What God Sees

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“What God Sees”

1 Samuel 16:1-13 (16:7) – March 19, 2023

            What does a successful leader look like? Good looking? Adept on his or her feet? Expert at talking or perhaps explaining things? How about good at getting things done?

            What does God see in such a person? How does God view a leader and determine the measure of a man, of a woman? How does God see how they are best suited for – or for what?   

            Today’s Scripture reading comes from the Hebrew Scriptures, from the book of 1 Samuel. We meet an older Samuel, judge and prophet of Israel. But what about the deeper meaning of this narrative from the Hebrew Scriptures?

For that, we need to go back a few chapters in 1 Samuel. At first, Samuel and the people of Israel were very glad that Saul was their king. He was tall and broad-shouldered, and pleasing in appearance. Saul looked like a successful leader! He was the very image of what people thought a king ought to be. Everyone said so!

            But, after some time, Saul’s true nature—on the inside—became evident. He was not all he appeared to be on the outside. Saul made some very unwise choices, acted foolishly, and God finally rejected him as the king of Israel. So, yes. By today’s Scripture reading, Samuel had anointed King Saul some years before, and that had not turned out well at all.

            How do you see a successful leader? What kinds of features do you look for? What kinds of features does God look for?

             We know that the prophet Samuel was grieving that he had anointed Saul as king. For that matter, even though the Bible does not say specifically, we can guess that Samuel was also grieving for the nation of Israel, since the nation had such an unfortunate person as king. Plus, we do know that Samuel was frankly afraid of King Saul by this point!

Listen to the conversation between Samuel and God: “The Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and be on your way; I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem. I have chosen one of his sons to be king.” 2 But Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears about it, he will kill me.”

God is the one to suggest taking a heifer with Samuel and to invite Jesse (David’s father) and his sons to the sacrifice. Yes – this was a legitimate reason for Samuel to go to Bethlehem. And, Jesse had some big, strapping sons for Samuel to look over. We know what Samuel decided! And, we can see what God thinks of Jesse’s elder sons. Lo and behold, the older sons of Jesse are not chosen to be God’s anointed one, the new king of Israel,   

Have you ever been undecided about something really important, and then God swept in and helped you with your choice? Samuel started to think that his first impressions were perfectly fine. But, no! Samuel has “a lot of unlearning to be done from the previous experience of anointing a king and Samuel needs to mourn the old way/king for a time, but God encourages him to move on to what God is calling him into now.” [1]

God had a definite list of features that God’s idea of a king was supposed to have, and Samuel realized that his checklist and God’s list just were not jiving. Not connecting. Can we be upfront and honest with God? Can you and I admit we have quite a different checklist for a successful leader? Even, for a king for the nation God loved.

            Another lesson this Scripture reading has for us is “the same as we see in the biblical texts over and over. The world has a pecking order: elder son over youngest, Pharaohs over slaves, the sons of priests over an outsider. God pays no attention to that order.” [2] That worldly plan or idea just does not follow God’s plan.

            Remember what God told Samuel: “But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

What is important to God? What kinds of attitudes and ways of thinking are pleasing to the Lord? Are we “looking” but not really “seeing” as God sees?

            All of Jesse’s older sons were presented to the prophet Samuel, but God was silent. Samuel needed to ask whether Jesse had any more sons. “Yes, I do. But, he’s the youngest. He’s out watching the sheep,” said Jesse. Sure enough, God chose David, the youngest of eight brothers. God sees differently from human beings.

 This bible reading from 1 Samuel is a great source of encouragement for children and young people, who feel left out and left behind by the big and powerful. We see that God finds possibilities in the most unexpected places and through the most unlikely persons. We see the Lord lift up Jesse’s youngest son David to be the anointed king of Israel. In a similar way, God can lift up the marginalized, the downtrodden and the rejected ones today to a place of prominence. God can, and God does just that.

Many people are still fooled by appearances. What kinds of possibilities are there in your life and heart today? What does God see in you, and in me? Are we a person after God’s own heart? Be comforted and encouraged that God does not see us as the world sees, but God sees past all that. God sees our very hearts. Amen!

[1] https://www.churchofscotland.org.uk/worship/weekly-worship/monthly/march-2023/19-march-4th-sunday-in-lent

[2] https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/narrative-lectionary/call-of-david/commentary-on-1-samuel-161-13-psalm-5110-14-2

@chaplaineliza

(Suggestion: visit me at my other blogs: matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers. #PursuePEACE – and  A Year of Being Kind . Thanks!

God’s Living Water

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“God’s Living Water”

The Samaritan woman at the well, Jesus blessing and an apostle. Mosaic (6th)

John 4:4-30 (4:10) – March 12, 2023

            I am going to Egypt. Yes, next Sunday evening, March 19, I am going to get on an airplane at O’Hare Airport and fly to Istanbul, and then to Cairo. This is going to be a great adventure for me, and a look at a whole new part of the world!

            Egypt has – for the most part – a desert or semi-arid climate. Not much water, at all. Very similar to the climate in the Sinai Peninsula, which is where Moses and the people of Israel were during our Scripture reading from Exodus today. Moses and the people of Israel were all really thirsty, and there was hardly any water to be had, out in the wilderness.

This thirsty theme carries over into our Gospel reading from John chapter 4, where the Rabbi Jesus meets a woman from Samaria by the well of the patriarch Jacob. Jesus talks to her about water, and how to take care of her thirst.

God provided water for the people of Israel through Moses. And, Jesus and the woman at the well have the longest conversation recorded in the Gospels. All about water. Do you and I really know about the water that God provides?

What are you thirsty for? What am I thirsty for?

