Ongoing Response to COVID-19
Weekday Email to Members and Friends – 2020-07-08
Wednesday July 8 2020
A daily e-mailer from
Matt Matthews
To Members and Friends of
First Presbyterian Church
Champaign, Illinois
Dear Friends,
How many of you have seen the play “Hamilton”? I saw it on Friday evening on TV. I was amazed. Check it out and tell me what you think. (Some of you have already chimed in.)
Tomorrow, in my Thursday emailer, I hope to include another essay by Ian Evensen. Remember, he’s a high school junior in our church. I’ve asked him to write about this: “What have you learned this week about racism?”
What have you learned? Send me your essay.
Take on Race:
My friend Allen Huff’s sermons are so good. He preaches in East Tennessee in Jonesborough. I hesitate to tell you this lest you defect. Listen:
The life of faith takes hard work. It takes determination and conviction, imagination and creativity, patience and forgiveness.
[R]econciling the hard work of discipleship and the gift of grace doesn’t take fancy theological gymnastics. It’s a matter of perspective. The hard work of discipleship is our grateful response to God’s gracious initiative . . . [T]he longer and more intentionally we follow Jesus’ ways of compassion, forgiveness, and justice, his yoke fits more naturally and his burden causes less strain.
Yesterday I re-read Martin Luther King, Jr’s. Letter from a Birmingham Jail. In this profoundly eloquent, prophetic, and love-wrought epistle, Dr. King calls religious leaders of all faith traditions to task for their reluctance to take on the yoke and the burden of solidarity with God’s love for all humankind, and especially for those who suffer discrimination and oppression.
* * *
I, for one, am not eager to take this yoke of naming and ending discrimination. That burden seems too heavy and my shoulders are too narrow. But I’m reminded that with Jesus I can do anything he calls me to do. And it’s not my will that matters, but God’s.
So, this is my song. Listen, again:
https://www.youtube.com/
News:
A service for Todd Lebetter, the homeless man murdered last week at West Side Park, will be in the parking lot of the Phoenix Center on Washington Street, home of CU at Home, at 7:00 p.m. I’ll be masked and physically distanced; join me if you wish.
That is also the exact hour of our Wednesday Vespers on Zoom. Online is the safest place to ‘meet.’ Rachel will be leading the program, and you gathered saints can pray as Langston Hughes teaches:
Gather up
In the arms of your pity
The sick, the depraved,
The desperate, the tired,
All the scum
Of our weary city
Gather up
In the arms of your pity.
Gather up
In the arms of your love—
Those who expect
No love from above.
(“Prayer,” Langston Hughes)
* * *
The Wednesday Vespers Zoom link is:
Email zoom@firstpres.church for the link.
Thursday Youth Gathering 4 pm
Email zoom@firstpres.church for the link.
Good Word:
Matthew 11:28-30
“Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
Let us pray
Our Holy Father, we confess the weakness and sinfulness of our lives. We have often turned away from thee to seek our own desires. And often when we have done no evil, we have undertaken nothing of good, and so have been guilty of uselessness and neglect. From this sin of idleness and indifference set us free. Lead us into fruitful effort, and deliver us from profitless lives. We ask this in the name of Jesus. Amen.
[Martin Luther King, Jr.]
PEACE to you all,
Matt Matthews
Cell: 864.386.9138
Matt@FirstPres.Church
Weekday Email to Members and Friends – 2020-07-07
| News Education is the Pathway to Peace Wednesdays 1:30 pm On July 8, Wednesday 7pm zoom prayer service, Rachel will interview Claudia Kirby about what she and her husband, Bob, witnessed several years ago when they spent three weeks at Frontera de Cristo and the surrounding area. |
||||||||
|
||||||||
Weekday Email to Members and Friends – 2020-07-06
Monday July 6 2020
A daily e-mailer from
Matt Matthews
To Members and Friends of
First Presbyterian Church
Champaign, Illinois
Dear Friends,
Unimaginable.
There are things in life we never want to face. We know we may. We know that no one is immune. But we don’t want to face them.
