Praise Him, sun and moon; Praise Him, all you stars of light… You great sea creatures and all the depths; Fire and hail, snow and clouds; Stormy wind, fulfilling His word; Mountains and all hills; Fruitful trees and all cedars; Beasts and all cattle; Creeping things and flying fowl… Let them praise the name of the Lord, For His name alone is exalted… Praise the Lord! Psalm 148 (paraphrased)  

The other day, I was in the back room shuffling things about. Not really cleaning things out but mostly moving piles of books and music about. I came across a book I had forgotten was there, it is a book filled with hymns and the story behind why the hymn was written. The book is called “Then Sings My Soul” by Robert J. Morgan. It’s filled with wonderful songs that I’ve been singing all my life. So I picked out one that will be familiar to you and I will share the story that created it.

All Creatures of Our God and King

So many stories have arisen around St. Francis of Assisi that it’s difficult to separate the truth from fiction. We know he was born in 1182 in central Italy, son of a rich merchant. After a scanty education, Francis joined the army and was captured in war. He came to follow Christ shortly after his release, renounced his wealth, and began traveling about the countryside, preaching the gospel, living simply, seeking to make Christ real to everyone he met.

Francis loved nature, and many stories spotlight his interaction with animals. Once as he hiked through Italy’s Spoleto Valley, he came upon a flock of birds. When they didn’t fly away, he decided to preach them a little sermon: “My brother and sister birds,” he reportedly said, “you should praise your Creator and always love Him. He gave you feathers for clothes, wings to fly, and all other things you need. It is God who made your home in thin, pure air. Without sowing or reaping, you receive God’s guidance and protection.”

The flock, it is said, then flew off rejoicing. The perspective is reflected in a hymn Francis composed just before his death in 1225, called, “Cantico di fratre sole” – “Song of Brother Sun.” It exhorts all creation to worship God. The sun and moon. All birds. All the clouds. Wind and fire. All men of tender heart. All creatures of our God and King.

Though written in 1225, an English version didn’t appear until 1919, when Rev. William H. Draper decided to use it for a children’s worship festival in Leeds, England. 

 “All creatures of our God and King. Lift us your voice and with us sing, Alleluia! Alleluia! Thouing sun with golden beam, Thou silver moon with softer gleam, O praise Him! O praise Him! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

Let all things their Creator bless, and worship Him in humbleness. O Praise Him! Alleluia! Praise, the Father, praise the Son. And praise the spirit three in One! O praise Him! O praise Him! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!”

I hope the next time we sing this together it will bring you a bit of bright joy.

Blessings, Brenda

¹⁴ My brothers and sisters, what good is it if people say they have faith but do nothing to show it? Claiming to have faith can’t save anyone, can it? ¹⁵ Imagine a brother or sister who is naked and never has enough food to eat. ¹⁶ What if one of you said, “Go in peace! Stay warm! Have a nice meal!”? What good is it if you don’t actually give them what their body needs? ¹⁷ In the same way, faith is dead when it doesn’t result in faithful activity.
²⁶ As the lifeless body is dead, so faith without actions is dead.  
James 2:14-17, 26

We continue in this place, some may say are stuck in this place. There have been challenges to say the least, but I would also say there have been some really great things that have happened while we are here in the middle of a pandemic.  There are people out there using their God given gifts of creativity, humor, compassion, strength to do the work of God. Every day, I read stories in the paper or on the internet of people putting their faith into action.  Here are some of my favorites:

Three ER doctors realized it was not safe to return home when their shifts were over to their young families, so they together rented an apartment.  It became obvious that this place would not work out; so one of the doctor’s parents offered their house, and the parents went to live with their daughter in law and help her with their 2 young grandchildren.

There are so many people who have sewn masks for healthcare workers, nursing homes and for people who need one. They have set up little factories in their garages and enlisted others to help with the assembly of them.

There are neighbors and family members doing the grocery shopping for those who need to stay inside. In Santa Barbara 4 high school students created a website called Zoomers to Boomers where the elderly could sign up to have groceries delivered to their home the next day by a high school student.

Here in our own CUMC community people have repeatedly stepped up and delivered food to our food closet when supplies become low and they have made phone calls to check in on each other. 

Teachers have had to switch their whole classroom over to online teaching.  They have spent many hours learning what is the best way to reach their students and help them to continue with school.  They have made personal calls to those that haven’t “come” to school.  They have answered endless questions from parents and students.  One teacher was emailed by his 6^thgrader who was struggling with the math assignment.  The teacher happened to live close to the student, so he set his easel up on the student’s porch and taught her through the glass door.

What started in Italy has now made its way to New York City and beyond. At a specific time everyone gathers on their balconies and yells and bang pots and pans to encourage and support the healthcare workers for all they have done to care for the very sick.

In this time, there are people all over encouraging each other, connecting with each other, caring for each other, sharing God’s love. They are bringing light into these difficult and trying times.  They are bringing joy into the world.  They are putting their faith into action.  Thanks be to God!

