WomanSpeak

Free-Loading

2008-07-06T14:31:00.000-07:00

I preached at Wellington UM Fellowship today. Here is the text of the sermon:

Deuteronomy 10:12-13, 17-21/The Essence of the Law
So now, O Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you? Only to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments of the Lord your God and his decrees that I am commanding you today, for your own well-being. For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who is not partial and takes no bribe, who executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and who loves the strangers, providing them with food and clothing. You shall also love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. You shall fear the Lord your God; him alone you shall worship; to him you shall hold fast, and by his name you shall swear. He is your praise; he is your God, who has done for you these great and awesome things that your own eyes have seen.

Galatians 6:1-10/Bear One Another’s Burdens
My friends, if anyone is detected in a transgression, you who have received the Spirit should restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness. Take care that you yourselves are not tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfil the law of Christ. For if those who are nothing think they are something, they deceive themselves. All must test their own work; then that work, rather than their neighbour’s work, will become a cause for pride. For all must carry their own loads.
Those who are taught the word must share in all good things with their teacher.
Do not be deceived; God is not mocked, for you reap whatever you sow. If you sow to your own flesh, you will reap corruption from the flesh; but if you sow to the Spirit, you will reap eternal life from the Spirit. So let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest time, if we do not give up. So then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us work for the good of all, and especially for those of the family of faith.

When I was a little girl, I loved the Fourth of July. I have such fond memories. I grew up in East Tennessee, so it was always too hot and way too muggy—the humidity was way up there and just standing outside for a few minutes made us sweat. But that was ok, because we had watermelon in the big galvanized tub full of ice, and coke (which is what we call all soft drinks) and jugs of sweet tea. My parents had a motor boat, so there were always boat rides, too, and we could stick our feet in the lake and cool off. The relatives from Virginia came to visit. Ruth and ‘em are coming we would say. That meant Aunt Ruth, Uncle Sam, her sister Aunt Marie and Uncle Joe, but we always just said, “Ruth and ‘em.” As if NEM was part of the family. Late at night, the men would gather up all us kids and we would watch them shoot bottle rockets in the back yard of my grandmother’s house. And we would get to hold a sparkler while it dazzled us with its amazing stream of light. There is little to me more memorable than Fourth of July holidays.
I grew up in the bicentennial era, as well. I was 9 when we celebrate the bicentennial of the nation in 1976. The hoopla that surrounded that big national celebration went on for years before and continued for years after. It was so wonderful to be an American. We were all so proud we had made it as an independent nation for 200 years. The pride surrounding the bicentennial was fierce and strong. And we all loved it, at least where I was.
Now, some people have co-opted patriotism as a religious value. Some people think being patriotic means you love a certain kind of God, and believe a certain kind of way. Patriotism somehow got tangled up with religious fervor in ways that are not necessarily particularly favorable for religion or for the country. So, on this Sunday of Fourth of July weekend, this Sunday when we celebrate the sacrament, a reminder of the freedom we have in Christ, lets look at ‘being free’ in Christ, and maybe how we can relate that to being a good citizen of this country while also being a good citizen of God’s world.
The scriptures today tend to point us toward two basic tenets in terms of behavior. One is to be responsible for yourself, be sure that all your ducks are in a row, be who God wants you to be, be the model, set the stage.
The other is to share your neighbor’s burdens. Help out the one that has no voice, help the stranger, and be there for your friends. Help them in times of trouble. Put simply 1) Be who God wants you to be, and 2) Help others to do the same.
Jim Wallis reports in his book God’s Politics an uplifting story. In Madison, Wisconsin, Baptists fund affordable family apartments and formerly homeless children who move there see a jump in their GPA’s from 1.2 to 3.2. These same kids eventually all graduate and all go on to college. When the Baptists of Madison became the people God expected them to be, they funded the housing that created stability that led to success for the children and helped them be who God wants them to be.
Looking for ways to make a difference in someone’s life. Looking to offer a shoulder to carry the burden while also looking for a way to prevent such burdens from hindering one another. This is being a citizen of God’s world. William Booth founder of the Salvation Army said, “We can’t just keep picking people up at the bottom of the cliff and not climb the mountain to see who is throwing them off the edge.” (Wallis, God’s Politics, 255-56).
Who is God calling us to carry burdens for today? Who is being called to help us carry ours? Here in Wellington, people are in need of support. And, other folks are looking for ways to make a difference in someone else’s life. The great thing about being a new fellowship, a new presence here in this community is your identity can be formed here and now. You can determine how the world views this community of faith. By offering yourselves to the task of bearing one another’s burdens, both within this community and especially outside of it, you will be the community of faith God wants you to be. And you will be an example to Wellington and to the world.
Emma Lazarus is the poet who penned those powerful words we read on the base of the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor. Those words, “give me your tired, your poor, yearning to be free” are a prophetic vision of what America was seen to be. America exhibited, in that time, the bearing of one another’s burdens, the godliness that was so brilliantly shining around the world. Immigrants from all over the planet were streaming in, poor, tired, hungry, homeless, dejected, rejected. And we, as Americans, offered our towns, our villages, opened our hearts, minds and doors to the world. And we were so admired for that.
Fourth of July is full of fond memories for me, and for many others, I hope for you. But it’s more than watermelon slices and firework displays. It’s more than a parade. It is a time to remember our goodness as a nation. It is a time to remember what we believe at our very core as Americans. Freedom is a value worth the struggle to maintain it. Freedom doesn’t mean we don’t have any responsibilities, but that we have many. Freedom in Christ, Paul tells the Galatians, means carrying the load for someone else. Free-loading redefined. FREE LOADING: to carry the load that frees someone else so that you may also be free, to bear a burden for another and, thus, become more Christ-like, the Christian you should be.
To open your arms to the world. To show godliness in all you do. As you move into a new era in this young community of faith, with a new pastor appointed by the bishop coming this week, and on this weekend of patriotic memory, consider the fledgling nation and all its ideals of offering freedom to a world oppressed.
Hear your own call to be a community of faith that knows what it means to walk in the way of Christ.
Hear this church’s call to Wellington in these words from Emma Lazarus:

