Dec. 25, 2016 Christmas Day

 John 1:1-18 (NRSV)
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being 4 in him was life,[a] and the life was the light of all people. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.
14 And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth. 15 (John testified to him and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.’”) 16 From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17 The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known.

Where in the world is God?  The day we stop asking this question is the day we are in trouble.  For we are  always discovering God; we never have God all figured out.  Faith is an adventure of discovery, with God revealed in the process.

The answer to our question is:  God is hidden in the most unexpected places, just as He was unexpectedly hidden in a Baby born in a manger.
God is hidden in the bread and wine of communion, and in the unexpected experiences of grace, love, forgiveness, hope which happen to us, through us, for us, with us.

For a Pastor from New Orleans taking a special intercity training in which he had to spend three days on the streets with only pennies in his pockets, cold, hungry, alone, God came in the form of a bartender offering a drink to warm his insides.

For a black man from Chicago with a cripple son God came in a gift of money given by strangers who were on the same flight with him.

For a man standing by the grave of his infant son, God came not so much in the words spoken by the Pastor as in the hand shake which they exchanged.

On and on and on it goes.  God comes in a Baby born in a manger, a man dying on a cross, a resurrection which goes beyond human imagination, and God comes in human acts of love, mercy, kindness, generosity which give hope to the hopeless and brings peace and joy to our lives.

"It is Christmas every time you
let God love others through you...
yes, it is Christmas every time
you smile at your brother and offer
him your hand."    Mother Teresa








Prayer though for the week:  “Lord, come as you came and let your love shine through my life in ways I never dreamed possible.”

Dec. 24,2016 Christmas Eve

 Christmas Eve is a time for a story.  A story which captures something of the Christmas story and helps us feel and see how great it is!  The mystery and miracle of Christmas is not only that it happened. but that it happens still in moments and experiences we can not fully understand yet which warm our hearts and challenge us to see something of the presence of God in our lives.

Here is a story which does just that.  

Dec 18, 2016 Advent  4

Matt.1:18-25  (The Promise)

18 The birth of Jesus took place like this. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. Before they came to the marriage bed, Joseph discovered she was pregnant. (It was by the Holy Spirit, but he didn't know that.) 19 Joseph, chagrined but noble, determined to take care of things quietly so Mary would not be disgraced. 20 While he was trying to figure a way out, he had a dream. God's angel spoke in the dream: "Joseph, son of David, don't hesitate to get married. Mary's pregnancy is Spirit-conceived. God's Holy Spirit has made her pregnant. 21 She will bring a son to birth, and when she does, you, Joseph, will name him Jesus - 'God saves' - because he will save his people from their sins." 22 This would bring the prophet's embryonic sermon to full term: 23 Watch for this - a virgin will get pregnant and bear a son; They will name him Emmanuel (Hebrew for "God is with us"). 24 Then Joseph woke up. He did exactly what God's angel commanded in the dream: He married Mary. 25 But he did not consummate the marriage until she had the baby. He named the baby Jesus.


The Christmas story as told by Matthew is a reminder that all things were not easy for Joseph or Mary.  It is no small thing to believe that “that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.”

Joseph was a special sort of person who risked much on a dream and on a willingness to be used by God.

He did not reject Mary openly; he did not even “put her away secretly”, but took her as his wife and became a part of the greatest drama to ever happen - the birth of  Immanuel - God with us!

As we celebrate Christmas the question looms - Is it possible God would do something through us, like God did through Joseph, if we only dared dream enough and risk enough?

“It is Christmas every time you
let God love others through you... yes,
it is Christmas every time you smile at
your brother and offer him your hand."  
Mother Teresa











Prayer thought for the week:  “Lord, let Christmas come through me,
hidden ‘in, under, and with’ my words and actions this week, and every week.”

Dec 11, 2016 Advent 3

Matt.11:2-6  (The Message)

2 John, meanwhile, had been locked up in prison. When he got wind of what Jesus was doing, he sent his own disciples 3 to ask, "Are you the One we've been expecting, or are we still waiting?" 4 Jesus told them, "Go back and tell John what's going on: 5 The blind see, The lame walk, Lepers are cleansed, The deaf hear, The dead are raised, The wretched of the earth learn that God is on their side. 6 "Is this what you were expecting? Then count yourselves most blessed!"

The mystery and miracle of Christmas is that it comes in the most unlikely places.
John wasn’t sure it was in Jesus - who was too soft for John.
We too are not always sure where God is in our midst - is God really there in the infant holy, infant lowly?  Yes!  And It is a holy mystery.

"The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion which stands at the cradle of true art and true science (and true religion).
Who ever does not know it and can no longer wonder, no longer marvel, is as good as dead.”          Albert Einstein




"The most beautiful experience we
can have is the mysterious.”
Albert Einstein










Prayer thought for the week:  “Lord, mysterious Lord, help me to believe what the eye cannot see, and what the mind cannot comprehend.  Help me to believe that it did happen!  And that it continues to happen, as love overcomes hate in my life and through my life.”  Amen

Dec 4 2016 Advent 2

Matt.3:1-2  (The Message)

1 While Jesus was living in the Galilean hills, John, called "the Baptizer," was preaching in the desert country of Judea. 2 His message was simple and austere, like his desert surroundings: "Change your life. God's kingdom is here."

The call to repentance sounds out of step, yet it is very much in step.  For repentance is the source of real joy.  It is the means by which we are set back on course.  It is something we need to do often.  It means turning around, changing direction; it is positive not negative, helpful not hurtful, necessary not optional, healthy not harmful, and even humorous, not always heavy.

Our challenge is to practice repentance until it not only feels good but also becomes a part of our very being; something we do often and joyfully because we know it leads to the joy of forgiveness.




“Repentance is the first
positive step of faith.”









“Prayer thought for the week:  “Lord, help me to turn my life around (repent)
when I am going the wrong direction.  Keep me going Your direction, not mine.”

Nov. 27, 2016 Advent 1

Matt. 24:36-44  (The Message)

36 "But the exact day and hour? No one knows that, not even heaven's angels, not even the Son. Only the Father knows. 37 "The Arrival of the Son of Man will take place in times like Noah's. 38 Before the great flood everyone was carrying on as usual, having a good time right up to the day Noah boarded the ark. 39 They knew nothing - until the flood hit and swept everything away. 40 Two men will be working in the field - one will be taken, one left behind; 41 two women will be grinding at the mill - one will be taken, one left behind. 42 So stay awake, alert. You have no idea what day your Master will show up. 43 But you do know this: You know that if the homeowner had known what time of night the burglar would arrive, he would have been there with his dogs to prevent the break-in. 44 Be vigilant just like that. You have no idea when the Son of Man is going to show up.


It is easy to take these words as a threat; and respond with fear.  The result is that we become so caught up in trying to be ready that we cannot enjoy life.  And we may even be disappointed when that for which we are ready doesn’t happen.  Religion then becomes a negative force in life, keeping joy out.

These words are meant to give hope not fear; bring joy not fear.
They are a promise to be heard with the ears of faith which dares to believe that all is in God’s hands and all is good.

Look up and rejoice for something good is about to happen.
Be ready - Christmas is coming soon.
Be ready to be surprised by joy!

