Whom will you serve? (Sermon) July 27, 2014, Evensong, Washington National Cathedral

Sermon – July 27, 2014

The Rev. Rebecca S. Myers, CSW

Evensong, Washington National Cathedral

Proper 12, Year Two

Joshua 24:1-15

‘Now if you are unwilling to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served in the region beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.’ Joshua 24:15

 Choice…We have so many choices in this country.  Years ago, my family hosted a young adult from Chile.  It was clear he was pretty well off.  His family had servants.  We took him to the grocery store and he was overwhelmed by the choices available.  Actually, sometimes I am too.  There was nothing like our grocery stores where he was from.  We have come to expect lots of choices and lots of freedom to choose in our lives.

Today in this reading, Joshua asks the Israelites to choose which God they will serve.  We hear a summary of the many wonderful things the LORD has done, including bringing them into the promised land.  The LORD has been faithful.  The LORD has fulfilled the promises made to the ancestors and that is clearly evident.  Joshua makes a good case for choosing The LORD.  Yet, The LORD has made it clear to Joshua that the people must choose for themselves.

How amazing that we have God who gives us the freedom of choice.  How amazing to have  God who trusts us to choose; God who’d rather have our freely given and chosen devotion and love, than a mandatory relationship.

And these many thousands of years later, the question rings out to us.  Whom will you choose to serve?

And once again, we have many choices…money, selfish desires, property.  Making the choice can be challenging and difficult.  And how can we know whom we are serving?  One way to know who I’m serving was taught to me long ago.  It was suggested I look at who could control my actions.

In my own life, 8 years ago, I had a job I absolutely loved.  I loved the work, the person I worked for, the organization I worked for, living in Washington, DC and I loved the salary.  Then I heard God calling me to go to seminary!  I cried and cried for about a week.  I wrestled with God.  “Please don’t make me leave this job I love and this place I love living,” I pleaded.  I faced a choice of serving God or serving my own gods of money, city, politics, and self will.

Now, I don’t believe God would have punished me if I had refused to go to seminary.  I experience God’s voice to me as consistent and inviting…Come this way…Follow me.  And in my life, choosing God has ended up being amazing and I was grateful for seminary and I am grateful to have been serving as a priest in Kentucky and I rejoice on this the anniversary of my ordination.  I rejoice and am grateful for having freely chosen to follow the LORD.

God is inviting us today to make a choice.  “Whom will you serve?”, God asks.  May we all join with Joshua in saying, “As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

Amen

This Sunday (July 27) at St. John’s

For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Romans 8:38-39

This Sunday we hear these comforting words and we breathe signs of relief.  So many questions assail us each day.  What is God asking me to do today?  Did I even think of God as I went through my day?  Did I pray enough, today?  Did I show God’s love today?

And so many “shoulds” plague us.  I should have treated people nicer today.  I should have looked up and seen the people around me today.  I should have said “I love you” more today.  I should have been more patient today.

All of the questions and all of the “shoulds” can wear us down and make us feel unworthy of respect, care and love…unworthy of God’s grace.  But then Paul’s words make clear the forgiveness we are freely given…unearned, undeserved… given solely because we are people created in the likeness and image of God.  Nothing, nothing we do or don’t do…not one thing can separate us from the love of God.  Not one thing.

Blessings as you finish your week!

Love, Rebecca+

Rebecca’s Schedule

I am writing this short piece from Washington, DC, where I have been attending the 2014 conference of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW).  I have heard wonderful speakers, including Episcopalian Brene Brown (check her out on the web!), and reconnected with old friends.

The next two weeks, I will be on vacation, spending time with my children and grandchildren.  I will return Sunday, August 10.    See last week’s post for information on how to contact The Rev. John Burkhart if you have a pastoral emergency and for other important announcements.

Pot Luck This Sunday!

Bring a dish to share!  Our friends from Everlasting Arms have decided not to join us any longer for pot luck.

Morning Prayer July 27 and August 3

Because I am away, there will be Morning Prayer this Sunday and next.  Bruce Cory will offer a reflection.

