Community Commentary

Why You Don’t Have to Believe Your Intuitions Are the Holy Spirit (Or How the Spirit Shapes Our Hearts)

2011-01-14T10:11:00.001-05:00

One of the most difficult questions we face is "How do I hear God speak? How do I allow my life to be guided by God's purpose?" So often in our culture we are told to listen for the voice of God within our hearts. But as Philip Cary points out in his book Good News for Anxious Christians, our hearts are filled with so many different voices that we just can't figure out which voice belongs to God. But there is good news for us: God does indeed speak to us, through the words of Scripture. It is through this external word that God speaks to us. And there is even more good news. In Cary's words, "The voices in your heart don't have to be God's voice to be worth listening to. They're not infallible, but they are often perceptive, telling you a lot of things you need to know" (p.7).

When it comes to the work of the Holy Spirit, we are often encouraged to see our intuitions as the Spirit moving within us. Some see intuition – those flashes of insight or gut feelings where we "just know," even though we can't explain how, to be the work of the Holy Spirit. But the problem is our intuitions can be wrong. A college classmate of mine told me this story about how his parents met. His parents went to college together and when his mother caught his father's eye he just knew this was the woman he was supposed to spend his life with, and indeed they did marry. The problem arose when several years into their marriage he had this same intuition about another woman. He couldn't be right both times, and I understand his wife set him straight about how much to trust his intuition.

But just because intuitions are not the Holy Spirit speaking to us does not mean they are not valuable. As with listening to the voices within our hearts, it is good to listen to our intuitions, even if they are not always right. Cary describes intuition as skilled insight. A trained musician can "get" a piece of music in a way an untrained musician can't. On the basketball court Michael Jordan could make a decision to pass or shoot based on intuition, without having to spend valuable time analyzing what was going on. A skilled musician or ballplayer has spent so much time at their craft that they perceive music or the actions on the ball field in a different way; all their training has helped hone their perceptions so they can act accurately without having to analyze the situation first. Intuitions may not be the voice of the Holy Spirit, but they are still worth listening to.

If intuitions are not the same as the work of the Holy Spirit, then how does the Holy Spirit work in our hearts? Cary writes:

Intuitions are like all the other voices in our hearts: they're our own voices, not God's, but that doesn't mean we should ignore them. Nor does it mean they have nothing to do with the Holy Spirit. For the Holy Spirit does work in our hearts, even though our hearts and all the voices in them are our own. They remain our own hearts, our own thoughts and feelings, even while God is at work in them. That is the deep and joyful mystery here, and the good news.

Think of another kind of habit in the heart, which the Bible and the Christian theological tradition call "virtue." Like a skill in sports and in the arts, virtue is an intelligent habit that shapes our hearts – not only how we act and do things, but how we feel and perceive and think. Hence one of the old words for discipleship is Christian formation, meaning the way that Christian virtues give form and shape to the heart. . .

Take kindness, for example. A kind person looks at the world differently than a cruel or indifferent person. A kind person sees people differently – she will notice when you are hurting, for instance, even when others don't. So kindness is a form of perception in addition to everything else: a form of feeling, a readiness to be moved to compassion, and a willingness to do what needs to be done (p. 25-26).

For Cary intuitions of kindness or generosity or self control are not the direct work of the Holy Spirit, but signs of the Spirit's work in our hearts. The Holy Spirit works through the creation of virtues because the goal of such virtues is not merely to make us more skilled, but to make us better persons who conform more closely to the character of Christ. Commenting on the Holy Spirit working through the formation of virtue, Cary writs:

When the Spirit is at work in this way, our hearts are different. It's not that the Spirit does it all for us, but rather we are different inside because of the Spirit's work – our hearts get into better shape than they could have by their own efforts alone. But our efforts are always part of it, because the Spirit works on our hearts by working with us, strengthening and helping our efforts, not replacing them. For the point of the Spirit's work is not to eliminate our hearts, but to change them, to reshape them in the image of Christ (p. 28).

One of the things I appreciate most about Cary is the way he reminds me that my humanity is not a barrier to knowing and being in relationship with God. Sin certainly is, but sin and humanity are not the same thing. God does not want us to parrot the party line, nor does God wish to engage in some kind of thought control along the lines of George Orwell's 1984. God wants to be in true relationship with us, and wants us to be fully and joyfully engaged with us. Our human thoughts, feelings, desires and intuitions are as much a part of our relationship with God as they are a part of our relationship with other people. Just as we cannot be in a full relationship with others if we always hide or mask our own unique voice, so we cannot be in a relationship with God if we do not speak to God in our own unique and human voice.

What virtues do you wish to develop? How have you addressed God in your own human voice? Feel free to respond to this post by clicking the "comments" link below.

Why You Don’t Have to Hear God’s Voice in Your Heart (Or, How God Really Speaks Today)

2011-01-05T11:06:00.001-05:00

The first practical thing Philip Cary encourages us not to do in his book Good News for Anxious Christians is to stop trying to listen to God's voice in our hearts. This may sound like a shocking thing to say. Cary desperately wants us to hear God's voice. But we need to know where we can hear it, and it is not in our hearts. Part of Cary's motivation for writing this book comes from his work as a professor of philosophy at a Christian college. He has seen firsthand how his students struggle to hear God speak, how many have been taught to enter into a time of quiet to listen to God speak to them in their hearts.

Often times when in solitude I listen to my heart, the experience is more like a raucous session of congress with the Speaker of the House banging the gavel and shouting "Order! Order!" than it is a time of peace beside a still mountain lake. Here's how Cary describes the experience of listening to our hearts:

[W]e have many different voices in our hearts, and some are better than others. Some in fact are pretty dumb – thoughtless and conventional, easily manipulated and willing to join whatever party is going on. Those are usually the loudest voices, trying to drown out the others . . . It's usually the quiet voices that are the most perceptive, because they come from a part of ourselves that's afraid to speak up at the party, but that knows what we really have to live with inside – knows how we really feel and how it hurts. This is where we often find the voice of our own integrity – a voice that's unsure of itself because it tells us about feelings we're not quite ready to admit we have, or thoughts that on some level we don't want to think about even though we need to. But the voice is there because it comes from the part of ourselves that the party can't drown out – the part that notices how our heart isn't quite in it (p.7)

For Cary listening to our hearts is incredibly important, but not because that is where we hear the voice of God. Listening to our hearts is important because it leads to self-knowledge. In Cary's words, "The voices in your heart don't have to be God's voice to be worth listening to. They're not infallible, but they are often perceptive, telling you a lot of things you need to know" (p.7).

But the voices that we hear in our heart are to a large degree formed outside of our hearts. They may be the voices of parents, teachers, mentors and friends. They may be the voices of people who have caused us great harm and pain. They are the voices of the mass media which seeks to shape our tastes and desires. But for Cary the truth that the voices of our hearts are shaped by voices outside of ourselves is good news, because God speaks to us through the external words of Scripture. Cary writes:

A very different kind of spirituality comes to us from the revelation of God in holy Scripture. It frees us to develop our own thoughts and feelings, since we don't have to look for God within our hearts – which is where we are most vulnerable to self-deception and technologies of manipulation. Instead, we can find him in his faithful word. So once again we have doubly good news about self-knowledge and the knowledge of God. The Good news about self-knowledge is that it's okay for your feelings and thoughts to be your own, not the voice of God. For the good news about God is that he makes himself known the way a real person does, by speaking to us from outside our hearts. And precisely that external speaking, when we take it in by faith, gives a new shape to our hearts, conforming us to the image of his Son. That's how our thoughts and feelings and inner voices become a new thing, not merely a product of consumer culture . . . [T]he place to look for God's word is not in your heart, but in the gathering of God's people for worship, prayer, preaching and teaching" (p.14-15)

How does this perspective on hearing God's voice change sit with how you seek God's voice? Do you find Cary comforting or challenging? Click on the "comments" link below to share your thoughts as to how we seek God's voice.

What Not to Resolve for 2011

2010-12-30T11:15:00.007-05:00

As we are in the final days of 2010 many of us may be thinking about what resolution we want to make for 2011. Often these resolutions have to do with our health. Sometimes it is our physical well- being: losing weight, exercising more, eating healthier. Sometimes these resolutions are about our spiritual health: reading the Bible more often, spending more time in prayer, finding ways to serve others. We hope these resolutions will help train us to be healthier, better people.

But for those of you who have done any kind of sports training, you know that not all training is good training. As I've become involved in triathlon training I've found out how much I need to work on my swimming form. If I focus on swimming as hard or fast as I can without learning how to change my stroke, I will just reinforce poor form that will rob me of energy for the bike and the run. This kind of training will not be helpful to me. In fact it will hurt me by leaving me exhausted when I've only finished the first of three legs of the race. But if I focus on breaking down my swims into shorter distances where I focus on body position in the water while swimming more slowly I will train my body in proper form, allowing me to swim more quickly and efficiently. I need to unlearn bad habits so I can learn good ones.

The same holds true for our spiritual lives. Not all training is good training, even when our intentions are the best. Over the weeks to come I will be blogging through the book Good News for Anxious Christians by Phillip Cary. Concerned that Christians are becoming burdened with anxiety about techniques that allow us to give God control, find God's will, or hear God speak, Cary helps us see that these catchwords are not biblical, and that a truly biblical approach to the Christian life actually decreases our anxiety about being Christ's disciples. To give a taste of what is to come, here is Cary in his own words:

This book is about what we're getting wrong, why it's worrying us, and why we don't have to think and do what makes us so anxious. It's about seeing the invitations in God's word for what they are, so that our Christian life may be lived in cheerful obedience rather than in anxious efforts to get it right. On the negative side, it's about bad theology, the kind of theology that, when it is preached and taught and made a part of our lives, makes us worried and miserable. On the positive side, it's about why the things God has to tell us, even in his commandments, are good for us, how they free us from anxiety and strengthen our hearts to do is work with joy (p.xvi).

To whet your appetite some more, here are some of the chapter titles in Cary's book: Why You Don't Have to Hear God's Voice in Your Heart (Or, How God Really Speaks Today); Why You Don't Have to "Let God Take Control" (Or, How Obedience Is for Responsible Adults); Why You Don't have o "Find God's Will for Your Life" (Or, How Faith Seeks Wisdom). As we train in our lives of discipleship, may we train well. What resolutions regarding your Christian life would you like fulfill in 2011? What parts of your spiritual life make you anxious? Feel free to carry on the conversation by clicking the "comments" link below.

Around the Interwebs. . .

2010-04-07T12:11:00.002-04:00

The internet's biggest blessing is that it opens to us an incredible diversity of knowledge, opinion and insight. The internet's biggest curse is that it opens to us such an incredible diversity of knowledge, opinion and insight that we can't sort through it all. Below are some postings online I've found worthwhile and/or provokative:
The Devil's Sermon

God Does Not Play Games with Us

Is the Church Like a Family?

The Church's Real Competition

The Problem with Leadership Today

Into Your Hand I Commit My Spirit

2010-04-02T21:57:00.002-04:00

It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour, for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Jesus called out with a loud voice, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit." When he had said this, he breathed his last.

Luke 23:44-46

The Heidelberg Catechism, part of the Presbyterian Church (USA)'s Book of Confessions, begins this way:

Q. 1. What is your only comfort, in life and in death?

A. That I belong—body and soul, in life and in death—not to myself but to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ, who at the cost of his own blood has fully paid for all my sins and has completely freed me from the dominion of the devil; that he protects me so well that without the will of my Father in heaven not a hair can fall from my head; indeed, that everything must fit his purpose for my salvation. Therefore, by his Holy Spirit, he also assures me of eternal life, and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for him.

At his death, Jesus commends himself to God's care. He commends not just the moment of his death but the fullness of his life: the joy of raising his friend Lazarus from the dead, the sorrow of feeling abandoned at his own death; the joy of being surrounded by his disciples, the frustration he felt when they didn't understand him; the comfort and strength of being surrounded by God's presence and the grief and loneliness of feeling forsaken by God on the cross.

In our prayers we are tempted to bargain with God, especially in times of need and distress. "If I survive this illness, I promise I'll be a better person," "If this plane lands safely I'll go to church on Sunday," "If I get this promotion I'll be more charitable with my money." We think if we give God something he wants – a moral life, church attendance, money to church or charity – we can be assured of a safe and prosperous life. This is what we tend to think of when we commend our lives to God.

But the promise of the Gospel is not that if we give God something God values then God will give us what we value – often safety, health or prosperity, whether for us or for others. The promise is that we belong to God – body and soul, in life and in death – and that nothing in heaven or on earth can separate us from the love of God in Jesus Christ. This is not a promise that we will never know suffering, hardship or grief. It is the promise that by the grace of God in Jesus Christ that none of these things, no matter how difficult, will be our undoing. The promise of the Gospel is not a successful life where tomorrow will be better than today. The promise is resurrection, that as we bear the cross and its sufferings we will be granted eternal life. The Gospel does not promise us freedom from suffering, but the strength to enter into suffering, both our own and that of others, because we are confident that suffering will not rob us of the life we have in Christ Jesus.

When we commend our life, our Spirit into God's hands we are not bargaining with God, but making ourselves available for God to work through us, even in the midst of hardship, fear and suffering, trusting that God does make everything fit God's purpose for our salvation and the salvation of the world.

What does it mean for us to commend our lives to God? You are invited to listen to these passages of Scripture as we commend our lives to God's hands:

It is Finished

2010-04-02T07:14:00.002-04:00

Later, knowing that all was now completed, and so that the Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, "I am thirsty." A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus' lips. When he had received the drink, Jesus said, "It is finished." With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

John 19:28-30

It seems that every generation imagines itself at the turning point of history. World War I was the war to end all wars, until we fought World War II, which then led straight to the Cold War. When the Soviet Union collapsed some proclaimed "the end of history" because democracy and capitalism had triumphed over totalitarianism, believing this brought an end to the conflicts that fueled human history. In our times we are told the decisive struggle is with terrorism, but before the war on terror we waged war on poverty, drugs and cancer. Within the Church there are some who proclaim that the end is near, that many who are alive today will witness the return of Christ and be eyewitnesses to the most decisive event in all of time and eternity.

But part of the scandal of the cross is that the most decisive event in the history of the universe happened almost 2,000 years ago when Jesus Christ was "lifted up for all to see and glorified," which is John the gospel writer's way of speaking of Jesus' death on a cross. When Jesus said, "It is finished" he was not talking about his life nor about his earthly ministry. He was talking about the redemption and salvation of the world being completed in his death. By submitting to death Jesus shattered death's hold on us. By dying at the hands of sinners – both Jew and Gentile – Jesus broke the power of sin. In Jesus' death the old order of sin and death has come to an end, and the new creation has begun.

For those of us who live in the most powerful nation in history this can be hard for us to wrap our minds around. We enjoy being the leaders of the free world, of setting the tune that the rest of the world has to follow. We believe that when history turns the corner we will be in the driver's seat. But, in the words of Paul, what we experience now are not decisive turning points in history, but birth pangs and labor pains that remind us that the work accomplished in Jesus Christ will soon be fulfilled, and until this consummation we live in the tension of the now, when sin and death still have a foothold in the world, and the not-yet arrived kingdom of God, where sin and death will be no more.

In the words of Stanley Hauerwas, "It is finished, but its not over." While we believe that Jesus accomplished the salvation of the world in his death, this does not mean we wait quietly until God's kingdom comes in full. What we are called to do is live out the fullness of Christ's salvation in the present so the world can see that sin and death have been dethroned, that the emperor has no clothes. We demonstrate the forgiveness of sins by the way we forgive one another. We demonstrate the abundance of God by our generosity. We demonstrate the reality of Christ's reconciliation by including people of all nations, languages, races and social classes in the fellowship of the church. We, the church, are proof of Christ's salvation as we live lives shaped not by sin, but by God.

How do we live in this way? You are invited to listen to these passages from Scripture as we seek God's salvation in Jesus Christ:

Luke 12:22-34

Romans 6:1-14

Romans 8:12-25

II Corinthians 5:11-21

Colossians 3:5-17

My God, My God, Why Have You Forsaken Me?

2010-03-31T23:26:00.001-04:00

From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land. About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi lama sabachthani?"—which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" When some of those standing there heard this, they said, "He's calling Elijah." Immediately one of them ran and got a sponge. He filled it with wine vinegar, put it on a stick, and offered it to Jesus to drink. The rest said, "Now leave him alone. Let's see if Elijah comes to save him." And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split. The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs, and after Jesus' resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many people.

