The Defiant Melody of Birds

January 28, 2014

Dear St. Paul’s Family,

Never has a weekend prior to this last one provided more evidence of the popular Iowa saying:  “If you don’t like the weather, wait fifteen minutes.”  We woke up Saturday morning to brisk winds and temperatures in the single digits (which made for a memorable graveside service for this Florida-born, tropically baked Filipino preacher.)  The weekend ended with a bone-chilling blast of 50 mph arctic winds Sunday night that caused a cancellation of my flight out of Sioux City (I knew there was going to be a problem when there was considerable turbulence on the plane - and we hadn’t yet moved away from the terminal.)

And then in the middle of the weekend, sandwiched between two frigid polar vortexes, there was an unseasonably warm stretch of balmy skies, calm winds, and 40-plus degree temperatures.  And the most unexpected, disorienting aspect of that time?  It wasn't the weather, but a sound: 

I heard birds singing.

On Sunday morning, walking from my car to the church office, I stopped in my tracks to see if my ears were deceiving me.  There was a veritable chorus of robins, happily chattering away, flittering among the branches of the trees on our north lawn.

It had just been hours ago since the teeth-chattering temps and brisk breezes of Saturday, and it would only be a matter of time before howling winds would surge again through town.  But here were the birds, singing “lustily,” as Wesley would say. 

Birds only know the here and now.  They don’t dwell on what the weather was like six hours ago.  And they don’t fret about what will happen six hours ahead.  They simply seize each moment as it comes.  They gauge the present, so that when the conditions are right, when the sun is out and the breeze is light and the temperatures are favorable, they open their eyes, stretch their wings, venture out from their nests, and they burst into song.

Ornithologists tell us that birds sing to usher an alert to all outside threats and all potential competitors.  They sing to proclaim that the space that they occupy, the territory they claim, for that time and place, belongs to them alone.  Regardless of what the past has brought, and despite what the future might bring, a bird’s song is an act of defiance against all that threatens to cause them harm.  Their singing is a proclamation of strength in the midst of suffering. 

But birds also sing in order to lure potential mates, which is a way of saying that a bird’s song introduces the possibility of new life and new beginnings.  After a long, cold season, in which life stands frozen in the eerie silence of winter, a bird’s song is a declaration of spring.  It is a clarion call to all who hear them that the dead of winter will soon be transformed into the resurrection of spring, and that signs of life are just beyond the horizon.  

It’s no wonder that when Jesus wanted to give the disciples a visual metaphor for the kind of life we are to live, and the kind of faith that ought to guide us, he directed them to the birds.  “Consider them,” Jesus said.  It may as well have included:  “Listen to them sing.”

Instead of worrying about the past and fretting about the future, we are called to sing in the here and now.  Like the birds, our song is both a defiance of suffering and a declaration of spring.  But it is also a demonstration of trust.  We must keep singing, even when life has been hard, and even if things could get worse.  “Look at the birds in the sky,” Jesus said.  “They don’t sow seed or harvest grain or gather crops into barns. Yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you worth much more than they are?”

Now, I don’t know what you do with all of this, but I have a hunch that many of us currently feel sandwiched between storms, between a past full of howling memories and a future fraught with bone-chilling fears. 

And I do know this:  If the birds can sing while being bookended by blizzards, you can sing right now as well.  You can embrace the present moment, stretch out your wings, and dare to sing a song of defiance, new life, and trust. 

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

OUT OF TOWN THIS WEEK

I am currently down in Leesburg, Florida, serving with the Florida Conference Board of Ordained Ministry, interviewing and evaluating candidates for ministry.  Thank you for your prayers as we do this important work of the church, and for safe travels as I return Sunday afternoon.  We invite you to worship this Sunday, when the wonderful Dave Orthmann will return as our guest preacher.  In the event of a pastoral emergency, please contact the church office.  

The Difference Between Departing and Leaving

January 21, 2014

Dear St. Paul’s Family,

This Sunday’s scripture lesson from Matthew 4:12-22 contains a clever bookend of verbs which, at first glance, appear to be quite similar.  But Matthew juxtaposes them in such a way that their subtle distinction conveys a critically different meaning for the Christian life. 

Now when Jesus heard that John was arrested, he went to Galilee.  He left Nazareth and settled in Capernaum.  (Matthew 4:12)

They  (James and John) were in a boat with Zebedee their father repairing their nets. Jesus called them and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.  (Matthew 4:22)

The two instances of the verb left would appear, at least in the Common English Bible, to be the same verb.  But the original Greek terms for those words would suggest an important difference, particularly in the way Matthew uses them.

DEPARTING

The first word for left can also mean depart or withdraw.  Matthew uses it ten times in his gospel, more than the other gospel writers combined. 

