Category: Devotions

“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” 2 Corinthians, 3: 17

When I was twenty years old and a junior in college, I won a study-abroad scholarship to learn Mandarin Chinese at the Taiwan Normal University in Taipei.

It was a brave endeavor, because I knew not a stich of Mandarin.  One of the gifts of youth is one’s audacity for risk and adventures.

The journey took 27 hours, flying on a 747 jumbo-jet from Philadelphia to Chicago, Los Angeles, and stopping in Okinawa Japan for a layover, before heading south to Taiwan.

While sitting in the Okinawa airport, a tall Japanese man walked by with an elder, who I assumed was his father.  He stopped suddenly, and asked me in English, “Where are you going?”  Cautious, I said to Taipei to study Mandarin. “By yourself?!” I could see the man and now the elder were genuinely concern for my welfare.  “Ok. Please be careful,” he warned.

After these men left, I thought about their worried expressions and questions, with some dread of what I had gotten myself into to. I looked around, and realized I was sitting isolated in a dark part of the airport.  I gathered up my belongings and headed towards the light, and to my relief, discovered a full airline wing of fellow travelers.

When I arrived in Taipei airport, the panic set in.  A fellow student, who studied in Taiwan the previously year, had arranged for his male friend to pick me up at the airport.  My gut screamed and told me that I couldn’t go with him, so instead I joined a group of young white women students from Georgetown University, who invited me to bunk with them overnight at a hostel.

Miraculously, the next morning I found the university, registered for class, and connected with a Taiwanese family, who wanted to take in an exchange student.  Before I settled in, I had this deep earning to visit a religious place, so asked the family where the nearest Buddhist shrine was located.  (Bias Alert: I assumed there were no Christians churches in Taiwan.  Later, I discovered there were plenty.)

The Buddhist temple was jammed packed with pilgrims. The monks, dressed in vibrant shades of reds, prayed and conducted rituals steeped in incense.  Rather lost and confused, I followed the crowd, which led me to a trail of smaller and private shrines, where people also prayed.

I kept walking, which lead me to an empty concrete room, where people in meditation walked around in circles.  Suddenly, a young man, who was standing by the wall, came up to me and asked me in English if I wanted to meet the Dalai Lama.  Skeptical, I asked, the Dalai Lama, here? Okay, I said.  I would like to meet him.

The young man opened a door and slipped behind it.  Before I could understand what was happening, out comes an elder Chinese man, who was clearly not the Dalai Lama, but a man who looked very much like Gandhi.  Bald, very thin and brown, like the Mahatma Gandhi, this lama was wrapped loosely in a white cloth.

The energy of this man’s presence hit me like a sledgehammer.  All I could do was to back up slow as he gingerly walked to the center of the room and sat cross-legged on the floor.  He said nothing, only looked through me with love.  I fell l to my knees, curled up in his lap, and cried like a baby.

Perhaps, it was the journey, or perhaps it was all the suffering I had been carrying.  But whatever it was, that comfort from this stranger was beyond comparison.  Whoever this holy man was, he seemed to step aside to allow Christ Jesus to hold me and set my burdens free.  I was definitely not expecting that!

How long I cried I am unable to recall.  But, when I could weep no more, I stood up and bowed to the Light in him with deep gratitude for his unconditional love and acceptance.

After receiving such immense kindness and compassion from so many, the man in Okinawa, the young women from Georgetown U., and the holy man at the Buddhist temple, I could journey on, trusting that I could recognize Christ in the hearts and generosity of strangers, no matter their cultural identity.  And they, in turn, could recognize the spiritual Goodness in me.

“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.”

Tonya Tolson, Diversity Committee Chair

At the moment I am working through a book that details the allied leader’s strategy throughout WWII. Andrew Robert’s Masters and Commanders focuses on the relationship between President Roosevelt, General Marshal, Prime Minister Churchill, and General Brooke. Of course, I expected there to be natural moments of friction, stress and strong personalities tend to do that. It also helps to know how the story ends. That said, the sheer number of times that seemingly preposterously insignificant events, and bruised egos, almost caused crucial strategies to crumble and all-important trust to evaporate was staggering. The delicate balance of addressing expectations of British people with the fight on their doorstep, the occasionally fickle American electorate, the politicians brushing with their military representatives, and squabbles between different branches, even from within the same countries, made the work more like balancing a baseball bat upright on the palm of your hand than consistently ‘allied’ response. 

