Sermon (May 12/Ascension Sunday) “Power!” by Rev. Robert McDowell

May 12, 2024 (Ascension Sunday)

Beulah UMC & Oak Grove UMC

Rev. Robert McDowell

     When I was growing up with my older brother, I can remember standing in the middle of our garden, and I was wearing tbright red boots, blue pajamas, and a red cape.  

     Our white-haired dog at the time also had a red cape tucked underneath his collar and there we were standing together ready to save our hometown from imminent danger.  

     You see, my dear brother was in a Superman craze, and he had convinced me that I could become superman and fly.  That is, as long as I wore those red boots and that red cape.  I could be as powerful as Superman!

     He actually said to me, “Little brother, if you concentrate really hard and say over and over again to yourself that you can fly, you will be able to fly like Superman.  But you have to really want to fly.”  Keep in mind that this was before we had adequate laws against child endangerment.

     And so, with my shiny red boots and long red cape, I can remember walking into the middle of our garden behind the barn, and saying over and over to myself, “David said I can fly.  If I can just think hard enough, I’ll be able to fly.”  

     But no matter how many times I would jump into the air, gravity would always pull me back down.  It was exhausting in trying to be Superman. And you know, now that I reflect back on that experience, it’s a really good thing that I didn’t try this from some higher elevation! 

     But we all know that you don’t have to have to be Superman to possess power. All you need to have is that look that your mom used to give when you were in trouble. Do you know what “look” I mean? That “mom look.”

     Someone once told me about a time when they and their three siblings were in school. She said how their mom would line all four of them along the wall every year on the first day of school from oldest to youngest.  And she would say to them as she wagged her finger back and forth,

      “I expect each one of you to behave in school because if you get into trouble, it will be twice as worse when you get home!” “Twice as worse.”

     So, I asked the question that you probably would have asked this person – “So, did each of you behave?” And they told me, “Are you kidding, me? Of course we behaved! And that’s why all four of us did so well in school!”

     Oh, the power of a mother!

     Many of us are familiar with the name, Susanna Wesley. She was the mother of John Wesley, the founder of what is today, the United Methodist Church. The Wesley family, which included John and eighteen other children, grew up in England during the 1700s. Half of them died when they were still in their infancy.

     At one point, Susanna’s husband, Samuel, who was an Anglican Priest, was sent to debtor’s prison. Here’s what Susanna wrote to her husband while he was in prison. This will give us a little glimpse of this remarkable and powerful woman of faith. She wrote: 

     I am a woman, but I am also the mistress of a large family. And though the superior charge of the souls contained in it lies upon you, yet in your long absence I cannot but look upon every soul you leave under my charge as a talent committed to me under a trust. I am not a man nor a minister, yet as a mother and a mistress I felt I ought to do more than I had yet done. 

     I resolved to begin with my own children; in which I observe the following method: I take such a proportion of time as I can spare every night to discourse with each child apart. On Monday I talk with Molly, on Tuesday with Hetty, Wednesday with Nancy, Thursday with Jacky, Friday with Patty, Saturday with Charles.”

     When it was becoming apparent that her children were spending too much time playing and not enough time studying, she resolved to have them focus more on their education. 

     The children were not permitted to have any formal lessons until they had reached their fifth year, but the day after their fifth birthday is when Susanna taught them more formally in their home. She had them learn the alphabet on that first day. And they would be taught for six hours every day after that. 

     The children got a wonderful education, thanks to their mother. Daughters included, they all learned Latin and Greek and were well tutored in the classical studies of that time period. This was one powerful woman!

     But that’s not all! While Susanna’s husband was in debtor’s prison, a substitute priest led the worship services in his absence. Since he was not a very effective priest, Susanna resolved to have her own Sunday worship services for her family.

     When the locals heard that she was very good at leading these family worship services, they began attending these services in her home instead of the ones at the church. Over 200 people came to these services which were held in her kitchen, while the church would only have a handful of people on Sunday mornings.

     I think that there are many mothers out there who know a thing or two about power and what it means to use that power for good. Susanna Wesley certainly did!

     This is what the Apostle Paul wants each one of us to know from our Ephesians scripture reading this morning. We have been given God’s power and we are called to use this power to bless the people around us.

      The Apostle Paul wants us to know that through Christ, we have received the riches of his glorious inheritance! He wants us to know that through Christ, we have been given the immeasurable greatness of his power!

