Wrestling With Change

"So Jacob was left alone and a 'man' wrestled with him till daybreak." Genesis 32:24

I pray that you are well and that you enjoy a restful and enjoyable long weekend in honor of those who work, remembering that we depend on the work of others as well as our own work to build the world in which we live.

This weekend is also a time of preparation for new beginnings both in our church life and our home life. As a church, we're getting ready for Kick-Off Sunday and the All-Parish picnic Sept. 9th. And many of you will be returning to or starting a new phases in your lives with a new school year. To mark this new beginning, we will bless the backpacks of all the children and youth in attendance during the 10:00 a.m. Chapel service on Sunday as a reminder that God will be with them as they begin a new school year.

New beginnings come throughout our lives, and more often than not they come with a little bit of fear and apprehension. We're familiar with our current lives, but we're not sure about the life and changes that are coming our way. Of the many things I talked about with our youngest son on our way to his new college, he wondered out loud if he could remember how to make friends. His friends over the last four years have been so steady and strong, that he couldn't remember how they first became friends. I assured him that he would be fine and so far he has been.

Too often we worry and wrestle with our fears until the new phase of our life begins. Jacob wrestles an entire night with his fears over meeting his brother again and starting a new life in a different land. Like Jacob, many of us can relate to wrestling with our fears through the night, but thankfully, we never wrestle alone. The God who was with Jacob is also with you and me. God is a God who loves us, and promises to walk with us in every phase of life. New beginnings are just another time to see God's gracious hand at work. Eventually, like Jacob, we also enter into a new life.

So, sleep well and remember that though you don't quite know what's coming next in life, God is with you - always.

Grace and Peace,
WFA

One Prayer, One Wish

“Give your servant, therefore a discerning mind . . .” 1 Kings 3:9

Dear People of St. David's,

I pray that you are well and that your lives are rich and touched by the grace and presence of God.
I’ve been pondering the sermon I didn’t give on Sunday, a sermon wondering what we would ask for if we could ask God for one thing and know that God would give it to us. Now, I know, as many of you know, that God answers every prayer we offer to God. God answers, “Yes”, “No”, and “Not right now.” But what would you ask for? What is the one thing you would ask for if you knew that God would answer yes to your heart’s deepest desire or the one thing that would give your life complete fulfillment? Kind of a scary thought for some of us, but one that’s worth a little reflection and consideration as God is in the ‘business’ of answering our prayers and guiding us into a life that’s really life.

That’s the question God put before King Solomon at the beginning of his ministry as King of Israel, following the death of King David, his father. It’s pretty clear when you read over Chapter 3 in the first book of Kings that Solomon has given this a lot of thought. When God comes to Solomon and asks Solomon the one thing he desires, Solomon gives a little review of his life and what is before him as king. Solomon doesn’t ask for power or riches or an easy pathway as king or for a long life. He asks for the one thing that will make him the best servant of God’s people that Solomon can be – wisdom or a discerning mind. The one thing he will need to best lead God’s people and to walk according to God’s desire for his life.

And God seems to like Solomon’s prayer a great deal as He promises to grant Solomon’s prayer and as a bonus gives him riches and honor. It reminds me a little of Jesus’ challenge in the Sermon on the Mount, “Seek first the kingdom of God and all these things (of life) will be given to you as well.” Look for God and God’s purposes in life and all the other gifts of life will be ours, too.

One prayer, one wish in our lives can make all the difference in our following of Jesus and in the way we conduct ourselves on a daily basis. So consider well what you ask God to give you and may our prayer be a wise one.

Grace and Peace.
WFA

Sermon—Eating and Sharing the Bread of Life for New Life

Eating for Living and Transformation

Over the past twenty years, churches and denominations all across the United States have put a tremendous effort in becoming more welcoming; On making sure that the unchurched members of our communities and people looking for a church home know that they are welcomed in our church or denomination. Efforts to make church feel more welcoming range from physical construction, like handicapped parking and handicapped ramps for better accessibility and good sound systems for those of us who have trouble hearing; To changing the times of services and activities to better suit modern living and to make it easier for persons and families to get involved in church.

