Dec. 28, 2014 Christmas 1

Luke 2:34,35

34 Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, 35 so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.”

Jesus came as a sign; a sign of God’s love.  A sign to be spoken for or against.

Many spoke against Jesus in his days - those who loved their religious ritual and formalism more then a living faith.  They didn’t want to lose their importance as religious leaders to one who would make it so easy to be a child of God. The Rich Young Ruler spoke against Jesus; he wanted to buy his way in, not enter through the grace of God. The Pharisee’s spoke against Jesus - they were too proud to live by grace.

The question we all have to struggle with is “Do I speak against the sign God has given us?”

With Christmas over -
do I live as one who has
celebrated it’s mystery
and experienced its joy?

 

Dec 21, 2014 Advent 4

Luke 1:26--38 (The Message)
26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to the Galilean village of Nazareth 27 to a virgin engaged to be married to a man descended from David. His name was Joseph, and the virgin's name, Mary. 28 Upon entering, Gabriel greeted her: Good morning! You're beautiful with God's beauty, Beautiful inside and out! God be with you. 29 She was thoroughly shaken, wondering what was behind a greeting like that. 30 But the angel assured her, "Mary, you have nothing to fear. God has a surprise for you: 31 You will become pregnant and give birth to a son and call his name Jesus. 32 He will be great, be called 'Son of the Highest.' The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David; 33 He will rule Jacob's house forever - no end, ever, to his kingdom." 34 Mary said to the angel, "But how? I've never slept with a man." 35 The angel answered, The Holy Spirit will come upon you, the power of the Highest hover over you; Therefore, the child you bring to birth will be called Holy, Son of God. 36 "And did you know that your cousin Elizabeth conceived a son, old as she is? Everyone called her barren, and here she is six months' pregnant! 37 Nothing, you see, is impossible with God." 38 And Mary said, Yes, I see it all now: I'm the Lord's maid, ready to serve. Let it be with me just as you say. Then the angel left her. Blessed Among Women

It is incredible - that Dr. Luke  would report that a young woman would conceive without a man in her life; that Elizabeth, Mary, and Joseph would believe what they were told by angles. It is incredible -not that God could do it.  But that they believed it would be done through them!

The miracle of Christmas you see, is not that God was born of a virgin, but that a virgin believed God was to be born through her.  Not that the Holy Spirit caused Mary to conceive, but that Joseph (and Mary) believed it was the Holy Spirit who did it.

 “The miracle of Christ as Virgin-born,
is a trifle for the mighty God.  That God
becomes a man is an even greater miracle.
But the most amazing of them all is that
the maiden finds the angle’s message credible
and that the Child he promised would be hers.”
                     Martin Luther








Prayer thoughts for the week:
“Lord, help me to believe in the miracle of Christmas.
And walk with Mary and Joseph in a faith active in love.”

Dec 14, 2014 Advent 3

John 1:6-8, 24-27 (The Message)

6 There once was a man, his name John, sent by God 7 to point out the way to the Life-Light. He came to show everyone where to look, who to believe in. 8 John was not himself the Light; he was there to show the way to the Light. …
24 Those sent to question him were from the Pharisee party. 25 Now they had a question of their own: "If you're neither the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet, why do you baptize?" 26 John answered, "I only baptize using water. A person you don't recognize has taken his stand in your midst. 27 He comes after me, but he is not in second place to me. I'm not even worthy to hold his coat for him."

“Love came down at Christmas,
love all lovely, love divine;
love was born at Christmas,
star and angles gave the sign.”

And the world did not know him...
And his own people did not recognize him.
And as strange as it sounds. even among us,  more often then we would like to think,
he stands as “One whom we do not know.”

He is among us in places we least expect, in people we find it difficult to be civil toward let alone love and in ways we are far from wanting to take as our way on this earth.  For His way is the way of love and that is the hardest thing for us to come to in this world.  We say we know what love is yet we reject it as the way to run our world.

It is too soft, we say; too sentimental, too easy, too forgiving.  It’s a good way to get yourself killed,  And of course, that’s exactly what happened to this Baby who commands so must attention at this time of the year.
   
Without love, as Paul reminds us so emphatically in his hymn to love, no matter what we do or believe, we are nothing!






That’s what makes this season such a
powerful time of the year.  This is no
casual thing we are celebrating.
This is the cosmic event of all time!












Prayer thoughts for the week:  “Lord, open my eyes to see Jesus in human form-
in those I know not yet am called to love and in those I least expect him to be yet
there he is. Loving, serving, giving hope to the hopeless and a hand to the needy.”

Dec 7, 2014 Advent 2

Mark 1:1-8  (The Message)

1 The good news of Jesus Christ - the Message! - begins here, 2 following to the letter the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. Watch closely: I'm sending my preacher ahead of you; He'll make the road smooth for you. 3 Thunder in the desert! Prepare for God's arrival! Make the road smooth and straight! 4 John the Baptizer appeared in the wild, preaching a baptism of life-change (repentance) that leads to forgiveness of sins. 5 People thronged to him from Judea and Jerusalem and, as they confessed their sins, were baptized by him in the Jordan River into a changed life. 6 John wore a camel-hair habit, tied at the waist with a leather belt. He ate locusts and wild field honey. 7 As he preached he said, "The real action comes next: The star in this drama, to whom I'm a mere stagehand, will change your life. 8 I'm baptizing you here in the river, turning your old life in for a kingdom life. His baptism - a holy baptism by the Holy Spirit - will change you from the inside out."

Today we are reminded not to rush headlong into our celebration of Christmas.  To not start the celebrating until we have had time to be still and discover again how deep is God’s love.

We are reminded that we may well need to clean up our own act first, to come to repentance and open ourselves to change, before we can really celebrate Christmas.

Repentance - sounds like pouring cold water on a happy time, but it isn’t.  It is the way to make a happy time happier.  For it opens us to the joy of forgiveness and the joy of Christmas.  God waits for us to come to repentance, so God can love us in a way which makes a real difference in our lives.  So God can soften our hard hearts and make us more loving, as God is loving.



There is something of Scrooge in all of us.
We are reminded today to confess this
so we can truly celebrate the mystery
of Christmas.




Prayer thoughts for the week:
“Lord, help me be open to changing my mind and heart, so your love can be at work in me and through me.  Keep me from thinking I don't have any
Scrooge in me, and help me to confess and be forgiven.”

