April 1, 2019 - Love and peace from our brother Jesus. Sunday was the Fourth Sunday in Lent. With Easter not until April 21st Lent seems longer than usual. But that can’t be true because Lent is always exactly 40 days long. This year I have stressed that Lent is about our life-long journey into God. Jesus emerged from the wilderness, turning toward Jerusalem and the events of the Last Week, which culminated in Easter Morning.
Once again our Sunday school lesson covered the call to discipleship: The scripture from Matthew was about calling Peter and Andrew, James and John. These fishermen were summoned to be disciples of Jesus, and they dropped everything and followed. Fannie reminded us that just a few weeks ago the scripture was the same story but from the Gospel of Mark—not Matthew. The writer thought the idea of costly discipleship was worth two lessons.
The Gospel Lesson for the Fourth Sunday in Lent comes from Luke and is the parable of the prodigal son. When I was young I liked the magical stories of the Bible—Jonah being swallowed by the great fish, Jesus turning water into wine, or the feeding of five thousand people with just two fish and five loaves. But today I enjoy the more earthy stories like the parable of the Prodigal Son, which is so real. In Henri Nouwen’s book, The Return of the Prodigal Son, he says that we have all been the prodigal son as well as the jealous, angry older brother. Our goal is to become the caring, compassionate, forgiving father. All the pictures in the bulletin were from Rembrandt’s famous painting about the son’s return.
Monday is April Fools Day and I hope I don’t fall for any pranks. As a teacher, I had many students trying to fool everyone on April 1! We have had such pretty spring weather the last few weeks. The rains have not been too heavy, so my yard and garden appreciate the warmth and the rain. Then it snowed! April Fools! But it did get cold. During March, Paxton Methodist collected cans of chili and I will get them delivered to Community Christian Services this week. In the coming month we will collect toothpaste and toothbrushes.
Last Thursday we headed to Lakeside and visited with our many friends there. Minnie was mostly in charge of the piano, until we sang what Nora called a “going out on a limb” song. Hilda, who knows ‘em all, took the bench on that one. Our congregational singing is certainly aided by the strong singers there, like Jo (even with laryngitis), Margie, and Hilda. Pastor Matt emceed and also spoke about Philippians, a Biblical song summing up the life of Christ. By special request, Nora sang “Take Me Home, Country Roads” with the children’s book illustrating it. Sallie soloed on “It Is Well with My Soul.” Ollie warmed us up with a funny story about the Easter Bunny and then read a more serious piece. Gene channeled Elvis and Johnny Cash on two oldies, sang “I Believe,” and led “He Touched Me.” Sue shared crossword clues and answers, also reading The Day Jimmy’s Boa Ate the Wash. I didn’t intend to do more than sing congregationally, but Pastor Matt noticed my Cubs shirt and asked if I wanted to tell what special day it was: opening day of Major League Baseball. I explained that, on this very special opening day, the Cubs were playing in Dallas, and our daughter Megan had tickets for all three games of the series.
Whoever you are, in whatever faith you were born, whatever creed you profess; if you come to this house to find God you are welcome here.” Paxton United Methodist Church is an inviting church that takes to heart the idea of “Open Doors, Open Hearts, Open Minds.” Sunday School starts at 9:30 and Worship begins at 10:00. Our email address is paxtonumc@yahoo.com. If you would like the weekly email newsletter about Paxton Methodist you can send me your email address to the Paxton email address and I will add you to the list. God’s Speed.
