Sermon (Dec. 15/Advent) “Wondering about the Gift” by Rev. Robert McDowell

December 15, 2024

Beulah UMC & Oak Grove UMC

     The Advent Season reminds me of how difficult it is for us to wait for Christmas Day to finally come.

     I have a pastor friend who had her worst church fight and it was about when to sing and not sing Christmas carols in church. My friend was bound and determined to not allow any Christmas hymns to be sung until Christmas Eve. The congregation wanted to sing Christmas carols during each of those four Advent Sundays and she wouldn’t have it.

     She tried her best to explain to her flock that Advent isn’t a time to celebrate Christmas but to prepare for the coming of Christ into the world. Some of her members sent letters of frustration and some placed little notes in the offering plate which can also serve as a suggestion box. Others would tell her that the Baptists down the street were allowed to sing “Joy to the World” so why can’t they?

     But she refused. Only Advent hymns until Christmas Eve. She wasn’t trying to be the Grinch. She was seeking to be faithful with the purpose that is behind these four weeks leading up to Christmas.

     If we think it’s not easy to wait four weeks for Christmas, just think about Mary, the mother of Jesus. She had to wait nine months once she was told by an angel that she was with child by the Holy Spirit. Nine months.

     Here was young Mary in her early teens and betrothed to Joseph. She didn’t even choose to mary him, since women were not given that choice. She was simply passed on from her father to her new husband. And yet through all of this trauma, the unexpected happens to her when an angel appeared to her and said, “The Lord is with you.”

    

     Luke tells us that when Mary heard those words, she was “perplexed” because she was a virgin. And this angel goes on to explain that the Holy Spirit will come upon her, and she will give birth to a son and name him, Jesus and he will be called the Son of the Most High.

     Mary’s nine months of Advent really puts our Christmas preparations into perspective. What did Mary do for those nine months? Well, she did a lot of the things that we have been focusing on this Advent Season. She needed to wait as we are doing. She needed to be wanting all that had been told her to come to pass which we too have been doing during this season. Waiting and wanting for this good news to burst forth for all the people.

     Which brings us to our 3rd “W” word during this Advent Season and that is “Wondering.” Imagine just how much Mary must have been wondering about this news that the child within her would be the one who would bring salvation to the world.

     Even when Jesus is born, we are told in the Christmas story that Mary pondered all of these things. Pondering and wondering are what we are invited to do as we await the gift of Christmas.

     We get the word “wonderful” from the word, “wonder.” And Mary was certainly filled with wonder during those nine months of waiting.

     There is a positive dimension to wondering. Wondering is closely associated with dreaming and visioning about the preferred future God has in mind for us. When we forget to wonder about the future God has in mind for us, we can allow the cares and stress of our present reality to keep us from staying faithful during this time of waiting.

     Just think about the cares and stress that Mary was facing during those nine long months of waiting. Worried that Joseph might reject her at any point during her pregnancy. The possibility of being stoned to death for being an unwed mother during that time period. The accusations, gossip, and rumors that would have been circulating that Mary had been unfaithful to Joseph. 

     I can’t even begin to comprehend all that Mary had to face during that long period of time.

     It’s this 3rd Advent word of “Wondering” that was an important way for Mary to not allow the challenges that she was facing to rob her of the good news that the angel had announced to her. Mary is known for how she wondered and pondered about the gift of Christmas.

     What helps you to not only wait and want the gift of Christmas, but to also wonder about what this gift means to you?  

     I read about another young girl, a 9-year-old, even younger than Mary from our Christmas story. This young girl’s name is Grace Callwood who was living in Bel Air, Maryland and attended the Bel Air United Methodist Church.

     On her 7th birthday, Grace was diagnosed with lymphoma. She ended up being in the hospital and missing a lot of school to receive several cancer treatments. While she was a patient in the hospital, nine-year-old Grace started wondering how her faith could make a difference for other children who were going through difficult times.

     All of that wondering while she was in the hospital led her to start a movement called, Can-Serve, a positive phrase that plays off of the word “cancer.” She wanted other children to know that they can serve even when they are afraid and facing challenges in their life.

