Welcome to the JCPC Daily Reflections Blog. Reflections are daily devotionals authored by JCPC pastors, staff and members and provide insight, guidance and comfort to help you make it through each day. If you’d like to receive Reflections each day via email, provide your email address.
Beloved, it is a faithful thing you do in all your efforts for these brothers, strangers as they are, who testified to your love before the church. You will do well to send them on their journey in a manner worthy of God. For they have gone out for the sake of the name, accepting nothing from the Gentiles. Therefore we ought to support people like these, that we may be fellow workers for the truth.
-3 John 1:5-8
Folks who know me well know that I do my best writing at the coffee shop. I often go there for sermons and reflections, as well as preparing Bible studies. This morning was no different. I headed there to get some writing done after dropping the oldest off for a test help session at school. I parked and saw the “closed” sign. Although I was the first customer, I’m here enough to know the hours and ignored the sign. I walked in, and all the baristas greeted me by name and we started catching up. That’s when a non-regular walked in and mentioned the sign. They flipped it and assured her they were open. Whoops.
It occurred to me that it’s easy for us as people to have our signs flipped. From the outside, especially to a stranger, we are unapproachable, closed off. A good friend can see past this, but someone new might miss what we have to offer or go away still in need. So what do we do? I think there are two lessons to draw from our scripture. Strangers may be siblings we have simply not met and welcoming them requires the habits of looking and being approachable (our open sign). This may look like a smile (or at least not a scowl), speaking with kindness and civility and respect, opening a door or offering a hand. And it requires humility - an openness to a stranger telling us when our sign is flipped.
I had two teachers who taught me each of those lessons. The first was a chaplain at the hospital where I worked as a chaplain intern in seminary. She told me that half our job was to walk slowly through the wards so staff and patients would be able to approach and make requests. For a speed walker with purpose, it was an adjustment. The second was a professor I had during that same time. He walked even faster than I did. However, when I shared this wisdom I had learned, I noticed he slowed down as he approached students and other faculty. He had heard a student and been humble enough to change his habit of many decades. We should all be so nimble.
So my challenge today is to ask yourself if your sign is typically flipped to open or closed. Then to ask what habits you can form to be open more often. And lastly, to find ways to let strangers and friends tell you when it’s flipped and you didn’t mean for it to be.
Prayer for Today
Lord, help me to be open and humble and eager to help those most in need. Amen.
As I assume most of you know by now, I shared with our Session Monday evening that I will be retiring on February 1, 2022. If you have yet to hear that news, either through the email that went out or the letters that are in the mail, you can click here to read about it.
Now we are in the midst of the transition -- and by “we” I mean all of you who are part of the JCPC family and me -- though our next “destinations” are different. As a congregation, you are preparing to say goodbye and start the process of looking for the next pastor. While I, too, am preparing to say goodbye, my transition is to another calling in life. And while I do not have another church that has called me to serve them, I believe the next season in my life is a new calling.
Barbara Brown Taylor wrote in her book, Leaving Church, about what it was like when she decided to leave parish ministry. She said that some people assumed she was going to stop serving God, which she was not. While she did not know it at the time, she would soon be called to teach undergraduate students Religion at Piedmont College. She also continued to write wonderful books. One of them which I recommend called Holy Envy, talks about all she learned while teaching undergraduates about the world faiths.
You have heard me talk about the word “vocation” coming from the Latin word vocare, which means “to call.” I believe that we often have different callings in life at different times -- each of which is part of God's timing. So, I am looking forward to God's calling in my life which will be different from what I've done for almost 40 years, including my study and preparation. So, wherever we are in our lives, whatever age we may be, I want to invite us all to listen for God's calling, which I believe continues as long as we have breath on this earth.
Prayer for Today
Thank you, God, for calling us with your voice of love. Enable us to hear your call throughout the seasons of our lives – and not only to hear, but to follow. We pray this in the strong name of Jesus the Christ. Amen.
First, the man selected a tackle box. Standing in his town’s small bait shop, he then filled a shopping cart with hooks, lures, bobbers, line, and weights. Finally, he added live bait and selected a new rod and reel. “Ever fished before?” the shop owner asked. The man said no. “Better add this,” said the owner. It was a first-aid kit. The man agreed and paid, then headed off to a day of not catching a thing—except snags on his fingers from his hooks and gear.
