Author: Isabella Dougan

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Sunday November 13 – Rev. Jana Purkis-Brash: Where Is Your Power? Isaiah 40:27-31, Ephesians 3:14-21

img_2202What a week this has been. I’ve spent a great deal of time listening to and caring for people. I have encouraged people to sit in and feel their despair, anger, sadness, hopelessness, fear, and uncertainty. We must allow ourselves to feel what we are feeling before moving ahead to action.

It has prompted me to think about times in my life when all seemed lost, and how I was able to claim God’s strength and power. As I think about difficult times in my life I think of a church burning down, a parsonage burning down, miscarriages, losing my mom over the course of 10 years to dementia, and in those same years my dad dying of cancer. My daughter eloping with a man she barely knew and moving halfway around the world. There were times in each of these personal situations that I didn’t see a way forward, I was hopeless and angry, fearful and despairing. One way that I was able to move forward was claiming God’s power and strength through scripture.

I grew up in the northeast when memorizing scripture was passé, thankfully as an adult I have learned scripture that sustains me. It was in the midst of a breast cancer scare a few years ago that I held tight to scripture and this week I’ve found myself doing same. (David/Ulanda has read two of those scriptures for us this morning)

For me these scriptures and some others strengthen me and help me to claim the power I need to move forward in faith and hope. Today I’m going to bring more scripture passages to play than usual; I hope you will hear the assurance these passages offer.

This morning I want to share with you a story that I hope will help us to think about where our power lies.

Once upon a time a man found the egg of an eagle. It had been abandoned for some reason by its mother, but as it was still warm the man took it and put it in the nest of one of his backyard chickens along with the other eggs that were there being brooded upon. After a period of time the eaglet was hatched, and along with the other chicks from his nest began to go about the backyard doing what the other chicks did. He scratched the earth for worms and insects. He looked for the corn that the man would throw into the yard. He clucked and cackled as best as he could, and as he grew, he would, like the other chickens, thrash his wings and fly a few feet in the air.

Years passed in this way and the eagle grew very old. thOne day he saw a magnificent bird far above him in the cloudless sky. It glided majestically among the powerful wind currents, soaring and swooping, scarcely beating its long golden wings. The old eagle looked at it in awe and asked “what is that?” “That is the eagle, the king of the birds”, said one of his neighbors. “He belongs to the sky and to the high places. We belong to the earth, we are chickens.” The old eagle knew this was true, and so it was he lived and died as a chicken, for that is what he believed he was.

Do you think the eagle/chicken had the power to change? What held him back?

Think with me for a moment about the verses at the end of Ephesians chapter three: 20-21.”Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine; to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever.”

Do you have the power to change? What holds you back?

If you drew your power from God what could you accomplish that you aren’t doing now?

Can we believe in new possibilities for ourselves? Continue reading “Sunday November 13 – Rev. Jana Purkis-Brash: Where Is Your Power? Isaiah 40:27-31, Ephesians 3:14-21”

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Laity Sunday October 16 2016

Doing Good For Others

george-portrait-5745244370081dOn Laity Sunday, George Fox describes in his testimony about doing good for others, how we are called to serve one another and walk humbly with God.

His words came out strong and urgent as he spoke about the work our Stephen Ministers do at PUMC. About 5 years ago, PUMC, under Jana’s leadership, began the process of qualifying a Stephen Ministry at our church to work as an extension of our church’s Pastoral Care.

The Stephen Ministers, who we refer to as Caregivers, in our congregation have undergone a formal Selection Process (first step is that they must volunteer) and 50 hours of training. The role of our Stephen Minister Caregivers is to provide a Christian Care Giving presence and to let God provide the cure.

Who have we helped?

  1. People who are lonely
  2. People who are unhappy
  3. People who are grieving
  4. People who have lost a dear family member to death
  5. People with a debilitating disease
  6. People with financial challenges
  7. People who are facing major life changes and are concerned about the options they see
  8. Other Stephen Ministers who are either looking for a vibrant Stephen Ministry or who are looking for care.
  9. We Stephen Ministers pray daily for our Care Receivers and remember above all that:

WE PROVIDE THE PRESENCE AND GOD PROVIDES THE CURE.

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Written by Isabella Dougan

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Sunday September 18, Rev. Catherine Williams’ sermon “Pray Every Way You Know How.” 1 Timothy 2:1-7

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In the huge pile of mail that greeted me upon my return from Trinidad a couple of weeks ago, was a letter from our Bishop, John Schol. Dear Catherine, it began, I understand you are preparing for next year’s full member retreat and examination. You have already been affirmed in your calling and have been leading people to make disciples and grow vital congregations to transform the world, Thank you. A quick glance through the rest of the letter assured me I wasn’t in any trouble – whew! The Bishop actually wrote to offer me words of hope, admonition, encouragement, and support in advance of my upcoming ordination assessment period. His closing words – “Keep the Faith! John.”

When spiritual overseers write to the pastors under their care, their words carry great import for good or for ill. I’d like to think Pastor Timothy felt at least as supported and cared for when he received his letter from his Bishop, Paul, as I felt when I received this letter from my Bishop, John. Bishops or spiritual overseers tend to be rich in faith, grounded in the Scriptures, and seasoned in life and ministry experiences; any instruction they give to those under their care could very well be the Word of the Lord to the minister and to the church.