We put up signs to let people know that they are welcomed; we invest time and money in websites, Facebook, Twitter and advertising to invite people in and we try to pay special attention to newcomers in church. A couple of years ago, the Methodist Church ran a series of advertisements in prime time that showed all kinds of different people involved in their churches; young and old, adults and children, singles, families, people of all colors; In an effort to show that in the Methodist Church everyone was really, really, really, really welcome.

But for all these efforts at appearing and being welcoming, most denominations and churches are in decline. And it’s not for lack of trying and being truly welcoming; they, we, are in decline because when people come into a church there are too few signs that the people in the Church are living changed lives as a result of their commitment to Christ. Too many Christians and churches are indistinguishable from the regular world, and visitors, newcomers, seekers, even members turn away or don’t come back because they don’t have a sense that they will be fed by God in that community—
that God is somehow absent.

You see, it matters to others and to God that you and I are living changed lives. It matters that we allow God to feed us and change us to be more like Him. When we do, people know it, sense it, want that life themselves; and will come again and again because they taste God in that place, they grasp a hope that they can be changed, too, by the presence and grace and bread of life that lives in you and me.

You and I have been invited to partake of the presence of God in our lives and when we partake, when we join in, when we commit ourselves in some way  God will change us as individuals and as a community. The result will be new life for ourselves and the promise of a new life for those we are welcoming into our community. And it begins and continues when we partake of God’s presence in our lives.

Feeding on Jesus

And so I want to spend some time today on something you and I know a lot about –eating. When I first read and prayed over the scriptures for this Sunday, I thought GREAT—here’s a topic I really know something about. I can agree on the importance of eating— it is something that’s important to our physical lives as well as our spiritual lives.

Do you know the two biggest selling books after the Bible, year in and year out? Cook books and diet books. We’re a people who understand the importance of eating and drinking for nourishment as well as to mark important moments in our lives. Physical eating can be an important part of our lives as a church, as well. When I first came to St. David’s and was getting to know people and drawing people into ministries and leadership my mantra was “no food, no meeting.” We had some kind of meal or snack or dessert at every meeting I was a part of. Well, twenty-five additional pounds later, I’ve backed off from that goal a little; but sharing a meal is an easy and important way to welcome others and to help us grow closer as a community.

But as enjoyable and important as physical eating can be in church it’s the spiritual food that helps us grow in our lives with God— it’s the spiritual food that helps us become more like Jesus. The spiritual food that God offers us every day changes us and allows others to come to know God in us and among us. And that’s exactly what Jesus offers to everyone – a spiritual food that draws us closer to the presence of God and that let’s us know of God’s grace and forgiveness and love and peace. Jesus offers a spiritual food that nourishes us so we may nourish others.

In today’s Gospel Jesus says, “Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life and I will raise them up on the last day; for my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink.” Now for those of you who may be a little squeamish about consuming flesh and blood Jesus is talking about feeding on Him in a spiritual sense; Jesus is talking about focusing on Him; about turning our lives to Him; about abiding in Him and with Him so that we may enter into a life that’s truly life. For this food and drink that Jesus is offering is the food and drink that brings forgiveness of our sins; a meal we’re unable to buy in any restaurant; a meal we can’t earn through works or labors of our own. For this food and drink that Jesus is offering is the food and drink that fills us with a peace that passes understanding in the midst of life’s most difficult moments, that leads us in making right choices in life and living our every day lives as God would have us live them.

This food and drink that Jesus is offering is the food and drink that refreshes us, that softens our hearts so that we can love God and our neighbors as ourselves. The food and drink Jesus offers brings eternal life with God now, and in a time to come and allows us to look forward each day in hope.

