The One of Peace

Read: Micah 5: 2-5a

What does peace look like to you? In a world that is seemingly overrun by unrest, competition, and strife, what does peace look like? As I write this, the picture of peace for me is my cat. In the last few moments, he has gone from chasing a wad of paper around the room to settling in on my lap for nap; he is purring and hasn't a care in the world. There are times when I find myself envious of that cat. Maybe there are times when you find yourself envious of your image of peace--wanting to escape to THAT reality instead of the current reality we find ourselves in.

Micah's prophecy is important in showing Jesus as the fulfillment of God's promise of a Messiah. The most quoted and known part is Micah's foretelling of the Messiah's birth in Bethlehem. It was this prophecy that led to the Magi being sent to Bethlehem to find the One whose star they had seen (Mat. 2: 1-11). However, the prophecy about Bethlehem is not the only important part of this passage. Verse 5 holds an important statement and prophecy concerning Jesus:  "he will be their peace". Micah's prophecy is that Jesus will be the peace that Israel, and all the world, craves. This promise is not, though, a peace in the sense of an end to wars and political strife. It is a promise of spiritual peace, a peace with God that is unparalleled on this earth.

Against the backdrop of all that is going on in Israel during the time of Micah and the other prophets--invasion, conquest, captivity, and exile at the hands of neighboring empires--is the reality that Israel's sin had broken the covenant with God and that Israel had turned away from God. All that was going on was a result of Israel's desertion of God; it was God's punishment upon Israel. This kind of relationship pained God, so God had to do something about it. That "something" was the offering of God's Son, Jesus, to be the peace between God and Creation. In Christ, we no longer need to fear to the judgment and wrath of God. In Christ, we need not be torn by internal and external conflict. In Christ, we need not be subject to guilt and shame. Christ indeed is the Prince of Peace. The prophecy of Micah is a reminder that God's desire for us is that overwhelmine peace that allows us to be secure, not matter what is raging all around us. My prayer this Christmas is that we might all experience, either again or for the first time, the peace that God offers to us in Christ Jesus.

Singing with Angels

Read: Luke 2: 8-20

Of all the things I love about the Christmas season, one my favorites is the music. The music of the season, both secular and sacred, has a way of bringing a smile to my face. In many of the Scripture passages of the Advent and Christmas season, we find our ancestors in faith bursting into song--Mary at Gabriel's announcement of Jesus' conception, Zechariah at the birth of John the Baptist, Simeon at the presentation of Jesus in the Temple, and the angelic chorus that heraled the birth of the Messiah. If we were to read of this accounts, we find these songs share a common trait:  they are all sung as praises to God--praises, predominately, for God's faithfulness to individuals and to God's people.

One of the invitations we receive at Christmastime is to join in the choruses of praise to God. Remember, this time of year is all about what God has done trusting in what God will do; it is a time to sing of God's glory and praise. There is something mystical about losing ourself in praise and worship. It is as if nothing else matters or is even going on. These are moments of pure joy and wondrous peace and tranquility, and there is nothing else like it. Sometimes, though, we tend to relegate these moments to worship on Sunday (or whenever you  happen to worship), and are afraid to enjoy them throughout the week. One of the great privelages God gives us is to worship whenever and wherever we like. Today, I want to invite you to experiment with the joy of worshipping God. Try this out--try allowing inward praise and singing to permeate your day. At this time of year, maybe a song such as "Angels We Have Heard on High" or "Joy to the World" could lead to those places of worship and praise. Whatever you do, see if you don't meet God in a powerful way!

Overflowing

Read: Isaiah 12: 2-6

Many of our Scripture lessons throughout Advent and Christmas speak of overflowing joy. This joy is both a present and a future state. In the present, the characters of the story rejoice in what God is doing or has done right at that moment. At the same time, these charaters are often looking forward to something of  great joy (usually God's final redemption and eternal glory).

Our passage for today is no different. It is a hymn of great praise to God. Read again some of the phrases used by Isaiah, "the LORD is my strength and my song", "give thanks...and call upon his name", "Sing....God has done glorious things", and the list goes on. From the depth of their being, the author is overflowing in praise and gratitude to God. So much so, that it is hard not to get caught up in it as we read it, all these centuries later.

It's easy to praise God, though, when things are going well. When the stresses of life seem manageable, when there is relative peace in our soul, and when we can easily see our overflowing blessings. It is much more difficult to praise when the oppostie is true--the stresses threaten to bury us, peace seems to be nowhere to be found, and it's hard to see even one blessing let alone an abundance. Even in those hard times, we are invited by God to remember who our God is. We are invited to remember that God is our anchor, our strength, and our salvation. It is a reminder that there is nothing in this world that can overpower God, unless we allow it to.

Whether your cup is overflowing with blessings or you find yourself overrun with fear and trouble, I want to invite you to open your heart today to the goodness of God. Take a few moments and either recite or chant the words of Isaiah 12:2-6. Allow the goodness of God to wash over you. It is in moments such as these that we find ourselves near to the heart of God. As we open ourselves to God, God will draw near to us and we will find that peace that all people crave so dearly.

From Devastation to Celebration

Read: Zephaniah 3: 14-20

Despair. Overwhelming grief. Confusion. Shock. Fear. These are but a few of the feelings of ancient Israel in this passage from Zephaniah. These feelings are present because the land of Israel has been overrun and Israel lays devestated. There was little to be hopeful for and the overwhelming feeling was that God had abandoned them. Life as they knew it would never be the same and without divine intervention would continue to spiral out of control.

How often does that describe our life? How often do we feel despair or overwhelming grief? I'm guessing many of us have known those emotions. I'm also going to guess that we have had those times when we feel as if God has abandoned us. To say these times are not fun would be an understatement. Indeed, they leave us teetering on the brink of faith and despair.

These times usually give utterance to one of the most yearning questions of faith:  why? Why does God allow these things to happen? Why does God allow God's people to feel despair or overwhelming grief or leave them teetering on the brink. In reading the first two chapters of Zephaniah, we find out why God allowed such things to happen to Israel. Israel had, essentially, forsaken God and had fallen away from their special relationship with God. Israel was more concerned with "fitting in" with the neighboring tribes and nations that they forgot all about their covenant with God. As a result, God had to get their attention and direct them back to God. Perhaps that is what God does with us: try to get our attention and direct us back toward God. There is a pithy saying about God not giving us more than we can handle; I'm not a huge fan of this saying because it portrays God as some mean bully. Instead, we can acknowledge the presence of evil in the world and the attempts by the forces of evil to sway us in our faith. In short, there are times when our feelings of despair are the attempts by evil forces to get us to turn away from God.

No matter what the circumstances surrounding the despair and feelings of devastation, God has a word of hope and grace.  God declares to Isreal and to us that God will "remove our sorrows", is "mighty to save",and God will "rejoice over us with singing". God's promise is this: God will NEVER leave us abandoned or orphaned and God will continually turn our sorrow into joy and our devastation into celebration.  This is the message of Christmas. In Christ, God has restored our joy and transformed our brokenness and heartache into overflowing joy.

As you go about these days, I want to invite you to reflect upon God's promises, remembering that God is faithful to God's promises. I want to invite you to praise God for the promises already fulfilled and ask God for the fulfill those promises you are waiting on to be fulfilled. May God bless you as you wait in remembrance and expecation of the celebration of God's fulfilled promises.

Pondering

Read: Luke 2: 41-52

Over the next week, our devotions are going to be centered around Mary, the mother of Jesus, and embracing and meeting the Messiah through the perspective of his mother. In the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic branches of the Christian faith, Mary is given the title theotakos; the English translation for this title is "God-bearer". It gives a beautiful image of Mary, the literal and figurative bearer of Christ to the world.  Across the spectrum of the Church, Mary is given varying degrees of reverence--some traditions make her an object of devotion and extreme importance in the life of that particular tradition, other traditions marginalize her as unimportant in the "big picture" of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection. I don't intend to engage those differences in this space. Instead, my hope is that we might, in preparation for the coming of the Messiah, engage those things that we can learn from the woman who is the mother of our Lord.

Virtually all the times we encounter Mary in Scripture involve her being enshrouded in crisis. Consider, if you will, these examples: an angel bursts upon the world of an unwed teenager to announce the girl will be pregnant by the Holy Spirit, in the time right after giving birth shepherds appear to worship her child, and having to deal with the ever-increasing independence of a twelve year old. It certainly seems as if Mary's life is steeped in stress and the unexpected. In each instance, though, Mary's response is virtually the same. We are told, especially by Luke, that Mary "ponders" and "treasures" what God says and does. In spite of those stressful circumstances, Mary responds in a contemplative way, seeking to comprehend and be at peace with what God is doing.

I wonder if we could take a lesson from Mary. Each one of us finds our life full of stresses; whether it be the stress of work, of parenthood, or perhaps the stress of making ends meet from day to day. On top of all these other stresses, we find ourselves in the midst of the stresses of the holiday season. How do we handle those stresses of life and the holiday season? What do yo do when it seems like the world is just caving in on you? I cannot begin to imagine some of those stresses that Mary felt. Yet, through all those crisis moments, she stopped to reflect upon what God was doing at that moment.

