Day 175: Deborah Hensen

 

DAY 175

                    Faith in the Midst of a Pandemic                     

A series of daily reflections for people of faith

by Rev. Robert Bayley, Interim Pastor

Patuxent Presbyterian Church, California, Maryland

pastorrobert@paxpres.org

Week Twenty-five    Saturday 5 September 2020

Those We’ve Lost

Deborah Hensen, 56: Generous Church Counselor

“As a member of Isom Memorial Christian Methodist Episcopal Church in Ocala, Florida, where her husband is the pastor, she routinely loaded her car with racks of her own dresses and boxes of shoes to donate to other congregations. She counseled church members, including couples and victims of domestic abuse. The church was a second home to her… . On Father’s Day this year, Mrs. Hensen called one of her daughters and said she was having trouble breathing. She was taken to a hospital and quickly placed in an I.C.U. where she remained for almost three weeks. She died on July 11…the cause of death was COVID-19… . ”  - From a current regular newspaper series entitled “Those We’ve Lost”

“The church was a second home to her.” For some, reading this in the larger context of “where her husband is the pastor” not only explains her commitment but also excuses a reader from considering a similar commitment on their part. After all, the reasoning of church culture goes, aren’t pastors spouses supposed to be more involved, even expected to be? For Deborah Hensen, such service came out of a life that knew pain and physical challenges including multiple sclerosis. It is clear however in reading her story that her serving others came not out of being a pastor’s wife but out of her heart and her personal relationship with the Lord. Even after an accident that resulted in multiple surgeries and restrictions on her activities she still “regularly checked on homeless men and women and tried to find them support.”

When the church becomes a second home, if it is for the right reasons, it is rarely if ever about the buildings, for they are not the church anyway. No, it is what the church represents that becomes a second home, the internal energizing of a person as they are used by the Holy Spirit to touch the lives of others with the life and love of Jesus. That’s where the second home is, and once discovered, most remain there until they no longer are able to or until the Lord takes them home to be with Him, as He did with Deborah Hensen.

Reflective question: Is your church your ‘second home’ in terms of serving others or just a place where you go on Sundays?

Reflective Scripture: Ecclesiastes 9:10 – “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it…”

Reflective hymn:

“Little is Much When God is in It” – Kittie Suffield (1884-1972)

In the harvest field how ripened, there’s a work for all to do;

Hark! The voice of God is calling to the harvest calling you.

Little is much, when God is in it, labor not for wealth or fame;

There’s a crown, and you can win it, if you go in Jesus’ name.

Day 174: When Covid is a Crime

DAY 174

                              Faith in the Midst of a Pandemic                     

A series of daily reflections for people of faith

by Rev. Robert Bayley, Interim Pastor

Patuxent Presbyterian Church, California, Maryland

pastorrobert@paxpres.org

Week Twenty-five    Friday 4 September 2020

When Covid is a Crime

“Venezuelan officials are denouncing people who may have come into contact with the coronavirus as ‘bioterrorists’ and urging their neighbors to report them. The government is detaining and intimidating doctors and experts who question the president’s policies on the virus… ‘They told us that we’re contaminated, that we’re guilty of infecting the country,’ said a nurse from Caracas. ‘This is the only country in the world where having Covid is a crime…’ Doctors and nurses who have questioned official statistics say they have been threatened.” 

- From a current newspaper article by the same title

“Unclean! Unclean!” In Jesus’ day if you had leprosy you were required to cry out “unclean!” if anyone was in danger of coming too close to you so that they would be warned to stay away. It was one of the several things Jesus did that scandalized the religious leadership of the day when he spent time with and worse, touched those who were declared ceremonially unclean in the Levitical Law. Jesus had a heart – and has a heart – for all who are ostracized in their respective societies, and when he sent his disciples out to extend his ministry he charged them to “Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons.” Matthew 10:8. The Message translates the leper-cleansing phrase as “touch the untouchables.”

I have been to Venezuela and preached there and have seen the stark contrast between the modern European-style city of Caracas and the ring of the shacks of those living in abject poverty surrounding the perimeter. I can’t imagine what it must be like to have a potentially fatal disease and not only be denied treatment but treated like a pariah in the midst of grinding poverty.   

