Who is my neighbor?

This is as difficult a question today as it was in Jesus’ time on earth. It is a question that begs for limits. Is it my next-door neighbor? Is it my brother-in-law? Is it the homeless person I drive by at highway entrances?

I have a story. Back in the 1980s we lived in Cedar Rapids, Indiana and were members of St. Paul’s United Methodist Church. St. Paul’s is a historic church. Its building was designed by Louis Sullivan, a brilliant architect and mentor to Frank Lloyd Wright. St Paul’s was for many years the flagship Methodist church in the state of Iowa. But that is not the story.

At St. Paul’s, I was a member of a church committee dedicated to outreach. The neighborhood around the church was changing and many of our members had moved to the suburbs. We decided we needed to establish an event titled “Who is My Neighbor?” We wanted to identify and celebrate people in our city who had been good neighbors to others. We found that our first good neighbor was a member of our church.

In 1961, Dr. Percy Harris was a renowned physician in Cedar Rapids and the only Black member of St. Paul’s UMC. He and his family wanted to build a home on a lot in a residential community owned by the church. The problem was that Dr. Harris was a Black man. Even though he was Linn County Medical Examiner and County Clinic Director at St. Luke’s Methodist Hospital, his desire to build a home in a white neighborhood was controversial. The church members had to vote on whether to approve the sale. The vote was 460 yes and 291 no, and some members left the church afterwards. But the property was sold to Dr. Harris and his wife Lileah, and he built a home for his family and lived there for many years.

In 1981, the first “Who is My Neighbor” award was presented to Dr. Percy Harris, and the award was named “The Percy and Lileah Harris Award ” in honor of their leadership and lifelong roles in bringing the community together.

44 years later, the “Who is My neighbor” Award continues to be presented at St. Paul’s. When Jesus was asked “Who is my neighbor?” he told the story of the good Samaritan, a stranger on the margins of society who stopped to help another stranger in need. This year’s award was presented to Mike and Toni Loyal, a same sex couple who serve as leaders in arts and education in the Cedar Rapids community. The plaque they received states, “In recognition of your commitment to live in harmony with others and promote equality and social justice in the community.” St. Paul’s UMC has raised up many in the community who reach out to expand the meaning of neighbor and to heal divisions and bring people together.

Dear Lord, be with us as we seek to be neighbors to those whom we are tempted to pass by, or overlook in our everyday lives. Give us the courage and strength to stop and connect with new and unexpected neighbors. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.

Today’s podcast was written by Laura Derr and read by Greta Smith.

Grace for All is a daily devotional podcast produced by the members of the congregation of First United Methodist Church in Maryville, Tennessee. With these devotionals, we want to remind listeners on a daily basis of the love and grace that God extends to all human beings, no matter their location, status, or condition in life.

If you would like to respond to these devotionals in any way, we would enjoy hearing from you. Our email address is: podcasts@1stchurch.org.

First United Methodist Church is a lively, spirit-filled congregation whose goal is to spread the message of love and grace into our community and throughout the world. We are located on the web at https://1stchurch.org/.

So many sermons and commentaries focus on how small and insignificant a mustard seed appears, but there is something else to be noticed. More attention should be given to the act of planting it in the field and what it takes to become the largest of garden plants.

A seed is about potential- a catalyst. Seeds, despite their size, have always held great value because they will feed us in the future. But if we hoard them in hopes of amassing wealth, they are wasted and lose their ability to germinate.

Not all seeds will grow into a thriving plant. It is not a given that we will become a thriving part of God’s vision. If each of us is a mustard seed, we have the opportunity to grow and thrive, to shelter and care for, bringing the kingdom of heaven to those we shelter and care for.

If God’s kingdom is like a mustard seed then it has the potential to grow and be used. We are also given the opportunity to sow seeds, to nurture growth in the lives of those around us, helping to grow a tree that shelters the next generation.

