A United Methodist Pastor's Theological Reflections

"But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory (nikos) through our Lord Jesus Christ." - I Corinthians 15:57


Monday, September 30, 2024

Sunday (Sept. 29) Pastoral Prayer


Sunday, September 29, 2024
Beulah UMC & Oak Grove UMC

O God, thank you for the many times this past week that you have blessed us with your goodness, guidance, and grace. You provided signs of your presence in so many different ways and we are grateful.

 

We can also sense your presence this morning here in worship through the reading of scripture, our hymns and prayers, and in this time of sharing in prayer together. Hear our prayers as we lift up to you those who are on our church’s prayer list and others who are on our hearts and minds this day. May they know of your healing, guiding, and comforting presence in whatever they may be facing.

 

Whenever we become discouraged or struggle with making an important decision or in need of reassurance that you are with us, remind us to always turn to you.

 

And so today, we turn to you for strength and for hope. We turn to you as we seek to be your faithful disciples. We turn to you and pray these words that you taught us to say 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.

Monday, September 23, 2024

Sermon (Sept. 22) “You are Welcome” by Rev. Robert McDowell

September 22, 2024
Beulah UMC & Oak Grove UMC

     Penny has me hooked on watching house shows. We love watching how designers are able to take an existing home and create more living space for the people who live there. 

      

     Sometimes they will do this by removing a wall to open up the room or repurposing a corner in the house where there is a lot of wasted space. And the best part of these shows is the look on their faces when they have the big reveal. A lot of times, we fast forward through a lot of the show just to get that part.


     You’ve heard of the phrase, “I need some space.” We all need space. We all need enough room where we don’t feel crowded. There is something about getting rid of the clutter in our lives to help us feel more at peace.


     Jesus was incredible at creating space for people. I think this is why people were so drawn to him. He was able to make room for them.


     In our Gospel reading for today, we have another example of Jesus creating space for people, this time for children. And I love how Mark sets up this story. Just before this story of Jesus welcoming the children, we have the story of the disciples arguing with each other about who was the greatest.


     This is that classic example of adults acting like children. The disciples were arguing with each other about who is more important.


     This ties in with our James New Testament reading where James asks the question, “Those conflicts and disputes among you, where do they come from?” I can’t help but to wonder if this is the same James, the disciple who was in that same group arguing about who was the greatest. My hunch is that James was speaking from his own experience.


     After Jesus calls the disciples out on being so childish, instead of giving them a lecture about what it means to be one of his disciples and acting more like adults, he does a little visible demonstration instead. Jesus takes a little child in his arms and says, “Whoever welcomes me, welcomes not me but the one who sent me.”


     That’s an interesting word that Jesus uses here. “Welcome.”  In the original Greek, the word, “welcome” refers to exactly what Jesus was doing here, providing space for someone, in this case a little child.


     Think of a grandparent hugging their grandchild for the first time after several months of being separated because of living far away from each other. Think of parents hugging their son or daughter after they have been away at college for several months. This is the kind of genuine, authentic welcome that Jesus means when he uses the word, “welcome.”


     In all my years serving as pastor, I have never heard people in a church say that they are not a welcoming church. And that’s probably true. Most churches are welcoming. OK, there might be a few out there who really aren’t, but for the most part, I do think that churches are welcoming.


     But do we really welcome in the way that Jesus means here? This scripture has led me to rethink what it means for us to be a welcoming church. If welcoming means that we join Jesus in giving space for people to have enough room to feel safe and grow, that takes it to a much more meaningful level.


     To be a disciple of Jesus means that we create space for others. Jesus is showing us that being a disciple is closely associated with being welcoming of others. When we create space for others, we are giving people room to grow and flourish.


       I love our Call to Worship this morning that is based on Psalm 1. The psalmist says, “Happy are those who follow God. They are like trees planted by streams of water which yield their fruit in its season.”


     That’s a great image of what we are called to do for others. Create space for others so that together, we can flourish and grow in our faith.


     This story of Jesus welcoming a child is is a story of creating space for others. It’s what it means for us to be Jesus’ disciples. It’s what it means for us to be a welcoming church.


     In Jesus’ day, children were ignored and seen as nuisances. And sadly, even today, children are not always shown love and nurture. But this was especially true in Jesus’ day, since he was living in a Roman/Greco culture where the treatment of children was very cruel by our standards today.


