Lincoln again....giving thanks

Lincoln, the movie, is but one of the many ways we as a nation will be reminded of the wrenching violence and bitterness of the Civil War as we remember it on this 150th anniversary.  Lincoln penned many documents which commend themselves to us in the 21st century if not for their content, then for the beauty of his writing.

The Thanksgiving Proclamation of 1863 is a perfect example and will surface in this blog several more times I am sure for it has powerful lessons on both a national and a personal level.

Let's consider the national implications.  Lincoln was president when our nation was doing its very best to bring to an end itself by shedding unfathomable quantities of blood.  Far from a confident believer, Lincoln nonetheless considered himself a tool in the hands of God ['...the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy..."]  When power and might were the recommended response to a recalcitrant South, Lincoln reached out in compassion ("with malice toward none ...and charity towards all" from Lincoln's second inaugural address) to brothers who had become the enemy.

In the midst of this blood bath, Lincoln found important things for which to give thanks which he enurmerated in his Proclamation officially setting the last Thursday of November as Thanksgiving. 

He sought the nation's care for the '...widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers...' on both sides of the conflict.   Beyond this is the closing

                "I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him...[they]

                fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the

                nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes ...'

In these words Lincoln captures that place which people of faith are asked to inhabit: the place where we are acutely aware of our deep seated shortcomings, willing to look to the Divine Hand to work in its time, and to accept that ultimately God will work for the good of all.  That kind of faith simply takes my breath away.

Holy Space

The Angel of the Lord (seems that is a title which begs to be capitalized) met Zechariah in the sanctuary - an inner portion of the temple that could be entered only by a priest because it was holy.

Holy means "to be set apart for the service of God."  The sanctuary was a holy space, and in this holy space God set in motion the divine plan for the redemption of creation. "Zechariah," the angel said, "Elizabeth will bear a son and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit."  A divine announcement in a holy space.

This child, to be named John (God is gracious) was to grow in the womb of a barren woman.  God creates in Elizabeth a holy space where her prayers were to answered, where a prophet would grow, where the divine plan could literally take form. 

John will become God's holy space among God's people, reminding them of the God who has remembered Israel, and carving out a space - a holy space - for Israel to become a part of the divine plan just now being revealed.

Advent is the perfect time to carve out a holy space in your days, in your prayers, in your family time so you too might prepare yourself for the coming Savior.  Press to the side all the other things which clamor for your attention, clear out the 'musts' and 'shoulds' and open a space for the Word of God to come into your life.  When your thoughts and heart are a holy space for God's work in you, all the other preparations of this season are but window trimming.

A vote for justice

I have not seen Spielberg's movie Lincoln yet, but it is on my holiday schedule.  From the moment years ago when I read Lincoln's second inaugural address, I have been taken with Lincoln's humble understanding of what it means to 'stand before God.'  At a critical moment in our history as a nation founded on democratic principles, Lincoln pressed forward with what he thought was right and just and issued the Emancipation Proclamation. 

Yet he never discounted the political realities of his day.  I quote from Michael Gerson's column of 11/27.  It was necessary for Lincoln to "divide moral sympathies from ...pragmatic judgments."  This was Lincoln's burden, for "while justice is not defined by the majority, it can't be pursued without support from the majority." 

Lincoln is a towering figure in our history and a study of a man who felt called by God to stand in the breech when chaos reigned around him.  It is helpful, however, to remember that the constitutional changes which finally acknowledged what God had known all along, that no person can rightfully be owned by another, took the combined effort of many totally forgotten men who sat in Congress. The "dramatic culmination of the movie is a roll call - a list of forgotten legislators whose hesitant, conflicted choices were as important as the outcome of the battle."  It was these little known and even less remembered individuals who changed the course of our history.

So, my friends, it is good for us to remember that the little things we do for the sake of justice may never bring us fame, but when counted with the other anonymous acts of justice can move nations. 

Which part of 'angel' don't you understand?

It's a pretty cheeky response to a wonderfilled story of Gabriel's visit to Zechariah. (Luke 1.5-23)

Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth have been unable to have children.  This would have been a terrible grieving for them and society could have  decided [and most likely did] that Elizabeth's barrenness was due to her 'unrighteousness' before God.

Gabriel appears to Zechariah in the inner portion of the temple to tell him that God has gifted them with a child: a boy - a very special boy.  His name would be John "God is gracious" and would call his people to repentance. 