So we are fortunate this morning to hear this Word from the Lord as we peer over Timothy’s shoulder, reading what his Bishop had to say as he offered words of instruction and administrative guidance to this young leader of the well-established church in Ephesus. Ephesus was a bustling, commercial metropolis in Western Asia Minor; we now call that region Turkey. Paul had left young Timothy in charge of this urban congregation, where philosophical and theological issues were beginning to pose a threat to the faith. So Paul did some fairly close mentoring and coaching in both letters to the young Pastor. In this first letter, just prior to where we begin reading, Paul gives the same exhortation to Timothy as John Schol gave to me – hold on to faith, he says. Hold on to faith and a good th-39conscience. Then he proceeds to suggest how: First of all, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made…The Message Bible translation – which provided the title for today’s sermon – puts it this way, The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know. The slightly nuanced differences between supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings don’t really warrant separating them into discrete categories of prayer. It was the writer’s way of saying, pray every way you know how.

In our Christian tradition, to pray is essentially to talk to God. If God does not factor into this faith-building practice, we may as well call it a pious little monologue. Furthermore, if God is not expected to have something to say in response to our petitions, supplications, intercessions, or thanksgivings, then…what can I say? You probably know how it feels to have a conversation with someone where you couldn’t get a word in edgewise to save your th-14life? Granted, God’s response in the conversation may take all kinds of delightful or terrifying forms, but that calls for the kind of discernment we only get by the act of prayer, by practicing to pray. Prayer is a conversation; it is being in a place of God-awareness. Keep the faith, Paul tells Timothy; hold on to faith by first of all praying.

You might be saying, “but I don’t know how to pray.” You probably have in mind the eloquent prayers given by clergy or other spiritual leaders in worship. I am happy to clarify that verbal prayer is only one of many, many ways to pray. “How do you pray?” 

Continue reading “Sunday September 18, Rev. Catherine Williams’ sermon “Pray Every Way You Know How.” 1 Timothy 2:1-7”

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PUMC Circle of Friends Meeting September 13, 2016

img_2558The Circle of Friends held their monthly meeting at 10:30 a.m on Tuesday September 13 at the PUMC Fellowship Hall with twelve members present. Beth opened the meeting with a devotion and introduced the guest speaker.

Susan Gange ofimg_2550 PUMC gave a talk on “Successfully Growing Orchids in the Home.” Her presentation  covered different types of orchids such as Phalaenopsis, Oncidiums, Dendrobiums, Cattleyas, and Paphiopedilums as well as her secrets to successful home orchid growing.

Susan was awarded a trophy for the Best Professionally Grown Phalaenopsis Orchid at the Southeastern Pennsylvania Orchid Society International Show in Oaks, PA in April of this year. She also owns Stony Brook Orchids, a large orchid greenhouse in Pennington, New Jersey. Stony Brook Orchids offers orchids and supplies at farmers markets in and around Princeton.

Topics covered by Susan included light, temperatures, water, humidity, fertilizer and potting. The Phalaenopsis orchid is one of the best orchids for growing at home. It grows well in bright windows. Water is critical for this plant which must never dry out but at the same time one must keep in mind that over-watering kills. She recommended watering only on a sunny day before noon so that the leaves are dry by nightfall.  Water should be kept off the leaves to prevent diseases attacking them. In warm weather 1/4 teaspoon of fertilizer per gallon of water should be used with every watering. In winter fertilizer may be applied once a month. Humidity levels must be between 50% and 80%. Potting is best done in the Spring after blooming, with plants potted in a well-draining mix. For best results repotting is usually done annually. Plastic or clay pots are the perfect choice for repotting.

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The Circle of Friends were thrilled with Susan’s presentation and purchased unusual and rare orchids from the lovely array of plants on display, assuring her that they would carefully follow her instructions. Others promised to visit her greenhouse or call for advice. The presentation was followed by lunch and the group’s monthly business discussions. For dessert, Catherine provided a delicious apple honey cake. Karin closed the meeting with the reading of a poem and leading the group in prayer.

All church women are invited to join the Circle of Friends at their next meeting in November 2016, in the Fellowship Hall at PUMC. For more information, please contact the church office at 609-924-2613 or visit www.princetonumc.org

Written by Isabella Dougan

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Sunday July 17. Rev. Catherine Williams “Vacation Tweets: #this is the Life”

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This is the Life! Now this is what I call living! How many of us can remember the last time we said or thought something like that? Can you give me a word or a phrase that describes a moment or scenario that would elicit that kind of response?

Some of the descriptions others have given about the good life include: Being financially independent and secure; winning the lottery and/or not having to work; being able to just pick up and go – travel to anywhere, anytime; pleasure and satisfaction 24/7; and similar states of euphoria and perfection. One of my millennial friends said she thought a good life was different than the good life, where the former was all about quality, and the latter was more concerned with quantity. So I asked her if that meant it was possible to be poor and have a good life. That set her thinking. What do you think?

th-6Our society is mired in materialistic values. Thanks to the capitalist foundation, upon which the hypothetical American Dream is built, our culture makes it seem only natural for us to think of the good life as something we deserve. Our commercials and advertisements faithfully and feverishly indoctrinate us in this kind of entitlement. Small wonder then that we spend so much of our lives, our time, energy, and resources in pursuit of those moments when we can look around and say – yep, this is the life! This entitlement ideology is what theologian, Walter Brueggemann, might call the dominant consciousness. That prevailing way of being, where we are numbed and satiated by consumerism. Brueggemann challenges preachers to counter this dominant consciousness with what he calls an alternative consciousness.

