June 26, 2016 6th Sunday After Pentecost

Luke 9:51-62 (The Message)

51-54 When it came close to the time for his Ascension, he gathered up his courage and steeled himself for the journey to Jerusalem. He sent messengers on ahead. They came to a Samaritan village to make arrangements for his hospitality. But when the Samaritans learned that his destination was Jerusalem, they refused hospitality. When the disciples James and John learned of it, they said, “Master, do you want us to call a bolt of lightning down out of the sky and incinerate them?”
55-56 Jesus turned on them: “Of course not!” And they traveled on to another village.
57 On the road someone asked if he could go along. “I’ll go with you, wherever,” he said.
58 Jesus was curt: “Are you ready to rough it? We’re not staying in the best inns, you know.”
Jesus said to another, “Follow me.”
59 He said, “Certainly, but first excuse me for a couple of days, please. I have to make arrangements for my father’s funeral.”
60 Jesus refused. “First things first. Your business is life, not death. And life is urgent: Announce God’s kingdom!”
61 Then another said, “I’m ready to follow you, Master, but first excuse me while I get things straightened out at home.”
62 Jesus said, “No procrastination. No backward looks. You can’t put God’s kingdom off till tomorrow. Seize the day.”

Whatever else it means, to follow Jesus, it is a radical departure from what has been to what is yet to be.

It is an all consuming adventure which is full of uncertainty, vulnerability and openness to God’s surprises as they come upon us at the most unexpected moments, in unconventional ways and ask us to be ready to  “proclaim the Kingdom of God” in the very essence of our being.

It means being a servant, a steward, a slave.  We cannot do it our way - we have to do it His way.  We cannot consume one another, we are to serve one another in love.

“True religiousness, in whatever faith, functions not to enslave but to free, not to injure but to heal, not to destabilize but to stabilize.”
True religion lives by grace which sets people free.  Free to be who we are.  Free to struggle with our purpose in life.  Free to choose without fear of reprisal, yet with responsibility for our choices.  Free to live knowing that I will always be loved, and also knowing that I have to choose how I am going to use my freedom - as an excuse to indulge in self-gratification at the expense of others; as a license to destroy myself and others;   or as an opportunity to love my neighbor as myself, to love as I have been loved!   Hans  Kung







“True religiousness,
in whatever faith,
functions not to enslave
but to free,
not to injure but to heal,
not to destabilize but to stabilize.”
Hans  Kung







Prayer thought for the week:  “Lord, help my “religiousness” to be life giving, proclaiming your Kingdom of grace and love for all.
lest it miss the mark






 

June 19, 2016 5th Sunday After Pentecost

Luke 8:26-39  (The Message)
26-29 They sailed on to the country of the Gerasenes, directly opposite Galilee. As he stepped out onto land, a madman from town met him; he was a victim of demons. He hadn’t worn clothes for a long time, nor lived at home; he lived in the cemetery. When he saw Jesus he screamed, fell before him, and bellowed, “What business do you have messing with me? You’re Jesus, Son of the High God, but don’t give me a hard time!” (The man said this because Jesus had started to order the unclean spirit out of him.) Time after time the demon threw the man into convulsions. He had been placed under constant guard and tied with chains and shackles, but crazed and driven wild by the demon, he would shatter the bonds.
30-31 Jesus asked him, “What is your name?”
“Mob. My name is Mob,” he said, because many demons afflicted him. And they begged Jesus desperately not to order them to the bottomless pit.
32-33 A large herd of pigs was browsing and rooting on a nearby hill. The demons begged Jesus to order them into the pigs. He gave the order. It was even worse for the pigs than for the man. Crazed, they stampeded over a cliff into the lake and drowned.
34-36 Those tending the pigs, scared to death, bolted and told their story in town and country. People went out to see what had happened. They came to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had been sent, sitting there at Jesus’ feet, wearing decent clothes and making sense. It was a holy moment, and for a short time they were more reverent than curious. Then those who had seen it happen told how the demoniac had been saved.

The casting out of demons and the resulting peace in the man’s life announces again the mission of Jesus - to set us free from the evil which so easily possesses us.  It is a strong reminder that Jesus seeks too bestow wholeness, peace, and belonging to our lives.

Our greatest challenge is not to try figure out why Jesus did this to the pigs,
but having to courage to name the powers which seek to enslave us and keep us from living free, joyous, compassionate lives.  And to let them be cast out!
 
