The Mid-Week Message

Hope for the United Methodist Church

2012-02-07T10:04:00.000-08:00

February 7, 2012,

Dear St. Paul's Family,

For many years we have witnessed the steady decline of our beloved United Methodist Church. Like every other mainline denomination, the statistical trends are as indisputable as they are sobering. At this rate, over the next four decades, total membership will shrink from its present 8.2 million to under one million, and approximately two-thirds of our congregations will be closed. [1] Our presence in the world's spiritual arena, as well as our influence on culture at large, is waning toward extinction. It is easy to imagine how the Church that nurtured me in the faith and called me into ministry will be a shadow of its former self by the time I retire, thirty years from now.

THE GOOD NEWS

But even in the most dire moments, I still feel a tenacious hope that rights my despair and convinces me of a brighter future. It is a hope grounded in the vitality and health of any local congregation that accomplishes its mission of “making disciples for the transformation of the world.” And I am proud to say that over the past five years as your pastor, St. Paul’s has buoyed me with evidence for that hope, time and time again.

Here’s just one of many examples. Last fall, we started offering monthly "Meet the Methodist" classes: 90-minute introductions to the history, doctrine, and practice of the United Methodist Church, as well as the mission and vision of St. Paul's. Every session has been attended by a mixture of first-time seekers and long-time members, who come wanting a deeper understanding of what makes Methodism unique among the plethora of religious options in the world today. (The next session, by the way, is this Thursday night at 6:30 in the Feller Lounge.)

Part of these sessions include an overview of what it means for us to be a "People in the Center," as our core values state. This characteristic is rooted in the beliefs of John, Charles, and Susannah Wesley, and simply states that when faced with two polarizing options, we look for an creative third way, or via media, in the center. In short, we look for the best of both options, and forge an effective synthesis of the two. Then I give a few examples:

· Rather than choosing between a doctrine that intellectually satisfies or a faith that stirs the heart, we believe in the hybrid of "two so long divided - knowledge and vital piety."

· Rather than choosing to define salvation as either "getting into heaven" or social justice for us here and now, we find a way into the center, embodying both a passion for truth and a compassion for people.

· Rather than having to choose between a God who directs human destiny or a limited God who allows for free will, we believe in a God whose grace persuades us toward salvation and grants us the ability to choose.

· Rather than being defined by any one political or ideological agenda, we remain centered in our task of "spreading scriptural holiness across the land." We are a church filled with both Democrats and Republicans, conservatives and liberals, (and even Hawkeyes and Cyclones!), yet we are united in our core beliefs about Jesus Christ and the Bible.

It's amazing. As soon as I lay this out for people for the class, light bulbs go off and heads nod in approval. I see in their eyes a deep satisfaction, as if a polarizing fog is beginning to lift. Inevitably, people respond with words like, "I finally know why I love being United Methodist." Or, "Where has this been all my life?" Or, “This makes so much sense to me!”

I've heard these statements from people more often now than I can possibly count, and it convinces me that United Methodism offers something that the world desperately craves, even if it can’t name it as such. It is a reasonable, balanced, centerfield faith, and an open-minded approach to a God whose love can be “shed abroad in human hearts.”

That's the only good way I have of explaining what has happened here at St. Paul's over the past five years. By the grace of God, you have created a spirit of openness, warmth, and genuine joy, welcoming a variety of people into the inclusive, empowering fellowship of God’s grace. Fifty new members last year alone, a seven percent growth in membership, most of whom by profession of faith, is evidence of your good work. As a people in the center, we are right where people can find a God they have longed for all their lives.

That's why, in the face of sobering statistics and dire projections, I can have hope. When local churches like us do our job, and make disciples for the transformation of the world, we see resurrection.

THE CALL TO ACTION

But there's additional good news. There are people in the United Methodist Church who, for the past three years, have been formulating a plan to stem the tide of decline and recommend sweeping change to the denominational structure. When the General Conference meets in a few months in Tampa, Florida, it will consider a wide range of changes, from streamlining national boards and agencies to revising guaranteed appointments for clergy. The impact will stretch from the highest echelons of our polity (establishing a new role for the President of the Council of Bishops) to the very grass roots of our denomination (setting ministry goals for local congregations.)

I would recommend that you read the brief, 25-page Call to Action study guide for yourself, found on the website below. [2] And for a well-written endorsement of these recommendations. read this article by Jim Harnish, a friend and senior pastor at my previous church. [3]

DRIVERS OF VITAL CONGREGATIONS

One of the pieces of the Call to Action I am most interested in is the list of "best practices" for congregations to consider. If the hope of our denomination is to be found in the local church - which I have come to believe, now more than ever - then here are qualities that define a healthy, vital church. Read through these, and see how many you think apply to St. Paul's:

Children and Youth:
1 Vital churches have more small groups for all ages.
2 Vital churches have more programs for children.
3 Vital churches have more programs for youth.

Lay leadership
4 Vital churches focus on increasing the effectiveness of lay leaders. (Laity understand their role and carry these roles out effectively.)
5 Vital churches have lay leaders who demonstrate a vital personal faith. (This faith includes regular worship, intentional spiritual growth, personal devotional life, and giving of financial resources.)
6 Vital churches place an emphasis on rotating lay leadership in order to involve more people over time.
7 Vital churches call, equip, use, and support more lay leaders than non-vital churches. (Twenty percent or more of their worship attendees describe themselves as current or past leaders in their church.)

Pastors
8 Vital pastors coach and mentor lay leadership.
9 Vital pastors use their influence to increase the participation of others in order to accomplish changes
10 Vital pastors motivate the congregation to set and achieve significant goals through effective leadership.
11 Vital pastors inspire the congregation through motivational preaching.
12 Vital pastors, when they are serving effectively, stay for a longer period of time.

Worship
13 Vital churches offer a mix of contemporary (newer forms and styles of worship) and traditional services.
14 Vital churches have preachers who tend to use more topical sermon series in traditional services.
15 Vital churches use more con- temporary music (less blended music that includes traditional tunes) in contemporary services.
16 Vital churches use more multi-media in contemporary services (multi-media may not be as important as it is in some cultures).

Now, rather than give you my analysis of how we measure up to these drivers, I'd like to hear from you. I would be very interested in hearing from you which of these you think we do well. And eventually, we'll have a more structured conversation about how we can do better. For now, let me simply say that I think that the 20/20 Vision Plan you all adopted in 2008 goes a long way in echoing many of these priorities, which puts us well on the right track.

THE LITTLE CITY

I don't think it's any coincidence that my reflection on the Call to Action report coincides with this Sunday's scripture from Ecclesiastes. What would happen if we read this passage and see the United Methodist Church as the "little city" in this parable?

There was a little city with few people in it. A great king came against it and besieged it, building great siege-works against it. Now there was found in it a poor, wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city. Yet no one remembered that poor man. So I said, "Wisdom is better than might; yet the poor man's wisdom is despised, and his words are not heeded." The quiet words of the wise are more to be heeded than the shouting of a ruler among fools. Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one bungler destroys much good. (Ecclesiastes 9:13-18)

Indeed, it seems that dire statistics seem to be a "great king" that lays siege with forecasts of doom and despair around us. And there are many “rulers among fools” who speak out of fear and angst. But among is a quiet word, wisdom from an inconspicuous source, at the very heart of what it means for us to be a People Called Methodist. When we silence all other voices, and remove the barriers that prevent us from hearing those quiet words, we will find a “wisdom that is better than might,” a courage to change, and a chance to see resurrection among us.

Grace and Peace,

Magrey

The Rev. Magrey R. deVega
St. Paul's United Methodist Church
531 W. Main St.
Cherokee, IA 51012
Ph: 712-225-3955
Email: mdevega@sp-umc.org

[1] Here is an excellent article by Adam Hamilton, pastor of the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Kansas City: http://www.ministrymatters.com/all/article/entry/2305/four-steps-toward-vitality

[2] The “Call to Action Study Guide” can be found online and downloaded from http://www.umccalltoaction.org/wp-content/uploads/resources/CallToActionSG.pdf

[3] http://floridaconferenceconnection.info/conversations/detail/38

PANCAKE RACE!
We are excited to host the fourth annual Great Cherokee Pancake Day Race and Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper, on February 21, 2012. The race starts at 5:30pm, with the brief worship service and pancake supper following. All proceeds will benefit the two local food pantries, to which we have given approximately $3,500 to date. To register, visit pancakerace.com or pick up forms at the church or City Hall.

The Bank of the Poor

2012-01-31T08:43:00.001-08:00

January 31, 2012

Dear St. Paul’s Family,

How about some good news for a change? In a time when the economic downturn has hit countries around the world, it is refreshing to hear a story about a banking institution that has made the news for all the right reasons.

The Credit Municipal de Paris has decided to forgive the debts of nearly 3,500 of its customers, all of which owe a maximum of 150 euros (about $190 U.S. dollars). The bank is also known as “Mont-de-piete,” or “Bank of the Poor,” and has had a 375-year-old history of catering to the poorest in France. They offer low-interest loans against inexpensive valuables, a kind of alternative to pawn shops that made it one of the world’s first micro-lenders. It was started in 1637 by philanthropist and journalist Theophraste Renaudot, who started the bank as a way of combating poverty and giving the needy access to fair banking. Since its founding, it has served famous customers like author Victor Hugo, painter Claude Monet, and Napoleon Bonaparte’s wife Josephine. Today, it maintains a capitalization of 60 million euros, covering loans totaling 93 million euros. And in 2010, the Bank of the Poor took its 1.3 million euro profit and assigned part of it to rebuild substandard emergency housing for the poor.

But none of those good deeds compares to what just happened a few weeks ago, when the bank sent official word of its one-time cancellation of debts to some of its poorest customers. Lina, a young mother who put her jewelry up for collateral and took out a mere 120 euro loan, was amazed by the news. “It was nice. I have recovered it all,” the grateful mother told a regional newspaper.

When Genevieve, a woman in her fifties, heard the news, she went straight to the bank to recollect her gold coin and small wedding ring she pawned there three years ago. She later told Good Magazine, "I'm very happy, it's the first time I get something for nothing. There came a point when I needed money. They're not worth much but they're important to me." [1]

The preacher part of me has to resist the temptation to theologize too much over this news. After all, this story could serve as the perfect metaphor for one of Christianity’s earliest and most widespread theories of atonement. The Satisfaction Theory, first offered by medieval theologians Anselm and Thomas Aquinas, conceives the cross as payment for a debt that we could not repay on our own. Whether that debt be to Satan (for Anselm) or God (for Aquinas), our sinful condition forced us into a kind of “Bank of the Poor,” and we could not pay our way out. The work of Jesus on the cross satisfies that debt and wipes us free and clear.

I could also make a connection between this story and the Hebrew concept of Jubilee, the mandate from Mosaic law that every fifty years, the land lies fallow, all property returned to their rightful owners, and slaves are set free. It is a concept that was the basis for Jubilee 2000, an international coalition of 40 countries that called for the cancellation of third world debt by the year 2000. Since that effort, several Jubilee groups around the world have formed, including Jubilee USA, which advocates for cancellation of debts to the U.S. by third world nations.

And, of course, the pragmatist in me would want to reflect on the current state of our political and social discourse, in which terms like “too big to fail,” and “Wall Street bailout,” and “class warfare” have framed our national conversation about the growing divide between rich and poor. Especially during an election season, we would do well to remember the very first words uttered by Jesus in what would be the most famous sermon he ever preached. Blessed are the poor.

Rev. Jim Wallis, author of God’s Politics and founder of Sojourners Magazine, remarked on the importance of remembering the poor during this election year: "If a candidate for president claims to follow Jesus, then their concern should be for the poor. If they profess faith in God, they should faithfully observe God's concern for the oppressed. It's up to voters to evaluate how the candidates respond to these numbers and it's up to the media to hold leaders accountable to their professed beliefs. We know what campaign bundlers, special interests, and big business are watching for in this election, and it is not the poor.” [2]

And for a celebrity quote of an entirely different flavor, consider the words of comedian, satirist, and political neo-commentator Stephen Colbert: “If this is going to be a Christian nation that doesn’t help the poor, either we have to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are, or we’ve got to acknowledge that He commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition and then admit that we just don’t want to do it.” (from The Colbert Report, December 16, 2010)

Skeptics might say that the shocking announcement by the Bank of the Poor is a mere publicity stunt, a cunning way to gain more customers and promote its 375th anniversary. Regardless of their intentions, their work should be received as a rare dose of good news, and a reminder for all of us Christians that our work, theologically and pragmatically, should be a living embodiment of the prayer that Jesus taught us:

Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

Grace and Peace,

Magrey

The Rev. Magrey R. deVega
St. Paul's United Methodist Church
531 W. Main St.
Cherokee, IA 51012
Ph: 712-225-3955
Email: mdevega@sp-umc.org

[1] To read more about the Bank of the Poor, visit http://www.good.is/post/a-375-year-old-french-bank-forgives-debts-of-paris-poorest/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+good%2Flbvp+%28GOOD+Main+RSS+Feed%29&utm_content=Google+Reader

[2] http://blog.sojo.net/blogs/2011/09/13/jim-wallis-poverty-should-be-1-issue-2012-election

THIS SUNDAY: ECCLESIASTES
This Sunday, we turn our attention to the darker passages of Ecclesiastes, chapters 7-8, in which the Teacher vacillates between hope and cynicism, optimism and despair. Halfway into his immersive social experiment, he comes to the conclusion several times that “all is vanity and chasing after the wind.” Still, we will be able to learn some important principles for getting through the ups and downs of life, with a sermon titled “Survivor: When the Chips are Stacked against You.” See you Sunday, and bring a friend who can use a dose of good news!

YOUTH SKI TRIP
Back by popular demand! The youth group (grades 7-12) will head back to Mt. Kato for another fun day of skiing on Saturday, February 18. Each youth can bring one friend. We will meet at the church at 6:45 a.m. and be back between 9 and 10pm. The cost will be $20 for youth members and $35 for friends. We do need adults to serve as drivers and chaperones. Interested persons can contact John Chalstrom at 229-3894 or the church office. Youth will need to complete a permission slip and medical release form, available on the table outside the church office.

SUPER BOWL SNACK SALE
To raise funds for the ski trip, the youth will be sponsoring a Super Bowl snack sale this Sunday. Church members can help by contributing snacks and treats to be sold after church, and can be brought in this Saturday or left in the kitchen before 9:00 am Sunday. Thanks so much!

High or Low Jesus?

2012-01-23T21:47:00.001-08:00

January 24, 2012

Dear St. Paul’s Family,

It may come as a surprise to you to hear that I was in my mid-twenties before I ever sang the song “In the Garden.” The hymn that has become a staple in almost every congregation’s repertoire, and a near-unanimous request from hospital patients that I visit, was virtually unknown to me until 1997, when I was twenty-four years old. This is even more improbable considering my thirteen years of Christian school, which included weekly chapel services, and my active participation in a United Methodist Church since my sophomore year in high school.

As a youth, I can’t ever remember singing that hymn during worship. The church choir, often responsible for selecting the hymns, eschewed lyrics that “humanized” Jesus too much. Instead, we sang hymns that elevated Jesus to lofty regard: “How Great Thou Art,” “All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name,” and “Rejoice! The Lord is King!” were standard staples. But that also meant we never sang songs like “Victory in Jesus,” “Jesus is All the World to Me,” and, of course, “In the Garden.” The idea of singing a song that emphasizes that Jesus walks with me, talks with me, and tells me I am his own would rarely dotted his radar.

It would be unfair to criticize that music director for his hymn decisions. He was expressing a preference, not unlike that shared by many in the churches history who have had to wrestle with one of the foundational questions of the Christian faith: to what degree was Jesus both human and divine? Yes, our doctrine claims that his divinity and humanity were of equal status, two natures in one person. But many Christians have swayed their emphasis toward one at the expense of the other. There are those with a "high" Christology, like my choir director, who see Jesus as the sovereign Lord and ruler of creation. This was a position first offered by the Monophysites (“one nature”) in the fifth century, who claimed that Christ had only one nature, which was mostly essentially divine. Many classical paintings throughout the ages depict this Jesus as the pantokrator, or cosmic Lord of the universe.

At the other extreme, there are those who have preferred the humanity of Jesus, the one who cried at the death of Lazarus, suffered real pain at the hands of his Roman captors, and who wrestled with real temptations in the wilderness. This position was first offered by the church theologian Arius and his followers in Antioch.

Eventually, the Christian church deemed both monophysitism and Arianism as heretical. Jesus is not mostly divine, who then assumed some human characteristics. Nor is Jesus less than God because he was God’s Son. Instead, the Council of Chalcedon in 451 AD ruled that Jesus was “perfect in Godhead and also perfect in manhood; truly God and truly man, of a reasonable soul and body; consubstantial with the Father according to the Godhead, and consubstantial with us according to the Manhood.”

But despite this definitive statement 2,000 years ago, there still exists a range of perceptions about the nature of Jesus Christ, with nearly as many preferences as there are people. Though we claim the same creeds, we still have our own privately held convictions about who Jesus Christ is to each of us. Some of us like to think of Jesus as the rugged, square-jawed man with beautiful eyes and a winsome smile. Still others like to think of Jesus as sitting sky high on a throne, overlooking creation as if from a luxury box suite. Some of us like to call him "Master," while others call him "Friend." And the truth is, our hymnal caters to each of those preferences, from the lofty words of "Fairest Lord Jesus" ("Ruler of all nations") to the intimate scenes of "In the Garden" ("who walks with me and talks with me and tells me I am His own.")

Which brings me back to the first time I ever sang that song.

I am writing this message from the Life Enrichment Center in Leesburg, Florida, where fifteen years ago this week, I interviewed to become a pastor in the United Methodist Church. I can remember arriving in the afternoon, barely holding down my lunch, the nerves swirling in my gut in preparation for a long afternoon of examination. I would soon be sitting before fifty members of the Florida Conference Board of Ordained Ministry, who would pepper me with questions about my theology, my preaching, and my personal life. I was a wreck.

Before the interviews began, the candidates gathered with members of the Board for an informal worship service. The worship leader invited us to turn in the Hymnal to page number 314. As he played the piano, the sweet melody of this unfamiliar hymn began to soothe my racing heart. Rather than sing along, I listened to those around me, hoping to pick up the melody. And I listened to the lyrics, about an early-morning encounter in a garden with Jesus, whose voice is sweet, and whose melody is serene: Then, we sang the chorus:

And he walks with me, and he talks with me,
And he tells me I am his own.
And the joy we share as we tarry there
None other has ever known.

At that moment, the image of Jesus that seized my soul was not a distant, imperial God on high, but a God who was even closer to me than my heart's restless fears. The assurance of God's presence, expressed poignantly and powerfully in that chorus, washed over me, prompting a catch in breath, and tears down my cheek.

A member of the Board sitting next to me, assigned to be my "Board Buddy" throughout the afternoon, caught me crying. After the song, he leaned over and whispered to me. "That song kinda gets to you, doesn't it?"

"Yeah," I whispered back.

"Me, too," he said.

Today, and every day this week, I'll be back in that very same room, with another batch of candidates anxiously awaiting their interviews. Except this time, I'll be one of the members of the Board: an examiner, not the examined. And this afternoon, I'll have another special privilege, as the one who will be leading everyone in worship. And, of course, I'll have us sing "In the Garden." Maybe there will be someone there who has never sung it before. Maybe someone else will need to hear about a God who is as close to us as our own breath. And maybe there will be someone who needs to be reminded that this almighty God, ruler of the universe, accompanies us along every journey of life, such that "the joy we share as we tarry there, none other has ever known."

Grace and Peace,

Magrey

The Rev. Magrey R. deVega
St. Paul's United Methodist Church
531 W. Main St.
Cherokee, IA 51012
Ph: 712-225-3955
Email: mdevega@sp-umc.org

WORSHIP THIS SUNDAY
Join us as we continue our sermon series on Ecclesiastes with a look at the value of community. It's a sermon titled "Big Brother: The Gift of Community," based on Ecclesiastes 4 and 5.

FIND US ON FACEBOOK
The church now has a Facebook page, which, for the time being, will serve as the church’s new website. You can access the site even if you are not signed up for Facebook by visiting www.facebook.com/cherokeespumc.

MAGREY IN FLORIDA THIS WEEK
I am in Leesburg, Florida, this week, interviewing candidates for ordination. You can reach me by e-mail, or contact the church office in the event of an emergency. I will return this Saturday evening and will be back in worship this Sunday.

To Everything There is a Season

2012-01-17T10:10:00.000-08:00

January 17, 2011

Dear St. Paul’s Family,

Read this next sentence slowly, and see if it makes sense to you: Every straight line is actually part of a circle.

I know. It goes against everything you and I learned in grade school geometry, right? But it’s true. In theoretical mathematics, every straight line is in fact an arc. As a circle increases its radius towards infinity, and grows to near limitless size, any segment of that circle eventually “flattens out,” and seems to approach perfect straightness. In that event, what is linear is actually circular, as what is circular appears to be linear.

Mind-blowing stuff, huh?

But that’s what happens when our minds drift towards matters of the eternal. Our narrow view of reality changes as our perspective zooms out in infinite wide angle. The Teacher of Ecclesiastes grasped this idea and then took it one step further, applying this notion to the concept of time. To our limited sensibilities, time seems to be linear and sequential, progressing with a past, a present, and a future. We perceive it to have a beginning and an end, as we march forward in a straight line.

But Ecclesiastes challenges us with a glimpse of the eternal, elevating our view of time into the realm of the infinite. “God has put a sense of past and future into their minds, yet they cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.”

This is a passage that is as true mathematically as it is theologically: the less we define our lives linearly, with a past, a present, and a future, the more we discover that we are part of God’s vast, boundless activity across time, with seasons of highs and lows, ebbs and flows. And no Scripture better describes this concept more powerfully – or poetically - than Ecclesiastes 3, our text for this Sunday. The word time appears twenty-eight times in just eight verses, and describes time not as a straight line, but as a circuitous, repetitive pattern of events.

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
a time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to throw away;
a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.

So here’s the good news: while your time on earth is limited, your life in God is not. You are an important part of God’s grand, sweeping movement throughout the ages. Like the author of Ecclesiastes, you may be searching for a temporal respite from your pain and suffering. So you move forward, in a present situation that seems to be nothing more than an inescapable history fused with an unknowable future. But in God’s view, your linear life is actually circular, and you are part of something bigger than yourself.

Pete Seeger, one of the greatest folk composers in American history, turned the words of Ecclesiastes 3 into a number one hit by the Byrds in 1965. When asked by biographer Alec Wilkinson about the song “Turn, Turn, Turn,” Seeger described Ecclesiastes 3 in this way: “What a poem that is. It’s something worth considering. That the world is full of opposites, intertangled. The good and bad tangling up over time. Nobody knows. God only knows.” [1]

Indeed, God only knows.

The same year that the Byrds scored a number one hit with Seeger’s song, Dr. Martin Luther King was making history of his own. On March 7, 1965, five hundred people marched along U.S. Highway 80 from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. As part of that march, Dr. King uttered one of his favorite phrases, one that he included in several sermons throughout his career: “The arc of the moral universe is long,” he said. “But it bends towards justice.” King challenged the Selma marchers to see their finite efforts as contributing to God’s grander, more infinite vision, which is peace and justice for all people.

Though King made this phrase famous, it was not original to him. It was first spoken by Rev. Theodore Parker, a Unitarian preacher and an abolitionist. In 1853, he preached a sermon called “Justice and the Conscience,” declaring, "I do not pretend to understand the moral universe; the arc is a long one, my eye reaches but little ways; I cannot calculate the curve and complete the figure by the experience of sight; I can divine it by conscience. And from what I see I am sure it bends towards justice."

The words of Ecclesiastes, Dr. King, and Rev. Parker are all timely for us today. Though we live in a world addicted to violence, ravaged by hatred, and bent toward sin, we can continue our work in the present day, believing in a God whose ultimate purpose arcs toward justice for the world. We may not see it. Our eyes may “reach but little ways.” But we can “divine it by conscience.” Today may be a time for war, but there will be a time for peace. Our world may be filled with hatred, but there will be a season of love.

And the same is true for your life. You may be in the midst of a difficulty that seems unbearable, and from your private perspective, it seems interminable. But for everything there is a season. Your mourning can turn to dancing, your weeping into laughter, your loss into new opportunities. You may feel like your life is crumbling. But Ecclesiastes offers you a promise. Though your stones are scattered, you will have a chance to gather those stones again. This may feel like a time of tearing down, but there will be a time to build up again. Some things may have to die, before they can be born again.

There is great hope in these words, which is why they have offered great power to people in times of need. Join us this Sunday as we explore the richness of these words and allow their impact to shape a dream that is greater than our present condition. And you’ll also want to hear our very own Charlie Leissler, who will perform The Byrd’s hit “Turn, Turn, Turn” and lead us as part of worship.

Let us move forward with confidence, courage, and conviction, in the presence of the infinite.

Grace and Peace,

Magrey

The Rev. Magrey R. deVega
St. Paul's United Methodist Church
531 W. Main St.
Cherokee, IA 51012
Ph: 712-225-3955
Email: mdevega@sp-umc.org

[1] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2OYfmiysWo

My Favorite Old Testament Book

2012-01-10T11:17:00.001-08:00

January 10, 2012

Dear St. Paul’s Family,

Last September, I learned of the death of Mary Carter, a former parishioner in Tampa and a member of Hyde Park United Methodist Church. She was a grand and gracious 80-year old Southern gem from South Carolina and a member of the church’s altar guild, a group of women with whom I had the privilege of serving. Mary’s special role was to be caretaker of the church’s collection of oil-based votive candles, which she purchased in memory of her mother. Every Good Friday and All Saints’ Sunday, Mary’s candles were on proud display, glorifying God and inspiring people in worship. I loved working with her.

But Mary and I shared another connection: a love for the book of Ecclesiastes. After I casually mentioned my affinity for the book during one of my chapel sermons, she came to visit me in my office a few days later. We talked about how the book is often misperceived as hopelessly nihilistic, rather than a realistic, relevant, and authentic portrayal of the complexities of the human condition. We agreed that, in each other, we had found a rare comrade in our mutual admiration for a book in the Bible that is so widely disregarded.

A few months later, Mary returned to my office, this time with a present in hand. She wanted to talk about Ecclesiastes again, and wanted to know if I had ever heard of a collection of poems called the Rubaiyat of Omar Kayyam. I pled my ignorance, then she gave me the gift. “This,” she said, “is one of my favorite books. And it’s just like Ecclesiastes.” I opened the beautifully bound, antiquarian copy she had spent months locating for me, and I read it immediately.

Kayyam was an eleventh-century Persian astrologer, who made a modest living paid by the government to philosophize about the nature of the universe and the meaning of life. He was a scientist by trade, but a poet at heart. The 101 quatrains – or brief poems – that constitute the Rubaiyat are his most famous work, and read at times like they were written by the Teacher of Ecclesiastes himself. Kayyam reflects on his own pursuit of happiness and meaning, turning to wisdom, love, and wine in order to make sense of the world. Read the comparisons for yourself:

Ecclesiastes 1:10-11:
“Is there a thing of which it is said, ‘See, this is new’? It has already been, in the ages before us. The people of long ago are not remembered, nor will there be any remembrance of people yet to come by those who come after them.”
Rubaiyat XXVI:
Why, all the Saints and Sages who discuss’d
Of the Two Worlds so wisely – they are thrust
Like foolish Prophets forth; their Words to scorn
Are scatter’d, and their Mouths are stopt with Dust.

Ecclesiastes 2:1-3: “I said to myself, ‘Come now, I will make a test of pleasure; enjoy yourself.’ But again, this also was vanity. I said of laughter, ‘It is mad,’ and of pleasure, ‘What use is it?’ I searched with my mind how to cheer my body with wine – my ind still guiding me with wisdom – and how to lay hold on folly, until I might see what was goof for mortals to do under heaven during the few days of their life.”
Rubaiyat XXXIX:
How long, how long, in infinite Pursuit
Of This and That endeavour and dispute?
Better be merry with the fruitful Grape
Than sadden after none, or bitter, Fruit.

