Sermon Extra (November 22) - The Marney Video Interview

Watch the video of the person who wrote the Thanksgiving letter to her family which I referenced in my "A Norman Rockwell Thanksgiving" (November 22) sermon. Enjoy! 

Sermon (November 22/Thanksgiving Sunday) by Rev. Robert McDowell - "A Norman Rockwell Thanksgiving"

    What is your ideal Thanksgiving holiday? What would make this Thursday’s holiday one of the best Thanksgivings you have ever had?

     Last year’s Thanksgiving holiday for Penny and me didn’t go as planned. We were supposed to spend the holiday with family in the Philadelphia area, but at the last minute, we canceled because of a huge snowstorm that hit the East Coast the day before Thanksgiving.

     When it comes to the holidays, we often have this picture perfect dream of how it should go. We know that things won’t go as planned. They never do.

     An unexpected early snowstorm will keep some family members away. An uncle will come down with a terrible cold and share those germs with the rest of the family. You remembered to get everything for the big meal, but you can’t find the baster for the turkey.

     The one time during the year that you need to use a baster, you can’t even find it. It’s hiding in some obscure kitchen drawer that rarely gets used. Things often don’t always go according to plan around the holidays.

     Do you remember the iconic Norman Rockwell Thanksgiving painting? As the perfectly golden brown turkey is being placed on the table, each family member is admiring the spread of food on the table.

     They are all beautifully dressed with picture perfect smiles. Nobody is crying.

     Even a young child in that picture is looking on with admiration. Is this family for real? If this represents your typical family, than more power to you, but it’s probably not something that most of us experience when we get together with our loved ones each year.

     Let’s set the famous Norman Rockwell Thanksgiving painting off to the side for the moment, and let’s get a little more realistic if you don’t mind. Maybe you heard this story about a family member who tried to have the perfect Thanksgiving gathering but she went about it the wrong way.

     Here’s a letter from a lady named, Marney which she had sent to her out of town family members who were coming to her home for Thanksgiving. I think you might enjoy this.

     She writes,

     “As you all know a fabulous Thanksgiving dinner does not make itself. I need to ask each of you to help by bringing something to complete the meal. I truly appreciate your offers to assist with the meal preparation.

     Now, while I do have quite a sense of humor and joke around all the time, I could not be more serious when I am providing you with your Thanksgiving instructions and orders. I am very particular, so please perform your task exactly as I have requested and read your portion very carefully.

     If I ask you to bring your offering in a container that has a lid, bring your offering in a container with a lid, not aluminum foil! If I ask you to bring a serving spoon for your dish, bring a serving spoon, not a soup spoon! And please do not forget anything.

     All food that is to be cooked should already be prepared, bring it hot and ready to serve, warm or room temperature. These are your only three options. Anything meant to be served cold should, of course, already be cold.”

     So then, Marney goes on to give specific instruction to six different families in this same letter. For sake of time, I’ll only read what she wrote for three of these families.

     These are the instructions for the Mike Byron Family:

     She writes, “Turnips in a casserole with a lid and a serving spoon. Please do not fill the casserole all the way up to the top, it gets too messy. I know this may come as a bit of a surprise to you, but most of us hate turnips so don’t feel like you have to feed an army. Two half gallons of ice cream, one must be vanilla. I don’t care what the other one is. No store brands please. I did see an ad this morning for Haagen Daz Peppermint Bark Ice Cream, yum!!! No pressure here, though.

     Also bring toppings for the ice cream and a case of bottled water, not gallons, any brand is OK.”

     Here’s what this lady wrote to the next family in the letter, The Lisa Bryon Chesterford Family.

     “Lisa, as a married woman you are now required to contribute at the adult level. You can bring hors d’oeuvres. A few helpful hints and suggestions, keep it very light, and non-filling. No cocktail sauce and no beans of any kind. I think your best bet would be a platter of fresh veggies and dip. Not a huge platter, mind you (i.e., not the plastic platter from the supermarket.”

