Incarnation is an example of a word that we use with a solid understanding of what 'incarnation' truly means....what it implies....what consequences come with it.
Incarnation means 'in the flesh.' It starts with 'carnal' - like 'carnal knowledge' or knowledge of the flesh (or in current language "hooking up"). Add the 'in' in the beginning and you come up with something that in fact, comes into the flesh.
So 'evil incarnate' is a person who is, in their flesh, evil. In every aspect. All the time. I expect we (the English speaking world) use the word a little loosely.
The Church does not. In fact, at the heart of Christian belief is the dogma that Jesus was God incarnate. God in the flesh. God looking just like us. God walking among us, sweating with us in the heat and shivering in the cold, hungry when without bread, lonely, frightened, worried, .....and I would add.....probably irritated, annoyed, hurt, frustrated. In other words, human.
For people of other faiths, the claim that Jesus was God incarnate is a huge stumbling block. Really? they ask. The man who was crucified? The man who died?
For Christian believers, this incarnation likewise confuses. How was Jesus God? they ask. How much of Jesus was human? they ask. Which part of Jesus died on the cross, the human part or the God part? they ask.
Some believers want Jesus to be especially divine. For these folks, The Last Temptation of Christ is close to blasphemy since their Christ would not be tempted. Some believers want to emphasize Jesus' human side - and therefore stumble over the miracles and signs of power Jesus performs.
The Church (notice the captial "C") came to an understanding in 332AD (or there abouts) at the Council of Chalcedon when it was decided that Jesus was 100% human and 100% divine - at exactly the same time. That the human and divine
'parts' of Jesus could not be separated nor divided, like a burning piece of coal one could not separate the fire from the coal yet both are present.
That's the doctrine. It is good to know it. But it is also good to know the power of a savior who has (a) walked among us and likewise (b) promised to be with us always. To have both, we need to wrap our heads around this Christ: God incarnate, and it is a challenge to us today as well. When I am walking with a family who is grieving I can say to them, "Jesus grieved (see John 11) and knows the loss you are experiencing, and he promises to walk with you in this loss as well."
A good grasp of 'incarnation' helps us connect with the divine each day of our life for the power of God walked with and among us once, and walks with and among us still. "....the Word became flesh and dwelt among us" John 1.14 A good way to start the new year.
Friday, December 30, 2011
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Treasures of the heart
"... Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart." Luke 2.19
The opening of the Gospel of Luke has Mary pondering. When the angel comes and announces her pregnancy, she was perplexed by his words and pondered. When Zechariah named his son John (per the angel's instructions, and in contrast to the tradition of naming children after a family member), those who heard the news pondered and said, "What then will this child become?"
And then Mary, hearing the shepherds' story about angels and messages from God, pondered these words, treasured them in her heart.
The craziness of last minute Christmas is upon us. Adults rush around with To Do lists clutched in their hands. Children are almost literally 'beside themselves' in anticipation. I remember (when I had young children in the house) how hard it was to find extra patience and any sense of calm within myself in the final run-up to Christmas. Now that I am alone, but hosting adult children, I am torn between the weight that hosting guests creates and the anticipation of having them with me for several days. There was a time in my mother's life when she not only didn't anticipate, she almost avoided any preparation for Christmas and I can already see how that might happen.
So when will the time come for us to pause and embrace the intersection of our lives with the divine gift of Jesus? How do we make room for the baby Jesus.....giving him space to renew and refresh us, allowing ourselves to be drawn into a cosmic moment of grace? What exactly will we be pondering this year?
The final days are upon us. What are we treasuring? What is taking root in our hearts? May it truly be Jesus, the giver and gift of life and love.
Peace
The opening of the Gospel of Luke has Mary pondering. When the angel comes and announces her pregnancy, she was perplexed by his words and pondered. When Zechariah named his son John (per the angel's instructions, and in contrast to the tradition of naming children after a family member), those who heard the news pondered and said, "What then will this child become?"
And then Mary, hearing the shepherds' story about angels and messages from God, pondered these words, treasured them in her heart.
The craziness of last minute Christmas is upon us. Adults rush around with To Do lists clutched in their hands. Children are almost literally 'beside themselves' in anticipation. I remember (when I had young children in the house) how hard it was to find extra patience and any sense of calm within myself in the final run-up to Christmas. Now that I am alone, but hosting adult children, I am torn between the weight that hosting guests creates and the anticipation of having them with me for several days. There was a time in my mother's life when she not only didn't anticipate, she almost avoided any preparation for Christmas and I can already see how that might happen.
So when will the time come for us to pause and embrace the intersection of our lives with the divine gift of Jesus? How do we make room for the baby Jesus.....giving him space to renew and refresh us, allowing ourselves to be drawn into a cosmic moment of grace? What exactly will we be pondering this year?
The final days are upon us. What are we treasuring? What is taking root in our hearts? May it truly be Jesus, the giver and gift of life and love.
Peace
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
The longest night
If you've done any reading in early church history......
or if you've heard the nay-sayers of this world tell the story
you will know that the date for the celebration of the incarnation, the birth of Jesus, was arbitrarily set by the early church.
We speak of December 25th as the birthday of Jesus, but it is much like the birthday of the British monarch - celebrated on a particular day for the convenience of the populace.
In the case of the early church, the competition was from non-believers, especially those who celebrated/worshipped the spirits of nature (pagans). As you know, December 21st is the winter solstice, the shortest day/ longest night of the year. In olden days (and I suppose in many places today as well) this night was noted with large bonfires and (some say) wild dancing in the moonlight. (OK, maybe I made that part up).
It is hard for us to understand why this was such an important turning point in the year for folks in a pre-electric world. In a society dependent on log fires for heat and candles for light, the shortness of the day was much noted. For people who did not have refrigeration, trucks to bring produce from far away places, etc., there was real concern about having sufficient food to last through the winter until new crops could be gathered. In those times, food supplies were under lock and key. This was the first time of 'food insecurity' (the current term used for folks who are or might go hungry).
If you were worried about the sun returning to warm the earth and bring forth new food, you'd go out and dance in the moonlight too. It was a form of worship to the gods who were responsible for bringing the new life of spring.
The early Christian church, post 332AD, wanted to displace this pagan celebration and so established their own 'celebration of the Son' at a close date. Thus Dec. 25th for Christ's birth. The truth is, if the shepherds were out in the fields watching over their sheep, the sheep were giving birth (that's why they were with them) and that happens in the spring (like March). Or so I'm told.
However, we might look at the Longest Night as that time of great darkness which befalls humanity when we turn from God, give in to evil and make this world almost inhabitable. Somewhere in this world at this moment, it is the Longest Night, when people wonder if life and light and grace will ever return to their lives.
So we all look to Christ's birth......whether it happened on Dec. 25th or not.
Peace to all
or if you've heard the nay-sayers of this world tell the story
you will know that the date for the celebration of the incarnation, the birth of Jesus, was arbitrarily set by the early church.
We speak of December 25th as the birthday of Jesus, but it is much like the birthday of the British monarch - celebrated on a particular day for the convenience of the populace.
In the case of the early church, the competition was from non-believers, especially those who celebrated/worshipped the spirits of nature (pagans). As you know, December 21st is the winter solstice, the shortest day/ longest night of the year. In olden days (and I suppose in many places today as well) this night was noted with large bonfires and (some say) wild dancing in the moonlight. (OK, maybe I made that part up).
It is hard for us to understand why this was such an important turning point in the year for folks in a pre-electric world. In a society dependent on log fires for heat and candles for light, the shortness of the day was much noted. For people who did not have refrigeration, trucks to bring produce from far away places, etc., there was real concern about having sufficient food to last through the winter until new crops could be gathered. In those times, food supplies were under lock and key. This was the first time of 'food insecurity' (the current term used for folks who are or might go hungry).
If you were worried about the sun returning to warm the earth and bring forth new food, you'd go out and dance in the moonlight too. It was a form of worship to the gods who were responsible for bringing the new life of spring.
The early Christian church, post 332AD, wanted to displace this pagan celebration and so established their own 'celebration of the Son' at a close date. Thus Dec. 25th for Christ's birth. The truth is, if the shepherds were out in the fields watching over their sheep, the sheep were giving birth (that's why they were with them) and that happens in the spring (like March). Or so I'm told.
However, we might look at the Longest Night as that time of great darkness which befalls humanity when we turn from God, give in to evil and make this world almost inhabitable. Somewhere in this world at this moment, it is the Longest Night, when people wonder if life and light and grace will ever return to their lives.
So we all look to Christ's birth......whether it happened on Dec. 25th or not.
Peace to all
Thursday, December 15, 2011
The nativity.....really?
You may not have given it any thought, but each Christmas Christian churches read "The Nativity Story" from the 2nd chapter of Luke. Never Mark, nor Matthew, nor John. Just Luke, every year.
Did you ever wonder why?
Because that is the only quality nativity story we Christians have.
Here's some background. Biblical scholars (or at least the ones teaching 11 years ago when I was in seminary) believe that the Gospel of Mark was the earliest written work. Mark begins his story with the appearance of John the Baptizer. Jesus comes into the story full grown and ready for ministry.
Matthew and Luke were probably written next. (How they come to that conclusion is a discussion for another time). Matthew begins his story of Jesus with a geneology - which we never read in worship - then moves to Joseph. Matthew gives us the story of the kings comings to visist and the killing of the babies by Herod. But no stable, no angels singing just some consideration of divorcing Mary.
Luke has the prophecy to Zachariah and Elizabeth and then the familiar anunciation and Magnificat portions before the lovely stable scene.
The gospel of John is believed to have been written last. John takes us all the way back to the beginning of time.....before there was anything. "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God". John ties Jesus' coming with the very creation of the universe.
So we use Luke 2 - every year - but not because it is the only story of how Jesus came to us, but maybe, because it is the most colorful, romantic (and I might say) down to earth. It is a story we can relate to, which may be why Luke wrote it down in the first place.
For me, I can still repeat the words of the Angel of the Lord - the part I played in my kindergarten Christmas play
"For unto you a child is born in the city of David, a savior who is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign to you, you shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger."
It is a good piece of scripture to know.
Pax
Did you ever wonder why?
Because that is the only quality nativity story we Christians have.
Here's some background. Biblical scholars (or at least the ones teaching 11 years ago when I was in seminary) believe that the Gospel of Mark was the earliest written work. Mark begins his story with the appearance of John the Baptizer. Jesus comes into the story full grown and ready for ministry.
Matthew and Luke were probably written next. (How they come to that conclusion is a discussion for another time). Matthew begins his story of Jesus with a geneology - which we never read in worship - then moves to Joseph. Matthew gives us the story of the kings comings to visist and the killing of the babies by Herod. But no stable, no angels singing just some consideration of divorcing Mary.
Luke has the prophecy to Zachariah and Elizabeth and then the familiar anunciation and Magnificat portions before the lovely stable scene.
The gospel of John is believed to have been written last. John takes us all the way back to the beginning of time.....before there was anything. "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God". John ties Jesus' coming with the very creation of the universe.
So we use Luke 2 - every year - but not because it is the only story of how Jesus came to us, but maybe, because it is the most colorful, romantic (and I might say) down to earth. It is a story we can relate to, which may be why Luke wrote it down in the first place.
