Epiphany

 

On Sunday, January 2, we will conclude our sermon series for Advent/Christmas, Making Room... The theme for that Sunday is Making Room for the World and is built around the traditional text for the Sunday closest to Epiphany, the arrival of the magi in Bethlehem. Even though we will celebrate Epiphany on this Sunday, the actual date of Epiphany is twelve days after Christmas, January 6.

The date celebrates both the visit of the magi to Jesus shortly after his birth and Jesus' baptism by John the Baptist. The word "epiphany" comes from Greek and means "manifestation". It symbolizes the revelation of God in his Son Jesus Christ to the world beyond Israel. In the West, Christians began celebrating Epiphany in the 4th century. Up until the 19th century, it was more important than Christmas Day.

In other parts of the world Epiphany is still an important day in the church calendar, observed with a special worship service in which the lights are turned off, candles are lit, John 1 is read, and Christ is invited into the lives of those who have gathered. There are many Epiphany traditions that are observed by families in their homes, as well. Often families do what is described above, except they go from room to room in the house, inviting Christ to fill every space in the home. Chalking of the doors of the home is also a common tradition. Families take chalk of any color and write on or above their doors a formula:

first 2 digits of year + C + M + B + last 2 digits of year

(so for this year: 20 + C + M + B + 22)

The letters have two meanings. First, they represent the initials of the traditional names given to the magi - Caspar, Malchior, and Balthazar. Second, they abbreviate the Latin phrase, Christus mansionem, benedicat: "May Christ bless this house." The "+" signs represent the cross. Taken together, this inscription is a request for Christ to bless the homes so marked and that he stay with those who dwell there throughout the year.

Other Epiphany traditions include: dining on roast lamb; baking Rosca de Reyes (Three Kings Bread) and hiding a small statue of baby Jesus inside (whoever finds it throws a party on Feb 2, Candlemas Day, the celebration of Jesus being presented in the Temple); children leaving their shoes out to be filled with gifts; swimming in the ice cold waters of the local river or lake; and wassailing, going from house to house and singing carols while drinking wassail (warmed ale, wine or cider, blended with spices).

In many liturgical traditions, Epiphany is a season, starting on January 6 and continuing until Ash Wednesday, when the 40 days of Lent begin. Though not as popular in the United States, and especially in the Protestant tradition, Epiphany gives Christians the opportunity after the celebration of Christmas to ask, "So now what?"

In Advent we turn inward and reflect on how we can make room in our hearts and lives for Jesus' coming. At Christmas we celebrate the light of Christ coming into the world. And in Epiphany we are sent out with the light of the beauty of the glory of Jesus in our hearts and on our faces to announce the Good News. Epiphany is where "O Come Let Us Adore Him" becomes "Go Tell It on the Mountain". The light has shone in the darkness and the darkness did not overcome it. A new day has come.

Epiphany reminds us that carrying the light of Christ into the world is not for the faint of heart. We are sent out into a dark and weary world. Shining the light of Christ into the world is an act of courage and defiance. Holding up a light in a dark place is a dangerous thing to do - we risk exposure, we can become a target for those powers that thrive in the dark.

Yet we also draw to us all of those who need to feel the hope and warmth the light of Christ brings. As the Apostle Paul wrote: It is the God who said, "Let light shine out of the darkness" who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

God's call to us in Epiphany is to hold up a candle, to radiate the light of Christ in our lives, in our relationships, and as a church. We are being invited to make that move from coming and adoring to going and telling. Both are necessary. To emphasize one over the other is to distort the Gospel.

So in this new year I invite you to think about how we might radiate the light of Christ, as a congregation and in our individual lives. I look forward to hearing your ideas!

Grace and peace...

PT

 

The Fall Colors

 

Last week I was driving to work and noticed how beautiful the fall colors were. Anyone else notice the peak week for fall colors has changed? When I was growing up it was always the 3rd week in October. For the last several years, however, it has been the 2nd week of November. I guess climate change has something to do with it. I told my wife we should call and make reservations in Gatlinburg next year for the 2nd week in November because most people still go the 3rd week in October. If you just thought, "That's a great idea!", you're welcome. Anyway, back to the fall colors.

As I was admiring the deep red and golden yellow leaves, the thing I was most grateful for is that I could see them at all! Most of you know that I had a 2nd detached retina at the beginning of the month and a 2nd retina repair surgery on November 3rd. As you might guess, the whole ordeal has been quite frustrating. It took about 3 months for me to regain the sight in my left eye after the retina repair surgery last February. Because of the damage to the retina, however, my sight was even worse than it was before. As things settled, I got a new prescription, which meant new glasses and new contact lenses. But wait, there's more!

One of the side effects of the surgery is the development of a cataract. So over the summer and fall the cataract was growing, and growing fast. Those of you who have had cataracts know how frustrating they are. By December the cataract was "mature" and I had cataract surgery, which means I got an implanted lens. My sight improved to about 20/35, the best my poor damaged retina could do. This, however, created another problem.

For most of my adult life I have worn both contact lenses and glasses. As my "over-40" vision came into play, I needed readers with the contacts. I had become very dependent on the readers by the time I was 50, so I favor using glasses with progressive lenses whenever I am reading, studying, or working on the computer, which is a lot of the time. The problem was that my left eye had now been corrected to 20/35 but the vision in my right eye was still horrible. The difference between the two was so great that I could no longer wear glasses. My brain couldn't process the disparity. Contacts still worked, but I had to have my readers on all the time.

So after a lot of discussion with my ophthalmologist, I decided to have Lasik surgery in the right eye, which took place in June. Since then, I have not needed contacts and have been able to wear my glasses any time I needed to read anything, like my Sunday sermon! But now I've had another retina repair, which means another cataract, and eventually another implanted lens. So the money I spent on the Lasik surgery was pretty much wasted. Such is life.

