Fear

While the recent news events can cause us to be fearful, I need to remember that as a follower of Jesus Christ, I'm repeatedly admonished to not be afraid.  

• An angel appeared to Joseph saying, "Do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife".....and in that time and culture, it was risky for him to do so. (See Matthew 1.)   
• In Luke 1, an angel appears to Mary to tell her she's to be the mother of Jesus and tells her "Do not fear, for you have found favor with God."  
• In Luke 2, a whole host of angels told the shepherds, "Fear not......for unto you is born a Messiah."  
• As Jesus' life and ministry is told in the gospels,  the stories repeat the theme.  At the empty tomb, an angel tells Mary not to be afraid.  
• When the disciples hide in the upper room after his resurrection, Jesus appears and tells them not to be afraid.

These are only a few examples and I'm sure you can add others, but in each case the people in these stories find themselves in uncertain and scary circumstances.  Yet they are never told to retreat from the world but they are expected to face their fears and are assured that God is with them.

I'm repeatedly reminded to return love when others hate and try to destroy.  Jesus has instructed us to share love, make disciples, follow his examples.  I don't believe we can do that if we close ourselves in because of fear.  I believe that we are called to throw the doors open wide and invite people to join with us to experience the love of God in Jesus Christ.

I believe we need to be watchful, alert and always aware of our surroundings.  But as people who profess to follow a risen Christ, we must not retreat in fear.  If we are watchful and alert, we just might discover a new person in our midst who is searching for a community of faith.  We need to be open to it.

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Note:  This was written the week after yet another school shooting, this one in Florida.  Seventeen people were killed.  The alleged shooter was arrested.

Perspective

I grew up in Sac City, a small farming community in northwest Iowa.  That community, the school and the church were my whole world for the first 18 years of my life.  There were a few exceptions.  My dad's family lived in southern Minnesota and so we made car  trips to visit Grandma a couple of times a year.  Once in a blue moon we would visit relatives in Storm Lake or would shop in Fort Dodge.  We'd make big plans for those trips that were all of 20 miles or 45 miles away.  Oh, the excitement of a trip to "the big city"!  Once we even took a car trip to California.

Most every Sunday, Grandma fixed dinner for her kids and grandkids and her sister's kids and grandkids.  That's about 25-30 people.  Once in a while that group was expanded to include her other siblings (and their families) and her cousin.  That would be another 15-20 people.  Aunt Fern didn't come often because she lived a long ways away...... in Des Moines!  100 miles or so away!

Because of the school and good teachers, I learned about far-off places.  Because the Kiwanis Club-sponsored Travel Log programs, I learned about exotic places in South America or in Africa.  When I was in high school, I started watching The Huntley-Brinkley Report* and learned that there was a place called Viet Nam... and Laos and Cambodia... where the USA was in a war as the good guys fighting against communism.

In this space I was insulated against the world.  The people with whom I interacted had skin the same color as mine and spoke the same language.  The correct religion was Lutheran, tho I knew there were other churches in the community.  I never heard the terms heterosexual and homosexual, much less gay, lesbian, bi-, trans-, queer and others.  I was ignorant of those issues.  Blissfully ignorant.  My greatest concern was to be financially secure.  One of the worst things that I ever heard said about others was that they were people who lived paycheck to paycheck.

Over the years, I've experienced very different people and places from those of my childhood.  99% have been positive.  I may not always have been so accepting of other people or places or things -- just because they were different.  But I think I've grown and I give thanks for all who nudge me forward.

I miss Sunday dinners at Grandma's house, but perhaps my memories have made them sweeter than they actually were.  To all the folks who pine for the good ole days of their childhood, I say this:  Remember those days with fondness and then get moving.  We can't go back..... and we shouldn't.

*on NBC news in the 1960's.

A note to my daughter

I love your Dad.  Men are such funny creatures!

Yesterday he said he was going to Target and asked if I wanted anything.  I said yes, a small jar of Vaseline (to prevent chapped lips in the winter.)  I emphasized small. Off he went..... and off I went on my separate adventures for the day.

When you were a baby, you had such awful diaper rash for months and months.  It must have hurt terribly.  I tried everything for it and finally bought a large jar of Vaseline.  I finally finished that jar after nearly 40 years.

So when I got home last night, on the counter in the bathroom sat a LARGE jar of Vaseline.  I fussed and fumed.  I tried to explain that this was more than I needed.  I'm 65 years old now.  Did he expect me to live to 105?  I don't think so!  He explained that this was the only size they had, except for single-use packages.  He was in Target, for crying out loud!  They have smaller jars somewhere, I know they must.