This holiday season presents us many opportunities to contemplate what God is doing. Those moments might happen during worship on Sunday morning (or whenever you happen to worship), they might occur in your own time of private prayer and Scripture study, or they might come when you just can't take the stress anymore. Whenver those moments come, why not take a moment and ponder and treasure what God is doing? Perhaps God is trying to get your attention somehow, perhaps God is revealing to you all over again the wonder and mystery of the Messiah--God's gift to the world, or perhaps God is simply inviting you to stand back and see what God is going to do next. Whatever God's message to you might be, I pray you might find the time and the space to ponder and treasure the mystery of the Christmas season, and the wonder of God's amazing love.

Good News of Comfort

Read: Isaiah 40: 1-11

We live in a time in history where it is at times difficult to find good news. When I opened my web browser to begin writing this reflection, of the dozen or so news stories on my homepage, eight or nine of them were about something negative--shootings on a college campus, political unrest in different parts of the world, and tragic events from around the world to name a few; the rest of the stories were inconsequential. My point is that we sometimes have to work to find any piece of good news today. Let's not be naive, though, there is much good news; we just don't hear about it much.

For the people of ancient Israel who first heard Isaiah's message, things were bleak. Their nation had been overrun. Many of their people had been killed, and those who weren't killed were carried off into captivity in  a foreign land. Yet in the midst of this bleakness, God says to them "Comfort, comfort, my people". Isaiah proclaims that God is about to bring great joy and comfort to Israel; a great joy that will dispel the bleakness and brokenness they feel. What's more...this good news is going to be good news for all time. The word of the Lord, we are told, stand forever. The good news that God proclaims to Israel isn't just for a moment in time--it is for ALL time. The good news that was proclaimed is the Lord's coming to Israel. The Sovereign Lord would come with power and would be the shepherd of Israel and Israel would be restored.

As we read that passage, the news is not just good, but it is glorious. God descending to shepherd God's people and lovingly care for them and comfort them. Even though they had abandoned God previously, God never abandoned them!  Dear ones...this is God's glorious news to us today. Even though we might have abandoned God previously, even though there seems to be little good news around us, and even though we might feel as if everything is falling down around us, there is good news. Indeed, there is glorious news. It is the good news of God's coming to us in the form of Jesus Christ. It is the good news of Emmanuel, God with us. This Good News will never fade away, it is God's enduring promise to us all. As we prepare the way of the Lord this Advent season, my our hearts--yours, mine, and the hearts of all the world--take comfort in God's glorious news. Glory to God in the Highest!

Anticipating

Read: 2 Peter 3: 8-15a

Seven weeks. Forty-nine days. That's how long it will be until my wife and I welcome our third child into the world. As you might imagine, we are already spending a good deal of time preparing for our little one's arrival. In the last few weeks we have converted a basement room in a bedroom for our oldest child, we have been showered with gifts by our church family and begun to sort through said gifts, we have made arrangements for me to take a few weeks away from church-work to tend to my family, and we have started making arrangements for people to be with my wife while I have to be away while she is still on maternity leave. Suffice it to say, even with Christmas looming, we are eagerly preparing for the day our child arrives.

Many people do the same thing with Christmas. The retail industry has us anticipating Christmas shortly after Halloween. As we approach the end of November, we start to see all decorations going up. By the time we hit December the Christmas anticipation is in full swing--children finalizing their "list" for Santa Claus, Christmas-themed programs at churches and schools, and other community events. For some, because of their anticipation, Christmas might seen to take forever to arrive, even though a simple glance at a calendar will tell us how much longer there is to wait.

But what about those times when we don't know precisely when something will happen? That's how childbirth usually is--except in the cases of planned Caesarean births. Knowing when something is going to happen allows us to make our plans as we see fit. When we know a date or a time, we have the luxury of a "deadline"; we know all our plans, arrangements, etc. must be made/done by that deadline. When we don't know the date, time, etc., things become more urgent and pressing. When we don't know when something will happen, we tend to reprioritize so that we make sure we are ready, if it might be some time before our particular event is going to occur.

The people of ancient Israel had no idea when the Messiah was going to appear. The messages the of prophets of the Old Testament were attempts to get the people ready to recieve the Messiah when he appeared. A read through the Gospels shows that there were a great many who were not ready when Jesus finally came; perhaps they had come to believe the Messiah wouldn't come at all or perhaps they expected to the Messiah to come much later or be someone different than Jesus...whatever the reason, many in Israel were simply not ready for Jesus to come.

Peter's warning and encouragement in his letter is for the church in anticipation of Jesus' Second Coming. We have already dealt with a couple of passages that engaged this idea. The reality is that we don't know when Jesus is coming back. As a result, Peter says, we ought to be ready at any moment. Jesus might return sometime today, next week, next year, or five hundred years from now. The point is this...we just don't know. Because of that, we must make sure that we are ready now and we keep ourselves ready...just in case. As you ponder that, let me ask you this: What do you need to do in your life to prepare yourself for Jesus to come? If you knew an exact time, how would your priorities and plans be different? Make no mistake, Jesus IS coming. We just don't know when--we must anticipate it.

Humility Before God

Read: Psalm 25: 1-10

There could be all sorts of definitions or examples of what it means to be humble or to show humility. As I was perusing some online dictionaries, I stumbled across a definition that I hadn't thought of before. The particular resource I was looking at defined humility as "a state of deference or submission". While it doesn't exactly conjure up exciting images, I found myself drawn to this particular definition. Perhaps it is because this definition most accurately (in my opinion) portrays the posture Scripture insists human beings take before God.  Throughout Scripture, human beings are encouraged to be humble before God in one form or another. It is only through human humility, we are told, that the God-human relationship remains as God intends.

The passage from the Psalms speaks of this humility. Throughout these verses, the psalmist repeatedly takes a posture of humility before God. Phrases such as " in you I trust, O God", "show me your ways..teach me your paths", and "you are God my Savior" leap out as the psalmist's expression of humility. Perhaps the most striking phrase, to me, is when the psalmist proclaims that God "guides the humble in what is right and teaches them God's ways". What is made clear here is that an attitude or posture of humility is necessary if human beings are to learn God's ways. Only by allowing ourselves to be less and God to be more will we be able to truly learn the ways of God. Perhaps this is because those who feel they have all the answers and all they need have no need for the ways or teachings of God.

We live in a world where humility is not easily or readily embraced. We are discouraged from showing any weakness, admitting we might need help, or admitting that we do not have all the answers. How ironic is it, then, that the story of Christmas is all about humility. On one hand, we remember and celebrate the humble circumstances into which the Christ-child was born: a young, unwed mother (at least at Jesus' birth), a carpenter for an earthly father, and living in relative poverty and obscurity. But Christmas isn't just about the humbleness of Christ's birth. It is also about the humility it takes for human beings to confess that they need this gift of God above any other. We NEED Jesus. There is no way around that truth. Without Jesus, we are lost and separated from God.

Our relationship with God is dependent upon our humility. This is not because God wants to make us feel less than we are or God being some kind of bully. It is because God yearns for us to depend upon God's grace more and more. Where in your life do you need to take a step back and say to God "show me your ways and teach me your paths"? Where in life is God calling you to embrace a posture of humility, of submission and deference to God? As we embrace that posture and this idea of humility, may God show us God's ways and teach us God's paths as we are prepared even more to celebrate the coming of our Lord.

A Song of Praise

Read: Luke 1: 67-79

How overwhelmed Zechariah must have been! After months of being unable to speak (because he doubted Gabriel's announcement of Elizabeth's pregnancy with John), Zechariah's tongue is suddenly loosened. I can imagine that he would have had lots to say. But the first thing he does is offer praise to God. The first (recorded) words out of his mouth was a song of praise to God and a prophecy about John and Jesus. It is Zechariah's prayer to God about what has happened in the past and what will happen in time to come.

It is an inspiring and a convicting prayer that Zechariah offers. It is inspiring because of its soaring praie to and complete adoration of God. It is convicting because it shows how prayer has been seemingly hijacked by human beings. In this time of year where we are asked by others for our "wish list", I wonder how often our prayers are nothing more than wish lists. How often do we approach God and say "I want...", "I want...", "I want...."? Even if those things for which we are asking are good things, I have to believe that kind of approach takes away from what prayer is and is about. Please don't get me wrong...there is nothing wrong with asking God for what we want or need! God welcomes and encourages that! The problem is when that becomes the essence of prayer...simply asking for what we want/need and expecting God to fulfill our order. Zechariah provides for us a model of prayer that has nothing to do with the self and everything to do with God!

As you go about your day, I want to encourage you to spend some time in prayer that has nothing to do with needs or wants. I want to encourage you to spend time in prayer simply worshipping and marveling at who God is and what God has done and is doing. Perhaps you could try finishing the following sentences:
-God, I praise you because you have...
- I look forward to the day when you will....
- O God, I am filled with awe and wonder that you...