• The wise men “depart” from their visit with Jesus after hearing of Herod’s plot. (2:12)
• Joseph “departs” with his family to Egypt to protect Jesus from Herod. (2:13-14)
• Jesus orders attendants to “depart” from a room after a loved one had died. (9:24) 
• Jesus “departed” from a synagogue after hearing of a plan by the Pharisees to destroy him. (12:15)
• Jesus “departed” from Gennesaret following a testy confrontation with the Pharisees (15:21)

The pattern suggests that in Matthew’s gospel, one departs as a response to some crisis or threat.  It is often a choice born of survival and self-preservation, a natural consequence when facing the troubles of the world.

LEAVING

Matthew then moves to the story of Jesus calling the first disciples, as he walks along the Sea of Galilee and finds Peter and Andrew fishing.  “Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.”  Then, here’s the verb:  “Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed him.”

That Greek word for leaving is a very common one in the gospels, used widely by all four authors.  But in Matthew’s gospel, it is used as a direct antithesis to departing.  Whereas people depart from bad situations, imminent threats, and moments of crisis, people leave in order to move toward an experience that will be positive, transformative, and joyful. 

That same word for leaving occurs both when Jesus was baptized and when his temptation ended, ushering in his public ministry.  Jesus used that word when teaching the disciples how to pray, describing the way we are to forgive and be forgiven.  (In fact, the Greek word translated as “forgive” in most of our English translations is this very same word for “leave.”)  Jesus used that word when encouraging the little children to come to him, for to such as them the kingdom of heaven belongs.  And finally, when Jesus died on the cross, his spirit left him, producing the greatest moment of transformation in human history.

By juxtaposing both depart and leave in the same text, Matthew essentially sets up a dichotomy that invites the followers of Jesus to choose one of two paths: 

Will we simply live our lives departing, from one crisis to the next, falling whim and prey to whatever pains and difficulties present themselves without notice or indication? 

Or will we make a conscious choice to leave our former selves behind in order to experience the transformed life to which Jesus calls 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

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Your Pastor

January 14, 2014

Dear St. Paul’s Family,

It is rare for me to use the Mid-Week Message as a forum for personal self-reflection, but these last few days have prompted me to think about the privilege I have to serve as your pastor. 

On Saturday night, I received a phone call from the family of Bud Clow that he was likely drawing toward the close of his life.  They have given me permission to share the story of his final moments with you. 

Many of you remember Bud as a gentle, hardworking member of our community, serving the common good as a public servant, farmer, family man, and World War II veteran.  Last October, he was diagnosed with two brain tumors which, for any other man, would havedebilitated his spirit and filled him with gloom.  But not Bud.  Shortly after his diagnosis, he was back in the combine helping with the harvest.  He faced each long drive to Sioux City for his daily radiation treatments as joyful opportunities to enjoy the rolling Iowa landscapes and conversationswith friends.  He spent countless hours in his shop, working on his wood crafting.  And he shared many more loving, tender moments with Dorothy, his beloved bride of 65 years.

When I arrived on Saturday night, Dorothy and her family were gathered tightly around Bud, as he lay in the Hospice bed set up in the living room.  His breathing was sporadic but certain, his eyes were closed, and his countenance calm and still.

For preachers, words are our stock in trade.  We are called to be wordsmiths for life’s most muted moments, employed to give language to our innermost stirrings.  But in that moment, there was little necessary for me to say.  There would be no wishful pining for physical healing.  There would be no saccharin clichés about “leaving this earth behind.”  There would be no impersonal recitations or canned answers.  Instead, I could offer nothing but the silence of my own gentle presence.

As I watched the family share tender words of love and gratitude to Bud, tears rolled down their cheeks as they held each other’s hands in a communal circle around his bed.  Some of them leaned in to whisper to him, while others spoke them aloud for others to hear.  It was then that I felt a deep sense of privilege for being asked to share in that profoundly private moment. 

I’ll be honest with you:  it’s easy to forget what an honor it is to be a pastor.  Most clergy require the wearing of such a simultaneous diversity of hats that we numbly jump through enough daily roles to make our heads spin:  we are part CEO, part administrator, part visionary, part fundraiser, part counselor, part scholar, part personnel manager, part facility supervisor, part teacher, part inspirational writer, part motivational speaker, part coach, part cheerleader, part spiritual director - - and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. 

But it took standing there with the family of Bud Clow to remember why I wouldn’t trade in this complicated, chaotic, unpredictable job for any other in the world.

Dorothy knew I usually brought my hymnal, so she asked me to sing a verse of “It is Well with My Soul.”  I obliged, taking special note of Horatio Spafford’s beautiful poeticline: “When sorrows, like sea billows, roll.”  I then flipped a few pages back to “How Great Thou Art,” and sang that first verse, too.  In the span of those few minutes, Bud listened to the loving, grateful words of his family, and heard the confident, faithful hymns of the saints. 