Nov.30, 2014 Advent 1

Mark 13:32-37  (The Message)

32 "But the exact day and hour? No one knows that, not even heaven's angels, not even the Son. Only the Father. 33 So keep a sharp lookout, for you don't know the timetable. 34 It's like a man who takes a trip, leaving home and putting his servants in charge, each assigned a task, and commanding the gatekeeper to stand watch. 35 So, stay at your post, watching. You have no idea when the homeowner is returning, whether evening, midnight, cockcrow, or morning. 36 You don't want him showing up unannounced, with you asleep on the job. 37 I say it to you, and I'm saying it to all: Stay at your post. Keep watch.”


The word watch often goes with the word out.
“You better watch out, you better not pout...”
It carries more of a sense of a threat of something bad happening rather than a promise of something good happening.
This produces more fear, guilt, apprehension,  which leads to up tight, unhappy living and believing.  How contrary to the spirit of Jesus, who came that we might have life abundantly!

So...lets put in a different preposition - in.

Watch in faith, in joy, in thankfulness, in anticipation of something good going to happen.  Watch in faith for the mystery of God to unfold before your very eyes.
It will...it has...it does...it is happening now!



Watch in faith for the mystery of God to unfold before your very eyes.





Prayer thoughts for the week:
“Lord, open my heart and mind to the joy which is coming,
watching in anticipation of the mystery of your coming to unfold
before my eyes.”

Nov. 23, 2014 Christ The King Sunday

Mt. 25:34-40 (The Message)

34 "Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Enter, you who are blessed by my Father! Take what's coming to you in this kingdom. It's been ready for you since the world's foundation. 35 And here's why: I was hungry and you fed me, I was thirsty and you gave me a drink, I was homeless and you gave me a room, 36 I was shivering and you gave me clothes, I was sick and you stopped to visit, I was in prison and you came to me.' 37 "Then those 'sheep' are going to say, 'Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry and feed you, thirsty and give you a drink? 38 And when did we ever see you sick or in prison and come to you?' 39 40 Then the King will say, 'I'm telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me - you did it to me.”

And what ever else these words mean, they do mean that our faith is to be active in love in ways that not even we are aware, in places we least expect to be doing anything religious and with people we never dreamed would have anything to do with God.

As Mother Terese says -
“At the end of life we will not be judged by
              how many diplomas we have received
      how much money we have made
      how many great things we have done,
We will be judged by
       ‘I was hungry and you gave me to eat
        I was naked and you clothed me
        I was homeless and you took me in.’

Hungry not only for bread - but hungry for love
Naked not only for clothing - but naked for human dignity and respect.
Homeless not only for want of a room of bricks - but homeless because of rejection. This is Christ in distressing disguise.  
What we do to them we do to him!  







”Do you want to be a saint?
Be kind, be kind, be kind.”
A Western Mystic









Prayer thoughts for the week
“Lord, help me to be kind, kinder, kindest.
And my faith be active in love.”

Nov 16, 2014 Pentecost 23

Matt 25:14-30  (The Message)

14 "It's also like a man going off on an extended trip. He called his servants together and delegated responsibilities. 15 To one he gave five thousand dollars, to another two thousand, to a third one thousand, depending on their abilities. Then he left. 16 Right off, the first servant went to work and doubled his master's investment. 17 The second did the same. 18 But the man with the single thousand dug a hole and carefully buried his master's money. 19 "After a long absence, the master of those three servants came back and settled up with them. 20 The one given five thousand dollars showed him how he had doubled his investment. 21 His master commended him: 'Good work! You did your job well. From now on be my partner.' 22 "The servant with the two thousand showed how he also had doubled his master's investment. 23 His master commended him: 'Good work! You did your job well. From now on be my partner.' 24 "The servant given one thousand said, 'Master, I know you have high standards and hate careless ways, that you demand the best and make no allowances for error. 25 I was afraid I might disappoint you, so I found a good hiding place and secured your money. Here it is, safe and sound down to the last cent.' 26 "The master was furious. 'That's a terrible way to live! It's criminal to live cautiously like that! If you knew I was after the best, why did you do less than the least? 27 The least you could have done would have been to invest the sum with the bankers, where at least I would have gotten a little interest. 28 "'Take the thousand and give it to the one who risked the most. And get rid of this "play-it-safe" who won't go out on a limb. 29 30 Throw him out into utter darkness.'

The emphasis of this parable is on the servant who did nothing - who was afraid to fail so he didn’t try.  The parable warns us against doing nothing with our talents...our uniqueness...our creativity...our ideas and skills...our unique self.

When we don’t use it we lose it!   It is okay to fail; make a mistake, have a flop.
God has a cure for mistakes.  It’s called forgiveness. It is not okay to do nothing.
Dare to risk making a mistake and discover what God can do even with the little you might have. It can make a big difference in someone's life.  And yours too!






“In this one sense, we human beings
are akin to the battery in a flashlight;
unused, it corrodes.
What we do not use is wasted;
what we do not share
we cannot keep.”  Loomis

Nov. 9, 2014 Pentecost 22

Matt 25:1-13 (The Message)
1 "God's kingdom is like ten young virgins who took oil lamps and went out to greet the bridegroom. 2 Five were silly and five were smart. 3 The silly virgins took lamps, but no extra oil. 4 The smart virgins took jars of oil to feed their lamps. 5 The bridegroom didn't show up when they expected him, and they all fell asleep. 6 "In the middle of the night someone yelled out, 'He's here! The bridegroom's here! Go out and greet him!' 7 "The ten virgins got up and got their lamps ready. 8 The silly virgins said to the smart ones, 'Our lamps are going out; lend us some of your oil.' 9 "They answered, 'There might not be enough to go around; go buy your own.' 10 "They did, but while they were out buying oil, the bridegroom arrived. When everyone who was there to greet him had gone into the wedding feast, the door was locked. 11 "Much later, the other virgins, the silly ones, showed up and knocked on the door, saying, 'Master, we're here. Let us in.' 12 "He answered, 'Do I know you? I don't think I know you.' 13 "So stay alert. You have no idea when he might arrive.

It is by grace that we are saved, yet grace which makes no difference in who we are and how we are, becomes no grace at all.

The five foolish bridesmaids remind us that we dare not take grace (oil in our lamp) for granted.  We must always be ready when the moment of ministry comes.  The moment to live out our gift of grace.