For me, I can still repeat the words of the Angel of the Lord - the part I played in my kindergarten Christmas play
"For unto you a child is born in the city of David, a savior who is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign to you, you shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger."
It is a good piece of scripture to know.
Pax
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Rejoice oh highly favored one.......
Singing Holden Evening Prayer each Wednesday at Advent worship, filled as it is with the wonderful music of Marty Haugen, fills me with the song of Mary.
"An angel came from God, to a town called Nazareth, to a woman whose name was Mary. The angel said, "Rejoice oh highly favored one. The Lord is with you."
Who wouldn't want to hear those words spoken directly to them? Perhaps anyone who knows that a living relationship with our Lord is not a promise of easy street and a comfy chair.
For those who have figured out that God's promise is to be 'with you' not 'to make all things easy for you.' those words are in fact wondrous words of comfort. For those people of faith who have known darkness, those words are the light and the hope to which we cling, for we do not walk alone.
Again from Holden Evening Prayer: "You shall bear a child, and his name shall be Jesus, the holy one of God most high."
For anyone who has had to commend into God's loving hands one whom we have loved dearly, those words are poignant and painful. We too know what is going on in all those scripture passages where Mary 'ponders these things in her heart.' Mary knows that someday, this child of hers will close his eyes forever. Our trust is that the God who was willing to empty himself and come to us as a baby also knows the pain of loving and releasing someone special. That is our light and our hope.
And Mary said, "I am the servant of my God" - that is the wonder of this season of carols and candles.
Whenever we offer ourselves into the hands of our God, whenever we take up God's plan (especially when we have no idea what it is and where it will lead), whenever we hold fast to the relationship God offers us, we press back the darkness and claim the light of life in God's name.
The power of this season is not the church's ability to bring tears to the eyes of the sentimental nor is it in the ability to get folks into the sanctuary for their annual visit. The true power of this season is manifest whenever one of God's beloved ones - young or old - turns toward God and says, "Here I am, the servant of my God, in whom I put my trust."
peace
"An angel came from God, to a town called Nazareth, to a woman whose name was Mary. The angel said, "Rejoice oh highly favored one. The Lord is with you."
Who wouldn't want to hear those words spoken directly to them? Perhaps anyone who knows that a living relationship with our Lord is not a promise of easy street and a comfy chair.
For those who have figured out that God's promise is to be 'with you' not 'to make all things easy for you.' those words are in fact wondrous words of comfort. For those people of faith who have known darkness, those words are the light and the hope to which we cling, for we do not walk alone.
Again from Holden Evening Prayer: "You shall bear a child, and his name shall be Jesus, the holy one of God most high."
For anyone who has had to commend into God's loving hands one whom we have loved dearly, those words are poignant and painful. We too know what is going on in all those scripture passages where Mary 'ponders these things in her heart.' Mary knows that someday, this child of hers will close his eyes forever. Our trust is that the God who was willing to empty himself and come to us as a baby also knows the pain of loving and releasing someone special. That is our light and our hope.
And Mary said, "I am the servant of my God" - that is the wonder of this season of carols and candles.
Whenever we offer ourselves into the hands of our God, whenever we take up God's plan (especially when we have no idea what it is and where it will lead), whenever we hold fast to the relationship God offers us, we press back the darkness and claim the light of life in God's name.
The power of this season is not the church's ability to bring tears to the eyes of the sentimental nor is it in the ability to get folks into the sanctuary for their annual visit. The true power of this season is manifest whenever one of God's beloved ones - young or old - turns toward God and says, "Here I am, the servant of my God, in whom I put my trust."
peace
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
John again?
This Sunday we are scheduled by the wider church to have John 1 as the gospel lesson. It is the Gospel of John's presentation of John the Baptist - although in the gospel of John, he is John the Witness instead.
If you read through the first chapter of John you will note that the Baptizer devotes more time to who he isn't than to who he is... His entire job is to witness to the one who is coming....the one who is among you....the one you don't recognize....the one who is greater than I am.
Every Advent we have two John the Baptist texts and I know that preachers are often found sputtering....What, John again? The implication, of course, is that there is not enough to be said to fill two Sundays of preaching around John and his ministry of witnessing and baptizing.
Yet we tell the Christmas story every year. Again and again, Luke 2 is read - some of us are able to repeat from memory long portions of the story without any true effort on our part.
What is the point of re-visiting a story we know so well?
Well, with John it is to help us stop and consider all that the coming of God in the person of Jesus might mean for us....this year, this day, this decade,.....you can add your own caveat here. No rushing into a glowing story of a newborn babe without proper consideration of what it means to have a God who chooses to take on the limitations of being human and stand among us.
Not simply among the glowing candles of a Christmas Eve service. Not simply among the gaily wrapped presents of our Christmas mornings. But among us - in the between time - between the first and second comings - between the craziness of preparation and the let down of the day after. The miracle of the incarnation - the taking on of human flesh by God in Jesus - we will never be able to wrap our heads around that. It is too wonderful, frightful, amazing, and in the end incomprehensible.
It takes us two weeks of John the Baptist's 'crying out' to even begin to get us ready.
If you read through the first chapter of John you will note that the Baptizer devotes more time to who he isn't than to who he is... His entire job is to witness to the one who is coming....the one who is among you....the one you don't recognize....the one who is greater than I am.
Every Advent we have two John the Baptist texts and I know that preachers are often found sputtering....What, John again? The implication, of course, is that there is not enough to be said to fill two Sundays of preaching around John and his ministry of witnessing and baptizing.
Yet we tell the Christmas story every year. Again and again, Luke 2 is read - some of us are able to repeat from memory long portions of the story without any true effort on our part.
What is the point of re-visiting a story we know so well?
Well, with John it is to help us stop and consider all that the coming of God in the person of Jesus might mean for us....this year, this day, this decade,.....you can add your own caveat here. No rushing into a glowing story of a newborn babe without proper consideration of what it means to have a God who chooses to take on the limitations of being human and stand among us.
Not simply among the glowing candles of a Christmas Eve service. Not simply among the gaily wrapped presents of our Christmas mornings. But among us - in the between time - between the first and second comings - between the craziness of preparation and the let down of the day after. The miracle of the incarnation - the taking on of human flesh by God in Jesus - we will never be able to wrap our heads around that. It is too wonderful, frightful, amazing, and in the end incomprehensible.
It takes us two weeks of John the Baptist's 'crying out' to even begin to get us ready.
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Light one candle
Who can forget the old Coke commercial with all those children holding lighted candles and singing their desire for perfect harmony throughtout the world?
How many of us have seen those streetside memorials to a victim of crime with teddy bears and candles for remembering?
Who wouldn't like to participate in a candlelit dinner for two with a beloved one?
Candles are universal ways to mark significant times - times of celebration, times of remembrance, times of deep emotion.
So clearly Christians didn't invent the idea of candles to mark time, in particular, the time of Advent. But they are effective tools for us to remember and hope while we wait and watch for the coming of Jesus.
Candles offer to us the opportunity to use this familiar part of our faith life to build even stronger faith bonds within families, between couples, maybe even for folks who are unknown.
We are singing Light one candle to watch for Messiah as we light the Advent wreath.....and I would suggest that you do just that. Light a candle and watch.
Create a space in time once a week and a space in your home for a simple ritual of lighting a candle and looking for God to come into your life. Call this 'sabbath' time; call it a new holiday tradition but do it. Make it up as you go along - but take the time that is given to us in Advent to pause and think and maybe even talk about what the coming of God in Jesus means to you. Help your children talk about God too.
Share how you have seen God active in the world - your world - your work - your family - even during a shopping trip. Share acts of kindness and forgiveness that you have witnessed. Share acts of charity and generosity that you know of. Share the story of the guy who let someone get in front of him in line!
And keep watching for ways in which God keeps breaking out and breaking into our world during this time of waiting and watching......and while you are at it, light a candle - all together as a family.
peace
How many of us have seen those streetside memorials to a victim of crime with teddy bears and candles for remembering?
Who wouldn't like to participate in a candlelit dinner for two with a beloved one?
Candles are universal ways to mark significant times - times of celebration, times of remembrance, times of deep emotion.
So clearly Christians didn't invent the idea of candles to mark time, in particular, the time of Advent. But they are effective tools for us to remember and hope while we wait and watch for the coming of Jesus.
Candles offer to us the opportunity to use this familiar part of our faith life to build even stronger faith bonds within families, between couples, maybe even for folks who are unknown.
We are singing Light one candle to watch for Messiah as we light the Advent wreath.....and I would suggest that you do just that. Light a candle and watch.
Create a space in time once a week and a space in your home for a simple ritual of lighting a candle and looking for God to come into your life. Call this 'sabbath' time; call it a new holiday tradition but do it. Make it up as you go along - but take the time that is given to us in Advent to pause and think and maybe even talk about what the coming of God in Jesus means to you. Help your children talk about God too.
Share how you have seen God active in the world - your world - your work - your family - even during a shopping trip. Share acts of kindness and forgiveness that you have witnessed. Share acts of charity and generosity that you know of. Share the story of the guy who let someone get in front of him in line!
And keep watching for ways in which God keeps breaking out and breaking into our world during this time of waiting and watching......and while you are at it, light a candle - all together as a family.
peace
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Guess who's coming to dinner?
John the Baptist!
He always shows up at Advent, the time of waiting and watching, preparing for the coming.....of what? End times? The birth of Jesus? Is it possible that John the Baptist is proclaiming the coming of both of these things at the same time?
Standing in the wilderness (for Israel, the wilderness is a fertile place - a place of relationship building with YHWH) John tells us that one is coming. For the writer of Mark, it is important to recognize John as Elijah returned to earth. Notice all the detail about how John is dressed - that old prophet costume is intended to bring Elijah back to mind. There is a teaching in the Old Testament that Elijah will return to announce and prepare the way of the coming Messiah (God's anointed one).
So now we have "Elijah" John out in the wilderness proclaiming the coming of the Messiah. Which coming? I think the answer is "both". That might not have been the answer in 1 AD when John was out there in his crazy costume - but I believe for us today - John is holding us in that critical time between the birth and the second coming.
But then I am not talking about chronological time, I'm talking about God time, Spirit time, faith time. Coming to terms with the birth of Jesus (God in the flesh, a baby who could have picked up diptheria, a crucified Messiah) is an every day - or maybe every other month event. What does the birth of Jesus mean to me today? in this situation? at this juncture in my life? Do I really believe this? How much?
At the same time, we are challenged to embrace the future of God - (a changed world, a new kingdom, a coming of glory, a time of justice) and where we might fit into all that. Where do our loved ones, now departed, fit into all that? What could it mean for how I live my life? Will it hurt when it all comes into being? (the Bible's answer to that question is Yes). Do I really trust in this vision?
So every Advent John shows up to help us re-orient our lives, our thinking, our doing. And he comes right in the midst of the craziest time in American society - the run up to Christmas. This is exactly why I continually suggest that families deliberately take time to slow down and focus on the Jesus message that comes to us in Christmas.
but that will be my next post.
peace
He always shows up at Advent, the time of waiting and watching, preparing for the coming.....of what? End times? The birth of Jesus? Is it possible that John the Baptist is proclaiming the coming of both of these things at the same time?
