What in God's name are you doing?

Perhaps you've been asked that question at some time; perhaps with a bit of an edge in the tone.  But let's think about it this way

What....in God's name....are YOU doing? 

When folks want a deeper prayer life, or a stronger faith, this is a very good question to ask.

What....in God's name....are you doing?

Don't over think it.  Go, and do in Christ's name for the sake of those whom Christ loved.
Amen

Re-arranging the furniture

'Re-arranging the furniture' is shorthand for 'taking what you have always known and giving it such a new spin that you are liable to crack your shins against it'.....with the accompanying howl of pain.

Re-arranging the furniture is not about 'something entirely new' but rather, it is the process where that which is known is somehow presented in a new light, with a new perspective and, as a result, with new implications and expectations.

This is what Jesus is about in Nazareth when he points out to the hometown folks that the God who loves them loves others as well.  Where the folks in Nazareth were accustomed to sitting in the chair called 'covenant' God was focused on the granting of mercy - to Israel to be sure, but also to all others God had created....even the enemies of Israel. 

You could hear the howl of murderous anger of the hometown folks - this was not the God, nor the covenant, nor the outcome they had anticipated nor wanted.  Or to paraphrase Fred Craddock, 'they were an either/or people with a both/and God.'

We will trip over this one again and again in our journey of faith.

Living with the real you

Theoretically when you look into a mirror you see an accurate reflection of yourself.  You see the real you. 

I think it takes a photograph to capture the real you, especially when it's a candid.  I am continually amazed at how old I've gotten.  Apparently when I look into a mirror I do a little bit of mental improvement without even thinking about it.

We are the same way about our whole selves.  We look into our lives (actions, choices, comments, desires) and do a bit of mental editing without a great deal of thought or effort.  We think we know and are willing to admit, if only to ourselves, the truth about ourselves.

Taking up the task of discipleship to Jesus means learning how to live with the real you.  Peter, having denied knowing Jesus three times, must admit to himself that he was the kind of person who would deny Jesus in a moment of fear and self-preservation.  Thomas, who wanted to touch the evidence before he would embrace the concept of a risen Jesus, had forever to admit to himself that he was the kind of person who asked for proof.

Telling the truth about yourself is a process of learning to live with the fact that you are the kind of person who.................well, what would you put in the blank?  Once you accept your own frailty, nastiness, envy, pride, fear, (whatever you want to put in that blank) then you can begin living with the real you.  And you can begin to give the guy next to you a little more space to be less than perfect.

BTW, Jesus has always known this about you.  Jesus has always loved you just the same.  Just don't convince yourself that God loves you because you are such a nice person, because none of us are.

Too clever by half

This was one of my mother's favorite sayings.  I cannot be sure exactly how she meant it, but I always heard it with a bit of disdain - and my mother really wasn't one for disdain.

What it comes down to is this: it doesn't pay to be too clever - especially in the US where we insist we are egalitarian and no one is better than....well, me.    Somehow this has evolved into a lack of recognition of anyone's position of authority, whether earned or by title.  We don't like folks to appear to be too clever by half.

Apparently the folks in Nazareth didn't either.  Jesus taught and spoke with authority and that amazed them.  It was only when Jesus applied that authoritative teaching to them that their nose got a little bent.  Wasn't he just the carpenter's son?  Who does he think he is?

Well, the Son of God actually.  But they couldn't or didn't want to see it.  Perhaps their own cleverness got in their way.  I think recognizing that Jesus as Son of God speaks and teaches with authority - over our lives and for our benefit - is a good place to start in this relationship.

Oh no, he's going to speak the truth?

How annoying and inconvenient and seriously embarrassing!  What's s/he trying to do?  Guilt us into changing?  Really, the truth is overrated.

If you've ever tried to gently, with love but conviction, speak the truth to another you've come up against this reaction.  Really?  I have to listen to this?  Jack Nicholson wasn't so far off when he said, "You can't handle the truth."

The truth forces us to face ourselves without blinders or soft lights or Alanis Morissette playing in the background.  No place to hide.  Adam and Eve figured this out when God confronted them in the garden.  Jean Valjean figured this out in Les Mis.  You've figured this out at some family gathering or other when 'do you remember when' stories are being told.

John tells us "You will know the truth and the truth will make you free."  (8.32)  But that isn't our usual reaction to the truth.  We want to squash the embarrassing, guilty, foolish stuff about ourselves.
(Although once you admit the truth, what more can be said?  Once it is out there, there is no threat anymore.  Of course, you have to learn to live with the real you.  A thought for another day.)