     When this letter was first read to the various churches located in the greater Ephesus area around the middle of the first century, it must have been mind boggling for these congregations to hear these words.  

     At the time they first heard this letter, they were living in or near a city which was a very powerful city, a city which was home to powerful Roman leaders, and a powerful pagan religion which used powerful displays of magic to impress its followers.

     This was the kind of city that would give a new religious movement like Christianity, an inferiority complex.  What power could this new religion possibly have?  Certainly not anything that can rival the glamour and prestige of a progressive major city that is adopting Roman culture and customs at a fast and furious pace.  

     In writing his letter for the churches located in or near the city of Ephesus, the Apostle Paul, is reminding these congregations that what they have been given in Jesus Christ puts them head and shoulders above anything their surrounding culture can ever hope to offer.

     Paul doesn’t want them to ever forget what they have received through Christ.  It’s an impressive list:  Wisdom, hope, a glorious inheritance, and power.

     Power.  Paul uses this word four times in this short passage of scripture.  Obviously, he wants the church to not only know about this power, but to live out this power through their ministry.

     Several years ago, I had lunch with a member of a rapidly growing church in Ohio. He told me the fascinating story of his church. He told me at that time that about five years ago, the church was going to close its doors because it had dwindled down to just a few members.

     Located in a strategic and growing area, over the past several years, this church had lost its vision and passion in reaching the people of its community. Just when they were about to close the church, a denominational official decided to give this church one more shot. 

     Over the past five years, this church has grown to over 500 people.  So, I asked this church member over lunch, “What’s the main reason why your church has turned things around in a short amount of time?”

     His eyes lit up and without even thinking about it, he said, “It’s because we pour ourselves out and share the love of Jesus in our community.”  

     And for the next sixty minutes he proceeded to tell me several ways that their church was pouring themselves out.  One of the ways they were pouring themselves out is by partnering with the local school district to help children and families in need. 

     After our lunch and on my way back to the church, I couldn’t get that phrase out of my mind.  “Poured out.”  I thought to myself, “That’s a great image for what the church is meant to be.”  We are to be poured out for the sake of the world.

     Out of curiosity, I did a google search to find this church’s website.  I clicked on their mission statement, and sure enough, here’s what it says:  “We are committed to building a church that is real, transformed, connected, and POURED OUT.” Poured out.

     No wonder he used that phrase over and over again.

     Ascension Sunday, it’s a Sunday in which the church remembers when Jesus ascended to be seated at the right hand of God forty days following his resurrection.  

     Ascension Sunday reminds us that when Jesus ascended, he literally ascended to his throne as King of kings and Lord of lords. This is kingly language that is being used here.

     The Apostle Paul refers to Jesus’ ascension in our Ephesians scripture passage this morning when he writes that God’s power was at work in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places.

     But let’s remember the events which preceded this King’s ascension.  This King gave it all.  This King gave his life.  This King was “poured out” for the sake of the world.

     So, when we hear scriptures like this one from Ephesians which talk about power, we’re not just talking about any power.

    On this day, we are invited to remember what real power is.  

     Think about Jesus, the Son of God, being placed in a manger.  That’s power.  

     Think about Jesus telling the disciples to love their enemies and to do good to them.  That’s power.

     Think about Jesus hanging on a cross to take upon himself the sin and pain of the world.  That’s power.

     Think about the resurrected and ascended Jesus, now seated at the right hand of God, victorious over sin and death.  That’s power.

     Whenever the church pours itself out in the name of Christ for the sake of others, that’s a church that knows what real power is.

     Happy Ascension Sunday!

Sunday (May 12) Pastoral Prayer

May 12, 2024

Beulah UMC & Oak Grove UMC

Loving God, as our hymn says, we offer to you our endless prayer so that your kingdom may be spread from shore to shore. We especially pray for our community and world where there is so much brokenness, pain and suffering. Thank you for pouring out your love through the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ.

 

May the same power that enabled Jesus to ascend to your heavenly throne also empower our church to be poured out in sacrificial and loving ways.

 

Pour us out by loving others unconditionally. Pour us out by welcoming those who feel excluded. Pour us out by offering words of encouragement. Pour us out by helping us to be good listeners so that people feel heard and valued. Pour us out as we live out our membership vows in offering our prayers, presence, gifts, service, and witness. Pour us out by caring for the needy, visiting the lonely, and feeding the hungry.

 

We also lift up to you the people on our church’s prayer list and those prayers needs that are on our hearts and minds this day.