The people of Israel were a grumbling, grousing, stiff-necked group of people. This isn’t just me saying it: this is the record both of many places in the Hebrew Scriptures and in the New Testament saying it. These thousands and thousands of people needed water that God provided.

Looking at our Gospel reading from John 4, we discover similar features. Here we are in Samaria, which was mostly a semi-arid climate. Meaning, there was some water available, but only in a few areas. The Samaritans also needed water for their daily needs. We can see they needed the water God provided, for themselves as well as for their animals and crops.

How about this woman, in particular? A Samaritan woman, having contact with a Jewish man, and a Rabbi, on top of that. Added to which, she was a divorcee. Not once, not twice, but divorced a bunch of times. This woman did not come to the well early in the day, with the other women of the town. No, this woman came to the well with her water pot at noon. An odd time to draw water, when the well most probably would be deserted. This certainly was an unexpected encounter for this woman at the well.

As I think about the griping, grousing people of Israel in the book of Exodus, I also think of being a mom. I would have been scared for my children. Since the whole group of thousands of people was out in the Sinai wilderness, there was not much water to be had. At all. What would I do for my children’s thirst? How would I cook and take care of my family? And, it wasn’t just a few families who were worried. No, multiply that fear and worry by every family in that tribal group. That’s a whole lot of anxious, worried and even angry people!

The Samaritans from John 4 had some stability and some water in their area, but I am sure they needed to be careful. Jacob’s well was far from the center of town, and the women needed to walk some distance to the well to draw water. Water they needed for drinking, cooking, and all the rest of their daily needs.

As the Rabbi Jesus and the woman at the Samaritan well had their conversation together, “It is surely fitting that Jesus speaks of himself as the source of water that eternally quenches thirst, for that is precisely the gift of God for us.” [1] Jesus knew what would solve the thirst problem for this woman, and for all the Samaritans in her village.

Tell me, what are you thirsty for? What am I thirsty for?

The Samaritans were only half-Jewish and were a minority in the majority-Jewish Palestine. At the time of Jesus, the full-blooded Jews discriminated against them, some even hated them. Except, this kind of minority attitude was nothing new to the Jews.

Remember back in the beginning of Exodus? When the Jews were slaves for centuries? They were a minority people-group in Egypt. After they came out of Egypt and were free, the Lord gave them strict injunctions. A number of times in Exodus, Leviticus and Deuteronomy, certainly, not to mention repeated in the Hebrew Scriptures and in the New Testament. In Leviticus 19: “When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.”

It’s clear, over and over in the Biblical record. God provides living water to Jews and non-Jews, alike! I agree with Pastor Janet Hunt in her article on this encounter in John 4, where she says “I’m not certain the woman was necessarily ostracized from the rest of her community. In fact, having been married five times, she was likely at least tangentially related to a whole lot of people. When she returned to her city with her invitation to “come and see,” they did.” What’s more, “Jesus made himself vulnerable by agreeing to be [the Samaritans’] guest and in the resulting deepening of relationship, they were able to receive for themselves this marvelous gift of faith.” [2]

Just as God provided living water to the people of Israel countless times in the wilderness, just as God provided living water to the woman at the well and all the people in the town in Samaria, God provides living water to us, each day. Receive this free gift of living water. Receive this gift of faith. God is holding it out to us all. Amen.

@chaplaineliza

(Suggestion: visit me at my other blogs: matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers. #PursuePEACE – and  A Year of Being Kind . Thanks!

[1] https://dancingwiththeword.com/jesus-and-the-samaritans/

[2] https://dancingwiththeword.com/jesus-and-the-samaritans/

Heavenly Sign Posts

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“Heavenly Sign Posts”

Genesis 12:1-7 (12:1) – March 5, 2023

            I can vividly remember not knowing where on earth I was going. Oh, I’ve lived either in Chicago or Evanston for my whole life. I would diligently and lovingly take care of daily needs for my family. I worked at several jobs both before and after seminary. I was a faithful lay leader at various churches where I worshiped before seminary.

            But, I vividly remember feeling that I had no direction, no heavenly sign post. Not knowing where God wanted me to go, or what I was supposed to do. That was for at least ten years, all during my 30’s. I would seek direction from God on a regular basis, and I did a great deal of what I term as “wilderness wandering.”

Have you ever sought direction from God? Did you want a heavenly sign post?

Our Scripture reading for today is from Genesis 12, back in the first book of the Bible. We are talking about Abraham, except this is before Abraham was given that name by God. He was still Abram at this point, and Abram did not really know God, the God who created heaven and earth. We overhear God talking to Abram: “The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.” God gave Abram a heavenly sign post. “Go from your country!”

If you or I had received a heavenly command like this, chances are our initial reaction would be really scared! And, really serious. “Movement is required. Movement means change, which is always difficult and scary. So this is a [command] about faith and about trust and the willingness to commit to the discipleship path.” [1]

Wait a minute, God! Who said anything about discipleship? I was asking for general directions! Not for turning my whole life upside down and inside out! You want me to be a committed disciple of Yours? Right now? Is that what this command is all about?

 This command from the Lord is only a partial command, but it is imperative. The command “Go!” has a great big exclamation point after it! Sure, the Lord is not specific about the exact ending place where Abram is supposed to end up. But, God does want Abram to get going! Get into action.