I am convinced that as our prayers reflect this focus solely upon God, that we will drawn more and more into God's story and what God is doing right now. May you be blessed as you offer your praise and worship to God and may you be drawn ever closer to the Most High.

A Revolutionary Message

Read: Luke 3: 7-18

The Scriptures are full of revolutionary messages; those messages that just don't jive with the way "the world" does things. The prophets of the Hebrew Bible are a perfect example. The messages of the prophets continually sought to turn the attention of Israel back to the God that led their ancestors out of Egypt. In the New Testament, Paul was usually offering a revolutionary message to new Christians and new churches; again, this was a message who's main idea was non-conformity to the ways of the world. Of all these messages and messengers, though, there are two others that stand head and shoulders above the rest:  Jesus and John the Baptsit. That Jesus would bring a revolutionary message seems to go without saying; after all, He is the Son of God. Just before Jesus burst onto the stage, though, John the Baptist (Jesus' cousin, by the way) preached a revolutionary message of repentence and baptism for the forgivness of sins. John's mission was to prepare the way for Christ--to put people in the spiritual position for them to hear and receive God's message through Jesus.

It seems that we talk about John and his message only during the Advent season. There are times when it seems as if we minimize John or his message as merely precursors to Christ; although John does say that "one more powerful than I will come". But if we look closely, we can hear the power and holiness of John's message. It is, in fact, a message that Jesus will echo and point to throughout his ministry as both a teaching point and point of criticism for those who thought John the Messiah, yet did not heed his words.

From the reading in Luke's Gospel, we find the essence of John's message. It was a message of criticism and a message of encouragement for those who came to hear him. That message could be summed up in the following "command": live a simple life of holiness. It was a revolutionary message in John's day, just as it is a revolutionary message in today's world. Today, simplicity is frowned upon. We are bombarded with ideas such as multi-tasking and accumulating "things" so that we can get more done and have more toys to play with.  At the same time, we are lead to believe that our "goodness" or "holiness" is based upon who we are, who we are friends with, or what organization we are a part of. John's message punches holes in both of those situations. He says that we should share what we have with those who have less than us, and that we should be content with what we have/earn. How odd that sounds in today's world! In a world where we are encouraged to to protect our own security, it is an almost crazy message. John's words about being content with earnings were direced at tax collectors and soldiers--those who earned their living through cheating and dishonesty. Finally (although addressed first in the text), John declares that simply being a descendant of Abraham doesn't influence one's standing before God. A relationship with God is not inherited, nor is being a member of the Jewish faith good enough, John says.

So how do we reconcile John's message with today's world?  I have to believe that if John were here today, his message would still be one of cultivating a personal relationship with God and examining the way in which we live. Through John, God is calling each of us to a life of holiness and love. It is a calling that is exemplifed in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. For us, the challenge is how to exemplify that in our lives. It might be in the sharing of the food we store away while others go hungry. It might be sharing in the clothes we have but never wear while others have none. It might begin with drawing closer to God and letting those actions be the result of this deepening relationship. God is inviting each of us to a new way of life, a revolutionary way of life. It is a way of life that is grounded in faith and hope in Jesus Christ, the child of Christmas. This new way of life is the essence of the Christmas story.

Always Ready

Read:  Mark 13: 24-27

Whenever I read this passage, or its counterparts in the other Gospels, I am reminded of the motto of the Boy Scouts of America: Be Prepared. Preparedness is a crucial part of our faith journey. In this particular passage, Jesus talks about being prepared for his return. In the post "Pay Attention" from a few days ago, we explored how, using this passage's counterpart in Matthew, we can so easily get distracted from the current moment. There is yet another angle we can take on this passage, or at least the theme of preparedness.

To get to that point, let me ask you a question.  Have you ever had anyone ask you about your faith and why you are a Christian? What would you say to someone to did ask this question? It is not really a question that we can answer very well unless we are prepared for it. Said another way, Jesus invites and challenges his followers to to spiritually aware and ready to proclaim the truth of faith, even, and especially, in the midst of tough times.

I will be the first to admit, it is not easy to give an answer or reason for faith. On many levels, faith in Christ defies so many points of logic and the ways of the world. However, Jesus assured his first disciples that they would not be left to devise their own reasons and answers. Just a few verses earlier in Mark 13 (v. 11, to be exact), Jesus assures his followers that when the are brought to trial on account of their faith, the Holy Spirit will instruct them on what to say. So it is with us. Whenever we are asked about our faith, it is the Spirit that speaks for us. However, we must be prepared to allow the Spirit to speak through us. We make ourselves ready by spending time with God. We make ourselves ready by engaging those questions for ourselves...why do you believe what you believe? We have no idea when those questions might be asked of us. Because of that, it is even more imperative that we are ready to offer "a passionate and compelling answer for the hope we have" (1 Peter 3:15).  In this season of preparedness, I pray that you might have that time with God; that you might be prepared to offer an answer for the hope of Christmas, and every other day.

The Face of God

Read: Psalm 80

How often have wanted to shout at God, "Where are you"?! My guess is that at some point or another we have all wondered where God was. At the moment, it just didn't feel as if God was anywhere near us; even if our faith told us that God was right beside us all the time. In those moments, how wondrous it would be for us to catch even a glimpse of God's face. How wondrous it would be to have visual verification that God was indeed right beside us.

Psychologist Erik Erikson believed, though, that we do receive that visual verification. He wrote that one of human beings' fiirst encounters with the Divine is through the loving face of our mother, father, or whoever our primary caregiver was as infants. It is in the face of unconditional love and acceptance that we have the verification that God is indeed nearby. This extends further than our infancy though. Whenever we experience unconditional love and tenderness--love beyond boundaries--we experience the face and reality of God. It is that love and tenderness that draws us nearer to God.

With these experiences, though, comes a challenge. The unfortunate reality is that there are a great many in our world who have seldom, if ever, experienced unconditional love and tenderness from anyone. There are a great many people who experience growing up without someone being for them the "face of God". I cannot imagine how haunting of a feeling that must be--to feel unloved. Yet there are those who know that feeling all to well; those who cannot imagine what it would be like to be loved unconditionally. As those who have experienced this unconditional love and have seen the face of God in someone else, I believe God calls us to be God's shining face for those around us. This can be something as simple as an acknowledgement of someone's presence; anything that can convey to someone else that they are loved for who they are, not condemned for who they aren't.

For your spiritual exercise today, I want to encourage you to do two things. The first thing is to sit back and to imagine God's face, full of love, tenderness, and complete acceptance, shining squarely on YOU. Allow that thought and image to pervade your imagination for awhile as you bask in the warmth of God's love for you. The second thing I want to invite and encourage you do is to be the face of God for someone else today. Be the one who looks upon someone else with love and compassion. Be the one to acknowledge someone's presence. Be the one to show someone else that God is nearby, even if they don't immediately recognize it. God is all around us--and we see God through one another.

Pay Attention

Read:  Luke 21: 25-36

When I was in Liberia this past February, our group talked constantly about the importance of being "fully present". What we meant was that in order to fully experience what was going on, our focus had to be the moment at hand. If we were worrying about what was going on at home, what would be happening the next day, or even what was going on later that same day, we ran the risk of missing something. More specifically, we ran the risk of missing something that God was doing at that moment in Liberia as a whole, or in the lives of the people with whom we were interacting. As I look back on that trip, there are times on the trip I wish I had been more "fully present". Don't get me wrong...it was an amazing experience; but I wonder if it would have been more amazing if I would have been fully there more often than I was.

We do not have to be in a foreign culture or anywhere away from home in order to be challenged to be fully present. Each moment of each day we live presents us with the opportunity to be fully present. I wonder how often we miss that opportunity. I wonder how often we miss what God is doing right now because we are busy planning for or worrying about what's going to happen tomorrow, next year, or after lunch today. Yesterday (in the post "This City") I wrote how God is ALWAYS at work, trying to establish new relationships, reestablish stale relationshps, and strengthen existing relationships with human beings. The ways God does this are infinite and amazing. God's work in this world, however, is not limited to the grand and spectacular; there are times when we can experience God's work through a simple conversation, a handshake, or the whisper of the wind. But how often do we take notice of what God is doing around us?

Jesus has a word to say about this. He encouraged his followers to "be alert" and "keep awake". We recieve these encouragements within the context of Jesus' discourse on his return to earth. I think Jesus is also encouraging us to take each moment as it comes--to quit worrying about when He is coming back, or to quit worrying about all that is going to happen or could happen. Instead, Jesus exhorts us to be fully present in each moment.  Imagine that...we are invited to be present with God each moment of each day, not just those moments we have set aside for personal or communal worship. It is in this complete presence that we experience the true breadth and depth of God's grace and providence. It is in this complete presence that we can experience how completely God is present with each of us each and every moment of every day. 

As you go about your day, consider how you might be able to be "fully present" in each moment, knowing that God is already there. Consider how you might be able to practice what Jean-Pierre de Caussade, an 18th century French priest, calls "the sacrament of the present moment" (sacrament meaning "gift"), because each moment is God's gift to us; another opportunity to experience first-hand the grace and greatness of God.  It is in the present moment that God, through the Holy Spirit, seeks to reveal to each of us the grace of God; it is in the present moment that God wishes to fulfill the promise of Emmanuel, God with us.  This Advent season, and beyond, I pray that each of us might be fully present in each moment, that we might experience life in communion with God.