We watched the ballgame.  I read.  He dug out the sales receipt and told me I could take it back.  He went to bed.  I was still fussing about this in my brain and then I went to bed.  All of a sudden it occurred to me that the large jar of Vaseline was an example of his optimism and his love for me.  Yes, he believes I'm going to live a long, long time and yes, he loves me enough to prove it with an large jar of Vaseline.

This morning, as he was going to accomplish another of my errands, I had to stop him, give him a kiss and thank him for believing in me -- For believing that I would live to 105.  He's such a good guy!  My wish for all women is that they have guys in their life who treat them as well.  This is my wish for you, dear daughter.

Love, Mom

Exodus 3:1-6

First a disclaimer:  I haven't posted anything on this site for about 4 years, so I'll have to relearn how the site works..... and I expect that Google has made some changes to Blogger, but here goes.....
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God Calls Moses is often how this passage of scripture is titled.  Just imagine --

Moses is out in the wilderness, minding his business.  Minding the sheep.  He strays outside the wilderness to Mt Horeb, the mountain of God.  There he notices a bush that's on fire, but not burning up.  Being the curious sort, he says to himself, "I think I'll go check this out because it's not like something I've seen before."  When he does, God calls him by name and tells him to take off his shoes because he's on holy ground.  God continued to speak to him.  I imagine it's to reassure Moses of who is speaking to him.  Moses apparently believed it was God's voice because he was afraid and hid his face.

A bit later in Exodus, Moses tells God all the various reasons he can't be the leader that God is asking him to be.  The people won't follow him.  He's not a good speaker.  Someone else would be better at this job of leader.  Moses needs to go see his family.  He has other things to do.  Moses doesn't doubt that it is God speaking to him, but he just doesn't want to do what God asks.

I've been asked to do things I'm not sure about.  I've questioned whether it was God asking me..... or maybe I was mistaken.  So I've sought the counsel of wise friends who are in-tuned to the heart of God.  I'm often like Moses in that I have a million and three reasons to explain why I can't do as asked,  but God has been patient with me, listened to my excuses, provided work-arounds and said, "OK.  I know you don't want to, but I really need you to do this."  Often I'm like the prophet Jonah and run the other direction, but still God is patient and brings me back to the task at hand.*

God and I have been having an argument for the past year or so.  I'm still trying to decide if it's God speaking or if it's my wishful thinking.  I keep hearing "Do this.  Do that.  I'll be with you."  I keep saying, "But... but..... but....:"  And God sighs and shows me a way or sometimes several ways.  God puts people in my life who help me to hear God's word and who encourage me.  God is patient and believes in me, even when I don't believe in myself.

The stories of Moses -- and Jonah -- are my stories and I have a lot to learn from them.

*See my previous post on my understanding of the Jonah story.

Jonah or Nancy

Jonah 1

New American Standard Bible (NASB)

Jonah’s Disobedience

1 The word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai saying, ² “Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and cry against it, for their wickedness has come up before Me.” ³ But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. So he went down to Joppa, found a ship which was going to Tarshish, paid the fare and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.

You probably know me as Nancy, but I am a Jonah thru and thru.  If you aren’t familiar with the whole story, you might read the whole book of Jonah.  It’s only four chapters.

Anyway….. from these few verses, what do we know about Jonah? 

1. God spoke to Jonah.
2. God told Jonah to go to Nineveh and preach.
3. Jonah didn’t like what he heard and didn’t want to go to Ninevah.
4. Instead Jonah tried to hide from God in Joppa and caught a ship to Tarshish.
5. Later in the book, you will learn that Jonah’s shipmates were afraid of him and threw him overboard so that Jonah ended up in the belly of a whale.

So how am I like Jonah?  Well, when we first started making plans for sabbatical, I thought that if I just kept quiet, I wouldn’t have to take a turn at speaking.  I am so very grateful for those who’ve been in this spot before me.  But finally, there was one last week that no one else volunteered for and so it was my turn. 

During this time of sabbatical, I’ve spent much time on other things – most anything so that I wouldn’t have to figure out what to say to you folks. 

1. I’ve spent time with friends and family. 
2. Shopped.
3. Drove here and there.
4. Watched way too much TV and
5. Spent an inordinate amount of time playing games on my computer. 
6. About the only things that haven’t prevented me from working on this message are laundry, housework and cooking.  (I avoid those also.) 

I’m like Jonah because

1. God spoke to me
2. God told me to take my turn at speaking.
3. I didn’t like it and so for the first week of sabbatical, I went to Minnesota.