 

Thank you for the people in our lives who have poured out your love and have blessed us. On this Mothers’ Day, we give you thanks for our mothers who have given us life and love.

 

We pray for mothers who have lost a child through death, that their faith may give them hope.

 

We pray for women, though without children of their own, who like mothers have nurtured and cared for us.

 

We pray for mothers, who have been unable to be a source of strength, who have not responded to their children and have not sustained their families.

 

Loving God, as a mother gives life and nourishment to her children, so you watch over each and every one of us.

 

On this Ascension Sunday, we offer our eternal prayer that your kingdom will continue to be spread from shore to shore and that your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. We pray this in the name of our Ascended Lord who 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.

Sermon (May 5) “The Mexican Wave” by Rev. Robert McDowell

May 5, 2024 Sermon

Rev. Robert McDowell

Beulah UMC & Oak Grove UMC

    Happy Cinco De Mayo! That’s about the extent of my Spanish speaking abilities. It means, “the 5^th of May” because on this day in 1862, Mexico defeated the Second French Empire at the Battle of Puebla which eventually led to the expulsion of French control. 

 

    In the United States, we tend to commemorate this day by celebrating Mexican culture especially in cities that have high Mexican American populations. Today is a good day to enjoy some Mexican food, hit a piñata and enjoy a nice siesta. 

 

    Knowing that today would be Cinco De Mayo, I ran across an interesting story about how “the Wave” got started. 

 

     The Wave is where a section of fans in one area of a sporting event stand up together while putting their arms in the air and then they sit down, which hopefully leads to the next section of fans doing the same until the wave makes it all around the stadium. And this can go on for several times around the stadium until it finally dies out. 

 

     The Wave phenomenon actually started at a sporting event in Mexico. It was first done in 1986 at the World Cup which Mexico was hosting.  The US didn’t qualify for that World Cup that year so there wasn’t as much media coverage. But it was at that World Cup in Mexico, where The Wave began. 

    

       We’ve all probably done the Wave at some point. And you have probably wondered why we don’t do it in church. Since today is Cinco De Mayo, let’s do the Mexican Wave this morning! 

 

     Excellent! Make sure you tell your friends that we’re a church that likes to have fun!

 

    I think the reason for the popularity of The Wave is that everyone gets to participate. Nobody is left out. It’s kind of like when fans sing together during the 7^th inning stretch. It’s a way of including everyone.

     Like The Wave at sporting events, the Bible is filled with stories of God calling on people to start The Wave in including more people in God’s all-embracing love.

    This morning’s Acts scripture reading is the tail end of a long story of God calling upon Peter to start The Wave by sharing the good news of Jesus with a man named Cornelius and his household. They were Gentiles who were considered to be outside of God’s covenant but were now invited to be included in God’s family through faith in Jesus. 

     God sent Peter a heavenly vision. And in this revelation, Peter saw heaven opened up and a large sheet came down in which there were several ritually unclean animals. He also heard a voice that said, “Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.”

     But Peter, reacting out of his understanding of what foods are clean and what foods are unclean, protested. At first, this vision made no sense to him because it would be a violation of his religious code of conduct. Everyone knows that certain foods are considered ritually unclean.

     But this voice from heaven persisted and offered him important new information to factor into his thinking. And this voice said, “What God has made clean, you must not call profane.”

     And I think it’s important to note in this story that the voice said this to Peter three times. His old way of thinking was so embedded in him that God needed to repeat himself for Peter to be open to a new understanding of his faith. 

     Even with the repetitions, we are told that Peter was still greatly puzzled by the vision. Greatly puzzled. Sometimes, when we are greatly puzzled, that just might be an indication that we are getting closer and closer to a breakthrough in our faith.

     As Peter is greatly puzzled, we are told that some travelers had arrived at Peter’s house asking for Peter to come with them. They had been sent by Cornelius, a Gentile who lived in the non-Jewish city of Caesarea, the “unclean” city of Caesarea. And his vision was to have his men go to Joppa to bring Peter to see him. 

     Which brings us to our Acts scripture reading for today in which we just get the end of this story where Peter then realizes why God had sent him the vision of the unclean animals. That vision was to prepare him to see how the distinctions between clean and unclean were giving way to God’s inclusive welcome to all people, both Jew and Gentile.

    Thanks to God’s prompting, Peter was able to start a new wave that would welcome and include more and more people in God’s loving embrace. And like Peter, God prompts us again and again to be part of that wave in which more and more people are invited to be part of God’s family.

