During this first week of Advent I am drawn to meditate on Psalm 62:5:
"For God alone my soul waits in silence, for my hope is from him."
On this first week of Advent God calls us to "keep alert" and "beware" (Mark 13:33). The way we do this is to seek out God in the silence. Take some time out of each day this week to meet with God in the silence and experience God's hope.
Some wisdom from St. Theophan the Recluse:
"Everywhere and always God is with us, near to us and in us. But we are not always with [God], since we do not remember [God]...Take upon yourself this task--to make a habit of such recollection. Make yourself a rule always to be wit the Lord, keeping your mind in your heart, and do not let your thoughts wander; as often as they stray, turn them back again and keep them at home in the closet of your heart, and delight in converse with the Lord." (The Art of Prayer)
Here are some Scriptures for you to read each day to center yourselves as you listen to the voice of God.
Monday: Matthew 3:1-3
Tuesday: Isaiah 2:3-4
Wednesday: Romans 13:11-12
Thursday: Psalm 25:1-5
Friday: 1 Thessalonians 3:12
Saturday: Isaiah 64:8
Monday, November 28, 2011
Friday, November 11, 2011
A Prayer for Those Who Have Experienced Sexual Abuse
In the recent light of the Penn State Investigations, my heart has been heavy for the victims of this case and victims everywhere who have suffered from and experienced sexual abuse. In my own life I have so many friends who have been affected by this type of abuse. It is one of the most damaging forms of abuse because it makes people question their very identity and it distorts the reality of the true meaning of love.
This prayer is for all those young men who have experienced sexual abuse and for victims everywhere:
Heavenly Father, you created us in your image, to bring glory to your name and to spread the love and grace of Jesus Christ. On this day, by the power of your Holy Spirit, warm the hearts of all of those who have experienced sexual abuse that they may know that you love them and that they are not alone in their sadness, depression, questioning, anger, and despair. Let them know that it is not your desire for any human to experience any kind of abuse or defilement.
Lord, use us as the body of Christ to surround all those who at this present moment cannot trust anyone, those who are numbing themselves by addiction or other dangerous outlets, those who have become hyper-sexualized in order to feel like they are in control, and those who are not able to be in healthy relationships because they are afraid that someone else will take advantage of them or abuse them. Great Physician, we know that it is only you who can heal our hearts because you are the only one who can love us the way that you intended. Help us to model your love to one another, and help us to hold all of those affected by sexual abuse in our prayers this day and always so that they may find healing and comfort in your presence.
In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
This prayer is for all those young men who have experienced sexual abuse and for victims everywhere:
Heavenly Father, you created us in your image, to bring glory to your name and to spread the love and grace of Jesus Christ. On this day, by the power of your Holy Spirit, warm the hearts of all of those who have experienced sexual abuse that they may know that you love them and that they are not alone in their sadness, depression, questioning, anger, and despair. Let them know that it is not your desire for any human to experience any kind of abuse or defilement.
Lord, use us as the body of Christ to surround all those who at this present moment cannot trust anyone, those who are numbing themselves by addiction or other dangerous outlets, those who have become hyper-sexualized in order to feel like they are in control, and those who are not able to be in healthy relationships because they are afraid that someone else will take advantage of them or abuse them. Great Physician, we know that it is only you who can heal our hearts because you are the only one who can love us the way that you intended. Help us to model your love to one another, and help us to hold all of those affected by sexual abuse in our prayers this day and always so that they may find healing and comfort in your presence.
In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
Monday, August 8, 2011
A Prayer for the families and friends of the Navy Seals who lost their lives
God of love and justice, we pray for all the families who have lost their sons due to the tragedy of war and violence. We pray for their fellow friends and soldiers who are gripped with anger and fear. In all of their grief, grant them your peace and your unending love. Help them to feel the extended body of Christ praying for them every moment of every day. When they are in the depths of their despair, help them to know they are not alone. We join in unity as the family of Christ as we pray this in your Son's name. Amen.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
There are ashes under my fingernail
Last night after the imposition of ashes at the Ash Wednesday service, I found myself sitting in my seat trying to get the ashes out from under my fingernail. Then I had a holy moment. During the season of Lent we take 40 days to look at the sin areas in our lives that keep getting stuck under our nails, the things that we keep trying to give up, but can't.