Matthew 27:45-53

We live in a culture where hope, or at least optimism, springs eternal. We believe in progress – given enough time, technology, good public policy and elbow grease will solve our problems and cure our ills. We don't like stories where the hero dies at the end – the thrill of James Bond and other action icons is not the suspense of whether the hero lives or dies, but how the hero manages to triumph when the deck is stacked against them.

But as those who believe that God's victory over sin, suffering, evil and death was won in the cross of Jesus Christ we are to reject such optimism. Matthew provides us with details that point to the dreadful reality of Jesus' death: darkness had come over the land, for the light of the world is about to be extinguished. The earth shook in grief and shock as the one through whom the earth was made breathed his last. The curtain in the Holy of Holies in the temple, where the very presence and glory of God was believed to dwell, was torn, a sign that this place had been abandoned by God. And there is Jesus' own cry of Godforsakeness: "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" Jesus Christ, Son of Man and Son of God, suffered and died. There was no last minute reprieve, no last minute plan that saved his life. In the words of the Apostles' Creed, Jesus was "crucified, dead and buried," all at the hands of the most technologically savvy and most efficiently governed empire of the time.

We know that Jesus' death is not the end of the story, for we know the resurrection will come. But the resurrection does not make Jesus' death any less real; the resurrection does not remove the scandal of the cross. We are tempted to make the resurrection the happy ending, the hero's narrow escape from and victory over the villain. While the Scriptures teach that Jesus' resurrection from the dead is proof of God's faithfulness and provides us with the reason to hope in our own resurrection and in the new heavens and the new earth, the Scriptures also teach that it is through the seeming foolishness and weakness of the cross that God's wisdom and power are revealed. It is the cross that is the ultimate display of God's power, not the resurrection.

This contradicts everything we believe about power. Many in the wider church are spending massive amounts of time, energy and resources to help the church regain its influence in society through electing Christians to high public office and by encouraging Christian young people to find careers in law, medicine, business and politics so we can shape the culture from the top down. We equate power with control. Listen to these words from Stanley Hauerwas:

These words from the cross, and the cross itself, mean that the Father is to be found when all traces of power, at least as we understand power, are absent; that the Spirit's authoritative witness is most clearly revealed when all forms of human authority are lost; and that our God's power and authority is to be found exemplified in this captive under the sentence of death. The silence of Jesus before Pilate can now be understood for what it was – namely, that Jesus refuses to accept the terms of how the world understands power and authority.

We believe true power will prevent us from suffering, from ever feeling forsaken. The Presbyterian theologian William Placher, in his book "Narratives of a Vulnerable God," writes,

Human beings seek power because they are afraid of weakness, afraid of what might happen should they be vulnerable, and so the drive for power that looks like the purest expression of freedom proves in significant degree inspired by an enslaving fear that dares not risk vulnerability. . . Christian faith teaches that God is not powerful like that. The God who loves in freedom is not afraid and therefore can risk vulnerability, absorb the full horror of another's pain without self-destruction. God has the power to be compassionate without fear; human beings now as in the time of Jesus tend to think of power as refusal to risk compassion. But God's power looks not like imperious Caesar but like Jesus on the cross.

How do we understand the cross as a sign not of human weakness, but of God's power? How does the cross shape the way we understand the right use of power? These are questions for us to ask as we listen to these Scripture passages.You are invited to listen to these passages of Scripture as we pray for Jesus to make us part of his community that understands the true nature of power, power shaped by the cross:

Psalm 22

Isaiah 53

I Corinthians 1:18-2:5

II Corinthians 4:7-15

Revelation 5

Here is your son, here is your mother

2010-03-31T00:37:00.001-04:00

Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, "Dear woman, here is your son," and to the disciple, "Here is your mother." From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.

John 18:25-27

Jesus invites all who would follow him to become part of a cross-shaped community. Baptism, which marks our entry into the community of disciples, invites us to die with Christ, to be crucified with him, so we might be raised to new life. In the Lord's Supper we remember our cross-shaped identity by gathering around Christ's broken body. In the cross of Christ all that divides us – gender, ethnicity, social class – has been put to death, replaced by a new humanity shaped by Christ alone.

On the cross Jesus begins to form this new humanity. The beginning of John's Gospel John speaks those who are God's children not because of their blood relationship but because of God's Spirit and God's will (1:12-13). As Jesus is dying he entrusts his mother to his beloved disciple and his beloved disciple to his mother, forming a community based not on blood, but upon a shared relationship to Jesus.

When Jesus died on the cross and there was the rush to bury him before the Passover festival began, there was a strange mix gathered around Christ's body. Joseph of Arimathea was there, a wealthy man who by some accounts was a member of the Sanhedrin, the council that saw to Jesus' death. Nicodemus, a Pharisee and another likely member of the Sanhedrin was also there, but so were Mary, the mother of Jesus, Mary Magdalene and several other women who kept watch near the cross of Jesus. Joseph and Nicodemus, the ultimate insiders with wealth and status, found Jesus truer than riches and power. The women, distanced from God's presence at the temple, now offer their compassionate presence to the one in whom the fullness of God dwells. In Christ's death there is reconciliation. It is unlikely that anyone or anything other than Jesus would have brought Joseph, Nicodemus and these women together. When we gather as Christ's body, when we come to Christ's table to receive his broken body and shed blood we are invited to look around us and wonder at the reconciliation and unlikely fellowship God has gathered around his Son. In Christ's body there is reconciliation, hostilities have come to an end, and the new creation has been born.

We live in a world where the importance of biological kinship seems more important than ever. In the U.S many are lamenting the decline of the family due to divorce and out-of-wedlock births. Some are worried about this because it represents a breakdown in traditional morality, while others are concerned by the economic pressures and lack of opportunities faced by those in single-parent households. Around the globe we see all kinds of feuds and wars based on biology: Israelis versus Palestinians, Sunni's versus Shiites, Hutus versus Tutsis in Rwanda, Albanians versus Serbs in Kosovo, and the list could go on.

But on his cross Jesus brings these divisions, rivalries and enmities to an end. In the Lord's Supper we remember Jesus, but we are also "re-membered" by Jesus, joined into, made members of Jesus' body, of the Body of Christ, a fellowship based not on flesh and blood, but on the truth that "in Christ all things hold together, for God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross" (Colossians 1:17, 19-20).

Let us be attentive to how God calls us to reorder our notions of family and kinship because of our relationship with Jesus Christ. You are invited to listen to these passages of Scripture as we pray for Jesus to make us part of his cross-shaped community:

Jesus, Remember Me

2010-03-29T19:46:00.002-04:00

One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: "Aren't you the Christ? Save yourself and us!" But the other criminal rebuked him. "Don't you fear God," he said, "since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong." Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." Jesus answered him, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise."
Luke 23:39-43

At the cross we find kingdoms in conflict. From the beginning of his ministry Jesus proclaimed, in word and deed, the presence and nearness of God's kingdom. At the end of his life Jesus was brought before the worldly powers – King Herod, the ruling council in Jerusalem and the Roman Governor, Pilate – and condemned to death, an event that embodies the conflict between the kingdom of God and the kingdoms of this world.

It is likely that the criminals crucified with Jesus were also caught in the conflict between kingdoms. The cross was a form of punishment reserved for those considered a threat to Roman rule. These criminals may have been more than burglars or armed robbers. They may have been deliberately trying to disrupt Roman rule because of their desire to see God's Holy Land and Holy People free from Gentile rule. The Romans wished to be remembered for their power and prosperity. The criminals crucified with Jesus wished to be remembered for preserving the purity of their people by forcing the Romans out. But one of the criminals crucified with Jesus had a change of heart. When his friend started to insult Jesus, he rebuked him because he knew Jesus did not deserve this punishment. Then this one who had fought for one worldly kingdom and against another asked to be a part of Jesus' kingdom.

What do we make of kingdoms today? We no longer live in a culture governed by kings and queens, barons and baronesses, with positions of authority handed down through bloodlines from one generation to the next without the voice of the people being heard. At their heart kingdoms are stories about our place and purpose in the world. Rome's story was one of expansion, power and prosperity. Israel's story was about a God who had chosen an unlikely people to be the revealer of God's will. We are shaped by "kingdom stories" that help us find our place in the world. For some this may be the story of America and the spread of democracy and the freedom and rights of the individual. For others it might be the story of their family, of traditions and values going back for generations and to faraway lands. Others may derive their story from their work – doctors battling disease, teachers preparing future generations for fruitful lives, executives providing leadership for an organization they care deeply about. The kingdom of God works like one of these stories, helping us find our place and purpose in God's world. Sometimes this story may go hand in hand with other stories, sometimes it will conflict with them.

What is the kingdom of God like? How does this story shape the way we live? How is it different from the stories of other kingdoms and empires and nations of the world? You are invited to listen to these passages from Scripture as we pray for Jesus to remember us and make us part of his kingdom.

“Father, Forgive Them”

2010-03-29T07:27:00.002-04:00

When they came to the place called the Skull, there they crucified him, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left. Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."

Luke 23:33-34

When Jesus spoke these words, he spoke them as a prayer to the Father. They were not addressed to those who were torturing him, nor are these words about our need for forgiveness. These words are the intimate conversation between the beloved Son and his beloved Father. They reveal to us the heart of God, a heart shaped not by vengeance, punishment or retribution, but by love and mercy we cannot imagine. Jesus does not ask the Father to hunt down those who are killing him, to bring them to justice dead or alive. He asks that they be forgiven. Jesus does not use his power to strike down evildoers, but to forgive, to redeem those who sin, whether they are aware of their sin or not.

As we ponder this word from the cross this week, I invite you to be mindful of this story, shared by Stanley Hauerwas in his book Cross Shattered Christ: Meditations on the Seven Last Words. He tells the story of Christian de Cherge, a Catholic monk who was in charge of the Tibhrine monastery in Algeria. Hauerwas writes,

Christian and his fellow monks knew their refusal to leave Algeria after the rise of Islamic radicals in 1993 might result in their deaths. Anticipating his death – he was beheaded in 1996 by Muslim radicals – Christian left a testament with his family to be opened on his death. In that testament he asks that those who love him pray that he was worthy of such a sacrifice. He expresses the fear that his death will be used to accuse in general these people, these Islamic people, whom he has come to love.

He ends his testament observing:

Obviously, my death will justify the opinion of all those who dismissed me as naïve and idealistic: 'Let him tell us what he thinks now.' But such people should know that my death will satisfy my most burning curiosity. At last, I will be able – if God pleases – to see the children of Islam as He sees them, illuminated by the glory of Christ, sharing in the gift of God's Passion and of the Spirit, whose secret joy will always be to bring forth our common humanity amidst our differences. . . And to you, too, my friend of the last moment (a reference to his executioners), who will not know what you are doing. Yes, for you, too I wish this thank you, this 'A-Dieu,' whose image is in you also, that we may meet in heaven, happy like thieves, if it pleases God, our common Father."

We are invited to forgive not because it is good for our physical or emotional health, but because we are made in God's image and God has chosen mercy, grace and forgiveness instead of vengeance or retribution. Of course this does not mean forgiveness is easy. Imagine being Christian de Cherge's mother or father, brother or sister, reading his testament after his death. Imagine the overwhelming depths the Father felt as His beloved Son was crucified, then hearing, "Father, forgive them." To bear the cross, to follow Jesus is to forgive.

The last words of Jesus from the cross are words that only describe his death. Instead they reveal the fullness of his character, revealing a live lived in faithfulness to God and to us. As we listen to Jesus' prayer for forgiveness I invite you to listen to these passages of Scripture:

Setting the Bar

2010-02-28T19:26:00.003-05:00

Our readings for Sunday, February 28 speak of God's graciousness towards us: Abraham trusted that God would fulfill God's promise to him, and on the basis of this trust God reckoned Abraham to be righteous. As Jesus journeys to Jerusalem he knows what awaits him, yet still he longs to gather Jerusalem under his wings, offering mercy when he knows Jerusalem will literally be the death of him.

But throughout the Bible there is a tension that is difficult for us to hold together: God both offers us unconditional grace and makes claims upon us. The reading from Romans retells the story of Abraham, reminding us God claims us not because of our own goodness but because it is in God's gracious nature to do so. But most of the other readings reveal to us that God's grace is not to be taken lightly: the readings from Exodus and Numbers tell us that while Abraham's descendants shall indeed inherit the Promised Land, the generation of Israel that saw God's signs and wonders in the Exodus would not live to enter the land because of their lack of trust and their desire to return to Egypt, the land of slavery and bondage. In I Corinthians 10 Paul reminds us to take God's dealing with Israel in the wilderness into account in our relationship with God – Paul refuses to see a disconnect between a vengeful, primitive "Old Testament" God and a kind, loving mature "New Testament" God. The God of Israel is the Lord of the Church. And just prior to Jesus longing to embrace Jerusalem, the city that will kill him, Jesus speaks of the need to enter through the narrow door, of many not being able to enter this door and of the door being barred shut to many.

How do we hold together both God's unconditional grace and God's desire for us to be trusting and obedient towards God? How do these passages shape the way we understand what it is to be in relationship with God? May the readings below give us wisdom and encouragement as we seek God's presence.

Monday, March 1

Exodus 33:1-6
Romans 4:1-12

Tuesday, March 2

Numbers 14:10b-24
I Corinthians 10:1-13

Wednesday, March 3
II Chronicles 20:1-22
Luke 13:22-31

Read Psalm 105:1-15, 42 each of these three days.

Why Pray?

2010-02-24T10:54:00.004-05:00

For many of us (myself included) prayer often falls into the same category of eating healthy, exercising, or flossing: something we know is good for us, yet is hard for us to do. Then when we don't pray we may feel guilty, and the guiltier we feel the harder it is for us to enjoy prayer because we are so weighed down by guilt. Because Lent is a time not only to give up what may be harmful, but also a time to embrace what is good, I'll be doing a series of postings on prayer, hoping they will encourage all of us to deepen our prayer lives and find fulfillment in doing so. Most of these posts will be drawn from Worshiping with the Church Fathers by Christopher Hall. Hall looks to the early leaders and teachers of the Church for wisdom in prayer and worship. One question many of us may wonder about but may be afraid or embarrassed to ask is this: If God knows everything, including what we need, why do we need to ask for these things in prayer since God already knows we need them? Quoting the contemporary author Richard Foster, Hall writes,

The answer could be as simple as this: love often likes to be asked something, even when it knows the answer. Such is the nature of love. "We like our children to ask us for things we know they already need because the very asking enhances and deepens the relationship. . . Love loves to be told what it knows already . . . It wants to be asked for what it longs to give."

At its root prayer is not a transaction, a kind of service contract between us and God. At its root prayer is a means of relationship where we open ourselves to God's love for us and presence with us. This is the same God Jesus described as a father who never stopped waiting and longing for the return of his child who ran off and wasted half the family fortune, desiring nothing more than to embrace his child and welcome them home. God is not like a frustrated lunch date, glancing at the clock and wondering why we haven't shown up yet. God longs for our fellowship and is delighted when we turn to God in prayer.

Pilgrimage

2010-02-23T20:46:00.002-05:00

Here are the readings for Sunday, February 28 . A word about how the lectionary works: During the seasons of Advent (longing for Jesus' birth), Epiphany (seeing how Jesus is revealed as God's Son, Lord and Savior) Lent (journeying with Jesus to Jerusalem and the cross), Easter (hearing the news of Jesus' raised from the dead) and Pentecost (celebrating the gift of the Holy Spirit) the Old Testament and New Testament readings have some kind of link. Sometimes the New Testament reading refers to the Old Testament reading, sometimes there is a shared theme or another kind of connection. Combined, these seasons of the Church year last about six months. For the rest of the year (usually about June – November), called either "Ordinary Time" or "The Season After Pentecost," there is not necessarily a connection between the Old and New Testament readings. This is because, especially in our Reformed Tradition, the Old Testament stands on its own as the Word of God and it is therefore right that the Old Testament is preached on its own terms, with or without reference to the New Testament. But in this season in Lent I encourage you to look for the connections between Old Testament and New Testament readings.