Standing in the wilderness (for Israel, the wilderness is a fertile place - a place of relationship building with YHWH) John tells us that one is coming. For the writer of Mark, it is important to recognize John as Elijah returned to earth. Notice all the detail about how John is dressed - that old prophet costume is intended to bring Elijah back to mind. There is a teaching in the Old Testament that Elijah will return to announce and prepare the way of the coming Messiah (God's anointed one).
So now we have "Elijah" John out in the wilderness proclaiming the coming of the Messiah. Which coming? I think the answer is "both". That might not have been the answer in 1 AD when John was out there in his crazy costume - but I believe for us today - John is holding us in that critical time between the birth and the second coming.
But then I am not talking about chronological time, I'm talking about God time, Spirit time, faith time. Coming to terms with the birth of Jesus (God in the flesh, a baby who could have picked up diptheria, a crucified Messiah) is an every day - or maybe every other month event. What does the birth of Jesus mean to me today? in this situation? at this juncture in my life? Do I really believe this? How much?
At the same time, we are challenged to embrace the future of God - (a changed world, a new kingdom, a coming of glory, a time of justice) and where we might fit into all that. Where do our loved ones, now departed, fit into all that? What could it mean for how I live my life? Will it hurt when it all comes into being? (the Bible's answer to that question is Yes). Do I really trust in this vision?
So every Advent John shows up to help us re-orient our lives, our thinking, our doing. And he comes right in the midst of the craziest time in American society - the run up to Christmas. This is exactly why I continually suggest that families deliberately take time to slow down and focus on the Jesus message that comes to us in Christmas.
but that will be my next post.
peace
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
End times......what do we do with this?
Life has been a little hectic for me these past months. I can't believe it's been 3 months since I posted on this blog, but I think that many of you who take the time to read it understand the 'hectic' issue.
Because of the planning that is needed in my job, I am caught between the rich gift of Advent contemplation (to come) and the craziness of End Times pentecost (the present). My life feels much that way as well.
I long for the quiet of an evening with candles burning and no one, absolutely no one, expecting my attention. Time for reading a book, sorting through the papers that seem to multiply on my desk, cooking up some soup or baking some cookies. Time that isn't crammed full.
The truth, however, is that life looks much more like the End Times that we are hearing so much about in the lessons these weeks. Jesus points us to a time of accountability - and with it there are pictures of skies ripping in two and fire coming down from heaven and well, general chaos. For two more weeks we will be hearing about this time when Jesus comes again - in glory and in judgment, and 'what we have known' will be no more.
I think we have 3 general responses to these scriptures. #1 we ignore them (because they are fantasy, or ridiculous or impossible) #2 we are frightened of them (because we don't measure up, because we don't know what Jesus/God expects of us, because we have read too many Tim LaHaye novels) #3 we get smug (because we are the chosen, the experts, and all those others are going to get theirs).
Here is another possibility. What if, in order to get to that place of quiet contemplation, of pleasures for all the senses and a sense of well-being or shalom.....that we will need to go through the end times first. First the chaos, turning upside down all that we know and then the glory ......giving us a new life in Christ.
What if this turning upside down chaos was not just ONE moment in time, but a whole series of moments, calling us again and again to true life and light in Jesus? What if the End Times were a portion of every time - which, of course, implies that Living in the Glorious Light of Jesus Christ can be a portion of every time as well.
May God help us find our way through the chaos and into the light. AMEN
Because of the planning that is needed in my job, I am caught between the rich gift of Advent contemplation (to come) and the craziness of End Times pentecost (the present). My life feels much that way as well.
I long for the quiet of an evening with candles burning and no one, absolutely no one, expecting my attention. Time for reading a book, sorting through the papers that seem to multiply on my desk, cooking up some soup or baking some cookies. Time that isn't crammed full.
The truth, however, is that life looks much more like the End Times that we are hearing so much about in the lessons these weeks. Jesus points us to a time of accountability - and with it there are pictures of skies ripping in two and fire coming down from heaven and well, general chaos. For two more weeks we will be hearing about this time when Jesus comes again - in glory and in judgment, and 'what we have known' will be no more.
I think we have 3 general responses to these scriptures. #1 we ignore them (because they are fantasy, or ridiculous or impossible) #2 we are frightened of them (because we don't measure up, because we don't know what Jesus/God expects of us, because we have read too many Tim LaHaye novels) #3 we get smug (because we are the chosen, the experts, and all those others are going to get theirs).
Here is another possibility. What if, in order to get to that place of quiet contemplation, of pleasures for all the senses and a sense of well-being or shalom.....that we will need to go through the end times first. First the chaos, turning upside down all that we know and then the glory ......giving us a new life in Christ.
What if this turning upside down chaos was not just ONE moment in time, but a whole series of moments, calling us again and again to true life and light in Jesus? What if the End Times were a portion of every time - which, of course, implies that Living in the Glorious Light of Jesus Christ can be a portion of every time as well.
May God help us find our way through the chaos and into the light. AMEN
Monday, August 15, 2011
Praise music......the ancient kind
Back from the wilds of Maine, I came to worship and our opening song was an old (70's) praise song: I love you Lord. What a joy to enter into the words and music of that song as a preparation for our time of worship.
It got me thinking about praise songs. If you'd asked me quickly I would have said that Luther Memorial doesn't do praise music, but how wrong I would have been. Every week we share the psalm, and psalms are the ancient songs that were used in worship.
Psalms come in a variety of types: lament, praise, distress, thanksgiving. Of their many gifts, the psalms give language to the whole range of our human emotions. The psalmist speaks to God in happy words, angry words, grieving words, and words of fear. You will notice that the psalms have a shape or form - usually beginning with an address to God, mentioning God's gifts and attributes (you are almighty, or, you are the rock on which I take shelter). Often the center of the psalm introduces the desires of the psalmist - a plea for protection, thanks for deliverance, hope for tomorrow, food for the hungry, protection from our enemies. Then the psalm ends with a re-assurance that God is listening and will act on behalf of God's people.
So we move from 1) acknowledging that God is God and we are not (and what kind of God God is) to 2) speaking opening and clearly of our needs/desires in this relationship between God and us and then 3) no matter how bad things are we once again affirm our faith in God's power and mercy.
The psalm we will be using at the beginning of worship on 8/21 is primarily a psalm of praise - the most ancient form of praise music. In fact, many of our contemporary praise music uses phrases and passages from the psalms with newer music.
This psalm is worth taking the time to read slowly, with great pauses, and much returning to the beginning. What joy can be ours when we join with the author in the praise and thanks expressed here. This is why the psalms have traditionally been used as personal devotions - so we can take the time to really enter into the space of this believer.
Enjoy, pray and give thanks with these words....................
I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart
Before the gods I sing your praise;
I bow down toward your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness;
for you have exalted your name and your word above everything
On the day I called, you answered me,
You increased my strength of soul.
All the kings of the earth shall praise you, O Lord,
For they have heard the words of your mouth.
They shall sing of the ways of the Lord,
For great is the glory of the Lord
For though the Lord is high, he regards the lowly;
But the haughty he perceives from far away.
Though I walk in the midst of trouble,
You preserve me against the wrath of my enemies;
You stretch out your hand,
And your right hand delivers me.
Ps. 138.1-7
Blessings
PW
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Feast on the hillside
Or, the feeding of the 5000 as it's better known.
At last a story about lots of people eating until they were full without all the media hype regarding trans fat, too many carbs, American obesity et al ad nauseum.
What makes this text just a tad out of our reach is the enormous gap between what was reality for 1c. Palestine and what is reality for those reading this blog in 21c. affluent America. Unless you are on a stringent diet, none of us truly knows what it means to go hungry, to have no idea where our next meal will come from, and to have little or no choice in what we will be eating.
When fisherman Dad had a bad day on the boat and brought home just 2 little fish, he didn't go down to the local fish market and buy another couple pounds for dinner. Everyone simply ate less until the catch was better.
When I traveled to Africa in 2010, again and again I was asked what the price was for bread. It's a good thing folks didn't ask about milk since I no longer buy it, but what kind of bread did they mean? White, sandwich, in a long loaf bread? Or multi-grain, low fat, good for you bread? How could I explain that I choose not to purchase the cheap stuff but opt for the $4 a loaf multi-grain stuff. Oh to have the luxury of choosing!
I listened to another radio report regarding American eating habits. For years the "Mediterranean" diet has been touted as healthy. This is a diet based on vegetables, olive oil, pasta, a little meat. This is not some kind of fashion diet - it is how poor people eat. They grow the vegetables, harvest the olive trees, make pasta/bread out of some kind of grain, and rarely, rarely eat meat. When those who had followed this pattern of eating for years were asked what they would change they mostly answered - eat more meat. Well, if you eat the meat, the benefits of the diet do down hill.
I share all of this because we Americans have a very different relationship with food than does probably 3/4 of the rest of the world - most certainly we have access to a veritable feast in comparison to those gathered around Jesus that day.
That is to say, I'm not sure what is more amazing about this story from their point of view: that in Jesus' hands what looks like a meager offering becomes an abundant meal for a very large number of people; or two, that these folks ate and ate and ate until they were FULL and there were abundant leftovers. In Jesus' hands, the pedestrian meal becomes sufficient to fully satisfy those who sat at his feet.
God has been providing meals for folks throughout the Bible's story of faith. Adam and Eve had an apple (OK, that's not the best example), Elijah provided for the widow of Zarephath, manna fed the Israelites in the wilderness. So we see that Jesus has the same concern regarding the hunger of his people - and the God given power to provide for them.
It might be a surprise to you that you have God given power to provide for the hungry as well. Few of us will be carrying a basket with 2 fish and 5 loaves to church on Sunday (I especially hope you leave the fish at home) but a couple of dollar bills from your wallet can provide a blessing to those who hunger. Who are they? Somalians, dieing at an alarming rate due to famine. The horn of Africa countries (S. Africa, Zimbabwe, Botswana, etc) who are experiencing another devastating drought. The people of the near west side of Syracuse who look to St. Paul's food pantry for help eating. (we gathered veggies in July, peanut butter in August).
If you want to see the Holy Spirit at work, watch the food gathering table in the Social Hall or the total of offerings given to Lutheran Disaster Relief to feed the hungry in Africa.
That's all for now. God bless your cooking, your eating, and your generous giving.
Pax.
At last a story about lots of people eating until they were full without all the media hype regarding trans fat, too many carbs, American obesity et al ad nauseum.
What makes this text just a tad out of our reach is the enormous gap between what was reality for 1c. Palestine and what is reality for those reading this blog in 21c. affluent America. Unless you are on a stringent diet, none of us truly knows what it means to go hungry, to have no idea where our next meal will come from, and to have little or no choice in what we will be eating.
When fisherman Dad had a bad day on the boat and brought home just 2 little fish, he didn't go down to the local fish market and buy another couple pounds for dinner. Everyone simply ate less until the catch was better.
When I traveled to Africa in 2010, again and again I was asked what the price was for bread. It's a good thing folks didn't ask about milk since I no longer buy it, but what kind of bread did they mean? White, sandwich, in a long loaf bread? Or multi-grain, low fat, good for you bread? How could I explain that I choose not to purchase the cheap stuff but opt for the $4 a loaf multi-grain stuff. Oh to have the luxury of choosing!
