Taming the Tongue

Posted on by Betsy

Yesterday a good friend posted a simple request on Facebook. She asked her friends to stop discussing politics on their feeds. The comments ranged from “You are so right! I hate all the arguing!” to “Freedom of speech.” Wherever you stand on that issue, surely the constant arguing that is happening in our country is wearing us all down.

James had a lot to say about “taming the tongue.”

James 3:13 – 4:3, 7-8a  The Message

13-16 Do you want to be counted wise, to build a reputation for wisdom? Here’s what you do: Live well, live wisely, live humbly. It’s the way you live, not the way you talk, that counts. Mean-spirited ambition isn’t wisdom. Boasting that you are wise isn’t wisdom. Twisting the truth to make yourselves sound wise isn’t wisdom. It’s the furthest thing from wisdom—it’s animal cunning, devilish plotting. Whenever you’re trying to look better than others or get the better of others, things fall apart and everyone ends up at the others’ throats.

17-18 Real wisdom, God’s wisdom, begins with a holy life and is characterized by getting along with others. It is gentle and reasonable, overflowing with mercy and blessings, not hot one day and cold the next, not two-faced. You can develop a healthy, robust community that lives right with God and enjoy its results only if you do the hard work of getting along with each other, treating each other with dignity and honor.

4 1-2 Where do you think all these appalling wars and quarrels come from? Do you think they just happen? Think again. They come about because you want your own way, and fight for it deep inside yourselves. You lust for what you don’t have and are willing to kill to get it. You want what isn’t yours and will risk violence to get your hands on it.

2-3 You wouldn’t think of just asking God for it, would you? And why not? Because you know you’d be asking for what you have no right to. You’re spoiled children, each wanting your own way. This is scary: You can tame a tiger, but you can’t tame a tongue—it’s never been done. 

“You can tame a tiger, but you can’t tame a tongue—it’s never been done.” OUCH!

Think about the last argument you had with your spouse, or consider the enormous political division that exists in our country, and look again: 4 1-2 Where do you think all these appalling wars and quarrels come from? Do you think they just happen? Think again. They come about because you want your own way, and fight for it deep inside yourselves. You’re spoiled children, each wanting your own way.

James really tells it like it is, doesn’t he? He insists that it is our own selfish personal desires – what he calls our war within – that create the conflicts in our families and communities and inner selves. Because we want more – more attention, more respect, more power, more authority – our wanting puts us in direct conflicts with our own families, church, community, and country. 

We want to be right. We want to be in control. We want to have our own way.

This is not the way of the followers of Christ, friends. Verse 17 reminds us of the way we are to follow: It begins with a holy life and is characterized by getting along with others. It is gentle and reasonable, overflowing with mercy and blessings, not hot one day and cold the next, not two-faced. You can develop a healthy, robust community that lives right with God and enjoy its results only if you do the hard work of getting along with each other, treating each other with dignity and honor.

So what can you do to get along with others? Are you gentle and reasonable or are you exercising your right to free speech at the expense of others? Are you contributing to a healthy, robust community that lives right with God, or are you your own island?

God calls us to treat each other with dignity and honor. May we do all in our power to live up to this.

Getting Along by Michelle Robertson

Stuff Stuff

Posted on by Betsy

Yesterday I preached a sermon based on James 3-4. The primary focus was James ‘blunt and almost abrasive call to practice a humble life and stop living in “animal cunning and devilish schemes”. James contends that we are spoiled children, wanting things was can’t have and operating out of our selfish desires to have more and more in our lives that we don’t need. In thinking about that, I did a lot of research about accumulating “stuff.” I learned that in 1960, the first ever self-storage facility was built in Texas. Today there are over 53,000 self-storage facilities, making it a $44.3 billion dollar industry. You read that right, friends. We spend $44.3 billion dollars per year to store all of our extra stuff. As I wade through my own closets full of stuff I don’t need or use, that really hit me hard.