But first the seed must be planted and nurtured. Not left on a shelf. Not hoarded like gold.

And like all things in nature, plants have their season of growth and then wither. The seed perishes in the process of creating the plant. The plant that produces more seeds for the next season expends its life to create many more seeds. Once our own seed has been nurtured into maturity, we have a responsibility to nurture others’ seeds and growth. We have a responsibility in the present because we create the seeds of the next generation.

What we do in the present is what happens in the future. If we hesitate to act, waiting to grow and assuming someone else will sow the seeds, then we will not bring the kingdom of God near.

With all seeds, it is not about the humble seed which starts the process but what the plant becomes and produces that makes the world what it is. It is not where we start our journey, not even when we start, but where we end and what we have produced along the way that fulfills the mission of Jesus.

Lord, may we grow in your mission to provide a present and future worthy of your vision. We are as small and humble as the mustard seed, but with your help and nurturing love, may we grow and thrive so that we may share all you have given us with those around us. May we spread your love in this world until the next generation grows to fill our place in this mission, Amen.

This devotional was written by Jill Pope and read by Greta Smith.

Grace for All is a daily devotional podcast produced by the members of the congregation of First United Methodist Church in Maryville, Tennessee. With these devotionals, we want to remind listeners on a daily basis of the love and grace that God extends to all human beings, no matter their location, status, or condition in life.

If you would like to respond to these devotionals in any way, we would enjoy hearing from you. Our email address is: podcasts@1stchurch.org.

First United Methodist Church is a lively, spirit-filled congregation whose goal is to spread the message of love and grace into our community and throughout the world. We are located on the web at https://1stchurch.org/.

We live in a world where every day we are bombarded with sounds and images of new things. Often, they are images of violence and destruction. It is easy to forget that some things in our world are eternally new and beautiful: the changing of the seasons, a baby’s laugh, voices lifted up in harmony. It is also easy to forget that God’s message to human beings is new every day.

Recently, our congregation heard the story of Sam Dzobo, a Zimbabwe native and Assistant District Superintendent in the Holston Conference of the United Methodist Church. Rev. Dzobo is a graduate of Duke Divinity School and Asbury Seminary.

But Dzobo’s encounter with “a new thing” began when he was 13 years old in a village in Zimbabwe. While running an errand for his father on Sunday morning, he happened to hear singing in the schoolhouse. He told us, “The woman who was leading the worship invited me in … and that whole congregation started singing.” The song they sang in the Shona language is translated in English as, ‘Now that you have come, it is good.’” * Dzobo’s heart was overcome with what he called “a rush of welcome and love.” His life was changed that day.

As part of the Holston Conference, Dzobo has served numerous small congregations in East Tennessee, including Mary’s Chapel in Bean Station, a congregation of about 35 people. When Dzobo shared his dream of building a church in his hometown in Zimbabwe, the congregation raised over $48,000 in six years and the dream is now a reality.

When he was invited into a worship service in a school building as a 13-year-old, a new thing transformed Sam Dzobo’s life. He said, “’It just turned my whole world around.”

Dear Lord, help us to see what new thing is waiting for us each day, and to respond with joy. Amen.

This devotional was written by Laura Derr and read by John Cherry.

All quotations are taken from Holson Conference article in The Call, “Pastor from Zimbabwe Prays for His Nation, Church,” December 11, 2017, by Annette Spence.

Grace for All is a daily devotional podcast produced by the members of the congregation of First United Methodist Church in Maryville, Tennessee. With these devotionals, we want to remind listeners on a daily basis of the love and grace that God extends to all human beings, no matter their location, status, or condition in life.

If you would like to respond to these devotionals in any way, we would enjoy hearing from you. Our email address is: podcasts@1stchurch.org.

First United Methodist Church is a lively, spirit-filled congregation whose goal is to spread the message of love and grace into our community and throughout the world. We are located on the web at https://1stchurch.org/.