Pastoral Prayer (September 20) - Athens First UMC

We are never too old to sing these words of just how much we are loved by you, O God. Thank you for reminding us that you love us, like a parent loves his or her child. You love us that much and you want us to have a child-like faith.

Sometimes, life gets so busy and we can become so serious, that we forget to just live in the moment and enjoy your presence in our lives. Help us to be child-like and to appreciate each moment that you give us. Thank you for our church family and for the laughter and joy we experience in this place in so many different and surprising ways.

O God, remind us to not keep this joy and child-like faith to ourselves, but to share it with the people in our community and world. We want the whole world to know that Jesus loves them and offers each one of us abundant life.

We know that our world needs your joy, O God. The refugees in Europe, the residents in California, the family who lost a loved one, the person facing surgery, the neighbor who lost his job, the family moving to another state, and the college student who is still undecided about a major and future career. O God, even as we wonder about the future, help us to always place our trust in you and to appreciate each and every moment.

Our hearts are still rejoicing over our record noisy bucket offering a few weeks ago to help our community food pantry. Thank you for reminding us of how generosity and joy are closely related. We want to continue to be generous givers in building your kingdom right here in Athens and even throughout the world.

As we pray the Lord’s prayer together, may we share this prayer with a child-like faith, knowing that this prayer is being answered in big and small ways every single day.

Our Father, who art in heaven…

Sermon (September 20) by Rev. Robert McDowell - "The Child(ishness) in All of Us"

    Act your age! Has anyone ever told you that? What does that mean to “act your age?”

     That’s what I wanted to tell some people who attended a city council meeting in the community where I was serving as pastor. The city council room was packed because of a controversial issue that was being addressed that night.

     The issue was regarding how to respond to the drug problem that was prevalent in the community. People had taken sides on how we should or shouldn’t address the problem.

     I attended the meeting with my daughter. We had to stand along the wall because there was no room to sit. One by one, people went to the microphone to share their opinion on what should be done.

     Some people were rationale and compassionate when they spoke, while others were abrasive and mean spirited in what they shared. But that’s all well and good.

     We are a democracy where people are encouraged to speak their mind on issues such as this. The problem was that people who should have known better were acting childish during the meeting.

     For example, in the row of people next to me, was a middle age man who kept saying nasty things just loud enough for the people around him to hear. When one of the speakers at the microphone shared an opinion different from his, he did something that I hadn’t seen since my years in junior high school.

     As the person was speaking, this man who was seated just off to my right, pretended to cough really loud, but instead of coughing, he shouted something vulgar about the person who was speaking.

     It was one of the most embarrassing things I have ever witnessed by someone who should have known better. The police officer who was standing next to me looked his direction as if to give a non-verbal cue for him to cool it with the immature outburst.

     I just felt bad for the poor lady who was sitting in front of him because of the force of his hot air. She turned around, but he acted like nothing had happened.

     Just childish. Childish.

     Unfortunately, we see childish behavior all around us. If you ever want to get really depressed, just read the comments on any online newspaper article that is even remotely controversial. It’s obvious that many people need to take a course on how to express an opinion without being childish.

     The bible cautions us to not be childish. I think of I Corinthians 13, what is commonly referred to as the “love chapter.” The Apostle Paul was writing to the Christians in Corinth who were acting very childish in their “I’m more spiritual than you” contest.

     Paul tells them that a time comes when we need to put aside our childish ways. Instead of seeing ourselves in a competition with each other, we are to be humble and show love toward one another. That’s the true mark of spiritual maturity.

     While it’s important to not be childish, let’s not get that confused with being child-like in our faith. That’s why our Gospel reading this morning is so important.

     The disciples had just been arguing with each other over which one of them was the greatest. I can imagine hearing one of them say, “Well, I was one of the first disciples that Jesus called to follow him.”

     Another would then say, “Let’s see. Who did Jesus choose to go up the mountain with him to see him transfigured in a radiant light? Oh, that would be me and not you!”