Could God be nudging us – urging you – or me – to move? To get into action on God’s behalf? We do not have any of Abram’s internal dialogue, and we are not sure about his state of mind and heart at this time. And, “God doesn’t seem to ask for certainty. We don’t have the questions he must have asked, at least in his own head and heart. All we have is his action – “So Abram went…” That’s it. He went, and he believed. He went as the Lord had told him.” [2]

            Sure, clergy and missionaries and chaplains are understood to be “called.” And, they often get led specifically in the Lord’s directions. God often does give these people heavenly sign posts. However, Abram was not any of these things. He was not a priest, or a missionary, or a chaplain. Have you ever sought direction from God? Did you receive a heavenly sign post? Abram certainly did! He got a firm command from God, too!

            With me, I had a good many responsibilities in my 30’s, including taking care of an aging, frail mother and her older sister. Sure, I may have yearned to get going and get moving for God. But, looking back on my 30’s with 20/20 hindsight, I think I was exactly where God wanted me at that time. God did not want me to go anywhere else, to step out and go like Abram. God wanted me right where I was, in Chicago and Evanston, doing what I was doing. Faithfully caring for my mother and my aunt, and being a mom to my children. Plus, I was an active lay leader in church, and taught piano lessons on the side, for added ministry and service.

            Suppose you are uncertain of exactly what God wants from you. Lay person, or clergy person, it doesn’t matter. “God doesn’t want us to wait until we are certain. God doesn’t want us to figure it all out first, to download the maps and chart our course; he wants us to move. “Move where?” we ask. Anywhere. Somewhere. As the Lord has told us.” [3]

            Sure, this “going forth” requires a certain amount of trust, and some would say faith. Another fair assessment would be belief. This involves intellectual understanding. “To say it another way, “I believe that gravity exists or that this chair will hold my weight.” There is another connotation to belief that is at least as helpful. There is “belief” in the sense that Abram had—the belief that God is guiding or the Spirit is leading, even when we do not fully intellectually comprehend everything.” [4]

Do you have that much belief? Can we believe God? Can you and I take this promise, this command from the Lord as God’s word to each of us, individually? Moving or staying in one place, doing what God wants us to do? We also know that God commands us – each of us – to do justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with our God. And, God is calling each of us to be ready to go, to step forward, on the way that God has for each one of us.

What a wonderful adventure! Heavenly sign post or not, we can all be ready to travel with God. Are you ready? Amen!

@chaplaineliza

(Suggestion: visit me at my other blogs: matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers. #PursuePEACE – and  A Year of Being Kind . Thanks!

[1] https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/worship-planning/learning-to-live-inside-out/second-sunday-in-lent-year-a-lectionary-planning-notes

[2] https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/worship-planning/learning-to-live-inside-out/second-sunday-in-lent-year-a-lectionary-planning-notes/second-sunday-in-lent-year-a-preaching-notes

[3] https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/worship-planning/learning-to-live-inside-out/second-sunday-in-lent-year-a-lectionary-planning-notes/second-sunday-in-lent-year-a-preaching-notes

[4] https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/worship-planning/learning-to-live-inside-out/second-sunday-in-lent-year-a-lectionary-planning-notes/second-sunday-in-lent-year-a-small-groups

Into the Wilderness

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“Into the Wilderness”

Matthew 4:1-11 (4:1) – February 26, 2023

            The program of recovery has a great deal of wisdom in it, including the wisdom of how addiction happens in the first place. Addiction and its close companions craving, habit, dependence and desire depend on “more.” If one is good, eight or ten is much better! One more, just one more. Does this sound familiar? One more, just one more. One more time. One more cookie. One more tv show. Does anyone here have that craving and that problem?

            Let’s take a closer look at today’s Scripture reading. Here, Satan, the devil, the Tempter tests our Lord Jesus immediately after John baptizes Jesus in the Jordan River. Matthew tells us specifically “Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.”

            This is not comedy or a stand-up joke, like Flip Wilson used to say in the 1970’s, “The devil made me do it!” He would regularly get belly laughs and applause from the audience as a result of this ”hilarious” joke. No, the devil and his ways and wiles are sneaky and persuasive and seductive. The devil came to Jesus in the wilderness on purpose, for this exact reason.

            We can listen to lectures, lessons, speeches and even sermons. So often, all they are is words. Words, words, words streaming over us, without anything to hang them on. However, if you really want to make an impact on your audience, tell them a story. Why do you think the Rabbi Jesus used parables and stories so often? He wanted His audience to remember!

Our Scripture passage for today tells us about the early part of that greatest story ever told. This is one of the first major conflicts recorded in the New Testament. The temptation of our Lord is a really significant event that happened to Jesus. It’s huge in His life experience. And, we can gather lots of spiritual principles and several excellent biblical examples for our hearts and lives. This temptation is a heckuva story! 

            One on one, in the wilderness, these two characters from the Bible are involved in one of the classic exchanges in the whole Biblical record. It’s happening right here, right now. Jesus is fasting, all alone, sent out into a wild, semi-arid place some distance from the place where He was baptized. This story has tension, drama, conflict! And, this story has a resolution, too. But more about that, later.

            Let us consider that after the baptism, the Holy Spirit led Jesus out into the wilderness. Imagine, being in the wilderness all alone. I am not sure whether a lot of people today could survive in the wilderness, especially if they grew up in an urban area like Chicago. Perhaps Jesus was especially hardy or good at basic survival skills. We are not told much else, except that He was out there for a good long time. At some point, Jesus was tempted by Satan, the adversary. And all of us, like Jesus, have to deal with difficult times and wandering in the wilderness.

I have a really important thing to bring up, though. What about our internal difficulties? Approximately one in four Americans suffer from some sort of mental illness or mental difficulty like depression, anxiety, or some sort of compulsion, if not the more severe kinds of affliction like bipolar disorder or schizophrenia. That’s a lot of people. And, those people often feel like they are all alone. All by themselves. These people are in a great deal of internal pain.