Ecclesiastes 3:11-13: “God has made everything suitable for its time; moreover he has put a sense of past and future into their minds, yet they cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. I know that there is nothing better for them than to be happy and enjoy themselves as long as they live; moreover, it is God’s gift that all should eat and drink and take pleasure in all their toil.”
Rubaiyat XXXVII:
Ah, fill the Cup: - what boots it to repeat
How Time is slipping underneath our Feet:
Unborn TO-MORROW and dead YESTERDAY,
Why fret about them if TO-DAY be sweet!

Ecclesiastes 3:19-20: “For the fate of humans and the fate of animals is the same; as one dies, so dies the other. They all have the same breath, and humans have no advantage over the animals; for all is vanity. All go to one place; all are from the dust, and all turn to dust again.”
Rubaiyat XXIV:
Ah, make the most of what we yet may spend,
Before we too into the Dust descend;
Dust into Dust, and under Dust to lie,
Sans Wine, sans Song, sans Singer, and – sans End!

Of course, neither Ecclesiastes or the Rubaiyat resolve their quests with anything remotely close to Christian hope. To wedge that inference into either text would be a disservice to their respective Hebrew and Muslim perspectives. But what both books do model is a kind of open, frank assessment of our human condition. Ecclesiastes invites us to acknowledge the shadow side to our faith: any part of us that is uncertain about things that everyone else seems to be so sure about.

The Teacher of Ecclesiastes challenges us to engage spiritual matters beyond mere memorization, beyond pious platitudes, beyond rote religious formulas. He serves as our immersion journalist, digging deeply into issues of life and death, hope and despair, promise and pain. What results is a narrative that creates space and freedom for you to face your own skepticism, and perhaps even your cynicism. And it might even suggest to you that the only way to find ultimate meaning and purpose in God is to stretch yourself to the limits of your own humanity.

For all of these reasons, Ecclesiastes is my favorite book in the Old Testament.

I’m grateful for having known people like Mary Carter. Her desire to explore the complexities life with courage and authenticity gave her a strength that equaled her love and grace. Her surprising gift to me was more than a lovely copy of an obscure, thousand-year old book. It was the encouragement to live life in the face of death, for to do otherwise is to ignore the former and be held captive by the latter. Last September, when I learned that her time had come to leave the trappings of this earth, I knew she was ready.

This sermon series on Ecclesiastes is one that I have always wanted to preach. I hope that you’ll join us as we dig deep into the riches of this book, unafraid to ask our toughest questions, and be open to the complex beauty beholden in its answers.

Ecclesiastes: The Bible’s Dose of Reality

Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader? The Pursuit of Wisdom
Ecclesiastes 1
January 8

Hoarders: The Folly of Self-Indulgence
Ecclesiastes 2
January 15

The Real World: Ups and Downs of Living
Ecclesiastes 3
January 22

Big Brother: The Value of Community
Ecclesiastes 4-5
January 29

Survivor: When the Chips are Stacked Against You
Ecclesiastes 7-8
February 5

Amazing Race: Expecting the Unexpected
Ecclesiastes 9-10
February 12

Extreme Makeover: Living a Transformed Life
Ecclesiastes 12
February 19

Grace and Peace,

Magrey

The Rev. Magrey R. deVega
St. Paul's United Methodist Church
531 W. Main St.
Cherokee, IA 51012
Ph: 712-225-3955
Email: mdevega@sp-umc.org

CHRISTMAS EVE SERMON ONLINE
For those interested, an audio recording of “A St. Paul’s Home Companion” is available on mdevega.blogspot.com. It is the sermon from Christmas Eve, in the style of Garrison Keillor’s “Guy Noir” sketch from his popular radio program “A Prairie Home Companion.” Enjoy!

THANK YOU, ST. PAUL’S!
What a remarkable finish to an amazing year of generosity and faithfulness. Your efforts toward our first-ever Salvation Army bell ringing brought in over $3,500 dollars, 90 percent of which will stay right here in Cherokee County to help people in need. You also gave over $1,500 to Heifer International, Church World Service, and Stan Sitzmann’s Needy Children Program. You have given over 2,000 pairs of shoes to Soles4Souls, and donated coats and other outerwear to our new clothing ministry (to the point where donations are no longer needed at this time!). To top it all off, we have gained an amazing fifty new members in 2011, many of which are by profession of faith, paid all our apportionments in full, and paid all of our expenses for 2011! What a tremendous year! Thank you, St. Paul’s, and let’s look forward to another great year ahead!

A St. Paul's Home Companion

2012-01-04T19:31:00.000-08:00

For those interested, here is the audio recording of "A St. Paul's Home Companion," the Christmas Eve sermon preached at St. Paul's UMC on December 24, 2011. It is in the style of Garrison Keillor's "Guy Noir" sketch from his popular "Prairie Home Companion" radio broadcast. It features Magrey, along with Bruce Dagel and Mary Cowan as voice characters, Jordan Taylor on sound effects, and Betty Point on piano.

Ring Out, WIld Bells!

2011-12-21T07:57:00.000-08:00

December 21, 2011

Dear St. Paul’s Family,

“Ring Out, Wild Bells”

A Christmas Poem by Alfred Lord Tennyson

Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky,
The flying cloud, the frosty light;
The year is dying in the night;
Ring out, wild bells, and let him die.

Ring out the old, ring in the new,
Ring, happy bells, across the snow:
The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true.

Ring out the grief that saps the mind,
For those that here we see no more,
Ring out the feud of rich and poor,
Ring in redress to all mankind.

Ring out a slowly dying cause,
And ancient forms of party strife;
Ring in the nobler modes of life,
With sweeter manners, purer laws.

Ring out the want, the care the sin,
The faithless coldness of the times;
Ring out, ring out my mournful rhymes,
But ring the fuller minstrel in.

Ring out false pride in place and blood,
The civic slander and the spite;
Ring in the love of truth and right,
Ring in the common love of good.

Ring out old shapes of foul disease,
Ring out the narrowing lust of gold;
Ring out the thousand wars of old,
Ring in the thousand years of peace.

Ring in the valiant man and free,
The larger heart, the kindlier hand;
Ring out the darkness of the land,
Ring in the Christ that is to be.

On behalf of the staff and lay leadership of St. Paul’s United Methodist Church, I wish you and your loved ones a joyous Christmas and a blessed new year!

Merry Christmas!

Magrey

The Rev. Magrey R. deVega
St. Paul's United Methodist Church
531 W. Main St.
Cherokee, IA 51012
Ph: 712-225-3955
Email: mdevega@sp-umc.org

CHRISTMAS EVE SERVICE
We will gather to celebrate the arrival of Christ this Saturday at 5:30 pm for our Christmas Eve Service. It will feature carols, candlelighting, and a very unique "radio drama" sermon. Join us, and bring a friend! We will also have a regular service at 10:10 am on Christmas morning.

CHURCH OFFICE CLOSED
In observance of Christmas, the church office will be closed next Monday and Tuesday. Magrey and his family will be traveling after Christmas, so the Mid-Week Message will resume on Wednesday, January 11. Happy New Year!

YEAR-END GIVING
Help us end the year strong with your generous contributions to the church’s general budget. Just a reminder, to have your gifts counted toward your 2010 giving statement, they must be postmarked to the church by December 31.

Bearing the Word

2011-12-13T14:45:00.001-08:00

December 14, 2011

Dear St. Paul’s Family,

This week’s message marks a bit of a minor milestone for me, as it is my 200th Mid-Week Message since becoming your pastor in 2007. I would otherwise let the occasion slide by unnoticed, except that I have to acknowledge some surprise at reaching this benchmark. I was quite unsure when I started writing these four years ago whether I’d have both the regular content and the ongoing stamina necessary to keep writing them. Nor was it clear whether I could fit it into the rigors of writing both the weekly sermon and the Sunday morning radio program. So it is not without some level of astonishment that I share this observance with you.

I can only hope that you’ve received as much benefit from reading these messages as I have had in writing them. The discipline of producing them has sharpened my command of language, in a form and scope quite different from the auditory experience of a live sermon. More importantly, as the messages have gotten longer, more substantive, and more varied, I have strengthened by ability to theologize on a broader array of contemporary issues at the intersection of life and faith. Words, after all, constitute my stock in trade, so writing these Mid-Weeks has made me a better preacher, a more effective pastor, and a more capable spiritual leader.

PASTORS WRITING BADLY

Whenever I’ve felt tempted to cut corners on the Mid-Week, I think about a shot in the arm I received exactly one year ago today. On December 14, 2010, Duke Divinity School’s Faith and Leadership website published an article by the Rev. Lillian Daniel called “Pastors Writing Badly.” [1] It is a call for ministers to give renewed attention to one of the most basic, yet most overlooked, forms of pastoral communication: the epistle. Daniel laments the lost art of simply writing to one’s congregation, whether it take the form of a monthly newsletter article or a weekly e-mail message. Too many pastors, Daniel argues, ignore the importance of writing these pieces well:

Pastors tired of writing newsletters would do well to remember that most Sunday worship attracts a fraction of our members. That means that more people may be touched by that newsletter than by our worship. The newsletter may be the only connection a home bound and elderly member has to the church. Just when I am convinced no one reads the newsletter, I hear a story about an article that truly turned someone’s attention back to God at a crucial moment.

And for good or bad, they have a wicked long shelf life. They lie on people’s kitchen counters for a neighbor to pick up, they get sent off or emailed to relatives if a child’s name is mentioned within, and they are even perused by petty clergy colleagues with an axe to grind.

I do have an axe to grind, and it is this. As much as I appreciate the minister’s workload, I want to suggest that even in the busiest week, we prioritize. As long as the newsletter is an afterthought, we miss an opportunity for ministry.

Lastly, sloppy newsletter articles are, in their frequency and practice, a rejection of one of Christianity’s historical treasures -- the well-written epistle. We are a religion in which we gather to worship, to hear the gospel, the prophecies, the songs, and then, as odd as it may seem, a letter. A letter from a pastoral leader to a church.

I don’t aspire to write like Paul in every issue of the Pilgrim newsletter, but I am humbled to note that 2,000 years later, we know him by his letters, and not his preaching. We also know those churches. And in their struggles, in their arguments, and in their growth, they had a leader who wrote to them carefully, critically, lovingly and with all he had. It’s time to reclaim the pastoral epistle at the local level, move the newsletter article higher up the list and take it seriously again.

Daniel captures perfectly why it is so important for clergy to maintain the discipline of good writing, and why writing these weekly messages is such an important part of my ministry to each of you. I’m grateful for any benefit it brings you.

BEARING THE WORD

In case you think clergy are the only ones who have the responsibility of influencing the world with their words, guess again. You do too. You don’t need to have a seminary degree, or formal religious training, in order to have the ability to be word-bearers.

Just ask Mary.

It is not a coincidence that this 200th message coincides with the Sunday that we turn our attention to Mary, for no one knew better the significance of bearing the Word than her. Orthodox traditions name her as the Theotokos, or “bearer of God.” Christian doctrine is careful to specify that Mary’s bearing of Jesus does not make her older than God, the creator of God, the source of Christ’s divinity, or even divine herself. What it simply means is that she was the vessel through which God gave the world God’s best, most complete self-revelation of love for humanity. Without Mary bearing the Word, the world would not know love in the Word made Flesh.

While most Protestants do not give Mary the kind of doctrinal prominence that our Catholic and Orthodox siblings do, hers is a critical example to incorporate into our discipleship. You don’t need to be a minister, drafting sermons and weekly messages to be a conduit of God’s grace. The Word that you bear may take a number of forms:

A timely word of encouragement to a troubled friend in need.
A prophetic word of truth for someone living amid the shadows of sin.
A liberating word of hope for a person gripped by grief, anxiety, or loss.
A reconciling word of forgiveness, to mend a broken relationship.

As noted preacher and author Barbara Brown Taylor once said, “You are a word, about the Word, before you even say a word.” And whatever form that word takes, yours may be the vital link connecting someone else to an experience of God’s love. Just like Mary, you may be exclusively chosen by God to carry that word for a specific person. So may you birth that word in the way you live, speak, and relate to others, that you may say, ‘Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.”

Peace and Joy,

Magrey

The Rev. Magrey R. deVega
St. Paul's United Methodist Church
531 W. Main St.
Cherokee, IA 51012
Ph: 712-225-3955
Email: mdevega@sp-umc.org

[1] http://www.faithandleadership.com/blog/12-14-2010/lillian-daniel-pastors-writing-badly

WINTER OUTERWEAR REQUEST
Thank you for the tremendous response to our new winter outerwear ministry. Every day, new loads of coats, hats, and mittens arrive for distribution on Saturdays. There is now a need for snow boots, for all ages and sizes. If you have new or gently used boots to donate to families in need, please place them on the table outside the church office.

INCREDIBLE GENEROSITY
You all continue to prove to be a congregation of generous hearts. Thank you for your donation of over $750 to Stan Sitzmann’s Needy Children project, and for your efforts to ring bells for the Salvation Army, which has raised over $1,800 so far this December. You are truly putting God’s love into action!

END-OF-YEAR GIVING
Thank you for your faithful giving to support the ministries of the church throughout the year. You can help us end the year strongly and start 2012 without any operational deficits. For your gifts to be counted toward your 2011 statements, please postmark your contributions by December 31.

CHRISTMAS EVE SERVICE
Join us for another beautiful Christmas Eve Candlelight service on December 24 at 5:30 pm. We are also having a regular service on Christmas morning, Sunday the 25th, at 10:10 am.

Rhyming John the Baptist Sermon

2011-12-07T08:22:00.000-08:00

For those interested, here is the audio from last Sunday, December 4, 2011. It's my rhyming sermon on John the Baptist, based on Matthew 3:1-17.

Matthew 3:1-17

In those days John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea, proclaiming, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.’ This is the one of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke when he said,

‘The voice of one crying out in the wilderness:

“Prepare the way of the Lord,

make his paths straight.” ’

Now John wore clothing of camel’s hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. Then the people of Jerusalem and all Judea were going out to him, and all the region along the Jordan, and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.

But when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, ‘You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit worthy of repentance. Do not presume to say to yourselves, “We have Abraham as our ancestor”; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. Even now the axe is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

‘I baptize you with water for repentance, but one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing-fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing-floor and will gather his wheat into the granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.’

An Advent Prayer for Our Relationships

2011-12-06T07:38:00.000-08:00

December 6, 2011

Dear St. Paul’s Family,

Most popular depictions of the holiday season would have us believe that this is supposed to be a time of good cheer for everyone. Yet, despite musical pleas to make this “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year” and the “happiest season of all,” we find our relationships with others strained under stressors too numerous to count. You don’t need me to remind you that despite our best efforts, Christmas festivities tend to amplify our most deeply hidden family dysfunctions, and intensify the subtle fractures that exist in our relationships all year long.

We remember that even Jesus himself was born into a dysfunctional family. His mother bore the scandal of a pregnancy out of wedlock, and his father was the subject of public scrutiny. Even Jesus’ ancestry is a roll call of the scandalous and malfeasant, including a foreigner, a liar, a prostitute, and an adulterer. We might even come to the conclusion that when it comes to the Christmas story, there is no such thing as a “normal” family at all!

It is therefore in the spirit of that reality that I offer you this pastoral prayer, for any strained relationships you have with family members, friends, or loved ones.

An Advent Prayer for Healthy Relationships

O God our Creator, whose breath formed us into being, and in whose triune image we are called into relationships of mutual love and support, we thank you for the gift of yourself in Jesus Christ, whose Advent we anticipate once again.

Though you desire this season to be filled with joy and peace, we confess that we have fostered relationships soaked with brokenness and dysfunction. We admit our longing for health and peace in the way we treat one another, yet we are an imperfect reflection of your self-giving example, and we are prone instead to dispute and disruption.

For every household filled with chronic anger and wearying quarrels, bring to light neglected faults, in a spirit of new understanding and peace.

For every gathering of family and friends that verge on the edge of squabble and scorn, unstable because of fault lines of unnamed hurts and past sins, pour out your spirit of confession and forgiveness.

For every family dealing with the haunting influences of addiction, substance abuse, and mental disease, grant your spirit of courage and compassion, to be bold in truth and generous in love.

For every marriage troubled by unfulfilled expectations and chronic miscommunication, grant your spirit of understanding and empathy. Rekindle within them an awakening of boundless, unconditional love.

For every set of siblings long plagued by competition and resentment rather than encouragement and affirmation, grant a new spirit of peace and cooperation.

For every old wound bandaged by tenuous scars, whose injurious past can be recalled with the most inadvertent reminders, grant your spirit of healing.

For every person whose ongoing grief for loved ones lost skews this season of hope and promise into a time of sadness and loss, grant your comfort and constant presence. Remind these persons that in your being, the bonds of love never end.

For every young family adjusting to new life with a child, and negotiating new ways to relate as a family in the midst of transition, grant a spirit of child-like wonder, and a desire to mature.

For every couple struggling with infertility, in the midst of a season based on the birth of a Child, grant a spirit of hope, and the reminder that they are not without ability to provide other enduring legacies of love.

For older couples separated by distance from children and grandchildren, or widows and widowers who have long lived alone, grant a spirit companionship, and surround them with new friends and cohorts on their journey.

For those who live in the shadow of their own mortality, in fear of their own death and disease, offer a reminder that you are the source of all life, encouraging them to embrace their lives and the lives of others with courage, unafraid of joy and pain, sickness and health. May your love be made real in our care for others.

O God of hope and promise, you revealed your power in the self-giving love of Jesus, whose birth in lowly means exemplifies your call to servanthood and humility. May we, in the strength of your spirit, receive the gift of your son, living out his image in all that we say and do. May this season truly be one of preparation, that our hearts, minds, and souls may be awakened to a hope that brings holiness, for ourselves and the people we love. Enliven us by your spirit, that we may live in the fullness of your reign.

In the name of Immanuel, your presence among us, we pray.

Amen.

The Rev. Magrey R. deVega
St. Paul's United Methodist Church
531 W. Main St.
Cherokee, IA 51012
Ph: 712-225-3955
Email: mdevega@sp-umc.org

CANDLELIGHT SERVICE OF REMEMBRANCE
Tonight we offer a worship service at Bethlehem Lutheran Church at 7:00pm for those grieving the loss of loved ones. In partnership with Bethlehem Lutheran, St. Paul’s UMC, Memorial Presbyterian, and Greenwood Funeral Home, the Candlelight Service of Remembrance features the reading of names and the lighting of candles in memory of people that we love. Join us for this meaningful worship experience.

CHRISTMAS CANTATA THIS SUNDAY AFTERNOON
Our music ensembles have been diligently preparing a wonderful program of songs and readings to prepare us for the coming of Christ. Join us at 4:00 this Sunday afternoon for our annual Christmas Cantata.

CHILDREN’S CHRISTMAS PROGRAM THIS SUNDAY
Our children’s ministry will be leading us in worship this Sunday for their annual Christmas program. Come experience the birth of Christ offered through spoken word and song. Following the service, you are invited to join us in the Fellowship Hall for a soup and hot dog luncheon.

CHRISTMAS COOKIE SALE
The Adult Class is once again sponsoring a cookie sale this Sunday. Reserve a batch or two of your holiday cookies and bring them to church this Saturday or before 9:00am this Sunday. They will be prepared by class members and offered for sale during the luncheon. Proceeds will fund projects sponsored by the Adult Class throughout the year.

COMMITMENT CARDS
Thank you to all of you who have already turned in a pledge for our annual stewardship campaign. Those who have not yet done so can pick up a stewardship packet in the narthex or in the church office. Thank you for turning it in as soon as you can, so that our Finance Committee can determine final approval of our 2012 General Budget.

To view past editions of the Mid-Week Message, visit http://mdevega.blogspot.com
To unsubscribe from this e-mail distribution list, please reply to this e-mail and write "UNSUBSCRIBE" in the subject line.

Good Work, Bad Days

2011-11-29T20:01:00.000-08:00

November 30, 2011

Dear St. Paul’s Family,

If you’ve ever had a day you wished you could do over, reading some pages out of the journal of John Wesley might give you a bit of perspective. His entries offer vivid portrayals of a man struggling to do God’s work in the midst of people who wanted little to do with it. On Tuesday, April 22, 1736, Wesley records this exchange from one of those harsh critics, a man Wesley identifies only as “M____.”

“Tuesday, April 22, 1736. Observing much coldness in M____’s behavior, I asked him the reason of it. He answered, “I like nothing you do. All your sermons are satires upon particular persons, therefore I will never hear you more; and all the people are of my mind; for we won’t hear ourselves abused.

“Besides, they say, they are Protestants. But as for you, they cannot tell what religion you are of. They never heard of such a religion before. They do not know what to make of it. And then your private behavior: all the quarrels that have been here since you came, have been ‘long of you. Indeed there is neither man nor woman in the town who minds a word you say. And so you may preach long enough; but nobody will come to hear you.”

Talk about a tough day at the office, huh?

We know very little about the true identity of M____. But we can tell he was a pretty angry man who did not mince words or keep opinions to himself. Wesley records his response to M___ at the end of his journal entry, which we might find altogether appropriate: “He was too warm for hearing an answer. So I had nothing to do but to thank him for his openness, and walk away.”

Time and again, Wesley suffered harsh, and sometimes violent, criticism for simply doing God’s good work. Angry rioters disturbed his worship services in towns like Bristol, Leeds, Birmingham, and London. On two separate occasions, mobs released oxen and bulls into the congregation, in an effort to disrupt his preaching. And someone in Drumersnave had the nerve to swipe the hat of Wesley’s head and stomp it to the ground. At every turn, Wesley calmly and coolly continued his work, perhaps turning to his journal for a daily catharsis from his miseries. On Friday, October 19, 1739, after preaching in an open field in Wales, Wesley recorded:

“I preached in the morning at Newport on “What must I do to be saved?” to the most insensible, ill-behaved people I have ever seen in Wales. One ancient man, during a great part of the sermon, cursed and swore almost incessantly; and, toward the conclusion, took up a great stone, which he many times attempted to throw. But that he could not do. - - Such the champions, such the arms against field preaching!”

Now, you and I may never have been subject to such harsh treatment. But I suspect there is a part of each of us that can relate to Wesley’s struggles. You might agree that some of our toughest days aren’t just the ones in which troubles arise unexpectedly or undeservedly. It’s the days when difficulties come as a direct result of our doing the right thing, speaking a truthful word, or performing a decent deed, that seem the most overwhelming. When injustice is coupled with irony, when the cosmos’ system of rewards and punishments seems grossly inverted, we question why we should bother doing the right thing to begin with.

Why confront a loved one about their self-destructive behavior when you will only be repaid with anger?

Why advance a posture of peace in a world so addicted to violence?

Why work for equality and tolerance when society is so warped by prejudice and ignorance?

Why bother speaking a word of truth when there are people waiting to release the bulls, pick up the stones, and stomp on our hats?

We can imagine that another man named John, some 2,000 years ago, found himself asking those same kinds of questions. On this second Sunday of Advent, the lectionary gospel turns our annual gaze toward the wild Nazarite in camel hair. Like Wesley, John the Baptist was an itinerant preacher sent by God to preach an uncomfortable message to unwilling ears.

Never does an Advent season go by without John the Baptist’s disruptive words that challenge our preferred Christmas comforts. Instead of lacing us with lovely tinsel and pretty garland, John shouts at us, “Repent, you brood of vipers!” Rather than listening to “Silent Night” and “White Christmas,” we hear his shrieking call: “Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” John the Baptist was all business, from his leather belt to his locust lunch, and was the furthest thing from Perry Como or Currier and Ives.

Yet, we need John to be part of our Advent journey. He not only confronts our own apathies and challenges our own comforts; he encourages us to take up the elusive mantle of prophetic justice, and be unafraid to defy the stubborn powers of darkness around us. He calls us to stay fixed in our resolve to speak truth to family and friends who are reluctant to hear it. He stokes a passion for us to work for integrity and impartiality in our systems of government, economics, politics, and social structure. He would tell us not to quit, and not to give up. For there is someone coming, someone whose sandals we are not worthy to untie, who will fill every valley, raze every mountain, straighten every crooked path, and smooth every rough patch. And everyone, all flesh, Luke says, will someday see the salvation of God.

Thank God for John the Baptist. And thank God for the bit of John the Baptist inside each one of us.

Ultimately, may John’s message remind us of the best and most proper way to prepare for the coming of Christ: not through gift buying and party planning, not through Black Fridays and Cyber Mondays, but through daily, sober reevaluation of our priorities and a realignment of our values with the kingdom of God.

So, join us this Sunday as we continue our journey to Bethlehem, and let’s hear once again from the wild man from the wilderness.

(And, please, by all means, leave your oxen and bulls at home!)

Grace and Peace,

Magrey

The Rev. Magrey R. deVega
St. Paul's United Methodist Church
531 W. Main St.
Cherokee, IA 51012
Ph: 712-225-3955
Email: mdevega@sp-umc.org

YOUTH SERVICE PROJECT TO MIDWEST CHRISTIAN CHILDREN’S HOME
All youth grades 7-12 are invited to join us for our annual service project to the Midwest Christian Children’s Home, a facility for troubled boys, near Peterson, Iowa. We will meet at 2:00 at the church and head to Kmart to purchase Christmas gifts using the proceeds from their recent cinnamon roll sale. We will then head up to spend the afternoon with the boys, and return to the church by 4:30. If you are willing to help drive, please contact the church office.

NEW WINTER OUTERWEAR MINISTRY
The Administrative Board has approved our lower basement to be used as a distribution site for people in need of cold weather outerwear. Every Saturday, from 12pm to 5pm, people in need can pick up items for use this winter. You can help by donating your new or gently used coats, jackets, snow pants, mittens, gloves, scarves, and hats to the donation table in the hallway outside the church office. You can also volunteer a small bit of your time on Saturdays to help with the distribution. Contact Kara Beasley or Karen Long to volunteer.

SALVATION ARMY BELL RINGING
For the first time, the Missions Committee is sponsoring a service project for anyone interested in ringing bells at Fareway, K-Mart, and Hy-Vee to collect money for the Salvation Army this Advent. In the narthex you will find a full schedule for the Saturdays from November 26 to December 24. One or two-hour shifts are available, and you can share a shift with a friend. This effort helps fulfill one of our initiatives from our 20/20 Vision Plan adopted in 2008.

ALTERNATIVE CHRISTMAS GIFT CATALOG
This holiday shopping season, consider giving a gift that will make a real difference. Our Alternative Christmas Gift Catalog features many ways that you can make a charitable donation in honor of a loved one. Agencies include Heifer International, Church World Service, and Self-Help International. Your gifts are tax-deductible and help us achieve our Rainbow Covenant Missions goal for the year. Fill out the order forms included in the catalog and turn it into a member of the Missions Committee on Sundays to receive your personalized gift card that you can give as a gift.

NEW MEMBERS JOINING DECEMBER 11
We have a number of people joining the church on Sunday, December 11, the last opportunity before the end of the year. If you are interested in joining, please respond to this email or contact the church office.

WORSHIP VOLUNTEERS NEEDED!
Do you want to make a difference in a meaningful way on Sunday mornings? Our worship team is looking for people to serve in 2012 as lay liturgists, children’s sermon providers, ushers, greeters, and people to provide altar flowers. Consider using your gifts in any of these important ways. To volunteer, contact the following schedulers: Sue Parker and Kim Luetkeman (lay liturgists and children sermons); Nancy Knapp and Myrna Goodwin (altar flowers); Church Office (ushers and greeters).

On Being Grateful for Everything

2011-11-23T07:42:00.000-08:00

November 23, 2011

Dear St. Paul’s Family,

On Being Grateful for Everything
By Henri Nouwen
(from Bread for the Journey)

To be grateful for the good things that happen in our lives is easy,

But to be grateful for all of our lives—
the good as well as the bad,
the moments of joy as well as the moments of sorrow,
the successes as well as the failures,
the rewards as well as the rejections—
that requires hard spiritual work.

Still, we are only truly grateful people when we can say "thank you" to all that has brought us to the present moment.

