It is the 27th week of worshipping in the
covid pandemic…wonder what it will be like at week 50. Will cases subside? Will
we be free to gather safely with masks or without masks? God knows…and God
cares.
Our music selection is by Donna Upson.
We have to love the Apostle Paul for his love for God’s children. He was so dedicated. Paul was always religious, but he was not always a Christian.
There is a difference you know. Paul was a strong-minded, lion-hearted, God-fearing Jewish brother. Paul was a scholar trained under the great Gamaliel in Jerusalem. Gamaliel was known as a distinguished and popular Rabbi, known for great wisdom and his extremely excellent grasp of all the religious laws. If you wanted to know anything about whether you the law allowed you to eat lam or shrimp, how to determine justice for someone whose cow was stolen and whose was lost. Gamaliel was your guy. People trusted him to get past the bull. He was the rabbi who encouraged Paul to be merciful to those who were breaking away from Jewish traditions and following Christ, instead of what Paul was doing, which was sending them to court for blasphemy and possible execution. We see similar laws of blasphemy that call for execution even in our lifetime. He said, wisely, that these Christians won’t last unless God wills it so, leave them be. Gamaliel’s teaching, no doubt, saved lives.
Paul was what some might call fierce and legalistic.
He prayed several times a day as required, he attended Temple. He heard God’s
voice in the scriptures and in the law as well as the Mosaic Covenant. Like
John Wesley, he appreciated scripture, but he also was a product of his culture
and he a respected the religious traditions. He had meaningful religious
experiences that caused him to reflect, to reason and think about the laws he
so fiercely obeyed.
Paul was also humble as well as obedient, yet he had
an open mind. He was teachable, so when Jesus stopped him in his tracks, he
listened to Jesus and he affirmed a new covenant, a new way. Paul put as much
energy into loving Christians after he became a Christian, as he did when he
was trying to wipe Christians off the face of the earth.
Paul loved the people in the church in Philippi. He
urged them to pray because he knew the power and the intimacy with God that
came through prayer. He urged them to think about, to focus on what is pleasing
to God and to one another, to find God’s peace and to be as pure in heart as
possible. Prayer, pleasing, purity, and peace is our focus for these few
minutes.
Verse six says, 6Do not worry about
anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let
your requests be made known to God.
After my mother had been sent to Manatawny Manor for
rehab after a fall, she stopped eating, which is often a sign of getting ready
to leave this world. When I told her that I was worried that she was not
eating, she spoke her last words to me. “If you are going to pray, don’t worry.
If you are going to worry, don’t pray.” That was good wisdom. We need to pray
about everything because if it matters to us, it matters to God.
While on a tour of
John Wesley's home in England, seminary students in the 1940's saw knee prints
in the carpet where he is said to have prayed hours for revival. God answered
his prayer. He was instrumental in the Great Awakening of the 1730's and
1740's. Hundreds turned to Christ in England and the colonies!
Professor Orr realized one less student was counted on the bus,
so he went back only to discover the missing student, his knees were inside
Wesley's knee prints, and he was praying, "Do it, again, Lord, and do it
with me." That student was the Rev. Billy Graham. God also answered his
prayer for revival. Perhaps there is a prayer in your heart, for revival, for
healing, for courage, for change. Whatever it is – pray and trust God, and
don’t worry.
Paul loved the church enough to tell them to put their mind on pleasing things. Verse 8 says,
8 Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable,
whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is
commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of
praise, think about these things.
When I worked at Cokesbury Bookstore years
ago, there was a coworker who could not manage the cash register. She tried
very hard, but became more and more frustrated. The customers were frustrated
and some coworkers were frustrated and even angry or rude – quite unpleasant.
Finally, she was let go.
During the next big sale day, the lines
stretched out the door and lots of folk were either picking up or making
special orders of bibles and music, she stood in line for about a half hour.
When she came to my register, she had nothing to purchase. She just whispered
in my ear how grateful she was that I was not mean to her while she was
struggling. I melted, and felt a little embarrassed that she was so
extraordinarily humble.
