Category: Devotions

I was woken up this morning at 2am to the sound of tearful cries. This time it was our oldest, Emmaline who is going to be five years old in two months (not sure when that happened)! I ran in to see what was the matter and she was in pain; she was growing again and her little legs were cramping. I rubbed them, wiped her tear-stained face and gave her Tylenol and water. After a kiss and a tuck back in, she fell back asleep. Sometimes growing really does hurt us, both on the outside and on the inside. But as I carried my tired self back to bed, I was immediately reminded about how some pain isn’t as easily fixed as hers was with Tylenol. No, some of our brokenness isn’t so easily healed and some of our wounds are too deep to address right away. As a pastor, I feel the weight of our congregation and world and it feels so heavy at times. There are days I wish we had a spiritual remedy like a “Trinitarian Tylenol” or a “Godly Gripe Water” or a “Holy Hydrogen Peroxide.” (Do you see what I did there)?

There is this story where Jesus chooses to heal a disabled man on the Sabbath in the 5^th chapter of the Gospel of John. The Message version tells the story this way:

5 ^1-6 “Soon another Feast came around and Jesus was back in Jerusalem. Near the Sheep Gate in Jerusalem there was a pool, in Hebrew called Bethesda, with five alcoves. Hundreds of sick people—blind, crippled, paralyzed—were in these alcoves. One man had been an invalid there for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him stretched out by the pool and knew how long he had been there, he said, “Do you want to get well?”

⁷ The sick man said, “Sir, when the water is stirred, I don’t have anybody to put me in the pool. By the time I get there, somebody else is already in.”

^8-9 Jesus said, “Get up, take your bedroll, start walking.” The man was healed on the spot. He picked up his bedroll and walked off.

^9-10 That day happened to be the Sabbath. The Jews stopped the healed man and said, “It’s the Sabbath. You can’t carry your bedroll around. It’s against the rules.”

¹¹ But he told them, “The man who made me well told me to. He said, ‘Take your bedroll and start walking.’”

^12-13 They asked, “Who gave you the order to take it up and start walking?” But the healed man didn’t know, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd.”

Aside from the fact that Jesus, the Christ, healed on the Sabbath which was a big No-No, the question is, why him? Sure, he had his disability for 38 years, but there were hundreds of other sick people at Bethesda that day, and it was a big pool of vulnerable people. I know because I have seen it when we visited there in February on our Ordination Trip to the Holy Land. There were many places for sick people to wait for the opportune time for the water to stir up and bless them with a healing. But for some reason, for over 38 years, this man never had anyone near him to toss him into the pool. Why is this? Was he a cranky man and he had no friends? Did he have some sort of skin disease that made him untouchable according to the purity laws? Did he have poor time management and never got to the pool on time? Who knows, but Jesus decided that today was his day.

One reason why I LOVE this story is because of the seemingly obvious question Jesus asks the man. “Do you want to be made well?” I stifle a laugh when I read this, because it seems so obvious. Of course, Jesus, he wants to be made well…what kind of question is this? But when Jesus asks a question in the Gospels, there is ALWAYS something deeper at play here. To me, what is at play is the list of small excuses that we use with our Big God. When we essentially say to the Creator of the Universe that I am miserable where I am at, but I am also not willing to move towards wholeness. For whatever reason, we struggle to ask for help. Not when we are children of course; we can’t help but ask our parents for assistance every 14 minutes it seems. But when we grow up and become independent, we stop asking for help from the people that love us most. Maybe it is our pride, maybe it is our fear, maybe it is our own laziness, but whatever it is, it keeps us from really moving toward healing and wholeness.

As I begin my fifth month at First United Methodist Church of Winter Park, I want you to know what a stellar team of caring laity and staff we have here! I have been blown away by the team of 16 Care Ministers that call, pray with and support many individuals in our church on a weekly basis. Our Congregational Care Team consists of lay and staff that meet weekly to pray for our congregation and to reach out to those that have physical, spiritual and emotional needs. In addition to this incredible group, I am privileged to be a part of the new Stephen Ministry Team that hopes to relaunch a ministry that will walk with people one-on-one in a confidential way as they navigate through grieve, divorce, tragedy and many other debilitating circumstances. While the ministry is still in its infancy, I can already see God’s hand at work as we prepare, plan and pray over how Stephen Ministry will continue to build up the Kingdom of God.