     Visions are power things. They are even able to break the stones of our long-held beliefs in order to be open to how God is doing a new thing. 

     With Mother’s Day just a week away, I have been thinking of my mom who passed away back in 2012. She was a woman of vision, a woman who always had room for people around our kitchen table. 

     When I was growing up on a farm in south central, Pennsylvania, it was not uncommon for mom and dad to invite people who were visiting us during the later afternoon to stay for dinner.

     When I refer to people, I specifically mean people like our insurance agent, the ice cream delivery man, the tax accountant, the neighbor down the road, the relative stopping by to say hi. As dinner was nearing, mom would always invite these folks to stay for dinner.

     I honestly think that these folks strategically timed their visits as close to our dinner time as possible because they knew that mom and dad would invite them to stay by pulling up an extra chair or two to the kitchen table. When mom would invite them to eat with us, they would always politely decline because they didn’t want to be much trouble. 

     But they always ended up staying because, how could you not with the aroma of roast beef, mashed potatoes and green beans being prepared as they were chatting away. 

     Mom’s vision was for the people who stopped by our house to feel welcomed and included. I still have that vision of my parents there in our kitchen being so welcoming to people.

      It was a late July afternoon back in 2009 as I was standing on my second-floor hotel balcony looking down on the city streets of San Lucas Toliman in Guatemala.  

     I was with a mission team of fourteen people from my church who had gone there to work on a water project which would provide clean water to a small community located just outside of the city.

     Our team was exhausted from a long day of digging trenches under the hot Guatemalan sun.  Someone on my team, had awaken me from my pre-dinner nap and said, “Robert, come to the balcony.  You gotta see what Rock is doing!”

     Rock was a member of my church who was also a funeral director.  From our 2^nd floor balcony, he was playing a game with about twenty Guatemalan children who had gathered below.  

     Since he couldn’t speak Spanish and they couldn’t speak English, he had them playing a game in which they had to do exactly what he was doing which were often silly motions and gestures with his face and arms.

     They loved it and were laughing the whole time.  In just a few minutes, the twenty children turned into thirty children and from my balcony I yelled down to Rock, “Now what are you going to do for all these children?”  He shouted back up to me, “I’m going to go down to the store and buy candy to hand out to them.”

     And sure enough, that’s what he did.  The only problem was, as he was distributing the candy, those thirty children turned into forty children.   Rock became their new best friend!  

     Then, Rock got another idea.  He ended up forming a parade and had the children follow him up and down the polluted streets of this impoverished city as he whistled some silly song along the way.  By the time the impromptu parade ended, there must have been at least 50 to 60 children who had been following him.

      “Rock’s parade,” as we now refer to it, became one of the highlights of our mission trip. Rock started a small wave that ended up becoming a great big wave in which God’s love was shared with the people of that community. 

      I wonder what it would be like if we all saw ourselves as part of this great big wave where we are always welcoming, always inviting, always including, and always loving the people around us. Whenever we come forward to the Sacrament of Holy Communion, it is kind of like we are doing “The Wave.”

 

     This table with the bread and the cup is open to everyone, everyone:

 

     The nows and forevers and the yet-to-bes.

     The “where you going” and “the where you’ve been.”

     The living and the dead and the unseen.

     The somebodies and the nobodies.

     The who’s who and the Gentile and the Jew.

     Everyone is invited. All are welcome. So, let’s join Peter and Rock in keeping this wave and this parade going. Don’t let it fizzle out. Share the love of Jesus wherever you go.

     Happy Cinco De Mayo!

Sunday (May 5) Pastoral Prayer

May 5, 2024

Beulah UMC & Oak Grove UMC

Lord, first we want to apologize to you for treating your love like it’s our own private possession or in a way that would suggest that we believe we are more special than anybody else. Your love is both/and not either/or.

 

Thank you for your love which was supremely demonstrated through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, an overflowing love that includes more people than our personal biblical interpretations and limited minds can ever, ever imagine. But we also thank you for your overflowing love that also includes each and every one of us in this sanctuary.

 

Thank you for the disciple, Peter, who responded to the very unsettling vision you gave to him, by including people that he believed to be outside of your embrace. We don’t want to be the people who refuse to stand up when it’s our turn to continue the wave of your love. Teach us what it means to be a people of open hearts, open minds, and open doors.

