Late winter can be a time of waiting as we well know. We’ve just come off the sugar high of Valentine’s Day and it’s now two full months until the chocolate bunnies and jelly beans will begin appearing in Easter baskets. It’s the time of year when snow might come, or might not – but it is a long wait until a reliable spring forecast for sure. Some of you are thinking about your gardens and anticipating that day when the first bulb breaks through the ground, but until then we are waiting, oh and getting our taxes ready – yes, there’s that! COVID has of course brought its own kinds of waiting. The Old Testament passage today is just the picture of our world right now, isn’t it? December is when we fill our homes with decorations and traditions of the past – only to have January filled with ads to clean out our closets and refresh and get rid of clutter. One day we see North Korea doing missile tests and Russia building a military presence at Ukraine’s border, and the next calls for unity in mitigating the spread of the next variant of the virus and spread to various parts of the world.  What should we spend our days focused on? The phrase, ‘He has set eternity in the hearts of men’ from that passage has something to do with it, don’t you think?

Jeff & April have been focusing on the church and its members – the body of Christ – in the recent sermon series. We’ve looked at scripture together that helps us to internalize that concept. We are not all the same by any stretch of the imagination. Some of us like Gary Warner enjoy driving a tractor at Legacy of the Plains to make sure the longhorns are fed each week. Some like Grace Kelley practice their conversational skills by visiting those in our church community who are mostly home and don’t get out as much as they once did. Some others like Kathy Tando research what trees will do well in the soil here around the church where a new one needs to be planted. I could name a special skill for each one of you in this body of believers!

Several weeks ago April used the analogy of a river and its tributaries to describe the church and our fingers that reach out into the community. I like that picture. The church is where we come together to drink and be refreshed at the source and then during the week we all have places to be, people to see, and tasks to accomplish. Our calendars have notes jotted throughout days – a birthday of a friend, a meeting to discuss a new strategy in a work issue, a trip to the dentist, or a time when the team you’re on practices. I’m on the choir team. The weeks and months are full of these dots on our calendars – and sometimes events that don’t appear on the calendar, like dropping off the recycling for instance, or stopping at the grocery store to pick up supplies for the week. We do these things because they serve a purpose in our lives, like brushing our teeth does.

Let’s consider some of the ways we fill other purpose in our lives, and let me suggest that Jeff and April may be the paid ministers at this church, but you and I serve also in ministry roles every day – if we choose it. My husband knows that when I say I’ll be back from the store in an hour, it could easily be longer if there is no reason to rush home. After living in this community for over a quarter of a century now, I may run into someone I might not have seen for a long time. On one such trip just before Thanksgiving, that visit was someone who I knew only from our daughter’s days as a high school tennis player. This was the mom of one of the other players, who now told me that she had been diagnosed with cancer and was undergoing treatment. We talked about the hardship of it and the ways she was coping. That might have been the most important 15 or 20 minutes I made time for that day. Yes, I’m that person who is standing in the middle of the grocery store isle keeping you from finding the kind of beans you need for your minestrone soup recipe!

This role doesn’t really require any kind of special skill, only the willingness to not hurry through the day. This often-slow February timeframe might be the best time to consider what we make time for in a day or week. All that’s really needed is to be open to looking up from our phones and saying hello or maybe noticing a familiar face. It’s part of that call to be in relationship with others, not just in a relationship with God, and many of you have ‘helping’ and ‘relationship’ roles as a part of the work you do. The Scripture from Matthew 25 today illustrates that God desires that we pay attention to those around us – even spending our resources, time, energy, and of what we have for others. This passage isn’t meant to illustrate that our works lead to heaven. It’s meant to help us know that how we relate to others matters. What’s in our heart matters and that we are called to compassion. This happens to be a text quoted by Mother Teresa often to support her ministry. And it does have eternal significance.

Some of you may have seen the saying:  ‘There’s no way I was meant to pay bills and die’. Sometimes it seems that way – the errands, the obligations, the ‘I should do’s’ weigh on us. That’s not what I’m talking about here. I should sign up for more volunteer stuff. I should serve on that committee. This is not that. This is about approaching our days with the idea that God can use us in all circumstances, in all kinds of ways. In our work culture of today, sometimes there is not a lot left of us by the end of the day. Work takes a great deal of our energy most of the time. Each of you could give us a story from your last week – an interaction with a coworker, a place you shared a care or a joy in a life in your world. The pandemic in many ways led to a closed off world where it was much easier to not make the effort. Our lives are a tapestry of experiences and what we see on Sunday mornings is just the tip of the iceberg of what is happening with each other in a week’s time. 