Jesus invites us all to feed on Him; to be nourished in our bodies and souls by the very source of light and life and to be drawn ever more deeply into the life of God—to be drawn into living communion with the God who loves us so much that He sent His Son to live among us and to die for us to open the way to everlasting life for us and for everyone. For unlike the food we eat and the beverages we drink that become part of us for a time, when we mediate on God’s Word in the Bible; when we share in the communion of Christ’s Body and Blood; when we spend time with God in our daily prayer; and when we act to help others in need, we eat and drink Christ and this food changes us and stays with so that we and others may know the presence of God in our lives.

The Food That Brings Life

And when we have fed on Jesus and have been changed by God’s presence we can offer that bread of life to others, here at St. David’s and out there in the world as people taste the presence of God in us—
as the aroma of the bread of life draws them closer to God through us. That’s the welcome that people are really seeking.

We have a lot of our children and family members serving in the military at St. David’s and we pray for them every week. Recently our nephew, Aaron Waldo, returned from his tour in Afghanistan. We are so thankful for his safe return; and his return reminded me of a story of another soldier Who returned home, severely wounded. After being flown through Germany and then to a hospital here on the east coast he had surgery and the doctors felt there was a good chance of full recovery. But his spirit was wounded and broken, and he wouldn’t eat anything, drinking only a little water and juice.

When some of his buddies caught up with him and saw his sad state they pooled their money and flew the soldier’s parents in from their farm in the Midwest. His parents got in late and stayed with one of their son’s buddies until they could see their son the next morning. Well before anyone else could rise, the mother got up and baked some bread. The aroma filled the apartment and woke everyone up. And when they came to see their son, they carefully unwrapped the homemade bread and the boy’s faced brightened and he began to eat for the first time in weeks.

His recovery was swift after that and as he grew stronger and after he could walk again, he was out of his room all the time and could be found at the bedside of the men and women who were struggling to recover, offering them hope and the inspiration to take up their lives once more.

You and I and every visitor God sends to church are that boy. We’re the ones who have been wounded in the battles of life, injured by our sins and the sins of others, broken by the challenges and trials of life, confused about the direction our lives are heading. By our forgetfulness of God, we’ve lost our taste for the food that will strengthen our souls and make us Christians and a Christian community that can feed others by the presence and power of God at work in our lives.

And so I invite you to remember to eat the spiritual food that brings life to us and to everyone God sends our way; to live your life in God’s grace by spending time with God and allowing God to change you and to use you for God’s purposes, for if we will, we will have life now and in a time to come, and can offer that life to others.

So, please, let’s eat and welcome others to God’s banquet of life.
Amen.

Humbled

"The person who humbles themselves will be exalted." Luke 14:11

Dear People of St. David's,

I pray that you are well and are enjoying these final days of summer. I know some of us are getting ready to send our daughters and sons off to college or getting ready for school a little closer to home. Others of us are getting ready to get back into a fuller work "experience." The staff of St. David's is getting ready to welcome everyone back with the Kick-Off to our program year on Sunday, September 9th. Still others of us are simply enjoying a phase of life that is not seasonally or school based.

Every phase of life has its own challenges and victories, its difficulties or successes. It is amazing how life moves on and changes and how we are called to respond as best we can, (with God's help), to enjoy the gift of life and take the triumphs and trials as they come. Amy and I, for instance, are empty nesters for the first time in 24 years. Though we will never stop being parents, a different kind of life is opening for us this fall.  A life that we will take up, and with God's help, live as fully as we can.

And I think that's the key - with God's help. Too many times in life we think that we're supposed to be accomplishing what we are accomplishing and facing what we are facing on our own. And while it's a great feeling to do and to be and to make things happen in life, life's never quite as rich or peace-filled unless we invite God to be a part of our life. When we set aside our pride and invite God to help us or take a moment to count our blessings to see how many of them come from God, then our lives take on a depth and quality that is far greater than any life we can come to on our own. Setting our pride aside and remembering how God and others have helped build the life we are living opens the way for God's Spirit to enter in and fill us with the power and presence of God.