Gracious and loving God, Thank you for all of the many people who are doing your work. Help us to keep our eyes open to all the good that is happening around so that we may be reminded that you are here with us. Amen

Marty 

Blessed be the name of the Lord
   from this time on and for evermore.
From the rising of the sun to its setting
   the name of the Lord is to be praised.
Psalm 113:2-3

Today is my daughter’s birthday. Eleven years ago today Kathy and I were at the hospital, at the appointed time for the scheduled caesarian section. Frankly, it felt a little odd to know when the baby would be born. I have often waxed philosophic about not knowing the exact day of our birth or our death, but to know that these are in God’s hands.

We plan, God laughs.

Our appointed time came and went, because an emergency c-section took our place in line. We wouldn’t stick to the schedule after all. Everything was fine, they assured us, as they started placing the leads on Kathy’s body.

But then the mood changed. The room got very quiet, as the nurse moved the scope around my wife’s body. “I’ve lost the heartbeat…”  some other words… then “stat!” she spoke into the radio on her chest.  Kathy and I looked at each other in silence.
So the baby is gone. I can’t fathom that. I can’t deal with that. But I have to be strong to care for my love in this moment. How will I provide compassion in this terrible loss? All this time, everything was fine, how can this be? We did everything right!  I have to be able to say that. Well we started this journey with prayer, let’s pray in this moment. We will find a way to praise God even in this. We had exactly the same thoughts, shared with each other without a word.  

Within 3 minutes of the word “stat” Kathy was in a regular surgical suite, and our baby was coming into the world. She was pink and perfect, and I cried tears of joy as I heard her cry from the hallway. It turns out that she was so in tune with her mother that she had matched her heartbeat.

In these days where so much seems out of control, I find comfort in the words of the psalms, and in our songs of worship.
Matt Redman wrote “Blessed Be Your Name” not long after 9/11/01. It beautifully reflects the message of the psalms, that we rejoice in all things. I offer his words as our prayer today:

“Blessed be your name when the sun’s shining down on me,
when the world’s all as it should be, blessed be your name.
Blessed be your name on the road marked with suffering,
though there’s pain in the offering, blessed be your name.
Every blessing you pour out I’ll turn back to praise.
When the darkness closes in, Lord, still I will say:
Blessed be the name of the Lord. Blessed be your glorious name!”

Pastor George

After these things Jesus showed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias; and he showed himself in this way. Gathered there together were Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples. Simon Peter said to them, ‘I am going fishing.’ They said to him, ‘We will go with you.’ They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. 

Just after daybreak, Jesus stood on the beach; but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, ‘Children, you have no fish, have you?’ They answered him, ‘No.’ He said to them, ‘Cast the net to the right side of the boat, and you will find some.’ So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in because there were so many fish. That disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, ‘It is the Lord!’ When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on some clothes, for he was naked, and jumped into the lake. But the other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, only about a hundred yards off.  
— John 21:1-8

The disciples have spent three years following Jesus. They have observed the miraculous and the mundane with him. They have suffered the insults and received the adulation which comes from being near him and acting at his behest. Now, they have cowered and watched from a distance as he was betrayed, rejected, tried, condemned, killed, and placed in a tomb. They have heard rumors that his body has disappeared. Finally, locked in a room, he has appeared among them. And then he disappeared once again.

Now what are they supposed to do?  They can’t stay in hiding forever. Eventually they will have to do something. They have been part of a movement, but the leader – the Lord – is now gone. It won’t be the same without him and they feel that they can’t continue on their own.  Jesus said that Simon Peter would be their Rock, so they look to him for leadership.  Simon says , “I am going to go fishing!” So they reply “We’ll go with you.”
This isn’t just a guy running off to regroup or hide away from everything by going out on a boat with a rod and reel and an ice chest full of beer. Remember: Simon was a fisher by trade long before he became Peter, the Rock. What he was doing here wasn’t a relaxing trip; he was going back to work. It could well be that he was chucking it all, giving up the past three years, and going back to the way things used to be.

So they all go out on the boat. They go to Peter’s sure spots to catch fish. They employ all of his tried and true methods. And they catch nothing.

After a long night’s work they start to haul in the nets, when from the shore some yokel shouts out to them to put the net on the other side of the boat. As if Simon Peter didn’t know what he was doing. Advice from the peanut gallery.
He knows what he is doing.
He has done it this way forever.
He has wanted to get back to this for at least the last few weeks he has been self-isolating.
It doesn’t matter that it isn’t working, this is what he wants! Perhaps one of the other disciples dares to suggest “What have we got to lose?” So they dare to do things a little bit differently and voila! Now the nets are full. That is when John says to Simon Peter, that is no yokel, “It is the Lord!” Whereupon our naked Rock gets dressed, jumps into the water, and starts moving to the shore. The rest of the disciples have the sense to gather up the fish and follow along in the boat. There, on the shore, Jesus calls upon Peter to continue to follow him and to feed his sheep.
 Well, you can surely see where I am going with this.
We have been cooped-up for about a month. We long to get back to the way things were. We want to get back to normal. But all the news is telling us that it may be months, or even years (if ever!) before we can resume our lives just as they were. Bit by bit, in small ways, some of the restrictions may begin to be loosened. We might, within a few weeks, be able to return to our workplaces. We might be able to visit extended family. We might even be able to begin gathering in small groups. But all of this will come with restrictions (masks, distance, tracking, testing, thermometers…).

