June 2019 Newsletter Article - Pastor's Ponderings

Below please find my article for the June Church Newsletter.  It's been a busy week or so, and I am reminded of this when my computer informs me that I've proofed or published over 118,000 words online in the last week. That's a lot of words, I tend to write more than most but that's a lot of writing and proofing... please note that this includes all the Scripture verses which I have cut and pasted into my blog posts.

But, enough of that...

This certainly has been a spring to remember, we have had snow, rain, and flooding like never before in my lifetime.  As I write this there was hail in Omaha overnight so deep that folks were getting stuck in the piles. It's continuing to rain here in Lake City, across the Midwest, and especially back home in South Dakota; the Missouri River (to me just called "The River") is nearly as high as I have ever seen.  If the rain doesn't abate it will surpass those levels very soon.  The problem throughout the entire Midwest is that the ground is saturated and any new rain is running off quickly.  At this point, nearly every creek and river is at or beyond flood stage.  Back home "The Creek" (Counselor Creek) is running at a constant rate that I don't ever remember seeing.  There were always 'Gully Washers' but then the creek went back to a quieter state, now it's running continuously at a flood stage.

As you go about your week, please pray for all of those who are being affected.  If you are fortunate enough to not have flooding please consider helping those who have been and who are.  The way things are going many of the folks flooded by the melting snow are seeing the flood levels rise again, and as I said if the rain continues up North eventually they will have to let water downstream causing even more issues.  As I indicated... it is a spring that we shall all long remember.

Be a blessing to someone today!

In Christ,
Roy

Pastor's Ponderings:

Well, it's supposed to be getting warmer since we're almost in June, but as most of us know this last winter seems to be the winter that just won't end.  With recent cold temperatures here in Lake City and with actual snowfall in parts of the mid-west this week, we are all left wondering when will it all end.  To top it off there's been a whole lot of rain up in South Dakota and all that rain is going to come down the River and keep the flooding going even longer.  With all this, we are reminded why the Men's Group recently embraced a new program entitled “Water Ministry”.

The Men's Group “Water Ministry” is a program aimed at stockpiling bottled water to have prepared for emergencies.  If there is flooding, a devastating tornado, fire, what have you, which leaves a nearby community in need of potable water we will be able to quickly load up a truck and deliver some form of aid to that community.  The men are asking for donations of cases of bottled water on the 3rd Sunday of each month.  The next date for the “Water Ministry” donations will be June 16th.  Please mark your calendar and remember to bring some water to the Church on the 16th.  We will have someone available to carry it into the Church for you if needed.  Thank you all so much!

This year's Rummage Sale for the WOW group was a huge success!  Thank you to everyone who donated and worked the event.  I'm sure that there will be a report from the WOW group later in the Newsletter so I will allow them to comment more but it was a great effort and very fruitful!

This past weekend brought both joy and sorrow to us here at Woodlawn.  Joy in Spencer Moon graduating; Spencer is such a remarkable young man and we are all very excited about what the world holds in store for him.  We've all been blessed to help him mature and grow into the wonderful soul that he is, all the best to you always Spencer!

The sorrow over the weekend was that for the first time (and hopefully the last) since I've been here to Woodlawn, we had two funerals on the same day.  On Saturday, May 18th, we laid Jim Bruce to rest in the morning and then in the afternoon we held the funeral for Deloris Krause.  Jim became ill suddenly down in Texas and thanks to the valiant efforts of his cousin Neal, our own Gary Dooley, and Steward Hospital's Brooke Minnehan, Jim was able to be brought back to Lake City before he passed.  Jim's heart was so devoted to Lake City that I believe he held on just long enough to know he was home.  Thank you to Neal, Gary, and Brooke for working so hard to grant Jim his last wish.  God Bless!  We are all going to miss Jim, his dry wit, and his incredible range of knowledge, rest well James!

Deloris had such a wonderful turn out of family and friends and she was so well loved by so many.  She was however very much prepared and consigned to her passing, it was a true testimony to those who loved her.  I do want to again thank everyone that worked so hard preparing for and serving the meals to the two gatherings.  You all did a remarkable job and I am very proud of the way you ministered to both families!

On a happier note, we do have a wedding coming up in June!  On June 8th, we will be joining Tabitha Fergason and Corey Clausen in matrimony here in the Sanctuary.  Corey and Tabitha are a very sweet young couple and I am confident that they will have a long and happy union.  And speaking of long and happy unions, our own Leon & Judy Hendricks will be celebrating their 60th Anniversary in June!  Make sure to wish them many more and congratulate them on their determination and devotion to one another.  God bless you all!

Don't forget to mark your calendars for the “Son Celebration” Concert on July 27th.  Make sure to tell all your friends and family to mark the date as well!  This year we are planning and preparing for a bigger and better event, you won't want to miss this one!!  We've got three great and talented acts booked and this will be Fun!

With that, I'm going to let you all go, BUT... please remember to...


Be a blessing to someone today!  Pastor Roy

Released From Bondage.

In this past Sunday's scripture we find Jesus in the middle of one of six Sabbath incidents in the Gospel of Luke and one of four (the third in number) healings that he conducts on the Sabbath.  This incident of healing takes place in a Synagogue just as the healing of the man with the withered hand does in Chapter Six; and just as in that healing, here Jesus is obviously confrontational to the scribes and leaders.  In neither case does the crippled individual ask or even indicate that they have come hoping for a healing.  It seems that they have merely come to worship their God, but Jesus has other things in mind.

