Midweek Study with Pastor Edith
Matthew 12:34-37
June 28, 2023

"Words"

Sometimes, during my bible time, I read words that sting me. Almost literally, I feel a burning inside of me. I believe it is a reminder to breathe in God’s word as I breathe them out in speaking it out loud. When I do, the Word really becomes alive and active. This morning was another stinging moment. Try reading the above passage from Matthew 12 out loud and see if you feel a bit of a sting too. In context, Jesus is reprimanding the Pharisees who were condemning him for healing on the Sabbath and they were accusing him of driving out Satan by using the power of Satan. Jesus was teaching them that their own words convicted them because; “A house divided cannot stand” (Matthew 12:25).

Here comes the stinger for today; “But I tell you that men will have to give an account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned” (12:36-37). Ouch!

I was having a conversation with a dear friend the other day concerning the part that says “every man will give an account for every careless word…”, and I jokingly said; “Well, I feel sorry for everyone who is standing in line behind me at the judgment, because it will take me a very long time to give an account for every careless word”.

The reality is that this is no joking matter. Before I fall too deep into the pit of self-pity, join me in a prayer from Psalm19:13-14; “Keep back your servant from presumptuous sins, let them not have dominion over me, then will I be upright and innocent of great transgressions. Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer”.

Amen.

Midweek Study with Pastor Edith
June 28, 2023

The Way of Love

In my efforts to organize my new office in our new home, I came across a little book and the title caught my eye; I Am A Church Member, written by Thomas Rainer. I suppose the reason why it caught my eye today is because I have been reviewing my new contract with the little church in which I serve. One of the requirements to be the Pastor is that I become a member of the congregation. For some of you, this may be a “Duh” moment, but you need to realize, as a United Methodist Pastor I was always a member of the Conference and my Pastor was my Superintendent. This Sunday I will celebrate becoming a member of Hursttown Church in Corydon Indiana and I plan on taking my membership to my heart.

BThomas Rainer speaks of the importance of 1 Corinthians 13 and how church “membership means everything we say and do is based on a biblical foundation of love”; “So no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love…We know only a portion of the truth, and what we say about God is always incomplete…But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation; Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love” (The Message Bible 1 Corinthians 13:3, 9, 13).

I love this quote from Rainer; “If we could just abide by the principles of the love chapter, we would have completely healthy churches. It would be a revolution!” Prayer: Most gracious and loving God, please guide us in the power of your Holy Spirit to see how important it is to become a member of the Body of Christ, and to take that membership seriously so that all people will know we are Christians by our love. It is in the mighty name of Jesus we pray and in the power of the Holy Spirit may we receive all that you would have us to have.

Amen.

Midweek Study with Pastor Edith
Psalm 85:4-6
June 16, 2023

Renewed, Restored, Revived

I read recently about a revival that happened in Whales during the early twentieth century. It seems over one hundred thousand people came to faith in Christ in less than a year.

Because of this great outpouring of the Holy Spirit the pubs and saloons closed for lack of business, courts were empty of criminals to judge and even the mules that worked the mines were affected. “Many of the mules had to be retrained as they were previously taught to respond to vulgar commands, but when the men got cleaned up, their language did as well, and the mules had to learn a new vocabulary” (Help is Here by Max Lucado, pg.114).

Max Lucado continues; “May the need arise to retrain some mules today”. I think sometimes I am a stubborn mule. I often lose patience with myself and others mostly because I do not do some things I need to do in a timely fashion and find myself in a rush. I can also be stubborn with my ideas of how things ought to be done, refusing to take the time to prayerfully consider the ideas of others. I don’t think I am alone in having bouts of stubbornness, so I think I got a message from the Lord during this time of preparing a midweek meditation. Thank you Lord, for not giving up on me. The psalmist writes in our text for today: “Won’t you revive us again, so your people can rejoice in you?”

Renewal, Restoration and Revival all bring change, and even if change is difficult, these types of changes can be great blessings, so I sing: “Hallelujah, Thine the glory! Hallelujah, amen! Hallelujah, Thine the glory! Revive us again.”

Amen.

Midweek Study with Pastor Edith
John 16:7, Psalm 139:7-8
June 7, 2023

Coming and Going

Leaving something or someone I love is very difficult for me and I am relatively sure that most who are reading this probably would say the same. Still, I have done a lot of coming and going in these short 63 years on the earth. I left home right after I graduated from High School and within a year I moved to the headquarters for Habitat for Humanity located in Americus Georgia. A year and a half later, I left my friends and work there to begin a new job and start college. Within 2 years I was moving again as I was starting, what I thought was a new career in the Air Force and was headed to basic training in Texas. The Air Force moved me to Idaho, where I met my handsome hubby. Jumping ahead nearly 37 years, I find myself going again, as I am leaving one congregation I love to begin a new chapter in ministry. Leaving is very hard but is part of the journey.

I imagine it was hard for Jesus’ disciples to see him leave not long after they got him back in the resurrection. Jesus tried to comfort his friends when he told them that it was to their advantage that he left so a new adventure could begin with The Holy Spirit (see John 16:7).

In his book Help is Here, Max Lucado reflects on this leaving; “I’m envisioning some furrowed brows on the faces of the disciples. What could be better than the presence of Jesus beside them? To be able to ask Jesus questions, to hear his teaching, to watch his actions. To have Jesus near you. Could anything be better? Something could – the Spirit within you. Jesus limited himself to the physical body. He could be in only one place at a time. Jesus was a regional force; the Spirit is a global force. There is no place that he is not!”

The Psalmist writes; “Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there” (Psalm 139:7-8).

Perhaps you are doing some “coming and going” and it is uncomfortable or maybe even very sad. Please know you are not alone. Trust the God who made you, and trust his gift of the Holy Spirit to guide you in what may turn out to be quite the adventure.