One of the many reasons we gather weekly as people of God is to remind ourselves that even as we function day by day within this dominant consciousness of materialism, we are a community with alternative values, grounded in the heart of God.  God, whose intention for all of creation from the very beginning has been good. But God, who is good, gets to define good. And thanks to Jesus and his teachings we have several illustrations of this good life. He called it the Kingdom/Realm/Reign of God.

10-beatitudesThat parable of the two builders, that was read for us this morning, summarized a lengthy set of teachings Jesus gave to his disciples on what life in this kingdom or realm was like. If you have read Matthew 5, 6, and 7 you have either struggled bravely to keep up with its demands, or else you have rationalized it away – far away. Christians have asked, Are we really supposed to live like this? Well let’s take a quick look, since these are the sayings, which, according to Jesus, the wise builder heard and did. It begins with the beatitudes – the blessing statements. That word blessed conveys the idea of being fortunate or happy, so happy as to be envied actually. But the blessings that make us enviable are different – there’s nothing in there about beaches or cruises; no talk in these beatitudes about wealth, fame or fortune. Instead Jesus calls blessed those who are poor in spirit, those who mourn, those who are meek, the peacemakers, the merciful, the pure in heart, and so on – When we look up the word good or happy in God’s dictionary, this is the stuff we find. That’s pretty radical.

images-8I mean, these sayings, or teachings of Jesus talk about some rather difficult things: keeping all of the commandments, what counts as murder or adultery, grounds for divorce, and loving our enemies. What’s so good about this, many have asked, and, finding no answer, they have closed their Bible and put it on a shelf, right next to their volume of Shakespeare’s works. But wait, what about the instructions for how to give to the needy, how to pray, how to forgive, and how to fast? What about the teaching on worry, and not judging others? Yes, I’ll be among the first to acknowledge that, taken as a whole, these teachings set an impossibly high ethical bar. But may I share with you something I learned as a young Christian? I think it may have been my own Dad who shared this with me as a teenager. “Catherine,” he’d say, “there’s enough of what God has said in God’s word for you to spend your entire lifetime working on. Some of it you’ll take to naturally, some of it you’ll need a little extra courage and faith to follow, and some of it you may never understand; but there’s enough for you to at least begin. Work on the parts you understand and trust God to help you grow into the rest.” I can say with gratitude today this has proven to be some of the best advice I’ve listened to, because like any rationally developing adult, there are some things only growth in the faith can help us fully understand. Like God’s goodness in the midst of an evil world. (Don Brash is really good at explaining this by the way…)

Among the several perspectives of life in God’s kingdom or realm, there is one bedrock aspect of this good life I’d like us to stay with just a bit this morning. Nothing you haven’t heard before, but maybe you didn’t know when you heard it that this was the life! Remember in the creation story there was one thing God said was not good? God had said let there be light – God saw that the light was good. God made the dry land and the waters, and saw that it was good. God set the lights in the sky to give light upon the earth – and God saw that it was good. God filled the air, the waters and the land with living creatures of every kind – “I like this,” God said, “this is the life!” Finally God stepped back and surveyed everything and said, “Awesome – this is VERY good!” But then over in Genesis 2, we hear God saying, “Uh-oh, this is NOT good. “It is not good that the man is alone, I will make a helper suitable for him.” What’s so bad about being alone? I hear my introvert friends asking. Because the God in whose image we were made is a God of community. A God who, according to our understanding, is represented by a community of three, which has opened up to include all of creation. Believe me, this matter of community and relationships is huge when it comes to the good life.

The Harvard Study of Adult Development has tracked the lives of 724 men, their wives and their children over the course of 75 years. Last year Robert Waldinger, the current director of this study gave a TED talk where he shared the most significant discoveries they made about human happiness over these decades. The most conclusive finding, says Waldinger, is that “social connections are really good for us, and that loneliness kills.” Sounds to me like evidence that we are designed by God to thrive in community. We understand who we are in community; we learn social and survival skills in community; we discover our abilities and passions in community; little wonder then that so many of Jesus’ teachings have to do with how we relate to God, and how we relate to one another.

So now here’s this parable of the two builders, which Matthew uses to close out this lengthy, weighty discourse on life in the kingdom of God, aka the good life. These two men are engaged in the same occupation; one would think the foolish builder would know better. But Jesus is making a point here by having the foolish man build his fine mansion on a foundation of sand, while the wise builder puts up his mansion on a foundation of rock. Two great looking homes. You can hardly tell the difference in value – that is, until the weather changes. And here is Jesus’ point #1 – the good life does not preclude bad things happening to us. Rain is rain, it falls wherever, storms will forever behave like storms, and flood waters are no respecter of houses. “Really?” someone may ask. “So while following Jesus my investment portfolio may take a dive, my health may take a turn for the worse, my children may develop chemical dependencies, and I may fail all the prerequisite classes in my college major?” Umm – yes. God’s definition of good does not preclude bad things happening to us. Which leads to Jesus’ point #2 – the good life teaches us how to weather the storms.

