Jan 16, 2022 Second Sunday After Epiphany

 

John 2:1-11 (The Message)

1-3 Three days later there was a wedding in the village of Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there. Jesus and his disciples were guests also. When they started running low on wine at the wedding banquet, Jesus’ mother told him, “They’re just about out of wine.”

4 Jesus said, “Is that any of our business, Mother—yours or mine? This isn’t my time. Don’t push me.”

5 She went ahead anyway, telling the servants, “Whatever he tells you, do it.”

6-7 Six stoneware water pots were there, used by the Jews for ritual washings. Each held twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus ordered the servants, “Fill the pots with water.” And they filled them to the brim.

8 “Now fill your pitchers and take them to the host,” Jesus said, and they did.

9-10 When the host tasted the water that had become wine (he didn’t know what had just happened but the servants, of course, knew), he called out to the bridegroom, “Everybody I know begins with their finest wines and after the guests have had their fill brings in the cheap stuff. But you’ve saved the best till now!”

11 This act in Cana of Galilee was the first sign Jesus gave, the first glimpse of his glory. And his disciples believed in him.

This miracle tells us what Jesus is all about.  Gospel not law, grace not demands, love not wrath, laughter not somberness.  The God Jesus came to reveal was not a God hung up on shoulds, oughts, or musts, but a God hung up on love, grace and forgiveness.

Turning the water into wine was a delightful opportunity of grace for Jesus.  It set the stage for what he was all about and what we are to be all about - to love and laugh our way into the Kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven and let its grace flow through us into virtually everything. 

"The God of Jesus is a God so deeply 

in love with his creatures that if humans 

should behave the same way, 

they would be deemed crazy."

Andrew Greeley

Prayer thought for the week:  “Lord, help me too love and laugh my way into

the Kingdom of God on earth.  Let grace flow through me every way possible.”

Jan 9, 2022 Baptism of Our Lord Sunday

 Luke 3:15-22  (The Message)

21-22 After all the people were baptized, Jesus was baptized. As he was praying, the sky opened up and the Holy Spirit, like a dove descending, came down on him. And along with the Spirit, a voice: “You are my Son, chosen and marked by my love, pride of my life.”

Jesus baptism was a powerful moment for him.  He needed this moment, this experience, this voice, this assurance to even dare begin to walk this earth as the Son of God.

There was struggle for Jesus in knowing his divine call.  For he was going to have to walk as a stranger among his own kin and an outsider among his own people.  He would be hated, despised, rejected, “a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief”.  Yet as one in whom God delights.  He was to bring a new brand of justice which was directed by compassion.

His baptism set him apart for servanthood.  And so does ours!  To ‘walk wet’ means we cannot be indifferent to injustice and must bring mercy, compassion and kindness into our world through who we are and how we are. 

It was no small thing for Jesus to be baptized.  It is no small thing for us either!  It does not mark us as God’s favorites; it does commission us as  God’s servants!

Prayer thought for the week: “ Lord help me to remember that Your Baptism  and mine, set us apart for servanthood.  Doing what we can to make this a

better place to be.”

Jan. 2, 2122 Christmas 2

John 1:14

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.

 Christmas is past; and the celebration which begins earlier each year, will soon be over.  Yet Christmas is never over.  It never ends.  It is hidden in every day, every word, every deed of our lives.

As we celebrate the Word which became flesh and lived among us, we also celebrate the Word becoming flesh - our flesh - and living still in our midst.

We are to live our words and live The Word so that even our flesh becomes a presence of the God who became human and dwelt among us in Jesus.

For God’s living word - God’s best word to us - is seen before it is heard. felt before it is known, experienced before it is understood, lived before it can be spoken. 

God became flesh and lived among us so we could best know God in the most human way possible.   And that is also how we share God - by living God’s word of love.

 “The most important question for me is not, ‘How do I touch people?’  but, ‘How do I live the word I am speaking?”  Henri Nouwen 

Indeed, Christmas is not just once a year.  It is never over.  It is yesterday, today, and forever, as the Word becomes flesh - in us -  and lives among us.  Indeed, Christmas is every day!

 

Prayer thought for the week:  “Lord, help me keep Christmas all year long, with joy and thankfulness.”

Dec.26, 2021 First Sunday of Christmas

  Luke 2:41-52  (The Message)

41-45 Every year Jesus’ parents traveled to Jerusalem for the Feast of Passover. When he was twelve years old, they went up as they always did for the Feast. When it was over and they left for home, the child Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but his parents didn’t know it. Thinking he was somewhere in the company of pilgrims, they journeyed for a whole day and then began looking for him among relatives and neighbors. When they didn’t find him, they went back to Jerusalem looking for him.

46-48 The next day they found him in the Temple seated among the teachers, listening to them and asking questions. The teachers were all quite taken with him, impressed with the sharpness of his answers. But his parents were not impressed; they were upset and hurt.

His mother said, “Young man, why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been half out of our minds looking for you.”

49-50 He said, “Why were you looking for me? Didn’t you know that I had to be here, dealing with the things of my Father?” But they had no idea what he was talking about.

51-52 So he went back to Nazareth with them, and lived obediently with them. His mother held these things dearly, deep within herself. And Jesus matured, growing up in both body and spirit, blessed by both God and people.

