Poetry Where You Live

The potter molding us
vessels for his message
his love imprinted on us
marking us as his own
as he shapes us, from the earth
Becoming something beautiful,
something wondrous, wonderful
Vessels of his love, pouring out
sharing the water, the wine
the bread of the savior
the love of the master
the potter, the creator
Making us in his image
being Christ to the world

July 1, 2008
Jeremiah 18:1-4, Jeremiah 18:1-12 and
Upper Room devotional for June 30, 2008
http://www.upperroom.org/Devotional/default.asp?month=6&day=30&year=2008&x=107&y=6

Labels: clay, Faith, Jeremiah, Jeremiah 18, July, June, Links, love, master, Methodist, poetry, Poetry Where You Live, potter, Raymond A. Foss, Upper Room

We are the clay
the cold, the wet lump
on the potter’s wheel
Marked by the potter
his hands molding us
his fingerprints, palms
leaving marks on us
changing us to his purpose
becoming a vessel
of his endless love
Poured out to the thirsty
to the ends of the earth

June 30, 2008 and July 1, 2008
Jeremiah 18:1-4, Jeremiah 18:1-12 and
Upper Room devotional for June 30, 2008
http://www.upperroom.org/Devotional/default.asp?month=6&day=30&year=2008&x=107&y=6

Labels: clay, Faith, hands, Jeremiah, Jeremiah 18, July, June, Links, love, Methodist, poetry, Poetry Where You Live, potter, Raymond A. Foss, Upper Room

Molded, sculpted, changed
shaped by your love
by your loving touch
turning on the potter’s wheel
clay transformed
serving others, an earthen vessel
pouring out his message
sharing his abiding love

June 30, 2008
Jeremiah 18:1-4, Jeremiah 18:1-12 and
Upper Room devotional for June 30, 2008
http://www.upperroom.org/Devotional/default.asp?month=6&day=30&year=2008&x=107&y=6

Labels: clay, Faith, Jeremiah, Jeremiah 18, June, Links, love, Methodist, poetry, Poetry Where You Live, potter, Raymond A. Foss, Upper Room

Each of us, a lump of clay
sitting on the potter’s wheel
turning, throughout life
feeling the potter’s touch
we move under his fingers
living out our days
becoming something beautiful
though his touch
the loving hands of the potter

June 30, 2008
Jeremiah 18:1-4, Jeremiah 18:1-12 and
Upper Room devotional for June 30, 2008
http://www.upperroom.org/Devotional/default.asp?month=6&day=30&year=2008&x=107&y=6

Labels: clay, Faith, fingers, hands, Jeremiah, Jeremiah 18, June, life, Links, Methodist, poetry, Poetry Where You Live, potter, Raymond A. Foss, Upper Room

Never too late,
throughout our lives
ever pliable, wet clay
never dry, fired, finished
always able to be reformed
reshaped, transformed
by the potter at the wheel
something beautiful to behold

June 30, 2008
Jeremiah 18:1-4, Jeremiah 18:1-12 and
Upper Room devotional for June 30, 2008
http://www.upperroom.org/Devotional/default.asp?month=6&day=30&year=2008&x=107&y=6

Labels: clay, Faith, Jeremiah, Jeremiah 18, June, Links, Methodist, poetry, Poetry Where You Live, potter, Raymond A. Foss, Upper Room

From the inert, cold wet clay
of our lives
something beautiful can rise
formed by loving hands
the creator, the potter
working the wheel, the clay
supple, pliable, giving
surrendering to his will
becoming useful vessels
worthy of the potter’s toil

June 30, 2008
Jeremiah 18:1-4, Jeremiah 18:1-12 and
Upper Room devotional for June 30, 2008
http://www.upperroom.org/Devotional/default.asp?month=6&day=30&year=2008&x=107&y=6

Labels: clay, Faith, hands, Jeremiah, Jeremiah 18, June, Links, Methodist, poetry, Poetry Where You Live, potter, Raymond A. Foss, Upper Room