     So, when Jesus took a child into his arms in order to demonstrate to the disciples what it means to be welcoming, his point would have been well taken. Being welcoming is about giving space to people who have not been given the space they need so that they can grow and flourish in being who God is calling them to be.


     Jesus’ inclusive love for all people was demonstrated in so many ways throughout his ministry. Jesus traveled to many places where people didn’t feel welcomed.


     Jesus offers us example after example in how he welcomed all people and shared God’s unconditional love with them. Just here in Mark’s Gospel alone, in the chapters preceding today’s reading, the first thing Jesus does is he calls on a bunch of common fishermen to become his disciples. He welcomed them.


     Jesus then heals a man with an unclean spirit, a woman sick with a fever, a leper, and a paralytic man. He welcomed them.


     He ate dinner with people who were considered sinners and unworthy to be included in God’s family. He welcomed them.


     He healed another man who had a withered hand, and he did this on the Sabbath which was considered a major religious violation. He healed many others as well. He welcomed them.


     When his mother and brothers were calling for him, he looked at the crowd and said, “Here are my mother and my brothers.” He welcomed them.


     When the disciples were caught in a storm and they thought the boat was going to sink, he calmed the storm and saved them by saying, “Peace, be still.” He welcomed them.


     When they made it to the other side of the lake, he then healed a man who had an unclean spirit, healed a young girl who was near death, and restored a woman who had been sick for twelve years. He welcomed them.


     He fed a large crowd of people with just five loaves and two fish and even had twelve baskets of leftovers. He welcomed them.


     I’m now in chapter 6 where Mark tells us in his own words, “And wherever he went, into villages or cities, or farms, they laid the sick in the marketplaces and begged him that they might touch even the fringe of his cloak and all who touched it were healed.” He welcomed them.


    A non-Jewish woman came to him begging to heal her daughter and Jesus healed her and then he healed a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech. When he was healed, the man said, “He has done everything well; he even makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.” He welcomed them.


     Where are we?  Oh, yes. Chapter eight. Once again, he feeds another great crowd of people with a little bit of bread and some fish, and this time there were seven baskets of leftovers. Jesus welcomed them.


     Hey, we’re finally in chapter 9! He invites some of his disciple to follow him up a mountain and they watched the most incredible thing where he, along with Moses and Elijah, those two ancient figures from the Old Testament mysteriously appear and are transfigured with Jesus.


     Jesus gave them a front row seat in seeing a glimpse of heaven that they would never forget! He welcomed them.


     Just barely down from the mountain, Jesus heals a man’s son who was unable to speak since childhood. He welcomed them.


     And this brings us to today’s story. Let me catch my breath. Taking a child into his arms, Jesus tells his bickering disciples, “Whoever welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me, welcomes not me, but the one who sent me.” He welcomed them.


     Jesus’ welcomed everyone throughout his ministry and he calls us to be welcoming as well. When we welcome people and give them the space they need to feel loved and accepted with no strings attached, that’s when people can flourish and grow in their faith.

 

    Anne Lamott is one of my favorite contemporary Christian authors. She is originally from the Bay area and grew up with very little exposure to organized religion.  But in 1985 when she was 31, she decided to try out a Presbyterian Church one Sunday morning. 

     Hungover, she listened as the congregation sang old spirituals and she kind of enjoyed hearing those songs, so she stayed there, and in her words, “the people didn’t hassle me.” 

     She goes on to share in an interview, “They didn’t try to get me to stay or to sign up for a bible study, and most important, they didn’t threaten to come and have a home visit and get to know me more, because I would have so run screaming back to my cute little life.  They just let me be there at a time where I didn’t really have much sense of belonging anywhere or of being OK, because I was pretty hung-over most mornings.”

     She goes on to say that she went to that same church “for months and months and months without staying for the sermon because it was too bizarre to hear the Jesus beliefs.  Then a year later, I just started to feel like Jesus was around me.  I would feel His presence.  God was like this little stray cat.  You know, I would kind of nudge him with my feet and say, ‘No,’ because you can’t let him in, because once you let him in and give him milk, you have a little cat, and I didn’t want it.  I lived on this tiny little houseboat at the time, and finally one day I just felt like: ‘Oh, whatever.  You can come in.’ And from that day on, which was almost 22 years ago, I have really felt a relationship or friendship with Jesus, a connection to him.”

     Anne Lamott experienced Jesus’ welcome through the love and openness of that little Presbyterian Church.