“The great challenge of faith is
to be surprised by joy.”
Henri Nouwen










Prayer thought for the week:  “Lord, you came, you will come again, and you come, hidden in human form still.  What joy to celebrate the surprise of your coming!”

Nov. 20, 2016, Christ The King Sunday

Luke 23:33-43  (The Message)  

33 When they got to the place called Skull Hill, they crucified him, along with the criminals, one on his right, the other on his left.
34-35 Jesus prayed, “Father, forgive them; they don’t know what they’re doing.”
Dividing up his clothes, they threw dice for them. The people stood there staring at Jesus, and the ringleaders made faces, taunting, “He saved others. Let’s see him save himself! The Messiah of God—ha! The Chosen—ha!”
36-37 The soldiers also came up and poked fun at him, making a game of it. They toasted him with sour wine: “So you’re King of the Jews! Save yourself!”
38 Printed over him was a sign: this is the king of the jews.
39 One of the criminals hanging alongside cursed him: “Some Messiah you are! Save yourself! Save us!”
40-41 But the other one made him shut up: “Have you no fear of God? You’re getting the same as him. We deserve this, but not him—he did nothing to deserve this.”
42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you enter your kingdom.”
43 He said, “Don’t worry, I will. Today you will join me in paradise.”

What ever we say about Jesus and his Kingdom, however we try to understand the manifestation of power and glory which was his as the King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right; how ever much we are moved by the powerful words of the Hallelujah Chorus which shouts “King of Kings and Lord of Lords, forever!”   We are reminded today that Jesus Kingdom is not of this world and is not like anything else in this world.  It is not made up of that which makes up our kingdoms.  it is as different as night is from day.

For it is not a matter of power politics; nor of deceptive promises.  It is not a matter of domination and manipulation.  Jesus Kingdom is made up of compassion, kindness, gentleness, forgiveness, joy, peace and is found in places of weakness and foolishness, where the power and wisdom of God is revealed in all its power  and glory.

Robert MacAfee Brown relates the following life experience.

“The story is a true one.  It takes place on the roof of one of the crematoria at Birkenau, the death camp of Auschwitz, on a gray, cheerless day in the summer of 1979.

A group of us are standing on ruins the Germans tried (unsuccessfully) to obliterate, to hide evidence that sex million Jews had been shot and gassed and burned in such places, solely because they were Jews.

I reflect: if Golgotha revealed the sense of God-forsakenness of one Jew, Birkenau multiplies that anguish at least three and a half million times.  For the rest of my life, this crematorium will represent the most powerful case against God;  the spot where one could - with justice-denounce, deny, or (worst of all) ignore God, the God who was silent.

On what use are words as such a time?  So many cried out to God at this spot and were not heard.  Human silence today seems the only appropriate response to divine silence yesterday.

We remain silent.  Our silence is deafening.

And then it comes - first from the lips of one man, Elie Wiesel (standing in the camp where thirty-fife years earlier his life and family and faith were destroyed), and then in a mounting chorus from others, mostly Jews, the great affirmation:  ‘Shema Yisroel, Adonai Elohenu, Adonai echod, Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One.’ “




Prayer thought for the week:  “Lord, may your kingdom come this week, this day, this hour, in and through me your unworthy servant.”  Amen

Nov. 13, 2016, 26th Sunday after Pentecost

Luke 21:5-19 ( The Message)

5-6 One day people were standing around talking about the Temple, remarking how beautiful it was, the splendor of its stonework and memorial gifts. Jesus said, “All this you’re admiring so much—the time is coming when every stone in that building will end up in a heap of rubble.”
7 They asked him, “Teacher, when is this going to happen? What clue will we get that it’s about to take place?”
8-9 He said, “Watch out for the doomsday deceivers. Many leaders are going to show up with forged identities claiming, ‘I’m the One,’ or, ‘The end is near.’ Don’t fall for any of that. When you hear of wars and uprisings, keep your head and don’t panic. This is routine history and no sign of the end.”
10-11 He went on, “Nation will fight nation and ruler fight ruler, over and over. Huge earthquakes will occur in various places. There will be famines. You’ll think at times that the very sky is falling.
12-15 “But before any of this happens, they’ll arrest you, hunt you down, and drag you to court and jail. It will go from bad to worse, dog-eat-dog, everyone at your throat because you carry my name. You’ll end up on the witness stand, called to testify. Make up your mind right now not to worry about it. I’ll give you the words and wisdom that will reduce all your accusers to stammers and stutters.
16-19 “You’ll even be turned in by parents, brothers, relatives, and friends. Some of you will be killed. There’s no telling who will hate you because of me. Even so, every detail of your body and soul—even the hairs of your head!—is in my care; nothing of you will be lost. Staying with it—that’s what is required. Stay with it to the end. You won’t be sorry; you’ll be saved.


The American novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald once said:

“The test of first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function.  One should, for example, be able to see that things are hopeless and yet be determined to make them better.”

This certainly is the mark of faith which often has to hope against hope and act in love in spite of all the hate.  This is what this text is all about.

It is about the faith which is sure of what it hopes for and certain of what it cannot see.
It is about the love which dares to bear all things, believe all things, hope all things, endure all things.
It is about being witness to the truth in the face of evil and daring to believe that not a hair on our heads will perish.

As one writer put it:

“Christ risen from the dead shows that there is nothing rebellious creation can do to cause something to perish that God wants to preserve.”

It is not the evil which shall prevail; it is faith in the goodness of God which will prevail!
Indeed, not a hair will perish of what God wants to preserve!





"Do not feel totally, personally,
irrevocably responsible for everything.
Thats my job."   God










Prayer thought for the week.  “Lord, help me to remember that You are with us in both good times and bad.  And that the good will prevail.”

Nov. 6, 2016, All Saints Sunday

Matthew 5:1-12 (NRSV)  The Beatitudes

" 5
When Jesus[a] saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. 2 Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying:

3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
5 “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.
8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you."

All Saints Sunday has to do with our hearts.  “Blessed are the pure of heart, (those who have opened their hearts to the redeeming goodness of God’s love) for they will see God.”(  Matt. 5:8) And they will be a blessing.  It will be said of them “He/she had a good heart!”

Heart.  The word appears 872 times in the Bible.
It is an all inclusive word which captures all that we are and means everything we are, the very center our our being, the very soul of our existence.  In the O.T. as well as new and even today, “the ‘heart’ is at the center of a person’s motivations and actions.  It is the deepest fiber and sinew of the human will power”   John S. McClure

As Jesus says a bit further in the sermon on the Mount:
“The good person out of the good treasure of the heart produces good, and the evil person out of the evil treasure produces evil; for it is out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks.”  Lk. 6:45

How is it with your heart?
Believe it or not, want it or not,  God would, through Word and Sacrament search us, cleanse us, call us, equip us, change us, enrich us, forgive us, so that from the heart we might “be merciful, just as (our God) is merciful.”  Mt. 6:36

It makes all the difference in the world when our hearts are turned towards God and God’s grace is at work in our hearts, taking the worst which happens to us and making it a blessing; and taking the best that happens to us and making that a blessing too, not just for us but for others too, who need to know they also are loved by God.

Then we are numbered with the Saints for a Saint is someone with a “good heart”.  A heart which has been captured by the awesome love of God!