 

We also pray that the wave of your love would be extended from our worship in this sanctuary and overflow into our community and world; to the people who are on our church’s prayer list and others we have lifted up to you this morning; to those who live in our community but do not have a church home; to those we encounter on a daily basis; and to people all around the world who are experiencing food scarcity, war, and suffering. On this Cinco De Mayo day of celebration, remind us that you call us to follow you humbly and continue the wave in sharing your love with everyone. 

 

We offer this prayer in the name of Jesus who 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.

Sermon (April 28) “Staying Connected” by Rev. Robert McDowell

Sermon “Staying Connected”

Rev. Robert McDowell

April 28, 2024

     Whenever I stay at my brother’s house in south central Pennsylvania, I know that calls on my cell phone are going to be a major problem. He lives in a terrible spot for cell phone coverage. 

     He acts like it’s no big deal. He says that if you sit on a particular chair at his kitchen table and stay absolutely still without breathing, you will be able to have a conversation for at least two minutes. What he doesn’t tell you is that even those specific instructions are hit or miss.

     I wish I had a nickel for every time he has ended a phone call conversation with these words, “I’m starting to pull up my driveway so I’m going to lose you. I’ll talk to you when…” There have been many a phone conversation where my brother never finishes that sentence.

     And I don’t even want to think about the places that don’t have a wifi connection or the signal is really weak. Those can be frustrating times. I know there are much bigger problems in the world, but it’s difficult to get anything done when you’re not connected.

     Penny and I have friends who went to France for vacation one year. They chose to stay at a hotel that offered free wifi according to the hotel brochure.

     When they arrived, they tried to connect to the internet but couldn’t. So, they asked someone at the desk how to access the hotel wifi. The hotel employee looked confused and told him that they didn’t have wifi. My friend was disappointed but went on with his vacation. 

     During the last night of their vacation, he finally figured out that they thought he was in need of a wife instead of WiFi. Kind of a big difference!

     Staying connected is a basic human need. It doesn’t matter if it’s cell phone coverage, a wifi signal, or our landline phone. There’s this basic need to be connected.

     I think this is what Jesus is getting at in our Gospel reading for today. He uses the image of a vine and the branches that grow from that vine. He tells his disciples, “Remain in me, and I will remain in you. A branch can’t produce fruit by itself but must remain in the vine.”

     And just in case we might not get the point he’s trying to make, he says, “I am the vine. You are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, then you will produce much fruit.” Jesus is saying that all we need to do is stay connected to him.

     So, what do you do when you have a weak connection or when you see the dreaded “no service” status regarding your faith? How do you get connected again in your relationship with God?

     Well, the good news is that God offers free spiritual wifi service. All we need to do is click on the little button that says, “connect.” OK, maybe it’s not as simple as that, but we often make it more difficult than it needs to be.

     The problem in having a strong connection in our faith isn’t because God doesn’t provide a strong enough heavenly signal. The problem is on our end. Sometimes, we just don’t connect when we can easily connect.

 

     The Washington Times carried a story about then Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. According to this newspaper article, Dr. Rice once described to a Sunday school class at National Presbyterian Church in Washington, how she had drifted from her Christian faith and how God reached out and brought her back:

     "I was a preacher's kid," says Dr. Rice, "so Sundays were church, no doubt about that. The church was the center of our lives. In segregated black Birmingham of the late 1950s and early 1960s, the church was not just a place of worship. It was the place where families gathered; it was the social center of the community, too.

     "Although I never doubted the existence of God," Dr. Rice continues, "I think like all people, I've had some ups and downs in my faith. When I first moved to California in 1981 to join the faculty at Stanford, there were a lot of years when I was not attending church regularly. I was traveling a lot. I was a specialist in international politics, so I was always traveling abroad. I was always in another time zone.  

 

     One Sunday I was in the Lucky's Supermarket not very far from my house. I was standing near the spices section and an African-American man walked up to me and said he was buying some things for his church picnic. And he said, 'Do you play the piano by any chance?'

     "I said, 'Yes.' They said they were looking for someone to play the piano at church. It was a little African-American church right in the center of Palo Alto. A Baptist church. So, I started playing for that church. That got me regularly back into church going. 

 

     I don't play gospel very well. I play Brahms and you know how black ministers will start a song and the musicians will pick it up? I had no idea what I was doing and so I called my mother, who had played for Baptist churches.

 

     "'Mother,' I said, 'they just start. How am I supposed to do this?' She said, 'Honey, play in C and they'll come back to you.' And that's true," says Dr. Rice, "If you play in C, people will come back. I tell that story," she goes on, "because I thought to myself, 'My goodness, God has a long reach.' I mean, in the Lucky's Supermarket on a Sunday morning."