This City

Read:  Jeremiah 33: 10-16

With each passing generation, it seems that our society becomes more and more secularized.  A few generations ago, it was not uncommon, especially in rural town, for most folks to be a regular participant in the life of a church. Today, that is more the exception than the norm; more and more people are either distancing themselvs from the church, or find no reason or benefit to be a part of a church. As this trend continues, more and more of those who remain in the church, it seems, look around with a sense of hopelessness and helplessness for the God and the church they love so dearly. We ask ourselves why people would turn away from God or refuse to turn toward God. We wonder why people refuse to allow God to work in their life. We wonder why people turn away from the only One who can save us from all the ills of the world.

About this, I have some good news and some bad news. The bad news is that I don't have the answers to these questions. I am just as confused as the next person as to why someone would not want or allow the gosple of Jesus Christ in their life. The good news is that even when people turn their back on God, God doesn't turn God's back on them. The good news is that even when people want nothing to do with God, God still wants everything to do with them. Even when an entire town, nation, or world declares they are finished with God, God is not finished with them. Through the Holy Spirit, God is ALWAYS working in this world. God is ALWAYS working to convince people, God's very creation, to turn back to God and God's ways. Through Jeremiah, God declares that even a place that was considered desolate and a "waste" would once again echo with praises to God. God made a promise to our ancestors in faith that God would never forsake humans and leave us on our own, as orphans. Through Christ, that promise is fulfilled. Through Christ, God offers salvation to all of creation. This salvation isn't just the salvation from sin, but salvation from all the ills and wrongs of the world. It is a salvation from unholiness, injustice, fractured relationships, and anything else that goes against God's design and intention for human beings and our relationship with God, with ourselves, and with one another.

God is not finished with our church, our city, or our world. I think this song describes the situation perfectly. As you spend time with God today and observe your world...I challenge you to see those areas that could be considered "desolate wastes" and offer them to God. Where do we need saving? Where do we need or want to to see the Holy Spirit at work? Let us see those things, and offer them to God this Advent season. All so that, one day, all things in this city might echo the praises of God and declare the steadfast love of the Lord!

God's Messenger

Read...Malachi 3: 1-4

Historically, the seasons of Advent and Lent have been those times when Christians have dedicated or rededicated themselves to devotional practices, namely private prayer and focused study and reflection upon the Scriptures.  The Church has encouraged these devotional practices as a way for persons to prepare themselves to celebrate fully the holy days of Christmas and Easter. I want to add my voice to those many who have encouraged such devotional practice among the faithful.

It must be said, though, that these devotional practices do far more than simply prepare us for the holy days. There is merit to the reasoning that devotional practices allow us "get closer" to God; they do, in fact draw us closer to God. I believe, however, that the devotional practices are not about us and what we are doing--these practices are a means whereby God can transform the human soul/mind/life into Christ's likeness. Engaging in these practices are our invitation for God to speak to us, to reavel a bit of God's self to us; they are our invitation to God to take us and to turn us upside down and to challenge us. At the same time, though, they are our submission to, acceptance of, and reliance upon God's grace, as we realize that we, by ourselves, cannot transform ourselves into Christ's likeness--no matter how hard we try.  This transformation is accomplished only by the Holy Spirit, working in and through us; allowing us to see, hear, feel, and understand who God is and what God is about.

Before the Spirit begins that transformational work in us, though, the Spirit is already hard at work.  It is the Spirit that speaks to our heart of our need to turn to God; it is the Spirit that places in our soul a longing to connect with God and to experience more fully God's grace and God's ways.  As we read the words of Malachi today, we can recognize the Spirit as God's messenger that is being sent ahead of God. The message of the Spirit to our heart is this: the Lord is near. The Lord IS near. For the people of Malachi's day, the Lord was near in a very physical sense--Jesus' birth was not TOO far off. For us, the Lord is near to us spiritually--nearer to us than we might imagine.  As we begin this Advent season, I want to challenge you right away, in two ways. The first challenge is this:  think about ways and times in your life that the Holy Spirit has been God's messenger to you. The second challenge is this:  choose a time and a space right now for daily devotions and time sent apart to be with God. It might through this forum or it might another way, however you choose. With whatever mode you choose, make room for the Holy Spirit to prepare you for Advent, for Christmas, and for life beyond the holy days. May God's rich blessings and peace be yours...today and throughout this Advent season!

Creation vs. Evolution

As I preach a sermon series on some of the tough questions of faith that my parishioners have submittted, I want to use this forum as well to engage some of those questions.  Over the next few weeks, I will be posting a new question and some thoughts on that question.  As always, feel free to comment and discuss.  This week's question is:
How do you reconcile faith and belief in God as Creator with science and especially evolution?

For some reason, there are those in the scientific community and those in religious arena that want to make faith and science mutually exclusive.  There have been churches that have said that science is folly and shouldn't be trusted when it comes in conflict with matters of faith.  On the opposite end of the spectrum, there have been those in the scientific world that resist any thought of religion or faith because the facts of science seem to contradict what the faith community says.  Is it possible that faith and science are not as exclusive from one another as some would like us to believe?  My position is that faith and science are NOT mutually exclusive and that it is possible to be a person of faith while still accepting the truths of science.

This also holds true in the debate between Creationism and Darwinism.  A strict interpretation of either theory leaves no room for the other.  Perhaps, then, the answer lies somewhere in the middle.  As a person of faith, I hold as truth that God is the Creator of all things.  Nothing has come into being without the initiation of God.  A strict interpretation of Creationism would hold that all things were created in their final state; in other words, human beings were created in the state which we now find ourselves.  In addition, these creations were accomplished in a relatively short amount of time, a 24 hour time period.  Also included in a strict interpretation of Creationism is usually the "young Earth" theory--the idea that the Earth is, in reality , only a few thousand years old.

A concise interpretation of evolutionary theory would simply hold that the creation has evolved over time.  Said another way, species have evolved from where they were at their beginning to where they are now.  This would stand in opposition to the Creationist belief of unchanging species.  Evolutionary theory would also neccistate a vast amount of time in order for such changing of species to occur.

Perhaps at the heart of the discussion is the concept of time and the definition of "day".  We know that one day is equal to one revolution of the earth on its axis.  The story of Creation in Genesis proclaims that God finished the work of Creation in six days.  Elsewhere in Scripture, though, we told that ways and thoughts of God are not exactly the ways and thoughts of humans, and that human time is not the same as God time. God is outside the boundaries of the human and natural world and, therefore, to subject God to the limits and laws of the natural world would be to somehow limit God.  What this means for the creation/evolution debate is that there is room for both theories to be equally valid.  It is possible to believe all things as creations of God, and still recognize that species have evolved through time, that evolution is a process within the Creation story.  This merged theogy is also called "theistic evolution", because it rejects neither while affirming the validity of both theories.

In conclusion, neither faith nor science must be rejected in order to accept the other.  It should be noted, though, that a merging of the theories of creation and evolution do not completely reject God.  All things, including science and its laws and truths, exist because God exists.  Without God, there would be nothing.  The laws of science and the natural world are a part of this marvelous work of God that is creation.

And the rain came down...

Read--Matthew 7: 24-27

Life is full of storms; and not just stormy weather.  There are times of intense stress and turbulence that make it feel as if there is no calm to be found.  How do we endure those storms?  Do we allow them to overtake us or can we allow them to blow, to howl, and to beat against us and yet not bring us down?  The answer lies in the foundation of life.  In this world, we have so many options on which to build our life:  our work or lack thereof, our wealth or our poverty, our social standing, etc., etc.  We also have the option of building our life on the rock of Christ Jesus--a rock that stands firm even in the fiercest storm.  If we compare the two foundations--Jesus (the rock) or anything else (the sand)--we see that Jesus is the only one that will last eternally.  All those other things will eventually fade away or become broken or irrelevant.  The world offers a foundation of glitz, the Rock offers a foundation of steadiness and peace.  Which is more important to you?
I think the words of the song in this video say it best  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQE5PNRLZ40

Gracious God, in a world full of options and lures and lies, you are the one true Rock.  Show us where and how we might sink our foundation in you, so that when the storms of life rage, we might be found secure.  We pray for those who have choosen to sink their foundation on the sand.  While we pray not for their destruction, we pray they might realize that everything but Christ is but sinking sand.  We pray in the name of Jesus the Rock, AMEN.

The Cost of Discipleship

Read--Luke 14: 27-33

"What does it cost?"  This is a common question, and often a deciding factor, in deciding whether something should be done, bought, etc.  The natural human inclination is to examine what something will cost us before we commit to it.  Generally, the less expensive something is (in terms of money, energy, or time commitment) the greater our chance of engaging it.  Why is that?  Why does cost play a role in our decision about whether or not to engage something?  My guess is that we wish to engage that which will demand the least from us so that we might be free to engage other things as well.