One of the main themes of Scripture is that of Pilgrimage. In the words of last week's reading from Deuteronomy 26, our ancestors in the faith were "wandering Arameans." Abraham, Isaac and Jacob wandered around the Promised Land, waiting for God to grant the land to their descendants. Moses led Israel on a 40 year journey through the wilderness, and the climax of the Gospels is Jesus' journey to Jerusalem. Of course for Abraham, for Israel in the Wilderness and perhaps for some of us we do not feel like pilgrims with a set destination in mind, but like nomads who wander with no destination in mind or in view. In her book From Nomads to Pilgrims author Diana Butler Bass describes the difference between nomads and pilgrims: nomads are "spiritual tourists" who wander from experience to experience with no connection to other nomads or to any sense of purpose or destination. Pilgrims, on the other hand, connect to one another as they share a common journey towards a transformed life. Bass writes, "Being a tourist means experiencing something new; being a pilgrim means becoming someone new."

Sunday's Gospel reading tells the story of the beginning of Jesus' pilgrimage to Jerusalem. The readings below from Genesis tell the story of Abraham's journey. How do these scenes from his journey help us understand our own? In our readings from Philippians Paul offers some testimony about his spiritual pilgrimage, first as one who is rooted in Abraham's story and then as one who is defined by the story of Jesus Christ. In light of Christ how do we understand our own life differently? How are we nomads/tourists? What does it mean for us to become pilgrims? Please share your thoughts and stories by clicking on "comment" at the end of the post.

Thursday, Feb 25
Genesis 13:1-7, 14-18
Philippians 3:2-12

Friday, Feb 26
Genesis 14:17-24
Philippians 3:17-20

Saturday Feb 27
Psalm 118:26-29
Matthew 23:37-39

Read Psalm 27 each of these three days.

Long Memories

2010-02-21T13:09:00.002-05:00

The word "Lent" literally means "to lengthen," coming from an old Anglo Saxon word for spring, the season when days begin to lengthen and grow longer. Lent is also a time to lengthen our memories, to be reminded of God's loving and saving acts on our behalf and on behalf of the world. For the Reformed Tradition gratitude for God's grace towards us is the primary motivator for Christian service. The brief reflection Trust Fund Christians, by Presbyterian pastor Kate Murphy, reminds us of our need for a long memory lest we squander the riches of grace God has given us.

Holding Fast

2010-02-21T12:55:00.002-05:00

Here you can find the readings for Sunday, February 21 . A brief word about this website: On the upper right corner of the webpage you will see links to art that touch on the Scripture readings. Some art is centuries old, some art is more contemporary. Reflecting on the Scripture while viewing these images may help you see the readings in a new light. Below the link for art is a link for prayers that draw on the readings, helping us to see how Scripture reading shapes our prayer life.

Because the Gospel reading is the story of Jesus' temptation in the wilderness by the devil it is easy for us to think of this as a story of temptation. But when read with the other readings perhaps this is less a story of temptation than one of God's deliverance. After all, Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit before being tempted, giving him strength as wisdom during his time of trial. The story of the Exodus, recounted in the "Hebrew Creed" in the Deuteronomy reading, is not primarily about the temptations Israel faced in the wilderness, but about how God delivered God's people. The Romans reading tells us that God's salvation is near to us, and while the devil does quote Psalm 91 for his own purpose it is nevertheless a prayer that reminds us God is our protector.

The readings below are not primarily about temptation or our tendency to succumb to it, but about God's patience with and nearness to us in the midst of our trials. Some of these readings easily fall into the "hard passages of the Bible" so I want to offer a word about them. The reading from I Chronicles may seem especially difficult: Why is God punishing Israelite citizens for what David did wrong? In the Bible's telling of the story of Israel the Bible refuses to believe that God is anything but intimately involved with the affairs and events of Israel. Is there a famine? Israel is receiving the just desserts for its sin. Is there a bumper crop? God is blessing us beyond our deserving! (One wonders what Noah would make of our global climate change theories!) Is there a plague or trouble in the house of David? We knew all along that the census was an affront to God! The census in I Chronicles was seen as infringing on God's leadership of Israel: The Lord is the shepherd, and the number of the sheep is important only for the shepherd and not a matter of concern for the sheep! So the plague that happened at this time must have been God's doing. The punishment David receives from his foes is likely the revolt his son Absalom led, which II Samuel tells us was the result of David's affair with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband, Uriah. Interestingly enough, the Chronicler makes no mention of David's affair with Bathsheba, the murder of Uriah or Absalom's rebellion, putting the best foot forward on David's life. Whether in joy or sorrow or struggle Israel refused to understand its life apart from the actions of God. How might we tell the story of our lives if we refused to distance God from what we have experienced?

Several of these readings mention Satan, who is not so much the embodiment of evil as much as a prosecuting attorney (of course, for many there is no clear distinction between pure evil and lawyers!). As a prosecutor Satan is simply bringing forward evidence or seeking evidence to build a case, as Satan does with Job. But while we are facing Satan, the toughest prosecutor/persecutor out there, we have a helluva (pun intended!) advocate: Jesus Christ, as the reading from Zechariah points to and John testifies to. How do we see God's presence with us in our trials? How do we see God's deliverance from these trials? How does being clothed with the righteousness of Christ help us to make Psalm 17 our prayer? For and interesting perspective on God's presence during our times of trials, see this short video by Rob Bell.

Monday, Feb 22
I Chronicles 21:1-17
I John 2:1-6

Tuesday, Feb 23
Zechariah 3:1-10
II Peter 2:4-21

Wednesday, Feb 24
Job 1:1-22
Luke 21:34-22:6

Read Psalm 17, a prayer for protection, each of these three days.

Fire in the Belly

2010-02-20T18:48:00.002-05:00

Lent is a time for us to focus on following Christ to the cross, often by either ceasing habits that do not nurture our souls or by beginning new habits that do. We often associate spiritual growth with learning or ideas: learning more about what the Bible says, learning more about prayer, often assuming that having the right information at our disposal will lead to more faithful living. But is this the case? Are having the right ideas or beliefs the best or only way to grow in discipleship? In his book Desiring the Kingdom James K.A Smith calls this way of spiritual formation into question. He writes,

And so distinctively Christian education is understood to be about Christian ideas . . . [T]he goal of Christian education is the development of a Christian perspective, or more commonly now, a Christian worldview, which is taken to be a system of Christian beliefs, ideas, and doctrines.

But what if this line of thinking gets off on the wrong foot? What if education, including higher education, is not primarily about the absorption of ideas and information, but about the formation of hearts and desires? What if we began by appreciating how education not only gets into our head but also (and more fundamentally) grabs us by the gut – what the New Testament refers to as kardia, "the heart"? What if education was primarily concerned with shaping our hopes and passions – our visions of "the good life" – and not merely about the dissemination of data and information as inputs to our thinking? What if the primary work of education was the transforming of our imagination rather than the saturation of our intellect? And what if this had as much to do with our bodies as with our minds?

What if education wasn't first and foremost about what we know, but about what we love?

Especially in the almost five centuries since the Reformation, Christian formation has focused on the ideas and beliefs that set us apart from the Roman Church and the variety of Protestant denominations. Our beliefs - about the Lord's Supper, human free will, predestination and election, the atonement, how "our" understanding of justification by faith differs from "theirs" – became the focus of Christian education. But the book of James says, "You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder" (James 2:19). The demons have good theology-they know exactly who God is (in Mark's Gospel only the demons and the Romans proclaim Jesus as the Son of God; the disciples do not yet understand Jesus as God's son), but they do not desire what God desires.

During Lent how can we seek not only to gain clarity in our beliefs, but also in our desires? Most of us believe/agree with the idea that we should (at least sometimes) put the needs of others above our own. But how often do we have the drive, desire and passion to do so? We believe prayer is a good thing, but do we desire to pray more than we desire to do other things? We all know that eating healthier is the best way to lose weight and stay healthy, but somehow our desire for chocolate is far more powerful than our desire to slim down!

I think Smith is on to something: training our mind is indeed important, but the best theology is for nothing if we do not have the desire to live by what the Scriptures teach. What are some things we can do to train our desires so that we truly do hunger for righteousness and desire God's kingdom above all else?

Entirely in Thy Service

2010-02-17T20:50:00.003-05:00

From ancient times Christians, drawing on Jewish practices, have had set hours for prayer, including morning and evening prayer. Here is a morning prayer offered by John Calvin:

My God, my Father and my Savior, since it has pleased you to preserve me by your grace through the night just ended and until the present day, grant that I may use it entirely in your service and that I may think, say, and do nothing but to please you and to obey your holy will, so that all my actions may redound to the glory of your name and the edification of my neighbors. And just as in this earthly life you cause the sun to shine on the world to give physical light, let your Holy Spirit illumine my mind to guide me in the way of righteousness. Thus in everything I do, let my goal and intention always be to walk reverently and to honor and serve you, relying on your blessings for my well being, and undertaking only what is pleasing to you.
Grant also, O Lord, that as I labor for my physical needs and for this present life, I may lift up my soul to that heavenly and blessed life which you have promised to your children. And since to begin well means little unless one perseveres, I ask you to be my guide not only today but for all my life, daily continuing and increasing your grace in me until you have brought me into full union with your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who is the true Sun of our souls, shining day and night forever. Amen

Our Sleep and God's Glory

2010-02-17T16:55:00.004-05:00

How to pray and what to pray for have always been questions. Luke tells us that Jesus gave the Lord's Prayer after a disciple asked Jesus to teach them to pray. Here is an prayer offered at the close of day by John Calvin, who did so much to articulate the unique theology of the Reformed Tradition:

Lord God, since you have made the night for man to rest as you have created the day for his work, I ask you to give my body a restful night and to grant that my soul may be lifted up to you and my heart always filled with your love.
Teach me, O God, to entrust all my cares to you and constantly to remember your mercy, so that my soul may also enjoy spiritual rest. Let not my sleep be excessive, but let it serve to renew my strength so I may be ore ready to serve you. May it please you also to keep me pure in body and in spirit, preserving me from all temptations and all danger, so that my very sleep may contribute to the glory of your name.
And since this day has not passed without my having offended you in several ways, I who am a poor sinner make this request. Grant, O God, that just as thou hast now hid all things in the shadows of night, you will also bury all my sins in your mercy, through Jesus Christ my Savior. Amen

Raw Desire

2010-02-17T10:15:00.002-05:00

Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent. Two interesting notes about Lent: "Lent" comes from the Old English word for spring, since Lent is usually observed in late winter and early spring. For those of you who pay careful attention to the calendar you may notice that while Lent has 40 days, there are actually 46 days between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday. This is because the six Sundays of Lent don't count as part of the season, since each and every Sunday is a "mini-Easter" when we celebrate Jesus' victory over sin and death in the resurrection. Does this mean that on Sundays one can indulge in chocolate or caffeine that has been given up for the 40 days of Lent? I'll let you decide.

Here are the readings for Sunday, February 21. The reading from Deuteronomy 26 is something like a Hebrew version of the Apostle's Creed, and brief statement that tells the core story of Israel: the story of how God delivered Israel from slavery in Egypt and led them to the Promised Land. Just as the Patriarchs of Israel – Abraham, Isaac and Jacob – wandered in the wilderness while waiting for God to establish their descendants in the Promised Land, so Israel spent forty years in the wilderness after God freed them from slavery waiting for God to lead them to the land of milk and honey. During these long years in the wilderness God sought to reshape Israel's desires: no longer were they to long for the "fleshpots of Egypt," for a brutal but familiar way of life that at least guaranteed food and shelter. Instead Israel was to long for the God who delivered them from the hand of Pharaoh and bore them on eagle's wings, who promised them life and goodness and freedom.

The Gospel reading for Lent is always an account of Jesus' temptations in the wilderness. As Israel spent 40 years in the wilderness while God prepared them to live well in the Promised Land, so Jesus spent 40 days being tempted as he prepared for his public ministry. If Israel was tempted to hunger more for Egypt than for God, what was Jesus tempted to desire more than God? How do we understand these temptations? In what ways are we still tempted by them? What do we desire more than God? The reading from Romans reminds us that God's salvation is near to us, that it is Jesus, and not Pharaoh or Caesar, who is Lord. How does this news encourage us? Our Psalm reminds us the devil can quote Scripture for his own purpose. What do you make of Jesus' response? How does this shape the way we read Scripture?

Lent has often been a time of fasting of some sort – giving up sweets, caffeine, eating simpler meals, refraining from eating, and, in our technological age, fasting from facebook, ipods or tv. Often we see fasting as a way to "mortify" or reign in the desires of the flesh. But what if the purpose of fasting is not to extinguish our desires, but to train ourselves to desire and hunger for the things of God? How can we use these 40 (well, 46) days not to extinguish our hunger, but to point it in the right direction? Below are readings that help shape our hunger and desire:

Thursday, Feb. 18

Exodus 5:10-23
Acts 7:30-34

Friday, Feb. 19
Exodus 6:1-13
Acts 7:35-42

Saturday, Feb. 20
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
John 12:27-36

Read this portion of Psalm 91 each of these three days.

Continuing Conversion

2009-05-14T08:56:00.000-04:00

Here are the Scripture readings for Sunday, May 17. The reading from Acts 10 is part of a larger story about Peter and Cornelius, a Roman centurion. While Peter was indeed a “Christian” in that he was a follower of Jesus, at this very early point in the life of the church there was no breach yet between followers of Jesus, who at this point were almost all Jews, and the Jewish community. As a Jew Peter would only associate with Gentiles (that is, everyone who was not of Jewish ethnicity) on a very limited basis. While some Gentiles, such as Cornelius, worshipped with Jews at the synagogue and practiced many parts of the Law of Moses, even they were reckoned as outsiders and were not welcomed fully into fellowship with the Jewish community.

But then one day God did something shocking. God poured out the Holy Spirit on Cornelius, and in a dream told Peter to see Cornelius so Peter could see what God had done. What was shocking about this was the Jewish belief that God’s promises associated with the victory of God over the nations (literally, over the Gentiles), of which the giving of the Holy Spirit was one, were believed to be for the Jews only. But with Cornelius it was becoming apparent that all peoples were able to share in God’s promises and in God’s kingdom.

To put it bluntly, none of us would be part of Christ’s body if it wasn’t for what God showed Peter by pouring out the Holy Spirit on Cornelius. This story isn’t as much about the conversion of Cornelius to Christianity as much as it’s about God converting Peter to embrace the vast scope of God’s mission.

This story helps us see that while God’s presence is embodied throughout the spectrum of ethnic groups, from Anglo Saxons to Zulus, God is not identified with any one of these groups. If this is true can we really speak of a “Christian West” versus an “Islamic East” when Christians still abide in lands throughout the Middle East and Central Asia? How does this challenge how we perceive ourselves in relation to the other nations?

What parts of God’s mission do we find shocking? How does the vastness of God’s mission challenge some of our core assumptions?

Thursday 5/14
Isaiah 49:5-6
Acts 10:1-34

Friday 5/15
Isaiah 42:5-9
Acts 10:34-43

Saturday 5/16
Deuteronomy 32:44-47
Mark 10:42-45

Read Psalm 98 each of these three days.

Rooted and Sent

2009-05-11T10:32:00.001-04:00

The readings from John and from Acts for Sunday, May 10, may at first read seem to go against each other. The image of the vine and branches in John 15 is an image of stability, continuity and rootedness. The story in Acts 8 of the scattering of the Jerusalem church and of Philip moving here and there by the guidance of the Holy Spirit is a story of motion, change and of being sent. How do we both stay rooted and get up and go?

In the Isaiah passages below we see how central the image of the vineyard is in describing Israel’s relationship to God. For Israel the image of the vineyard is closely associated to having a specific place in the world, namely the Promised Land. But as Christians we do not share in this same promise of being given a special piece of land, of being a settled people. How do we relate to this image of vineyard?

A better way to imagine this image may be to think of what it means to be a fruitful people. In Genesis God’s first command to humanity is to be fruitful and multiply and to fill the earth, in others words to be fruitful and to get up and go. We are called to be a rooted people, but we are rooted in the person of Jesus and not to a special piece of land. Paul’s words about the fruit of the (Holy) Spirit help us what it understands to be fruitful and sent. Wherever we are we embody the Christ-like virtues and by doing so make God’s presence tangible.