The five wise bridesmaids who had enough oil and could not share it reminds us that:
There are some things no one can do for me - I have to do it for myself.
I have to be responsible that there is enough oil in my lamp.
As Post Grape-Nuts says, “You gotta try it a week - for yourself.”

We need to be ready to be responsible to others, with enough oil in our lamps
to be a source of hope, comfort, and joy to them.

We need to be ready to give
the gift we have been given -
the gift of grace!








Prayer thoughts for the week:
        "Lord, reminded me often that life and everything in it is a gift before it is a right.
          And help me keep my lamp full of oil so I am ready to be "a random act of kindness".
            reflecting your love for me and through me."

Nov. 2, 2014 Pentecost 21

Matthew 23:12
“All who exalt themselves will be humbled, and all who humble themselves will be exalted.”

Humility - the quality of being able to live so as to not call attention to myself in ways which set me apart from, above, even superior to others.
Not something I can fake; nor is it something I can create.
It comes from a good self image and a willingness to lose oneself in service to others.
       And it comes from grace - living with the awareness that I don’t deserve all I get.
Life and all in it is a gift more than a right!

A negative sense of humility:
“I do not drink; I do not smoke; and I am not interested in cards or games.
As for the love of the table, I don’t appreciate it.  In every hour of my life it is the
spiritual element which leads me on.  I have annihilated in myself every
egoism.  I feel that all (people) understand and love me; I know that only he is loved
        who leads without weakness, without deviation, and with disinterested and full faith.:  
                                                                                 Mussolini - Autobiography

A positive sense of humility:
“Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it’s thinking of yourself less.”
C.S. Lewis

A humble person is a person who knows
no one makes it but by the grace of God.














Prayer thoughts for the week:
“Lord, keep me humble so you can use me.
Help me remember all is a gift before it is a right.
A gift of grace, which is ‘receiving what I don’t deserve’.”

Oct. 26, 2014 Pentecost 20

Matt 22:34-40  (The Message)

34 When the Pharisees heard how he had bested the Sadducees, they gathered their forces for an assault. 35 One of their religion scholars spoke for them, posing a question they hoped would show him up: 36 "Teacher, which command in God's Law is the most important?" 37 Jesus said, "'Love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence.' 38 This is the most important, the first on any list. 39 But there is a second to set alongside it: 'Love others as well as you love yourself.' 40 These two commands are pegs; everything in God's Law and the Prophets hangs from them."

No one can be commanded to love.
We have to be loved to be able to love.
God loves; therefore we can too!

We love God through loving others as we love ourselves.
Love of self is necessary if we are to love others.
For when I look in the mirror and don’t like what I see, you’re in trouble.





When I look in the mirror
and like what I see, you
are in for a smile.










Prayer thoughts for the week:
“Lord, you love me so I can love myself and others;
help me put a smile on someone’s face every day.”

Oct. 19, 2014 Pentecost 19

Matt. 22:15-22 (The Message)

“15 That's when the Pharisees plotted a way to trap him into saying something damaging. 16 They sent their disciples, with a few of Herod's followers mixed in, to ask, "Teacher, we know you have integrity, teach the way of God accurately, are indifferent to popular opinion, and don't pander to your students. 17 So tell us honestly: Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?" 18 Jesus knew they were up to no good. He said, "Why are you playing these games with me? Why are you trying to trap me? 19 Do you have a coin? Let me see it." They handed him a silver piece. 20 "This engraving - who does it look like? And whose name is on it?" 21 They said, "Caesar." "Then give Caesar what is his, and give God what is his." 22 The Pharisees were speechless. They went off shaking their heads.”

Life isn’t black or white.  It is made up of the shades of gray.  It is not just having the answers; it is living with questions, struggles, even dilemmas.  When ever we ask a question which begs a “yes” or “no” answer, we are either setting a trap or evading the struggle which is necessary to grow.

Jesus didn’t answer such questions.  When closed minded people asked him a closed question, he gave them a riddle or a parable which made them come up with the answer.  It also reveal their hypocrisy.





It is a dangerous thing to be closed minded.
It just might keep us from ever getting close
to the Kingdom of God.








Prayer thoughts for the week:
     “Lord, keep my mind and heart open to the unexpected, where You are often hidden.
        Help me to not be so closed minded that I cannot see another point of view.
Keep me from hypocrisy, which is born in a closed heart and mind.”

Oct. 12, 2014 Pentecost 18

Matt. 22:1-14  (The Message)

8 "Then he told his servants, 'We have a wedding banquet all prepared but no guests. The ones I invited weren't up to it. 9 Go out into the busiest intersections in town and invite anyone you find to the banquet.' 10 The servants went out on the streets and rounded up everyone they laid eyes on, good and bad, regardless. And so the banquet was on - every place filled. 11 "When the king entered and looked over the scene, he spotted a man who wasn't properly dressed. 12 He said to him, 'Friend, how dare you come in here looking like that!' The man was speechless. 13 Then the king told his servants, 'Get him out of here - fast. Tie him up and ship him to hell. And make sure he doesn't get back in.' 14 "That's what I mean when I say, 'Many get invited; only a few make it.'"


We are shocked and surprised by the treatment of the one who came to the feast without a wedding garment. We do want to have our cake and eat it too.  As Dr Helmut Thielicke says, “We seat ourselves at the banquet table without a wedding garment when we allow our sins to be forgiven but still want to hang on to them.”
When we have no intention of being changed by God’s grace!

“Christian satiation is worse then hungry heathenism.”  Dr. Helmet Thielicke
Indifference and complacency are both dangerous to faith.  They take the life out of it.

           God expects to see something
           different in our lives because
           we have been to his banquet.









Prayer thoughts for the week:
  “Lord, help me to live as one who is being changed by grace.
keep me from smug complacency which fails to be graceful towards others.
     Let something different happen in and through me because I have been forgiven.”  

