The Five Most Hopeful Words in the Bible

I once read that the five most hopeful words in the Bible are this: “And it came to pass.”  What does that mean?  It means that “It came” (whatever it is in life that comes your way) and it “passes” (or goes away).

This winter was full of many snowy and frigid cold days.  The rhododendron plants  in the front of my house were shriveled in the cold.  They looked like brown frozen sticks for weeks on end, and sometimes they were coated with ice and snow.  But it “came to pass!”  This morning in the springtime sun they have perked up and there even are buds of those beautiful pink flowers that will be blooming in a month or two.  Winter has passed, and new life has returned.

During this Holy Week when we journey along with Christ on the road to the cross we already know that death was not the last word.  After Good Friday comes Easter! The sorrow of the cross “came to pass” and death became resurrection.  

You may be experiencing difficulty or problems that seem to drag on like those cold weeks of winter. But look up: “It came to pass.”  Bad times will ultimately pass.  God will see you through!  

Nothing can separate you from the love of God in Christ Jesus. And Jesus is with you always whatever life may bring.  

Maria Solares

During our evening prayers each night my husband and I have been studying the lives of women saints. We use a resource that tells the story of a female saint for every day of the year (Women Saints: 365 Daily Readings, by Madonna Sophia Compton).  This book includes the lives of famous and not so famous women in history who have made a difference in this world. 

Recently we read about Maria Solares, who was born in 1842 in southern California.  Both of her parents were Native Americans from different tribes.  She was raised in a Catholic mission school but always cherished the language and culture of her people. 

Maria assisted an anthropologist, John P. Harrington, in recording much of the language and customs of the Samala Chumash people.   She was able to get training in the field of medicine, and she spent her life working tirelessly for her people, who were pushed off of their land and suffered from great poverty. 

When she died in 1923 she was remembered as “Maria of the Refugees.”   Thanks to the early language work she did with Dr. Harrington and other scholars, the language of the Chumash people is being taught once again to the descendants of this tribe.  Maria’s legacy lives on linguistically and her language of love will endure forever.

I celebrate this un-sung hero during Women’s History Month. What women of history do you celebrate, especially during this month of tribute?

Violence Challenges Our Prophetic Voice

The prophet Habakkuk wrote long ago: “O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not listen? Or cry to you ‘Violence!’ and you will not save?  Why do you make me see wrongdoing and look at trouble?  Destruction and violence are before me; strife and contention arise.” (Habakkuk 1:2-3)

These words could have been written yesterday.  As we look around there is so much violence:

•  sexual violence against women as seen in our media and in the lives of professional sports figures;
• violence on the streets of Wilmington, Del., to the point where people are calling the city “Kill-mington”;
• violence between Ukrainians and Russian-backed separatists
• brutal beheadings of Coptic Christians and many other innocent captives at the hands of ISIS;
• the murder of three young Muslims in North Carolina;
• violence against people of color and violence against the LGBT community.  

Violence seems to be the operating system in our world for solving our social problems and also obtaining wealth and power. We know violence does not produce the works of God and violence cannot be eliminated  by heaping more bombs on the heads of the perpetrators.

On the contrary, retaliatory violence creates an endless cycle of more and more destruction. Having more guns, more sophisticated weapons, more “stuff” to fight back with does not make us safer. 

Thou Art the Potter, I am the Clay

Many of us have sung the old hymn “Have Thine Own Way, Lord.”  It reminds us of the text from Jeremiah 18:1-4 that proclaims God as the grand potter of life and we are merely the clay in God’s hands.  The words to this famous hymn were written by Adelaide Pollard, a native of Bloomfield, Iowa.  According to “Women of Chrstianity.com” Ms. Pollard wrote this song as a response to a disappointment in her life.  She was trying to raise money for a mission trip to Africa and she was unable to find the needed funds.  During a prayer meeting one evening at her home church she overheard an elderly church member pray “It really doesn’t matter what you do with us, Lord, just have your own way with our lives.”  Touched by the faith of this saint Adelaide went home and wrote the entire hymn that night.

Ms. Pollard had an extensive ministry as a teacher at the Missionary Training School at Nyack-on-the Hudson and as an itinerant Bible teacher.  She worked with a number of evangelists who held revivals and healing services.  Interestingly enough, she finally had the opportunity to visit Africa later in her life fulfilling her greatest dream. 

All of us can identify with the experience of disappointment and unfulfilled wishes.  It helps to remember that God’s molding of us is always for our own good in order to “make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy (Romans 9:22).  God’s timing is never our timing and God’s ways are higher than our ways.  Ms. Pollard finally visited Africa but only after God used her for other purposes and in the end she was more prepared for her trip when the time came.

During this season of Lent pray aloud the words of Ms. Pollard’s hymn and renew your resolve to accept God’s will for your life, whatever that might look like.  Fear and disappointment can turn to trust and praise as we experience the good that God has planned for us.

                  “Have Thine Own way, Lord, have Thine own way!