Whenever the times were most tense, Roberts always brings the focus back to the fact that both British and American leadership knew that defeating Hitler was impossible without working together. That was the guiding mission. The waypoint of a far off mountain. There were disagreements on the where, when, and how, but never that defeating Hitler and the rest of the Axis powers was the goal. The future of the world as it was known was at stake.

It strikes me, that as a church, as a denomination, as followers of Jesus in the United States of America that far too often we get distracted by the where, when, and how. We loose sight of the fact that God has called us as the church to share the Good News of Jesus Christ. One of the benefits of joining a particular ‘tribe’ of Jesus followers is that the unique particularity of that tribe provides a direction or structure. It offers a framework of the where, when, and how of following Jesus. As the Wesleyan/Methodist tribe we have basically forgotten why we are a unique team at all. Addressing this has been part of my goal in working through John Wesley’s standard sermons, and I hope they have been of some value to this end. 

In fact, Wesley specifically names the chief reason he believes God has raised up the people called Methodists. From one of Wesley’s letters (emphasis mine):

“I am glad brother D — has more light with regard to full sanctification. This doctrine is the grand depositum which God has lodged with the people called Methodists; and for the sake of propagating this chiefly, He appeared to have raised us up.

Where Christian perfection is not strongly and explicitly preached, there is seldom any remarkable blessing from God; and, consequently, little addition to the society, and little life in the members of it. Therefore, if Jacob Rowell is grown faint, and says but little about it, do you supply his lack of service. Speak and spare not. Let not regard for any man induce you to betray the truth of God. Till you press the believers to expect full salvation now, you must not look for any revival.”

The great and unique deposit that Wesley sees God having made within the spiritual ‘bank’ of the Methodists is full sanctification or Christian perfection. This is our guiding waypoint. If sin is Hitler (and I mean…) then entire sanctification as our Operation Overlord. We will continue to unpack what, “going onto perfection,” means and how it ought to impact our faith and lives. Today, I just want to underscore the uniqueness of this call in the world of Christendom and its basic meaning. My Methodist history professor in seminary, offers what I believe to be the best distillation of the primary implication of this belief. Methodists should have the most audacious optimism of the work God can do to transform people’s lives. Wesley takes the call of Matthew 5:48, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect,” as seriously as it is written. If God has commanded it, then there must be a way to fulfill that command. God is calling you, is calling me, beyond what we even think possible. 

You are loved, and catch you next week. 

P.S. Here is C.S. Lewis’ contribution on Matthew 5:48 from Mere Christianity:

“The command Be ye perfect is not idealistic gas. Nor is it a command to do the impossible. He is going to make us into creatures that can obey the command. He said (in the Bible) that we were ‘gods’ and He is going to make good His words. If we let Him–for we can prevent Him, if we choose–He will make the feeblest and filthiest of us into a god or goddess, a dazzling, radiant, immortal creature, pulsating all through with such energy and joy and wisdom and love as we cannot now imagine, a bright stainless mirror which reflects back to God perfectly (though, of course, on a smaller scale) His own boundless power and delight and goodness. The process will be long and in parts very painful, but that is what we are in for. Nothing less. He meant what He said.”

Music is a big deal in my world. I grew up in the musical theater community, I studied voice and piano as a youth, and I sang in the church Praise Band and children’s choir. I was a music education major with a vocal emphasis at Florida Southern College. And now, we have passed on the love of music to our children and so even though they are a little pitchy, they too fill my heart with joy when they sing.