The people in Nazareth had the same reaction to Jesus.  I think they were expecting either a pat on the back or an insider's path to acceptance or maybe even a step up with God when their hometown boy came back and taught with authority.  They just didn't want the authority turned on them.

It was the beginning of a long road to the cross where Jesus was in his body the truth about God's love for all creation.  Hold your truth up to that truth and you will begin to learn the power of God's love for you.

Too much praise

At first glance it is hard to consider 'too much praise' as a problem.  Perhaps it is even hard to imagine getting 'too much' praise. 

But if we think about it a bit, we will recognize that when everyone thinks you are a genius two things are at work:  #1 there is a wide range of definition of genius among the members of the crowd and #2 you've got no where to go but down.

In a nanosecond, someone, somewhere will be disappointed in your work.  Praise will turn to critique, snarkiness and in time, anger.

Just as with Jesus.  When he returned home to Nazareth and began teaching in the synagogue, the hometown folks were "amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They said, 'Is not this Josephe's son?'"  and it was all downhill from there.

One second you're God's gift to the community and the next they are trying to throw you off a cliff.
If Jesus teaches you anything, it's that there is such a thing as 'too much praise.'

Blessed? Bless!

It's not about how much you have or how much you give away.

If you can look at your life, your hands, your family, your job.....add anything you want....and call yourself  'blessed' than turn around and bless another.

Thanks and kudos to Chris Syrell for this succinct insight.  Thanks to God for the blessings which pour down upon us - and the opportunity to pour out blessings on others.

Lord, bless the oil change

Not one of your top 10 prayers?  What about grocery shopping? haircut? kid's karate lesson? laundry?

We are little inclined to expect or even to invite God, God's son, or the Spirit into the most mundane places in our lives.  Most of us take a 'it is what it is' attitude towards most of these things.

Jesus promises that where he is, you will be also.  There is no place you can go that God does not go with you.  Even the damp, dead end of a tomb is not off limits to the Holy Spirit.

We are God's; God's love is eternally ours.  Even when we're getting the tires rotated.

I hope that is comforting.  It certainly works for me.

It's not about the wine

Now, that might not be particularly good news for you nor would it have been for the wedding reception guests when they found out that the wine was all gone.  (John2.1-11)

They had been partying for 3 days and the wine was all gone.  But instead of signally the end of the festivities, the lack of wine would have been a huge faux pas for the hosts.  A sign of poor hospitality.  A sign of stinginess.  An embarrassment of the first order.  To quote David Lose, "Wine isn’t just a social lubricant, it’s a sign of the harvest, of God’s abundance, of joy and gladness and hospitality. And so when they run short on wine they run short on blessing".

So Mary 'suggests' that Jesus address the situation.  He thinks he isn't ready to get involved in such matters.  It is not yet 'his hour'.  She ignores him.  She was the one who gave birth to him and so she knows something about timing.  Babies come when they come.  It was time for Jesus to step out into this new world as he had been called. 

So he turns 180 gallons of water into wine - very good wine..."more than enough for even three more days. No one...could now leave this wedding thirsty, for abundance and blessing overflowed."

And yet, it's not about the wine.  It's about Jesus.  His time had begun, and he could bring full and abundant blessings into the most ordinary of situations, like walking and living among us as a brother in the flesh.  Jesus inaugurated a time of 'sheer possibility' and opened the future for all who had eyes to see. 

So enjoy the wine, it is a gift to you.  Brought to you by Jesus, the gift beyond all others.

It's about time

Ever have your watch break and it took you a couple of days to get a new one?
Know how disorienting it is to be unable to tell what time it is?
Am I late?  Am I early?  What's taking so long?  Wow!  That went quickly.

Live in the western world and most everything is about time.  Remember when you were small?  The big hand is on the 3 and the little hand is on the 7....what time is it?  I know that digital clocks are more accurate but an analog clock helps me visualize what time it is and somehow that works better for me.  Somehow time has more substance; is less ephemeral.

What time is it?  Whose time is it?  Will time run out?  Is this a good time?

Jesus is at a wedding in Cana and the wine runs out.  Bad timing! 
Jesus is at a wedding in Cana and the wine runs out.  Great timing? 
Who else can respond to this embarrassing need with a gift of grace and unimaginable bounty?

