Jan 27, 2019 Third Sunday After Epiphany

Luke 4:22-30  (The Message)

22 All who were there, watching and listening, were surprised at how well he (Jesus) spoke. But they also said, “Isn’t this Joseph’s son, the one we’ve known since he was a youngster?”
23-27 He answered, “I suppose you’re going to quote the proverb, ‘Doctor, go heal yourself. Do here in your hometown what we heard you did in Capernaum.’ Well, let me tell you something: No prophet is ever welcomed in his hometown. Isn’t it a fact that there were many widows in Israel at the time of Elijah during that three and a half years of drought when famine devastated the land, but the only widow to whom Elijah was sent was in Sarepta in Sidon? And there were many lepers in Israel at the time of the prophet Elisha but the only one cleansed was Naaman the Syrian.”
28-30 That set everyone in the meeting place seething with anger. They threw him out, banishing him from the village, then took him to a mountain cliff at the edge of the village to throw him to his doom, but he gave them the slip and was on his way.

This is Jesus first trip home following his baptism and 40 days in the wilderness.  It is the beginning of his ministry.  He is announcing who he is and why he has come.  And he is doing it in his home synagogue.

Jesus should have stopped before he got himself thrown out of town.  But he didn’t.  He went on to say what they didn’t want to hear.  That God used outsiders - Sarepta and Naaman - to do what the insiders wouldn’t do.  For with God there are no outsiders!
Jesus began him ministry with this clear message, and we still find it hard to swallow.

                                                                         

“Jesus was ‘a reject who
rejected rejection’"  
       Virgilio Eliizando











Prayer thought for the week:  “Lord, help me remember that you do not reject those I reject.  Your love is beyond my understanding or control!”

Jan 20, 2019 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 13, 2019 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.

Regarding this justice, Rabbi Abraham Heschel in “The Prophets” makes this bold statement:
“There is a point at which strict justice is unjust.”  Then speaking of biblical justice he says,






“Justice was not equal justice,
 but a bias in favor of the poor…
for beyond all justice
is God’s compassion.”
           Rabbi Heschel









Prayer thought for the week: “ Lord help me to remember that Your compassion is greater then even justice.  And help me be more
compassion in all that I do.”
 

Jan 6, 2019 Epiphany Of Our Lord

Matthew 2:1-12

2 1-2 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem village, Judah territory— this was during Herod’s kingship—a band of scholars arrived in Jerusalem from the East. They asked around, “Where can we find and pay homage to the newborn King of the Jews? We observed a star in the eastern sky that signaled his birth. We’re on pilgrimage to worship him.”
3-4 When word of their inquiry got to Herod, he was terrified—and not Herod alone, but most of Jerusalem as well. Herod lost no time. He gathered all the high priests and religion scholars in the city together and asked, “Where is the Messiah supposed to be born?”
5-6 They told him, “Bethlehem, Judah territory. The prophet Micah wrote it plainly:
It’s you, Bethlehem, in Judah’s land,
    no longer bringing up the rear.
From you will come the leader
    who will shepherd-rule my people, my Israel.”
7-8 Herod then arranged a secret meeting with the scholars from the East. Pretending to be as devout as they were, he got them to tell him exactly when the birth-announcement star appeared. Then he told them the prophecy about Bethlehem, and said, “Go find this child. Leave no stone unturned. As soon as you find him, send word and I’ll join you at once in your worship.”
9-10 Instructed by the king, they set off. Then the star appeared again, the same star they had seen in the eastern skies. It led them on until it hovered over the place of the child. They could hardly contain themselves: They were in the right place! They had arrived at the right time!
11 They entered the house and saw the child in the arms of Mary, his mother. Overcome, they kneeled and worshiped him. Then they opened their luggage and presented gifts: gold, frankincense, myrrh.
12 In a dream, they were warned not to report back to Herod. So they worked out another route, left the territory without being seen, and returned to their own country.

“Worshipped By Outsiders”

The Magi were outsiders who demonstrated a lot of faith, acting on such flimsy evidence.  They didn’t know what we know; they just knew of a word of prophecy and a strange star.  It was full of mystery and they were full of a searching faith.

“Our three Epiphany lessons unite, you see, to say that God does not despise the religions of outsiders, and neither may we.  This is not to say that one religion is as good as another, but that the hunger for God is a common human trait and deserves respect wherever it is found.”  Proclamation 2 A, pp.12,13

Outsiders:  Bob would be one; not much of a church goer yet a man of deep insight.   “Let us have a church that dares imitate the heroism of Jesus; seek inspiration as he sought it;  judge the past as he; act on the present like him; pray as he prayed; work as he wrought; live as he lived.”  (Bob Folk - letter to editor)

Gandhi would be one: “Find a Muslim boy and adopt him as your son (pause) and raise him as a Muslim.”  Words spoken in Movie to a Hindu seeking peace in his heart for killing a Muslim child.






Christ belongs to all
and all belong to Christ!
That’s the secret of the Magi!










Prayer thought for the week:  “Lord, help me to dare believe that Christ is for all, and let you sort them out.”

Dec.30, 2018 Second 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 23, 2018 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 16, 2018 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!