I first learned the words of an amazing African American Spiritual while serving on a Walk to Emmaus.  The words of the chorus say, “give me Jesus, give me Jesus, you can have all the world, but give me Jesus.”  The verses claim that “In the morning when I rise, when I am alone, and when I come to die, give me Jesus.”  I hope this is an expression of my inmost faith proclaiming that regardless of time or circumstance the most important aspect of my life is Jesus Christ.
My twins have recently become aware of fame and fortune.  For the first time they watched and recorded on their iPads, the half-time show of the Super Bowl.  They love Katy Perry and watched intently as she made her entrance on a giant lion singing Roar, they were mesmerized by her many costume changes and the dancing sharks who accompanied her, and then they squealed with delight during the grand finale made complete by fireworks.  The next morning on the way to school, they declared they wanted to be famous and inquired about my own hopes and dreams.  I replied that more than being famous, I wanted to share love with others.
An integral part of my call to ordained ministry came about through my call to love.  I could have done many things with my life.  I dreamt of going to medical school and being a pediatrician and planned to be a teacher devoted to a middle school science classroom, and I had also spent a lifetime learning how to love.  My mom took me to deliver Christmas gifts to homes in the mountains of Western North Carolina where there was no running water and dirt floors, my church took me to downtown Atlanta to rebuild a neighborhood for low-income housing, and my college ministry took me through the streets of Raleigh, NC to share bag lunches to those who had no food.  Deep in my heart a call to love was born and nourished. God continued to nudge that calling towards full-time ordained ministry in The United Methodist Church.  I allowed God’s dream to become my dream. Fame and fortune were not my call. My call was to love.


I had the privilege of administering the sacrament of Holy Communion at First United Methodist Church, Gastonia yesterday.  As I handed person after person a piece of broken bread, the prayer deep in my heart was give them Jesus.  As I offered the body of Christ to young and not so young, to members and non-members, to skeptics and seekers, I thought give them Jesus.   The world calls toward bigger and better, consumption and control, and power and prestige.  Our faith calls for love; to sell everything we have and give to the poor; to store up treasures in heaven; and to lose our life for the sake of the gospel.  A call remarkably different from the world’s call. During this season of Lent, may our prayer be: give us Jesus.