At Water’s Edge

The Feet of The Messenger

Posted on October 26, 2020 by Betsy

Before I go any farther, I want to make a disclaimer. Pastors aren’t perfect. Not every pastor works hard. Yes, there are some who work upwards of 70 hours a week, but others are just lazy. Pastors are flawed, have weaknesses, get frustrated, and basically are…human. There are good pastors and awful pastors. I have worked with both. Some may argue I have been both. If you are currently attending a church, even virtually, read on.

October is “Pastor Appreciation Month,” when Hallmark tells you to show your pastor a little love. I promise you that churches who make a thing of this are well-loved by their pastors. As with any institution, most pastors receive a ton more complaints than compliments, so a gesture of gratitude any time of the year really goes a long way.

In Paul’s letter to the church in Thessalonica, he lays out the kind of effort that pastors go through when they are called to shepherd a church. He talks about hard work, hardships, and struggling to make a living so that he could do the anointed work of preaching and teaching the Good News to the people.

1 Thessalonians 1 (Contemporary English Version)

⁹My dear friends, you surely haven’t forgotten our hard work and hardships. You remember how night and day we struggled to make a living, so that we could tell you God’s message without being a burden to anyone.

In my denomination, we call those folks “bi-vocational pastors.” Many work nine-to-five jobs and then conduct worship on Sundays. Somehow they fit in visiting the sick, attending to the administration of the church, offering counseling, performing weddings and funerals, doing a minimum of ten hours sermon prep, and a host of other things. God bless the bi-vocational servants who bring the good news!

And God bless the full and part-time pastors who juggle church, family, study time, home, social obligations, and community responsibilities as though they are riding unicycles on a high wire, each with a crazed monkey on their head. Pastoring is not easy. Just one small thing can disrupt the delicate, impossible balance and send everything spilling into the ring occupied by the marching elephants.

¹⁰Both you and God are witnesses that we were pure and honest and innocent in our dealings with you followers of the Lord. ¹¹You also know we did everything for you that parents would do for their own children. ¹²We begged, encouraged, and urged each of you to live in a way that would honor God. He is the one who chose you to share in his own kingdom and glory.

A good pastor does exactly this. They focus their life’s work in honest labor to encourage their parishioners to live in a way that honors God. Paul is right. Good pastors love their churches like parents love their own children.

¹³We always thank God that you believed the message we preached. It came from him, and it isn’t something made up by humans. You accepted it as God’s message, and now he is working in you.

There is nothing more important to a pastor than to know that they have brought someone to Christ. Nothing beats it. When you walk out of a service and tell your preacher that you have heard God’s message, that is the best kind of appreciation you can offer. And when a pastor sees their congregation serving with a sense of purpose, calling, understanding, and humbleness, it is a game-changer. That is a church we never want to leave.

If you are part of a faith community that is being well-shepherded by a loving pastor, thank God. It is so much harder than it looks, especially now. The pandemic has knocked every pastor I know for a LOOP.

To my fellow pastors, I raise my hand in gratitude and praise for everything you are going through right now as you are faithful to your calling. May God bless you and keep you from going crazy.

Friends, pray for your pastors. Encourage them, uplift them, and let them know you care. Even when it isn’t October.

“How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace,
Who bring glad tidings of joy!” (Romans 10:15 NKJV)

Wholly People

Posted on October 23, 2020 by Betsy

What does it mean to be holy? In its simplest form, the word holy means to be set apart. Holy things are sacred, special, and outside of the norm of the secular world. God is holy. Worship is holy. Prayer is holy. Sacraments are holy. You are holy.

Surprised?

Think of it this way: being made in the image of God and redeemed by his blood, we have inherited a holiness that we are called to live up to on a daily basis. Being holy humans means we are called to reflect God’s holiness in everything we say, do, and think. Justice, righteousness, equity, unconditional love, forgiveness, honesty, mercy, and especially grace should be the attributes of holiness that we endeavor to live out every day.

That is what a holy human looks like. Unfortunately, those who are wholly human often succumb to anger, name-calling, deceit, bias, pettiness, prejudice, and vengeance.