He said these word, the creator of the universe
words more than of comfort, that he would remember us
He said he had inscribed our beings, not just our names
ourselves on the palms, the living flesh of the creator
to assure us, he would remember, our lives part of him
living with him, moving with him, more than the words
on the tablets, his love written in the creation
More even than the written within us, on our hearts
we are written on the palms of God’s hands
the hands that make the world,
the hands that molded each one
that set the world to spinning
A promise more real than the bow in the sky
to remind him of another time
when God remembered, forgave
showed compassion on man
this time, inscribed on his palms

May 20, 2008
Isaiah 49:8-16a
Alive Now daily devotional for May 19, 2008

Labels: Alive Now, clay, creator, Faith, God, hands, Isaiah, Isaiah 49, love, Methodist, Moses, Noah, poetry, Poetry Where You Live, potter, rainbow, Raymond A. Foss, sky, tablets, water

My name, on the palm of his hand
holding me on the skin of the creator
a part of him, the ink staining his flesh
the stuff of heaven, a part of me,
my name, the clay on the potter’s hands
remembered each time, he touches his hands
looks at his hands, a part of him

May 19, 2008
Isaiah 49:8-16a
Alive Now daily devotional

Labels: Alive Now, clay, creator, Faith, God, hands, Isaiah, Isaiah 49, Methodist, poetry, Poetry Where You Live, potter, Raymond A. Foss

I take comfort, assurance
in the words of the psalm, the ancient truths
living in the book of the people
the story of our faith, of our lives
written, known to the creator
long before our first beating of our hearts
before we take out first breath
our first steps on this holy ground
The creator is molding us, creating us
each one of us, and we are all very good

April 28, 2008
Genesis 1
Psalm 139:7-16
Upper Room daily devotional
http://www.upperroom.org/Devotional/default.asp?month=4&day=28&year=2008&x=107&y=6

Labels: April, clay, creator, Faith, Genesis, Links, Methodist, poetry, Poetry Where You Live, potter, Psalm, Psalm 139, Raymond A. Foss, Upper Room

We are wonderfully made
unique in all the world, amazing creations
of the loving creator, worthy of grace
in our mere existence
We are more than random chance
atoms moving in space
We are the creations of the creator
the potter, the loving father,
the nurturing mother, the one
who organized the cosmos
and set the world on its axis
who separated the waters
and found it good
Who made us, wonderfully made
and found us very good

April 28, 2008
Genesis 1 and
Psalm 139:7-16
Upper Room daily devotional
http://www.upperroom.org/Devotional/default.asp?month=4&day=28&year=2008&x=107&y=6

Labels: April, clay, creator, Faith, Genesis, Links, Methodist, mother, poetry, Poetry Where You Live, potter, Psalm, Psalm 139, Raymond A. Foss, Upper Room

God is with me
wherever I am
even before I am born
watching my creation
as a potter at the wheel
a living vessel of his grace
his mercy, his love
wonderfully made
and known to God
before the first page
of my life begun

April 28, 2008
Psalm 139:7-16
Upper Room daily devotional
http://www.upperroom.org/Devotional/default.asp?month=4&day=28&year=2008&x=107&y=6

Labels: April, clay, creator, Emmanuel, Faith, God, grace, life, Links, love, Messiah, Methodist, poetry, Poetry Where You Live, potter, Psalm 139, Raymond A. Foss, Upper Room

An amazing creation
each one of us,
evidence, proof of a design
a living creator
molding us, breathing life
into the dust, the clay
the stuff of earth
Known by the creator, the potter
fashioned in the image
for the creator’s purposes alone
wonderfully made

April 28, 2008
Psalm 139:7-16
Upper Room daily devotional
http://www.upperroom.org/Devotional/default.asp?month=4&day=28&year=2008&x=107&y=6

Labels: April, clay, creator, Faith, life, Links, Methodist, poetry, Poetry Where You Live, potter, Psalm, Psalm 139, Raymond A. Foss, Upper Room

We are his,
his sheep in his pasture
the green pastures
in which he calls us to dwell
We are the words of his hands,
the living clay of the potter
molded by him in his image,
known by him
Sing praises, joyfully
all the earth
For the Lord is good

