Faces of Federated

SunSundayJanJanuary22nd2012

January 22, 2012 - Hal Maskiell

Posted Sunday, January 22 2012 @ 12 PM byHal Maskiell Tagged No tags 0 comments Add comment

That’s a nice story we just heard. Jesus walks along the beach, calls four fishermen, they drop everything – on the spot – and follow him. But, I gotta tell ya, I’m having a pretty tough time picturing myself in that story. I mean, do these guys even know who Jesus is? He’s not pulling out his business card – Jesus of Nazareth, Son of God, Savior of the World, 1-800-SAVE MAN – here, is he? How would I respond if someone – a minister, teacher, holy man – were to walk up to me as I’m climbing into an airplane with a student and say “Come with me, Hal, and I’ll teach you how to REALLY fly.” “Sure. OK, Sorry Francesco, I gotta go. No flying today.” I’m just not seeing it happen that way!

We seem to have a bit of an advantage today. We have a couple thousand years of history telling us who Jesus is – although we still don’t know what he’s looking like when he appears to us. We still have to discern whether it’s really God talking to us or not. And, if we decide it is God’s voice coming through this person, we have to trust God. My mother used to tell me “he who trusts doesn’t worry and he who worries doesn’t trust”. My wife will tell you that, all too often, I don’t do very well at trusting when it comes to money, work, and seeing the future. I worry!

So how do I reconcile this worry with the need to trust God. To the claim – and knowledge – that God is our rock and our salvation – or more to the point – is MY rock and MY salvation? It’s work. It requires effort. I have to admit that my reading and prayer life have slipped in the past couple years; I just don’t seem to find time for them as I used to. I’m not pleased with this but I haven’t managed to correct it yet, either. It’s on my “to do” list.

Meantime, I guess, I just know. I know that God loves me. I know that not everything is going to go my way. But I also know that, at the end of the day, it’s going to be alright – that God will love me and care for me somehow. I have to trust that when I turn a student loose to solo – that critical time when I climb out of the airplane and tell him (or her) to go fly it yourself – that I’ve taught him the things he needs to know to do so safely. But also that God is looking out for both of us – my judgement and my student’s – the hope and expectation that nothing disastrous is going to happen to the airplane or the weather or the student’s medical condition – in the next half hour. I have to trust myself and my student – but, most of all, I have to trust God. (And I don’t ever make that decision to climb out of the airplane for the first time without whispering a prayer for wisdom.)

I also have to remember that when I say that God is my rock and my salvation, that isn’t an assurance of wealth or health or a good time at work. It’s deeper than that – much deeper. We’re talking about the real stuff now. My spirit. My soul. Eternity. That even when wealth and health go, even when the outward appearances of this world turn ugly, the eternal, internal reality is that – somehow – God still loves me. Extravagantly. Eternally. Unconditionally.
That’s reality.

Pray with me.
Help us, dear God, to know your presence, to trust your goodness even when the world’s signals may turn against us. Help us to trust you and to remember, deep in the core of our being, that you are our rock, our salvation, and our reality. And help us to act, as we go about our day to day business, like we know this reality. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

SunSundayJanJanuary8th2012 January 8, 2012 - Thea Mozingo

Posted Sunday, January 08 2012 @ 12 PM byThea Mozingo Tagged No tags 0 comments Add comment

Good Morning.

A few a years back, my family and I made a trip to Mammoth Cave National Park. After an hour or so of hiking, we arrived at a large cavern where there were benches, electric lights on the walls and a park ranger. After everyone on the tour was seated, the park ranger turned off the lights. I would like to say that it was pitch black at that moment or even say that it was so dark that we couldn’t see our hands in front of our faces, but those would be gross understatements. As a farmer’s daughter and granddaughter, I have been driven to the middle of a corn field in Iowa where all light were extinguished to see the stars. That is pitch black. This was a darkness so profound that it had a smell, a feel and a sound all its own. My wee ones gripped my hands while they waited for the second half of the demonstration. The ranger lit one small candle and immediately this large room was flooded with light. Now, I am not saying that I could have done much more than read the outlines of the other people and benches or see the faces of those sitting closest to me, but the illumination of one small candle was striking. The electric lights were turned back on, people gathered up themselves and their belongings and continued on the tour.