And by the time I finished singing, Bud had stepped into eternal glory.

Beautiful doesn’t begin to describe what the family said they experienced at that time.  They would add the words mysterious, poignant, and powerful.  And I would say the words sacred and holy.  Truly, God’s presence filled that room and buoyed our souls in a fashion unlike any other that family had ever experienced.

There is no other profession in which a person like me – essentially an outsider – is invited into a family’s most privately fragile, delicately guarded moments of emotional tenderness.  For the community of the faithful, specifically this St. Paul’s congregation, you invite me into and along for these amazing, sacred journeys.

And why is that?  Why do you invite me into these moments?  It has little to do with my personality, my abilities, or my expertise; I’m comfortable enough with myself to readily acknowledge that.  And I certainly offer no medical expertise or clinical care, so the non-believing world usually wants little to do with pastors like me.

You invite me into your lives because yours is a sacramental, incarnational, and communal faith.  You believe in a God who is neither distant nor diffident, but has chosen to draw near to us, even in the most turbulent times, through the most ordinary means.  You believe that God is here, close by.  And even though you believe in a deeply personal God who is as close to you as your own breath, you rely on the resources of community to sense the love of God in the companionship of others. 

You rely on your pastor to remind you that no matter what you see in this life, there is more to life than what you see.  There is always light tucked in the shadows, joy amid the mourning, a meekness that will inherit the earth, and resurrection that will conquer death itself. 

And sometimes, when your pastor doesn’t know what to say, let alone how to say it, it’s a reminder that even your pastor is a human, too, struggling to find words for the unspeakable and images for the unimaginable.  No matter what, I’m hear to remind you that some of the greatest, most beautiful truths may be just outside our gaze, but never beyond God’s reach. 

In case I forget to tell you, it’s quite a privilege to serve as your pastor.

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 discerning God’s will with a sermon titled “How Can We Hear God?”  If you know someone who is struggling to listen for God’s voice in their lives, you might invite them to this meaningful service. 

THANK YOU, ST. PAUL’S

Thank you for your generosity and faithful giving throughout this last year.  We were able to pay all of our expenses and now move forward with a fully approved budget for 2014.  We look forward to a bright year of putting God’s love into action together.

UMW RECOGNITION SUNDAY

Join us as we celebrate the wonderful ministries of mission and outreach by this vital part of our denomination.  In addition, our UMC unit will be recognizing three individuals in the church who embody the mission of St. Paul’s. 

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

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The Work of Christmas Begins

Christmas Eve, 2014

Dear St. Paul’s Family,

When the song of the angels is stilled,

When the star in the sky is gone,

When the kings and princes are home,

When the shepherds are back with the flocks,

Then the work of Christmas begins:

To find the lost,

To heal those broken in spirit,

To feed the hungry,

To release the oppressed,

To rebuild the nations,

To bring peace among all peoples,

To make a little music with the heart …

And to radiate the Light of Christ,

Every day, in every way, in all that we do and in all that we say.

Then the work of Christmas begins.

-       Howard Thurman

On behalf of the staff and lay leadership of St. Paul’s United Methodist Church, I wish you and yours a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

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 TONIGHT

Join us for a celebration of the birth of Christ at 5:30pm, in a service featuring carols, candle lighting, and a special live radio theater sermon.  To accommodate our may expected guests, consider parking as far away from the church as you are comfortable in walking.  Your poinsettias can also be taken home after the service.

HELP US MEET OUR EXPENSES

With just a week left in our fiscal year, we are still in need of your support to help us pay our expenses for 2013.  Consider meeting your pledge or making a special contribution to help us finish the year in the black.  Postmark your gift by December 31 to have it count on this year’s financial statement.

MAGREY AND GIRLS ON VACATION

Magrey and the girls will be traveling to Florida from Monday, December 30, to Tuesday, January 6.  In the event of an emergency, please contact the church office.  The Mid-Week Message will resume on Tuesday, January 13.  

To subscribe to this message via email, send a message to mdevega@sp-umc.org

Visit us on Facebook at facebook.com/cherokeespumc. 

My 2013 Christmas Present to You: The Gift of Fasting

December 17, 2013

Dear St. Paul’s Family,

Once again, my Christmas gift to the church is a practical guideline for a spiritual discipline that you might try over the year ahead.  Last year, I offered some practical tips on centering prayer, which you can review following the link below.  [1]

This year, I would like to reintroduce you to the practice of fasting, which I believe is the most misunderstood and least practiced of the spiritual disciplines.  Last week, someone asked me the question directly:  “Why do Christians not fast?”  After I initially brushing off the question by responding that I have fasted often in my life, as well as some of you, I began to ponder the merit of his question.  Really, why don’t more followers of Christ fast? 

