Zion E-News (6-18-2020)

This is what the Lord says:
“For three sins of Israel,
even for four, I will not relent.
They sell the innocent for silver,
and the needy for a pair of sandals.
They trample on the heads of the poor
as on the dust of the ground
and deny justice to the oppressed.
Father and son use the same girl
and so profane my holy name.
They lie down beside every altar
on garments taken in pledge.
In the house of their god
they drink wine taken as fines.
– Amos 2:6-8

Over 20 years ago now while a graduate student at Indiana, I was reading the book of John and was struck how in awe the writer seemed to be that Jesus loved him. It got me thinking about how I related to God’s love. Like many people who grew up in church, I grew up singing “Jesus Loves Me” and being told I was loved by God. So, it struck me as odd that John seemed so awed. This drove me to the Old Testament and the prophets to try to understand John’s frame of mind. I spent the next six months studying the minor prophets.

And then, I came across the book of Amos and it leveled me. The book begins with God’s judgment on all the neighbors of Israel before God pronounces his judgment on them in Amos 2:6-8. God judges Israel because they oppress the poor and the oppressed, they abuse their servants (the reference to a father and son and the girl) and they flaunt their abuse of the poor even in their worship (drinking wine and sleeping on garments taken in pledge for a loan). God is not angry because of idolatry or personal moral sins, but because as a society those in power have oppressed the poor. The whole nation is judged because of their oppression of the poor.

In the sermon this passed Sunday, I highlighted briefly the breadth and the depth of the gospel that Jesus is king over the whole world. This does not negate the truth that we are saved by faith in Jesus, but focuses our attention on God’s plan to redeem all of creation through the coming of the kingdom of his Son. As followers of Jesus, we should be living to help reveal the character of this kingdom or to live in such a way that people glimpse the peace and justice of this kingdom in us.

To me, this means as Christians we are a political, but not a partisan, people. We care about and should be involved in issues in the political world, but we do not put our hope or confidence in a political leader or party. We are not partisan. We will never find a party that fully supports the Biblical vision of a flourishing humanity. But, we need to be deeply engaged in seeking to help our world and nation reflect more and more the justice and peace of God revealed in Jesus and the teaching of the prophets.

There are lots of issues where our Christian ethics will come into play including abortion, tax rates and deficits, immigration policies and acts of war. But because the Black Lives Matter movement is so visible right now, I want to urge you to think carefully about how God would respond to our nation based on how it has treated African Americans throughout its history. Slavery. Jim Crow. The KKK. Mass incarceration. Redlining.

As I try to listen to people from the Black Lives Matter movement, I do not hear them saying Black Lives Matter more than other lives, but that their lives matter, too. And, that they do not experience American culture or the criminal justice system as valuing their lives. This is not primarily a question of separating good cops from bad cops, but of a system that imprisons and oppress people of color. It does not matter if this system does so by intentional design or unfortunate accident. This is what many people of color experience. The question for us as Christians is what are we going to do about it?

As a simple starting point, for me and maybe you, I need to learn more to understand something outside of my personal experience. I need to listen to those who did not grow up in a white 2-parent home in Zeeland like I did. Following are a couple of resources I have found educational and/or moving:
The movie Just Mercy on Amazon.
The documentary 13th on Netflix and Youtube.
And this 17 minute video from Bob the Tomato (its really Phil Vischer who is the voice of Bob the Tomato).

As I am writing this, I am hearing all the “but what about this or that” in my head. So, yes, I also care deeply abut Blue lives and I both want them safe and respected and if one of them is injured or killed I am happy the perpetrator is moat often found, charged, and convicted of their crime. I also care deeply about abortion and long for it to no longer happen in our society. And obviously, all lives matter because from a Christian view every person bears the image of God and is worthy of being loved and protected simply for that reason alone. (Be careful how long you think about this because it will raise issues like war, the death penalty, global poverty, the 1,000,000 Uighur people in camps in China, immigration and refugees, the place and value of women in many cultures of our world, and so much more.) But this is already too long of an introduction to our E-News.

Seriously, watch the Phil Vischer video. It is worth 17 minutes if your time.