Lent reminds us that no matter what we do we cannot get the sin of life out from under our fingernails. This is why we need Jesus Christ. Jesus is the only one who can wash away the sins of the world. During Lent we remember again who Jesus was and is. We remember that Jesus was tempted, chastised, beaten, loved, misunderstood, and uniquely human and divine.
God gave us someone who looked like us to come and talk to us about life and how to live it. God loved us so much that he gave us some time on earth with God's son Jesus Christ. During this season we look at the sin left under our nails and we repent to the only One who can wash us with holiness. We repent because we have a loving God who is desperately trying to take our sin away so we can be closer to God. We repent so we can get out of our own way and have a relationship with God the way God intended. Jesus has already died for us sins, so during this season we recognize the sins we have committed the past year and then we give them to God. Through our repentance and confession we are transformed by God's saving action in our lives. It is then that we stop looking under our nails for the sin we know is there, and start looking upward to the mighty God who loves us anyway.
This season of lent let us confess, repent, and transform together.
~ Pastor Jessie
Lent reminds us that no matter what we do we cannot get the sin of life out from under our fingernails. This is why we need Jesus Christ. Jesus is the only one who can wash away the sins of the world. During Lent we remember again who Jesus was and is. We remember that Jesus was tempted, chastised, beaten, loved, misunderstood, and uniquely human and divine.
God gave us someone who looked like us to come and talk to us about life and how to live it. God loved us so much that he gave us some time on earth with God's son Jesus Christ. During this season we look at the sin left under our nails and we repent to the only One who can wash us with holiness. We repent because we have a loving God who is desperately trying to take our sin away so we can be closer to God. We repent so we can get out of our own way and have a relationship with God the way God intended. Jesus has already died for us sins, so during this season we recognize the sins we have committed the past year and then we give them to God. Through our repentance and confession we are transformed by God's saving action in our lives. It is then that we stop looking under our nails for the sin we know is there, and start looking upward to the mighty God who loves us anyway.
This season of lent let us confess, repent, and transform together.
~ Pastor Jessie
Monday, February 14, 2011
One Thing
Sorry no posts for a long time, I had mono for like 4 months, but I'm finally getting back to normal.
For the next three weeks we will be having a "One Thing Sermon Series":
- February 20, 2011
- February 27, 2011
- March 6, 2011
During the course of these three weeks all three pastors will preach about one thing: discipleship. Christ calls all of us to follow Him. Christ is always asking us, by the movement of the Holy Spirit in our lives, to become disciples of Jesus Christ and to give our whole lives to God, but sometimes we get so distracted by all the things we can do for God, that we stop following God. In all the doing we forget how to "be still and know" God.
Church can be confusing and complicated. There are so many programs, meetings, and events that we all, at times, lose sight of "the One" who matters most. In order to combat this trend in our busy church we are going to focus on a simple kind of discipleship, one that includes worship, small groups, and service.
With guidance from the Bible, The Simple Church (a book by Eric Geiger and Thom Reiner), and the Five Talent Academy, we as a church family will look at the things that matter most when it comes to being a disciple of Christ.
How are we being intentional about our own discipleship? Do we all spend enough time seeking God, or are we content to let God seek us? Have we let our Christianity become stagnant or complacent?
May we grow in our love of God and one another as we remember again the call of Christian discipleship.