I listened to another radio report regarding American eating habits. For years the "Mediterranean" diet has been touted as healthy. This is a diet based on vegetables, olive oil, pasta, a little meat. This is not some kind of fashion diet - it is how poor people eat. They grow the vegetables, harvest the olive trees, make pasta/bread out of some kind of grain, and rarely, rarely eat meat. When those who had followed this pattern of eating for years were asked what they would change they mostly answered - eat more meat. Well, if you eat the meat, the benefits of the diet do down hill.
I share all of this because we Americans have a very different relationship with food than does probably 3/4 of the rest of the world - most certainly we have access to a veritable feast in comparison to those gathered around Jesus that day.
That is to say, I'm not sure what is more amazing about this story from their point of view: that in Jesus' hands what looks like a meager offering becomes an abundant meal for a very large number of people; or two, that these folks ate and ate and ate until they were FULL and there were abundant leftovers. In Jesus' hands, the pedestrian meal becomes sufficient to fully satisfy those who sat at his feet.
God has been providing meals for folks throughout the Bible's story of faith. Adam and Eve had an apple (OK, that's not the best example), Elijah provided for the widow of Zarephath, manna fed the Israelites in the wilderness. So we see that Jesus has the same concern regarding the hunger of his people - and the God given power to provide for them.
It might be a surprise to you that you have God given power to provide for the hungry as well. Few of us will be carrying a basket with 2 fish and 5 loaves to church on Sunday (I especially hope you leave the fish at home) but a couple of dollar bills from your wallet can provide a blessing to those who hunger. Who are they? Somalians, dieing at an alarming rate due to famine. The horn of Africa countries (S. Africa, Zimbabwe, Botswana, etc) who are experiencing another devastating drought. The people of the near west side of Syracuse who look to St. Paul's food pantry for help eating. (we gathered veggies in July, peanut butter in August).
If you want to see the Holy Spirit at work, watch the food gathering table in the Social Hall or the total of offerings given to Lutheran Disaster Relief to feed the hungry in Africa.
That's all for now. God bless your cooking, your eating, and your generous giving.
Pax.
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Come those who are thirsty!
Ho!
That's how the Isaiah 55.1-5 lesson begins. It is an archaic Hebrew expression that we can translate Listen Up!
Listen up all you who are thirsty - come to the waters
You who have no money - come, buy and eat.
Come buy wine and milk without money and without price.
Well, I've never been to this market, where hawkers stand by their booths to grab your attention and then invite you in to take what you need with no need of payment. If some one has directions, let me know.
You read it right. This is an invitation to come in (not exactly sure where this 'in' is) and take all that you need to sustain you and don't worry about payment. First, it is directed at folks who are thirsty.......in need, searching for something to quench their thirst and keep them alive. So the one inviting them in is not trying to curry favor; no, it is the neediest who are almost pressured to come in and enjoy the hospitality of water, wine, break and milk.
Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,
and your labor for that which does not satisfy?
Oops, now we know why these needy folks have no money - they have wasted it on stuff, needless stuff, stuff that in the end will pass away and leave them thirsty once more. In two verses, Isaiah has accomplished a 'down to earth' description of grace (verse 1) which we call Gospel; and a description of our choices that make us uncomfortable and lead us to confession (verse 2) which we call Law.
Then the author wants us to think back to King David, who is presented as a great leader, defender and witness of God's. This is not the truth according to the accounts in Chronicles and Kings. So the writer is expanding the truth to present another truth - that the covenant God made with David (your descendent will always sit on the throne) now moves away from David the person, to the people of Israel. It is a promise of God's steadfastness to Israel.
But is NOT for the sake of Israel - it is not done to make them look good. It is so that glory may accumulate to God. It is for God's sake that God does this.....and continues to do this.....Come all who are thirsty and hungry. I will give you what will satisfy you.
So, what can we do with that word satisfy?
Does the advertising all around us lead us to places which in the end do not satisfy?
What exactly are we looking for? Love? Protection? Worth as a human being? Meaning to our days?
God invites us into his house. God has the water which will satisfy our thirst, not just once, but forever. I think this was the same point Jesus was making to the Samaritan woman at the well. (John 4) If we can find a place where our thirst is always, guaranteed to be satisfied....will be stick around to here what else the owner of the house has to say?
What are you thirsty for? Have you found it yet?
That's how the Isaiah 55.1-5 lesson begins. It is an archaic Hebrew expression that we can translate Listen Up!
Listen up all you who are thirsty - come to the waters
You who have no money - come, buy and eat.
Come buy wine and milk without money and without price.
Well, I've never been to this market, where hawkers stand by their booths to grab your attention and then invite you in to take what you need with no need of payment. If some one has directions, let me know.
You read it right. This is an invitation to come in (not exactly sure where this 'in' is) and take all that you need to sustain you and don't worry about payment. First, it is directed at folks who are thirsty.......in need, searching for something to quench their thirst and keep them alive. So the one inviting them in is not trying to curry favor; no, it is the neediest who are almost pressured to come in and enjoy the hospitality of water, wine, break and milk.
Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,
and your labor for that which does not satisfy?
Oops, now we know why these needy folks have no money - they have wasted it on stuff, needless stuff, stuff that in the end will pass away and leave them thirsty once more. In two verses, Isaiah has accomplished a 'down to earth' description of grace (verse 1) which we call Gospel; and a description of our choices that make us uncomfortable and lead us to confession (verse 2) which we call Law.
Then the author wants us to think back to King David, who is presented as a great leader, defender and witness of God's. This is not the truth according to the accounts in Chronicles and Kings. So the writer is expanding the truth to present another truth - that the covenant God made with David (your descendent will always sit on the throne) now moves away from David the person, to the people of Israel. It is a promise of God's steadfastness to Israel.
But is NOT for the sake of Israel - it is not done to make them look good. It is so that glory may accumulate to God. It is for God's sake that God does this.....and continues to do this.....Come all who are thirsty and hungry. I will give you what will satisfy you.
So, what can we do with that word satisfy?
Does the advertising all around us lead us to places which in the end do not satisfy?
What exactly are we looking for? Love? Protection? Worth as a human being? Meaning to our days?
God invites us into his house. God has the water which will satisfy our thirst, not just once, but forever. I think this was the same point Jesus was making to the Samaritan woman at the well. (John 4) If we can find a place where our thirst is always, guaranteed to be satisfied....will be stick around to here what else the owner of the house has to say?
What are you thirsty for? Have you found it yet?
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
The bottom line for Paul
"For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." Roman 8.38-39
This is the bottom line for the apostle Paul. Nothing -
no government as strong as Rome
no military dictator
no wealthy landowner (CEO)
no heavenly power
no created being
no tragedy or disease
no bad behavior on our part
not even the stuff we haven't thought of yet
Nothing can snatch us out of the loving grip of God our creator and father of our Lord. Nothing.
This is not easy to believe on every day of the week. When our husbands are in a war zone. When our children are dodging drug dealers to get into and out of school. When our business goes bankrupt. When our mammogram comes back suspicious. When our children choose to embrace death dealing habits.
Now note that Paul does not say that there aren't moments when we are uncertain; moments when we are tempted to throw God over, rage at the cruelty of this world, dismiss God as powerless or uninterested in our lives. You and I know that there are lots of days like that.
In the powerful darkness of this sinful world, when we lose our way or hope is dimmed, we are sorely tempted to say it is all a sham and whatever I thought I believed, I do not. For too many, it doesn't take a crisis, it only takes boredom and spiritual laziness to cause them to walk away from Jesus.
Paul, a man who had been imprisoned and beaten by the government and now faced death, certainly understood that there are lots of pressures in this world that could entice us to let go of God.
God, however, will never let go of us. God's love is more powerful than anything that this broken world can dish out.
God's love is more powerful than anything we might do individually.
God's love is faithful, steadfast, always searching for the lost sheep, opening his hand to hold us.
So when the darkness is deepest, and prayer has been silenced within us, Paul writes, "...the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit interceded for the saints according to the will of God." 8.26-7
"If God is for us, who can be against us?" v. 31b
That is a wonderful condensing of the Good News: If God is for us, who can be against us?
So, along with Paul and countless others throughout history and around the world, I too am convinced that nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. That truth has kept me afloat during too many of life's storms; may it sustain you as well.
Peace.
This is the bottom line for the apostle Paul. Nothing -
no government as strong as Rome
no military dictator
no wealthy landowner (CEO)
no heavenly power
no created being
no tragedy or disease
no bad behavior on our part
not even the stuff we haven't thought of yet
Nothing can snatch us out of the loving grip of God our creator and father of our Lord. Nothing.
This is not easy to believe on every day of the week. When our husbands are in a war zone. When our children are dodging drug dealers to get into and out of school. When our business goes bankrupt. When our mammogram comes back suspicious. When our children choose to embrace death dealing habits.
Now note that Paul does not say that there aren't moments when we are uncertain; moments when we are tempted to throw God over, rage at the cruelty of this world, dismiss God as powerless or uninterested in our lives. You and I know that there are lots of days like that.
In the powerful darkness of this sinful world, when we lose our way or hope is dimmed, we are sorely tempted to say it is all a sham and whatever I thought I believed, I do not. For too many, it doesn't take a crisis, it only takes boredom and spiritual laziness to cause them to walk away from Jesus.
Paul, a man who had been imprisoned and beaten by the government and now faced death, certainly understood that there are lots of pressures in this world that could entice us to let go of God.
God, however, will never let go of us. God's love is more powerful than anything that this broken world can dish out.
God's love is more powerful than anything we might do individually.
God's love is faithful, steadfast, always searching for the lost sheep, opening his hand to hold us.
So when the darkness is deepest, and prayer has been silenced within us, Paul writes, "...the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit interceded for the saints according to the will of God." 8.26-7
"If God is for us, who can be against us?" v. 31b
That is a wonderful condensing of the Good News: If God is for us, who can be against us?
So, along with Paul and countless others throughout history and around the world, I too am convinced that nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. That truth has kept me afloat during too many of life's storms; may it sustain you as well.
Peace.
We have nothing to fear.......
"You did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption [by which] we call out, 'Abba, Father'" Rms 8.15
"my firm belief [is]that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance." FDR in a speech to the nation, 1933
FDR used this quote from Francis Bacon to rally the people of America who were entrenched in the Great Depression with little hope of a positive resolution. He pressed the people to realize that our fear immobilizes us and keeps us from moving forward.
In the lectionary passage Romans 8.12-30 the apostle Paul is likewise rallying the people of God to look forward, to act with boldness, to cling to the promises of Jesus Christ. This entire chapter in Romans seeks to capture the emotive power of being claimed by God in Jesus for redemption.
"I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth complaring with the glory about to be revealed to us" v.18
Jesus is bringing us into a relationship with the divine creator that surpasses all we know now and all that we are experiencing now. Paul does not dimiss or disrespect the kind of suffering we are presenting experiencing; instead, he presses us to keep our eyes on Jesus and the joy of being brought to new life in him.
Look at v. 22
"We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies."
Those of us who have had the honor of 'groaning in labor pains' know that this is no easy experience. However, the wonder and gift of life that comes once the labor is over and the child is born presses our memory of long hours of pain back into nothingness. Creation waits for the revealing of 'new life' so it too can rejoice.