“The heart has its reasons,
which reason does not know.”
Blaise Pascal







Prayer thought for the week:  "Lord, warm my heart with your love, that I might produce good, for those close to me and those far away."

Oct. 30, 2016 Reformation Sunday

On this the beginning of the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation my posting is going to be a selection of quotes by Martin Luther.
When Luther nailed the 95 Theses on the door of the Wittenberg church (Oct.. 31, 1517)
he started what became the biggest revolution in the history of the world, religiously, economically, and even politically.  His words echo down through the years and have been a rally cry for freedom of religion “ I cannot and will not recant anything, for to go against
conscience is neither right nor safe. Here I stand, I can do no other, so help me God. Amen.”

For centuries Reformation Day was a time to attack the Catholic Church and beat the drum for Luther’s three major emphasis :  the Word Alone, Faith Alone, The Priesthood of all Believers.

Today we find Reformation Sunday being observed in the Catholic Church (maybe not celebrated but at least recognized) and there has been great progress in seeking unity in the whole church.  Pope Francis is even attending the opening commemoration of the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation in Lund, Sweden.
So Luther’s words about the Pope being the “anti-Christ” are not worth remembering.
As are his words about the Jews, for which the Lutheran Church some years ago made formal apology to the Jewish people.

But many of his words are worth remembering for they speak to our life of faith today.
So here are some I find both helpful and inspirational.

Lets start with what I had to memorize in confirmation - long before I knew I was going to be a pastor.  The meaning to the  Second Article of Creed.

“I believe that Jesus Christ, true God, begotten of the Father from eternity, and also true man, born of the Virgin Mary, is my Lord, who has redeemed me, a lost and condemned person, purchased and won me from all sins, from death, and from the power of the devil; not with gold or silver, but with His holy, precious blood and with His innocent suffering and death, that I may be His own and live under Him in His kingdom and serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness, just as He is risen from the dead, lives and reigns to all eternity.
This is most certainly true.”

Now to some Luther quotes to cherish in the life of faith.

“Forgiveness is God's command. “

“Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree.”

“Every man (person) must do two things alone; he must do his own believing and his own dying.“

“Faith is a living, daring confidence in God's grace, so sure and certain that a man could stake his life on it a thousand times.”

“Faith is permitting ourselves to be seized by the things we do not see.“

“The Bible is the cradle wherein Christ is laid. “

“Nobody is in this life is nearer God than those who hate and blaspheme him. He has no more dear children then they.”

“There is more honest faith in doubt than all the creeds of Christendom.”

“To be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without breathing.”

“Beautiful music is the art of the prophets that can calm the agitations of the soul; it is one of the most magnificent and delightful presents God has given us.”

“If I am not allowed to laugh in heaven, I don't want to go there.”

“Pray, and let God worry.”            














Prayer thought for the week:
                               “Ah, dearest Jesus, Holy Child,
Make thee a bed, soft undefiled
Within my heart, that it may be,
A quiet chamber kept for thee.”
Martin Luther

Oct. 23, 2016, 23rd Sunday After Pentecost

Luke 18:9-14  (The Message)
9-12 He told his next story to some who were complacently pleased with themselves over their moral performance and looked down their noses at the common people: “Two men went up to the Temple to pray, one a Pharisee, the other a tax man. The Pharisee posed and prayed like this: ‘Oh, God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, crooks, adulterers, or, heaven forbid, like this tax man. I fast twice a week and tithe on all my income.’
13 “Meanwhile the tax man, slumped in the shadows, his face in his hands, not daring to look up, said, ‘God, give mercy. Forgive me, a sinner.’”
14 Jesus commented, “This tax man, not the other, went home made right with God. If you walk around with your nose in the air, you’re going to end up flat on your face, but if you’re content to be simply yourself, you will become more than yourself.”


This parable seems to be clearly good or bad, right or wrong.
But it isn’t.  And we have to see ourselves in both men; see the good and the bad, or evil as Campbell puts it in our quote.

For there is good and bad in both.  The pharisee is everything we might wish to be in terms of religious commitment and dedication.  But it carries him to self righteousness, the last thing we want to be.  The Publican is everything we don’t want to be in terms of life style yet his prayer of the heart is the best he or we can pray.

Both need God’s grace; neither deserve it; both get it.

The parable is to wake us up to the truth that there is “nothing, nothing, nothing I can  do to earn, deserve, be worthy of, or pay off my debt, - it is all grace.”

Grace is not reserved for those who are close to God; grace is for all and those who admit they need it are the first to receive it.

Grace is not about a nice God being nice to nice people.  It is about a loving God being gracious to hurting people, no matter who. It’s about receiving what I do not deserve and never can deserve no matter how holy I become.

To live in God’s grace is to never stop praying the prayer of the tax collector even as I live with the zeal of the pharisee - knowing that a God of grace will never let me down, never let me go, nor never let me off.  And praying that there might be more good then evil in my life!






"You yourself are participating in the evil,
or you are not alive.  Whatever you do is
evil for somebody.  This is one of the
ironies of the whole creation."
Joseph Campbell








Prayer thought for the week:  “Lord, keep me from being so sure of myself that I can’t see my own wrong.  Help me to see that I am both ‘saint and sinner’ so that your grace can flow through me to others.”

Oct. 16, 2016, 22nd Sunday After Pentecost

Luke 18:1-8  (The Message)

18 1-3 Jesus told them a story showing that it was necessary for them to pray consistently and never quit. He said, “There was once a judge in some city who never gave God a thought and cared nothing for people. A widow in that city kept after him: ‘My rights are being violated. Protect me!’
4-5 “He never gave her the time of day. But after this went on and on he said to himself, ‘I care nothing what God thinks, even less what people think. But because this widow won’t quit badgering me, I’d better do something and see that she gets justice—otherwise I’m going to end up beaten black-and-blue by her pounding.’”
6-8 Then the Master said, “Do you hear what that judge, corrupt as he is, is saying? So what makes you think God won’t step in and work justice for his chosen people, who continue to cry out for help? Won’t he stick up for them? I assure you, he will. He will not drag his feet. But how much of that kind of persistent faith will the Son of Man find on the earth when he returns?”


This parable is not about God and how God answers prayer.  It is about us and how we pray.  It is not about God and what God will do for us if we beg him long and hard enough;  it is about us and what we can do to not lose heart, when all around us goes smash.

We can pray!  And keep on praying until something good happens!  And it will!

It may not be a healing: it may be the strength and faith to match the burden.
It may not be a solution to a problem, solving it for us; it may be the strength, insight and determination to solve the problem ourselves.
It may not be a bolt of lighting, like Martin Luther; but it may be a gradual awareness of a pull and tug towards God’s will for our lives which will not stop until we go with it.

It takes persistent faith to pray persistently .  Faith which will not give up, give in, or throw in the towel no matter how impossible things seem to be.

The faith which is able to hang in there, persisting in God’s goodness, justice, fairness, love, mercy and kindness even when there seems to be no evidence that God even exists!

As it was for Elie Wiesel and many other Jews in Nazi Germany.  He writes:

“There were many periods in our past when we had every right in the world to turn to God and say, ‘Enough.  Since You seem to approve of all these persecutions, all these outrages, have it Your way: let Your world go on without Jews. Either You are our partner in history, or You are not.  If you are, do Your share; if You are not, we consider ourselves free of past commitments.  Since You choose to break the Covenant, so be it.”