The reason I tell you all this is that I want to tell you that, in spite of all these eye troubles, I am SO thankful to be living in this time! Had I lived when my grandfather lived, or even when my father lived, I would be blind right now. Retina repair surgery has been around since the 1930's but with limited success. The retina repair surgery I had was not invented until the 1960's and really not perfected until the 1980's. The surgeon who did mine studied under the man who invented it. Today it is done with great success. What a blessing!

Thanks to God's gifts of curiosity, ingenuity, and intellect, human beings have found a way to consistently repair detached retinas, perform Lasik surgery, remove cataracts, and implant lenses to correct vision. And because of this I can see the beauty of the fall colors this year! (Albeit with only one eye right now.) In a few months, God willing, I will regain my sight in the right eye, then have another cataract surgery a few months later, and receive a new implanted lens. How incredible is that?!?! Then I will be able to see with both eyes, at least as well as my poor damaged retinas will allow. For that, I am truly thankful.

The Apostle Paul says to give thanks in every situation. (1 Thess 5:18) It isn't always easy, but it is always possible. Gratitude is a choice we make. And the more we make the choice to find things to be grateful for, the easier it becomes.

Grace and peace...

Fun-size!

In case you don't read the newsletter, here's my On Second Thought for November 2021...

Other than Easter and Christmas, Halloween has always been our family’s favorite holiday. It’s just so much fun! I think we probably have more Halloween decorations than any other holiday, with the exception of Christmas. Friendly ghosts, funny witches, pumpkin lights, and Pirate Pete adorn our front porch this time of year, welcoming Trick-or-Treaters to our house.

When the kids were little we would dress up in our own costumes and walk the neighborhood with them on Halloween night. Mamaw and Pap would come visit so someone was at home to hand out the candy. Now that the kids are too old for Trick-or-Treating we no longer dress up. But we do sit on our porch and welcome the children as we “ooh” and “aah” over their costumes and put candy into their already bulging bags of sweet treats.

When I was a child and went Trick-or-Treating, candy bars were regular, full-size bars. That’s all that was available back then, I guess. Sure, sometimes I got a popcorn ball or some candy corn. One lady in our neighborhood gave out small bunches of grapes in little Ziploc bags! Mostly, though, it was candy bars - full-size Snickers, Hershey bars, Almond Joys, Heath Bars, Mars Bars, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, Milky Ways, 3 Musketeers, or Baby Ruths.

Now, however, there are several different sizes of candy bars for Halloween (and I guess other times of the year, too). There are king-size, full-size, fun-size, and bite-size of just about every major brand. We always get variety bags of the fun size because, well, fun! The king-size ones are out of the question; who does that? The bite-size ones are too small; they just leave you wanting more and they make you look stingy or cheap. The full-size ones are too big; they take up too much room in the bag, have too much sugar and calories for little ones, they are expensive, they force you to commit to only one brand, they make the neighbors look bad, plus, while the kids might like them they make the parents wonder what kind of old kook you are!

Fun-size candy bars are just the right size. They have all of the flavor of the full-size bars without all the calories, carbs, and sugar. The chocolate to filling ratio is smaller, so they are healthier. You don’t have to commit to just one kind of bar. You can put four different ones in the bag and it’s the same as giving out a full-size but the kids get to sample a variety of treats. It’s a win-win!

A lot of you have told me you are worried about the size of our congregation. There aren’t as many people here as there used to be. We can’t do all the things we used to. The sanctuary just feels so empty. No one comes on Wednesday nights anymore. We need to grow or we are going to die. I have heard variations on these statements for the last 5 years and I think it’s time to change our mindset. I think instead of thinking of our congregation as “no longer full-size”, it’s time to start thinking of our congregation as fun-size!

A fun-size congregation has all of the flavor of a full-size one without all of the baggage. You know, a big staff, high administrative costs, anonymity of members, the so-called sacred cows, only one “right” way to do things, and so on. In a fun-size congregation everyone knows everyone and is invested in each other’s lives, the pastor to member ratio is smaller, and there can be more room for variety among its membership. A fun-size congregation can experiment, try new things, find what works, and let go of what doesn’t. A fun-size congregation can be healthier, it doesn’t have to be one-size-fits-all, it can find more room for difference and diversity.

I once read this unique and interesting definition: Fun is the feeling of finding something new in something familiar. In a fun-size congregation everything is still familiar, but there is the possibility of finding something new as we find new ways to answer God’s call to be his witnesses. Even by just by making small variations to things we’ve always done we can experience them in new ways.

I would like to challenge you to find the fun in being a welcoming, faithful, and hopeful community, to find the new in the familiar. Let's think of new ways we can follow Jesus and serve him in the world just as we are right now. Let’s be who we are rather than who we think we are supposed to be.

The Christian Church in America isn’t the same as it was 50 years ago. We are not the same congregation we were 50, 25, or even 10 years ago. And that’s okay. After all, fifty years ago very few people gave out fun-size bars; now it’s the #1 choice for Halloween candy. There’s a reason for that. Come on – it’ll be fun!

Covid is Still a Problem - Despite What We See in the Community

 Hey everyone - 

This is just information for those who may not be following recent trends. We have been following the Percent Positive Tests for Covid in our community. Monday was the highest number since December with 41.32% positive. Tuesday was 28%, a number not seen since February with the exception of Monday. September's 7-Day Rolling average was a plateau between 20-25%. We went below 20% at the end of September and have been sitting at another plateau between 15-18%. However, this week saw a sharp uptick and we are once again just under 20%.

All this to say - despite what we see in the community, with very few people masked indoors, groups choosing to gather together indoors, full football stadiums, and people going about their business as if Covid is no longer a thing, this is not the case. Don't let what you see create a false sense of security. Yes - we have a growing awareness that Covid will always be with us in some form and we have to live our lives. However, when the numbers are this high I believe we should be doing more to mitigate the spread of this disease. We should be taking as many precautions as we can right now. Once we get down below 10% - or even better - 5%, then will be the time to relax. That time is not now. Please take precautions. Wear a mask. Stay home if you can. Get vaccinated. Get the booster if you are eligible. Think of others at all times - even if they aren't thinking of you.