     In one of the churches I served, someone who was new to our church sent me this wonderful reason why she and her husband enjoyed coming to church every week. It has stayed with me ever since.


     She wrote, “Thank you for helping to create a space for us.”


     And my response to her was… “You are welcome.”

Sunday (September 22) Pastoral Prayer


Sunday, September 22, 2024
Beulah UMC & Oak Grove UMC

Lord Jesus, thank you for this morning’s prayer hymn that most of us probably sang many times when we were little children. That simple message that to you we belong.

 

Thank you for creating space for children. And thank you for creating space for big children like us. Thank you for loving us for who we are; your blessed, beloved, and beautiful children of our Heavenly Father.

 

Just as you create space and welcome us as we are, help us to become more like you where we also welcome the people we encounter, especially those with whom we often keep at a distance. May our embrace be as wide as the embrace of Jesus who welcomed all.

 

And so, in this time of prayer, we seek to create space for those who feel separated from you, who feel judged, who feel unworthy, and who feel invisible and neglected in our society.

 

We also seek to offer your welcome to all who are on our hearts and minds this day; the sick and the hungry, the homeless and the downtrodden, and the lonely and the destitute. May your circle be expanded through each and every one of us, including our thoughts and our prayers for those who are on our church’s prayer list, and the many other people who we lift up to you in prayer this morning.

 

Thank you for reminding us every time we gather for worship, that your circle of love and welcome is not complete until thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

 

We pray this in the name of Jesus who loves me, this I know…

 

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.

Monday, September 16, 2024

Sermon (Sept. 15) “The Word on the Street” by Rev. Robert McDowell


September 15, 2024
Beulah UMC & Oak Grove UMC

    When was the last time that you did something foolish? It probably wasn’t that long ago because we all do foolish things from time to time. We’re human beings which means that we are prone to do foolish things.


     I was reading an article about foolish things people have done. I think I read that article because it made me feel better about myself. These stories made me smile.


      Someone shared the story of a time when he spent almost an hour searching his house for his phone....and this was while he was on the phone with his mother.


     He says that she could hear him getting frustrated and throwing things around, so she asked what was wrong. And he replied, "I can't find my phone anywhere! I have been looking for it the whole time that we’ve been talking…” That’s when he said, “Oh, nevermind.”


     Someone else mentioned that they couldn’t find their favorite pair of shorts. He spent the next half hour looking everywhere for them and then realized that he was already wearing them.


     Somebody posted on Twitter that they just made some yummy synonym rolls and showed a picture of them. Someone else responded, “Yeah, just like grammar used to make.”


     Another person asked if anybody knew the name of the boat in the movie, “Titanic.”


     This person was showing off some pictures that they had taken with their new iPhone. They said, “The quality of these photos is so surreal, it’s like Leonardo DiCaprio had painted them.” I wonder if this person thinks that Leonardo DaVinci was an award-winning actor.


     If we had enough time, I’d share some foolish things that I have done as well. Ok, just a couple, I guess.


     In one of the churches I served, I announced to the congregation about our upcoming Cabernet musical, but I meant to say “Cabaret.” Evidently those two words have entirely different meanings! People were disappointed when we only offered punch and coffee at the event.   


     There was also the time when somebody called the church office where I was serving at the time, and they asked to speak the pastor. When the phone in my office rang, I thought it was our Office Manager who was going to let me know who was on the other line.


     So, I decided to have a little fun as I like to do sometimes thinking that it was our Office Manager. I picked up the phone and in a very snobby voice I said, “Yes, this is the Right Reverend and Most Holy, Senior Pastor, Robert McDowell. Please state your purpose for calling.” And there was this brief pause and my heart sunk when I realized the person on the other end wasn’t our Office Manager. It was an attorney regarding an estate gift that was being made to our church.


     That embarrassing incident taught me the importance of proper phone etiquette.


     So yeah, I have done my fair share of foolish things, but don’t we all?


     The Book of Proverbs talks a lot about foolishness and how God is always wanting us to be the wise people that we have been created to be. Now, I don’t think the writer of Proverbs is too worried about the examples of foolishness that I’ve just shared with you. I think Proverbs is much more concerned about the kind of foolishness that can have far greater negative consequences.


