|
|
Amy Jones,
Agape Coordinator
|
|
Dear God, we come to worship you today.
We come to pray, and listen.
You always hear us.
Help us to hear you. Amen
|
|
John 11:32-44
33When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. 34He said, "Where have you laid him?" They said to him, "Lord, come and see."35Jesus began to weep. 36So the Jews said, "See how he loved him!"37But some of them said, "Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?"38Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. 39Jesus said, "Take away the stone." Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, "Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days."40Jesus said to her, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?" 41So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upward and said, "Father, I thank you for having heard me.42I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me." 43When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!" 44The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Unbind him, and let him go."
|
|
When I was in college, I had a sociology professor who was known for his advocacy and political activism. Whenever you took a class with Dr. Murray, he would have a disclaimer in his syllabus about how class would proceed if he were arrested and could not attend class. In 2016, he was arrested for trespassing a national guard air base to stage a die-in to protest drone strikes. He avoided jail time, but I’m sure he had to invoke the disclaimer that year.
For Dr. Murray, sociology isn’t just a job. It is the way he expresses his deepest desire for a just society. He recently did a study in his city that proved that homelessness resulted in shorter lifespans. He uses his life, his work, his actions, and his teaching to work for peace and justice.
I remember when I was taking Dr. Murray’s class my father was unimpressed with his civil disobedience resume. He thought it was awful that the college would continue to employ a man who was routinely arrested (at that time, probably more than 20 times) and had served jail time (as much as three months, once). He remarked that no one else except someone privileged to work at a permissive college could be gainfully employed with a “record.”
Maybe that’s true.
Most times we think about saints as extraordinary people who lived impactful lives but are now deceased. I love All Saints day because it helps us remember those saints who have gone before us as our great cloud of witnesses, our ancestral predecessors who paved a way for us and whose example can help us bring the kingdom of God closer. For as long as there is someone to remember their legacy, our saints are never really gone.
I also think there are saints among us right now. Living saints. For me, these are people like Dr. Murray who live their lives as a consistent example of their beliefs. Dr. Murray believes that Jesus came to bring peace and he lives that in his teaching, his research, his civil disobedience, and in his advocacy. The way he lives his life is consistent proof of his deeply held beliefs.
Jesus says that if we really believe, we will see the glory of God. All Saints Day is my most favorite liturgical moment of the year. I love the way the day carves out time for us to consider how others have seen the glory of God and what role their faith played in that. We are invited to reflect on those who have claimed their eternal reward and their legacy among us today. I think this is also a moment to consider those spiritual giants still living today, and how their example could become a stronger part of my daily life. This year, I will be thinking about how the simple act of living my life is proof of my belief.
|
|
Instead of a prayer, I offer you this quote by Frederick Buechner from The Sacred Journey for your own prayerful reflection:
“On All Saints’ Day, it is not just the saints of the church that we should remember in our prayers, but all the foolish ones and wise ones, the shy ones and overbearing ones, the broken ones and the whole ones, the despots and tosspots and crackpots of our lives who, one way or another, have been our particular fathers and mothers and saints, and whom we loved without knowing we loved them and by whom we were helped to whatever little we may have, or ever hope to have, of some kind of seedy sainthood of our own.”
|
|
Amy Jones, Agape Coordinator |
|
Amy Jones our Agape Coordinator is an ordained deacon in the United Methodist Church. In this tradition, deacons are ordained clergy who bridge the ministry of the church with the needs of the world, and vice versa. In more than 15 years of ministry, she has worked in churches, in children and family ministry, higher education, and nonprofits. In each setting, her focus has been on matching the resources of the church with the needs of the world. Agape Community Kitchen is exactly the type of work she was called to do.
|
|
The Presbyterian Church in Westfield continues to burn as a light in the darkness as our community weathers this fearsome storm of illness. Our reach of care continues to extend far beyond our immediate borders. You can help us make a real impact in the lives of others by joining in our work through your time, your talents, and also in the fruits of your labors. |
|
Please watch your email, our church website and Facebook page
for updates on the ways in which you can worship at home!
We are so excited for worship using Facebook Live Sunday morning at 10am, as well,
and we hope you can tune in!
|
|
Be sure to LIKE us on Facebook and stay up to date on social media! |
|
|
|
|
|
|