“And yet, and yet...We went on believing, hoping, invoking His name...We did not give up on Him...For this is the essence of being Jewish; never to give up--never to yield to despair.”  A Jew Today, p. 164

This is also the essence of being a Christian!  To never give up no matter how bad it gets.  To persistently confess with the unknown person in a cellar in Cologne during the bombing of WW II:

“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.”
Unknown









Prayer thought for the week: “Lord, I believe, help me to never not believe in Your
love, or despair over what seems too much to endure.”

Oct. 9, 2016, 21st Sunday After Pentecost

Luke 17:11-19  (The Message)

It happened that as he made his way toward Jerusalem, he crossed over the border between Samaria and Galilee. As he entered a village, ten men, all lepers, met him. They kept their distance but raised their voices, calling out, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”
Taking a good look at them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.”
They went, and while still on their way, became clean. One of them, when he realized that he was healed, turned around and came back, shouting his gratitude, glorifying God. He kneeled at Jesus’ feet, so grateful. He couldn’t thank him enough—and he was a Samaritan.
Jesus said, “Were not ten healed? Where are the nine? Can none be found to come back and give glory to God except this outsider?” Then he said to him, “Get up. On your way. Your faith has healed and saved you.”

Life tastes better when we are thankful.  It takes the bitterness out of life.
The one who returned was not only healed; he was also made thankful.
He was made whole.  Jesus healing touched not only his body but also his heart.

He knew he didn’t deserve what he was given.  It was a gift.  And the only response was to turn back and give thanks.  His heart was healed as well as his body.  He felt good…happy…whole again.  That is the way it it is with  God’s healing grace.  It does more than we ask for and it never fails to make a difference in our lives.  Even if the difference is facing our illness with hope in our hearts because God is with us and no matter what happens, we cannot loose!

So turn back and thank God. Be happy for God’s healing grace where ever and however you have experienced it in your life.

"The best and most beautiful
things in the world cannot be
seen or even touched.
They must be felt with the heart."
Helen Keller










Prayer thought for the week:  “Lord, help me to see that life and all that is precious in it is first of all a gift which warms the heart before it can be said to be a right, which enrages the mind.  Keep me thankful for the giftedness of life and Your healing grace.  A gift indeed!”

Oct. 2, 2016, 20th Sunday After Pentecost

Luke 17:7-10  (The Message)

7-10 “Suppose one of you has a servant who comes in from plowing the field or tending the sheep. Would you take his coat, set the table, and say, ‘Sit down and eat’? Wouldn’t you be more likely to say, ‘Prepare dinner; change your clothes and wait table for me until I’ve finished my coffee; then go to the kitchen and have your supper’? Does the servant get special thanks for doing what’s expected of him? It’s the same with you. When you’ve done everything expected of you, be matter-of-fact and say, ‘The work is done. What we were told to do, we did.’”

When we have done every thing we can do we have only done our duty, and even then we are not worthy to be called children of God.  We are never good enough to be worthy of that!  For it is ALWAYS by grace that we are saved…become worthy of being called children of God!

It is our duty to do what God calls us to do - to forgive as we have been forgiven!  Too love as we have been loved.  To be a blessing as we have been blessed.  And we are reminded today that we are also to be a servant, not a celebrity!

That is, to live by grace, and not keep score.  When we have done everything expected of us, and maybe even more, we are only doing what a servant is called to do - and the thanks we receive is in the doing.  No big deal.  No praise to inflate our ego.  Just a job well done, and something of God’s grace at work through us.  What an awesome joy that is!  The joy of being a servant!






“He (Jesus) sat down and
summoned the Twelve.
‘So you want first place?
Then take the last place.
Be the servant of all.’”
Mark 9:35








Prayer thought for the week:  “Lord, help me be a servant who isn’t caught up in keeping score or getting credit.”

Sept. 25, 2016, 19th Sunday After Pentecost

Luke 16:19-31  (The Message)

19-21 “There once was a rich man, expensively dressed in the latest fashions, wasting his days in conspicuous consumption. A poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, had been dumped on his doorstep. All he lived for was to get a meal from scraps off the rich man’s table. His best friends were the dogs who came and licked his sores.
22-24 “Then he died, this poor man, and was taken up by the angels to the lap of Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried. In hell and in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham in the distance and Lazarus in his lap. He called out, ‘Father Abraham, mercy! Have mercy! Send Lazarus to dip his finger in water to cool my tongue. I’m in agony in this fire.’
25-26 “But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that in your lifetime you got the good things and Lazarus the bad things. It’s not like that here. Here he’s consoled and you’re tormented. Besides, in all these matters there is a huge chasm set between us so that no one can go from us to you even if he wanted to, nor can anyone cross over from you to us.’
27-28 “The rich man said, ‘Then let me ask you, Father: Send him to the house of my father where I have five brothers, so he can tell them the score and warn them so they won’t end up here in this place of torment.’
29 “Abraham answered, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets to tell them the score. Let them listen to them.’
30 “‘I know, Father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but they’re not listening. If someone came back to them from the dead, they would change their ways.’
31 “Abraham replied, ‘If they won’t listen to Moses and the Prophets, they’re not going to be convinced by someone who rises from the dead.’”


The parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus does not tell us it is a crime to be rich.
Or that those who have a good time of it here will get their suffering in eternity.

It sounds like it does, but it doesn’t!
Nor does it give us a clear picture of the way it is in heaven.
Anymore than our jokes about heaven do.

“To use this story as warrant for a doctrine of a brimstone hell, or to deduce from it the dogma of the absolute and irrevocable separation of the good and the bad hereafter, is to transplant it violently from its native soil of parable to a barren literalism where it cannot live.”   Parables of Jesus, Geo. Buttrick, p. 140

The point of the parable is that life is to be lived, not evaded.  The rich man was guilty of evasion; running away from real life into his pretend world where he didn’t have to see Lazarus - really see him.  He was afraid of the smell of poverty and used his riches to evade facing the poverty all around him.

Like it or not, we are the rich man.  We too run away from life, evading those places and people where our God has chosen to meet us, even as God meets us in Jesus who said, “What so ever you do for the least of these, you do it unto me.”

Living in the Kingdom of God is not a matter of having heaven all figured out; or the mysteries of death and eternity solved.  It is a matter of loosing oneself in life, giving oneself away, hurting with those who hurt, weeping with those who weep, laughing with those who laugh, and discovering that life comes not by evading but by jumping in.

This takes faith; faith which comes by hearing the Word of God, and doing it.
Faith for living, not just for dying.





The parable of The Rich man and Lazarus
is about indifference and idolatry;
about how easily we ‘miss the mark’
for which life and possessions are intended.






Prayer thought for the week:  “Lord, help me figure out how to lose myself in living, so life becomes more than just consuming.  And what I have,  who I am , (my riches) becomes a gift to someone somewhere, close or far away.”