Leviticus 19 (Common English Bible)

The Lord said to Moses, ²Say to the whole community of the Israelites: You must be holy, because I, the Lord your God, am holy.

In our pursuit of daily holiness, God is our measure and standard. Here are his rules for holiness:

¹⁵You must not act unjustly in a legal case. Do not show favoritism to the poor or deference to the great; you must judge your fellow Israelites fairly. ¹⁶Do not go around slandering your people. Do not stand by while your neighbor’s blood is shed; I am the Lord.

¹⁷You must not hate your fellow Israelite in your heart. Rebuke your fellow Israelite strongly, so you don’t become responsible for his sin.¹⁸You must not take revenge nor hold a grudge against any of your people; instead, you must love your neighbor as yourself; I am the Lord.

This instruction to the Israelites on how to live together is an important reminder to us as we move forward as a nation. Where is your citizenship? Is it with your political party or is it in heaven?

In a few weeks America will declare a winner. Regardless of the outcome, we are to remain holy and not hold grudges. We are to love our neighbors who vote differently. It is against God’s word to slander each other. We absolutely must NOT hate our fellow citizens in our hearts. It may be in our human nature to do these things, but as God-followers, these things cannot be our response to the election. You are commanded to love your neighbor as yourself.

Wholly human or holy human? The choice is yours.

People-Pleasing

Posted on October 22, 2020 by Betsy

How many of you struggle with an addiction to people-pleasing? You may have grown up in a household that taught you this. Pleasing mom and dad meant peace at the dinner table. Displeasure brought different levels of grief.

Folks who have a bent for people-pleasing find themselves in all kinds of trouble. For example, there is the trouble that comes from not being able to say no. Come on now, you know who you are! If you are over-committed to your family and every community and church volunteer opportunity, you are probably a people-pleaser.

Then there are the people-pleasers who can’t stand up for themselves. When others who don’t give a fig about people-pleasing encounter them, they get walked all over and used as door mats.

It is hard to be in a relationship with a people-pleaser because you never quite know where you stand. They will agree with everything you say, laugh at your lame jokes, and tell you that you look good in those jeans that add 15 lbs. of visual weight to your frame.

Beware of the people-pleasers!

In his letter to the newly formed church in Thessalonica, Paul is assuring the congregation that his efforts are completely void of any such nonsense. He states that his words to them have not been based on false information, wrong motives, or deception.

1 Thessalonians 1 (Common English Bible)

2 As you yourselves know, brothers and sisters, our visit with you wasn’t a waste of time.²On the contrary, we had the courage through God to speak God’s good news in spite of a lot of opposition, although we had already suffered and were publicly insulted in Philippi, as you know. ³Our appeal isn’t based on false information, the wrong motives, or deception.⁴Rather, we have been examined and approved by God to be trusted with the good news, and that’s exactly how we speak.

In his work with the church, he and the other apostles have endeavored to do one thing…please God. They have been trusted by God with the good news and they only want to please him.

We aren’t trying to please people, but we are trying to please God, who continues to examine our hearts. ⁵As you know, we never used flattery, and God is our witness that we didn’t have greedy motives. ⁶We didn’t ask for special treatment from people—not from you or from others— ⁷although we could have thrown our weight around as Christ’s apostles.

The integrity of his efforts shines through. The message of the gospel can get out because people know that Paul isn’t just telling them things they want to hear and buttering them up with flattering words. Instead, he is speaking words that convey love, hope, and TRUTH.

Instead, we were gentle with you like a nursing mother caring for her own children. ⁸We were glad to share not only God’s good news with you but also our very lives because we cared for you so much.

As we make our way to the polls in America, ask yourself these questions. Does your candidate speak to please God, or to butter up voters? Is he or she operating from selfish motives, hidden agendas, and deception, or is there a sincere desire to serve the public? Are they humble or self-aggrandizing? Do they have integrity like Paul?

The ranks of leadership at every level are filled with people-pleasers. Let’s find the God-pleasers this time.