     And then, I’ll share one more set of instructions that she wrote to The June Davis Family.

     “15 lbs of mashed potatoes in a casserole with a serving spoon. Please do not use the over-size blue serving dish you used last year. Because you are making such a large batch you can do one of two things: put half the mash in a regulation size casserole with lid and put the other half in a plastic container and we can just replenish with that or use two regulation size casserole dishes with lids. Only one serving spoon is needed.”

     After all of these Thanksgiving meal instructions, she then concludes her letter with, “Looking forward to the 28^th!”, signed “Marney.”

     So if a lady named, Marney ever invites you to her house for a Thanksgiving meal, don’t go. Way too much pressure!

Check out this brief video interview to learn more about Marney!

     Sometimes the holidays aren’t always what we want them to be. Sometimes our dreams for a brighter future leave us feeling empty. Life can be hard, and it can cause us to lose hope along the way.

     That’s why Psalm 126 is so important for us as we approach the holidays. Even though life has not gone as planned and it seems like there is no hope, this Psalmist is able to keep dreaming for a better future and he calls us to keep dreaming as well.

     He begins his Psalm by reminding the people that just as the Lord has been faithful to them in the past, the Lord will also fulfill their dreams for the future.

     This is a psalm that doesn’t just celebrate an idyllic Norman Rockwell time from the past. It also looks ahead to the new thing that God is about to do through the people of Israel.

     The Psalmist pleads for God to replace the tears of the people with shouts of joy. He concludes his Psalm with a Thanksgiving harvest image of the people being blessed with abundance as they carry in their sheaves.

     This is a Psalm that reminds us that our best years are not behind us. They’re ahead of us.  And because our best days are ahead of us, we are encouraged to dream again. Whenever we don’t dream about a new future, we miss out on what God has in store for us.

     Another Psalmist puts it like this. “Where there is no vision, the people perish.”

     Thanksgiving is a time to not only be thankful for our blessings, it’s also a time to look forward to the future and what God is about to do.

     Someone once gave me a definition of the word, “praise” and his definition has always stayed with me. He said, to praise God, means that we are thanking God for what he is about to do in the future.

     I really like that definition. To praise God means that we are thanking God for what he is about to do in the future.

     It’s not always easy to remember that God isn’t just the God of our past but is also the God of the future. And because God is the God of the future, we can dream again. We can begin thanking God for what God will do as we live into the future.

     I was recently reading about someone who found it really difficult to dream. It was back in the 1990’s. She felt a calling from God to become a pastor. At the time, she was a first year freshman in college.

     She applied to be a summer missionary with the North Carolina Baptist Convention. She looked over the opportunities and knew that she wanted to apply to be a youth and children’s minister.

     Although several people told her that the convention would probably not place a freshman in that role and that she would probably need to first serve as a camp counselor, she was surprised when they placed her in a church in the middle of the state.

     Within moments of being commissioned to begin her summer year of ministry, she told her parents and her campus minister that she just couldn’t go through with it. She was too afraid of the unknown.

     She ended up backing out of this ministry opportunity, all because she was unable to dream about how God could use her in that new role. After she made the decision to not take that ministry job, she thought that she would feel a sense of relief. Instead, she felt miserable because she had disappointed the many people who were looking forward to working with her in ministry.

     For the next five years, she pushed away any thoughts of going into the ministry. In her mind, she had her chance and she blew it. She thought that any future ministry possibility was long gone.

     She wondered if God would ever trust her with a new ministry possibility. Like the people of Israel at different points of their journey with God, she had lost the ability to dream again.

     But here’s what happened. Even though she had stopped dreaming, God still had a dream for her. Nine years later as a public school teacher, she was given the opportunity to be a campus ministry intern for the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship collegiate ministry at Clemson University.

     This time, she didn’t allow the opportunity to be in ministry to pass her by.  As she prepared her last sermon as an intern and reviewed her past year in this new role of ministry, she felt like a brand new person, so different from that person she was back in the 1990’s when she had doubted herself.