Grace and peace...

Tim

Promoting the General Welfare

This post doesn’t have much to do with theology or the life of 2^nd Presbyterian Church, but I just feel the need to say this. Please feel free to not read it, or to stop reading if you don’t like it.

I have sometimes been accused of not being patriotic or not loving our country due to my criticism of what I perceive to be things we should be doing better. Nothing could be further from the truth, however. I love America and am grateful to have been born here. I am grateful for the freedoms and rights we enjoy as American citizens, freedoms for which many have fought and died. I was taught in my youth that one of the most patriotic things we can do is to hold our country, its people, and its leaders to the high ideals our Founding Fathers set for us, and to be critical when we are falling short of those ideals.

These ideals are laid out in our founding documents – The Declaration of Independence, The United States Constitution, and The Bill of Rights. I don’t believe they were “God-ordained”, but I do believe they were “Spirit-inspired”, and I do not think it is hyperbole to say that these documents are some of the most important documents ever written by human beings. After each of my children completed the 5^th grade, I took them for a week-long trip to our Nation’s Capital so that they would have an appreciation of our country’s history and polity. One of the highlights of each trip was going to the National Archives and seeing these documents in person. I wanted my children to revere the philosophies contained in these documents and the high ideals to which we should aspire as Americans, even if we have not always, as a nation, lived up to them.

We’ve been hearing a great deal lately about freedoms and rights. Those who do not wish to be vaccinated or wear a mask claim that they have the freedom not to do so and that it is an infringement on their rights to mandate that they do so. Essentially, they are saying that they have the right to do what they wish when it comes to their bodies, their health, and that of their children. (Interestingly, those same people seem not to honor the “my body, my choice” argument when it comes to abortion, but that’s a different blog post for a different time!) Their claims for these freedoms and rights appeal to the founding documents that are so precious to us as Americans, and they are not wrong. The Constitution and, especially, The Bill of Rights grant great individual freedoms to the citizens of our country.

Lost in this discussion, however, is a much more important argument – the reason these rights exist in the first place. With all of the focus on individual rights granted by The Constitution and Bill of Rights, we seem to have lost sight of what is arguably the best and most important part of The United States Constitution – the Preamble. If you’re like me, you had to memorize it in 5^th grade. I don’t know that students are still required to do this, but they should be. It lays out the whole reason for the rights enshrined in The Constitution and Bill of Rights in the first place.

You’ll remember it begins, We, the people… Not We the Founding Fathers…, or We, the land-owners…, or We, the elected representatives of the people…, or We, the Federalists and the Democratic-Republicans… It’s us – all of us, together. The Constitution invites all of us from the very beginning to be part of the Great Experiment that is about to begin. We are in this thing together.

Then come the reasons for everything that follows, In order to… I won’t list them all – you probably know them – but I do want to highlight a few.

form a more perfect union… I love this. How can anything be more perfect? Right up front we are saying that we know we are not perfect but that should always strive to be better, always strive to meet the ideals laid out in our founding documents. We should never be complacent, thinking that we have reached our destination. We can always be more just, more equal, more perfect than we already are.

establish justice, insure domestic tranquility… The reason we have our freedoms is so that justice and tranquility will prevail. Both seem to be in short supply at the moment. I recently saw a TV show with a fictional judge who was fed up with how our justice system treats people of low socio-economic standing, mostly people of color, who do not have the means to manipulate the system as the wealthy corporations do. He said, “Justice isn’t justice if it’s not just.” As for tranquility? Just turn on the news. Or attend a Knox County School Board meeting.

promote the general welfare… This is the big one that seems to have been forgotten. Because it is We, the people who are in this together, the general welfare of the nation and the common good of all the people of our nation should be our primary goal. This means that, on occasion, our individual rights and freedoms must be put aside for the betterment of the whole. It means we have to look out for each other, do what’s best for others, even if that means making a sacrifice ourselves. This is what it truly means to be American, what it really means to be patriotic. A rising tide buoys all ships. This is why throughout the history of our country, public health has always taken precedence over individual rights. I don’t know why people aren’t getting this now, especially when it is our children that need to be protected most at the moment.

and secure the blessings of liberty for ourselves and our posterity… The blessings of liberty aren’t just for us; they are for all who will come after us. What we do now has a ripple effect into the future. If we ignore these ideals in the present, they will be weakened for future generations. We must not only think of the general welfare now, but the general welfare 50, 100, or 200 years from now. All who will ever live in this great country deserve the blessings of liberty that we have received.

Okay, I said I wasn’t going to list all of them, but I only left out one. provide for the common defense… Actually, I think we’re doing pretty well with that one!

The point is this. The Declaration of Independence says we have the right to Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. This is true, as long as my rights do not infringe upon another’s. I do not have the right to take someone else’s life. Nor do I have the right to force my religious beliefs upon others. I do not have the right to drive whatever speed I choose or ignore traffic signals. I do not have the right to imprison someone in my basement in my pursuit of happiness, just because I don’t like something he did or said. These things infringe upon the rights of others so they must be tempered by the general welfare.

So when someone’s right not to get vaccinated or wear a mask infringes on my right to life, or the right to life of our children, or my liberty to freely go where I choose without fear of contracting a potentially deadly disease, those rights have to be tempered by the general welfare, as well. Likewise, if we really want to promote the general welfare, we will do what’s best for the whole, even if that means making a few adjustments to the way we behave for a little while.

We’re supposed to all be in this together, seeking a more perfect union, establishing justice, ensuring domestic tranquility, promoting the general welfare, and securing the blessings of liberty, not just for ourselves, but for all to come. When we live up these ideals, I celebrate that and give thanks to God that I was born in this wonderful country, one that isn’t perfect but is seeking to become more so. When are not living up to these ideals, however, I believe it is my patriotic duty to point that out. And friends, when it comes to our response to Covid as a nation, we are not living up to them.

