March 26 2017  Fourth Sunday in Lent

John 9:1-3, 6-7The Message)

  

1 Walking down the street, Jesus saw a man blind from birth. 2 His disciples asked, "Rabbi, who sinned: this man or his parents, causing him to be born blind?" 3 Jesus said, "You're asking the wrong question. You're looking for someone to blame. There is no such cause-effect here. Look instead for what God can do. 6 He said this and then spit in the dust, made a clay paste with the saliva, rubbed the paste on the blind man's eyes, 7 and said, "Go, wash at the Pool of Siloam" (Siloam means "Sent"). The man went and washed - and saw. “

The man born blind was healed.  It was a miracle.  No one could take that away from him.  His eyes were opened not only to the beauty of the world around him but also to the beauty of the world within him.  He saw not only a sunset;  he also saw the Son of Man, and he worshipped him.  He saw life anew through the eyes of faith and he was indeed born anew in the Kingdom of Heaven.

To stand with him is to dare believe in miracles and to dare confess that we are often blind and cannot see...that we need “light in the darkness of our hearts” .

Is this not our challenge not once but over and over again in our lives.

To see beyond the moment to that which is eternal and to see in the moment that which is truly joyful and joy giving?

The movie “The Bucket List” portrays this truth in what was for me a powerful way.

It is the story of two men - Carter, played by Morgan Freeman

and  Edward, played by Jack Nicholson,  who meet in a hospital room where both of them find themselves with terminal cancer.

Carter , an intellectual who was forced by family obligations to become an auto mechanic is making out a list of what he wants to do before he" kicks the bucket".

It contains such noble things as “witness something truly majestic, help a complete stranger for good, laugh until he cries, and even drive a Shelby Mustang.”

Edward sees the list and wants to join the fun.  He adds skydiving, seeing the Taj Mahal, getting a tattoo, sitting on top of the Egyptian pyramids, and kissing the prettiest girl in the world.  

So they start out together with Edward’s money, and it is wild ride.  Especially for Carter who hasn’t done anything this wild in his life.  And as they go about all the exciting things Carter shares with Edward some of his inner self.  Like, on seeing the brilliant stars in the black night he says, “This is one of God’s most amazing wonders.”  Edward sneers at it and they enter in a discussion which ends up with Carter asking, “What do you believe?  To which Edward replies, “We live, we die and the wheels on the bus go round and round...unless you think you know something I don’t know?”  And Carter responds. “No, I just have faith.”

They also talk about their families and it becomes apparent that Edward is divorced numerous times and estranged from his only daughter.  Somehow, in the subtleties of the time spent together - and there only hints of this in the movie, like when Carter asks Edward as they sit on the top of the Egyptian pyramid, two questions:  “Have you found joy?” and “Has your life brought joy to others?” -

somehow Edward begins to see his blindness - his failure in spite of his great financial success and he ends up going to his daughter to seek reconciliation and it is there that the miracle of the story happens. He discovers he has a granddaughter and she, perhaps 2 years old, gives him a hug and he kisses her cheek.

The next scene shows him scratching off the bucket list the item - “to kiss the most beautiful girl in the world.”

The miracle has happened again.  The blind see!  Life is given joy!  Salvation has come to his house!

“Have you found joy?”

 “Has your life brought joy to others?”

Prayer thought for the week:  “Lord, open my eyes to see by faith what cannot be see 'by my own reason or strength'.  Help me to see the miracle of that which is eternal.”

March 19, 2017 Third Sunday in Lent

John 4: 5-11, 13-18, 27-29 (The Message )

5 He came into Sychar, a Samaritan village that bordered the field Jacob had given his son Joseph. 6 Jacob's well was still there. Jesus, worn out by the trip, sat down at the well. It was noon. 7 A woman, a Samaritan, came to draw water. Jesus said, "Would you give me a drink of water?" 8 (His disciples had gone to the village to buy food for lunch.) 9 The Samaritan woman, taken aback, asked, "How come you, a Jew, are asking me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?" (Jews in those days wouldn't be caught dead talking to Samaritans.) 10 Jesus answered, "If you knew the generosity of God and who I am, you would be asking me for a drink, and I would give you fresh, living water." 11 The woman said, "Sir, you don't even have a bucket to draw with, and this well is deep. So how are you going to get this 'living water'? 

