For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. ~ Ephesians 2:10 John Denver years ago penned these words as he wrote the song, "Poems, Prayers and Promises,"
"And talk of poems and prayers and promises And things that we believe in How sweet it is to love someone How right it is to care How long it's been since yesterday And what about tomorrow." As I sit and write two funeral sermons this morning, I think of the lives of two very different people who did not know one another, were from completely different places in the world, and lived in generations separated by time and ideas. One was a man, who fought in the second great war, and photographed cities that were still on fire after an atomic bomb decimated the landscape and the people who lived there. He didn't share much of those days, but swore to God that he would never be unkind to another soul the rest of his life, and worked hard to be a faithful follower to that promise. The other, a woman who immigrated to this country to have a "better life." She worked in the medical field as a nurse, helping people with mental illness, broke down barriers as she married her girlfriend and raised two daughters, always relating to others that her faith taught her that God is love, and that she could be both Christian and gay, bringing others to understand that God's love is unconditional, and so was hers. While these two were very different from one another, the common thread of Christ, helped to reflect that the tapestry of God's creation is both different, and created in a way, that God can be made known. So often we struggle to understand how a person so different from us can still be reflective of God's image. It is in encounters like these that I can point and say, There is clearly God's face." I am reminded that every time that I look in the mirror that I am looking at a reflection of my own face, having not ever been able to look directly at my face to know how others truly see me. Denver continues, "And I have to say it now It's been a good life all in all It's really fine To have a chance to hang around." Our faith is to be simple and uncomplicated. In the gospel of Matthew we are reminded not to judge others, unless we are willing to be judged as well, and by the same standards in which we find ourselves judging others. (Matthew 7) As I find words to comfort both of these families during the losses that they have now encountered, I will address them both as "blessed," and "beloved by God." I will remind them both of the great faith both of these people possessed, and how they prayed and encountered God in the same valley of the shadow of death. Finally, I will remind them that we are God's poem (Greek word for workmanship found in Ephesians is "poemia" - We are God's poem, created by God to do God's will - Eph 2:10) and how we are called to live into God's promises. I guess Denver had it right, "Poems, prayers and promises," are indeed the things that we live into, and experience each day. Stay in God's grip! G. Todd Williams (c) 2020
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"Though the mountains be shaken, and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken, nor my covenant of peace be removed," says the Lord, who has compassion on you. ~ Isaiah 54:10 I remember the first time that I attended a church service where the music contained people playing the guitar. I was nine years old. I remember the service being held at a completely different time than the "regular," worship because it was "so different."
It was also a time when I first heard about the Holy Spirit. I understand now that this was the charismatic movement being ignited in this church, and I was a witness to people exploring spirituality. For me, I loved the songs, and the lyrics, "Here I am Lord," taught me to proclaim that I had heard God's voice. It was at this age that I first understood that God's love was unconditional. Having had parents that just went through a nasty divorce, there wasn't a lot of talk about unconditional love in our home. It was important for me to hear about God's presence, that God would never abandon me, and that God's love for me would never change. God does not say, "I love you, if ..." There are no "ifs" in God's heart. God's love for us does not depend on what we do or say, on our looks or intelligence, or our success or popularity. God's love for us began while still held within our mother's womb and will continue to exist when we have released our final breath. God's love is not bound by time or circumstances. One thing I have discovered through God's unconditional love, is that although the love is everlasting, our daily expressions and actions concern God. They have to. As a father who loves my own children, there are times I become concerned by their words or actions. It's natural to want good things for them. God's love for us wouldn't be real if God didn't care. To love without condition does not mean to love without concern. God desires to enter into relationship with us and wants us to love God in return. To enter into an intimate relationship with God without fear, trusting that we will receive love and always more love, is truly what it means to love and be loved unconditionally. Stay in God's grip! G. Todd Williams (c) 2020 One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.” He said to them, “When you pray, say: “‘Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread. Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation.’” ~ Luke 11:1 - 4 It was a difficult night finding rest. The world just seems to be on a collision course with "something," and I simply found myself tossing to one side, and then to another. Most of the turning was met with the thought of, "I wonder what God must be thinking about now?"