April 25, 2008
Psalm 100
Psalm 23

Labels: April, clay, creator, Faith, God, green, hands, Methodist, poetry, Poetry Where You Live, potter, Psalm, Psalm 100, Psalm 23, Raymond A. Foss, sheep, shepherd, sing

1 Peter 2:2-10

How many of you remember that old Prudential Insurance commercial? There was this beautiful background scenery of mountains and the Rock of Gibraltar was right in the middle of it. You remember that Jingle that they had? “Get a piece of the rock” (sing). It was the best insurance. You could stand on this rock for all of your insurance protection needs. The scripture from 1 Peter this morning talks about another rock. . . a living rock. . . a cornerstone to Christians. That rock has a name and its name is Jesus. I don’t know about you. . . but this rock is the one I want to trust in times of trouble. When I need assurance in life. . . it is this stone that I turn to. . . not some insurance company that makes promises they would rather not keep.

This feeling of trust in my “foundation” is eloquently put in a poem from my favorite author, Ray Foss; it is called A Foundation of Love. It reads:

In the beginning
there was God's love
upon this strong foundation,
this rock, all else stands
God's love, His ever hopeful grace
we can depend on, we are assured.
God will open wide
Her arms of love, ready
to welcome us
when we return home.
Upon this strong foundation
we build our lives
of purpose, of service,
spreading the Creator's love
Building Your church

It is upon this Rock that I take refuge.

What is this Rock. . . this living stone. . . that Peter talks about? Well. . . let’s take a look at Peter’s letter to get a glimpse of his understanding of this Rock and Living Stone. How does this letter relate to us as Christians today? This is a Pastoral letter written by the apostle Peter to the exiles in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia. Scholars say that the letter was actually written by one of the disciples of Peter. They used Peters name because they wanted to establish the claim that its teaching reflects that of Peter. The letter addresses a critical situation. The people had become marginalized and abused since their conversion to Christ. The society they once belonged to now treats them as an unwelcome, even dangerous sectarian movement.

This reminds me of how we as Christians are unwelcomed and abused in many circumstances in this world. Some of our friends look at us differently after we have accepted Christ as our Lord and Savior. They call us Jesus freaks, they are afraid to be “themselves” around us because they are afraid that we will “start preaching” to them. We are ridiculed and made fun of for our beliefs. The letter offers realistic encouragement and instructions to Christians attempting to live faithfully in such a situation.

The writer talks about Christ being like a stone, a foundation to build one’s life on. He calls Christ the living stone. Not cold and motionless like a rock but is the life giving quartz we need in life. As the scripture states “as you come”. . . it represents the circumstances under which believers are being built into a “spiritual house”. As the believer comes to Him. . . they are being built. . . being made into. . . the body of Christ. The passage shows the difference. . . the contrast. . . between mans thing of value and God’s thing of value.

++ Man rejected the stone as if it were dead and worthless
++ God has chosen this stone as living and valuable.

These Christians, like Christ and ourselves, are rejected by the world around them but they, and we, are elected. . . chosen. . . and are precious in God’s sight. Christ is the living stone and Christians are living stones as well, full of life and life giving.

Stones are built into houses, but houses are also temples, and in temples holy priest offer spiritual sacrifices. Spiritual sacrifices are surely a reference to the whole shape of the faithful life. . . the life of holiness. It underlines the close relationship between what God has done in Jesus Christ and what God is doing in these Christians and is still doing today through believers.

All Christians are living stones, built into the edifice. But the cornerstone is Jesus Christ. He is the cornerstone because the whole building rests on Him. He is the cornerstone because the building takes its design from Him. Ergo. . . no Christ. . . no building. The chosen and precious turns the allusion in verse 4 into and explicit citation.

++ Christ is chosen - reminds us that the whole pattern of salvation is part of God’s electing plan from the beginning centering in Christ but including all believers.

++ Christ is precious - reminds us of the pervasive distinction between valuable and tawdry goods, the things of heaven and the things of this world.
God’s faithfulness requires responding faith. Those who have faith know that the stone is precious but those who do not have faith, the same stone is not a cornerstone. . . they reject the stone and lay it aside. . . as if it was worthless and it becomes a stumbling block in their lives.