Sept. 18, 2016, 18th Sunday After Pentecost

Luke 16:19  (The Message)

16 1-2 Jesus said to his disciples, “There was once a rich man who had a manager. He got reports that the manager had been taking advantage of his position by running up huge personal expenses. So he called him in and said, ‘What’s this I hear about you? You’re fired. And I want a complete audit of your books.’
3-4 “The manager said to himself, ‘What am I going to do? I’ve lost my job as manager. I’m not strong enough for a laboring job, and I’m too proud to beg. . . . Ah, I’ve got a plan. Here’s what I’ll do . . . then when I’m turned out into the street, people will take me into their houses.’
5 “Then he went at it. One after another, he called in the people who were in debt to his master. He said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’
6 “He replied, ‘A hundred jugs of olive oil.’
“The manager said, ‘Here, take your bill, sit down here—quick now—write fifty.’
7 “To the next he said, ‘And you, what do you owe?’
“He answered, ‘A hundred sacks of wheat.’
“He said, ‘Take your bill, write in eighty.’
8-9 “Now here’s a surprise: The master praised the crooked manager! And why? Because he knew how to look after himself. Streetwise people are smarter in this regard than law-abiding citizens. They are on constant alert, looking for angles, surviving by their wits. I want you to be smart in the same way—but for what is right—using every adversity to stimulate you to creative survival, to concentrate your attention on the bare essentials, so you’ll live, really live, and not complacently just get by on good behavior.”


The master praised the dishonest servant  “because he acted shrewdly” (other translations of why the servant was praised) that is he was…“sharp-witted, perceptive, smart, wise, savvy, clever, canny”.

“This is the most difficult of all parables and no interpretation is wholly satisfactory.”
And if we get stuck in trying to figure out what is happening and how Jesus could
use such a scoundrel to make his point we will miss the point of it all.

What Jesus is dramatically laying before us is that we are to be as shrewd and cunning as those who don’t care - and we are to do it as those who do care, because we have a God who cares.  As those who live by grace and know it is the only way we can make it - in this life or the life to come.

As children of the grace we are to work hard at being  shrewdly graceful in how we live with the priorities of God’s Kingdom deeply imbedded in our heart, soul, mind and being.  How we live with faith as “a power and passion in authority among the powers and passions of life.”  A power and passion born of grace which means we live not to get even but to forgive;  not to judge and condemn but to be compassionate as our God is compassionate!

“The point of the parable is not to approve what the steward did wrong, but to applaud how rightly he did it.  We are to do rightly what is right, even as he did rightly what was wrong.









"If he doesn't disturb us,
then he's not Jesus."
Andrew Greeley










Prayer thought for the week:  “Lord, help me to be shrewdly graceful in all I do, letting compassion rule my heart and my actions.”

Sept. 11, 2016, 17th Sunday After Pentecost

Luke 15:1-10  (The Message )

The Story of the Lost Sheep
15 1-3 By this time a lot of men and women of doubtful reputation were hanging around Jesus, listening intently. The Pharisees and religion scholars were not pleased, not at all pleased. They growled, “He takes in sinners and eats meals with them, treating them like old friends.” Their grumbling triggered this story.
4-7 “Suppose one of you had a hundred sheep and lost one. Wouldn’t you leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the lost one until you found it? When found, you can be sure you would put it across your shoulders, rejoicing, and when you got home call in your friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Celebrate with me! I’ve found my lost sheep!’ Count on it—there’s more joy in heaven over one sinner’s rescued life than over ninety-nine good people in no need of rescue.

The Story of the Lost Coin
8-10 “Or imagine a woman who has ten coins and loses one. Won’t she light a lamp and scour the house, looking in every nook and cranny until she finds it? And when she finds it you can be sure she’ll call her friends and neighbors: ‘Celebrate with me! I found my lost coin!’ Count on it—that’s the kind of party God’s angels throw every time one lost soul turns to God.”

We who are religious like to see repentance first, then God will forgive.

Is it not the other way around?
God forgives - that is God offers love and forgiveness to the lost - to help them repent.

God is open to the lost and rejoices on their being found.  It is in the process of the celebration that repentance really takes place.  Because I have been found, when I didn’t think anyone, certainly not God, would want me, or bother looking for me.

What a joy to be found and loved before I deserve  it.  To have a party thrown for me before I could even mumble my repentance.

To be saved is to trust that God loves me enough that I dare risk getting lost again, not because I am indifferent to God’s love, but because I am trying to let  love be at the center of my life, and sometimes that gets dangerous and means I have to do what I don’t want to do.  And I get lost trying to find my way through life’s dilemma’s.
Yet God will find me again, and again, and again, until I get it right.

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









Prayer thought for the week:  “Lord, don’t give up on me.  I will get it right eventually,
and love as you love me.”

Sept. 4, 2016, 16th Sunday After Pentecost

Luke 14:25-33 (The Message)

25-27 One day when large groups of people were walking along with him, Jesus turned and told them, “Anyone who comes to me but refuses to let go of father, mother, spouse, children, brothers, sisters—yes, even one’s own self!—can’t be my disciple. Anyone who won’t shoulder his own cross and follow behind me can’t be my disciple.
28-30 “Is there anyone here who, planning to build a new house, doesn’t first sit down and figure the cost so you’ll know if you can complete it? If you only get the foundation laid and then run out of money, you’re going to look pretty foolish. Everyone passing by will poke fun at you: ‘He started something he couldn’t finish.’
31-32 “Or can you imagine a king going into battle against another king without first deciding whether it is possible with his ten thousand troops to face the twenty thousand troops of the other? And if he decides he can’t, won’t he send an emissary and work out a truce?33 “Simply put, if you’re not willing to take what is dearest to you, whether plans or people, and kiss it good-bye, you can’t be my disciple.

These are radical words designed to set us free from that which really destroys the joy of living - luke warm religion.  To play with religion is worse than no religion at all.  To want a little bit of God, but not enough to make us have to change our ways, is worse then having no God at all.  At least then we are honest!

Jesus is not advocating that we ‘hate’ in his name.  He is advocating that we place first things first - and that means discipleship!  Loving God with all our being.

These words were spoken at a time when Jesus was popular.  As such, they were designed to shatter the illusion that discipleship is a mass movement.  Jesus would have us go where we don’t want to go and do what we don’t want to do.  Many drop out. There are times when to be near Jesus is the most dangerous place to be.

Prayer thought for the week:  “Lord, give me the courage to go where I don’t want to go, and the strength to do what I don’t want to do, as your Disciple.”

Aug. 28, 2016 15th Sunday After Pentecost

Luke 14:1-14  (The Message)

1-3 One time when Jesus went for a Sabbath meal with one of the top leaders of the Pharisees, all the guests had their eyes on him, watching his every move. Right before him there was a man hugely swollen in his joints. So Jesus asked the religion scholars and Pharisees present, “Is it permitted to heal on the Sabbath? Yes or no?”
4-6 They were silent. So he took the man, healed him, and sent him on his way. Then he said, “Is there anyone here who, if a child or animal fell down a well, wouldn’t rush to pull him out immediately, not asking whether or not it was the Sabbath?” They were stumped. There was nothing they could say to that.
Invite the Misfits
7-9 He went on to tell a story to the guests around the table. Noticing how each had tried to elbow into the place of honor, he said, “When someone invites you to dinner, don’t take the place of honor. Somebody more important than you might have been invited by the host. Then he’ll come and call out in front of everybody, ‘You’re in the wrong place. The place of honor belongs to this man.’ Red-faced, you’ll have to make your way to the very last table, the only place left.
10-11 “When you’re invited to dinner, go and sit at the last place. Then when the host comes he may very well say, ‘Friend, come up to the front.’ That will give the dinner guests something to talk about! What I’m saying is, If you walk around with your nose in the air, you’re going to end up flat on your face. But if you’re content to be simply yourself, you will become more than yourself.”
12-14 Then he turned to the host. “The next time you put on a dinner, don’t just invite your friends and family and rich neighbors, the kind of people who will return the favor. Invite some people who never get invited out, the misfits from the wrong side of the tracks. You’ll be—and experience—a blessing. They won’t be able to return the favor, but the favor will be returned—oh, how it will be returned!—at the resurrection of God’s people.”