Zechariah's response was, "What sign will you give me that this will happen?"

 

What?  An angel wasn't enough? 

He couldn't wait to see if Elizabeth gained some weight?

I can't even begin to figure out why the visitation by an angel was not enough for Zechariah.  Perhaps he was babbling, but certainly his request for a 'sign' was not received well; he was struck mute until the day John was born. 

I just wonder if maybe we have been visited by angels and couldn't see them for what they were:  messengers from God, bringing good news, bridging the gap between our reality and divine reality.  I wouldn't be surprised if I have been guilty of wanting a sign, being unwilling to wait, or simply ignoring the messenger. 

Even though I would expect an angel, certainly one as important as Gabriel, to show up with bright lights and possibly wings, perhaps God doesn't work according to my expectations.  [Perhaps??]

Let us be on the look out for angels inviting us to be a part of God's great plan for this world, and just possibly, remember not to ask for a sign!

Listen............

 

Listening is more than hearing.

To listen you need to engage with the individual (or in the case of Zechariah: angel) speaking to you.  You need to make room - in the day, in the hour, in the moment and in your life - for the message to take root.  Listening is an organic process - words fall into the fertile soil that is you (your life, your time, your purposes) and from there the words reach for the light so they might grow and bear fruit.  Listening is the process that takes place after one has heard the facts, the data, the questions.  When we listen, we are making connections between disparate parts of our story, seeking bridges between the message and the messenger and us, discovering a new path for the future or a new meaning for a portion of our past.

Zechariah (father of John the Baptist) and Joseph (guardian of Jesus) and Mary (mother of God) were each called to listen beyond the words to the message of God's continuing care for all whom God has created - what we call the salvation of the world. 

Lord, help us listen during this season of Advent; to listen for your message to each of us so it may grow in our lives and bring light to others.  AMEN

You are worthy

You are worthy.  You do not have to chase after anything.  You do not have to purchase anything or attain some level of success.  You do not have to have a special degree or important title.

You already have the only title you need:  child of God. 

This is Jesus' message to each and every person in the world.  You are worthy. 
Now you are set free to live, to love, to give, to praise and to give thanks.

If this doesn't sound particularly radical to you consider what the world's message is: buy this flat screen TV to prove you are 'up to date.'  Wear these $200 sneakers or the world will think you are 'out of it.'  Sign your children up for every class or team available so they will 'measure up.'  Drive this brand new, over your budget car so everyone thinks you are 'successful.'

God's truth in Jesus is this:  you are loved.  Now. Always. Forever.  AMEN

Left behind

Not so long ago, the Left Behind series by Tim LaHaye was very popular in non Lutheran Christian circles.  It was a series of books about the end times, the second coming of Christ, the apocalypse (you can choose the term that is most familiar to you; they all mean about the same).

Using the imagery from Revelation and other apocalyptic literature in the Bible, this fictional series spoke of massive struggles - even wars - between the faithful and the unfaithful until Christ brings about the end time and the chosen ones will be with God and the others will be 'left behind.'

Not only do I believe these were inaccurate interpretations of scripture, they had a tendency to sound like private militia rantings with limited Christian overtones.

I only bring this up because we are approaching that time in the church year when we consider the end times - the time when Jesus comes again and the kingdom of God is manifest on earth.  It is a time in the future which the hope we all hold (to live eternally in the presence of God) and yet about which we know next to nothing specific.

We get a glimpse of God at work in our own times, especially if we are attentive to places of destruction, hopelessness, oppression and sorrow.  It takes faith to see God at work in those places, but our hope is strengthened when we watch and listen for Jesus. 

It's not about the kind of fear that leads you to climb over your neighbor and grasp at final straws.  As Luther would have told us, "remember your baptism" for in it you were joined to the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus.  Now and forever.  Amen

What keeps you up at night?

What worms its way into your head and steals sleep?  Where does fear enter your life?

We all have a list, and probably the same items are on everyone's list, just in a different order: finances, health, relationships, violence, personal well-being.   To sum them all up: we are afraid that this whole world - our whole world - is going to fall apart right before our eyes. 

Jesus tells us we can count on it.  That is one of primary assumptions of the cross: the powers that rule this world are going to lead us only to death.   True, the dramas of our lives are often small compared to the wars and violence in the world, yet as my Grandma would have said, "Your troubles are bad, but my troubles are my troubles."  Our dramas are big to us.

