: Lord, make our daily walk with you an answer to your call in Micah 6:8: He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? It is a reward in and of itself and it is the path to the Kingdom of God. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized 
Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council 
of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights 
reserved.

Response

ShelterEastertide
April 25, 2016

Scripture Reading: Acts 16:9-15

During the night Paul had a vision: there stood a man of Macedonia pleading with him and saying, ‘Come over to Macedonia and help us.’ When he had seen the vision, we immediately tried to cross over to Macedonia, being convinced that God had called us to proclaim the good news to them.
–Acts 16:9-10

When do we trust our guts? When do take a dream or vison seriously? I score very high on the Myers Briggs personality type scale as being intuitive. I also score somewhat high on being a thinking person. Those two types find themselves in conflict at times. I over analyze my intuition. It is thus interesting to me the few times I never question my gut and act immediately upon what it is calling me to do. I sense that is what Paul did regarding his call to Macedonia.

Many years ago I took a sabbatical retreat wandering to and along the east coast in search of myself and my ancestry. In my planning ahead, I booked a stay at a bed and breakfast in the Poconos area of Pennsylvania. This part of my retreat was to be my quiet reflective time. I was definitely not pleased when I was assigned to a huge room with sleeping arrangements for five people, but decided to make the best of it. Then a large multigenerational family checked in across the hall and made the normal noise that any large multigenerational family would make. Thus I might have left the next day anyway. After the family had apparently headed out for an adventure and it was very quiet, I had the most urgent sense that I needed to leave there immediately. The keeper of the B and B was not home. I left a note on her table with a cash payment for the night and left. Driving west on highway 70 without stopping until I realized that it was getting dark, I began to look for a motel, found one, checked in, and then tried to analyze what I had just done. It made no sense to me and still doesn’t but I assure you I would do the same thing again. I think it had more to do with God working with me throughout the whole trip, granting me the peace I needed, and saying now get off your duff and get back to it. We do need to pay attention to those calls.

Prayer: Lord, I thank you for being my shelter in the storms of life when shelter is what I need and I thank you for pushing me back out into the wind and the rain when that is what you need. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized 
Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council 
of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights 
reserved.

What’s Next

What-is-nextLent
March 22, 2016

Scripture Reading: Acts 10:34-43

Then Peter began to speak to them: ‘I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. You know the message he sent to the people of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ—he is Lord of all. That message spread throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John announced: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; how he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. We are witnesses to all that he did both in Judea and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree; but God raised him on the third day and allowed him to appear, not to all the people but to us who were chosen by God as witnesses, and who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one ordained by God as judge of the living and the dead. All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.’

While the death and resurrection of Jesus is observed and celebrated each year, these events are always followed by the question: What’s next? The scripture lesson above describes the first disciples’ experience of what was next for them and we have the same calling, the same challenge today.

One of the things that we learn from sports, as we find ourselves in March Madness usually during the Lenten season, it is important that a team not get too caught up in a game just won or lost but to learn any lessons they can for the last game as they prepare for the next game. They also often find out the hard way that if they come in thinking they are destined for the championship game, there is a Cinderella team just waiting to prove them wrong no matter how good they are or think they are.

So let us withdraw for this Holy Week, let our injuries heal, nourish our souls and our bodies for the work ahead, and prepare us for the day after Easter to move swiftly forward with all our hearts, minds, strength and spirits to what’s next.

Prayer: Lord, help us incorporate the lessons we have learned from our time of study and meditation through Lent into our work on what is next in your call for our service. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized 
Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council 
of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights 
reserved.

Getting in Shape Spiritually

Mind Body Spirit fitnessLent
February 14, 2016

Scripture Reading: Luke 4:1-13

Then the devil led him up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And the devil said to him, ‘To you I will give their glory and all this authority; for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.’ Jesus answered him, ‘It is written,
“Worship the Lord your God,
   and serve only him.”’ –Luke 4:5-7

Worship and serve are two active verbs requiring action not lip service. Yet lip service is what I am hearing a lot of lately. I think it would be really hard to be faithful to a commitment to Jesus Christ when one is on the front page of the paper as a politician or sports figure or other celebrity. Some of them are made idols themselves by others. This is particularly true in this season of campaigning where one’s faith becomes a  card used to win voters.