In WWII—not that long ago—my grandmother hung four stars in the front window of her house signifying that she had four men in the war: her husband (a stateside major inspecting training camps, my grandfather), both sons (my father and Uncle Jim), and a son-in-law (Aunt Mary Louise’s husband, Joe). The thought of losing a son must be unimaginable.
In the Broadway smash “Hamilton,” Alexander and his wife Eliza face the death of a son. It’s “unimaginable” the chorus sings.
Chorus: If you see him in the street/
walking by her side/
talking by her side/
have pity.
He is trying to do the unimaginable/
See them walking through the park/
long after dark/
Taking in the sights of the city.
They are trying to do the unimaginable.
That’s what dealing with loss sometimes seems: unimaginable. We can’t get our minds around it. We have nothing in our play book to help us. Our emotional tool box is empty.
I love this song because it reminds us that the strangers we pass by on our walk around the park may be dealing with the unimaginable. Show pity. Be kind. You never know what they may be thinking about, suffering through, grieving. It just might be unimaginable.
One of our DREAAM families is working through the death last week of a young daughter in a car accident. Laketia Thomas’s daughter Leondra Hopkins died. Melo, the brother, is a DREAAMer. Tracy Dace and his staff have responded with care and grace.
And on Wednesday near midnight, Todd Ledbetter, a homeless man who sat and slept (and sometimes preached) on the park bench in front of the Episcopal Church across State Street from West Side Park was brutally beaten to death. On Friday, Damon Rowell and I sat on that bench awhile and visited his friends who grieved. We brought cold Gatorade, but they were drinking stronger stuff. We prayed. A parking lot service lead by Rev. Beth Maynard will happen soon.
Unimaginable.
Your church is attempting to walk alongside those who grieve. It would be unimaginable if we didn’t. We are a part of something bigger that transcends our small lives. Your contributions matter. Thank you for your prayers.
News
Men’s Breakfast Bible Study Tuesdays 8 am
Email zoom@firstpres.church for the link.
Take on Race:
Racism
When the wound stops bleeding,
Will it heal?
Will the rent flesh clot, scab, peel?
Will the skin be as smooth to the touch,
as wondrous a sight,
As Black or as Yellow,
As Red or as White? (C. Moore Grace)
* * *
Let America Be America Again
By Langston Hughes
Let America be America again.
Let it be the dream it used to be.
Let it be the pioneer on the plain
Seeking a home where he himself is free.
(America never was America to me.)
Let America be the dream the dreamers dreamed—
Let it be that great strong land of love
Where never kings connive nor tyrants scheme
That any man be crushed by one above.
(It never was America to me.)
O, let my land be a land where Liberty
Is crowned with no false patriotic wreath,
But opportunity is real, and life is free,
Equality is in the air we breathe.
(There’s never been equality for me,
Nor freedom in this “homeland of the free.”)
Say, who are you that mumbles in the dark?
And who are you that draws your veil across the stars?
I am the poor white, fooled and pushed apart,
I am the Negro bearing slavery’s scars.
I am the red man driven from the land,
I am the immigrant clutching the hope I seek—
And finding only the same old stupid plan
Of dog eat dog, of mighty crush the weak.
I am the young man, full of strength and hope,
Tangled in that ancient endless chain
Of profit, power, gain, of grab the land!
Of grab the gold! Of grab the ways of satisfying need!
Of work the men! Of take the pay!
Of owning everything for one’s own greed!
I am the farmer, bondsman to the soil.
I am the worker sold to the machine.
I am the Negro, servant to you all.
I am the people, humble, hungry, mean—
Hungry yet today despite the dream.
Beaten yet today—O, Pioneers!
I am the man who never got ahead,
The poorest worker bartered through the years.
Yet I’m the one who dreamt our basic dream
In the Old World while still a serf of kings,
Who dreamt a dream so strong, so brave, so true,
That even yet its mighty daring sings
In every brick and stone, in every furrow turned
That’s made America the land it has become.
O, I’m the man who sailed those early seas
In search of what I meant to be my home—
For I’m the one who left dark Ireland’s shore,
And Poland’s plain, and England’s grassy lea,
And torn from Black Africa’s strand I came
To build a “homeland of the free.”
The free?
Who said the free? Not me?