In a culture of expedience and immediate gratification, fasting reminds us that we are ultimately not self-made individuals, who shape our own destiny.  Instead, fasting reorients our perspective on our primary and ultimate dependence on God, and it recalls our responsibility to assist in transforming the world.

Consider these instances of fasting in the Bible:

·      Moses fasted and received from God the 10 commandments that would govern his people.

·      Esther fasted and through her God saved her fellow people from certain massacre.

·      Elijah fasted and received a mission God to bring deliverance to the Israelites.

·      Jesus fasted and emerged from it stronger against temptation, clearer in his purpose, and prepared for the mission that would save the world. 

·      Saul fasted and then got his name changed to Paul, becoming the greatest missionary of the gospel the world would ever know.

Fasting is not a weight-loss scheme, or a magical talisman that gives you what you want, or a form of pious self-punishment.  Instead, fasting recalibrates our souls into remembering that everything we have, everything we are, and everything we must do, is a gift and calling from God. 

So, my Christmas gift to you is an invitation and encouragement to consider making fasting a part of your spiritual experience some time over the upcoming year.  First, here is a list of frequently asked questions about fasting, followed by a guided exercise that will lead you in your fasting experience. 

Q.  Can I fast from something other than food? 

A.  Yes.  There are people who, for health and other reasons, cannot fast from food in a safe, healthy way.  I would invite those among us to consider fasting from something else that triggers your sense of control, that falsely convince you of your independence:  television, the internet, your watch, your day planner, or something else.

Q.  How long should a fast last?  What qualifies as a fast?  Skipping one meal?  Two or three? 

A.  Author and spiritual guide Richard Foster suggests that the novice to fasting should not do too much at first.  Like training for a marathon, begin with what your body can handle.  Try a 24-hour fast and skip two meals.  Then try the same length of time and skip three.  Be sure at first to keep yourself hydrated and nourished with water and fruit juices.  Talk to your doctor first if you have any concerns that need to be addressed.

Many have found it easier to fast from noon one day to noon the next, so that much of the time fasting is spent overnight, in bed.  And then, over time, as you have practiced it once a week, or a few times a month, you may wish to increase the length of time each time. 

            The point is not the length of the fast or the number of meals that are skipped.  What’s critical is that the key ingredient always be present in the fast:  prayer.  Prayer is what makes the physical act of abstaining from food a spiritual discipline.  It is what separates fasting from other times that you must skip meals for medical reasons, health benefits, or from sheer forgetting to eat. 

            Fasting and prayer are critically linked.  We abstain from eating with our mouths in order to sharpen our ears.  We refuse to fill our stomachs so that we might be open for God to fill our spirits.  And invariably, during the fast, God indeed does.

Q.  What do I tell others during my fast?

A.  This question is asked in many different ways.  How do I explain to colleagues at work that I can’t go eat out with them?  How do I prepare a meal for my family, then sit down with them and eat nothing?  What do I tell them?

Jesus is careful to say in Matthew 6:16-18 that we are not to make a big public show of our fasting.  So it’s appropriate then to do what you can to keep your fasting to yourself.  If pushed for a line, you may say to your co-workers, “I couldn’t possibly think about eating right now, but I’ll come along and talk.”  Or, if you choose to admit that you are fasting, it may become a wonderful opportunity to share your faith.  Chances are your kids may not even ask you questions, but if they do, you may assure them that everything is fine and that you are just learning a different way to pray, and that you are learning to appreciate God more, them more, and even food more. 

            Now I’ve saved the best question for last.   

Q.  What might happen when you fast?

A.  This is a critical question to get right.  Remember, it’s not a weight-loss scheme.  It’s not a self-help technique.  We have to be careful that we don’t fall for the lie that any of these spiritual disciplines, when regularly practiced, produces some kind of spiritual blessing or benefit to us each time.  Fasting is not a magic lamp to be rubbed, and neither is any other spiritual discipline.

Fasting is not about the blessings that God might give you.  It is about emptying yourself so that God might you use you in a mighty way for the benefit of someone else, your community, or even the whole world.

            Fasting will produce in you a greater sense of purpose in the world, and an alignment of God’s plans with your life.  It is not about what great things will happen to you, but what can happen through you, if you will surrender your control and give your whole self over to God.

           

Here’s the bottom line:  whether or not you have ever experienced or even thought about it before, fasting is for you. 

GUIDED MEDITATIONS FOR THE EXPERIENCE OF FASTING

The second part of my gift is the following guided devotional that you can use to assist you in your fasting experience.  It’s designed to guide you from noon on the first day to noon on the second day, but you can alter the times according to your own schedule.  Should you choose to fast for longer than a day, you can spread the readings out farther than three hours. 

My prayer for you is that as you experience this ancient biblical practice, you will learn to silence all the inner voices that compete for your control, and clearly, powerfully, and authentically hear the voice of God in your life.