The powers of evil are still at work in our world and in our lives.  Prejudice, indifference, blasphemy, hypocrisy , bulling, judging, name calling, excluding, etc. etc. etc.  We may not be able to  change the world but we can let our hearts be changed from evil to good.  And that means that we let go of what sometimes seems to be so important for our own welfare, and live so that love will prevail in our world of hate.

Perhaps we all need too hear again the words of Scott Peck who describes this evil which is in all of us and needs to be cast out.


"It is no accident that people who commit
 the most evil in this world see no power
higher than themselves.  The evil are very
strong-willed men and women.  And
because they are narcissistic, self-absorbed,
and their will is supreme, they are the ones
who are most into inappropriate and
destructive blaming.  They are the people
who cannot - who will not - take the beam out
of their own eye."
                       Scott Peck







Prayer thought for the week:  “Lord, it is easy to see evil in others.
Help me see where I have that which needs to be cast out, lest I be evil too.”

June 12 2016 4th Sunday After Pentecost

Luke 7:36-50  (The Message)

36-39 One of the Pharisees asked him over for a meal. He went to the Pharisee’s house and sat down at the dinner table. Just then a woman of the village, the town harlot, having learned that Jesus was a guest in the home of the Pharisee, came with a bottle of very expensive perfume and stood at his feet, weeping, raining tears on his feet. Letting down her hair, she dried his feet, kissed them, and anointed them with the perfume. When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man was the prophet I thought he was, he would have known what kind of woman this is who is falling all over him.”
40 Jesus said to him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.”
“Oh? Tell me.”
41-42 “Two men were in debt to a banker. One owed five hundred silver pieces, the other fifty. Neither of them could pay up, and so the banker canceled both debts. Which of the two would be more grateful?”
43-47 Simon answered, “I suppose the one who was forgiven the most.”
“That’s right,” said Jesus. Then turning to the woman, but speaking to Simon, he said, “Do you see this woman? I came to your home; you provided no water for my feet, but she rained tears on my feet and dried them with her hair. You gave me no greeting, but from the time I arrived she hasn’t quit kissing my feet. You provided nothing for freshening up, but she has soothed my feet with perfume. Impressive, isn’t it? She was forgiven many, many sins, and so she is very, very grateful. If the forgiveness is minimal, the gratitude is minimal.”
48 Then he spoke to her: “I forgive your sins.”
49 That set the dinner guests talking behind his back: “Who does he think he is, forgiving sins!”
50 He ignored them and said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.”


It is the nature of God to forgive, not to condemn.
To accept, rather than dismiss.
To reconcile, rather than reject.

God forgives first - as much as needed - grace sufficient to cover what ever sins - then waits for something beautiful to happen.
Those who are forgiven much (and know it) will love  much ( and show it).

It is not moral perfection which pleases God - perfection which creates an attitude of condemnation rather than compassion.
It is being forgiven much which pleases God, for then our lives will make a difference and the Kingdom of God will come - through us!            






"Forgiveness does not require
us to close our eyes but rather
to truly open them."  
 Richard Paul Evans








Prayer thought for the week:  “Lord help me to never give up on forgiveness, both to be forgiven and to forgive.  Open my eyes to how much I have needed - and received - forgiveness and give me a gracious heart to show it.”

June 5, 2016 3rd Sunday After Pentecost

Luke 7:11-17  (The Message)
11-15 Not long after that, Jesus went to the village Nain. His disciples were with him, along with quite a large crowd. As they approached the village gate, they met a funeral procession—a woman’s only son was being carried out for burial. And the mother was a widow. When Jesus saw her, his heart broke. He said to her, “Don’t cry.” Then he went over and touched the coffin. The pallbearers stopped. He said, “Young man, I tell you: Get up.” The dead son sat up and began talking. Jesus presented him to his mother.
16-17 They all realized they were in a place of holy mystery, that God was at work among them. They were quietly worshipful—and then noisily grateful, calling out among themselves, “God is back, looking to the needs of his people!” The news of Jesus spread all through the country.

It is no small thing to say and believe that God is at work among us.  It means that things happen which shouldn’t happen and there is more to life then we can ever understand.  There is mystery!

As Albert Einstein has said of religion, it “consists in a humble admiration of the infinitely superior spirit that reveals itself in the little that we, with our weak and transitory understanding can comprehend of reality.”





“The most beautiful thing we can
 experience is the mysterious.
 It is the source of all true art
and science.  ( We can add religion.)
He to whom this emotion is a stranger,
who can no longer pause to wonder
and be rapt in awe,  is as good as dead;
his eyes are closed.”  
Albert Einstein:





Prayer thought for the week.  “Lord, help me to embrace mystery and live in awe at that which is beyond my understanding - your love and grace at work in our world.”