                  Thou art the Potter, I am the clay.

                  Mold me and make me after Thy will,

                  While I am waiting, yielded and still.

                  Have Thine own way Lord! Have Thine own way

                  Hold o’er my being absolute sway!

                  Fill with Thy Spirit ‘till all shall see

                  Christ only, always, living in me                  

First

The first African American Methodist churches in the early 1800s were controlled by white senior pastors and trustees.  Chafing under oppression, the churches sought but were denied the dignity of self-determination by four consecutive General Conferences.  But in 1864, as the end of America's Civil War and slavery was imminent, their petition was approved, and the Delaware Annual Conference became the first African American annual conference to be formed in Methodism. 

Delaware Annual Conference Cabinet, 1918

A century later the 1964 General Conference mandated that all racially segregated conferences in the United States be disbanded.  Four years later, the segregated Central Jurisdiction, to which they all belonged, was abolished as well.

The sprawling Delaware Conference was the first to take on the challenging task of merging with predominantly white conferences in the six geographical areas where their respective churches resided.  Those conferences included: the Philadelphia (now Eastern Pennsylvania) Conference, the Peninsula (now Peninsula-Delaware) Conference, the Virginia Conference, the New York Conference and the North and South New Jersey conferences. 

The last formal conference session of the Old Delaware Conference was held on April 27-28, 1965, with Bishop John Wesley Lord presiding.  The bishop said, according to the Rev. Edwin L. Ellis, a District Superintendent who wrote about this event later, “We are restoring that which is broken.  This is a return to the way the Methodist Church began.  It was our sin which brought division… Surely now, we have much to share with all of Christ’s Church and this great dream will be now pouring out into the life of the new conferences that are being organized.”  (Commemorative Booklet: Delaware Annual Conference, page 101)

Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh: Bearing Gifts with Loving Hearts

During the season of Epiphany, of revelation, we ponder the story of the Magi who came from the East to visit the Christ child. There are so many levels in which this account recorded in the Gospel of Matthew captures our attention and reveals much practical truth for us:

• “Wise men still seek Him.”
• Christ came for all people, in all cultures and communities.
• God guides us to Jesus.
• Evil cannot overcome God’s plans, etc.

These are some of the sermons I have preached over the years from this text, found in Matthew’s second chapter. Also, we never tire of considering the gifts of the Wise Men: gold, frankincense and myrrh.  What Christmas pageant is complete without three children dressed in ornate bathrobes and tin foil crowns bearing three boxes of precious gifts? Surely once again, during this season of Epiphany, we are called to honor Christ with our gifts.

I witnessed virtual gifts of the Magi during my recent trip to India with youth on the Northeastern Jurisdiction (NEJ) Mission of Peace and with fellow bishops participating in a continuing education event led by Bishop Suda Devadhar of the New England Conference.  We began our journey just after Christmas, and it continued into the New Year and the season of Epiphany. 

India was well-decorated for the Christmas season, even though only about 2.5 percent of the population is professed Christian.  Everywhere our group of 35 participants traveled we saw crèches with figurines of Mary, Joseph, baby Jesus, the shepherds and the Wise Men bearing symbolic precious gifts. I also saw real gifts of real value being offered to Christ by faithful—and yes, wise—men and women throughout India.

'Glorify God in your body'

Long ago the Apostle Paul asked the Corinthians: “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God?” (I Corinthians 6:19) This is still a valid question for us today.

Do we see our bodies as the very temple of God’s Spirit?  If we do, then it behooves us to take a close look at how we care for our bodies.  If the temple is in disrepair the Spirit will not be able to function as well. 

With the dawn of 2015 there are lots of New Year’s resolutions that have something to do with dieting and exercise. But sadly, many of these intentions fall by the wayside before the first month ends.  Taking care of one’s temple needs to be a daily and lifetime commitment, as part of our stewardship of the precious gift of life that has been bestowed upon us.

Let’s all make a commitment to nurture our physical selves in ways that are life-affirming and life-sustaining.  Both the Eastern PA and Pen-Del conferences have “Virgin Pulse” exercise programs that encourage increased exercise and health monitoring. 

I am happy to say that in the most recent “Virgin Pulse” challenge both conferences ranked among the top 10 conferences participating in the program.  That means many of our pastors and spouses are taking exercise seriously. 

It is still possible and timely to sign up for this program and even to buy into it if you are not a part of the conference insurance program.

Taking care of our bodily temple also involves a proper diet, rest and regular health screenings.  We wouldn’t dream of driving a car and never changing the oil or getting gas or an occasional tune-up.  

The temple of the Living God deserves far more diligent care.  It is simply essential for we who are to be faithful stewards of God's gifts.  I hope that you will make a promise, a serious commitment to yourself to improve in at least one area of health maintenance in this New Year and also find ways of sharing your good news with someone else. 

As we keep each other accountable we can do a better job of staying the course.  As Paul says “Glorify God in your body.”  (I Corinthians 6:20b)