A Thousand Years

Posted on October 21, 2020 by Betsy

Time. We never seem to have enough of it, are always running out of it, have no control over it, and rule our lives by it. Think about how many times every day you check your watch/phone/Alexa to see what time it is. Nobody likes to be late for an appointment, and time sets the pace for our daily activity.

When someone you love dies, time starts to play tricks on you. Suddenly time stops. You find yourself dwelling on the past, trying to stretch out last moments, and not wanting to move into a future without them. Days and weeks either get stuck in the slow molasses of grief or suddenly accelerate to a holiday you hadn’t anticipated where you get to relive your loss in a new way.

Time in God’s terms, however, is a much altered thing. In Psalm 90 we see a common idea that in God’s perspective, a thousand years is like a day:

Psalm 90 (Common English Bible)

Lord, you have been our help,
    generation after generation.
²Before the mountains were born,
    before you birthed the earth and the inhabited world—
    from forever in the past
    to forever in the future, you are God.

³You return people to dust,
    saying, “Go back, humans,”
⁴    because in your perspective a thousand years
    are like yesterday past,
    like a short period during the night watch.

This is what happens when you apply eternity to time. Suddenly centuries of years become like days. In heaven there are no clocks to measure out 24-hour periods of existence. Time simply IS.

The blessing in that for all of us is that our loved ones who have gone before us will experience our arrival as though it is happening right after theirs. The compression and expansion of eternity mean that for them, time is a seamless flow of entry into heaven. So when my father died in 2009, he turned around and there came my mom in 2014, which in eternity was like a day later. Best of all, their lives now are timeless as they rest in our Father’s arms. So too will yours be when you get there “tomorrow.” From forever in the past to forever in the future, God is with us.

⁵You sweep humans away like a dream,
like grass that is renewed in the morning.
⁶True, in the morning it thrives, renewed,
but come evening it withers, all dried up.

Take some time today to meditate on these things. God has been with you since before he birthed the earth and the inhabited world, and he will be with you forever. Thanks be to God!

Son of a None

Posted on October 20, 2020 by Betsy

Have you ever let your anger get the better of you? I have. It happened on a day when I had not had much sleep for weeks due to raising two small children while being a full-time seminary student and working part-time at a church. On that morning I allowed my exhaustion to turn into anger. The five-year-old defied my directions to get ready for school and was having tantrum of her own. Between the two of us, it was the perfect storm in the house that morning. I had no patience and she had no self-control. So the part where shoes had to be put on or the bus would be missed became a WWE wrestling match. We rolled around on the floor as I tried to cram shoes on flailing feet as she wailed in protest. Because I was bigger, I won. She made the bus on time.

IMMEDIATELY guilt became the second challenger in the ring and in no time at all, it gave me a one-two knock out. I was miserable when I realized that I had allowed my anger and frustration to be the way I touched my child before sending her off for a long day at school. So after I dropped the three-year-old off at preschool, I drove to the school and asked the teacher if I could speak to my daughter in the hall. I’ll never forget the crushing humility of being on my knees and apologizing for how the morning had gone. I told her that Mommy was sorry for her angry hands.

In typical kid-fashion, my child hugged me and told me it was all right. She had forgotten all about it and was so happy to see me in school, and would I come in the room so she could show me off to her friends? I learned a great lesson that morning and never again did I let my frustration and anger be expressed in my hands. My voice, yes, but never my hands.

Today’s lectionary passage ends the Moses saga that we have been following for months. The great leader who singlehandedly brought a huge nation from slavery in a foreign land to the Promised Land has died.

The leadership reins are now passed to a young fellow named Joshua. All we know about him is that he is the son of Nun and that Moses had “placed his hands on him.” The first fact is a big nothing. Being the son of Nun was akin to being the son of none. But the second statement is everything. The “placing of hands” is an indication of the conference of power, an anointing of a kind, and a visual statement to the nation that this is the new leader who has been chosen not only by Moses, but by God.

Kings are empowered this way. Popes and Bishops receive their authority by a laying on of hands. Even local pastors feel the hands of the church’s authority on ordination day.

Deuteronomy 34 (Common English Bible)

⁷Moses was 120 years old when he died. His eyesight wasn’t impaired, and his vigor hadn’t diminished a bit.