Years ago my pastoral care ministry included spending time with men dying of AIDS and those so afflicted were treated similar to the lepers of old. One thing stands out – my parting hug was for them like a gift of gold, as many they thought were friends and even family would distance themselves from them avoiding all touch. Our touch to such persons for whatever reason can be the touch of Jesus, for He has no one else to touch others on His behalf but us.

Reflective question: Will you pray for the people of Venezuela, and also reach out to someone you know who is experiencing the avoidance of others for whatever reason. They need you.

Reflective Scripture: Luke 5:13 – “Jesus reached out and touched him… (a man with leprosy.)”

Reflective hymn:

“He Touched Me – William Gaither (1936-    )

He touched me, O, He touched me, and O, the joy that floods my soul!

Something happened, and now I know, He touched me and made me whole.

Day 173: COVID 19 and Disability

DAY 173

                    Faith in the Midst of a Pandemic                     

A series of daily reflections for people of faith

by Rev. Robert Bayley, Interim Pastor

Patuxent Presbyterian Church, California, Maryland

pastorrobert@paxpres.org

Week Twenty-five    Thursday 3 September 2020

COVID-19 and Disability

“As a person with a physical disability, cerebral palsy, I am happy I can work from home right now during the COVID-19 pandemic… . Working from home via my computer is safe, convenient, and often global. Using Facebook as a social media platform, I am able to connect with people in other cities, states, and countries. I can empathetically respond to prayer requests, minister to hurting people, and suggest helpful resources without leaving home. My experiences remind me that the intersection of faith and technology is a mixed bag for people with disabilities. No two disabilities are exactly alike, and no two people with disabilities are exactly alike.”  - From an article in the current issue of a denominational magazine

Over the years I have known people with disabilities, physical as well as mental/emotional, and I must say that more often than not they have not been whining complainers but rather exhibitors of the Spirit of Jesus whom they have been forced to lean upon in ways I have not, because of their disabilities. Which begs the question: are there hidden gifts within disabilities?

Joni Erickson was an active 17 year old when she dove into Chesapeake Bay slamming into the bottom, emerging a quadriplegic. Sincere Christians would lay hands on her and pray for a supernatural physical healing, for Jesus does indeed still heal in such ways today. But the restoration of physical health is always secondary for Jesus – what is the purpose of God in a disability that might far eclipse of value for the kingdom of God any physical healing? In Joni’s instance she never received that physical healing, but she has founded and heads the largest Christian disability ministry in the world. Had she been healed, it would not exist.   

Connecting with a person who is disabled, like all connections, is a two-way street. Except sometimes they will be a disproportionate blessing to us even as we seek to be a blessing to them. If you are disabled and homebound just now, ask the Lord to show you a purpose in it all.

For more information go to joniandfriends.org

Reflective question: During this pandemic lockdown, will you reach out to someone you know who is disabled? Be a blessing to them and be open to them being a blessing to you.

Reflective Scripture: 2 Corinthians 12:9 – “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

Reflective hymn:

“O Christ, the Healer” – Fred Green (1903-2000)

From every ailment flesh endures our bodies clamor to be freed;

Yet in our hearts we would confess that wholeness is our deepest need.

Day 172: World Focus: Monaco

DAY 172

                              Faith in the Midst of a Pandemic                     

A series of daily reflections for people of faith

by Rev. Robert Bayley, Interim Pastor

Patuxent Presbyterian Church, California, Maryland

pastorrobert@paxpres.org

Week Twenty-five    Wednesday 2 September 2020

World Focus: Monaco

Monaco is a tiny principality, a sovereign city-state, the second smallest country in the world consisting of a mere 500 acres, or a little less than one square mile. Packed into this small space are approximately 40,000 residents, the large homes of the wealthy, and hotels and gambling casinos. While the official state religion is the Roman Catholic Church and the seal of the principality contains the motto “Deo Juvante,” “with God’s help,” the culture is secular, materialistic and pleasure oriented.

Prayer Focus

+ Pray: “Monaco is culturally Catholic, but the real culture is one of materialistic hedonism. It is

very difficult to foster interest in spiritual things in such an environment. Pray that many would see the emptiness of such a lifestyle and seek the fulness of life Christ offers.”

+ Pray for a culturally appropriate witness in a context where evangelism is regarded as culturally unacceptable.

+ Pray: for the 2% of the population who are evangelical, that committed believers might impact the whole country.

