August 22, 2022 - Grace and peace from our brother, Jesus. It is Saturday afternoon, and the strangest things are happening: The Cubs just tied the ballgame with the Brewers and it’s raining. [Update: The Cubs won, making 5 in a row, we got almost two inches of rain!] Saints be praised. The temperatures are moderate for August, and we are supposed to get rain for the next few days. Yeah! My wonderful dogs, Gunter and Sam, act like they want to go for a walk, but when they get on the front porch and realize it’s raining...full stop! I saw a bumper sticker that said, “If you want to know what Heaven is like, get a dog.” I agree 100%. Those two make continually make us laugh.
This morning at Sunday School I filled in for Fannie, who had a grandchild getting baptized. The poor folks at Sunday School had to listen to me twice! In the reading from Ephesians, we hear Paul speaking about the divide between Gentile and Jewish believers. Even though this issue was supposed to have been put to sleep, it kept raising its ugly head—and Paul had to keep warning against it. Many of the converts that looked to Paul were Gentiles. The Jewish followers had always seen Jews as set apart—God’s chosen. They felt it was a step down to worship with and eat beside Gentiles. They had a sense of entitlement, and Paul knew that wasn’t going to work.
Our worship service began with gathering words from Psalm 71, which says we can take refuge in the love of God. Our affirmation was The Apostles’ Creed. The CD player was having issues today, but eventually we sang “Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing” and “When We All Get to Heaven.” In a nod to today’s sermon, our first bulletin quote was about aging: Dr. Seuss said, “I still climb Mount Everest just as often as I used to. I play polo just as often as I used to. But to walk down to the hardware store I find a little more difficult.” Inside the bulletin, Malcolm Forbes advised, “Being right half the time beats being half-right all the time.” We missed Carolyn, Sue and Fred today, hoping they’ll soon be back among us.
We will collect children’s underwear and socks for another week, and then our donations go to Community Christian Services. In September our contribution will be boxes of macaroni and cheese, a favorite of kids everywhere. When she was younger, our great-niece ate all-orange meals featuring mac-n-cheese and Goldfish crackers. After she grew old enough to cook for herself, she often made mac-n-cheese. Sue asked what her favorite recipe was, and Ava replied, “The blue box.”
I titled my sermon “Recalculating.” When I have GPS on in the truck but am not going exactly the way it directs me, it says, “Recalculating.” I read this week that the only person who really likes change is a wet baby. I think that is true and becomes truer the older we get. But we have to be ready to recalculate because we don’t know what the future holds. In Sunday’s Gospel lesson, it seems as if all the planets get aligned. Jesus and his disciples just happen to be in that unnamed village on the Sabbath. Jesus is asked to read from the scroll and speak at the synagogue. He looks where the women are allowed during service, seeing a woman bent by eighteen years of hardship. Jesus, full of mercy, goes to her, grabs her hands, and straightens her up. For the first time in many years, she is able to look someone in the eye. The leader of the synagogue criticizes Jesus for “working on the sabbath,” but Jesus, of course, shows the healing to be the right thing to do.
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, and Open Minds.” 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 your email address to the Paxton email address, and I will add you to the list. God’s Speed.