Oct 5, 2014 Pentecost 17

Matt. 21:33-46 (The Message)

 33 "Here's another story. Listen closely. There was once a man, a wealthy farmer, who planted a vineyard. He fenced it, dug a winepress, put up a watchtower, then turned it over to the farmhands and went off on a trip. 34 When it was time to harvest the grapes, he sent his servants back to collect his profits. 35 "The farmhands grabbed the first servant and beat him up. The next one they murdered. They threw stones at the third but he got away. 36 The owner tried again, sending more servants. They got the same treatment. 37 The owner was at the end of his rope. He decided to send his son. 'Surely,' he thought, 'they will respect my son.' 38 "But when the farmhands saw the son arrive, they rubbed their hands in greed. 'This is the heir! Let's kill him and have it all for ourselves.' 39 They grabbed him, threw him out, and killed him. 40 "Now, when the owner of the vineyard arrives home from his trip, what do you think he will do to the farmhands?" 41 "He'll kill them - a rotten bunch, and good riddance," they answered. "Then he'll assign the vineyard to farmhands who will hand over the profits when it's time." 42 Jesus said, "Right - and you can read it for yourselves in your Bibles: The stone the masons threw out is now the cornerstone. This is God's work; we rub our eyes, we can hardly believe it! 43 "This is the way it is with you. God's kingdom will be taken back from you and handed over to a people who will live out a kingdom life."


When asked, “what do you think he will do with the farmhands?”, they (the religious leaders) give the right answer.  The right answer that is, for them.  Not the right answer for God. For God is not satisfied with judgment, ever.  Not even with them.  God does not delight in judgment, ever!  This is not Gods nature and it is not Gods liking.  Judgment is always second to mercy and its purpose is only and always to prepare the way for love and grace to flow, full and free.  This is why Jesus tells this parable - to try wake the people up to Gods love, not Gods judgment.  God’s love which is beyond human comprehension!








“God does not delight in judgement, ever!”
God is not like this.













Prayer thoughts for the week:
“Lord, help me to not be so judgmental.
…keep me open to grace happening, even when it seems so unfair.”
…help me to remember that God is more gracious than condemning,
beyond my wildest dreams.”

Sept. 28, 2014 16th of Pentecost

Matthew 21:28-32 (The Message)

28 "Tell me what you think of this story: A man had two sons. He went up to the first and said, 'Son, go out for the day and work in the vineyard.' 29 "The son answered, 'I don't want to.' Later on he thought better of it and went. 30 "The father gave the same command to the second son. He answered, 'Sure, glad to.' But he never went. 31 "Which of the two sons did what the father asked?" They said, "The first." 32 John came to you showing you the right road. You turned up your noses at him, but the crooks and whores believed him. Even when you saw their changed lives, you didn't care enough to change and believe him.

The parable of the two sons is a biting parable which confronted the people of Jesus day - and confronts us, who are trying to be religious, moral, good, and God fearing  - with the disturbing truth that it is not enough to just talk the talk.  It is necessary to walk the walk.  That means we may have to do something we don’t want to do, something we are not inclined to do, something we may even say no to, then have a change of heart, and go do it.

All too often even our religious beliefs help us to not change our minds and believe something new and different.  To not get “a new heart and a new spirit.”  Ezekiel. 18:31

“It is not easy to ‘change our minds

and believe’ something we don’t want to believe.

We do it slowly, cautiously, reluctantly, if we do it at all.  

Most of the time we try not do it at all.” 

Sept. 21 2014 15th of Pentecost

Matthew 20:1-16 (The Message)

1 "God's kingdom is like an estate manager who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. 2 They agreed on a wage of a dollar a day, and went to work. 3 "Later, about nine o'clock, the manager saw some other men hanging around the town square unemployed. 4 He told them to go to work in his vineyard and he would pay them a fair wage. 5 They went. 6 At five o'clock he went back and found still others standing around. He said, 'Why are you standing around all day doing nothing? 7 ' "They said, 'Because no one hired us.' "He told them to go to work in his vineyard. 8 "When the day's work was over, the owner of the vineyard instructed his foreman, 'Call the workers in and pay them their wages. Start with the last hired and go on to the first.' 9 "Those hired at five o'clock came up and were each given a dollar. 10 When those who were hired first saw that, they assumed they would get far more. But they got the same, each of them one dollar. 11 Taking the dollar, they groused angrily to the manager, 12 'These last workers put in only one easy hour, and you just made them equal to us, who slaved all day under a scorching sun.' 13 "He replied to the one speaking for the rest, 'Friend, I haven't been unfair. We agreed on the wage of a dollar, didn't we? 14 So take it and go. I decided to give to the one who came last the same as you. 15 Can't I do what I want with my own money? Are you going to get stingy because I am generous?' 16 "Here it is again, the Great Reversal: many of the first ending up last, and the last first."

Jesus was lucky there were no unions around in his day.  He would have been in big trouble.  Even though the master in this parable did no wrong.  He acted with generosity toward the late comers, and fairness toward the rest.  This was his right and privilege.

To complain about the pay is to miss the joy of having labored long and hard in the Kingdom.  It is to miss the emptiness of “ standing idle in the market place.”

It is a privilege to be hired at the first hour.  These are the lucky ones who know the joy of living in the kingdom.  Idleness is not a blessing.  Living in grace is!




God is more gracious than we can ever imagine.

Sept. 14, 2014 14h of Pentecost

Matthew 18: 21, 22  (The Message)

21 At that point Peter got up the nerve to ask, "Master, how many times do I forgive a brother or sister who hurts me? Seven?" 22 Jesus replied, "Seven! Hardly. Try seventy times seven.

Forgiveness is not an option in the Kingdom of Heaven...it is a requirement.  We cannot choose if we are going to forgive or who we are going to forgive or not forgive...we are to forgive as we have been forgiven!  And that is a lot!

Forgiveness begins with being forgiven.
Only the person who receives forgiveness can pass it on;
Only the person who passes on forgiveness really receives it.

Forgiveness is an echo.  It does not originate with us and it does not end with us.
We forgive as we have been forgiven.

“When somebody you’ve wronged forgives you, you’re spared the dull and self-diminishing throb of a guilty conscience.
When you forgive somebody who has wronged you, you’re spared the dismal corrosion of bitterness and wounded pride.
For both parties, forgiveness means the freedom again to be at peace inside their own skins and to be glad in each others presence.”  Frederick Buechner





“To be forgiven and forgiving is to live believing that we can have a common future even with our enemies and even with those who have treated us unfairly.  It is to live believing in forgiveness, which is...love’s revolution against life’s unfairness.”
  Lewis Smedes






Prayer thoughts for the week:
“Lord, help to forgive even when I don’t want to.”
“…keep me open to forgiveness even when the one I want to forgive
doesn’t want my forgiveness.”
“…help me to never give up on forgiveness.”