One of the major resources for weathering storms is the communities we are part of: families, churches, fraternities or sororities, professional associations and so on. But what excites me about this good life is the presence of The Life himself within each one of us who has professed our faith in him. For each of us born by the Spirit of God from above has access to a divine resilience Jesus was good enough to demonstrate for us at the end of his earthly life. Remember now, he is the one who said, “I have come that you may have life more abundantly.” The one who said of himself “ I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.”  The one who said to his friend Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life.” What does that mean for us? What difference does that make when the pain medicine doesn’t work, or when after months of rehab that son or daughter is back on drugs, or when a routine visit to the doctor changes the rest of our lives? What does Jesus statement mean in our current, fearful national context of death by politics, or death by racism? Maybe these are some of the times the Resilience factor can kick in.  It is kind of ironic that after saying that he was the life Jesus died and was buried in a tomb that was sealed and guarded.  But I have to tell you – resurrection and life together make for a powerful combination.  In just a matter of days that divine life flexed itself and exploded right out of that tomb in full resurrection power.  That’s how THE GOOD LIFE behaves!  

images-5That’s what gives me hope for the rebound when I find myself in situations that close me in, that back me into a corner, that knock the wind out of my sails as I take a hit from one of life’s deadly punches.  It’s the properties of resurrection life that keep us persevering – not the promises of well-intentioned politicians; not the security of a tenured job; not the forecasts of the economic analysts; no – we, who arepeople of the Resurrection, believe that because we have the life of Christ we can face the storms, the winds, the raging floods with the blessed assurance that with us in this storm is an Emmanuel kind of God who is GOOD and who is LIFE. So we can sing with utmost sincerity, “when peace like a river attendeth my way, when sorrows like sea billows roll, whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say it is well, it is well with my soul.” It is well because we have built our lives on the solid foundation of Christ, his example, and his word.  And in the end my sisters and brothers, we may tremble as we stand on that Rock, but the Rock will never tremble under us. This is the life! Thanks be to God. Amen.

Images Source: google Images

Written by Isabella Dougan

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Sunday June 26. Resident Theologian Donald Brash “Tweeting the Message: Did we forget anything?”

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This morning we begin a new series of sermons on the one-liners we may read on people’s Twitter messages, or TWEETs. Twitter is one of the cyberspace ways that people stay connected. The question before us as we proceed weekly through this series is how do we stay connected to God, even with our more casual inclinations during the summer months

Today’s one line TWEET is, “Did we forget anything.”

Jana thought, thinks I am well suited to address this topic. We won’t repeat that conversation here. Envision with me a family one hour into a ten-hour drive to their vacation destination. One parent turns to the other and asks: Did we forget anything? My own answer to this question is realistic: I assume that I did… Experience has taught me that I will have forgotten something. So far, I am glad to say, that something has not been a some-one.

thYou probably will not be surprised when I say that Jana is the queen of list makers, and advanced planners. She often brings on our trips what she thinks I might forget. So, when I need that item, and she hands it to me, I lower the volume of my complaining about the quantity and weight of her luggage. It’s an artful tactic that works for her… and – for us.

In Joseph and Mary’s day, planning ahead for a trip was not merely an operational preference made by disciplined people, like Jana: It was a necessity. Nothing could be wasted, and forgetting to take something needed could be fatal. Ancient journeys required careful planning. It was best to travel in groups, because rogues and brigands haunted some regions, despite the Pax Romana. There likely would have been discussions about who would bring what, and in what order they would walk or ride, where they would stop for the night, and who would take the first and second and third watches.

Let’s start TWEETING our responses to this week’s question: Did we forget anything? Not as likely if we made a list and started preparing early.

We forget more than things, and not only on vacations. I refer first to those many, many times each DAY when perhaps I should speak for myself – when I give credence to the phrase, “absent-minded professor.” You may be able to relate to some of the following examples, in question form, even beyond the stereotype of walking into a room and forgetting why you entered it. Do you look at your cell phone and wonder why you took it from your pocket or purse? Do you sit and stare at the icons on the phone hoping to remember the one you should press? Do you drive down the highway and, at some surprising moment realize you do not remember driving from point a to point b? Do you ever get a phone call from the bank asking you to return the canister to the drive-thru. (That may be just me. It was an embarrassing moment.)

youth sunday greetingOurs is a forgetful generation, and it is not just because some of us spend too much time with our minds elsewhere. We are drawn toward lifestyles that are mentally fragmenting. Television and radio, cellphones, computers and so much more are over-stimulating; and so, overwhelmed, we disassociate from the present, and we forget. I suggest that (I am working on this one now) in order to reduce mental fragmentation and enhance our focus on the here and now we may benefit from pausing, just pausing: perhaps before beginning our day in earnest, or between tasks, or in the evening, or all of the above. We read in the gospels that Jesus often went into the wilderness to be alone. He knew that rhythm is essential to nature. It is written in the fabric of this world. That we will benefit from taking a few minutes regularly to reflect on where we were, where we are, and where we are heading probably is in our DNA.