+ Pray that the Holy Spirit will work deep within the people when they sing their national hymn, below, cultivating a true celebration of their religion, Christianity, and a true dependence on God.

Jesus’ Prayer Request each Wednesday:

“’The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest,

therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” Jesus - Matthew 9:37-38.

For the full country profile and prayer needs for Monaco go to operationworld.org.

Reflective question: Who do you know trapped in materialism, for whom you can pray?

Reflective Scripture: 1 John 2:15 – “Do not love the world or anything in the world.”

Reflective hymn:

“The National Hymn (Hymne Monegasque) of Monaco

Forever in our land, one flag has flown the wind.

Forever, the colors red and white have symbolized our liberty.

Adults and children have always respected them.

We have perpetuated the same traditions; we celebrate the same religion;

We have the honor to have always had the same Princes.

And nothing will change as long as the sun shines;

God will always help us and nothing will change.

DY 171: If Our Masks Could Speak

DAY 171

                              Faith in the Midst of a Pandemic                     

A series of daily reflections for people of faith

by Rev. Robert Bayley, Interim Pastor

Patuxent Presbyterian Church, California, Maryland

pastorrobert@paxpres.org

Week Twenty-five   Tuesday 1 September 2020

If Our Masks Could Speak

“For something that’s supposed to cover our mouths the face mask speaks volumes about how crazy some have gotten. Specifically, that face mask tells us how the world’s richest and most scientifically advanced country generated a cadre of leaders and citizens who made wearing a covering over their nose and mouth to prevent the spread of a contagion into a freedom-of-speech issue and cultural marker – something no other country in the world did… . A society that can politicize something as simple as a face mask can politicize anything…never realize its full potential in good times or prevent the worst in bad times.”  - From recent newspaper article by the same title

How did we get here? More important question: how can we go from here to another place, a place of reason, a place of balance,  a place of trust, for all three of these cultural necessities have fallen on hard times the past few years and their deterioration is accelerating as we head into the November election. In it all masks have become a political symbol of partisan politics.

Ancient Israel experienced roller coaster cultural mood swings depending on the nature of who was king: some ‘did what was right in the eyes of the Lord’ and others ‘did evil in the sight of the Lord’ and the country reflected their ruler. Let us be clear: the ruler, for good or for ill, could not produce the good or evil behavior of the people, capacities residing within every human being. But their behavior modeled and therefore precipitated the behavior that was observable in the people under their rule. It is a basic principle of human existence: we become like that which we follow. When it comes to masks, it’s become ‘follow the leader’ whomever you choose to follow.

If our masks could speak – what would they say? How would they interpret their role in this  pandemic? Masks have taken on personalities of their own by design. They also speak of fear, anxiety, and an absence of a trust of the environment into which we go when we wear them. This has to do with our common humanity – masks are not partisan. Then there is the unseen mask of hypocrisy about which Jesus warned -though unseen, do we wear this mask as well? May the Holy Spirit use our physical masks to teach us about the unseen masks we wear.

Reflective question: What does your mask ‘say’ to you and about you when you put it on?

Reflective Scripture: Luke 12:2 (The Message): “You can’t hide behind a religious mask forever; sooner or later your mask will slip and your true face will be known.”

Reflective hymn:

“Have Thine Own Way, Lord” – Adelaide Pollard (1862-1934)

Have Thine own way, Lord, have Thine own way;

Thou art the Potter, I am the clay.

Mold me and make me, after Thy will,

while I am waiting, yielded and still.

Day 170: Left Behind

DAY 170

                              Faith in the Midst of a Pandemic                     

A series of daily reflections for people of faith

by Rev. Robert Bayley, Interim Pastor

Patuxent Presbyterian Church, California, Maryland

pastorrobert@paxpres.org

Week Twenty-five   Monday 31 August 2020

LEFT BEHIND

Deeply Personal and Left Behind: 

Hospitals are Struggling with a Growing Collection.