That wasn’t Simon Peter’s problem. An experienced fisherman, he was surprised one dawn when Jesus told him to push his boat into deep water and “let down the nets for a catch” (Luke 5:4). Despite a long night of catching nothing, Simon and his crew let down their nets and “caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break.” In fact, his two boats started to sink from the haul (v. 6).
Seeing this, Simon Peter “fell at Jesus’ knees,” urging Him to “go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” (v. 8). Jesus, however, knew Simon’s true identity. He told His disciple, “From now on you will fish for people.” Hearing that, Simon “left everything and followed” Christ (vv. 10–11). When we follow Him, He helps us learn who we are and what we’re called to do as His own.
Prayer for Today
Father, when I struggle to know my true identity, remind me to follow You to discover in You my true self. Amen.
He who overcomes, and he who keeps my deeds to the end, to him I will give authority over the nations.
-Revelations 2:26
As I am sure I share with many of you the thrill of the Atlanta Braves winning the World Championship of Baseball. Personally, I think I watched some or all of every game of the playoffs, from the beginning Milwaukee series, to the final out of the World Series. When I missed a portion of a game, I would go back and watch the part I missed (and probably the highlights fully) on YouTube.
What made this so special? Besides the fact that it had been 26 years since the last World Championship, to me, and I think most of us, it was the team’s incredible WILL to overcome the many obstacles that they faced during the season, from losing their ace pitcher before the season started, to losing one of the great stars in the game in the middle of the season. Nothing seemed to detract the team, from front office management to the players, in reaching their goal. Truly and inspiration to those that watched.
The Bible talks in many verses about overcoming obstacles, especially when it is about keeping your faith. As far back as Revelations, as I shared above, God knows that challenges and obstacles are a part of life. It is those that can overcome those obstacles and remain committed to your faith, that are those that he will reward.
Our great year with the Braves is a perfect example of “staying the course” regardless of the obstacles we face.
Prayer for Today
Dear Lord, help us to be strong in the face of the many obstacles that are put in front of us. Let us remain committed and faithful to you, so that we might enjoy your love and the rewards that go with that love. Amen.
Praise the Lord! I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart, in the company of the upright, in the congregation.
-Psalm 111:1 NIV
Now that it's November, I'm sure we're all aware that the holiday of Thanksgiving is almost upon us!! And (besides all the grocery shopping we have to do) THAT means... you know what's coming right around the corner... but first, we give thanks. And shouldn't we always... first, give thanks?? Shouldn't we make giving thanks to God the first thing we do every day? I know I often wake up and pray, "help!" instead of "thank you!" We are tempted to name our needs before we realize God already knows them and has provided for them. And for that reason alone, we can say "thank you!!"
When I wake up in the morning and take a moment to pray, if I begin with thanksgiving, I suddenly realize how much I've been given, and how generous the hand of God is toward his children! It's a much better way to start the day!
This Sunday, we are singing two hymns that list a litany of things for which we can be thankful...
For the beauty of the earth, for the glory of the skies,
For the love which from our birth over and around us lies:
Lord of all, to thee we raise this our hymn of grateful praise.
For the fruit of all creation, thanks be to God.
For the gifts to every nation, thanks be to God.
For the plowing, sowing, reaping,
Silent growth while we are sleeping,
Future needs in earth's safe-keeping, thanks be to God.
When you sing these words, think of how you have been blessed with all of these gifts, and give thanks to the amazingly generous God who created heaven and earth... and YOU!
In the just reward of labor, God's will be done.
In the help we give our neighbor, God's will be done.
In our worldwide task of caring
For the hungry and despairing,
In the harvests we are sharing, God's will be done.
Prayer for Today
Thank you, generous God, for every gift you bring into our lives. Use our hands to do your will on earth, to love our neighbor, to encourage one another, to share whatever we've been given with those around us. Open our eyes to see what we have, and open our hearts to the needs of your people. In Jesus' holy name we pray. Amen.
Train children in the right way, and when old, they will not stray.
