OCTOBER 2020 EDITION
THE WOODLANDS UMC
POINT THE PRICE OF LIVING There’s a line from an old musical. You know the last part of it even if you don’t know the musical. It says, “And love can come to everyone because the best things in life are free.” I think I know what that means. But I don’t believe it, not really. If the best things in life are free, why are the rings in a box of crackerjacks nothing like the one’s you buy at Tiffany’s? If the best things in life are free, why do you pay a stock broker to manage your investments instead of taking your brother-in-law’s advice about the market? If the best things in life are free, why do we talk about the high price of freedom? If the best things in life are free, why, when we remember the very best thing that has ever happened, do we hold up a loaf of bread and say, “The body of Christ broken for you”? Why do we lift a cup and say, “The blood of Christ shed for you”? I know the death of Jesus is a gift. I know we do nothing to earn it. But that doesn’t mean a price wasn’t paid. The best thing in my life, my salvation, it wasn’t free. A price had to be paid, a terrible price. Something costly had to be done. THEN JESUS TOLD HIS DISCIPLES, “IF ANYONE WOULD COME AFTER ME, LET HIM DENY HIMSELF AND TAKE UP HIS CROSS AND FOLLOW ME.” — MATTHEW 16:24
That’s the way it works, Jesus taught us. We experience the fullness of life, not by holding on, but by letting go. We don’t bring life to others by protecting ourselves, but by denying ourselves. We never step into glory by living life on the cheap but only by paying a cost.
In great stories, where we admire the hero and wish to be like him or her, the hero must always die to something he or she has held onto. He must die to the plans he has made for himself, the comforts he has expected to enjoy, the rights he has claimed as his own, the life he has expected to live. She must deny the passions that would distract her, the fear that would paralyze her, and the self-image that tells her she’s not capable of making a difference. I have lived long enough and so have you to know that even though life is a gift, living well is always costly. Dying to self allows me to love othes. Dying to bitterness and unforgiveness brings freedom and joy. Dying to perfectionism and judgementalism enables me to see the beauty in the people around me and receive the gifts of each new day. Dying to fear empowers me to step into the big story of what God is doing to redeem the world. A life like that – it’s not cheap and it’s not free. It comes only when a price is paid. A sort of death occurs. A cross is taken up. But it’s the life Jesus calls us to. It’s how he lived. And it’s why we love him so. Rob Renfroe, Loft Lead Pastor
A MESSAGE FROM
LEE BREWER
PASTOR TO SENIOR ADULTS
It is difficult these days to keep a positive attitude, isn’t it? With covid changing our lives in so many ways, and just turning on the news to see and hear about some new crisis in the country or in the world, it can easily cause us to focus on the negative. It takes effort to find and focus on the good yet to be. Alice was a dear member of a smalltown Methodist church. Everyone in town knew who she was because of her sunny disposition and her continual acts of kindness and care for those around her. She was the kind of person who lit up the room when she entered. Her pastor came to visit her one day, and as they were visiting she surprised him by bringing up what she wanted for her funeral service some day in the future. “There is one specific thing I want you to remember for my service, pastor,” she said. “I want you to make very sure that I have a fork in my hand when I am placed in my coffin for everyone to see.” The pastor was caught completely offguard and asked her why she wanted to be buried with a fork in her hand. “You know when we have pot-luck dinners at the church? When someone comes to pick up the plates they say ‘keep your fork! Something good is coming for dessert!’ And I know that when my life here is over something really good is coming next!” Something good is coming next! Who knows what good thing the Lord has in store for us the rest of this day and tomorrow? It takes choice and an effort to anticipate good things, but the Lord is faithful and will continue to be. Blessings to you all, Lee