Dear St. Lukers,
As I write this, I am sitting on my porch, watching the sun start to light the sky early in the morning. The birds are starting their melody, and the squirrels are antagonizing my beagle – getting her to chase them as they run across the fence. Creation is alive in this new day – with beauty and an abundance of potential…God doesn’t make junk.
This past Sunday, I reminded us of the words to an old song: “…they’ll know we are Christians by our love.” I spoke of the words that mean so much to us today:
“We will guard each man’s dignity and save each man’s pride;
and together our unity will one day be restored;
Yes, they’ll know we are Christians by our love.”
Within hours, those words were tested in my heart. Someone wanted to tell me what I believe about my calling and that how I read holy Scripture is wrong and I’m going to Hell. I received a letter about the end times (I get these weekly) telling me to repent, the end is coming, and then degraded Jews, Palestinians, and many other groups of people. Then a comedian called our neighbors, our congregation members, our leaders, and our staff of Puerto Rican and Latin descent, “trash.”
Last Sunday, I shared that my parents would wash my mouth out with soap if I said things like what is being said today. Let me tell you, using “trash” to describe a place or people was definitely “soap” worthy. When I was little, someone used the term “trash” to describe someone while I was standing with my parents, and within seconds, they set that person straight and demanded an apology for saying such a thing in front of me. They said: No one is trash. God made us all, is in us all, loves us all…God doesn’t make trash. Long before posters in the 80’s said the phrase, my dad would say, “No one is junk because God doesn’t make junk.” People or islands. All of us and all creation is the handiwork of the Master artist.
The world around us wants us to see trash, but God has created us to look around and see so much more. God made the world and then breathed Divine image and life into us. Why? So we live fully in life’s abundance, beauty, and potential every day; cultivating from deep within our souls our connection to the presence of God all around us – everywhere we look, in creation, in moments, in people.
We were Purpose-FULL in ending the series about living Beyond the Box before All Saints’ Day. This week in worship we begin a new series entitled Purpose–FULL, centered in the saying of Jesus from the Gospel of Luke (our namesake). We will embrace the FULLness of living without worry, in joy, generosity, and gratitude. We start this Sunday with the celebration of All Saints’ Day and center on Luke 12:22-34 to hear Jesus tell us to “not worry, but remember we are loved as much as the lilies of the field and birds of the air.” We will celebrate the full lives of our Saints who have passed in the last year, and consider our legacy of living FULLY. Prepare your hearts for worship as you listen to Pastor Melissa’s podcast episode on the Scripture (click here to listen, or listen wherever you get your podcasts).
We wanted to make sure our election series ended before All Saints because as our Proverbs text from Sunday said: Make your motions and cast your votes, but God has the final say. Not to mean that God will determine our elections, but that whatever the outcome, God is still in control. God is still with us, and we are still God’s masterful creation.
You are a masterpiece; may your life make more beauty by God’s love and less trash by the world’s hate.
Shalom and Love,
Jenn.