~ Pastor Jessie
For the next three weeks we will be having a "One Thing Sermon Series":
- February 20, 2011
- February 27, 2011
- March 6, 2011
During the course of these three weeks all three pastors will preach about one thing: discipleship. Christ calls all of us to follow Him. Christ is always asking us, by the movement of the Holy Spirit in our lives, to become disciples of Jesus Christ and to give our whole lives to God, but sometimes we get so distracted by all the things we can do for God, that we stop following God. In all the doing we forget how to "be still and know" God.
Church can be confusing and complicated. There are so many programs, meetings, and events that we all, at times, lose sight of "the One" who matters most. In order to combat this trend in our busy church we are going to focus on a simple kind of discipleship, one that includes worship, small groups, and service.
With guidance from the Bible, The Simple Church (a book by Eric Geiger and Thom Reiner), and the Five Talent Academy, we as a church family will look at the things that matter most when it comes to being a disciple of Christ.
How are we being intentional about our own discipleship? Do we all spend enough time seeking God, or are we content to let God seek us? Have we let our Christianity become stagnant or complacent?
May we grow in our love of God and one another as we remember again the call of Christian discipleship.
~ Pastor Jessie
Thursday, January 21, 2010
The Earthquakes in Haiti
Friends, it has been heartbreaking to hear the stories and see the images of our brothers and sisters in Christ in Haiti who experienced/ are experiencing the devastating affects of the earthquakes.
Kevin Wright, a fellow Duke Div Alumni, was in Haiti when the earthquakes occured, but has since made it home safely:
http://www.wcnc.com/video/featured-videos/Charlotte-minister-stuck-in-Haiti-during-earthquake-81572787.html
We lost some very faithful Christians who were there trying to offer help:
http://new.gbgm-umc.org/umcor/newsroom/releases/archives2010/unitedmethodistreliefexecutivedies/
Sam Wells wrote a prayer for Haiti:
A Prayer for Haiti - By Dean Sam Wells
Composed by Rev. Sam Wells, Dean of Duke Chapel
A Prayer for Haiti
God of the living and the dead, we wail in grief at the pain and loss and horror and distress of our brothers and sisters in Haiti.
We do not understand your ways – that those who already suffer the most, now suffer so much more.
Lead us to repentance, that we who have sinned so much are punished so little, and they who already struggle have now impossible burdens to bear.
Where people are still breathing under collapsed buildings, give them air and hope and courageous searchers.
Where children are injured or orphaned, find them trusted friends and generous caregivers.
Where despair is infectious and disease or looting spreads, bring patience and forbearance and healing and strength to conquer temptation.
And when others look with compassion from afar, release resources, empower expertise, shape political will,
and bring deliverance for your people in their distress.
Through him who was crushed and bruised for us, in the comfort of your Holy Spirit. Amen.
And so we mourn. We lift our voices in the wailing and screaming of those lost, but we lift our voices in prayer still clinging to the hope that Christ offers us. We do not/cannot understand God but we can cry out to God together and show one another Christian love.
Psalm 22: 1-5
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer; and by night, but find no rest.
Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel. In you our ancestors trusted; they trusted, and you delivered them. To you they cried, and were saved; in you they trusted and were not put to shame.
...Even in the midst of tragedy we put our trust in God because no matter what happens in life God is always our creator, redeemer, and sustainer.
How can we help?
So many ways!!!
Pray for the people of Haiti!
At Warwick Memorial UMC: Write a check and designate your contribution for "Haiti Relief" through a
special offering
Make a health kit: http://new.gbgm-umc.org/umcor/getconnected/supplies/health-kit/
Sign petition to help stop Haiti's debt: http://www.one.org/us/actnow/drophaitiandebt/
Love and peace to you all,
Rev. J
Kevin Wright, a fellow Duke Div Alumni, was in Haiti when the earthquakes occured, but has since made it home safely:
http://www.wcnc.com/video/featured-videos/Charlotte-minister-stuck-in-Haiti-during-earthquake-81572787.html
We lost some very faithful Christians who were there trying to offer help:
http://new.gbgm-umc.org/umcor/newsroom/releases/archives2010/unitedmethodistreliefexecutivedies/
Sam Wells wrote a prayer for Haiti:
A Prayer for Haiti - By Dean Sam Wells
Composed by Rev. Sam Wells, Dean of Duke Chapel
A Prayer for Haiti
God of the living and the dead, we wail in grief at the pain and loss and horror and distress of our brothers and sisters in Haiti.