This demonstration has stuck with me in a number of ways and for a number of reasons. As a greenie, it reminds me how over illuminated we can be-lights for all occasions, burning at all times. Ok, I’ll get off my soap box now, but you get the point.

In my current job with a local pediatric cancer non-profit, that one candle reminds me to be both aware of and grateful for the difference that one person, one act can make, no matter how apparently small. At the darkest of times for our families who have a child with cancer, all support and help that is offered can be that one candle. We have times where we are able to provide the giant candelabra of support – the room bathed in light. Then we have the birthday candle moments, where we can only make out the faces of those closest to us. What I have grown to appreciate is that both the 10,000 watt flashlight and the small single- battery Jesus Loves Me flashlight handed out at VBS do exactly the same thing. They bring light into the darkness. They bring promise and hope.

Then came the invitation from the beautiful, light-filled Susi’s to speak today on Epiphany Sunday. In the Western church, Epiphany Sunday usually celebrates the coming of the Magi. The Eastern Church traditionally celebrates the baptism of Christ. There is also often a focus this Sunday on the gift of light. My little candle came to mind once more. I confess that I am much more of an Advent Christian than an Easter one. Blasphemy indeed! But there is something about Advent that has always spoken to me in a way that no other season of the church year does: Isaiah’s people who walked in darkness and saw a great light, the Magi who followed the star, the birth of our savior in a humble manger.

I am drawn to these people who were living in a time of emotional and spiritual darkness every bit as profound and dark as that cave I visited. They waited and watched and hoped for their Messiah, their Emmanuel, and he came. I can think of times in my own life and in the lives of family and friends where there was nothing but darkness. I don’t doubt that many of you have had those times as well. What can we do in the bleak midwinters that happen in our lives? Personally, I can listen to Handel’s Messiah and be reminded of the power and meaning of Christ’s birth both in his time and in our time. Maybe there are lines of scripture that bring you comfort. Maybe it something as simple as allowing yourself to be open to simple words and kindnesses offered by loved ones. They are all candles in the darkness. They are the light of promise and hope. 2000 plus years ago, in a bleak and dark time came the birth of just one child. A birth that changed everything. The stories of the Magi and the shepherds and the angels and a star that led them all to a babe born in a manger hold the promise of unbelievable and undeniable hope. One candle, lit in the darkness that changed everything forever. Amen.

O Divine Light,
we confess that sometimes we look to you
to be a neon sign or even a burning bush
offering easy answers to our problems
in the moments when our lives are most dim.
And we confess that sometimes we expect you
to do most of the work to light our way
while we sit back and watch you work.
But your Still Speaking presence reminds us
that we embody your light.
You have empowered us with spiritual "currents"
of wisdom, strength, compassion, and peace
and when we trust enough to let your life flow within us
we find our life journey well illuminated.

SunSundayNovNovember13th2011 November 13, 2011 - Ken Horner

Posted Sunday, November 13 2011 @ 12 PM byKen Horner Tagged No tags 0 comments Add comment

Generosity

Good morning, and blessings to you from the Horner family. Apologies for my voice, as I used it a bit too strenuously cheering for Laurel School in the state soccer finals yesterday in Columbus. Our team lost, but gave it their all even when they were down 5-0. The final score was 5-2. It would have been easy to take for granted that a 5-0 deficit early in the 2nd half was a loss waiting to happen. They instead chose to view it as an opportunity to score two goals and finish strong.

Generosity is not an easy theme in life. I hope to share with you this morning my own learning curve, warts and all, on generosity. I think it begins for me in understanding how dangerous it is to take things for granted, so I'll start with a story.

Some years ago the Chancel Choir performed a piece of music called "The Holocaust Cantata" by Donald McCullough. It is essentially a song cycle depicting a variety of themes associated with the Holocaust. Some called for full choir, while some were solos, and Bill Foley asked that I sing one of solos in the piece. I casually looked at the note range, and relatively thoughtlessly decided "no problem". I didn't look at the solo again for a number of weeks. Approximately 2 weeks before the performance, one of my fellow tenors Gerry Stueber nudged me and asked if I had read the narratives that Mr. McCullough and others had written into the score as preambles to each song. I hadn't, and placated Gerry's comment as idle chatter. During the dress rehearsal, Gerry mentioned the narrative again, and again, I largely ignored him. My particular solo was about the herding of people on railroad platforms into freight cars to be shipped off to concentration camps. As horrible as this was, it was a story I thought I was familiar with.