 

     This is a story about reconnecting in our faith even if you are at the grocery store like Condolezza Rice. God is always available to us. God is always reaching out to us. God is always extending his love and grace to us. It doesn’t matter what we have done or what we have left undone, God’s grace signal is always at full strength for us. There’s zero chance for a dropped call. 

     God can always get through to you even if you are walking through the deepest valley of your life. Just ask the person who wrote Psalm 23. He’ll tell you the same thing.

     While God’s signal strength is always at full strength, sometimes we are the ones who don’t stay connected in our faith. The good news is that there are many ways for us to stay connected to Christ.

     John Wesley, the founder of Methodism referred to these ways as “Means of Grace.” 

     We call these ways of staying connected, “Means of Grace” because these are tried and true ways that people over the centuries have been able to stay in a growing relationship with Jesus Christ.

     So, here’s a quick list. Prayer, reading and meditating on scripture, fasting from meals, attending weekly worship, sharing our faith with others, group bible study, share groups, classes, serving through the church, seeking justice, Christian conferencing, healthy living, visiting the sick and the imprisoned, being a generous giver, doing good, baptism renewal, receiving the Sacrament of Holy Communion.

     John Wesley, who was the founder of what we know today as the United Methodist Church, emphasized the importance of staying connected to Christ by participating in these means of grace on a regular basis. Yes, God can meet us in chance encounters in a grocery store, but God also will meet us through the holy spiritual practices of our faith.

     When we worship here in church, know that the risen Christ is with us in the reading of scripture, in our prayers, in the singing of hymns, when we listen to an anthem, and yes, even through the sermon.

     That devotional booklet that you will read tomorrow will serve as a means of grace to help you begin your day with God. When you share a little of your faith story with a next-door neighbor, don’t be surprised if you are drawn closer to God yourself. When you help serve a meal or visit someone who is feeling lonely, it’s amazing how these small acts of kindness will not only bless the people we serve but will bless us as well.

     The means of grace are what help us to have a strong connection in our faith. When we drift away from God, they help to bring us back. When we lose a signal, these are the ways that we get connected again.

     Our family has a cottage in the mountains of Central Pennsylvania. My dad had built this place to stay during the deer hunting season many years ago, but today it’s a place where we can get away for a few days.

     It’s a beautiful place that is nestled at the base of a mountain range. It’s a secluded area with a state park nearby. When you wake up in the morning, you can see the mountain fog hovering over the valley right in front of the cottage. I always feel close to God when I go there.

     In a place like that, you really shouldn’t care about getting on the internet, right? You shouldn’t worry about making calls on your cell phone. But I can’t help it. I do.

     There is absolutely no cell phone coverage where the cottage is located. The mountains around the cottage will not allow any phone calls to be made. When I’m there, I get that dreaded “No Service” message at the top of my cell phone. 

     My brother and I spent a weekend there a few years ago. We enjoyed the quiet and much slower pace of what we like to refer to as God’s country.

     Near the end of our time there, my brother and I decided to go find the place where dad liked to take us for deer hunting when we were teenagers. It was about a twenty-minute drive from the cottage. 

     We found the little one lane gravel road at the base of the mountain and up we went to the very top. When we got out of the car, my brother said, “This is it. This is where dad liked to go hunting. Remember it?”

     We went down a path where dad would set up camp and wait patiently for the deer. It was a holy moment for us as we remembered how much dad loved to hunt and be out in nature.

     I took out my phone to take a picture of the beautiful scenery of the valley below and that’s when I noticed that I now had full cell phone service. All of my cell phone bars were showing. I was at full strength.

     All of the sudden, emails and text messages starting flooding into my phone after having absolutely no service the past few days. I told my brother that I was connected again. And that’s when he told me to turn around.

     And there, right behind me at the top of that mountain was a ginormous cell phone tower. I couldn’t have been more connected than I was in that moment.

     You know, sometimes, all we have to do is turn around to see that we are already connected to the creator of the universe. Sometimes, all we need is that one person on top of a mountain or that stranger by the spices in a grocery store to simply point out that God is already there.

     Jesus says, “I am the vine, and you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, then you will produce much fruit.” 

     Just look over your shoulder. God is closer than you think.