SECOND TWEET: Did we forget anything? Not as likely if we paused before we left. (SUBTWEET: Even less likely if we have included pausing in the rhythm of our days.)

Still beyond things and vacations alone: Forgetting has consequences both for individuals and communities. There are three journeys in our lesson from Luke’s Gospel, and they are interesting as they were motivated by community memory. I begin most days with a reading from the Christian Testament, the New Testament, if you prefer. I read it in Greek, which is the language of composition for most of its documents. I am not special in this: Many professors of theology are able to read an ancient language. When reading in Greek, I often discover something new to me, a detail I did not see before, one that both stimulates and focuses my thinking. Sometimes I relearn something I once knew. Have you noticed that life’s lessons are easily forgotten and must be relearned many times? Like individuals, a community with amnesia repeats the mistakes of the past. Just two generations from the holocaust, anti-semitism is on the rise again in Europe, along with anti-“otherism.” (Europe is a not-so-distant mirror.) Fascism is an expression of anarchy disguised as nationalist loyalty. Fear is the great enemy – the demonic force behind hatred and scapegoating.

ANOTHER TWEET: Did we forget anything? Not as likely if we are attentive to our lessons.

Forgetting is not always a problem. We need to be able to forget in order to make room for what our conscious minds can hold. On the other hand, some forgetting damages our ability to enjoy the present. Memories that are repressed sometimes contribute to our driven-ness, our sense of urgency and fragmentation, our diving in and swimming with very little if any sense of direction. Repetition compulsions (neurotic habits) are another subject for another day – I’ll not share any of mine today…

I WILL TWEET this much: Not as likely if we look for what we may have overlooked.

The first journey is about Jesus’ birth – a familiar story. Jesus’ father and mother traveled to Bethlehem. Upon their arrival, there was no place to stay, and Mary was giving birth. We may relate to their fear and anxiety. Some journeys include dramatic events: illness, hospitalization… we might substitute in Mary and Joseph’s case updated language. Instead of no room in the upper room, where guests were lodged, we might say there was no room at the hospital, no room in the maternity ward, or there were no medical facilities nearby.

TWEET: Did we forget anything? Not likely if we anticipate possible surprises along the way. (Of course, we cannot anticipate them all.) Still beyond things and vacations alone.

The second journey in our story was motivated by the covenant God is said to have made with Abraham, and detailed through Moses at the giving of the Law. The newborn male child would be circumcised as a sign of belonging to the people of the covenant: God’s chosen, God’s elect; and if he was the first boy, he also went through the rite of cleansing at Jerusalem; hence the journey [It is interesting that rites so essential to Jewish identity were set aside by the Apostle Paul. Christians typically believe that in this he understood the spirit of the law. There has been much argument over the centuries about the status of the law, even to this day.]

TWEET: Not a response to the question but an insertion – Remember why you went on the journey. (Don’t let arguing over the route spoil the trip.)

The third journey is the trip made by an apparently large contingent from Nazareth to Jerusalem for an annual festival. The journey was an annual event; perhaps this year Jesus’ coming of age also was celebrated. As we have heard it read, at the end of the festival the contingent began their return journey to Nazareth.th We read that Jesus’ parents, Joseph and Mary, discovered after a few days’ on the road that Jesus was not with other family members, as they had assumed. Can you imagine their panic? Perhaps theirs was a unique panic? Now, according to Luke, the parents had been through a lot of convincing experiences, enough to say to themselves, perhaps, something like this: “Dear God we’ve lost the Messiah!” What a Tweet that would be… going viral wouldn’t even begin to capture the power of that one.

I think, though, that they really were just worried about the boy they loved. I remember my parents, with five children, counting heads in order to avoid a personalized “yes” answer to today’s question: Did we forget any… one? Mary and Joseph returned quickly to Jerusalem and looked frantically for Jesus, only to find him astonishing the elders by his wisdom, which is evidence that this was his “bar-mitzvah” year.

TWEET: Did we forget anything? Not likely if we keep our minds on what matters most.

The story of this journey is a little vexing. Jesus responded to his parents: “You should have known I’d be about my Father’s business.” Never mind he had worried his parents half-to-death.

Upon hearing, “Oh, I stayed behind to do God’s work,” I might have responded, “Maybe God will do your extra chores when we get home to Nazareth. It may have been that Jesus felt a tension at this, a tension we too encounter: to attend to the need of the moment, perhaps a mundane need in which people are depending on us, or to do pursue our calling, Do I leave my Sabbath moment in order to respond to the urgent, or do I stay? A word of caution: I have heard excuses that put a veneer of prayer on a matter that required action. Pausing, even if for prayer does not necessarily make holy things or holy people. On the other hand, not pausing to reflect and think and pray potentially leads to undiscerning commitments, and unholy alliances.

TWEET: Did we forget anything? Not likely if pausing leads to more meaningful and timely action.

thI have mixed metaphors with some license today. It’s been a fun frolic for me. Suffice it to say that we are on a journey, individually and all together. Love for God, love of neighbor, and a healthy love of self. On these commandments lie all the law and the prophets, that is also, all the memory of community identity and meaning. The fruits of the spirit are faith, hope, kindness, welcoming the stranger… against these there is no law.

