Be Strengthened by the Lord-- August 26th sermon from Ephesians 6:10-20

The sermon for August 26th was different in that I preached from sticky notes.  It wasn't the first time.  In fact I have preached several times from sticky notes.  I tend to preach from sticky notes at Fort Oglethorpe more often than at the other locations, though I think I may have done it at Flintstone, maybe. 

I tend to preach from sticky notes when the sermon stays stuck inside me all week, swirling around. When it doesn't come out on paper, it goes on to sticky notes.

That is what happened this past week.  Sometimes it happens because there are other things going on in life, mission, and ministry and the pipes just don't get cleared up sufficiently to get it out.  At other times, it just seems to be a wrestling act with the Holy Spirit.  Regardless, I try to study and prepare all I can and allow the Holy Spirit to help me put it together and get it out of me, whether it gets out onto paper or sticky notes. 

No matter what form it gets out onto, the Holy Spirit is still in charge of how it is presented in the moment and things continue to change during the preaching of the message.

That is one of the things that gives me life about preaching-- that the Holy Spirit breathes into it, breathes into me.  It isn't about me. 

I will share my notes and a quote I shared from yesterday.  I will share the bulletin cover. I will share some reflections about the special music, which dovetailed nicely with the service.

The Call to Worship came from Nancy Townley, who writes for the UMC.  Her "Calls to Worship" can be found on Ministry Matters, in the Worship Connection.

Yesterday's Call to Worship was #4 for August 26, 2018:

Call to Worship #4

L: Whom do you seek here in this place?
P: We seek God, the Creator, who brought us to life.
L: Who has told you of God?
P: Jesus Christ, God’s Son, has shown us the love of God through his life.
L: Discipleship is difficult. Are you ready?
P: We want to be ready. Lord, strengthen and sustain us this day. AMEN.

The songs that we sang during the service were: "Standing on the Promises" from the UMH (United Methodist Hymnal) #374, "Who You Say I Am" (by Hillsong), "You Are My All in All" (by Dennis Jernigan), and "Great Is Thy Faithfulness" UMH #140.

If you'd like to sing (or listen to any of those songs, you can check out the links below.

The Special Music feature was "The Master's Touch" by Carson and Evelyn Madwell, assisted by Gail Coleman.  Carson did a recitation of "The Master's Touch" while Evelyn played the violin and Gail played the guitar.  It was a beautiful and touching piece.  I had heard the song many times, but not a recitation of the piece in this way.  We were blessed.

Carson and Evelyn Madwell, Gail Coleman

"The Touch of the Master's Hand" was written by Myra Brooks Welch in 1921. It was sung by Bill Anderson and many others, but it was made popular on Christian radio by Wayne Watson.

One link that tells how she wrote this is found here.

Lyrics:

'Twas battered and scarred, and the auctioneer Thought it scarcely worth his while To waste much time on the old violin, But held it up with a smile: "What am I bidden, good folks," he cried, "Who'll start the bidding for me?" "A dollar, a dollar"; then, "Two!" "Only two? Two dollars, and who'll make it three? Three dollars, once; three dollars, twice; Going for three----" But no, From the room, far back, a gray-haired man Came forward and picked up the bow; Then, wiping the dust from the old violin, And tightening the loose strings, He played a melody pure and sweet As a caroling angel sings. The music ceased, and the auctioneer, With a voice that was quiet and low, Said: "What am I bid for the old violin?" And he held it up with the bow. "A thousand dollars, and who'll make it two? Two thousand! And who'll make it three? Three thousand, once, three thousand, twice, And going, and gone," said he. The people cheered, but some of them cried, "We do not quite understand What changed its worth." Swift came the reply: "The touch of a master's hand." And many a man with life out of tune, And battered and scarred with sin, Is auctioned cheap to the thoughtless crowd, Much like the old violin. A "mess of pottage," a glass of wine; A game--and he travels on. He is "going" once, and "going" twice, He's "going" and almost "gone." But the Master comes, and the foolish crowd Never can quite understand The worth of a soul and the change that's wrought By the touch of the Master's hand.

Bulletin Cover Image and take away card image

Bulletin

Ephesians 6:10-20 (CEB) [Common English Bible]

10 Finally, be strengthened by the Lord and his powerful strength. 11 Put on God’s armor so that you can make a stand against the tricks of the devil. 12 We aren’t fighting against human enemies but against rulers, authorities, forces of cosmic darkness, and spiritual powers of evil in the heavens. 13 Therefore, pick up the full armor of God so that you can stand your ground on the evil day and after you have done everything possible to still stand. 14 So stand with the belt of truth around your waist, justice as your breastplate, 15 and put shoes on your feet so that you are ready to spread the good news of peace. 16 Above all, carry the shield of faith so that you can extinguish the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is God’s word.