May 29, 2016 2nd Sunday After Pentecost

Luke 7:1-10  (The Message)

1-5 When he finished speaking to the people, he entered Capernaum. A Roman captain there had a servant who was on his deathbed. He prized him highly and didn’t want to lose him. When he heard Jesus was back, he sent leaders from the Jewish community asking him to come and heal his servant. They came to Jesus and urged him to do it, saying, “He deserves this. He loves our people. He even built our meeting place.”
6-8 Jesus went with them. When he was still quite far from the house, the captain sent friends to tell him, “Master, you don’t have to go to all this trouble. I’m not that good a person, you know. I’d be embarrassed for you to come to my house, even embarrassed to come to you in person. Just give the order and my servant will get well. I’m a man under orders; I also give orders. I tell one soldier, ‘Go,’ and he goes; another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; my slave, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”
9-10 Taken aback, Jesus addressed the accompanying crowd: “I’ve yet to come across this kind of simple trust anywhere in Israel, the very people who are supposed to know about God and how he works.” When the messengers got back home, they found the servant up and well.


This is a story primarily about faith, not faith healing.  It is an example of someone from the outside whose faith put to shame those on the inside. He was a Roman, a centurion, yet a sensitive man who was open to the mystery and miracles of life.  He cares about his slave enough to send friends to Jesus to see if something might happen which could be called nothing short of a miracle.  Such faith IS a miracle!

This story is a miracle of healing which points to the miracle of faith which is to be remembered and duplicated.  A faith which is open to miracles and leaves room in life for the mysterious presence of a loving God.







"Miracles take place not
because they are preformed,
but because they are believed,"  
Martin Luther













Prayer thought for the week:  “Lord, I believe in miracles even when I can’t grasp the thought that they do happen.  Help me to believe in miracles, and be a miracle.”

May 22, 2016 Holy Trinity Sunday

John 16:12-15  (The Message)

12-15 “I still have many things to tell you, but you can’t handle them now. But when the Friend comes, the Spirit of the Truth, he will take you by the hand and guide you into all the truth there is. He won’t draw attention to himself, but will make sense out of what is about to happen and, indeed,

If I go fishing in Canada,  I want a guide with me but I do not want the guide fishing for me.  Even if I lose the big one.

Life is like fishing - we often need a guide but the guide cannot live for us.

For life is something we discover in the process of living.
We learn as we live.
We have to experience what we know before we can know it.
We often have to be vulnerable to discover what we don’t know.

Faith is like this too.  The Friend (Holy Spirit) guides us into the truth of that which we could never discover by ourselves.  As we live by faith,  we discover something of what it all means - yet the mystery is far beyond our wildest imagination.  It is always ‘yonder’.







 “She was a believer and knew -
so much of what she believed
was yonder - always yonder.”
Carl Sandberg on Lincoln’s mother








Prayer thought for the week:  "Lord, guide me into that which is too much for me to dare believe by myself.  So much is "yonder - always younger."

May 15, 2016 Day of Pentecost

John 14:23-27 (The Message)

25-27 “I’m telling you these things while I’m still living with you. The Friend, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send at my request, will make everything plain to you. He will remind you of all the things I have told you. I’m leaving you well and whole. That’s my parting gift to you. Peace.

We humans have the great capacity to remember, which both enriches and empowers our lives. “Remember when…” begins a journey into the past which carries with it either great pain or great joy.  Even when it is pain,
it enriches our lives.

The last words my brother spoke to me, as we were saying goodby -
he was going back into the Army, recalled for Korea;  I was going back to college - were, “You should think about being a Pastor.”  There was no reason for him to say it.  We had not been talking about it.  He just said it
as we parted.  And I quickly forgot about it.

Following his death due to wounds in combat in Korea, I remembered his words.  I could not get them out of my memory.  They empowered me, painful though they were, to begin the journey which has led me where I never dreamed I would go.  I remembered and lived out the memory.

This is what Pentecost is all about.  Remembering what has been so we can be more alive in what is yet to be.  We are not to live in the past; we are to remember it and be empowered to live in the present, doing what we are called to do in our day, living creatively, daring to try new things, even change old things.
Indeed, God’s spirit works in and through our capacity to remember.  God calls to our remembrance that which we have known in the past so we can be better equipped to live in the present.

Prayer thought for the week:  "Lord, help me to remember those moments which have directed my life and enriched my living."