Surely not me? The millions on relief today?
The millions shot down when we strike?
The millions who have nothing for our pay?
For all the dreams we’ve dreamed
And all the songs we’ve sung
And all the hopes we’ve held
And all the flags we’ve hung,
The millions who have nothing for our pay—
Except the dream that’s almost dead today.
O, let America be America again—
The land that never has been yet—
And yet must be—the land where every man is free.
The land that’s mine—the poor man’s, Indian’s, Negro’s, ME—
Who made America,
Whose sweat and blood, whose faith and pain,
Whose hand at the foundry, whose plow in the rain,
Must bring back our mighty dream again.
Sure, call me any ugly name you choose—
The steel of freedom does not stain.
From those who live like leeches on the people’s lives,
We must take back our land again,
America!
O, yes,
I say it plain,
America never was America to me,
And yet I swear this oath—
America will be!
Out of the rack and ruin of our gangster death,
The rape and rot of graft, and stealth, and lies,
We, the people, must redeem
The land, the mines, the plants, the rivers.
The mountains and the endless plain—
All, all the stretch of these great green states—
And make America again!
Good Word:
Romans 7:14-25
14 For we know that the law is spiritual; but I am of the flesh, sold into slavery under sin. 15 I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. 16 Now if I do what I do not want, I agree that the law is good. 17 But in fact it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me. 18 For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. 19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. 20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me.
21 So I find it to be a law that when I want to do what is good, evil lies close at hand. 22 For I delight in the law of God in my inmost self, 23 but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind, making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!
So then, with my mind I am a slave to the law of God, but with my flesh I am a slave to the law of sin.
Let us pray
From Desmond Tutu:
The right hand of God is writing in our land,
Writing with power and with love.
Our conflicts and our fears, our triumphs and our tears
Are recorded by the right hand of God.
The right hand of God is pointing in our land,
Pointing the way we must go.
So clouded is the way, so easily we stray,
But we’re guided by the right hand of God.
The right hand of God is striking in our land,
Striking out at envy, hate and greed.
Our selfishness and lust, our pride and unjust
Are destroyed by the right hand of God.
The right hand of God is lifting in our land,
Lifting the fallen one by one.
Each one is known by name, and rescued now from shame,
By the lifting of the right hand of God.
The right hand of God is healing in our land,
Healing broken bodies, minds and souls,
So wondrous is its touch, with love that means so much,
When we’re healed by the right hand of God.
The right hand of God is planting in our land,
Planting seeds of freedom, hope and love,
In these Caribbean lands, let his people all join hands,
And be one with the right hand of God.
AMEN.
PEACE to you all,
Matt Matthews
Cell: 864.386.9138
Matt@FirstPres.Church
Weekday Email to Members and Friends – 2020-07-03
Friday 3 July 2020
Members and Friends of
First Presbyterian Church
Champaign, Illinois
Dear Friends,
“Do this in remembrance of me.” (Luke 22:19)
* * *
When my grandfather (Deda) died, my grandmother (Baba) slowly adjusted to life without him. She eventually emptied his closets and his drawers.
Deda’s workshop was in the garage. He threw his scraps in a chest-high wooden box, and fed these scraps into the potbellied stove, which took the chill off Tidewater Virginia’s winters. While she gave a lot away, Baba kept that box filled with scraps. Piece by piece she’d rescue and sand down Deda’s scraps. She’d glue them together into sculpture, staining or painting as necessary. One of my favorites, signed from 1973, is called “Extravaganza.”
I loved what she did with Deda’s leftovers. She handled each scrap gently, in a holy way, looking at each piece with imagination. Baba thought, “What can I do with this piece?” And, “What piece would go nicely with this piece?” With sandpaper, glue, patience, and love my grandmother made something extraordinary from simple scraps of wood.
When you look at these ‘sculptures,’ some just see scraps of wood. I see Baba and Deda and their love for each other, and their love for their eight-year-old grandson named Matt.
On the night of his betrayal, Jesus took bread and wine and did something extraordinary with it. This bread and wine were already sacred, symbolizing the mighty acts of God in the Passover. But on that night, he said, amazingly, “This is my body, given for you.” And, “This cup is the new covenant, sealed in my blood, shed for the forgiveness of your sin.”