Last thing – I realize that if you have made it this far, you most likely agree with what I’m saying. Maybe not, but most likely. Great. I’m glad. But how do we have this conversation with those that don’t agree in a positive way without shaming them? That’s what I’ve been pondering lately. I think the best way is to appeal to our mutual patriotism and to remind people of the Preamble to The Constitution, the reason we have these rights in the first place. I hope I can do it kindly, with love and not anger, with reason and not frustration, but I find it hard these days. I would love to hear your thoughts below.

 

 

A Theological Sin

 Hello all - 

A few years ago I did some study seminars with the Foundation for Reformed Theology. As a result, I am on their email list. While I read a lot of things from many different sources each week, this email I received from the Foundation yesterday was particularly comforting, uplifting and inspiring to me, given the times in which we are living. I hope it is to you.

Peace...

PT

Dear Friends of The Foundation for Reformed Theology:

 A Theological Sin

I once heard John Leith give a lecture on the church in which he quoted Calvin from Book IV of The Institutes: "Although the melancholy desolation which confronts us on every side may cry that no remnant of the church is left, let us know that Christ's death is fruitful, and that God miraculously keeps his church as in hiding places." In this section Calvin is unfolding his doctrine of the church but this particular passage has as much to do with reminding us of the source of our hope as it does with the life of the church itself. The counsel here is not to despair.

Despair, bitterness, even anger at the way things are constitute temptations to those who would live by faith and not by sight. They are also, in a weird way, the residue of love. If one did not love the church so much, if one did not invest so much of one's heart in its mission and life, if one did not dare to undertake great things in its service, then one would not feel so much despair at its wreckage, or bitterness at our blasted hopes, or anger at all the ways the church has failed. A studied indifference would never yield such despair. Only love can risk such a temptation.

Yet, as Augustine has taught us, even our loves can be disordered, and our despair just another name for pride. The great thing about feeding on our disappointments is that there is no shortage of supply. Still, there is something deeper here than just a kind of discouragement that afflicts all who seek to minister to God's people. The great opponent of despair and bitterness is not our virtues, not our ability to conjure up more cheerful moods. No, the great opponent, even enemy of such demons is Jesus Christ. He has always called out such demons and confronted them with a gospel that is neither angry nor bitter, neither triumphalistic nor proud. Instead, he gives himself to us such that despair and bitterness can be given no quarter in our thinking and doing. He reveals these demons to be signs of death. And he reveals himself as the One who conquers through the Cross. Jesus is Victor! The crucified and risen Lord reigns over this world, over this sinful world, over all our failures, bitter defeats, and painful despair. They are not more powerful than he is. And they cannot be taken more seriously than his victory over sin and death. One does not have to be a Norman Vincent Peale to acknowledge that the good news of Jesus Christ should put a smile on all our faces. He is Lord! And it is a sin to love our disappointments more than we do his victory.

So, what about the church? I suspect that being a faithful Christian is never easy, and that challenges always abound, perhaps different ones but just as difficult in different times and places. The church I grew up in during the 1950s no longer exists, which is, in truth, not such a bad thing. However, the church that seeks to minister in our fractured and divided world today, does so from a weaker position in the culture than formerly. Even being a Presbyterian today is something of a counter-cultural calling. Perhaps such has always been the case. The Reformed tradition is not a populist tradition. But that should not bother us, or it should bother us as little as Israel was bothered by being small and comparatively weak piece on the chessboard of the ancient world. We will, in any case, accomplish little good by playing to the culture's anger and divisions. Far better to do something different: to rejoice in the gifts that draw us together and enable us to witness with a full heart and generous spirit.

Some of the congregations my father served are barely hanging on today, and others have closed. I am in regular conversation with friends in churches I once served whose faithfulness in the face of adversity makes me weep with gratitude for them and their witness. Rather than bemoaning what they no longer have, they embrace the calling to which God has called them in this time and place. They rejoice that God has called them to witness here. And now. They refuse to be embittered, not because they have such reserves of will power but because they know who has won the battle, who is Lord, who will let nothing separate us from his love. And because they know that, they can be ridiculously confident. They can "smile at all their foes," even their own demons of bitterness and despair, turning instead to work on things that truly matter.

So how do we go forward when faced with the "melancholy desolation which confronts us on every side"? In his address to a group of pastors in Germany delivered in July of 1922, later published as "The Need and Promise of Christian Preaching," Karl Barth ends his remarks by also quoting Calvin. In this case, he quotes from Calvin's commentary on Micah 4:6: "Although the church is at the present time hardly to be distinguished from a dead or at best sick man, there is no reason for despair, for the Lord raises up his own suddenly, as he waked the dead from the grave. This we must clearly remember, lest, when the church fails to shine forth, we conclude too quickly that her life has died utterly away. But the church in the world is so preserved that she rises suddenly from the dead.... Let us cling to the remembrance that she is not without her resurrection, or rather, not without her many resurrections." (The Word of God and the Word of Man, p. 135)

That is how we go forth, not with strategies of success or the power of our own virtues but from death to resurrection. In Wendell Berry's words, we are called to "practice resurrection." The risen Lord will not let us feed off our own bitterness or despair.

Pious words? On the evening of December 9, 1968, the night before he died, Barth talked on the telephone with his old friend, Eduard Thurneysen. 1968 was not a great year in either American (assassinations, riots, protests) or Europe. Before he hung up, Barth told his friend that despite the darkness, it was vital to "not lose heart!" There is still One who reigns, even Jesus Christ.

It is a sin, a theological sin to lose heart as if Jesus has not been raised from the dead, as if the risen Lord does not reign, as if his light were unable to pierce our darkness. It is selfish to "lose heart" and feed off our resentments. They are not our sacrament. Besides, there are so many more important things to do, not least is to receive the gift of studying with Augustine, Calvin, Barth, and so many others who have found encouragement and hope in the victory of Jesus Christ. It is that victory that gives us confidence and energy to embrace this world, to love Christ's church, and to care for the least and last and lost whom he claims for his own. And it is that victory that enables us to be glad that we are called to live in this day and time - not yesterday or whenever we thought it was better - but this day and time. This is the day the Lord has made. We are to rejoice and be glad in it.