We do not understand your ways – that those who already suffer the most, now suffer so much more.
Lead us to repentance, that we who have sinned so much are punished so little, and they who already struggle have now impossible burdens to bear.
Where people are still breathing under collapsed buildings, give them air and hope and courageous searchers.
Where children are injured or orphaned, find them trusted friends and generous caregivers.
Where despair is infectious and disease or looting spreads, bring patience and forbearance and healing and strength to conquer temptation.
And when others look with compassion from afar, release resources, empower expertise, shape political will,
and bring deliverance for your people in their distress.
Through him who was crushed and bruised for us, in the comfort of your Holy Spirit. Amen.
And so we mourn. We lift our voices in the wailing and screaming of those lost, but we lift our voices in prayer still clinging to the hope that Christ offers us. We do not/cannot understand God but we can cry out to God together and show one another Christian love.
Psalm 22: 1-5
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer; and by night, but find no rest.
Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel. In you our ancestors trusted; they trusted, and you delivered them. To you they cried, and were saved; in you they trusted and were not put to shame.
...Even in the midst of tragedy we put our trust in God because no matter what happens in life God is always our creator, redeemer, and sustainer.
How can we help?
So many ways!!!
Pray for the people of Haiti!
At Warwick Memorial UMC: Write a check and designate your contribution for "Haiti Relief" through a
special offering
Make a health kit: http://new.gbgm-umc.org/umcor/getconnected/supplies/health-kit/
Sign petition to help stop Haiti's debt: http://www.one.org/us/actnow/drophaitiandebt/
Love and peace to you all,
Rev. J
Monday, January 11, 2010
Do you wear a mask?
This past Sunday I preached on the Baptism of Jesus Christ (Luke 3:15-17, 21-22). In Jesus' baptism the people were finally able to see that Jesus was indeed the Son of God. Although they may have had doubts before, they saw a dove descend upon Jesus and may have heard God's voice claiming Jesus as his beloved Son.
So this phenomenon got me thinking about what kind of illustration I could use to bring it home and I decided upon a mask. One of my best friends, Megan, pointed me to this powerful poem:
Please Hear What I'm Not Saying
Don't be fooled by me.
Don't be fooled by the face I wear
For I wear a mask, a thousand masks,
Masks that I'm afraid to take off
And none of them is me.
Pretending is an art that's second nature with me,
but don't be fooled,
for God's sake don't be fooled.
I give you the impression that I'm secure,
that all is sunny and unruffled with me,
within as well as without,
that confidence is my name and coolness my game,
that the water's calm and I'm in command
and that I need no one,
but don't believe me.
My surface may be smooth but
my surface is my mask,
ever-varying and ever-concealing.
Beneath lies no complacence.
Beneath lies confusion, and fear, and aloneness.
But I hide this. I don't want anybody to know it.
I panic at the thought of my weakness exposed.
That's why I frantically create a mask to hide behind,
a nonchalant sophisticated facade,
to help me pretend,
to shield me from the glance that knows.
But such a glance is precisely my salvation,
my only hope, and I know it.
That is, if it is followed by acceptance,
If it is followed by love.
It's the only thing that can liberate me from myself
from my own self-built prison walls
from the barriers that I so painstakingly erect.
It's the only thing that will assure me
of what I can't assure myself,
that I'm really worth something.
But I don't tell you this. I don't dare to. I'm afraid to.
I'm afraid you'll think less of me,
that you'll laugh, and your laugh would kill me.