     They probably thought they were being subtle, but evidently Jesus could hear what they were saying. So, he finally asks them, “What were you arguing about back there?” We are told that there was silence because they were arguing about who was the greatest. Nobody wanted to fess up.

     And so Jesus called the twelve over to him and he explains to them that they have this discipleship thing all backwards. It’s not about being the greatest. It’s about being a servant.

     He then picks up a little child and says, “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.” Jesus’ point is clear. Don’t act childish. Act child-like. There’s a very important difference between the two!

     To be child-like is to be trusting. It’s to live in the moment. It’s not to stay in the past or to worry about the future. It’s to savor the moment. It’s to be humble.

     A friend of mine battles with depression. He sees a counselor on a regular basis. When I saw him, I could tell that he seemed much better than the last time I had spent time with him. So I asked him to share with me what he had been learning as a result of his counseling sessions.

     He said that he is rediscovering what it means to live in the present and to appreciate it. He said that when you try to live in the past, it can be frustrating because you can’t change the past.

     He said that if you live in the future, that can cause anxiety because you don’t know what the future holds. He then said, “But if you live in the present, you are able to be more at peace in your life. You’ll begin to notice things and appreciate them more.”

     It’s interesting that he shared this piece of advice with me because a month or two later, I spoke with someone else who was also seeing a counselor and she shared the same exact thing! That’s when it dawned on me that maybe I need to work on this in my own life.

     There are times when I focus on the past. That’s OK, but I can’t stay there. I can’t change the past. It is what it is.

     There are other times when I focus on the future too much. For example, I love to plan. If I had it my way, I would plan out my sermons and worship services for the next five years if I could. I love that feeling of planning ahead and being ready for the future.

     The problem is that there are no guarantees with the future. Things can change on a dime and all of that tedious planning can go to waste. And so, we need to be flexible when thinking about the future. When we focus on the future too much, it can cause anxiety.

     We’ll worry more than we need to worry about whether or not we’ve saved enough money for retirement, or if we’ll land that perfect job after college, or if the Steelers will win the Super Bowl this year. Yes, it’s important to plan, but we can also take it too far, and we end up missing the one thing we do have, the present moment.

     By holding a child in his arms, he was helping the disciples to see the importance of having a child-like faith.

     A couple of years ago, I was up at Lake Erie for our West Ohio Annual Conference. There are 3,000 United Methodist clergy and lay people who attend those sessions each year.

     Sometimes, there are interesting debates where people get to share their opinions at one of the microphones for all to hear. And yes, like my city council meeting example that I shared with you earlier, some of those comments can be less than charitable. Most of the time, I leave our sessions feeling inspired, but there are a few times when I leave feeling really down because of way people expressed their opinions.

     After one of those downer sessions, I remember going back to the cottage during the lunch break. My lay delegates had invited me to have lunch with them.

     They have two pre-school children who were playing with some action figures and their children invited me to play with them on the floor. Being child-like in that moment was just what I needed. After my lunch play-time, I felt ready to go back and be with the grown-ups!

     When do you take time to be child-like? What helps you to live in the moment?

     One year, I drove to a clergy meeting at the Columbus Convention Center and I had two other United Methodist pastors with me. It was around 3 in the afternoon when the conference ended and we headed to the parking lot which was located next to the convention center. 

     Because of the traffic that day and everybody trying to get out of the same parking lot, we ended up waiting in a long line of cars for about an hour.

     We got really bored just sitting there in my car.  One of the pastors was in the back seat.  The other one was next to me in the passenger seat.  The one in the back seat said, “Hey, what CDs do you have up there?”  I thought to myself, “Now which CD can I pull out that we will all probably like?”

    It was a no-brainer.  I pulled out my Chicago’s Greatest Hits CD and popped it into my car stereo.  For the next thirty minutes, we had all the windows down and the stereo volume cranked up.

     The pastor in the backseat was playing a pretty mean air guitar while the pastor beside me played the drums on my dashboard.  I was praying that my airbag wouldn’t deploy. 

     People walking through the parking lot smiled as they strolled past my car.  I’m sure that they appreciated the free Chicago concert, courtesy of three crazy United Methodist pastors!

