Church World Service (CWS) has long been one of my favorite missions to support. Our congregation looks forward to helping to “Blanket the World with Love” as we celebrate CWS Blanket Sunday each January. CROP Walk has always been a favorite event in all the areas I’ve served in ministry.
CWS was founded in 1946, in the aftermath of the Second World War, with a mission to feed the hungry and help those in need. It became a cooperative ministry of 37 Christian denominations and communions, providing sustainable self-help, development, disaster relief, and refugee assistance around the world. The CWS mission is to eradicate hunger and poverty and to promote peace and justice at the national and international level through collaboration with partners abroad and in the U.S.
CWS program areas mainly target education and advocacy, both of which are essential components in confronting the root causes of hunger. By raising awareness about hunger, poverty, water access, trade, human rights, climate change, peace building and other issues in its “Speak Out” alerts, CWS brings the voices and priorities of its partners and constituents into the halls of churches, community groups, and governments.
Today I received an e-mail from CWS Greensboro, sharing highlights and updates of their work. CWS Greensboro welcomed 144 refugees and 121 Afghans in 2022. Since the CWS office opened in 2009, the Greensboro community has helped to welcome 2,245 refugees into new lives of freedom and opportunity. Greensboro, NC is a safe and welcoming new home for refugees, immigrants, and asylum seekers.
The e-mail included an invitation to participate in the CWS NC Annual Townhall Meeting on-line on Jan. 26, 2023 at 7:00 pm. Information for registering for the town hall meeting was given. CWS Durham, Greensboro, Charlotte and Wilmington will share big picture updates about CWS work in North Carolina, welcoming refugees, immigrants, and asylum-seekers. I was not aware of the work of CWS in cities so nearby!
Jesus says, “To whom much is given, much will be required (Luke 12:48). We are held responsible for what we have. If we have been blessed with talents, wealth, knowledge, time and the like, it is expected that we benefit others.
Let us prayerfully consider the many ways that we who have been given so much might support the mission of Church World Service.
Elizabeth
On the first Sunday of the new year, we celebrated Epiphany, marking the arrival of the three kings who followed the star in the East from its rising, until it stopped over the place where Jesus was. We remember this event each January, not because such epiphanies no longer occur, but to remind us that they do.
This is the season when we watch for our own personal epiphanies, for those moments when we can catch sight of God at work in our lives. What Epiphany says to us is that God’s Kingdom is very near, awaiting only the moment of revelation and recognition. The difficulty is that so many times we don’t recognize the hand of God at work in our lives and in the lives of those we love.
Yesterday’s sermon challenged us to “follow the star.” What does it even mean to follow the star as we live from day to day in these uncertain time? With the continuing concern of a “triple-demic”; with Russian troops continuing their assault on Ukraine; with snowstorms and flooding and earthquakes and wildfires threatening parts of our land, and famine sweeping through Africa on a scale not seen in two decades? What does it mean to follow the star in any number of challenges in our individual lives?
To follow the star is to pick up the scattered pieces of our lives and live joyously with them; to follow the star is to find the bits and pieces of grace planted behind each problem we face; to follow the star is to live in faith that what happens to us does not have the final word; to follow the star is to live by the belief that if the God of grace is for us, nothing can be ultimately against us.
Scripture tells us that the wise men returned home another way. What joy would be ours if each of us would return from the experience of Christmas this year by another way, marked by following the star.
If only we would see in each experience the hand of God working in all things for our good and God’s glory; If only we could look beyond the struggle and difficulty of our daily lives toward all the hope that is ours in Jesus Christ; if only we could see the faithful love and grace of God manifest each day of our lives.
Something has happened that’s just too big for Christmas Day, or even the twelve days of Christmas! “The Word was made flesh and dwells among us full of grace and truth,” writes John in his gospel. The Message puts it this way: “The Word became flesh and blood and moved into the neighborhood. We saw the glory with our own eyes, the one of a kind glory, like Father like Son.”
Emmanuel, God is with us, forever more! What a wonderful gift to carry with us into this new year!
Elizabeth
Every Christmas season, there are movies that must be watched as part of the journey. My all-time favorite is “It’s a Wonderful Life.”
Each time I watch it, I reflect on the difference one life can make – my life in particular. What would not be here if I had not lived my life, and what is here because of my having been here? I never really find answers to my questions, only a time of reflecting on possibilities.
Perhaps another perspective is necessary to see one’s life clearly. Perhaps we really never can know the difference we make, for better or for worse…unless an “angel Clarence” helps us see clearly.
I also look forward to seeing “Miracle on 34th Street” both the old and new versions. The verdict of the judge always lifts my spirits and gives me hope that “things unseen” can be seen if viewed in new perspective. The Grinch is another favorite – especially when his heart grows “three sizes” that day!
There are lessons, too, to be learned from National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation and Elf, for those with eyes to see, ears to hear and hearts to understand.
I discovered a new movie this year, “Silent Night,” the story of young man struggling to decide between his call to ministry and his love of music. He chooses to answer his call to ministry, and we see as the story unfolds how his music reaches out to people in the tavern, and from the highways and byways of life. While he fails to find favor with the head pastor of the church and the staff musician, at the story’s end, he’s playing guitar and singing “Silent Night” by candlelight, with his followers in the sanctuary.
A surprise blessing! Apparently, I was misspelling “byways” so I looked it up and came across this old hymn that has become the prayer of my heart this week after Christmas:
“Out on the Highways and Byways of Life”
Out in the highways and byways of life, Many are weary and sad; Carry the sunshine where darkness is rife, Making the sorrowing glad. Make me a blessing, make me a blessing, Out of my life may Jesus shine; Make me a blessing, O Savior, I pray, Make me a blessing to someone today.
Praying that we become blessings to one another in this new year!
Elizabeth