Paul wants us to know that when things fell apart for this creation of earth and animals and humans (call that sin) that the animals and earth could do nothing to redeem themselves and return to the wonder of the first moments of perfection. Redemption awaited a confused, stubborn, lost humankind. And humankind awaited Jesus.
So, release the fear. Fear will keep us in bondage.
Fear will keep us stuck in hole where no new life can blossom.
And we all know fear.
Fear of rejection (so we do not ask)
Fear of losing (so we do not try)
Fear of being wrong (so we never try something new)
Fear of dying (so we use all our energy to protect ourselves).
Fear of abandonment (so we cling to relationships that are not healthy)
Well, we could go on and on. We all know fear. When fear enters our day, we quickly become that small child within - you know, the one you thought you 'grew out of.'
That child is ultimately afraid that s/he is not loved.....and even that isn't the bottom of this pit.
At the bottom is our fear that we are not even lovable.
Into that darkness comes Paul's wonderful expression of God's love for us in Jesus.
"You did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption [by which] we call out, 'Abba, Father'"
and our Lord and Savior Jesus calls out to us once again: you are lovable, you are loved, you are mine, child of God.
And that, my friends, is the Good News any day of the week.
Peace.
"my firm belief [is]that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance." FDR in a speech to the nation, 1933
FDR used this quote from Francis Bacon to rally the people of America who were entrenched in the Great Depression with little hope of a positive resolution. He pressed the people to realize that our fear immobilizes us and keeps us from moving forward.
In the lectionary passage Romans 8.12-30 the apostle Paul is likewise rallying the people of God to look forward, to act with boldness, to cling to the promises of Jesus Christ. This entire chapter in Romans seeks to capture the emotive power of being claimed by God in Jesus for redemption.
"I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth complaring with the glory about to be revealed to us" v.18
Jesus is bringing us into a relationship with the divine creator that surpasses all we know now and all that we are experiencing now. Paul does not dimiss or disrespect the kind of suffering we are presenting experiencing; instead, he presses us to keep our eyes on Jesus and the joy of being brought to new life in him.
Look at v. 22
"We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies."
Those of us who have had the honor of 'groaning in labor pains' know that this is no easy experience. However, the wonder and gift of life that comes once the labor is over and the child is born presses our memory of long hours of pain back into nothingness. Creation waits for the revealing of 'new life' so it too can rejoice.
Paul wants us to know that when things fell apart for this creation of earth and animals and humans (call that sin) that the animals and earth could do nothing to redeem themselves and return to the wonder of the first moments of perfection. Redemption awaited a confused, stubborn, lost humankind. And humankind awaited Jesus.
So, release the fear. Fear will keep us in bondage.
Fear will keep us stuck in hole where no new life can blossom.
And we all know fear.
Fear of rejection (so we do not ask)
Fear of losing (so we do not try)
Fear of being wrong (so we never try something new)
Fear of dying (so we use all our energy to protect ourselves).
Fear of abandonment (so we cling to relationships that are not healthy)
Well, we could go on and on. We all know fear. When fear enters our day, we quickly become that small child within - you know, the one you thought you 'grew out of.'
That child is ultimately afraid that s/he is not loved.....and even that isn't the bottom of this pit.
At the bottom is our fear that we are not even lovable.
Into that darkness comes Paul's wonderful expression of God's love for us in Jesus.
"You did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption [by which] we call out, 'Abba, Father'"
and our Lord and Savior Jesus calls out to us once again: you are lovable, you are loved, you are mine, child of God.
And that, my friends, is the Good News any day of the week.
Peace.
Monday, July 11, 2011
Patience and judgment....wheat and tares
Tares! Who uses that word anymore? But of course I learned the Bible in its King James version and the weeds of this week's Gospel lesson were called 'tares' at that time.
We are talking about Matthew 13.24-30, the parable of seeds and harvests, wheat and weeds. Like last week's parable on the Sower and the Seed, this parable could be interpreted allegorically, and in fact, the writer of Matthew provides just such an explanation in verses 36-43.
But leaping to the allegorical explanation deprives us of the opportunity to engage this parable creatively. Just a word on creative interpretations. It is important to keep clear the difference between what the text actually says and what we can imagine the text saying. Our imagination - using a 360 review of the story - can be very helpful in opening us up to new perspectives. This keeps us from learning it one way and being unable to hear God's Word any other way.
However, there is a difference between what is on the page and those ideas we would present with the word "perhaps." Perhaps the master of the field was lazy. Perhaps the servants were just trying to gain favor - kissing up to the boss. Perhaps.....these are helpful for our experience as readers of the text but never replace what the text actually says!
So much for that. There is a shift here from last week's sower. This field is owned by a wealthy householder. (We know that because he has servants!) This shift cautions us to separate whatever interpretation we gave to Mt13.1-9 from the roles and implications of this text. If believers were the sower in last week's parable, perhaps they have shifted to be the servants this week.
Note that the weeds come an outside source. The master calls it an enemy. The seed the master put in was good seed. This is clearly stated so there can be no confusion. The Master does not sow bad seed.
The Master tells the servants to be patient - not in so many words but he says to wait, let the plants grow until maturity. A time will come when they will be separated.
Why wait? Can't the servants tells the weeds from the wheat? Perhaps the servants don't have a fine enough hand to separate out the weeds while allowing the wheat to continue growing. What other possibilities can you think of? This kind of thinking helps us expand the possibilities of the parable - to give it depth.
But note, it is not now the time to separate weed from wheat. Timing is in God's domain.
Discernment may not be a skill of these servants. Discernment of this kind - life and death choices - maybe only the Master has this level of discernment. Perhaps the growing cycle will bring about some kind of change in the plants (although truthfully, I can't see how that might happen). Perhaps by the time the harvest comes, some of those weeds will be useful to the Master and not need to be destroyed. Whatever the reason, discernment is an issue here.
But, do not fool yourself, judgment will come. There will be a separation of wheat and weeds. Some will be stored in the Master's barn (household?) and others burned - return to ash.
With all the conversation out there around Rob Bell's new book, Love Wins which discounts a place of eternal punishment for those who, at the day of judgment, are found wanting, it might be a good idea to give some thought to this concept of eternal nothingness - a burning that results in ashes in this parable (not the picture of hell that includes eternal burning). We believers are guilty of using passages such as this to decide that we are 'in' and others are 'out'. But how does this 'hell' fit in with our understanding of who God is and how God acts - in this world, but most especially in Jesus.
All things considerd, I am impressed with the questioned discernment of the workers and the imposed patience. Perhaps we should pay an equal amount of attention to these two portions of the parable as well. When we are rushing to judgment, perhaps we have both the timing and the judgment wrong
Peace.
We are talking about Matthew 13.24-30, the parable of seeds and harvests, wheat and weeds. Like last week's parable on the Sower and the Seed, this parable could be interpreted allegorically, and in fact, the writer of Matthew provides just such an explanation in verses 36-43.
But leaping to the allegorical explanation deprives us of the opportunity to engage this parable creatively. Just a word on creative interpretations. It is important to keep clear the difference between what the text actually says and what we can imagine the text saying. Our imagination - using a 360 review of the story - can be very helpful in opening us up to new perspectives. This keeps us from learning it one way and being unable to hear God's Word any other way.
However, there is a difference between what is on the page and those ideas we would present with the word "perhaps." Perhaps the master of the field was lazy. Perhaps the servants were just trying to gain favor - kissing up to the boss. Perhaps.....these are helpful for our experience as readers of the text but never replace what the text actually says!
So much for that. There is a shift here from last week's sower. This field is owned by a wealthy householder. (We know that because he has servants!) This shift cautions us to separate whatever interpretation we gave to Mt13.1-9 from the roles and implications of this text. If believers were the sower in last week's parable, perhaps they have shifted to be the servants this week.
Note that the weeds come an outside source. The master calls it an enemy. The seed the master put in was good seed. This is clearly stated so there can be no confusion. The Master does not sow bad seed.
The Master tells the servants to be patient - not in so many words but he says to wait, let the plants grow until maturity. A time will come when they will be separated.
Why wait? Can't the servants tells the weeds from the wheat? Perhaps the servants don't have a fine enough hand to separate out the weeds while allowing the wheat to continue growing. What other possibilities can you think of? This kind of thinking helps us expand the possibilities of the parable - to give it depth.
But note, it is not now the time to separate weed from wheat. Timing is in God's domain.
Discernment may not be a skill of these servants. Discernment of this kind - life and death choices - maybe only the Master has this level of discernment. Perhaps the growing cycle will bring about some kind of change in the plants (although truthfully, I can't see how that might happen). Perhaps by the time the harvest comes, some of those weeds will be useful to the Master and not need to be destroyed. Whatever the reason, discernment is an issue here.
But, do not fool yourself, judgment will come. There will be a separation of wheat and weeds. Some will be stored in the Master's barn (household?) and others burned - return to ash.
With all the conversation out there around Rob Bell's new book, Love Wins which discounts a place of eternal punishment for those who, at the day of judgment, are found wanting, it might be a good idea to give some thought to this concept of eternal nothingness - a burning that results in ashes in this parable (not the picture of hell that includes eternal burning). We believers are guilty of using passages such as this to decide that we are 'in' and others are 'out'. But how does this 'hell' fit in with our understanding of who God is and how God acts - in this world, but most especially in Jesus.
All things considerd, I am impressed with the questioned discernment of the workers and the imposed patience. Perhaps we should pay an equal amount of attention to these two portions of the parable as well. When we are rushing to judgment, perhaps we have both the timing and the judgment wrong
Peace.
Thursday, July 7, 2011
The sower....the seed....or the ground?
I think the challenge in this familiar parable of the Sower and the Seed is to put aside what we think we know about it and listen to it again........and then to allow this parable to challenge our conception of what faithful living looks like.
I think most folks get hung up on the ground - rocky ground, hard ground, miserable ground, thorn-y ground. Who is represented by each of the different 'grounds'? Certainly Matthew goes on to give an explanation of this parable (see verses 18ff), although I think even Matthew does not do this parable justice.
We tend to assume that rocky ground is always rocky ground. It is not rocky ground one day and thorn-y ground another day, and even possibly, good soil on a third day. No, ground is ground and stays that way.
Thus we assume that one person = one kind of ground - forever! Who's to say that you and I can't be two or three kinds of ground - some parts of us are rocky, some weedy and some really receptive to the seeds?
So now we have a story where a sower goes out to sow, and on this particular day the part of the ground that is rocky is not a fertile receiver of seed. Neither are the other 'bad' ground areas. Only the good soil gets the seed and produces.
This leads us to think that we should not waste our time or seed on soil that is no good.
But what if tomorrow the rocky soil becomes good soil? Then the seed that started out on rocky soil finds itself on good soil and is off and running to produce 100 times. Now, this parable is not static, stuck in time, but active and uncertain, full of possibilities. Now this parable is fertile, productive, moving into the future of God's kingdom.
Think of you and me. Some days we are not receptive to much of anything. Our friend has a great idea about keeping the neighborhood clean and you walk away unimpressed. The next day, you have thought it over and see this as a real possibility to bring a newer, cleaner look to your neighborhood. One day you are bad soil, the next day you are producing at 30 times expected outcomes!