One doesn’t have to be well known to become caught in this struggle. We all deal with putting God first in our lives. We sometimes reduce God to a being that supports our own viewpoints, thus creating God in our desired image. We, too, can serve God to our own interest. Believing our church activities might look good on a resume’.

Like athletes we need to hone our skills at being God followers before we step onto the playing court or field. We must be so in tune with God that our worship and service is the right automatic response because many times in the game of life we do not have time to ponder situations. Lent is a time designed to prepare us for the game of life with all its challenges. We must devote time in study and prayer getting ourselves in the best spiritual shape possible.

Prayer: Lord, walk with me throughout Lent as I strive to improve my readiness for service to you. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized 
Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council 
of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights 
reserved.

New Beginnings

dirty-dishes-stackedChristmas
December 31, 2015

Scripture Reading: Ephesians 1:3-14

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, just as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love. He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. –Ephesians 1-6

I think of myself as rather a rare bird seeing the world differently than others. I suppose as unique human beings we all do. In high school and college, I worked as a waitress part of the time in a family-type restaurant well stationed on an interstate highway. The staff had the opportunity to people-watch a vast variety of humans in their various sizes, shapes, colors, and primarily dispositions. Once when we were swamped, a trucker called out to me at the counter saying that he just really needed a cup of coffee and a ticket and he would not bother me again. I poured the cup of coffee and quickly gave him the ticket and returned to the melee of the tables and booths. He left me a tip larger than the cost of the coffee. On a Sunday after church a wealthy family from the surrounding area came for Sunday dinner and filled the booth for eight that I had been assigned. I made numerous trips getting and filling their order, refilling drinks, and serving dessert. They left me with a table only a family with children could provide and a quarter for a tip.

The funny thing about that job was I took great pleasure for some reason in seeing the table set for service. It was always left in a mess of dirty dishes and dropped food on the floor and seat, but then returned to the table set for service. I guess cleaning up the mess gave me a sense of purpose and some semblance of control over the outcomes of what I was doing.

New Years is a similar opportunity to clear out the messes of the previous year and reset our tables for service in the new year. I never meet the test of being holy and blameless before [Christ] in love, but I so appreciate his forgiving grace and the new beginnings it spawns toward another year of learning how to love like him.

Prayer: Lord, forgive us this day our sins and refuel us for the work you have called us to do. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized 
Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council 
of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights 
reserved.

 

Mentored to Serve

maryandelizabeth2Advent
December 18, 2015

Scripture Reading: Luke 1:39-45

In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leapt in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed with a loud cry, ‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leapt for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.’

Those of us who have read The Red Tent* from the reading gained better insight into the importance of mentorship among women in the tradition of Abraham’s descendants. People with shared life experiences can help all of us through the valleys of the unknown. I think we “modern” women lost some of that along the way and then perhaps, as often happens, regained it with a great flourish.

Pregnant-too-soon Mary seeks out her elder cousin for help in making sense of the events of Mary’s pregnancy. I have always wondered if word of Elizabeth’s late-life pregnancy had reached Nazareth by the time Mary decided to garner Elizabeth’s wisdom. Don’t know that it mattered in her decision, but the older woman’s unexpected pregnancy might have provided comfort to young Mary whose life had also forever been changed by her impending parenthood.

I wonder how willing I am to have my whole life totally turned around in service to God. On the other hand, how willing am I to invest myself in doing the mundane everyday chores of service to God? Do I like Brother John** approach each pot of coffee I make, lesson I prepare, chairs and tables I set up as if God’s Kingdom depended on it? Do you?

Prayer: Lord, prepare me for whatever service you need me to do. Place mentors in my path when I need their knowledge. Place willingness in my heart when I need to make just one more pot of coffee. Amen.

*The Red Tent by Anita Diamant. St. Martin’s Press, 2014

**Read more about John of the Cross at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_of_the_Cross

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized 
Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council 
of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights 
reserved.