Rev. John Strother, my former DS, posted this caution about gathering up too much stuff on his Facebook page last month. First, we will read Jesus’ parable in Luke 12 in the New International Version: 

And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. 17 He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’

18 “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. 19 And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’

20 “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’

21 “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”

Now let’s read it again from the Cotton Patch Bible. The Cotton Patch Bible is a modern translation written in a southern U.S. dialect:

Luke 12 The Cotton Patch Bible 

Then God said to him, “You NITWIT! On this very night all these things are possessing your soul. You don’t own them. They own YOU! And all this stuff you have piled up, whose is it really?…..So the poor rich farmer was struck with the realization that he would continue for the rest of his life in bondage to the things that had enslaved him all along….. “And that’s the way it is”, said Jesus, “with a man who sets his heart on money….and not on God.”

How much stuff do you really need? Like it said in the Cotton Patch Gospel, don’t be a nitwit! Maybe it’s time to let go of the stuff that has a hold over you.

Maybe we can start by clearing out our self-storage units and closets and giving all that stuff away. I bet there is a thrift store in your area that would be able to turn your unused stuff into money they can use for their ministry. In the Outer Banks, we have a young men’s addiction recovery program called Dare Challenge. They operate a thrift store that supports their important work, and they just opened a new women’s center. Think of what a difference your unused stuff could make to places like this!

Then we could take the money we spent on self-storage rental and donate it to good causes in our community like your local food pantries or homeless shelters. Luke’s parable reminds us that it is okay to settle for less.

May we covenant to seek God’s wisdom so that we might live well, live wisely, and live a humble life together. 

Humble Life by Kathy Schumacher

Running For Your Life

Posted on by Betsy

By the time you read this, Hurricane Helene will have made landfall in the Florida Big Bend area. It is forecast to be a major storm and my heart goes out to everyone in its path. A Florida weather person that I follow had to flee from his home as it gained strength and speed. I am sure that everyone who has evacuated is watching and waiting in dreadful anticipation as it approaches.

Have you ever had to run for your life? I’m guessing that with the exception of the military and first responders, most of us have never been confronted with a situation that was so life-and-death threatening that we literally had to run. I have run for the train, run for an elevator, I have evacuated my home during a Cat 5 hurricane warning, and even run a half marathon. But I consider myself blessed that I have never had to run for my life.

As a child, I had persistent dreams that I was in some life-threatening situation where I had to run, only to discover that my feet were cemented to the street. Have you had that dream? These dreams involved oncoming tornadoes, War of the World alien intruders, or some other terrible thing. When the threat appeared, I would look down at my feet and realize that I was stuck to the ground, unable to flee.

I think that while most of us have probably not been in any physical danger that would cause us to run, some of us may struggle with mental or emotional threats that leave us feeling paralyzed. I know a woman who is so paralyzed by her anxiety and subsequent paranoia that she has retreated to a place on the opposite coast from her family and cannot engage with them. Some fear tells her to keep running from any relationship with them. In her mind, even the smallest interaction would entangle and trap her.

Fears like this are as real to the person as an actual tornado coming down the street.

Our story today involves the great prophet Elijah at a time when he had to run for his life:

1 Kings 19 (Common English Bible)

19 Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, how he had killed all Baal’s prophets with the sword. 2 Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah with this message: “May the gods do whatever they want to me if by this time tomorrow I haven’t made your life like the life of one of them.”

3 Elijah was terrified. He got up and ran for his life. He arrived at Beer-sheba in Judah and left his assistant there. 4 He himself went farther on into the desert a day’s journey. He finally sat down under a solitary broom bush. He longed for his own death: “It’s more than enough, Lord! Take my life because I’m no better than my ancestors.” 5 He lay down and slept under the solitary broom bush. 

Elijah did what we need to do when we feel threatened: He got to a safe place and called on the Lord. Even though he felt he was at the end of his life because of the enormity of this threat looming over him, he knew to first call on God. 