Can the sower determine which soil is which as s/he spreads the seed? Can the sower guarantee that the bad soil will stay that way forever? Isn't it the sower's job to get out there and spread seed, not to evaluate soil readiness?
Have your thoughts on this parable shifted a little?
Hopefully, more tomorrow!
Pax.
I think most folks get hung up on the ground - rocky ground, hard ground, miserable ground, thorn-y ground. Who is represented by each of the different 'grounds'? Certainly Matthew goes on to give an explanation of this parable (see verses 18ff), although I think even Matthew does not do this parable justice.
We tend to assume that rocky ground is always rocky ground. It is not rocky ground one day and thorn-y ground another day, and even possibly, good soil on a third day. No, ground is ground and stays that way.
Thus we assume that one person = one kind of ground - forever! Who's to say that you and I can't be two or three kinds of ground - some parts of us are rocky, some weedy and some really receptive to the seeds?
So now we have a story where a sower goes out to sow, and on this particular day the part of the ground that is rocky is not a fertile receiver of seed. Neither are the other 'bad' ground areas. Only the good soil gets the seed and produces.
This leads us to think that we should not waste our time or seed on soil that is no good.
But what if tomorrow the rocky soil becomes good soil? Then the seed that started out on rocky soil finds itself on good soil and is off and running to produce 100 times. Now, this parable is not static, stuck in time, but active and uncertain, full of possibilities. Now this parable is fertile, productive, moving into the future of God's kingdom.
Think of you and me. Some days we are not receptive to much of anything. Our friend has a great idea about keeping the neighborhood clean and you walk away unimpressed. The next day, you have thought it over and see this as a real possibility to bring a newer, cleaner look to your neighborhood. One day you are bad soil, the next day you are producing at 30 times expected outcomes!
Can the sower determine which soil is which as s/he spreads the seed? Can the sower guarantee that the bad soil will stay that way forever? Isn't it the sower's job to get out there and spread seed, not to evaluate soil readiness?
Have your thoughts on this parable shifted a little?
Hopefully, more tomorrow!
Pax.
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
A sower went out to sow.....matthew 13.1-9
Mea culpa! Mea culpa! Which essentially means, in Latin, it's all my fault!
I looked back and I have been very lax in writing to my friends and readers. Can't say it won't happen again, but I will try to be more alert.
This Sunday we are graced with a familiar Bible story/parable about the sower who sowed his seed everywhere, regardless of the potential fertility of the soil. Rocky ground, dry ground, thorn-y ground all got a share of the precious seed. Only the good soil was able to bring forth any harvest, but boy, what a harvest! 100 times or 60 times or 30 times the amount of seed sown. A normal harvest might bring about 15 times the seed output.
So is this a parable about the ground or about the seed or abou the sower? Yes!
The wonderful thing about parables are that they have multiple levels of meaning simultaneously. Generally the storyteller takes a very familiar scene and twists it just enough to cause us to wonder - to marvel - to become angry - to confess.....you take your pick, but the twist in the familiar scene is intended to lead us in several directions at the same time.
One commentator calls this 'enigmatic' speech. I like that word 'enigmatic' so much I'm using it in Sunday's sermon too! It means 'puzzling' Some enigmatic speech is not intended to puzzle the hearer - it just does (think about ambiguous speech). But parables are intentionally enigmatic - that is the twist that causes us to linger and consider the multiple messages coming our way.
Remember, this is not an 'allegory' - a literary term of a story where each character/ thing in the story is intended to represent something else. The Lion and the Wardrobe is an allegory and each character has a parallel identity. Rather a parable is constructed to throw you off, not to give you a precise picture.
So I will leave you with these thoughts as you find your Bible and read through this story again.
Where is God in this story?
Where are believers/disciples in this story?
What is wrong with this farmer that s/he wastes all that seed?
A little more tomorrow I promise. But for now, do not let all you ever knew about this story keep you from asking some new questions.
Pax.
I looked back and I have been very lax in writing to my friends and readers. Can't say it won't happen again, but I will try to be more alert.
This Sunday we are graced with a familiar Bible story/parable about the sower who sowed his seed everywhere, regardless of the potential fertility of the soil. Rocky ground, dry ground, thorn-y ground all got a share of the precious seed. Only the good soil was able to bring forth any harvest, but boy, what a harvest! 100 times or 60 times or 30 times the amount of seed sown. A normal harvest might bring about 15 times the seed output.
So is this a parable about the ground or about the seed or abou the sower? Yes!
The wonderful thing about parables are that they have multiple levels of meaning simultaneously. Generally the storyteller takes a very familiar scene and twists it just enough to cause us to wonder - to marvel - to become angry - to confess.....you take your pick, but the twist in the familiar scene is intended to lead us in several directions at the same time.
One commentator calls this 'enigmatic' speech. I like that word 'enigmatic' so much I'm using it in Sunday's sermon too! It means 'puzzling' Some enigmatic speech is not intended to puzzle the hearer - it just does (think about ambiguous speech). But parables are intentionally enigmatic - that is the twist that causes us to linger and consider the multiple messages coming our way.
Remember, this is not an 'allegory' - a literary term of a story where each character/ thing in the story is intended to represent something else. The Lion and the Wardrobe is an allegory and each character has a parallel identity. Rather a parable is constructed to throw you off, not to give you a precise picture.
So I will leave you with these thoughts as you find your Bible and read through this story again.
Where is God in this story?
Where are believers/disciples in this story?
What is wrong with this farmer that s/he wastes all that seed?
A little more tomorrow I promise. But for now, do not let all you ever knew about this story keep you from asking some new questions.
Pax.
Monday, June 20, 2011
"As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord" Joshua 24.15
This is the verse that Luther Memorial has adopted as a guidepost for our living together. The book of Joshua follows the people of Israel across the Jordan River and into the land promised to Abraham, then Issac, then Jacob and finally Moses. This is the land 'flowing with milk and honey' where they shall plant vines and drink their own wine, build houses and live in them. That is, this will not be a temporary 'stopping over' place; this will not be a land that will be overrun by others, but rather it will belong to the Israelites.
Moses cannot enter the promised land; God won't allow it. Rather, Moses stood on a high mountain and looked to the horizon and saw the land that God promised to Israel. [Just an aside, when Martin Luther King Jr. made his 'I have been to the mountaintop' speech, he is co-opting this story of Moses from Deuteronomy.]
Now Joshua has led the people into the promised land. People are already living there; people who worship a god other than YHWH. [In fact, each people/tribe of this time worshipped its own god]. What a temptation to the people! They had quite a lot of trouble following YHWH when they were alone and dependent in the wilderness. Now they must choose to remain faithful to YHWH in the face of other possibilities and under pressure from other people. So Joshua tells them,"....choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served in theregion beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord." 24.15
It is a good text for our life together as followers of Jesus for we too are confronted with many gods, many voices, many demands and temptations. Life is far from simple and faithfulness is a constant discipline. Together we will continue to discern what it means to 'serve the Lord' but yesterday we were able to share the experience of being God's people in the world during On the Road with Jesus (see http://www.luthermemorialns.org/ for more information). More than that, we were able to launch 7 of our young people off into the next phase of their lives following high school. Our youngest could look at these [older] young people and see themselves down the road, having heard God's word and served in God's name. It was a helpful reminder for us all that we need to continually pray for these young people.
Add to that our prayers of thanksgiving for the men in our lives: fathers, brothers, uncles, grandfathers, sons, and friends; men through whom the Spirit works to help shape society and our lives.
Yesterday we were able to claim once again, 'as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord', and to do it with great rejoicing.
Moses cannot enter the promised land; God won't allow it. Rather, Moses stood on a high mountain and looked to the horizon and saw the land that God promised to Israel. [Just an aside, when Martin Luther King Jr. made his 'I have been to the mountaintop' speech, he is co-opting this story of Moses from Deuteronomy.]
Now Joshua has led the people into the promised land. People are already living there; people who worship a god other than YHWH. [In fact, each people/tribe of this time worshipped its own god]. What a temptation to the people! They had quite a lot of trouble following YHWH when they were alone and dependent in the wilderness. Now they must choose to remain faithful to YHWH in the face of other possibilities and under pressure from other people. So Joshua tells them,"....choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served in theregion beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord." 24.15
It is a good text for our life together as followers of Jesus for we too are confronted with many gods, many voices, many demands and temptations. Life is far from simple and faithfulness is a constant discipline. Together we will continue to discern what it means to 'serve the Lord' but yesterday we were able to share the experience of being God's people in the world during On the Road with Jesus (see http://www.luthermemorialns.org/ for more information). More than that, we were able to launch 7 of our young people off into the next phase of their lives following high school. Our youngest could look at these [older] young people and see themselves down the road, having heard God's word and served in God's name. It was a helpful reminder for us all that we need to continually pray for these young people.
Add to that our prayers of thanksgiving for the men in our lives: fathers, brothers, uncles, grandfathers, sons, and friends; men through whom the Spirit works to help shape society and our lives.
Yesterday we were able to claim once again, 'as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord', and to do it with great rejoicing.
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
The Spirit....power unleased. We're On the Road
If you are following the blog and are not a member of Luther Memorial - or haven't been in church for the last 2 months - you may have missed mention of our On the Road with Jesus event taking place this Sunday, June 12th. It is just by chance that our event and the Festival of Pentecost occur on the same day this year. Perhaps we should have re-named it On the Road with the Spirit, because, of course, that is the what Pentecost is all about.
Acts 2.1-2
When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.
We are only using this shortened version of the assigned Pentecost text, but it does include all the essential elements of Pentecost for us.
The Festival of Pentecost is a Jewish festival that occurs 50 days following Passover (notice the 'pente') That is why all these folks - the disciples and other believers - were gathered together with a large crowd of folks from many other regions and cities. They weren't gathered in order to receive the Holy Spirit. They were gathered according to Jewish tradition, and the gift of the Holy Spirit gave the gathering new meaning.
Well, more than new meaning. It gave those gathered new power as well. Now we Westerners are prone to think of power in terms of what it can accomplish - but in a more pejorative sense, looking for how power can be used to our advantage. Here we watch as the gift of the Spirit does accomplish amazing things, but those things benefit only the group, not the individuals present. When the Spirit moves over the crowd, these folks who spoke in different languages were now able to understand each other. That is amazing in itself. The Spirit reverses the curse of the Tower of Babel and enables diverse people to be of one voice. You can see the unity theme developing here.
Even more amazing, in my book, is that all those who were present listened to each other. The scriptures say that those present indicated they were able to hear in their own language. From parent to teacher to preacher, we know that speaking is one thing, but being heard is something far more precious. Each foreigner was able to hear in his own language.
So what is God doing here? Jesus has ascended; the disciples are a bit confused and adrift. So God meets them where they are - both emotionally, spiritually and geographically - right there with lots of strangers, and gifts them with the power that will make it possible for them to be one in service to God. This is how God is going to build the Church - and the vision was global from the beginning.
Makes this a perfect text for our Mission Sunday - where we step out into the world and having identified places where the hand of God can bring new life to others, where we can serve others, we put ourselves to work. It is not for the sake of completing tasks, but in order that we might identify places where God is at work already, and we are there to put on our labor.