-Proverbs 22:6
When I was in high school, there was a film released called Gattaca. It predicted the ability of scientists to pick and choose DNA traits parents would pass on to their children, weeding out imperfections for those who could afford it. They could eliminate the dangers of inheritable disease and mental illness or defect. The story follows a family whose first son does not benefit from this science and the second one who does. Their nurture matches their natures. The father names his younger son after himself and gives him all the love and accolades for his intelligence and prowess. The superior son becomes a detective and the eldest becomes a janitor. I won’t ruin the movie for you, but it’s the eldest son who is the protagonist and beats the odds, striving for the stars.
I was thinking about that film this week. The tagline of the movie was: There is no gene for the human spirit. We have spiritual DNA as well, you see. And like our physical attributes, it is a mix of nature and nurture - what God gives us and what our family of origin and family of faith nurture us in. And there is so much potential there! Part of the spiritual DNA of our youth group (and JCPC by extension) has been to go and serve breakfast monthly to the homeless at the shelter in Atlanta, just as many adults have gone to serve dinner or stay overnight at the shelter there. That’s been on pause during this Covid crisis, but the creativity of God’s spirit is at work. God is leading us to new ways to serve. This Friday, folks will drive food to Central Night Shelter and yesterday, I drove lunches, packed by our youth, to First Presbyterian.
Who our youth and children become has everything to do with who and whose they are now. We get to choose their spiritual DNA, what toxic traits to leave out, like bullying, bigotry, and selfishness. And we get to choose what we instill, like love, generosity, mercy, resiliency, and service. We can choose by our nurture to pass on the love and light we share with them. This week, I challenge you to find ways to support our youth or join our adults in serving with our local mission partners to change lives and pass on a spiritual DNA that looks like Discipleship. And I encourage you to choose generous Thanksgiving and Christmas traditions that will prioritize helping others, including the needy and lonely, and show our children who we are and want them to be.
Prayer for Today
Lord, help me to choose carefully the things I choose to pass on and instill in the next generation by my teaching, my priorities, and my example. Amen.
I am reading a book called Saving Grace by Kirsten Powers. Powers is a New York Times bestselling author and a political commentator who writes about her own struggles with grace - especially as it relates to those with whom she disagrees strongly. She writes:
Grace is amazing. It's the sweet sound that cracks open a hardened heart. It smooths the edges of rough regret about the things we did and the things we failed to do. It gives us permission to accept that we were doing the best we could with the information we had -- or as Maya Angelou said, “You did. . . what you knew how to do, and when you knew better, you did better.” Grace tills the ground so that peace, wholeness, and completeness can take root in our burdened bodies, relationships, and the world.
Powers goes on to talk about how hard it is to actually practice grace: “It's something we love to receive, but often the last thing most of us want to offer. Instead, we incline ourselves toward what author Phillip Yancey calls ‘ungrace,’ withholding that which the world desperately needs.” Powers quotes Lisa Sharon Harper to sum it up this way: “Our lack and misunderstanding of grace and shrunken capacity to give grace is one of the things that makes the world such a brutal place.”
In the second letter of Paul in our Bible to the church at Corinth, Paul writes these words: “You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.” (2 Corinthians 9:11, NIV) These are often words we read during Stewardship season, or maybe Thanksgiving. Perhaps we think about them as focusing mainly on being generous with our financial gifts, and that could certainly be true. But what if Paul is also talking about how we have each been “enriched” so that we might be generous with God's grace? Since God has shown us God's amazing grace, can we then be generous in sharing grace with our world and those we encounter who so desperately need it? Where is God asking you to show grace today? And will you?
Prayer for Today
God of grace, thank you for showing us your unmerited favor, and for giving us the grace we so desperately need. Help us not only to receive grace, but to share it with others. In the strong name of Jesus the Christ we pray. Amen.
When Christian Mustad showed his Van Gogh landscape to art collector Auguste Pellerin, Pellerin took one look and said it wasn’t authentic. Mustad hid the painting in his attic, where it remained for fifty years. Mustad died, and the painting was evaluated off and on over the next four decades. Each time it was determined to be a fake—until 2012, when an expert used a computer to count the thread separations in the painting’s canvas. He discovered it had been cut from the same canvas as another work of Van Gogh. Mustad had owned a real Van Gogh all along.
Do you feel like a fake? Do you fear that if people examined you, they’d see how little you pray, give, and serve? Are you tempted to hide in the attic, away from prying eyes?