Another way to think of the dynamic of being rooted and sent is to be “inwardly strong and outwardly focused,” which is the motto of the Presbyterian Global Fellowship, a group within the PC(USA) that seeks to help churches become sent communities and not static institutions. I encourage you to check out their blog postings and see what insights are valuable or perhaps provocative.

What kinds of roots do we have –both spiritual and to family, neighborhoods, work and other places? How can these roots not be barriers to being sent, but the very places we are called to go to and bear fruit?

Monday, 5/11
Isaiah 5:1-7
Galatians 5:16-26

Tuesday 5/12
Isaiah 32:9-20
James 3:17-18

Wednesday 5/13
Isaiah 65:17-25
John 14:18-31

Read Psalm 80 each of these three days.

Still Waters, Troubled Waters

2009-05-07T22:29:00.000-04:00

As we begin to move to “Ordinary Time,” that long season (about six months) from Pentecost to Advent, I’d like to offer a word about the Sunday lectionary readings. During the seasons of Advent, Epiphany and Lent the Old Testament readings and the New Testament readings share common themes. They are intentionally paired like this so we are able to see how Jesus is rooted in and fulfills Israel’s Scriptures. But after Easter a change begins to take place in how the Sunday readings are ordered. There is no longer a connection between the Old Testament texts and the New Testament texts. The reason behind this shift is to remind us that the Old Testament is not important only because it helps us understand the New Testament. The Old Testament is the Word of God in its own right and can be read and preach on apart from the New.

The readings for Sunday, May 10 begin to move in these different directions. During Easter the Old Testament readings are replaced by readings from Acts, which tell the story of Christian community lived powerfully in the light of Christ’s resurrection. But there is no direct connection between the Gospel readings and the readings from Acts. In the reading from John’s Gospel Jesus declares that he is the vine and his disciples are the branches, who draw strength and life from him. The readings from Amos convey provocative images of Israel as the vine and God as the keeper of the vineyard. While God expresses his anger toward Israel for failing to treat the poor with dignity and respect, we also hear that God cannot forsake his people and that God’s compassion will overcome God’s anger. How do these discomforting passages from Amos help us see the more familiar and comfortable reading from John 15 in a new light?

The readings from Acts below provide background to the reading from Acts for Sunday. While Jesus commanded his disciples to set out from Jerusalem and go to Judea, Samaria and the ends of the earth with the Gospel message, the church remained in Jerusalem. But as persecution against Jesus’ followers broke out the church was forced to scatter, including a follower of Jesus named Philip. This persecution, perhaps a move by God, forced people like Philip to travel to Judea, Samaria and eventually the ends of the earth. God did not want to allow God’s people to become too comfortable in Jerusalem and so the pressure and stress of persecution became an impetus for Jesus’ followers to obey Jesus’ command. How can some of the pressure and stress we experience help us to fulfill God’s call to us? How does it change our understandings and expectations of God that God both leads us beside still waters and troubles the waters? What was Philip able to see and do because God upset the apple cart?

Thursday, 5/7
Amos 8:1-7
Acts 8:1-8

Friday 5/8
Amos 8:11-13
Acts 8:9-25

Saturday 5/9
Amos 9:7-15
Mark 4:30-32

Read Psalm 22:25-31 each of these three days.

Working Class Hero

2009-05-03T22:17:00.001-04:00

The Scripture readings for Sunday, May 3 focus on the image of God as our shepherd. When we listen to stories from the Bible we find that shepherds were rather low on the ladder. After Moses fled Egypt because he committed murder, the job he was able to get as a fugitive was as a shepherd. When the prophet Samuel goes to visit Jesse for an important meeting with his family, Jesse leaves his youngest, and presumably least important, son to tend to the flocks. Just because shepherds played a needed role did not mean they were held in high esteem. Like many workers today they provided a necessary service but were considered best left both unseen and unheard.

So it is interesting that throughout Scripture God identifies with the work of shepherds, with those whose service was invaluable and invisible and who worked on the margins of society. Some of the most powerful shepherd/lamb imagery from the Bible is found in the book of Revelation, where Jesus is pictured as both lamb and shepherd.

How do we understand God as our shepherd? How does God’s work remain hidden from the view of polite society? How is God at work in the margins? At the center? How does the image of God/Jesus as shepherd inform our own ministry and mission?

Monday, 5/4
I Samuel 16:1-13
I Peter 5:1-5

Tuesday 5/5
I Chronicles 11:1-9
Revelation 7:13-17

Wednesday 5/6
Micah 7:8-20
Mark 14:26-31

Read Psalm 95 each of these three days.

No Other Name?

2009-05-01T15:32:00.000-04:00

In different ways the Scripture readings for Sunday, May 3 focus on the uniqueness of God’s action in Jesus Christ. The reading from Acts concludes with the famous statement that “There is salvation in no one else (other than Jesus Christ), for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved." In John Jesus is unique because he is not like the hired hands who run away at the hint of danger. Instead Jesus is the Good Shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep and the only one who can command the attention of his flock, for his sheep know his unique voice.

How do we understand the uniqueness of Jesus today, especially in light of our knowledge of other world religions? Part of the challenge we face is that the authors of the New Testament didn’t have the same awareness of world religions that we do. When the New Testament was written, Christianity was something of a reform movement within Judaism. While the divide between the Church and the Synagogue was growing it was not complete. Islam would not come into existence for another five hundred years. Contact with religions such as Hinduism and Buddhism, which both pre-date Christianity, were either very limited within the Roman Empire or non-existent. Even the worship of the gods and goddesses of Greece and Rome were understood to be more about pledging allegiance to the Empire than about making any theological claims about God.

But we live in a very different world. The printing press and the internet can give us instant access to the beliefs and practices of all kinds of religious traditions, and we know more and more people who were raised in places where Hinduism or Islam, and not Christianity, was the dominant faith. We are no longer unaware of the fact that there are a number of other established, global religious traditions that do not understand God or Jesus in the same way we do.

How do we confess and practice our faith within the context of other world religions? Our Presbyterian/Reformed tradition may be especially helpful here. Unlike other strands in Christianity which emphasize the importance of the conscious, deliberate human decision to follow Jesus and seek forgiveness from God in Christ’s name, the Reformed tradition emphasizes the importance of God’s initiative in salvation. For people of a Reformed perspective it is not our confession of faith that saves us, but God’s gracious act in Jesus Christ. In the words of the Second Helvetic Confession, a foundational confession for our theology, “We are to have good hope for all. And although God knows who are his, and here and there mention is made of the small number of the elect, yet we must hope well for all, and not rashly judge any man to be a reprobate.” Salvation is determined not by the soundness of our theology, but by the justice and mercy of God.

Another Reformed emphasis that can guide us is our conviction that God’s Law continues to guide us. Part of this Law is the command not to bear false witness against our neighbors. Any religion has its wackos and extremists, and Christianity is no exception. We cannot assume that the loudest strand in a religion is representative for all strands. Fundamentalist Christians do not represent the whole of the Christian tradition anymore than militant Islamists represent the whole of Islam. Just as Christianity is a diverse religion, so are the other world religions. We cannot take the worst example of another faith and use that to tarnish the reputation of all followers of that faith, to bear false witness against our neighbors by bringing undue harm to their reputation.

In engaging in interfaith dialogue we may want to aim more for understanding than agreement. The goal might not be to change/convert minds, but to help others understand how our convictions about God shape our lives. If we understand interfaith conversation in this way our distinctive beliefs and practices are not liabilities in a diverse world, but salt that adds flavor. To take the presence of other world religions seriously does not mean we minimize or neglect our own.

The readings from Genesis, John and Psalm 23 and Mark speak of God as shepherd and us as God’s flock. How does this image of God as shepherd both enrich our faith and add flavor to interfaith conversations about who God is and how God relates to us?

Thursday, 4/30
Genesis 30:25-43
Acts 3:17-26

Friday 5/1
Genesis 46:28-47:6
Acts 4:1-4

Saturday 5/2
Genesis 48:8-19
Mark 6:30-34

Read Psalm 23 each of these three days.

The Death and Resurrection of the Beloved Son(s)

2009-04-27T07:31:00.001-04:00

Our readings from Sunday, April 26 speak of the mysterious but powerful presence of the risen Christ. In the story of the travelers on their way to Emmaus we are told the risen Jesus appeared unrecognized to two of his followers and told them how the Law and the Prophets foretold that the Messiah would suffer, die and be raised from the dead. But for the Jews of Jesus’ time, and for us, the Old Testament’s predictions of a crucified and resurrected Messiah are not obvious. Peter was horrified when Jesus said he would be killed, and as our reading from Mark below points out, even when the crucified and risen Jesus was standing right in front of his disciples they still didn’t understand or believe what was happening. If the whole of the Old Testament speaks of a crucified and risen Messiah it must do so in more subtle terms, otherwise the disciples and even Jesus’ opponents would have been quick to understand who Jesus was. How does the Old Testament prepare is for a suffering and resurrected Messiah?

On one level there are a number of individual stories in the Old Testament that have death and resurrection themes. Abraham almost sacrifices his son, Isaac, but at the last minute God stops him; Isaac nearly died but was restored to life. Joseph, Jacob’s beloved son, was presumed dead by his father but in reality was sold as a slave in Egypt, with his time as a slave and a prisoner a kind of death before he rose from the depths and was seated at the right hand of Pharaoh and then restored to his father. Decades later, a different Pharaoh, who did not know of Joseph, became afraid of the growing Hebrew community within Egypt. He ordered all newborn Hebrew males to be drowned in the Nile to curb the Hebrew population. Moses’ mother, to save her son, put him in a waterproof basket and left him in a spot on the river where she knew he would be found, and like Joseph Moses was raised in Pharaoh’s household. In each of these stories beloved sons face death but are instead given life.

One can look at the broader story of Israel as one of death and resurrection. Perhaps the best example of this is Ezekiel 37, where the nation of Israel is described as a valley full of dry bones – of corpses – that is resurrected by God. For Ezekiel this image is a way to describe Israel’s experience of exile. In exile Israel is not just cut off from their land, but from everything that gave their life purpose, direction and meaning. Israel’s exile is not just about being forcibly removed from their homeland. It’s about their broken relationship with God. Time and again the prophets describe a time when Israel’s relationship with God is restored and then Israel will be able to return to the Promised Land. The readings below from Jeremiah and Hosea speak of God restoring his people from their “death” in exile to life in their Promised Land. In Jeremiah we hear images of the passion, or the suffering, of Israel in their distress and of God acting to save Israel from their time of great distress.

Perhaps as the risen Jesus explained how the Law and Prophets foretold his death and resurrection Jesus did not use specific proof texts to show that he would suffer, die and be raised. Instead perhaps Jesus retold the story of Israel as a story of suffering, death and resurrection that matched Jesus’ own story. For exiled Israel resurrection was not primarily about what happens after death, but about a renewed sense of purpose, meaning and direction that allowed for life even in the midst of suffering. This helps us see that resurrection is not only about what happens after death, although resurrection is certainly about this as well. Resurrection is also about a renewed relationship with God that brings about a new sense of meaning, purpose and direction, grounded in love for God and for neighbor, that is mindful of the suffering and injustice in the world but allows us to live creatively as resurrected people who are no longer bound by sin.

Understanding Jesus’ death and resurrection in this way can help us engage more fully the Scriptures of the Old Testament. In many ways Israel was always on the verge of either death or resurrection, always on the verge of losing their identity as God’s distinct people yet sustained by the promise God would never forsake them. While we don’t face slavery in Egypt we do face powers that dehumanize us. How does the Law “resurrect” us in the face of such dehumanizing powers and help us live differently? Neither do we face the threat of exile in Babylon, but worldly powers do attempt to seduce us away from the Gospel of the crucified and risen Christ. How do the Prophets help us identify these worldly powers and provide for an alternative life based on God’s act of restoration and resurrection?

What stories do we have of “death” and “resurrection,” of “exile” and “homecoming?”

Monday 4/27
Jeremiah 30:1-11
I John 3:10-16

Tuesday 4/28
Hosea 5:15-6:6
II John 1-6

Wednesday 4/29
Proverbs 9:1-6
Mark 16:9-18

Read Psalm 150 each of these three days

At One

2009-04-23T11:59:00.002-04:00

One of the readings for this Sunday, April 26 is from Acts 3. Peter and some other disciples had gone to the temple for daily prayer, along with many other Jews. On the way into the temple courts they saw a crippled beggar and healed him. The crowd is astonished and Peter told them he was able to do this through the power of the crucified and risen Jesus, who was rejected by the Jewish people and put to death. Yet Peter acknowledges the people acted in ignorance, and the suffering of Christ fulfilled what was foretold in the prophets. And it is through the crucified and risen Jesus that there is repentance and forgiveness of sins.

At first reading it may seem that Peter is laying the blame for Jesus’ death at the feet of the Jewish people by calling them “Christ killers,” a terrible term that has been used all too frequently in Christian attitudes toward Jews. But the reading below from Daniel 9 helps us to see Peter’s speech in a different light. Daniel was a devout Jew who was forcibly brought into exile in Babylon. Like his fellow exiled Jews, Daniel longed for a restored relationship with God that would allow God’s people to return to God’s Promised Land. So in prayer before God Daniel acknowledges not only his sin and rebellion, but the rebellion of all God’s people, from the kings and priests on down to the common folks. After confessing the sin of all the people of God, Daniel seeks God’s mercy and asks God to restore God’s people and the holy city of Jerusalem. In this prayer Daniel is not blaming anyone for what has happened, he is simply acknowledging that all people, from least to greatest, failed to head God’s word and presence in their midst. Yet despite this God is compassionate and merciful and can act to save. This is the gist of what Peter is doing. Peter is not blaming the Jews for Jesus death. Like Daniel he is acknowledging that the people have rebelled but that God is still rich in mercy, that through Jesus’ life, death and resurrection the breach between God and humanity has been healed.

But how does Jesus’ life, death and resurrection heal this breach between God and humanity? How does Jesus atone for our sins? The words “atone” and “atonement” were created by John Wycliffe, the first person to translate the entire Bible into English. When he tried to translate Hebrew, Greek and Latin words that speak of how Jesus’ death saves us he could not find the right English word, so he created one. “Atone” literally means at one. Jesus makes us at one with God. The Eternal Son of God who was one with the Father since before the creation of the world, became fully human in Jesus and made the story of humanity God’s own.

In Sunday’s reading from Luke’s Gospel the resurrected Christ appears to some disciples and said, “Everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.” It is interesting that Jesus mentioned the psalms, for these psalms are not primarily God speaking to human beings, as are the Law and Prophets. The Psalms are human prayers of joy and sorrow, of triumph and agony, of steadfast faith and of confusion addressed to God. On the cross Jesus quoted two Psalms: Psalm 22 (My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?) and Psalm 31 (Into your hands I commit my spirit), and in the New Testament the Psalms are often quoted to help us understand who Jesus is. In his reliance on the Psalms Jesus is making our longings, our story, his own, and therefore God’s own. In his life, death and resurrection Jesus both brought the presence of God “down to earth” and lifted our human story “up to heaven.”

In their prayers and speeches Daniel and Peter retold the story of God’s relationship to God’s people, a story as applicable to the Church as it was to the Jews Daniel and Peter addressed. In Jesus Christ the story of this relationship is also retold: Both the people of Israel and Jesus had humble origins and were under the thumb of worldly powers (Egypt, a corrupt monarchy for Israel, Babylon, Persia and Greece for the Jews; A corrupt monarchy and Rome for Jesus). Yet God chose both Israel and Jesus to be God’s image in the world. Israel struggled with this call and in its disobedience experienced the godforsaken feeling of exile from all that gave their life meaning and purpose. On the cross Jesus made his peoples’ exile his own, crying out in godforsakeness as death ruptured his relationship to the Father. But the story does not end there. Resurrection is not just a happy event for Jesus, but God’s promise that all who know what it is to be exiled, lost and cut off will be redeemed.

The Book of Daniel shaped the imagination of the Jews at the time of Jesus – Jesus’ reference to himself as “the Son of Man” comes from Daniel. In the reading from Daniel 10, Daniel encounters a divine messenger who comes in human form, and he is terrified at the sight. This messenger goes on to tell Daniel that even as God’s people are in exile God is uprooting the fallen powers of this world so that the kingdoms of this world might become the kingdom of God. When Jesus’ disciples see the risen Christ they have a similar response to Daniel when he encountered his divine visitor. A divine visitor revealed to Daniel that the suffering present in the world did not mean that God was not at work. The story of Jesus’ life death and resurrection tells us that God’s story is “at one” with ours, that in Jesus God both shares in our story of longing for a better world and has acted with power to redeem this world. How do we experience “at one-ment” with God through the story of Jesus?