The Foundation for Reformed Theology exists to help pastors and elders not to lose heart, but rather to drink deeply from the wells of the Christian faith, to rejoice in the company of others who have walked this way, often in the face of far greater adversity than we encounter, and to read and study and prepare to surprise an often sad and all too wise world with the unexpected good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Thomas W. Currie, Interim Director of The Foundation for Reformed Theology

 Hey Everyone - 

According to today's News Sentinel, active Covid cases in Knox county more than doubled in the last week from 198 on July 14 to 414 today. New cases have doubled from 20 to 44. The majority of these cases are individuals who are not vaccinated and are mostly the result of the new, more transmissible Delta variant. The director of the CDC said this week, "This is now a pandemic of the unvaccinated." Just under 49% of Knox county residents have been fully vaccinated, which is better than the state vaccination rate of 38% who are fully vaccinated and 43% who have received at least one dose.

State Senator Richard Briggs, who is also a physician, said, "To think that somehow Tennessee will be spared this next wave of the Delta variant, I think is just being very naive and being hopeful and not facing reality." Knox County Health Department lead epidemiologist, Roberta Strum, said that the KCHD is not surprised by the recent spike in cases and that cases are expected to increase.

The good news is that those who are vaccinated are not at serious risk from the Delta variant. So-called "breakthrough" infections are relatively rare, and even when they occur they do not cause serious illness. The bad news is that even the vaccinated can have breakthrough infections and can, in turn, pass the virus on to the unvaccinated. While adults have the choice whether or not to be vaccinated, no vaccine has yet been authorized for children under the age of 12, putting them at risk of infection. The even worse news is that Delta variant Covid infections among children are on the rise.

If you know someone who is not vaccinated, or if you, yourself, are not, I strongly to encourage you to click the link below and read the article from AL.com about a physician's recent Facebook post on Sunday.

"I'm Sorry, but it's too late": Alabama doctor treating unvaccinated, dying COVID patients

The Session will be monitoring Knox county Covid cases and will determine if or when it may be necessary to reinstate protective measures in worship, such as face coverings or increased physical distancing. For now, we will continue along our path of phased easing of restrictions.

The best and safest way to avoid any changes to the easing of restrictions, and the best way to protect others, especially our families with children, is to get the vaccine. PLEASE, if you have not, go and get your Covid vaccine today.

Grace and peace...

Pastor Tim

Baby James Update

 A few months ago, my brother called my mom and asked, “Are we still worried about James?” 

 

Some of you may be wondering the same thing and be hesitant to ask, so I thought I’d give a little update. Others of you may not even know that we were worried about James to begin with; so before I give an update, let me give a little background.

 

About 5 weeks before his due date, my doctor raised some concern about James’ femur measurements on an ultrasound. If you consult Doctor Google, there are all sorts of things that this might indicate. We were sent to the high-risk OB to have further measurements taken, and that is where the roller coaster began. They measured his other long bones and found that they too were measuring well behind his gestational age. The determination after all this measuring was that we were looking at a high likelihood of a skeletal dysplasia, of which there are about 400 different types; and there was no way to know which one he might have. The most common type, however, is achondroplasia – more commonly known as dwarfism.

 

Over the next few weeks, we went from doctor appointment to doctor appointment, dreading each one a little bit more because the picture seemed to get more and more grim at each one. We heard everything from, ‘it may just be his stature that is affected,’ to ‘he may not have enough room for his heart and lungs,’ to ‘you may have to make decisions about removing support after he’s born’. And all the while, they also continued to tell us, ‘it could be nothing, but all the measurements and ratios we’re seeing point to something’. The term roller coaster may actually be a gross understatement!

 

Fast forward to his birth, and there were about 20 people in the room including a pediatric team that was prepared to give him an initial once-over and whisk him away to the NICU if necessary. They took him over to the incubator for the pediatric doctor to check him out, and the doctor looked at James and then looked at Andy and said, “now what is it we’re looking for?” So, that was our first sigh of relief. A quick look showed no signs of achondroplasia, and a quick exam showed no need for a NICU stay. 

 

During our stay in the hospital, we saw a geneticist, who also said she saw nothing at first glance that looked to her like achondroplasia; but she did a cheek swab sample to be sent off for genetic testing. 

 

Over his first six months of life, we have gone back and forth with the geneticist’s office, done another cheek swab on James and one on both Andy and me as well. We have gotten a lot of confusing information, because genetics are very confusing. But, we were finally able to meet with the geneticist face to face a couple of weeks ago; and her conclusion was that she saw nothing that would keep James from leading a ‘normal’ life…another HUGE sigh of relief!

 

So, to answer the question: “Are we still worried about James?” The answer is no, by the grace of God, we are not worried about James, at least not for the same reasons that we were worried about him in the weeks leading up to his birth and in the first months of his life. Now we just have the normal worries that people have about their kids, and we will take those worries any day!

 

This update got much longer than anticipated, so thank you for caring enough to read it, and thank you for being a part of the loving community that is helping Andy and me to raise our boys by loving and supporting all of us. We are so, so grateful. 

Here is the text of the video message for those who prefer to read, rather than watch. You can also find a PDF of the text by clicking the red button on the home page of our website, www.2ndpres.org. 

May 19^th, 2021

Greetings friends,

As I’m sure you are aware by now, the CDC updated its COVID-19 guidelines last week regarding the wearing of face coverings indoors for those who are fully vaccinated. At its regularly stated meeting last night, the Session spent time reflecting on this change and what it means for our congregation and our policies regarding the usage of face coverings. After very careful, thoughtful, and prayerful discussion, the Session has made the following decisions:

1. Beginning today, May 19^th, face coverings will be optional for those who are fully vaccinated while in the church building for meetings, Sunday School classes, Bible studies, or other activities, excluding worship. We do request and encourage you to still maintain a safe physical distance from one another and the staff, especially if you choose not to wear a face covering.

