Pastor's E-Letter

Pastor's E-Letter

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Showing items filed under “Allee Willcox”

Christmas Eve Worship

Yesterday morning we gathered some folks from our Oasis Women’s Ministry and Mothers of Preschoolers (MOPS) to celebrate the Christmas Season, share delicious treats, and enjoy one another's company. I heard over and over again around the room, “Isn’t it nice to be doing this again?”

On Monday I gathered with another group to share a Christmas Dinner. Last Thursday, too. This weekend, I’ll share in another Christmas party and then Sunday’s beautiful expression of worship in the Canticle of Joy and our Children’s Christmas Musical. I could ask the same thing of each of these gatherings: “Isn’t it so nice to be doing this again?”

While my weeks have felt cluttered, as I’m sure yours have, I have also felt such deep gratitude for a more normal season, one marked by delicious treats, gatherings, and joy. I gave a friend a big, unfettered hug after seeing them for the first time this week after a while away. I anticipate without fear, now fully boosted, my ability to see friends in the new year that I haven’t seen since before 2020.

And while of course, there is news to be worried about, tornado victims to pray for, a virus variant to keep our eyes on… we continue to say, with relief, “Isn’t it so nice to be doing this again?” The thing we had hoped for is on the horizon. Praise God!

One of the feelings that came up again and again during our (well, at least my) COVID-19 stay-at-home was the feeling that maybe we had taken for granted all the good, beautiful, hard, and fun things that we had enjoyed in a more “normal” life. Pausing meant that our eyes were cleared of the clutter and we could see just how beautiful most of our complaining was and that we could truly focus on what was important.

As we enter into more normal life again, each at our own pace, we may let that feeling fade and be replaced by the stress of the season. Yet Advent and Christmas offer us the truly joyful opportunity to appreciate all that we have been given. We can, with joy, say, “Isn’t it so nice to be doing this again?” to gatherings, giving, and the abundance of our lives. We can be reminded of the true presence of Christ amidst all of the “stuff,” and reorient ourselves to his purposes. We can recommit to our faith, and to the sharing of our faith, in this abundantly beautiful season.

Last year, one of the most painful parts of our Christmas season here at the church was our feeling that we couldn’t quite fling our doors open wide for all of our worship experiences. We wanted to keep folks safe with distancing and capacity requirements, and we did so even with a sizable crowd. This year: no limits! The blessings of vaccines and further movement through this pandemic means that we can, without reservation, invite our friends, family, neighbors, cashiers, dog walkers, babysitters, strangers on the street… Well, you get the picture!... to experience worship on Christmas Eve, or our Pre-Eve service on the 23rd outdoors. Isn’t it so nice to be inviting people again?

So, as we light the candle of faith on Sunday, I hope your faith is renewed in this unexpected, upside down, beautiful story of the Christ child come to be among us. I hope you are carried in a normal-feeling Christmas experience. I hope you eat all of the treats, sing all of the songs, hug as many family members as your heart desires, and that you again enjoy welcoming our community to be a part of our celebration of Christmas. I hope these expressions of Christmas only draw you further into the love of God, the faith that we’ve had in more normal existence, and the faith that even in the mess, God shows up to be with us and to love us completely.

Below are videos that Pastor Annette and I made to invite others to our Christmas Eve worship outside on the 23rd, and inside on the 24th. If you need an extra boost to share your faith and your church family’s witness this season, use these videos on your social media to invite others to our services. If you’re reading this and still on the fence, let this be my personal invitation to you: join us this weekend for our Canticle of Joy, our Christmas Children’s Musical, and then join us this Thursday and Friday for our Christmas Eve worship experiences. It just isn’t the same without you there. We promise!

We’ll see you soon,
Pastor Allee

Posted by Allee Willcox with

Peace Makers vs Peace Keepers

Usually, when I write my sermons and my E-Letters, I sit at my kitchen table. I have an office, but I like the view of my kitchen better. I can face my back window, where I look out onto the pond behind my house. Or, I can face my living room, where I can see my beautiful Christmas tree, now standing in my house after Thanksgiving weekend.

I often write in the early morning, when there is not much noise even in my neighborhood! But, as I live just with my relatively-quiet beagle, Bernie, my house is almost always peaceful. Writing here is easier than in the office at Suntree UMC, because I’m always tempted to talk to someone or visit with someone there. I know for many of you, especially with young children, the peace and quiet of a kitchen table seems very far away. I know for me, this won’t always be the environment I prefer to work in. I guard the gift of these peaceful morning hours, because there may come a time in my life when I have to give that up for the gift of family, children, visitors, or even a less-quiet dog!

I like peaceful, quiet spaces. I like maintaining them. And maintaining a peaceful, quiet space is easier when there’s less crowding in. It is easier to have a peaceful, quiet space when life does not barge through the door. Though my space is empty, often my head is not very peaceful at all. It is filled with worries for friends, family, and work; worries about how I will decide to handle a certain situation; worries about how I will maintain my own peace or sense of balance. Worries about COVID. The noise comes in.

A favorite author of mine, Sarah Bessey, defines a sharp difference between peace-making and peace-keeping. Peace-keeping is more passive. The peace has arrived, and we just have to keep the appearance of calm. The work I do in my mornings is that of peace-keeping: I try not to call anyone, invite anyone in, or otherwise stir my dog so he demands my attention. In my relationships, I am good at peace-keeping: don’t say the controversial thing at Thanksgiving, try not to step on toes, don’t ruffle feathers. Peace-keeping can look like people-pleasing, which I could win awards in.

But peace-making is harder. Peace-making is doing the deep work to achieve actual, generative peace. It is not the absence of tension but the presence of love, relationship, and reconciliation. Sometimes, you have to go through tension to get to peace. Say how you feel. Deal with a hurt. Acknowledge your own sin. Peace-making in my mornings would mean addressing how my mind still finds a way to run wild, even when I am sitting in a very privileged position, in a beautiful home, in the goodness of peace and quiet. It is hard work, but important.

John the Baptist is a peace-maker, not a peace-keeper. He comes to make us hear of our own sin and address it, and to make us deal with our own “stuff” that we carry in our world. His words are harsh, but they lead us to prepare for God’s true peace to be made real in our lives. We have to get ready. So this Sunday, as we talk about Luke 3:1-14 and decluttering into peace, we will address the real sin in our lives and get ready to welcome Christ into our hearts and minds.

Our souls are often not as peaceful as our outer world appears to be, and John comes to address it. In dealing with our sin, we can find true peace in Christ. I hope you’ll join us as we continue to grow in our peace in this season of Advent.

See you Sunday,
Pastor Allee

Posted by Allee Willcox with

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