Look deeper, beneath the colors and contours of your life. If you’ve turned from your own ways and put your faith in Jesus, then you and He belong to the same canvas. To use Jesus’ picture, “I am the vine; you are the branches” (John 15:5). Christ and you form a seamless whole.
Resting in Jesus makes you a true disciple of His. It’s also the only way to improve your picture. He said, “If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing” (v. 5).
Prayer for Today
Jesus, I rest in You like a branch clings to its vine. Amen.
Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.
-Psalm 100
Thanksgiving day has become a tradition. It has developed, grown, and transitioned from being a simple spiritual act of acknowledging God's blessings, to a national event of unbridled proportions. Let us celebrate God's gifts to us during this Thanksgiving season.
Here is a part of the Thanksgiving story you may not know. While the first Thanksgiving was celebrated in October of 1621, it was not until October of 1777 that all 13 colonies celebrated Thanksgiving, for the first time. At one point, our first president, George Washington, proclaimed a National Day of Thanksgiving, but conflict and difficulties among the colonies put an end to its observance.
In 1863, after 40 years of letter writing and campaigning by magazine editor, Sarah Josepha Hale, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a National Day of Thanksgiving. Since then, every president has supported Thanksgiving.
This day is meant to be a time to stop, take notice of our blessings, and acknowledge God with a grateful heart:
Be thankful for the clothes that fit a little too snug, because it means you have enough to eat.
Be thankful for the mess you clean up after a party, because it means you have been surrounded by friends.
Be thankful for the taxes you pay, because it means you are employed.
Be thankful that your lawn needs mowing and your windows need fixing, because it means you have a home.
Be thankful for the laundry, because it means you have clothes to wear.
Be thankful for the space you find at the far end of the parking lot, because it means you can walk.
Be thankful for the lady who sings off-key behind you in church, because it means you can hear.
Be thankful if you wake up early in the morning, because it means you are alive.
Let us speak of the mighty and wondrous things that the Lord has done, and share our thankful hearts one with another.
Prayer for Today
Dear God, Thank you for your amazing power and work in our lives. Thank you for your goodness and for your blessings over us. Thank you for your great love and care. Renew our spirits, fill us with your peace and joy! Amen.
God is our hope and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will we not fear though the earth be moved, and though the hills be carried into the midst of the sea.
-Psalm 46: 1-2
Psalm 46 was the inspiration behind the well-known hymn, A Mighty Fortress Is Our God, which we will sing this Sunday. Martin Luther, who unintentionally became the leader of the Reformation, wrote the words for this hymn in his native German, and it has been translated into English more than 70 times! The original melody, which is quite different from the version we have in our hymnals, was also likely written by Martin Luther, but there seems to be some debate about this.
Actually, there is debate about most of the stories behind this hymn. My grandmother always told me he wrote it after the death of one his children. In researching the hymn, I found countless stories behind the hymn, but the truth is, there isn’t any very much proof to back any of them up. Martin Luther did not intend to create such a division in the church with his Ninety-five Theses, but quickly found himself on the Pope’s bad side. This, among many other issues in his life, including lean finances and the death of two children, could have all led Luther to compose this hymn.
Sunday is All Saints’ Sunday, and we take the time to remember our friends and family members who have died in the past year. There is no one on earth who will be free from dealing with the death of a loved one – it is a pain we have to endure and there’s no avoiding it when it comes. But as Christians we believe and know that death is not the end. Death cannot rob us of our hope or strength, because Christ has already won the battle against death for us. God is our continuous, unchanging strength despite the physical and emotional pain of this life. As a bell rings out during the service Sunday for each person who has died, take a moment to be still. Remember that God is in control. It’s easy to say but hard to live into this truth. This earthly life is sure to take from us all that we have ever had but nothing can separate us from God’s love and truth. God’s kingdom is forever, and the kingdom is ours through Christ.
Prayer for Today
God of Hope and Strength, be a mighty fortress in our lives, a help to us as we struggle with all that this mortal life hurls at us. Help us to lean not on our own strength, but to accept that your strength will keep the evils of the world from unraveling our lives. Focus our lives on you, in every way, so that we may forget our own lives and offer ourselves as servants of your heavenly kingdom. Amen.