But it is more than that. I feel so deeply connected to God with music. There isn’t one particular type or genre that I like or dislike, I’ve just always seen it as a love language where people of faith can communicate back to God. That is probably why there is so much about music and worship through Scripture. It isn’t just about the Book of Psalms, but throughout the story of God and God’s people singing and instruments were used to connect, communicate, and express. That is why it is a part of our Sunday morning worship too; it is our attempt through the lyrics of praise songs or hymns to come a little bit closer to the heart of God.

Now when I say that we are a musical family, I hope you don’t picture the Von Trapp Family Singers, we are far from there, but we do love to play music and sing together. We’ve even turned our office space in the new Parsonage into a bit of a music room with our grandmother’s upright piano and Ryan’s acoustic guitars. In the busyness of moving and getting used to my new role, I had forgotten how much music connects us with the Divine. Just yesterday, I had been looking for God all day long hoping to see God’s face and feel that presence but it seemed like I hadn’t quite found it and the day was almost at an end. We were home and it had been a long few days, but it was that rare hour before the rush of dinnertime, bath time, and bedtime that so many young parents, like me, know so well. I’m folding laundry and Ryan’s working in the office and out of nowhere, our kids who had just gotten home declared, “Daddy get your guitar and let’s start singing!” So picture this with me if you would. Ryan is playing his beloved Gibson J-200, Emmaline (our four-year-old) is playing “chords” on the piano and Charlie is pounding a djembe drum with all of his two-year-old might.

At first, I stayed on the couch folding laundry knowing that there was stuff still to do but then I came to my senses and realized where I really needed to be was in that space with my family making music and seeing the joy on their faces. One song that we have come to love and sing together is called “My Lighthouse.” It is by the Irish Christian Band, Rend Collective and we sang it at the Dinner Church on Sunday evenings that my family and I helped launch in South Florida. The lyrics go like this:

“In my wrestling and in my doubts,
In my failures you won’t walk out,
Your Great Love will lead me through,
You are the peace in my troubled.

My Lighthouse, my Lighthouse
Shining in the darkness, I will follow you.
My Lighthouse, my Lighthouse
I will trust the promise, you will carry me
Safe to Shore.”

My kids know that song by heart since we sang it a lot at Dinner Church and although they have never been to a lighthouse or on a stormy sea, they know what it feels to be safe and to be carried. They know what it feels like to be loved and to be afraid of the dark. I don’t know where you are today; whether you feel safe at shore or tossed about on a stormy sea. I don’t know if you are afraid of this darkness or resting contently in God’s Love, but I do know that the Light of Christ will never lead us astray. I pray that however you worship, however you experience the presence of God, however you walk in that light of Christ you won’t let the mundane tasks like laundry or the frustrating monotony of our current situation get in the way. I pray that you will embrace every single opportunity to use music and song and the voices of little ones to bring you closer to your lighthouse, to the one who will always carry us safely to shore.

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Show Notes:

• Here is a picture of the mural of John Lewis in Atlanta, as well as the video of CT Vivian being assaulted in Selma.
• “It is our shame and disgrace today that so many Christians—I will be more specific: so many of the soundest and most orthodox Christians—go through this world in the spirit of the priest and the Levite in our Lord’s parable, seeing human needs all around them, but averting their eyes and passing by on the other side… alas, they are many—whose ambition in life seems limited to building a nice middle-class Christian home and making nice middle-class Christian friends, and bringing up their children in nice middle-class Christian ways, and who leave the submiddle-class sections of the community, Christian and non-Christian, to get on by themselves.” J.I. Packer. The longer quote in context.
• My favorite three biographies of the last couple of years:
  • Churchill: Walking with Destiny – by Andrew Roberts – WSJ and NY Times Best and Notable books of 2018 respectively. A captivating look at one of the most enigmatic figures in the 20th century.
  • Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom – by David W. Blight – Hey if you don’t take my word for it, it was on President Obama’s top books of 2019 and won a Pulitzer Prize. A great book on an all-time great American.
  • Walt Disney – by Neal Gabler: It is a long one, but should be required reading for Orlandonians(?), partiality the last third of the book which covers Disney’s captivating vision for theme parks. Great insight into how it was the Disney tapped into something so deeply resonant with so many people.