I don’t know where you are today, what your needs might be and what growing pains are hurting you the most. But I do know that today is your day, and maybe you have been waiting by the pool, hoping for a miracle for far too long. Maybe you have made excuses about why you shouldn’t reach out, or ask for help, or share your burdens. I know, it is tempting to turn inward, especially when there is already so much going on around us. But Jesus is asking each of us today, “Beloved, do you want to be made well?” And if that answer is yes, I hope you will reach out and pick up the phone and call the church. Or you can go to our website: fumcwp.org/care

And submit a prayer request, request a pastoral call, ask for a Care Minister, or sign up to learn more about Stephens Ministries. Whatever you do, don’t spend 38 years or even 38 days waiting any longer. We are the church, we are a family and we love to be together through the growing pains of the faith. Let us wipe your tear-stained face, remind you that you are loved and help you move toward healing and wholeness through the power and grace of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Let it be so.

AMEN

I LOVE Football, and I especially love this season. I grew up a Gator fan since my parents are both graduates from the University of Florida, as well as my sisters who both graduated, one with her Bachelors and one with her Masters Degree. As a kid, I can remember watching every Saturday afternoon with my parents even as young as three-years-old. We even had one of those foam fingers that we could point at the TV when we didn’t like a play or a bad call from the referee.  As I grew up, Fall was always filled with football games and cheering on my favorite College team.

Shortly after getting married and getting through the first major step in the ordination process, Ryan and I were appointed to a church in Gainesville, FL. We loved our four years there. Our daughter Emmaline was born, members of our family moved shortly after us and both of my sisters lived there while going to school. It was a sweet season because I had lots of people I loved nearby. Coupled to that was our love of football and the ability to walk to the stadium on Saturdays during the fall since we lived only 9 blocks away. Over the years, I have learned the rules of the game, and have loved following season after season, coach after coach, and team after team.

If you are like me and you have a favorite Team, you know all of the emotions that go with it. I will confess that there have been some Saturdays when I have shouted “un-pastor-like” things to the TV or to the field (as if they can hear me). It’s true, I get wrapped up in the game and in the emotion of it all. This Saturday’s game wasn’t much different. If you watched the Florida Gators play the Texas A&M Aggies, it didn’t turn out the way us Gator fans had hoped, but man oh man, was it a good game. At the top of the 3^rd quarter, the Offensive Lineman, #51 had unsportsmanlike conduct called on his shoving of a Texas A&M player. He was wrong and he shouldn’t have done it and would have gotten the 15-yard penalty if not for #9. On the opposing team, #9 jumped in to protect his teammate and then got unsportsmanlike conduct called on him too. The two penalties canceled each other out and put the Gators in perfect field position to make their next play which happened to be a well-placed throw and a run in for a touchdown. I was ecstatic and thankful that we were now ahead. Of course, we tied up and on the last 2 seconds, Texas A&M kicked a field goal to win 41 to 38, but man oh man, it was a good game.

As I thought about that game-changing penalty, I thought a little bit about the words of Jesus when he says,

“²⁷ “But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, ²⁸ bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. ²⁹ If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. ³⁰ Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again. ³¹ Do to others as you would have them do to you.”        Luke 6:27-31

We have heard this Scripture or versions of it throughout our journey of faith, but for me, it doesn’t get much easier to love my enemy as I mature. In football and perhaps in hockey, there are many moments of proverbial “Striking of the cheeks” because that is a part of the rules of the game; it is a physical sport after all. But I couldn’t help but feel for my friend, Texas A&M #9 who wanted to protect his Teammate and get even against the Florida player. How frustrating it must have been that when he tried to get even, he received the same penalty as the one he was trying to get even with!

The rules of the world are NOT the same as Football (of course), so I struggle with the fairness in it all. Sometimes I find myself wanting to play God (the referee) and dole out the consequences. I struggle with Jesus’ words about nonviolence because I have been in situations when this Scripture, called the Sermon on the Mount, is taken WAY out of context and used to justify things as horrific as domestic abuse or the belief that Christians are the doormat of society. Well, this Scripture is really about shame. This Scripture found in both Matthew 5 and Luke 6 is less about nonviolence and more about the shame of violence.

I need a volunteer. If I were preaching on this text, I would ask someone to come up and help me demonstrate this. If you live with others, choose the one you are most struggling to love right now in the midst of quarantine and ask them to be your “striking of the cheek” volunteer (just kidding). It is vital observation within the social context of the first-century world is that the right hand and the left hand did different things. The right hand was used for clean things like eating and shaking hands and the left hand, well, it was used for everything else that isn’t appropriate to talk about in a devotional. Looking at the inside of your right hand was fine because it was clean, from a purity perspective, but you never wanted to look at the inside of your left hand, because it reminded you of how dirty you had been. Now as we reread the text bearing this important social context in mind, the Scripture that Jesus teaches us takes on a whole new meaning. If someone angers you and is now standing before you, you might retaliate or get even by striking their cheek with your clean hand (your right). If then, that person “turns the other cheek” toward you, the only way you could strike them again is if you lifted up and hit them with your left (unclean) hand. This would mean that you would inevitably see the inside of your left hand and remember, with shame, just how dirty you are.