13 Jesus said, "Everyone who drinks this water will get thirsty again and again. 14 Anyone who drinks the water I give will never thirst - not ever. The water I give will be an artesian spring within, gushing fountains of endless life." 15 The woman said, "Sir, give me this water so I won't ever get thirsty, won't ever have to come back to this well again!" 16 He said, "Go call your husband and then come back." 17 "I have no husband," she said. 18 You've had five husbands, and the man you're living with now isn't even your husband. You spoke the truth there, sure enough." 

27 Just then his disciples came back. They were shocked. They couldn't believe he was talking with that kind of a woman. No one said what they were all thinking, but their faces showed it. 28 The woman took the hint and left. In her confusion she left her water pot. Back in the village she told the people, 29 "Come see a man who knew all about the things I did, who knows me inside and out. Do you think this could be the Messiah?" 

The Samaritan woman did not expect Jesus to speak to her.  And especially about something as intimate as her life with men.  Yet in this exchange something changed deep within her and she became openly honest with herself and others.  It was a very human and deeply spiritual moment; she became a new person.  For us too, to be truly human (honest and open) is to be deeply spiritual.  It is a fresh drink of water - living water!



“To be human is to be spiritual; 

to be spiritual is to be human.” 

 Ron Henrichs

Prayer thought for the week:  "Lord, help me to be spiritual in a human way - as you were."

March 162 2017 Second Sunday in Lent

John 3:1-3, 14-17 (The Message)

1 There was a man of the Pharisee sect, Nicodemus, a prominent leader among the Jews. 2 Late one night he visited Jesus and said, "Rabbi, we all know you're a teacher straight from God. No one could do all the God-pointing, God-revealing acts you do if God weren't in on it." 3 Jesus said, "You're absolutely right. Take it from me: Unless a person is born from above, it's not possible to see what I'm pointing to - to God's kingdom." 14 In the same way that Moses lifted the serpent in the desert so people could have something to see and then believe, it is necessary for the Son of Man to be lifted up - 15 and everyone who looks up to him, trusting and expectant, will gain a real life, eternal life. 16 "This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. 17 God didn't go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again.

Nicodemus wanted to believe Jesus,

but his head got in the way of his heart.

His heart said, “Go for it!”

“Follow Him!”

“This is the One!”

but his head asked, “How can these things be?”

He tried his best but he couldn't figure Jesus out.

Not yet anyway.  He did become a secret believer and he was with Joseph of Arimathea when Jesus body was buried.  But today he is wondering what it is all about, and asking “How can these things be?” 

How can it be that we have to be born again...and again...and again...and again, again, again?  Born from above;  of the Spirit;  of the one God sent?

It can be because we never get it all the first time, or the second, or third, or more.

We have to be born many times, over and over again as it slowly sinks in that God’s “love never ends and dazzling grace always is’.  And it is for all!  All!

God’s love never ends 

and dazzling grace always is.

Prayer thought for the week:   "Lord, be patient with me;  I find it so hard to dare believe how endless is your grace and love.  And let it infiltrate my every moment."

March 5, 2017  First Sunday in Lent
Matthew 4:1-11  (The Message)