So on some scale we fear that the world is falling apart and it very difficult for us to trust that God is working in the midst of the destruction to bring about new creation.  Life is in the midst of death; life arises out of death.  The ashes around us are a sign of the labor pangs of new life birthed by God.

We are the midwives.  That is our job in this new creation.  To ease the labor, protect mother and child, to assist in the birth of the new.  Jesus insists on standing in the graveyard and speaking of the pangs of birth.  That is what hope looks like.

Lord, save us!

In these and other similar words each of us have probably beseeched (besought????) the Lord.  I remember a nasty skid on an ice covered road sending me in the direction of a very large tree.  "O Lord, not the tree!" was my cry.

We cry out, "Lord, save us" - but, of course, we do not want to allow the Lord to decide on the kind of saving that will occur.  Save us, Lord, but in our way and in our time.

When you are working with God, it doesn't work that way.

Not enough attention

An article in the current Christian Century asserts that poverty did not get near enough attention in the past election.

The article disputes arguments that a good social safety net reduces the incentive to work.  For most of the poor, motivation is not the problem.

The article disputes arguments that private charities should support and provide for the poor of their community.  They mean local food pantries and homeless shelters and domestic violence shelters, which are significantly supported by the middle class instead of a tax which spreads the responsibility around.

What the poor generally get is the leftovers, the seconds, and a lot of nasty characterizations.
That and canned peas; and everyone knows that canned peas are not real food. 

I want to know, when did poverty get enough attention?

Plenty left over for me

That is center of my message for Sunday.

That is the rule by which we too often 'discern' what is right and appropriate when it comes to money.

And even when we have been what we would describe as generous, the truth is, in the end,
there is always

Plenty left over for me.

Lord grant me the courage to look this truth in the face and discern your will and your path and then follow.  AMEN

How do we balance the budget?

On this election day, it seems this is a pertinent, albeit a little late in the game, questions.

How do we balance the budget?  Candidates have presented a myriad of ideas about how to balance the budget.  The plans with the greatest potential for success combine increasing revenue and decreasing expenditures.  The arguments usually revolve around how to increase revenues (increase taxes is an all time unfavorite option) and which expenditures to decrease (not my program, only those other wasteful, needless programs).

My emphasis in this discussion is not on the balance but on the we.  How do we balance the budget?

If this nation is balancing the budget on the backs of the most vulnerable...the poor, elderly, the widows, then we need to say something about it.  We meaning people of faith.  We meaning those who follow Jesus. 

Jesus had already confronted a system that was built on the backs of impoverished and oppressed people.  He didn't like it then; it is unjust even today.

What are we doing about it?

We're talkin' about widows

Throughout the Old Testament we hear again and again God's command to Israel to care for the widows and orphans.  That is because, in the structure of their society, no one else did.  Widows and orphans represented the most vulnerable, those with no power at all, no voice, no resources.

Who would we put in this category today?  In light of Hurricane Sandy we might put those who are now homeless.  Perhaps all homeless folks should be in this category.

In light of Newtown, we might put grieving parents into this category, or perhaps all those who are left behind when violence claims a loved one.

Justice - according to our faith - is the balancing of the scales; that is, lifting up and protecting those who are vulnerable and without a voice. 

Who needs our protection today?  What are we/you doing to care for them?

Left in the cold and dark......

there is something quite frightening about sitting in the dark shivering
something that says, "no one is coming"  or  "no one remembers you"  or "you don't matter"
and at some point, it is so easy to give into despair.

Pray for our neighbors who face another night in the cold and dark.  Pray that the  darkness does not overcome them.  Lift them up with the force of our prayers so despair is conquered.

As your heat kicks on this evening, remember to offer whatever donation you can to help them back on their feet.

Unbind him and set him free......

Today is All Saints Day. 

For many it will be a day of remembering, perhaps with a bit of sadness, those who have died in the past year.....or we could say, those who are now experiencing life after life, life in the glory of God.

Sunday we will hear again the story of the raising of Lazarus, who after 4 days in the tomb, was called back into this life by Jesus.  For the sisters Mary and Martha, I am sure that having their brother back was a great blessing.  But I wonder if Lazarus would have rather gone on to the Father, and avoided having to die again in this lifetime.

Either way, Jesus calls Lazarus back to life and then tells the on-lookers:  Unbind him, and set him free. 

It is a helpful way to think of our loved ones in the same way.  Unbound.  Free.

Comfort and blessings to all.