NEWTONVILLE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
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December 29th, 2020

12/29/2020

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“There are no mere theatergoers present, for each listener will be looking into his own heart. The stage is eternity, and the listener…stands before God during the talk. But the main concern is earnestness: that the listeners by themselves, with themselves, and to themselves, in the silence before God, may speak with the help of this address.” – Soren Kierkegaard
 
As the calendar turns and we bid farewell to 2020, we unfortunately return to virtual-only worship. Hopefully this will only be a (relatively) short time, as we allow COVID rates to diminish and it becomes safer to once again gather in person. We will keep the worship format the same as it has been, including the use of worship assistants, so that we will be able to resume quickly and easily once the opportunity is available.
 
One thing about virtual worship is that it does require more of us. Of course, those who hadn’t yet returned to in-person are all too aware of that. For the rest of us it will be a reminder. Something teachers have faced with their shift to virtual learning is that students are used to being passively entertained or informed when viewing a screen. Schooling however, like worship, isn’t passive – it’s participatory.
 
Philosopher and theologian Soren Kierkegaard reminds us that there are no passive participants in worship. It’s not theater, film, or television show. Live or viewed later as a recording, what we see is not, in and of itself, worship. What makes it such is that we bring to it, what we do with it, whether we are active participants or simply bystanders, whether we allow ourselves to into God’s presence.
 
In order to help you participate more fully in the liturgy and prayers we post each week a printable bulletin. Whether you print it out or view it on another electronic device, it’s a way for you to involve yourself more fully in worship, speak the prayer responses aloud, look up the scripture for yourself in your Bible. This is your performance for God, where you become the actor, offering your heart, mind, and soul in worship.
 
Peace for the journey,
Pastor Steve

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Real Power

12/16/2020

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“Politicians compete for the highest offices. Business tycoons scramble for a bigger and bigger piece of the pie. Armies march and scientists study and philosophers philosophize and preachers preach and laborers sweat. But in that silent baby, lying in that humble manger, there pulses more potential power and wisdom and grace and aliveness than all the rest of us can imagine.” -Brian D. McLaren
 
While always an undercurrent of sorts, power is particularly noteworthy in election years. The positioning for political power at the highest levels of government subsequently underscores the existence and exercise of power in business, international relations, and mass media. Academics and pundits offer their insights and wisdom, preachers endeavor to speak truth, and society struggles to find meaning in the midst of survival.
 
Power is also something we relate in our everyday living to light. In recent months, power outages were fairly commonplace here in the Newtonville neighborhood. Once for more than a day, several times for hours, occasionally for minutes, we found ourselves without electricity and therefore without light. It’s quite easy to take for granted when you flip the switch (or ask Alexa to do it for you) that illumination will result.
 
Images of light and darkness, day and night, are a regular and common part of scripture, and particularly poignant to the Advent and Christmas seasons. Images of power are also central, though we too often gloss over the prophetic witnesses of Isaiah and Mary in our longing for beautiful simplicity. What we find, however, is that the challenges to worldly powers and the humble plainness Jesus’ birth go hand in hand.
 
When the author of John’s Gospel tells us, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness doesn’t extinguish the light.” (John 1:5 CEB), he’s telling us what real power looks like. When Mary proclaims, “He has pulled the powerful down from their thrones and lifted up the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things and sent the rich away empty-handed," (Luke 1:52-53 CEB) she’s teaching where real power comes from.
 
We discover in the Christ-child that real power is political, and economic, and academic. But real power is also gentle, and righteous, and wise. Real power flows forth with holiness, and meaning, and truth. Real power brings forth mercy, and justice, and peace. Real power shatters the darkness of despair and heals God’s people. Real power pulses through creation is the simplicity of a child, lying humbly in a manger, God-with-us, Emmanuel.
 
Peace for the journey,
 
Pastor Steve
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Troubled in Soul

12/3/2020

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“The celebration of Advent is possible only to those who are troubled in soul, who know themselves to be poor and imperfect, and who look forward to something greater to come.” -Dietrich Bonhoeffer
 
We have spent the past nine months waiting. First we waited to see if the virus we were hearing about in China would make it to our shores, then to see if it could be contained once it did. We waited at home – participating in school, work, and church online. We waited through Holy Week and Easter, through graduations and birthdays and anniversaries, through canceled vacations and scaled-back weddings. We’ve seen glimpses of hope in reduced summer spread and some degree of normalcy, only to have those hopes dashed as we’ve changed our Thanksgiving plans and are wondering what Christmas will bring.
 
Still we wait – for a vaccine, for more effective treatments, for a sliver of assurance that life will be better and that we will return to people and activities we cherish. If ever there was a time when we are troubled in soul and looking forward for something greater to come, this is it. In the spring we spoke of the Lentiest of Lents. This, now, is an Advent to beat all Advents. This, now, is a time when all we can do is wait. All we can do it hope. All we can do is care for one another, look to God for the promise of something better, place our trust in Christ, as we are more aware than ever of our human poverty and imperfections.
 
We don’t know what tomorrow will bring, but that recognition and understanding is what Advent is all about. This moment in time is like no other, but that experience and opportunity is what Advent is all about. There is only so much we can do, but that acceptance and truth are what Advent is all about. In the midst of darkness, God became light. In the midst of brokenness, God became healing. In the midst of conflict, God became peace. In the midst of sorrow, God became joy. In the midst of sin, God became grace. In the midst of Advent we find hope, because in the midst of humanity, God became human in Jesus, the Christ.
 
Peace for the journey,
Pastor Steve
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    Occasional notes from the pastor with seasonal emphases or about current issues.

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