And God answered:

Then suddenly a messenger tapped him and said to him, “Get up! Eat something!” 6 Elijah opened his eyes and saw flatbread baked on glowing coals and a jar of water right by his head. He ate and drank, and then went back to sleep. 7 The Lord’s messenger returned a second time and tapped him. “Get up!” the messenger said. “Eat something, because you have a difficult road ahead of you.” 8 Elijah got up, ate and drank, and went refreshed by that food for forty days and nights until he arrived at Horeb, God’s mountain. 9 There he went into a cave and spent the night.

This story is a beautiful reminder that whenever we feel so threatened that we have to run, God is always there to provide safety, sustenance, and strength for the journey. Elijah received the ministrations of an angel and was given fresh baked flatbread and water … twice. God will provide what we need even in the worst circumstance if we remember to run toward him as we run away from the threat.

Are you running away from something? What are you running toward? When real threats come into your life, safety is the first concern. And remember that God is in every circumstance, running alongside of you until you reach safe harbor.

God is Our Safe Harbor by Michelle Robertson

The Last Laugh

Posted on by Betsy

Can there be anything worse than being chastised or rebuked in front of your enemy? Have you ever suffered the embarrassment of having your sin exposed and addressed while people who didn’t like you were looking on? I am reminded of the wonderful children’s book “Harriet The Spy.” Harriet, an aspiring writer, observes people every day on her “spy route” and writes her unfiltered thoughts in a notebook. During a game of tag one day, her notebook is lost and found by her enemies, Marion and Rachel. They expose her writings, and she loses her best friends Sport and Janie. Over the next few chapters we see Harriet deal with the humiliation of exposure and her pain at having her enemies laugh at her plight. Times of correction are hard enough, but to have people watching who are actually enjoying it is a miserable thing.

Micah dealt with exactly that. His prophecy about God’s impending judgment had fallen on the kings’ deaf ears. Both Jotham and Ahaz continued in their idolatrous and adulterous ways, leading the people into corporate sin and shame. Micah felt the sting of both the punishment that is to come, and the nations who will watch and gloat over it. Yet even through it all, his confidence in the Lord’s eventual forgiveness was strong.

Micah 7 (Common English Bible)

Do not rejoice over me, my enemy,
        because when I fall, I will rise;
            if I sit in darkness, the Lord is my light.
9 I must bear the raging of the Lord,
    for I have sinned against him,
        until he decides my case and provides justice for me.
    He will bring me out into the light;
        I will see by means of his righteousness.
10     Then my enemy will see;
        shame will cover her who said to me:
            “Where is the Lord your God?”
    My eyes will see her ruin;
        now she will become something to be trampled,
            like mud in the streets.

This is a beautiful passage of confession and comfort. Israel had sinned and would pay for their apostasy, but God delights in showing mercy to those who are truly penitent. God doesn’t hold on to his anger. God will show Israel faithful love once again, bestowing compassion and love on them. Much more than remorse, or simply feeling sorry for their sins, Micah articulated the deep penitence the nation was offering. He grieved the wrong their sin had done to the Lord, showing that they were not just feeling sorry for themselves, but truly repentant.

18 Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity,
        overlooking the sin of the few remaining for his inheritance?
    He doesn’t hold on to his anger forever;
        he delights in faithful love.
19 He will once again have compassion on us;
        he will tread down our iniquities.
You will hurl all our sins into the depths of the sea.
20 You will provide faithfulness to Jacob, faithful love to Abraham,
        as you swore to our ancestors a long time ago.

To think that God is this forgiving is a stunning thing. That, of course, is the whole reason that God sent his only son to us: So that Jesus can hurl all our sins to the depths of the sea and forget them forever. Our enemies may laugh for a moment, but it is God who gets the last laugh when the people return in confession, repentance, and humility.

Are you struggling with sin or failure? Have you disappointed God? Are your enemies laughing at you behind your back? Count on God’s compassionate, faithful love. He will heal your penitent heart if you let him.

Where Your Sins Are by Michelle Robertson

Clean Your Room

Posted on by Betsy

How many of you clean your house before you go on vacation? It is so nice to come back to a tidy abode after some time away, but this practice confused me as a kid. Like, who were we cleaning for? We’re not even going to be here. Are we expecting ghosts? Squatters? A surprise inspection? GRANDMA??