Thursday, 4/23
Daniel 9:1-19
I John 2:18-25

Friday, 4/24
Daniel 10:2-19
I John 2:26-28

Saturday 4/25
Acts 3:1-10
Luke 22:24-30

Read Psalm 4 each of these three days.

Resurrection and Non Conformity

2009-04-20T08:45:00.001-04:00

Apparently I gave up blogging for Lent, but now that Lent is over it’s a good time to begin again. The Scripture readings below come from a lectionary resource that divides the week into two parts. The readings for Monday – Wednesday help us reflect on Sunday’s lectionary texts, while the Thursday – Saturday readings prepare us for the readings for the coming Sunday. The readings for Sunday, April 19 and for the next few weeks include stories of Jesus’ post-resurrection appearances to his disciples and they raise questions about who, and what, the resurrected Jesus is.

Perhaps the best way to begin to address these questions is to understand what the risen Christ is not. The risen Jesus is not a ghost or a spirit. In our reading from John the disciples touch him and see that he is flesh and bone just as they are. The risen Jesus is not the product of the hopeful but heartbroken imaginations of his disciples, the product of wishful thinking, like the way we may dream of or “talk to” loved ones who have recently died. Neither is the risen Jesus someone who had a near death experience but came back to life after having walked toward the light. From the stories we have of the risen Christ it is clear he is healthy and whole. While he bears scars from the cross he shows no other signs of the abuse he suffered. The risen Jesus is a real person with flesh and bones and not a ghost, not a product of wishful thinking, nor someone who flat lined for a few minutes before his heart started pumping again.

While we bring our own questions, many of them shaped by a scientific worldview, to Jesus’ resurrection, our questions were not the most pressing ones for Jesus’ first followers and for those who first heard the news of the crucified, dead and risen Messiah. Many Jews believed that the righteous dead would be raised, and they believed they would be raised at the same time. What would have been puzzling for the first disciples is that only Jesus, and not all of the righteous dead, was raised. The authors of the New Testament, especially Paul, understood Jesus’ resurrection to be a pledge, a promise, a kind of down payment made by God to assure us of our own resurrection and of the redemption of the entire world (I Corinthians 15:20-24). The redemption and recreation of the world has begun in Jesus’ resurrection, but it has not ended there. Jesus’ resurrection is indeed the first day of the week, the beginning of the new creation.

For the first followers of Jesus, his resurrection was the Father’s way of proving that the Son really was who he claimed to be, namely God’s Son who has been given all authority on heaven and on earth and the visible image of the invisible God. By raising Jesus from the dead God vindicated him before the powers of this world. This theme of vindication is common in the Old Testament. The readings below from Daniel tell of God vindicating the righteous in the face of worldly powers. In Daniel’s case he and his friends were vindicated in the face of the Babylonian Empire, who had conquered Israel. Daniel and his friends refused to obey mandates that forced all to bow down in worship before images of the king, and these laws mandated death for those who refused to acknowledge the Emperor of Babylon as the only legitimate authority in the world. But God vindicated Daniel and his friends, rescuing them from fiery furnaces and lions’ dens to prove that the God of Israel reigned over all nations and that this God’s servants were right in refusing to acknowledge worldly powers as God. In Sunday’s reading from John’s Gospel, Thomas professes his faith in the crucified and risen Jesus by exclaiming, “My Lord and my God!” What we often don’t realize is that “my lord and my god” was a title used to address the Roman emperor. Thomas isn’t just making a spiritual statement, he’s also making a political one about whose authority is legitimate and whose is not, just as Daniel and his friends know that it is God, and not the emperor, who reigns over heaven and earth.

The invitation to follow the crucified and risen Christ an invitation to entrust ourselves to God’s rule more than the rule of earthly powers. The readings from I John below give us hints of what God’s rule involves. Another guide is this, one of my favorite statements by Martin Luther King, Jr.: “The hope of a secure and livable world lies with disciplined nonconformists who are dedicated to justice, peace and brotherhood.” How is God calling us to be disciplined non-conformists?

Monday, 4/20
Daniel 3:1-30
I John 2:3-11

Tuesday 4/21
Daniel 6:1-28
I John 2:12-17

Wednesday 4/22
Isaiah 26:1-15
Mark 12:18-27

Read Psalm 135 each of these three days.

“I Give You a New Command:” Maundy Thursday

2009-03-27T10:01:00.001-04:00

(An earlier post provides an overview of Holy Week. This post will focus on the meaning of Maundy Thursday.)

What is Maundy Thursday? The word “Maundy” comes from the Latin word for command, as does the English word “mandate.” John’s Gospel has a long “Upper Room” discourse where Jesus shares a last meal with his disciples and prepares them for his death, his return to the Father and his physical absence. During this discourse Jesus said, “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another” (John 13:34). On Maundy Thursday we remember Jesus giving this mandate as he ate with his disciples one last time.

The tone of Maundy Thursday worship is set by the way John’s Gospel tells the story of Jesus’ last meal with the disciples (chapters 13-17). While Maundy Thursday marks the Last Supper and is the rationale for why we celebrate the Lord’s Supper, John does not emphasize the meal as much as he does Jesus’ actions around the meal. Some churches have foot washing ceremonies on Maundy Thursday because, in John’s telling, Jesus, aware that God had given all things into his hands, used his power for humble service and washed his disciples’ feet. For John the significance of this evening is not primarily the meal, but the love Jesus expresses to his followers in word and in deed, fully aware of the suffering he would soon face.

The Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke tell the story of the hours before Jesus’ arrest differently. While John emphasizes Jesus’ actions and words around the meal, the other three gospels emphasize the meal itself. For John, Jesus is the Passover lamb (see Exodus 12) and in John’s telling of the story Jesus’ crucifixion occurs as the Passover lambs are being slaughtered in the Temple. Therefore the meal Jesus had with his disciples was not the Passover meal. But for Matthew, Mark and Luke the meal Jesus shared with his disciples on the night of his arrest was indeed the Passover meal. It is from these Gospel writers that we come to call the Lord’s Supper the “Christian Passover,” affirming that just as God freed Israel from slavery under Pharaoh, so God has freed all of creation from the enslaving forces of sin and death in Jesus Christ. We cannot understand Jesus’ death if we do not know the story of the Exodus, of God freeing God’s people from slavery in Egypt.

While John and the other gospel writers don’t tell the story of Maundy Thursday in the same way, in all four gospels after dinner Jesus went with his disciples to the Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus was betrayed by Judas into the hands of those who would kill him. While John gives us a more commanding picture of Jesus (in John, those who come to arrest Jesus fall before his feet in awe) in the other gospels Gethsemane is a time of prayer and struggle as Jesus prays for the strength to endure what is to come. In these gospels Jesus asks his disciples to keep watch and pray with him, but they fall asleep. The Maundy Thursday service ends with the story of Gethsemane, of Jesus striving to do God’s will, of inattentive disciples and of a militia squad ready to arrest Jesus.

The Maundy Thursday service ends with the stripping of the church, where all elements of decoration are removed from the sanctuary. The bare sanctuary is a symbol of the forsakenness Jesus will experience during his trial and crucifixion, and the sanctuary will remain unadorned for Good Friday worship the next day.

As we prepare for Maundy Thursday it is important for us to make the distinction between the Last Supper and the Lord’s Supper. While the later has its roots in the former they are not the same. On Maundy Thursday we have in mind the Last Supper, with its sense of sorrow and foreboding. While there are times it is appropriate for these overtones to be present when we celebrate the Lord’s Supper, at its core the Lord’s Supper is a joyful feast. In it we remember Jesus’ death, but we also remember Jesus’ resurrection, both of which have brought an end to the tyranny of sin and death. A biblical image of God’s kingdom is that of a great feast, of a wedding banquet, and in the Lord’s Supper we affirm that Jesus’ death and resurrection is God’s victory over all that would rob us of our dignity and freedom as those created in God’s image. In this meal we rejoice in God’s power to redeem, even in the face of suffering and evil.

What is Holy Week Worship?

2009-03-27T09:57:00.001-04:00

While the influence (both past and present) of Christianity on Western, and specifically American, culture is the subject of much debate, it is clear that Christmas and Easter have become something of official holidays (holy days) in our society. Both these days have secular traditions – Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny – as well as religious ones – Jesus’ birth, his resurrection. While we celebrate Christmas on one day, why do we have multiple worship services the week before Easter?

In large part this is because Holy Week was far more important to the early church than was Christmas. While the Bible offers no indication of when Jesus was born we are given a specific time for Holy Week since it happened at the same time as the Jewish Passover. And while it is only Matthew and Luke who give us details about Jesus’ birth, all the New Testament authors spend much time on the meaning and significance of Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection. In the four gospels we are given more details about Jesus’ last week than we are about the rest of his ministry, which tells us that Jesus’ death was not a mere tragedy, but that it was somehow the climax of Jesus’ mission.

The reason Easter is not held on a fixed Sunday every year is because Easter Sunday is held according to the ancient lunar calendar and occurs the Sunday after the first full moon following the spring equinox. Easter is held according to the lunar calendar because this is the calendar Jews used to mark the Passover festival, which was the time of Jesus entry to Jerusalem and his death and resurrection. But with various calendars out there, Western Churches (Roman Catholic and Protestant) rarely celebrate Easter on the same Sunday as Eastern Churches (those with roots in the Greek Orthodox Church) or at the same time Jews celebrate Passover.

Holy Week begins with Palm Sunday, when Jesus entered Jerusalem. It is called Palm Sunday because the crowds who welcomed Jesus waved palm branches in celebration – perhaps the ancient equivalent of a ticker tape parade. According to Matthew, Mark and Luke this was Jesus’ only visit to Jerusalem as an adult, which makes his travel to Jerusalem especially significant. Jesus entered Jerusalem as Jewish pilgrims from all over the Roman Empire came to celebrate Passover, a feast that remembered and celebrated the time when God stood against mighty Pharaoh and freed God’s people from slavery in Egypt.

Holy Week ends with Good Friday (or God’s Friday) when Jesus was crucified. What the Gospels make clear is that this week was clearly thought out by Jesus, and that while his disciples were surprised that the week ended with Jesus’ arrest and death, Jesus was not. Jesus was very intentional about how he entered Jerusalem (See Matthew 21:1-5), and about what he did in Jerusalem during the rest of the week. Post to follow will describe in detail the special worship services we hold during Holy Week

I Am the Light of the World

2009-03-05T08:55:00.001-05:00

Friends,

This week we continue with the "I am" sayings in the Gospel of John.

In the passage for Sunday Jesus heals a man blind from birth as a sign that Jesus is "the light of the world."

The miraculous feeding of thousands with bread and fish in chapter six gives occasion for Jesus to proclaim "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty."

Now, Jesus proclaims: "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life." John 8:12

The metaphor is first introduced in John 8:12 following Jesus' compassionate and forgiving approach to the woman caught in adultery. Then the metaphor is expanded in the healing of the blind man in chapter 9.

Light is introduced in the first chapter of the Bible, in Genesis 1 where "in the beginning God when created the heavens and the earth the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep... then God said, Let there be light; and there was light." In the final chapter of the Bible, Revelation 22:5, in the vision of the new heaven and new earth:"there will be no more light; they need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light."

In between the first chapter of Genesis and the final chapter of Revelation, light appears throughout the journey of God's people.

Abraham is promised in Genesis 22:17 that his offpsring will be as numerous "as the stars."

God appears to Moses in the light of a burning bush in Exodus 3.

The people are led out of slavery and travel to the promised land as led by a pillar of fire by night described in Exodus 40:38.

The people of God misunderstand who they are to be in God's world - and the prophet Isaiah calls them to understand themselves as a light to the world in Isaiah 42:6:

I am the Lord, I have called you in righteousness, I have taken you by the hand and kept you; I have given you as a covenant to the people, a light to the nations."

This image from Isaiah is surely in the mind of Christ as he declare himself the light of the world in the Gospel of John and as he speaks to his disciples in Mathtew 5:14-16:

You are the light of the world...let your light shine before others so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven."

To walk in the light is to walk in forgiveness - as illustrated in I John 1:5-9.

In the Gospel of John, there is always a figurative and a literal level of meaning. Jesus heals a blind man - and at the same time shows through the events around the healing that blindness is not physical, but spiritual.

True blindness is a darkness of the heart, a refusal to be open to the light of understanding in Christ. When we "see" Jesus, we see everything around us in a new light as well.

Friends, let us open our eyes to the light of the world and let us follow the example of Jesus, who reach out with his hands to touch a world in need. We are now the hands of Christ in the world.

The Gospel Lesson - John 9:1-41
9As he walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him. 4We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming when no one can work. 5As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” 6When he had said this, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man’s eyes, 7saying to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). Then he went and washed and came back able to see. 8The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar began to ask, “Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?” 9Some were saying, “It is he.” Others were saying, “No, but it is someone like him.” He kept saying, “I am the man.” 10But they kept asking him, “Then how were your eyes opened?” 11He answered, “The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ Then I went and washed and received my sight.” 12They said to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I do not know.” 13They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. 14Now it was a sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. 15Then the Pharisees also began to ask him how he had received his sight. He said to them, “He put mud on my eyes. Then I washed, and now I see.” 16Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not observe the sabbath.” But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?” And they were divided. 17So they said again to the blind man, “What do you say about him? It was your eyes he opened.” He said, “He is a prophet.” 18The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight 19and asked them, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?” 20His parents answered, “We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; 21but we do not know howit is that now he sees, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself.” 22His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed that anyone who confessed Jesus to be the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue. 23Therefore his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.” 24So for the second time they called the man who had been blind, and they said to him, “Give glory to God! We know that this man is a sinner.” 25He answered, “I do not know whether he is a sinner. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.” 26They said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” 27He answered them, “I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?” 28Then they reviled him, saying, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. 29We know that God has spoken toMoses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.” 30The man answered, “Here is an astonishing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. 31We know that God does not listen to sinners, but he does listen to one who worships him and obeys his will. 32Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. 33If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” 34They answered him, “You were born entirely in sins, and are you trying to teach us?” And they drove him out. 35Jesus heard that they had driven him out, and when he found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” 36He answered, “And who is he, sir? Tell me, so that I may believe in him.” 37Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and the one speaking with you is he.” 38He said, “Lord, I believe.” And he worshiped him. 39Jesus said, “I came into this world for judgment so that those who do not see may see, and those who do see may become blind.” 40Some of the Pharisees near him heard this and said to him, “Surely we are not blind, are we?” 41Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would not have sin. But now that you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains.

Pastoral Care in Economic Uncertainty

2009-03-02T22:30:00.002-05:00

There’s nothing like a snow day to find the time to attend to things that are important but that have no particular deadline. In staff meetings and in conversations throughout the church many of us have been wondering aloud about how the economic downturn and uncertainty are bringing unwanted change and causing broken dreams for millions through job loss, reduced retirement and college savings accounts and the drop in the housing market. How do we offer a Christian and pastoral response to what is happening?

As Presbyterians who stand in the Reformed tradition we affirm that God is not absent from these events. John Calvin, our theological godfather, insisted that God continues to govern the world. This conviction can be both comforting and unsettling. In the words of Psalm 139, whether we are in the highest heavens or the darkest depths, God is with us and we are not forsaken, for God’s hand shall lead us and God’s right hand shall hold us fast. But the unsettling question about God’s presence and rule is this: Has God caused our woes? I am not brave, foolish or, for that matter, wise enough to answer this question one way or another, but I can say with confidence that these times are not beyond God’s ability to redeem and heal.

Another important aspect of our Reformed tradition is that we take the Old Testament seriously. While the Old Testament gives us context for understanding Jesus, who was, after all, a Jew rooted in the traditions of Israel, those in the Reformed tradition have insisted that the Old Testament is every bit as important as the New Testament for understanding who God is and how God works in the world. A key Old Testament theme that is relevant for us is that of exile. In 587BC Jerusalem fell to and the Temple was destroyed by the Babylonian Empire’s armies. The confidence that God’s people had in the Holy City and in God’s presence in the Temple was shattered. All the institutions that had given God’s people a sense of meaning, purpose and identity were gone. I wonder if people who have lost jobs or taken a major blow to their investments can relate to this experience of exile. Just as Israel’s trust in its major institutions – the Temple, the kings who traced their lineage to the mighty David, their identity as residents of the Promised Land – was shaken to the core, so our trust in major institutions - financial institutions, corporate America, the economy, government, our careers - has also been shaken to the core.