Throughout the Gospel of Luke, Jesus' words consistently discourage people from following him.  He doesn't want followers who are under a false illusion; Jesus doesn't want followers who follow in order to get somethign for themselves.  Jesus isn't interested in huge crowds for the sake of large numbers.  Instead, Jesus desires followers who have examined the demands of discipleship, the sacrifices Jesus expects, and have decided that they are willing to pay whatever price is necessary.  In the first verse of this parable, Jesus says point blank, "whoever does not carry the cross cannot be my disciple".  In other words, Jesus says that whoever does not wish to bear the cost of living a life of total love, of service through compassion, with the help of God's grace, cannot be a disciple of Jesus.  The question for us centers around our willingness to pay that cost.  Are we willing to pay the cost of being a disciple of Jesus Christ? 
God of grace and love, enable us this day to bear the load of the cross.  Grant us the grace to life as a disciple of Jesus with all the demands of following Jesus.  As we do so, we pray that your grace would sustain us and remind us that we do nothing alone, but through the strength and power of your grace.  We offer ourselves to your grace in Jesus' name, AMEN.

Never Assume!

Read--Matthew 25: 1-13

For those who may not know, there is a warning about making assumptions:  it puts both parties in a sticky situation.  In my Preaching class in seminary, we were warned about making the assumption that our audience would just automatically know even the most known stories from the Bible.  There are great dangers in making assumptions.  What if our assumptions turn out to be wrong?  Things can get out of hand, arguments can started, and relationships can become strained--all because something was just assumed and never confirmed.

In this parable of the bridesmaids, Jesus adds his warning to the making of assumptions.  The bridegroom herre is used as a metaphor for God.  The basic gist of the parable is this:  never assume to know what God is doing to do and when God is going to do it.  Five of the bridesmaids in the parable just assumed to bridegroom was going to show up in the middle of the day, or at least before nightfall.  As a result, they were not prepared when the groom finally showed up and they missed out on the festivities because they had to go back and get what they needed.  Can you imagine the grief and frustration they must have felt?

Within the world today, we make so many different assumptions.  We assume that what is here today is still going to be here tomorrow. We assume that things might get better (economically, relationally, etc).  We make the assumption that the status quo will always be the status quo.  Within the church, there is the assumption that church is "always going to be here".  We are reminded time and again that absolutely nothing is gauranteed.  Our next breath is not gauranteed; how then can these other things also be assumed as gauranteed?

Within this parable, there are two things for persons of faith to pay attention to.  The first is that part of a life of faith is placing our trust in God, even when we do not know what God is doing.  Along with that, though, is being ready to respond whenever God seeks to work in and through us.  In other words, to borrow the motto of the Boy Scouts, "Be prepared"!

The second part involves our relationship to those who are not prepared at the moment.  As I read the text, it occurs to me how selfish the bridesmaids with the oil seem to be.  The are so concerned that there will be enough for themselves that the can't bring themselves to share with the others.  Perhaps they were making the assuption that the other five would also have enough oil.  I wonder how many times those in the church just assume that their family, friends, neighbors, etc. are in a right relationship with God.  Because of their assuming, those who were not prepared find themselves missing out on a life lived in the knowledge of the grace and love of God in Christ.  Thus, the warnings are twofold:  do not assume that you know when God's going to call you to respond in faith and do not assume that those around you are secure in the flock of Christ.
Save us, O God, from making false assumptions.  By your grace, help us to be prepared for whenever you might call us to action.  By your grace, may we be ready to move into action.  We pray for those around us who are strangers to your gospel message.  Save us from making the assumption that they know the story of Jesus and his love and move us to share with them what we have--your love, your grace, and fellowship with you and one another.  We pray in Christ's name, AMEN.

Who are you?

Read--John 10: 1-5, 11 Over the years, I have begun several sermons with the question, "who are you?". We identify ourselves and are identified by others in such an array of ways: by first or last name, by those to whom we are related (parents, grandparents, children, etc), our vocation, or perhaps a nickname. The names by which we are identified hold great value for our own self-knowledge and self-worth. They are reminders that we are somebody. To know ourselves named is to ourselves as persons of worth. There are times when names are given to us (when we are born, when our children are born, etc). There are also other times when we take a name of ourselves. One of those times of self-naming is when we choose to make Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior and we assume the name "Christian". However, at that moment we choose to take on more than just that name. We choose to a sheep in the flock that is under the care of Jesus. This parable of the Good Shepherd reminds us that we are known by Jesus and he gladly names us as one of his own. At the same time, we also know who Jesus is and know "his voice" Along with this knowing and being known is the invitation to "hear Jesus' voice and be lead by him". Taking the name "Christian" is our invitation to allow our Shepherd, the One who knows us more than we know ourselves, to lead us throughout our life. Loving God, thank you for giving us your name. Thank you for allowing us to be a part of your flock. We entrust ourselves to you and pray that you would allow us to hear your voice and be lead by you. We offer praise to you in Jesus' name, AMEN.

Fruitless or Dormant?

Read--Luke 13: 6-9 There are times in life when we struggle to see any fruit being borne of our life. Perhaps our spiritual life is dry and barren and we feel little to no connection to God. Perhaps other aspects of life seem to be unrewarding, or our efforts in other ventures seem to be ineffective or lacking in purpose. What do we do in those times? We live in a world where the value of something is judged by is functionality or usefulness. Those things that don't function as they should or are not useful are quickly and easily cast aside in favor of those things which will function properly or will be useful. I have seen so many people cast aside a relationship with God because they felt as if they were never drawing closer to God, no matter how hard they tried. I've talked with folks who were contemplating ending a marriage because they were "getting nothing out of it". Our tendancy is to get rid of those things that "don't work as they should". This is the exact attitude of the owner of the fig tree--the tree wasn't producing as it should have been, so it was merely taking up space that could be occupied by a tree that would produce. Only the pleading of the gardener saved the tree. The gardener had an almost intimate relationship with that tree; he had cared for it and nurtured it and wanted so desperately for it to sprout and produce. So he pleaded for one more chance to work the soil around the tree and nurture it some more, to see if it would indeed bear fruit. The gardener bought that tree one more chance! So it is with God and us. In those times when we don't feel as if we are producing fruit, when our spiritual lives are barren and our relationships are lacking, God's grace is there to give us another chance. God's grace is there to work the soil of life and relationships, to nurture and to care and love on us. And God is patient with us! There are times when plants and soils are dormant--they do not produce because they need nourishment or are exhausted from previous seasons of growth. They need time to simply "be" so that they might be replenished. We are the same way--there are times when a period of fruitlessness is simply dormancy and our souls are waiting to be nourished so that more growth may occur. Thanks be to God that God never, never, gives up hope that we might produce fruit in our lives as a response to God's grace. God, thank you for never giving up on us. In those times of dormancy, we pray you would nurture us back to health. When we feel fruitless, remind us of your grace that stirs the soil that is our life. Lord, we want to produce fruit for you and we need your help to do that. We give ourselvs to your grace in Jesus' name, AMEN.

Why?

Read--Matthew 13: 24-30 It is perhaps the most asked question: why? For some reason, humans are in love with this one-word question. We ask it to gain information, to seek answers, or to express emotion. There are times when "why?" is all we can ask, and we ask it in a variety of ways. We everything else escapes us, we ask "why?". It was the first question the servants of the sower asked when seeing the wheat being overrun with weeds, "why did this happen?" They want to know why, if the master sowed good seed in the soil, that seed is now choked out by the weeds. The only response of the sower was that it was the work of an enemy. I wonder...how often do we ask the same question of God? When something happens that just seems so contradictory to God's goodness, we ask, out of frustration, anxiety, anger, or exasperation, "WHY??!!" Why, if God is so good, do these bad things happen, when God clearly desires us to be joyful. It is difficult to answer those questions. It is difficult to answer the questions of parents who watch their children suffer or of a community facing a difficult time. The initial response of the servants is to immediately eradicate all that is evil. Yet the master is cautious to do this, for fear of also harming the wheat. The destruction of the weeds wasn't worth any damage that could come to the wheat. And so it is with God's relationship to the world. We musn't believe that God is not pained by the sight of weeds in God's beautiful creation...God is terribly pained and grieves alongside us. Nor is God the cause of this pain and suffering; it is the work of an enemy, Satan, who seeks to turn into ugliness all that God has said is beautiful. And so we live with the weeds of life, growing amongst the wheat God has sown. Part of a faithful life is allowing God to guide us in the midst of a weed-infested world. It would be great if God could simply uproot all that is bad, but remember one thing: even those things that are weeds can eventually bloom and bring forth a life of beauty. God, we do not understand why some things happen or why you don't just step in and do make things right. Forgive us for those times we blame you and our faith is lacking. Help us to see the beauty in the face of the weeds. We pray in Jesus' name, AMEN.