Living alongside evil (Sermon) July 20, 2014

Sermon – July 20, 2014

The Rev. Rebecca S. Myers, CSW

St. John’s Episcopal Church, Corbin, KY

Sixth Sunday After Pentecost (Proper 11) Track 1

The slaves said to him, `Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ But he replied, `No; for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them. Let both of them grow together until the harvest….’  Matthew 13:28-29

Please be seated

Recently I have been reminded about Jim Thorpe.  I knew about him as I was growing up.  He was Native American, Pottawatamie, Sauk and Fox, born in Oklahoma.  But growing up near Carlisle, PA, I learned about him, because he attended school in Carlisle.  In 1950, Thorpe was named the greatest American football player and the greatest American male athlete.  He had speed and stamina.  He won both the decathlon and the pentathlon at the 1912 Olympics.  He played baseball and football.  Unfortunately, until 1982, he had been stripped of his Olympic medals and taken out of the record books, because he played semi-professional baseball for two seasons, so it was deemed he was not an amateur athlete.  Of course, today that’s no problem at all.

But about that school….  Carlisle Industrial Training School.  The United States Government had a policy of destroying the native peoples of this country.   There was disdain for the way the native people lived and the colonizers believed the people to be subhuman and themselves to be far superior.  Often times, the government policy consisted of starving the people, providing them with blankets carrying the smallpox disease, which would kill the native people; or starving them by killing their food – the buffalo.

Richard Henry Pratt, an Officer in the Army, did not like these policies, and gradually developed what was considered a more humane way to deal with the native peoples – train them to be like European-American people.  This caught the attention of some wealthy people who became funders and eventually the Indian industrial schools were created.

Native families were forced to send their children hundreds of miles away to these boarding schools.  At the schools, children were punished if they used their native language.  Native ways of life about clothing and hair were not followed.  Hair was cut and clothing was European.  It was thought to be humane and charitable to make the Indians be like the European-Americans.

Total annihilation was certainly evil – the tares or weeds sown in the field.  The work of the “enemy” in our Gospel today.  The dominant people of the late 19th and early 20th centuries believed these Indian schools to be the good wheat the sower planted.

Yet, the outcomes of what was done were devastating.  You can find videos online of people who survived those schools.  Listening to their stories is heartbreaking.  The pain of being forced to lose your language, to lose your family, to lose the things that grounded you and helped you understand who you are.  And you never fully fit into the European-American world, and it was harder to connect to the native world because any time you’d try to speak the language or follow the customs, you were abused.  The loss of the spiritual connection was extremely painful.

We think we know evil.  As Christians, we aspire to live the Christian life…follow Christ and Christ’s commands.  It is wrong to be evil.  We judge ourselves.  We judge each other.  But throughout history, we see a trail of things once considered humane to now be considered evil.  For instance, the guillotine was considered a more humane way to execute people, but now we consider it barbaric.

One of the messages in this parable today is about living right alongside evil.  Some people say God can’t exist, because there is so much evil in the world.  But in this story, Jesus says there is evil and it grows up right alongside us.  Living the Christian life means living with evil right next to us.

We can certainly relate to this, especially this week with the tragedy of the Malaysian Airliner shot out of the sky, the hostilities between the Israelis and Palestinians playing out in the Gaza strip, and the influx of children crossing into the United States to flee violence in their native countries.  Who’s right and who’s wrong?  There are many sides.  Who’s responsible for the evil?  It’s hard to know who’s responsible and what the right thing to do is.  What is not evil.

In this parable, Jesus tells us the evil is so close, that pulling it out will uproot us!  Evil is so close, to get rid of it can end up destroying us!  I have pondered that all week.  You’d think we should do all in our power to uproot evil.  How can uprooting evil also destroy us?  You mean we are supposed to live with the evil?  So many questions.

One thought I’ve had is along the lines of Officer Pratt.  He thought he was doing a good thing.  He thought the Indian schools were the good wheat.  He did not think he was an evil man, especially when compared to what others did.  Yet, a century and a quarter later, we understand the evil of those schools and we know the horror of them.

Maybe evil resides in us and we just can’t see it or don’t know it.

Furthermore, we cannot be the judge.  I know, some things are pretty easy to judge and we shouldn’t throw our judgment out the window, but we do need to be careful about our judgmental attitudes.  And we must never think we speak for God, that is for certain.

Jesus lets us know in no uncertain terms that judgment comes and judgment is of God.  And on the Day of Judgment, evil that sprung up right next to us, evil that would uproot us should we cast it out, will be plucked and incinerated in the fire.   Whether it is the evil we have done or the evil done on our behalf, it will be finally shattered.