⁸Back down in the Moabite plains, the Israelites mourned Moses’ death for thirty days. At that point, the time for weeping and for mourning Moses was over.

⁹Joshua, Nun’s son, was filled with wisdom because Moses had placed his hands on him. So the Israelites listened to Joshua, and they did exactly what the Lord commanded Moses.

How are you using your hands today? Do they communicate gentleness and love, or anger and hostility? Can your hands be employed to confer kindness to someone else? What would God do if you gave your hands and your heart completely over to him?

Do this right now: lay your hands palms up in your lap, and pray for God to use them for his purposes. May the work of your hands be pleasing to the Lord this day and may they be anointed with love always.

Sassy Jesus

Posted on October 19, 2020 by Betsy

I like Sassy Jesus. When Jesus was confronted by the ever-irritating Pharisees, he often returned a sassy response. I think he had just so much patience to give to these conversations and preferred to be out doing important things like healing blind folks and feeding the 5,000. Yet to his credit, he gave them his attention anyway.

Do you suppose his compassion for them made him want to respond in the hope that one or two of them would see him for who he was? Did he look at them as lost sheep in need of his shepherding? I can say that in times that I have been attacked, I did not look so graciously upon my attackers. There is a lesson in this.

In any case, every time they came at him thinking that they could trip him up, their efforts fell flat each time. You can’t trick the Son of God, boys.

Matthew 22 (The Message)

^34-36When the Pharisees heard how he had bested the Sadducees, they gathered their forces for an assault. One of their religion scholars spoke for them, posing a question they hoped would show him up: “Teacher, which command in God’s Law is the most important?”

^37-40Jesus said, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence.’ This is the most important, the first on any list. But there is a second to set alongside it: ‘Love others as well as you love yourself.’ These two commands are pegs; everything in God’s Law and the Prophets hangs from them.”

When Jesus takes the Ten Commandments and consolidates them into two overriding commands, he effectively puts the Pharisees in their place yet again. Notice the care he takes to explain that these two great commands are the pegs upon which all ten hang…and not only all the commandments, but EVERYTHING in God’s law AND the Prophets hangs from these two statements. Remember that eventually the priests and scribes developed a system of 613 laws. Sassy Jesus was making a statement about what was really important in contrast with what was minutiae.

These two rules for living are as relevant for us today as they were 2,000 years ago. Think of your life and your actions and ask yourself:

Do you love God with all your passion, prayer and intelligence?

Do you love others as much as you love yourself?

Is your life a reflection of these two things?

We need to own the fact that there is a little Pharisee in all of us. If the things we say, post, share, and think are different than what God intends for us, we are just as flawed as the Pharisees.

Today is a new day. Hold these commandments close to your heart and do everything you can to reflect them in your behavior. You are the only Jesus someone may see today. Act like it.

Judging With Equity

Posted on October 16, 2020 by Betsy

Let’s talk about the word EQUITY. Miriam-Webster offers this definition: justice according to natural law or right, specifically freedom from bias or favoritism.

Equity is the goal of institutions that strive to break down barriers built on prejudice, privilege, and preconceptions born in bias. I serve on a committee established to address diversity, equity, and inclusion at my alma mater and it has been an eye-opener in regard to calling out institutional bias and favoritism. My daughter just cast a vote to eliminate preferential treatment of ”legacy” granddaughters, sisters, and daughters of alumnae in her sorority. The sorority’s national council is proposing that legacies should be discontinued, as this practice contributes to a lack of equity and is a barrier to the inclusion of minority women.

Equity is a biblical concept as well. In Psalm 96 we see the statement that God will judge the people with equity.

Psalm 96 (New Revised Standard Version)

10 Say among the nations, “The Lord is king!
The world is firmly established; it shall never be moved.
He will judge the peoples with equity.”

If the Lord judges with equity, that suggests that he watches and evaluates his people’s behavior without bias or favoritism. He doesn’t see color. He doesn’t see privilege. He doesn’t see economic status, political affiliation, sexual orientation, or even past history.