Something that simultaneously delights me but also terrifies me is the way that Tami Lippstreu is able to find ways to match skillsets of individuals with the needs of others. Being a willing participant around Tami is a dangerous thing. It is also wonderful! Because of the settings she has allowed herself to move into, she sees needs in a variety of areas. You are all wonderful in many unique ways, and have places you move into that no one else does.

I have Maurie Deines’ permission to use this story. These are his words when I asked him about what his focus is on most days. Here’s what he said.

First of all let me tell you about my personal ministry:  Because I am now “alone”, I have really immersed myself into that world…a world that I would rather not be in, but “somebody has to do it”.  And, for many who are widowed or those who have yet to experience it, “it” is a different world.  My first immersion was in the Word.  I have listened every morning to different versions of “The Bible in One Year” for probably 7 years now.  It has allowed me to personally develop the habit of “daily devotion”.  And, I continue to participate in a Bible study of 10 or so “Faith Sojourners” led by Lou Kleager.  The second immersion is in “grief groups”.  Once one has had this journey I am on, one realizes the hurt that others are experiencing.  So, I have helped with the national program “Grief Share” and with a local group through the Catholic Church.  I have attended that group through 2 five week sessions and have presented on “my journey”. 

Maurie is the picture of what I see in 2 Corinthians 1:3-7, where Paul  says in a letter to the church at Corinth:

³ Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, ⁴ who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. ⁵ For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. ⁶ If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. ⁷ And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.

Isn’t that what ministry is about? Being equipped to relate or help one another – living out Ephesians 4, where Paul writes to the Ephesians in verse 2 that they should be, ‘bearing with one another in love.’ And in verse 15, ‘speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is Christ. From him the whole body joined together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.’

I want to take some time to share with you some of the ways you all participate in ministry and may not even realize it. A few weeks ago I spoke with Carissa Schank of the Firefighter Ministry.

Our church supported this ministry through the missions funds recently. I asked Carissa how they utilize funds throughout the year. This month the ministry celebrated their 10 year anniversary, serving families in at least 7 counties:  Scotts Bluff, Banner, Box Butte, Morrill, Cheyenne, Deuel, and Goshen. Families are given a week of lodging in a local hotel, clothing and meal vouchers, and other assistance to find resources for next steps. They partner with other ministries like 11:13 ministries for meals to families. Last year 42 families whose homes were destroyed by fire were helped by the Firefighter Ministry and through First Presbyterian’s gifts.

The Lakota Center and 11:13 Ministries are also local ministries our church missions have helped, along with missions abroad. We have a group doing a ministry in local Laundromats called Laundry Love, where each month they offer quarters and laundry soap on one weekend each month at a local Laundromat. This ministry has brought opportunities for great conversation with new residents or those seeking resources in our community.

In January, our clothes drive produced nearly 300 bags of clothing to assist with fire victims in the recent Colorado fires, and the annual angel tree at Christmas time always provides an opportunity to give a gift to a child locally through CAPWN. Many children have a brighter Christmas because of your generosity.

Our church serves as the site for a Thursday Soup Kitchen, and I recently sat down with Maggie Bernal who worked to start this ministry over 40 years ago with local churches. Since Christmas over 1000 meals have been served at the roughly 15 sites around our community that participate. Our church is one faithful partner in providing meals for those who need them.

Missi Iasillo runs the Catpack program in Scottsbluff and expressed gratitude for the space we give for that program’s use. The Catpack program sends a supply of foods that can be prepared through the weekend for kids who may need that additional resource. The ministry currently sends home 180 food packs home with students every week. Gering sends home about 80 packs each week. On Tuesday afternoons, anywhere from 10-16 volunteers, including some faces from our own congregation, come to make that happen in a room in our daycare/education wing of the church. It serves a very real need to provide food security for children that fall in that gap. Those children are able to show up at school on Monday with stomachs full and are more ready to start the week ready to learn.

Blessed Beginnings – our daycare and pre-school – is a tremendous ministry to families in our community. In a time in our world where everything is being challenged and many centers across the state have been forced to close, our center has continued to retain excellent staff and remain a loving environment for the children who spend time with us. Every day kids receive love and instruction in this place. On Wednesdays Pastor Jeff and April lead a worship time with the kids. Libby Holmes is our director and shared this story with me. These are Libby’s words –

–After Christmas we talked about the “Flight to Egypt” from Matthew 2. We stood at the large nativity scene in the chapel and listened to the story. As we talked, kids pointed out some of the characters (Jesus, Mary, Joseph, and the angel) When they were told about King Herod, they wanted to know “which of those guys with the presents was the bad guy”. I told them that those were the wise men and they were good guys and that we don’t really put up pictures of King Herod, because he’s the bad guy.