And so, today we must think about how we live with evil that is right next to us and even inside of us.  We can strive to be the good wheat shooting up, following God, living like Jesus to the best of our ability.  We can be humble, knowing that we are doing our best, but in the end, it is God who is the judge and we know we fall short.

And we can live in the assurance that evil will be destroyed and we will then shine like the sun in the kingdom of God.

Amen

Feeding children in the summer

Thursday was a perfect day to be in the park.  It was cool, but not too cool.  The sun was out and the sky was so blue.  Before the KCEOC van even arrived, there were children waiting.  Some were playing soccer and running in the park, cries of glee and having fun.  The van appeared on College Street and pulled into the parking lot and the children came running and lined up…waiting.

A handwashing stand was put out (that’s what you see in this photo).  The children washed their hands and received their lunches, going to the picnic tables to eat them.  A total of 14 children ate lunch in St. John’s Park yesterday….  Thank you, members of St. John’s for all of your support and care of the park, providing food and joy to the children in our community.

 

The KCEOC van bringing lunch to the children.  They are setting up a handwashing stand for the kids.

The KCEOC van bringing lunch to the children. They are setting up a handwashing stand for the kids.

This Sunday (July 20) at St. John’s

And he dreamed that there was a ladder set up on the earth, the top of it reaching to heaven; and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.  Genesis 28:12

This story we hear the story of “Jacob’s Ladder.”  Jacob’s vision is amazing.  It seems like Jacob is in that in-between place (liminal place) between the worlds of earth and heaven.  Jacob calls it the gate of heaven and marks the spot at Bethel (house of God).

A beautiful depiction of this gate between heaven and earth — a ladder with angels ascending and descending — is in stained glass at Grace Episcopal Church, Broadway, New York City.   The window was given in memory of Edith Corse Evans.  36 year-old Edith Corse Evans gave up her seat on Collapsible D, the last remaining lifeboat to be launched from the sinking Titanic. She selflessly offered her seat to Mrs. Caroline Brown, a 59 year-old woman with children by saying: “You go first, you have children waiting at home.” Ms. Evan’s body was never recovered and a memorial service was held at Grace Church Broadway.  The stained glass window and a plaque are in her memory.  

God assures Jacob he is in God’s care.  Jacob’s descendants will be in God’s care.  These are the promises and assurances we have each and every day.  Remember this gate and remember you are in God’s care

Blessings and you finish your week!

Love, Rebecca+

Bulletin 07-20-2014

Rebecca’s Schedule

I will be attending the National Association of Social Workers’ National Conference next week in Washington, DC.  From July 27 until August 8, I will be on vacation visiting family and friends in Pennsylvania and New York.

Morning Prayer will be held on July 27 and August 3. I will return on August 10 and TJ Tetzlaff will once again preach.

Pastoral Care:  In case of pastoral emergencies please contact the Rev. John Burkhart 606-521-0345 or jandmburkhart@yahoo.com.

Adult Forum: This summer and early fall, we will discuss a portion of the Gospel of Matthew.   We will follow our Gospel lectionary, discussing the following week’s Gospel – Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52.

Pot Luck Sunday:  Next Sunday, July 27 is our monthly pot luck.  Bring a dish or drink to share.  And all are welcome!  Plan to fellowship with each other.

KCEOC Lunch Program:  The KCEOC Summer Youth Lunch Program is distributing lunch Monday through Friday, 11:20-11:35am in our parking lot.  Youth 18 and under are eligible for this free lunch.  Youth are enjoying sitting in our park eating their lunch.  Monday through Thursday is a cold lunch of sandwich, fruit or vegetable, juice, and milk.  Friday is a hot lunch.  Please continue to get the word out.

Interested in being a member of St. John’s?  If you have been baptized in another faith tradition, and want to be a member of The Episcopal Church and St. John’s Church, plan to attend confirmation classes this fall.  There will be 5 classes offered, most likely beginning in September.  If you are interested, please let Rebecca know.  If you have already been confirmed in another faith tradition and would like to be a member of St. John’s, let Rebecca know, so you can be received into the church.  If you are interested in baptism, also let her know.  Baptisms, receptions, and confirmations will be done when the Bishop visits.