What we have now is NOT the new normal. But we may never return to the OLD normal.  And that might be a good thing.
What if Jesus had never met the disciples at the shore? What if they hadn’t listened, being determined to do things the way that they always had?  Thank goodness, they did! It was in being successful making a small change that they realized they could trust Jesus to lead them in changing the world!
How will we listen to Jesus in this moment? As we begin to imagine life as it will be – as it could be – what might we do differently? How might you make small changes to the way things were? How might you “cast your net on the other side of the boat?” 

Your church staff has been asking these questions of ourselves. We are imagining new (and many of them old) ways of conducting worship and programs. Please note that we are not making any changes yet, we are only imagining what might be, WHENEVER we are able to meet again on campus.

For our children’s programming, we are looking at following the guidance now given to preschools, including limiting class sizes, staying in one place for the full time we are in an event, remaining consistent in groupings…

For worship, we imagine that we will continue to stream services, adding unique opportunities for worship so that we have fewer people at more services, and encouraging the creation of more small groups. Imagine a gathering of fewer than 10 people, participating in worship from the home of a host, being able to engage in worship, reflection, fellowship, and support. Apart from the technology, this sounds an awful lot like the house-churches of the New Testament.

That is just the start. We will need you to help us imagine what will be. We have a good foundation: it was less than a year ago that we started responding the call of our Bishop to imagine a new church, we already have agreed to a sense of our call in our statement, “I See A New Church.” Now is the time to begin to implement this vision!

Thank you, Jesus, for meeting us in this moment. We long to go back to the way things were. Help us instead to see the way things could be. Open our hearts and our minds to experience this time not only as a burden, but an opportunity. Teach us to change our ways, and follow where your love leads. Amen.

Pastor George

When this whole pandemic thing started, I had driven passed a church that had a pray banner out. I thought that the idea of a banner for our church to put out was a good idea. So, this went up several weeks ago. It is one of my favorite Bible verses. It always reminds me how much God loves us and is there for us and has been a mantra of sorts to me in times of trouble. This scripture verse also makes for a wonderful Breather Prayer. If you have never tried a Breather Prayer, it goes like this. You breathe in thinking of a short phrase and breathe out thinking a short phrase, such as thinking nothing can separate me while breathing in and thinking from the love of God while breathing out.  Breath prayers can have a calming effect on my soul. 

The banner has been well received by many people and our own Lindsey Goodyear who attends our Messy church worship wrote about it in her blog for Messy Church USA.
 
“We’ve been lucky that the church we attend is in the same neighborhood that we live.  My kids both went to preschool there, it’s the home of our Messy Church, and it’s both my boys’ absolute favorite parking lot to ride bikes in once the service crowds have dispersed.  I was nearing the end of my morning walk, one Friday, when I looked up and something struck me.  I was right in front of this church that I knew inside and out, yet, something was different.  I always acknowledge the banner that hangs in front of Community United Methodist Church in Huntington Beach as it is changed from week to week to display different Bible verses.  This week’s stopped me dead in my tracks.  Romans 8:38-39 says, “Remember that nothing can separate us from the love of God.”  Wow.  In a time where all I felt was separation, I ignored the fact that I hadn’t been alone.  Not even once.  I was so wrapped up and consumed by the fact that I couldn’t see and make my normal connections with everyday citizens that I missed the fact that I had a direct line to a connection anytime I wanted.  It was just the reminder I needed to refocus and look at our situation with fresh eyes.
 
That verse did its job, and some anxiety was relieved.  I’m still a little anxious about what’s to come but, I’m definitely more aware.  God got my attention, once again, with His incredibly comforting words.  Although we are separated from each other right now, we will never be separated from God.  With the confidence of His words backing me, I’ve noticed things are starting to fall a little more into place.  Zoom has made it possible for our incredible teachers to do distance learning and both my kids are reacting favorably to their new school schedules.  When we go out on walks or bike rides, there are others out, now, as well.  They may be wearing masks or cross the streets to keep a safe distance, but they’re there.  Our Messy Church held their very first meeting through Zoom.  It was great to see faces of the “Messy” families that attend our church and to be able to catch up (it may be our new normal for the next few months).  Last but not least, the cooking.  Grocery stores have started to have more stock and my cooking has gone back to normal.  It takes a little more planning on my part so that I only go once a week, but things are looking up.  As I left the store the other day, I acknowledged a fellow shopper whose eyebrows lifted, cheekbones raised, and eyes sparkled. I knew it instantly…there was a smile for me underneath that mask.”  
 
You never know where you will hear God speaking to you or what hope you can bring to other people. Remember to be the hope and know that nothing can separate us from God love.
 
Grace & Peace, Suzanne