     Now, I don’t usually act like that just in case you were wondering. But once in a while, you just have to live in the moment and have some fun! Music has a way of helping us to live in the moment, especially if it’s your favorite song!

     Just before coming here to Athens, I conducted a funeral for a woman who had been developmentally challenged all her life. She wasn’t a church member but a friend had served as her guardian the last six years of her life.

     I didn’t know this woman who had died, but several of the people who knew her told me how she had brightened their days because she knew how to live in the moment. In the last years of her life, Patti was a resident at a nursing facility.

     She would always sit near the front desk and whenever someone would enter the front door, she would happily point you to the direction you should go since she pretended to know who you were there to see. When the pone at the desk would ring, she would shout out, “Phone!” just to make sure everyone heard it.

     She also loved going to the county fair and she always tried to win the biggest stuffed animal there. At one of the games where you had to pop all the balloons to win the stuffed animal, it was obvious to her caregivers who had brought her, that she wasn’t going to win.

     One of the caregivers slipped the game worker some money so that Patti could win the game. After she popped a few more balloons, a crowd had gathered around her to cheer her on. Finally, after she had popped a few more balloons, the worker had all the lights of the game turn on to indicate that she had won.

     Patti screamed out with great joy and the people all gave her a standing ovation. It was a moment those caregivers will never forget.

     Patti was also known to dance right there in the entrance of the nursing home. She would get on the floor and spin around. That was her dance.

     She also loved to sing “Peter Cottontail,” “Jingle Bells,” and “Happy birthday.” And at the end of every song, she would yell out, “Boo!”

      She died just before her 73^rd birthday, so we ended up singing “Happy birthday” to her right there in the funeral home, and at the end of the song we yelled out, “Boo!”

     As I looked around that room at all the care-givers and nursing home residents, I could see by the tears in their eyes, just how much they all loved Patti. I could sense that what they loved most about Patti was that she knew how to enjoy the moment. She had a child-like faith.

     Jesus is teaching us the difference between acting childish and being child-like in our faith.

     When I met with our church’s Leadership Team this past January about becoming pastor here at Athens First, it was a time for us to get to know each other and make sure that this was going to be a good match. A member of the committee asked me a very important question toward the end of our meeting that I will never forget.

     He asked me the most basic of all questions, but one that needed to be asked. He asked me, “Who are you?” What a great question! Now, I know that there are a lot of different ways we can answer that question.

     They already knew my name. They already knew that I was a husband and father. They knew about my pastoral record. They even knew that I was a Penn State fan. No, this question went even deeper than all of those things.

     Who are you? That’s a question that Jesus wants us to think about because we can so easily forget. It’s what Jesus was basically asking the disciples in our Gospel reading this morning.

     And you know how I responded.

     I said, “I am a child of God.”

What Not to Say to Your District Superintendent

My annual one to one meeting with my District Superintendent is this week. It's a time to reflect on the past year of ministry and goals for the coming year. 

Since this is kind of an important meeting, here are some free tips to clergy on what NOT to say to your District Superintendent.

You're welcome.

• "Was I was supposed to send you my annual profile before this meeting?"

• "People shouldn't ride motorcycles because they are just too dangerous." (Don't say this if your DS just rode his motorcycle to Alaska and back to raise $10,000 for Imagine No Malaria.)

• "How is it with your soul? Hey, that's kind of catchy. Did you come up with that phrase or are you quoting someone?"

• "I still can't remember the name of this district."

• "I guess you can say that I just kind of wing it on Sunday mornings."

• "Now, remind me. Are these annual church conference meetings optional?"

• "Am I too late to send in last year's end of year report?"

• "I have been using Joel Osteen's sermons every Sunday. It's really saved me a lot of sermon prep time."

Pastoral Prayer (September 13) - Athens First UMC

O God, thank you for teachers who have had a positive impact in our lives. As we begin our new Fall Sunday School schedule today, we are especially grateful for those persons who have helped us to grow in our faith.