As those who believe in God’s sovereignty and as those who believe the Old Testament is a reliable guide for understanding how God continues to act, perhaps we can understand our situation as one of exile. A key element in pastoral care at this time may not be to reassure people that everything will return to the way it was, but to help people face the truth that careers or companies or other institutions that provided a sense of identity and purpose can no longer provide these things. The most difficult work of the Old Testament prophets, especially Jeremiah, was convincing Jerusalem’s leaders and people that an irreversible and unwanted change was about to happen and that everyone had to enter into a time of exile when the old ways no longer worked. Old Testament scholar Walter Brueggemann speaks of this prophetic task as one of relinquishment, which requires us to go through the pain and grief of letting go of dreams that can no longer be fulfilled and ways of living that no longer match present realities.

But once we have relinquished old dreams and old ways of living we are able to receive from God new dreams, new ways, a new identity. This movement of relinquishing and receiving is mirrored in our baptism into the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. In baptism we die with Christ, we let go of old ambitions and habits. In baptism we are also resurrected with Christ, receiving new dreams and new ways of living.

I do not mean to sound all doom and gloom; I do not pretend to have more insight into our economic situation than anyone else. But, in the words of Jeremiah, God condemns those who “dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious. 'Peace, peace,' they say, when there is no peace” (Jeremiah 6:14). In this Lenten season where self examination encouraged as we pick up our cross and follow Jesus it may be a good time for us to consider what it is we may need to relinquish given the changed economic realities we are facing. What dreams of ours may go unfulfilled? How do our careers define who we are, whether for good or for ill? How is the economic uncertainty we are facing helping us to know what it is to die with Christ?

More posts will come with ideas for caring for those most effected by economic troubles. I invite you to click the “comment” link at the end of this post and join in the conversation.

Jesus says: "I Am..." focus for Lenten worship

2009-02-27T04:45:00.001-05:00

This Lenten season, we will focus in worship on the “I Am” sayings in the gospel of John. Jesus says “I Am” – in Greek transliterated “ei/mi” – forty-five times, including when other characters quote his words. The first is in 4:26, when Jesus says to the Samaritan woman at the well “I am he, the one who is speaking to you” in response to her “I know that Messiah is coming.” Literally, Jesus says: “I am, the one speaking with you.” Finally, on the way to the cross, Jesus declares “I am” three times, in a dramatic encounter .
These statements are intended to connect the earthly presence of Jesus with his divinity, for in the Hebrew Bible the meaning of God’s name is closely related to “I am.” In Hebrew, God’s name is indicated with four letters. This is often transliterated YHWH in English. YHWH is literally “I am.”
This first appears in Exodus 3:14 as God says to Moses, “I am who I am.” God continues addressing Moses, giving him a charge: “Say this to the people of Israel, I AM has sent me to you.”
In the Gospel of John, the second time Jesus refers to himself as “I am” is in chapter 6:20 when he speaks to the disciples in the midst of a storm, saying: “It is I; do not be afraid” as he walks on water toward them. Literally, Jesus says: “I am, do not be afraid.” John 6:35 is the focus for the first Sunday of Lent: “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” Jesus proclaims this after the miracle of feeding five thousand people from five barley loaves and two fish.
In John chapter 8 Jesus says: “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” Chapter ten brings a metaphor connected to the beloved 23rd Psalm: “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep,” “I know my own and my own know me.”
In John chapter 11 the raising of Lazarus from the dead is the setting for Jesus to proclaim: “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.” When Jesus washes the disciples’ feet the night before his death, he says: “You call me Teacher and Lord – and you are right, for that is what I am.” During the long discourse after the last meal and before his arrest, Jesus says: “I am the way, and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” In chapter 15 Jesus offers another metaphor: “I am the true vine, you are the branches.”
As Jesus is approached by those who wish to arrest him, “Jesus, knowing all that is to happen to him, comes forward and asks them, “Whom are you looking for?” They answer: “ Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus replies, “I am he, ” literally, “I am.” His answer causes them to step back and fall to the ground, such that they must ask the question one more time, and Jesus answers yet again. Finally, Jesus says: “I told you that I am (he) so, if you seek me, let these men go.” Thus, in this encounter on the way to the cross, Jesus says “I am” three times.
This Lenten season, may we encounter the Jesus who beckons us to come to him, saying “I am the one speaking with you;” “I am, do not be afraid!” “I am the bread of life! “ “I am the light of the world!” I am the good shepherd!” “I am the resurrection and the life!” “I am the way, the truth and the life!” “I am the vine!” and ultimately, “I am the one you are seeking!”

Blessings,

Brenda

Been to the Mountaintop?

2009-02-22T21:38:00.001-05:00

This past Sunday, February 22 was transfiguration Sunday, when we remember Jesus meeting with Moses and Elijah on a mountaintop as he prepared to journey to Jerusalem. Peter, James and John were with him, and when they showed more interest in Moses and Elijah God spoke and said, “This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!"

This past Sunday was also Youth Sunday, and as usual our youth did an excellent job leading us in worship. For the sermon several youth shared stories about how they have seen God as we remember how the disciples encountered God’s presence when Jesus was transfigured. The texts below give is perspective as to how earth shaking it is to encounter God, especially the passages from Exodus and Job. Hebrews and Timothy remind us of the uniqueness of God’s presence in Jesus Christ. How is the story of Jesus’ transfiguration connected to God’s appearance at Sinai in Exodus 19? What stories do we have about encountering God? I invite you to share them here by clicking the “comment” link at the end of the post.

Monday 2/23
Exodus 19:7-25
Hebrews 2:1-4

Tuesday 2/24
Job 19:23-27
I Timothy 3:14-16

Strength to Resist

2009-02-19T06:43:00.002-05:00

In addition to being Youth Sunday, this Sunday, February 22 is also the Sunday when we remember the transfiguration of Jesus, when he communed with Moses and Elijah, during which time his clothes became dazzling white. For those of you who have seen (or read) the Lord of the Rings series, you may remember Gandalf. When we first meet him he is known as Gandalf the Grey because of his grey robes and grey hair and beard. But after battling and defeating an ancient foe, Gandalf is transfigured and his hair, beard and robe are turned from dull and dirty grey to dazzling white.

But along with Gandalf’s dazzling appearance came a new sense of calling and purpose. Gandalf knew he must resist the growing presence of evil in the world and his transfiguration/resurrection gives him the clarity and the strength to resist and prevail over the evil forces afoot. In the Gospels it is after the transfiguration that, in the words of Luke, Jesus “sets is face to Jerusalem,” aware of what awaits him there. It is after Jesus talks to Moses and Elijah (both dead for centuries by this time) that he begins his journey to Jerusalem, where through the cross he confronts and defeats the evil forces afoot in the world.

Moses, with the guidance and strength of God, stood up to Pharaoh and demanded that God’s people be set free so they might serve their God instead of living as slaves in Egypt. In the Old Testament Moses represents God’s law, or instruction. Elijah represents the prophets. The readings from I Kings below remind us of the contentious relationship between God’s prophets and those in power. These two central figures from the Old Testament remind us that God has always stood against the worldly powers that would enslave us and turn us away from the life and goodness only God can grant. By communing with Moses and Elijah, with the Law and Prophets, with the fullness of God’s word to Israel, Jesus is gaining strength and clarity to resist evil through the most unusual means of the cross.

Transfiguration Sunday is always the last Sunday of the season of Epiphany, and it’s important to note the movement we experience through the church year. The “New Year” begins with Advent, where we anticipate the birth of Jesus, the fulfillment of God’s promise to Israel. At Christmas nature reflects what we celebrate: as we celebrate the birth of the light of the world, the days begin growing longer. During Epiphany we celebrate the appearance/revelation of Jesus as God’s Son: we remember God acclaiming Jesus as God’s beloved Son at baptism, we witness Jesus calling disciples and healing people as he begins his mission. The season of Epiphany always ends with the story of Jesus’ transfiguration, after which Jesus begins his journey to Jerusalem, the place of his crucifixion. Wednesday, Feb. 25 is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent, the season where we reflect on what it means to bear our cross as Jesus journeys to Jerusalem to bear his.

What worldly powers are we called to stand against? How does the cross shape the way we resist evil? The readings from the New Testament below offer us hope for our own transformation even as they remind us that the world will often turn a blind eye to God’s saving action in Jesus Christ. How is God transforming us? How does the world resist the transforming presence of Jesus?

Thursday, 2/19
I Kings 11:26-40
II Corinthians 2:12-17

Friday 2/20
I Kings 14:1-18
I Timothy 1:12-20

Saturday 2/21
I Kings 16:1-7
Luke 19:41-44

Read Psalm 50:1-6 each of these three days

In Sickness and In Health

2009-02-15T16:21:00.000-05:00

The readings for Sunday, February 15 focused on healings, whether the healing of lepers in 2 Kings and in Mark or the rejoicing of Psalm 30 as God turns mourning into dancing. The readings below help us gain some perspective on issues of sickness and healing. In 2 Chronicles, King Uzziah was stricken with leprosy because of his arrogance. In Acts Peter, who has no money to speak of, is nevertheless able to heal a crippled beggar. 2 Kings 7 tells the story of four lepers who, because they were outsiders, were able to discover an act of God. Job’s honesty in his suffering may help us give voice to our own struggles.

How do we understand God’s healing? How have either experiences of serious illness or the experience of caring for an ill loved one changed our perspective on the world? What are honest words we can offer about our experiences of illness and suffering?

Monday 2/16
2 Chronicles 26:1-21
Acts 3:1-10

Tuesday 2/17
2 Kings 7:3-10
I Corinthians 10:14-11:1

Wednesday 2/18
Job 30:16-31
John 4:46-54

Read Psalm 6 each of these three days

Social Lepers

2009-02-12T10:34:00.001-05:00

The readings for Sunday, February 15 tell stories of lepers being healed. The prophet Elisha healed Naaman, a five star general in the army of a rival nation. We also hear the story of Jesus healing an unnamed man of leprosy. We can’t be certain about what types of diseases are considered to be “leprosy” in these passages. Naaman was a prominent leader, having contact with many people, including his king, so it is unlikely he was contagious. It is not exactly clear why the Law of Moses viewed lepers as unclean. It is possible they were viewed as unclean because they were not “whole” or “all one thing;” portions of their skin were healthy, portions were not. But if a leper’s skin turned all white and there were no signs of infection or irritation they were to be considered clean because they were now wholly white. Remember, Leviticus (where these regulations regarding leprosy are found) also forbids garments made of more than one kind of fabric (no polyester blends!) and forbids the eating of shell fish because these creatures live in the sea but do not have scales or fins like a proper fish “should;” they are part fish because they live in the water, but they are also part something else because they do not have scales and fins. Because things like mixed-fiber garments and shell fish are not reckoned to be wholly one thing they are not considered holy and are therefore unclean.

It seems that while the lepers in these stories would have experienced discomfort they were not facing a life-threatening disease. The most difficult consequence of their disease would have been the social consequences; they were social lepers. While Naaman was a public figure, surely his very visible disease made people apprehensive. And the Jewish leper healed by Jesus was forbidden to be an active part of the community, both in everyday interactions and by being forbidden to participate in worship because he was reckoned unclean. These healings are not just about the healing of the body, but the restoring of right relationships between the (former) leper and other people and the (former) leper and God. Once healed of leprosy people regain their standing before God and before the human community.

The readings below help prepare us for Sunday by giving us an understanding how Israel understood leprosy and how lepers were to be treated. What are the differences between the stories of Naaman and the unnamed leper Jesus healed? Who are today’s lepers and what is it that puts them on the margins? How do we welcome those who perceive themselves as being marginal? In Exodus the priest performs a ritual that demonstrates to both the leper and to the community that the (former) leper has been restored to full and right relationship to God and to the community. Do we have any such rituals?

Thursday 2/12
Leviticus 13:1-17
Hebrews 12:7-13

Friday 2/13
Leviticus 14:1-20
Acts 19:11-20

Saturday 2/14
Leviticus 14:21-32
Matthew 26:6-13

Patience and Longing

2009-02-07T22:23:00.002-05:00

Our readings from Sunday, February 8 speak of hope and comfort (Isaiah), God’s work on behalf of the outcast and downtrodden (Psalm 147) Jesus manifesting God’s kingdom through healings and exorcism, and of Paul striving to remove any unnecessary roadblocks to the Gospel. The readings below help us reflect on the readings from Sunday. 2 Kings 4 helps us see that Jesus stands firmly in the prophetic tradition of Israel. The readings from Acts 14 and 2 Kings 8 reveal to us that healings performed by those who stand in Israel’s prophetic tradition, whether prophets such as Elisha or apostles such as Paul, generate mixed responses. Isaiah urges us to wait on the Lord, but Job, who had the patience of, well, Job, was not always so patient. His voice helps us to see that God does not expect us to wait silently, but welcomes our sometimes fiery cries of anguish and longing.

How do the readings from 2 Kings 4, Acts 14 and Mark 3 help us understand Jesus’ healing ministry? How does Job help us voice our own cries, even as Isaiah reminds us to be patient? How do we balance the tension between the fullness of God’s presence in Jesus and our longing for God’s to fulfill in full God’s promises?

Monday, 2/9
2 Kings 4:8-17, 32-37
Acts 14:1-7

Tuesday 2/10
2 Kings 8:1-6
Acts 15:36-41

Wednesday 2/11
Job 6:1-13
Mark 3:7-12

Read this portion of Psalm 102 each of these three days.

Sunday, February 8, 2009 Scripture Passages

2009-02-05T12:36:00.002-05:00

Friends,

The passages from Isaiah is familiar to many of us as it is often read at a service of Witness to the Resurrection. It is a passage of hope - expressing God's power and care for the world - and affirming that God is present with us in the challenges of life. Have you not known? Don't you remember? Think about it! The rhetorical questions call us to stop and reflect on what God has done in order to give us hope in the present. I find a thread of connection between this call to stop and reflect and the Mark passage in which Jesus takes time away to pray. We are called to remember! And this memory gives us hope in the present which sustains us!

Blessings,

Brenda

Isaiah 40:21-31
21Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? 22It is he who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them like a tent to live in; 23who brings princes to naught, and makes the rulers of the earth as nothing. 24Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown, scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth, when he blows upon them, and they wither, and the tempest carries them off like stubble. 25To whom then will you compare me, or who is my equal? says the Holy One. 26Lift up your eyes on high and see: Who created these? He who brings out their host and numbers them, calling them all by name; because he is great in strength, mighty in power, not one is missing.
27Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, “My way is hidden from the Lord, and my right is disregarded by my God”? 28Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. 29He gives power to the faint, and strengthens the powerless. 30Even youths will faint and be weary, and the young will fall exhausted; 31but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.

Mark 1:29-39
29As soon as they left the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. 30Now Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told him about her at once. 31He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up. Then the fever left her, and she began to serve them.
32That evening, at sundown, they brought to him all who were sick or possessed with demons. 33And the whole city was gathered around the door. 34And he cured many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him. 35In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed. 36And Simon and his companions hunted for him. 37When they found him, they said to him, “Everyone is searching for you.” 38He answered, “Let us go on to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do.” 39And he went throughout Galilee, proclaiming the message in their synagogues and casting out demons.

All Tangled Up

2009-02-05T07:49:00.001-05:00

In different ways the readings for Sunday, February 8 concern both the freedom of God and human freedom. Isaiah reminds us that God has no equal and that God helps the powerless find strength. The Psalmist reminds us of God’s liberating presence amongst the brokenhearted. Paul speaks of the freedom he has to adopt the habits and traditions of the people he’s around in order to make the gospel intelligible to them. In Mark we hear stories of the sick being cured and of demons being cast out. We tend to view these stories as healings, but for Mark these stories may not have been as much about the mentally or physically ill being made well as they are about those oppressed by evil being set free.