12:00 pm :  Beginning the Journey

A.  Introduction

You are now ready to begin your fast.  This may be the first time you have attempted to fast as a spiritual discipline, or you have been through this experience before.  Regardless, enter this time with an openness to whatever word God would have you to hear, or whatever difference God wants to make in and through your life. 

Take a few moments now in silent prayer, focusing on breathing calmly and deeply.  Empty your mind of all that is distracting you at this time, and simply feel what it means for you to be alive right now.  Remember that in the Old Testament, the word for spirit is the same as the words for breath and wind.  With each breath, sense yourself participating in the very being of God, working in your life.

Throughout the fast, whenever you feel yourself getting hungry, anxious, or distracted, go back to this practice of being in silence with your breath.  It may be in these moments that you will most sense what God is telling you.

Every three hours, you can read the next message, which will guide and encourage you along the way.  These messages will include a Psalm and a gospel reading.  You may certainly add other scriptures, devotional readings, hymns, prayers, etc., throughout your time.  Read these passages prayerfully, as they may prompt helpful attentiveness to God’s word for you.

B.  Read Psalm 63 and Matthew 8:5-13

C.  Questions:

1.    What expectations and anxieties do you bring with you about this fasting experience?  Share those with God.

2.   How might the centurion’s surrender of power and control to Jesus serve as an example for you?

Important tip:  Keep yourself hydrated.  Be sure to drink plenty of water.  First time fasters may choose to have other drinks with nutritive value, such as milk or juices. 

3:00 pm :  Inviting an Awareness of God

A.  Introduction

It is likely that this message finds you in the busy thickness of your workday.  It is typically in moments like this that we are most distracted by our schedules, responsibilities, and pressing demands of life that we ignore our relationship with God. 

Consider the example of Brother Lawrence, a 17-century French Catholic lay person who worked in the kitchen of a monastery.  He wrote a book called “Practicing the Presence of God,” which stemmed in part from his regular attempts to be attentive to God’s spirit as he was performing his daily tasks. 

Reflect on these quotes:

"Men invent means and methods of coming at God's love, they learn rules and set up devices to remind them of that love, and it seems like a world of trouble to bring oneself into the consciousness of God's presence.  Yet it might be so simple.  Is it not quicker and easier just to do our common business wholly for the love of him?"

"Nor is it needful that we should have great things to do. . . We can do little things for God; I turn the cake that is frying on the pan for love of him, and that done, if there is nothing else to call me, I prostrate myself in worship before him, who has given me grace to work; afterwards I rise happier than a king.  It is enough for me to pick up but a straw from the ground for the love of God."

"I began to live as if there were no one save God and me in the world."

Brother Lawrence felt that as he cooked meals, ran errands, scrubbed pots, and endured the scorn of the world, he was doing so alongside God.  One of his most famous sayings refers to his kitchen:

"The time of business does not with me differ from the time of prayer; and in the noise and clatter of my kitchen, while several persons are at the same time calling for different things, I possess God in as great tranquility as if I were upon my knees at the blessed sacrament.

B.  Read Psalm 73:21-28 and Matthew 11:25-30

C.  Questions to Ponder:

1.    What would it be like if you began to view your daily tasks as opportunities to invite an awareness of God’s presence in your life?

2.   What burdens do you need to release to God, in order to exchange them for a yoke that is easier?

3.   Spend some moments in stillness and silent prayer, listening to your breath and whatever words God has for you.

6:00 pm : Trusting God

A.  Introduction

It is now the dinner hour, and you may have already been feeling your first pangs of hunger.  This, of course, is natural.  Remember that your denial of food during this fast is not a form of self-punishment.  You are not punishing yourself or beating yourself into submission as an act of spiritual discipline.  Instead, you are surrendering control of your life to God by allowing God to break the rhythms and patterns of your daily life that you have carefully constructed in order to give yourself a false sense of security.

When you are hungry during your fast, remind yourself that you are not in control of your life.  All your blessings come from God.  You are not the center of the universe, and you are not the provider of every good and perfect gift for yourself.  You are utterly, unalterably dependent on God for all things in your life.  That is what every hunger pang can remind you of, and it can bring you closer to full trust in God.

Also, use your hunger to focus on what God is telling you.  When you have an instinct to feed yourself, channel it into a desire to feast on God’s voice, God’s love, and God’s will for you.  Remember that after Moses, Esther, Elijah, Jesus, and Paul fasted, they were able to hear with even greater clarity the purpose God had for them.  So it can be for you, if you listen now.

The Psalm for this message focuses on what it means to trust in God.  Pay special attention to verse 7.  What are your “horses and chariots” - - the human manufactured senses of power and security - - that you trust in more than God?