Just as we have been blessed by teachers throughout our lives, remind us that we are also teachers for others in the way that we live out our faith. Help us to be good examples of what it means to follow you in our daily living.

As our calendars become more filled during this new season of the year, remind us to slow down so that we can listen to your voice speaking to us. You have placed us in this beautiful area of southeast Ohio with rolling hills, a scenic bike path and many spacious parks, and yet we forget to take time to enjoy your creation. Remind us to be still and know that you are God, especially in this busy time of year.

Loving God, help us to be a spirit-filled church, a church that is always open to your leading and direction. We know that our best days are ahead of us and not behind us. You have a preferred future in mind for us. Help us to live into that preferred future where we live out our mission of making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of our community and world.

We pray for those who are facing loneliness, sadness, grief, and troubling health issues. Surround these persons with your loving care.  Thank you that we can share our concerns and fears with each other in this place, knowing that you are a God who cares and who is always present with us.

As we seek to be the loving teachers you have called us to be, we ask that you would now teach us to pray the prayer that you taught your disciples, “Our Father, who art in heaven…”

Sermon (September 13) by Rev. Robert McDowell - "The Teacher in All of Us"

     Over the past several weeks, our church has been recruiting people to serve as teachers for our Sunday School classes. Those of you who have ever been asked to find teachers know that this can be somewhat of a challenge.

     This involves phone calls, pep talks, and maybe even a few bribes here and there. Finding people to teach is not the easiest thing in the world.

     God must have a sense of humor because one of our appointed scripture readings for today says, “My brothers and sisters, NOT many of you should become teachers.”

     This is not exactly the sales pitch we have been using in gearing up for our Fall Sunday School schedule. It’s obvious to me that James never had to recruit teachers or he would have changed his tune.

     Or maybe I’m looking at this the wrong way. Could it be that James’ high standards are actually the best way to recruit teachers?

     Just listen again to what James expects out of teachers. These are people who have incredible self-control and are well disciplined in their lives. Actually, James makes a really big deal about the importance of teachers having control over what they say.

     Penny has told me how studies show that if a child has more than one bad teacher during their elementary school years, they will be less likely to succeed in their remaining years of school. That just goes to show how important teaching really is.

     I’m guessing that James is setting the standards high because of some negative experiences that he may have encountered in the church.

     To drive his point home, he uses the analogy of how a small rutter on a big ship can easily take it off course. Likewise, our misuse of words can do a lot of damage in our relationships with people.

     He moves from ships to the analogy of a small flame. This is where James gives us his best impression of Smokey the Bear. He says how even the slightest spark can lead to a whole forest going up in flames. He really means it when he says that only you can prevent forest fires.

     We have that power if we use some discipline and self-control.

     But wait. He’s not done. James gives us a third analogy. He says how the tongue is like an untamed animal. James is saying that it’s OK to visit a tongue in the zoo. Just don’t go inside its cage, because it will rip you apart.

     And like a preacher who uses way too many illustrations than he really needs in one sermon, James throws in two more quick analogies just in case we weren’t paying attention to the first twenty-nine that he already shared with us.

     He concludes his point by saying how the tongue is like a salt water spring that can only send forth more salt water. It’s incapable of producing fresh water.

     James provides us with an exclamation point for his case against the human tongue when he says that it’s like a grapevine trying to produce figs. It’s just not possible.

     OK, James. We get it. Teaching is a really important thing in the church. And based on your over the top analogies, this means that less than 1% of us should apply.

     Actually, I don’t think that James wants us to be that strict or we wouldn’t have any teachers. He just wants us to know that teaching is more than merely showing up. Teaching is about giving a lot of thought and prayer into what we will say and how we are to conduct ourselves.

     Many of us can think back to some teachers who had a positive impact on our lives. These probably weren’t teachers who had to be strong-armed into volunteering their time to teach. It was something they felt called to do.

     One of the primary reasons why I am a pastor today is because of people like Ida McDowell, Betty Blevins, Ron Boyer, Don Slaybaugh, Paul Shaeffer, and Dick Teller who served as loving and wise teachers and mentors in my life.