These times of sadness, anxiety, fearfulness, even downright despair sometimes threaten to overwhelm us. These are truly times of wandering in the wilderness. 

            In the Lord’s Prayer, we specifically pray “lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” One of the newer translations of this same petition is “save us from the time of trial, and deliver us from evil.” The key thing is that we often know very well what temptation is, and how seductive and persuasive and even sneaky temptation can be. How have you experienced temptation? Has it come back, again and again, and have you had difficulty facing it?

What did our Lord Jesus do, when He was tempted? For each of these three temptations that the devil mentioned, Jesus answered each one with a pointed quote from Scripture to answer the specific temptation that Satan brings up. Giving us a good example, Jesus shows us an effective way right here, in our Scripture reading.

We can also get familiar with the Word of God. We can read it on a regular basis, and get so well acquainted with it that we will also be able to answer the little and not-so-little temptations that come up each and every day. To quote from Psalm 119:11, “Your Word I have hid in my heart, that I may not sin against You.” Plus, reading God’s Word, the Bible, is a wonderful way of building a close relationship with our Lord. This is another tool that God gives to us, to help us along the wilderness way.

Different temptations appeal to (and tempt) different people. However, when people in recovery tell their personal stories, there is something about those stories of falling, hitting bottom, and recovery that resonate. They stick, deep down, and people can relate.

I suggest that you (and I) consider a spiritual practice for Lent, like bible reading or prayer. We can participate in prayer walks, works of service or acts of kindness. What might you do in Lent, the next 40 days plus six Sundays, to prepare for a deeper experience of the reality of Good Friday and a more joyous celebration of the truth of Easter?

            Notice, the Holy Spirit is the Comforter and Sustainer who remains with Jesus throughout His time in the wilderness. Just so, the Holy Spirit can be with all of us through our times in the wilderness. Indeed, God can be at work both for us and through us during our wilderness wanderings and difficult times.

  Certainly, we all have our own stories. Each is a day-by-day story, one day at a time. The best part is that Jesus is always by our side. That’s a promise, too. Even though life continues to happen, even though tough times continue to come, Jesus travels with us. As our personal stories continue, that’s a promise we all can trust.. Amen, and amen.

@chaplaineliza

(Suggestion: visit me at my other blogs: matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers. #PursuePEACE – and  A Year of Being Kind . Thanks!

(Thanks to Carolyn Brown and her website Worshiping with Children for the 1st Sunday in Lent, http://worshipingwithchildren.blogspot.com/2014/02/year-first-sunday-in-lent-march-13-2011.html . And thanks as well to Mark Roberts and his devotion from the series Life for Leaders, “The Dustiness of Lent,” https://depree.org/life-for-leaders/?mc_cid=37497859c9&mc_eid=6effffadbb )

The Lord’s Glory

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“The Lord’s Glory!”

Exodus 24:12-18 (24:16) – February 19, 2023

            Sometimes, I run into people who seem to have a permanent rain cloud over their heads. Do you know that sort of person? Instead of positivity, they exude negativity. I think of these people as Eeyore, the sad, gray donkey who is a friend of Winnie the Pooh’s and Piglet’s. Their view of life is always sad and negative. Now, think of people who are exactly the opposite, who exude positivity, kindness and light. The exact opposite of an Eeyore! Many people are often drawn to their positivity and good spirit.

            In our Scripture reading from Exodus today, we see Moses getting ready to go up on the top of the mountain to meet with the Lord. All of the people of Israel are scared to death. The huge crowd of people see the lightning, hear the thunder, and watch the great clouds cover the mountain. I suspect there was strong wind and great sounds of commotion, too.  

            God gave Moses a command, for him to come up to the top of the mountain and to meet with the Lord. Perhaps we focus more on the positive, on Moses going up to see God on the cloud-covered mountain top than on the negative, on the frightened people of Israel cowering below. I know that this chapter in Exodus is right at the beginning of Israel’s wilderness journey. However, the way the people of Israel begin to act here is the way they continue to act for the next forty years. These griping and disgruntled people act like Eeyores! Always negative, always sad and despairing, always with a permanent rain cloud over their heads!

            Our Gospel reading for today is from Matthew 17, and features a similar story of the glory of God coming down to rest on a mountain top. Listen to the first few verses: “17 After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. 2 There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. 3 Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus.”

            These three disciples could not believe their eyes! Similar to the people in the Exodus reading, they were shocked, amazed, and afraid. However, these three disciples did not remain this way, unlike Israel. The people of Israel had a negative attitude, for a long, long time! Forty years, and even longer! At least the frightened disciples had the wonderful, positive example of Jesus, especially with this marvelous transfiguration on the mountain top!

            This Gospel event is one of the huge events in our Lord Jesus’s three-year ministry. The Transfiguration is a true mountain-top experience. Think about countless artists’ paintings, icons and representations of Jesus’s Transfiguration, throughout the centuries. Many if not most of them concentrate on the blazing, heavenly glory of the changed and revealed Jesus, God’s Son. And, that is absolutely what is going on! However, there is so much more that happens here.

“While Jesus was praying [on the mountain top], the appearance of His face changed. It was not merely the external appearance that was changed. The light which transfigured Him completely was shining from inside. The transfiguration was not the throwing away of the mask of humanity. It was not ceasing to be human. It was the human Jesus who was transfigured. The face that was radiant and shone was the human face of the human Jesus.” [1]

            What was the reaction of the three disciples watching, of Peter, James and John? Complete amazement, and even some babbling from Peter about putting up three booths or little altars to the transfigured Jesus, to Moses and to Elijah. Further, I am wondering what was the continuing reaction of the people of Israel in Exodus?