You know. . . all this talk about rocks has gotten me thinking. This reminds me of the transforming work of God in our lives. You see. . . metamorphic rocks are rocks that have “morphed” into another kind of rock. These rocks were once igneous or sedimentary rocks. Now. . . how do sedimentary and igneous rocks change?

Well. . . the rocks are under tons and tons of pressure, which fosters heat buildup, and this causes them to change. If you examine metamorphic rock samples closely, you’ll discover how flattened some of the grains in the rock are. We as Christians. . . as living rocks. . . are put under pressure at times from the “outside.” We are in the process of being formed into. . . being morphed into. . . the likeness of Christ. We may feel the heat at times but it is in those times when we are being shaped into what God would have us be in Christ. . . not what the world would have us be without Christ. We are being built into God’s temple so that we may become ambassadors of Christ. It takes many shapes and sizes of rocks to build a house but they all fit exactly where the “plans” have put us and are all equally important to the whole building. We become a “new kind of rock.” God is continually at work in our midst and is ever building the character of the church and of the individuals who are followers of the Way.

The scripture from 1 Peter this morning reminds us of the difference between Christians and non-Christians is not that we see different things differently but that we see. . . we view. . . the same things differently. We both see Jesus Christ, the rock. But as Christians, the rock we see is the cornerstone, that living stone, of our lives as individuals and as a community. But. . . non-believers just simply reject the rock. The difference between the two views of the same scene is faith.

In this letter from Peter, they great story that feeds faith is absolutely public. It is a word that is declared aloud about the deeds seen clearly. The story of Jesus is not hidden. The language about Jesus is not esoteric, confined to insiders, like the secret languages of lodges or clubs. But when different people hear the very public story, each responds differently. Those who hear the story in faith praise God for God’s wonderful deeds while those who do not hear the story in faith laugh and stumble.

All Christians are called by God to a royal priesthood and all are called to offer sacrifices. Not the sacrifice on the alter (as they did long ago. . . that final sacrifice has already been made by Christ Jesus) but the sacrifice of faithful obedience and the life of love that goes with it. The sacrifice that Christians are called to live is a life without malice, guile, insincerity, envy or slander which 1 Peter 2:1 says we have to put off with our faith.

For believers, Christian identity is our identity. Christian community is our community, and Christian family our family. Especially in a time of ongoing racial tension, Christians (not Caucasians, African American, Hispanic, or Asian people) are a chosen race. For Christians that take 1 Peter seriously, the line on the application that asks for race ought to filled in: “Christian.”

I would like to end my sermon with another poem by my favorite poet. It is called Stones for the Kingdom, it really embodies what the body of Christ should be.

Each of us, irregular stones,
living stones, for the kingdom
each with a place, a part to play
to build up the foundations, the walls
the body of Christ, revealed, proclaimed
living in the church, in each of us together
quartz and sandstone, onyx and sapphire
clay and coal, diamonds and granite
Everyone has a niche, a spot
in the wall, the building
the living stones,
brothers and
sisters of
the cornerstone
our Lord Jesus,
the rock
on which we stand

May we always be that living stone for Christ’s Church, may we always know that we are precious and chosen in God’s eyes, and may we always do our part for the Kingdom of God here on earth. As Christians. . . our motto. . . our slogan. . . in life should not be “Get a Piece of the Rock” but “Become a Piece of the Rock.”

AMEN

Labels: apostles, April, Bible, body, brother, Christ, christian, church, clay, disciples, eyes, Faith, Family, foundation, God, Jesus, life, love, Messiah, Methodist, Pastor Ruth L. Foss, Peter, poetry, Poetry Where You Live, Raymond A. Foss, Ruth, sacrifice, Sanbornville United Methodist Church, savior, scripture, secrets, Sermon, sheep, sight, sing, sister, stone