Acts of the Apostles is the book of the Bible that teaches about the early days of the Church. It is a book about the work of the Holy Spirit, calling people into faith, bringing folks to baptism, protecting Paul in shipwreck, freeing Paul when he was a prisoner and much more. When we go out on the road this Sunday, this will be a powerful Spirit which accompanies us. If you haven't decided where to serve, now is a great time to choose one of our teams or a project of your own.
For no matter where we are throughout the city, we will be one, powered by the Holy Spirit, for the sake of the other.
Blessings.
Acts 2.1-2
When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.
We are only using this shortened version of the assigned Pentecost text, but it does include all the essential elements of Pentecost for us.
The Festival of Pentecost is a Jewish festival that occurs 50 days following Passover (notice the 'pente') That is why all these folks - the disciples and other believers - were gathered together with a large crowd of folks from many other regions and cities. They weren't gathered in order to receive the Holy Spirit. They were gathered according to Jewish tradition, and the gift of the Holy Spirit gave the gathering new meaning.
Well, more than new meaning. It gave those gathered new power as well. Now we Westerners are prone to think of power in terms of what it can accomplish - but in a more pejorative sense, looking for how power can be used to our advantage. Here we watch as the gift of the Spirit does accomplish amazing things, but those things benefit only the group, not the individuals present. When the Spirit moves over the crowd, these folks who spoke in different languages were now able to understand each other. That is amazing in itself. The Spirit reverses the curse of the Tower of Babel and enables diverse people to be of one voice. You can see the unity theme developing here.
Even more amazing, in my book, is that all those who were present listened to each other. The scriptures say that those present indicated they were able to hear in their own language. From parent to teacher to preacher, we know that speaking is one thing, but being heard is something far more precious. Each foreigner was able to hear in his own language.
So what is God doing here? Jesus has ascended; the disciples are a bit confused and adrift. So God meets them where they are - both emotionally, spiritually and geographically - right there with lots of strangers, and gifts them with the power that will make it possible for them to be one in service to God. This is how God is going to build the Church - and the vision was global from the beginning.
Makes this a perfect text for our Mission Sunday - where we step out into the world and having identified places where the hand of God can bring new life to others, where we can serve others, we put ourselves to work. It is not for the sake of completing tasks, but in order that we might identify places where God is at work already, and we are there to put on our labor.
Acts of the Apostles is the book of the Bible that teaches about the early days of the Church. It is a book about the work of the Holy Spirit, calling people into faith, bringing folks to baptism, protecting Paul in shipwreck, freeing Paul when he was a prisoner and much more. When we go out on the road this Sunday, this will be a powerful Spirit which accompanies us. If you haven't decided where to serve, now is a great time to choose one of our teams or a project of your own.
For no matter where we are throughout the city, we will be one, powered by the Holy Spirit, for the sake of the other.
Blessings.
Thursday, June 2, 2011
The Word is eternal....but my schedule has been crazy!
To my faithful followers!
Sorry for the silence. This is a very good example of how the world interferes with the Word all too often. But since the Word is eternal, God continues to speak in the midst of our crazy schedules and family crises and soccer schedules! In fact, the great message of the incarnation - the taking on of human flesh by Jesus, the Son of God - is the reality of God in the truth of our everyday life.
Even as we are called to be the face of Jesus to others, loving, forgiving, speaking truth, serving and caring.......others can and will be the face of Jesus to us. This is the power of the Word for us; God continues to speak to us, be present to us, and to work in this world for the sake of life now and eternally.
Re-defining life is a primary message of Jesus and his ministry among us. Life is much more than simply surviving. As Jesus brought the Kingdom of God into reality 2000 years ago, he re-defined life in terms of 'the other'. Life in solitude is not the life God intended - it has always been in community and for community.
Which of course means we need to fight our selfish natures. Martin Buber (I'm pretty sure he was a philosopher, 20th century) wrote a book called I and Thou. It is a classic and folks will often simply quote the title when speaking about our relationships with each other and the world. We are not called to make the other, 'other'. We are not to make an object out of their humanness, the particularity of who they are. I remember one day when I was teaching full time when a parent in frustration said to me, "You people" meaning all teachers. She had missed the point of Buber's I and Thou.
We do this in many ways and to many people. We choose our "I" over your "Thou". It's human; it's rarely helpful. As Jesus leaves his disciples he promises the gift of the Holy Spirit: the power of God moving among us, reminding us of Jesus' life and ministry, bringing life into dark places.
And reminding us that always, forever, it is "I and Thou" - we are community created by God, forgiven through Jesus and empowered by the Holy Spirit.
Blessings to all.
Sorry for the silence. This is a very good example of how the world interferes with the Word all too often. But since the Word is eternal, God continues to speak in the midst of our crazy schedules and family crises and soccer schedules! In fact, the great message of the incarnation - the taking on of human flesh by Jesus, the Son of God - is the reality of God in the truth of our everyday life.
Even as we are called to be the face of Jesus to others, loving, forgiving, speaking truth, serving and caring.......others can and will be the face of Jesus to us. This is the power of the Word for us; God continues to speak to us, be present to us, and to work in this world for the sake of life now and eternally.
Re-defining life is a primary message of Jesus and his ministry among us. Life is much more than simply surviving. As Jesus brought the Kingdom of God into reality 2000 years ago, he re-defined life in terms of 'the other'. Life in solitude is not the life God intended - it has always been in community and for community.
Which of course means we need to fight our selfish natures. Martin Buber (I'm pretty sure he was a philosopher, 20th century) wrote a book called I and Thou. It is a classic and folks will often simply quote the title when speaking about our relationships with each other and the world. We are not called to make the other, 'other'. We are not to make an object out of their humanness, the particularity of who they are. I remember one day when I was teaching full time when a parent in frustration said to me, "You people" meaning all teachers. She had missed the point of Buber's I and Thou.
We do this in many ways and to many people. We choose our "I" over your "Thou". It's human; it's rarely helpful. As Jesus leaves his disciples he promises the gift of the Holy Spirit: the power of God moving among us, reminding us of Jesus' life and ministry, bringing life into dark places.
And reminding us that always, forever, it is "I and Thou" - we are community created by God, forgiven through Jesus and empowered by the Holy Spirit.
Blessings to all.
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
I will not leave you orphaned......
John 14.15-21 NRSV courtesy of http://www.biblestudytools.com/
15 "If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. 17 This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you. 18 "I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. 19 In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. 21 They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them."
This passage is helpful as we prepare for On the Road with Jesus...but I'll get to that at the end.
First some details. The Gospel of John does not have a "Last Supper" scene. That is, there is no institution of communion as there is in the synoptic gospels. Rather, John gives us a powerful scene of Jesus bending down to wash the feet of his disciples. From this starting point, Jesus then holds a long 'conversation' with the disciples as he prepares them for his imminent death.
This Sunday's gospel lesson is a part of that conversation. (I wrote 'conversation' because Jesus does almost all the talking!)
John gives us single sentences from which large lessons can be learned. "If you love me, you will keep my commandments" Does this return us to a precise keeping of Torah law? Is Jesus talking about the much more comprehensive law of love: love God, love your neighbor? When we fail, which we will certainly do, does that mean we love Jesus less? less perfectly?
16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. 17 This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you.
These verses talk about the gift of the Holy Spirit and the power and purpose of the Spirit in this world and therefore in our lives. First we are comforted to know that although Jesus will no longer be seen in the flesh, the Spirit/ Advocate will always/forever be with us. But the task here goes beyond comfort because this Spirit is the spirit of Truth - and although the scripture tells us 'you will know the Truth, and the Truth will set you free' (here Jesus was speaking of himself as Truth) but we all know that the truth usually makes us angry/embarrased/hurt first before it sets us free.
Jesus points to this Truth Spirit as a wonderful gift - and if we think about how Truth keeps us honest and on the right track we too can see it as a gift. Furthermore, the Spirit is the Spirit of the living Jesus moving among, through and with us today.
18 "I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. 19 In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.
I will not leave you orphaned....because I live, you also will live. These are powerful words that can not only bring us comfort, but also provide a purpose and focus to our every day. We are not alone, and life is an abundant gift that Jesus has set aside for us. This is the Gospel - the good news of Jesus Christ - in a simple sentence. If living with Jesus is where we want to be, then we will allow Jesus to live in us....all of this leads to following the commandment of love.
Thinking about On the Road with Jesus....what if we take that simple message to those we are serving? I will not leave you orphaned...because I live, you also will live. Here I am, the one Jesus sent to be your companion, to be sure you are not alone, to help you cling to Jesus' promises of life.
Sounds a lot more important than clipping hedges, sewing dresses, cleaning out a garage. Yet this is the way we live out these verses for the sake of others.
Have a great day!
15 "If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. 17 This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you. 18 "I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. 19 In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. 21 They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them."
This passage is helpful as we prepare for On the Road with Jesus...but I'll get to that at the end.
First some details. The Gospel of John does not have a "Last Supper" scene. That is, there is no institution of communion as there is in the synoptic gospels. Rather, John gives us a powerful scene of Jesus bending down to wash the feet of his disciples. From this starting point, Jesus then holds a long 'conversation' with the disciples as he prepares them for his imminent death.
This Sunday's gospel lesson is a part of that conversation. (I wrote 'conversation' because Jesus does almost all the talking!)
John gives us single sentences from which large lessons can be learned. "If you love me, you will keep my commandments" Does this return us to a precise keeping of Torah law? Is Jesus talking about the much more comprehensive law of love: love God, love your neighbor? When we fail, which we will certainly do, does that mean we love Jesus less? less perfectly?
16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. 17 This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you.
These verses talk about the gift of the Holy Spirit and the power and purpose of the Spirit in this world and therefore in our lives. First we are comforted to know that although Jesus will no longer be seen in the flesh, the Spirit/ Advocate will always/forever be with us. But the task here goes beyond comfort because this Spirit is the spirit of Truth - and although the scripture tells us 'you will know the Truth, and the Truth will set you free' (here Jesus was speaking of himself as Truth) but we all know that the truth usually makes us angry/embarrased/hurt first before it sets us free.
Jesus points to this Truth Spirit as a wonderful gift - and if we think about how Truth keeps us honest and on the right track we too can see it as a gift. Furthermore, the Spirit is the Spirit of the living Jesus moving among, through and with us today.
18 "I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. 19 In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.
I will not leave you orphaned....because I live, you also will live. These are powerful words that can not only bring us comfort, but also provide a purpose and focus to our every day. We are not alone, and life is an abundant gift that Jesus has set aside for us. This is the Gospel - the good news of Jesus Christ - in a simple sentence. If living with Jesus is where we want to be, then we will allow Jesus to live in us....all of this leads to following the commandment of love.
Thinking about On the Road with Jesus....what if we take that simple message to those we are serving? I will not leave you orphaned...because I live, you also will live. Here I am, the one Jesus sent to be your companion, to be sure you are not alone, to help you cling to Jesus' promises of life.
Sounds a lot more important than clipping hedges, sewing dresses, cleaning out a garage. Yet this is the way we live out these verses for the sake of others.
Have a great day!
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
"I can see you are a religious people..."