     She realizes that even though we sometimes act from a lack of faith, God is always faithful. After all of those years, she was finally able to dream again.

     Justin had started attending church again. He had spent the last few years at a chemical dependency center to help him overcome his heroin addiction.

     I met Justin one day in my office. He told me his story of how drugs had ruined his life. He had been at an all time low, but that’s when He reconnected with God who slowly but surely helped him to get back on his feet again.

     Our church helped him to renew his driver’s license so that he would be able to find a job and start supporting himself. He said that the church gave him the renewed hope that he needed to get back on his feet again.

     He said, “I never want to miss church because I always get something out of each message and it keeps me going in the right direction.”

     So I said to Justin as he told me his story there in my office. “How about you share your story with the congregation on a Sunday morning?” He agreed and shared his testimony.

     I can’t even begin to tell you the number of people who thanked him for sharing his story of hope, especially since there has been such a growing number of young people becoming addicted to drugs in our communities.

     In the midst of no employment, no driver’s license, and a custody battle, all Justin had was a dream, a dream that one day, he would be able to live a drug free life, a life that would be rooted in a hope made possible through Jesus Christ. This is a hope that is available to each and every one of us no matter what brokenness we may be facing in our lives.

     Bible scholars are not certain what the people of Israel were facing during the time when the Psalmist wrote those words of encouragement. All we know is that this Psalmist wrote this Psalm to encourage the people of Israel to dream again, to trust in God again for a bright future.

     Even though the people of Israel probably didn’t have a long list of Thanksgiving blessings at the time this was written, he was reminding them to not forget to thank God for the blessings yet to come. Maybe, this is what God is calling us to be thankful for during this week of Thanksgiving.

     So this week, as we gather around the Thanksgiving table to enjoy a wonderful, and please don’t forget to cover your pan with a lid and not just with aluminum foil or Marney will get really upset!...

     …As we gather together to thank God for our many blessings, we also gather knowing that God isn’t finished with us, not by a long shot. God has so much in store for us, especially for those of us who feel like we have turned our back on God more times than we would ever care to admit.

     My prayer for you and for me is the same prayer of the Psalmist…that we would have a Dream Thanksgiving, a Thanksgiving where we dare to dream again because God is still dreaming about us. God has new blessings, new opportunities, new hope, new joys, and new beginnings in mind for us.

     A dream Thanksgiving isn’t just for Norman Rockwell type of families where everyone is happy and smiling, where life is so good, and all is right with the world. A dream Thanksgiving is also possible for those of us who don’t feel like we belong at that table in that Norman Rockwell painting.

     It’s for those of us who are going through some really challenging times. It’s for those of us who have the scars to prove it.

     God wants us to know that we’re welcome at that table, too. It doesn’t matter how dysfunctional we may think we are or how far we that we have strayed from God. Hey, the past is the past. It’s time to dream again.

     So, an interesting thing about Norman Rockwell is that the reason he specialized in these idealized images where everyone appears sweet and innocent in his paintings is because this is what helped him to dream again.

     Norman Rockwell was raised in a bad area of New York City. His home life was emotionally and economically unstable. He also struggled with depression. Someone who knew him said that he “painted his happiness.”

     So maybe, Norman Rockwell’s famous Thanksgiving painting was how he kept hope alive. It was his way of holding on to the possibility of a brighter future.

     A Norman Rockwell Thanksgiving is when we not only thank God for our blessings, but we also thank God for the blessings that are to come.

    Happy Thanksgiving, and keep dreaming!

Dave's Deep Thoughts - A Pearl of Great Price

Here's Pastor Dave McDowell's weekly devotional that he sends out to members of his church. Dave is my brother and serves as the Music Minister at Stewartstown UMC in PA.

Sometimes, it only takes a moment,

but that moment can reveal a pearl.

It was 10:45pm.

Rehearsal had ended 45 minutes prior,.