“Rafael Eli, 68, stopped breathing in the early morning hours of April 16 after having spent 18 days on a ventilator. Every day his sister, Myriam Eli, called to inquire about her brother who had been diagnosed with COVID-19 after having been hospitalized in March. After his death Ms. Eli called the hospital to inquire about his belongings… . Across the country workers in patient services at hospitals have had to figure out what to do with the thousands of cellphones, chargers, walkers, canes, hearing aids, glasses, books, Bibles, jewelry and other items left behind by patients who have died of COVID-19.”  - From a recent newspaper article by the same title

                                         

They brought a cart out from a storage area with a very old TV on it, a half dozen or so pieces of clothing – none of which were his, a few magazines, a pair of shoes – nothing personal, nothing ‘him,’ and I left it all and walked out the door of the nursing home for the last time. There was nothing he left behind that marked who he was, because we didn’t place him there with anything personal. For others there are probably highly personal items to retrieve, things left behind. The only thing my father left behind that day were memories. Everyone leaves something behind.       

As family members retrieve well worn Bibles and prayer books, pieces of jewelry worn into the hospital, and other personal items, I wonder two things: what would I want to take with me should I go into the hospital with COVID-19, and what would I want to leave behind from my hospital stay should I die? What we would choose to take with us into the hospital says something about what we value most – for me it would be a Bible, a bound notebook of blank paper and some pens, my cell phone and a charger, and some family photos.

As human beings we are hard pressed to discern the world of the invisible, of things like love and respect and admiration and appreciation that we hold toward another, and so we look to visible items associated with them to remind us of these invisible things, and these items take on new and emotional meaning for us. This is a different but meaningful way to view our mortality.

Reflective question: If you should go into the hospital, what would you want to take with you that might also be what you end up leaving behind?

Reflective Scripture: Hebrews 9:27 – “…man is destined to die…”

Reflective hymn:

“Rock of Ages, Cleft for Me” – Augustus Toplady (1740-1778)

While I draw this fleeting breath, when my eyelids close in death,

When I soar to worlds unknown, see Thee on Thy judgment throne,

Rock of Ages, cleft for me, let me hide myself in Thee.

Day 169: God's Verbs

DAY 169

                              Faith in the Midst of a Pandemic                     

A series of daily reflections for people of faith

by Rev. Robert Bayley, Interim Pastor

Patuxent Presbyterian Church, California, Maryland

pastorrobert@paxpres.org

Week Twenty-five   Sunday 30 August 2020

God’s Verbs

Lord of all power and might, the author and giver of all good things: Graft in our hearts the love of your Name; increase in us true religion; nourish us with all goodness; and bring forth in us the fruit of good works; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.  - The Book of Common Prayer: Prayer for the Sunday closest to 31 August

The verbs with movement in them in this prayer draw us into it, a desire on our part to be engaged with them and to be engaged by them. They all point directly to us: “graft in our hearts,” “increase in us,” “nourish us,” “bring forth in us.” Some prayers are otherworldly – this is not one of them. Here we asking for things that pertain to this life and our interactions with God and others: “the love of your Name,” “true religion,” “all goodness,” and “the fruit of good works.”

Some people believe that there is a God but that He is passive, unwilling to be actively involved in human history. Others believe there is a God but that He is impotent, unable to be involved in human history. Both perceptions are inaccurate – imagine God being either – He wouldn’t be God. The paradox is that He is both active and silent in human history, a presence and activity that is not given to us to discern or explain or understand – only trust.

Reflective questions:

And so we pray today, pausing to reflect on each petition to a verb of God…

“Graft in our hearts the love of your Name…”

    Q: What does this petition mean to you in your walk with the Lord today?

“Increase in us true religion…”

    Q: What would be your definition of ‘true religion?’ See James 1:27 for God’s definition.

“Nourish us with all goodness…”

    Q: To nourish is to nurture, to feed. What ‘goodness’ do you want God to nourish in you?

“Bring forth in us the fruit of good works…”

    Q: What ‘good works’ do you think God wants to bring forth in your life?

Reflective Scripture: Jeremiah 33:3 – “Call to me and I will answer…”

Reflective hymn:

“We are Called to Be God’s People” – Thomas Jackson (1931-    )

We are called to be God’s people, showing by our lives His grace

One in heart, and one in spirit, sign of hope for all the race.

Let us show how He has changed us and remade us as His own;

Let us share our life together as we shall around His throne.