Sunday (April 28) Pastoral Prayer

April 28, 2024

Beulah UMC & Oak Grove UMC

O Jesus, come and fill your lambs. Fill us with the awareness of your presence, especially during those times when we feel disconnected from you. Fill us with daily reminders that we belong to you. Fill us with a desire to stay connected with you through prayer, the scriptures, worship, serving, giving, and sharing our faith.

 

Fill your lambs, as we lift up to you those are facing challenges with their health, their finances, their relationships, and in need of your direction and guidance. We lift up all who are on our church’s prayer list as well as others who are on our hearts and minds this day.

 

Fill your lambs, as we lift up to you the lay and clergy delegates from all around the world who are representing our denomination at this week’s General Conference in Charlotte, North Carolina. Grant them open hearts and minds as they seek to be faithful in their prayerful deliberations at this gathering. May your Holy Spirit continue to fill them with wisdom, guidance, boldness, and humility in the important work they are doing on our behalf.

 

Fill your lambs, especially since we are not all of one mind on so many complex issues that are facing the church today. And even though we may not all think alike, may we always remember to love alike. And may we all remember our main purpose for being your church which is to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.

 

And whenever we become disconnected from you, from each other, and from your presence in our lives, remind us to abide in you, for you are the vine and we are your branches. Draw us closer to you even now as we pray the words that you 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.

Sermon (April 21) “Go Green!” by Rev. Robert McDowell

Sermon “Go Green!”

Rev. Robert McDowell

Beulah UMC & Oak Grove UMC

April 21, 2024

     Every year around the month of March, Penny and I will be driving somewhere during one of those first warm and sunny days, and I will exclaim with joy, “everything looks so green!”

     I always look forward to that day when I become overwhelmed with the signs of spring and new life all around us, especially after the winter season.

     Today is what has become known as “Shepherd’s Sunday.” It’s around this time every year that the shepherd’s psalm, Psalm 23 is paired with the Good Shepherd scripture reading from John, chapter ten. 

     This Good Shepherd Sunday and my “everything looks so green day” always lifts my spirit and restores my soul. 

     In a bible commentary that I was reading about our Gospel reading for today where Jesus refers to himself as the “Good Shepherd,” it said that a more fitting word would be “beautiful.” Jesus is our “beautiful” shepherd. By the word, “beautiful” this bible scholar was not referring to the shepherd’s physical appearance but to what this shepherd offers his sheep. 

     We are drawn to the shepherd’s unconditional love, mercy, forgiveness, wisdom, protection, hope, strength, companionship, and of course, the shepherd’s saving grace. This is what makes Jesus so beautiful and why people are so drawn to Jesus.

     Thinking of Jesus as our Beautiful Shepherd in this way helps us understand why Jesus says in our Gospel reading, “My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me.”

     Where does Jesus as our beautiful shepherd lead us? Think of Psalm 23. “He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters.”

     Green pastures! Our shepherd invites us to “go green” which refers to that place where our souls can be renewed and replenished. 

    When Jesus calls our names, he calls us to “go green,” and to find that space where our souls can find peace. Where is your green space that Jesus is calling you to follow him so that you can find that sense of peace, security, and protection? 

     I served a church near Dayton, Ohio and while we were there, they built an outdoor shopping area like and it’s called, “The Greene.” 

     Everybody couldn’t wait to go to “The Greene” to go shopping and we did on a number of occasions while we lived in that area. During our time there, I came across a young pastor who felt called by God to begin a new church start in the middle of that new outdoor shopping center. 

     He explained that he wanted to provide a church presence in that shopping area for store managers, retail workers, groundskeepers, and shoppers and to provide a sense of community and spiritual support for the people of that retail community.

     For this young pastor, to “go green,” meant to go to “The Greene” and to be a blessing to the people in that retail community. If going green can lead us to a shopping center, what about a hotel room?

          Fifteen years ago, in a church I was serving, I officiated for the funeral of an elderly church member. She didn’t have a lot of surviving family members, but her brother who drove up from South Carolina met me at the church to help me prepare for the funeral service.

     He was very nice and told me a lot about his sister. And then I asked him if there was any particular scripture that he wanted me to read during the service. 

     And he said to me, “Yes, my favorite scripture is Psalm 23. I’d like you to read that during the service. It has special meaning for me.” And so, I asked him what he liked about this psalm, and he told me the most amazing story.

     He said that he was in a hotel room in Philadelphia many, many years ago. He said that he couldn’t get to sleep because he was feeling very nervous and anxious that night. 