Only a few staff members remained to take care of end-of-day details.

I stepped outside the building.

That’s when I smelled it……

the acrid aroma of smoke.

It wasn’t just the smell of smoke.

It was the smoke that comes from an electrical fire.

I ran inside the building and found the building manager.

He came out and confirmed that it indeed smelled like an electrical fire.

Then we looked up into the night sky and gasped.

For, this wasn’t just any building.

This was our church.

As we gazed upward,

the steeple floodlights cut through clouds of smoke

dancing around the precipice.

We ran back inside and told everyone to leave the building.

The adrenaline began to pump furiously.

Adrenaline rushes bring in far more than just adrenaline.

They escort anxiety, fear, and dread.

As I checked various parts of the building for any remaining dwellers,

thoughts of distress flooded my spirit.

This building was central to so many key events of my life….

baptisms, weddings, funerals,

worship, ministry and fellowship events.

When I was sure that there was no one left,

I returned to my office doorway.

It was then that I heard the building manager bellow from down the hallway,

“Get out of the building now!”

That was when I had my moment.

In that moment,

I realized that this might be the last time I would be there.

In that moment, I gazed inside my office and saw a large portion of my life.

It was filled with momentos from past events,

reference books, musical scores, instruments, photographs,

computer hard drives filled with a lifetime of information.

What do you take with you when realize that you may not return?

What do you decide when given only a moment?

This was the reveal of my moment.

I ran to my desk and grabbed my study Bible.

It is 40 years old.

The cover is faded,

the edges of the pages are curled,

sections of it have been released from their binding,

notes written in the margins mostly faded.

To the average eye, it would appear to be something ordinary,

but in that moment, I remembered this book spoke of my pearl of great price.

For each of the activities that I had experienced in this building,

the contents of this book spoke truth.

Promises of new life in baptism,

covenantal vows for marriage,

words of hope when surrendering loved ones back to God,

words of guidance in worship

instruction for how to engage a world which has gone out of control,

prayers in troubled times

songs for times of joy,

and words of life when this frail life ends.

Jesus talks about His kingdom being like a pearl of great price,

a treasure that one would do anything to obtain. (Matthew 13: 44)

What is your pearl of great price?

What is it that you would do anything to keep

because it is core to your being?

We stood outside in the parking lot as fire engines began to flood the parking lot.

We circled and took hands and prayed,

prayed for His will to be done,

and prayed for the strength to accept His will.

Thirty minutes later, we were assured 

that the smoke was coming from another source outside the building.

The building was secure.

But the assurance for me came earlier

knowing that His Word is everlasting.

That Word wasn’t merely the written Word in my hand.

but it is the living Word in my heart.

When you are gathered at table this Thanksgiving,

there will be a moment for you.

Whether a prayer is spoken or not,

there will be a moment for you to remember your pearl of great price.

It is the pearl that if someone yelled “fire”

you would know what to reach for.

Something more valuable than a new job,

or an accomplishment,

or a new possession.

It is something that you know in a moment.

Just don’t let the moment pass you by.

“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven,

and do not return without watering the earth,

and making it bear and sprout,

and furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater;

So shall my Word be which goes forth from My mouth;

It shall not return to Me empty.”

                                                Isaiah 55: 10-11a

Pastoral Prayer (November 15) - Athens First UMC

[Photo taken of Athens First UMC in October, 2015 by Anna King. The rainbow reminds us of our mission as a church to share God's covenant love with our community and world through our prayers, presence, gifts, service, and witness.]

O God, thank you for sending us Jesus who is seated at your right hand because he has done everything that is needed to bring salvation to the world. He is seated on the throne as the true king over all creation.

Thank you for these prayer intercessors who have come to the prayer railing to represent us in offering our prayers on behalf of the people of France who are in need of your comfort and peace following the terrorist attacks just a couple of days ago.

Our world cries out for your kingly rule to bring peace and justice to our world. You are the only one who can bring order out of such evil and chaos! We cry out with so many of the Psalmists for your loving justice to fill the earth as the waters cover the sea.