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When our children were young, we had a computer in our family room.  It was pretty old.  Not Commodore 64 old.  But old.  And it wasn’t very powerful.  Basically, all it was good for was simple computer games.  Like I SPY.  Remember I SPY?  There would be a picture of a castle or a box of Lego and you would look for all these different items in it.  You might find a rake and bucket and three marbles and 2 cars.  The kids and I used to love to play I SPY together. 

I don’t want to brag.  But I was pretty good at it.  Which is pretty funny!  Considering I can spend 20 minutes looking for my glasses.  Only to realize I am wearing them.  Or waste 15 minutes trying to find a certain shirt.   Only to have Robyn point to it on the shelf in front of me.  Honestly, it’s a good thing that I don’t have to search for those things that truly matter.    

Imagine if we had to search for God.  What if we had to look carefully to find Him?  Go on an I Spy hunt among the nooks and crannies?  Hoping to spot Him amidst the closets or attics of life?  To be sure, there are times when it feels like we must.  Ever been given a devastating diagnosis?  Ever grieved the death of someone you loved dearly?  Ever fought for your life against addiction?  Ever been anxious about the future?  Boy that last one really speaks to me now.  As the number of COVID cases continues to rise and another shutdown looms.  The economy falters and jobs are ending.  Where is God these days?  Turns out God is right here with us.

One of the most colorful characters of the Old Testament was Elijah.  In 1 Kings 19, he is on the run.  Queen Jezebel has threatened his life.  Elijah has embarrassed her.  And she wants revenge.  So, Elijah flees.  Far out into the desert.  Way, way beyond the last signs of civilization.  Until finally he collapses in exhaustion and fear.  He has lost hope.  His faith is faltering.  He has had enough.  He just wants to give up. 

Elijah feels like he is all alone.  But he is not.  He is convinced God has abandoned him.  But God is with Elijah even in the deep desert.  Turns out, God’s presence isn’t contingent upon our location.  Nor is it dependent upon us having it all together.  Or being strong in the faith.  God’s presence is not conditional at all.  God is with Elijah.  And God is with me.  And God is with you.  Even in a time of pandemic.  Where can I go from your Spirit?  Where can I flee from your presence?  ⁸ If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.  ⁹ If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, ¹⁰ even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.  Psalm 139:7-10

This week we are starting a new sermon series.  It’s called Life WITH God.  It’s based on Skye Jathani’s book With.  It’s a great read.  The goal of our series is to focus on the most powerful thing we can do in this season of isolation.  Which is to be WITH God.  TO treasure God’s presence above all else.  Instead of seeking to cement our security.  Or trying to manipulate circumstances into our liking.  Creating the room in our lives to be WITH Him.  The good news is, we don’t have to search to find Him.  Locating God isn’t akin to an I Spy hunt.  You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.  Jeremiah 29:13

I can’t wait to unpack Life with God together.  See you in worship!  In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

As we’ve been settling into our beautiful and very comfortable new Parsonage, we’ve spent a lot of time doing the normal things, things like unpacking boxes and filling closets and finding out where things will go.

This past week, we finally got around to beginning to hang our photos. One commitment Ryan and I have always made to our little family is that we would document them as they grew. We had a great family photographer in Gainesville and also another one in Boca Raton that captured the essence of our children’s personalities and the joys of our little family. All that to say, we have a lot of pictures! Over this last week we’ve hung our wedding photos in one room and our baby photos in another.  And as we continue to hang up family photos that mark moments that are significant in our lives, I was thinking about how we make our houses a home. It led me to then think about how Jesus makes our heart his home. We were taught early on, if we were fortunate enough to grow up in church, that we must invite Jesus into our heart in order to experience eternal life. As good Wesleyans, we know that Prevenient Grace means that Jesus has been with us all along and doesn’t need an invitation, we just needed to wake up to God’s presence in our lives and except it for ourselves.