As long as we keep dividing our lives between events and people
we would like to remember
and those we would rather forget,
we cannot claim the fullness of our beings as a gift of God to be grateful for.

Let's not be afraid to look at everything that has brought us to where we are now and trust that we will soon see in it the guiding hand of a loving God.

On behalf of the staff and lay leadership of St. Paul’s United Methodist Church, I wish you and yours a blessed time of remembrance and gratitude. Happy Thanksgiving!

Grace and Peace,

Magrey

The Rev. Magrey R. deVega
St. Paul's United Methodist Church
531 W. Main St.
Cherokee, IA 51012
Ph: 712-225-3955
Email: mdevega@sp-umc.org

NEW WINTER OUTERWEAR MINISTRY
The Administrative Board has approved our lower basement to be used as a distribution site for people in need of cold weather outerwear. Starting Saturday, November 26, from 12pm to 5pm, people in need can pick up items for use this winter. You can help by donating your new or gently used coats, jackets, snow pants, mittens, gloves, scarves, and hats to the donation table in the hallway outside the church office. You can also volunteer a small bit of your time on Saturdays to help with the distribution. Contact Kara Beasley (thereeohrtman@hotmail.com) to volunteer.

SALVATION ARMY BELL RINGING
For the first time, the Missions Committee is sponsoring a service project for anyone interested in ringing bells at Fareway, K-Mart, and Hy-Vee to collect money for the Salvation Army this Advent. In the narthex you will find a full schedule for the Saturdays from November 26 to December 24. One or two-hour shifts are available, and you can share a shift with a friend. This effort helps fulfill one of our initiatives from our 20/20 Vision Plan adopted in 2008.

ALTERNATIVE CHRISTMAS GIFT CATALOG
Before you drown in the craziness of Black Friday and the holiday shopping season, consider giving a gift that will make a real difference. Our Alternative Christmas Gift Catalog features many ways that you can make a charitable donation in honor of a loved one. Agencies include Heifer International, Church World Service, and Self-Help International. Your gifts are tax-deductible and help us achieve our Rainbow Covenant Missions goal for the year. Fill out the order forms included in the catalog and turn it into a member of the Missions Committee on Sundays to receive your personalized gift card that you can give as a gift.

NEW MEMBERS JOINING DECEMBER 11
We have a number of people joining the church on Sunday, December 11, the last opportunity before the end of the year. If you are interested in joining, please respond to this email or contact the church office.

WORSHIP VOLUNTEERS NEEDED!
Do you want to make a difference in a meaningful way on Sunday mornings? Our worship team is looking for people to serve in 2012 as lay liturgists, children’s sermon providers, ushers, greeters, and people to provide altar flowers. Consider using your gifts in any of these important ways. To volunteer, contact the following schedulers: Sue Parker and Kim Luetkeman (lay liturgists and children sermons); Nancy Knapp and Myrna Goodwin (altar flowers); Church Office (ushers and greeters).

OLD-FASHIONED CHRISTMAS MUSIC!
Take time out of your busy holiday schedule to enjoy one hour of live old-fashioned Christmas music with David and Judi Klee on Saturday, December 10th at 3:00pm, at The Spice Rack store in Cherokee. The program will start at 3:00pm. Seating is limited, so come early to get your seat and refreshments for your mid-afternoon break. (The register will be closed from 3 to 4pm, during the program.) The program is FREE and open to the public.

Gifts for the King

2011-11-15T13:24:00.000-08:00

November 15, 2011

Dear St. Paul’s Family,

What do you give to a king who has everything?

During our summer travels, we visited the Tower of London and made the compulsory tourist stop to see the Crown Jewels. This impressive collection features royal crowns, mantles, scepters, anointing spoons, and other coronation accoutrements from the past 900 years. Many of the pieces were originally given as gifts to the royal family, including the First Star of Africa, mounted atop the Sovereign’s Scepter. It is the largest flawless cut diamond in the world which, along with the Second Star of Africa on the Imperial State Crown, was cut from the Cullinan Diamond, the largest diamond ever found. They were given to King Edward VII by the government of South Africa in 1907.

Kinda puts that wedding toaster in perspective, huh?

Lest you think that royal gifts are all glitz and glamour, here are some other gifts that Queen Elizabeth has been given during her reign. According to the official website of the British Monarchy, Her Majesty has received more mundane presents, including lacrosse sticks, sunglasses, a pair of sandals, pineapples, eggs, a box of snail shells, a grove of maple trees, a dozen tins of tuna, and seven kilograms of giant shrimp.

Now that’s more like it.

I have royal gifts on my mind, given that this weekend is the convergence of several important observances: it is Christ the King Sunday, the culminating day of the Christian liturgical year, in which we celebrate the present and future rule of Jesus Christ. It is also our Commitment Sunday, when we will be bringing forward our pledge cards, giving our best offering to God in support of the ministries of this church. It is also our Thanksgiving Luncheon, when we will give thanks as a congregation for all of God’s blessings to and through us over the past year. Finally – and we might as well acknowledge it – Sunday marks the beginning of a week that will end with the mayhem and madness that is Black Friday, and the start of the holiday shopping season.

So, if you put it all together - gratitude, gift-giving, royalty, and celebration - it leads us back to the original question: What gift do you give to a King?

To put it more broadly, what are the best kinds of gifts to give this Christmas? Not gifts that will break or be outgrown, or fashions whose trends will fade over time. Not another useless trinket or mind-numbing gadget. Instead, how about the gift of love, compassion, and care?

In fact, if you want to make a real difference in your holiday shopping, I invite you to consider these three, brand new ministries offered by the church that we are rolling out even before Black Friday:

1. WINTER OUTERWEAR

As you may know, there is now no charitable agency in Cherokee that will give out clothing to needy persons. This is of particular concern during the upcoming winter months, when coats, hats, mittens, and other outerwear are of an absolute necessity. Thanks to St. Paul’s, that will soon change.

Last Sunday, the Administrative Board approved a new partnership with some of the local consignment shops to allow our basement to be used as a clothing distribution site for cold weather outerwear. Every Saturday from noon to 5pm, starting November 29, volunteers will give clothing out to people of all ages who need to stay warm this winter. You can help out in the following ways:

a) Donate your new or gently used winter outerwear. We are collecting coats, jackets, snowpants, hats, mittens, gloves, and scarves, which you can bring in during the week and place on the table in the hallway outside the office.

b) Volunteer a few hours of your time during the winter to help distribute the clothing. Contact Kara Beasley (thereeohrtman@hotmail.com), the owner of Kid to Kid, one of the stores helping with the project and will coordinate the clothing distribution.

2. SALVATION ARMY BELL RINGING

For the first time, St. Paul’s is sponsoring a red kettle drive for the Salvation Army. We need persons to ring bells for a mere hour or two on Saturdays throughout the holiday season, along with Black Friday. Shifts range from 10am to 2pm on those days, and we will be ringing at K-Mart, Hy-Vee, and Fareway.

If we can fill all of the slots, St. Paul’s will be able to contribute 72 total hours of bell ringing to help people in need. Ninety percent of the money dropped into the red kettles will stay right here in Cherokee to help give out emergency assistance to those who need it the most. Sign-up sheets are available in the narthex.

3. ALTERNATIVE GIFT CATALOG

What do you give for the person who has everything? How about making a donation in their honor to one of four missions agencies that help people in need around the world?

Give the gift of hope this Advent through our Alternative Gift Catalog, sponsored by the Missions Committee. The catalog lists specific gifts you can give through Heifer International, Church World Service, SERV, and Stan Sitzmann’s Needy Children Project of Cherokee. Pick up a catalog this Sunday, fill out the order form, and turn it in with your payment to the office or to a member of the Missions Committee in the narthex. You’ll receive a personalized gift card that you can give to that special someone, along with more information about the agency to which you are giving.

All of the gifts you give are tax-deductible and help contribute to our Rainbow Covenant Missions giving effort this year. Most importantly, you can really make a difference!

I don’t know about you, but I think Christ the King much prefers any of the above gifts to jewels, crowns, and gems any day. It’s just like he told the disciples, in the grand apocalyptic parable in Matthew’s gospel: Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me. (Matthew 25:40).

Come this Sunday in the true spirit of Thanksgiving, ready to respond to God’s blessings with gratitude, commitment, and generosity. And let’s make this Advent season one of hope for people who really need it.

See you Sunday!

Magrey

The Rev. Magrey R. deVega
St. Paul's United Methodist Church
531 W. Main St.
Cherokee, IA 51012
Ph: 712-225-3955
Email: mdevega@sp-umc.org

BISHOP WILL WILLIMON AT MORNINGSIDE WEDNESDAY NIGHT
Come here one of the pre-eminent preachers and spiritual leaders in United Methodism on Wednesday night, November 16, 7:30 pm at Grace United Methodist Church in Sioux City. Bishop William H. Willimon of the North Alabama Conference will be speaking as part of Morningside College’s annual Wright Lecture and will present on the topic “The Unexpected Jesus,” based on his book “Why Jesus?” The event is free and open to the public.

Bishop Willimon was a professor and dean of the chapel at Duke University in Durham, N.C., for 20 years. He now leads 157,000 Methodists and 792 pastors as bishop of the North Alabama Conference of the United Methodist Church. A survey conducted by Baylor University listed Willimon as one of the 12 Most Effective Preachers in the English-speaking world. He is the author of 60 books, and over a million copies of his books have been sold. He has written articles for numerous publications, and curriculum materials for young people and adults.

INGATHERING THANK-YOU
Great work, St. Paul’s! Your efforts a few weeks ago produced 268 school kits, health kits, and book bags as part of the Iowa Conference’s Annual Ingathering. Thank you to all those who donated time and items, especially those who helped out with loading the trucks on Saturday morning. You really put God’s love into action. Thanks!

Another Great Year!

2011-11-07T15:46:00.001-08:00

November 8, 2011

Dear St. Paul’s Family,

For those not present at our recent charge conference, I’d like to share my annual pastor’s report. Celebrate with me all the wonderful work that God is doing through your faithfulness and commitment, as we anticipate a great year to come.

Pastor’s Report
St. Paul’s UMC Charge Conference
October 27, 2011
Magrey R. deVega

Once again, this year’s pastor’s report is in the format of our mission statement, adopted as part of the 20/20 Vision Plan in 2008. Let’s celebrate all of the wonderful ways that we put God’s love into action in 2010!

WORSHIP: We worship with joy, because Christ is among us and deserves our praise.

St. Paul’s continues to offer dynamic worship services that honor God. Worship attendance continues to be strong, and lay people faithfully serve as liturgists, children’s sermon providers, tech support, and hospitality. Thanks to Chancel Choir director Larry Hunecke, Bell Choir director Joe Vanetta, Praise Band director David Klee, and Children’s Choir director Linda Christensen, St. Paul’s continues to offer music that is excellent and joy-filled. Earlier this fall, we honored the memory of Tom Kruse, our long-time director of the bell choir, who elevated that ministry to a high level of performance.

This summer also saw the service of Rev. Ron Kitterman as our visiting preacher, as I participated in a 12-week study leave funded by the Lilly Endowment. We thank Ron for his excellent work during this time. Finally, our sermon series have been varied and relevant, and have included series titled, “More to Life,” “Why the Cross?” “Strength for Tough Times,”” and “Joy!”.

GROW: We grow in our faith, practicing every day what it means to be a follower of Jesus.

This year has seen marked growth in our church membership. So far this year, we have received about forty people into the church, many of them by profession of faith. This is a reflection of God’s work in the lives of people through the ministries of this church and the welcoming spirit of the congregation. We give thanks to God!

We also launched some new Bible studies this fall, including a new senior high mid-week teen time. Thanks to Craig Schmidt and Monica Cowan for their wonderful leadership and guidance for the kids. We also started a new class on the New Testament and a monthly “Meet the Methodists” orientation to the church. Both classes have gotten off to very strong starts.

Ministry to children and youth continues to be vibrant and active. The youth went on a Ski Trip in February, and did a service project at the Midwest Christian Children’s Home last December. The Children had another wonderful Vacation Bible School and Children’s Sabbath, and raised money for Iowa Flood relief.

CARE: We care for each other as an encouraging, supportive, and growing family.

Last December, we launched a brand new outreach ministry to grieving families in Cherokee. In cooperation with Greenwood Funeral Home, we hosted a Service of Remembrance for those who lost loved ones over the past year. Bethlehem Lutheran, Memorial Presbyterian, and Immaculate Conception Catholic Church all participated in a service that was so well-received that we have been asked to participate again this Christmas.

The Helping Hands program, under the guidance of Sheree Hausmann and Marlene Kelly, continues to link the skills and energy of people in the congregation with those in need. The Visitation Program continues to link lay visitors with shut-ins and homebound persons. They receive audio recordings of the service and a bulletin, and check on them for pastoral and personal concerns. We are grateful for the wonderful team of visitors who make these connections every week.

St. Paul’s continues to be the epicenter of care for people seeking wholeness and health. We host several Alcoholics Anonymous groups throughout the week, as well as Moms on Meth, and Narcotics Anonymous.

As always, our Funeral Luncheon Team continues to provide an amazing level of generous hospitality for families grieving the loss of loved ones. Theirs was a formidable task repeated dozens of times over the past year, and they provided wonderful luncheons with grace and warmth. Thanks to Phyllis Parrott and Jean Anderson for their coordination.

SHARE: We share with others to meet their physical and spiritual needs, and invite all people to faith in Christ.

Earlier this year we celebrated the achievement of another Third-Mile level of giving through the Conference’s Rainbow Covenant Missions program. We are on track for another high level of missions giving, and inaugurated several new giving opportunities. The Alternative Gifts Catalog debuted last Christmas as a unique way of giving gifts to loved ones. It included the Heifer Project, the Wilmot Wells Project, Church World Service Blankets, and Cherokee Needy Children. We also supported Krista Taylor, daughter of former pastor Ray Hampton, in her work with Africa Inland Mission in Kenya. We took up first-time offerings for Builders Call and the Bishop’s FIT Challenge, and continued to serve a vital and active role in the annual Iowa Conference Ingathering.

Of course, March featured another successful Great Cherokee Pancake Day Race and Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper. The event raised the visibility of both St. Paul’s and the town of Cherokee, and raised $1,000 for the two local food pantries. We continue to see an amazing response to Soles4Souls, an initiative that collects shoes of any size, style, or condition and sends them to needy people around the world. To date, you have contributed 1,969 pairs of shoes in the last 18 months! And, we continue to serve the community around us by hosting events for civic groups such as the Girl Scouts, 4-H, the Foster Care Review Board, and the American Legion.

This year we participated for the first time in the Cherokee Hot Dog Days, sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce. The response was tremendous, as large crowds stopped by our booth and received information about Vacation Bible School. That likely contributed to the nearly 75 kids we hosted in VBS this year!

Also, our weekly Daybreak radio broadcast continues to run every Sunday morning on KCHE, reaching out to many people unable to come to church. The fifteen-minute program serves as a wonderful teaching medium and an evangelistic tool for the church.

Finally, this past year saw St. Paul’s boldly embarking on its next great wave of campus improvements, thanks to the successful “Together in Faith” Capital Campaign. We have made amazing strides towards energy efficiency and handicap accessibility thanks to the generosity of the congregation. In August, we were able to remove the two dead boilers and replace them with three high-efficiency units, which should drastically reduce our annual gas costs. We also dramatically reduced the debt on the parking lot, which adds a number of new spots on the accessible west entrance of the church. And thanks to Don Witcombe and the excellent work of the Trustees, we have seen improvements to the west stained glass windows and the kitchen storage room.

Once again, these are exciting days to be a part of St. Paul’s UMC. I count it a deep privilege to have served another year as this church’s pastor, and I look forward to another great year of putting God’s love into action!

Grace and Peace,

Magrey

The Rev. Magrey R. deVega
St. Paul's United Methodist Church
531 W. Main St.
Cherokee, IA 51012
Ph: 712-225-3955
Email: mdevega@sp-umc.org

MAGREY IN FLORIDA THIS WEEK
I am in Leesburg, Florida this week to serve on the Florida Conference Board of Ordained Ministry. I am reviewing candidates for ordination and will be back Thursday afternoon. I can be reached by e-mail throughout my time away, and in the event of an emergency, please contact the church office.

WORSHIP THIS SUNDAY: GIFTS FOR THE KINGDOM
This Sunday we continue our stewardship sermon series on the parables of Jesus with a look at Luke 12:13-21. We’ll learn about a man obsessed with material possessions so much that he lost sight of the treasures that really matter.

YOUTH CINNAMON ROLL SALE
This Sunday the youth will be selling cinnamon rolls and other breakfast items for their annual fundraiser. All the proceeds will support their service project to the Midwest Christian Children’s Home in Peterson, Iowa, in December. If you would like to donate items for the sale, please contact Karla Wilkie.

SALVATION ARMY BELL RINGING SIGN-UP
For the first time, and in conjunction with one of our initiatives adopted as part of our 2020 Vision Plan in 2008, we are inviting people to sign up to ring bells for the Salvation Army’s “Red Kettle” this Christmas. Check out the display board in the narthex this Sunday to sign up for slots on Saturdays during Advent at Hy-Vee, Fareway, and K-Mart. Put God’s love into action and help raise money for those in need!

THANKSGIVING LUNCHEON NOVEMBER 20
Celebrate Commitment Sunday with us and plan on joining us for our annual Thanksgiving Sunday luncheon on November 20. We’ll provide turkey and all the fixings, and we’ll take up a free-will offering.

For All the Saints

2011-10-31T15:48:00.001-07:00

November 1, 2011

Dear St. Paul’s Family,

There, so far as is allowed us, when we are gathered together in exultation and joy, the Lord will enable us to celebrate the birthday of the martyrs, both for the memory of those who have contended, and for the exercise and preparation of those to come.

This passage, written by an unknown author, is part of The Martyrdom of Polycarp, one of the earliest eye-witness accounts of Christianity during the age of persecution. Written in the second century, the work gives us insight into how early in the church’s infancy the lives of saints were venerated, long before canonization.

During ensuing centuries, the number of martyrs became so large that the church ran out of days to assign individual observances to each one. So, the practice of finding a common day to celebrate them evolved over time. John Chrysostom originally assigned the first Sunday after Pentecost for this occasion, a sensible date given the season’s emphasis on the nature and work of the church. But it likely wasn’t until the eighth century, under Pope Gregory III, that All Saints’ Day found its current resting place on this day, November 1.

Today is not a day that you’ll find observed by our commercial establishments. If anything, November 1 serves as a marketing transition from masks, costumes, and Halloween candy to the garland and tinsel of the holidays. Lost among all of this shifting seasonal retailing is this sacred and holy day, a chance to remember our spiritual ancestry, and to give thanks for those who have gone before us.

STEWARDSHIP AND THE SAINTS

In preparation for today, I did a bit of research on some notable sayings of the saints. With the start of our annual stewardship campaign this Sunday, I found some profound quotes from people who had a great deal to say about discipleship, commitment, and material possessions. Consider how each statement might challenge you to reorient your life around a healthy view of money and worldly wealth:

Be not anxious about what you have, but about what you are. – Gregory the Great

For those in the married state, the best example we can cite is that of St. Joachim and St. Anne, who every year divided their income into three equal parts. One was for the poor, the second for the temple and the divine service, and the third for themselves. – Ignatius of Loyola

If everyone would take only according to his needs and would leave the surplus to the needy, no one would be rich, no one poor, no one in misery. – Basil the Great

It would be considered a theft on our part if we didn’t give to someone in greater need than we are. – St. Francis of Assisi

It is well known that I had neither riches, nor talent, nor external charm, but I have always loved, and I have loved with all the strength of my heart. – Mary Euphrasia Pelletier.

Here is a rule for everyday life: Do not do anything which you cannot offer to God. – St. John Vianney

God has no need of your money, but the poor have. You give it to the poor, and God receives it. – St. Augustine

True humility consists in not presuming on our own strength, but intrusting to obtain all things from the power of God. – St. Thomas Aquinas

ALL SAINTS’ SUNDAY

I hope that today you’ll take a moment to remember that your very existence on earth, as well as your unique qualities, is the sum result of countless people who have forged the path that charts your course. Find an opportunity to remember by name those whom you claim as ancestors, both by lineage and by influence. Say a prayer of thanks for dearly departed family members, faith founders, and spiritual companions who make you who you are today

And, of course, join us this Sunday, for our annual All Saints’ observance. We’ll remember those in our church family who have died over the past year, with the reciting of a name, the ringing of a bell, and the lighting of a candle. And, we’ll gather around the communion table, observing together the mysterious shroud of saints that accompany us on the journey.

Grace and Peace,

Magrey

The Rev. Magrey R. deVega
St. Paul's United Methodist Church
531 W. Main St.
Cherokee, IA 51012
Ph: 712-225-3955
Email: mdevega@sp-umc.org

TIME CHANGE
Don’t forget to adjust your clocks back one hour next Saturday night as we “fall back” to standard time next weekend.

INGATHERING
Join Methodists from across the state of Iowa this Saturday for our annual Ingathering effort. We will be gathering kits and assembling boxes to be delivered to people in need all around the world. Your help is needed from 7 am to 10 am, but any help you can give for part of that time is greatly appreciated. Meet at the old Hardee’s building across from Holzhauer’s. You are also welcome to attend the program and the mal at WITCC after at 10:00 am.

A Joyful Balance

2011-10-24T15:19:00.000-07:00

October 25, 2011

Dear St. Paul’s Family,

If there is right in the Soul,
there will be beauty in the person.
If there is beauty in the person,
there will be harmony in the home.
If there is harmony in the home,
there will be order in the nation.
If there is order in the nation,
there will be peace in the world.
- Taoist philosopher Lao Tze

How balanced is your life right now?

Many ancient civilizations recognized that a human being had three essential poles, or centers, at the core of one’s life. First is the mind, contained in the brain, constituting one’s reason, cognition, and intellect. Second is the spirit, housed in the heart, as the source for all passion, emotion, and capacity for relationships. Finally, there is the body, centered in the gut, encompassing all of one’s power, strength, and abilities.

Many cultures and religions have embraced this mind-body-spirit triad, even to this day. Taoism and Buddhism refer to these poles as the dantian, and many Chinese alternative medicines treat ailments along the sections of the body called the upper, middle, and lower dantian. Tae Kwan Do teaches a mastery of one’s Ha (gut), Jung (heart), and San (mind). Hinduism claims these three centers among the seven chakras, or “wheels,” that drive human existence. Many more cultures have similar teachings.

The truth is, you don’t have to look too far into the history books to see evidence of how much this triad has worked its way into contemporary culture. Dorothy’s three friends in The Wizard of Oz each sought a different part of the core: the Tin Man (a heart), the Scarecrow (a brain), and the Lion (courage and strength). A.A. Milne’s classic Winnie the Pooh showed us three friends who embodied each of these strengths: an Owl (with the brains), Tigger (with the passion and zeal), and, of course, the silly old bear (driven by the “rumbly in his tumbly.”) And it wouldn’t be a stretch to consider the senior crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise, with the mind of Mr. Spock (“That’s not logical.”), the passion of Dr. McCoy (“I’m a doctor, not a magician!”), and the gut bravado of Captain Kirk (“Khaaaaaan!”).

Even the Greco-Roman world of early Christianity recognized these centers, which explains why a few New Testament passages encourage a balance among one’s mind, body, and heart: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” (Matthew 22:37, NRSV) “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” (2 Timothy 1:7, NKJV)

PAUL’S PRESCRIPTION

And then, there is Paul’s letter to the Philippians. Chapter four concludes with a sweeping, rousing encouragement to live the kind of joyful life we are created to live. To get there, Paul offers a simple plan: develop a healthy balance in all three centers of your life, and align each one with God’s joy and peace. Here is his tri-fold prescription:

For your anxious heart, prayer:
Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (verses 6-7)

For your troubled mind, truth:
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. (verse 8)

And for your physical weakness, trust:
Not that I am referring to being in need; for I have learned to be content with whatever I have. I know what it is to have little, and I know what it is to have plenty. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being well-fed and of going hungry, of having plenty and of being in need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me. (verses 11-14)

Most of the time, in our unhealthiest moments, we have an imbalance among our mind, body, and spirit. If you find yourself at this moment suffering any kind of mental, emotional, or physical duress, consider which one (or ones) of these three centers may be undernourished, under-exercised, or just flat-out ignored.

Do you have a headache from working, studying, and worrying so much? Tend to your body and to your heart. Get some good exercise, some restful sleep, and eat right. And nurture your relationships with loved ones. Restore trust, practice forgiveness, and spend quality time with them.

Do you have physical ailments that seem to keep you down? Try feeding your mind with helpful information that will keep you on top of what’s happening, and develop trustful relationships with companions who can aid you on your journey.

Are you feeling heartsick and joyless, without an ounce of passion or zeal? Then delve your mind both into the words of Scripture and into the wider world of ideas, filling your mind with things that are “excellent and worthy of God’s praise.” And certainly, remember that no matter what, you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you.

As we wind down our sermon series on joy this Sunday, we’ll look further into Paul’s words of advice in Philippians 4. His prescription is nothing fancy, and it certainly has been around long before he came onto the scene. But his advice is too often ignored, and it would be well worth it for you to develop healthy goals for all three areas.

See you Sunday!

Grace and Peace,

Magrey

The Rev. Magrey R. deVega
St. Paul's United Methodist Church
531 W. Main St.
Cherokee, IA 51012
Ph: 712-225-3955
Email: mdevega@sp-umc.org

Philippians 4:1-13
1 Therefore, my brothers and sisters, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, my beloved.
2 I urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord. Yes, and I ask you also, my loyal companion, help these women, for they have struggled beside me in the work of the gospel, together with Clement and the rest of my co-workers, whose names are in the book of life.
4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.
5 Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near.
6 Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
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.
9 Keep 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.
10 I rejoice in the Lord greatly that now at last you have revived your concern for me; indeed, you were concerned for me, but had no opportunity to show it.
11 Not that I am referring to being in need; for I have learned to be content with whatever I have.
12 I know what it is to have little, and I know what it is to have plenty. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being well-fed and of going hungry, of having plenty and of being in need.
13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

CHARGE CONFERENCE OCTOBER 27
Join us at 6:00pm this Thursday, October 27, for our annual charge conference. We will celebrate our ministries from the past year, approve the 2012 budget, and adopt ministry goals for the upcoming year. Every member of the church is a voting member of the charge conference.

NEW MEMBER SUNDAY: OCTOBER 30
We have a number of new folks who are interested in joining the church, and we will be welcoming them into membership on October 30. If you or someone you know is interested in joining St. Paul’s, please respond to this e-mail or contact Andrea in the church office.

To view past editions of the Mid-Week Message, visit http://mdevega.blogspot.com
To unsubscribe from this e-mail distribution list, please reply to this e-mail and write "UNSUBSCRIBE" in the subject line.

The Holy Work of Words

2011-10-17T19:33:00.000-07:00

October 18, 2011

Dear St. Paul’s Family,

"But words are things, and a small drop of ink,
Falling like dew, upon a thought, produces
That which makes thousands, perhaps millions, think."
~George Gordon Byron

I hope that your Sunday schedule this past weekend included viewing the dedication of the MLK Memorial in Washington, D.C. Assembled in our nation’s capital were about 50,000 people who, along with the millions viewing around the world, remembered the life, witness, and work of America’s greatest champion for civil rights and non-violence.

The memorial sits on four acres on the northwest corner of the Tidal Basin, on a perfect line between memorials to Abraham Lincoln – the “Great Emancipator,” and Thomas Jefferson – the “Apostle of Democracy.” From these three great figures we get three of the most significant pronouncements on human dignity in American history: The Declaration of Independence, The Gettysburg Address, and the “I Have a Dream” speech.

We remember that our history, our collective conscience, and the hope of our future is grounded and shaped by the power of words.