These words are about how it is in the Kingdom of God and how God would have it be with us . With God there are no “greats”; no “ inner circles”; no “less or more important”; no social status.  No game playing, pretending to be humble so we can be great.

“Half of the harm that is done in this world, is due to people who want to feel important.  They don’t mean to do harm - but the harm does not interest them.  Or they do not see it, or they justify it because they are absorbed in the endless struggle to think well of themselves.”  T. S. Elliot   ”The Cocktail Party”

We live by grace not by our accomplishments.   Humility is our key word.

Humility is a sigh of strength.  It is a fruit of healthy ego-strength; liking myself but not hung up on myself.  It comes out of the honest struggle with my weakness; and the gracious acceptance of forgiveness.  It comes when I forget myself and remember who I am - a sinner - and who my God is - a gracious, loving, forgiving God.  Humble people like themselves and don’t need the acclaim of others to do so.  They just go about being their forgiven selves.

“True humility doesn’t consist of thinking ill of yourself but on not thinking of yourself much differently from the way you’d be apt to think of anybody else.  It is the capacity for being no more & no less pleased when you play your own (bridge) hand well then when your opponents do.”  Buechner, “Wishful Thinking”, p. 40

Humility is loosing oneself in living and not keeping score.  It is letting the love of God consume us until nothing is more important then the privilege of being a servant.
It is getting lost in doing good.  And letting God keep score, if God wants to, which God probably doesn’t.





“It is better to lead from behind
and to put others in front,
especially when you celebrate
victory,when nice things occur.”  
Nelson Mandela







Prayer thought for the week:  “Lord, keep me humble so you can use me, and the gifts I have to share.  And let the credit be Yours!”

Aug. 21, 2016, 14th Sunday After Pentecost

Luke 13:10-17  (The Message)

10-13 He (Jesus) was teaching in one of the meeting places on the Sabbath. There was a woman present, so twisted and bent over with arthritis that she couldn’t even look up. She had been afflicted with this for eighteen years. When Jesus saw her, he called her over. “Woman, you’re free!” He laid hands on her and suddenly she was standing straight and tall, giving glory to God.
14 The meeting-place president, furious because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the congregation, “Six days have been defined as work days. Come on one of the six if you want to be healed, but not on the seventh, the Sabbath.”
15-16 But Jesus shot back, “You frauds! Each Sabbath every one of you regularly unties your cow or donkey from its stall, leads it out for water, and thinks nothing of it. So why isn’t it all right for me to untie this daughter of Abraham and lead her from the stall where Satan has had her tied these eighteen years?”
17 When he put it that way, his critics were left looking quite silly and red-faced. The congregation was delighted and cheered him on.

Two haunting questions raised by this text:
First:  “Do we hide behind obscure biblical passages and ancient prejudices as a way of avoiding the call to be a healing presence in the world?”  Lisa W. Davison

Consider homosexuality as one example.  Do we hide behind the few verses of Scripture which seem to condemn homosexuality, so we don’t have to face the many verses of Scripture which call us to be “gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.” (Ps. 103:8) as Jesus was!  Thus being a healing presence in the world.
Second: How do we keep the Sabbath today?

Weekly worship is still with us, yet few of us worship weekly.
Sunday is still a “special” day yet it is full of that which happens the rest of the week.  As the NFL official said, “Sunday once belonged to God, but now it belongs to us.”

Reflect on these words from Gary E. Pelukso-Verdend, a United Methodist pastor at Phillips Theological Seminary inTulsa, OK.

“Keeping Sabbath is also a weekly reminder of God’s household economics in which economic justice is a foundational virtue of any society and in which the value of liberation for the bound takes precedence over normal prohibitions.  In today's 24/7/365 globalized and commercialized economy, keeping Sabbath thus understood will involve striving that rises to the level of agony.  We Christians have little external support for Sabbath stewardship.  It is not easy to be a good steward of time, money, energy, and attention in a world that never sleeps or rests, in which faith in the global economy sometimes crosses over into idolatry.”

In the light of all of this remember:

“When God is up to something,
prepare to be unbound:
whether from confining diseases,
or social norms about persons
with disabilities, or even holy pieties.”
David Jacobsen





Prayer thought for the week:  "Lord, unbind me from that which keeps me from being a healing presence in my world."

Aug. 14, 2016, 13th Sunday After Pentecost

Luke 12:49-56  (The Message)
49-53 “I’ve come to start a fire on this earth—how I wish it were blazing right now! I’ve come to change everything, turn everything rightside up—how I long for it to be finished! Do you think I came to smooth things over and make everything nice? Not so. I’ve come to disrupt and confront!”

There are things we do not want to hear.  Even in God’s Word!  The Prophet Jeremiah (and other prophets) got in trouble because they said what God wanted them to say, not what the people wanted to hear.

God’s word is not only a word of peace; it is also a word of challenge which brings unrest  It is not just to comfort the afflicted; it is also to afflict the comfortable!

It does create division among people between those who hear and those who don’t want to hear. (And sometimes those who won’t hear are those who appear to be the most religious.  At least the most set in their ways.)  This is true because God’s Word is fire.  It challenges our hypocrisy and our religious closed mindedness as it seeks to create a dangerous spirit in us.  The spirit of love!  The kind of love which brings God’s kingdom to this world in ways which make it a different and better place for all.

 To live as God’s chosen people is to live as radicals who dare believe in love as the most powerful and most important power in all of life.
.






“Some minds are like concrete,
thoroughly mixed up and
permanently set."






Prayer thought for the week:  “Lord, help me to hear what I don’t want to hear and dare believe more than I dare believe.  Help me get my head out of the sand!”

Aug. 7, 2016 12th Sunday After Pentecost

Luke 12:32-40
32"Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. 33 Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. 34 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

What we live for is what we become.  I will end up - my heart will end up - where I put my energy and hope.  We become possessed by what we set out to possess.

Because this is more true than we would like to admit, we need to be reminded often  that life is a gift not a possession; and so is the Kingdom of God.
To lose life is to find it; to be possessed by the gift of the Kingdom is to become a servant in the work of the Kingdom.  It is not just ours to have.  It is ours to give.
And this means we will do strange things, even surprise ourselves.

For God’s Kingdom, freely given, joyfully received, becomes not a possession we have but a possession which has us!


“I don’t know why I put myself
on the line.  I don’t know why I
said no to segregation.
I’m just another white Southerner,
and I wasn’t brought up to love
integration.
But I was brought up to love
Jesus Christ,  and when I saw t
he police of this city use dogs on
people, I asked myself what
Jesus Christ would have thought
and He would have done and
 that’s all I know about how
I CAME TO BE HERE,
ON THE FIRING LINE.”
(White youth standing up for blacks in 60’s)



Prayer thought for the week: “Lord, possess me with love and thankfulness, so I can be a servant in your Kingdom.”