It is nice to be appreciated for doing good,
but it doesn’t mean the struggle is over. A few weeks ago, I got a call from my
bank that a check I received from the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference I had
deposited on my phone had bounced. I was not a happy camper. I tried to smile
and use my polite – it’s going to be ok voice, but my irritation at having to fix
the mistake they (obviously) made probably leaked out anyway.
Three tellers came to figure out what to do.
When one of them told me the Conference check probably bounced because of
insufficient funds, I begged to differ. I said, “Ma’am, it was not because of
insufficient funds.” My voice was probably more matter-of-fact, than polite at
this point. It was a perfect example of my needing to let go and let God, to
lay my burdens of worry and frustration down by the riverside and lie flat down
face first in the pleasant green pastures and enjoy the still waters that God
provides for all of us. Instead of calling her ma’am and giving her a fact
check and a piece of my mind which I could not afford to lose, I could have
taken her with me to the pleasant green pastures and she too could have enjoyed
the still waters that God provides, instead of the prickly pear that she may
have experienced from me.
Finally, Paul asked the church he loved to
think about things that are pure. 8 Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable,
whatever is just, whatever is pure, ….
We may have a difficult time thinking of
things that are pure. It may be easier to say the opposite of pure – that is
sacrilegious, profane, foul, wicked.
Youth rally is cancelled this year due to Covid, but
each year, our youth come back with their faith renewed. We ask them to share
heartwarming stories of the event that impacted them deeply. One year they came
back with a slogan that was repeated by youth and adults. They said it in order
to monitor their behavior. They would ask out loud, “Is it holy?”
When we ask the question of ourselves and our behavior, we may immediately put ourselves in a wrestling match with our will versus God’s will, and if we let God have God’s way in our life, sooner or later, God will win the battle and as Paul said to the church in Philippi,
9Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and
heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.
In this season of Covid, therapists tell us that
people are more anxious and troubled. They are looking for peace in pills. Some
are drinking more alcohol. I have wondered if people who are destroying property
and themselves and others are like the folks I have known who are traumatized
and victimized to the point of crying in the wilderness, “No justice, no
peace!” They remind me of young people who are doing what psychologists call
“cutting.” They take a knife and cut their skin over and over, for feeling the
pain in their bodies is a way to dull the pain in their hearts and minds. Those
hurting and crying out for justice remind me of people desperately searching
for peace in pills and liquor bottles. They are desperately self-destructive.
Just when we wonder if the pain would go away, just
when we wonder if there will ever be peace, we remember that there is a way
that leads to peace. It is God’s way. We have to trust and hope that God is
making a way, even out of no way.
Researcher Chan Hellman, Ph.D tells us that since
2000, ““In every published study of hope (2000 studies+) hope is the
single best predictor of well-being compared to any other measures of trauma
recovery.”
Paul gave the Philippians the hope of peace thorough prayer,
thinking about what is pure and positive and pleasing to God and to each other.
May we find such healing hope today and always.
I must tell Jesus, I must tell Jesus. We cannot bear these burdens alone. He is
a kind compassionate friend. In my distress
He kindly will help me. He
ever cares and loves His own. Lord, God almighty, we cannot bear these burdens
alone. Our burdens of fear, our worries about our health, our family, our
future, our finances – we place them at the altar, confident that you care for
us and you have a purpose and plan and you will guide us to fulfill your good
will.
We pray as you taught the disciples:
Our father who art in
Heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it
is in Heaven. Give us this day, our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses
as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory
forever and ever. Amen.
We trust this message has strengthened you for your
journey with Jesus. Next week is laity Sunday and our faithful lay leader Donna
Kunsch will be bringing the message entitled - THEREFORE, GO! WITH HOPE THROUGH ENGAGEMENT
If you would like to
make your contribution to the great ministry and mission of Bethel, the website
is
Or you can send it to 952 Bethel Church Road, Spring City, Pa. 19475.
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