     Ida was my grandmother who lived in a mobile home just up from our farmhouse in south central Pennsylvania. Every day, I would get off the bus and head up to see my grandmother, affectionately known as Mom-Mom.

     There waiting for me would be a pitcher of the most incredible iced tea in the history of the world and I’m not exaggerating. I don’t even want to think about how much sugar she put into one pitcher of iced tea.

     She also would put an incredible amount of lemon juice in it. Now, that’s how you make real iced tea!

     And if all of that sugar wasn’t enough, she would also bake a cake that was still warm from the oven. There in my grandmother’s kitchen, I would drink iced tea and eat a piece of cake.

     But there was a catch to all of this. My grandmother would then have me read a bible story and then take a test to see how well I read the bible story for that day. She would even grade it. For the ones I got wrong, she would have me work on it until I got each question correct.

     The reason I got to know the bible at an early age was mostly because of my grandmother and those daily bible study quizzes. Yeah, I know that my own grandmother resorted to bribing me to get me to read the bible. I wonder what James would think about that!

     Betty Blevins was my Sunday School teacher during my grade school years. She was very nurturing in the way she taught our Sunday School class.

     She helped us to see that God is patient and loving. She would also invite my family to her house for a picnic and a swimming party. Who wouldn’t want to follow Jesus if you get to go swimming and eat burgers off the grill?

     Ron Boyer was one of my Sunday School teachers when I was in junior high. We liked hanging out with Ron because he would tell us about his life before he was saved. He told us about how he played in bars, drank too much, and would get into fights.

     Yeah, maybe what he shared with our Junior High Sunday School class was way too much information, but his before-Christ stories were very entertaining. He loved telling us how Jesus had saved his marriage and brought so much joy to his life. He was living proof to us that Jesus was real.

     Another teacher was Don Slaybaugh who was in seminary preparing to go into the ministry and served as our summer youth leader for a couple of years. We all looked up to Don and we had fun spending time with him.

     He attended our baseball games and led us through the Gospel of John one summer. He would always have bats, balls, Frisbees, and basketballs in the trunk of his small Gremlin car, ready at a moment’s notice to have fun.

     At a farm house retreat center in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, in the spring of 1984, I sat in utter astonishment, as Dr. Paul Schaeffer was teaching on the Book of Acts.

     Dr. Schaeffer, or Paul as we often called him, was leading a spring retreat for the college students of the Philadelphia area.  I already knew that he was a well-educated man and a deeply devoted follower of Christ, but it was at that moment of his teaching, that I really began to feel a tug on my heart about entering the pastoral ministry.

     Here was a man who had a doctorate in the History of the Reformation and who knew the Bible backwards and forwards, but who also had the wonderful ability to teach the Bible to college students in ways that we would understand and apply to our lives.

     I was drawn to him.  And I felt God calling me into some kind of teaching ministry.

     About eight years ago, I got motivated to track down this wonderful teacher, pastor, and scholar.  Figuring that he was no longer at the same church in Philadelphia, I discovered that he was now the Chairman of Religious Studies at Grove City College located in western Pennsylvania.

     I must have caught him in between classes when I called him on the phone that day, because he indicated that he was in a bit of a hurry.  But I had just enough time to tell him that he was one of the reasons that I felt a calling into the pastoral ministry. 

     I was just a rookie pastor serving on staff at a large United Methodist Church in Findlay, Ohio.  Even though I had been to seminary and served a little country church for a few years, I really didn’t know what I was doing or that much about pastoral ministry.

     But by the grace of God, the Senior Pastor of this church took me under his wing and taught me a few things I needed to know about the ins and outs of pastoral ministry.

     And these might sound like trivial things, but to him, these were things you should know and practice if you want to have an effective and fruitful ministry.

     The first thing was one I heard over and over again.  Stay focused on Jesus.  “Robert – No matter what you do, always remember to stay focused on Jesus.  Don’t depend on your own strength because you will be tempted to rely on your own abilities and strengths.  Keep your prayer life and your devotional life strong because you’re going to need it.  Remember to stay focused on Jesus.”