Diocese of Lexington Stewardship event: “Life as a Steward” is the theme of a daylong event designed to assist parish leaders enhance our ministry of stewardship. National stewardship leaders Keith Stroud of the Diocese of Virginia and Gene Musser of Kirby Smith Associates will be our guest leaders, and will guide us in presentations of theology of stewardship as well as practical aids for your parish stewardship program. This event will take place Saturday, August 2, from 9am to 3 pm at Ascension Frankfort.  Click Here for the registration form.

Grow Appalachia:  The Vestry voted to move ahead with this project.  As we continue to work on this project, let the members of Vestry know your questions.  Their website ishttp://www.berea.edu/grow-appalachia/

Financial Report

June2014

(5 Sundays)

BudgetYTD ActualYTD MonthlyBudget ActualMonthly
Total Revenue $23,735.50 $14,991.06 $3,955.92 $2,453.11
Total Expense $23,735.50 $23,092.42 $3,955.92 $3,249.69
Difference   -$8,101.36   -$796.58

 

Computer and Furnace needed!  The furnace located in the sacristy, which heats part of the social hall and hallways must be replaced prior to this winter.  Cost is $2,250 for a furnace that will also be more energy efficient.  We’ll also need to replace two more furnaces over the next two years:  one that heats the parish hall and one that heats the rectory.  Our computer also needs replaced and $600 will get us a new one plus the needed software.  Donations for these two items can be put in the boxes back on the shelves in the parish hall.

The Vestry has voted to donate a niche in the Columbarium to the family of Deacon Dane.  A bronze plaque needs to be purchased to mark the niche.  The cost is $208.   If you would like to donate to the cost of this plaque, please let Gay Nell know.

Are you interested in assisting with the Sunday service?  Readers, Eucharistic Ministers, Crucifers, Altar Guild Members and choir members are all important for each Sunday service.  If you’re interested in serving, please let Rebecca know by phone 859-429-1659 or priest-in-charge@stjohnscorbin.org.

Serving Our Neighbors – See baskets in the parlor.

  • Everlasting Arm, Corbin’s shelter for people who are homeless, is in need of men’s and women’s razors, gloves, deodorant and socks.
  • The Food Pantry at Corbin Presbyterian Church is always in need of nonperishable food items.  Vegetables are especially appreciated.
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Are We Rich Soil? (Sermon) July 13, 2014

Sermon – July 13, 2014

The Rev. Rebecca S. Myers, CSW

St. John’s Episcopal Church, Corbin, KY

Fifth Sunday After Pentecost (Proper 10) Track 1

Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no depth of soil. But when the sun rose, they were scorched; and since they had no root, they withered away. Matthew 13:5-6

Please be seated.

Letting go is easy sometimes.  When I was in the second year of a 2-year discernment process, I found letting go of my things to be very easy.  I had no idea whether the Bishop would approve to send me to seminary and even if he did, I figured it’d be another year until I could start.  Yet, I was ready to get rid of things.  Things like part of my doll collection I’d had since a child.  Things like my Geisha Girl China I’d had for years and the gilded corner cabinet it went in.  Things like the 43 year old kitchen table my parents bought when we’d moved into our new house when I was 11 years old, a table my brother had used in New York City for many years.

I was ready to let go…to downsize…to say good-bye to these things I’d carted from my childhood home and five addresses in Pennsylvania to Connecticut, New York, Kansas, North Carolina, and DC, through two marriages and raising two children.  They held many memories and connections.  Something new was happening and I knew I needed to let go of these things.  They began to weigh me down…hold me down.  These things and my holding on to them felt like the hard soil Jesus speaks of today.  The new thing coming in my life would wither and die trying to plant itself within the things of my past.

Now this openness to change, to parting with my things, was something that only developed over time.  You see, at one time, I kept every single card someone had ever sent to me.  I never threw anything away, it seems.  I paid plenty of money to haul these things back and forth across the country and to rent storage space when I couldn’t accommodate these things in my living space!  I loved the hard soil these things made.  Sure they were often stuck away in boxes, hidden from view and rarely viewed.  At times, I didn’t even notice the clutter they created…getting so used to working around it or having a smaller space in which to live.

Do you create hard soil in your life, so that new seeds sent from God spring up quickly, but easily wither and are scorched by the sun?  Trying to keep things the way they were traps us in a past that is long gone.  It does feel safe, when all around us is changing, but the safety is an illusion and a temporary comfort.