Yes, words mean little if not complemented by conviction and implemented with action. But, as Lord Byron wrote in the quote above, words can make “thousands, perhaps millions, think.” Words can unlock our imagination, unleash our creative potential, and empower us to see a future that is better than our past. Speeches can stir our hearts, essays can evoke hope, and documents can determine our identity as a people. After all, one of the Latin words for word is dictum, whose root word dico originally meant “to consecrate.” To participate in the power of words is to dedicate a part of ourselves for holy work, to partake in divine efforts for truth, dignity, and justice throughout the world.

JOSE RIZAL

I was eminently reminded of the power of words over the summer, during our trip to the Philippines. This year is the 150th anniversary of the birth of Jose Rizal, the 19th century poet, novelist, and champion for Filipino pride and liberty. Like Dr. King, his society was marked by injustice and oppression, stemming from three centuries of Spanish occupation in the Philippines. Perceiving the Filipino people to be savagely primitive and illiterate, Spain ruled the Philippines with a heavy hand, affording them little opportunity for cultural expression and civic pride.

But Rizal was an iconoclast. Far more than merely literate, he was a polyglot: able to speak and write in twenty-two languages. His extensive university education earned him degrees in Madrid, Paris, and Heidelberg, Germany. From his studies, he wrote books and essays which promoted education for all Filipinos and the development of a national identity, all through non-violent resistance. His significant works became the basis for peaceful reform, resulting in the Philippines Revolution of 1896-1898 and the secession of the Philippines from Spanish occupation.

King and Rizal shared more in common than their mutual belief in the power of words and non-violence. They shared similar fates, as their growing influence and threat to the oppressive establishment resulted in their own untimely deaths. Rizal was exiled, imprisoned, and ultimately sentenced to execution in 1896 for acts of rebellion, sedition, and conspiracy. Just days before his death, Rizal penned a poem called “My Last Farewell” that spoke of his pride as a Filipino, and his undying hope for a land filled with freedom, justice, and liberty for all people:

If over my grave some day thou seest grow,
In the grassy sod, a humble flower,
Draw it to thy lips and kiss my soul so,
While I may feel on my brow in the cold tomb below
The touch of thy tenderness, thy breath's warm power.
Let the moon beam over me soft and serene,
Let the dawn shed over me its radiant flashes,
Let the wind with sad lament over me keen;
And if on my cross a bird should be seen,
Let it trill there its hymn of peace to my ashes.
Let the sun draw the vapors up to the sky,
And heavenward in purity bear my tardy protest
Let some kind soul o 'er my untimely fate sigh,
And in the still evening a prayer be lifted on high
From thee, 0 my country, that in God I may rest.

This poem is to Filipinos what Dr. King’s speech is to Americans: a vision of the future, seeded in hope for today, and grounded in the power of words.

CHILDREN’S SABBATH

This Sunday you and I will participate in that same transformative power, as the children lead us in our annual Children’s Sabbath. They will raise our awareness of the plight of children around the world, who lack access to adequate health care, proper nutrition, and safe homes and neighborhoods. But most importantly, they will use that same power of words to evoke hope and call us to action, as embodied by the words of Marian Wright Edelman, President of the Children’s Defense Fund, which sponsors the Children’s Sabbath:

“With faith, commitment, and hard, persistent work, if we stand united for healthy children and for hope and healing for all children neglected and left behind in our world, God will do the rest.”

So, as people of God, let us be a living word of hope and justice for the world. In the spirit of Martin Luther King and Jose Rizal, let us seek the dignity of all people, including our children and the most vulnerable among us. Let us participate in the “holy work” of words, with grit, courage, and non-violence, all in the manner of the Word Made Flesh.

Grace and Peace,

Magrey

The Rev. Magrey R. deVega
St. Paul's United Methodist Church
531 W. Main St.
Cherokee, IA 51012
Ph: 712-225-3955
Email: mdevega@sp-umc.org

NEW MEMBER SUNDAY: OCTOBER 30
We have a number of new folks who are interested in joining the church, and we will be welcoming them into membership on October 30. If you or someone you know is interested in joining St. Paul’s, please respond to this e-mail or contact Andrea in the church office.

CHEROKEE REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER 5K FUN RUN / WALK
In support of Iowa’s Healthiest State Initiative, the Cherokee Regional Medical Center Physical Medicine and Rehab Department will be sponsoring a 5K Fun Run/ Walk as well as a 1K “Tot Trot /Mutt Strut” on Saturday, October 22. Registration will be at 8:00 a.m., and the events will begin at 9 a.m. They will start and finish on the CRMC campus. All runners, walkers, pets on leashes and strollers are welcome.

The cost is $15 if you pre-register by noon on October 10th, and pre-registrants will receive a T-shirt. Registration fees after October 10th will be $20.00. All proceeds from the event will be donated to the Hawarden, IA site of the Personal Energy Transportation (PET) project, a program designed to provide appropriate mobility for God’s children in need.

Visit www.giftofmobility.org for more information about the PET project. You may pre-register by contacting the CRMC Physical Medicine and Rehab Department at 712.225.1502 or you may download a brochure and registration form at www.cherokeermc.org .

CHARGE CONFERENCE OCTOBER 27
Join us at 6:00pm on Thursday, October 27, for our annual charge conference. We will celebrate our ministries from the past year, approve the 2012 budget, and adopt ministry goals for the upcoming year. Every member of the church is a voting member of the charge conference.

In Connection We Become

2011-10-10T20:07:00.000-07:00

October 11, 2011

Dear St. Paul’s Family,

There was a stretch of days last week in which I was reminded of both the grind and the gratification of pastoral work. Multiple people on different occasions welcomed me into the midst of their difficult crises, allowing me into the most private and best-fortified parts of their lives, invitations which I always regard with great humility and privilege. While the content of our conversations must be kept confidential, I can tell you that their struggles would seem quite familiar to many of us.

Life is a nimble stride along the constant intersections of hope and sorrow. When in the midst of our darkest difficulties, when our innermost resources to resist despair are depleted, we have little recourse but to reach out to others for love and support. That mutual concern can awaken us to the subtle, unfeigned work of the Spirit, which incarnates courage and promise.

All these thoughts, along with the memories of people to whom I had ministered last week, culminated on my laptop on Thursday night, when I typed out the following few verses. For me, they reflect the value of solidarity: the comfort that comes in connecting with others in the midst of our struggles, and the promise that we claim together when we turn our corporate attention to Hope in our midst.

“In Connection We Become”

Down in the mire and the raw
Where brokenness, like grass withered in the crags
Recalls our earthly rigors, the dust from whence we came.

We yearn, and catch the glint in fellow eyes
Reaching for empathic nods and thin-lipped smiles
For evidence of companionship along well-worn paths.

Up to the heavens we long
For rains to saturate our thirsty souls, lavished on us, banquet-style;
The kinds of epiphanies that broker hope

Hope that is found, but not produced.
(For we are too weak to work with nimble fingers)
Then, a gift descends in free fall.

Into our midst a form appears
Incarnating sunrise, breaking into our dawn.
Calling us into union with God and each other.

And so, we raise our calloused, weary hands
Palmward to the heavens, and outward to fellow sojourners
For in our connectedness, with the Connection, we become.

I don’t claim to be a poet (especially when it doesn’t involve Seussian couplets), and it is unlikely that this poem will launch me into a new stream of writing endeavors. Besides, there’s no way I could pretend to pace the power and passion of Paul’s pen (although, he probably couldn’t match my awesome abilities for alliteration). In this Sunday’s scripture text, Paul envisions the capacity for people to join together in hope and expectation, rising above their earthly sorrows into a heavenly camaraderie:

Brothers and sisters, join in imitating me, and observe those who live according to the example you have in us….Our citizenship is in heaven, and it is from there that we are expecting a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. He will transform the body of our humiliation so that it may be conformed to the body of his glory, by the power that also enables him to make all things subject to himself. (Philippians 3:17, 20-21)

It may seem trite and cliché to say this, but no matter what you are facing today, you are not alone. We are called to become the body of Christ, to encourage each other with godly example, intimately joining together in the expectation of a Savior. As we look ahead to these final few weeks in our Philippians sermon series on joy, you may be longing for a “rain to saturate your thirsty soul.” I believe you’ll find it in connection with fellow sojourners along the way, which is precisely the subject of this Sunday’s sermon, “Soaring in Solidarity.” This may be a great sermon to invite a friend to attend, if they are looking for real hope amidst their loneliness.

One, Together,

Magrey

The Rev. Magrey R. deVega
St. Paul's United Methodist Church
531 W. Main St.
Cherokee, IA 51012
Ph: 712-225-3955
Email: mdevega@sp-umc.org

NEW EVENING CLASS: MEET THE METHODISTS

“Meet the Methodists” is a two-part introduction to the United Methodist Church and an orientation to St. Paul’s. Part 1 will be this Thursday, October 13, at 6:30pm. It will be a 90-minute introduction to the history, beliefs, structure, and practices of the United Methodist Church. Part 2 will be on November 10 at 6:30pm and will be an orientation to the history, mission, vision, and ministries of St. Paul’s. Both parts will be offered on a continuing rotation throughout 2012, in case you miss one or both parts this fall.

This class will be perfect for people who have just joined the church, those interested in joining, and members who would like a refresher course on what it means to be United Methodist.

NEW MEMBER SUNDAY: OCTOBER 30

We have a number of new folks who are interested in joining the church, and we will be welcoming them into membership on October 30. If you or someone you know is interested in joining St. Paul’s, please respond to this e-mail or contact Andrea in the church office.

CHEROKEE REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER 5K FUN RUN / WALK

In support of Iowa’s Healthiest State Initiative, the Cherokee Regional Medical Center Physical Medicine and Rehab Department will be sponsoring a 5K Fun Run/ Walk as well as a 1K “Tot Trot /Mutt Strut” on Saturday, October 22. Registration will be at 8:00 a.m., and the events will begin at 9 a.m. They will start and finish on the CRMC campus. All runners, walkers, pets on leashes and strollers are welcome.

The cost is $15 if you pre-register by noon on October 10th, and pre-registrants will receive a T-shirt. Registration fees after October 10th will be $20.00. All proceeds from the event will be donated to the Hawarden, IA site of the Personal Energy Transportation (PET) project, a program designed to provide appropriate mobility for God’s children in need.

Visit www.giftofmobility.org for more information about the PET project. You may pre-register by contacting the CRMC Physical Medicine and Rehab Department at 712.225.1502 or you may download a brochure and registration form at www.cherokeermc.org .

Showing You Yourself

2011-10-03T21:20:00.000-07:00

October 4, 2011

Dear St. Paul’s Family,

A few days ago I read a splendid essay by Casey Clabough called “The Skeleton Woman,” published in the latest issue of the journal Creative Nonfiction. It is a childhood recollection of the day Clabough’s mother came to “Parent Show and Tell Day,” in which parents shared with the students their occupations. The story begins with his mother saying to him “Tell them I am going to show them what they are,” as she dropped him off at school a few days prior.

For much of the essay, Clabough recounts stories of his mother’s professional life. An accomplished research biologist and professor, she was the only female faculty at her medical college, during the growing pains of gender equality in the 1960s. Many of the vignettes recount his mother’s struggle against gender bias and blatant sexism in the classroom, which she handled with grit, grace, and – sometimes – graphic strength (like the time she cut off a cadaver’s certain body part to illustrate a point to some childish male students.)

Eventually, this collection of memories winds back to its original premise: the morning that this determined, defiant mother entered her son’s classroom to tell his teacher and his classmates “what they are.” At the very moment when the reader expects a combustible climactic scene between a powerful woman and the oppressive cultural conventions that hampered her success, the essay takes a surprising turn toward the poignant.

She brought with her an actual, full-size skeleton. “Well, here you are,” she said to the students. “Here is what you all are beneath your clothes and your skin. An adult human skeleton consists of 206 bones altogether, which are divided into two principal divisions: the axial skeleton and the appendicular skeleton. The axial forms the long axis of the body, and it includes the bones of the skull, vertebral column, breastbone and rib cage. The appendicular consists of the bones of the upper and lower extremities, the shoulder girdle and the hip girdle.”

Then, with her demonstration well under way and the students’ attention wrapped around the skeleton’s little finger, she said: “I could show and tell about this forever, but the best showers and tellers care about what other people want to know. I am interest in you all. What do you want to know?”

WHO TELLS US WHAT WE ARE?

The Bible contains numerous passages that engage us in much the same way. Its words assess the human condition with diagnostic precision, showing us who we really are deep below the surface of our skin. It exposes both the deviant parts of our souls as well as our divine potential for beauty and wholeness. It reminds us that as much as we are “fearfully and wonderfully made” we also “fall short of the glory of God.” Rather than using skeletons and anatomical sketches, the Bible uses parables and poetry, prose and prayers, to remind us that behind our public facades, we are people of fears, hopes, irritation, grief, and love. We live with complexity, ambiguity, and inconsistency, much like Paul’s confession to the Romans: For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do.

That’s why it’s good to willfully subject ourselves to the enduring gaze of the God who is in the Show and Tell business: Showing us facets of our lives that we have ignored or concealed, and telling us how to be authentic, whole, and aligned with God’s highest purposes.

Incidentally, this is partly how I see my role as your minister. As your preacher, your residential theologian, and your mid-week columnist, my task is to give language to the Spirit’s work in and through us. It is to invite us to receive the Scripture’s words of comfort and of challenge with receptive ears and open minds, and to direct our attention to the one in whom we “live and move and breathe and have our being.”   Admittedly, there is a regular temptation to make the sermon more egocentric, and much more about the preacher’s personality, humor, and charisma. But sermons are never about me, and they are never about any of you. First and foremost, they are about God, and God’s constant efforts to save us and perfect us in love.

Perhaps Paul came to this same realization as he was writing his letter to the Philippians. Rather than focus on his own efforts to advance the gospel, or rely on his own prominence in the church to advance his agenda, he redirects our attention in the text that we will study this Sunday:   I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

SHOWING US OURSELVES

Toward the end of the class period, Clabough’s mother said to the kids, “I like talking to you all. Now for the real fun. Who wants to touch him?” Then the essay ends with these charming words:

An eruption of hands and a piping chorus of “Me! Me! Me!” Bodies abandon their desks, pressing forward as one. My little classmates weave around the skeleton in a frenzy of fascination, giving quick touches from small forefingers. One girl reaches up to grab a bottom rib then lifts her shirt to poke at her own. And I, apart from the others, have eyes only for my mother: towering above the swirl of motion, commanding the classroom, beaming down upon the children, showing them themselves.

So, join us this Sunday, for another show and tell demonstration. Let’s come to learn more about who we really are, deep down inside. But more importantly, let’s come wanting to know more about Christ, and the God who created us, redeemed us, and strengthens us every day.

Grace and Peace,

Magrey

The Rev. Magrey R. deVega
St. Paul's United Methodist Church
531 W. Main St.
Cherokee, IA 51012
Ph: 712-225-3955
Email: mdevega@sp-umc.org

Philippians 3:1-11

1 Finally, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you is not troublesome to me, and for you it is a safeguard.
2 Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of those who mutilate the flesh!
3 For it is we who are the circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and boast in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh—
4 even though I, too, have reason for confidence in the flesh. If anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more:
5 circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.
7 Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ.
8 More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ
9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith.
10 I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death,
11 if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

INVITATION TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
Join us this Thursday for the start of a new evening study called “Invitation to the New Testament.” The class will meet on the first and third Thursdays of the month, from 6:30-8:00, and will be an overview of the major themes and books of the New Testament. The books cost $12.00 and will be available this Thursday. Please respond to this e-mail with your interest in attending.

ELECTION DAY LUNCHEON
This year our United Methodist Women’s election day luncheon will be held on Tuesday, November 8, 2011, from 11:00am-1:00pm. The bake sale and coffee will start at 9:00am. If you would like to help here are some things you can do:

·     Make a salad for the salad bar, by picking up an ice cream bucket from the dining room. The recipe for the salad is in the bucket.
·     Make any kind of pie for the dessert table.
·     Make baked items for the sale.

Please contact chairperson Ervina Scott or Barb Clabaugh if you have questions or wish to help out in any way. Thanks for your help in making this another successful event.

Somewhere in the World

2011-09-27T06:41:00.000-07:00

September 27, 2011

Dear St. Paul’s Family,

Stop me if you heard this one: a Jewish rabbi, a Methodist minister, and a Missouri Synod Lutheran walk into a classroom….

Nope, it’s not a joke, but the setting for one of my favorite highlights of every fall. Under the invitation of Dr. Bruce Forbes, professor of religion at Morningside College, I participated in a panel discussion last week for his Science and Religion class. On my left was Rabbi Guy Green, of the Congregation Beth Shalom. On my right was Dr. Sharon Ocker, a retired professor of Education and lay member of the St. Paul’s Lutheran church. And there I was, in the middle, both physically and ideologically, between a reformed Jewish mystic and a conservative, seven-day-creation literalist.

The students aptly identified our different perspectives on the relationship between faith and science, leading one woman in particular to ask what was, to me, the most poignant question of the night.

“I’ve listened to your positions,” she said, “and I’m wondering why there have to be such differences in what you believe. It seems to me that Christians and Jews, conservatives and liberals, have so much more in common than different. Why is there so much division among people of faith?”

My first response was to agree with her. Yes, I affirmed. Western religions all essentially come from the same family tree, as monotheistic descendants of Abraham that hold many of the same scriptures as sacred. And certainly within Christian denominations, it should not be unreasonable to expect more unity and less fractious debate. Despite our denominational differences, we are one church, under one Lord, with one mission, even though our behavior and our rhetoric sometimes suggest otherwise.

I noted her nod of approval and even detected some relief, which she later admitted came from some difficult talks she has had with her somewhat dogmatic grandmother. I was quite ready at that point to stop talking, allowing the other two presenters to have their say, when I blurted out an epilogue.

“But…” I said. “But, now that I think about it, I should say that it’s okay to have our differences, too.”

I explained that because religious convictions are so deeply personal, expressions of faith cannot help but be influenced by one’s culture, geography, and ethnicity. It would be difficult, even improper, to expect people around the world to worship and believe in God in exactly the same way. And while we may hold many of the same central doctrinal tenets, our nuanced positions can just as easily be a reflection of a God who is personally revealed to us in a variety of ways.

WORLD COMMUNION SUNDAY

This reminder comes on the threshold of yet another World Communion Sunday, when we observe our shared connection with Christians all around the globe. We’ll gather around the communion table to celebrate our unity in Christ with people near and far, whom we will likely never meet. But we will also celebrate the wonderful differences throughout the church that make us the rich, textured tapestry that we are:

Think about it. This Sunday, as we gather to worship in the way we have become comfortably accustomed, people will be glorifying that same Jesus Christ in ways utterly unfamiliar to us:

Somewhere in Greece, an orthodox priest will walk down the aisle of the sanctuary swinging a censer, carrying burning, aromatic incense. Its billowing waft will remind people that their prayers are being lfited up to heaven.

Somewhere in Siberia, a group of Sakha Christians will sing an olonkho, a heroic epic poem set to music that recounts the wondrous stories of the first three chapters of Genesis.

Somewhere in the Burgundy region of France, the Taize community will gather to sing the songs that have garnered them international intention: simple melodic chants based on Scripture, and sung in canon.

Somewhere in Moscow, worshippers in a Russian Orthodox Church will sit in a sanctuary filled with beautiful icons, pictures that portray saints and sacred stories, drawing people into a focused celebration of the faith.

Somewhere in India, Christians will sing a bhajan, a beautiful devotional song repeated like a haunting, lyrical mantra.

And somewhere in Togo in western Africa, Christians celebrate the New Testament in a formation similar to country line dancing. With their hips and torsos shaking in perfect synchronism, they worship God with passion and energy.

It is great to know that just as our common creeds unite us together, our rich differences speak of a God of wonderful variety. World Communion Sunday is a vivid reminder of John’s vision recorded in Revelation 7:9-10: After this I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands. They cried out in a loud voice, saying, ‘Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!’

So join us this Sunday, and let’s celebrate being part of that great multitude!

Grace and Peace,

Magrey

The Rev. Magrey R. deVega
St. Paul's United Methodist Church
531 W. Main St.
Cherokee, IA 51012
Ph: 712-225-3955
Email: mdevega@sp-umc.org

NEW E-MAIL ADDRESSES
Once again, please note the new e-mail contacts for the church office:
Magrey’s email is mdevega@sp-umc.
Administrative Assistant Andrea Cook’s new e-mail is acook@sp-umc.org.
And the new address for the church inbox is church@sp-umc.org.
These changes took place effective last Wednesday, and the old addresses are no longer active.

PORK FEED THANK-YOU
Thanks to all of you who helped make last Sunday’s pork feed another great success. The Parkers once again provided some delicious grilled pork tenderloins, and the Adult Class and Finance Committee did a wonderful job setting up and serving. Thanks to all of you who provided salads, as we were able to raise close to $1,000 for the Building Renovation Fund. Thanks!

Joy from the Balcony Seats

2011-09-20T06:32:00.000-07:00

September 20, 2011

Dear St. Paul’s Family,

Rarely did a week go by during my childhood that I didn’t catch the latest episode of Siskel & Ebert’s At the Movies. The thirty-minute program featured critiques of the latest films by Gene Siskel, movie critic of the Chicago Tribune, and Roger Ebert, of the Chicago Sun-Times. If you ever watched their show, you know the entertainment value of their program was not just in hearing their thoughts on Hollywood’s latest offerings. Like hockey fans who enjoy the brawls and NASCAR spectators who love the crashes, I looked forward to the spirited, often heated debates between these two men who transformed the way we watched and evaluated movies.

When Gene Siskel died of complications from a brain tumor in 1999, the show went on hiatus, and, despite efforts to revive it with other critics, it was never the same. Recently, Roger Ebert has endured multiple cancerous attacks to his thyroid, salivary gland, and lower jaw, and the ensuing surgeries have left him facially disfigured and unable to talk.

“WE MUST TRY TO CONTRIBUTE JOY TO THE WORLD”

Recently, Ebert released his memoir Life Itself, which I promptly picked up on Friday and have been unable to put down. Though his speaking ability has vanished, his mastery of the language has not. He continues to write a column for the Tribune, and commands a growing audience for his online blog. His memoir is partly a collection of his blog entries, in which he remembers the first movie he ever watched, the Marx Brothers’ A Day at the Races (“I had to stand to see the screen. I’d never heard Daddy laugh more loudly.”) as well as his first job as a high school sports reporter for the Urbana News-Gazette (“To be hired as a real writer at a real newspaper was such good fortune that I could scarcely sleep.”). He recounts one of his three interviews with the legendary John Wayne (“He sounded the way he looked. He was a small-town Iowa boy, a college football player. He wasn’t a sex symbol. He didn’t perform, he embodied.”) and his memories of Gene Siskel (“He’s in my mind almost every day. He became less like a friend than like a brother.”)

Though he is currently free of terminal illness, his life has changed forever. This lifelong logophile and master of words is now unable to speak a single one of them. A man who became a television fixture in many homes is now virtually unrecognizable from his illness. Yet, the true beauty of his memoir is in the way it captures the amazing spirit with which Ebert continues to live out his days. In “Go Gently,” one of the final chapters of his book, he reflects on his own mortality and acknowledges that he has fewer years ahead of him than behind. Still, he chooses to live with an indomitable courage, an undaunted optimism, and an unfailing joy:

I believe that if, at the end of it all, according to our abilities, we have done something to make others a little happier, and something to make ourselves a little happier, that is about the best we can do. To make others less happy is a crime. To make ourselves unhappy is where all crime starts. We must try to contribute joy to the world. That is true no matter what our problems, our health, our circumstances. We must try. I didn't always know this, and am happy I lived long enough to find it out.

“JOY IN FAITH”

I can’t think of a better quote to use as an entry point into this Sunday’s worship service, as Ebert’s story has a pitch-perfect connection to our sermon series on Philippians. Paul, in a jail cell and facing what he very well knew could be his final days, managed to write a letter of unshakable joy. Though his message predates Ebert’s by more than 2,000 years, they jointly attest to the possibilities of unbridled enthusiasm and unwavering courage in the face of hardship:

For to me, living is Christ and dying is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labour for me; and I do not know which I prefer. I am hard pressed between the two: my desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better; but to remain in the flesh is more necessary for you. Since I am convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with all of you for your progress and joy in faith, so that I may share abundantly in your boasting in Christ Jesus when I come to you again. (1:23-26)

This Sunday, we’ll take a closer look at the conscious decision you and I can make to choose joy over our adversities. We will hear more about the life and witness of the Apostle Paul, and see how his unyielding commitment to the gospel gave him opportunities to minister even to the guards in his prison cell. I’ll share with you another story from my travels to the Philippines, about my mother’s cousin, Boy Rojas, and his ability to choose joy despite his circumstances.

“ATTRACTION, NOT PROMOTION”

One of last chapters in Ebert’s memoir is titled, “How I Believe in God,” in which he talks about his views on faith, Christianity, the church, and how his spiritual life has changed over time since his Catholic upbringing. Among his thoughts:

I prefer vertical prayer, directed up toward heaven, rather than horizontal prayer, directed sideways toward me. I believe a worthy church must grow through attraction, not promotion. I am wary of zealotry; even as a child I was suspicious of those who, as I often heard, were “more Catholic than the pope.” If we are to love our neighbors as ourselves, we must regard their beliefs with the same respect our own deserve.

It is in that same spirit, of becoming a church of “attraction” and not of “promotion,” that I invite us to come together in joy and be a witness for a world hurting and in need. Join us this Sunday and invite a friend, as we continue to journey through Paul’s remarkable letter to Philippi, and feel your soul uplifted for the living of your days.

Grace, Peace, and Joy!

Magrey

The Rev. Magrey R. deVega
St. Paul's United Methodist Church
531 W. Main St.
Cherokee, IA 51012
Ph: 712-225-3955
E-mail: mdevega@cherokeespumc.org
http://www.cherokeespumc.org

PORK FEED!
Yes, it’s that time of year again! Join us after church on Sunday, September 25, for our annual Pork Feed, featuring the delicious flavor-injected pork tenderloins from the Parker family. You are invited to bring salads to share, and desserts and beverages will be provided. A free will donation will be accepted, and all of the proceeds will support our building renovation fund.

DISTRICT TRAINING EVENT
Prospective small group leaders are encouraged to attend a training workshop on Small Group Ministry, either on September 23 at Wesley UMC in Sioux City or September 24 at Alta UMC. Registration is $5, and the schedule goes from 9:00 to 4:00pm. Lunch is provided. The event is led by a staff member of Ginghamsburg UMC in Ohio, one of the largest Methodist churches in the country.

To view past editions of the Mid-Week Message, visit http://mdevega.blogspot.com
For more information about St. Paul's United Methodist Church, visit our website at http://www.cherokeespumc.org
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A Life of True Joy

2011-09-12T20:45:00.001-07:00

September 13, 2011

Dear St. Paul’s Family,

You don’t need to be a movie connoisseur to know that computer technology has dramatically changed the movie industry in the last twenty-five years. Gone are the cheesy plastic models and claymation figures, replaced instead with stunning computer generated imagery (CGI) that blurs the line between the real and the manufactured. Even animated films have veered away from traditional hand drawings and moved toward eye-popping scenes that look stunningly realistic. I’ll never forget watching Toy Story, Pixar Animation Studios’ first big blockbuster hit in 1995: when I wasn’t laughing at the jokes or enjoying the characters, I was scooping my jaw off the ground at the breathtaking animation.

CAPTURING THE FACE

But even as amazing as CGI can be, it has its limitations. It’s one thing to make cartoon toys look real, but industry experts would say that there is still one thing that computers cannot render realistically: the human face. Try as they might, computer animators have yet to draw a fully expressive, natural looking face. It remains the elusive holy grail of the animation world.

There are a number of reasons for this difficulty. For one thing, it is virtually impossible, even for the most powerful computers and most creative designers, to accurately capture the seamless interplay of the forty-four muscles used by a person to control one’s facial features. Those muscles are capable of creating some 5,000 different expressions, all in fluid, real time. That’s why the human faces in even some of the most stunning animated films still look more plasticized than personalized.

But human expressions are even deeper than muscles and skin. Emotions are not just described by how they are expressed on the surface; they are defined by one’s innermost feelings, responses, and convictions. The human face is beautifully complex, not because of the emotions it can express, but because of the deeply set feelings it can emit. And there’s no computer in the world that can accurately render that.

