Does god Matter?

I originally wrote this as an article for the Family Life (the news letter for the Church of Christ in Falls Church, VA.) on Sunday, May 31st 2020 but I feel it has a message for everyone during the Covid-19 virus pandemic. 


A few weeks ago I read an article about how important it is for us to communicate why God matters during this global pandemic.  It was in the context of churches that didn’t have the resources to do food drives or clothing distributions.  There are other organizations that are able to meet those physical needs but we need to be meeting spiritual needs.

In response I began to make my “Why God Matters?” list.  It is pretty generic and I felt like something was missing.  So I changed my question to “Why God matters to me?”  That’s when I was struck by the fact that a generic god doesn’t matter to me but the LORD does.

Before you think I have given up my faith let me explain.   Our society throws the word “god” around a great deal and most of the time it really has no meaning.  It is just a word people use to identify some kind of supreme being.  This undefined supreme being is easy to believe in because this god is created by the person.  We see this nebulous supreme being used on our money, by politicians and other people who want to sound or seem pious or spiritual.

That god doesn’t matter.  It is YAHWEH (the LORD) who matters; this is the true GOD we meet in the Bible.  The LORD is not a nebulous supreme being or god; we create.  No the LORD is a specific being who has a defined personality and motivations.

We see in the Bible that the LORD is the creator.  The LORD makes the universe in an amazingly creative and purposeful way.  We see the LORD loves.  We see this in the way the LORD is continually making covenants with humanity and showing mercy to sinful people.  We see the LORD is righteous.  This means the LORD behaves and acts in ways that are good and holy.

It is not a god that matters but it is the LORD who matters!  Our job is to show that in our lives to those around us.  Over the next few weeks I will be exploring these ideas.

Empty Table, Full Tables and the Table of the LORD

I originally wrote this as an article for the Family Life (the news letter for the Church of Christ in Falls Church, VA.) on Sunday, May 24th 2020 but I feel it has a message for everyone during the Covid-19 virus pandemic. 

Last Sunday (May 17th 2020) morning started on the rocky side.  First the video connection to the morning Bible class was just not working.   This was due to the number of churches trying to use ZOOM at the same time.  After the class and double checking the video stream for the worship service was good. I finally sat down on my couch with a cup of coffee.

Listening to the singing I noticed our communion table was empty at the building.  At first I found this kind of sad.  Normal our table would have our plates with the bread and trays with our cups containing the fruit of the vine.

About the time Habtu began the communion service a thought struck me.  That table is empty but the tables at our homes were full.  We had all those elements with us.  We were taking communion at our homes with thousands if not millions of other sisters and brothers in Christ.

Later another thought came to me.  The table at my church’s building was empty on my tv screen but the TABLE of the LORD was full!  The LORD’s Table is never empty.  All have been invited.  It is the place we as believers gather to remember.  We remember the birth, life, teachings, miracles, example, death and resurrection of Jesus the Christ.  We don’t remember on our own, we remember together.  It is a communal remembrance.  That is why Paul was so angry with some of the Corinthians because they had forgotten to remember together!

Throughout Sunday the Body of Christ was meeting and crashing ZOOM.  The Body of Christ was also meeting and taking the Lord’s Supper!  As the earth spins and church services begin in different parts of our world individual members of the Body of Christ take the Lord’s Supper together.  Separately together we remembered as one.

This coming Sunday if you are by yourself during Communion you are not alone! We are all remembering with you.  We are all praying with you.  We are all singing with you.  We are all together in spirit if we aren’t together in body.  Our tables are together and are a representation of the LORD’s Table.

Jeremiah's Letter to the Exiles

I originally wrote this as an article for the Family Life (the news letter for the Church of Christ in Falls Church, VA.) on Sunday, May 3rd 2020 but I feel it has a message for everyone during the Covid-19 virus pandemic.

Tuesday night (April 28th 2020) , during the virtual small group hosted by the McKays, we all shared scripture that was meaningful to us.  It was so good to see many familiar faces and a new one as well.  It was so good to hear everyone share how the written word of God is impacting their life.  I chose to share Jeremiah 29:4 - 9.

This week I have been listening to Jeremiah and it is a difficult story.  Jeremiah is called to be a prophet at a terrible time in the history of Judah.  The kingdom will have fallen by the end.  The last of the people will be ethnically cleansed from the Promised Land.

Jeremiah’s job is to proclaim this bad news.  He declares that these events were caused by the sin of the people and the LORD is responsible.  It is the LORD who is carrying the people away to new land and cities.  Their normal lives are turned upside down.  By the end of this, the people will need to make and find a new normal.

In this new normal the LORD tells the people in exile to settle in.  They are to make new homes.  They are to have families.  They are to encourage their children to have families.  They are to want the best for the new foriegn place they find themselves in.  They are to embrace the new normal.

They don’t want to be in exile.  The LORD knows this but in their exile they are to be light in the places they now live.

“Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper. (Jeremiah 29:7)

This should sound familiar.  Our world is turned upside down.  Our normal routines have been disrupted.  We haven’t been carried into exile but we are surviving a global pandemic.   The ways we used to live will not return and on the other side of this we will find a new normal.

In this new normal we are to seek the peace and prosperity of the place we find ourselves.  We are to pray for prosperity in this new normal because it will cause us to prosper too.

Like the exiles we won’t know what our new normal will be.  We are facing uncertainty.  Like the exiles we know the LORD is with us.  We have not been left on our own but the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are with us as we move into a new normal.