The readings below help prepare us for the Sunday readings. The readings from the wisdom literature – from Proverbs and Job – seek to persuade us that evil leads to enslavement and it is only God who moves and acts in true freedom, making the case that obedience to God is the path to human freedom. Isaiah 46 picks up this theme by drawing our attention to the incomparable nature of God. The readings from Paul – Galatians and I Corinthians – speak of the way Paul uses his freedom in light of human traditions. Matthew speaks of Jesus’ freedom in the face of traditions that would restrain most from acting.

How do we understand freedom – both God’s freedom and our own? To borrow from Proverbs, what are the things likely to ensnare us, tangling us up and limiting our freedom? How does God use God’s freedom? How does this inform how we use our own? May these readings prepare you for more active participation in worship this Sunday.

Thursday 2/5
Proverbs 12:10-21
Galatians 5:2-15

Friday 2/6
Job 36:1-23
I Corinthians 9:1-16

Saturday 2/7
Isaiah 46:1-13
Matthew 12:9-14

Read this portion of Psalm 147 each of these three days.

Food Fight!

2009-02-01T22:48:00.001-05:00

A theme from the readings for Sunday, February 1 is the relationship between knowledge and love. In Deuteronomy we hear the promise that God will raise up a prophet like Moses from the people of Israel who will lead the people in true knowledge of God. In the reading from Mark we are confronted with the disconnect between knowledge and love: the demon knows exactly who Jesus is (the “Holy One of God”) yet opposes God’s kingdom. In the reading from I Corinthians the church in Corinth knows that only the God of Israel, the Father of Jesus Christ, is real and that all idols are false and imaginary, yet they are tempted to use their liberty in a way that tears others down. In Paul’s words, knowledge (even true knowledge of God) puffs up, but love builds up. To skip ahead to I Corinthians 13 – the famous “wedding chapter” – faith, knowledge and prophecies are useless without love.

Our readings from Numbers highlight the strange relationship between knowledge and love. Balaam is something of a prophet, but he is a prophet allied with Israel’s enemies. On the one hand he acknowledges the God of Israel as true but he is forced to curse the Israelites by his king. The readings from Acts, I Corinthians and Jeremiah give us glimpses of how the church has helped followers of Jesus bring knowledge and love into a fruitful relationship with one another. The Acts reading is an attempt to allow Jews and Gentiles to share table fellowship with one another while respecting the traditions of the Jews and the honoring the liberty of the Gentiles. The compromise was to go back to the covenant God established not with Moses (which had very specific food laws) or with Abraham (which required male circumcision) but with the covenant God established with Noah, allowing for both the honoring of Jewish custom and Gentile liberty. Jeremiah’s instruction to Jewish exiles in Babylon and Paul’s teaching on marriage remind us that the place to balance knowledge of God’s will and love for God and one another is not in some future utopia, but here and now, when life is less than perfect.

In what ways do we struggle to bring knowledge and love together? If some of the major struggles and causes for division for the early church was over proper eating habits, what are the struggles that threaten to divide us? If the biblical story of God’s covenant with Noah helped bring clarity and resolution to these “food fights,” what biblical stories can help bring resolution to the conflicts we face? Below are the readings that help us reflect on this Sunday’s readings.

Monday 2/2
Numbers 22:1-21
Acts 21:17-26

Tuesday 2/3
Numbers 21:22-28
I Corinthians 7:32-40

Wednesday 2/4
Jeremiah 29:1-14
Mark 5:1-20

Read Psalm 35:1-10 each of these three days.

American Idolaters?

2009-01-28T16:33:00.000-05:00

Our readings for Sunday, February 1 are about prophets, demons and idols – all kinds of fun stuff! On Sunday we hear of Moses’ longing that all God’s people would be prophets, able to hear and share God’s word. Our readings from Deuteronomy give us some insight as to what being a prophet involves. On Sunday Crystal will be preaching and the New Testament focus will be the reading from I Corinthians, which focuses on the struggles the Christians in Corinth had when as they faced a culture filled with idols. For these disciples these idols were literal: idols to all kinds of Greek and Roman gods and goddesses. While our idols may not be as literal, they are no less real. According to the Reformers Martin Luther and John Calvin, we are all prone to be idolaters: we all offer our worship and allegiance to something, just not necessarily to the God revealed first through Israel and then through Jesus Christ. What idols do we make for ourselves (any ideas, Steelers’ fans?)? In our lives, what are the rivals that divert our attention and allegiance away from God? While we don’t struggle with eating meat because it may have been a sacrifice to a pagan idol, are there any areas of life that are difficult for us to navigate because of our allegiance to God? Here are readings that will help prepare us for Sunday:

Thursday 1/29
Deuteronomy 3:23-29
Romans 9:6-18

Friday 1/30
Deuteronomy 12:28-32
Revelation 2:12-17

Saturday 1/31
Deuteronomy 13:1-5
Matthew 8:28-9:1

Read Psalm 111 each of these three days

Here Comes Everybody

2009-01-26T15:14:00.000-05:00

Often when we think of God’s call we think of God’s call and claim upon individuals. But God’s claim rests upon communities as well. It can be easy to assume that churches are a collection of like-minded individuals who have decided to band together out of common convictions; God calls us individually, so we are part of a church. While few people join churches if they find little they agree with, this does not mean we can assume all members are in agreement about what the priorities and guiding convictions of a congregation should be.

While God does indeed call individuals, God also calls communities to action; we are part of a church, so God calls us to ministry and mission, especially to work that cannot be accomplished by any one individual. Our readings for this week, which help us reflect on the readings for Sunday, January 25, remind us that God’s call is not just to individual prophets and apostles, but to communities. God called Abraham not to be an extraordinary person, but to be the father of the Israelite community. God called all of Israel, not just Jacob, to settle in Egypt. God’s wisdom calls out to whoever will listen, not to singularly gifted individuals. Mark reminds us that Jesus formed a community of twelve disciples that evoke the memory of the twelve tribes of Israel. Paul reminds us of the surprising truth that God is much more likely to call us to remain where we are and as we are as we serve God; radical discipleship is possible even if we don’t sell all we have to become missionaries in the far corners of the world. Acts reminds us that God’s claim is not always obvious – sometimes only time can tell if we are going in the right direction.

What do you think God is calling TCPC to do? How is God claiming us as a community for service?

Monday 1/26
Genesis 12:1-9
I Corinthians 7:17-24

Tuesday 1/27
Genesis 45:25-46:7
Acts 5:33-42

Wednesday 1/28
Proverbs 8:1-21
Mark 3:13-19a

Read Psalm 46 each of these three days

Tough Love

2009-01-22T05:20:00.000-05:00

Our readings for Sunday, January 25 focus on the call of Prophets (Jonah) and Apostles (Simon Peter and Andrew, James and John). It is common for us to assume the Old Testament prophets are about God’s wrath while the New Testament apostles are about God’s grace. But the readings below, from both Testaments, tell of proclamations of judgment. These are not easy or comfortable words for us to hear – there seems to be no “Good News” in them.

Some have likened the spiritual disciplines to the practice of medicine because they focus on curing the soul of all that would pull it away from God. In many ways the readings that prepare us for Sunday are like a dire diagnosis, for they reveal to us the dire condition of the world. The theologian Karl Barth likened the cross, which is the ultimate revelation of the world’s rebellion against God, to a notice that a building has been condemned because it is no longer safe to live in. A building often needs to be condemned before it can be rebuilt. In a similar way prophets and apostles reveal the faulty foundations of the world not so they can gloat or point fingers, but to prepare the world for God’s new creation. What ills and faulty foundations do these readings reveal to you?

Thursday, 1/22
Jeremiah 19:1-15
Revelation 18:11-20

Friday 1/23
Jeremiah 20:7-13
2 Peter 3:1-17

Saturday 1/24
Jeremiah 20:14-18
Luke 10:13-16

Read Psalm 62:5-12 each of these three days

TCPC Visioning Process Begins

2009-01-20T13:13:00.002-05:00

A word about the TCPC Visioning Process:

Many of you know that we are embarking on a visioning process with Barry Watkins, faciliator and chair, along with Barclay Bradshaw, Anna Bryant, Sean Healy, Cecil Martin, Bruce Osborne, and myself as the staff resource. As our visioning process continues I would like to share with you an excerpt from the resource we have been using entitled Holy Conversations: Strategic Planning as a Spiritual Practice for Congregations, published by the Alban Institute. I am summarzing this excerpt, which points out the important of both flexibility and structure in the planning process as well as the importance of both vision and management in the task of leadership!

The story of Exodus reminds us that leadership is a dance in which we focus on the future while we simultaneously manage the specific realities of the present day. The relationship of Moses and Aaron points to the need for balance in this “dance” between a focus on the future and a focus on the tasks of the present moment. Moses’ task was to envision the future.

It was Moses who went off alone to encounter Go d face to face. He would return with new energy, a sense of direction, and a visible radiance from the encounter. Aaron, on the other hand, was the voice of management. He structured the trip from day to day, organizing task, assigning responsibilities and making decisions. It was the visionary Moses who, alone on the mountain with God, received the commandments. It was Aaron who waited below with the people, organizing daily life and trying to address the needs and anxieties of the people.

The irony of this story is that just as Moses was receiving the commandment not to make graven images, Aaron was working below with the people busy creating the very same images in an effort to offer a visible leader. (Exodus 32:1-35). One of the lessons here is that both Moses and Aaron were needed for the journey. Leadership needs to search for vision and ask the big questions of purpose and identity. Management needs to take care of the travel – determining the steps to take, giving people appropriate tasks, and making clear decisions.

The risk is in letting Moses and Aaron get too far apart. It was when Moses and Aaron, vision and management, got disconnected that things fell apart. A planning process cannot be all vision without structure and direction. Neither can the planning process simply be a list of tasks or exercises that will magically lead somewhere. The leader and the planning team must be willing to dance between Moses and Aaron – to slow down enough to allow vision to take shape while also structuring a plan that will assist the people to move toward a future. Being flexible about the planning process allows the congregation to be open to discernment. Being structured about the planning process allows the congregation to move ahead and make progress on the journey. In other words, a planning process cannot be all vision without structure and direction. Neither can the planning process simply be a list of tasks or exercises.

I look forward to taking this journey with you!

Pastor Brenda

Jonah: Not Too Hard to Swallow

2009-01-19T14:18:00.002-05:00

Friends,

The passages for this coming Sunday are from Jonah and Mark.

The calling of Peter and Andrew, James and John in the gospel of Mark contrasts with the call of Jonah. The four fishermen follow immediately, while Jonah rebels and follows only reluctantly and only after God has chased him down. Interestingly, Jonah knows exactly what God wants him to do and turns away from it. The fishermen, on the other hand, do not have a clu as to what their lives are about to come, yet they are ready to follow Jesus.

Together the texts speak of God's claim on our lives and our responsibility to answer when God calls.

We don't know that it was a whale that swallowed Jonah. However, we do know that whales communicate with one another. Can you imagine the convesation? "Yeah, I caught a man. But you should have seen the one that got away."

Jonah was a "good catch" for God. It is as if the further Jonah runs, the more he convinces God that he is worth chasing after! If Jonah has such will and determination to ignore God that he will go to such extremes to run in the opposite direction, imagine the passion with which he would follow God, once his energy was channeled in the right direction? The very qualities that make Jonah run fast in the opposite direction are what make him desirable to God.

We can make ourselves as ridiculous as possible in our efforts to escape God. But the very intensity and absurdity adn even the painfulness of our flight shos God just how much potential passion we have locked inside us. God may laugh, but God will not abandon us.

Jonah 3:1-10

3The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time, saying, 2“Get up, go to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim to it the message that I tell you.” 3So Jonah set out and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly large city, a three days’ walk across. 4Jonah began to go into the city, going a day’s walk. And he cried out, “Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!”
5And the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast, and everyone, great and small, put on sackcloth. 6When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. 7Then he had a proclamation made in Nineveh: “By the decree of the king and his nobles: No human being or animal, no herd or flock, shall taste anything. They shall not feed, nor shall they drink water. 8Human beings and animals shall be covered with sackcloth, and they shall cry mightily to God. All shall turn from their evil ways and from the violence that is in their hands. 9Who knows? God may relent and change his mind; he may turn from his fierce anger, so that we do not perish.” 10When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil ways, God changed his mind about the calamity that he had said he would bring upon them; and he did not do it.

Mark 1:14-20
14Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, 15and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.” 16As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the sea—for they were fishermen. 17And Jesus said to them, “Follow me and I will make you fish for people.” 18And immediately they left their nets and followed him. 19As he went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in their boat mending the nets. 20Immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed him.

Claim Check

2009-01-19T14:00:00.000-05:00

During the season of Epiphany the stories of God appearing to and calling people to serve remind us that God continues to call and claim us for God’s service. The readings from Sunday, January 18 were the story of God calling Samuel to be a prophet and of Jesus calling disciples to follow him. Another related theme in Epiphany is that of anointing and baptism. The word Christ means “anointed one,” and in our baptism we are anointed for service in the name of Christ. The first Sunday of Epiphany is always the story of Jesus’ baptism, and the prophet Samuel is a key figure because he anointed Israel’s first two kings, Saul and David. The Readings from I Samuel speak of the sometimes stormy relationship between Samuel/God and Saul. How does the sometimes challenging relationship between God and God’s anointed, such as Saul and David, help us describe and navigate our own relationships with God?

The New Testament readings on Monday and Tuesday remind us that Christ’s claim upon us is indeed significant. II Corinthians 6 reminds us of this, as does the hard story of Ananias and Sapphira, who, in the presence of God, claimed to be something they were not. Both these readings are sobering, reminding us of the seriousness of God’s claim upon us.

When God called Samuel, Samuel was still a child and Wednesday’s readings remind us of the way God welcomes and blesses children, even those in very difficult situations, such as Ishmael, who we hear about in Genesis 16.

How do these readings help us understand God’s claim upon us? What questions do they raise for our own discipleship?

Monday, 1/19
I Samuel 9:27-10:8
II Corinthians 6:14-7:1

Tuesday 1/20
I Samuel 15:10-31
Acts 5:1-1

Wednesday 1/21
Genesis 16:1-14
Luke 18:15-17

Read Psalm 86 each of these three days

Surfing the Edge of Chaos

2009-01-14T15:39:00.000-05:00

There has probably never been a generation that has not imagined itself to be facing some kind of crisis, whether this crisis be economic, moral, political, social, or international, such as wars. When we face a crisis our instinct is to seek out safety, to find safe harbor before the storm hits. When the crisis is upon us we tend to circle the wagons and hunker down for safety. We expect God to lead us to safety in such times, and if not spare us from the crisis, then at least minimize its impact upon us.

But what if this is not the way God works in our lives? What if instead of fleeing from the storm God leads us into it? Our Scripture readings for Sunday, January 18 are stories about God calling the judge and prophet Samuel and about Jesus calling disciples. The readings below prepare us for these call stories by telling the story of why God raised up judges such as Samuel and leaders such as Jesus.

God called leaders and Jesus called disciples not so they could flee from the struggles of the people around them, but so they could engage these struggles and bear witness to God’s presence in the midst of struggle and need. In leadership theory deliberately engaging problems, issues and needs that have no easy answers or clear solutions is known as surfing the edge of chaos. The chaos generated by these crises forces organizations (and congregations) to either adapt to and face the crisis, finding energy and vitality as they do so, or to retreat and lose energy, risking death. The challenge is to engage chaos enough to find energy and vitality, but not so much that an organization will fall apart.

What crises are we facing? What kind of storm may God be leading us into? How can we find energy and life as we engage them? What risks may be involved?

Thursday, 1/15
Judges 2:6-15
II Corinthians 10:1-11

Friday 1/16
Judges 2:16-23
Acts 13:16-25

Saturday 1/17
I Samuel 2:21-25
Matthew 25:1-13

Read these verses of Psalm 139 each of these three days

Half Baptized in Water?

2009-01-11T18:50:00.003-05:00

The readings for Sunday, January 11 were about Jesus’ baptism, which marked the beginning of his public ministry. Our baptism marks the beginning of our ministry, where we share in Christ’s mission. As many of you know not all Christian denominations practice baptism in the same way. Catholic, Lutheran, Reformed (including the Presbyterian Church), Anglican and Methodist churches, among others, practice infant baptism, linking the practice of baptism to the practice of infant circumcision in Israel. For these churches baptism is a sacrament, where God does something in the life of a person (even an infant), cleansing them from sin and giving them the Holy Spirit.

