Sharing Mom

Mary Lou Clem - Our Spiritual Mother

 “Why don’t you introduce your mom and have her give all the moms and women of the church a blessing?”
“I don’t think half the church knows my mom and dad are members.”
“She’s led the women’s ministry for years and she’s a spiritual mother to every woman in the church.”
So a discussion with a couple of moms in the church about how to make Mother’s Day a bit more special for the women of the church led to me asking my mother to prepare and deliver a blessing to all the women of PCC.

My mom, Mary Lou, “The Sheriff” as my dad likes to call her, is a true leader. For years she was the administrator of one of the largest nursing homes in central Texas. Retirement was simply an opportunity to take on a major leadership role in the church. A gifted leader and administrator, she leads leaders. The Women’s Ministry leadership team is made up of highly dedicated and motivated women who lead their own teams focused on women’s spiritual education, mentoring, service, fellowship, and outreach.  They all look to my mom for encouragement, inspiration, and direction. They respect her leadership and administrative skills. They love her, because they know she loves them, and every woman connected to PCC. In a growing church with over 500 members my mom insists on meeting and welcoming every new female member personally at a coffee she hosts in her home.

Her love is not limited to PCC members. My mom has a passion for reaching women in the entire Pflugerville community. One of her favorite projects is the annual Back-to-School Luncheon and Fashion Show put on by the PCC Women’s Ministry every September. The purpose of the luncheon is to shower our local area teachers with love and attention… and it does. Mom makes sure invitations to the luncheon are delivered to every school in PISD. Every teacher leaves the luncheons feeling blessed and appreciated.

The message last Sunday was on the baptism of Jesus and focused on the voice of the Father saying, "You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased." After the final worship song, when the congregation expected me to deliver the blessing, my mom came and stood by me in the pulpit. I introduced her as my mom, Women’s Ministry Leader, and spiritual mother to all the women of PCC. I think every woman there looked to her with eager expectation when I said, “My mom, your spiritual mother, is going to give us the blessing today.” Here’s the blessing she delivered…

“To all the mothers, grandmothers, big sisters, aunts, women who are encouragers, mentors, teachers, any woman who has influence over the next generation, we give you recognition today and ask a special blessing for you.

May God bless you with faith that will sustain you in every situation and overcome every obstacle in your path.
May He clothe you with strength and dignity.
May you speak wisdom and may the teaching of kindness be upon your tongue.
May you have a sense of humor; laughter to lighten your load.
May your children rise up and call you blessed.
May you be filled with the peace of God that passes all understanding.
And when you see Jesus face to face, may you hear these words:
       "You are my daughter, whom I love; with you I am well pleased."

I wish every child could have a mom like I did as child. I wish every adult could have mom like I have now. For those at PCC, in a way, you do, for my mom is your spiritual mother. And it is a joy to share her love with all of you.

“Fly Away" or "Cast Your Cares”? (Psalm 55)

As with so many of the psalms of David, this one begins with a cry of desperation to God. “Listen to my prayer, O God… my thoughts trouble me and I am distraught… my heart is in anguish within me, horror has overwhelmed me!” He goes on to complain of an enemy that “drops trouble on me.” (v.5)
Obviously David is in a bad place. We think perhaps King Saul had sent another army to bring him in or assassins to kill him. Whatever or whoever was oppressing him, David’s initial response is one we can all relate to: “Oh, that I had the wings of a dove! I would fly away and be at rest…” (v.6)

The surprise turn is in verse 13 when the enemy that threatens his life is “my companion, my familiar friend”. It was someone he went to church with that had betrayed him (v.14). It was someone with whom he shared some sort of covenant (v.20). David opines, “His speech was smooth as butter, yet war was in his heart; his words were softer than oil, yet they were drawn swords.” There is no wound as deep as the wound inflicted by a trusted friend. There is no offense that feels more impossible to forgive than the offense of a covenant companion.

So David feels the need to escape, but where can he run, or fly away, to escape the wound he carries in his heart? In the end he realizes that it is better to “Cast your burden on the LORD, and he will sustain you.” (v.22) And so it is with us; it is better to cast our cares on the Lord than to dream about flying away from our troubles and wounds. Peter echoes the psalm when he admonishes believers, “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:7)

Does that mean the offender/betrayer gets off? David insists, “But you, O God, will cast them down into the pit of destruction…” (v.23) No one ever “gets off”. No one ever escapes the righteous judgment of God. Thanks be to God, in Christ there is redemption for even the worst kind of offender. As Christ followers, we are learning to cast our cares on Christ and look to him to heal our worst wounds. The healing of wounded heart is completed when forgiveness is freely given to the offender. So we must learn to pray for the redemption of our enemy rather than his destruction.

Waiting

Psalm 62:1 (NASB)
My soul waits in silence for God only; From Him is my salvation.  