I remember feeling that having to clean my room before every trip was a real buzz kill. But my parents had a strong ethic of first things first, and work before play that I appreciate now that I am older.

Our letter from Jude today started out exactly like that. He intended to pen an epistle on salvation but had to “clean up” a few things first. There were godless people who had infiltrated their community and brought their immorality and ungodly desires with them. So Jude had to address first things first.

The name Jude is short for Judas, but as the canon was being developed it was deemed wise not to allow him to be confused with Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus. This Judas was in fact the half-brother of Jesus. Mary and Joseph’s son was humble in his position as sibling to the Lord. Rather than flaunt his position, Jude rolled up his sleeves and got to work.

The main issues he addressed in his letter had been addressed against the godless long before. Jude recounted what happened to those who survived the exodus from Egypt only to fall away from God. He went all the way back to Genesis to describe what happened to angels who fell from grace, as well as the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah who met a fiery fate due to their sins. These stories, contended Jude, should serve as a warning.

Jude 1:1-25

3 Dear friends, I wanted very much to write to you concerning the salvation we share. Instead, I must write to urge you to fight for the faith delivered once and for all to God’s holy people. 4 Godless people have slipped in among you. They turn the grace of our God into unrestrained immorality and deny our only master and Lord, Jesus Christ. Judgment was passed against them a long time ago.

5 I want to remind you of something you already know very well. The Lord, who once saved a people out of Egypt, later destroyed those who didn’t maintain their faith. 6 I remind you too of the angels who didn’t keep their position of authority but deserted their own home. The Lord has kept them in eternal chains in the underworld until the judgment of the great day. 7 In the same way, Sodom and Gomorrah and neighboring towns practiced immoral sexual relations and pursued other sexual urges. By undergoing the punishment of eternal fire, they serve as a warning.

8 Yet, even knowing this, these dreamers in the same way pollute themselves, reject authority, and slander the angels. 9 The archangel Michael, when he argued with the devil about Moses’ body, did not dare charge him with slander. Instead, he said, “The Lord rebuke you!” 10 But these people slander whatever they don’t understand. They are destroyed by what they know instinctively, as though they were irrational animals.

The pressing issue in Jude’s time was the invasion of people into the faith community who rejected God’s authority and slandered things they did not understand. Jude warned that these people are like “jagged rocks just below the surface of the water waiting to snag you” (verse 12) and “wild waves of the sea foaming up their own shame” (verse 13). His use of imagery is striking! We can just imagine ourselves being pulled under and drowning in sin. Jude cautioned and counseled them to clean their house of these people. Judgment is coming.

11 They are damned, for they follow in the footsteps of Cain. For profit they give themselves over to Balaam’s error. They are destroyed in the uprising of Korah. 12 These people are like jagged rocks just below the surface of the water waiting to snag you when they join your love feasts. They feast with you without reverence. They care only for themselves. They are waterless clouds carried along by the winds; fruitless autumn trees, twice dead, uprooted; 13 wild waves of the sea foaming up their own shame; wandering stars for whom the darkness of the underworld is reserved forever.

14 Enoch, who lived seven generations after Adam, prophesied about these people when he said, “See, the Lord comes with his countless holy ones,15 to execute judgment on everyone and to convict everyone about every ungodly deed they have committed in their ungodliness as well as all the harsh things that sinful ungodly people have said against him.” 16 These are faultfinding grumblers, living according to their own desires. They speak arrogant words and they show partiality to people when they want a favor in return.

Take a look around you. Are you listening to the faultfinding grumblers who speak arrogant words and reject God’s authority? If you are, clean out your room!

17 But you, dear friends, remember the words spoken beforehand by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. 18 They said to you, “In the end time scoffers will come living according to their own ungodly desires.” 19 These people create divisions. Since they don’t have the Spirit, they are worldly.

Jude leaves us with a beautiful word of encouragement to build each other up on the foundation of our good and holy faith while we protect ourselves from falling in with the wicked ones.