     He said that he opened the nightstand drawer in his hotel room and found a bible. He opened it to Psalm 23 and after he read it, it really helped him to feel at peace and he was able to get some needed sleep that night so that he would be rested for the next day. 

     But he wasn’t done with his story. He said that the reason he was so nervous that night was because he was going to be the starting pitcher for a baseball game the next day. 

     And he said that he ended up pitching one of his best games he ever pitched. He said that they beat the Philadelphia Phillies that day and that he was able to strike out Richie Ashburn to help win the game.

     And it was at that point when I said, “Excuse me? What did you say? Were you a major league pitcher?”

    To make a long story short, I discovered that I was talking to Jim Waugh who was a starting pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 1950’s. He grew up in the town where I was serving as pastor. 

     He told me that he had the record for being the youngest pitcher to win a game for the Pittsburgh Pirates when he was just 18 years old.  Joe Garagiola was the catcher for that game.

     And he said that’s why Psalm 23 has so much meaning for him. It helped him to know that the Lord was his shepherd, and he didn’t have anything to fear. For this young Major League Baseball pitcher, a bible in his hotel room was the green space that he needed to calm his nerves and place his trust in his loving shepherd.

     My family has a cottage in the mountains of central Pennsylvania. My mom and dad bought this as a vacation home back in the 1970s. They would take us there during the summer. It was about a two-and-a-half-hour drive from where we lived. 

     The cottage is located along a mountain range that’s very secluded and near a beautiful state park. Even though mom and dad are no longer with us, I feel their presence whenever I visit there which is about once a year. 

     My mother’s bible is still there in the cottage near one of the windows where she would enjoy looking out at the beautiful green trees surrounding her. I can still picture her reading that bible with a cup of coffee next to it. 

     Sometimes when I’m there visiting, I’ll open her bible and see where she highlighted some verses and scribbled some notes in the margin. That was where my mom and dad “went green,” in that little escape to the mountains of Central Pennsylvania.

     Our shepherd has many green spaces where we our souls can be restored. 

     When one of my uncles died several years ago, my family asked me to read Psalm 23 during the funeral service which was held in northern Maryland near where he lived. My uncle was a farmer all his life and that small country church was packed with other farmers and their families. 

     I began reading this Psalm like I usually do, using the King James Version which is the common way this psalm is read and the way most of us have learned it. It’s the version we read together earlier in our worship service. 

     And so, I started reading Psalm 23, “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures…”

     I stopped reading it after that first line of the Psalm because I realized in that moment that Uncle Bill’s whole life was about spending time in green pastures on his farm. I think people at that funeral were wondering if I was OK because I just stood there for a few moments of silence thinking about that line from Uncle Bill’s perspective. He literally spent his whole life living out Psalm 23 by working on his farm.

     My green space is in the study of our house. Every Monday, I have an all-day appointment with Jesus and I spend that time in prayer, listening for the shepherd’s voice, and writing sermons. I refer to this as my “Mondays with Jesus” time. I’ve been doing this for the past 27 years. 

     I have other green spaces as well, but those Mondays in my study are a time for me to not only work on sermons, but to invite God to restoreth my soul. And depending on how it went on Monday, sometimes, I also need to have Tuesdays with Jesus, and Wednesdays with Jesus and maybe even Thursdays with Jesus in order to finish the sermon.

     Actually, Jesus calls us to go green every day, to find those green pastures and still waters where our souls can be renewed. 

     This sanctuary is a green space for us. Sanctuary. It’s a word that means a place of refuge and safety. It’s also interesting that it’s used to describe a nature reserve like when we refer to a bird sanctuary. That’s what this place is meant to be. 

     This is holy space for us where we worship, fellowship and encourage one another as we listen for the shepherd’s voice calling our names. Going green means going to those places where we allow ourselves to hear the voice of our beautiful shepherd. 

     What would lead a young pastor to begin a new church in an outdoor shopping center?  What would lead an anxious young man to open a bible in a hotel room because he can’t sleep? What would lead a mother to always have a bible next to a window looking out toward the trees along a mountain range? What would lead a farmer to spend his whole life taking care of green pastures? What would lead a pastor to escape from the world for a day each week to see what God might want to say through him? And what would lead some people every Sunday morning to meet in this place to have their souls restored?

     I know what would lead us to do such a thing. The voice of a good shepherd, a beautiful shepherd who calls each one of us by name, who leads us to green pastures, and who restoreth our souls.

     Go green!