Sit up and pay attention.  The time has come for God's abundant grace to be revealed to....a wedding reception?  In fact, it is revealed only to the servants on the scene and of course, to us the readers.  Pay attention.  In John's telling of the story of Jesus, timing is everything.

Overcast with rain

That's today's reality.  If the weather reporter is correct, that will be tomorrow's reality as well.

When that becomes your life's reality, then it is time to lean on the everlasting arms and hear again how broad and deep is God's love for you. 

If you know someone for whom overcast with rain is a good description of their lives, pray for them, every morning when you awake lift up their name to the heavens.

If you are that someone, let me know, so I can do this for you.  Peace be with you.

You are my beloved

Sunday we will "remember our baptisms;" this should be a good and pleasant thing to do.

But why do it?

Why remember a moment that most of us slept through when we were splashed with water and claimed to be a child of God?

Why remember that once our name was presented to God and we were called one of God's 'beloved' ones?

Why remember that moment when water and a Word of grace, forgiveness and hope combined to put to death our old selves and join us to Christ's kingdom?

Why remember the parents who brought us, the fellowship of believers that welcomed us and the pastor who prayed for us?  Because the rest of life in this world is too often without praise, without forgiveness, without mercy.

Too often someone attempts to convince us that we have little or no worth in the big scheme of things.
 Too often darkness appears to swallow all the light in our world.

That's exactly when we turn to that moment when God claimed us, called us beloved, joined us to the resurrected one and before all the world called us worthy.  Some days, our baptism is the only thing we have left to which to cling. 

Come celebrate your baptism with us this Sunday, beloved of God.

What's the Spirit got to do with it?

If the Spirit is actively guiding your life, perhaps you shouldn't mention it.....at least not around staid, stoic Lutherans.

Lutherans have historically had a limited relationship with the Holy Spirit.   Well, that's not completely true.  We recognize and acknowledge the work of the Spirit as recorded in the scriptures.  We just don't talk about the Spirit's power or movement in our day to day lives, or in our worship, or in our prayer.  I think we don't really know what to do or say about the Spirit, so we don't say anything.

The Holy Spirit is the power of God moving and acting in this world (and possibly in other worlds as well but that's not the point).  Jesus was raised from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit - ergo the Spirit gives life, even new life.  Elijah was directed to return to his calling as a prophet (out there in the cave, you know, the 'still small voice') so the Spirit can direct our work and our days.  The Spirit moved among the worshippers on the day of Pentecost and everyone spoke boldly, openly and everyone else understood them.....so the Spirit gives us boldness to speak and openness to hear.

The Spirit is more that a 'feeling' but I expect most of us first experience the Spirit's moving through an inner sense that we would call a feeling.  Sometimes the Spirit guides us by giving us clarity - about a decision to be made or a person who needs to be visited.  Sometimes the Spirit calls us into a situation quite unbeknownest to us so we can witness the Spirit at work and be inspired to new work on God's behalf.

In our baptism, we are anointed with the Holy Spirit.  At confirmation, our young people once again call on the Spirit to guide their feet and build their faith.  At ordination, the Spirit is invoked (we call on its name) to bless and guide the new pastor. 

Perhaps we are afraid of the Spirit's power?  I don't know; being raised from the dead is a pretty exciting possibility.  How about we increase our quotient of Spirit talk and expectation?  What could that bring in 2013?

Splashing in the water

We'll be splashing in the water this week as we approach Luke's account of the baptism of Jesus. 
Starting at Luke3.15, the people were "filled with expectation" - not about their baptism, nor even about Jesus, but about John - the Baptizer.  They are trying to figure out exactly who John is.

"Filled with expectation" would describe most parents who bring their children to the font for baptism.  Many are 'filled with expectation' about the child's life, future, possible accomplishments, even how positively all that would reflect on them.  Most have a vague understanding of the importance or benefit of baptism for their child or themselves; they have few expectations around baptism.

I get it.  We are looking for a moment of decision; a transformation in the person; a radically different tomorrow.  We are looking for action, and baptism looks amazingly passive to us.  Since Lutherans baptize infants, we don't get any of those things.  Instead, we get God at work through the water and the Word to anoint us with the Spirit and enfold us into the community.

In fact, most of us believe that infants are simply too innocent to be in need of 're-creation'.  For it is re-creation which is taking place - a new birth into a life found in Jesus Christ.  Away with the old - the life warped by our own sin and the nastiness of others.  In with a life defined by Christ: where each of us is seen with eyes of unconditional love and shaped by that love to live life for the sake of the other. 