The New Colossus (1883)
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
“Keep ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

Women's Sunday

2008-06-09T21:04:00.000-07:00

This year's Women's Ministry Sunday will be October 5. We are privileged to have the Rev. Joyce Curtis return to our church to lead the service.

The starting point to our planning of this service comes from this poem about Mary.

Check it out! If you want to help or offer ideas, email Rev. Pam Everhart:

pameverhart@fcfumc.net

Theatre Blog

2008-06-02T16:33:00.000-07:00

Some of you may know of my interest in the theatrical arts. My son is a young actor and so I spend a lot of time immersed in plays and musicals. For those of you who have this same bent, or for those who just enjoy merging secular and theological, you might be interested in my new personal blog called TheatreTheology

Check it out!

Peace,
Pam

Congratulations JoAn!

2008-05-19T13:44:00.000-07:00

The women of FUMC congratulate JoAn Hopkins, national award recipient of the Eli Lilly and Company Welcome Back Award for Primary Health Care. She is being so honored for her work in mental health care, specifically for her efforts in helping to fight depression. She is receiving $10,000 that she can donate to the charities of her choice. We are honored that she has chosen FUMC as one of her charities. She will also contribute to the Larimer Center for Mental Health, the American Red Cross Centennial Chapter, and Coloradans for Chernobyl.

JoAn does so much work, not only in her professional life, but also in her church and community. We are so pleased that JoAn moves her ministry beyond the doors of the church. She is involved with the Interfaith Council here in Fort Collins, and she has been on and continues to be part of mission trips with the UMC. She recently took part in a tour of the Holy Land with Bishop Warner Brown and others from the Rocky Mountain Conference.