2. We are continuing to ask everyone to wear a face covering during worship, as well as practice physical distancing and refrain from physical contact, regardless of vaccination status, through the end of June.

3. Beginning Sunday, July 4^th, face coverings will be optional during worship for those who are fully vaccinated.

I would like to explain some of the reasoning behind this new, bifurcated policy, so you can understand why the Session chose to make the decision they did.

We have said all along that we should follow the science, and we should follow the science now. We have known for several weeks that it is relatively safe to be unmasked while outdoors, even for the unvaccinated. Now, the science tells us that even indoors with groups of people, those who are vaccinated are not likely to transmit the coronavirus to others, nor are they likely to contract it themselves. Even if the vaccinated do contract the virus, the protection from serious illness is quite strong.

By allowing those who are vaccinated to make the choice about whether or not to wear a face covering, we are showing that we not only believe in personal responsibility, but in the efficacy and safety of the vaccine. We also hope this will encourage those who have not yet gotten the vaccine to do so in order to return to “normal” activities sooner, rather than later.

As Christians, we are called to also follow the law of love. We have said all along that wearing face coverings, keeping our distance, refraining from physical contact, washing our hands, and staying home when sick are the ways that we show love to our neighbor. We believe wearing face coverings for a few more weeks in worship is a way to continue to do that.

The reality is people are processing the new recommendations differently. There are some who are ready to go without face coverings immediately. For others, face coverings have become like a security blanket and they will need some time before they feel safe removing them. For still others, those who are immunocompromised or unvaccinated or just very cautious, face coverings will continue to be a way of life for the foreseeable future.

We wish the CDC had given us a few weeks to prepare for the transition that was announced last week, but they didn’t. We, however, have the chance to do just that. By asking the entire congregation to continue to wear face coverings during worship for the next 6 Sundays, regardless of vaccination status, we give those who need it a little extra time to mentally prepare for the next phase in returning to normalcy. We realize that some of you will think this is too long, but we are asking you to consider the needs of others by practicing patience and forbearance.

When the Christians in Corinth were experiencing divisions over the practice of eating meat sacrificed to idols, as well as unequal access to the Lord’s Supper, Paul encouraged them to seek unity. Everything is permitted, he writes in 1 Corinthians 10, but not everything is beneficial; everything is permitted, but not everything builds others up. Paul encourages the Corinthians to think first of the needs of the community. No one should look to their own advantage, he says, but they should look out for each other. We believe that wearing face coverings in worship for just a few more weeks is the best way for us to look out for each other.

Our Vision Statement says that we are a “welcoming” community and we want to be sure that we are truly welcoming of all, regardless of vaccination status. We don’t want to put people in the difficult position of feeling uncomfortable or having to lie about their vaccination status, we don’t want people to feel unsafe during worship, and we don’t want the focus to be on who is and who is not wearing a mask. As Pastor Sarah said so well on Sunday, “If our focus is on who is and who isn’t vaccinated, our focus isn’t where it should be, on God.” We want to continue to focus on God during worship and we believe all of us continuing to wear face coverings is the way to do that for now.

Finally, I want to say a word about how we should treat one another regarding the issue of face coverings, whether in the building for activities now, or in worship starting July 4^th. Wearing a face covering is a matter of personal choice, regardless of vaccination status. It is not a political statement, it is not an ideological statement, it is not a judgment statement. It as an article of clothing – no more, no less. Some people choose to wear a tie to worship, others choose not to. Some people choose to wear short sleeves, others choose to wear a sweater. Some people wear pants, and some people wear dresses, and some people wear shorts.

And some people will choose to wear a face covering while others will not. We wouldn’t say to someone, “Why are you wearing a sweater? It’s summer! You don’t have to wear that.” We wouldn’t come to a committee meeting and say, “Why are you wearing blue jeans? No one else is wearing blue jeans.” In the same way, we shouldn’t say to someone, “Why are you wearing a mask? You know we don’t have to wear those anymore, right?” Nor should we say to someone, “You’re not wearing a mask! How dare you be so thoughtless.”

Let’s put our trust in one another and have the confidence that each person will choose what’s best for themselves and for those around them. Let us be respectful and understanding of each person’s right to wear whatever they choose, face coverings included. The science says it’s safe not to; psychology says some will want to; the Bible says to practice love and forbearance in our relationships with others.

One last thing regarding some of the other decisions that have been made regarding worship. You will notice this Sunday that hymnbooks and Bibles have been returned to the pews. Since the science says transmission of the virus through contact with objects is negligible, and since we have only one worship service a week and these books will not be touched by multiple people in a short span of time, we feel it is safe for those who choose to use them again to do so. The Scripture readings and words to the hymns will continue to be on the screen, both for those at home and for those in the sanctuary who prefer not to use a hymnbook or Bible, but the hymn lyrics will no longer be printed in the bulletin.

Also, for the time being we will continue to celebrate communion using the self-contained, self-serve cups, and we will continue to refrain from passing the offering plates and the pew pads. The Worship Committee and the Session will continue to discuss these, and other issues, throughout the summer.

I continue to lift all of you up in prayer as we navigate the ever-changing nature of this pandemic. I rejoice with those of you who have been able to visit with family and friends again, and I sympathize with those of you who are still being extra cautious. It’s been great to see some of you in person in the building and in worship again, and it’s been uplifting to see that there are still many who are joining us virtually for worship and Bible study. I pray that each of you feel the presence of God in your lives and know the peace of Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit in your midst.

Grace and peace…

Pastor Tim

A Tale of Two Young Men

On Sunday, April 11^th, a young man was stopped in Oak Ridge for a window tint violation. After initial contact with an Oak Ridge police officer, the young man fled from his vehicle on foot toward the First United Methodist Church building. The police officer chased the suspect and saw him enter the church building, just as worshipers were leaving the 10 a.m. service.

The police discovered the young man was wanted in Ohio for drug and weapons charges and was to be considered armed and dangerous. The police evacuated church members and established a perimeter. They called in the Anderson County Sherriff’s K-9 unit. They waited for the dogs to arrive and then began a search of the building which lasted nearly 2 hours. The dogs discovered the young man hiding in a bathroom closet. The door was opened and the suspect was arrested without incident. No one was injured.