Acts 17.22-31 NRSV courtesy of http://www.biblestudytools.com/
22 Then Paul stood in front of the Areopagus and said, "Athenians, I see how extremely religious you are in every way. 23 For as I went through the city and looked carefully at the objects of your worship, I found among them an altar with the inscription, "To an unknown god.' What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. 24 The God who made the world and everything in it, he who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by human hands, 25 nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mortals life and breath and all things. 26 From one ancestor he made all nations to inhabit the whole earth, and he allotted the times of their existence and the boundaries of the places where they would live, 27 so that they would search for God and perhaps grope for him and find him—though indeed he is not far from each one of us. 28 For "In him we live and move and have our being'; as even some of your own poets have said, "For we too are his offspring.' 29 Since we are God's offspring, we ought not to think that the deity is like gold, or silver, or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of mortals. 30 While God has overlooked the times of human ignorance, now he commands all people everywhere to repent, 31 because he has fixed a day on which he will have the world judged in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead."
Paul is clearly the kind of fellow that can take any situation and make a sermon out of it! And that is not necessarily an insult! An effective preacher is able to stand in the middle of your context - in this case, in the middle of the Areopagus - and find a connection between your life and the message of Jesus.
Not because the preacher is so clever, but because the very message of an incarnate god: Jesus (incarnate meaning 'having flesh') is that God is able to be present in any situation. Furthermore, having made himself present, Jesus would have something to say to this and any people about their relationship with the creator and redeeming God.
Even to the Greeks who had more gods than they had names for them. That isn't exactly true, I"m sure they could have thought up a name. The reason 'an unknown god' has its own statue is rooted in the Greek desire to ensure that they haven't caused insult to a god by overlooking it. Gods were not particularly happy, friendly, loving spirits according to Greek understanding. The battles and jealousies of the gods led to most of the heartbreak and turmoil on earth according to their beliefs. A reasonable person would keep her/his head down so that the gods would not take notice of them....and make their lives even more miserable.
Some starting point for a preacher! Our picture and understanding of God - YHWH - Jesus' heavenly Father - is quite different. Where the Greeks might begin with vindictive, jealous, unpredictable the believers in YHWH would start with creative, powerful, and faithful. Remember the core relationship between God and Israel: You will be my people and I will be your God. And although we can't ignore the potential threat in those words, we also recognize the powerful words of belonging and cherishing.
My point for today: where you begin when you start talking about 'god' has a lot to do with where you end up! Have you ever had a conversation with someone whose entire emphasis is on God's judgment and demands of the people? It is very hard to paint any kind of picture about a loving, sacrificial god under those circumstances.
Paul uses his opportunity to talk about God who created all and in whom we 'can live and have our being' (a probable quote from a Greek poem known at the time). So put away all your ivory, silver and gold. This God is a god of life, given as a gift and not to be shaped or manipulated by human hands. The life force of this God is so powerful, it even raised Jesus from the dead.
And we are God's offspring! We are family to this God.
Never once does Paul denigrate their beliefs - he simply expands them beyond what they knew to show them what they hadn't discovered yet. That sounds like a pretty good sermon to me!
Now tomorrow's question is: what are the gods we have lined up along our Aeropagus, taking the place of the one, true God? Peace.
22 Then Paul stood in front of the Areopagus and said, "Athenians, I see how extremely religious you are in every way. 23 For as I went through the city and looked carefully at the objects of your worship, I found among them an altar with the inscription, "To an unknown god.' What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. 24 The God who made the world and everything in it, he who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by human hands, 25 nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mortals life and breath and all things. 26 From one ancestor he made all nations to inhabit the whole earth, and he allotted the times of their existence and the boundaries of the places where they would live, 27 so that they would search for God and perhaps grope for him and find him—though indeed he is not far from each one of us. 28 For "In him we live and move and have our being'; as even some of your own poets have said, "For we too are his offspring.' 29 Since we are God's offspring, we ought not to think that the deity is like gold, or silver, or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of mortals. 30 While God has overlooked the times of human ignorance, now he commands all people everywhere to repent, 31 because he has fixed a day on which he will have the world judged in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead."
Paul is clearly the kind of fellow that can take any situation and make a sermon out of it! And that is not necessarily an insult! An effective preacher is able to stand in the middle of your context - in this case, in the middle of the Areopagus - and find a connection between your life and the message of Jesus.
Not because the preacher is so clever, but because the very message of an incarnate god: Jesus (incarnate meaning 'having flesh') is that God is able to be present in any situation. Furthermore, having made himself present, Jesus would have something to say to this and any people about their relationship with the creator and redeeming God.
Even to the Greeks who had more gods than they had names for them. That isn't exactly true, I"m sure they could have thought up a name. The reason 'an unknown god' has its own statue is rooted in the Greek desire to ensure that they haven't caused insult to a god by overlooking it. Gods were not particularly happy, friendly, loving spirits according to Greek understanding. The battles and jealousies of the gods led to most of the heartbreak and turmoil on earth according to their beliefs. A reasonable person would keep her/his head down so that the gods would not take notice of them....and make their lives even more miserable.
Some starting point for a preacher! Our picture and understanding of God - YHWH - Jesus' heavenly Father - is quite different. Where the Greeks might begin with vindictive, jealous, unpredictable the believers in YHWH would start with creative, powerful, and faithful. Remember the core relationship between God and Israel: You will be my people and I will be your God. And although we can't ignore the potential threat in those words, we also recognize the powerful words of belonging and cherishing.
My point for today: where you begin when you start talking about 'god' has a lot to do with where you end up! Have you ever had a conversation with someone whose entire emphasis is on God's judgment and demands of the people? It is very hard to paint any kind of picture about a loving, sacrificial god under those circumstances.
Paul uses his opportunity to talk about God who created all and in whom we 'can live and have our being' (a probable quote from a Greek poem known at the time). So put away all your ivory, silver and gold. This God is a god of life, given as a gift and not to be shaped or manipulated by human hands. The life force of this God is so powerful, it even raised Jesus from the dead.
And we are God's offspring! We are family to this God.
Never once does Paul denigrate their beliefs - he simply expands them beyond what they knew to show them what they hadn't discovered yet. That sounds like a pretty good sermon to me!
Now tomorrow's question is: what are the gods we have lined up along our Aeropagus, taking the place of the one, true God? Peace.
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Do not let your hearts be troubled
John 14. 1-14 NIV
Jesus Comforts His Disciples
1 "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. 2 In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going."Jesus the Way to the Father
5 Thomas said to him, "Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?" 6 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him." 8 Philip said, "Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us." 9 Jesus answered: "Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'? 10 Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. 11 Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves. 12 I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it."Do not let your hearts be troubled....." This text is frequently used at funerals, and we can understand why. What other occasion causes such turmoil within us as the moment when we say final goodbyes to a beloved?
Let's look at that word: troubled. Do not let your hearts be......Stirred up? Crushed? Anxious?
In the gospel story, this passage comes before Jesus has entered Jerusalem. He has just washed the disciples' feet (13.1) and then told his disciples that he will be betrayed (13.21) and that Peter will deny knowing him (13.36). Opening with 'Do not let your hearts be troubled...." now makes perfect sense.
Because they were troubled. Who wouldn't be? Knowing what will happen in the future is rarely a reassuring experience because all our lives have great highs and great lows. To know the future ahead of time is to take on the burden of those great sorrows before their time. This is what is happening to the disciples; their grief is already opening up for them. But a troubled heart can be a weak heart, a lost heart, a heart open to the whispers of other leaders.
So Jesus also gives them a picture of what grace lies in wait for them: "In my Father's house there are many dwelling places." Jesus reassures the disciples that there is plenty of room in his Father's tent to receive each and every one of them. Think about the comfort that comes when a parent reassures a departing college student: don't worry, there will always be a place here for you. (That comfort disappears when the student realizes that 'their' room has now become the library or such!)
Jesus goes beyond this: "If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also." He is saying, 'It's you and me. BFF."
None of this eliminates the truth of danger and sorrow and suffering that will come - for Jesus and for the disciples. Jesus' promise of a heavenly home does not erase the reality of living in this world in this time. It gives us, however, a bigger picture and the larger meaning of love that carries beyond the grave.
"And you know the way." I often think Jesus expected too much of the disciples; they didn't know the way. They often had no idea what Jesus was talking about - and Thomas, in his boldness, says just that, "Lord we don't know where you are going, how can we know the way?" I have a warm place in my heart for Thomas - every teacher needs a Thomas to keep us all honest and on the right track.
Thomas is clearly eager to know, but confused and willing to say so. Too often in today's church, folks are simply unwilling to admit that they are in the dark. Most pastors will tell you that folks will say they want to study the Bible but no one will come to a Bible class because they don't know enough to begin with! It's the ultimate Catch 22.
Not Thomas. He's right up front (and on other occasions within John as well). We don't know the way. Jesus says, "I am the way."
Jesus is our divine GPS. Follow Jesus and know God. Now and forever. It won't eliminate suffering or the moment of death, but it does open to us a vista of God's glory. Follow Jesus. So simple, yet so difficult.
But at least we got some directions. In combination with the Peter text on holy living, we now have a glimpse of the life of faith.
You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation.....
1 Peter 2.4-10 NRSV courtesy of http://www.biblestudytools/. com
The Living Stone and a Chosen People
4 As you come to him, the living Stone--rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him-- 5 you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For in Scripture it says: "See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame."7 Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, "The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone, " 8 and, "A stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall." They stumble because they disobey the message--which is also what they were destined for. 9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
As rare as it is, I expect to be preaching on the1 Peter text this Sunday, May 22nd. There is something powerful about these words of Peter
"9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. "
Peter is writing to believers who are under persecution. Of course, most of the believers were under persecution during the years that our scriptures were written, but it is too easy to forget this very important context. There is an enormous difference between living in comfort and relative safety (as we do in America) and living at a time when your beliefs could land you in front of a judge who had little to restrain his response. Believing was very much a life and death situation for these people.
And therefore, what they needed to hear was a word about the power of God and the everlasting love of God. As any good preacher would do, Peter looks at their sorrows and brokenness, their fear and confusion and speaks a work that will help them cling to Jesus and give purpose to their lives. Peter calls them to live holy lives as they await Jesus' return.
Perhaps we are too distant from the original message to fully comprehend the expectation of Jesus' imminent return and the confusion that must have been present when persecution rained down on believers' heads. Certainly we face difficulties, but not the constant threat of discovery and imprisonment for professing our beliefs. Our context is very different.
But Peter's words regarding holy living are critical to us as well. In America we face the hostility of tolerance, apathy, and hedonism. Instead of people who are expending all their energy to simply keep alive, we encounter folks who expend all their energy trying to make their lives mean something more than just today's events. We live among people who equate sacrifice, generosity, simply living, reconciliation and forgiveness as the marks of fanatics. So it becomes easy for us to attempt to blend in with our neighbors by blurring the edges of who we are.
Which brings me back to Peter's wonderful words, based on promises that date back to Moses, 'you are a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people.' This is who we are and what we are called to do and be. We are not to use these words to exclude those we have deemed 'other' for God will call whomever God wills into this 'people.' We are to use these words to guide our living.
You may have just read a synopsis of Sunday's sermon, but such powerful words can always be repeated.
Have a blessed day.
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