     The Bible’s references to the importance of wisdom vs. foolishness can be found throughout its pages. From the Book of Proverbs, the prophetic writings, and into the New Testament where Jesus uses wise vs. foolish parables in his teachings, the Bible emphasizes the importance of wisdom.


     Jesus refers to the wise person who built a house on a rock vs. the foolish person who built a house on sand. Jesus talks about the foolish bridesmaids who weren’t prepared for the wedding vs. the wise ones who were ready.


      Wisdom is so important in the Bible that we are told here in our Proverbs scripture reading that it even cries out in the streets to get our attention. In verse 22 of our scripture reading, it says that wisdom cries out, “How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple.” By the way, I don’t think the use of the word, “simple” here is a compliment.


     If you have ever seen or heard how somebody did or said something that was so thoughtless, so irresponsible, so selfish, and so hurtful toward themselves or others, maybe it led you to do this: 🤦‍♂️


     Or maybe upon further reflection, you realized that it was you that did or said something that was foolish, you might have also did this: 🤦‍♂️


     We can all be foolish where we make impulsive and shortsighted decisions.


     The Book of Proverbs has a word of hope for those of us who are prone to do foolish things. It says in our reading for today that wisdom is calling out to us even on the street.


     The Book of Proverbs was most likely written after Israel had been in exile for the past several decades. Their pride and foolishness had placed them in a vulnerable situation that led to their exile by the Babylonian Empire.


     Their foolishness was that they had turned from God and refused God’s wisdom which led them into exile. The Book of Proverbs is to remind God’s people who are now back home from being in exile to seek wisdom and to not be foolish as they look toward the future.


     I think it’s interesting that the wisdom that God wants us to have is not hidden somewhere. We are told that wisdom cries out in the streets and in the squares for all to hear.


     Even on the busiest street corner, wisdom cries out. In verse 23 of our Proverbs reading, God says that “I will pour out my thoughts to you and I will make my words known to you.”


     The word on the street is wisdom calling out to each one of us. I love this descriptive way of showing how wisdom is accessible. We don’t even have to be in church to hear wisdom speaking to us.


     It’s calling out in the coffee shops, in the classrooms, on the sidewalks, in the restaurants and bars, in churches and everywhere we go. Wisdom cries out in the streets because that’s where people go.


     Sometimes, the choices we face in life are not about wisdom vs. foolishness. It’s more about making a wise decision when the pathway in front of us doesn’t look very clear-cut.


      Wisdom often involves us wrestling with our faith. Here are a couple of examples from the Bible of what I mean.


     In the Old Testament, we have the story of Jacob, the brother of Esau who spent an entire night wrestling with God about who he was and the direction he was going. But it was after that long night of wrestling that Jacob received a blessing from God.


     In the New Testament, while Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane, he wrestled with his decision to go to the cross. He fervently prayed for a long time and the disciples who were with him kept falling asleep.


     In the Book of Acts, the early church needed to wrestle over several issues that were facing them in light of their faith in Christ. Some of these issues included whether or not Gentiles could be baptized into the Christian faith and which Old Testament laws they needed to continue to follow, and which ones were not as important to follow.


     And we continue as followers of Jesus and as the church to wrestle with various issues as they relate to our faith. We are never done growing, learning, and discerning in what it means to be God’s faithful people.


   Wisdom may cry out in the street, but it’s also not handed to us on a silver platter. When wisdom calls out to us, it’s calling us to think about our decisions, to sometimes rethink our long-held beliefs, to live in the tension of complicated issues, to pray, to discern, to seek counsel, and then by God’s grace, to make decisions that would best express who God is calling us to be.


     I served as a pastor in a college town located in southeast, Ohio where Ohio University is located and has approximately 24,000 students. My church was located just a block away from the university’s main entrance which is also near a busy intersection of the town. Around that busy intersection are coffee shops, restaurants, banks, and stores.


     During the week, I would often walk down to that busy intersection to just go for a little walk or just get a cup of coffee. The college entrance that is located there is actually a large brick archway.


     At the top of that university archway are these incredible words that are engraved in the cement above: “So enter that daily thou mayest grow in knowledge, wisdom, and love.”


     In that little university town, wisdom is literally crying out on the street to all who pass by. “So enter that daily thou mayest grow in knowledge, wisdom, and love.”


     I often wondered how many people who walk by that archway actually stop to look up and read those words of wisdom. The Book of Proverbs is reminding us that wisdom is calling out to us wherever we go.


   May we all hear her voice.