Gathering Together

Perhaps more significant than the estimated 111 million people who will watch Super Bowl XLIX this Sunday, is the more than 1.25 billion chicken wings that will be consumed during the game.  The Super Bowl is an event unlike any other, drawing people who have little interest in football to gather together with friends.  Yes, some will be very interested in the game, but many will be more interested in the commercials and in the wings and all the good food that will accompany.  

 

Lots of things bring us together.  We enjoy the camaraderie of shared cerebration and personal relationship. Whether it's a sporting event, family celebration, or any of a number of occasions that draw us together with others, our need to exist and grow beyond ourselves is an important part of the human dynamic.  In the context of faith, the writer of the book of Hebrews encouraged his readers not to forsake gathering together with others in the name of Christ.  Then, as now, the busyness of life, with all its distractions, crept in and threatened the fellowship of believers.  Sharing the joy of Christ with others is a privilege and a calling that should never be taken for granted.  The Super Bowl, the commercials, and yes, the wings are good reason to gather together.  Our greatest treasure of fellowship, however, is found in the fellowship and worship we share with brothers and sisters in Christ.

 

We won't be serving wings as we gather this Sunday morning for worship, but we will celebrate the living Lord who is still at work among us.  That is the best reason for gathering together that I know.

 

Jim Abernathy

Who Is Your Neighbor?

A legal expert engaged Jesus in conversation with a question about eternal life.  Jesus turned the man's question back to him by asking the scholar what the scripture said.  The man correctly quoted the law's decree that one was to love God wholeheartedly and one's neighbor as one's self.  Jesus told him he had answered well, but the man was not satisfied. He then asked, "Who is my neighbor?" 

 

It's a great question that we continue to ask today.  Jesus addressed the question with a story about an unlikely hero who would have been despised by this legal expert and others who had been taught lessons of petty prejudice and pride.  The story of the Good Samaritan is a story of breaking down barriers that too often limit our understanding of the value of every person.  Samaritans were despised by the Jews of Jesus' day and to say that this lawyer and others who were listening to the conversation were stunned that Jesus made the Samaritan the hero of the story might be an understatement.  Jesus often turned convention on its ear, pointing his listeners to outcomes they might never have imagined.  Love your enemies, forgive those who have harmed you, do not throw stones at sinners unless you are sinless...He came preaching a different path, a different way of relating to others that didn't isolate and condemn, but welcomed, forgave, and restored.

 

It would be good for people of faith to remember these lessons today.  Our nation and world continue to struggle with the heavy shadows of prejudice and misunderstanding that are as old as human history.  The color of one's skin, the nation of one's birth, the preference of one's religious or political persuasion...these are but a few of the things that divide us and fuel the anger, fear, and pettiness of prejudice. 

 

The observance of Dr. Martin Luther King's birthday this weekend reminds us of another path...a persistent path of grace, mercy, and love. "I have decided to stick with love," Dr. King once said. "Hate is too great a burden to bear."  I believe that is the message of Jesus' teaching, the message of the parable of the Good Samaritan.   

 

Who is your neighbor?  Look around you...take a moment and truly look around you.

 

Jim Abernathy

Hypothermia Prevention Week is Coming!

There are three pictures in the Washington Post this morning that tell the chilling story of homelessness.  One shows a woman in a shelter setting up bedding on a cot, another depicts a man spreading a blanket over what appears to be icy steps near Union Station, while the final picture shows people covered by thin blankets in the limited shelter of a bus stop on Massachusetts Avenue.  I know how cold I have been moving from place to place over the last few days in the frigid, wind-driven winter weather.  It is hard to imagine trying to sleep outdoors under such conditions.

 

Several years ago Westwood became a partnering church with Facets and Fairfax County in an attempt to provide shelter for homeless folks in our area during the cold winter months.  We first partnered with other churches to support them in their facilities, before making the decision to open the doors of our church to welcome these guests.  It has been a rich and challenging experience for our faith community, not only in providing a warm and safe place, but in getting to share around the dinner and breakfast table with men and women whose stories are often not that much different than our own.  We have been reminded throughout this experience that open doors, hearts, and minds truly do make a difference. 

 

Hypothermia Week at Westwood will be February 8-15.  As many of you know, it takes a lot of folks to make this ministry work.  We are blessed to have support from Burke Presbyterian Church and the Iglesia Bautista Remanente De Dios congregation that meets in our building. Together with these brothers and sisters in faith we share the love of Christ.  I would ask you today to consider how you might participate in this special week.  Some may help in greeting and registering our guests, others cooking or cleaning up after meals, while others might provide security, clean rest rooms, or help set up at the beginning of the week or tear down afterward.  There is a ministry opportunity for all who want to be involved, so I encourage you today, or particularly tonight, when you go out into the cold, to think about what it would be like to be without shelter.  Then think about the possibilities before you to be a blessing to those in need and sign up this Sunday at the welcome center.

 

I hope you will join us for worship and Bible study this Sunday.  I will be preaching from Genesis 1:1-5 about the wonder of God's creation.  Invite a friend to join you. 

 

Jim Abernathy

Stepping Out Into the New Year

Blessings to you on this first Friday of 2015!  The major bowl games are over, Christmas break is coming to a close for students and teachers, and spring training is just about six weeks away!  Cindy was out early this morning in a local store and reported that Christmas decorations have been replaced with Valentine's Day decorations and summer clothes.  Time marches on!

 

2015 holds joys, opportunities, and challenges yet unknown.  Faith is not a shield against the unknown, but rather a companion in the midst of the unknown that reminds us that in everything, we cling to the promise of God's presence.  So, we step out into the new year not in fear, but hope, seeking God's guidance for each step.  Paul's admonition in I Thessalonians 5:16-18 is very appropriate for us as we move into the unknown of 2015; "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."  From the vantage point of today, January 2, 2015, these are good words to build on for a new year.

 

I look forward to joining you for this first Sunday of the new year as we worship the living God together. 

 

Jim Abernathy