Blessed Beginnings contributes in a big way to the spiritual goals of our church – making strong connections with families and sharing Biblical concepts, many for the first time. We may never know the long term impact of this ministry. What we do know is that families and children feel safe and loved in this place.

Just as we know from 1 Corinthians 12:12-31, which I would encourage you to read again, we do not all have the same gifts – we are all very different. Some are eyes, some are feet, some are musical, some are heavy lifters, some like serving on committees, some don’t – we all play different roles. That is what makes the church a uniquely wonderful entity. We are all brought together in this one time with this one group of people in this place on the earth – Scottsbluff & Gering, Nebraska at First Presbyterian Church. I’ve just listed many ways First Presbyterian Church is engaging in great things for our community. So what makes this any different from the local Kiwanis or Rotary club – they do great stuff for people too! I think the key is in that ‘eternal perspective’ piece. We are concerned with matters of the heart – and that’s what matters most. It’s not just good stuff.

Each of us has places we can go in our mind – places that no longer exist, except for in our mind. Maybe it is walking into your grandmother’s house – remembering what picture hung above the dining room table and the neighbor who lived next door. I can visit my 10^th grade English teacher in school who wore a cardigan with a Kleenex tucked in her sleeve everyday, in whose class I first learned to enjoy books like, ‘A Lantern in Her Hand’ by Bess Streeter Aldrich – which led to a lifelong love of stories that tell of people making a new life in harsh new worlds like the prairies of Nebraska. These are instances that each of us once experienced at a particular time and place. The memory is only significant to us. This is the place in us that builds our unique passions and makes us who we are.

I give that illustration only to remind you that we will never again live in a time that is exactly like today. It brings unique challenges for us, unique opportunities to meet those in our path today and learn another’s challenges or joys. Let’s not forget joys – participating in joy with others is important too, not just the hard things – but joyful ones too! The same opportunity might not exist next year or even tomorrow – so today is our gift to make of it what we will. I want to leave you with one random thought that rattles around in my brain. It is a passage from the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 7, specifically in verses 7-9. 

⁷ “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. ⁸ For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

⁹ “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? ¹⁰ Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? ¹¹ If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! ¹² So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.

Our Father knows the gifts we need and doesn’t hold back from giving good gifts to us. We shouldn’t hold back – we should be about the business of giving good gifts when we see a need. It’s part of the joy that comes in being in relationship with others. So if you thought, “It’s a Wonderful Life” was just a favorite Christmas movie, think again. Just as George Bailey was given a glimpse of life without him by his guardian angel Clarence, you’ve just seen a little glimpse of what might not happen in our community were it not for a First Presbyterian Church. Our ministries touch many lives – those that happen in our building and outside of it. Each of us touches many lives in a week, a month, a year. As the second verse of the hymn, ‘Lord I Want To Be A Christian,’ says – ‘Lord I Want To Be More Loving – in My Heart, Lord in My Heart,’ sometimes our heads, our ego, our busy schedules – get in the way of what we know we want to be and do! Maybe slow February days are good for practicing and harnessing the desires of our heart and reminding ourselves of those desires. Amen.

Today’s prayer –

Lord, help us not let our calendars rule over our lives. Let us listen to your still small voice and find the places in our lives we can choose to make room for personal ministry and purpose. Help us see the eternal perspective of our days. Give us eyes to see those around us, not with judgement or annoyance, but with gentleness of spirit, with a desire to be a helper in the world. Lead us through the world, which can often seem dark. Help us to remember to light our path with your word. Instill in us compassion for those we meet in our day’s work.  

OT and NT passages – 

In Ecclesiastes 3:1-11 we read

3 There is a time for everything,
    and a season for every activity under the heavens:

²     a time to be born and a time to die,
    a time to plant and a time to uproot,
³     a time to kill and a time to heal,
    a time to tear down and a time to build,
⁴     a time to weep and a time to laugh,
    a time to mourn and a time to dance,
⁵     a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
    a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
⁶     a time to search and a time to give up,
    a time to keep and a time to throw away,
⁷     a time to tear and a time to mend,
    a time to be silent and a time to speak,
⁸     a time to love and a time to hate,
    a time for war and a time for peace.

⁹ What do workers gain from their toil? ¹⁰ I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. ¹¹ He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet^[a] no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.

In Matthew 25:34-40  We read the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats I’m going to actually start reading at verse 31. . .

³¹ “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. ³² All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³ He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. 

³⁴ “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. ³⁵ For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, ³⁶ I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

³⁷ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸ When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? ³⁹ When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

⁴⁰ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’