Be with the people of France as they seek to overcome evil with good. May the world’s response to such evil lead us into a future where people are not afraid to go to a restaurant or a concert or a soccer match on a Friday night. Comfort those who have been stricken by these attacks. May nations come together to offer their best in bringing those who would do such evil to justice.

Silently, we offer our personal prayers to you on behalf of the people of France. (Pause) Thank you for hearing our prayers, O God.

In a busy and frantic culture, teach us what it means to take time during the week to receive your peace, guidance, and grace in new ways. When life becomes so overwhelming, lead us to kneel in prayer and invite you to fill us once again.

Sometimes, we don’t even have a choice about kneeling because life can so easily knock us to our knees as the terrorist attacks have reminded us. We pray for those who have experienced the recent loss of a loved one, especially the Brooks family at the passing of Suzanne. We pray for those who are facing medical challenges and are concerned about their health. We pray for students who are facing anxiety over which career path they should choose. We pray for those who find it difficult to let go of the past and the things they cannot change.

And so, thank you for the author of Hebrews and for the Apostles’ creed that remind us that we are able to face any challenge in life because of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ and who is now seated with you.

In the name of Jesus Christ, who is seated next to you in glory, power, and authority, we offer the prayer that Jesus taught us to say; a prayer that longs for the day when your kingdom will come upon this earth.  And now, together, we pray…

“Our Father, who art in heaven…”

Sermon (November 15) by Rev. Robert McDowell - "Seated at the Right Hand of God"

     On Friday night, I led a wedding rehearsal here at the church. After the rehearsal, I met my family at a restaurant for a special dinner together. Our son and daughter and son-in-law spent Friday evening through Saturday with us.

     As I was making my way to the restaurant this past Friday night, I noticed how busy Athens was. I love our vibrant community here where people are going out to dinner or just walking up and down the sidewalks of Court Street.

     That’s the way it’s supposed to be in cities throughout the world at the beginning of a weekend. That’s the way it was supposed to be in Paris, France this past Friday.

     Instead, many of us were getting news alerts on our smartphones about the terrible terrorist attacks that were happening in that beautiful city. We continue to be heartbroken over this news.

     I’m thankful that in light of all that has happened in our world and what we are hearing and reading in the news about this tragedy, that we can come to church today and catch our breath as we offer our prayers for the people of France.

     Our Hebrew’s scripture reading offers us great comfort during this weekend of heartache. It reminds us that sometimes, especially following the events of this past Friday, that the best thing for us to do is kneel and offer ourselves to God.

     In the world of the Bible, people did a lot more standing and walking then they did sitting or reclining.  Most jobs in that time period included standing or walking for long periods of time.  At least, I don’t think there were a lot of office jobs back then.

     One of those standing jobs was a very important one for the people of Israel.  It was in being a priest, an intercessor between the people and God. 

     Priests spent a lot of time on their feet because they would sacrifice animals to God so that the sins of the people would be forgiven, until they would sin again.  And then another sacrifice would need to be made.   

     This point about priests standing while doing their work, might seem like a trivial piece of information from the Bible, but it’s not trivial to the author of the Book of Hebrews. 

     Our scripture passage this morning begins by saying, “And every priest stands day after day at his service, offering again and again, the same sacrifices that can never take away sins.”

    I wonder how many times these priests, after standing all day sacrificing animal after animal, would wonder, “Is all this effort really worth it if people simply go on sinning anyway?  There has to be a more satisfying job out there.  There just has to be!”

     Several years ago, I attended a renewal weekend at a United Methodist Church in Central Pennsylvania.  The main speaker was a dynamic preacher and pastor.  And he shared about a time in his life, early in his pastorate, which literally changed everything for him.

     He was serving a church, a busy church and he was also serving on a lot of community boards and agencies.  He reached a point where he couldn’t keep up with this busy schedule.  On top of that, his church was at a plateaued situation and he was beginning to feel very frustrated.