The Value of One

Read--Luke 15: 4-7

Let's be honest about things--there are times when what Jesus says, or expects his followers to do, just doesn't make sense! It flies in the face of logic and reason and usually involves us taking some sort of risk. For the most part, human beings are turned off by risk. We want to be firmly in control of as many situations as possible. We even use the "risk/reward" system to reach and/or evaluate decisions or actions. Yet the Gospels make clear that God is willing to take any risk if it means the restoration of one sinner back to wholeness and relationship with God. That willingness to risk is illustrated here in this parable.

The shepherd in the parable takes two risks, both of which seem to be of the "huge" variety. First, the shepherd risks leaving 99 sheep out in the wilderness by themselves, without defense against predators, to go find one that has wandered away. That, in and of itself, makes little sense. Secondly, it was entirely likely that the sheep belonged to someone else! So the shepherd risks that which was not his to risk in the first place! To top it off, there is no gaurantee of even finding the sheep that was lost! But the shepherd was willing to assume all those risks, for the sake of that one. So it is with God. God was willing to leave all the righteous who had no need/desire of a savior to pursue after the lost one who did. This pursuit came at the cost of the life of God's Son, even when there were no gaurantees the lost sinner would return to the flock. The lesson is this...each of us is of that much worth to God. Each individual carries that much worth to God! Praise be to God!

The parable raises and interesting and potentially uncomfortable for the church: how much are we willing to risk so that even one sinner in our midst, in our community, might be restored to God? How much are we willing to give up, with no gaurantee of return? Jesus' challenge to us is to be like the shepherd who is willing to risk 99% of the flock so that 1 might be found.

This is the problem with being a disciple of Jesus. The teachings, the expectations, just don't make sense; they are so contradictory to our ways. Here's the biggest question of all though: are we willing to follow a Savior who embraces a way of life that demands we take enormous risks or are we so afraid of the risk that we sit on the sidelines?
God, we are simply amazed that you place so much value on each individual, on each one of us. We are humbled and grateful that you put aside everything else to pursue after us. As we have recieved this grace, may we also give this grace. As you have been willing, make us willing to set aside everything for the finding of even one of your sheep. We pray in Christ's name, AMEN.

Giving and Recieving in Abundance

Read--Mark 4: 3-9

As we have already seen on numerous occasions, seldom does a word or teaching come from Jesus that has only a single meaning. To borrow an analogy from the movie Shrek, parables are like onions--they have layers. We see that again here in this parable from Mark 4.

At first glance, the farmer might appear to be the only character in the parable. It is really a quite ordinary story--a farmer goes out to sow seed. What is so unusual is this farmer's manner of sowing the seed. We might even think this farmer was being quite careless--after all, the farmer isn't really (so it seems) paying attention to or caring about where the seed ends up. I have never been accused of having a green thumb, but I know enough to know that proper planting is essential for a good yield. This farmer pays no attention to this line of thinking. How representative of God and God's sowing of grace! Imagine God as a farmer, in the traditional sense--carefully tending and nurturing the soil until it is in optimum shape and planting in a very precise manner. That imagine seems to limit grace. Instead, God sows grace in all places, and not just a little here and little there. God sows abundantly in ALL places. In other words, God has sown grace abundatly in our life and in the life of the world. Granted, there are places where God's grace is choked out and places where grace is initially recieved but eventually peters out. But there are also places where grace lands and it yields back abundantly to God and to the world.

When we read about the soils' yield, we uncover a secondary character in the parable-- the soil is an active character in this story. As the soil is receptive, or unreceptive, to the seeds so is determined the soil's yield. As we are receptive, or unreceptive, to God's overtures of grace so is determined our yield. Our yield, our fruit, is what Wesley would call holiness of life. Just as the soil has the ability to respond to the planting of a seed, so we have the ability to respond to the sowing of God's grace. As we open ourselves to recieve the seed, we are assured that some measure of growth will occur, so long as we are receptive.

Following along with the agriculture metaphor a bit more...we know that when a plant grows, it produces seeds so that the plant might reproduce. As those who have grown by the grace of God, there is the expectation that our growth will necessarily produce other seeds. Said a bit more simply...there is the expectation that we who are products of grace will also be sowers of grace; as we have recieved grace so will we extend grace. This can be challenging, indeed intimidating, to sow the seeds of grace. Just as the farmer sowed seed almost carelessly, so also should grace be sowed from us in an equally careless fashion: less mindful of where the seeds land and more concerned that they were sowed in the first place.
You have sowed your grace in such abundance, O God. We are grateful for that which we have recieved. We pray that we might be receptive soil, so that your grace might blossom and yield fruit back to you. Use me, use us, to sow your grace in a hurting world. We pray in Christ, AMEN.

For the Beauty of the Earth

Creation. God's first act in the world was to create the world. After all things had been formed, the world was offered to human beings as God's gift to us. It was intended to be enjoyed by humans and sustain all that God had made. Somewhere along the lines, though, humans decided the earth was ours and ours alone. It has even gotten to the point where God's creation has become a political divider. It makes me wonder what God really thinks about things. I remember how I felt in junior high when a poster I had made was defaced with all sorts of scribbles and markings. How must God feel about God's masterpiece being destroyed?!

Contrary to what some may have us belief, the earth is not simply an inanimate object. Instead the earth is full of life; life that has its root in God! As such, God uses this creation to still speak to us truths about God's realm. Will we listen? Will we care for that which speaks God's word to us? Or will we dominate it, subdue it, wear it out, and ask where God is?

Where is our trust?

Read--Luke 18: 9-14

We have before us two familar characters in Jesus' parables: a Pharisee and a tax collector. On of them, the Pharisee, was in in the upper layer of society. The tax collector was on the bottom rung. They were polar opposites, and everybody knew it. By virtue of his social standing, the Pharisee was thought to be the most "right with God". After all, he is a religious leader and instructor in faith and spiritual matters; it would stand to reason that the Pharisee would be justified in the sight of God--as opposed to the tax collector, whom most would not even acknowledge existed. Why would God want anything to do with someone who would cheat and extort God's people? Yet the tax collector acknowledges himself to be a sinner in the eyes of God and simply pleads for mercy. The Pharisee outlines his credentials and seems to have an expectation of being exalted. But Jesus says that the one who goes away justifed is not whom people would think. The tax collector leaves the Temple in a better relationship with God than does the Pharisee. It is a lesson on the far-reaching nature of God's grace. God's grace is such that even the dreadful tax collector finds himself made right with God. God's grace is such that what seems right to human wisdom is often folly and out of line with God.

But, like so many of Jesus' parables, there is another layer here. In this under-layer, Jesus asks the question of where trust is placed. Jesus' point is that Pharisee placed his trust in his own works and deeds, in his credentials, and in his social standing. He trusted that those would assure him a place in God's realm. The tax collector knew that he was nothing but a sinner and could rely upon nothing but the mercy of God to be accepted by God. Jesus, I think, makes it clear that there is no room in God's realm for those who believe they don't need God's grace and mercy; there is no room for those who can do "it" for themselves. Instead, God's realm is populated by those who know that God is their only hope, that God is their salvation, and that God's grace is all they need. It is an interesting question for us to chew on: Where is our trust? Do we trust in what we do, in who we are (according to the world), or what we have? Or do we trust only and wholly upon the grace of God?
God of grace, we are but sinners. Save us, we pray, from the tempation to build ourselves up. May we entrust ourselves wholly to you. At the same time, may we see othes as you see them and accept them as you accept them and us. We pray in Christ's name, AMEN.

Look With Your Heart

Read Luke 16: 19-31

Human beings, for whatever reasons, are mistrustful. Whenever we are told something that seems beyond the scope of possibility or doesn't fit into the way we think things are or should be, we question it and demand proof before we will believe it. In Jesus' parable of Lazarus and the rich man, we run into this (Is this the same Lazarus whom Jesus raised from the dead, the brother of Mary and Martha? Possibly, but we dont' know for sure.). Working our way backward through the parable, we see Abraham, the patriarch of the Jews, explaining that Moses and the Prophets, in the Law and prophecies, have told the people of Israel of the life that God demands and expects. Part of these demands include the care of the poor, crippled, widowed, orphaned, etc. From the beginning of the parable, we see that the rich man paid little attention to the beggar at his gate (Lazarus). This is a direct violation of God's expectations and law. Therefore, he finds himself doomed to eternal separation from God in hell. It is at this moment that he realizes that the laws of the Scriptures were in fact true. His torment in hell was the proof he got for not heeding the expectations of God. So he begs that Lazarus might go and warn his brothers (whom we can infer lead the same kind of life he did), yet is told that his brothers have already, through the Law and the Prophets, been given all the need to know.

In a mistrusting world, full of mistrusting people, we have already recieved from Jesus all that we need to know concerning faith and the ways of God. The decision is ours as to whether or not we trust in what Jesus says. To take it a step further, the decision is ours to trust that the death and Resurrection of Christ is sufficient for our salvation. Everything we need to know about God's expectations and the life God intends for us is contained within the pages of Scripture. Our choice is to trust God with our heart or to continually demand some sort of proof.
God of Truth, enable us to trust you with our hearts, even as our minds and eyes question. Save us from constantly trying to put you to the test so that we might bask in the abundance of the life you promise us. Through Christ, AMEN.