B.  Read Psalm 20:1-9  and John 10:11-21

C.  Questions to Ponder

1.    Do you trust the Good Shepherd? 

2.   Are you able to hear the voice of the Shepherd, so that you can follow the Shepherd to wherever he is leading you?

3.   What do you need to surrender right now to God, in order to hear God’s voice?

 9:00 pm :  Seeking God’s Guidance

A.  Introduction

It is now evening, and surely by now your body has sensed a disruption in its normal daily rhythm.  Do your best to savor what this disruption might mean in awakening your life to God’s novel word for your life. 

Presumably, it is quiet in your household now; if not, do your best to create some silence at this time.  Find a comfortable place to sit or lie down, and reflect on what prompted you to begin this fasting journey earlier today. 

·      Is there something troubling that is happening in your life right now for which you are seeking comfort and consolation? 

·      Is there some great anxiety you are feeling about your future, for which you are in need of assurance? 

·      Are you weighing a heavy decision, for which you are in need of clear guidance? 

·      Are you mourning some significant loss in your life, which has created an agonizing vacancy that you cannot seem to fill? 

·      Is your spiritual life dry, diminished, or at a plateau?  Can you not remember the last time you felt intimately energized by God’s presence in your life?

Share with God the specific details of whatever is burdening you at this time.  Take as long as you need to unpack all that you are thinking and feeling.  But – and this is very important – every few minutes, pause, quiet your mind, and simply listen to the inner voice within you, prayerfully asking that all other voices but God’s voice be the one to speak to you.

What is God telling you, right now, about your situation?

B.  Read Psalm 46 and Mark 4:35-41

C.  Questions to Ponder

1.    What comfort does it give you that Jesus can calm any chaos, subdue any wind, and silence any storm that you are facing right now?

2.   Take as much time as you need to prayerfully process the complexity of your particular situation.  It is quite possible that this segment of the fast, from now until the time you fall asleep, may be the most spiritually enriching, albeit most physically difficult, part of your 24-hour journey.

Tip:  For first-time fasters, if your hunger wakes you up throughout the night, gently invite the spirit of God to calm your breathing, relax your mind, ease your heart, and coax you back to sleep.  Give thanks to God that God is in control of your life. 

6:00 am : A New Day

A.  Introduction

Reflect for a moment on your sleep through the night.  Perhaps you slept peacefully, as you normally might on a full stomach.  Perhaps the hunger interrupted your sleep intermittently, and you were able to use those awake moments as further opportunities for prayer and surrender.

As you rise from your slumber and begin a new day, take some moments to find some quiet time before your busyness begins.  Consider:  what new insights does a night’s sleep bring to your ponderings from yesterday?  Sometimes, God uses our slumber to wake up with some new clarity or some novel insight into our problems, and it is in the morning that we hear what God is telling us. 

Is there something new that God is telling you right now?

B.  Read Psalm 143:8-12 and John 5:1-18

C.  Question to Ponder: 

How is God calling you, right now, to “pick up your mat and walk?”  What is the tangible action that God wants you to take?

9:00 am  :  Giving Thanks

A.  Introduction

It is likely that this message finds you just as the busyness of your day is ramping up.  Before you get swamped by the tasks of the day, now would be the perfect time for you to remember once again who is really in control of your life.  Except this time, do it with a spirit of real gratitude. 

Take some time right now to take inventory of all the things that are going well in your life.  Now consider just how little you ultimately had to do in making those good things happen.  Isn’t it liberating to think about all the good things in your life that you had no say in creating or providing? 

It is quite possible that the most significant outcome of this fasting experience may be more than just some kind of clear guidance you receive from God, or comforting encouragement from the Holy Spirit.  It could be that a reformatting of your mind into one of genuine gratitude may be the jolt to your spirit that you really needed.

Also, consider for a moment how your hunger over the past several hours matches or likely pales in comparison to those who battle physical hunger every day due to poverty or lack of food.  As a tangible outcome of today’s fast, you might choose to offer yourself in some way to eradicating hunger in our community or around the world.

Consider donating money or non-perishable food items to either of our local food pantries, the Christian Action Project or Mid-Sioux Opportunities, Inc. 

Consider volunteering your time to the Gospel Mission in Sioux City, helping them serve meals to the homeless in Siouxland.

Look for ways to be part of the United Methodist Church’s efforts to eradicate world hunger through the World Hunger/Poverty Program, sponsored by our United Methodist Committee on Relief:  http://gbgm-umc.org/umcor/hunger.stm

Become an advocate for justice through Bread for the World, an agency that urges lawmakers to address domestic and international hunger and poverty issues.  www.bread.org . 