     One morning, he took to heart a verse from the Book of Psalms – “Be still and know that I am God.”  He thought to himself, “Why not?” 

     From that moment on, he decided that he would quit being so busy, and to instead spend more time in prayer and being still before God.  That’s a radical change for someone who was so used to being busy.

     When he went into church that day, he surprised his secretary by saying, “Please call all of the agencies and boards that I’m on, and tell them that I need to resign and cancel all my meetings for today.”  And then he said, “I’ll be in my study alone with God.  And I also won’t be able to answer any phone calls.”

     And this pastor told us that he went into his study, walked to the middle of his room, and sat down on the floor.  He spent the whole morning being still and praying for the Holy Spirit to fill his church and his ministry.

     He went on to tell us that from that day on, things began to really change in his congregation.  People were beginning to rely on God’s strength in all that they were doing.

     When tough decisions faced the congregation, the people would instinctively call on God for help, rather than try to solve problems with their own strategies and insights.  The congregation began spending a lot of time in prayer and less time in simply being a busy church.

     And then he ended his personal sharing by telling us that this is when the church began to really grow.  This church began to grow, all because this pastor learned how to sit and pray.

     In a standing room only type of culture with busy people going here and there, maybe we should think about sitting more often and inviting the Holy Spirit to work within us. 

     Which brings us to the very next verse from our Hebrews scripture reading.  The first verse in this passage talks about priests standing all day trying to sacrifice enough animals to keep up with the sins of the people.  But this is a never ending process. 

     No wonder priests had tired feet! Talk about job security. They had it!

     But just look at the next verse in this passage of scripture.  “But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, ‘he sat down at the right hand of God.’”

     What a contrast.  Our scripture begins with priests who are on their feet all day long, week after week, and year after year, and then it talks about Jesus Christ, who after offering a sacrifice for the people, ends up being seated at the right hand of God.

     He is able to be seated, because, he has offered a better sacrifice, a perfect sacrifice.  Jesus can be seated because he was able to accomplish what no one was able to accomplish on their own power or strength – the offering of one’s life in perfect submission to God.

     That perfect sacrifice that Jesus made didn’t involve animals.  Jesus became the sacrifice itself.  Jesus offered his very life and died on a cross in order that we might have forgiveness from our sins. 

     That’s the good news of our faith.  There’s no need for Jesus to be on his feet again.  Jesus has done everything necessary in order for you and me to be the people He has called us to be.

     If you’re longing to be forgiven and you feel like God doesn’t love you or that you have to do something to earn God’s favor – hear the good news from the Book of Hebrews today – Jesus says, “I will remember your sins no more.”

     When the Apostles’ Creed includes this short phrase in the middle of the creed, “and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty,” it is announcing the good news that Jesus Christ has completed his work of salvation through his suffering, death, and resurrection.

     Jesus is seated.  He has completed what he came to do.

     For those of us who like to be busy and always on the go, it might be especially difficult to pin our ultimate hope on someone who is seated in a place called heaven.

     The busier our lives become in our fast pace world, the more difficult it is for us to fathom that the Christian faith is about a Savior who has done everything for us that we will ever need.

     When I was a freshman in college, I was really struggling with what I was supposed to do with my life. I wasn’t happy with my major and so I decided to put all of my focus on playing baseball in college. When baseball was no longer fulfilling my happiness, I started to feel really, really empty.

     I didn’t know what to do with my life. I was at a really low point.

     Until one day, when I happened to come across an old cassette tape from a county-wide youth rally that I had attended when I was in my early teens.

     After I dusted off that old cassette tape, and by the way, for those of you who grew up with Bluetooth and streaming devices, a cassette tape was something that cavemen had to use a long time ago.

     Anyway, I listened to that cassette tape in which the speaker challenged the youth who had gathered for that rally to make a commitment to put Jesus Christ first in our lives.  He said that if we would put Jesus first in everything we did, that we would experience a sense of peace and purpose in our lives.