Open Your Eyes!

Read: Luke 7: 36-47

As with so many of Jesus' parables, this parable involves multiple layers. Yet both of these layers speak a word to the Pharisees and those gathered for dinner at Simon's home. The first layer speaks to the extent to which forgiveness and love are experienced and shown. The obvious contrast drawn is between the woman and the religious leaders. The text doesn't tell us much about the woman, only that she was "a woman of the city". What does this mean? Nobody really knows. Luke's original readers might have heard this to say that she was a prostitute. If that's the case, she likely would have been told countless times what a dreadful sinner sinner she was. The religious leaders and Pharisees, on the other hand, would have, most likely, never had someone (except Jesus!) dare point out any of their sins. They were considered the most righteous and upright, by virtue of their societal standing. We could wonder if they thought themselves sinners at all. But that's just the point. The woman knew she was a sinner, and a pronouncement of forgiveness would have dramatically changed her own self-image and worth and her image and worth in the eyes of those around them. The Pharisees, on the other hand....well, let's just say that their own feelings of righteousness got in the way of experiencing the true depth and measure of God's grace and love. Turning that back to the church and people of the church....with whom do we most identify in the parable. Too often, the church and people of the church have been charged as being more like the Pharisees than the woman; full of self-righteousness and not realizing that we just as much in need of God's grace as those who are like the woman.

The second layer of the story, although not really included within the context of the parable, deals with recognizing that which we would rather ignore. Suffice it to say that Simon and his dinner guests completely ignored the woman who annointed Jesus. She was "below" them and their dignity did not allow for her existence to even be acknowledged. Yet Jesus demands their attention turn toward her, "see this woman". It is both a question and a demand. Jesus asks them if they see her, then demands that they see her. I wonder how often Jesus would like to do that with us. We are great at ignoring that which troubles us or we don't want to acknowledge. Yet Jesus calls us to acknowledge the existence of these people; sometimes, people are overshadowed by the lablel the carry: poor, homeless, addict, sinner(!), scoundral, etc. Yet Jesus questions us whether we see the people instead of the "issue", then demands that we see them. In seeing them, we are more able to recognize them as valued creations of God, worthy of the time and attention of God and, therefore, our time and attention. In seeing them, we open ourselves to more fully experience where God is working and what God is doing in this world.
Give me your eyes for just one second, Lord. Allow us to see our need for forgivness and embrace the love you have for each one of us. Allow us to see that which troubles us and look beyond the "issue" and see the person you love. We humbly ask in Jesus' name, AMEN.

Wealth Management in God's Realm

Read--Luke 15: 16-21

Of all the contrasts that Jesus draws between this world and God's realm, none are sharper than those that are centered on wealth. In fact, throughout the Gospels Jesus teaches more on the topic of wealth than just about anything else. The common title of this parable from Luke 15, "The Parable of the Rich Fool" gives us a clue of the potential contrasts that Jesus is going to be drawing in the parable.

There are, in reality, two different contrasts that Jesus makes here in these verses. The first contrast has to do with a defintion of wealth. Human understanding of wealth usually centers around money and possessions--both of which the "rich fool" had; he also had high-yielding fields. He was loaded and everybody could see it! He was filthy rich in the eyes of the world. Yet, in the eyes of God, he was fool. In fact, in the eyes of God, he was dirt poor.

His poverty was a result of the way in he used the wealth he had. Read through the parable again. Notice how many times the man says "I" or "my"? It is all about him. His wealth is all about him and, in his opinion, is at his disposal to do with as he chooses. This flies in the face of the notion that we are blessed so that we might bless others. When wealth is used to serve our own interests or desires, spiritual poverty ensues.

How do we become rich toward God then? The key lies in the ancient Greek, the word translated as rich is a verb. From that, we understand that being rich toward God lies in action--how we direct and use the wealth that we have, whether it be material or intangible. Being rich toward God involves us using what we have so that others might be similarily blessed.

As Jesus first turned toward to Jerusalem and his eventual crucifixion, he did so with an invitation, "let all who wish to be my disciples deny themselves." In other words, IT'S NOT ALL ABOUT US. Instead, it is about denying ourselves, so that we might be rich toward God, even at the cost of poverty toward the world.
In a world of greed and self-indulgence, O God, grant that we might not be so consumed by the world that we risk poverty before you. Save us from self-interest and plant us a heart that is willing deny the self for the glory of God. We pray in Jesus' name, AMEN.

When Words Aren't Enough

Try as I might, I just was not able to secure my wife's Valentine's Day gift prior to my trip to Africa. I assured her that I had not forgotten and would get it as soon as I returned. Being the understanding wife that she is, she accepted my assurances with no questions asked. However, as I repeated that reassurance nearly every day for the first week I was back, she believed me less and less. Her disappointed lay not in fact that she hadn't gotten a gift, but in the fact that I had not followed through on what I said I would do. My words alone were not enough; I needed to actually act upon the words I had said.

I wonder how often that little story describes our relationship with God, as individuals and as a church. How often do we say to God that we are going to do something, only to reneg later on? Often in the church, we are reminded of the words of James 1:22, "be doers of the word and not merely hearers...". In that passage, the obvious emphasis is upon not just listening to Jesus but also putting into action what he commands us. The Parable of the Two Sons puts a different twist on things though. Here, the emphasis is upon us not merely speaking a word, but doing that word--following through on what we say we are going to do. Here, as in other places, Jesus lifts up the merits of those whose actions and behaviors fail to meet the standard of those considered righteous while condemning the actions and behaviors of the "righteous". The message is unmistakable: righteousness is not measured solely in words.

So often, it is easier to say what others, including God, want to hear than do what they want us to do. Even for those who strive to stay true to their word, their actions inevitably betray their words. There are times, too, when our words fail to live up to what is expected or desired of us. The good news is that in those times when our words and actions do not mesh together, there is grace to redeem, restore, and renew. May God give us all the grace to confess and live our faith and reinforce our words with our actions.
Gracious God, we pray for the grace to honor you with both our words and our deeds. As you give us the grace to say "yes" to you, may our actions live that out. When we want to say "no" to you, we pray you might transform us and our response into the "yes" that you desire. We cannot do it all by ourself; God we need your help. In Christ, AMEN.

Opposites

Look around....there are contrasts everywhere. We having contrasting lifestyles, contrasting views on things such as politics and religion, and so on. In all of Scripture, the biggest contrast that is drawn is the contrast between the realm of God and the realm of the world. Let's face it...the ways of the world are, more often than not, in direct contrast with the ways of God. Over the next week, we are going to be interacting with parables of Jesus that draw contrasts between human ways, views, and wisdom and the ways, views, and wisdom of God. As we read, hear, and reflect upon these stories told by Jesus, my hope and prayer is that we would allow ourselves to see when and where in our world we are in contrast to God and God's reign.

The Root of Life

Read--John 15: 1-5

Thre are times when Jesus' parables make us stop and wondering what he is talking about. There are other times when Jesus speaks using metaphors and things seem so abundantly clear. John 15 is an example of the clear metaphor: life is dependent upon being and remaining connected to Christ. To go along with the vine/branch metaphor...when was the last time you saw a branch severed from its vine/trunk that was continuing to live? My guess is never. Just as a tree branch that is severed from the trunk will shrivel and die, so too will a life that is lived separated from Christ. This branch might give the appearance of having life, but it will eventually become hollow, dying from the inside out. The branch that remains connected, however, will bear fruit and will continue to flourish.

This is a glorious illustration of not only an individual life but also for the church as a whole. The life of the church is dependent upon our abiding, remaining connected to, Christ. This goes not just for a specific church in a specific location, but for the Church--all who claim the name of Jesus Christ! We have our differences on doctrine, interpretations of Scripture and history, church government, etc, etc, etc., but we share one thing in common: Christ! If we cut ourselves off from Christ and what God is trying to do through Jesus in this world, we will die. I say this not as a threat, but as a hope for the Church. We are all connected to one another by virtue of faith in Jesus Christ. He is our branch and we are His vines.
Loving God, we are grateful for the life you give us in Christ. Keep us connected, we pray, to Him and to one another. Join our lives together, that we might experience life more deeply and fully than ever before. In Christ, AMEN.

What Is Not Seen

Read--Matthew 13:33

As I reflect back on my own call to ministry, I am often amazed at the moments, insignificant at the time, when God was working on me and leading me toward what I'm doing now. I'm guessing that most of us can look back to different points in life and can see, in hindsight, how God was in middle of things. Therein lies one of the biggest mysteries, and at times, frustrations, of God. We like to think of God as the Awesome One that will swoop in and save the day. We look to God to do the miraculous and unimaginable. All in all, we imagine God as being front and center and commanding attention. But there are times when God doesn't work that way...and that frustrates the dickens out of us!

While it is easy to see the big and miraculous things God is doing, those things God does out of view are just as, if not, more momentous. This is the lesson in the Parable of the Leaven. In the parable, a woman takes a bit of yeast and mixes it with three measures (roughly eight gallons) of flour. Over time, that little bit of yeast works its way through those three measures of flour and enables it to become dough for bread, but only if it is properly covered. The leaven works in secret to bring about something big. So it is with the kingdom of God.