20 But you, dear friends: build each other up on the foundation of your most holy faith, pray in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep each other in the love of God, wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will give you eternal life. 22 Have mercy on those who doubt. 23 Save some by snatching them from the fire. Fearing God, have mercy on some, hating even the clothing contaminated by their sinful urges.

Let us leave this devotional with the beautiful benediction and doxology of verses 24-25. Amen!

To the one who is able to protect you from falling,
        and to present you blameless and rejoicing before his glorious presence,
25 to the only God our savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord,
        belong glory, majesty, power, and authority,
            before all time, now and forever. Amen.

Glory, Majesty, and Power

What Shall We Do

Posted on by Betsy

I just love a good birthday party. Candles on cake, presents and presence, and a sung “Happy Birthday” greeting by the guests. For some reason, and I cannot tell you why, my husband’s family takes pride in singing “Happy Birthday” as loud and as off-key as they possibly can. This odd tradition has been passed down to the next generation, and at a recent birthday party for my father-in-law it was hilarious to hear all of the grown grandchildren call in with their own painful rendition of birthday greetings. When the spirit moves in our family, it moves with a mighty force.

Pentecost is considered to be the birthday of the church. It was the incredible moment when the Holy Spirit of God came down upon the gathered disciples in Jerusalem and caused them to hear and speak in each other’s languages. With a fresh wind and a mighty fire, the Holy Spirit was poured out in full force.

One moment that is sometimes overlooked at this “birthday party” is the outstanding sermon Peter gave after the whirlwind subsided. His bold words included references to Joel 2:28-32, Psalm 16, and Psalm 110. He used Scripture to explain the strange event that had just happened, connecting that event to Old Testament writings that also spoke of an outpouring of God’s Spirit, signs and wonders, visions, prophecies, and an invitation.

Acts 2 (Common English Bible)

14 Peter stood with the other eleven apostles. He raised his voice and declared, “Judeans and everyone living in Jerusalem! Know this! Listen carefully to my words! 15 These people aren’t drunk, as you suspect; after all, it’s only nine o’clock in the morning!16 Rather, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:

17 In the last days, God says,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
    Your sons and daughters will prophesy.
    Your young will see visions.
    Your elders will dream dreams.
18     Even upon my servants, men and women,
        I will pour out my Spirit in those days,
        and they will prophesy.
19 I will cause wonders to occur in the heavens above
    and signs on the earth below,
        blood and fire and a cloud of smoke.
20 The sun will be changed into darkness,
    and the moon will be changed into blood,
        before the great and spectacular day of the Lord comes.
21 And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

Notice how he connects these events with the advent of Jesus’ life and death. Pentecost was near the fulfillment of God’s plan, but not the end. Indeed, the final fulfillment will come in the last days when Jesus returns to earth. Peter cleverly quoted David, the revered King of Israel, to cement his argument.

22 “Fellow Israelites, listen to these words! Jesus the Nazarene was a man whose credentials God proved to you through miracles, wonders, and signs, which God performed through him among you. You yourselves know this. 23 In accordance with God’s established plan and foreknowledge, he was betrayed. You, with the help of wicked men, had Jesus killed by nailing him to a cross. 24 God raised him up! God freed him from death’s dreadful grip, since it was impossible for death to hang on to him. 25 David says about him,

I foresaw that the Lord was always with me;
    because he is at my right hand I won’t be shaken.
26 Therefore, my heart was glad
    and my tongue rejoiced.
Moreover, my body will live in hope,
27         because you won’t abandon me to the grave,
    nor permit your holy one to experience decay.
28 You have shown me the paths of life;
    your presence will fill me with happiness.

29 “Brothers and sisters, I can speak confidently about the patriarch David. He died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this very day. 30 Because he was a prophet, he knew that God promised him with a solemn pledge to seat one of his descendants on his throne. 31 Having seen this beforehand, David spoke about the resurrection of Christ, that he wasn’t abandoned to the grave, nor did his body experience decay. 32 This Jesus God raised up. We are all witnesses to that fact. 33 He was exalted to God’s right side and received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit. He poured out this Spirit, and you are seeing and hearing the results of his having done so. 34 David didn’t ascend into heaven. Yet he says,

The Lord said to my Lord, ‘Sit at my right side,
35     until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.’