The very next day in Knoxville, another young man hid in a bathroom. This young man was not wanted on any charges. He had no criminal record. He was not threatening anyone, nor had he fled from the authorities. He was in trouble and he was scared. He had gotten into a fight with his girlfriend and his girlfriend’s mother told him she was calling the police. The young man did what our culture has taught him to do, he got a gun to protect himself.

The Knoxville Police arrived at Austin-East Magnet School, where the young man was hiding. Within 20 minutes they had ascertained that the young man was in a bathroom. They entered the bathroom. Eleven seconds later the young man was dead.

One scared young man hid in a bathroom and was arrested without incident. Another scared young man hid in a bathroom and didn’t come out alive. One was white. One was brown.

In the days since Anthony Thompson, Jr. was shot by police at Austin-East Magnet School, Knoxvillians have demanded to see the video to know what happened in that bathroom. The District Attorney, the Mayor, the Police Chief, and many in the Knoxville Community have been asking one question: Was the shooting justified? But that is the wrong question.

The question we should be asking is: Why were the officers in that bathroom in the first place?

They had options. They did not have to go into that bathroom and confront Mr. Thompson. They could have called the K-9 unit, like the officers in Oak Ridge. They could have asked a trusted guidance counselor or teacher to go into the bathroom and speak with Mr. Thompson to help him understand that there was a way out of the trouble he was in. They could have called in trained crisis de-escalators or even hostage negotiators. They could have called in Mr. Thompson’s mother or a member of his family to talk him out of the bathroom peacefully. They had time. They could have waited.

Mr. Thompson was not threatening anyone. He was not an immediate danger to anyone. He was just a scared teenager. The police had other options than to enter that bathroom while tensions were running high. The police knew one side of the story. Who was there to speak for Mr. Thompson? Who was there to tell his side of the story? Who had his best interests in mind?

Two young men hid in a bathroom. One was a known felon. One was a scared teenager. One was white. One was brown.

Holy Week - Thursday

 

Holy Week - Wednesday

 

Holy Week - Tuesday

 

Holy Week - Monday

 

March 7th Communion

 

Prayers of the People - Feb. 21

Yesterday during worship we experienced a momentary power disruption which caused one of the devices we use for our live stream to reboot. This caused the stream to freeze for several minutes right at the end of David's Time for Reflection and through most of Jan's Prayers of the People. (It also happened again during the postlude, for those of you who were still watching.) It's always frustrating when something like this happens, but it was especially so yesterday because the prayer that Jan wrote and prayed was so lovely. So I asked her to send it to me and I am posting it below. I hope that you will take time to pray this prayer with her at some point this week.

PT

As we come together in prayer, I would bring your attention to the fact that the season of Love – Valentine's Day, and the season of Lent – Self Reflection are back to back, next door to each other. So may our time of reflection focus on Love as we go through this journey toward Easter and the season of Hope.

Creator God,

We are finding it very difficult at the moment to look toward the coming season of Hope. There is so much negativity in our world that our hearts ache with the burden of it all. We sit and we ponder, we argue and we try to listen, we kneel and we pray, we see and we ignore and the agony continues.

We come together today to pray for our world, for the leaders and those behind the scenes who exert influence, for the stricken and hungry, the tired and the sick and for those who feel forgotten. We ask for the world to feel your presence, to realize that Love is the answer today and everyday. And may we love and heal our planet as well as ourselves.

We pray for our country where there is so much division and anger. We pray for our own leaders who make decisions that impact us all. We ask that compromise be a word of hope and not one of dissension. We pray for those who have been impacted by the storms and extreme weather that has passed over so much of our country. May they receive the help that they need and may those in power find ways to assure the people that they are working for the good of all.

We pray for our community where we are grieving the loss of 3 teen-agers who have been taken down in the prime of their lives. We struggle with these random acts of violence and wonder why random acts of kindness cannot be the norm. We ache with their parents as they adjust to this loss of hope for a better future that these kids were poised to explore. Help us to know how we can make a difference, how we can contribute to the solution and even how we can pray.

We pray for our own families as we wonder if our kids are next, as we wonder if Covid will take more lives that we know, as we wonder how we are to go on in this swirl of negativity.

We are told that there is hope, that there is light, that there is redemption. Help us to find it. Aid us in our Lenten journey to reflect on our own path, to find ways to reach out and to be that Christ like example that we long for in others. Bring us Hope. Bring us Love. Bring us Redemption.

Amen.

Pray for Our City

Greetings brothers and sisters, 

I write today with a heavy heart. Yet another teenager has been shot and killed in our city, the third victim of gun violence in the last four weeks. Fifteen-year-old Janaira Muhammad was a freshman at Austin-East. Her death follows that of sixteen-year-old Stanley Freeman and fifteen-year-old Justin Taylor, both of whom were also Austin-East students. All three were the victims of gun violence. My heart grieves for their families and for this community.

There were 37 criminal homicides within Knoxville city limits in 2020, the highest number in modern history. (The average for the last two decades has been 21.) There were 35 homicides in 1992 and 1998. When you add in 8 additional homicides in the county, the total number of killings in Knox County last year was 45. All from shootings. The only positive thing to be said is that none of the murder victims in 2020 were under the age of 18.

Now, this year, there are already 4 victims under the age of 18. If you think that's bad, listen to this. There have already been 16 murders this year. Let that sink in for a moment. It is February 17th. We are six weeks into the year. We are almost halfway to the record number of homicides of last year.

It's not just East Knoxville, either. Murders have happened in other parts of Knoxville - North, South, West. Three weeks ago there was a double homicide at Cazzy's Corner Grill. Three days ago there were two shootings resulting in one death in the Cedar Bluff area. Nowhere is immune from the violence.