Each of us, irregular stones,
living stones, for the kingdom
each with a place, a part to place
to build up the foundations, the walls
the body of Christ, revealed, proclaimed
living in the church, in each of us together
quartz and sandstone, onyx and sapphire
clay and coal, diamonds and granite
Everyone has a niche, a spot
in the wall, the building
the living stones,
brothers and
sisters of
the cornerstone
our Lord Jesus,
the rock
on which we stand

April 19, 2008
1 Peter 2:2-10

Labels: April, body, brother, Christ, church, clay, Faith, foundation, Jesus, Messiah, Methodist, Nature, Peter, poetry, Poetry Where You Live, Raymond A. Foss, savior, sister, stone

God labored, in creation,
in bringing into being
the whole world, the heavens,
the earth, the dome above and below
the waters and the wild places
the mountains, the valleys,
the plants and the animals.
God labored, and it was good
He made the people,
breathing life into the clay
the dust of the earth
and it was very good
And then God rested.

March 13, 2008

Labels: clay, creator, Faith, Genesis, God, life, Methodist, Nature, poetry, Poetry Where You Live, Raymond A. Foss, water

Mold me, Lord.
Pick me back up,
when I am chipped, cracked,
broken into pieces,
when my glaze fades,
when I am tarnished.
Make me forever new clay,
malleable, moldable,
fresh and new,
ready for your hands,
the hands of the potter
to make me a useful vessel
for your purposes
To mend me, fill the cracked places
repair my brokenness
and bring me back to you

March 10, 2008
Philippians 1:3-11 and
Upper Room daily devotional
http://www.upperroom.org/Devotional/default.asp?month=3&day=10&year=2008&x=107&y=6

Labels: clay, Faith, God, hands, internet, Links, March, Methodist, Philippians, poetry, Poetry Where You Live, potter, Raymond A. Foss, Upper Room

A branch, a twig, leafless
falls in the wintry wood
falling onto the snow,
leaving an impression
a mark of its presence
fleeting scar in the melting skin
of the forest floor,
like its ancient ancestor
which left an indelible mark
in the fossilized clay
This time, only
captured in my mind’s eye,
in the image in the camera,
tracks of the other citizens
of the wintry wood

March 6, 2008

Labels: clay, eyes, Family, March, Nature, Photos, poetry, Poetry Where You Live, Raymond A. Foss, Shanequa, Shyanne, snow

A search of words in the computer
a means of grace, finding its way through the ether
“I live because of God”, a powerful affirmation
God is the creator, the one who give
the breath of life, the potter making me
from the inert clay, giving me life
bringing me from the dust, into being
because of He who conjured the world
from the void,
the nothingness,
I live!

And, so I should act
humbly walking with God,
living as a child of God
a brother to my Jesus
His only begotten son
Who lived and died, so I might live again
despite my brokenness, my sins
I live!

February 26, 2008

Labels: brother, child, clay, creator, Faith, February, God, grace, Jesus, life, Messiah, Methodist, poetry, Poetry Where You Live, potter, Raymond A. Foss, savior, Writing Poetry

God said we could do so much
could walk in the garden,
eat of the fruits of all creation
save for one tree, a fateful test.
One which we failed, in trying too hard
to be like God. Forgetting the creator
made us from clay, breathed life into us
made us special, precious, out of dust
We still have the choice, to use the consequence,
the results of that bite, of the forbidden fruit
to do good and change creation
to make the world more of the heaven on earth
that it was at the beginning, in the garden,
when we walked with God

February 10, 2008
Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7,
Matthew 4:1-11, Genesis 1:28-31, and
the sermon, “My Brother’s Keeper”,
by Pastor Ruth L. Foss,
Sanbornville United Methodist Church,
Wakefield, NH, 2/10/08
and the sermon, “Seeing With New Eyes”,
by the Rev. Lori Eldredge,
Wesley United Methodist Church,
Concord, NH 2/10/08

Labels: church, clay, creator, eyes, Faith, February, fruit, garden, Genesis, Genesis 2, God, life, Lori Eldredge, Matthew, Methodist, Pastor Ruth L. Foss, poetry, Poetry Where You Live, Raymond A. Foss, Ruth, Sanbornville United Methodist Church, Sermon, Wesley United Methodist Church