May 21, 2017, 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!

Prayer thought for the week:  “ Lord, help me to remember that nothing is too small for love.”





 

May 7, 2017 Easter 4

John 10:10

"I have come that you might have life, and have it abundantly."     Jesus

In the book, “The Little Prince”, the following conversion takes place between a boy and a fox:    The fox is speaking to the boy:

“I have no need for you, and you, on your part, have no need of me.  To you, I am
nothing more than a fox like a hundred thousand other foxes.  But if you tame me, then we will need each other.  To me, you will be unique in all the world.
To you, I shall be unique in all the world.”

That’s the key to an abundant life, to be unique to someone!
And when that someone is God, life is abundant indeed!

God won’t live our lives for us; God will live our lives with us.
This is the uniqueness of faith, which becomes "a power and passion in authority
among the powers and passions of life."  P. T. Forsyth
And opens us up to an abundant life

"Faith is a power and passion in authority
among the powers and passions of life."
P. T. Forsyth










Picture: Bri Sykora

Prayer thought for the week:  “Lord, thank you for making me unique.  Help me to be unique
as I walk my journey in faith, hope, and love.  And may it be with power and passion!”

April 30, 2017

Luke 24:13-16(The Message)

13 That same day two of them were walking to the village Emmaus, about seven miles out of Jerusalem. 14 They were deep in conversation, going over all these things that had happened. 15 In the middle of their talk and questions, Jesus came up and walked along with them. 16 But they were not able to recognize who he was."

The challenge for us is to recognize Jesus walking with us, even when at first he is hidden from our sight.  For he often comes hidden in human acts of kindness, even those which seem so insignificant.

We were in Amman, Jordan, in a Orphanage for “throw away children”.  Children who were so severely challenged, both physically and mentally that they could do little for themselves.  We fed them, played with them, took them outside.  We tried to be hospitable with them.  Little seemed to make much difference in their miserable existence.

Then on Friday morning a well dressed man entered the Orphanage.  Suit, tie, very “western” looking.  As soon as he entered all the children began to squeal and make what ever noise they could.  We stood in awe as he removed his suit coat and began one by one to call the children by name and gently but firmly move their twisted limbs.
It look like it might hurt.  It did some.  They enjoyed every minute of it.   And each had their turn.

When he was finished he sat with us.  He told us he was a Physical Therapist, a Muslim who instead of going to Mosque came weekly to the Orphanage to spend some time
with the children.  The children who were hopelessly deformed and for whom he could do little good.  Except give them a few moments of loving touch.

When he left we all agreed that we had seen Jesus - in that man and in the love of his touch!  We were surprised by the discovery; and overjoyed to have our eyes opened to see that Jesus walks with all who touch in love!




"All gestures of love, however small they be,
in favor of the poor and the unwanted,
are important to Jesus."
                                Mother Teresa

Prayer thought for the week:  “Lord, help me to remember nothing is too small to be unimportant to you.  May something of your love be seen in my touch this week, and always.”

April 23, 2017 Easter 2

John 20:19, 24 - 29 (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. 24 But Thomas, sometimes called the Twin, one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 The other disciples told him, "We saw the Master." But he said, "Unless I see the nail holes in his hands, put my finger in the nail holes, and stick my hand in his side, I won't believe it." 26 Eight days later, his disciples were again in the room. This time Thomas was with them. Jesus came through the locked doors, stood among them, and said, "Peace to you." 27 Then he focused his attention on Thomas. "Take your finger and examine my hands. Take your hand and stick it in my side. Don't be unbelieving. Believe." 28 Thomas said, "My Master! My God!" 29 Jesus said, "So, you believe because you've seen with your own eyes. Even better blessings are in store for those who believe without seeing."

Be a doubting Thomas!
It is a part of healthy faith. For doubting is a part of believing.
 Luther: “There is more faith in honest doubt then all the creeds of Christendom.”

Be a doubting Thomas!
It will keep you honest and open to change; open to Gods will for your life.
It will keep you humble - you will not get so easily caught in the idolatry of certainty.

“Whether your faith is that there is a God, or that there is not a God,
 if you don't have any doubts you are either kidding yourself or asleep.
 Doubts are the ants in the pants of faith. They keep it awake and moving.”
                                                       Frederick Buechner

Be a doubting Thomas!
For our doubts open us to the miracle of faith happening in us as it did in Thomas.
We don't believe by our own reason or strength...we believe by the power of the Holy Spirit at work in us. Our doubts lead us to faith.

“In a world where there is no room for doubt, ambiguity, or questioning, there is no room for genuine faith.”           Alan Jones

"Doubts are the ants in the pants of faith.
They keep it awake and moving."
 Buechner





Prayer thought for the week:  “Lord, I believe.  Help my unbelief.  Keep me moving in faith even with all my doubts.”

April 16, 2017 Easter Sunday

Matthew 28:1-7 (The Message)

1 After the Sabbath, as the first light of the new week dawned, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to keep vigil at the tomb. 2 Suddenly the earth reeled and rocked under their feet as God's angel came down from heaven, came right up to where they were standing. He rolled back the stone and then sat on it. 3 Shafts of lightning blazed from him. His garments shimmered snow-white. 4 The guards at the tomb were scared to death. They were so frightened, they couldn't move. 5 The angel spoke to the women: "There is nothing to fear here. I know you're looking for Jesus, the One they nailed to the cross. 6 He is not here. He was raised, just as he said. Come and look at the place where he was placed. 7 "Now, get on your way quickly and tell his disciples, 'He is risen from the dead. He is going on ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there.' That's the message."