July 31, 2016 11th Sunday After Pentecost

Luke 12:15-21  (The Message)
15 Speaking to the people, he (Jesus) went on, “Take care! Protect yourself against the least bit of greed. Life is not defined by what you have, even when you have a lot.”
16-19 Then he told them this story: “The farm of a certain rich man produced a terrific crop. He talked to himself: ‘What can I do? My barn isn’t big enough for this harvest.’ Then he said, ‘Here’s what I’ll do: I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones. Then I’ll gather in all my grain and goods, and I’ll say to myself, Self, you’ve done well! You’ve got it made and can now retire. Take it easy and have the time of your life!’
20 “Just then God showed up and said, ‘Fool! Tonight you die. And your barnful of goods—who gets it?’
21 “That’s what happens when you fill your barn with Self and not with God.”

You can, to a large degree,  determine a person’s theology by the pronouns they use.  For pronouns give direction to life.  They point to what is important in one’s life.  Mine...yours...ours...Thine.

What a difference it makes when we are able to look at our possessions and say “Thine”.  Then our possessions fall into their rightful place in life.  Then they are not ours in a selfish way, but ours to use in a redemptive way.  And we get out of the trap of thinking they are all that matters, when so often they can do so little to satisfy our deepest needs.  For we were created for more then just abundance.  We were created to know and be known by God.  Our spiritual needs cannot be satisfied with material goods - no matter how hard we try.

“Ah, there is only one problem, only one in all the world.  How can we restore to man a spiritual significance, a spiritual discontent;  let something descend upon them like the dew of a Gregorian chant...don’t you see, we cannot live any longer on refrigerators, politics, balance-sheets, and crossword puzzles.  We simply cannot.”   Author unknown

“When you have everything,
something is missing.”
Jewish proverb







Prayer thought for the week:  "Lord, help me to let go of "me, mine"
so I can say "Thee and Thine",
and use my blessings to be a blessing.
Also, help me to not feel guilty if I enjoy some for myself too."

July 24, 2016 10th Sunday After Pentecost

Luke 11:9-13 (The Message)

9 “Here’s what I’m saying:
Ask and you’ll get;
Seek and you’ll find;
Knock and the door will open.
10-13 “Don’t bargain with God. Be direct. Ask for what you need. This is not a cat-and-mouse, hide-and-seek game we’re in. If your little boy asks for a serving of fish, do you scare him with a live snake on his plate? If your little girl asks for an egg, do you trick her with a spider? As bad as you are, you wouldn’t think of such a thing—you’re at least decent to your own children. And don’t you think the Father who conceived you in love will give the Holy Spirit when you ask him?

Prayer is more then something we do to get our way with God.  Prayer is something we do to discover God’s way with us, and discover how true it is that God’s grace is sufficient for all our needs.

Prayer is one of the most important spiritual disciplines by which we open ourselves to the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

Henri Nouwen:
“It is impressive to see how prayer opens one’s eyes...prayer makes (us) contemplative and attentive.  In place of manipulating, the (person) who prays stands receptive before the world (and before God).  He no longer grabs but caresses, (she ) no longer bites, but kisses, (they ) no longer examine but admire.”
Prayer is a joy, not a duty’ a privilege, not an obligation; it is talking to PAPA - who loves us and will give us more than we ask.


“Prayer enlarges the heart until it is capable
of containing God’s gift of himself.
Ask and seek, and your heart will grow big
enough  to receive God and keep God as your own.”
Mother Teresa

July 17, 2018 9th Sunday After Pentecost

Luke 10:38-42  (The Message)

38-40 As they continued their travel, Jesus entered a village. A woman by the name of Martha welcomed him and made him feel quite at home. She had a sister, Mary, who sat before the Master, hanging on every word he said. But Martha was pulled away by all she had to do in the kitchen. Later, she stepped in, interrupting them. “Master, don’t you care that my sister has abandoned the kitchen to me? Tell her to lend me a hand.”
41-42 The Master said, “Martha, dear Martha, you’re fussing far too much and getting yourself worked up over nothing. One thing only is essential, and Mary has chosen it—it’s the main course, and won’t be taken from her.”
 
It is easy to pick on Martha and praise Mary.  The problem with Martha was not all her good work, but that she was too busy to experience the moment and savor the specialness of what was happening.  She was distracted.

This is how we miss God present in our lives - by being too busy. By being distracted.

“We...need to practice the ‘art of no agenda’ - to live in such a way that we begin to respond to the rhythms of life around us rather than control or initiate all of them.  We must, in prayer, seek to be open to and content with whatever the days brings.  We must allow ourselves to be ‘interrupted’ for God visits in interruptions.”

Take time to listen for the still small voice of God.  Be quiet and sit at the feet of Jesus; take time to do nothing.

”The question that must guide
all organizing activity in a parish
(and in a family) is not how
to keep people busy, but how
 to keep them from being so busy
that they can no longer hear the
voice of God who speaks in silence.”
Henri Nouwen,










Prayer thought for the week:  “Lord, help me to slow down, take a deep breath, and hear your voice in the “sound of silence”.

July 10 2016 8th Sunday After Pentecost

Luke 10:25-37   (The Message)
25 Just then a religion scholar stood up with a question to test Jesus. “Teacher, what do I need to do to get eternal life?”
26 He answered, “What’s written in God’s Law? How do you interpret it?”
27 He said, “That you love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and muscle and intelligence—and that you love your neighbor as well as you do yourself.”
28 “Good answer!” said Jesus. “Do it and you’ll live.”
29 Looking for a loophole, he asked, “And just how would you define ‘neighbor’?”
30-32 Jesus answered by telling a story. “There was once a man traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho. On the way he was attacked by robbers. They took his clothes, beat him up, and went off leaving him half-dead. Luckily, a priest was on his way down the same road, but when he saw him he angled across to the other side. Then a Levite religious man showed up; he also avoided the injured man.
33-35 “A Samaritan traveling the road came on him. When he saw the man’s condition, his heart went out to him. He gave him first aid, disinfecting and bandaging his wounds. Then he lifted him onto his donkey, led him to an inn, and made him comfortable. In the morning he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take good care of him. If it costs any more, put it on my bill—I’ll pay you on my way back.’
36 “What do you think? Which of the three became a neighbor to the man attacked by robbers?”
37 “The one who treated him kindly,” the religion scholar responded.
Jesus said, “Go and do the same.”

The command to love our neighbor as ourselves is not a “fifty-fifty” proposition, as if we are to divide up our love like a pie.  It is much more radical then that.  The Greek reveals this deeper meaning:  “Love our neighbor in place of, instead of yourself.” In other words, change plans with your neighbor.  Let him/her enter the space where your love is and discover
God’s love in the process.