The great twentieth century French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre took these considerations one step further. He said that a person’s face is not only an accurate reflection of one’s innermost feelings. It can also be, at its best, a reflection of the transcendent. In his essay “The Face,” Sartre wrote,

"If I watch his eyes, I see that they are not fastened in his head, serene like agate marbles. They are being created at each moment by what they look at….If we call transcendence the ability of the mind to pass beyond itself and all other things as well, to escape from itself that it may lose itself elsewhere; then to be a visible transcendence is the meaning of a face."

No wonder the human face has been the holy grail of the CGI industry. There are some expressions that simply cannot be manufactured.

A LIFE OF TRUE JOY

The Apostle Paul may have known this when writing to the church in Philippi about the spiritual attribute of joy. Throughout the four brief chapters that constitute the book of Philippians, Paul describes nearly every dimension of a Christian’s joyful life, separating joy from mere happiness, and encouraging people to live a life that leads to contentment, confidence, and courage. Many have called Philippians the most joyful book in the Bible, and as we use it as our guide over the next two months, you’ll discover for yourself the secrets to the elusive, “holy grail” kind of life that you have been craving. Paul’s lessons on joy will bring to you what no computer animator could ever create: a life of true joy.

And do you want to know the most amazing part of Paul’s writing? He wrote this whole letter – this entire treatise on true joy – from the confines of a dark, dank prison cell. How about that? He was able to describe joy in the most miserable setting imaginable. And right out of the gate, at the outset of the letter, Paul wrote with a gratitude utterly contradictory to his surroundings:

I thank my God every time I remember you, constantly praying with joy in every one of my prayers for all of you, because of your sharing in the gospel from the first day until now. I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ.

Just as Sartre declared that the transcendent can be visible on our faces, Paul proclaimed that Christ is at work in our lives, sanctifying us as individuals and drawing us together in community. And nothing – not even the traumas that befall us on the outside – can prevent Christ’s work from being completed. That’s good news!

That’s the subject of this Sunday’s sermon, the first in our new series, simply titled, “Joy! A Journey through the Bible’s Most Joyful Book.” We’ll begin with a sermon titled, “Why is This Man Smiling?” based on Philippians 1:1-11. I would invite you to prepare for worship by simply reading the four short chapters of Philippians for yourself, and experience the whole of this book’s message for yourself. It is filled with some of the most often memorized and quoted passages in the Bible, and it has the power to show you the kind of joyful life you’ve always wanted to live.

JOY!

A Journey Through the Bible’s Most Joyful Book

“Why is This Man Smiling?”
Philippians 1:1-11
September 18, 2011

“The Choice to Rejoice”
Philippians 1:12-30
September 25, 2011

“Rooted, Grounded, United”
Philippians 2:1-30
(World Communion Sunday)
October 2, 2011

“One Worth Knowing”
Philippians 3:1-11
October 9, 2011

“Soaring in Solidarity”
Philippians 3:12-21
October 16, 2011

Children’s Sabbath
October 23, 2011

“Living a Life of Joy”
Philippians 4:1-23
October 30, 2011

Certainly, this would be a great series for you to invite a friend or family member to experience with you. You and I both know people for whom joy – real, deep, biblical joy – is an elusive gift. Let’s experience that blessing together, and share it with others.

See you Sunday!

Grace, Peace…and Joy!

Magrey

The Rev. Magrey R. deVega
St. Paul's United Methodist Church
531 W. Main St.
Cherokee, IA 51012
Ph: 712-225-3955

Email: mdevega@cherokeespumc.org
http://www.cherokeespumc.org

PORK FEED!
Yes, it’s that time of year again! Join us after church on Sunday, September 25, for our annual Pork Feed, featuring the delicious flavor-injected pork tenderloins from the Parker family. You are invited to bring side dishes and salads to share, and desserts and beverages will be provided. A free will donation will be accepted, and all of the proceeds will support our building renovation fund.

THIRD-GRADE BIBLES THIS SUNDAY
Join us this Sunday as we celebrate a milestone in the lives of our third-graders. They will receiving their very own Bibles from the church, as a gift from the congregation and as a sign of our support of their continued spiritual maturity. They will also receive a beautiful, handmade, tatted cross bookmark made by Ellen Henderson.

YOUTH KICK-OFF EVENT
Attention, all youth, grades 7-12! We are going to be kicking off a great new year of youth activities with an event after church, September 18. You and your families are encouraged to join us for a time of free food and fun games. We’re looking to have badminton and ping-pong tournaments, and lots of pizza. You’ll also get a copy of the Fall youth schedule and learn about the two new weekly small groups we are offering this fall: one for mid-high and one for senior high! Don’t miss out on the fun!

DISTRICT TRAINING EVENT
Prospective small group leaders are encouraged to attend a training workshop on Small Group Ministry, either on September 23 at Wesley UMC in Sioux City or September 24 at Alta UMC. Registration is $5, and the schedule goes from 9:00 to 4:00pm. Lunch is provided. The event is led by a staff member of Ginghamsburg UMC in Ohio, one of the largest Methodist churches in the country.

Remembering 9/11

2011-09-05T19:53:00.000-07:00

September 6, 2011

Dear St. Paul’s Family,

Do you remember where you were on Monday, September 10, 2001?

No? Me neither. In fact, most of that day was largely forgettable; just another day in the office. The news headlines at the time were also fairly unremarkable: Time magazine had done yet another story about disgraced senator Gary Condit and the mysterious disappearance of Chandra Levy. Michael Jackson had just rung the bell to open up a day of trading on Wall Street. And famed motorist Rodney King was pulled over and charged with drug possession.

Just another typical day in America.

A DAY TO REMEMBER

But then came Tuesday. I suppose it would take very little to jog your memory about where you were and what you were doing that morning. I was dropping my then 6-month old daughter Grace off at her daycare when her caregiver stopped me at the door to ask if I had heard the news. We gathered with other preschool workers around a grainy, black and white television to watch the unfolding saga.

I rushed off to the office and assembled with the rest of the church staff, spending a large part of the morning with them in the chapel in prayer. News updates trickled in as we gathered: a collision in the Pentagon, a crash in Pennsylvania. Like all of you, we felt stunned, heartsick, and numb.

Later that evening, we held a prayer service for the congregation and the community, and the chapel was filled with watery-eyed, shell-shocked people, who attempted to express the unutterable anguish they were feeling. Some prayed tearfully for the victims and their families, particularly those who were still missing. Others prayed for the volunteers and officials on the scene. A few confessed their own anger, searching for ways to stem their instincts for revenge. Someone even prayed for the Muslims in our city, that they would not be subject to unfair prejudice. The tears flowed freely that night.

JESUS CRIED TWICE

The task of preaching that first Sunday after 9/11 was a formidable one. I remember standing before a congregation in the chapel preaching on two texts: John 11:28-37 (the death of Lazarus) and Luke 19:41-44 (Jesus outside Jerusalem). The connection between the two texts was eminently clear: these are two of the only times in the gospels where Jesus is recorded as weeping. But the connection between those texts and the emotional burdens of 9/11 were even more profound.

When reflecting on Jesus’ tears upon hearing of the unexpected death of his dear friend Lazarus, I said the following:

It is appropriate to cry. Jesus’ weeping over the death of Lazarus suggests to us that weeping over the death of any part of God’s creation is itself a divine action. We need not suppress the tears, we need not cover up our deep feelings of anger, bitterness, confusion, or grief. To be emotionally open in the midst of suffering does not mean a lack of faith in God; indeed, crying with grief is a reflection of the Divine. God weeps even today, and so may we.

Jesus’ tears were real and raw, much like the grief shared by the congregation that day. But in John, we see Jesus crying for a very different reason. Rather than grieving the loss of innocent life, Jesus stood on the outskirts of a city in chaos, bemoaning their demise, and longing for the people to follow the path that leads to peace: As he came near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, "If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. (Luke 19:41-42)

And so, in that same sermon, I offered these words:

God weeps today because we do not live in a place remotely close to the kind of place God is working to create. This world does not exist according to the kingdom values of peace, equality, justice, compassion, and love. The countries of this world have busied themselves with building up their self-aggrandizing, political, economic, and military machines. Without a hint of cooperation or compassion between them, nations have risen against nation, becoming guilty of that very thing which Jesus wept over outside Jerusalem: “If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.”

If Jesus’ tears in John were born of grief, the tears in Luke were forged from a deep desire for justice and peace. And in the immediate aftermath of 9/11, God shared both kinds of tears for both of those reasons. The people of faith came together to hear words that both comfort and challenge, from a God who both empathizes with our deepest anguish and calls us to a higher hope.

And now, as we gather ten years later, both kinds of tears are appropriate once again.

THIS SUNDAY: REMEMBRANCE AND RECOMMITMENT

Much has certainly changed in the past ten years. The raw anguish has largely abated, and our news headlines today are more about economics, politics, and celebrity tabloids rather than our wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. And as much as we shared the same feelings after 9/11, we are now a country quite polarized along multiple ideological fault lines. There will be those on this tenth anniversary who will want to criticize our country for its past and present decisions. There will be those on the other hand who will want to “wrap the cross with the flag” under the jingoistic notion of civil religion. And there are many, many people on the spectrum in between.

It is therefore quite appropriate that the tenth anniversary of 9/11 falls on a Sunday, and critically important for us to do what we did ten years ago: gather together. For though there now may be differences of opinion throughout the country on how to respond to 9/11, the church must do what it always does: come together, hear the biblical accounts of God’s activity throughout history, and remember our calling as God’s people to promote justice and work for peace in a hurting world.

This Sunday, we will turn to the book of Nehemiah, and hear the story of how the Israelites returned to the site of abject tragedy – the destruction of their beloved Temple by a foreign empire seventy years prior – and began the work of rebuilding both their lives and their sense of community. The contemporary connections to this passage are quite clear, and we will ask the question, “What have we learned since 9/11?” We’ll hear some valuable lessons from the great reformer Ezra, who led the Israelites to a sincere recommitment to God. It is a text that I believe has a profound message for us on this special anniversary.

Finally, on a personal note, let me tell you how much I am looking forward to rejoining you after an immensely rewarding, life-altering renewal period. Over the weeks and months to come, I’ll steadily share with you how the experience abroad will shape my life and our ministry together. In the meantime, I am deeply grateful for your support, prayers, and your warm welcomes as we return to St. Paul’s and the good people of Cherokee. (And, may I add, it feels great to be back in the rhythm of writing these Mid-Week Messages to you!)

Now, more than ever, it is good to be the church. Let’s gather together in solemn remembrance, and work together for peace.

Grace and Peace,

Magrey

The Rev. Magrey R. deVega
St. Paul's United Methodist Church
531 W. Main St.
Cherokee, IA 51012
Ph: 712-225-3955

email: mdevega@cherokeespumc.org
http://www.cherokeespumc.org

Look What I Can Do! (And You Can, Too!)

2011-08-04T09:39:00.000-07:00

August 4, 2011

Dear St. Paul’s Family,

And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? (Acts 2:8)

Among my many epiphanies during our recent trip to the Philippines was the discovery of my latent ability to speak fluent Tagalog, the primary language of the Filipino people. The setting was mundane enough: a trip to the palengke, or marketplace, in Calapan City, where my mother and her family would sell fresh fish and other goods every day. Walking past numerous piles of exotic seafood, a handful of large, bright pink, doe-eyed fish sold by a little Filipino woman caught my attention.

Without pause, my curiosity seized my tongue, and I blurted out to her, in near pitch-perfect Tagalog: “Anong isda ito?” (“What is this fish?”)

I was so shocked that she understood what I was asking that I didn’t really hear her answer to my question. I was more surprised to realize the synaptic speed with which my brain translated my thoughts into the language of my ancestors.

I’m sure that ability has always been there since childhood. For years, my parents would speak Tagalog to me, but I would always respond to them in English, the language of my formal American schooling. It became a seamless, albeit complicated, conversational stream: my ears would receive their Tagalog words, my brain would process the meaning and formulate its English equivalents, and my mouth would respond.

My parents never really expected or required me to speak back to them in Tagalog, which made my recent discovery that much more surprising. My wife, who has known me for nearly twenty years, has never heard me speak conversational Tagalog. My girls, who have only known me for my English vocabulary, wondered who it was who had seized ventriloquist control of their dad’s mouth and started speaking in his stead.

But there was something deeper happening here, far beyond my ability to speak to a woman in a fish market. As I heard the collective hum of the Filipino people speaking in their native tongue, I could hear the voices of my ancestors, and could even sense the reverberant echoes of a deeply hidden part of myself. It became a pretty profound awakening, and I invented a phrase to capture what I was feeling:

My DNA was tingling.

Psychologists might suggest that what I’ve really been experiencing is part of a whole journey toward individuation: the process whereby one discovers one’s hidden, essential self in order to become a more integrated whole. It’s a recurring element throughout pop culture: Luke Skywalker finds out he’s a Jedi, Harry Potter realizes he can speak parsel tongue, Clark Kent discovers he can fly.

Author and screenwriter Michael Chabon, after writing the critically acclaimed Wonder Boys, once opened a sealed, dusty box of comic books he had been carrying around for fifteen years. “I found one remaining box of comics which I had saved,” Chabon said to an interviewer. “When I opened it up and that smell came pouring out, that old paper smell, I was struck by a rush of memories, a sense of my childhood self that seemed to be contained in there.” [1] Finding out I can speak Tagalog is no superpower, of course, but it certainly felt like Chabon’s comic books. The “rush of memories,” the rediscovery of childhood, and the re-acquaintance with my authentic self, all felt like how Sarah Ban Breathnach described it: “The authentic self is the soul made visible.”

Naturally, the preacher in me wants to recast my discovery in theological terms, viewing my experience as a kind of salvation metaphor for the redemptive process that ultimately reconnects us to God. Genesis reminds us that we’ve all been created with the same “essential self,” the image of God within us. We have been given that imago Dei with the potential to reflect the character and activity of a God who desires to be in full relationship with us. And that image enables us to speak a powerful language, whether we know it or not. It is the language of love: full, divine, healing love.

But you know the story goes. Rather than fully reflecting that love, the pervasive forces of a sinful world have corrupted our ability to speak that language, rendering us vulnerable prey to the kind of idolatrous, self-serving propensities that prompt the worst of our potential. Instead of living out the image of God, we live, as Augustine said, with the “heart turned inward upon itself.”

This diagnosis of the human condition became the basis for John Wesley’s understanding of the movement of God’s grace. From the moment we enter the world, God’s grace steadily and subtly makes us aware of the imago Dei within us, calling us to a new kind of life, and a revelation of who we were originally created to be. And just like the people of Pentecost, who were empowered by the Spirit suddenly to speak in their own native language, God’s grace enables us to articulate and embody a vocabulary that we have always had but never fully expressed: the language of God’s love, “shed abroad in human hearts.” Here’s the way Wesley described that transformation, in his famous sermon, “The New Birth:”

It is that great change which God works in the soul when he brings it into life; when he raises it from the death of sin to the life of righteousness. It is the change wrought in the whole soul by the almighty Spirit of God when it is "created anew in Christ Jesus;" when it is "renewed after the image of God, in righteousness and true holiness;" when the love of the world is changed into the love of God; pride into humility; passion into meekness; hatred, envy, malice, into a sincere, tender, disinterested love for all mankind. In a word, it is that change whereby the earthly, sensual, devilish mind is turned into the "mind which was in Christ Jesus." This is the nature of the new birth: "So is every one that is born of the Spirit."

Of course, my experience in speaking Tagalog in the palengke isn’t a perfect metaphor for grace. In no way do I consider the suppression of my Filipino heritage to be like the sinful corruption of our divine image. Being born in the United States and mastering the English language has been among the richest blessings of my life. But I do think there is no way I could have gotten in touch with my essential ethnic identity if I hadn’t left this country for ten days and been fully immersed among the Filipino people. Without seeing their faces, being surrounded by their voices, and hearing their language, I would not have discovered this part of me.

And that’s why, like John Wesley, I believe that the process of salvation is fundamentally communal in nature. There is no effective way for a person to be a growing, maturing Christian outside the context of Christian community, without the regular encouragement and reinforcement of people all practicing the rituals of Christian culture, and rehearsing the language of love together. If you try to make Christianity a solo enterprise, you’ll find it very difficult to stay true to your roots.

Whether you know it or not, you have an amazing hidden ability. It’s part of your essential self as one created in God’s image. You too can speak the language of God’s love, “shed abroad in your heart.” You can speak it on your own, but it’s best practiced in the context of fellow sojourning Christians. And that’s what makes our work together as a St. Paul’s family so important, and so beautiful.

I can’t wait to resume my pastoral work with you in September, and to see how we can better reflect God’s best intentions for each other and for the community we serve. Maybe I can’t say it any better to you than in Tagalog.

“Mabuhay!” (“Blessed Life!”)

Magrey

The Rev. Magrey R. deVega
St. Paul's United Methodist Church
531 W. Main St.
Cherokee, IA 51012
Ph: 712-225-3955
http://www.cherokeespumc.org

[1] http://www.randomhouse.com/boldtype/1000/chabon/interview.html

NEW BOOK BY JESSICA DEVEGA
Jessica is working this summer to complete her first book, due to be released in February of next year. It is a reference book of world religions and other popular belief systems, titled, All You Wanted to Know but Didn’t Think You Could Ask: Religions, Cults, and Popular Beliefs. It will be published by Thomas Nelson, and co-authored with her good friend Christine Ortega Gaurkee, a former teaching colleague in Tampa, Florida. You’ll want to check out more information about it and even consider pre-ordering a copy for yourself or a friend: http://www.amazon.com/Want-Know-Didnt-Think-Could/dp/1418549177/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1312399236&sr=8-1.

The Abbey and the Chapel

2011-07-11T20:07:00.000-07:00

July 12, 2011

Dear St. Paul’s Family,

We are currently on a one-week break here in Iowa in between our summer travels. Last week, we returned from a ten-day tour from the Netherlands and London, to explore both Jessica’s ethnic heritage and our history as United Methodists. On Thursday, June 30, we visited two sacred sites: Westminster Abbey in the morning, and the John Wesley’s Chapel in the afternoon. I couldn’t help but draw contrasts between the two.

THE ABBEY

Walking through the grand, hallowed halls of Westminster Abbey was like stepping through the pages of a history book. With its high, gothic ceiling – the tallest in England – towering above us, the Abbey pulsed with pomp and glorious pageantry. After entering through the north doors and paying the requisite $51.00 admission fee, we circled back to the chambers behind the altar, where numerous monuments, tombstones, and floor markers pay tribute to dignitaries buried within the walls. The bodies of some of the most significant British historical figures, including Charles Dickens, Charles Darwin, and seventeen monarchs, are interred there, a graphic embodiment of Hebrews’ reminder that we are surrounded by “a great cloud of witnesses.” I participated in a 12:30 communion service in the nave, and our worshipping group of forty voices magnified in resonant echo against the walls of a sanctuary that has housed countless generations of Christians for the past one thousand years. It was hard not to be breath-taken as we soaked it all in.

There were several reminders that the Abbey is more than a worship space; it also plays a vital role in the national and political life of Great Britain. The twelve-gong peals of Big Ben signaled the noon hour as we entered the Abbey, reminding us of its proximity to the Houses of Parliament and the statuary tributes of Parliament Square. When we left, a swollen mob marched past us on the streets, protesting national cuts to teacher benefits. Clearly, the Abbey geographically locates its influence in the epicenter of national power, memory, and identity. In fact, Westminster Abbey is not officially under the jurisdiction of the Church of England, but is designated as a “Royal Peculiar,” placing it under the direct governance of the British monarchy. It has therefore been the site of royal coronations, stately funerals, and dazzling weddings, most recently between William and Catherine. Those who worship here regularly come not only to experience God, but to remember what it means to be a proud Brit.

The crowds both inside and outside Westminster Abbey underscored its trademark as a popular destination site. It is a place for tourists to visit, for politicians to be seen, for monarchs to be crowned, for protesters to march, and for history to be revisited. Oh, and it’s also a place to worship.

THE CHAPEL

Knowing that our trip to the Wesley's Chapel was later that afternoon, I prepared myself over lunch for what was sure to be a contrast from the grandeur and austerity of the Abbey. I wondered what John Wesley thought about Westminster Abbey, in all of its posh splendor. Was he critical of its luxurious accoutrements? Was he skeptical of its intrinsic ties to the monarchy? Did he see it as yet another example of the church focusing more on monuments, rather than on movements?

We traveled away from the heart of London, into a northeastern region of the city called Islington. Gone were the bustling crowds and murmur of government buildings. There were no sprawling grounds filled with imposing statues. In fact, Wesley’s Chapel was easy to miss, marked only by a small sign on a modest iron gate, tucked between clusters of office complexes and tall commercial buildings. It was a far cry from the dirt mounds and wind mills that Wesley saw when he first chose the site in 1777, originally a dump site for unearthed dirt excavated to build St. Paul’s Cathedral.

Today, it has become a pilgrimage destination for Methodists around the world, but we couldn’t tell when we first stepped into the church. In contrast to the massive crowds inside Westminster Abbey, my family was the only one there that afternoon, except for a handful of Methodists from South Korea. A lovely, elderly tour guide named Caroline met us the moment we entered the door, eager to assist what would be her only visitors that afternoon.

She told us that Wesley built the Chapel neither as affront to the Church of England or as part of a new, upstart denomination. John and Charles, after all, never severed their ties from the Anglican Church. Instead, Wesley built the Chapel merely to be a place for teaching and preaching, which explains the unavoidable prominence of the large, three-tiered pulpit and spiral staircase in the center of the chancel, and the subtle placement of a small altar behind it. There were originally no stained glass windows, just clear plate glass. The Chapel was built neither to undermine or rival Westminster Abbey. It was a reflection of Wesley himself: inspiring without being extravagant, austere without being excessive. “It is perfectly neat, but not fine,” Wesley described in his journal. [1]

But since Wesley's death, the Chapel has been modified by the movement that continues Wesley's legacy. Methodists around the world have purchased and dedicated stained glass windows that now adorn the walls and tell the stories of the Bible and of early Methodism. The baptism font was donated by a former slaveholder who was converted to Christianity by the Methodist movement. And plaques throughout the sanctuary bear the names of people whose lives have been touched by the "brand, plucked from the burning."

I can't help but see this as the greatest contrast between the Abbey and the Chapel. Whereas the Abbey tells over a thousand years' worth of stories about the great and mighty heroes of history, Wesley's Chapel serves as a testament to the work of grace in the lives of ordinary people like you and me. The Abbey was built to be a destination: the place one goes to experience God and the glory of the British empire. The Chapel, in contrast, draws little attention to itself, instead reminding us that God’s grace flows outwardly, beyond the walls of any one church. The Abbey stands tall and proud at the epicenter of Great Britain, but the Chapel declares Wesley’s maxim: “The world is my parish.”

Despite the contrast I’ve drawn here, I think there is something we can learn from both the Abbey and the Chapel. The geographic location of St. Paul’s UMC places us at the heart of the town and county of Cherokee. We can be the place that outsiders visit to experience God’s love and find a nurturing community of warm-hearted, grace-filled people. But we can also be the wellspring from which the movement of God’s love can be put into action, out into the places of brokenness and suffering all around us. It is through our ordinary means that we can point to an extravagant God.

Two hundred thirty-four years ago, John Wesley laid the first stone for the foundation of the chapel, along with a brass plaque. With the plaque soon to be concealed by ensuing layers of the foundation, it contained the following inscription:

“This was laid by Mr. John Wesley on April 21st, 1777.
Probably this will be seen no more by human eye,
but will remain there till the earth and the works thereof are burned up.”

Indeed, may our service to God bear that same inscription, neither for the observance or the admiration of the human eye, but for God’s enduring grace, at work until the end of the earth.

Grace and Peace,

Magrey

The Rev. Magrey R. deVega
St. Paul's United Methodist Church
531 W. Main St.
Cherokee, IA 51012
Ph: 712-225-3955 / E-mail: mdevega@cherokeespumc.org
http://www.cherokeespumc.org

[1] From Wesley’s Journal, November 1, 1778, the day the Chapel was dedicated. For the first service, he preached on Solomon’s dedication of the Temple.

OUR TRAVELS CONTINUE
Thank you for your prayers as we continue our travels. We leave this Saturday for the Philippines, where we will spend about ten days visiting my parents’ families and childhood neighborhoods. In the meantime, I hope you enjoyed the sampling of Dutch chocolate and brief photo montage shared in worship last Sunday!

PRAYERS FOR TOM KRUSE
The church office received word on Monday that Tom Kruse, now living in Weslaco, Texas, with Judy, has taken a turn for the worse and his kidneys are failing. Please pray for Tom and Judy during this time. The office has their address, if you wish to send them cards and letter.

Why I Shaved My Head Today

2011-06-19T09:33:00.000-07:00

Dear St. Paul's Family,

A number of you told me this week that you weren't going to be in church today, and were hoping to receive a manuscript of this morning's message. So here is the sermon in full, including word about the "special change" that happened to me at the end of the service. Have a wonderful summer!

Magrey

“United, But Not Uniform”

June 19, 2011

Genesis 1-2

Trinity Sunday is the only holy day in the Christian year based on an idea, not an event. It is a biblical idea, even though the word trinity is not found anywhere in the Bible. Instead, church theologians have used passages like today's scripture lesson to develop some understanding of how three could equal one.

Notice the pronouns: When God creates human beings, God said “Let us make humankind in our image.” The church has traditionally interpreted those words as support for a God who existed in a plurality: one God in three persons. Somehow, at the beginning of the world, there was an "us"-ness to God, a quality which became infused into every human being.

The trinity is a part of all of us.

Of course, we don't fully understand how this trinity idea works. It is, by its very nature, irrational and mysterious. But what we do know about God is two-fold:

· First, each person in the Godhead is unique; each one is distinct from the other two.

· Second, they are all related to each other as one; they are one substance together.

They are unique, yet joined together; different, but the same. God the Creator is different from the Love revealed in Jesus, which is different still from the Spirit who guides and strengthens. Yet they are all the same God. All together as one.

Admittedly, this is all mind-numbing stuff, which is why I would prefer not to try to explain it you. Instead, I wish to look for ways for us to live it out. For if we are made in the image of God, as Genesis 1 suggests, then what does it mean to live in the image of the Trinity?

Here's the key: to live with the image of the Trinity is to live with that same kind of mysterious balance between 1) being distinct from everyone else, and 2) being related to everyone else as one. It is to see your life as one that is both “one of a kind,” but also just like the rest of humanity.

It seems to me that this is the critical question for us, and particularly for me, as I begin my renewal: How can you find the balance between celebrating your unique individuality and sharing yourself fully relationship with others?

First, a diagnosis. I think part of what ails our society today is that we tend to focus on of those ideas at the expense of the other. At the risk of sounding too simplistic, I think we might see people as fitting into one of two groups.

First, some of us work really hard to stand out from the crowd, to develop skills, personas, identities, and roles that draw attention to how distinctive we are. People like this know themselves so fully and so well that they don't take the time to learn about people who are different from themselves, to see how there might be commonalities among them.

Then, there is the second group of people. Those who just want to fit in. These are the people who seek out others who are just like themselves, to the point that they lose all knowledge of who they really are, where they came from, and what they can be. These are people who only associate with folks who look them, think like them, speak like them, vote like them, worship like them, and believe like them. All at the expense of finding what is truly unique about them.

I would suggest to you that so much of what makes our culture today so polarized, uncivil, and so segregated is that people, communities, and even churches fail to live in the image of the Trinity. They fail to celebrate both their uniqueness and their commonality. For in the Kingdom of a God who is Trinity, we don’t get to choose one or the other.

We are united, but we are not uniform.

That is the theological premise behind the next twelve weeks of my grant-funded study. It is a chance for me to explore how churches like St. Paul’s can be a congregation who welcomes a diversity of people by first appreciating themselves as unique individuals created in God’s image.