 Next Jesus was taken into the wild by the Spirit for the Test. The Devil was ready to give it. 2 Jesus prepared for the Test by fasting forty days and forty nights. That left him, of course, in a state of extreme hunger, 3 which the Devil took advantage of in the first test: "Since you are God's Son, speak the word that will turn these stones into loaves of bread." 4 Jesus answered by quoting Deuteronomy: "It takes more than bread to stay alive. It takes a steady stream of words from God's mouth." 5 For the second test the Devil took him to the Holy City. He sat him on top of the Temple and said, 6 "Since you are God's Son, jump." The Devil goaded him by quoting Psalm 91: "He has placed you in the care of angels. They will catch you so that you won't so much as stub your toe on a stone." 7 Jesus countered with another citation from Deuteronomy: "Don't you dare test the Lord your God." 8 For the third test, the Devil took him on the peak of a huge mountain. He gestured expansively, pointing out all the earth's kingdoms, how glorious they all were. 9 Then he said, "They're yours - lock, stock, and barrel. Just go down on your knees and worship me, and they're yours." 10 Jesus' refusal was curt: "Beat it, Satan!" He backed his rebuke with a third quotation from Deuteronomy: "Worship the Lord your God, and only him. Serve him with absolute single-heartedness." 11 The Test was over. The Devil left. And in his place, angels! Angels came and took care of Jesus' needs.
.

Jesus had limits; his limits were that he was not to use his divine sonship as a way to get out of being human when the going got tough.  Not turn stones to bread - jump off the temple, do what best serves himself even it it means worshipping the devil!  Give up on good and give in to evil - take the easy way out.  Have no limits.  Just do what has to be done to get the best we can get.

We would like to live without limits, thinking this would be paradise. But would it?

“Imagine a life without the experience of limits.  You could have wild strawberries whenever you wanted them!  Nothing would be inaccessible, nothing forbidden, nothing out of reach, no unfulfilled dreams or wishes, no ‘thus far and no farther!’.  But how could human beings under such conditions ever experience wonder, surprise, or gratitude?”    
“And where would life be without wonder, surprise or gratitude?”
(Douglas John Hall, “God and Human Suffering, p. 58)







Where would life be without
wonder, surprise or gratitude?
Douglas John Hall








Prayer thought for the week:  "Lord, help me to remember that there are limits to where I can go and what I can do.  Keep me from trying to have it all, no matter what it costs."

Feb. 26.2017, Transfiguration of Our Lord

Matthew 17:1-9  (The Promise)

1 Six days later, three of them saw that glory. Jesus took Peter and the brothers, James and John, and led them up a high mountain. 2 His appearance changed from the inside out, right before their eyes. Sunlight poured from his face. His clothes were filled with light. 3 Then they realized that Moses and Elijah were also there in deep conversation with him. 4 Peter broke in, "Master, this is a great moment! What would you think if I built three memorials here on the mountain - one for you, one for Moses, one for Elijah?" 5 While he was going on like this, babbling, a light-radiant cloud enveloped them, and sounding from deep in the cloud a voice: "This is my Son, marked by my love, focus of my delight. Listen to him." 6 When the disciples heard it, they fell flat on their faces, scared to death. 7 But Jesus came over and touched them. "Don't be afraid." 8 When they opened their eyes and looked around all they saw was Jesus, only Jesus. 9 Coming down the mountain, Jesus swore them to secrecy. "Don't breathe a word of what you've seen. After the Son of Man is raised from the dead, you are free to talk."

This was a ‘stop the clock’ experience.  An experience to be savored and consumed;
an experience to be lived in and not go on.  But the truth is, this cannot be.  We cannot stay on the mountain.  We have to come down into the real world, the valley.  (Jesus couldn’t either!  He came down to the cross!)

On the Mountain top we see what cannot be seen in the valley;  it is a high point of faith.
The temptation is to want to stay there - escape from life.
The challenge is to take it with us into the rest of life and let it make a difference in who we are.

We are to leave the mountain top with its experience hidden in our hearts and  live, listening to Jesus, letting our lives show that we have been transformed.

“We are to leave the mountain top
with its experience hidden in our
hearts and live,  letting our lives
show what we have seen.”




Picture: Sarah Pearson



Prayer thought for the week:  “Lord, take me to the mountain top and fill me with your love; then go with me into the valleys of life, making a difference where ever we go.”