Peter’s final remarks brought them to the present reality of how to be ready for what is to come. “What should we do?” asked the troubled crowd. Peter boldly challenged them to change their hearts and lives, be baptized, and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, which is promised for all in every generations yet to come.

36 “Therefore, let all Israel know beyond question that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.”

37 When the crowd heard this, they were deeply troubled. They said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what should we do?”

38 Peter replied, “Change your hearts and lives. Each of you must be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 This promise is for you, your children, and for all who are far away—as many as the Lord our God invites.” 40 With many other words he testified to them and encouraged them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation.” 41 Those who accepted Peter’s message were baptized. God brought about three thousand people into the community on that day.

The promise of the gift of the Holy Spirit is one that ensures our salvation. With it, we are invited to call on the name of Jesus in moments of distress and he will answer. Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved!

Are you in distress? Call on Jesus.

Poured Out by Kathy Schumacher

Many Gifts, One Spirit

Posted on by Betsy

Do you enjoy doing puzzles? We always had a puzzle going on vacation every year and it was a lot of fun. Occasionally we would spend days and nights putting together a puzzle only to get to the end and find that one solitary piece was missing.Lost under the couch forever or eaten by the dog, losing that last bit of the picture made the whole effort feel incomplete. I hate it when that happens.

I think the church is like a 5,000 piece puzzle. Every person has a place and a part to play. When someone is missing, it doesn’t come together like it should.

When I read today’s scripture I immediately thought about puzzles and I kept hearing a hymn from our United Methodist Hymnal called “Many Gifts, One Spirit.” Do you know this song? Is it sung in your church? It is a beautiful interpretation of 1 Corinthians 12: 7-11, where Paul spoke about the gifts of the spirit that are given to each person for the common good. Like interlocking pieces of a puzzle, the Spirit uses our individual gifts to make a complete picture of the body of Christ.

“Many Gifts, One Spirit”
Al Carmines
UM Hymnal, No. 114

Many gifts, one Spirit,
one love known in many ways.
In our difference is blessing,
from diversity we praise
one Giver, one Lord, one Word
known in many ways, hallowing our days.
For the Giver and the Gifts,
praise, praise, praise.*

Paul outlined the gifts that this hymn alludes to: Wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, prophecy, spirit divination, speaking in tongues, and the interpretation of tongues. He makes the bold and strong point that while the gifts and the gift receivers were diverse, there is only one Giver who dispenses them all. The same Spirit gives according to what he wants to each person, or as the hymn says, “one love known in many ways.”

Do you see your particular gift on the list? This is not comprehensive. In Romans 12, Paul lists teaching, prophecy, serving, encouraging, giving, leading and mercy. Ephesians mentions other gifts as well, leading us to understand the importance Paul put on these things.

1 Corinthians 12 (Common English Bible)

7 A demonstration of the Spirit is given to each person for the common good. 8 A word of wisdom is given by the Spirit to one person, a word of knowledge to another according to the same Spirit, 9 faith to still another by the same Spirit, gifts of healing to another in the one Spirit, 10 performance of miracles to another, prophecy to another, the ability to tell spirits apart to another, different kinds of tongues to another, and the interpretation of the tongues to another. 11 All these things are produced by the one and same Spirit who gives what he wants to each person.

The celebration of diversity is lovely in both the Scripture and the song. Sometimes we feel that we have little to offer. Feeling discouraged or left out can make us want to withhold our participation. Burnout, frustration, and life’s overwhelming circumstances can lead us to pull back and pull out. When we do, the bigger picture suffers. Everybody is somebody in the Body!

What is your gift? Are you using it in God’s service? People are counting on you to make the puzzle complete. Remember, the purpose of our diversity is our unity. May we come together as one to serve the One who calls us by name.