Connect to God
This Sunday we will once again gather for worship online. You can join the service at:
zionreformed.online.church
Zion’s Facebook Page
WCET (at noon on Friday and 4pm on Sunday)
Physical Copy of the Sermon mailed to you (please request from Connie Stegeman at cstegeman@zionreforned.org)

We continue our sermon series on Paul’s letter to the church in Philippi. Written from prison, this letter is often referred to as Paul’s letter of joy. Looking back over the past 6 months, we have seen: the impeachment of the president, a global health crisis, an economic crisis, and the racial tensions rooted in oppression that began 400 years ago came to the surface in some significant ways. In addition to the national anxiety, personally we have all  limited travel, dealt with the anxiety of the unknown, worried about our finances, felt the isolation of physical distancing, and the relational stresses all of this has added to life. We come to this letter of joy carrying our own unique burdens, but in it we see the power of focusing on Jesus even in the midst of our struggles. This week, Pastor Rick focuses our attention in Chapter 2 and the example Christ has set for us.

You are invited to join us for a coffee hour after church via a zoom call. The link will be shared during the service in the chat box. Last week, we had about 8 families join us for a brief talk in response to the sermon and just to catch up. You can learn more about how to use Zoom at this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9isp3qPeQ0E

Grow in Community
We extend our congratulations to Joe and Jill Sietsema and Austin and Ashley on the birth of Jason Daniel born Monday morning. Both mother and baby are doing well.

Join us at 9 am for Zion Kids Worship/Sunday School. We will be live streaming directly from the same website where you already watch our worship service. You can find the Kids Worship time at https://zionreformed.online.church.

Join us June 24 for a short time of worship (think hymn sing or maybe hymn/worship song sing) and a short devotional from Pastor Greg. We will be meeting on the lawn near the play ground at church at 7 pm. Bring your own chair and beverage for a chance to safely visit in a physically distant way with friends from church and enjoy a time of worship together, If it is raining on the 24th, we will meet on the 25th at 7 pm. In an effort to follow the governor’s guidelines, this event is limited to 100 people, so if you are planning to attend, please contact Connie Stegeman (cstegeman@zionreformed.org or 616-534-7533) so we can plan appropriately.

While we have not been able to meet together face-to-face, our Elders, Deacons and Pastor Rick have been doing a great job touching base with members over the age of 60 every couple of weeks. As our time apart has grown, our Consistory has recognized the need to expand our care to those under 60 as well. To that end, we are forming Covid-19 Connect Groups until we are able to meet together regularly as a congregation Each person under 60 who is not already in a small group or discipleship triad is being randomly assigned to one of these groups. The leaders will be calling to check-in on members every couple of weeks and, now that they are allowed, planning an opportunity each month to meet physically together. If you would like more information, please contact me at gbrowerzionreformed.org.

We also still have numerous Discipleship Triads meeting. If you would like to learn more about how you can connect with other people at Zion to encourage one another to follow Jesus well, send me an e-mail and I can help get you connected.

Serve the World
We continue accepting donations of personal care items and food on Wednesdays from 1-3 pm at church. We are partnering with Sunrise Ministries in Jenison for a weekly distribution. We also continue our monthly partnership with UCOM through our Personal Care Pantry. For the next few weeks, all Personal Care Items will be shared with Lifeline Community Church for their next distribution in Wyoming this Saturday. Thank you for your support of these important ministries at this time.

If you and others that you know would be willing to serve, Sunrise Ministries (in coordination with Love Inc and local churches) is in need of volunteers this Wednesday and for the next couple of weeks! They are also in need of people to go shop for food. They have gift cards and a list that they would give you before you go out. If you are interested please contact Penny at penny@sunrisemin.org

If you need help, either with food, personal care items, help grocery shopping, or with financial needs, please contact Chip Harkes our chair of deacons and he can help connect you with the appropriate resources at Zion. His e-mail is chip@harkeslandscape.com and his phone number is 616-299-4804.

Administration
As we move closer to regathering for corporate worship, our Consistory is asking for your feedback regarding when and how to reopen. To that end, they have sent a survey via e-mail to each household in our congregation. For those households for which we do not have an e-mail address, we have mailed a physical copy to your home. Please respond to this survey as soon as possible as the Consistory will be meeting on June 23 to determine how soon we will be opening. If your family has not received the survey yet, please e-mail Pastor Greg immediately, and he will send one to you right away. Thank you for your thoughtful attention to this survey.

We continue to thank God for his provision of all of our needs and for the generous support of our congregation with their time, talent, and treasures. We are especially grateful this week for all those who have adjusted their means of giving to give online, through the mail, and via text. Zion’s members continue to strongly support the ministries of Zion during this time of uncertainty.

Fiscal Year to Date Budget: $21,012.56
Fiscal Year to Date Contribution: $19,264.00
Giving Last Week: $9,819.00
Cash on Hand: $157,890.59