AMEN.

Midweek Study with Pastor Edith
Acts 2:42-47
May 31, 2023

The Community of Faith - The Church

I like words, perhaps that is why I use so many of them. One of the things I like about words is finding what they have in common, which brings me to the words Community and Communion. You see the root word for both is Comm and both stem from a Latin word Communitas which means fellowship or to share in common. In our text for today we see the format for the early church. They were to “devote themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and prayer…All believers were together and had everything in common.”

After Pentecost and the giving of the Holy Spirit to all believers, the church began to grow by leaps and bounds; “And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.” The churches I have been associated with did a pretty good job with Fellowship, which usually meant lots of good food. They also did a good job when it came to teaching. I have been blessed to have shared Holy Communion in lots of different congregations and settings and in several ways. I am so grateful for a Christian upbringing and for the sweet fellowship I share with many wonderful fellow followers of Christ.

I will say, that the pandemic wounded the church when it came to gathering together and sharing in common as so many now are fearful to be very close to other people and are very hesitant to touch anything that anyone else has touched, hence, Communion looks different now than before that dreaded virus. I long to go back to a common loaf and a common cup. It is such a picture of what Jesus prayed for his followers to be One as he and the Father are One. Ironically, my very desire for The Common has the potential to cause dissention and separation, so, I press on and I pray you will too. May the Lord help us all find more and more ways to be one with each other. It truly begins with being one with the Lord. Like the song says; “We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord, and we pray that all unity may one day be restored…”

AMEN.

Midweek Study with Pastor Edith
Acts 2:1-4
May 24, 2023

This Sunday our churches will be celebrating Pentecost, or as many have said, the birthday of the church. It is interesting to note that it is also Memorial Day weekend. I guess you could say we are welcoming new birth and remembering those who have passed on. As I type this, I am sitting at the desk where I have spent many hours studying and preparing sermons and midweek postings. This has been a very special place for me and sadly enough this will be my last day at this desk located in the Parsonage which I have been clearing out since our move to a new home.

Change has never been easy for me, but as another brilliant person once said; “Change is the one constant we have in this life”. I agree to a great degree, but I also believe that the Holy Spirit is the greatest constant we have. Believer and non-believer alike are all surrounded by this presence of God. When a person comes to faith in Christ, this gift is given, and like all gifts, this gift needs to be opened, or shall I say, we need to be open to this gift.

Referring to the scripture for today The Reverend Amy Steele writes; “One Bible translation reports that those who witnessed the Spirit that day [Pentecost] were amazed and astonished. I imagine them humbled and devastated by the ultimate. In this case, the ultimate was a manifestation of the Spirit of God. The crowd who had gathered sensed something just out of reach—the letting go of the familiar to embrace the unknown.”

Take time this week to sit quietly with God and ask for his Holy Spirit to help you with the changes you are facing. Know that He is with you always, ready to help you embrace the unknown and willing to guide you every step of the way.

AMEN.

Midweek Study with Pastor Edith
John 14:27
May 17, 2023

When our children were very young we often played scripture memory song cassette tapes in the car whenever we traveled. One of our favorite tapes was “GT and the Halo Express”. In case you’ve not heard of this series that was probably produced back in the late 80’s, let me give you a quick review; GT stands for Good Tidings, and yes, he is an angel. GT is part of a musical band known as The Halo Express. Their mission is to magically appear whenever children are in need of comfort or assurance from God. One of my favorite songs from the series comes from our text today; “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid”.

In the GT presentation of this scripture, A brother and sister are having trouble with bullies at school. They try to act tough, but deep down they are very afraid. All this to ask you today; are you afraid? I am, and it’s no shame to admit it because I live in a fearful time and so do you. Maybe, like me, you find yourself in the middle of changes that are not easy to accept. Maybe you are facing a medical crisis, or financial worries. Maybe you watch the news and wonder how this country, and even our world is going to survive for much longer. Whatever the trouble may be, how about we try doing what my kids did; sing the scripture, and if you don’t have a tune, simply say it out loud and picture Jesus comforting you and if you repeat it often enough, I believe you will experience a peace that is out of this world.

AMEN.

Midweek Study with Pastor Edith
Hebrews 4:9-10
May 3, 2023

“16/6 Instead of 24/7” R and R"

I remember hearing folks talk about that during my time in the Air Force. It was a statement of going on “leave” to get some Rest and Relaxation. Many times, military members would have to take “leave” in order to attend funerals or other family events that would not be so much rest and relaxation as it would be stressful and included obligations to be met.

In my world today, R and R is called a day off, a vacation, or if you qualify for longer, a sabbatical. I will admit that I don’t do these things regularly, and I am often paying the price and so are the people that have to deal with a grumpy me.

Our text today deals with the principle of Sabbath rest. God gave the commandments to a wondering people and the fourth one was; “Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy”. I’ve been reading that the commandments of God were not just to help them live in an ordered community, but they would also provide for them their identity. They were to live as a set apart people of God, who didn’t just do what everybody else did, but they would do what God called them to do including taking a day to rest and reflect on what God was doing for and through them.

I want to be identified as a person who loves and serves God, so it would stand to reason that I would pay attention to God’s command, not suggestion, to take R and R every week; to Rest and Reflect. Here is where working on these weekly meditations really meddles with me . I don’t practice what I preach often enough and it isn’t because I want to be disobedient, or even that I think it noble to not take time off, it’s that I get caught up in the 24/7 pattern of my culture. I bet many who are reading this can say an Amen to that too.

Hebrews 4:9-10 says; “There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his”.

I want to encourage you to consider with me the implications of not setting aside a regular day for R and R. It not only affects you, but all with whom you work and dwell. I pray we will learn to R and R well.

AMEN!