So if that is what we believe is happening, we can easily figure out that our baptism is lived out over the course of our lifetime.  Baptism is the starting point of a journey of faith which grows and curves and morphs throughout our years.  Whatever this life throws at us, we can claim that moment when we and Christ were joined.  Whatever may happen, we, like Luther, can claim solace and strength in the words  "I am a baptized child of God."

BTW, the big decision at the font is the decision made by the parents - that this is where life for their child can be found - and they are committed to supporting that journey by teaching and example throughout their child's life.  Those promises made at the font join us all together in the adventure of growing more like Christ, teaching others about Jesus, praying for one another regularly, and sharing our blessings with others.  Anytime we get lost in our faith, look again at the baptismal promises, and then go and do exactly what you promised.  God will find you once again.

Home by another way

Those Wise Men spent some time on the road, made an unfortunate detour to Herod's palace, showed up with 3 gifts (which is why we think there were 3 wise men), and went home by another way.

It seems when you encounter the fullness of God in person of Jesus, your life just simply doesn't follow along its old path.  Your path to home takes a new route.  Your life shifts.  You are changed.

It is good to remember that when 'following the star' is scary and uncertain.  Step out; trust God.  Who knows where it will all lead?

If Momma ain't happy

If Momma ain't happy, ain't nobody happy.

 

Do you know this old saying? I think it is always good to remember.  Some folks' unhappiness has a way of being spread around.

So it was with Herod - King Herod - in Jerusalem.  Herod came from a line of rulers who were known for their ruthlessness.  Making Herod unhappy (any of the Herods) was dangerous business.

So what were the Wise Men thinking?  This faux pas alone raises a question as to how wise they really were.  They stepped right into Herod's palace and inquired about the birth of the King of the Jews.  No wonder  "When King Herod heard this, he was frightened and all Jerusalem with him"  Matthew 2.3

I expect that King Herod thought there was a new king in the making - one who would grow in power until he competed with Herod, power to power, winner take all.  The fact that this newborn was to be King of the Jews only shifted Herod's concern from the rise of a Roman competitor to a possible leader of a revolution....and, might I paraphrase, When Herod wasn't happy, no one was happy.  Lots of young boys paid the price for Herod's fear, a fear that would grip another Herod 30 years later when confronted with the grown Jesus. 

In the end, both Herods were sure they had won this confrontation with an erstwhile 'King'.  Neither understood the kind of power Jesus held - the power of love which knows no bounds, which is willing to lay down its life for the sake of the other.

Herod might have had control of the palace.  Jesus reigns eternally from a greater throne.  Herod had good reason to be nervous; his time was indeed running out.

Follow the star

Which star are you following?

I raise this question because the Wise Men were following a particular star.  This was the star which was to foretell the birth of a new king.  (This pre-occupation with stars has led some to call these visitors astrologers - rather than astronomers.)

This was a special, once in a career sighting of a cosmic sign.  These visitors made a commitment to follow through on this star - to follow it to its conclusion where its real meaning would be revealed. 

The only real trouble that Matthew notes around this star journey is their side trip to visit with King Herod - which almost cost them their heads and eventually cost many young boys their lives.  Apparrently asking the powers that be about the birth of a power to come is dangerous business.

The star stopped over Jesus' home, or so the story goes.  It lead them to the place they needed to be.

How about you?

Are you following a star? 

Which star is it? 

Is it a star of your own devising or a cosmic sign?

Could it be a bit of light in the dark given as a guidelight along an unfamiliar path?

Could this star be leading you to the place you need to be?

Jesus is the light in the darkness.  Are we following his star to a place of unexpected new life?  Are we headed to that place where we will become all that we can be as servants of Christ?

Which star are you following?

Follow the star

Those Wise Men - or Three Kings - or the Magi (lots of different titles because no one truly knows who or what Matthew was pointing to with his story of these visitors) arrive at Jesus' side as much as two years after the birth.  They have been following a star.

This means they had to wait until night fall each day to take up their journey.  It was only in the dark that they could confidently take up the journey again: not in the day light when they could see the bumps and curves up ahead, but in the dark with all its hidden obstacles and dangers.

 I have never thought about it this way before.  To get where they wanted to go, these Wise Men had to depend on the light provided by cosmic forces....or should we say God.  They had to trust in what they could not see or foresee.

One step at a time, in the dark, trusting in the Creator of the Universe to lead us to new life.  Applies to us today as well.