FINAL TWEET: Above all – remember love – Love should be on our list! Then it will not be likely that anything really necessary will be forgotten.

Did you forget anything? Are we forgetting anything? This summer, let’s take the time for a second look at our packing list.

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Sunday, June 19. Rev. Catherine E. Williams “Lessons from the Toy Box: The Rocking Horse”

thOne of the scribes came near and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, he asked him, ‘Which commandment is the first of all?’ Jesus answered, ‘The first is, “Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.” The second is this, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” There is no other commandment greater than these.’ Then the scribe said to him, ‘You are right, Teacher; you have truly said that “he is one, and besides him there is no other”; and “to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength”, and “to love one’s neighbor as oneself”,—this is much more important than all whole burnt-offerings and sacrifices.’

I do not remember my first encounter with a rocking horse. But I do remember the last tiIMG_0542me I rode one. I had taken, David, my grandson to the park and he was his energetic self, running all over the playground going from this fun to that fun to the next… After some time I looked over at the empty rocking horses; they were the most appealing toy to a tired grown-up who needed a break. I held David’s hand and excitedly pointed, “Look,” I said, “a rocking horse, let’s go for a ride.” I sat him on one horse, and straddled the one next to him and we began riding, well…rocking actually. Ten seconds later he was scrambling to get down. “No,” I encouraged him, “let’s ride some more.” But he could not dismount that horse fast enough. This was NOT his idea of play. Why do you think? It was going nowhere! It was all show and no go!

I guess I could just get right to the point of this rocking horse sermon and say that as Christians we need to stop merely going through the motions, get off our rocking horses, and get about the business of spreading our salt and shining our light. But not so fast. The trajectory on which this sermon began to travel two or threeth weeks ago was tragically disrupted by a horrific mass shooting in Orlando last Sunday morning. It wasn’t the kind of event that I could keep calm and go on preparing my tidy little rocking horse sermon. No, the rocking horse took on more significant proportions as I read the Scripture, and read the news, and re-read the Scripture, and heard more news. The increasingly dissonant and mournful soundtrack against which I read Mark 12 could not be dismissed.

At first Jesus’ conversation with the religious leader looks pretty mundane – of course we are to love the Lord, our God with everything we are, and of course we are to love our neighbor as ourselves. Except that…God doesn’t change. We can learn and grow in our love for God, who is the same yesterday, today, and forever. We can begin to think we are masters of that love (especially if you’ve earned anything like a Master of Divinity degree.) But our neighbors change. So just as we think we’ve learned to love our neighbor, we look over and someone else has moved in. Do we have to love them too?

Well let’s just reflect together for a bit on this two-part commandment: love the Lord your God with all that you are, and love your neighbor as yourself. For us, as children of God, this is not an option. For us, as disciples of Christ, loving God is no more an option than breathing is for a human being.2015-12-21 19.49.45-1 Love is who God is; and if we spend any amount of time in God’s company, through prayer, through meditation on the Scriptures, through worship, through study and service, through fellowship with other people of God, love is something that we become, even more than something that we do. God is love, and all who are born of God are born of love, and learn to love. Love is in our DNA as children of God, born of the Spirit, born from above.

Which makes the second greatest commandment flow quite naturally from the first. Let me say this a few different ways. We love our neighbor, because we love God. We can’t really grow in our love for neighbor unless we are growing in our love for God. It is our loving response to God’s love for us that teaches us how to love our neighbor. We love as God loves us; we forgive, as God forgives us; we include those who are not like us, as God includes us, we who are not like God. We’re following a Divine model here. There’s so much that can be said about this Divine model of love on any given day, but there are three aspects about it that I find instructive as I slowly emerge from the shock of yet another tragedy, and wonder what can I possibly do that will be of any significance.

First is that God’s love happens in and for the benefit of community. God, who has every reason to be narcissistic, has chosen instead to be represented by a community of three (Parent, Son, and Holy Spirit,) and has opened up that community to all that is not God. God so loved the world that God gave God’s only begotten son that whosoever believes in him, should not perish but have everlasting life. (John 3:16) Anyway you unravel or interpret that Scripture it boils down to God opening up God’s self to include all of creation. When we love in – and for the benefit of – community, we are patterning God’s love.

Then, God’s love is also sacrificial. If in loving God and loving our neighbor we don’t
experience some degree of inconvenience, we may want to look at the model again. The ultimate Divine ‘inconvenience’ happened to be death by crucifixion, and some of God’s people have suffered similar inconvenience throughout the ages, up to today! But the inconvenience of loving isn’t always extreme. It may call for giving up some of our time, some of our resources, some of our precious beliefs and ideologies, some of our prejudices, and even some of our rights. Whatever the cost, love that reflects God’s love comes with some degree of inconvenience and sacrifice.