Yesterday, I was trying to plant a rose bush out in the garden.  Now, I didn’t have the right kind of shovel, but even so, the ground was so hard.  I’m not sure that bush has enough depth of soil to survive.  There is some hard ground around here…

Yes, where have we here at St. John’s created hard soil within ourselves so the seeds God sows wither and die?  What do we cling to…things that at one time might have been new seeds, planted in good soil, after all, but now have created hard soil and reject the new seeds?  We didn’t always have the parish hall.  We didn’t always have the kitchen and parlor area.  We didn’t always have the meeting rooms.  The parlor was once offices.  The park was once a school yard.  Each new person who came to St. John’s needed to find the good soil to plant themselves and each new plant created a community with different needs and different skills and different passions.  The one thing that didn’t change was the worship of God and the connection to The Episcopal Church.  But other than that, many things have changed in the church’s 108 years.

God isn’t afraid of the change, I don’t think, because God keeps calling us to do God’s work here in this place.  Yet, are we so hardened, that God’s mission for us withers and dies?  Are we so attached to what is comfortable for us that the seeds do not find depth of soil?  Are we so afraid of change, that we doom ourselves and the community of St. John’s to death?

The church has been here many years.  God has faith in us, I’d say.  God keeps calling us and guiding us to be the good, rich soil that produces thirty, sixty, and even one hundred fold.

Amen

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This Sunday (July 13) at St. John’s

Thus Esau despised his birthright.  Genesis 25:34

I’ve talked before about my grandmother being raised by a stepmother, who we called Cia.  Every afternoon, Cia made the girls in the family crochet with the small hooks and white crochet thread.  They made doilies and fine crochet work.  My grandmother’s sister, Mary, told me she would kick the thread under the couch because she hated to crochet.  My grandmother stuck with it and I have many beautiful things she made, including an amazing bedspread with a bird pattern on it.

My grandmother said it wasn’t always easy growing up with their stepmother.  About her brother and sisters’ behavior towards their stepmother, she said, “Our heads were little.  We didn’t understand.”

And Esau does not understand about his birthright.  He despises it and hold it of little value.  He sells it for a bowl of stew.  How many times in life do we take something or someone for granted?  How many times do we cast something aside of great value, because in the moment, it appears something else is more important?

My grandmother and her siblings took care of Cia throughout her life.  While times were rough early on, they eventually understood how fortunate they were to have their stepmother in their lives.

Blessings as you finish your week!

Love, Rebecca+

My grandmother's stepmother made her crochet every afternoon.  My grandmother made this bedspread prior to getting married!

My grandmother’s stepmother made her crochet every afternoon. My grandmother made this bedspread prior to getting married!

 

bulletin 7-13-14

Rebecca’s Schedule: Next week, I will be in Corbin on Thursday, July 17, and my Sabbath day will be Friday, July 18.  You can get a message to me by calling the church office at 606-528-1659 or priest-in-charge@stjohnscorbin.org.

Adult Forum: This summer and early fall, we will discuss a portion of the Gospel of Matthew.   We will follow our Gospel lectionary, discussing the following week’s Gospel.  This week, we’ll discuss Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43.  Next week, we’ll discuss Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52.

KCEOC Lunch Program:  The KCEOC Summer Youth Lunch Program is distributing lunch Monday through Friday, 11:20-11:35am in our parking lot.  Youth 18 and under are eligible for this free lunch.  Youth are enjoying sitting in our park eating their lunch.  Monday through Thursday is a cold lunch of sandwich, fruit or vegetable, juice, and milk.  Friday is a hot lunch.  Please continue to get the word out.

Corbin Alumni Concert: The Corbin Alumni Band will be performing in the park on Saturday, July 12th.  Bring a lawn chair and join us for an evening of fellowship and music.

Gospel Jamboree 7th Birthday and Pig Roast:  Saturday, July 19, in the park 3pm – 9pm.  Come enjoy the music and the food!