Psalm 62:5 (NASB)

My soul, wait in silence for God only, For my hope is from Him.  

Waiting for anything or anyone anytime is difficult for our instant gratification culture of hurry. Why is it so difficult for us to wait? Could it be that we think we are too important, too busy, too vital to the rest of the world to waste time waiting? I’m guessing we’ve all had this thought while waiting in traffic: “Don’t these people know I’ve got to be someplace important to do something important? Why don’t they get out of my way?” It’s all too easy think we are the center of the universe, gods unto ourselves, and assume we deserve what we want, and right now! Whether it be waiting at a traffic light, in a line at the grocery store, or in the doctor’s waiting room, we’re just not good at waiting.

In Psalm 62: 1 & 5, one Hebrew word (dûmiyyâ) is translated “waits in silence” by the NASB. In some translations it is rendered either “silence” or “wait”. I think the NASB captures the fuller meaning of the word that carries the sense of waiting and being silent. To wait in silence for God is a good thing according to David. I would venture to say that such silent waiting is a spiritual discipline critical to an authentic relationship with God.

Waiting in silence teaches us…

• Patience, which is one of the fruits of the Spirit
• Humility, reminding us that we’re not in control or the center of the universe after all
• Love, sometimes waiting is a necessary expression of love
• To listen, sometimes is takes patience and time to hear someone’s heart
• To see, or at least see more than our non-stop life of sprinting from one thing to the next will allow. Waiting in silence in my backyard reveals a Cardinal and 3 Blue Jays I would have otherwise missed.
• Gratitude, it’s good to thank the Lord for the Cardinals and Jays and such

Of course, it’s God that David waits in silence to see and hear and feel. If our salvation and our hope come from the Lord God perhaps he is worth waiting for. God save us from this culture of hurry. Help us Father to learn to wait in silence for your presence.

"Who Am I?"

Someone only a few years older than me (I’m 55) had his first conversation with his wife about the “R-word”. For some retirement means graduation from the daily grind into a glorious new life of unbridled freedom. It means traveling in the RV, unlimited golf, visiting the grandkids whenever the mood strikes, finally having time to make that garden all it could be, napping in the middle of any day, reading books you always wanted to read, and maybe even volunteering in the church and community a bit. My friend, a pastor of over 30 years talked about none of those things related to his retirement. For him it was not a pleasant conversation. The burning question for him had nothing to do with retirement finances or the things he would be able to do. He confessed, “My whole purpose and identity is wrapped up in being a pastor. When I’m no longer a pastor the haunting question is: who am I?”

Most of us derive our self-image and identity from our career or some on-going significant contribution made to family or community. We like to be contributors. It feels good to make a difference. When the ability and/or opportunity to contribute is radically diminished because of aging or long-term illness or being laid-off we can suddenly face a serious identity crisis. The great German pastor and theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer had such a crisis near the end of his life.

Still in his 30s, Bonhoeffer had become one of the world’s leading Christian theologians. He was a gifted writer, leader, and authentic pastor in a time and place that severely tried the hearts of all pastors. Imprisoned by the Nazis for speaking out and working against the evil regime of Hitler, Bonhoeffer suddenly found his opportunities to contribute radically diminished. He did what he could from a prison cell… wrote letters and encouraged fellow prisoners. But even the great Bonhoeffer had his moments when he struggled with that question: “Who am I?” In fact, a poem he wrote from Tegel Prison communicates well his inner struggle.

“Who Am I?”

By Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Who am I? They often tell me

I stepped from my cell’s confinement
Calmly, cheerfully, firmly,
Like a Squire from his country house.

Who am I? They often tell me

I used to speak to my warders
Freely and friendly and clearly,
As though it were mine to command.

Who am I? They also tell me

I bore the days of misfortune
Equably, smilingly, proudly,
like one accustomed to win.

Am I then really that which other men tell of?

Or am I only what I myself know of myself?
Restless and longing and sick, like a bird in a cage,
Struggling for breath, as though hands were compressing my throat,
Yearning for colors, for flowers, for the voices of birds,
Thirsting for words of kindness, for neighborliness,
Tossing in expectations of great events,
Powerlessly trembling for friends at an infinite distance,
Weary and empty at praying, at thinking, at making,
Faint, and ready to say farewell to it all.

Who am I? This or the Other?

Am I one person today and tomorrow another?
Am I both at once? A hypocrite before others,
And before myself a contemptible woebegone weakling?
Or is something within me still like a beaten army
Fleeing in disorder from victory already achieved?
Who am I? They mock me, these lonely questions of mine.
Whoever I am, Thou knowest, O God, I am Thine!

I find so much meaning and self-identity as a pastor, father, husband, son, brother, friend. By the grace of God I can still contribute. But in the end, when my ability and/or opportunity to contribute is severely diminished, I hope to be able to say as Bonhoeffer said, “Whoever I am, Thou knowest, O God, I am Thine!”