Let's first read the healing of the man with the withered hand found at Luke 6:6-11:

Luke 6:6-11
6 On another sabbath he entered the synagogue and taught, and there was a man there whose right hand was withered. 7 The scribes and the Pharisees watched him to see whether he would cure on the sabbath, so that they might find an accusation against him. 8 Even though he knew what they were thinking, he said to the man who had the withered hand, “Come and stand here.” He got up and stood there. 9 Then Jesus said to them, “I ask you, is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the sabbath, to save life or to destroy it?” 10 After looking around at all of them, he said to him, “Stretch out your hand.” He did so, and his hand was restored. 11 But they were filled with fury and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus.

Now let's consider healing of the woman in Luke 13:10-17:

Luke 13: 10-17

10 Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath. 11 And just then there appeared a woman with a spirit that had crippled her for eighteen years. She was bent over and was quite unable to stand up straight. 12 When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, “Woman, you are set free from your ailment.” 13 When he laid his hands on her, immediately she stood up straight and began praising God. 14 But the leader of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had cured on the sabbath, kept saying to the crowd, “There are six days on which work ought to be done; come on those days and be cured, and not on the sabbath day.” 15 But the Lord answered him and said, “You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger, and lead it away to give it water? 16 And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen long years, be set free from this bondage on the sabbath day?” 17 When he said this, all his opponents were put to shame; and the entire crowd was rejoicing at all the wonderful things that he was doing.

One of the really interesting things about these verses is how weak initially Jesus' counter argument seems to be.  The Synagogue leader is certainly correct, there are six days when you can come for healing, you don't need to do so on the Sabbath day.  Jesus' argument about taking an animal for water is extremely flawed in that of course, the animal needs water daily, but this woman (and the man in Chapter 6 as well) has suffered this condition for years, there is no hurry and Jesus could have clearly waited for nightfall to do any healing.

Rather than re-address this and the other points that I made in the sermon here in text, I'll rather guide you all to the video of the sermon.  There was no manuscript or notes for the sermon, it was all ad lib.  It's not a particularly long sermon at only 13 minutes of length.

It's a bit of a hectic week and I will be out of hand on Thursday this week as I will be getting the last of the things from the house in Omaha that day.  We are taking a group of people from Woodlawn to the 'Regional All Congregational Gathering' in Newton on Saturday so my days off this week have been adjusted accordingly.

I need to run for now so I'll just close with this prayer believed to have been written by St. Francis of Assisi:

Be a blessing to someone today.

In His Grace and Love,
Roy

Peace Prayer - attributed to Saint Francis of Assisi

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love.
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is discord, union;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is error, truth;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
Where there is sadness, joy.

O, Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console:
To be understood, as to understand;
To be loved, as to love:
For it is in giving that we receive,
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
And it is in dying that we are born to
eternal life.
Amen.

The 5th Sunday of Lent - John 12:1-8 - Mary's Lavish Expression of Love for Jesus

This past Sunday the piece of scripture which I selected from the Lectionary offerings was the 12th Chapter of the Gospel of John, verses 1 through 8.  This passage concerns a 'celebration supper' in the home of Lazarus, Martha and Mary.  The celebration is due to Jesus having raised Lazarus from the grave in the previous Chapter in the Gospel story.

But, before we go any further, let's take a look at the verses themselves...

John 12:1-8  (NRSV)  "Mary Anoints Jesus"

12 Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. 2 There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those at the table with him. 3 Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus’ feet, and wiped them with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. 4 But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), said, 5 “Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?” 6 (He said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief; he kept the common purse and used to steal what was put into it.) 7 Jesus said, “Leave her alone. She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial. 8 You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.”

So, here we have Mary once again at the feet of Christ just as we found her in Luke 10:39.  But, here in John we find Mary not focused upon Jesus' words and teachings, but rather in a state of worship and adoration.  Mary is anointing Jesus' feet with a very fine and very pricey perfume.   Modern commentaries estimate that this perfume's volume was approximately 12 ounces and if we were to convert the value to our modern dollar it would be somewhere in the range of $12,000.00, a pretty pricey product to say the very least.

This is extremely lavish love that she is heaping upon Jesus, and to make it even more startling... she is using her own hair to wipe this precious ointment upon his feet.  Now, there are a number of things that we can take away from this passage (and I've gone deeper into this in the actual sermon, the video is linked) but perhaps the most poignant is the lavishness and intimacy of this act.

Mary does not care what others may consider of her act, she has let her hair down in order to be even nearer to her beloved Lord Jesus.  Now, we need to remember that in Jewish culture an adult woman (other than a prostitute) would never let her hair down in any company other than that of her husband.  Here she has let her hair down and has used it to apply this very expensive perfume to Christ's feet.  This is an act of intimate and lavish love... this is a model of how we are to love our Lord in like fashion.  Not in a literal reenactment of this scene but rather in our spirit, we are called to love our Lord intimately and lavishly... just as our God loves us.  God loves each of us with an intimacy and a lavishness that is beyond our own comprehension.

Also in these verses we see Judas reacting to this extreme display of excess.  He rightly points out that from a strictly pragmatic stance, this is wasteful behavior, but the Gospel writer quickly points out that Judas' heart wasn't in the right place, rather than being worried about the poor, he only wanted the monies in the common purse so he could have access to them.  Jesus steps in on Mary's behalf and defends this extreme act of worship, he rightly points out that there will always be poor in this world but he in the flesh would not always be among us. (of course in spirit he remains with us always)

Here we see Judas criticizing how Mary has chosen to display and act in her devotion and worship of her Lord; perhaps we can take away from this exchange the thought that we should never let others opinions or criticism influence how we feel compelled to live out our worship, love and adoration of our all loving and gracious God.  Let us never be afraid to publicly, lavishly and intimately love our Lord.

Remember to be a blessing to someone today!

In Christ!
Roy