We cannot always see God at work. We cannot always know exactly what God is doing, or when God is going to bring something to fruition. God is working in hidden ways in the life of each person--indeed, the life of the world!--to bring about restoration, healing, and renewal. Part of God's grace is God working with who we are right now to bring about what God desires us to be--just like yeast working in flour to bring about dough for bread. Part of the journey of faith is trusting in what God is doing in secret and knowing that even if we can't or don't see it, God is actively working in our life, in our church, and our world. Only in the future will we be able to look back and see what God has done.
Holy God, like the yeast works through flour, work through this life of ours. Grant us your grace to trust in your hidden doings and your working to make each person a new creation in Christ. Prepare us to become what you desire. AMEN.

Persistence

Read-- Luke 15: 1-3, 8-10

I'm going to take for granted that all of us know the cliche "persistence pays off". We use it to extol the merits of sticking with something to acheive a desired result, whether it is negotiating over the price of something, practicing a skill until it is mastered, and so on. I wonder, though, do we ever view God as persistent? Do we ever stop and think of God as relentlessly searching for something? Jesus uses this parable to illustrate just how persistent God is.

On the surface, the persistence of God seems to be illustrated most clearly by the woman searching for her lost coin. After all, the Gospels make frequent reference to God searching for that which is lost and not resting until what is lost is found and subsequently celebrated. For this woman, that one coin was of great value; it was equivalent of one day's wage. Imagine losing your entire wages for a single day or losing 1/30 of your monthly retirement benefits! We can understand why she would search so long and hard for the coin. Just think, each of us are of more value to God than the coin to that woman, and God will stop at nothing to find us when we lose our way. God is persistent in restoring each of us back to God, no matter how long it takes or how much work might be involved!

However, this is not the only illustration of God's persistence in the parable. In the beginning verses we see Jesus dining with "sinners" while the religious leaders are grumbling against his fellowship with the unrighteous. Notice that in v. 3 we are told that "Jesus told them this parable". We aren't too sure who is meant by "them"; whether it was intended for the "sinners" or the religious leaders, or both. The "sinners" likely would have indentified with the lost coin being found and God's subsequent celebration of their finding. The religious leaders were likely being characterized as the friends and neighbors of the woman; just as she wanted to share her joy with them, so God wants to share God's joy over finding what was lost with the onlookers. God's desire is for EVERYONE to be joyful when what is lost is found! God's joy is not complete unless that joy is shared and experienced by everyone! The reality of it is this...those who do not share in God's joy are themselves also lost. And so God will aggressively pursue their restoration as well, until all people and all creation are restored back to God!
O God, you search us and search for us until we are restored to you and we experience your joy. Teach us to seek your joy and share in it with you. In and through Christ, AMEN.

Obsessed

Read--Matthew 13:44

An obsession. Unders most circumstances, an obsession is not considered to be a healthy thing. It is synonymous with the word "addiction". Someone with an obsession, like an addiction, is most often willing to go to extraordinary circumstances, even taking huge risks, in order to feed that obsession. It is all-consuming and nothing short of the object of the obsession will satisfy the one holding the obsession.

In the parable of the buried treasure, Jesus likens the realm of God to treasure buried in a field. What is interesting, though, is the behavior of the one finding the treasure. We are told that he immediately reburies the treasure then goes and sells all he has so that he might buy the field in which the treasure was buried. He had absolutely no interest in that field aside from its buried contents. And he was so interested in obtaining (obsessed!) those contents that he gave up all he had to get it.

Jesus' call to us is to be obsessed with seeking and living in the realm of God. Jesus invites us to be obsessed with nothing more than being a part of God's reign, both on earth and in heaven. Here's the warning: an obsession with the realm of God can be just as costly as an obsession with anything else. If we are truly obsessed with God, it will demand more than we think we can give. As a reward, though, we are given the chance to see things through God's eyes and see God at work in our world. Here's the question: Are we obsessed with God and God's realm, or are we only casually interested?
Magnificent God, plant in us the desire to know you and be a part of your realm. Be our obsession; our one consuming passion. In Christ, AMEN.

In the Unexpected

Read: Mark 4: 30-32

By all accounts, the mustard seed is one of the smallest seeds--its diameter is roughly .0075 of an inch. One would hardly expect much from such a tiny seed. Yet from this tiny seed blooms an enormous plant. So what is Jesus trying to tell us about the kingdom of God, as it is compared to a mustard seed? Let us consider that, when given room to grow, the mustard plant grows very quickly and overtakes many of the plants around it. So it is with the realm of God in us and in the world. When the realm of God is given the space to grown and take root, it has the power to crowd out anything that is not of it. It has the ability to spread quickly and become the dominant, even only identifiable, force in its area.

At the same time, Jesus alludes to the mustard plant as providing shelter for "the birds of the air". In the Old Testament, the branches of a tree were sometimes used to sybolize the protection a kingdom or realm afforded its citizens. Perhaps Jesus is speaking of the nurture aspect of God's kingdom and its welcoming of those who are in need and who are vulnerable to the world around them...those on the margins of the world--those who are weak, powerless, and are considered insignificant in the world.

It was persons such as these that Jesus chose to surround himself with. Numbered among Jesus' disciples were women, tax collectors, fishermen, and others who weren't very high up the social ladder. In his community of disciples, Jesus nurtured them and shared with them the secrets of God's realm. He shared with them that the Gospel was not limited to the grand Temple or was not the property of the wealthy and publicly "religious". Instead, the Gospel was in them, the insignificant and lowly. Instead, the Gospel was found in the simplicity and ordinariness of life. How remarkable that in just a short period of time, these mustard seed-like disciples had managed to sow the seeds of hope and salvation from Jerusalem all the way to Rome! The lesson in all of this...there is nothing to small and there is no person or thing too insignificant or unimportant that it does not bear within it a seed, a glimpse, of God's coming realm.
Surpise us today God! Surprise us in how you will show your realm to us. Surprise us in what will give us a glimpse of you. Open us to be aware of those surprises. In Christ's name, AMEN.

Simple Gifts

There are some things (in life, in the world, etc) that just get overlooked. They are overlooked because they seem to weak or too small or too insignificant to warrant much attention or recognition. Often times, those things that are overlooked are the ordinary elements of life--ordinary people, ordinary tasks, ordinary "things". Yet it is precisely within the ordinary that we encounter the Holy. God does not always come to us in the grand and magnificent, in the powerful and mighty. Case in point...the very life of God incarnate, Jesus. Jesus was, by all accounts, an unassuming person in an insignificant part of the world. His life passed largely overlooked by a great many, and many who did know about him saw him as a joke. Just as Jesus was an ordinary person, he used the example of ordinary elements of life to exemplify the Kingdom of God. As we read the parables of Jesus, we are called to see the sacred in life, less we miss the sacredness of life. One of the many gifts of God is the ability to witness God's realm in the ordinary times and place of life.

Ash Wednesday--Remembering and Anticipating

The season of Lent can be summed up in two words: remembering and anticipating. Lent offers to its observers a chance to embark upon a journey of both remembering and anticipating. At the same, there is within these two acts a dynamic intersection of the human and the Holy. It is a time to walk with Jesus and identify with him and a time to learn from him and get a glimpse of God and God's Kingdom.

By nature, Lent calls us to remembrance. We are called to remember Jesus in the desert tempted by Satan, we are called to remember Jesus' journey to Jerusalem, and we are called to remember the events of Jesus' final week. All of these images, stories, and lessons have the capability to flood our senses. At the same time, though, we are called to remember who and where we are, in light of our human condition, our relationship to God, and our place in God's Kingdom. To flesh that out a bit more--Lent calls us to remember that we are but human, and therefore, sinners, Lent calls us to identify with the tempted Jesus, and Lent calls us to remember that we have been invited to participate in the Kingdom of God in this world, as well as the eternal world.

At the same time, Lent is also a time of high anticipation. For those that know the story, the journey of Lent begins with the ashes and continues through trial, torture, and execution, but ends with an empty tomb. The anticipation of Lent is also due to the fact that, for many, Lent provides a more intensive time of focusing upon God and drawing closer to God; in other words, it is a time for satisfying the true hunger that exists in each of us. Finally, Lent is a time of anticipating how we are going to God's revealation this time around. The stories may be familiar, but they speak to us in different ways at different times. There is an excitement in knowing that God is going to speak something to us, if we pay attention and listen.

Jesus often used parables to speak a word about God's kingdom to those who would listen to him. This Lenten season, we are going to be focusing on those parables and upon what Jesus has to say to us through them. Those parables are still relevant and Jesus seeks to teach us today as he taught his disciples so long ago. My hope and prayer is that, through Jesus' parables, we might experience Lent in a different way this year; that we might experience God in a new perspective. May the grace of God in Jesus Christ lead us through this time and may we see with fresh vision what it is that Jesus speaks to us this day!
Open my spirit, O God, that I might see and hear the revealing of yourself to me today and through these days of Lent. Amen.