18 Offer prayers and petitions in the Spirit all the time. Stay alert by hanging in there and praying for all believers. 19 As for me, pray that when I open my mouth, I’ll get a message that confidently makes this secret plan of the gospel known.20 I’m an ambassador in chains for the sake of the gospel. Pray so that the Lord will give me the confidence to say what I have to say.

My sermon notes:  (Even though these notes come from my sticky notes, please recognize that what was shared in the message would not be exactly what you see here.  I expounded quite a bit.)

"The version you choose to read will help you focus sometimes on different words or phrases.  I initially read from the CEB-- thus the title from verse 10.  In the NRSV (New Revised Standard Version), the phrase in verse 10 is "be strong in the Lord".  The preposition change is slight, from "by" to "in", yet it changes the meaning.

How many of you are familiar with this passage?  Being familiar with a passage can sometimes cause us to tune it out.

How many of you pray it daily?  Especially verses 13-18?

Why would we want to pray these verses?  Why would we want to be ready and/or strengthened?"

[Share an example here from France.] [Quote from Feasting on the Word.]

[I shared a little about how this was meaningful to me as a descendant of French Huguenots.]

"Just one day after France surrendered toe Nazi Germany, a pastor preached to a small village congregation with a prophetic vision that "The responsibility of Christians is to resist the violence that will be brought to bear on their consciences through the weapons of the Spirit.  These Huguenots would provide sanctuary for 5,000 Jews. They discovered the Pauline "weapons of the Spirit". Christians can be awakened to weapons of the Spirit such as prayer (v. 18), Christian truth (v. 14), and the Spirit (v. 17b)" (Feasting on the Word, Year B, Volume 3, 379.

[Below you will find a movie clip of the Le Chambon movie.]You can search for other historical and documentary clips on YouTube.]

                                   Movie Trailer to Le Chambon: La Colline aux mille enfants

More notes from the sticky notes:

"Putting on new humanity. [talked about getting dressed, uniforms from Scouts, teams, military, martial arts.  I mentioned my TKD (TaeKwonDo uniform].  How can these "weapons" become life-giving?  Not just for you personally, but for those around you, so that you are equipped as a disciple to make disciples for the transformation of the world?"

As I am going back over the sticky notes and finishing up today, it has been a couple of weeks since I gave this sermon.  I started this blog the day after, but have had many other things going on in life.  Though I preached from the sticky notes, it was still a fairly full sermon.  I attribute that to the Holy Spirit.  

I don't know what you might get from this blog post, but there is certainly Scripture and history here.

May you find something here to encourage, bless, and strengthen you.

Blessings on your journey, 

Debra

Some thoughts on hospitality...

Hospitality.  It's a topic I've been thinking more about over the past several years.  When we started remodeling and expanding our home a few years back, I thought it would be nice to be able to open our home to travelling friends, missionaries, etc.  Even before these thoughts, I've reflected upon and lived hospitality, as both giver and receiver.

The very first time I left my home country was in 1984, to do a summer Study Abroad in Segovia, Spain.  My host family was very hospitable.  They made me feel at home in a new land.  Even though I had studied the language at that point for several years, there were SO MANY words I didn't know.  I felt like a newborn baby all over again.  And, I was quiet.  Yes, I just wrote that.  And, I was.  I listened.  I observed.  It took a while for me to feel at home in this land and culture.  I finally decided it was okay to speak even if I didn't get it all correct.  The host family knew I was becoming more comfortable when my roommate and I started pranking them by short-sheeting them.

Spain wasn't my only time to receive hospitality.  I was a guest in the home of a family when I attended a foreign language conference in Wheaton, Illinois.  I have visited in the homes of family members.  I went back to my parent's home and lived with my infant daughter for a couple of months after I sold my house and was looking for another one to buy.  And, when our home was being remodeled, there was a time when we needed to stay with another family for a couple a days.