“Christianity begins with Easter.  Without Easter there would be no Gospel, not a single narrative, not a letter in the New Testament.  Without Easter, Christendom would have no belief in Christ, no proclamation of Christ, nor any Church, any divine worship, any mission.”   Hans Kung, “Eternal Life”, p. 107

The Resurrection created the church!  We celebrate this today with great fear - because it is always stunning, amazing, confounding, bewildering - this message which is so incomprehensible.  And we celebrate it with great joy - for it touches our hearts and lifts our spirits and gives hope to our living.  

Easter is vital to a vibrant faith and a vibrant church.  

Without it, we are of all people the most to be pitied.

Easter is a celebration of something new happening in this old world which forever changes things.  It is a powerful reminder that “God’s steadfast love endures for ever.” (Ps 136)

Easter is a love feast.

"The Resurrection tells us that

 at the heart and center of the

 universe, love is reigning”

Morton Kelsey

Prayer thought for the week:  “Lord, thank you for your incomprehensible act of love, which endures forever!”

April 9, 2017 Palm/Passion Sunday

Matthew 27:26-31  (The Message)

26 Then he pardoned Barabbas. But he had Jesus whipped, and then handed over for crucifixion. 27 The soldiers assigned to the governor took Jesus into the governor's palace and got the entire brigade together for some fun. 28 They stripped him and dressed him in a red toga. 29 They plaited a crown from branches of a thorn bush and set it on his head. They put a stick in his right hand for a scepter. Then they knelt before him in mocking reverence: "Bravo, King of the Jews!" they said. "Bravo!" 30 Then they spit on him and hit him on the head with the stick. 31 When they had had their fun, they took off the toga and put his own clothes back on him. Then they proceeded out to the crucifixion.

This is a story about a love which will not let us go - ever!

“When the crucified Jesus is called ‘the image of the invisible God’. the meaning is that THIS is God and God is like THIS.  God is not greater than he is in this humiliation.  God is not more glorious then he is in this self-surrender.  God is not more powerful than he is in this helplessness.  God is not more divine than he is in this humility.”  Douglas John Hall

The irony is we would avoid this week if we could for we would rather have light without darkness, vision without trust and risk; hope without despair, Easter without Good Friday.

“To be human is to suffer, and God knows that.  That’s why God suffers too...suffering is where God and human beings meet.  It is the one place where all persons - kings, priests, paupers and prostitutes - recognize themselves as frail and transient human beings in need of God’s saving love.  Suffering brings us closer to God and God closer to us.  Suffering despite all its inhumanity and cruelty, paradoxically enables humans to long for humanity, find it, treasure it, and defend it with all their might.”   Hall

 “This is the essence of God, this is the heart of God.”  Hall  

                                                                                                   

       "Suffering is where God and human beings meet."

Douglas John Hall

                                                                                                            

Prayer thought for the week.  “Lord, in suffering you showed how close you are to us when we feel far away from you and are consumed by suffering.  Hold me in you love when I suffer so I can laugh again, with deep humility and thankfulness.”

April 2, 2017 Fifth Sunday in Lent

John 11:1-44 (edited) (The Message)

  1 A man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. 2  It was her brother Lazarus who was sick. 3 So the sisters sent word to Jesus, "Master, the one you love so very much is sick." 4 When Jesus got the message, he said, "This sickness is not fatal. It will become an occasion to show God's glory by glorifying God's Son." 5 Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, 6 but oddly, when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed on where he was for two more days. 7 After the two days, he said to his disciples, "Let's go back to Judea.

17 When Jesus finally got there, he found Lazarus already four days dead. 20 Martha heard Jesus was coming and went out to meet him. Mary remained in the house. 21 Martha said, "Master, if you'd been here, my brother wouldn't have died. 22 Even now, I know that whatever you ask God he will give you." 23 Jesus said, "Your brother will be raised up." 24 Martha replied, "I know that he will be raised up in the resurrection at the end of time." 25 "You don't have to wait for the End. I am, right now, Resurrection and Life. The one who believes in me, even though he or she dies, will live.  28 After this, she went to her sister Mary and whispered in her ear, "The Teacher is here and is asking for you." 29 The moment she heard that, she jumped up and ran out to him.  32 Mary came to where Jesus was waiting and fell at his feet, saying, "Master, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died." 33 When Jesus saw her sobbing and the Jews with her sobbing, a deep anger welled up within him. 34 He said, "Where did you put him?" 35 Jesus wept. 36 The Jews said, "Look how deeply he loved him." 38 Then Jesus said, "Remove the stone." Then he shouted, "Lazarus, come out!" 44 And he came out, a cadaver, wrapped from head to toe, and with a kerchief over his face. Jesus told them, "Unwrap him and let him loose."

The miracle of the raising of Lazarus is beyond our grasp. 

 A piece of it we can grasp is that it means that God can take the very thing which is causing us to say , “Life is a dirty trick.” and turn it into a revelation of God’s glory, and experience of God’s closeness.  Yes, a blessing!

Another piece of it we can feel is that, no matter what, "joy (laughter)  comes in the morning." 

Ps. 30:5

April Fools day was 1 day ago.  It is a day to look at life through laughter.  Perhaps that is also a good way to look at death.  And this text. Think what must have taken place at the home of Mary, Martha and Lazarus that night he was set free from death.  Do you suppose there was some laughter?  The glory, power and love of God had been revealed and they knew it deep within their being.  That is reason to rejoice, celebrate and laugh!

It is good to laugh and cry together.  To laugh even in the face of death.

Laughter can be a statement of faith and of the “sure and certain hope” which is ours.

“If we walk with Jesus and weep with him, I think he also wants us to laugh with him.”  

Cal Samra “The Joyful Christ"

“Holy laughter is a gift of grace.” 

Cal Samra

Prayer thought for the week:  "Lord, help me to laugh even in the face of death, even with tears in my eyes, trusting in your grace which makes all things end up a blessing."