Jesus wasn’t the perfect child if we think of being perfect as always obedient, always predictable, always meeting his parents expectations.

He gave them some anxious moments, fearful moments, bewildering moments.  Something burned within Jesus which he may not have understood as a child of 12 but which led him in ways which left his family anxious.  He had to find out who he was and what he was here for.  (Don’t we all!)

No one can do this for us - we have to each do it for ourselves and it will create anxious moments for those who love us. 

To parent is to love when we are anxious and let our children grow up “in both body and spirit”.  Even Jesus had to do this! 

“There are times when we get caught up 

in things which scare our parents, 

not because they are wrong, but because 

there is danger as well as beauty in what 

we are doing.” Anonymous

Prayer thought for the week:  “Lord, help me to grow in body and spirit, and love me as I do.”

Dec 19, 2021 Advent 4

Luke 1: 39-45

 39 At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, 40 where she entered Zechariah's home and greeted Elizabeth. 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42 In a loud voice she exclaimed: "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! 43 But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. 45 Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!"

Mary is called “blessed” because she allowed herself to be used as a blessing.  She humbly believed what the Lord said to her and let it be accomplished.

God needed Mary to do God’s will.  God couldn’t have done it, at that time, in that way, without Mary.

God needs us to do God’s will in our world.  As unbelievable as it sounds, there are some things God can not do at this time without us.  To follow God’s lead is to discover God’s blessing.  It comes in the doing, for blessing is a serendipity.  Something which happens in the process of surrendering to God’s will.  There will always be a blessing in doing God’s will.

 

“And Mary said: 

My soul glorifies the Lord            

and my spirit rejoices in God

my Savior, 

for he has been mindful 

of the humble state of his servant. 

From now on all generations 

will call me blessed,’”  

Luke 1:46-48

 

Prayer thought for the day:  “Lord, what is it you cannot do without me?  

Bless me that I might be a blessing and do what only I can do.”

Dec 12, 2021 Advent 3

Luke 3:7-18  (The Message)

7-9 When crowds of people came out for baptism because it was the popular thing to do, John exploded: “Brood of snakes! What do you think you’re doing slithering down here to the river? Do you think a little water on your snakeskins is going to deflect God’s judgment? It’s your life that must change, not your skin. And don’t think you can pull rank by claiming Abraham as ‘father.’ Being a child of Abraham is neither here nor there—children of Abraham are a dime a dozen. God can make children from stones if he wants. What counts is your life. Is it green and blossoming? Because if it’s deadwood, it goes on the fire.”

10 The crowd asked him, “Then what are we supposed to do?”

11 “If you have two coats, give one away,” he said. “Do the same with your food.”

12 Tax men also came to be baptized and said, “Teacher, what should we do?”

13 He told them, “No more extortion—collect only what is required by law.”

14 Soldiers asked him, “And what should we do?”

He told them, “No shakedowns, no blackmail—and be content with your rations.”

John got their attention.  He broke through their blindness, pricked their conscience, penetrated their hearts so they asked, ”What then shall we do?”

It is a question we must ask too, for it is never enough to talk the talk; we must walk the walk.  We must let God get to our hearts and change our way of being, or at best we are just sincere hypocrites, “honoring God with our lips while our hearts are far from God.”

And what is it we are to do?

We are to “To be authentic from the inside out”.  How?

We are to “Share… be fair…be kind.”

That’s it!  Simple yet profound.  

A challenge which will lead us to repent often as we seek to live lives which

reflect something of God’s love. 

"Three things in human         

life are important.  

The first is to be kind.  

The second is to be kind.  

And the third is to be kind." 

Henry James

Prayer thought for the week:  “Lord, keep me mindful that kindness is next to Godliness.  And being fair and sharing is too!

Dec 5, 2021 Advent 2

Luke 3:1-6

1 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar…the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. 3 He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 4 As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet:

   “A voice of one calling in the wilderness, 

‘Prepare the way for the Lord, 

   make straight paths for him. 

5 Every valley shall be filled in, 

   every mountain and hill made low. 

The crooked roads shall become straight, 

   the rough ways smooth. 

6 And all people will see God’s salvation.’”

Our preparation for Christmas is distracted by the litany of commercialism and the litany of indulgence.  To offset this we need to “discern what is best” about this celebration by going deeper and deeper into the mystery which is Christmas.  This means we look for Christmas to happen in human acts of love wherein we also see “God’s salvation” in action.

This is what Advent is all about.  Discerning.  Getting ready!  When I am ready, I am more able to experience, more able to see.  Ironically, I can also be more spontaneous, more open to chance; call it planned spontaneity; prepared enough to be free to be spontaneous.

A song writer once said,  “Tunes simply pop into my head all the time. 

But of course, your head has to be arranged to receive them!”

Are you getting ready to “see” Christmas?  To see it happen again and again,  hidden in happenings you never expected?  And celebrate the mystery of God’s love incarnate in human flesh?  This is what is coming!

Get ready for a surprise!

“Chance favors the         

prepared mind.”

     Louis Pasteur  

Prayer thought for the week:  “Lord, help me to not miss Christmas

as it comes over and over and over again, Your love incarnate in human flesh.”