As Moses came down from the mountain top, his face was brightly shining from the inside out, from his encounter with God’s glory.

We have already discussed how the people of Israel were always looking at things from the worst point of view. Just like Eeyore, with a fearful or gloomy or negative way of looking at things. Typical of that gloomy expectation, Israel was so scared of seeing Moses – a man just like any of them – with a shiny face, they all insisted that Moses wear a veil, covering his face.

            I wonder: are you and I afraid, overwhelmed to see our Lord Jesus all transfigured? All glorious, as He was on the mountain? Are we scared to look into His shiny face? Are we perhaps like Eeyore? Everything and everyone has a gloomy cast, or a tarnished lining to it? Are we always expecting the worst, even if we are on the mountain top with Jesus?

            “When all is over — when Moses and Elijah are gone, the voice [from heaven] is quiet, Jesus’ face and clothing have returned to normal, and the disciples are left in holy awe — all that is left is Jesus. Whatever all these signs and symbols may have meant, the disciples are once again with their Lord, their teacher, their friend.” [2]

             I suspect many may be missing what is important here. Instead of being troubled by surface, shiny appearances, we find we are always in the presence of Jesus. Plus, Jesus gives us a future, coming attraction for all of us here. “Transfiguration is not magic but the destiny of all creation in Christ – to be transformed and filled with the divine light.” [3]

We have the opportunity to listen to Him, as the voice from heaven told us. As you and I go through Lent during these next weeks and journey with Jesus to the cross, we will have the opportunity to listen again to stories of Jesus, stories about love and about the Good News of God reaching out to each one of us. Whether we are under a permanent rain cloud, as sad and difficult Eeyores, or positive and looking on the bright side, we all see Jesus. Jesus remains, reaching out to each of us, all of us, in help, healing and love. Alleluia, amen.

@chaplaineliza

(Suggestion: visit me at my other blogs: matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers. #PursuePEACE – and  A Year of Being Kind . Thanks!

[1] https://www.churchofscotland.org.uk/worship/weekly-worship/monthly/february-2023/19-february-transfiguration-sunday

[2] https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/transfiguration-of-our-lord/commentary-on-matthew-171-9

[3] https://www.churchofscotland.org.uk/worship/weekly-worship/monthly/february-2023/19-february-transfiguration-sunday

Go, Be Reconciled!

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“Go, Be Reconciled!”

Matthew 5:21-26 (5:24) – February 12, 2023

            Fred Rogers is one of my heroes. Truly! Mister Rogers and his television neighborhood was on my television regularly for each of my small (and not-so-small) children. I believe I watched the majority of his television shows, over the years of my children’s toddlerhood, preschool and primary school years.

            What makes Fred Rogers truly special to me is not only his acceptance of people – each individual – exactly the way that they are, but also his knowledge and understanding of the full range of emotions felt by those people. All of the emotions, even the difficult and hurtful ones.

            One of the songs he wrote for his television show was “What Do You Do with the Mad that You Feel?” What a fitting question, especially considering the Scripture reading we have in front of us this morning! Jesus brings up that very question, and goes into more detail concerning how people felt, spoke and acted when they were angry.

This way of feeling, speaking and acting was just as true two thousand years ago as it is today. And, Mister Rogers’ sincere words to that song are just as striking and heartfelt for all humans, whenever and wherever they might be living on this earth.

            Jesus’s words are striking, too: “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ 22 But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca’ [or, stupid idiot!], is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.”

            We all get angry, from time to time. And, some of us get angry more often. But, just like Mister Rogers asks in his song, what DO we do with the mad that we feel? Yes, if people commit murder, that action is really reprehensible! Jesus quotes or refers to one of the big laws from the Ten Commandments, from the Law of Moses. Do you hear that Jesus goes even further than that? Jesus says bad language and name-calling are just as bad as actual murder.

            Commentator Carolyn Brown, retired director of Children’s Ministry, has the following thoughts for the emotions and repercussions that can happen in these verses. “Everyone gets angry. It just happens. Good people get angry as often as bad people do. Adults, teenagers, and children all get angry. So, the question is, “what do you do when you get angry?” [1] This is so similar to Fred Rogers and his song “What Do You Do with the Mad that You Feel?”

            Let’s take a biblical example of bottled-up or unaddressed anger. Remember Joseph, from the Hebrew Scripture book of Genesis? Joseph’s big brothers were angry: Joseph was their father’s favorite, he got a special coat of many colors, plus he told his whole family his dreams in which they all bowed down to him. “When they got the chance they threw Joseph in a pit and were going to leave him there (murder), except they sold him to traders (definitely a sin).” [2]

            I suspect this biblical example, plus many more, were what was in Jesus’s thoughts as He delivered this important early sermon at the beginning of His ministry. How much of the Sermon on the Mount is Jesus giving the crowd hard and strict rules? Hard rules for relationships, and strict rules for living life? Or…do you think that Jesus is more concerned about personal spiritual growth? How each individual – how you and I and our friend or relative or stranger, for that matter – how each one goes about doing the job of personal spiritual growth?

Don’t you think that Jesus would be far more concerned about each person’s spiritual growth with God than about mindlessly following strict rules for the sake of rule-following? But, wait – there’s more! Much more.

Jesus goes on to say, “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, 24 leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.”