Sept.7, 2014 13th of Pentecost

Matthew 18: 15-18  (The Message)

15 "If a fellow believer hurts you, go and tell him - work it out between the two of you. If he listens, you've made a friend. 16 If he won't listen, take one or two others along so that the presence of witnesses will keep things honest, and try again. 17 If he still won't listen, tell the church. If he won't listen to the church, you'll have to start over from scratch, confront him with the need for repentance, and offer again God's forgiving love. 18 "Take this most seriously: A yes on earth is yes in heaven; a no on earth is no in heaven. What you say to one another is eternal. I mean this.

We are not to be piously judging and condemning; we are to be accountable to each other and not be indifferent about that which causes disharmony in our lives and relationships.  And we are to strive for forgiveness, not giving up until it can happen.

Forgiveness is not an option in God’s Kingdom.  It is a must!  And we are to keep at it until it happens.

"The hallmark of forgiveness is that
it enables the forgiver to live painlessly
 with the forgiven.”
                          Susan Howatch







Prayer thoughts for the week:

“Lord help be remember to seek forgiveness in difficult relationships.
forgiveness both ways - from me and to me.

August 31, 2014 12th of Pentecost

Matthew 16:21-24 (The Message)

21 Then Jesus made it clear to his disciples that it was now necessary for him to go to Jerusalem, submit to an ordeal of suffering at the hands of the religious leaders, be killed, and then on the third day be raised up alive. 22 Peter took him in hand, protesting, "Impossible, Master! That can never be!" 23 But Jesus didn't swerve. "Peter, get out of my way. Satan, get lost. You have no idea how God works." 24 Then Jesus went to work on his disciples. "Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You're not in the driver's seat; I am. Don't run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I'll show you how.

Peter had the best of intentions at heart when he tried to talk Jesus out of the way of suffering. He had no intention of being an evil temptation.

He wanted suffering eliminated from Jesus life.  We all would like to see the same.
Suffering is so costly; it hurts so much, demands so much, takes so much.

What Peter and we need to understand is that suffering belongs to the very nature of this world and to the very nature of Jesus - the suffering servant who emptied himself.

To be caught up with the will of God is to take on suffering as a part of loving.  The only way to eliminate suffering is to eliminate love.  Love makes sense out of and gives meaning to life, even suffering.

“...life without any kind of suffering would be no life at all; it would be a form of death.  Life - the life of the spirit like the life of the body- depends in some mysterious way upon the struggle to be...suffering-as-struggle belongs...to life’s foundational basis and goodness...A pain free life would be a life-less life.”  Douglas John Hall



“We suffer because we are human and out of our suffering comes our
capacity for compassion.  For ‘suffering integrates us into life
 and makes us more fully and truly ‘alive’.”  Douglas John Hall




Prayer thoughts for the week.

Lord, when it comes (suffering) help me to walk through it to the better end.
…keep me from loosing touch with compassion even in suffering.
…help me to love the pain out of suffering, and live life with a joy which
passes human understanding.

August 24, 2014 11th of Pentecost

 Matthew 16:13-20  (The Message)

13 When Jesus arrived in the villages of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "What are people saying about who the Son of Man is?" 14 They replied, "Some think he is John the Baptizer, some say Elijah, some Jeremiah or one of the other prophets." 15 He pressed them, "And how about you? Who do you say I am?" 16 Simon Peter said, "You're the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of the living God." 17 Jesus came back, "God bless you, Simon, son of Jonah! You didn't get that answer out of books or from teachers. My Father in heaven, God himself, let you in on this secret of who I really am.

“The genius of the poet is that he says more than he knows.”
The genius of faith is that it says more than it knows - always!
God is unsearchable and incomprehensible;  grace goes beyond human understanding and logic.  Faith is believing more then we can ever know.

Peter was saying more then he knew when he confessed Jesus as “the Christ, the Son of the living God.”  The words came strangely to his lips from beyond his own understanding.  It is so also with us,  as Luther wrote long ago: “I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in my Lord Jesus Christ or come to him...”

Faith is not having all the answers to the riddle of life;  not never having to doubt again; or be perplexed about things; or afraid; or confused; or ever having to feel lost again.  It is not a magical formula which takes away all the hurt, pain, and fear out of life.

Faith is the God given capacity to hope when all looks hopeless; laugh when much is heavy; dance when there is little reason to dance; pray when God seems far away and not tuned in.  It is the God given capacity to list all the reasons why there is no God, and yet...and yet believe in God!

It is the sure and certain hope that God is for is, not against us.  No matter what!






“I believe in the Sun, even when it is not shining.
I believe in Love even when I feel it not.
I believe in God even when He is silent”

 Found on a cellar wall in Cologne after WWII.






Prayer thoughts for the week:
Lord, I believe, help my unbelief.
…help me hold on when I feel there is seems to be nothing to hold on to.
…help me remember and dare believe that when all seems lost,
     you are  still with me.
…keep me mindful of your awesome grace: that You are always with me,    
                   for me, by me, in me.  Never against me!

August 17, 2014 10th of Pentecost

Matthew 15:21-28  (The Message)

21 From there Jesus took a trip to Tyre and Sidon. 22 They had hardly arrived when a Canaanite woman came down from the hills and pleaded, "Mercy, Master, Son of David! My daughter is cruelly afflicted by an evil spirit." 23 Jesus ignored her. The disciples came and complained, "Now she's bothering us. Would you please take care of her? She's driving us crazy." 24 Jesus refused, telling them, "I've got my hands full dealing with the lost sheep of Israel." 25 Then the woman came back to Jesus, went to her knees, and begged. "Master, help me." 26 He said, "It's not right to take bread out of children's mouths and throw it to dogs." 27 She was quick: "You're right, Master, but beggar dogs do get scraps from the master's table." 28 Jesus gave in. "Oh, woman, your faith is something else. What you want is what you get!" Right then her daughter became well.

“Great Is Your Faith”

The Canaanite woman wanted something of the goodness of God’s grace in her life too.
She persisted until she got it.  She took the rebuke, came back for more, and hung in there until Jesus could only do what he came to do - bless her.

It is often our vulnerability, our deep needs, which lead us into the arms of a loving, gracious God.  It is also our persistence - our faith which will not give up - which sees the worst in life redeemed and turned into blessing.

Expect to have something of the goodness of God’s grace in your life - and don’t give up until it happens!

"Never, never, never give up!"
~ Winston Churchill











Prayer thoughts for the week.

Lord, help me to not give up even when all is dark.
         Help me to persist until it all becomes a blessing.
         Give me the faith of the Canaanite woman.