During this summer, that lesson for all of us begins with me. And I have to admit, that is the part that makes me both most excited and most nervous about the next twelve weeks.

I’d like to share with you some things about my childhood that I have never shared in public. I grew up in a predominately white, middle-class suburb of St. Petersburg, Florida in the 1970’s. We were one of the first ethnic minority families to move into our neighborhood, and I went to a school where I was basically one of a handful of ethnic kids in the entire school, and the only one in my class.

At first, I struggled to live a compartmentalized life. There was my life at home, where I ate rice at every meal, learned Filipino songs, and heard Tagalog, the Filipino language, all the time from my parents. Then, during the day, there was my school life, learning to speak, think, write, and live in English.

At times, that convergence of cultures was confusing to me. Sometimes my thoughts were in Tagalog, and I had to translate them into English. This often resulted in using both languages in the same sentence, usually with comical results.

It was clear to the other kids that I was very different. I didn’t quite fit in, with the way I looked, the way I acted, and the way I spoke. So it didn’t last long for other boys in the class to start teasing me. At times, it was harmless giggling. Other times, it became name-calling, taunting, and downright bullying. They would tell stories behind my back, not invite me to play games, or, worst of all, pretending I didn’t exist. It wasn’t all the kids who did this, of course, but there were enough of them.

And I still remember their names to this day.

It’s tough to go through that at any age, but especially when you’re a little kid, so I had to make a sad choice: if I wanted to fit in, then I had to lose what made me special.

From that moment on, I decided not to speak any more Tagalog. So, today, even though I can understand Tagalog fluently, I can speak English a lot better. Truthfully, this has served me very well in my career, as folks generally don’t complain about not being able to understand me. I have even debated changing my name to something more Americanized, which is something my dad did when he came to the states. Thankfully, I did not.

But talking like the other kids didn’t change the way I looked. I couldn’t change my skin color, and I couldn’t do anything about the shape of my eyes. But there was something that I believed I could change. Something that could help me fit in.

I could do something with my hair.

I have Asian hair. Hair that sort of flops down straight in every direction, like a mop head. We used to joke that my dad gave us haircuts by sticking a bowl on my head and trimming around it. I had bangs that hung down to my eyes, and it was something that none of the other kids had.

So, in third grade, I decided to start parting my hair to one side, sweeping my hair to the right, showing off as much forehead as I thought the white kids had. The problem, of course, is that my hair didn’t stay that way naturally. So I started using hair spray every morning and fussing with it for ten minutes. I wouldn’t get it wet in the showers after P.E. I was careful to adjust it throughout the day.

And that’s how I made it through school, college…

….and even today.

The bullying stopped somewhere around third grade. It had nothing to do with my hair, of course, but subconsciously I thought it did. I became not only accepted, but quite popular, not because of my hair, but because of my kindness, my with, my intelligence, and my charm.

But, even to this day, on a subconscious level, I keep my hair the same to ward off the bullies, to fit in, and to deny who I really am.

With all that said, I can’t tell you how important it is for me to go on these trips with my family. With the exception of a few weeks when I was two years old, I have never been to the country of my roots, immersed in the land where everyone looks like me. And Jessica has never been to the Netherlands. And the girls have never really been in touch with their ethnic roots as biracial children.

And that’s kind of sad. Sad for any one who wants so desperately to fit in that they forget that the first step in accepting people who are different is being comfortable with you are.

That’s why the Lilly Endowment fully funded this project for the church. If St. Paul’s is going to become open to people who are different from us, because they’re from another country or speak another language, or are even from another town, the place to begin is to celebrate what makes us each beautiful in God’s eyes.

The more you come to accept yourself as the unique person God has made you to be, then the less you will find others to be threat. And understand, even though my story has to do with a few white kids who were intolerant, I don’t see this at all as a “whites only” problem. There’s no need to blame just one group of people for this. I have prejudice in my heart that I have to work through, just as people of all skin colors can do a better job getting over their biases. The problem of prejudice really knows no skin color.

And this is not just about ethnicity. It is about getting along with people who think differently from you, act differently, worship differently, vote differently, and believe differently.

Ultimately, it all starts with each of us finding a balance between our uniqueness and our commonalities. To live the Trinitarian image within us.

So, there’s one more thing I need to do to be ready for these next twelve weeks.

(Take out hair clippers.)

I think it’s time to get rid of this hair.

There’s no need for any of us to try to earn our acceptance in God’s eyes. And there should be no reason for me to want to look like everyone else in order to feel accepted. That’s what I’ve done for years, hiding behind an obviously receding hairline and thinning scalp, pretending that I’m something that I’m not. So, in a few moments, during the Offertory, I’ve asked Karla Wilkie, one of our town’s hair stylists, to come up and shave me down.

And I hope this will be a reminder to all of us, especially myself, that we are each fearfully and wonderfully made. You do not need to be afraid of people who are different from you, because you can be comfortable in the way that God made you.

And when I come back, we’ll talk some more about what it means to be a church open and welcoming to new people, recognizing that all of us are God’s children, united, but not uniform.

In the name of our Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer, Amen.

Good-Bye, But Not Farewell

2011-06-14T05:52:00.000-07:00

June 14, 2011

Dear St. Paul’s Family,

A week from today, my family and I will be boarding a direct flight from Minneapolis to Amsterdam, to begin my twelve-week, grant-funded study leave. Lately, I’ve been feeling an odd confluence of excitement and apprehension. The reasons for the former are simple: It’s a chance to step away from the routine of ministry (which is recommended in the Discipline for pastors every six years), it’s an opportunity to experience an all-expense paid trip to some remarkable countries, and it’s a time for rest, renewal, and recreation.

But I’m also hesitant. As a worker by nature, I don’t often know what to do with extended periods of personal time, and I’ll have to adjust to life without the reliable routines of Sunday-to-Sunday. After all, I’m in the people business, and doggone it, I really like being your pastor. I’ll miss our daily and weekly interactions, the sound of your laughter, and the generative power of our worshipping together.

But the greater uncertainty that I feel lies in the subject of my study. Unlike a normal continuing education experience, in which I study topics such as more effective ways to do ministry, or the latest theological innovations, or current trends in Christianity and culture, the subject of my time away is, well, me. And my family.

As you know, the goal of this whole project is to come to a better understanding of the complexities and blessings of what it means for me to be an American citizen of Filipino descent, married to a woman of Dutch origin, with multiracial children. To come to that understanding, I’ll be dusting off long-neglected memories, uncovering hidden aspects of my past, and rooting up some parts of my heritage that I’ve never really acknowledged. I’ll meet cousins, aunts, and uncles that I’ve only heard about, be immersed in cultures where everyone looks like me (The Philippines) and where no one looks like me (The Netherlands).

Along the way, I’ll be prayerfully exploring ways for another kind of family – this church family – can learn to coexist with all of its beautiful, chaotic diversities. The underlying premise for this project is that the same principles that the deVega family can learn to celebrate its differences and focus on its commonalities are the same principles that a church can use to be more open to different ethnicities, perspectives, and backgrounds.

That’s why I’m excited. It will be a kind of work that I’ve never done before in my fourteen years of ministry: deep introspection, mixed with dramatic cultural immersion, with intentional focus on a critical area of survival for the mainline church. But it will be work done with deliberate rest, intentional connection to family, all in the context of some of the most beautiful locales in the world.

(Did I mention that one of my uncles is taking us up a jungle trail to the top of a volcano? And that I might get to preach in a family member’s village church? And that some members of one of my former churches is taking us on a canal boat tour in Amsterdam?)

THIS SUNDAY: GOOD-BYE (BUT NOT FAREWELL!)

This Sunday will likely be one of my most personal, most autobiographical sermons to date, as I go further in unpacking for you why this renewal means so much to me, my family, and the church that I love. I’d love it if you came to worship so I can thank you personally for your love, support, and well-wishes as I say good-bye until September 11. (And let me reiterate: when I come back, I still plan on being your pastor, for the foreseeable future!!)

In the meantime, here are some ways that you can be praying for us over the next several weeks:

· Pray for safety as we travel, with no major disruptions to our itinerary. You can pray for an uneventful eight hours to Amsterdam, as well as the whopping twenty-four hours to the Philippines. And since the girls display a lot more patience on super-long plane fights than their parents, you can pray that Mom and Dad don’t go stir crazy in the flight cabin!

· Pray for our health. We won’t go into the list of possible illnesses we could contract while we’re there, since we’re trying not to think about it. We’d rather just have a good time and come back whole and healthy. Oh, and you can pray for a steady recovery from all the jet lag!

· Pray that the four of us will draw closer together as a family. It is truly rare for a young family like ours, with kids our girls’ ages, to have a chance to have an experience like this. I’m not sure what this might look like, but there’s every possibility that this can show us how to love, respect, appreciate, and affirm one another more than ever before. Please pray that all of that will happen between me and Jessica, for our relationship to our daughters, and for these two cute little ducklings that call themselves siblings.

· Pray for St. Paul’s. I have absolutely no reservations about leaving your pastoral responsibilities in the capable hands of Rev. Ron Kitterman. (If anything, you may learn to like him better.) But you can pray that whatever I experience overseas and what you experience here in Cherokee over the next three months will lead us to even more clarity and enthusiasm about the future God has for us. When I get back, it will be full steam ahead, and I can’t wait to see what we accomplish together!

You might want to know that I plan on writing a few new editions of this Mid-Week Message throughout the summer. But part of this renewal will include stepping away from the regular routine of writing these weekly, though I’ll want to be in touch with you a few times with some of the things I am experiencing and learning. Those will be joyous occasions to tell you how we’re doing.

THE SUMMER AHEAD

In case you’re wondering about our itinerary, here’s a quick outline:

Sunday, June 19: Last Sunday in the Pulpit
Tuesday, June 21: Depart for Amsterdam
Wednesday, June 29: Depart Amsterdam via Train for London
Saturday, July 2: Depart London for U.S.
Starting July 2: Time with Family and Friends in Minnesota (Jessica’s American roots)
July 16: Depart for Manila
July 27: Return from the Philippines
Starting July 28: Time with Family and Friends in Florida (My American roots)
August 11: Kids Return to School
Magrey Spends Remaining Weeks Recovering, Studying, Reflecting, and Writing
Sunday, September 11: First Sunday back in the Pulpit

And here’s a quick word about Rev. Ron Kitterman. He’ll be in the office starting the week of June 20, and I’ll share with you all this Sunday what his anticipated days and hours in the office will be. He will be able to cover all pastoral emergencies as they arise, and you can reach him by contacting the church office. He already has a handful of weddings and memorial services scheduled at the church, and he will be providing excellent worship leadership and pastoral care for you, based on his decades of effective, beloved ministry in the Iowa Conference. He will make his cell phone available to you in cases of critical, urgent emergencies, and you can reach him through his new St. Paul’s UMC e-mail address, at rkitterman@cherokeespumc.org <mailto:rkitterman@cherokeespumc.org> . You will want to come this Sunday to formally welcome him and his wife Mary Lou to the St. Paul’s Summer Family.

Finally, this is great time to remind you that your membership commitment to prayers, presence, gifts, and service really does matter this summer! We thank God that we are in great shape heading into this summer regarding our financial giving, membership, and worship attendance. We have gained 32 members so far this year (a number of them by profession of faith!), and we are a few thousand dollars ahead of expenses right now (the first time we’ve started the summer this way in my time as your pastor.) Nonetheless, we know that the summer is a time for busy folks to go away for their own renewal, so please continue to remember St. Paul’s over the next three months. Come to worship as often as you can, and please make arrangements to fulfill your stewardship commitments either by mail or through automatic check withdrawal. You can contact our Financial Secretary Sarah Cook for more information on setting this up.

Now, more than ever, I am grateful for the privilege of serving as your pastor, and for the chance to have this once-in-a-lifetime, transformative opportunity. I can’t wait to see what our future holds in ministry together.

Grace, Peace, and Love,

Magrey

The Rev. Magrey R. deVega
St. Paul's United Methodist Church
531 W. Main St.
Cherokee, IA 51012
Ph: 712-225-3955
http://www.cherokeespumc.org

WHAT A GREAT TIME SO FAR!
Wow! That’s the best way to capture what we’ve been experiencing so far with the 70 children in this year’s Vacation Bible School. Thanks to Korrie Waldner and her great leadership team, the first day of VBS happened without a hitch, and there’s a high level of energy and joy as we steam through the week. You will not want to miss a taste of what we’re experiencing when you come to worship this Sunday. And you’ll have a chance to match the children’s daily contributions to the Bishop’s FIT Challenge, which funds disaster relief to the Iowa communities devastated by recent tornadoes and that will be affected by the rising waters of the Missouri River. God’s Love has really been in Action this week. Come and see for yourself!

Charles Wesley's Day of Pentecost

2011-06-07T13:01:00.000-07:00

June 7, 2011

Dear St. Paul’s Family,

United Methodists are quite familiar with John Wesley’s “Aldersgate” experience, but know less about a similar moment in the life of his younger brother Charles. On Pentecost Sunday, 1738, 30 year old Charles was deathly ill, suffering from a near-fatal case of pneumonia. Additionally, and more significantly, Charles was suffering from a serious spiritual ailment: a severe bout with doubt and a need for assurance of his salvation. Lying on his death bed and slipping in and out of consciousness, he noticed a woman named Mrs. Musgrave, a family friend, enter his room. She said to him, “In the name of Jesus of Nazareth, I tell you, arise and believe, and you shall be healed of your infirmities.” The woman then left the room.

At that moment, Charles awoke from his slumber and felt a “strange palpitation” in his heart. His pneumonia began to clear, and he was also able to claim, for the first time, a solid assurance of his salvation. He uttered the words, “I believe. I do believe.” When he later saw Mrs. Musgrave and asked her why she came into the room and to say what she said, she had no recollection of that event.

It is no wonder, then, why Charles henceforth esteemed the Day of Pentecost. For him, it became more than a liturgical observance in the Christian year, and more than a narrative from the pages of biblical history. It also marked that moment when he became more than a professing Christian, but a committed follower of Jesus as well, guided and shaped by the Holy Spirit. He considered “Pentecost” to be the stage in a believer’s journey of grace in which the Holy Spirit transformed that individual more and more into the image of Christ.

In short, for Charles Wesley, Pentecost was Sanctification.

So naturally, he wrote a hymn about it. In fact, he wrote thirty-two, compiled in 1746 as a songbook titled, Hymns of Petition and Thanksgiving for the Promise of the Father. It begins with these verses, from a song simply titled, Hymn 1:

The purchased Comforter is given,
For Jesus is returned to heaven,
To claim, and then THE GRACE impart:
Our day of Pentecost is come,
And God vouchsafes to fix his home
In every poor expecting heart. [1]

“THE GLORIOUS WORK OF SANCTIFICATION”

Charles advanced his love affair with Pentecost so often to his older brother that John Wesley acknowledged it in a journal entry On October 28, 1762:

“Many years ago my brother frequently said, Your day of Pentecost is not fully come; but I doubt not it will; and you will then hear of persons sanctified, as frequently as you do now of persons justified; and any unprejudiced reader may observe that it was now fully come.”

In other words, Charles constantly reminded John that the results of effective ministry never stop at a person’s conversion, and the work of our churches should be more than just adding new members. Instead, every ministry ought to have “Days of Pentecost,” seasons in which people became more committed to Christ, and strove to go deeper in their discipleship than mere lip service or superficial piety. Charles had no doubt that in their renewal efforts, there would come a time when the number of persons sanctified would at least match the number of people justified, and that would truly be a moment to celebrate.

John Wesley would heed his brother’s encouragement, and would even couch the fruitful results of his ministry in terms that echo the Pentecost story in Acts 2. Whereas Luke the history writer would claim conversions among the Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and Pamphlyians, Wesley shared these words, reflecting on the work of the Spirit throughout the British Islands.

“Here began that glorious work of sanctification, which had been at a stand for twenty years. But from time to time it spread, first through various parts of Yorkshire, afterwards in London, then through most parts of England; next through Dublin, Limerick, and all the south and West of Ireland. And wherever the work of sanctification increased the whole work of God increased in all its branches. Many were convinced of sin, many justified, many backsliders healed.” [2]

OUR DAY OF PENTECOST

Revisiting these rich stories from our Wesleyan roots reminds me of the many reasons I consider Pentecost to be my favorite Christian holy day. Unlike Christmas and Easter, retailers have yet to commercialize Pentecost with trinkets, greeting cards, lawn decorations, and sale circulars. It is also the very point in the biblical narrative that we enter the story most vividly. God’s revelation to the early church of Acts is the very same way God is revealed to us today: through the invisible, yet undeniable, power and promise of the Holy Spirit at work in and among us.

But Charles Wesley’s affection for Pentecost ought to add a deeper dimension to our understanding of what this Sunday is all about. It is an invitation for us to allow the Spirit to deepen our commitment to discipleship, to shape our perspectives, priorities, and behaviors around the person of Jesus Christ.

It is my prayer that this Sunday’s Pentecost service will afford you the opportunity to experience the sanctifying, purifying grace of God revealed to the church through wind and flame. Join us as we hear this glorious, vivid story from Acts 2, and experience the Holy Spirit at work in and through our lives.

Grace and Peace,

Magrey

The Rev. Magrey R. deVega
St. Paul's United Methodist Church
531 W. Main St.
Cherokee, IA 51012
Ph: 712-225-3955
http://www.cherokeespumc.org

[1] A free online version of Hymns for Whit-Sunday is available from Google books.
[2] From Wesley’s Concise Ecclesiastical History

RESPONSE TO THE FLOODS
At our Annual Conference in Des Moines last Sunday evening, clergy and lay delegates from the Northwest and Southwest Districts gathered to strategize response and relief efforts for the communities affected by the rising flood waters of the Missouri River. At this point, our district and conference disaster response coordinators are working with local emergency management officials to work within the systems already in place to address this imminent need.

As we await word of what we will be asked to do in response, you can already begin preparing items that you might wish to donate. Cleaning supplies, such as mops, gloves, bleach, rags, and sponges can be gathered and kept at your home until such time as we send word for you to bring them to the church. We’ll then find a way to get them to the distribution site in Sioux City. Also, there will be a need for bottled water for the volunteers that will be working there in the heat of the summer sun. Again, keep those at your home until we ask for them. Finally, there will certainly be a need for volunteers to work on mucking out the flooded homes and businesses once we are given word that it is safe to do so. This can be a powerful way you could put God’s love into action by contributing even half a day for the cause. Let’s all be in prayer, and be ready to respond.

VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL
We are excited to have 66 children registered for next week’s Vacation Bible School! Please be in prayer for the kids and the adult volunteers as we experience God’s love through fun songs, lessons, and activities. If you wish, we are still in need of gallons of fruit juices for the kids throughout the week. And, the children will be taking up an offering every day for the “Bishop’s FIT Challenge” which will fund relief efforts for the towns in Iowa devastated by tornadoes and the communities facing rising flood waters. You’ll have a chance to match their contributions with a special offering on June 19.

To view past editions of the Mid-Week Message, visit http://mdevega.blogspot.com
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A Prayer for Pastors

2011-05-31T05:30:00.000-07:00

May 31, 2011

Dear St. Paul's Family,

As many of you know, I am spending the next eight days attending Annual Conferences in Tampa, FL, and Des Moines, IA. In addition to our normal business, this year’s gatherings will include the election of delegates to next year's General Conference, as well as legislative discussion about the church's stance on several hot-button, headline-grabbing issues. These sessions will be significant occasions for discernment, dialogue, and debate.

But these are also times for clergy like me to reunite with old friends and establish new connections. So much of what is important about Annual Conference happens outside the auditorium, in the hallways and over meal tables, sharing stories of how life in the pastorate has been over the past year. Sometimes, the stories I hear are ones of joy and achievement: transformed lives, dynamic ministries, professions of faith. But all too often, clergy come together in these occasions to solicit prayerful support from each other for the doldrums of ministry: church conflicts, faltering economies, enduring fatigue, and spiritual dryness.

Last year at this time I used my Mid-Week Message as an invitation for you to pray for the pastors in the church. I thought I would encourage you to do the same again, and this time I've written a prayer that you might use as a guide in the days and weeks to come. This is by no means an exhaustive prayer, as it may spur additional avenues for you to explore in the ways you pray for me and others. I would certainly appreciate your prayers as I continue to lead this beautiful St. Paul's congregation and its lovely people. But I wonder if you can extend your prayers to cover other ministers, near and far, including clergy you don't know, who depend on the strength of the Holy Spirit to carry out their work in difficult settings and trying times.

Gracious God,

We thank you for the call that you have given women and men to serve as ministers in your church. We remember that theirs is a holy calling, grounded in the theological and biblical roles of prophets, priests, and psalmists, for the work of challenging, nurturing and ordering the life of your people. You have composed a rich, diverse, covenantal communion, whose pastors display a wide range of skills and passions, from all walks and seasons of life. In particular, we thank you for those who have or will soon retire, for their long years of service, and for the legacy they leave behind. We thank you for those who are fresh into the tender years of their work, especially those who will soon be licensed, commissioned, and ordained to ministry.

Yet, we acknowledge that the journey is often difficult for those who pursue your call. We pray for those who are dealing with physical, emotional, mental, or financial hardship. Grant them courage for their disabilities, guidance for their difficulties, supportive loved ones to surround them in their darkest days, renewed strength for their moments of fatigue, and the willingness to make necessary changes toward health and wholeness.

We pray for those struggling to find adequate balance between the demands of leadership and their responsibilities to family and self-care. Grant them the ability to discern healthy choices, prioritize what is most important, and to tend to those areas of life that nourish their souls and tend to their relationships.

We pray for those dealing with isolation and loneliness, separated perhaps by distance from close friends and colleagues, or who serve in communities where pastoral boundaries preclude close friendships with parishioners. We pray for a dramatic increase in the numbers of pastors involved in clergy covenant groups, that they may discover the strength of companionship. May these groups afford them the chance to celebrate without seeming boastful, and to mourn without appearing indulgent.

We pray for pastors whose current spiritual state is likened to a dry, parched wilderness. We pray for those whose difficult years in ministry have sapped them of joy, robbed them of creativity, and drained them of a desire to seek your spirit of innovation and imagination. Tend to them as ravens at the Brook Cherith. Restore their energies, and inspire them to new ways of serving your people and the world.

We pray that you will renew within pastors a holy passion for the Scriptures. Open their eyes to new interpretive possibilities, and fill them with new zeal for its preaching, its teaching, and its embodiment through their example. May they see themselves as wordsmiths of the Word, falling in love once again with the beauty of human language, and its power to name, claim, and sustain our commitment to be your people.

We pray for pastors struggling with congregations mired in conflict, who must mediate between people caught in sharp disagreements and taxing arguments. Grant your spirit of peace, and empower a commitment to reason and compromise.

We pray for pastors whose patterns of spiritual discipline have long gone untended. Forgive those whose regular practices of prayer, Bible reading, ministry to the needy, fasting, tithing, meditation, and study have lapsed into inactivity. Call them to flex their atrophied muscles, that they may build up their capacity to serve your church over the long haul.

We pray that you will give pastors a new sense of joy in their ministry. Remind them of the first moments when you whispered your call into their ears. Strip away the layers of painful memories that now muffle the clarity and vitality of those first effusive moments. Instead, buoy their call with hope, fill them with laughter, grant them holy humor, and remind them that "the joy of the Lord is their strength."

We pray for the development of mentoring relationships, for older pastors willing to share a lifetime of lessons learned and mistakes overcome, and for younger pastors willing to exhibit humility and reverence for those who would teach them. Provide each Samuel a willing Eli, an Elijah for every Elisha, and a Naomi for every Ruth.

We pray for the Bishop and the Cabinet, and for the weighty episcopal demands they bear in making and setting pastoral appointments. We pray for your guiding spirit in every stage of the process, and for all parties involved - - departing and arriving pastors, sending and receiving churches, and all spouses and families impacted - - that your Kingdom will be built by the best people serving in the right places.

We pray for the emergence of new people into the ministry. May each local church claim the responsibility of seeking, cultivating, and calling people into this sacred task, and we even pray for an influx of younger pastors to lead the church for generations to come.

We give you thanks, O Lord, for all you have done in and through the faithfulness of your people throughout the years. May we continue to serve as the living expression of your love, put into action for the world to see. May all of us, clergy and laity alike, be led by the one whom you sent for our sake, Jesus the Christ, who is the head of the church, and in whose name we pray,

Amen.

Magrey

The Rev. Magrey R. deVega
St. Paul's United Methodist Church
531 W. Main St.
Cherokee, IA 51012
Ph: 712-225-3955
http://www.cherokeespumc.org

WORSHIP THIS SUNDAY
We begin our new summer worship schedule this Sunday, with services starting at 9:30. We continue our sermon series "Strength for the Tough Times" with the observance of Ascension Sunday and a sermon based on Acts 1:1-11.

SUMMER GIVING
We give thanks to you for all your faithful generosity over the first several months of this year, leaving us in a relatively fit financial position as we head into the summer. As people head out over the next few months for trips and vacations, please continue to remember St. Paul's in your giving, so that we can enter the Fall and the remainder of the year in healthy shape. If you would like information on how to set up your checking account for regular, automatic contributions, please contact Financial Secretary Sarah Cook.

TORNADO DEVASTATION IN JOPLIN
We have all been viewing the footage of the terrible damage done to the town of Joplin, MO, and other cities along the tornado belt. Your United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) continues to play an active role in relief and recovery efforts in towns like Joplin, and 100% of your gifts go directly to victims of the disaster. Please make your checks payable to St. Paul's and designate them for "Tornado Relief."

To view past editions of the Mid-Week Message, visit http://mdevega.blogspot.com
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With Gentleness and Reverence

2011-05-24T07:02:00.000-07:00

May 24, 2011

Dear St. Paul’s Family,

At age 16, George Washington penned a small booklet called Rules of Civility & Decent Behavior in Company and Conversation. His 110 rules were based on principles of community written by French Jesuit monks 137 years prior, and Washington translated them for use in his time. He envisioned a society that viewed its citizens as equals, not dominated by aristocrats and elitists, yet still maintained a standard of dignity and decency.

Many of his rules now seem laughably quaint and outdated:

• When you Sit down, Keep your Feet firm and Even, without putting one on the other or Crossing them.
• In the Presence of Others, Sing not to yourself with a humming Noise, nor Drum with your Fingers or Feet.
• Do not Puff up the Cheeks, Loll not out the tongue, rub the Hands, or beard, thrust out the lips, or bite them or keep the Lips too open or too Close.
• Do not laugh too loud or too much at any Public Spectacle.
• Take no Salt or cut Bread with your Knife Greasy. [1]

Let’s just say I would have been a pretty lousy Colonial America, especially the part about laughing too loud. But of all of Washington’s rules, the one that most grabs my attention is the very first one, apparently the bedrock upon which all other codes of conduct rest:

Every Action done in Company, ought to be with Some Sign of Respect, to those that are Present.

Washington had an idyllic vision of how our nascent country could mature into a place where prosperity and achievement could be complemented with politeness and decorum. He believed that the foundation of a decent society was found in the way individuals treated those around them. His is a challenge that is just as important today as it was over 250 years ago.

SIGNS OF INCIVILITY

It is easy to see how far our country has strayed from Washington’s ideal. A recent Zogby poll revealed that 95 percent of Americans believe that civility in politics is important for a healthy democracy, but 89 percent say that the tone of politics has remained poor and in decline in the last three years. One need only remember the horrific shooting in Tucson last January to see evidence of our polarized political atmosphere.

Things are not much better in the workplace. The Workplace Bullying Institute, in conjunction with Zogby, conducted a poll that defined bullying as “repeated mistreatment: sabotage by others that prevented work from getting done, verbal abuse, threatening conduct, intimidation and humiliation.” By that standard, 35% of employees claimed to experience bullying first hand, including 34% of all female employees. [3]

And even the world of sports, the place to which Americans turn for escapist entertainment, is not immune from our uncivil society. Think about the near-fatal beating of a Giants baseball fan outside Dodger stadium in late March. Or even consider the rough tenor of parents attending youth sports. A recent report by the National Alliance for Youth Sports shared a story about two women assaulting and leaving unconscious a mother after a little league game in Utah. There was a also youth baseball coach who wrestled an umpire to the ground in Wisconsin. And there was a brutal brawl of thirty adults at the end of a Los Angeles youth soccer game. [4]

Of course, you and I could go on, building a nearly inexhaustible list of examples of how our relationships with one another have been marked by more rancor than respect, more spite than civility. And I haven’t even mentioned the divisions within the body of Christ.