B.  Read Psalm 30 and Luke 7:36-50

C.  Question to Ponder:

1.    How can you say “Thank you” to God today, with your words and your actions?

2.   How can you help alleviate the physical and spiritual hunger of others?

 12:00 pm :  The Journey Concludes

A.  Introduction

Your 24-hour fast has concluded.  Despite the temptation to gorge on a large volume of food, you will definitely want to break your fast gently, with a small portion of something easily digestible at first.  Then, over the course of the rest of this afternoon, you can work your way up with slightly larger portions of healthy food until you resume eating your usual portions at dinnertime. 

More importantly, take some moments to record the thoughts, feelings, and significant lessons you have learned during this time.  It would be best for you to write them down in a journal, or on a sheet of paper to keep in your Bible, so that you can refer to this moment later in your life.  Is it possible that you might not have heard these messages from God were it not for the context of this fasting experience?

  

Here are some final passages of Scripture to conclude your time.   

B.  Read Psalm 8 and John 15:1-8

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://mdevega.blogspot.com/2012/12/my-christmas-gift-to-you.html

COMPANY IS COMING FOR CHRISTMAS!

Once again, we will be having our Christmas Eve service at 5:30, and we are anticipating another large crowd of visitors and guests.  Consider parking as far away from the campus as you are comfortable in walking in order to welcome newcomers.  We are also in need of just four more people to complete our usher/greeter teams for the night.  If you are interested in helping, please contact the church office. 

END OF THE YEAR GIVING

With a few weeks remaining this year, we are grateful for your share in helping us finish the year strong in meeting all of our budgetary expenses.  We are about $13,000 from making our budget, which is certainly within reach if we each play a part.  For your contribution to count toward your 2013 financial giving statement, make sure it is postmarked to the church no later than December 31.

To subscribe to the message via email, send a message to mdevega@sp-umc.org.

Visit us on Facebook at facebook.com/cherokeespumc. 

Honoring Mandela

December 10, 2013

Dear Advent Pilgrims,

Today the world joins in honoring Nelson Mandela, whom I believe was the most transformative public figure in my lifetime. When South African apartheid ended with a fully democratic election in 1994, President Mandela began the long, difficult work of bringing a severely polarized nation together.  He advocated and embodied forgiveness and reconciliation, demonstrating the impact those principles could make on a national scale. 

Mandela was simply practicing what Jesus had preached thousands of years ago; the fact that we honor his witness today not only speaks of his extraordinary life, but also of the sad rarity of forgiveness and reconciliation in such a violence-addicted and revenge-soaked culture.

Perhaps it is fitting that Mandela died during the season of Advent, a time when we name the shared journey marks our life as a church.  We spend these days longing for peace, straining for hope, and squinting through furrowed brows for signs of a brighter tomorrow.  Mandela called his journey “A Long Walk to Freedom,” and titled his autobiography the same. 

Since his death, and in preparation for today’s funeral, I re-read portions of my copy of A Long Walk to Freedom, and offer his words to you as an encouragement for us to continue our own journeys toward the light of Christmas. 

Regarding his Christian roots as a Methodist:

While the faith of the Mbekela brothers (Christians from another tribe) did not rub off on my father, it did inspire my mother, who became a Christian.  In fact, Fanny was literally her Christian name, for she had been given it in church.  It was due to the influence of the Mbekela brothers that I myself was baptized into the Methodist, or Wesleyan Church as it was then known, and sent to school. 

On the power of the Church to transform the world:

For me, Christianity was not so much a system of beliefs as it was the powerful creed of a single man:  (Methodist preacher) Reverend Matyolo.  For me, his powerful presence embodied all that was alluring in Christianity.  He was as popular and beloved as the regent, and the fact that he was the regent’s superior in spiritual matters made a strong impression on me.  But the Church was as concerned with this world as the next:  I saw that virtually all of the achievements of Africans seemed to have come about through the missionary work of the Church. 

On his philosophy of leadership:

As a leader, I have always followed the principles I first saw demonstrated by the regent at the Great Place.  I have always endeavored to listen to what each and every person in a discussion had to say before venturing my own opinion.  Oftentimes, my own opinion will simply represent a consensus of what I heard in the discussion.  I always remember the regent’s axiom:  a leader, he said, is like a shepherd.  He stays behind the flock, letting the most nimble go out ahead, whereupon the others follow, not realizing that all along they are being directed from behind. 

On the remarkable transformation in South Africa, and in the human heart:

I never lost hope that this great transformation would occur.  Not only because of the great heroes I have already cited, but because of the courage of the ordinary men and women of my country.  I always knew that deep down in every human heart, there is mercy and generosity.  No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion.  People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite. 

Final reflections on his journey:

I have walked that long road to freedom.  I have tried not to falter; I have made missteps along the way.  But I have discovered the secret that after climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb.  I have taken a moment here to rest, to steal a view of the glorious vista that surrounds me, to look back on the distance I have come.  But I can rest only for a moment, for with freedom come responsibilities, and I dare not linger, for my long walk is not yet ended. 