I'm afraid that deep-down I'm nothing
and that you will see this and reject me.
So I play my game, my desperate, pretending game
With a façade of assurance without
And a trembling child within.
So begins the glittering but empty parade of Masks,
And my life becomes a front.
I tell you everything that's really nothing,
and nothing of what's everything,
of what's crying within me.
So when I'm going through my routine
do not be fooled by what I'm saying.
Please listen carefully and try to hear what I'm not saying,
what I'd like to be able to say,
what for survival I need to say,
but what I can't say.
I don't like hiding.
I don't like playing superficial phony games.
I want to stop playing them.
I want to be genuine and spontaneous and me
but you've got to help me.
You've got to hold out your hand
even when that's the last thing I seem to want.
Only you can wipe away from my eyes
the blank stare of the breathing dead.
Only you can call me into aliveness.
Each time you're kind, and gentle, and encouraging,
each time you try to understand because you really care,
my heart begins to grow wings --
very small wings,
but wings!
With your power to touch me into feeling
you can breathe life into me.
I want you to know that.
I want you to know how important you are to me,
how you can be a creator--an honest-to-God creator --
of the person that is me
if you choose to.
You alone can break down the wall behind which I tremble,
you alone can remove my mask,
you alone can release me from the shadow-world of panic,
from my lonely prison,
if you choose to.
Please choose to.
Do not pass me by.
It will not be easy for you.
A long conviction of worthlessness builds strong walls.
The nearer you approach me
the blinder I may strike back.
It's irrational, but despite what the books may say about man
often I am irrational.
I fight against the very thing I cry out for.
But I am told that love is stronger than strong walls
and in this lies my hope.
Please try to beat down those walls
with firm hands but with gentle hands
for a child is very sensitive.
Who am I, you may wonder?
I am someone you know very well.
For I am every man you meet
and I am every woman you meet.
By Charles C. Finn
This poem summarizes the life of every person. We all want to be known and we all want to be loved. But we don't let people get to know us. We hide our true selves from the world and lie awake late at night wondering why no one tries to break through our hardened walls.
We all wear masks. We are so afraid of letting people in because we don't want to be hurt. We think if people really knew who we were then they would not love us.
Jesus did not wear a mask. He was human and divine and he was not afraid to be both these things in many situations. Jesus didn't care what other people would think. So he hung out with prostitutes, and tax collectors, and Gentiles. He got dirty and cried in public and made time for people that no one wanted to hang out with.
Jesus makes it possible for us to take off our masks and experience God's love through faith and the power of the Holy Spirit. When Jesus was baptized we recognized His true identity, and so when we are baptized we place our identity in Jesus Christ and the things above. Not on the things of this world.
We must not only take off our masks before God, but before other people. We must learn to confess our sins to our trusted brothers and sisters in Christ. A funny thing happens when we tell other people we are not perfect...they begin to tell us that they are not either and then together we figure out how to do life together in mutual respect and Christian accountability. Amazing things happen when you really ask someone how they are...they might actually tell you.
My hope for my church is that we can all take off our masks from time to time, accept the love of God and others, and let God and one another in.
Rev. J
So this phenomenon got me thinking about what kind of illustration I could use to bring it home and I decided upon a mask. One of my best friends, Megan, pointed me to this powerful poem:
Please Hear What I'm Not Saying
Don't be fooled by me.
Don't be fooled by the face I wear
For I wear a mask, a thousand masks,
Masks that I'm afraid to take off
And none of them is me.
Pretending is an art that's second nature with me,
but don't be fooled,
for God's sake don't be fooled.
I give you the impression that I'm secure,
that all is sunny and unruffled with me,
within as well as without,
that confidence is my name and coolness my game,
that the water's calm and I'm in command
and that I need no one,
but don't believe me.
My surface may be smooth but
my surface is my mask,
ever-varying and ever-concealing.