On the morning of the performance, with mere minutes to go before singing my solo, Gerry wished me luck on what he thought would be an extremely emotional piece. Since I had a few free minutes (probably during the sermon...sorry Hamilton!), I finally put my eyes on the narrative associated with my solo for a "quick read-through". I was absolutely stunned to find out that the song was about more than just rail platforms and camps, it instead depicted the practice of separating children from parents and used the song to show the perspective of a father running along the platform waiving to his frightened daughter pulling away in a railcar....assuring her everything would be OK when he knew it wouldn't!....assuring her he would see her soon when he knew this was likely the last time he'd ever see her face!!! I was COMPLETELY emotionally unprepared for what I had to sing in several minutes, having taken for granted for weeks the song's content, and having ignored several nudges I clearly then knew were from God (through Gerry Steuber).

With my jaw on the floor, I looked up to the coup de grat, my own smiling 8 year old daughter in the front row....oh the cruel but well deserved irony. Needless to say my rendition of that solo, if it was good at all, was exceedingly better the second service than the first.

[PAUSE]

Generosity for me unfortunately requires dealing with the uncomfortable truth that the resources we have are not of our own making, but are gifts of God. I am a steward, not a star performer or investor or banker or whatever. We tell ourselves "how can this be when Joe has this much but Sally has so much more?" It must be that Sally worked harder than Joe, or was smarter than Joe, or even was luckier than Joe. But the reality that I am slowly coming to believe is that it is not because of these things. That's not to say that the Lord does not recognize the difference between hard work and no work, as the text from the parable of the talents tells us. But if I recognize the resources which are in my hands only as rewards for my work - that is recognizing them only for their stature in our human world. Attempting to recognize that God has the majority hand in the provision of my resources has been key to my learning curve as it relates to how to be generous. And I confess that at almost 50 years old, I still have far to go along that curve. Resources in Gods eyes are not money, or currency, or buying power. Instead they are opportunities to share with other children of God.

Generosity requires faith - you have to be willing to lose control. For me, It can't be "I'll give them some of my money and then see how they do with it, and if they do OK then maybe ill give them some more..." It can't involve my judgement. We must have faith that in returning to God what she has provided for us, SHE has a purpose! SHE has a roadmap! SHE has a vision!

I believe Generosity is private, and anonymous. I can't be like the Pharisees and scribes of the temple who wanted to be seen giving large amounts so their status would be raised in the community. Ulterior motives are my own human creations and are too tempting to be of God.

I believe opportunities to be generous are customized by God for us. And I believe immensely that Federated Church, for me and for each of you, is a customized treasure trove of opportunity waiting to be realized.

I'll conclude with another story I heard once a number of years ago ... an interpretation of the Lords prayer, the only time Jesus directly taught us how to talk to God. We all learn the words as children and it becomes as rote as the pledge of allegiance or the catholic Hail Mary. The title as written in the program was entitled "THY Kingdom Comma". At first I thought it was an embarressing misprint.

But what the pastor explained was two phenomena that have stuck with me ever since: first the word THY is glossed over in our rote renditions of the Prayer. It is THY kingdom come ... THY will be done. There IS a roadmap, and at the end, there IS a kingdom to celebrate. And each is Gods, not our own.

And second, related the pastor, there was a glaring syntax error! How could Jesus have made such an error? It comes when we ask God to "give us this day our daily bread." The comma, he said, should come after "day". How important is it to remind God to give us a bit food every day? Not very....but to pray for "this day" as an opportunity for service, AND, oh by the way how about a taco or a big Mac every now and again....that is a very different context.

As we hand in our pledge cards today and in the coming days, I will be trying to do so with a sense of not taking blessings for granted, with a sense of passion for the sheer magnitude of what is available to accomplish, with a sense of faith and letting go, and finally with an intense sense of the opportunities that have been customized by God for us through this amazing Federated Church community. I hope you will join me and do the same.