DOK: Daughters of the King:meets the third Wednesday of each month at 4:30pm.  The next meeting is July 16.  Anne Day Davis will conclude her presentation on oils of the Bible

Diocese of Lexington Stewardship event: “Life as a Steward” is the theme of a daylong event designed to assist parish leaders enhance our ministry of stewardship. National stewardship leaders Keith Stroud of the Diocese of Virginia and Gene Musser of Kirby Smith Associates will be our guest leaders, and will guide us in presentations of theology of stewardship as well as practical aids for your parish stewardship program. This event will take place Saturday, August 2, from 9am to 3 pm at Ascension Frankfort.  For more information, including a flyer and registration form, click on the highlighted title of this paragraph.

Grow Appalachia:  The Vestry voted to move ahead with this project.  As we continue to work on this project, let the members of Vestry know your questions.  Their website is http://www.berea.edu/grow-appalachia/

Serving Our Neighbors – See baskets in the parlor.

  • Everlasting Arm, Corbin’s shelter for people who are homeless, is in need of men’s and women’s razors, gloves, deodorant and socks.
  • The Food Pantry at Corbin Presbyterian Church is always in need of nonperishable food items.  Vegetables are especially appreciated.

 

The Yoke of Jesus (Sermon) July 6, 2014

Sermon – July 6, 2014

The Rev. Rebecca S. Myers, CSW

St. John’s Episcopal Church, Corbin, KY

Fourth Sunday After Pentecost (Proper 9) Track 1

“Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”  Matthew 11:29-30

For the past couple of weeks, I have begun volunteering at the Woodsongs Old Time Radio Hour in Lexington.  This radio, TV, and internet show is usually taped in Lexington at the Lyric Theater, 44 weeks out of the year, usually on Monday evening before a live audience.  The diversity of entertainers who are on the show is interesting.  They usually find it easy to stop in Lexington on their way to somewhere else like Nashville or Chicago or New York.  The show is unique in that the guests perform their work and also talk about their craft.  In addition, the show relies heavily upon volunteers to set up, staff and tear down the stage.

I’m still learning, but right now, I arrive at 4pm on a Monday afternoon and put lightbulbs in the floor lights or set up for dinner or do various errands.  Usually once the show begins, I can sit down and enjoy it.  It is the tear down at the end of the show that requires many people.

There is the sign to take down and store, the floor lights to dismantle, unplug, and stack.  The various instrument stands and amps to put away.  And the cords to wrap….  You see, there is a special way to coil the various cords so they don’t get tangled and so that they easily uncoil to be used for the next show.  If you do it right, you can fling the cable out and it will not be tangled at all.

And of course, the more people who are there, the shorter time it takes to do the work.  The work is spread among many people.

At the end of our Gospel today, Jesus encourages his followers to put on his yoke.  Now a yoke is something used with various animals – water buffalo, oxen – animals who help with work.  A yoke is important for a variety of reasons, so Jesus’ plea to his listeners has much to impart to us.

 

  1.  A yoke provides guidance and direction, letting the animals know which way to go and where to go next.  We all need God’s guidance in our lives.  Jesus’ teaching and example and the Holy Spirit are the yokes in our lives, telling us where to go next.
  2. A yoke provides training.  Yokes can be used to train the animals how best to work.  Throughout our lives, we need teaching and training about the work God is calling us to do and the best way to live the Christian life.
  3. A yoke allows animals to work together.  Most of us are familiar with seeing a pair of oxen yoked together.  The yokes prevent the oxen from fighting with each other, and allow the oxen to pull and to work together.  Jesus tells us our burdens will be lighter if we take on His yoke.  One of the reasons is that we can share our burden with each other in Christian fellowship.
  4. A yoke allows the animals to do more work and move heavier loads.  By its very design, the yoke makes it easier for the animals to work.  And isn’t that true with the yoke of Jesus?  Jesus’ teaching and example…Jesus’ love…Jesus’ meal, all make our loads lighter.

When I think about tearing down the Woodsong’s stage all by myself, I feel overwhelmed.  First of all, I don’t know how I’d get that sign put away! My burden would be heavy. It would take many hours.  With so many of us, though, the burden is spread. I’m excited to help…happy to help…feel satisfied when everything is put away.

And that’s how it is with Jesus’ yoke.  When we carry our burdens alone, we feel overwhelmed, even paralyzed, weighed down and heavy.  We may think, (and how many of us have done this) that we must bear our burdens alone.  Or we want to be in total control, so we rely only upon ourselves.  We don’t want anyone telling us what to do!  We don’t want anyone else to know what’s going on with us!  We believe to be grown up and mature, we need to do it ourselves.  We are afraid God will demand too much from us.  So we refuse the yoke.  We refuse the guidance.  We refuse the teaching.  We refuse to spread the burden around to make it easier to bear.