So humble yourselves, as Jesus says, and you will be raised up. You will be exalted by a power that can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine on our own. We will experience a deeper love and peace and sense of accomplishment in our lives as God makes His presence known to us and through us to others.

Grace & Peace,
WFA

Life's Inconveniences

"If only the Lord had let us stay in Egypt!" Exodus 16:3

Dear People of St. David's,

I pray that you are well and let me say that I am so thankful to be back after a two week vacation. It's helpful for our bodies and soul to take a break from our regular lives. I feel refreshed and renewed in my faith, in my family, and in the mission and ministry of St. David's Church.

Now coming back to work or school after vacation, retreat, or break, is not always a comfortable thing to do, as many of you would agree. I will admit to a sense of feeling inconvenienced that I have to rise early again and get ready to be at St. David's and out in the community instead of sleeping in after staying up late to watch the Olympics for example.
But those everyday duties are not an inconvenience, just simply my life. Easy or hard, I love the life that God is calling me to live and will take the inconveniences as they come because they lead to more life.

I think that's part of the challenge many of us face in our daily lives and especially in our lives with God. We want our lives to go the way we want them to - and we want what we want. When circumstances press us or don't go the way we want them to go we sometimes allow our frustration to keep us from facing what's in front of us and we take an easier path - a path of convenience. That challenge causes a little of the whining we hear from the people of God in the quote at the top from Exodus. In this reading, the Israelites have just been rescued from hundreds of years of slavery in Egypt, but want to return to it because their new life is not quite what they want it to be. It makes you want to ask, "Really? You'd choose slavery over trying to live a new life on the way to the Promised Land and a living relationship with God?" In their short-sightedness, the Israelites can't see that on the other side of their inconveniences there is always more life, a deeper sense of God's grace, and new horizons that we would not know without pressing on.

This coming week and this fall, we will experience a number of inconveniences at St. David's. The Fellowship Hall is closed so we can scrape the asbestos coating off the ceiling. It was put up decades ago and encapsulated to make the sound better and will be removed over a few weeks with a dustless, wet process that is entirely safe. Then, in September, when we have Fellowship Hall back, we will lose the lower level of the Chapel as we commence the first phase of construction for the Raising the Roof campaign. We will be inconvenienced and will have to modify our programs, but I am excited and convinced that it will help our entire community and make us a better church.

So smile when life becomes inconvenient. It may be the next step to ward more life.

Grace and Peace,
WFA

Ambassadors Revisited

"So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making His appeal through us." 2 Corinthians 5:20

Dear People of St. David's,

I thank God every day for God calling us together as St. David's Church and for the way he seems to be moving in so many of our lives and in our community. It's really a remarkable time to be a part of this church and I invite you to join me in praying for God's continued blessings and presence.

Over this past year, we've been focusing on our roles as God's Ambassadors in the world. We've been talking and preaching and learning about representing God, and how God is making His appeal to others through us. I think a lot of us caught on pretty quickly to the idea that how we treat one another in church and in our every day lives speaks volumes about our Christianity. Our actions are always more powerful than our speaking and so when people come to St. David's and are welcomed; see God's love at work in our community; and see the difference we are trying to make in the lives of others through our pastoral care and outreach, their lives are changed. Let me give you an example of what I mean.

I received a letter from a new member in the fall thanking me (us) for making St. David's such a welcoming and vibrant Christian community. "When we moved here," they wrote," we didn't know anyone and now we feel like we are part of a family. Thank you for your part in building this kind of Christian community."

It matters to people who come to St. David's and it matters in the world we live that we live and act as God's ambassadors. And while we will soon be embracing a new theme, I invite you to hold to this year's calling and live your life as God's ambassador every day. If you will, then others will be drawn to God through you.

Grace and Peace,
WFA