Nov. 23, 2014 Christ The King Sunday

Mt. 25:34-40 (The Message)

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

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

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

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







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









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

Nov 16, 2014 Pentecost 23

Matt 25:14-30  (The Message)

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

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

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






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

Nov. 9, 2014 Pentecost 22

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

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

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

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

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

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








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

Nov. 2, 2014 Pentecost 21

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

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

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

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

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














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

Oct. 26, 2014 Pentecost 20

Matt 22:34-40  (The Message)

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

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

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





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










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

Oct. 19, 2014 Pentecost 19

Matt. 22:15-22 (The Message)

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

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

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





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








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

Oct. 12, 2014 Pentecost 18

Matt. 22:1-14  (The Message)

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


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

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

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









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