“Stop Persisting”

“Mom,” my 16-year-old said, looking down at me on my hands and knees, pulling armfuls of dead leaves from beneath a thorny bush. “You know the wind’s just blowing the leaves back under there, right? I think you need to stop aiming for perfection.” With a sigh, I looked at the leaves scuttling along the footpath…inching their way toward the bushes…gleefully taunting me in my efforts to clear them from the yard.

“I just need to get a few more,” I replied, reaching my tired arms forward to pull another bunch from beneath the bush. After all, this was a church mission project…and I was supposed to be working on behalf of God. Perfection seemed appropriate. My son shook his head. He knew what I didn’t want to admit–there will always be just a few more leaves to get.

We live in a society that relentlessly pushes us toward perfection–the perfect body, the perfect marriage, the perfect kids, the perfect pet, the perfect job…it goes on and on. Carefully crafted branding messages and pithy social media slogans bombard our senses–perpetuating the push to perfect. Fake it til you make it; If at first you don’t succeed, try and try again; Nothing ventured, nothing gained; Failure is not an option; Keep going; Persist.

The problem with all of this, in my life anyway, is that the drive to be better always leaves me feeling like a failure, because no matter how much harder or smarter I work, perfection remains out of reach. I keep persisting, only to run headlong into the same brick wall time and time again–and the only thing that gets dented is my head! And when I start feeling weak and broken, judgement enters in–of both myself and others. To soothe my own feelings of inadequacy, I turn my ire on others–judging them in their failures to ease my own hurting soul.

This, of course, is the opposite of what God wants for us. God, who comes to us with grace, love, and mercy, never intended for us to bear the brunt of perfection. If we could achieve it on our own, why did we need salvation in the first place? The truth is, we weren’t made for perfection–we were made for God.

It is only when we release the need for perfection, when we resist persisting, that we find ourselves made perfect in God’s love. How is that possible? God created us to be dependent not on ourselves, but on him. God is so much bigger, so much more capable, and so much wiser than we are that it is he who does the heavy lifting for us. When we yield…God picks us up–and he is infinitely more able to transform us than we are to transform ourselves.

The apostle Paul understood this need for humility–a gift he did not naturally possess. In 2nd Corinthians, Paul makes a revealing statement. Though he admits to being vastly superior to most every other human being in his knowledge, fervor, and leadership abilities, he notes that God has given him a “thorn in his side” to carry. The thorn (he doesn’t elaborate on the specifics) vexes him, until he realizes its purpose: God gave Paul the thorn to teach him the lesson he could not learn on his own–surrender. And with that surrender, Paul experienced freedom.

Because he realized his need for God, Paul was able to boast more avidly–not in his own abilities, but in God’s mercy and grace.

Change is hard work, but it doesn’t require more striving, it requires letting go. We must go to God and admit our failures…our tendency to judge, to be jealous, to be petty and conceited and self-righteous. He knows it anyway, but there’s release in the confessing, and then comes the freedom we receive when we finally stop persisting and lean into God’s mercy, knowing that change doesn’t come from us. And accepting that others are undergoing the same transformation.

I like the way Anne Lamott puts it in her book, Hallelujah Anyway: Rediscovering Mercy:

Over and over, in spite of our awfulness and having squandered our funds, the ticket-taker at the venue waves us on through. Forgiven and included, when we experience this, that we are in this with one another, flailing and starting over in the awful beauty of being humans together, we are saved.”

Blessings and Peace, Sara

Mission

To make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.

Vision

Nelson Memorial UMC seeks to be a place where all God’s broken, hurting, and imperfect children discover wholeness and community while experiencing the warm and welcoming love of Jesus Christ.  We seek to connect with one another to grow in our knowledge and love of God, to encourage each person to live out their unique calling to serve God, and to make a difference in the Boonville community and throughout the world.

Priorities

Developing and Nurturing Faith in Children and Youth

Fostering Growth and Community in Worship and Small Groups

Provide Opportunities to Serve God in Boonville and Beyond

Worship This Week

This Sunday we continue our message series on the Book of Esther titled “For Such A Time As This.”  This week we will focus on the role Haman, one of the King’s advisors, plays in the story.  Our Scripture lesson will come from the book of Esther, Chapter 3, verses 1-5:

After these events, King Xerxes honored Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, elevating him and giving him a seat of honor higher than that of all the other nobles.  All the royal officials at the king’s gate knelt down and paid honor to Haman, for the king had commanded this concerning him.  But Mordecai would not kneel down or pay him honor. 

Then the royal officials at the king’s gate asked Mordecai, “Why do you disobey the king’s command?”  Day after day they spoke to him but he refused to comply.  Therefore they told Haman about it to see whether Mordecai’s behavior would be tolerated, for he had told them he was a Jew.

When Haman saw that Mordecai would not kneel down or pay him honor, he was enraged.”

Our services will begin with the song Son of David by Ryan Ellis.  Our other songs for the morning include For the Beauty of the Earth, Forever, and Breathe on Me, Breath of God.  Additionally, our choir will provide the song Make Me A Servant at our 10:20 service.

Virtual Worship Information

In addition to in-person worship, our service will be live-streamed. The service can be viewed on our Facebook Page.  The service will start at approximately 10:25 am following our Gathering Song.  Additionally, we post a recording of our messages to our website by early Sunday afternoon. 

Announcements

Blood Drive – With flu season beginning and COVID hanging around, blood and platelet donations continue to be essential to hospital patients.  Donors are needed to come together to help others in this time of need.  We will be hosting another blood drive the afternoon/evening of Monday, January 23 in our Fellowship Hall.  To schedule a time for donating blood, go to: redcrossblood.org/give.html/find-drive.  Thank you!

Thinking about Membership? –  On Sunday, January 29, following the 10:20 worship service, Pastor Chris will hold a “Pizza With The Pastor” session.  This is a conversation for anyone considering membership at Nelson Memorial UMC.  Membership in a church is a little different from joining a club or society, and Pastor Chris will share what membership means at Nelson Memorial.  This conversation will take place in the Fellowship Hall and will include lunch.  Please let Pastor Chris or the office know if you plan to attend so we can have enough food. 

Soup and Sandwich Outreach Fundraiser – A huge “thank you” for either participating, and/or attending last Sunday’s Community Outreach Soup and Sandwich Luncheon!  We had a full house and the food was delicious!  The committee raised $856.00 for their efforts.  This will be used for future community outreach projects.  Well done, Nelson Memorial! 

Giving Through Venmo – We can be found on Venmo at @NelsonMemorialUMC.  If you don’t know what Venmo is and would like to learn more, information about giving through Venmo can be found on our webpage at https://nelsonmemorialumc.org/give/venmo/. 

Events this week:

Saturday, January 21: Kids Hope Roller Skating Event, 3:30 pm

Monday, January 23: TOPS, 9:15 am, Lounge

Red Cross Blood Drive, 2:00 – 6:00 pm, Fellowship Hall

Al-Anon, 8:00 pm, Fellowship Hall

Wednesday, January 25: Women’s Bible Study, 10:15 am, Lounge

Al-Anon, Noon, Fellowship Hall

Thursday, January 26: Praise Band Rehearsal, 6:00 pm, Sanctuary

Friday, January 28: Al-Anon, 8:00 pm, Fellowship Hall

Closing Words of Wisdom:

Authenticity is the daily practice of letting go of who we think we’re supposed to be and embracing who we are.”― Brené Brown