     While she was in the hospital receiving treatments for cancer, nine-year-old Grace wondered how her faith could turn cancer into “Can Serve.” Her movement has helped other children her age to not feel as afraid when they are going through a difficult time in their lives.

     Her organization raises fund to provide care packages of toys, clothes, and beauty supplies to children in need, especially for those who are orphaned, in the hospital, or homeless.

     One of their ideas in this ministry is to provide pillow sheets that children who are hospital patients can decorate any put over the IV stand so they don’t have to watch when they are receiving medicines and having a blood transfusion.

     Grace’s wondering of how God might use her to bless others has led to this incredible ministry.

     Young Mary also spent time during her anxious months wondering about the good news of Christmas that was shared with her. She knew that the gift of God’s Son would bring hope to the world.

      No wonder that when the angel announced to Mary that she was with child by the Holy Spirit, she exclaimed, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.”

     And the good news is that even as we await the joy of Christmas to come, we have this opportunity to join Mary in wondering about what a difference the good news of our faith can make in the lives of others. It can turn “Cancer” into “Can-Serve.” And as Mary says in the Magnificat, this good news can lift up the lowly and fill the hungry with good things.

     In one of the churches I served, we had this beautiful glass entrance that had a lot of space for people to gather when they entered the building. While I was there, the thought came to me that it would be really nice to have a Christmas tree by that front glass entrance. We had the space for it. It would be a 2nd tree in addition to the one that we already had in the sanctuary.

     But instead of a tree with multi-colored blinking lights, it just seemed to me that maybe this new one in the front entrance should have blue lights. Blue lights remind me of pondering, wondering, and reflecting.

     We called it our Blue Christmas tree especially for people who feel the Christmas blues during the month of December. Someone had the idea to have a basket of small ornaments where people could attach a piece of paper with a prayer request on that tree.

     Whenever I would walk by that tree, I would stop to read some of those prayer requests. Many of them expressed prayers for there to be peace in the world. Some of them asked for God to bring healing to a loved one. Others asked for God to comfort them because of a sense of grief and loss.

     This is why we observe Advent, to not only wait and want for Christmas to come, but to also spend some time wondering about what this incredible gift means for us and how we might share the good news of this gift with those around us.

Sunday (Dec. 15/Advent) Pastoral Prayer

Sunday, December 15, 2024 (Advent)

Beulah UMC & Oak Grove UMC

O God, as the three Advent candles shine brightly for us this morning, may your light of hope and anticipation also shine brightly in each of our hearts. May it shine so brightly, that we become lost in wonder, love, and praise as one hymn writer so beautifully expresses. Lost in wonder, love, and praise.

 

Like Mary who was lost in wonder, love, and praise at the good news that you were about to do something new and redemptive through her, may we be lost in wonder as well. During this Advent season, we join Mary in wondering about how the coming of Christ will make a difference in our lives, in our families, in our relationships, in our church, in our community, and in our world.

 

We especially lift up to you anyone who may be experiencing the holiday blues during this time of year, those who are grieving the loss of loved ones, those who are in need of healing, those who are struggling to make ends meet, those who are feeling discouraged, those who see no way forward and are in need of some hope. May our Advent candles shine brightly upon each of these persons and particular needs, O God, our Emmanuel.

 

We also continue to lift up to you all of those who are on our church’s prayer list as well as those we have shared with each other this morning. We pray that your Advent light would shine brightly for them this day.

 

And as we join Mary in wondering about what child is this, may we all be open to the new possibilities and the new dreams that you have in mind for us. Just as we are awaiting the joy of Christ’s birth during this holy season, remind us that you are also awaiting the joy of how we will respond to your coming into the world.

 

In this Advent season, we turn to this prayer of wonder that Jesus taught us to pray together…

 

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

Funeral Sermon (December 10, 2024) by Rev. Robert McDowell - In Loving Memory of Alta Blume Seaber

 

[Photo Above: Alta’s grandson, Jim Graddick playing the fiddle during the service.]

Alta Blume Seaber Graveside Sermon

December 10, 2024

Oak Grove UMC

    It was around this time several years ago around the middle of December, that I remember pulling up to a traffic light in the town where I was living. And as I waited at that traffic light, I happened to look to my left and I noticed some steps leading from the sidewalk down to a modest apartment building.