The final aspect of God’s love that I find instructive is that it’s stubborn. It’s persistent, it’s tenaciogettyimages-539767802us, and it’s dogged. It suffers long, and is kind. It does not envy, does not parade itself, and is not puffed up. It does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not easily provoked, and thinks no evil. (Is this sounding familiar?) God’s love is stubborn because it bears all things, it believes all things, it hopes all things, it endures all things, God’s love never fails!! When people ask for this passage to be read at their weddings, I remind them that this is not human love. We may rightly aspire to this, but in actuality the apostle was holding up a model of Divine love to a bunch of folks who needed a radically different model of getting along.

When violence and tragedy strike again, and again, and again, with blunt numbing force, we need a stubborn love that never fails. When leaders and aspiring leaders advance models of division, bigotry, prejudice, and cowardice, we need a stubborn love full of courage that does not behave rudely and does not seek its own interest, but the interests of others. As disciples of Jesus we have a different model of being community. The challenge before us is whether in the face of evil we will respond in kind or in love. My brothers and sisters in Christ, the love we are and the love out of which we operate is not defined in any dictionary, it is modeled for us in Jesus the Nazarene carpenter who loved enough to lay down his life for his friends. And as one pastor has said, “You’ve never locked eyes with anyone who doesn’t matter deeply to God.”1

When we get weary of loving like this, because it does take a toll on us, we yearn for some reprieve. In such an instance a rocking horse is a fine thing. It keeps us in motion without going anywhere. It may even hypnotize us so we don’t feel the pain and the anger as much. But it is not the vehicle of God’s salvation, nor is it the way of the cross. It is all show and no go. As the apostle reminded the Corinthian Christians, going through the motions of speaking with a silvery tongue without love means nothing; going through the motions of demonstrating high intelligence and understanding of all mysteries and all knowledge without love means nothing; going through the motions of demonstrating faith, without love means nothing. We can even go through the motions of feeding the poor, and exhausting ourselves in service to those less fortunate than us – the apostle calls it going through the motions unless there is deep motivating love behind it all.

If I were to offer a counter idea to the rocking horse, it would be the idea of horsepower! The term was originally coined when the steam engine was being marketed in the late 18th century. People didn’t understand how engines could work, but they knew about the kind of work horses could do. If we want to talk about efficiency and effectiveness in our mission as Jesus’ followers, then I suggest we begin with the horsepower of love. And I am bold enough to proclaim this morning, that there is no engine, no weapon, no demonstration of power or energy that can outperform love. How many of us this week have heard, watched, and read so many amazing stories of love in action in response to the Orlando tragedies? There’ve been stories of kindness, compassion, courage, bravery, sacrifice – stories of God’s love in action through the community of humankind, and yes, even through comfort animals.

Friends, these are not the times for high horses, dark horses, wild horses, hobby or rocking horses. Sin and evil abound in our land, but we believe that Where sin increased,  grace increased even more. (Romans 5:20) In the end, after evil has taken its best shot, after hatred has gone its distance, after insanity has expended all its energy, there remains the everlasting horsepower and the enduring legacy of the love of God – that community-enriching love, that sacrificing love, that stubborn love – channeled into the world through you and through me right where we are, every day that we live. People of God, may we rise to the challenge! AMEN.

1 http://www.orlandosentinel.com/opinion/columnists/os-the-sermon-on-pulse-you-didn-t-hear-in-church-20160612-story.html. Accessed June 18, 2016.

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Learn about Summer Music Camp Volunteering in Haiti

Two church members — Paul Manulik and Lindsay Diehl — are taking their musical talents and expertise to help an organization called Building Leaders Using Music Education (BLUME Haiti).  They will travel to Cape Haitian in Northern Haiti on Sunday, June 19,  2016 to volunteer in a summer music camp for children and adolescents.

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During his stay in Haiti, Paul will teach music lessons to students as well as train teachers. He will return to Princeton on July 10, 2016. A violist and violinist who founded the Princeton String Academy, he often plays with PUMC’s classical ensembles. Lindsay will spend two weeks in Cape Haitian, teaching music theory. She sings in the Chancel Choir.

BLUME Haiti works with Haitian and international partners to develop leadership skills, awaken individual potential and create opportunities through music education and performance. Affiliated with BLUME Haiti, the Circle of Christian Musicians of Cape Haitian (CEMUCHCA) aims to increase the number of artists of high level throughout the north of Haiti by refining and extracting the most potential talent among children and adolescents in the country. This year’s summer camp will be held on the grounds of an Episcopal school outside of Cape Haitian.

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We look forward to hearing from Paul and Lindsay about their mission trip after church on July 31. Meanwhile, for more information on the Haitian Music Program, click here http://www.blumehaiti.org/cemuchca-cap-haitian.html……..

Written by Isabella Dougan

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Sunday June 5. Rev. Jana Purkis-Brash Lessons from the Toy Box: “Legos – It All Begins with Connecting”

Pastor Jana started the sermon series “Lessons from the Toy Box” using the connection with the popular children’s toy LEGO and its interlocking bricks to illustrate our connectivity to God, to one another and to the world.  She based her text on John 6:26-35.

wplmakerspace.wordpress.com
wplmakerspace.wordpress.com

We can say that the message from today’s scripture is Jesus saying that the people who have a relationship with Him shall never hunger or thirst. They will receive real time bread from Heaven, for example, through hunger as shown in the abundant food given to the hungry multitude or through thirst, as illustrated in the story of the water given to the Samaritan woman at the well.  After Jesus fed 5,000 people with only five loaves of bread and two fishes, the people kept coming back, hungry for more of His teachings – for a relationship with God and with each other. When Jesus told the Samaritan woman that He will give them Living Water and they will never be thirsty again, the people kept coming to see Jesus, the Giver of Living Water.