Thomas Merton's prayer, "My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going," seemed to resonate with each breath. Our prayers to God are often based out of some need that we seem to have. We acknowledge God and then begin to carefully plan how to make the intention known, when God already knows our heart and sees through each syllable. We try to wrap it up in way that God might be swayed to think one way or another. I have found that the prayers that I lift to God without the use of words, seem to speak so much more loudly, while being driven by my heart and actions. So much of the time we proclaim, "Amen," and God is just beginning to speak. We are often so focused on what it is that we want that we fail to wait and listen. Our "on demand," lifestyle assumes because there is no immediate response that God has failed in some way to hear what it is that we want, and we are left feeling abandoned. Let's face it. We say "Amen," and some how we have faith to believe that this will be "enough." Yesterday I was sitting with one of my patients who commented, "I like it when God seems to be silent. It then makes me realize that perhaps I also need to be silent as well." Sundays as I lead in worship, as we share our prayer concerns with our faith community, I often lift, "those things that still lie within us, that we have yet to discover the words on how to express, but that God knows because God knows our hearts so well." Intentions, intercessions, and simple prayers are the things that lead us to want to say, "Amen." Today I invite you to begin your prayer with the word, "Amen," and then see where God leads. And while you do, Stay in God's grip! G. Todd Williams (c) 2020 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ ~ Matthew 25:36 - 40 God walks among us, fragmented, wounded, and seeking wholeness. While we ask, "Who is our neighbor?"
We are reminded in the story of the good Samaritan that our neighbor, especially in today's world, can be much different than we are. Broken? Perhaps. LOVED... YES! The people even asked Jesus, "When did we see You, Lord?" He responds, "When I was naked you clothed me. When I was sick you visited me. When I was in prison you came to me." He then reminds us, "Whatever you did to the least of these, you have done to me." (Matthew 25:40) God of the Forsaken A reflection from under a bridge while thinking of the footsteps of Chris My God! My God, why have you forsaken us – Forsaken us in the painful groans of the crucified! In Christ's miserable helplessness, We are even more helpless, suffering by the million and dying alone. My God! The nails that pierced my Lord, cruelly surely also pierced humanity; The stares from Calvary’s spectators are ours: The unspoken doubt that all ends in a silent cry, empty of light and love. My God! That my Lord’s life should end, watched by crowds filled with rejection. Loved only by a terrified few watching in fear, leaves us all in shock and despair. My God! Into that cold stone tomb fall our best desires; The visions of our youth succumb to dark shadows, and even in rebellious desperation in the darkness sobs. Dear God! On that darkest of Fridays You did not forsake us! Not Jesus, nor any other desolate child of humanity – That day You entered all our forsakedness, tasting for Yourself the flavor of death shaping the valley of the shadow to become a pathway of hope. We praise you, O God! We proclaim You to be Lord! Hated and rejected, One of sorrow and grief great and marvelous are Your works! Wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities, God is with us! Hallelujah! Stay in God's grip! G. Todd Williams (c) 2020 "He reveals the deep things of darkness and brings deep shadows into the light." ~ Job 12: 22 How can we take what troubles us and turn that into something positive?
I think all of us understand what it means to have times when we feel powerless. Or that there are goals that we begin to realize we will never complete. I have always hated "bucket" lists. It's one thing to have goals, or things you hope to complete before the end of life. It's another thing when you realize that the list will never be fulfilled and then find you are remorseful because the goals will go unmet. Being realistic with life is something that we are all challenged to accept. Years ago Reinhold Niebuhr penned the "Serenity Prayer" "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference. Living one day at a time; enjoying one moment at a time; accepting hardships as the pathway to peace; taking, as Jesus did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it; trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His Will; that I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with Him forever in the next. Amen." Instead of creating bucket lists that can become unwelcome guests creating anxiety, perhaps it's an opportunity for healing our hearts that seem to be driven. Our restlessness calls us to look for the true inner peace that comes with accepting. There is a lot of anxious energy in anxiety. When that energy can be directed toward loving well, we can transform not only ourselves but even those who might otherwise become the victims of our own drivenness. This takes patience, but it is possible. Praying that the peace that surpasses all understanding becomes present in our hearts. Stay in God's grip! G. Todd Williams (c) 2020 "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." ~ Hebrews 13: 5 In today's world we all know a little something about being, or feeling, abandoned.
It seems that it has become part of the human condition. We begin conversations via a text, and then find it excusable when the other party stops responding without even so much as a, "talk to you later," or, "I have to go now." It's acceptable behavior, and it has become the expected end to a conversation between two people. What is it about our inability to complete a conversation? Even in the time of Jesus there were times when he felt abandoned. Not just because there seemed to be issues communicating with the disciples, but even in their actions. One of the hardest He asks the disciples to remain alert in the garden while he goes off to pray, only to return and find them sleeping. The disciples get tossed about by the storm and feel abandoned when Jesus doesn't awake until they find they are fearful of drowning. Time and time again the disciples and Jesus tend to have their moments! The real question is how do we overcome such feelings? Understanding the feeling of abandonment and how we react to the feeling can have lasting effects. Realizing that with God, the presence is real and always, will help to bring peace to us when we feel like we have been left out. Stay in God's grip! G. Todd Williams (c) 2020 |
AuthorRev. G. Todd Williams is the author of the book, "Remember Me When..." and is a former hospice chaplain and pastor. Archives
February 2024
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