 

     And this is what caught my attention. On the door of this obscure apartment, was a Christmas sign that had the words, “We Still Believe!”

 

     A smile came to my face as I thought about the young child or children who were probably living in that apartment. That family wanted to make sure that Santa wouldn’t forget them that Christmas.

 

     I was thinking of that story as I was preparing for today’s service because as we are getting closer and closer to Christmas, the message on the sign of that apartment door reminds me of the strong faith that Alta and John have passed on to us. They have helped us to have a stronger faith because of their example in what it means to be faithful followers of Jesus Christ.

 

     The family has shared with me all of the ways that they were involved in the church, like providing food for fund-raiser meals, making needed repairs of the church building, singing in the choir, teaching Sunday School, and faithfully attending worship services every Sunday.

 

     John and Alta were quite the team. This past Sunday would have been their 68th wedding anniversary. And what a family they have! Their children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.

 

      Over these past several years, they faithfully lived out their membership vows that they made to the church by offering their prayers, presence, gifts, service, and witness in very loving and generous ways. They had an unbridled and confident faith which as the scriptures like to remind us, is something that each one of us can have as well.

 

     This is a faith that is rooted in the good news that God loves us and knows everything about us, where we live, what our hopes are, our dreams, our joys, as well as the challenges we face and our times of grief and sorrow like we are experiencing today.

 

     Our Gospel reading that was read a little bit ago is another one of those reminders that can help us to still believe especially when we are facing the pain and sorrow that we sometimes experience in life. Jesus’ dear friends, Mary and Martha were grieving the loss of their brother, Lazarus who had just died. They were also probably a little angry at Jesus because he arrived too late to heal him.

 

     When Martha greets Jesus, she shares her disappointment that he didn’t come sooner, but then she says something really interesting. She tells Jesus, “But even now, I know that God will give you whatever you ask him.” And then Jesus tells her, “Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. And then he asks her, “Do you believe this?”

 

     And Martha responds, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.”

 

     Now that is belief. That is trusting in something that you cannot see but know deep down is true. And from there, Jesus offers a prayer to God and then restores Lazarus back to life.

 

     This story of Jesus’ bringing Lazarus back to life is the 5th of 7 times in the Gospel of John in which Jesus uses an “I am” statement to reveal that he and God are one. Earlier in this Gospel, Jesus says, “I am the bread of life,” I am the light of the world,” I am the door,” “I am the good shepherd.” And in this this story here in chapter 11, he tells Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life.”

 

     These “I am” statements are meant to strengthen our faith and belief in God especially when we experience heartache, loss, and pain. It is why we dare to put up a sign that says, “We still believe!”

 

     I’m sure that Alta and John had moments where they wondered if God would help them get through challenging times in their lives, but they found ways to trust and believe. Their involvement in the life of the church was an important way for them to renew and strengthen their faith and belief especially through their love of church music, preparing meals for others, and by sharing their gifts of time and resources with the church.  

 

      Over my pastoral years of ministry, I have especially appreciated this older generation of people in the congregations I have served because they have strengthened my faith and belief in God again and again and again. I love hearing their stories of faith in how God has guided them through difficult times, and how God has been their source of strength and hope. We have been blessed by their stories of faith.

 

     One of those blessings was during a pastoral visit that I made to Alta’s house this past spring. She was sitting at her favorite spot in her sunroom. With a blanket draped over her lap, I tried to engage her in a conversation.

 

     I said something about her garden and her farm. No response. I asked her about her family. No response. I mentioned about what a sunny day it was. No response. I just couldn’t get her to open her eyes and let me know that she could hear what I was saying even though I was speaking loudly to her.

 

     After a few minutes of this one-sided conversation, I thought maybe she just wants to rest. So, I said to her that I was going to go. And then I said with a very slow and deliberate voice, “Alta, I’m going to leave now, and I’m going to say a prayer.”

 

     I decided to say the Lord’s Prayer, so I began praying, “Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name…”

 

     And it was at that point in the prayer, where in her weakened voice, she started praying along with me…

 

“…Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done. On earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespassed against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.”

