For Such A Time as This September 3, 2020 – Dennis Lohr

To the Good Folk of the Palmyra Church of the Brethren,
 
Joys and Concerns
If you have a joy or concern you would like us to share and pray about, please call, text or email it to me.  If you would like it included in our Sunday Worship sharing and prayer time, please share it with me that week by Friday morning.

• Correction: Michele Gottshall asks for prayers for all school employees and students as they begin this unusual school year.  (A cut and paste glitch removed the content of this prayer request in Tuesday’s devotion email.)
• Deb Wilson asks for prayers for her mom, who is not doing well.She is not eating, which may prompt Hospice care to begin.
• Alicia Brieve asks prayers for her grandparents Jean and Roy Summers.Hospitalized earlier this week, Jean has returned home and is receiving Hospice care.

Thank You: 
To all who call others to check in on them and share our emails and devotions.
 
Today’s Devotion:
I have written today’s devotion.  I am so thankful for the ways Christian community has blessed my life!
 
Shalom,
Dennis
 
Scripture – Romans 12:4-6a
For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another.  We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us…
 
Thoughts
I am drawn to the phrase “we are members one of another.”  Since Paul is using the human body as the metaphor, this phrase suggests that we are as important to one another as any part of the human body is important to the whole body.  He says that we are individuals, and as individuals we are different, with differing gifts, all of which working together help the whole body to function properly.
 
There is this great scene in the movie “Witness,” when the grandfather, Eli Lapp, instructs his grandson, Samuel, to ring the farm meal bell to call for assistance from their surrounding Amish neighbors.  In good Hollywood fashion the music changes from the sounds of danger and desperation to notes of hope and beauty, as the neighbors begin walking toward and arriving at the Lapp farm, deescalating by their very presence the danger at hand.  It is a beautiful image of the power of community.
 
Over and over again I watch folk in the church show up for one another.  If there is need, or pain, or joy in one part of the body, the other parts feel it and respond – each in their own way, according to the gifts they have been given, because we are “individually members one of another.”  Once this way of thinking and living takes root in us, it happens beyond the church, in all our relationships.  Indeed, what Paul urges in the church, that is seeing one another as connected, has the power to transform our communities and our world.
 
This week, I want to give a shout out to all who are contributing time, talent, and resources to the renovation of 27 N. Chestnut Street.  We are trying to keep costs down by using volunteers, while working against a time deadline.  We have a tenant ready to move in on October 1.  We clearly need volunteers with various construction skills, but assistance with sanding, cleaning and even handing pieces of flooring to the person laying the floor are all helpful.  Contact Russ Nagy to arrange a time to help if you can. 
 
Today, let us give thanks for times when individuals, and when bodies of individuals all working together, have blessed us.  Let us consider the gifts, talents, and resources that we have been given.  These things are in our power to use, individually and collectively, to joyfully bless others.
 
Prayer
Gracious God, thank you for our church and human family.  May we see ourselves and all people as individuals gifted by you.  Help us to live and model lives of generosity.  Help us to see and respond to the needs around us, guided by your spirit, in the way of Jesus.  Amen.