Wednesday, December 20, 2023

Wisdom Wednesday: Show Me

Grace and peace to you. I’m Rev. Joe Cailles, the pastor of Peakland United Methodist Church in Lynchburg Virginia. Today is Wednesday, December 20, 2023, and we are in the season of Advent. We at Peakland have been reading this book All the Good: A Wesleyan Way of Christmas. In addition to the book, many of us have been using the All the Good Daily Devotion. Yesterday’s devotion has stayed with me. The devotion begins by recalling an old FedEx television commercial, where a beleaguered office worker asks her colleague to help her get some boxes ready to be shipped out. Her colleagues responds to her instructions pretentiously, you don’t understand, I’m an MBA. Oh, you’re an MBA? She says, So then I’ll have to show you how to do it.” This Advent season, we celebrate because God cares enough about us to show us how to live through the birth and the ministry of Jesus Christ. The prophet Isaiah told the people what God wants from us: Isaiah chapter 1, verse 17 reads, “Learn to do right; seek justice, rescue the oppressed. Defend the orphan. Plead the case of the widow.” Those are very clear instructions for how to live. Other prophets echoed those instructions. In Amos, chapter 5, verse 24, the prophet speaks for God and says, let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. In Zechariah chapter 7, verse 9, the prophet tell us: This is what the LORD Almighty says: 'Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another. Do not oppress the widow or the orphan or the alien or the poor. In your hearts do not devise evil of each other. Again and again, the scriptures and the prophets tell us what to do and how to live, and again and again, we failed to follow simple instructions. In Advent and Christmas, we give thanks that God is born among us and shows us in Jesus how to live and what to do. He shows us what mercy and compassion look like. The devotion reads, “Jesus took up the case of widows and restored outcast lepers and blind beggars to health. When a notoriously sinful woman crashed a dinner party held in Jesus’ honor, he championed her. Jesus shows us again and again how to live and what to do. His Holy Spirit is with us now and the Holy Spirit of Jesus guides us and shows us the ways to go. Here at Peakland, we are already imagining the ways that Christ wants us to go in the new year. We’ll nurture our faith in small group bible Studies and gather around the tables for our community potluck meals. We’ll put together hygiene kits and health kits and menstrual kits for our denomination’s relief agencies. We’ll work again with Rise Against Hunger to put together thousands of meals. Over the summer, we’ll host Vacation Bible School and consider beloved Sunday school stories in Sunday worship. You can check out some more of what we’re planning on our church’s website: PeaklandUMC.org And all of that is just what we’re planning now. I am excited for what Christ will show us what we need to do in the weeks and months to come. And I am confident that what Christ wants us to do and to be, Peakland will respond with generosity and joy. The season of Advent is coming to an end and the season of Christmas begins. To mark that transition, this Sunday December 24, we’ll have three worship services. On Sunday morning, we’ll gather at 10:00a .m. in the sanctuary for a united worship, in person and online. Sunday evening December 24, we’ll have a family worship service in the fellowship hall at 4:00 p.m. featuring many of our youth. And on Sunday evening, December 24, we’ll gather in the sanctuary at 7:00 p.m. for our traditional candlelight and communion worship. We’ll also livestream the 7:00 p.m. service. All are welcome to Sunday worship, in person or online. All are welcome to join us at Peakland as we are reaching out, serving all, and extending God’s Table. If you’d like to learn more about Peakland and finding your place here, contact me at Peaklandpastor@gmail.com Thanks be to God.