When you see JoAn congratulate her on her work in the mental health field. And thank her for her kindness in designating our church to receive some of the award's funds. And thank her for always going beyond the walls of the church, for being a true leader in the church, for opening her heart, her mind, and her (our) doors to a world in need.

Congratulations, JoAn!

Protecting The Flock--A Sermon

2008-04-13T14:42:00.000-07:00

This is the sermon I preached today at our alternative worship service, CrossWalk.
“Protecting the Flock”
Psalm 23
First UMC Fort Collins/CrossWalk
April 13, 2008

When I decided to do my sermon on Ps 23, I read a commentary that said, “It would be vain of any preacher to presume he or she could preach a good sermon on this psalm,” It is so well known that people have already identified everything it means to them. Well I couldn’t resist a challenge, and while I am not trying to be vain, I didn’t give up my idea of preaching on it. I will say it really doesn’t need explanation, and certainly doesn’t need a sermon. Everyone familiar with Psalm 23 savors it in different ways.

Walter Brueggemann in his book "The Message of the Psalms" begins his commentary on Psalm 23 with these words: "It is almost pretentious to comment on this psalm. The grip it has on biblical spirituality is deep and genuine. It is such a simple statement that it can bear its own witness without comment.

I read a story this week by Rosemary Brown, Methodist clergywoman from Tennessee. In the story she tells of a camping trip she had to Colorado. She sees a shepherd (cowboy hat and cowboy boots in tact) just hanging out and a sheep near a deep ravine. She wants to yell out to the shepherd to notice his sheep in danger, when a sheepdog comes up and circles the flock and runs to gather back the endangered sheep.

I was visiting with a lady from our congregation in the hospital this past week, and she writes stories for the Senior Voice, a local newspaper for those over 50. Her article this week, which she showed me from her hospital bed, was about shepherds, and the sheepdogs they have as friends.

These two stories have put a new character in Psalm 23 for me. The sheepdog. Unspoken in the Psalm, but an important part of the shepherd’s life and work. This Psalm might be for us a comfort, a source of hope and joy. But this Psalm can be more than a personal psalm for those seeking a personal peace. This psalm can be a call to action—a way of recognizing the connection we have to the Shepherd and perhaps the responsibility that being under the shepherd’s care places upon us.
Perhaps, at times in our lives, we are not the sheep, but the sheepdog.

God is indeed the shepherd. God watches over us. Over all. And God expects something of us. There are some sheep that are in danger and in need of help. And the shepherd expects us to gather everyone up and offer protection and help to someone who needs it.

Monday night. I wanted to stay home and watch the NCAA Basketball championship game. I am a huge college basketball fan and even though my team (DUKE) had already long since gone out, I wanted to watch the Kansas-Memphis showdown. My son, however, had other plans for us.

My son is 13, a 7th grader, and in need of a few extra points on his grade in World History class. He can get extra credit, he says, if he goes to the school to watch a film on Darfur. He can get even more points if one or both of his parents come. So we pile in the car and head to his school, basketball program left behind.

My husband and I admit to each other on the way to the school that we know the situation is bad in Darfur but we don’t really know that much about it, and this embarrasses us. We are both clergy who pride ourselves on our efforts to preach social justice sermons. Yet neither of us has ever even read anything in depth or been to any kind of social justice program related to the situation in Darfur. Maybe God is leading us. “God leads me in the path of righteousness for God’s name’s sake.”

My son goes to a public school, but it is a magnet school for the arts that a student can only get into by audition. I sat in the school’s concert hall, a school not everyone has access to, watching a passionately produced film about the plight of a people who live a life of destruction and death every day.

And just a few, a mere handful of people, are trying to get the word out about their plight. Brian Steidle, a former marine captain, accepted a job after his military time was complete as an “observer” in the Sudan. You see, Sudan had experienced a twenty-year civil war. Twenty years. A cease-fire was declared and he was being sent to monitor the cease-fire. To document events as they happened. To take pictures of what he saw.

