Pioneering: Meditations for Transforming Our
Carlisle
United Methodist Church
Number 20 March
24, 2013
Called to be Church
As
long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he
lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning.
When Moses’ hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and
he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up—one on one side, one on the
other—so that his hands remained steady till sunset. So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with
the sword. Exodus 17:11-13
The initial title of this
meditation was to be “Don’t Waste a Moment.”
It was written within hours of learning tiny bits about the accident
that put Rebekah, Pastor Jim’s and Amy’s daughter into a hospital bed. The first thing I thought of, forgive me, was
that the forces of evil were attacking our pastor through harming his
family. I learned I was not alone in
this thought.
But the immediate second
thought that came to me was: It’s time for us to step up and become
Church. I gave what I wrote that evening
to my beloved editor before I hit “Send.”
She, in a gentle and revealing way convinced me that the meditation was
not where it needed to be.
And for the first time since I
began offering these meditations, I skipped a deadline. My apologies, dear reader.
With a week’s distance from
those events, and a good bit of clarity, I offer this meditation instead.
Over the past weeks we learned
in a very convincing way how interconnected we are, how when one part of our
Christian family is harmed, hurt, or smitten, we all suffer, and how delicate
and precious is the thread of life!
We’ve all faced sudden and
tragic moments -- beyond explanation at our level -- that seem to suck the
breath and spirit from us as we face the deepest darkness of the unknown. I can never understand how people who do not
know the love of God can really make it through circumstances like these. But, for the Christian community into which
God has drawn us, this is a defining
moment where we become True Church, where we act as ministers to our
pastor’s family in their days of pain and uncertainty, and as ministers to one
another.
Thomas Paine wrote during the
early, dark days of the American Revolution, “These are the times that try men’s souls.” For Carlisle UMC, these times are one more
God-reminder to us, whether as single souls, as families by blood or marriage, or
as Sisters and Brothers in Christ, to seize each moment God offers us, and to
fill it with overflowing love and presence for one another. This is the steadfast love of God for God’s
people that we have learned in our personal and common walk in Faith.
It’s also a reminder of how we do need one another in Christ, of how
God opens to us, even in fears of personal inadequacy, even in the discomfort
of not knowing the right words to say to someone (and often it is knowing not to speak, but to merely be present). It is a proven way of sharing Christ’s
inspired love in all the ways St. Paul described love in the beloved passage in
1 Corinthians 13.
As folks of mostly Central
Pennsylvania Dutch stock, we have a marvelous measure of that love we would
share, but there is some natural hesitancy or reserve that sometimes keeps us
from demonstrating that love every day. The
happenings of these past weeks give us a chance to change our ways, if only
just a little.
In the scripture passage from
Exodus, the Israelites are battling against the Amalekites, who were standing
in the way of their journey through the wilderness to their Promised Land. (Does this begin to sound like us?) As long as Moses held his arms up in prayer
to the Lord God, the battle went
for Joshua and the people of God; but when Moses grew weary and dropped his
arms, the battle went against them.
The writer of Exodus doesn’t
say who thought of the idea, but I’d like to think it was some unnamed
saint. The point is that with the help
of a stone seat and Aaron and Hur holding up the arms of Moses (read this as our
leaders on one side and our entire fellowship on the other lifting the arms of
our pastors), the battle was won decisively.
Like the Israelites, we will face
other events that hold joy, uncertainty, and sadness in our lives, and in the
lives of those we love. Yet we have this
marvelous gift called prayer that connects us with a caring, loving, redeeming,
and miracle-working God who commands us to ask for anything in Christ’s name,
who commends us to persist in our praying, who consistently answers us – always.
And Christ seeks continuously to draw us
into fellowship with Himself and into covenantal community with one another.
This week, take many moments to
hold up the arms of our pastors, and to raise your hand and give a blessing:
speak a blessing to Pastor Jim and his family, and to one another. Do not worry about what words to use. If we can put it on our coinage, we can surely
engrave it on our hearts: Trust God.
Words or no words may come; but
the Holy Spirit knows absolutely every
language, every Holy intent, and will translate word and gesture and
silence into the perfect blessing at the perfect time, but only if we don’t
waste a moment and answer the call to be church.
Common
Prayer. Jesus, You are our shepherd, with You we have
every good thing we need. Please lead
us, for You alone know the way through wilderness and desert to the places of
delight and refreshment for body and soul.
Though our enemies believe they have surrounded us, you have awesome
power over every one of them, and while they lick their chops, we are the ones
who dine on finest fare. When our
pasturing time is done, lead us to the house of God where we may live forever
in joy with You and one another. AMEN.
Transformation
Emphasis for the next two weeks:
Our Pastors; Our Council, Team,
and Focus Group members; our sisters and brothers; our own walk through these
days of Holy Week; the anticipation of a Glorious Easter Day!
Please
address your feedback and comments to Charles L. Reynolds at papoo99@comcast.net. I’d really like to hear from you!