Please pray with me.

Father Mother God, as we each define our feebly human interpretation of generosity, help us do so in a spirit of sacrifice, a spirit of faith, a spirit of opportunity not waited for but SOUGHT OUT, and a spirit of thanksgiving for the fountains of opportunity You give us each and every day. AMEN.

SunSundayNovNovember6th2011

November 6, 2011 - Edith Guffey

Posted Sunday, November 06 2011 @ 12 PM byEdith Guffey Tagged No tags 0 comments Add comment

Faith Witness on Gratitude

I’ve known about this Sunday for a while, but for some reason it has been really hard to get my head around talking about gratitude. That may be because it’s so obvious that we have so much to be grateful for that part of me just wanted to say gratitude… DUH and be done with it. While that would have fit nicely into Dan’s 5 minute time limit, I felt something more substantial was likely expected.

When I think about what I am grateful for, my mind almost always goes first to my health, my family and then to the things in life that we all need, food, shelter, clothes, medical care, jobs to help support our families. You probably know that I am unemployed as my term as the Associate General Minister of the UCC has ended. And no I did not retire, so I find myself without a job for the first time since I was 16 years old, a huge change and my future is unsettled like millions of others in our country, Even so, I know I am blessed. I have far more than the necessities of life and while I am often baffled about why some have so much and others so little, I am deeply grateful for all that has been given to me. But I also know while gratitude includes being grateful for all we have been given, our gratitude isn’t determined by how much we have. My parents had very little, but they were grateful people and I remember testimony after testimony of gratitude for a God who is generous and loving and kind; a God who is with us in good times and bad; a God who makes a way out of no way. So while my gratitude includes being grateful for all I have been given, at the heart of it is gratitude to God for loving and forgiving and caring and cherishing me, just as I am.

On this all Saints Sunday, I am grateful for so many people here at Federated who have given their time and treasures to this church. I remember Bob Marquart who called me after I first worshipped here and said, “We’d love to have you join us”. That was almost twenty years ago and we have been blessed by the gifts of this amazing community of faith. Our two kids grew up here, and felt supported, embraced and loved. Bryan’s love of music was nurtured and fed, Michael, well Michaels’ independent nature accepted. And while Jerry can speak for himself, when we moved here in 1991, Jerry was the “trailing spouse” giving up his career path to support me and looking for a place to have some sense of community. Federated became that place and the ministry of music through the Ensemble has been so important to him. When we moved here from Kansas in 1991to work for the UCC, I learned pretty quickly that working for the church meant that I really needed a place of worship to remind me what church was really all about. Believe me, church work can be very hard. And I found that reminder year after year here at Federated. Like many of you, this faith community has prayed for me during important and difficult transitions, helped me to live out my commitments to justice, encouraged me to be more generous and, challenged me on how I live out my faith day in and day out.

Gratitude….absolutely, for the amazing grace of God, for all I have been given, for this church, for all that has been and for all that is yet to be.

Let us pray, Gracious and loving God, We come this morning with hearts full; thankful for all that you are to us and all that you have given to us. We thank you that no matter who we are or where we are on life’s journey, that you are right there beside us. We remember those this morning whose lives are racked with pain of loss and illness, those who don’t have the basic necessities of life, those who will go to bed tonight and wake up hungry, those whose lives are filled with violence, in this country and abroad. Even while we are so grateful for what we have been given, we know that to who much has been given, much is required. We pray that you will create in us a sense of urgency and impatience for the inequities and injustices of life. We know that we can’t make it all better, but God help us to be committed to work for change in places where you call us to serve. Gracious God, thank you for this particular community of faith, for the ways that we care for each other and for those beyond these walls. Help us to do and be more, more committed to you, more generous and more grateful for all that you are to each one of us. In your name we pray. Amen.

SunSundayOctOctober30th2011 October 30, 2011 - Marty Eble

Posted Sunday, October 30 2011 @ 12 PM byMarty Eble Tagged No tags 0 comments Add comment

Déjà vu!