The part of Sudan that he was assigned to was a region called Darfur. What he saw, what he took pictures of there was nothing like he had imagined. What he saw and documented, was a systematic execution of whole villages by the Sundanese government in power. Men, women, and children shot, or set on fire, as well as their homes, all they had.
Brian has devoted the last several years trying to get the word out. Trying to help the world to see that all is not well. That basic human decency is not the norm. That some would take their power, and wealth, at the expense of others. Brian is trying in spite of the danger and the cost. “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.”

And me? I sat at in an elitist magnet school concert hall, state of the art, and watched Brian’s film about the devastation and genocide in Darfur. I sat in a place “beside still waters,” a place that “restores my soul” and I watched in horror the images of people “walking through the valley of the shadow of death.” How can I not fear evil? Where is God in this?

Where ----is--- God--- in--- this?

What I came to realize, however, was that the better question is “Where am I?”

You see, God indeed is my shepherd, and I want for very little. I lead a life mostly beside calm waters. That means God expects something of me. God is calling me, the sheepdog, to help people out of their valleys of death and into new life where perhaps their cups, too, can runneth over. God is calling me. Despite my ignorance of the situation. Despite my inclination to ignore the problems in Darfur and around the globe.

God . . . called . . . me.
In a school concert hall. At a movie we only went to see for extra credit. I became aware of my responsibility to my shepherd and to that shepherd’s sheep.

What sheep shall you keep? What flock is crying out for your protection? God leads you in a path of righteousness . . . what is your path?

Amen.

Magnet Pulling

2008-03-19T13:34:00.000-07:00

A poem from Women's Uncommon Prayers (Morehouse, 2000).

Magnet Pulling

Today, I have the sense of the sprouted seed

Long in darkness, somnolent, confined

Suddenly pushed through the wet resistant earth

Popped to the wide blue of the roaring sky!

Blazing and warm and mellowing, the sun

Draws me, magnet--pulling--

There is only the upward, outward thrust--

Surge, our pulse, our beat and loving--

Flamboyant, new, this

Camouflage of foliage--

Does it belong to me? And what

of this heavy, bursting seedling

Inside?

"O Lord, how manifold thy works!

In wisdom hast thou made them all!"

-Mona C. Hull, Ph. D.

Mom Communion

2008-03-08T15:36:00.000-08:00

Wednesday night, Bev Halperin and I finished our class for children and their moms. We ended with communion. The children made stoles and chalices and then they served their mothers communion. It was a touching moment for me to witness these wonderful children serving their equally wonderful mothers the sacrament of Holy Communion. Bone of their bone, flesh of their flesh. It was a tender and beautiful moment in time.

scripture change

2008-02-09T09:57:00.000-08:00

On the last post, one of my scriptures was listed as Genesis 15. I have changed it to Genesis 17: 1-5, 9-11.

Peace,

Pam

Jesus Last Name . . . Could it be Abrahamason?

2008-02-08T09:25:00.000-08:00

My sermon this week is part of a series addressing Jesus last name, in other words, who Jesus is connected to. Who are his relatives? What is his lineage? Just where did his folks come from? And why does it matter?

My scriptures are taken from Genesis 15: 3-6 and Romans 4: 1-3, 9-12, 16. These scriptures are about Abraham. The sermon addresses how Jesus is connected to Abraham. Jesus Abrahamson. Being connected to Abraham today can mean you are either a Jew, a Christian, or a Muslim. But in Jesus' day it clearly connected you solely to the Jewish people. Abraham is in Jesus lineage as found in Matthew and in Luke. Jesus is a faithful Jewish man. Why do we often overlook the ties we have as Jesus followers to the Jewish faith?

Abraham's faith is parallel to Jesus' faith, I think. Abraham had faith, as evidenced in the scripture, before his covenantal circumcision that made him Jewish. He believed God and trusted God before his conversion experience. Jesus had faith before any of us were following him--Jesus had faith in God and his unwavering dedication to be a righteous servant is what led him to the cross.

