Surrounders

On the first weekend of this year, organizers of the annual Peninsula-Delaware Conference Youth Rally in Ocean City, Maryland, were challenged by a blizzard that blew in the day before the rally began. The leaders had a difficult decision to make about cancelling or going ahead with the effort.

All cancellation decisions are difficult. But after much prayer, it was decided that the event should continue to go forward. The theme was “Marathon” and the key scripture verses were Hebrews 12:1-2.

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and sin which clings too closely; and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”
Throughout the rally, featured speakers and Christian rock bands emphasized the importance of endurance in the face of the challenges that are a key part of a life of faith in Jesus Christ.  Jesus is indeed the model, and our “way, truth and life” for this journey.

Arrested but undeterred

In a blog post titled “Ten Things You May Not Know about Martin Luther King, Jr.,” by Christopher Klein, published April 4, 2013, we read some interesting facts about the great civil rights leader who changed the world forever.

For example, I never knew that his birth name was “Michael” but was later changed to “Martin Luther” after his father went to Germany and learned about theologian Martin Luther’s pivotal Protestant Reformation work.  King’s father legally changed his own name as well.  The renaming was perhaps a premonition of the groundbreaking work that young Martin was later to accomplish.

I did not know that Dr. King started college at the age of 15, or that he survived a near-fatal assassination attempt by a woman who stabbed him with a letter opener in a department store.

I did not know that King’s mother was assassinated in 1974 by an armed intruder during a Sunday worship service while she was playing the organ. How did I miss this?  Church shootings are not new, although they are still rare. But they are becoming more common and more deadly. That tragic trend, as reported in our news media, makes them feel new to many of us.

On and on Klein’s article goes, offering amazing facts about the life of a man whose legacy continues to shine the light of truth and courage, of freedom and justice. Only that light can dispel the shadows of deception, cowardice, injustice and oppression that still enshroud our nation in its mistreatment of people without privilege or power.

Healing the reproach of women

During the Advent season we often study the life of John and Baptist and his godly parents, Zechariah and Elizabeth. During her pregnancy with this holy child, Elizabeth exclaimed, “Thus, the Lord has done for me in the days when he looked on me, to take away my reproach among people.” (Luke 1:25).

What was her reproach? Elizabeth was unable to conceive, and no doubt, she was disdained for this by her society. The worth of a woman in her world and in many cultures depends on their ability to bear children. In some societies male children are the ones that count the most; so not even a female baby is good enough.

A woman who has no children is at fault for some reason, even though modern medicine has proven that the husband can also be the cause of the family’s infertility. In the Bible we read of a few other women who faced reproach and were desperate for a child: Sarah, Rebekah and Hannah, to name a few.

In our society women are not under the same depth of condemnation if they do not conceive. Women have careers and many kinds of other interests than motherhood. However there is still unhappiness and social pain when a couple who want children cannot conceive for some reason.

Reproach of women is not lost on our society. The practice of sexism is a form of reproach. Still today, women get paid less than men for the same work. Most corporations have men as their CEO’s; and sexual abuse and domestic violence mostly happens to women.

Purple or Blue: What color is your Advent?

When I go to various churches on Sundays during the season of Advent I always ask the pastors, “Do you wear purple or blue stoles?”

In recent years we have seen the color blue more and more, in addition to the traditional purple. According to www.umc.org “The Christian year has two cycles: the Christmas Cycle (Advent-Christmas-Epiphany) and the Easter Cycle (Lent-Easter-Pentecost).

“Within each cycle are a preparatory season symbolized by the color purple and a festival season symbolized by the color white. After each cycle there is an ordinary time of growth symbolized by the color green.

It goes on to say that the color purple represents both royalty and penitence, while blue symbolizes hope. Purple and blue are both acceptable colors to use during Advent.
(“Why are there different colored altar cloths?”)

Upon further examination, I found that the shade of blue for Advent is often a deep, dark blue. It is like the color of the predawn sky just before the sun rises. It brings with it the meaning of expectation and anticipation of the coming of the Messiah.

Thanksgiving in all circumstances

Altar design by Karen Barkowski. John Coleman photo.

The hymn “Now Thank We All Our God” was written by a Lutheran minister, Martin Rinkart (1586-1649). We sing it often during this season of Thanksgiving in praise of our “bounteous God.” But the backdrop of this hymn writer’s life was filled with death, looking nothing like a Norman Rockwell Thanksgiving painting. 

Rinkart penned the words of this hymn during the Thirty-Years’ War between Protestants and Catholics. He was one of four parish pastors serving at that time in Eilenburg, Saxony, located in East Germany. But when the war continued to rage on, one pastor left, two died and he alone was left to serve the people.

Eilenburg was a walled city. So, it became a place for refugees, and thus, there was a great shortage of food. Then the plague set in, and scores of people died from this dreaded disease.

Rinkart performed 40 to 50 funerals a day, including his wife’s funeral. It was estimated that he buried more than 4,480 people.

After the plague came an invading army of Swedes demanding that tribute be paid. The besieged pastor served as the negotiator with the Swedish army; and he paid them the tribute with his own money. When the army refused to leave the town, he gathered the people for intensive prayer. Miraculously, the Swedes departed in peace.

Strength for Service to God and Country

As we prepare for the annual observation of Veteran’s Day, November 11, I would like to call to your attention a wonderful resource produced by our United Methodist Men: Strength for Service to God and Country.

This inspirational book comes in two versions. One is for military service men and women. A second version is produced for local emergency service personnel, such as first-responders, police, fire fighters and medical professionals.

This resource can be purchased through our General Commission on United Methodist Men at www.StrengthforService.org.

Originally distributed during World War II and the Korean War, it was revisited by a Scout named Evan Hunsberger, whose advocacy for the book’s republishing was his Eagle Scout project in 2002.

How wonderful it would be if our churches could purchase copies of these devotionals and distribute them to our community servants as well as our men and women in the military. It would be a wonderful way to show honor and appreciation this year during and after our Veteran’s Day observance.

Bishop calls for action against PA gambling expansion

November 8, 2017

On October 26, the Pennsylvania House of Representatives voted 109-72 to approve a significant expansion of gambling in our state, House Bill 271. The bill was approved by the state Senate the previous day. Four days after the House action, Governor Tom Wolf signed the legislation into law. The legislation was quickly moved, taking only 18 hours between its introduction and its passage in the House. In fact, lawmakers had only two hours to read the massive 939-page bill. This stealthy rush through the General Assembly minimized scrutiny. Obviously, public input was thwarted. This new law will create 10 mini-casinos in regions without a casino, allow some truck stops to operate video gaming terminals, regulate fantasy sports and online gambling, legalize online gambling portals at casinos and airports, permit the state lottery to sell tickets and offer games online, and legalize sports betting (if Congress allows it nationally). Proponents of this legislation hope to open gambling to new markets, especially younger players. Only Nevada exceeds Pennsylvania in commercial casino revenues. This law marks the biggest expansion of gambling in the state, since it first legalized casinos more than a decade ago. Pennsylvania now becomes the fourth state with internet gambling and the first to allow both casino and lottery games online.