 

     You know, sometimes, Alzheimer’s doesn’t win.

 

     I thanked her for praying that prayer with me and then I patted her hand and left the house. And as I was driving away, it occurred to me that she didn’t really need to have a conversation with me. It was more important in that moment for her to have a conversation with her Heavenly Father.

 

     I smiled as I continued my drive down the road thinking about that holy moment. Even in her declining state, Alta taught me that the most important thing we can do is have a conversation with God.

 

     And I invite us to do that now as I lead us in a time of prayer:

 

Prayer:

     Gracious God, thank you for the good news of our faith that death does not get the last word. Alzheimer’s does not get the last word. You get the last word because you said, “I am the resurrection and the life.” We look forward to that day when we will be reunited with all of your people in your glorious heavenly kingdom.

 

     We are grateful for all with which you have blessed us even to this day. For the gift of joy in days of health and strength and for the gifts of your abiding presence and promise in days of pain and grief. Thank you for sharing Alta with us and for how she has blessed us in so many special ways. Those seeds of the faith that she has planted will continue to grow and flourish in each and every one of us, for you promise that your Word will not return empty.

 

   Above all, we give you thanks for your Son Jesus, who knew our griefs, who died our death, who rose for our sake, and who taught us how to have a conversation with you, simply by praying this prayer together, Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the forever. Amen. 

Sermon (Dec. 8/Advent) “Wanting the Gift” by Rev. Robert McDowell

December 8, 2024 (Advent)

Beulah UMC & Oak Grove UMC

      Today is the 2nd Sunday of our Advent series, “The Gift.”

      During this season, we are looking at four very important words based on our appointed scripture readings that can help us prepare for the gift of Christmas. These four “W” words are Wait, Want, Wonder, and Watch.

     Last Sunday, we began by looking at the importance of waiting as we prepare for Christmas. On that 1st Sunday of Advent, we heard a scripture reading from the Prophet Jeremiah who lived 600 years before the birth of Christ.

     They were living during a very bleak time because of an invading army. And in the midst of this time of uncertainty and fear, Jeremiah announces this word of hope, “The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. In those days and in that time, I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David; and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.”

     In other words, Jeremiah was encouraging God’s people to be patient and to wait because God is faithful.

     What makes this scripture reading so incredible is that Jeremiah was proclaiming this word of hope while he was in prison! This reminds me of the Apostle Paul who wrote four of his letters while he was confined in prison. So, the person who is suffering the most is the one who is the most hopeful in reminding the people that God is faithful and will lead them into a glorious future.

 

     Not only was Jeremiah in prison while announcing those words for the people to wait patiently for God to save them, it would be another 600 years before that promise would be ultimately fulfilled through the birth of Jesus Christ.

     The four weeks of Advent that we are in now are nothing compared to the several centuries that the people of God needed to wait before the coming of Jesus into the world. That first Sunday of Advent reminds us that we can wait upon God because as Jeremiah tells us, “The days are surely coming.” The days are surely coming when God will make all things new. And so, it’s important for us in this Season of Advent to practice the discipline of waiting upon God because God will be faithful.

    And for today, our Advent word is the word, “Wanting.” What does it mean to want the gift that God promises to give to us?

   For this we turn to our appointed Old Testament scripture reading for today, this time from the Prophet, Zephaniah. Sounding a lot like the other Old Testament prophets who encouraged God’s anxious people to hang in there, Zephaniah uses very descriptive words about the glorious future that God has in mind for them. Zephaniah uses words like “sing aloud,” and “rejoice and exult.”

     The prophet tells the people to celebrate their faith in the present because the Lord is near! How near is the Lord? Near enough that we are already called to sing and rejoice. Now, that’s near!

     According to Zephaniah, this is not a time to “wait until your chickens are hatched,” as the old saying goes. Consider them hatched because the Lord is near!

     The other beautiful picture that Zephaniah offers us about wanting God’s gift is when he shares this good news with the people, “at that time, God will bring you home and our your fortunes will be restored.” This is what the people were wanting, knowing that God was providing them a home.