Of course, I am not advocating for shaming each other, that is not the lesson here. But in the context of a first-century audience that followed purity laws and knew the difference between the use of the right and left hand, this call to strike the other cheek takes on a whole new meaning, does it not? That is because God is God and we are not and we are not perfect enough to know the whole story, nor are we just enough to distribute perfect justice, only God can do that. Said another way by the prophetic pastor and civil rights activist, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King:

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”

I wonder if that is what Jesus had in mind when he spoke those words on a hillside thousands of years ago. He knew that we would be people that would want to protect, want to fight back, and want to get even. I wonder what God might be trying to teach us right now in the midst of such division and finger-pointing.

Said in a more modern way:

“To you who are ready for the truth, I say this: Love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the energies of prayer for that person. If someone takes unfair advantage of you, use the occasion to practice the servant life. No more tit-for-tat stuff. Live generously.”  Luke 6:27-30 The Message

Let it be so.

I remember a few years back being on a flight with a really funny flight stewardess. She was explaining all of the safety features that most people tune out these days because they know how to buckle their seatbelt, they understand the job of an exit row and they can follow the in-flight rules. She ended her spiel by making us all giggle when she said that, “In the case of a drop in cabin pressure, please put on your mask first before assisting your child.” Then she added, for extra effect, “If you have more than one child, pick your FAVORITE…”

What a silly concept…choosing my favorite child. I laughed when I heard her say that because at the time, we were only parents to Emmaline. Choosing our favorite child is easy when we only had one; for the first 28 months, Emmaline was our world. Everything revolved around her sleep schedule, her joys and sorrows and Ryan and I shared this new season of parenting really well. And then we became a family of four and the rules for the game changed indefinitely. I now loved Charlie as much as I loved Emmaline and I couldn’t imagine EVER having to choose between the two. Now at age 4 and 2, Emmaline wants more of my time and attention and so she often forces me to set boundaries of time with each. But as I think about their little lives and how my heart has burst open because they are mine, I could not, will not consider ever choosing a FAVORITE. Now there are moments (of course) where I enjoy my time with one more than the other, I’m allowed to say that, right? But ultimately, I desire that both of my children, Emmaline and Charlie will grow every day to know that they are EQUALLY loved, secure, significant and at peace.

This idea of CHOOSING YOUR FAVORITE has challenged me the more I grow in my faith and from a parenting perspective, it is impossible. But every day, we are shown two things and asked to choose. Especially right now, we are stuck in the middle of having to choose between one or the other. I’m not just talking about our Presidential candidates, but living day by day in this world of Black and White. I preached a sermon series on Adam Hamilton’s book, Seeing Gray in a World of Black and White, while serving my first church in Gainesville in the Spring of 2016. While that might have been a pertinent topic then, my guess is, four years later, the ability or the willingness to see Gray in a world of Black and White has become even more challenging. But Jesus was a “Gray” kind of guy, was he not? In the First Century world, there were a lot of Black and White perspectives, or far extremes. But somehow Jesus always found the balance; he always found the compromise. Even when backed into a corner by the Pharisees or the religious elite forcing him to choose this OR that, Jesus often times chose BOTH/AND.

We live in a world that asks you to pick your FAVORITE, but we follow a God incarnate who says that all are beloved and matter equally.

When you live in a world that is forcing you to take sides, for instance:
Democrat OR Republican
Traditional OR Progressive
Catholic OR Protestant
Virtual School OR In-Person School
Israel OR Palestine
Gators OR Seminoles (just kidding)…

How do you choose your favorite? How do you pick just ONE? Why is this all that we have to consider? This isn’t healthy and this isn’t right. You see, I believe God created us to be BOTH/AND kind of people with open hearts and willing minds to consider the GRAY, rather than the two extremes.

To quote Rev. Adam Hamilton from his book, Seeing Gray in a World of Black and White, chapter five says this:

“When we can hold together, in tension, the call to freedom that comes by grace and the call to holiness in seeking to live by the Spirit, we find the sweet spot- the perfect balance between grace and holiness- that allows our faith to soar.”

Said another way, Paul writes to the Galatians these words:

“^13-14 It is absolutely clear that God has called you to a free life. Just make sure that you don’t use this freedom as an excuse to do whatever you want to do and destroy your freedom. Rather, use your freedom to serve one another in love; that’s how freedom grows. For everything we know about God’s Word is summed up in a single sentence: Love others as you love yourself. That’s an act of true freedom.” Galatians 5:13-14 The Message

I invite you to tune out the language of choosing a Favorite, and instead invite you into a place of Freedom that sees the world through God’s eyes. A world not of extremes, or Favoritism, but full of children that are equally loved, valued and significant that we hope one day will be at peace.

Let it be so.