It’s just ordinary bread and juice. There’s nothing gourmet about it. But the bread and juice remind us powerfully of Jesus. Do this in remembrance of me, he said. And we do.
Some see just bread and juice.
We see the love of God.
—Matt Matthews
* * *
Rachel reminds me that my birthday is today. It’s poor form for a pastor to ask his flock for a present, but I’m asking. Consider making a donation to DREAAM House in my honor (or in anybody’s honor). I’d be SUPER glad if you did that. I love DREAAM, what they stand for, how they work, and the love the DREAAM Team has for its “dreamers.” Write a check to DREAAM and send it to the church address. Help a young person dream!
* * *
I’m preaching this Sunday about sin. This topic is sure to cause a large turnout(!) It’s also communion Sunday, so bring some bread and juice.
I love worshiping with you on Sundays.
Invite a friend.
* * *
Pay attention to God’s activity in the world around you.
Be amazed.
Tell somebody.
PEACE,
Matt Matthews
864.386.9138
Matt@FirstPres.Church
* * *
From your Nurture Team — We didn’t have anyone successfully guess Kathy Schoeffmann in last week’s Photo Challenge!
Here’s a new photo challenge.
Visit http://fb.com/groups/
Please join in the fun! We would like you to select a photo from your younger years (grade school, high school or early adulthood). Photos need not be professional. Candid shots are welcome. Please send your photos to photos@firstpres.church.
* * *
A birthday song…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
Aretha!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
Weekday Email to Members and Friends – 2020-07-02
Thursday July 2 2020
A daily e-mailer from
Matt Matthews
To Members and Friends of
First Presbyterian Church
Champaign, Illinois
Dear Friends,
Thank you for those who joined the Wednesday service for wholeness. Eric Corbin crafted a beautiful service, and he and Judi Geistlinger led it beautifully. God is good.
Take on Race:
Racism is anti-Christian. In 2016, the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) approved a comprehensive churchwide anti-racism policy called “Facing Racism: A Vision of the Intercultural Community.” The policy states:
Racism is a lie about our fellow human beings, for it says that some are less than others. It is also a lie about God, for it falsely claims that God favors parts of creation over the entirety of creation. Because of our biblical understanding of who God is and what God intends for humanity, the PC(USA) must stand against, speak against and work against racism. Anti-racist effort is not optional for Christians. It is an essential aspect of Christian discipleship, without which we fail to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ.
Structural racism is not only the “opposite of what God intends for humanity,” but is also an example of how sin is systemic rather than simply personal. As the PC(USA)’s anti-racism policy states, “Reformed theology offers a nuanced understanding of sin. Calvin did not understand sin to be simply an individual belief, action, or moral failing (Calvin, 1960). Rather, he viewed sin as the corporate state of all humanity. It is an infection that taints each of us and all of us. No part of us — not our perception, intelligence, nor conscience — is unclouded by sin.”
Psalm 14:3 and Romans 3:10 remind us, “There is no one just, not even one.” The PC(USA)’s policy also reminds us that this realization “does not mean that human beings are awful. Rather, it means that we must have humility about our own righteousness, and that we must cling to the grace of God in Jesus Christ.”
NEWS:
Make a donation to DREAAM for anyone’s birthday. Send them to the church, or directly to DREAAM at https://www.dreaam.org/
Fridays
Men’s Prayer 8:30 am
Email zoom@firstpres.church for the link.
Friday Night Lights Bible Study 7:30 pm
Email zoom@firstpres.church for the link.
Good Word:
Ephesians 2:19-22
19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God, 20 built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. 21 In him the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; 22 in whom you also are built together spiritually into a dwelling place for God.
Let us pray
As the wind is your symbol, so forward our goings. As the dove, so launch us heavenwards.
As water, so purify our spirits.
As a cloud, so abate our temptations.
As dew, so revive our languor.
As fire, so purge out our dross. Amen.
Christina Rossetti (1830–1894)
PEACE to you all,
Matt Matthews
Cell: 864.386.9138
Matt@FirstPres.Church