It’s not only me, personally.  Or rather, yes, I do need to be aware of what is going on inside of me! I can’t sweep these personal mad, angry feelings under the rug, and forget about them. What’s more, I need to be emotionally aware of what is going on with those around me! We all do! If we see that our relative, our friend, our acquaintance has something against us, we are not supposed to just turn our backs and forget about it. No! We need to name the problem that makes us – or makes them – angry, and figure out something to do about it!

You and I – we need to stop our worship, stop in the middle of the worship service, or communion, even! And, go. “The Bible says, “be reconciled” with the person who made you angry.  That means work it out with them. Figure out how to solve the problem between you. That is not easy. Frequently it helps to get advice or help from other people.” [3] Do what it takes to be reconciled, to make sure that relationship is repaired, renewed, and close once again.  

When it comes to anger and relationships, Fred Rogers had a lot of wisdom in this particular area. He said, “Finding constructive ways to express our anger, whether we’re parents or children, is one of life’s important jobs.” What would help us grow closer to God, especially when we think of our problem relationships? What would Jesus suggest to us?

Some suggestions? Don’t stay angry: fix things as best you can. Mean what you say and do it! And, relationships are well worth working on!

Jesus will be delighted that we are taking Him at His word. And, that’s the Gospel truth.

@chaplaineliza

(Suggestion: visit me at my other blogs: matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers. #PursuePEACE – and  A Year of Being Kind . Thanks!

(Thanks to Carolyn Brown and her blog post on Year A – Sixth Sunday after Epiphany, Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time (February 16, 2014) – commentary on Matthew 5:20-37,

http://worshipingwithchildren.blogspot.com/2014/01/year-sixth-sunday-after-epiphany-sixth.html

[1] http://worshipingwithchildren.blogspot.com/2014/01/year-sixth-sunday-after-epiphany-sixth.html

[2] Ibid.

[3] Ibid.

This Light of Mine!

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“This Light of Mine!”

Matthew 5:13-16 (5:14) – February 5, 2023

            When most people think of winter in Chicago, I suspect gloomy, cold, gray days come to mind for many people. I know I can see in my imagination dark, chilly, even depressing days with little sunlight and brightness. Sad, gray, gloomy days have an influence on my mood and general outlook, too. Can anyone else relate to this somber kind of attitude?

            As the atmosphere in these cold, frigid days of late January and early February seems to pull people down, down, down, I remember reading one chilly day in January that that particular month must be one hundred days long! Such gloomy, dull and dark days seem to stretch on forever. Thank goodness February is now here, with the coming promise of more sunshine, more light. Indeed, the sun is still shining – we know the sun is surely there, just behind the clouds.

            Right after our Lord Jesus gave His blessings or Beatitudes to the crowds, He talked about some very common, everyday things – like light. In our Scripture reading today, Jesus said to the crowds, “14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.”

            The gray clouds, chilly darkness and sadness may be all around us, sometimes, but Jesus tells us about light. The light of a town, the light of the world. Lighting up the whole house. Jesus says that we – all of us – are the light.

            Lutheran Pastor Janet Hunt talks about a memory she had. “I remember still lying on the floor reading a book as the sun was growing dim. And older family member, an aunt, I believe, stepped into the room and chastised me. “How can you read without the light?” she wondered. Often now, when I turn on the light so as to see to read or to work in the kitchen or to do just about anything, I think of how much more I depend on ‘light’ for things I didn’t used to need illuminated.” [1]         

Carolyn Brown tells us, “Some lights are bright and help us see what needs to be seen, for example, a lighthouse, or a search light. Some lights are soft and make us see the beauty of the world, for example, candles [or gentle lamps].” [2] God’s people do whatever they can to make the world more loving, more caring, and more bright for everyone.

            As commentator David Lose states, “[Jesus] says both simply and directly, “You are the light of the world.” It is, as with the Beatitudes, sheer blessing, commendation, affirmation, and commissioning.” [3]

            Dr. Lose reminds us of the statistics about a child’s self-esteem compared to what kind of messages they hear. When elementary-aged children hear one single negative message about themselves—like, “you’re mean!” “how stupid!” “you can’t do anything right!”—psychologists suggest that the children need to hear ten positive messages to restore their sense of self-esteem to where it had been previously. [4] That is, to correct the internal emotional and psychological damage and balance of the children, and cause them to have a positive, healthy self-image, they need the hear ten positive messages to make up for just one negative, hurtful comment.

            When our Lord Jesus clearly states that we – all of us – are light, that is more than just a wish. That is more than a “I hope so!” or “maybe, it might happen.” No, the rabbi Jesus made a positive, declarative statement when He said “You are the light of the world.”  

What will we sing right after this sermon, as a sermon response? “This Little Light of Mine.” When we hold our fingers up as lights, do you know what that reminds me of? Remember back to Christmas Eve? Every year for the closing hymn of that service, we sing “Silent Night.” We all hold candles and sing. We hold those candles as a symbol or sign of God’s light within each of us, God’s light that shines among us.

            Jesus had a definitive point to His words from today’s Scripture reading. We are light. Right now.

            Children – or teens or adults, for that matter – so often become what they are named. “Call a child ‘bad’ long enough, and he or she will believe you and act bad. Call [them] worthless or unlovable or shameful, and eventually he or she – all of us! – will live into the name we’ve been assigned. In the same way call us good or useful, dependable, helpful, or worthwhile, and we will grow into that identity and behavior as well.” [5]

            That is exactly what Jesus is doing here! He is calling us—naming us—light. We are—all of us—light of the world. The light of a city on a hill, shedding light to the whole community. Yes, Jesus wants us to be that light. He is calling us to grow into that identity and behavior! That same light of God we held up on Christmas Eve? The light of God that came into the world as a Baby born in Bethlehem? This is the same light that Jesus is talking about here. It’s the light of a city on a hill, and the light for the nations, that the prophet Isaiah talks about.      

