Not to Fret ...

We can do all things through Christ.
When I came here, way too many years ago, that scripture from the book of Philippians was our mantra. We had so little; all we had was God. But I was convinced then, as I am convinced now, that we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us.
These are not “pie in the sky” words. They are, in fact, a statement of fact. When an individual has the faith that no matter how daunting the task, because he or she believes in the something “greater” than him or herself, all things are possible.
All things? All things that are within the will of God. It is God’s will that we pull through our current financial crisis, and because of that, if we hold onto the truth of the words Paul spoke to the Philippians, we will see God pull yet another miracle here.
What we cannot do is pull back on mission and ministry. We cannot hold our heads in our hands and wail with a sense of hopelessness. We can be frustrated; we can get angry or even anxious, but we cannot go into a tailspin of dismay. Our God is an awesome God- when times are good and easy and when times are not so good and difficult.
I saw a news story this week about a young girl who was in Haiti the day the earthquake hit. She was under literally tons of rubble; big pieces of what looked like a cement building covered her, but she was alive, and a young man heard her cry.
With his bare hands, he began pulling that rubble off her. I don’t know how long he dug, and the story did not indicate that he had any help. He dug, though, with his bare hands; he moved those big pieces of destroyed building with none but God, breathing into him, fueling him, releasing the adrenaline that was obviously being released …and he got her out.
She was alive but badly injured; one of her legs was badly mangled. She was flown back to the United States, and though she lived, she lost that leg.
How about it hasn’t stopped her? How about with one good leg and one prosthetic she is rock climbing in Arizona, and how about, with one good leg and one prosthetic, she is about to run a marathon?
She recently went back to Haiti, to see where she had been trapped and to see the young man who rescued her. She wanted to thank him and she wanted to say “good bye.” The young man who had dug literally tons of debris off a girl with his bare hands stood next to and embraced the young woman who lost her leg yet is rock climbing and is going to run a marathon.
Those kinds of stories fuel me, and it is those types of stories that I want you to think about and even seek out as we pass through this leg of our wilderness journey. If we do God’s work, God will provide for us; money follows mission. Our primary emotion in through here should not be desperation but rather determination to be steadfast and immovable, putting God first. God sees us; God hears us; God loves us.
The way we love God back is to proclaim that we can do all things through Christ …who does and who always has …strengthened us.
Have a good week!

Pastor Smith

Let's Read to the Children

Let’s do something beautiful for God …and for our community. Let’s say, “Here we are, Lord, send us.”
I read a disturbing report the other day about the underachievement of African American males being a “national catastrophe.” The report, posted by Richard Prince of the Maynard Institute, quoted a nreport done by the Council of the Great City Schools which said that “black males continue to perform lower than their peers throughout the country on almost every indicator.”
The study said that there has been no “concerted national effort to improve the education, social and employment outcomes of African American males, who are not receiving appropriate attention from federal, state and local governments, or from community organizations.”
Dorothy Gilliam, a journalist who founded a group called Prime Movers, which provides mentors for high school journalists, said that the lapse for black kids starts early. “If young children are not being read to and communicated with at a level that encourages them to be inquisitive and learn, they are behind from the beginning.”
The report cited a host of social realities for black children which contributes to their academic performance.
We know all those factors. We’ve heard them all before.
So, let’s do something. Let’s do something beautiful for God …and for our community.
Beginning in 2011, let’s have a literacy program for young children. Let’s make it simple: having kids here at the church, with those who are so inclined to be here to read to them, get them to talk, open their minds and their natural inquisitive natures.
Let’s read to them stories we have all taken so much for granted. Let’s read to them so that they hear words and notice sentence structure. Let’s read to them so that their little eyes glisten and their spirits yearn for more.
Let’s do this. Let’s be a part of the solution, loving our kids and our community enough to do what we must for our kids. Perhaps the nation, the state, and the city will provide grants for us to build our program. Perhaps if we take one step, the Lord will take two.
That’s what we always say, right?
One of the reasons I always want a 12 foot Christmas tree in front of the church is to make a statement that Jesus is the light of the world…and Advent is the light of the community.
Let’s be a light; let’s serve our children. Let’s do it and set up a quantitative tool so that we can measure our progress and the progress of the kids.
It is a fact that all kids want to do well in school, and when they don’t they get discouraged. They become behavior problems, and eventually, they drop out. Once they drop out and begin to get into trouble, they become food for a greedy and unjust justice system.
So, let’s do something beautiful for God. Let’s make it a goal to help our kids, to keep a few more kids out of gangs, to raise the self esteem of our little black boys and prepare them to be competitors in this world that loses no love for those of our community who fall through the cracks.
Anyone interested, email me. Let’s meet and get this going. Let’s plan it out so that it has substance and form. Let’s set it up to be a success, to draw any kid who needs to come and who wants to come.
Let’s do something beautiful for God …and read to the children.

Pastor Smith

Let's Do Something Beautiful for God!

Let’s do something beautiful for God.
That’s what Mother Teresa said to her young novices as they worked and lived with the poor of India. Her demand that they see the poor and suffering as God would see them set a movement in motion that literally spread all over the world.
There is no losing when we as people of God set our sights on serving. There are so many who are in need, and so many willing to ignore them or blame them for their situations. There are young people “out there,” kind of making it on their own. There are old people who live lonely, solitary lives with nobody around to check on them. There are little children in our own community who do not have coats or gloves or food to eat at dinner time. If we as people of God ask for the eyes of God, we are able to see the world as God does, and can easily serve, because the need is so great.
I had a dream not long ago that we, Advent, changed course. We had a short praise and worship service on Sunday morning, and then we hit the streets. We went to the homeless and the hungry and the lonely and the lost, and we gave ourselves. We were identified by tee shirts and hats that said Advent United Church of Christ, but we were more identified by the passion with which we served. We sang to those who would listen; we danced for those who would watch. We hugged those who needed hugging and listened to those who had not been heard.
We served.
With the results of the last election, the need to serve will be even greater, I am afraid. We will have to do more to serve “the least of these” because the gap between them and the wealthy is widening. Not only that, but the rich really are becoming richer; corporations have been posting record profits while the vast majority of us are flailing in deep water with strong currents going against us. If we who love God do not serve, we will have missed an opportunity to show the world that God is real, that God is good, and that God cares.
I am proud to be the pastor of a congregation which, in spite of having few resources, does much with little. God has given the vision to serve and God will provide for that vision. We need only step up with joy and love and eagerness. God will take care of us.
In this upcoming holiday season, the need to serve will be even greater. Let’s do something beautiful for God. Let’s get out and hit the streets and touch people who are too often ignored. Let’s bring them in to get warm and teach them that they matter. Let’s be a light in this community, the likes of which we cannot even imagine. God has kept us this long for a reason, and I think the reason and the season is upon us.
The last election notwithstanding, God is good. Politicians lied to get into office, and will spend their time figuring out how to stay in office and prepare for the next election, letting the very people I’m talking about languish. The people are not their concern; their own lives are. That is just the reality.
The Jewish people have a thing called “Tikkun Olam.” It calls for people to engage in the sacred repair of God’s world; it is the impetus for social action and social justice within the Jewish faith. It is, I think, doing something beautiful for God. Rabbi Judith Jacobs wrote a book, “There Shall Be No Needy: Pursuing Social Justice Through Jewish Law and Tradition.” If we who love God will not pursue social justice and tend to the least of these, then who will?
I say that it is our time, our season, Advent.
Let’s do something beautiful for God!