Now, I’ve never been to Nineveh, but I think that the people of Minnesota must be nicer. I didn’t meet anyone there that I would consider wicked….. not even a little rude.  Minnesotans are pretty nice folk.  Still, even in Minnesota I heard God telling me that I needed to take my speaking turn.

1. So, what is God telling you to do? 
2. What is God telling this congregation to do? 
3. Are we going to obey God? 
4. Or are we going to run off to Minnesota?
5. Or the TV set? 
6. Or the internet?
7. Or Tarshish? 

When will we finally say, “OK God… We don’t want to go to Nineveh, but if that’s where you think we should be, then go with us and guide us along the way.”

This is the ninth Sabbatical Sunday.  During the last nine weeks, what have you heard from God?  Have you been listening?   Are we on a ship heading to Tarshish?  Or on the ship headed to Nineveh?  Will we end up in the belly of the whale?

Good morning!  I’m Nancy Brookhart, a member of this congregation since my daughter Carrie came into this world – 37 years ago today.   In my life, there have been many things that shaped my understanding of stewardship in the church, and I’d like to share a couple of brief stories with you today.

As a child, I had everything I needed and even some of the things that I wanted, but my parents carefully considered how all of their money should be distributed.  I remember my father writing a $20 check to the church for our family’s Sunday morning offering.  As a child, I was amazed at the amount.  Of course, I don’t know if this was a weekly or monthly amount, but I know that I saw my father write these checks more than once.  My parents believed in supporting their local congregation as a way of honoring God.

As a child, occasionally I had a small allowance.  Now remember I said before that my parents made sure I had everything I needed and some of things I wanted, and that this was the early 1960’s – so when I say I had a small weekly allowance, I mean really SMALL.  It was 25 cents a week.  Now, this allowance came with strings attached.  The reason I received this allowance was because my parents believed I needed to learn how to manage money.  (That’s another word for stewardship – money management.)  I divided this money three ways.  The first 10 cents was my offering for Sunday School.  The second 10 cents was to cover my expenses (my Campfire Girl dues.)  The last nickel was for fun.  I could buy a candy bar that week or I could save those nickels til I had big money to spend.  Whatever I wanted.  My parents wanted me to learn the importance of giving to the church as a way of honoring God and so that was the first thing to consider in dividing that quarter.

As Rand and I began our married lives together, we had to work together to figure out how we as a family were going to manage our finances.  We had a common goal, but we each came with different ways of reaching that goal – not terribly different, but enough that it was an issue we still had to work through.  39 years later, we are still working through those things.  But one thing we agreed upon – We were committed to supporting the work of the church as a way to honor God.  As a young family and young in the life of this congregation, our commitment was small.  But as our family grew and as we watched the giving of others in this congregation, our commitment has grown.  You – and some who have passed on – have encouraged our stewardship because of your stewardship.

One last story:  As I’ve grown in the church, I’ve studied the Bible to guide my life, to grow my faith.  In Micah, chapter 6, the prophet asks “What does the LORD require?”  I’ll start with verse 6, and I’m reading from Nancy’s translation – not found in your local bookstore.

• What should I bring to God?  Should I bring God the things that I’ve decided I no longer need?  Should I give God the part of my paycheck that’s left after I’ve paid my bills?  Will God be pleased with a dollar a week or $10 a week or $100 a week or $1000 a week?  Does God want my oldest child?  (and believe me, there are times when any parent would be willing to give a child.)  No, Nancy – God’s told you what is good and what is required.  To act fairly with others, to love one another and to always walk with God.”

So, today Rand and I will again commit our financial resources to the work of this congregation as a way to honor God.  I urge you to do the same as you listen to God and I urge you to do as God instructs you. 

On Sunday November 4 (next week) we will celebrate Consecration Sunday.  On that day, we will gather in the fellowship hall at 9am for a party to celebrate our commitments to God (after our 8:15 worship) – or – (Then we will continue that celebration in our worship to God at 10:15.)  Please plan to be a part of that celebration.

Reflecting on Sept 11, 2001

Ten years ago, on an ordinary Tuesday morning, Rand and I were in the car going to work, waiting for a stoplight at the corner of Kanesville and 2nd St.  In my mind, I was reviewing my expectations for the day.  As was our custom, we were listening to the Today Show while on our way to work.

We heard the story about the twin towers as it unfolded, but the  Today Show hosts seemed confused by the reports. Perhaps confused is not the correct word. Incredulous is probably closer. It was unthinkable that planes had deliberately flown into these buildings.  There must be a mistake.   The destruction was too much for them to describe.  During the day, the stories were repeated again and again in an effort to make sense of those few moments. 

In looking back on the day, I realize that no day is ordinary and that each day has possibilities for either good or evil.