            We aren’t required to do ten impossible things before breakfast to just break even with God, and try to get in line for a chance to reach for the light. It isn’t hoping that someday, maybe, we might finally become that light. We aren’t hiding our lights under a bushel, either.

We are that light! Now! And, we are holding it high! Why? Because, Jesus says so!

            As Jesus says, “let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” So, go. Be that light. Be that positive affirmation to your family, friends, workmates, and strangers. Let your light shine.

Now, more than ever, take Jesus at His word. Be the light. Amen.

@chaplaineliza

(Suggestion: visit me at my other blogs: matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers. #PursuePEACE – and  A Year of Being Kind . Thanks!

[1] https://dancingwiththeword.com/you-are-the-light-of-the-world-2/

[2] http://worshipingwithchildren.blogspot.com/2014/01/year-fifth-sunday-after-epiphany-fifth.html

[3]  https://www.workingpreacher.org/dear-working-preacher/salt-light

[4] Ibid.

[5] Ibid.

God’s Way

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“God’s Way”

Micah 6:1-8 (6:8) – January 29, 2023

            My son Peter is taking several college classes this semester, including Speech. One of the first assignments he needs to do is to formulate a speech on a topic of injustice in society. Since he is a thoughtful, articulate young man, he is taking this assignment very much to heart and considering well what topic he ought to research and prepare this speech on.

            If you and I think about our society today, I suspect we all can think of several major topics off the top of our heads that might be suitable for this class’s speech. I am serious: can you think of some topic that would be an injustice if it continues? And, these sad and difficult situations often do continue to happen. Over and over, time after time after time.

            Let us see what the prophet Micah had to say about this very topic. He begins with a firm statement of condemnation for the nation and people of Israel. “6 Listen to what the Lord says:

“Stand up, plead my case before the mountains; let the hills hear what you have to say.

2 “Hear, you mountains, the Lord’s accusation; listen, you everlasting foundations of the earth.
For the Lord has a case against his people; God is lodging a charge against Israel.” 

            This prophetic book of Micah shows us the judgment side of God. The Lord is love, absolutely. Yet, the Lord is also a God of justice and judgment. The prophets warned Israel over and over again what would surely happen if Israel continued on the path away from God.

In our reading today, God certainly had condemnation for the nation of Israel, several centuries before Christ was born. We can see God’s condemnation come down against other nations, too. I wonder: does the Lord have a case against us in our world today? Against the people in the United States? Are we all determined to continue on the path away from God?

            Even when faithful church attenders, believers in God, are confronted by God’s justice and condemnation, they often try to wiggle out of it. Does this sound familiar? Can you recognize anyone you might know in these words or actions?

            So often, people try to placate God, or give God things or sacrifices to defend themselves from God’s accusations! Listen to what Micah says: “With what shall I come before the Lord and bow down before the exalted God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? 7 Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of olive oil? Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”

            Today, we may not offer these kinds of sacrifices, but people certainly bring offerings to placate God for their wandering, transgressing hearts and actions! Does this sound familiar? How about giving enough money to fund a new roof for the church, or a new wing for the building? Working so hard for the church, Sunday school, senior ministry and food pantry? Even convincing your children to become preachers, missionaries or other church workers?

            “This response only reinforces the pattern of showy religiosity that Micah has already condemned, especially from [religious] leaders who look to their own interests (3: 11). Micah would expect such false leaders to turn first to conspicuous acts of sacrifice, as though the problem is appeasing God rather than changing their own behavior.” [1]

            God is coming down pretty hard, indeed! Finally, after all of this condemnation and judgment and even threats of fire and brimstone, Micah clearly states what God does indeed want from God’s followers. “God has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humblywith your God.”

            As anyone can see from Micah’s plain words, this deep-down problem with wrong-headed thoughts, weasely words and mean-spirited actions cannot be simply solved by writing a check to the church of your choice. The attempt to appease God through a form of score-keeping or quid pro quo, you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours, is not to be tolerated. We humans cannot put a worldly price tag on God’s heavenly mercy and grace!

            When I was in my 20’s and 30’s, popular Christian books had a strong focus on “finding God’s will for my life.” Popular books, bible studies, study guides, all kinds of Bible helps. However, this statement from Micah could not be clearer. “We need to stop waiting for God to tell us what to do – we already know what the expectations are, so we should stop looking for an easy way out and get on and do what we have been told.” [2] We have our marching orders. Micah has several active verbs here in this command: act, love, walk with.

When we think a thought, or consider a comment or action, we can weigh it in this balance of Micah 6:8. Is this thought just? Is this comment loving or merciful? If I say or do this, am I walking humbly with God? We cannot give lip service in church on Sunday morning, when we continue to be unforgiving or racially unjust or hold petty grudges on Monday, or the rest of the week, either.

Each of us see people who have plenty of everything, while others beg for scraps. People working 50 or 60 hours a week at minimum wage, and barely able to get by. People who are disabled, or disadvantaged, or mentally ill. If we are not sure about this Micah 6:8 balance (or scale), I have another. The famous rabbi Hillel was once asked to explain the Torah. “Love thy neighbor as thyself,” he said, “all the rest is commentary.” Here’s a suggestion: pray for all those who work for God’s justice, and truly live to love their neighbors.

How can we act justly, love mercy and walk humbly when interacting with all of these? Perhaps “Love thy neighbor as thyself” is another good way to live: living life God’s way. Act justly, love mercy, walk humbly. A humble suggestion? Let us take these words to heart, and go and do them.