There is so much more we can explore between Abraham and Jesus. What do you have to say about Jesus Abrahamson? Let me know by posting to the comments below. Or email me at pameverhart@fcfumc.net.

Peace,

Pam

new book I've read

2008-01-25T12:00:00.001-08:00

I just finished reading A Thousand Splendid Suns by Hosseini who also wrote Kite Runner. I thought this book was excellent, very well written, a page turner. It is a very intense look at women's lives in Afghanistan. It made me appreciate again being a woman in America. I highly recommend this book.

How do we slow down?

2008-01-15T10:30:00.000-08:00

We did have a wonderful time at the SS Teacher retreat. One fun thing we did was share some of our favorite books. This led to many interesting, lively conversations. We found that we didn't have enough time for everything which is always a struggle. The retreat was 24 hours because it's often hard to get women to be away from their families for longer than that amount of time. How do we as women encourage each other to slow down like Pam said and take time to renew and refresh ourselves?

Being Together

2008-01-13T16:26:00.000-08:00

I was talking with Bev Halperin, Christian Ed director, today about how much people need to be together; to just BE together, talking and fellowshiping. She had just returned from the Sunday School teachers' retreat and was commenting about how that was the main thing: just giving everyone a chance to be together to talk. We rush around here and there and never seem to slow down. One of my goals for the new year is going to be to SLOW DOWN and smell the roses. I am going to stop sweating the small stuff so much. What are your plans for the new year?

Join in the conversation.

Peace,

Pam

Sermon Reflections Dec 30

2007-12-27T10:53:00.000-08:00

The text for this week's sermon exposes the side of the Christmas story we don't often wish to remember. Matthew 2: 13-21 relates the story of the Holy Family's flight to Egypt after Joseph was warned by an angel in a dream to leave Bethlehem. Herod has ordered the slaughter of all the baby boys under the age of 2 so that he can try to get rid of the Messiah, who has been rumored to have been born.

My question, a nagging problematic thought, surrounding this text is:

Why did Joseph get a vision to take his child and flee and all the other dads didn't have such luck? I know Jesus is the Messiah and all, but aren't the other children also Children of God? Don't they deserve the same protective angelic shielding?

This seems to be leading my sermon into a direction of exploring the Haves and Have Nots of our Christmas season. Those of us "haves" in the world often don't realize the pain and agony of Christmas when you are a "have not." There is a song called 'Star Child' in the Faith We Sing book (#2095) that talks about various 'children' of Christmas.

If you have comments, please feel free to post them by clicking the link below or email me at pameverhart@fcfumc.net

See you Sunday!

Pam Everhart

Before Jesus

2007-12-13T11:39:00.000-08:00

This poem comes from a book called Women's Uncommon Prayers (Morehouse Publishing, 2000). Wonderful, powerful, connection of the nativity to the sacrament of Holy Communion.
Posted by Rev. Pam Everhart

Before Jesus

Before Jesus
was his mother.

Before supper
in the upper room,
breakfast in the barn.

Before the Passover Feast,
a feeding trough.
And here, the altar
of earth, fair linens
of hay and seed.

Before his cry,
her cry.
Before his sweat
of blood,
her bleeding
and tears.
Before his offering,
hers.

Before the breaking
of bread and death,
the breaking of her
body in birth.
Before the offering
of the cup,
the offering of her
breast.
Before his blood,
her blood.
And by her body and blood
alone, his body and blood
and whole human being.

The wise ones knelt
to hear the woman's word
in wonder.
Holding up her sacred child,
her God in the form of a babe,
she said: "Receive and let
your hearts be healed
and your lives be filled
with Love, for
this is my body,
this is my blood."
--The Reverend Dr. Alla Renee Bozarth

Welcome to WomanSpeak

2007-12-13T09:19:00.000-08:00

Hello. Welcome to our new women's blog. This is a place for the women of FUMC and those who wish to connect with us to be in community. Post song lyrics, poetry, comments, questions, book reviews, etc. It is a way of connecting us to one another.