Athens First UMC Devotions

On October 4 we will celebrate World Communion Sunday in worship. United Methodists around the world will share the sacrament that day, taking the bread and juice, celebrating the love of God in Jesus Christ. World Communion Sunday offers us the distinctive opportunity to experience Holy Communion in the context of the global community of faith. The first Sunday of October is a time when Christians in every culture break bread and pour the cup to remember and affirm Christ as the Head of the Church. In Athens, Georgia, and in Bujumbura, Burundi, we will join as God’s children, one family around the world.

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I came to Athens, Georgia, in 1982. I knew how to bark like a Bulldog, but I had a lot to learn. I really didn’t know how the big the world was until I started my job in Bolton Dining Hall. That’s where I made new friends from other countries: Nigeria, Greece, Spain, Panama, and Venezuela.

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Looking for something to find…looking for something to find - that could be the definition of what it means to be alive, that’s the description of what it means to be a human being. Looking for something to find, looking for something to believe in… looking for something or someone who can show us the way.

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What is God’s presence like? Good question, right?! A few claim to know, some have no idea, and most of us agree it’s a mystery. We are each given clues, but none of the clues are exactly alike. What I have noticed is that those who have encountered the presence of God are changed by it.

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"Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful. And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” - Hebrews 10:23-25

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“Praise the Lord! Sing to the Lord a new song, his praise in the assembly of the faithful. Let Israel be glad in its Maker; let the children of Zion rejoice in their King. Let them praise his name with dancing, making melody to him with tambourine and lyre” Psalm 149:1-3   

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A little boy forgot his lines in a Sunday school presentation. His mother was in the front row to prompt him. She gestured and formed the words silently with her lips, but it did not help. Her son's memory was blank. Finally, she leaned forward and whispered the cue, "I am the light of the world." The child beamed and with great feeling and a loud clear voice said, "My mother is the light of the world." 

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“Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; Love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor.” Romans 12:9-10 

Paul gets right to the point here. Let’s have our love be genuine. Part of Paul’s request here is contingent upon genuine love not coming from any place of evil or wickedness. Instead, Paul wants us to hold fast to what is good. What’s interesting to me is that it seems even Paul knows it can be a challenge for people to hold fast to what is good. So interestingly enough, he brings in some words of implied competition to prompt people to meet this challenge! 

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A man had two sons… One left and one stayed behind. Both had trouble in their hearts they needed to sort out, and neither knew how to do that.

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Fear can prompt our faith or destroy our faith. When I was four, I went to a friend’s house to play. Upon my return home, my mother sat me down and told me my grandfather had passed away. A fear rooted itself in me. Fear paralyzed me as a child. I would not spend the night away from home, terrified that if I left my family, something awful would happen.

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