As I was writing that last paragraph, another news alert just flashed across my mobile phone. This afternoon, a woman driving in North Knoxville was struck by a stray bullet and crashed her car into a building. She has critical, life-threatening injuries. A stray bullet also struck a school bus. With children on board. Thankfully there were no injuries.

What is happening in our city? The same thing that is happening in cities across our country. COVID, high unemployment, housing insecurity, fear, anxiety, racial tensions - all these have led to an increase in violent crime throughout the land. For the first 6 months of 2020, homicides in the country had increased 15% over the same timeframe in 2019. At year's end, cities everywhere, including Indianapolis, Houston, Memphis, and Los Angeles, reported record high homicide figures. Almost all of them gun-related.

I don't have the answers for this epidemic of violence. I believe that increased gun regulation is a must. I do not believe an increased police presence will help. I do believe that our entire community must take each one of these homicides personally and not write any of them off to "other" people in "those" neighborhoods. I do not believe that more guns is the answer. I do believe we are being called to a time of prayer.

Let us pray for the families of the victims. Let us pray for our city. Let us pray for the police officers who are trying their best to keep the peace. Let us pray for the first responders and emergency room workers, especially those who have to watch teenagers die. Let us pray for perpetuators of violence, that they will feel the love of God. Let us pray for our country.

And then let us do something. Prayer means nothing if it doesn't lead to action. We need to act. This is unacceptable. This is not who we are called to be. I am grieving. I am angry. I am offended. I am incensed. 

How long, O Lord, will I call for help and you not listen? I cry out to you, "Violence!" but you don't deliver us. Why do you show me injustice and look at anguish so that devastation and violence are before me? There is strife and conflict abounds. Justice does not endure because the wicked surround the righteous. - Habakkuk 1:2-4

Please join me in praying for our city.

The Church's Ministry in a Tragic Time

I came across the following this week...

"To charge these present times as the most tragic in the history of the human race might be subject to question were the condemnation based solely on the number of people who are hungry, or who are ill-housed and ill-clothed, or who have been forced into slave labor, or who suffer from the ravages of disease. But to charge these times as being tragic because of their violent reversal of trends toward a better day is to make an observation readily recognized by even the most casual on-looker of the present scene.

For example, for several generations the world seemed to be moving in the direction of assured peace. There was evident a growing desire for cooperative activity in securing what would be good for all, and a fairly widespread wish, at least, to settle international disputes through justice meted out by an objective international court. Yet the phenomenally rapid rise of a new nationalism spurred by the unholy quest for control of the world's basic resources has made this century the bloodiest in the many centuries of our life upon the earth.

Up until several decades ago it appeared that the western world was making progress in the control of the so-called social diseases. Public opinion and wise educational procedures seems to have curbed the further spread of alcoholism, sexual promiscuity, narcotic addiction, and other such practices that damage the social order. Yet the last fifteen years has seen the most violent reversal of that trend. Whether or not acute alcoholism is at an all-time high, certainly a higher percentage of the total population of this country, according to government figures, is drinking liquor more regularly. The publicity highlighting drug addiction among adolescents has thrown into shadow the more widespread habit - use of other drugs by a great multitude.

The open betrayal of public trust by public servants a generation or so ago would likely have resulted in the loss of public position. Yet it seems that a large portion of our people look with equanimity on the use of public position for private advancement and personal gain. And make no mistake, what I am saying applies not only to the Federal Government and Federal agencies, but to local educational systems, local police departments, county road commissions, civic waterworks, even the social service agencies, and sometimes to the church. It seems to be accepted as almost normal that people in such positions have as their first responsibility to look after their own interests. It is a tragic reversal of what had seemed to be a noble trend.

Yet of all these conditions so tragically evident in this day are but symptoms of a more deep-seated disease. We have neglected God. It is not that we have forgotten God. We have neglected him. We treat the faith of our fathers the way we treat a family heirloom. It is certainly not to be disposed of. It has had too much place in our past to let it be lost. We have a deeply sentimental attachment to it. We even want to display it on occasion, and with some pride, as we tell of our tie to such faith. We keep - we prize - we display our faith in God - but - we don't use it. After all, antiques are enjoyable to look at, but who wants to use a spinning wheel these days? We forget that religious faith is not a condition of a certain type of social order, but a certain type of social order results from the use of a fervent religious faith. Basic to the redemption of our present world is the recapture of an active faith in God."

The above is taken from a sermon given by Rev. Dr. Clifford E. Barbour on November 8th, 1951. Perhaps that surprises you. It did me. You are to be forgiven if you thought it was much more recent than that. It could have been preached from any number of pulpits just yesterday.

Many of you reading this know who Dr. Barbour was. For those who do not, Dr. Barbour was the pastor of Second Presbyterian Church from 1928 to 1951. He left to become President of Western Theological Seminary, which would later merge with Pittsburgh-Xenia Seminary to become Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, a position he held until his retirement in 1962. The excerpt above is from his Inaugural Address at Western Seminary. I edited it slightly for length and for inclusive language, but not for content. Everything you just read is as it was preached.

Dr. Barbour goes on to offer his thoughts on the church's calling in such a tragic time. He describes what he believes the church - and its members - must do to make a positive difference in the world. Given that Dr. Barbour's description of the problem is still valid and relevant today, I believe that his solution is equally relevant and valid.

And to find out what it is, you'll have to join me on Sunday morning at 11:00 a.m. for our Virtual Worship Service. See you then!

Grace and peace...

Pastor Tim

Psychic Numbing

If you're like me and you're wondering why so many people are walking around, visiting family, getting together, going to bars and restaurants, not wearing masks, and generally acting as if there's NOT a raging global pandemic going on, then perhaps the audio clip below will help answer some of your questions. 

It's an interview I heard recently with Dr. Paul Slovik, professor of psychology at University of Oregon, Eugene. 

He explains why Americans don't seem to be bothered by the massive numbers of deaths and why people are likely to not change their behavior in order to reduce infections. The first part is due to a phenomenon known as psychic numbing. The second is due to the psychological principle of reinforcement.

The clip is just a little over 4 minutes long.