August 10, 2014 9th of Pentecost

Matthew 14:22-23  (The Message)

22 As soon as the meal was finished, he insisted that the disciples get in the boat and go on ahead to the other side while he dismissed the people. 23 With the crowd dispersed, he climbed the mountain so he could be by himself and pray. He stayed there alone, late into the night.

Jesus finally is alone.  Finally he has a moment to catch his breath, gather his wits about him, and just be with God in silence, praying.

This is no game he is playing.  He needs this time away in prayer.
It takes silence to ‘see who we are’, for it is in silence we touch the deepest part of our humanity as well as God’s divinity.

Thomas Szasz, an American psychiatrist has said;
“(Humans) cannot long survive without air, water, and sleep.  Next in importance comes food.  And close on its heels, solitude.”

Faith cannot exist without solitude either.

“Only in silence, in the space between noise, speech,  and activity, is there room for a person to become focused, to achieve gravity and centeredness.  Only in waiting before the mystery of existence itself, in brooding upon the world and eternity, does one become endowed with true worldliness and true everlastingness.”   John Killinger


“(Humans) cannot long survive without air, water, and sleep.
Next in importance comes food.  And close on its heels, solitude.”
Thomas Szasz





Prayer thoughts for the week:
Lord,
      …help me to find the “sound of silence” in my daily noisy life.
      …give me “spaces in my togetherness” where I can be still, and find solitude.
      …help me to remember that You often speak in a still small voice which can only be heard by being quiet and listening.

Aug 3, 2014 8th of Pentecost

Matthew 14:13-21 (The Message)

13 When Jesus got the news, he slipped away by boat to an out-of-the-way place by himself. But unsuccessfully - someone saw him and the word got around. Soon a lot of people from the nearby villages walked around the lake to where he was. 14 When he saw them coming, he was overcome with pity and healed their sick. 15 Toward evening the disciples approached him. "We're out in the country and it's getting late. Dismiss the people so they can go to the villages and get some supper." 16 But Jesus said, "There is no need to dismiss them. You give them supper." 17 "All we have are five loaves of bread and two fish," they said. 18 Jesus said, "Bring them here." 19 Then he had the people sit on the grass. He took the five loaves and two fish, lifted his face to heaven in prayer, blessed, broke, and gave the bread to the disciples. The disciples then gave the food to the congregation. 20 They all ate their fill. They gathered twelve baskets of leftovers. 21 About five thousand were fed.

“A miracle is any event, natural or supernatural, in which one sees a revelation of God.”
The miracle here could have been that once the people saw what Jesus was going to do with a small boys small lunch, they opened their hearts and their lunches for all to share.

If this is how it happened, it is still a miracle!  In fact, this would be the a more difficult miracle for it meant many hearts being changed, opened to sharing.

“Jesus risked his entire ministry on the sufficiency of the infinitesimal.”
“Every social change can be traced to a few determined individuals.”
Walter Wink “The Power Of The Small”





“When God seeks to turn the world around,
one person is usually enough.”  Walter Wink








Prayer thoughts for the week:

Lord:    keep me humble so I can be helpful.
help me be a miracle in ways I never dreamed possible.
open my eyes to see how much you can do with so little.
help me do what I can to make life better for someone.

July 27, 2014 7th of Pentecost
Matthew 13:31-33; 44-46  (The Message)

31 Another story. "God's kingdom is like a pine nut that a farmer plants. 32 It is quite small as seeds go, but in the course of years it grows into a huge pine tree, and eagles build nests in it." 33 Another story. "God's kingdom is like yeast that a woman works into the dough for dozens of loaves of barley bread - and waits while the dough rises."

44 "God's kingdom is like a treasure hidden in a field for years and then accidentally found by a trespasser. The finder is ecstatic - what a find! - and proceeds to sell everything he owns to raise money and buy that field. 45 "Or, God's kingdom is like a jewel merchant on the hunt for excellent pearls. 46 Finding one that is flawless, he immediately sells everything and buys it.

God’s Kingdom is too big a concept to grasp with logic.  It has to be discovered in a story, a parable.  A parable is a story you can’t get unless it first gets you.  It is a story designed to “pull another story out of the listener”.  The end result is that “more happens in the mind of the listener than in the mouth of the teller.”

Our parables today tell us that the Kingdom of God starts small and becomes big, like a seed..  It only takes a little to make a big difference, like yeast.  It may be found accidentally or after a long hunt, like a hidden treasure or an excellent pearl, but once it is found it demands a total response, with great joy and anticipation.  Indeed, God’s Kingdom is priceless!
There are not enough words to say all that an be said about it  Yet one word captures it best - grace.  It is a Kingdom of amazing grace!

The parables of Jesus are about
 "a passionately, desperately,
 insanely forgiving God."
             
Andrew Greeley

Painting “Gift of Grace”
by Ravae Luckhart






Prayer thoughts for the week:

Your kingdom come on earth…
 to me…
    through me…
      in spite of me…
        for all…
in your dazzling grace and endless love.
Open my eyes and heart to get a glimpse of it in human form.

‘’…for not with swords loud clashing, nor roll of stirring drums,
but deeds of love and mercy the heavenly kingdom comes.”
Lead On, O King Eternal

July 20, 2014 6th Sunday of Pentecost

Matthew 13:24-30
24 He told another story. "God's kingdom is like a farmer who planted good seed in his field. 25 That night, while his hired men were asleep, his enemy sowed thistles all through the wheat and slipped away before dawn. 26 When the first green shoots appeared and the grain began to form, the thistles showed up, too. 27 "The farmhands came to the farmer and said, 'Master, that was clean seed you planted, wasn't it? Where did these thistles come from?' 28 "He answered, 'Some enemy did this.' "The farmhands asked, 'Should we weed out the thistles?' 29 "He said, 'No, if you weed the thistles, you'll pull up the wheat, too. 30 Let them grow together until harvest time. Then I'll instruct the harvesters to pull up the thistles and tie them in bundles for the fire, then gather the wheat and put it in the barn.'"

Judgment is not in our hands.  We are not to separate the wheat from the weeds, the sacred from the secular, the holy from the unholy.  This is God’s doing - God who is “gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love”.

Our task is to live faithfully, as those who are both wheat and weeds - we are not as pure as we would like to be.  As Wm. Saloan Coffin has said, “Remember what history teaches, never do people so cheerfully do evil as when they do it from religious conviction.”