Hallowing Our Days by Mary Anne Mong

The Comfort of Comforting

Posted on by Betsy

It wasn’t a big deal. We were enjoying a lunch at a beachside bistro with friends when I spotted an older gentleman pushing his wife in a wheelchair up the ramp toward us. As he got to the door, he struggled to get it open and then hold it as he made a tight corner with the chair. I could see and feel his frustration as he attempted to get his wife inside the air-conditioning and out of the hot sun. My husband was at the end of the table, so I said to him, “That fellow needs help with the door.” My husband sprang into action and with holding the door and guiding the chair from the front, they made it inside. Our lunch companion observed this and said to me, “You’re always at work.” She is a wonderful friend and church member, and she was referring to the position a pastor accepts when they are assigned to a flock. Our job is to constantly look over and look out for our people and respond. Again, it wasn’t a big deal, but it brought back memories of watching my father struggle with my mother’s wheelchair and feeling gratitude for many strangers who held doors and lent a hand. People showing compassion to strangers is peopling at its best.

Human compassion is a reflection of the very heart of God. God comforts us so that we can comfort others. Troubles are thus understood as opportunities to bring comfort to the suffering. Think about it a moment. The joy of giving and receiving comfort is bound up with the pain of suffering. Without one we would never experience the other.

2 Corinthians 1 (Common English Bible)

3 May the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ be blessed! He is the compassionate Father and God of all comfort. 4 He’s the one who comforts us in all our trouble so that we can comfort other people who are in every kind of trouble. We offer the same comfort that we ourselves received from God. 5 That is because we receive so much comfort through Christ in the same way that we share so many of Christ’s sufferings. 

Paul used the Greek word paraklesis when he spoke of God offering comfort. It is more than just sympathy: paraklesis refers to the strengthening and help that a strong Paraclete of consolation can bring. When he spoke of receiving comfort through Christ, he reminded us that Christ was never far from Paul in all of his suffering. That helped Paul to understand that God had a larger purpose for his discomfort. Indeed, Paul used those experiences in his preaching and ministering to his churches. He helped the church at Corinth understand that their sufferings would produce the endurance they needed to survive. Through their trouble they would receive salvation.

6 So if we have trouble, it is to bring you comfort and salvation. If we are comforted, it is to bring you comfort from the experience of endurance while you go through the same sufferings that we also suffer. 7 Our hope for you is certain, because we know that as you are partners in suffering, so also you are partners in comfort.

Are you struggling today? Do you need a mighty Paraclete to come along side of you and give you strength? Do you know someone who is suffering? Can you offer comfort to them in the name of Jesus? Even just holding a door open to someone who is struggling can make a big difference.

Come on Through by Michelle Robertson

Live Oaks

Posted on by Betsy

Live oaks are common trees in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Their majestic crowns can spread to over 150 feet and they provide shelter and food for many animals, including birds, wild turkeys, squirrels, black bears, and deer. Found primarily in the south, live oaks grow well in salty soils and in the shade. My community of Colington Harbour is surrounded by these beautiful trees, some of which are hundreds of years old. For centuries, live oaks were the preferred timber for shipbuilding due to their incredibly strong wood. In fact, the U.S.S. Constitution was constructed with live oak timber and earned the nickname “Old Ironsides” when her hull survived repeated canon fire in the war of 1812. There is a stunning live oak at the end of my street. The sun sets behind it and people walk down the street in the evening every day to take in the beautiful scene.

Our beautiful psalm today speaks of a tree planted by the streams of water. This tree bears fruit and its leaves don’t fade. The psalmist uses this word-picture to encourage us to choose a path of righteousness that would make us like these trees. This path is one of reading, reciting, and meditating on God’s word.

Psalm 1 (Common English Bible)

1 The truly happy person
    doesn’t follow wicked advice,
    doesn’t stand on the road of sinners,
    and doesn’t sit with the disrespectful.
2 Instead of doing those things,
    these persons love the Lord’s Instruction,
    and they recite God’s Instruction day and night!
3 They are like a tree replanted by streams of water,
    which bears fruit at just the right time
    and whose leaves don’t fade.
        Whatever they do succeeds.