     I still have this small bible that he gave me at my ordination that I keep in my car.  In the front, he wrote these words to remind me of this first lesson he taught me, the words are, “Jesus said, “Follow me. He will empower you. Trust him. He has everything under control.”

     Another thing he told me was,

     “Now, when you visit someone in the hospital, always remember to take off your coat before you walk into their room.  If you have your coat on, you might make them feel like you’re in a hurry.”

     On another day, he told me,

     “Keep records of all your calls and activities.  Be aware of how you spend your time in ministry so you can always keep your priorities in order.”

     One day over a cup of coffee, he said,

     “Be aware of your feelings and express your feelings to someone you can trust.  And I hope you know that you can always share anything with me.  You just can’t survive in ministry if you keep your feelings to yourself.  You need someone to go to so that you can stay balanced and focused in ministry.”

     He now lives in an assisted living apartment in the Columbus area and I take him out to lunch from time to time to catch up on things. He still reminds me of these same things that he taught me back in the early 90’s.

     The last time we met for lunch, he offered to prayer over the food. As he was saying a prayer for our friendship, for my family, for my ministry, and for our food, I couldn’t help but think of just how much I have missed hearing those prayers from him. He has been an incredible teacher for me over all of these years.

     Just when I think I’ve learned everything I possibly can from him, he will share a new insight and a new spiritual thought that will help me to look at things in a new way. I still think of him whenever I am facing a challenge or a difficult situation.

     And so, it’s no wonder why James sets the standard high for teachers. Teachers are entrusted with an incredible opportunity to shape the lives of others.

     I find it interesting that the word, “disciple” means, “learner.” That makes all of us life-long learners as we seek to follow Christ. We are life-long learners because every situation in life is unique and calls for a prayerful and wise response.

     We are all disciples, but we are also all teachers in one way or another. People are watching us. They are watching to see how we live out our faith in the real world. There is a teacher in each one of us. The question is if we are willing to accept James challenge and be effective teachers and mentors.

     John Wesley, the founder of Methodism held the very first Methodist conference in 1744.  It was held in London, England.

     Wesley offered a very simple agenda for that first conference.

     Agenda Item #1 – What to teach

     Agenda Item #2 – How to teach.

     Agenda Item #3 – What to do.

     According to Russell E. Richey’s book, The Methodist Conference in America, those early Methodist conferences were comprised of preachers and church leaders who shared a common affection, common rules, a shared mission and a watchfulness of the members over one another.

     They were strongly relational, providing mutual support and encouragement, and they were purpose driven, focused on how to extend the gospel message in ever more fruitful ways. In other words, those early Methodists had really high standards.

     I know that James says that not many of us should teach, but I also know that there is a teacher in all of us. We each have a story of faith to share with the people around us. And it’s a story that can make an eternal difference.     

Pastoral Prayer (August 30) - Athens First UMC

God of new beginnings, thank you for being with us during times of transitions, like the beginning of a new school year. Yellow school buses, students walking to class, and sign up sheets for our Fall Sunday School program remind us that we are entering into a new season of the year.

As we begin to see the first leaves falling to the ground and feel the cooler temperatures at night, remind us that you are a God who is with us through all the changes of life. We confess that we struggle with change, and yet we know that change is what helps us to grow and to grow in a deeper relationship with you.

O God, we are hearing about some exciting changes for our church to help us in our mission of making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of our community and world. Guide and direct us as we begin a pilot small group that will eventually lead to several new small groups so that we can help each other grow in our faith and share our faith with others.

We pray for a new worship service for college students called “Worship U” which will begin in October. May this new Sunday noon worship service be a blessing to those we are seeking to reach.

And Lord, we also pray that you would be with us as we continue to consider capital improvements that are needed to help our church be better equipped to fulfill our mission and vision to reach people for you.

Through all these changes, be with us, O God. Help us to be quick to listen and slow to speak. Help us to serve you and others at every opportunity. Empower us to be an Old Time Religion church for a new generation.

And now, teach us to pray the prayer that Jesus taught us to pray.  “Our Father, who art in heaven…”