The people of God have received great gifts, one of them being the gift of connecting with God as well as with brothers and sisters in Christ. The Holy Communion is one such amazing gift.  A real present that we can touch and be nourished by the Bread of Heaven – the bread of life – and the Cup of Salvation. This is an opportunity to align ourselves with God, connect with everything Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit. At the Communion Rail, as a family in Christ, we share the Supper side by side with our own family as well as with our extended family at PUMC, connected through Christ as brothers and sisters, shoulder to shoulder.   We come to Jesus’ table hungry and thirsty and open our hearts to God who alone supplies our needs.

Jesus desires to have personal connection and personal relationship with each and everyone of us – from the youngest to the oldest, from someone who has worked with Jesus to someone who has been away from Him for a long time. This is the salvation that only Christ offers. Jesus is the Bread of Life who has come to give life to the church of God, for our relationship with God is the foundation of everything that we do.

tasospagakis.com
tasospagakis.com

The Lego toy and its building bricks can be seen as a great analogy for what it means to build a big church. A Lego creation starts with one single brick to which we keep connecting more and more bricks, one connection at a time. Lego bricks are at their best when we see the whole structure rather than the individual bricks. The higher we can build the better. Yet, Lego bricks don’t form with each other just by chance. They are all different types, yet each individual piece is interconnected with other pieces. Similarly individuals are designed to be interconnected. Our relationship with the Church starts with our connection with Christ and that lays the foundation we can build on, with God above and our brothers and sisters below. As all Lego bricks are compatible with each other, so here at UMC as well within the Church Universal, we have our DNA as christians and part of our connectivity comes from our gift of compatibility.

How compatible are we to connect with each other given that we are all different from each other? God made us to be compatible to be able to fit together and connect, for He said we are all one: “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus”. Legos therefore bring to mind how we connect to God at the top, and to each other at the bottom. True life, abundant life begins with connection, connection with Christ first and foremost, connection with other brothers and sisters, connection with the church at UMC and of course, connection with the world.

kwsp.org
kwsp.org

Lego is a timeless toy to be created into something new every time.  So also, we as humans have the ability to be created into something new and excited every day. Lego therefore reminds us of our connectivity, new relationship and new life. The question now is, are we willing to connect at the rail? Are we open to be made into a new creation in our minds? Let us therefore find a way in the Church to bring love and hope to those in need and to strengthen relationships with Christ and the world as we connect. We must also take time to give thanks to God for the people we are connected to. As we come for Communion, may each of us use our time with God to discern how we can build on our connectivity with God, each other and the world.

Written by Isabella Dougan

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Youth Sunday May 22: Sermon Rebecca Koblin

“God is Leading us toward a Future with Hope”

My life right now seems to be a series of questions. As I answer one 2 more pop up in its place. It all started with college. Where are you going was the question that depaGetAttachment.aspx-3rted from everyone’s lips, asking with muted excitement. Then it was which campus, what’s your major, where are you staying, who is your roommate, which classes are you taking, etc etc. As I look at my life I see a lot of uncertainty. I am not going to lie. I am afraid of the future. What ifs have clouded my mind with doubt and I’m afraid that for a little while I was a seed that fell into the weeds, choked by my own fear of what is to come.

You see when you have spent your entire life in one school where all the questions are answered for you and your comfort was laid in the hands of your parents, your teachers, your friends, you start to think that maybe what’s next, the things that have been left to be decided only by me, are mistakes. So I spent a lot of time worrying that I was choosing the wrong future. I strongly believe that I am still discovering who I really am so how am I supposed to choose the next four years which will affect the next ten years and so on of my life when I don’t even really know who I want to be. You can see why I might have been afraid.

But then I realized… God makes no mistakes. And so as I plan my life I can be certain that even if I don’t have a clue what I am doing, he does. You see God has a plan when I don’t, God has everything I need. He has taught me about loyalty, hope, endless love, how to be a good friend, how to survive pain and heartbreak and disappointment and he will teach me many things in the future. So as I look towards my future I now think about all the things god has in store for me, all the lessons he’s going to teach me, and I know that with every lesson, new obstacle, and amazing moment that god has in store, I will become the person that God always planned for me to be, because he knows me inside and out and I can trust that he will never disappoint.

Change is scary because it is unknown. I am excited for my future, for what life has to offer me, but I don’t want to let go of the things that the past has given me, my friends, my teachers, who I am now. I realized though that all of those things are what has created the person I am now. My family, my friends, my experiences in this very church have taught me more lessons than I ever expected to learn. I’ve grown here, sprouting up like the seeds in the story, but this is just the beginning of my growth. As I continue on in my life going to college and finding a job, making new friends, I will continue the journey that god has planned for me, growing with a flourish, and producing an amazing harvest.

So I want to thank you all for being a part of my journey. I won’t forget what I have learned here.