“God has invited us to gather rather than to judge, to get together and learn to live with one another, weeds and wheat alike.  There is wheat within each of us as well as those all-too-visible weeds.  From this patchy crop God can fashion a miraculous bread, transforming each of us by the pure wheat of this holy offering, making us into beings shaped by hope.”   Richard I Pervo,

God has invited us to gather rather than to judge…”  Pichard Pervo

July 13, 2014  5th Sunday of Pentecost

Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23  (The Message)

1 At about that same time Jesus left the house and sat on the beach. 2 In no time at all a crowd gathered along the shoreline, forcing him to get into a boat. 3 Using the boat as a pulpit, he addressed his congregation, telling stories. (about a man planting seeds.)  4 As he scattered the seed, some of it fell on the road, and birds ate it. 5 Some fell in the gravel; it sprouted quickly but didn't put down roots, 6 so when the sun came up it withered just as quickly. 7 Some fell in the weeds; as it came up, it was strangled by the weeds. 8 Some fell on good earth, and produced a harvest beyond his wildest dreams. 9 "Are you listening to this? Really listening?" 18 "Study this story of the farmer planting seed. 19 When anyone hears news of the kingdom and doesn't take it in, it just remains on the surface, and so the Evil One comes along and plucks it right out of that person's heart. This is the seed the farmer scatters on the road. 20 "The seed cast in the gravel - this is the person who hears and instantly responds with enthusiasm. 21 But there is no soil of character, and so when the emotions wear off and some difficulty arrives, there is nothing to show for it. 22 "The seed cast in the weeds is the person who hears the kingdom news, but weeds of worry and illusions about getting more and wanting everything under the sun strangle what was heard, and nothing comes of it. 23 "The seed cast on good earth is the person who hears and takes in the News, and then produces a harvest beyond his wildest dreams."

The seed is good; it is the soil which has the problem.  We are the soil - all 4 kinds of soil!  We are not always receptive to what God’s Word has to say.  We run hot and cold when we listen to God’s Word.    We have goodness choked out by our indifference.  And we do hear and respond - doing that which pleases God.  And God takes what comes from the good soil of our hearts and makes more of it than we ever could have dreamed possible.

A good discipline for reading or listening to God's Word is to listen carefully FOR what you don’t want to hear and then listen carefully TO what you don’t want to hear; then risk acting on it.  It just may be where God is trying to plant a seed and who knows what will happen then.

The seed is good; it is the soil which has the problem.  We are the soil - all 4 kinds of soil!

July 6, 2014 4th Sunday after Pentecost

Matthew 11:28-30   (The Message)

28 "Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. 29 Walk with me and work with me - watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. 30 Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly.”

 (The New RSV)

 28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

 “My Yoke Is Easy”

Catchy slogans are not necessarily true - just catchy.
These words of Jesus sound like a catchy slogan - but their not.

Like the slogan from Boy’s Town - “He ain’t heavy Father, he’s my brother.”  they remind us that the yoke which is easy and the burden which is light is so NOT because little is demanded, but because much is first given.

The yoke of Jesus is the commitment to love; it is the call to be kind, loving, good, merciful, just as we have received mercy.  It is discovering the “unforced rhythms of grace”.

Bearing one another's burdens in love is light!  No matter how heavy it gets!  To do this we first have to know we are loved.  For only the loved can so love.  God first loves us; then God demands much from us.  And the much is easy, for it is given in love.  This is the yoke which is easy and the burden which is light.

June 29,’14 Pentecost 3

Matthew 10:40-42  (The Message)

 40 "We are intimately linked in this harvest work. Anyone who accepts what you do, accepts me, the One who sent you. Anyone who accepts what I do accepts my Father, who sent me. 41 Accepting a messenger of God is as good as being God's messenger. Accepting someone's help is as good as giving someone help.

This is a large work I've called you into, but don't be overwhelmed by it. It's best to start small. 42 Give a cool cup of water to someone who is thirsty, for instance. The smallest act of giving or receiving makes you a true apprentice. You won't lose out on a thing."

Most of the time it is the small things which make a big difference.
Unnoticed by most, unheralded by the media, not even posted on Facebook.
Just an anonymous act of kindness which brighteners someone's life and lifts their spirit.
When this happens God smiles and says "way to go!  Keep it up.  You too will be blessed by your kindness.”






“We do not know the limits of the redeeming power of the small.  Perhaps there are none.”  Walter Wink

June 22, 2014 2nd Sunday After Pentecost

  Matthew 10:34-39   (The Message)

34 "Don't think I've come to make life cozy. I've come to cut - 35 make a sharp knife-cut between son and father, daughter and mother, bride and mother-in-law - cut through these cozy domestic arrangements and free you for God. 36 Well-meaning family members can be your worst enemies. 37 If you prefer father or mother over me, you don't deserve me. If you prefer son or daughter over me, you don't deserve me. 38 "If you don't go all the way with me, through thick and thin, you don't deserve me. 39 If your first concern is to look after yourself, you'll never find yourself. But if you forget about yourself and look to me, you'll find both yourself and me.

Jesus didn’t come just to bless us into complacency, compliance, contentment;
He came to bless us into change.  Change which can be disruptive, disturbing, difficult, even destructive on the outside, as it seeks to make more real what is on the inside.
Destructive that is of those systems which are not life giving, just, fair, sensitive, compassionate.  Which are not doing good for the least as well as for the most.  Even if they are a part of our family.

In the novel " The Invention of Wings" a father, who had been very set in his ways, causing his daughter much anguish as she was not able to live her life free of the shackles placed on her as a white woman in the Deep South in the early 1800's, a white woman who detested slavery and wanted to set her personal slave free, are having their last conversation before he dies.  She is caring for him alone, apart from the rest of the family.  He awakens from a nap..

‘I held the water glass to his lips and helped him to drink. He said, “We’ve had our quarrels, haven’t we?” I knew what was coming and I wanted to spare him. To spare me. “It doesn’t matter now.” “You’ve always had a strong, separate mind, perhaps even a radical mind, and I was harsh with you at times. You must forgive me.” I couldn’t imagine what it cost him to say these words. “I do,” I said. “And you must forgive me.” “Forgive you for what, Sarah? For following your conscience? Do you think I don’t abhor slavery as you do? Do you think I don’t know it was greed that kept me from following my conscience as you have? The plantation, the house, our entire way of life depended on the slaves.” His face contorted and he clutched at his side a moment before going on. “Or should I forgive you for wanting to give natural expression to your intellect? You were smarter than even Thomas or John, but you’re female, another cruelty I was helpless to change.”