As we grow and deepen our faith, it’s no longer about Jesus simply being invited into our heart but inviting and allowing Jesus to make our heart His home. If you watch any of those home remodel shows, you might enjoy watching the sledgehammer knock down walls and the team that rebuilds old countertops. You might love the before and after photos when you see brand new furniture, painted walls or new light fixtures that brightens the space and chases away the shadows that once were there. And in this reflection, I can’t help but see the comparison of the work of the Holy Spirit in each of our lives too.

After inviting Jesus to make our heart His home and growing in our own spiritual maturity, it won’t just be about hanging up pictures or filling up closets. When Jesus is really the Lord of our lives, there will inevitably be some major reconstruction and even full demolition of the interior places of our heart and soul. But that’s what we signed up for, is it not? Gone are the days when we simply say the prayer and hope that Jesus will do a little chiseling away of our inner sin in hopes of being “good enough.” This is never what was meant by Jesus when he came to announce the Kingdom of God on earth. Gone are the days when we can simply paint a few walls or hang a few pictures or add some new furniture because there’s so much more that Jesus wants to do in us for the sake of the Kingdom and the transformation of the world.

Jesus wants to knock down the walls in each of us that are so divisive in our personal, professional and oftentimes strained relationships. Jesus wants and has every right to demolish the anger or greed or prejudices that are within. I don’t know what needs remodeling in your heart, because I don’t know your story yet and you don’t know mine. But we all have walls, me included. Walls that keep the “other” out, that justify our hate or perpetuate our privilege. We all are in need of new light fixtures in order to see the shame or pride or sadness that we hide from others. Jesus wants to do the remodeling work in each of us through the power of the Holy Spirit, but we have to be willing to open the door, invite him in and allow the work to begin. It is sometimes painful, but always freeing and it is what is required of each of us that call ourselves members of the Body of Christ.

I encourage you today to read and reflect on Ephesians chapter 4:17-32. I encourage you to focus on these verses in particular.

“You were taught to put away your former way of life, your old self, corrupt and deluded by its lusts, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to clothe yourselves with the new self, created according to the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”

Ephesians 4:22-24

Prayer:

Holy and Loving God,

We want your image and likeness to be what others see. We know then that we must let you in, give you the sledgehammer or tools and step back to watch you work. We want to be new people that reflect your light and grace. So do what you will, make us into what you will and make our heart YOUR home.

AMEN

And he said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.” Mark 6:31

My sister Megan is a social worker. She’s worked primarily with aging populations and hospice patients, and now works with people recently diagnosed with cancer. It’s — unsurprisingly — one of the fields of employment with the highest burnout. She’s an amazing person, generous of heart and spirit and enthusiastic about her work, but she learned quickly that she can’t maintain that in the face of so much heartbreak through force of will alone. Megan has always been one of my guiding lights in terms of self care, recently more than ever. 

When a fire is burning out, if someone throws a log on it, we pretty much accept that as normal. Rarely have I heard at a campout, “Seriously? You are accommodating that fire? It’s just doing its job! I never had a log thrown at me and I’m doing just fine.” But people are expected to go-go-go without a break because we have to hustle to succeed. We have to “lean in.” We have to be Business B’s and Boss Moms. We have to save the world, and quickly. Well, I’m no good to anyone without sleep, time alone in a quiet room every day, and a long walk in the morning. I have no fuel. And when I don’t have fuel, I usually turn to the lighter fluid of righteous rage and just power off that for a while. “HOW CAN I BE THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN PUT A DISH IN THE DISHWASHER?!” 

There is no shame in putting fuel in your fire. For some people the bubble bath vibe doesn’t work and they need to vent to a trusted friend. For some people it’s time at the gym or the dojo or the driveway basketball hoop. But whatever lights you up is what you should run toward. Instead of focusing on productivity all the time, I try to allow myself a little time each day to do nothing, guilt-free. Not nothing (except paint my toenails) or nothing (except read this book on boundaries I’ve been meaning to get to) but real, untainted, nothing but sitting and waiting on the Lord. Because we need our strength wherever we can get it. 

~ Laura Paquette, Family Council Chair