By contrast, we also can choose the path of the wicked. This path results in dust that the wind simply blows away. The psalmist reminds us that sinners cannot enter the assembly of the righteous. This path has no joy or hope and ends in destruction.

4 That’s not true for the wicked!
    They are like dust that the wind blows away.
5 And that’s why the wicked will have no standing in the court of justice—
    neither will sinners
    in the assembly of the righteous.
6 The Lord is intimately acquainted
    with the way of the righteous,
    but the way of the wicked is destroyed.

Verse 1 offers a warning about the progression of sin. Notice the movement from walk to stand to sit. We can imagine the path that temptation takes in this verse. When we are tempted we walk toward something we should not have, stand for a moment of decision, and then choose to sit into it. The righteous don’t do this. They remain truly happy by setting healthy boundaries around themselves lest they fall into temptation.

If you think about it, we have that choice to make every day. We can refuse to associate with the wicked and disrespectful and choose to follow God’s instructions. We can read and meditate on God’s word. The psalmist assures us that this will result in happiness and success.

I think I would prefer to be a live oak, planted by the waters rather than dust. How about you?

Live Oak on the Sound

The Overfed

Posted on by Betsy

Have you ever seen someone in a position of popularity, wealth, or power and thought, “How can you have so much?” I think that every time I see Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, who are the richest men in the world. How did they get there? Whether it’s the NFL’s highest paid player, a musician like Taylor Swift who rakes in millions with every concert, the highest paid actor, or any of the rich politicians who dominate our news feeds with their own brand of nonsense, people at the “top” and their prosperity can surely make you scratch your head. The person running your local food pantry, the young pastor who lays awake at night worrying about his church, the volunteer firefighter spending the night at the station away from her family, the underpaid nurse who loves her patients … these folks do their jobs quietly without the celebrity and fanfare of those others. It is easy to envy the wealth and popularity of the rich, but you have to wonder, does God bless their prosperity?

When ungodly people prosper, it is normal to wonder where God is.

Psalm 73 was written by Asaph, the great singer and musician of David and Solomon’s eras. He began with the confident assertion that God is good to those who have a pure heart but then confessed that his confidence nearly slipped when he observed the arrogant, wicked people and noticed how well off they are.

Psalm 73 (Common English Bible)

Truly God is good to Israel,
    to those who are have a pure heart.
2 But me? My feet had almost stumbled;
    my steps had nearly slipped
3     because I envied the arrogant;
    I observed how the wicked are well off:
4 They suffer no pain;
    their bodies are fit and strong.
5 They are never in trouble;
    they aren’t weighed down like other people.

You can almost hear his unspoken question. God is good, but if the wicked prosper, what is the good of being good? The overfed, in their privileged positions, speak against heaven. Where is God?

6 That’s why they wear arrogance like a necklace,
    why violence covers them like clothes.
7 Their eyes bulge out from eating so well;
    their hearts overflow with delusions.
8 They scoff and talk so cruel;
    from their privileged positions
    they plan oppression.
9 Their mouths dare to speak against heaven!
    Their tongues roam the earth!
10 That’s why people keep going back to them,
    keep approving what they say.

Well, God is where you can always go when you are seeking his presence. God is in the sanctuary, where we meet and encounter eternity. God is in our praise and our worship. God is faithful to the pure in heart and will not abide those who are far from his will and his word which all people are called to obey. God is in us. Those who are far from God will perish.

15 If I said, “I will talk about all this,”
    I would have been unfaithful to your children.
16 But when I tried to understand these things,
    it just seemed like hard work
17     until I entered God’s sanctuary
        and understood what would happen to the wicked.

So the next time you encounter a person’s earthly wealth and status, remember this: the heavenly reward for your righteousness will far exceed any temporal advantage the people at the “top” enjoy here on earth. God indeed is good to those who are pure in heart.

His Bill Can Hold More than his Belican by Michelle Robertson