     Now, remember, I was there at that youth rally and heard that message in person, but when I listened it on tape several years later as a struggling freshman in college, it was like I was hearing if for the very first time.

     I listened to that tape over and over again, just taking in the message to put Jesus first in everything I do. And then, one afternoon, I’ll never forget it.

     I got on my knees and I made a recommitment of my life to Christ. I did a dangerous thing, but I had nothing to lose. I promised Jesus that I would do whatever he wanted me to do. I told him that I had tried to do things my way but now I wanted to trust in him.

     When I stood up from that prayer, it was like a huge weight had been lifted from my shoulders. I felt a peace that I had been missing. Sometimes, instead of being on our feet all the time, God wants us to kneel.

     There were two things that Jesus wanted me to do immediately. The first thing was to study and get good grades even though I wasn’t sure about my major. It worked! I made the Dean’s list the next Semester.

     The next thing Jesus wanted me to do was to begin a new bible study group by inviting people my age who didn’t have a church home.

     That bible study group met regularly for the rest of my time in college. Two people in that group ended up becoming pastors. One of the group members stopped going to parties every weekend and started attending church on a regular basis. For others, we were able to encourage and help each other grow in our faith.

     That moment of surrender led me to respond to a calling into the pastoral ministry. It was only when I finally stopped running and started to yield my life to what God wanted me to do, that I was able to have peace and direction in my life.

     I learned to trust in the one who lived, died, rose again, and is now seated at the right hand of God. The one who is seated on the heavenly throne wanted me to stop running and start trusting.

     In one of the churches I served, I was walking through the sanctuary one day when someone yelled out to me in a not so polite way, “Hey, where’s the chair that used to be up there in the front of our sanctuary?” 

     At first, I didn’t know what she was talking about, (what chair?) but then I looked to where she was pointing.  She was pointing to a side of our chancel area in the front of our sanctuary.

     “The chair that used to be up there by the pulpit.  Where is it?” she demanded to know.

     “It’s back there behind the new sound board desk,” I said, rather nervously.

     “Well why is it there and not back up here where it’s been for as long as I can remember?”

     The tone of her voice indicated to me that I was in deep doo-doo.

     “Well, the worship team needed a chair for the sound technician which would match the woodwork of the new sound board desk and since we never use this chair up front during worship, this seemed like the way to go.”

     That was not the answer she wanted to hear.  Shaking her head in disgust, she yelled back, “The person back here can just as easily sit on a folding chair.  This other chair belongs back up front so people can see it!”

     She walked out of the sanctuary.  Meeting adjourned. End of conversation.

     Such are the risks and perils of furniture donated to the church.

     As I look back on that little episode which happened several years ago, I can still picture that very chair which used to sit on the right side of our chancel area.  Sunday after Sunday, that chair would sit empty. 

     The author of Hebrews has good news for us. The chair to the right of God is not empty.  In that chair is seated the one who died on the cross for your sins and my sins.  In that chair is seated the one who we proclaim as Savior and Lord.

     On this weekend where the world grieves over the events of this past Friday, this chair that you see in the front of our sanctuary is a powerful reminder that even though it may look empty, it really isn’t. The risen Christ is seated there and he promises to come again.

     And when he comes again, this world will be made new again. It will be a world where there is no more death, no more sorrow, no more pain, no more suffering, no more terrorist attacks, no more unspeakable evil, no more injustice.

     So, I’m glad you came to church today, heavy hearts and all. Our Hebrew’s scripture reading has reminded us that the chair is not empty.

     The risen Christ sits there and promises to come again and make all things new.

     Let’s remind ourselves of this good news of our faith by standing as you are able and we will recite the Apostles’ Creed found in the back of your hymnal, No. 881.

I believe in God, the Father Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth;

And in Jesus Christ his only Son, our Lord;
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, dead, and buried;*
the third day he rose from the dead;
he ascended into heaven,
and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty;
from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic** church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.