Mandela’s long walk has now come to rest.  But the journey toward freedom endures for all of us. 

Grace and Peace,

Magrey 

END OF THE YEAR GIVING

With a few weeks remaining this year, we are grateful for your share in helping us finish the year strong in meeting all of our budgetary expenses.  We are about $14,000 from making our budget, which is certainly within reach if we each play a part.  For your contribution to count toward your 2013 financial giving statement, make sure it is postmarked to the church no later than December 31.

THIS WEEK:  CHILDREN’S CHRISTMAS PROGRAM

Join us for a wonderful Sunday featuring our children’s ministry as they offer their annual Christmas program.  Relive the joy and the drama of the birth of Jesus, as our kids read the Christmas story, sing your favorite carols, and act out the characters.  It is always a highlight of our Advent season.

COOKIE SALE THIS SUNDAY

As you do your cookie baking this season, reserve a plate or two of your creations and bring them to the narthex prior to the service this Sunday.  Plates of cookies will be sold by our Adult Class, and proceeds will fund ministries and programs of the church.

Matthew's "Best Christmas Pageant Ever"

December 3, 2013

Dear St. Paul's Family,

It may be fortuitous that my preparations for this Sunday’s journey through Matthew’s birth narrative coincide with this weekend’s performances of “A Best Christmas Pageant Ever” by the Cherokee Community Theater, Jr.  A cast of over fifty children, including Grace and Madelyn, have been working hard to bring to life Barbara Robinson’s beloved tale of a church Christmas play gone very wrong.  If you are thinking of attending the show, I can assure you - - as one of the assistant stage managers who has attended many of the rehearsals - - you are in for a riotous good time.

It would be pure conjecture on my part, but I suspect that if the four gospel writers were to attend the play this weekend, Matthew would appreciate it the most.  Of all four gospels, it is his that portrays the arrival of Jesus with similar chaotic overtones.  For example: 

When Mrs. Bradley decides to cast the main characters of the nativity with the infamous Herdman kids, described as “the worst kids in the history of the world,” you can almost hear Matthew clicking through his genealogy in the first chapter:  a prostitute, an adulterer and murderer, a hot-headed megalomaniac … all members of Jesus’ ancestry. 

When the Herdmans first hear that Mary was “great with child,” they chose not to mince words:  “Pregnant!” yelled Ralph Herdman.  That caused quite a stir among the kids, who thought it was inappropriate to “talk about things like that in church. My mother might not want me to be here.”  It was the kind of scandal that Matthew would best appreciate, given how much Joseph wrestled over what to do with Mary in Matthew 1:18-21.

And then there is this wonderful scene regarding Herod:

(The Herdmans) were really interested in Herod, and I figured they liked him. He was so mean he could have been their ancestor—Herod Herdman.  But I was wrong. “Who’s going to be Herod in this play?” Leroy said. “We don’t show Herod in our pageant,” Mother said.  And they all got mad.  They wanted somebody to be Herod so they could beat up on him.

I’m pretty sure Matthew would have gotten a chuckle out of that one. 

Matthew would remind us that, despite the foreground of placid pastures, grazing sheep, star-filled night skies, and angelic choirs, the background into which Jesus was born was a big, mess world.  It was riddled with hurts and pains, governed by paranoia, and driven by scandal.  It was a landscape filled with shadows and strife:  a far cry from the serene scenes of our greeting cards, Christmas carols, and nativity crèches. 

As we go through our guided tour through the Christmas stories of all four gospels, we make a stop this Sunday at Matthew’s version, realizing that its context could have easily jumped off the headlines of today's newspapers.  It would not be much of a stretch to see Matthew speaking directly to a culture peppered with Black Friday bloodshed, Typhoon destruction, political gamesmanship, and addictions to violence.  And that doesn’t even include the chaos that may be swirling in your spirit as well.  The dilemmas you may be facing right now cover a gamut of concerns, from how you will pay the bills to how you will forgive a betrayal.  Advertisers, retailers, and even many preachers would want you to believe that this is supposed to be a time of good cheer and great delight.  But you know better. 

And do know something else?  Matthew knows better, too.

This Sunday, let us allow his gospel to guide us to an authentic encounter with the Christ child.  Not by pretending that all is well, but by acknowledging how much is not.  When we arrive at the manger, with sweaty brows, calloused feat, and sore necks from heads hung low, we will identify with that same emotion that overcame Imogene Herdman as she was playing Mary:

In the candlelight her face was all shiny with tears and she didn’t even bother to wipe them away.  She just sat there—awful old Imogene—in her crookedy veil, crying and crying and crying.  Well.  It was the best Christmas pageant we ever had.

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

To subscribe to this weekly message via email, send a message to mdevega@sp-umc.org.

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