It is as Frederick Buechner has said:

“Of all powers, love is the most powerful and the most
powerless.  It is the most powerful because it alone can
conquer that final and most impregnable stronghold which
is the human heart.  It is the most powerless because it
can do nothing except by consent.  To say that love is
God is romantic idealism.  To say that God is love is either
the last straw or the ultimate truth.  In the Christian sense,
love is not primarily an emotion but an act of will.  When
Jesus tells us to love our neighbors, he is not telling us to
love them in the sense of responding to them with a cozy
emotional feeling.  You can as well produce a cozy emotional
feeling on demand as you can a yawn or a sneeze.  On the
contrary, he is telling us to love our neighbors in the sense
of being willing to work for their well-being even if it
means sacrificing our own well-being to that end.”                                                 (Listening To Your Life, p.242)




“When Jesus tells us to love our neighbors,
he is not telling us to love them in  the
sense of responding to them with a cozy
emotional feeling… he is telling us to love our
neighbors in the sense of being willing to work
for their well-being even if it means sacrificing
our own well-being to that end.”
             Frederick Blechner







Prayer thought for the week:  “Lord, keep me from the indifference which keeps me from loving my neighbor as you loved me - sacrificially.”

July 3, 2016 7th Sunday After Pentecost

Luke 10:1-20  (The Message)
10 1-2 Later the Master selected seventy and sent them ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he intended to go. He gave them this charge:
“What a huge harvest! And how few the harvest hands. So on your knees; ask the God of the Harvest to send harvest hands.
3 “On your way! But be careful—this is hazardous work. You’re like lambs in a wolf pack.

There is no question about the need; the harvest is plentiful.
There is no question about the importance of prayer as a part of the task.
The question is, who are the laborers we are praying might be sent out?

Praying was never meant to be a substitute for doing.  It is “me” who is to “go”!  To pray for the harvest is to pray that I might be one of the laborers sent out to struggle in the heart of the day with the task of reaping the harvest.  There is something God cannot do with out my doing it.  God has chosen to limit God’s activity to those humans who will do it for Him/Her.

Indeed, this is a dangerous prayer for we might be caught up in the answer.



“This God gives the skill
But not without men’s hands;
He could not make Antonio
Stradivarius violins
Without Antonio.”
George Eliot in “Stradivarius”







Prayer thought for the week: “Lord, use me in your harvest.  Open my eyes to see how I might “be there” for You each day.”

June 26, 2016 6th Sunday After Pentecost

Luke 9:51-62 (The Message)

51-54 When it came close to the time for his Ascension, he gathered up his courage and steeled himself for the journey to Jerusalem. He sent messengers on ahead. They came to a Samaritan village to make arrangements for his hospitality. But when the Samaritans learned that his destination was Jerusalem, they refused hospitality. When the disciples James and John learned of it, they said, “Master, do you want us to call a bolt of lightning down out of the sky and incinerate them?”
55-56 Jesus turned on them: “Of course not!” And they traveled on to another village.
57 On the road someone asked if he could go along. “I’ll go with you, wherever,” he said.
58 Jesus was curt: “Are you ready to rough it? We’re not staying in the best inns, you know.”
Jesus said to another, “Follow me.”
59 He said, “Certainly, but first excuse me for a couple of days, please. I have to make arrangements for my father’s funeral.”
60 Jesus refused. “First things first. Your business is life, not death. And life is urgent: Announce God’s kingdom!”
61 Then another said, “I’m ready to follow you, Master, but first excuse me while I get things straightened out at home.”
62 Jesus said, “No procrastination. No backward looks. You can’t put God’s kingdom off till tomorrow. Seize the day.”

Whatever else it means, to follow Jesus, it is a radical departure from what has been to what is yet to be.

It is an all consuming adventure which is full of uncertainty, vulnerability and openness to God’s surprises as they come upon us at the most unexpected moments, in unconventional ways and ask us to be ready to  “proclaim the Kingdom of God” in the very essence of our being.

It means being a servant, a steward, a slave.  We cannot do it our way - we have to do it His way.  We cannot consume one another, we are to serve one another in love.

“True religiousness, in whatever faith, functions not to enslave but to free, not to injure but to heal, not to destabilize but to stabilize.”
True religion lives by grace which sets people free.  Free to be who we are.  Free to struggle with our purpose in life.  Free to choose without fear of reprisal, yet with responsibility for our choices.  Free to live knowing that I will always be loved, and also knowing that I have to choose how I am going to use my freedom - as an excuse to indulge in self-gratification at the expense of others; as a license to destroy myself and others;   or as an opportunity to love my neighbor as myself, to love as I have been loved!   Hans  Kung







“True religiousness,
in whatever faith,
functions not to enslave
but to free,
not to injure but to heal,
not to destabilize but to stabilize.”
Hans  Kung







Prayer thought for the week:  “Lord, help my “religiousness” to be life giving, proclaiming your Kingdom of grace and love for all.
lest it miss the mark






 

June 19, 2016 5th Sunday After Pentecost

Luke 8:26-39  (The Message)
26-29 They sailed on to the country of the Gerasenes, directly opposite Galilee. As he stepped out onto land, a madman from town met him; he was a victim of demons. He hadn’t worn clothes for a long time, nor lived at home; he lived in the cemetery. When he saw Jesus he screamed, fell before him, and bellowed, “What business do you have messing with me? You’re Jesus, Son of the High God, but don’t give me a hard time!” (The man said this because Jesus had started to order the unclean spirit out of him.) Time after time the demon threw the man into convulsions. He had been placed under constant guard and tied with chains and shackles, but crazed and driven wild by the demon, he would shatter the bonds.
30-31 Jesus asked him, “What is your name?”
“Mob. My name is Mob,” he said, because many demons afflicted him. And they begged Jesus desperately not to order them to the bottomless pit.
32-33 A large herd of pigs was browsing and rooting on a nearby hill. The demons begged Jesus to order them into the pigs. He gave the order. It was even worse for the pigs than for the man. Crazed, they stampeded over a cliff into the lake and drowned.
34-36 Those tending the pigs, scared to death, bolted and told their story in town and country. People went out to see what had happened. They came to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had been sent, sitting there at Jesus’ feet, wearing decent clothes and making sense. It was a holy moment, and for a short time they were more reverent than curious. Then those who had seen it happen told how the demoniac had been saved.

The casting out of demons and the resulting peace in the man’s life announces again the mission of Jesus - to set us free from the evil which so easily possesses us.  It is a strong reminder that Jesus seeks too bestow wholeness, peace, and belonging to our lives.

Our greatest challenge is not to try figure out why Jesus did this to the pigs,
but having to courage to name the powers which seek to enslave us and keep us from living free, joyous, compassionate lives.  And to let them be cast out!
 
The powers of evil are still at work in our world and in our lives.  Prejudice, indifference, blasphemy, hypocrisy , bulling, judging, name calling, excluding, etc. etc. etc.  We may not be able to  change the world but we can let our hearts be changed from evil to good.  And that means that we let go of what sometimes seems to be so important for our own welfare, and live so that love will prevail in our world of hate.

Perhaps we all need too hear again the words of Scott Peck who describes this evil which is in all of us and needs to be cast out.


"It is no accident that people who commit
 the most evil in this world see no power
higher than themselves.  The evil are very
strong-willed men and women.  And
because they are narcissistic, self-absorbed,
and their will is supreme, they are the ones
who are most into inappropriate and
destructive blaming.  They are the people
who cannot - who will not - take the beam out
of their own eye."
                       Scott Peck







Prayer thought for the week:  “Lord, it is easy to see evil in others.
Help me see where I have that which needs to be cast out, lest I be evil too.”