Beneath lies no complacence.
Beneath lies confusion, and fear, and aloneness.
But I hide this. I don't want anybody to know it.
I panic at the thought of my weakness exposed.
That's why I frantically create a mask to hide behind,
a nonchalant sophisticated facade,
to help me pretend,
to shield me from the glance that knows.
But such a glance is precisely my salvation,
my only hope, and I know it.
That is, if it is followed by acceptance,
If it is followed by love.
It's the only thing that can liberate me from myself
from my own self-built prison walls
from the barriers that I so painstakingly erect.
It's the only thing that will assure me
of what I can't assure myself,
that I'm really worth something.
But I don't tell you this. I don't dare to. I'm afraid to.
I'm afraid you'll think less of me,
that you'll laugh, and your laugh would kill me.
I'm afraid that deep-down I'm nothing
and that you will see this and reject me.
So I play my game, my desperate, pretending game
With a façade of assurance without
And a trembling child within.
So begins the glittering but empty parade of Masks,
And my life becomes a front.
I tell you everything that's really nothing,
and nothing of what's everything,
of what's crying within me.
So when I'm going through my routine
do not be fooled by what I'm saying.
Please listen carefully and try to hear what I'm not saying,
what I'd like to be able to say,
what for survival I need to say,
but what I can't say.
I don't like hiding.
I don't like playing superficial phony games.
I want to stop playing them.
I want to be genuine and spontaneous and me
but you've got to help me.
You've got to hold out your hand
even when that's the last thing I seem to want.
Only you can wipe away from my eyes
the blank stare of the breathing dead.
Only you can call me into aliveness.
Each time you're kind, and gentle, and encouraging,
each time you try to understand because you really care,
my heart begins to grow wings --
very small wings,
but wings!
With your power to touch me into feeling
you can breathe life into me.
I want you to know that.
I want you to know how important you are to me,
how you can be a creator--an honest-to-God creator --
of the person that is me
if you choose to.
You alone can break down the wall behind which I tremble,
you alone can remove my mask,
you alone can release me from the shadow-world of panic,
from my lonely prison,
if you choose to.
Please choose to.
Do not pass me by.
It will not be easy for you.
A long conviction of worthlessness builds strong walls.
The nearer you approach me
the blinder I may strike back.
It's irrational, but despite what the books may say about man
often I am irrational.
I fight against the very thing I cry out for.
But I am told that love is stronger than strong walls
and in this lies my hope.
Please try to beat down those walls
with firm hands but with gentle hands
for a child is very sensitive.
Who am I, you may wonder?
I am someone you know very well.
For I am every man you meet
and I am every woman you meet.
By Charles C. Finn
This poem summarizes the life of every person. We all want to be known and we all want to be loved. But we don't let people get to know us. We hide our true selves from the world and lie awake late at night wondering why no one tries to break through our hardened walls.
We all wear masks. We are so afraid of letting people in because we don't want to be hurt. We think if people really knew who we were then they would not love us.
Jesus did not wear a mask. He was human and divine and he was not afraid to be both these things in many situations. Jesus didn't care what other people would think. So he hung out with prostitutes, and tax collectors, and Gentiles. He got dirty and cried in public and made time for people that no one wanted to hang out with.
Jesus makes it possible for us to take off our masks and experience God's love through faith and the power of the Holy Spirit. When Jesus was baptized we recognized His true identity, and so when we are baptized we place our identity in Jesus Christ and the things above. Not on the things of this world.
We must not only take off our masks before God, but before other people. We must learn to confess our sins to our trusted brothers and sisters in Christ. A funny thing happens when we tell other people we are not perfect...they begin to tell us that they are not either and then together we figure out how to do life together in mutual respect and Christian accountability. Amazing things happen when you really ask someone how they are...they might actually tell you.
My hope for my church is that we can all take off our masks from time to time, accept the love of God and others, and let God and one another in.
Rev. J
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