Same time, same place, same subject. One year ago tomorrow, I spoke to you of the grace in my life, in my spiritual journey…of how I met a girl that I had seen once in the forty years since we went to school together, of how she moved across the country and of how we were married here at Federated and of the completeness and love that we felt so late in life. I spoke of my spiritual life that led me to grow within my childhood church to become the Minister of Transformation at that very church. And I sang a James Taylor song. As tempting as it is to simply repeat the story today since my subject is the same, I won’t.

When I think of grace, I first think of moving or acting with grace, being graceful. Physical movement can be graceful. I appreciate an athlete who excels at his or her sport with grace. I find that the best athletes can demonstrate grace on and off the playing field. If you are an Indians fan, who will ever forget Omar Visquel ranging behind second base, catching the ball with one hand and flipping the ball in seemingly one motion to the second baseman who catches it in his bare hand, turns, and throws it to first for the double play. Or a certain Miami Heat player…Well, you know what I mean.

But it’s more than simply physical. I recently saw a young pianist from Croatia in concert. She was performing a benefit concert to raise money for a scholarship fund for piano students at the Fine Arts Association in Willoughby. She had taken time out of her world touring schedule after winning the Cleveland International Piano competition. She played with such grace. You could see it and hear it. In fact, you could say that it was inspiring, especially to the young students who performed before her.

My wife Jane and I love music. A few weeks ago, we were watching a concert on PBS that was part of their fundraiser. Joe Bonamassa was performing at the Royal Albert Hall in London. We had never heard of him but we were so moved that we made a donation just to get free tickets to his concert here in Cleveland. On Friday night, for 2 ½ hours this man and his three man backup group performed and amazing array of music and demonstrated a talent, a beauty, dare I say a grace that I’ve never seen…and he did it on a guitar. He spoke to us with his guitar.

All of these people are artists, in the broadest sense, honing their skills and sharing their gifts, their love for their art form, with the world. Sometimes grace is gentle, sometimes it’s not. Sometimes it’s soft, sometimes it’s loud.

I turned 60 last year. Grace isn’t the first word that comes to mind…and neither is inspiring and it certainly wasn’t artistic, but I find myself becoming more attuned to the grace in our daily lives.

Like these artists, I’ve been blessed with a very rewarding career, just not on stage or on television. Rewarding, not just financially, but in ways that give me simple satisfaction and meaning. In my work, I’ve been given the freedom to create real value, and to make a difference in the organization and people’s lives. I work at my trade, and that means a certain amount of refining my skills through hard, sometimes tedious work. Like the artists, we’ll call it practice. But I also get to teach and guide people, to mentor some, to help people see how much more they can do, to find the best fit of skills and personalities. I enjoy being a steward for the values that set my company apart from others, that makes our success sustainable, that makes it a better experience for all who are involved.

So as I see it, it takes hard work and practice to be able to add a little grace into the world.

In the Old Testament, grace means graciousness, kindness, and favor. It is derived from a word that means to bend or stoop in kindness to an inferior, with the purpose of bestowing favor. In the New Testament, this kindness is stressed with having only one motivation—love. It is clearly unearned and unmerited favor, and it causes joy, pleasure, gratification, favor, benefit, thanks, and gratitude.
If your heart and spirit are open to it, you can find grace everywhere. God has worked very hard on us and every time we pray we get to practice. He freely bestows favor upon us and he wants us to pass it to others. As we approach the stewardship season, this is an opportunity for us to acknowledge the grace that we receive directly from him and from him through others by showing our thanks for the joy and inspiration it gives.

Let us pray.

Prayer of the People

Loving Father and Almighty God. We feel your presence. We humbly come to you this morning amazed at the creation that you have entrusted to us, the gifts you have bestowed, the world in which we live, and the grace that you so freely give. Help us to pause and recognize the beauty of your grace in our daily lives…in the people that we know, in the strangers that we encounter, in the talent that you have given, in the beauty that surrounds us, in the small every day miracles. We know that you are present when we are in need and when we celebrate. And we ask that you guide each of us to give the gift of your grace to others, beyond simple generosity but without condition or judgment, as freely as you have given it to us. And surely joy and gratitude will follow. Amen.


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