A couple of years ago, several of us from church (all staff except me) went to a Leadership Institute at the Church of the Resurrection in Kansas/Missouri.  At the end of the conference, on the way home, we experienced a bus breakdown.  We were in need of someone's help.  We were near Mexico, I believe.  Calls were made to local United Methodist Churches and someone from one of the churches came to get us.  The connectional system and hospitality at work!  We went to a local hotel and checked in.  Our bus would not be able to be fixed that day.  The person accompanied us to dinner at a local diner.  When you are on the side of the interstate in the middle of nowhere, you begin to understand what vulnerable feels like.  Thankfully, I was with other people and people helped us out!

All these situations (and possibly others that I don't remember at the moment) are examples of hospitality extended to me. 

When I lived on Long Island, we had the opportunity to short-term host a Christian musician that came to sing at our church from Missouri.  Our small, modest one bedroom apartment wasn't much to offer, but we offered it.  When we moved into a two bedroom apartment we had the opportunity to host a friend who needed a place to live for several months.  When we moved to Dayton, TN we opened our home to college students as we were dorm parents.  Our home was also open to hispanics, missionaries, and folks who needed to stay the night.  

Recently, I've been able to live out hospitality through IHN--Interfaith Homeless Network (at one time it was called Interfaith Hospitality Network).  For the first time, our family was able to be hosts during the last rotation at our church.  That was a blessing.  We normally help with dinner at least one night during the week and sit down with the families to dine, getting to know them a little, playing with the kids, talking some, etc.  The night we got to spend the night allowed us a little more time with the families.   It was a blessing.   

For me, showing hospitality has been about having an open home for others.  But not just an open home.  It has meant having an open heart, an open schedule, an open life.  Unfortunately, my life doesn't always allow me to be open... my schedule can get hectic with the responsibities of being a "taxi-driver" mom [meaning that I'm taking my kid to her various activities].  Even so, I still try to allow room in my life, in my schedule to be hospitable.  I am open to giving of my time to the stranger, the alien in my life as well, though I believe I can do better, more.

I've just finished a book on hospitality by Christine Pohl: Making Room: Recovering Hospitality as a Christian Tradition.

This book offers a historical view on hospitality and how it became a lost tradition.  Pohl visited several communities that live out hospitality as part of her research and there is shared insight from them.  Pohl mentions Le Chambon a couple of times in the book.  As I have the video in French and have used it in the past to teach upper level French, I am aware of the story of the town reaching out to and saving many Jewish lives.

Pohl points out that hospitality almost always includes table fellowship, sharing of meals together.  Table fellowship is another aspect of life that has been on my radar for the past several years. 

Many nuggets of truth in this book have made me reflect.  There have also been things that have reminded me of hospitality experiences in my past.  In addition, Pohl's book has challenged me to a higher level of hospitality living, to expand my hospitality. 

Some people will say that they don't have the gifts for hospitality.  That may be true.  However, hospitality is something we can all do.  It isn't only a gift.  It is also a skill.  Pohl writes: "We become proficient in a skill by performing it regularly, and by learning from persons who are masters of it.  Hospitality is a skill and a gift, but it is also a practice which flourishes as multiple skills are developed, as particular commitments and values are nurtured, and as certain settings are cultivated." (9)

Pohl talks about the alien and the stranger throughout the book and how hospitality helps those who are invisible begin a journey toward visibility and respect.  Hospitality can be powerful. 

I've seen hospitality at work through what is now being called Mustard Tree Ministries here in Chattanooga.  What started as a soup and sandwich ministry on Thursdays has grown into other areas of ministry.  I have witnessed the invisible become visible as a small child handed out sandwich bags or just a smile.  I have seen those helped become the helpers. 

The need is great, yes, even overwhelming.  However, it is possible to make a difference.  If each one of us figures out how we are to live out the call of hospitable living in our neighborhoods, our communities and if we combine our efforts with other people, families, or churches, we can help the stranger among us.

Pohl quotes John Wesley's Sermon 98 in which Wesley is reflecting on his observation of how some people don't see suffering: "Many of them do not know, because they do not care to know: they keep out of the way of knowing it-- and then they plead their voluntary ignorance as an excuse for their hardness of heart." (76)  Would you say "ouch!" or "amen!"?  (Thanks to a pastor friend who brought that up in a sermon, giving us the opportunity to respond with "ouch" or "amen".  Sometimes deafening silence says it all.)

There is more I could write on hospitality..... how it is being revitalized as one of the spiritual practices in the church, individually and corporately.... or that it needs to be.  I have read about the topic of hospitality in other books.  I could include those for further reading and include many more quotes from Pohl.  But, I'll stop for now.

Where are you in your journey concerning hospitality? 

Desiring to be a more hospitable sojourner to all of those along my path,

~Debra