Jesus reaches out, encouraging us to put on his yoke.  “Don’t be afraid,” he says.  “I am gentle and humble,” he says.  And here is the most blessed promise, “…and you will find rest for your souls.”

Amen

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This Sunday (July 6) at St. John’s

 And they blessed Rebekah and said to her, “May you, our sister, become thousands of myriads; may your offspring gain possession of the gates of their foes.”  Genesis 24:60

Of course I have always listened to these stories about Rebecca since I was named after her.  In my 2012 pilgrimage to the Holy Land, I actually visited the site commemorated as Rebecca’s tomb.  This site is revered by Muslims and Christians.  Rebecca’s tomb is inside a mosque and women must totally cover themselves up.  I had to wear a brown sheet-like garment over my clothing.

Me covered up and with an odd look at Rebecca's tomb in the Mosque at Hebron.

Me covered up and with an odd look at Rebecca’s tomb in the Mosque at Hebron.

Just last week, we read about Abraham nearly sacrificing Isaac. This week Isaac is grown and needs a wife. He finds one in Rebecca. As Rebecca leaves her family, they bless her.

Isn’t that what we all want from our friends and family…their blessing? We hope the choices we make meet with our family’s blessing and love. It’s a wonderful and joyous gift…one that doesn’t always happen. But one thing is sure, God’s blessing is always available to us!

Blessings to you as you finish your week!

Love, Rebecca+

Bulletin 7-6-2014

Happy 4th of July!

On this 4th of July, take time to read some important documents.  Read the Declaration of Independence or the 4th of July speech of Frederick Douglass, challenging the empty rhetoric of the promises in the founding documents of the United States.  Read the Iroquois Confederacy document, written in the 15th century, which influenced the writers of the Declaration and the Constitution.  Think of our life in Christ and whether these founding documents further the Kingdom of God or not.

Rebecca’s Schedule: Next week, Rebecca will be in Corbin on Thursday, July 10, and her Sabbath day will be Friday, July 11.  You can get a message to me by calling the church office at 606-528-1659 or priest-in-charge@stjohnscorbin.org.

Happy 50th Anniversary to Jerry and Barbara Hollifield, July 3.   Jerry and Barbara were married at St. John’s Church.  Flowers have been sent from the church and a card will be available to sign at the Sunday service.

Eucharist at Christian Care Communities: Join Rebecca this Sunday afternoon as she celebrates Eucharist at Christian Care Communities.  Elmer Parlier will be playing guitar.  The service is 30-45 minutes and the residents would appreciate your attendance.

Adult Forum: This summer and early fall, we will discuss a portion of the Gospel of Matthew.   We will follow our Gospel lectionary, discussing the following week’s Gospel – Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23.

KCEOC Lunch Program:  The KCEOC Summer Youth Lunch Program is distributing lunch Monday through Friday, 11:20-11:35am in our parking lot.  Youth 18 and under are eligible for this free lunch.  Youth are enjoying sitting in our park eating their lunch.  Monday through Thursday is a cold lunch of sandwich, fruit or vegetable, juice, and milk.  Friday is a hot lunch.  Please continue to get the word out.

Corbin Alumni Concert: The Corbin Alumni Band will be performing in the park on Saturday, July 12th.  Bring a lawn chair and join us for an evening of fellowship and music

DOK: Daughters of the King:meets the third Wednesday of each month at 4:30pm.  The next meeting is July 16.  Anne Day Davis will conclude her presentation on oils of the Bible

Grow Appalachia:  The Vestry voted to move ahead with this project.  As we continue to work on this project, let the members of Vestry know your questions.  Their website ishttp://www.berea.edu/grow-appalachia/

Flowers for the altar: Donations for flowers for the altar are accepted for any Sunday of the year. Please place your donation in the envelope, marking whether they are in honor of or in memory of someone.

Serving Our Neighbors – See baskets in the parlor.

  • Everlasting Arms, Corbin’s shelter for people who are homeless, is in need of men’s and women’s razors, gloves, deodorant and socks.
  • The Food Pantry at Corbin Presbyterian Church is always in need of nonperishable food items.  Vegetables are especially appreciated.