God sees the heart in its current state and make assessments based on that clear and unbiased vision.

Oh, if only his children could do likewise! Let’s face it…we all judge people as well. But rarely do we judge with equity. If we could, all of the division we experience right now would disappear. All of the hate, the prejudice, the profiling, and the anger would be replaced with joy. The earth would rejoice at the harmony that equity would produce.

¹¹Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice;
    let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
¹²    let the field exult, and everything in it.
Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy
¹³    before the Lord; for he is coming,
    for he is coming to judge the earth.

Friends if you long for this, just wait. When the Lord returns equity will be the rule of law. There will be no more division…only his righteousness and truth.

He will judge the world with righteousness,
and the peoples with his truth.

Come, Lord Jesus. Come.

Let The Heavens Be Glad by Michelle Robertson

Avenging Wrong Deeds

Posted on October 15, 2020 by Betsy

A friend has come to me over the last several months seeking help with a sin that she keeps committing. She knows the destruction and pain this sin is causing her and all those around her but she continues to indulge in it over and over again. Every time she is caught she goes through a period of remorse and self-loathing only to turn around a month later and do it again. The pull of the temptation of this sinful behavior is too strong for her to resist. Mindlessly, she forgets all of the pain it brings. She hates the thought that God is angry with her.

Here is a startling thought about sin. Most of us grew up thinking that God’s reaction to our sin is punishment. Surely in life when we sin and experience the consequences, we are engaging in some form of self-punishment. Our parents punished us when we did bad things. We were punished at school if we broke the rules.

We know there will be hell to pay if we do a particular thing but we do it anyway, consequences be damned. And when we are living through those consequences we feel God’s anger and wrath. Punishment is God’s response to our wrong deeds.

Or is it?

Psalm 99 (Common English Bible)

The Lord rules—
    the nations shake!
    He sits enthroned on the winged heavenly creatures—
    the earth quakes!
²The Lord is great in Zion;
    he is exalted over all the nations.
³Let them thank your great and awesome name.
    He is holy!

⁴Strong king who loves justice,
    you are the one who established what is fair.
    You worked justice and righteousness in Jacob.
⁵Magnify the Lord, our God!
    Bow low at his footstool!
    He is holy!
⁶Moses and Aaron were among his priests,
    Samuel too among those who called on his name.
They cried out to the Lord, and he himself answered them—
⁷    he spoke to them from a pillar of cloud.
They kept the laws and the rules God gave to them.

⁸Lord our God, you answered them.
To them you were a God who forgives
but also the one who avenged their wrong deeds.

Wait, what? God forgives and avenges wrong deeds?

What does it mean to avenge? To avenge is to step out from behind someone and take up their cause on their behalf. Avenging is an action of inflicting harm on something that caused harm to someone else. So when God is avenging our wrong deeds, his action is against the behavior, not aimed toward us. Thus the punishment we feel is not an indication that he doesn’t love us anymore because we have sinned. Indeed the exact opposite is true. He loves us so much he is angry at anything that separates us from that love…especially our wrong deeds.

⁹Magnify the Lord our God!
Bow low at his holy mountain
because the Lord our God is holy!

Nothing can separate you from the love of God in Christ Jesus. He is the ultimate avenger who will fight against everything that gets between you and him…especially your sin.

Standard of Giving

Posted on October 14, 2020 by Betsy

TAXES. The old joke goes that there are only two things guaranteed in life: death and taxes. It is no wonder that a politician’s campaign and career can be made or broken by the promises he or she makes about taxes. We all understand the necessity of paying them but that doesn’t mean we have to like it!

Taxes are the subject in this passage in the book of Matthew. The Pharisees (it’s ALWAYS the Pharisees!) were trying to trap Jesus into speaking out against the Roman government. They hoped to be able to make a case for sedition and treason and so they asked him about paying taxes. Notice how they buttered him up first with false flattery:

Matthew 22 (Common English Bible)

¹⁵Then the Pharisees met together to find a way to trap Jesus in his words. ¹⁶They sent their disciples, along with the supporters of Herod, to him. “Teacher,” they said, “we know that you are genuine and that you teach God’s way as it really is. We know that you are not swayed by people’s opinions, because you don’t show favoritism. ¹⁷So tell us what you think: Does the Law allow people to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”

Silly Pharisees. Jesus can read your hearts and minds, so of course he is wise to what you are trying to do. His response is epic:

¹⁸Knowing their evil motives, Jesus replied, “Why do you test me, you hypocrites? ¹⁹Show me the coin used to pay the tax.” And they brought him a denarion. ²⁰“Whose image and inscription is this?” he asked.