     I don’t know about you, but I want that for Christmas this year. I want to feel at home.  Feeling at home is probably the best Christmas gift we can ever receive.

     Penny and I like to watch house hunter type shows. We were watching one of these shows that takes place in the UK. The realtor shows couples three houses from which to pick. Once in a while, the couple ends up not choosing any of them because they’re just not the right house for them.

     A lot of times couples will choose the best house of the three even though the the house they choose doesn’t include everything on their checklist. After a lot of back and forth, they finally decide to buy one of those homes.

     But for one of the episodes, a couple found their dream house, the house they always wanted. The first two houses were OK, not great, but when they got to the 3rd house and before they even made it to the front door, the wife started tearing up, saying how beautiful the outside of the house was.

     Then they went inside the house, and she cried even more because it was the kitchen she always wanted and then the other rooms were just what she had always dreamed about for her future home. After they were done walking through the house, the realtor asked how much they thought the list price was.

     Thinking that it would be well over their budget, the realtor said that it was actually 50,000 lbs less than their budgeted amount. At that point, this woman broke down with even more tears of joy. She had found the house of her dreams. It was great for us to watch her expression.

     I think this is describing the joyful reaction that Zephaniah is saying that we can have even before we receive the gift. “Sing aloud, O daughter Zion; shout, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter Jerusalem! At that time, I will bring you home.”

     No wonder that our New Testament lesson is from Philippians, chapter 4 where we read, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. The Lord is near.”

     It would be one thing if Paul would have written this while he was on vacation somewhere on a tropical beach, but he wrote these words while he was confined in a prison cell for his faith. The Apostle Paul knew that whether he was in prison or out of prison, the good news is that we are always at home with God. “The Lord is near,” Paul writes. No matter what we may be facing, the good news is that the Lord is near.

     It was during my sophomore year of college when I discovered what I had been wanting in my life. Struggling with poor grades and a feeling of no direction, I suddenly realized that what was missing in my life was right there in front of me, a relationship with God.

     Even though I had grown up in the church and was nurtured in the faith all my life, somewhere along the way, I had forgotten to allow God to be at the center of my life. And without God at the center of my life, I didn’t feel any sense of peace or purpose. I was feeling lost.

     And so, one day during my 2nd year in college, I literally fell to my knees in desperation and told God that from that point on, I would seek to allow God to lead the way and to be first in my life.

     When I got up from that prayer, what had been a huge weight on my shoulders was suddenly lifted. And that weight was replaced with an indescribable sense of peace and an assurance that I wasn’t alone. God was with me.

     It was through that difficult and challenging time during those first two years of college that I realized what I really, really wanted in life. I thought that I just wanted to know what my college major should be or what my career path should be, but I discovered what I really wanted the most in my life was a relationship with God. That was what I was missing the most in my life.

     After I said that prayer, I wanted to do what Zephaniah is inviting us to do and that is to sing aloud and to rejoice and exult with all of my heart. I wanted to do what the Apostle Paul wrote from a prison cell and that is to rejoice in the Lord always.

       Several years ago, during my daily devotions, I felt led to answer the spiritual question that we are each being asked today. “What do I really want?”

     I thought about all of the things that I thought I wanted as I was preparing for the new day ahead.  But after some time thinking there in my study about that question, it really came down to this. After some prayer and reflection, here is what I ended up writing down,

     “What do I want? I want a faith centered on Christ, informed through study, sustained by prayer, lifted in worship, fed through the Sacraments, strengthened in weakness, contextualized through experience, open to change, manifested through serving, and welcoming to all.”

     And here’s how I know that this is what I really wanted, because in that moment all of my anxieties, worries, and concerns were replaced by an overwhelming sense of God’s indescribable peace.

       I invite you sometime today or this week, to take some time and respond to this same important question, “What do you want?” We don’t ask ourselves this question nearly enough but it’s one of the most important questions we can ever ask ourselves. It’s also a good question to encourage other people to ask of themselves as well.

     When you know deep down what you really want, it can lead us to sing aloud and rejoice. And if that’s true for us now in the middle of December, just think what Christmas is going to be like when we will be invited to receive the greatest gift we can ever receive.