He didn't dare risk change.  He died regretting it.  Indeed, it is an awesome, challenging, life transforming thing to be open to change!  It is at the center of a living faith!

June 15, 2014 The Holy Trinity

Matthew 28:16-20  (The Message)

16 Meanwhile, the eleven disciples were on their way to Galilee, headed for the mountain Jesus had set for their reunion. 17 The moment they saw him they worshiped him. Some, though, held back, not sure about worship, about risking themselves totally. 18 Jesus, undeterred, went right ahead and gave his charge: "God authorized and commanded me to commission you: 19 Go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life, marking them by baptism in the threefold name: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 20 Then instruct them in the practice of all I have commanded you. I'll be with you as you do this, day after day after day, right up to the end of the age.”

The Holy Trinity is a mystery.  After all is said and done to help us try understand it,
the mystery still remains.  Which is the way it should be.

Without mystery God becomes something less then God.
Without mystery life looses something deep and beautiful.

On Holy Trinity Sunday we celebrate this mystery as we worship God the Father, creator of all things; God the Son, Redeemer of all humankind, and God the Holy Spirit, Sanctifier of all who believe.  (And maybe even those who don’t seem to believe.)

“Great indeed…is the mystery of our religion.”  I Tim 3:16



“I didn't need to understand the hypostatic unity of the Trinity; I just needed to turn my life over to whoever came up with redwood trees.”
― Anne Lamott,

June 8, 2014 Day of Pentecost

John 20:19-23  (The Message)

19 Later on that day, the disciples had gathered together, but, fearful of the Jews, had locked all the doors in the house. Jesus entered, stood among them, and said, "Peace to you." 20 Then he showed them his hands and side. 21 Jesus repeated his greeting: "Peace to you. Just as the Father sent me, I send you." 22 Then he took a deep breath and breathed into them. "Receive the Holy Spirit," he said. 23 "If you forgive someone's sins, they're gone for good. If you don't forgive sins, what are you going to do with them?”


“Love implies forgiveness.  It is hard for us to realize, but actually the only requirement the loving Father places on us, once we come to know Him...is that we forgive as we have been forgiven.”  “The Other Side of Silence”, Morton Kelsey, p. 68

Forgiveness is a gift of God’s spirit.  It is central to ALL that Jesus said and did.
It is central to what the Church is ALL about.  It is a powerful, renewing, uplifting, hope filling, smile producing, releasing gift which in no way is meant to control or dominate the lives of others.  It is meant to set one free to really live, with new choices and chances, and renewed vigor.  We are to work at being forgiving until forgiveness works!

The goal of not forgiving is not to not be forgiving.  The goal of not forgiving is to help the process get to the placed where we can forgive.  For that is what love always wants to do, and must be ready to do.  For we have been forgiven much!






              “Love implies forgiveness.”
                           Morton Kelsey

June 1, 2014 Easter 7

John 17: 10-11  (The Message)

Jesus is praying: “10 Everything mine is yours, and yours mine, And my life is on display in them. 11 For I'm no longer going to be visible in the world; They'll continue in the world while I return to you. Holy Father, guard them as they pursue this life that you conferred as a gift through me, So they can be one heart and mind
11 I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one.”

 “The petition that this community of believes be kept in God’s name is in effect a petition that love be the sign and seal of their common life.  Just as love marks the unity of the Father with his Son, and of the Son with his followers, so love shall mark the unity of God’s people and provide the power for their mission.”  From Proclamation

Our unity lies not in our sameness but in our love which transcends, embraces, encourages, applauds differentness.





“Living in love, not sameness, is the mark of unity.”

May 25, 2014, Easter 6

John 14:15-21  (The Message)

15 "If you love me, show it by doing what I've told you. 16 I will talk to the Father, and he'll provide you another Friend so that you will always have someone with you. 17 This Friend is the Spirit of Truth. The godless world can't take him in because it doesn't have eyes to see him, doesn't know what to look for. But you know him already because he has been staying with you, and will even be in you! 18 "I will not leave you orphaned. I'm coming back. 19 In just a little while the world will no longer see me, but you're going to see me because I am alive and you're about to come alive. 20 At that moment you will know absolutely that I'm in my Father, and you're in me, and I'm in you. 21 "The person who knows my commandments and keeps them, that's who loves me. And the person who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and make myself plain to him."

“Love is, as much as it is anything, a struggle together that is always seeded with new possibilities and challenges...even in old age.”    Eugene Kennedy

Jesus is talking about such a struggle in our text for today.
He is not talking about a comfortable system for getting into heaven.
He is talking about the struggle inherent in loving one’s neighbor as one’s self!
(This is how we love him!)

Jesus can be very demanding.  To know of his amazing grace is also to learn of his demanding love.  For once we are loved and know it, we have to love so others know it.

This is no extra curricular activity we are called to do. This is the heart of it all.  
We have been loved with a great love!  We are to love with a great love!







 

May 18, 2014 Easter 5

John 14:1-7  (The Promise)

1 "Don't let this throw you. You trust God, don't you? Trust me. 2 There is plenty of room for you in my Father's home. If that weren't so, would I have told you that I'm on my way to get a room ready for you? 3 And if I'm on my way to get your room ready, I'll come back and get you so you can live where I live. 4 And you already know the road I'm taking." 5 Thomas said, "Master, we have no idea where you're going. How do you expect us to know the road?" 6 Jesus said, "I am the Road, also the Truth, also the Life. No one gets to the Father apart from me.


Even with words we have heard many times, we must listen for what we have never heard before.  And with words we know,  we must listen for the unknown  

The words of John 14, which we often use to make an exclusive defense for Christianity, were spoken in a powerfully intimate moment.  They are not meant to be used as a smug statement of egotistical arrogance, but an expression of the extent of God’s love.

We are not called to save people; that is God’s task.  We are called to love people, as God has loved us. This is the greater work we are to do - trust in and live out the way of love over hate, the truth of forgiveness over condemnation, and the life of faith which dares keep compassion at the center of life.

"Perhaps Christianity has more to do with being redemptively human than being superhumanly spiritual.  It involves the conversion, not from human being to spiritual hero, but from inhuman to human.  God will be known in and through our humanity."  William E. Peatman, National Catholic Reporter

"God will be known in and through our humanity."  William E. Peatman