WITH GENTLENESS AND RESPECT

With this gloomy diagnosis in mind, our journey through 1 Peter focuses our gaze this Sunday on chapter 3, verses 15 and 16: Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an account of the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and reverence. In the spirit of true mainline, centerfield construction, 1 Peter finds the center between two extremes, recognizing the value of both firm opinions and gracious compassion. It is permissible, even advisable, for us to be confident about our principles, and to stake claims about our convictions. We need not be subject to a kind of open-ended tolerance that renders us unable to define truth for ourselves, and need not worry about being all things to all people. “Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you,” 1 Peter says.

But the second part is just as important: with gentleness and reverence. This is the key complement to conviction. It is the ability to relate to others with a tone that is neither condescending or acrimonious. We are called to be simultaneously secure and sympathetic in the way we relate to others.

I don’t think I can make it more practical or say it any better than Donald Miller, bestselling author of Blue Like Jazz and A Million Miles in a Thousand Years. Listen for the way he advises Christians to engage with others in areas in which they might disagree:

1. Truth is not My Truth, it’s Just Truth: My ideas were not really my invention. Even if I was the first person to consider an idea, it’s still something I stumbled upon. I shouldn’t take it personally when somebody doesn’t agree. They aren’t rejecting me, they are rejecting an idea.

2. Methodology is Part of the Message: When I get defensive and then condescending, what I associate my ideas with an offensive subtext, and that association is very strong to the hearer. Imagine having a conversation with somebody who has terrible breath, standing there and smelling their putrid hot air as they talk. It’s the same with your attitude toward somebody when you’re discussing an idea.

3. Without a Loving Heart, I am Like a Clanging Cymbal: If I don’t genuinely care about the people I’m talking to, I’ll be received like a guy standing there clanging cymbals together. The Bible makes a strong connection between a persons heart and their tongue. We tend to think we talk with our tongues alone, but the Bible says we talk with our tongues and our hearts. Corinthians 13: If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.

4. The Other Person has Sovereignty: Even if I think the other person is completely wrong, they have a right to their beliefs. I can simply state what I believe and do so in kindness and that’s really it. If I’m trying to bully somebody into my way of seeing things, I’m not respecting the sovereignty of the person I am talking with.

5. I Could be Wrong: What we most want from the person we are talking to is for them to see things from our perspective and agree. That being said, though, are you willing to see things from their perspective? If not, try listening to their perspective then repeating it back to them. Ask them if you got it right, and if you did, say you will think about it. Then present your idea, too, and ask them if they understand your position. To be honest, they may not be as open as you, but once the conversation is over, I assure you they will have a new respect for you, and believe me, they will consider your ideas more respectfully. And besides, the truth is they could be right. [5]

PRAYER FOR ANNUAL CONFERENCE

We’ll explore more ideas of how to become a more civil people this Sunday when we dig deeper into the words of 1 Peter 3. In the meantime, I hope that you will keep all of these challenges in mind as United Methodists across the connection prepare to attend annual conferences in upcoming weeks. I will be attending two, Florida and then Iowa, starting next Monday. At these gatherings we will conduct the important work of electing delegates to the 2012 General Conference in Tampa, which serves as the chief decision-making body for the denomination. That means that our work will brew with conversations about the major hot-button topics of our time, earnestly seeking God’s guidance on how to resolve them despite our differences.

Let us join together as a congregation in prayer, that the words of 1 Peter 3 may be lived out in the way we dialogue and discern the future of the church. May we be clear enough about our convictions to provide “a ready defense,” but do so with great gentleness and reverence.

Grace and Peace,

Magrey

The Rev. Magrey R. deVega
St. Paul's United Methodist Church
531 W. Main St.
Cherokee, IA 51012
Ph: 712-225-3955
E-mail: mdevega@cherokeespumc.org
http://www.cherokeespumc.org

[1] http://www.foundationsmag.com/civility.html
[2] http://sitesmedia.s3.amazonaws.com/civility/files/2010/04/AlleghenyCollegeCivilityReport2010.pdf
[3] http://business.financialpost.com/2011/05/04/workplace-bullying-north-americas-silent-epidemic/
[4] http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-parents-we-mean-be/200907/the-morally-mature-sports-parent
[5] http://donmilleris.com/2010/05/03/five-principles-of-civil-dialogue/

1 Peter 3:13-17
13 Now who will harm you if you are eager to do what is good?
14 But even if you do suffer for doing what is right, you are blessed. Do not fear what they fear, and do not be intimidated,
15 but in your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord. Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an account of the hope that is in you;
16 yet do it with gentleness and reverence. Keep your conscience clear, so that, when you are maligned, those who abuse you for your good conduct in Christ may be put to shame.
17 For it is better to suffer for doing good, if suffering should be God’s will, than to suffer for doing evil.

TORNADO DEVASTATION IN JOPLIN
We have all been viewing the footage of the terrible damage done to the town of Joplin, MO. Coupled with continued recovery efforts throughout the south and in the nearby towns of Northwest Iowa, these events are a stirring reminder of the importance of the church in times like these. Your financial contributions to the United Methodist Committee on Relief are vital in these efforts, and 100% of your gifts will directly to people in need. Make your gift payable to St. Paul’s and designate it for “Tornado Relief.”

MAGREY OUT OF TOWN NEXT WEEK
Starting next Monday, I will be attending to consecutive Annual Conferences, the first in Tampa, Florida, followed by Des Moines. I will be still be in the church to preach each of the next two Sundays, but in the event of a pastoral emergency in my absence, please contact the church office.

SUMMER WORSHIP TIME
Summer worship begins at 9:30am starting Sunday, June 5. Phyllis Parrot is coordinating summer coffees, so if you would like to help out with cookies or desserts, please contact her.

LAWN MOWING VOLUNTEERS FOR THE SUMMER
“The grass is growing, so the lawn needs mowing,” in the words of our own Rod Bainbridge. There is a sign-up sheet downstairs in front of the office for you to volunteer to mow the church lawn. All the equipment is here at the church for you to use, including gasoline. Please sign up and contact Al Henn if you have questions.

To view past editions of the Mid-Week Message, visit http://mdevega.blogspot.com
To unsubscribe from this e-mail distribution list, please reply to this e-mail and write "UNSUBSCRIBE" in the subject line.

A Sermon for Graduates

2011-05-16T12:27:00.000-07:00

May 17, 2011

Dear St. Paul’s Family,

This Sunday the Cherokee community will gather at the high school to observe the commencement exercises for the Class of 2011. That morning, we will celebrate the seniors in our youth group and ask God’s blessing upon them as they move into the next exciting chapter of their lives.

To mark the occasion, I’m using today’s Mid-Week Message to share with you the sermon I preached last Friday night at Grace United Methodist Church in Sioux City for Mornigside College’s Baccalaureate Service. It was my honor to serve the college in this way, especially since our own Michele Witcombe was among its senior class. Having never attended a baccalaureate service, let alone preach for one, I wanted to offer a word to the graduates that was both suitable for the occasion and grounded in scripture. It was a sermon titled, “When Life Certainly is Uncertain,” based on Mark 9:14-29, the story of the father with the demon-possessed son. It captures my thoughts and hopes for all our graduates, as we journey through a world filled with conviction and chaos.

“When Life Certainly is Uncertain”
May 13, 2011
Mark 9:14-29

“Immediately the father of the child cried out, ‘I believe, help my unbelief!’” (Mark 9:24)

What a peculiar response. What a strange thing to say. The faculty of Morningside College, have, I suspect become quite accustomed to peculiar responses. Perhaps from some of you graduating seniors. Professors have the luxury of going right to the student and asking them, “What did you mean by what you wrote?” Or, “Tell me more about what you said.” Or, “I’m not clear about your point.” There is a desire for clarity and understanding.

A desire for certainty.

But when it comes to passages of scripture that are peculiar or unclear, we do not have that luxury. Because if we did, we could go straight to this man who responded to Jesus’ question and say, “What in the world did you mean?”

To set the stage, this was a man whose son was possessed by what the Bible says was an evil spirit. It was perhaps not a literal demon, but some kind of heavy, dark, emotional and mental state that had seized control of his life, rendering him uncontrollable and mute. And when the father brought the boy to Jesus for healing, he was greeted by Jesus with a rebuke: “You faithless generation, how much longer must I be among you? How much longer must I put up with you?”

The man didn’t exactly catch Jesus “in the mood,” wouldn’t you say?

So, the man decides to give Jesus the whole medical history on the boy, dropping the veritable case file on Jesus’ lap. And then he said to Jesus a seemingly innocuous, pious phrase: “If you are able to do anything, have pity on us and help us!”

To which Jesus said, “If you are able! (As if to say, “Really? Don’t you know who I am?) All things can be done for the one who believes!”

And so here it is. It’s at this point that the man cried out: “I believe, help my unbelief!”

I believe. Help my unbelief.

Two seemingly disparate, polar opposite ideas, juxtaposed with no reasonable connection. How in the world do we make sense of this statement? How can he both believe and not believe?

If the man were submitting this as a term paper to a Morningside faculty member, he might get docked points for a typo, and urged to proof his paper more carefully. He might get it back with a red pen in the margin, saying, “Um, you seem to be missing a word there, in between those two statements. Some kind of connecting word to help us understand the relationship between “I believe” and “Help my unbelief.”

I looked carefully at several translations of this verse to see if there was a conjunction in some version other than the one I’m used to. In fact, I looked at the Greek, and couldn’t find one. I then asked the smartest biblical scholar I know for advice.

I said, “Sweetheart…..” (To which Bruce Forbes said, “Don’t call me that.”) But we still couldn’t find a connecting word.

So rather than having the luxury of asking this father personally for clarification, we are left to playing Mad Libs with the gospels. There’s a blank there, and it’s asking for a conjunction.

So first, we try the word, “However.” That seems reasonable enough. “Lord, I believe….however….” Of course that works. It works for many of us. Yes, we believe. But, we still doubt. Yes, we live with certainty, but we still have our jitters.

This works grammatically, just as it works autobiographically. Track it through your own life. Four years ago, you went through a similar exercise in your life, graduating as high school seniors. You were at the top of your game, the king or queen of the hill, and you were convinced that you were fully formed for the task of adulthood. Your future was bright, your disposition giddy, and your enthusiasm charged.

And then came the first semester of your Freshman year.

Then, every bit of your “I believe” turned into “Help my unbelief.” Many of your foundational perspectives shifted, like tectonic plates under your feet. Your preconceived notions were challenged, the basic fabric of your identity tugged and frayed, and you were being disassembled, like a device in for repair.

All the while, this liberal arts education was doing its job.

But now you are sitting here, looking at college in the rear view mirror, having been more than repaired, but renovated, upgraded with new tools to make you think, act, and speak better than ever before. You graduated with certainty from high school, became uncertain in college, and now you are certain again.

To insert however into the man’s sentence is to suggest that belief and unbelief, certainty and doubt, are an uneasy mix, even mutually exclusive, in which we try to as hard as we can to be confident, but acknowledge that we still fall short. Is that the nature of this man’s peculiar response? Equal parts profession and confession? An affirmation of his belief, yet a repentance for his own shortcomings?

Now, if “However” is a reasonable possibility, I would like to suggest another. Maybe one that is more likely, and even more suitable for you graduating seniors ready to forge ahead with life.

How about the word, “Therefore.”

“Lord, I believe; therefore, help my unbelief.”

In other words, certainty and uncertainty are not mutually exclusive, but are necessary co-companions in your journey of life. They are the yin to the yang. They exist in our lives just as light creates shadows. If you have one, you must have the other. The more you grow in your understanding of who you are and the world around you, the more you must be aware of what you don’t know, and be ready for the surprises that lie ahead.

The presence of the word therefore would therefore be a reminder to us that tension and ambiguity in life is not always a bad thing. Struggling with what we know and don’t know does not convey how weak we are, but simply how human we are. I’m reminded of the great quote by Anne Lamott, who said that the “opposite of faith is not doubt, but certainty.” Faith is not the absence of doubt, but the embrace of and ultimate transformation of it. Courage is not the elimination of fear, but the regular interplay and conscious choice against it.

The truth of the matter is, you and I live in a time when there is more value in the ambiguity and the shades of gray than there are in rigid, dogmatic certainty. Our world will be made better, not by the extremists on the fringe who think that everyone else has it wrong, but by those of us in the center who believe that there is value in respectful dialogue.

And if there is any group who has had to experience these lessons the hard way, it is you. Consider the fact you are part of a graduating class that was born the year that the Berlin Wall fell. You were toddlers when we engaged in the first Gulf war. When you were in elementary school, you saw the rise and burst of the dot.com bubble, the horror of the Oklahoma City bombing, and the massacre at Columbine High School. When you were in junior high, you witnessed the unfathomable tragedy of September 11, and every year of your high school and college careers has been marked by this country at war. And we are now in the midst of the greatest economic slump since the Great Depression. No generation has had to live with this kind of chaos and ambiguity shifting beneath their feet as yours.

All of this makes you uniquely equipped to understand that uncertainty is a certain part of life. And with its embrace can come transformation.

It’s interesting to note Jesus’ response to the man after he said this. Whereas in other stories, Jesus praises a person for their faith, or indicates how impressed he was by them, Jesus said nothing to the man.

Nothing at all.

Mark moves on with the story as if the man had said nothing at all. And so we are led to believe that Jesus found the man’s response to be neither troublesome or noteworthy. Perhaps it’s because he found it to be so natural. Whereas we might labor over what the man’s true motivations were deep down, it seems that Jesus knew.

He knew that the man was simply exhibiting all that it meant to be human. This, after all, would be the same Jesus that would later in his life say, in the same breath, “Let this cup pass from me. But not my will but yours be done.”

Jesus knew what it meant to be internally conflicted. So, Jesus gave this man the most salvific non-response in the gospels.

Instead of responding verbally, Jesus moved on to the important business at hand. He entered right into the midst of the man’s tension and spoke the demon out of his son’s body. Jesus’ response to the man’s response was to bring healing.

There is a lesson here for all of us, and for you, graduating class of 2011. When we are at our most vulnerable, at the point of acknowledging our deepest tensions, we need neither be judged or praised. We can simply be transformed, and then healed, to become agents of healing for a broken world. We can be brought to a maturity that neither ignores or condemns uncertainty, but embraces it for its benefit.

I encourage you, then, to insert your own therefore into this verse, and thus receive these great lessons: Don’t settle for easy answers in life. Don’t ever stop the thirst for learning, for checking your assumptions, and embracing the unknown. Don’t ever be timid in admitting your ignorance, but use the tools that you have been given by this college to test and to tease the resolutions out of chaos.

Yours is a generation that has been forged in the crucible of uncertainty. And you can lead the way for the world to embrace it and transform it.

In the name of the God who created us, redeemed us, and sustains us, Amen.

Magrey

The Rev. Magrey R. deVega
St. Paul's United Methodist Church
531 W. Main St.
Cherokee, IA 51012
Ph: 712-225-3955
http://www.cherokeespumc.org

GRADUATION SUNDAY NEXT WEEK
Join us as we celebrate this major milestone in the lives of our graduating seniors. We will continue in our sermon series “Strength for the Tough Times” with a challenge from 1 Peter on how to cultivate a mature faith anchored in Jesus Christ, our chief cornerstone.

CONGRATULATIONS, MICHELE!
We celebrate the graduation of Michele Witcombe last Saturday from Morningside College, who earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Education. We are so proud of you, Michele!

SUMMER WORSHIP TIME
Summer worship begins at 9:30am starting Sunday, June 5. Phyllis Parrot is coordinating summer coffees, so if you would like to help out with cookies or desserts, please contact her.

SPECIAL OFFERING THIS SUNDAY
This Sunday we are receiving our annual offering for Larry and Jane Kies, our missionaries to Africa University. Please be prayerful and generous in your support of their vital ministry to the students and families of Zimbabwe. All of your gifts will count toward our Rainbow Covenant Missions Giving effort for this year.

LAWN MOWING VOLUNTEERS FOR THE SUMMER
“The grass is growing, so the lawn needs mowing,” in the words of our own Rod Bainbridge. There is a sign-up sheet downstairs in front of the office for you to volunteer to mow the church lawn. All the equipment is here at the church for you to use, including gasoline. Please sign up and contact Al Henn if you have questions.

HOT DOG DAYS SUCCESS
Thanks to Jeff Blum, Kathy Simonsen, Rod Bainbridge, Darly Gochener, Korrie Waldner, and Don Henderson for their work on last Thursday’s Hot Dog Day. We distributed 160 hot dogs in under 45 minutes, and gave away over 50 flyers to kids advertising this summer’s Vacation Bible School. Thanks!

Go Clean Your Room!

2011-05-10T05:42:00.000-07:00

May 10, 2011

Dear St. Paul’s Family,

Let me be the first one – and likely the only one – to wish you and yours a Happy National Clean Up Your Room Day. That’s right. It’s a day wholly designated to encourage people to clean up their rooms. I have no idea about the origins or authenticity of the day, as I found out about it perusing some national holiday websites whose reliability is impossible to gauge. All I know is that it takes place one day before “Eat What You Want Day” (May 11) and one day after “Lost Sock Remembrance Day” (May 9) which are two deliciously whimsical ideas for holidays, if you ask me. [1]

My hunch is that its origins came from some parent tired of pleading that their children tidy their bedrooms, and decided to concentrate a whole year’s worth of begging into one 1/365th of the year. However the observance started, I think there’s something endearingly quirky about a day dedicated to cleaning your room. It’s a chance to start anew, jettisoning the old, and breathing in freshness and purity.

I’ll confess that one of the shows that Jessica and I tend to watch during our cravings for mind-numbing, brain-candy television is called Hoarders: Buried Alive on The Learning Channel. Every episode, a camera crew chronicles the lives of people around the country whose psychological and mental condition renders them unable to throw out garbage, do basic cleaning, and prevent mindless accumulation of more and more material possessions. One time, we watched an episode in which a woman could not step foot into her house, let alone walk to her bedroom, without climbing over mountains of junk and refuse. Another man was forced to sleep in his office every night, because he developed an emotional connection to the thousands of rats that had taken over his home.

Don’t ask me why we watch these shows. Part of it is our odd fascination with people who live in these conditions. And part of it is the comfort that comes from realizing that the mound of laundry awaiting our attention is not as bad as it could be. Regardless, I think it’s fair to say that most, if not all, of us could use a National Clean Your Room Day now and then.

Don Aslett, bestselling author of Clutter’s Last Stand: It’s Time to De-Junk Your Life, offers many helpful steps on how to cut through the clutter in one’s home. He suggests that when faced with a mountain of possessions that are not of every day use and can not be readily stored, you take three large garbage bags and one large box and mark them as such:

· JUNK: Put in that bag items that are trash, broken, or no longer necessary.
· CHARITY: For items that you could give away to family, friends, or donation agencies.
· SORT: For items that you can sort through at a later time, one month from now.
· WITHDRAWAL (the box): To store items that you can get to if you really need them. But after a year, if you have not needed to open the box, throw the whole thing away.

The process may sound simple on paper. But for those who have difficulty working through their clutter, such efforts take determined decision-making, with no room for regrets or second-guessing. Purging through our homes can be a painful procedure, but it is necessary to keep a life that is sanitary, functional, and healthy.

Reading Aslett’s advice got me to thinking about how these principles can be applied to our spiritual lives. When John Wesley was standardizing the format of the small groups that met as part of his Methodist renewal movement, he came up with the following questions to guide people in sorting through the junk in their lives. When people gathered for these meetings, they would ask each other to respond honestly and openly to how they are doing in each of these areas, holding each other accountable with love, and without judgment. See how you might do with these questions:

1. Am I consciously or unconsciously creating the impression that I'm better than I really am? In other words, am I a hypocrite?
2. Am I honest in all my acts and words, or do I exaggerate?
3. Do I confidentially pass on what was told to me in confidence?
4. Can I be trusted?
5. Am I a slave to dress, friends, work or habits?
6. Am I self-conscious, self-pitying or self justifying?
7. Did the Bible live in me today?
8. Do I give it time to speak to me everyday?
9. Am I enjoying prayer?
10. When did I last speak to someone else about my faith?
11. Do I pray about the money I spend?
12. Do I get to bed on time and get up on time?
13. Do I disobey God in anything?
14. Do I insist upon doing something about which my conscience is uneasy?
15. Am I defeated in any part of my life?
16. Am I jealous, impure, critical, irritable, touchy or distrustful?
17. How do I spend my spare time?
18. Am I proud?
19. Do I thank God that I am not as other people, especially as the Pharisees who despised the publican?
20. Is there anyone whom I fear, dislike, disown, criticize, hold a resentment toward or disregard? If so, what I am doing about it?
21. Do I grumble or complain constantly?
22. Is Christ real to me?

These are great questions, which you might choose to make a daily part of your devotional and prayer life. All of us have junk to sort through. All of us are hoarders, buried alive in thoughts, habits, and perceptions that are blocking the free flow of God’s love in and through our lives. Perhaps there is no better day than National Clean Up Your Room Day to start cleaning up your act, and allowing the power of God to make you more like Christ today than you were yesterday.

Happy Cleaning!

Magrey

The Rev. Magrey R. deVega
St. Paul's United Methodist Church
531 W. Main St.
Cherokee, IA 51012
Ph: 712-225-3955
http://www.cherokeespumc.org

[1] http://www.holidayinsights.com/moreholidays/May/cleanuproomday.htm

WORSHIP THIS SUNDAY
We continue our sermon series called “Strength for the Tough Times” with a sermon titled “Safety from the Shepherd: A Faith That Comforts,” based on 1 Peter 2:19-25.

MAGREY PREACHING AT MORNINGSIDE COLLEGE
I have the honor of preaching this Friday night at Morningside College’s baccalaureate service. The service takes place at Grace United Methodist Church adjacent to the Morningside Campus and begins at 5:30. We are delighted to have our very own Michele Witcombe among the graduating seniors.

ST. PAUL’S ACHIEVES THIRD MILE STATUS
For the third year in a row, St. Paul’s has attained the highest level of giving to local and global missions through the Iowa Conference’s Rainbow Covenant Missions program. We are one of only 16 churches in the district to reach this goal, along with paying our apportionments and district asking in full. Thank you, St. Paul’s, for putting God’s love into action!

HOT DOG DAYS
Join us on Thursday and bring your appetite! For the first time, we will be participating in the Cherokee Chamber of Commerce’s Hot Dog Days event, and you can stop by our station in front of the church for free hot dogs with all the fixings. The fun starts at 5pm until we run out of hot dogs, and we will be giving out promotional material to the kids for our upcoming Vacation Bible School.

RUMMAGE SALE
The church-wide rummage sale takes place this Saturday and Sunday, from 8am to 4pm. Most items will cost $1.00. To contribute to the sale, please bring your items to the church and place them on the tables in the hallway.

VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL REGISTRATION
It’s not too late to register your child for another thrilling Vacation Bible School. It takes place from June 13-17, from 9am to 12pm. It is for ages 3 to completed 5th grade, and the cost is $7, which includes a t-shirt. Scholarships are available. Contact the church office to register.

A Pastoral Prayer for Mother's Day

2011-05-07T11:38:00.000-07:00

Loving God and Parent of All,

We are grateful today to gather as children birthed in your image, blessed offspring of your creation. As a mother hen gathers her brood under her wing, we join today, to hear your teachings and experience your love.

We give you thanks for empowering us to have a child-like faith. Teach us to have compassion in our human relationships, to forgive those who hurt us, to share with all of your children, and to play with imagination and courage.

We thank you indeed for the women among us and around us, in whom you have gifted the privilege and the challenge of being mothers and mother figures. Especially we thank you this day:

For all mothers, everywhere - Strengthen them in the ways that they raise their children, grant them wisdom for the lessons that they teach, discernment in the ways that they discipline, and may others grant them the thanks and honor they deserve.

We thank you for grandmothers, sisters, aunts, teachers, Sunday school teachers, adult mentors, big sisters, and anyone, everywhere, who plays a motherly role in the life of another boy, girl, or adult. Grant them to ability to model the example of Christ for all within their influence, that they might share the love that you have so freely shown to all of us.

We pause to remember those for whom Mother’s Day is a source of discomfort, even perhaps anxiety and pain:

For some, this day brings to mind melancholy remembrance of their own mothers who have died. There may even be those for whom this is the first Mother’s Day since their mother's passing. To these people, grant your peace and comfort, and may they give thanks for their mother’s lasting influence.

There may be those for whom Mother’s Day is a painful reminder of their own singleness, or their own inability to have biological children. Remind each of these that such women have always had a special place in your concern, especially throughout the history of the Bible. Give them your special care and love, and grant them your assurance that they are not alone; neither are they without ability to make a lasting impact on the world.

And to those for whom their experience with and memory of their own mothers has brought enduring pain, remorse, and guilt, grant the power of healing and forgiveness. Remind us of the wrongs we have done to each other, and the power we have, in your name, to bridge even the deepest divides.

For all these things, we give you thanks, O God who is a loving father and mother to us all. In the name of Jesus Christ our Lord,

Amen.

Violence, Vows, and No Easy Answers

2011-05-02T16:04:00.000-07:00

May 3, 2011

Dear St. Paul’s Family,

I was outside Sunday night, on a relaxing evening jog around town, when the FaceBook status updates on my phone exploded with the word of Osama Bin Laden’s death. I stopped at the corner of Roosevelt and Main to catch my breath and read the stream of news that flooded the airwaves. Like all of you, I knew that this would be a historic event, one of those “Do you remember where you were when…?” kinds of moments that will be etched in our minds for years to come.

As I resumed my run, I thought about a few similar events since the beginning of this year. On Sunday, January 9, we celebrated Baptism of the Lord Sunday, the same weekend that Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was seriously wounded in a senseless shooting that killed six people at a shopping center in Tucson. On April 10, we welcomed eighteen new members into the church, just days after Moammar Gadhafi gunned down several fellow Libyans struggling for freedom in the city of Misrata. And then last Sunday, we started the morning with the joyous confirmation of our seventh graders. Who knew at the time that the day would end the way it did?

The irony of these liturgical and global concurrences was not lost on me. On each of those Sundays, we asked people to solemnly respond to these questions: Do you renounce the spiritual forces of wickedness, reject the evil powers of this world, and repent of your sins? Do you accept the freedom and power God gives you to resist evil, injustice, and oppression in whatever forms they present themselves?

In each case – new members, confirmands, and all of us – people answered these questions with a solemn, sober, “I do.” Our baptismal and membership vows are driven by the verbs, to renounce, reject, repent, and resist. They are the four “R’s” that define our relationship to evil in “whatever forms they present themselves,” whether they be a mentally ill gunman, a savage dictator, or a brutal monster who masterminded the massacre of thousands of innocent people around the world, especially on 9/11.

Our liturgy is purposefully open-ended when it comes to the method by which we fulfill those vows. We aren’t told whether we should resist evil with justified military force, or with peaceful, non-violent protest. We’re not told whether we should drop bombs on buildings or order a special forces assault. Our liturgy doesn’t tell us when or if we should use military power, or when we should use diplomacy, sanctions, and tough talk. The church has never been a comfortable bedfellow with political or military power, and our vows do not come close to naming a way for us to merge the two.

But where our liturgy is vague about our methods, it is crystal clear about our purpose. We should never, under any circumstances, in peacetime or at war, ever become the very evil that we are called to renounce, reject, repent, and resist.

I’ll go ahead and name the ambiguity for many of us. We are proud Americans, who continue to suffer the long, lingering effects of the senseless murder of thousands of our citizens at the hands of a man who was evil personified. We are also clear about the need for justice, for holding him and others accountable for their actions, which is a foundational principle for a just and ordered civilization.