Seventh Sunday after Epiphany
February 23, 2014

Matthew 5:38-44, 48 (The Promise)

38 "Here's another old saying that deserves a second look: 'Eye for eye, tooth for tooth.' 39 Is that going to get us anywhere? Here's what I propose: 'Don't hit back at all.' If someone strikes you, stand there and take it. 40 If someone drags you into court and sues for the shirt off your back, gift wrap your best coat and make a present of it. 41 And if someone takes unfair advantage of you, use the occasion to practice the servant life. 42 No more tit-for-tat stuff. Live generously. 43 "You're familiar with the old written law, 'Love your friend,' and its unwritten companion, 'Hate your enemy.' 44 I'm challenging that. I'm telling you to love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. 48 "In a word, what I'm saying is, Grow up. You're kingdom subjects. Now live like it. Live out your God-created identity. Live generously and graciously toward others, the way God lives toward you.

With these words we are challenged to absorb evil rather than pass it on.
Easier said than done.
And maybe there are times when we have to fight fire with fire;
destroy rather than go the extra mile.

Yet, at it’s best this is still far from perfect and leaves much to be desired.
The “more excellent way” is to “over come evil with good.”  Rom. 12:21
As Martin Luther King said and did.

“To our most better opponents we say: ‘We shall match your capacity to inflict suffering
by our capacity to endure suffering.  We shall meets your physical force with soul force.
Do to us what you will, and we shall continue to love you…Throw us in jail, and we shall still love you.  Bomb our homes ands threaten our children, land owe shall still love you.
Send your hooded perpetrators of violence into our community ate the midnight hour and beat us and leave us hals dead, land we sill still love you.  But be ye assured that we will wear you down by our capacity to suffer.  One day we shall win freedom, but not only for ourselves.  We shall so appeal to your heart and conscience that we shall win you in the process, and our victory will be a double victory.’”  Strength To Love





“The best way to stop evil is to
absorb it rather than pass it on.”








Prayer thought for the week:  “Lord, help me to love more than hate, even love those I hate.”

Feb. 13, 2011 6th Sunday after Epiphany

Matthew 5:21-36  (The Promise)

21 "You're familiar with the command to the ancients, 'Do not murder.' 22 I'm telling you that anyone who is so much as angry with a brother or sister is guilty of murder. Carelessly call a brother 'idiot!' and you just might find yourself hauled into court. Thoughtlessly yell 'stupid!' at a sister and you are on the brink of hellfire. The simple moral fact is that words kill.
27 "You know the next commandment pretty well, too: 'Don't go to bed with another's spouse.' 28 But don't think you've preserved your virtue simply by staying out of bed. Your heart can be corrupted by lust even quicker than your body. Those leering looks you think nobody notices - they also corrupt. 29 "Let's not pretend this is easier than it really is. If you want to live a morally pure life, here's what you have to do: You have to blind your right eye the moment you catch it in a lustful leer. You have to choose to live one-eyed or else be dumped on a moral trash pile. 30 And you have to chop off your right hand the moment you notice it raised threateningly. Better a bloody stump than your entire being discarded for good in the dump.
33 "And don't say anything you don't mean. This counsel is embedded deep in our traditions. 34 You only make things worse when you lay down a smoke screen of pious talk, saying, 'I'll pray for you,' and never doing it, or saying, 'God be with you,' and not meaning it. You don't make your words true by embellishing them with religious lace. In making your speech sound more religious, it becomes less true.

Our living, our righteousness, is to exceed that of the most obviously religious.

We are to go beyond the letter of the law to the spirit of the law.
We are to read the Bible looking not for a rule to live by but a hope to live with.
We are to hang in there - practicing a  lot of confession and forgiveness - always choosing the way which has a chance to lead to life - no matter what.

Our challenge is to try love no matter what!  For God is love and love is the closest thing we have to perfect on this side of the grave.  We are to live with love at the center of our lives.  Love born of God’s never ending grace.

For no one can make it without grace.  There is no religiousness which makes grace unnecessary!

“No one can make it without grace.” 

Prayer thought for the week:  "Lord, help me to loving even when I don't want to."