²¹“Caesar’s,” they replied.

Then he said, “Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.”²²When they heard this they were astonished, and they departed.

All Pharisees (including us) should take this to heart. When Jesus reminds them that we should give unto God what belongs to God, he is referring to a very well known standard of giving set forth in Malachi that refers to tithing:

Malachi 3 (New International Version)

¹⁰Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.

Perhaps the better question is about tithing. God’s word instructs us to bring the whole tithe of ten percent into his storehouse. How are you doing with that? If you’re not there yet are you working toward it?

God throws open the floodgates of heaven to those who read and heed his word in all things. He loves to pour out blessings on his people. This is something you can absolutely count on! Taxes, death, and blessings…all of life’s guarantees.

Floodgates of Blessings by Becca Ziegler

Welcome?

Posted on October 13, 2020 by Betsy

How many of you are familiar with the British actor known as Mr. Bean? Played by Rowan Atkinson, Mr. Bean is a rubber-faced physical comedy master in the vein of Jim Carry or the Three Stooges. I stumbled upon a skit called Mr. Bean Goes to Church that I found to be both hilarious and distressingly true.

Mr. Bean visits a country church for the first time and struggles with how to do things “properly” because he is new. He can’t figure out the liturgy, sings off tempo, makes too much noise opening a cough drop, and eventually falls asleep during the sermon with his head bobbing on the shoulder and chest of the VERY visibly disgruntled church member sitting next to him.

Watching the reactions of the disapproving church member is where the story of hospitality in the church is told. He is very inconvenienced with this newbie next to him, is reluctant to share his pew and his hymnal, rolls his eyes when Mr. Bean sings at the wrong time, and does everything in his power to say “You’re not welcome here.” Mr. Bean doesn’t fit in.

Have you ever felt that way in a church? I have. My worst experience was in a church in New Orleans where we were spotted as “new” and made by the pastor to stand and not only introduce ourselves but tell “a little something about us.” We were just trying out all the Methodist churches in the area and simply wanted to worship. I am sure that pastor thought he had a very strong hospitality game by doing this. He was wrong. We never went back.

I have used this clip as an ice-breaker when training churches on how to be more welcoming. Hospitality in the church is the most vital part of our evangelism ministry yet we have no idea how we are perceived.

In Paul’s letter to the new church at Thessalonica, he praises them for their outreach efforts. Note that none of it has to do with brochures, a committee, calling out visitors in worship, or any of the things churches do in the name of “hospitality.”

1 Thessalonians (The Message)

^7-10Do you know that all over the provinces of both Macedonia and Achaia believers look up to you? The word has gotten around. Your lives are echoing the Master’s Word, not only in the provinces but all over the place. The news of your faith in God is out. We don’t even have to say anything anymore—you’re the message!

All of us are in the “Evangelism Ministry.” True outreach happens when we authentically walk the talk and live out the Good News of Jesus in front of people with the simple example of our lives. When a fellowship of people truly love the Lord and ALL of his people, the word gets out.

People come up and tell us how you received us with open arms, how you deserted the dead idols of your old life so you could embrace and serve God, the true God. They marvel at how expectantly you await the arrival of his Son, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescued us from certain doom.

This actually has nothing to do with church and everything to do with you. When you put away the dead idols of your preconceived notion of who is included in “God’s people,” it is only then that you can embrace and serve God, the true God.

So be the message. Receive strangers with open arms in the name of Jesus. Jesus rescued us from certain doom! Find a way today to tell this Good News to someone who hasn’t heard it yet. YOU are an evangelist when your life echoes the Master’s Word. Go and tell!

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