DAY 168: Strength and Courage

DAY 168

Faith in the Midst of a Pandemic    

A series of daily reflections for people of faith

by Rev. Robert Bayley, Interim Pastor

Patuxent Presbyterian Church, California, Maryland

pastorrobert@paxpres.org

Week Twenty-four Saturday 29 August 2020

Strength and Courage

“It is not easy to live out acting peacefully toward everyone. Even so, we must do our best to share with others the love God gave us through His Son, Jesus. Prayer: Dear Lord Jesus, you came to earth to bring us all peace. It’s not easy for us to act peacefully toward everyone and show them love the way You did. Please give us the strength and courage to do the right things, show us the way we can share Your love with others, and help us to be a people who are peaceful. Amen.” - Robbie Romano, Patuxent Presbyterian Church VBS Distanced Devotional Summer 2020

Strength and courage – a lot of us are finding these two qualities in short supply these days. Strength lacking courage is unwilling to serve us well, and courage devoid of strength is unable to serve us well.

Strength we understand if by it we mean physical strength. Inner strength is more elusive yet equally needful. Here the strength being prayed for is an inner strength, a sense of resolve, “to do the right thing.” Courage comes to us from the French ‘’coeur’ which in turn comes from the Latin ‘cor’ meaning heart. Thus the NIV has Jesus saying in John 16:33 “’But take heart! I have overcome the world!” where the RSV has “But take courage; I have conquered the world!” 

The writer of this VBS devotional is calling on us to seek strength and courage to do the right thing specifically in the area of relationships where a loving peaceful presence is needful and at the same time probably difficult to come by. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love…peace…” we are reminded in Galatians 5:22, qualities of person not required of us alone, but available from within where the Holy Spirit dwells making  who Jesus is real in and then through us in our relationships with others. So we pray with hopeful confidence, “Please give us strength and courage to do the right things, show us the way we can show your love to others, and help us to be a people who are peaceful.” This is the kind of prayer Jesus delights in answering.  

Reflective question: Where do you need strength to do the right things and courage to do it?

Reflective Scripture: Deuteronomy 31:6 – ‘Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid…”

Reflective hymn:

“Courage, Brother, Do Not Stumble” – Norman McCloud” (1812-1872)

Courage, brother, do not stumble, though thy path be dark as night;

There’s a star to guide the humble: trust in God and do the right.

Let the road be rough and dreary, and it’s end far out of sight,

Foot it bravely; strong or weary,

Trust in God, trust in God, trust in God and do the right.

DAY 167: Already Infected

DAY 167

Faith in the Midst of a Pandemic    

A series of daily reflections for people of faith

by Rev. Robert Bayley, Interim Pastor

Patuxent Presbyterian Church, California, Maryland

pastorrobert@paxpres.org

Week Twenty-four Friday 28 August 2020

Already Infected

“No amount of handwashing or disinfectant can halt the spread of sin. The entire human race is already infected, and what’s worse, the mortality fate is 100%. Physical death is only part of the result of this ‘disease’ called sin. The far greater consequence extends throughout eternity.” - From a Gospel tract, “A Greater Danger Than COVID-19”

Gospel tracts are not as common today as in the past, but their singular theme remains constant: we are sinners and need a Savior. Only eternity will reveal how many have been convicted by the Holy Spirit as they have read a gospel tract and through a sovereign working of the Holy Spirit   have turned their lives over to Jesus Christ. Wherever God’s Word is read there the Holy Spirit is present to work in the life of the reader, and Gospel tracts have always contained Scriptures, a classic tract example being “The Roman Road,” the Scriptures speaking for themselves.

“The Roman Road”

Romans 3:10 – “As it is written, ‘There is no one righteous, not even one;…”

Romans 3:23 – “…all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

Romans 6:23 -  “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Romans 5:8 – “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Romans 10:9-10 – “If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.”

Romans 10:13 – “…’Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’”

Romans 5:1-2 – “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand.”

Romans 8:1 – “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,…”

Reflective question: “…already infected,…” - Have you journeyed down ‘the Roman Road?’

Reflective Scripture: John 16:8 – “And when he (the Holy Spirit) comes he will convict the world of guilt in regards to sin,…”

Reflective hymn:

“Only Trust Him” – John Stockton (1813-1877)

Come, every soul by sin oppressed – There’s mercy with the Lord,

And He will surely give you rest by trusting in His Word.

Only trust Him; only trust Him. Only trust Him now.

He will save you; He will save you. He will save you now.