But lest we forget, the worst kind of violence is born out of a warped sense of good versus evil. It stems from the belief that certain people deserve the violence inflicted on them. And while, on the one hand, I would likely have authorized the same military action if I were the President, I have my own soul to contend with. I have to wrestle against my innate convictions that violence against “us” justifies violence against “them,” especially when “their” deaths evoke more than relief, but also satisfaction, pleasure, and downright glee. And I believe that our baptismal vows will not allow us those options, lest we become the very evil that we are called to overcome.

No, there are no easy answers for Christians who choose to take their vows seriously. It would be much easier for us to skew our values to be in alignment with our nationalistic pride. But that would be defining the Kingdom of God in political terms, in a way that Jesus never would have wanted. Instead, our calling is to a higher sense of citizenship, to a code of conduct and perspective that will not allow us to celebrate any person’s death, regardless of how evil that person was.

This Sunday, the lectionary includes the gospel reading of the walk to Emmaus. It is in this story that two men, having just experienced the news of Easter, are unaware that Easter Himself was walking alongside them. They were so caught up in the compelling, news-making headlines of the day that they were unable to see any alternatives to their misperceptions.

The story of these men is an invitation for all of us to dare to believe that beyond the headlines and easy answers, there just might be a new kind of vision. A new possibility of resurrection beyond death, peace beyond violence, and love beyond hatred. But we can’t see it. We just can’t see it. We are still residents of a sin-soaked, violence-addicted world, in which justice is defined in very narrow terms. But the Emmaus story can give us hope:

When (Jesus) was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight.

God, even at this moment, is flooding us with chances to see the resurrection, instances of new life, and possibilities for new peace. We may find it at the table. We may find it in our liturgies. We may find it in the Spirit’s yearning within our hearts. But most certainly, we can find it together.

Peace, Hope, and Resurrection,

Magrey

The Rev. Magrey R. deVega
St. Paul's United Methodist Church
531 W. Main St.
Cherokee, IA 51012
Ph: 712-225-3955

Email: mdevega@cherokeespumc.org
http://www.cherokeespumc.org

SHARING THE ST. PAUL’S STORY
I am privileged to be leading a day-long workshop for the clergy of the Southwest District this Friday. Their Superintendent has asked me to speak to them on the topic, “Congregational Transformation in the Wesleyan Spirit,” giving me the opportunity to share the wonderful work that God is doing in and through the people of St. Paul’s. It will be a five-hour workshop, from 10am to 3pm, and I would appreciate your prayers. Let us celebrate together the way that our story is being shared to shape other congregations in the Iowa Conference.

WORSHIP THIS SUNDAY
We continue our sermon series “Strength for the Tough Times” with a sermon titled, “A Love That Lasts: Faith that Endures,” based on 1 Peter 1:17-23. Join us for a service featuring our wonderful Bell Choir, and a special prayer honoring Mother’s Day.

CAMP FUND SUNDAY
This Sunday we receive a special offering for the kids in our community who will be attending the United Methodist summer camp program in Okoboji. Prayerful consider who you will contribute to this fund, and help put God’s love into action in the life of a young person.

TORNADO RELIEF
Amid the headlines from Sunday, we cannot forget the thousands of people around the country, especially Northwest Iowa and Northern Alabama, who have been devastated by tornadoes in the last few weeks. We continue to receive your special offerings for relief, all of which will directly go to people in need. Make your checks payable to St. Paul’s and designate it for “Tornado Relief.”

LAST DAY OF SUNDAY SCHOOL
This is also the last day for Sunday School, and there will be doughnuts for each grade level. We also thank the children who worked so hard bringing money to put in the quart jars to go toward the building renovation and help make their classrooms warmer.

ALL-CHURCH RUMMAGE SALE
We are hosting an all-church rummage sale on May 14 and 15, from 8 to 4. Most items will be $1.00 unless of more value. Please put toys and clothes in the basement level classroom. For more information, contact Marlene Kelly.

HOT DOG DAYS
We have a wonderful team of church members ready to host our first ever participation in the town’s Hot Dog Days on Thursday, May 12. The fun begins at 5pm and goes until we run out of hot dogs. This will be our way of getting the word out to kids and families of our Vacation Bible School program, so we encourage you to come, bring friends, and stop by our station for free hot dogs with all the fixings!

Royalmania!

2011-04-26T20:16:00.000-07:00

April 27, 2011

Dear St. Paul’s Family,

My decision to devote a large part of today’s Mid-Week to the wedding of William and Kate came after some intense internal debate. There is part of me that has grown weary of all the hype and hoopla, as have many of you. A friend of mine living in England told me she is quite tired of seeing, hearing, and living with the “tatty memorabilia” being hawked on the streets, including knitting patterns you can use to make your own “Wills and Kate” dolls. So I offer my apologies to any of you hoping this message would offer a respite from Royalmania.

The other day, Grace asked if our wedding was broadcast on television, too. I had to tell her that though her mother looked like a princess that day, such extravaganzas are rare. She is about the age I was in 1981 when I watched Charles and Diana get married. Thirty years later, I’ll be one of the millions watching again, but for very different reasons.

I won’t be caught up in the fairy-tale dramatics of the day; I have no real interest in the style of the gowns, the choice of wedding colors, or the vast array of flowers. As one who considers wedding officiating to be a hefty part of my job description, I’ll be watching for the ceremonial elements of the morning: the liturgy used by the Archbishop of Canterbury, the homily delivered by the Bishop of London, and what will likely be the first 50-ft. white altar linen I have ever seen.

I will also be viewing with a fascination about what the royal family means to the British people. As an American with an inbred allergy to anything monarchical, and a United Methodist with an instinctive urge to reform anything Anglican, I have to admit that, like many Americans, I struggle to see why the royal family is so significant to the Mother Country.

My hunch is that the British are well aware that long gone are the days that the royal family wielded any significant military or political power. But I suspect that what the royals lack in governmental authority, they more than compensate in cultural and societal influence. In them, the people find their corporate memory and claim their communal identity. The royal family links their citizenry to centuries of rich heritage, and reminds them of what it means to be British.

This perspective as an outsider gives me some entry point into the world of the pre-monarchy Israelites, who studied the empires around them (and, perhaps, watched a royal wedding or two themselves.) They craved a warrior king to help them defeat their enemies, and serve as an idealized hero for their projections of strength and power. But deep down inside, they were looking for a person to embody their corporate identity, and remind them of what it meant to be an Israelite.

Samuel, the lead prophet, was dismayed. Not just because his job was in jeopardy, but because they had forgotten that the source of their identity as a people was not located in any one person, but in the God who constituted their past, their present, and their future. In response to the people’s request, God told Samuel: ‘Listen to the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them. Just as they have done to me, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so also they are doing to you. Now then, listen to their voice; only—you shall solemnly warn them, and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them.’ (1 Samuel 1:3-9)

No, we Americans don’t have a monarchy to define who we are. Those days of patriarchal patriotism were left behind when the pilgrims crossed the pond. And United Methodists don’t have a pope or president who speaks on behalf of all of us. Instead, we believe that our identity in the kingdom of God is not found in a human being, but in Jesus Christ, whom we call our Lord.

Lord and Kingdom may sound like antiquated, patriarchal terms, but they best describe the way Christ bears our communal distinctiveness. It is in Jesus that we find our joint purpose and meaning as a faithful people. And to call Jesus Lord is to join together with the confessions of the saints from long ago from whom we inherit the rich, grand tradition of the Christian faith.

This all leads to this Sunday, in an event that is, in my opinion, exponentially more significant than the royal wedding. Confirmation Sunday is a momentous occasion in the lives of our seventh graders, who will stand before you and before God to claim their identity in Christ. They will formally proclaim Jesus as their Lord, and will henceforth align their lives around the vision of God’s kingdom on earth. They will acknowledge the grace of God that has been operating in their lives even prior to their ability to comprehend it, and vow to live their lives as followers of the one who came to give himself for them.

I hope you’ll join us this Sunday for this deeply moving and significant moment in the lives of these young people. It will be a reminder to all of us that our identity does not rest in any one human being, royal couple, or figurehead leader. Our identity is found in the resurrected Christ, who is our Lord.

Grace and Peace,

Magrey

The Rev. Magrey R. deVega
St. Paul's United Methodist Church
531 W. Main St.
Cherokee, IA 51012
Ph: 712-225-3955
http://www.cherokeespumc.org

NEW SERMON SERIES
This Sunday we begin a brand new series based on 1 Peter called “Strength for the Tough Times.” We will see how the words of this epistle gave strength to the early Christians during their times of persecution and trial, and translate that into principles for combating the difficulties of daily living. We’ll start with a sermon based on 1 Peter 1:3-9, called “Living Hope: Faith for Our Future.”

STRENGTH FOR THE TOUGH TIMES:
1 Peter’s Prescription for Persecuted People

May 1
Living Hope: Faith for Our Future
1 Peter 1:3-9
(Confirmation Sunday)

May 8
A Love That Lasts: Faith that Endures
1 Peter 1:17-23

May 15
Safety with the Shepherd: Faith That Comforts
1 Peter 2:19-25

May 22
Growing Up God’s Way: Faith That Matures
1 Peter 2:2-10

May 29
Good Work! Faith That Works
1 Peter 3:13-22

June 5
Acts 1:1-11
Contagious Christianity: Faith That Spreads

June 12
Acts 2:1-21
Spirit Born: Faith Strengthened by the Spirit

Love at the Junction of Eternity

2011-04-18T19:28:00.000-07:00

April 19, 2011

Dear St. Paul’s Family,

To Know Just How He Suffered
by: Emily Dickinson

To know just how he suffered would be dear;
To know if any human eyes were near
To whom he could intrust his wavering gaze,
Until it settled firm on Paradise.

To know if he was patient, part content,
Was dying as he thought, or different;
Was it a pleasant day to die,
And did the sunshine face his way?

What was his furthest mind, of home, or God,
Or what the distant say
At news that he ceased human nature
On such a day?

And wishes, had he any?
Just his sigh, accented,
Had been legible to me.
And was he confident until
Ill fluttered out in everlasting well?

And if he spoke, what name was best,
What first,
What one broke off with
At the drowsiest?

Was he afraid, or tranquil?
Might he know
How conscious consciousness could grow,
Till love that was, and love too blest to be,
Meet -- and the junction be Eternity?

On behalf of the staff and lay leadership of St. Paul’s United Methodist Church, I wish you and yours a blessed Holy Week, a deeply moving Good Friday, and a joyous Easter celebration.

Grace and Peace,

Magrey

The Rev. Magrey R. deVega
St. Paul's United Methodist Church
531 W. Main St.
Cherokee, IA 51012
Ph: 712-225-3955
http://www.cherokeespumc.org

HOLY WEEK AT ST. PAUL’S
Join us this week as we celebrate the power, passion, and drama of the last week of Jesus’ life:
· Maundy Thursday service, April 21, 7:00pm. Service of Remembrance and Holy Communion
· Good Friday service, April 22, 7:00pm. Service of Darkness, featuring the Chancel Choir
· Easter Morning, April 24. Identical services at 7am and 10:10am.

EASTER BRUNCH
You are invited to join the youth as they sponsor an Easter brunch from 8:00 to 10:10 next Sunday. If you are interested in contributing a breakfast item, please contact Karla Wilkie. In addition, there is no children’s Sunday school that morning.

TORNADO RELIEF
The following information comes from the District and Conference Disaster Coordinators, with ways for us to respond to the 27 tornadoes that touched down in our district about ten days ago.
· PRAYER: Please continue to pray for all the communities that have been affected, especially Mapleton, Early, Nemaha, Varina, Fonda, and all the farmers between those towns.
· OFFERING: Your financial assistance is greatly appreciated, and all of your gifts will go directly to support people in need. You can make your check payable to St. Paul’s and designate it for “Tornado Relief.”
· WATER: There is an urgent need for drinkable water for the communities of Varina, Nemaha and Mapleton. All sizes of containers can be dropped off at the church office, and we’ll make sure they get to the district office in Storm Lake for distribution.
· OTHER ITEMS: Heavy Duty Trash Bags, Work Gloves, Clean-Up Buckets, Cleaning Supplies, Power Washers with hose, (to loan with or with-out operators) and non-Perishable food items. For Mapleton in particular, there is a need for Clorox wipes, 1 Gallon ziplock bags, Liquid Nail, Caulking and caulking guns, Brooms and dustpans, Flashlights and "D" Batteries. Again, drop off the items at the church and we’ll make sure they are delivered.
· VOLUNTEERS: Your time and effort would be a huge help in recovery. We are considering taking a group next month, and if you are able, please let the church office know. Plan to wear sturdy shoes, gloves, and long sleeves. Because of the insulation in the air, a mask or respirator is recommended.

Sugar Coating Death

2011-04-12T07:07:00.001-07:00

April 6, 2011

Dear St. Paul’s Family,

I still laugh to this day about my most embarrassing moment in ministry. I consider my relationship with you all mature enough that I am willing to share this story without fear of merciless teasing.

(Alright, who am I kidding? But I’ll tell it to you anyway.)

Several years ago, while serving a prior congregation, I received a call from a fellow pastor letting me know that one of our church members was going to have her father taken off life support the next morning. This was going to be a difficult moment for the family, and a pastor needed to be with them. I told my colleague that I would be willing to join them, and that I would call them right away to let them know.

It was 10:00 at night when my colleague called, long past the time that this particular preacher has any coherent thoughts, let alone speaks them aloud. I called the family and prepared to fumble through a conversation with them, only to be caught off guard by the sound of their voicemail recording. I'm generally not one to leave the cleanest, most concise answering machine messages, even when my mind is alert. But in the late hours of the evening, I was a mess from the moment I started talking. Without thinking, I launched into my message.

"Hi, this is Magrey from the church. (From the church? How many other Magreys do they know?). I hate to be calling at such a late hour, but I wanted you to know that I was going to join you in the hospital in the morning. I understand you all are….umm….you all are....”

My brain totally froze. I had started a sentence without a clue as to how to finish it. Somehow, the proper phrase, “removing your father from life support,” totally escaped by mind. In its place, a flurry of inappropriate phrases fluttered into my head. I understand you all are “pulling the plug.” (No, no. I can’t say that.) I understand you all are “putting your father to sleep.” (Really? Is the doctor a vet?)

So after what seemed like an eternity of awkward voicemail silence, I finally stammered out the end of my sentence.

“….I understand you all are….doing a disconnection tomorrow.”

Doing a disconnection tomorrow? I slunked my shoulders and closed my eyes as soon as the words left my lips. I fumbled out the remainder of my message, clicked the end of the call and beat the phone against my forehead.

My kind, supportive wife overheard my message from down the hall. Struggling to contain her laughter, she called out:

“Who do you think you are? The cable guy?”

EUPHEMISMS FOR DEATH

I receive minimal solace from the fact that when it came time for the gospel writers to describe the final moments of Jesus’ life, they were careful to find the right words. At the time of Jesus’ death, none of the four gospels come out and say, plainly and clearly, that “Jesus died.” Mark says that Jesus “breathed his last breath.” Matthew and John say that Jesus “gave up his spirit.” And Luke, perhaps to cover the bases, said that Jesus gave up his spirit and then breathed his last.

In fact, the phrase “Jesus died” occurs only one time in the whole New Testament. (1 Thessalonians 4:14). And while Paul uses the phrase “Christ died” a number of times, he is also quite fond of saying that when believers die, they merely “fall asleep.” So there you go. Maybe the veterinarian metaphor was not so awkward after all.

Why all the euphemisms associated with death? I’ll admit that as a pastor I have used my own fair share of them when talking to family members about their deceased loved ones: passed away, stepped from this life into the next, transferred their membership into the church universal, now experiencing God’s eternal embrace. It’s not that I shy away from saying the words “death” or “dying.” I certainly use them freely and frequently. But in the most tender moments of grief and loss, the other words seem more soothing. Perhaps the gospel writers felt the same way.

But where the New Testament might choose euphemisms to describe our physical deaths, Paul is quite direct when it comes to talking about our spiritual deaths. Consider Romans 6 as an example:

What then are we to say? Should we continue in sin in order that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin go on living in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin. For whoever has died is freed from sin. But if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. The death he died, he died to sin, once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

That’s fourteen instances of dead, death, and die in only eleven verses. The Bible is very clear: when it comes to living the kind of life God desires for us, we only have to die.

That’s really what Lent is all about. It is a time of deep introspection about the decaying, diseased parts of our lives, and letting them breathe their last breath. Put to death our old ways, die to our old self, and identify with the death of Jesus. Merely sleepwalking through the faith won’t do. Daydreaming in our discipleship won’t work. Only the full demise of our former ways of thinking, behaving, and relating to others will lead to a resurrection that offers new life.

By the way, I met with the family the next morning to be by their father’s side. They did not mention my phone message; they had other pressing matters to attend to. They were grateful for my presence, but I was more grateful for them. Together, we witnessed in somber silence the grand mystery of another life slipping into death, with serenity and peace. We mourned their father’s death, and dared to claim the promise and power of the resurrection together.

That is the promise that awaits us, just around the corner. This Sunday, we begin our final approach to the cross, to experience the power, passion, and drama of the week that changed the world. Let’s euphemize neither the death of Jesus or the way we are called to identify with his death. Without sugar-coating, short-cutting, or side-stepping, let us confront the cold, hard reality of Christ’s death straight on, and be unafraid to go all the way to the cross.

See you on the journey,

Magrey

The Rev. Magrey R. deVega
St. Paul's United Methodist Church
531 W. Main St.
Cherokee, IA 51012
Ph: 712-225-3955
http://www.cherokeespumc.org

TORNADO RELIEF
We are receiving initial reports from the District and Conference Disaster Coordinators regarding the 27 tornadoes that hit various communities throughout Northwest Iowa on Saturday night, particularly in Mapleton. They are asking churches to begin assembling volunteer teams to go to these disaster sites and start the urgent work of clean up. There is an immediate need for strong, able-bodied persons to head down to Mapleton, and there will soon be a need for others to help with other kinds of recovery efforts. If you are interested in taking a day trip down to Mapleton or some other affected area, please let the office know. We may have some people in the church willing to lead a crew.

If you are unable to help with physical labor, perhaps you can contribute items for the assembly of a cleaning bucket. These buckets are immensely useful to people in devastated areas, and you can find the items on the UMCOR website: http://gbgm-umc.org/umcor/print/kits/floodbucket.stm. Bring the completed buckets to church, and we’ll make sure they get to the people who need them.

SOLES4SOULS
After delivering our latest shipment of donated shoes to Soles4Souls, the grand total of our contributions in just 12 months is 1,486 shoes. What a phenomenal response! Thanks, St. Paul’s! Many of the recent contributions will be delivered to people in need in Japan.

BUILDING RENOVATION UPDATE
Our recent Capital Campaign has brought in about $260,000 in pledges. We are grateful for the congregation’s faithfulness and generosity! Although it is short of our goal, it is sufficient to move forward with the first parts of our renovation plan. The Building Committee met last Tuesday and is putting together plans to move ahead in phases rather than all at once so as not to incur significant loan indebtedness at this time. Plans are to begin with the replacement of the boiler with a high-efficiency unit, and we will be working with both Denny’s and Modern to secure estimates. Next, we will be moving ahead in retiring the debts associated with the new parking lot across the south alley. These plans will be recommended to the Administrative Board perhaps early next month, and we will keep you posted on actual costs and further refined plans as they develop.

NEW MEMBERS
We give thanks to God for the eighteen new members who have joined our church. Please wear your name tag over the next several weeks to help them feel welcomed.

Brian Benson
Roberta Bevington
Wade and Mary Cowan
Monica Cowan
Joyce Groff
Jessica Hunecke
Chris and Missy Jenness
Mitch Knippel
Kent and Nicci Lundquist, and sons Levi, Steven, and Trevor
Alan Piatt
Craig Schmidt
Richard Weathers

To view past editions of the Mid-Week Message, visit http://mdevega.blogspot.com
For more information about St. Paul's United Methodist Church, visit our website at http://www.cherokeespumc.org
To download the latest Sunday "Daybreak" radio devotional, visit our blogsite at http://blog.cherokeespumc.org
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If You Can Sing It, You Can Perform It

2011-04-05T10:29:00.000-07:00

April 5, 2011

Dear St. Paul’s Family,

Whenever I visit Bob Stephenson in the nursing home, we inevitably swap high school band stories. He was, as many of you know, a long-time and well-loved director of bands here in town. And I was, as many of you don’t know, a long-time bass clarinet player for my junior and senior high concert bands. Bob and I love comparing notes when we visit: we talk about the pieces we enjoyed performing, state superior ratings we won over the years, and, most importantly, the valuable life lessons we learned from being involved in the arts as kids.

Last week, when I paid Bob a visit at the Villa, I asked him about a memory that had popped into my head. I said, “Bob, there was one practice session when our band director was rehearsing O Sacred Head, Now Wounded with us for state competition. We were having trouble playing in tune, breathing in the right place, and getting a feel for the intense emotional weight of the song. So then he gave us a set of instructions that caught us all off-guard.

“Everyone, drop your instruments,” my band director said. “Let’s start from the beginning, but this time, sing your parts.”

We were dumbfounded. Most of us couldn’t carry a tune in a bucket, and we were better off singing with the fire sprinklers on so we could pretend we were in the shower. But our director plowed ahead, handing out the lyrics so we could start. He raised his baton, and I started to sing the low, mournful bass line with the tubas and baritones. The clarinetists and flautists sang the haunting melody, and the French horn players and saxophonists sang the rich mid-range harmonies.

When I described the whole scene to Bob Stephenson, he smiled. “I bet it worked,” he said. “I used to do that with my kids all the time.” And he was right, of course. After we finished singing our parts and picked up our instruments again, we played the piece to near perfection. We played with better intonation, and a heightened sensitivity to the textures and emotions of the music. We listened to each other, breathed together, crescendoed together, and performed the piece all the way to a state superior rating later that spring.

“I don’t know why it works,” Bob told me. “It just does.”

If there’s a book out there titled, All I Ever Needed to Know I Learned from High School Concert Band, surely there would be a chapter titled, “If You Can Sing It, Then You Can Play It.” Because I think there’s a valuable lesson here that can apply to many aspects of life, particularly to the Christian faith.

I think about the many songs that people in both biblical and church history learned to sing, guiding them to new visions of freedom and beauty. Only after singing these songs could they claim the promise contained in them. I think about Miriam, the Kingdom’s first band director, who led the former Israelite slaves away from Egypt and into the wilderness by teaching them to sing the Shirat HaYam, the “Song of the Sea,” recorded for us in Exodus 15:20-21:

‘Sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously;
horse and rider he has thrown into the sea.’

And I think about the “Songs of the Suffering Servant,” from Isaiah, sung to a people in exile awaiting their liberation. The prophet stirred the imagination of the hopeless exiles, inviting them to envision the arrival of one who would bear their suffering and misery, and lead them to freedom.

Here is my servant, whom I uphold,
my chosen, in whom my soul delights;
I have put my spirit upon him;
he will bring forth justice to the nations.
He will not cry or lift up his voice,
or make it heard in the street;
a bruised reed he will not break,
and a dimly burning wick he will not quench
(Isaiah 42:1-3)

And who can forget the incredible songs that emerged from the African-American slave experience? From them we learn a powerful example of how singing a song together can unify a people and encourage them never to lose heart in the face of seemingly insurmountable oppression. Can’t you hear them singing, “We Shall Overcome”?

We shall overcome,
We shall overcome,
We shall overcome someday;
Oh, deep in my heart, I do believe,
We shall overcome someday.
The Lord will see us through, The Lord will see us through,
The Lord will see us through someday;
Oh, deep in my heart, I do believe,
We shall overcome someday

And last February, with the world watching, millions of Egyptians marched through Tahrir Square in Cairo, staging non-violent protests against an oppressive dictator. Undeterred by threats of violence, the protestors pressed on, unified in one voice, singing together Sout al Horeya, “The Song of Freedom:”

I went down to the streets, vowing not to return
And wrote with my blood on every street
Our voices reached those who could not hear them
And we broke through all barriers
Our weapon was our dreams
And tomorrow is looking as bright as it seems
For ages we’ve been waiting
Searching but unable to find our place
In every street in my country the sound of freedom is calling

There’s power in singing together. It prepares us to perform.

I don’t know the kind of spiritual condition in which today’s Mid-Week Message greets you. We are, after all, in the middle of yet another Lenten season, traversing a journey that we know all too well. Perhaps your spirit has been numbed by familiarity, and you treat this Lent as just another season in just another year. Maybe, like our high school band that day, you’re just going through the motions, playing without passion, and thumbing through the notes with more apathy than melody. If your life is out of tune, and you feel like you’re not quite in harmony with God and those around you, then maybe it’s time to drop your instrument and start singing your part.

If you’re looking for a song to sing, then try this one. It’s the earliest Christian hymn, and one that is very appropriate to learn as we prepare for the cross:

Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,
who, though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God
as something to be exploited,
but emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
being born in human likeness.
And being found in human form,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to the point of death—
even death on a cross.
Therefore God also highly exalted him
and gave him the name
that is above every name,
so that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bend,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue should confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
(Philippians 2:1-11)

If you sing it, then you can practice it. And if you practice it, then you can perform it with excellence, beauty, and joy. I don’t know how it works, and neither does Bob Stephenson. It just does, and it’s worth trying.

Grace and Peace,

Magrey

The Rev. Magrey R. deVega
St. Paul's United Methodist Church
531 W. Main St.
Cherokee, IA 51012
Ph: 712-225-3955
http://www.cherokeespumc.org

ST. PAUL’S FEATURED IN NATIONAL NEWSPAPER
The United Methodist Review is the national newspaper of the United Methodist Church. Since we are one of four United Methodist churches to receive a clergy renewal grant from the Lilly Endowment, Inc., we will be featured in an upcoming article. This is a wonderful way to share with the denomination the great work of St. Paul’s! The reporter would like to have some pictures of me doing clergy-related work outside the pulpit, so if you have any pictures we can borrow and scan, please send them to the church office.

THIS WEEK: EXPIATION: TO CLEANSE US OF SIN
We continue our sermon series through the seven atonement theories of the cross by focusing on the image of cleansing. The official theological term is “Expiation,” which is the work that Christ does to clean us of the sins that stain our lives. The sermon is based on 1 John 1:5-9.

VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL
Please consult the display in the narthex for items that you can purchase and donate for this summer’s Vacation Bible School. Monetary donations are also welcome. VBS takes place from June 13-17, from 9am to 12pm, and we will have registrations available for the first two weeks in May. VBS is for kids Pre-K through completion of 5th Grade.

YOUTH MURDER MYSTERY NIGHT
All youth are invited to join us for a murder mystery event at the church on April 17 from 4:00-6:00. Please let the church office know by April 11 that you are coming, so that we can give you information about the character you are playing.

HOT DOG DAYS
We are exploring participation in this year’s Cherokee Hot Dog Days on May 12, sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce. We would like to take part in the event as an opportunity to promote our upcoming Vacation Bible School to the kids who attend. We are needing people to help set up, cook, and serve on that day. If you would like to help out with Hot Dog Days, please contact the church office.

NEW MEMBERS JOINING APRIL 10
We are excited to welcome about twenty new members into our church on April 10. If you are interested in joining, please contact the church office. And as a reminder, please wear your name tag over the next several weeks so that our new members can learn who you are.

TALENT’S FUND MEETING APRIL 10
Chuck Tolzin has assembled an exciting group of about ten people to serve on the revitalized Talent’s Fund, and he continues to seek the input of interested persons. If you would like to explore ways for the church to creatively fund the hiring of a new children and youth person, join the team on this Sunday for a meeting after the worship service.

To view past editions of the Mid-Week Message, visit http://mdevega.blogspot.com
For more information about St. Paul's United Methodist Church, visit our website at http://www.cherokeespumc.org
To download the latest Sunday "Daybreak" radio devotional, visit our blogsite at http://blog.cherokeespumc.org
To unsubscribe from this e-mail distribution list, please reply to this e-mail and write "UNSUBSCRIBE" in the subject line.