Other denominations, the Baptists being the most prominent, practice “believer’s baptism,” where an individual is required to make an explicit profession of faith before they can be baptized. Baptism is not a divine action as much as it is a human response to God’s grace. In these traditions baptism is not a sacrament in which God acts, but an ordinance, something done because it is commanded by God.

But from the Reformed camp a prominent voice has called into question the practice of infant baptism. Karl Barth, arguably the most prominent Reformed theologian since the reformation, was a Swiss pastor and theologian who witnessed both world wars and the failure of the Church to prevent or oppose these wars. Barth also knew that many, if not most, of the German leaders who advocated war and the Holocaust were baptized as infants. Barth believed too many Christians were “half baptized,” never taught by the Church what it means that God has claimed them to be a distinct presence in the world. In his later years Barth became a critic of infant baptism because of its failure to create disciples who could renounce and resist the presence of evil in the world (click here for a summary of Barth’s view).

TCPC has been blessed to have celebrated many infant baptisms in 2008. How can we teach and train these infants to renounce evil and embody Christ’s presence? How can we prevent producing children, youth and adults who live as those who are “half baptized,” who instead embrace a full life of discipleship? How do these texts below enrich our understanding of baptism?

Monday 1/12
Genesis 17:1-13
Romans 4:1-12

Tuesday 1/13
Exodus 30:22-38
Acts 22:2-16

Wednesday 1/14
Isaiah 41:14-20
John 1:29-34

Read these verses from Psalm 69 each of these three days.

The Christ Identity

2009-01-07T09:35:00.001-05:00

I read far too many spy novels and watch too many spy movies. Among my favorite are Robert Ludlum’s Bourne trilogy, which have also been made into movies (the movies differ in many ways from the books, and I’m that much of a geek that I saw the movies, read the books and saw the movies again to compare). In the movies water plays a significant role. The first time we meet Jason Bourne he is floating in the Mediterranean Sea, near death, and his injuries have caused memory loss – he does not know who he is, and in the movies he both searches for his identity as a CIA covert operative and assassin and rebels against this identity. In the second movie Jason, along with his beloved Marie, is on the run, living for the moment in India. His enemies find him and his car is driven into the sacred Ganges River. Marie is killed in the crash and Jason gives her one last kiss, to say goodbye and to draw oxygen from her to survive. In the last movie we find that as a recruit Jason Bourne (whose real name is David Webb) was water boarded to break him down so he could be trained. In the last scene of the movie Jason, escaping from his enemies, plunged ten stories into the East River in Manhattan. For a time his body seems lifeless, but the theme music begins and he starts swimming through the waters. In the Bourne movies the waters are dangerous – Jason nearly died in the waters in each movie, the waters took his beloved Marie – but they also give him a new life. By losing his memory and the Bourne identity drilled into him Jason Bourne/David Webb is able to embrace a new life free from the violence and loneliness of his past. As he swims away in the third movie he passing through the waters and beginning a new life.

The Readings for Sunday, January 11 tell the story of Jesus’ baptism. For the Hebrews water was dangerous. In the beginning the world was a watery void unfit for life. In the flood God returned the world to a place of watery chaos so God could begin the world anew. When the waters raged on the Sea of Galilee, little wonder that the disciples were so terrified – they were shaped by stories of the fearfulness of the waters. These waters of baptism are deadly waters, waters through which we share in Jesus’ death, where we die to the power of sin within us and in the world. They rob us of our identity as sinners and those who stand outside of God’s promise and God’s kingdom. The waters of baptism are life giving. They give us a new identity as those redeemed by God. Through them we share in Jesus’ resurrection and are made alive to God and God’s good purpose for us and for the world. They are dangerous waters, making us friends with God but enemies to the fallen powers that have so much power in the world. The Old Testament readings for the next three days tell the story of God calling and anointing kings; “Christ” simply means anointed one. They remind us of the political nature of baptism, that baptism is about being part of a visible community living under God’s rule and not the rule of sin and death. The New Testament readings remind us that baptism is an entry point into discipleship, that in baptism we are given the grace to hear and to follow Jesus. The texts below prepare us to understand the story of Jesus’ baptism/anointing. How do we hear God’s dangerous, deadly and life giving voice and call in baptism? What do we die to in baptism? What are the dangers of being aligned with God while in the midst of the fallen world?

Thursday 1/8
I Samuel 3:1-21
Acts 9:10-19a

Friday 1/9
I Samuel 16:1-13
I Timothy 4:11-16

Saturday 1/10
I Kings 2:1-4, 10-12
Luke 5:1-11

Read Psalm 29 each of these three days

Word of the Father Now in Flesh Appearing

2009-01-04T07:58:00.001-05:00

The festival of Epiphany is celebrated on January 6. This is where we get the twelve days of Christmas, marking the twelve days between the Christ Mass and the celebration of Epiphany. The focal story of Epiphany is the visit of the magi who bring gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh to the infant Jesus and his family. The reason this is an important event is because it is seen as a fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies that speak of the nations bringing their wealth to Israel. All the Sunday texts for Epiphany are focused on encounters with Christ: Jesus being declared by God as God’s Son at his baptism, Jesus meeting and calling disciples to follow him, the sick encountering Jesus’ healing.

The texts below help prepare us for this season of Epiphany. The texts for Wednesday are particularly revealing, helping us see the connection between Pharaoh, who ordered all newborn Hebrew males to be drowned in the Nile because he feared the Hebrew population was growing to large, and Herod, who at the time of Jesus ordered all male infants and toddlers in Bethlehem be killed because he was afraid of the newborn king of the Jews. While Christ’s presence is gracious, it is also disruptive.

Monday 1/05
Proverbs 22:1-9
Luke 6:27-31

Tuesday 1/06 (Epiphany of the Lord)
Scripture Readings for Epiphany

Wednesday 1/07
Exodus 1:22-2:10
Hebrews 11:27-28

Read Psalm 110 each of these three days

2008-12-31T10:39:00.001-05:00

We are now in the season of Epiphany. In our use of the word an epiphany is a sudden realization, a flash of insight. In ancient times an epiphany was a visit from a divine being. January 6 is the festival of Epiphany, when we remember the visit of the Magi to the holy family, found in Matthew 2. Seeing the star in the heavens these astrologers had an epiphany in both senses of the word: they had the realization that this star was a sign of something significant, and this star was God’s way of getting their attention. A key part of the season of Epiphany is seeing the global/cosmic scope of God’s work in Christ. In the beginning of Matthew’s Gospel it is gentiles who first honor the birth of Christ. At the end of the gospel Jesus sends his disciples to make disciples of all nations; the words “gentile” and “nations” have the same root word in Greek. From the beginning God’s action in Jesus has had global implications. While we will not be celebrating Epiphany in worship on January 6, you can find the texts for this celebration here.

Here are our texts for Sunday, January 4. These readings focus on God’s presence and actions in the world, describing God not merely as the god of a particular people, such as Israel or the Church, but as God of all creation and all peoples and nations. One of the ways John’s Gospel speaks of Jesus is as the Logos, or the Word/Wisdom of God. The readings below help prepare us for the Sunday readings, guiding us as we respond to God’s presence and wisdom revealed and made flesh in Jesus Christ. What wisdom for living in God’s presence do we gain from these readings?

Thursday, 1/1
Revelation 21:1-6
Matthew 25:31-46

Friday, 1/2
Proverbs 1:1-7
James 3:13-18

Saturday 1/3
Proverbs 1:20-33
James 4:1-10

Do You Have the Time?

2008-12-20T16:41:00.000-05:00

The season of Advent helps us know the time. One the one hand (perhaps the minute hand on the clock) we live in a time of expectation. We have listened to the longings of the prophets for God’s new day to come, for sorrow to be replaced with joy, for the proud to be scattered and the humble gathered in the safety of God’s presence. On the other hand (perhaps the hour hand, as the clock is striking a new time) we believe these longings are starting to be fulfilled even now. Even now God is setting a table for the hungry. Even now God is comforting those who mourn. Even now God’s light is piercing the darkness. Even now we see the dawn of God’s new kingdom. In their own way these readings from Zephaniah, Romans, Ecclesiastes and James help us know the time as we celebrate God as God fulfills God’s promise through the birth, the life and the death and resurrection of Jesus. According to these readings, what is the time?

Monday 12/22
Zephaniah 3:8-13
Roman 10:5-13

Tuesday 12/23
Zephaniah 3:13-20
Romans 13:11-14

Wednesday 12/24
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
James 1:17-18

Read Psalm 96 each of these three days

God's Dwelling Place

2008-12-17T19:45:00.000-05:00

The readings below are given to prepare us for the readings for Saturday Dec. 20 and Sunday Dec. 21. The Sunday reading from 2 Samuel is about how God chooses to dwell with us. The readings below from 2 Samuel help give us a glimpse of the awesome, and sometimes fearsome, nature of God’s presence with us. The readings from Hebrews may seem strange to us, with their talk of the role of Jesus compared to the role of angels. The goal of the book of Hebrews is to show how Jesus both fulfills and surpasses they ways people encountered God in the Old Testament, including angelic visitations, which play a key role in the Christmas story. The reading from Judges is about the role of angels in the birth of Samson, a ruler during a very turbulent time in Israel. Like Jesus and John his birth was announced by an angel, and the instructions given to Samson’s parents are similar to the one’s given to John the Baptizer’s parents.

How do the readings from 2 Samuel help us understand what it means for Jesus (and his body, the church) to be God’s dwelling place? How does the story of Samson’s birth set the tone for Jesus’ birth? While Jesus’ supremacy over angels may not be a pressing issue for us, what are contemporary rivals to Jesus’ role as the bearer of God’s presence?

Thursday 12/18
2 Samuel 6:1-11
Hebrews 1:1-4

Friday 12/19
2 Samuel 6:12-19
Hebrews 1:5-14

On Being Prophetic People

2008-12-13T20:42:00.000-05:00

The readings for Sunday, December 14, the third Sunday of Advent, focus on John the Baptizer and his role in preparing the way for Jesus, God’s son and chosen servant. In the Gospels John is understood as a type of Elijah who prepares the way for the Messiah. These readings follow up on the Sunday texts and give us a glimpse into the life of the Old Testament prophet Elijah. Elijah spent much of his time as a prophet in conflict with Ahab and Jezebel, king and queen of Israel. How do these Old Testament texts help us understand what the ministry of a prophet is? How does John resemble Elijah, and how does Elijah shape how we understand John and Jesus? How is being prophetic both a spiritual and social/political calling? How do we in the church share in this prophetic calling?

The readings from the New Testament describe how God’s people contend against worldly powers. As those who stand in the tradition of prophets such as Elijah and John, what worldly powers do we contend against? How can we “take on Elijah’s mantle?”

Monday 12/15
I Kings 18:1-18
Ephesians 6:10-17

Tuesday 12/16
II Kings 2:9-22
Acts 3:17-4:4

Wednesday 12/17
Malachi 3:16-4:6
Mark 9:9-13

Read Psalm 125 each of these three days

The Time is at Hand

2008-12-10T14:59:00.000-05:00

The readings for the next three days are meant to prepare us for the readings this Sunday, December 14. The readings for this Sunday are also about John the Baptizer, who was called by God to prepare the way for God’s servant and son, Jesus Christ. The readings from the prophet Habakkuk take place as Habakkuk was just about to witness God in action. The readings from Philippians speak of Paul’s strivings in light of the nearness of God.

How have we felt just before a momentous event – the night before we left for our first year of college, the hour before our wedding, the final days of pregnancy, in the car on our way to the first day of a new job? As we prepare during Advent we believe God has done something decisive for the world in Jesus Christ. How do we live given the nearness of God, given that now is the time for God to fulfill God’s promises? How do Habakkuk and Paul experience the nearness of God? Advent is a time of waiting and preparation, but it is not endless waiting. How do we experience the nearness of God as waiting gives way to fulfillment?

Thursday 12/11
Habakkuk 2:1-5
Philippians 3:7-11

Friday 12/12
Habakkuk 3:2-6
Philippians 3:12-16

Saturday 12/13
Habakkuk 3:13-19
Matthew 21:-28-32

Read Psalm 126 each of these three days

The Way of Baptismal Rhythm

2008-12-06T16:35:00.000-05:00

The texts for Sunday December 7/Saturday December 13 evoke images of John the Baptist. In Isaiah we hear of the voice calling in the wilderness asking us to prepare the way of the Lord, and Mark identifies this voice as that of John the Baptist. The Old Testament Readings and the reading from Luke help us explore what this “Way of the Lord” looks like. How do these texts describe the way of the Lord?

The readings from Acts focus on what it means to be part of the community of the baptized. We usually think of baptism as an event, but it is more about a rhythm of dying and rising with Christ. How do these readings describe this rhythm of dying and rising with Christ? What clues to these texts give us about the core practices of a community that seeks to die and rise with Christ?

On way to enter into this baptismal rhythm is through the practice of daily prayer. For guidance on this practice see this section of the church’s website, which has forms of morning and evening prayer that can be practiced by individuals, families or larger groups.

Monday 12/8
Isaiah 27:7-15
Acts 2:37-42

Tuesday 12/9
Isaiah 4:2-6
Acts 11:1-18

Wednesday 12/10
Malachi 2:10-3:1
Luke 1:5-17

Read Psalm 27 daily

Preparing the Way

2008-12-02T10:05:00.001-05:00

The texts for Sunday, December 7/Saturday Dec 13 invite us to prepare the way of the Lord. This phrase is prominent for the Prophet Isaiah, who proclaimed that God would gather Israel, who had been scattered among the nations, and lead them home. It is also prominent for John the Baptizer, who prepared the way for Jesus. But what is it we are preparing for? In the readings for readings for Sunday, November 30 we are given traumatic images of the coming of the Lord – the heavens torn open, the sun and moon go dark, stars fall from the sky the mountains shake. But in Isaiah 40 we prepare to receive God’s comfort, to hear God’s tender voice. In Psalm 85 we hear that righteousness and peace are close at hand. How do the passages below that prepare us for the Sunday texts, and how do they help us hold together the tension between the earth-shattering and the comforting nature of the God for whose presence we wait?

This blog format is designed for interaction, so please share any thoughts, insights, or struggles you have with these readings. The listed readings are all linked to an online Bible, so you can share in these readings whether a Bible is close by or not.

Thursday 12/4
Hosea 6:1-6
I Thessalonians 1:2-10

Friday 12/5
Jeremiah 1:4-10
Acts 11:19-26

Saturday 12/6
Ezekiel 36:24-28
Mark 11:27-33

Read Psalm 85:1-2, 8-13 each day

Our Longings and the Longings of Prophets and Apostles

2008-11-26T08:55:00.000-05:00

Advent has begun, and this season of waiting reminds us that all of creation still cries out for redemption, and it points us to the promise of the kingdom of God which is to come. This is why Advent always begins with readings from the Gospels that anticipate "the coming day of our Lord Jesus Christ." Another way the readings for Advent help shape our hope and give voice to our longings is by calling us to the voices of the psalmists and prophets who longed for God's Messiah, God's Christ, God's chosen servant who would redeem God's people.

Here are the readings for Sunday, November 30, the first Sunday of Advent. The readings listed below are meant to complement and help you reflect on the texts for Sunday. They do not necessarily explain away the parts of the Sunday reading we find strange. Instead they help us to know the longings of the prophets and the way the early church imagined the coming of the kingdom of God. They are meant not primarily to explain, but to change our own point of view so we see from the vantage point of the prophets and apostles. All of these readings are linked to an online Bible, so if you click on them you will be taken to the text.

This blog format is designed for interaction, so please share any thoughts, insights, or struggles you have with these readings. How do these readings (both from Sunday and the “follow up passages”) help give voice to your longings? What surprised you in these readings? How do they (or how do they fail) to shape your hope for the future? What are challenges we need to wake up to face? This is truly meant to be a community commentary that helps us share both our discoveries and struggles as we listen to God’s word together.

Monday 12/1:
Micah 4:1-5
Revelation 15:1-8

Tuesday 12/2:
Micah 4:6-13
Revelation 18:1-10

Wednesday 12/3:
Micah 5:1-5a
Luke 21:34-38

Read Psalm 79 each of these three days