@chaplaineliza

(Suggestion: visit me at my other blogs: matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers. #PursuePEACE – and  A Year of Being Kind . Thanks!

[1] https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/fourth-sunday-after-epiphany/commentary-on-micah-61-8  

[2] https://www.churchofscotland.org.uk/worship/weekly-worship/monthly/january-2023/29-january-4th-sunday-after-epiphany

Everyone Is Called!

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“Everyone Is Called!!”

Matthew 4:17-23 (4:17) – January 22, 2023

            I have had a calling from God since I was is undergraduate school. For forty years, if not more! I have felt the Holy Spirit nudging me all those years, and for many of those years I followed the Spirit’s nudging. Sometimes, over those forty years, God would directly point me towards something I knew I ought to do or get involved in. Ministry as a layperson in music, art, Sunday school and youth, mission, bible study. Yes, I was a layperson for thirty of those years, and God called me for all that time.  (And, I was not officially ordained until 2015, almost eight years ago, right here in this sanctuary.)

            Let’s take a closer look at this reading from the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. “17 From that time on Jesus began to preach, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.’”

            Our Lord Jesus makes a statement at the very beginning of His public life. A summary statement. A headline, to encapsulate why He was there, why He came into the world. All of history is on a continuum, and the earthly Jesus was a part of that. All earthly events “move in tune with God’s redemptive activity. And, indeed, Jesus proclaims the coming kingdom of God and invites those listening to turn around (repent) to receive this kingdom.” [1]

            Jesus’s words are compelling. For years, even still now, I wanted to hear and understand! I dearly desired to hearken to Jesus’ own call to the crowds, to perceive and become a part of God’s in-breaking kingdom.

Let us see what Jesus did next, the absolute next thing, after He made this proclamation. “18 As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 19 “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” 20 At once they left their nets and followed him. 21 Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, 22 and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.”

Jesus calls each of us! He calls the clergy among believers, and Jesus calls lay people as well. In other words, Jesus calls everyone – each and every one of us – to follow Him. Do you feel called? Has Jesus picked you out from the crowd, given you a purpose, and given you a new name? (like Peter?) Some churchgoers do feel called by Jesus! However, some do not.

One bible commentator I respect, Dr. David Lose, has this to say: “Some years ago, as part of a Lilly Endowment sponsored grant on vocation, the research team I worked with discovered that while most of the graduates of our seminaries identified “vocation” and “calling” as important theological concepts that were at the center of their preaching and teaching, very few of their parishioners actually felt called. Very few of them, that is, believed that what they did with most of their time mattered to God and the church or made a particular difference in the world.” [2]

            I wonder why? God calls everyone! Taps everyone on the shoulder! Each believer!

Dear Lord, why is this? There are people who attend churches all over the country, even all over the world. Where are all of the people who believe in Jesus, and who claim the name of Jesus, and call themselves believers, even Christians?  Yet, I do not see many church folk who consider themselves called of God in this particular way.

            Let us consider Peter, Andrew, James and John. The first four disciples. What did the new Rabbi Jesus do? He called these four people to follow Him, the first ones to take part in the kingdom of God that starts our Scripture reading today!

            What were Peter, Andrew, James and John doing when Jesus called them to follow Him? They were fishing. Actual fishermen. You remember: “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” 20 At once they left their nets and followed him.” These people had nets, boats, and all other equipment used for fishing. They walked away from all that.

We can see how Jesus made His proclamation that “the kingdom of God is near!” And He called helpers, people to come alongside and do the work of fishing for people. Maybe we are coming at this sideways? What if – what if Jesus calling of the disciples was something unexpected? What if – what if the disciples’ calling and our calling is exactly the same?

            What kinds of equipment might we use for “fishing for people?” What kinds of equipment might Jesus have had in mind? The world today is a bit different from the first century, but some equipment people might use today include a Meals On Wheels cooler (to reach people by bringing them food), or extra clothes, coats or shoes (to give out to people in need), or even musical instruments or art supplies (to reach people with the arts). Plus, it’s always appropriate to reach out to others with friendly visits, caring cards, or phone calls or texts. Plus, as our Pastoral Prayer said today, we can also be readers to little children, bandagers of bruised hears, lovers of the forsaken, and pilgrims who show the way to others – with God’s help.

            What if – what if God’s calling is actually plain and simple? “Think about it for a moment: God’s call isn’t simply to do something, but rather to be something, a child of God…. if we can first focus on being – just being – God’s beloved children, and let that grace-filled identify seep into the deepest parts of ourselves.” [3]

            Yes, our call is to follow Jesus!  Our call is to offer God’s words of mercy, grace, hope and love, because we are God’s beloved children. I know I often say “Go and do that. Follow God” at the end of my sermons. I’ll add today, “Go and be that. Be that beloved child of God.” Alleluia, amen.

@chaplaineliza

(Suggestion: visit me at my other blogs: matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers. #PursuePEACE – and  A Year of Being Kind . Thanks!

[1]  https://www.davidlose.net/2017/01/epiphany-3-a-being-before-doing/

[2]  https://www.davidlose.net/2017/01/epiphany-3-a-being-before-doing/

[3]  https://www.davidlose.net/2017/01/epiphany-3-a-being-before-doing/   

Introductions!

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“Introductions!”

John 1:29-42 (1:36) – January 15, 2023

            Have you ever looked in a Where’s Waldo? book? The character we know as Waldo was first drawn in England in 1986 by illustrator Martin Handford, and the first book with the character published in September 1987. “Wally” was his name originally in the UK, although the worldwide popularity of this character often gave him different name changes. Although, he always looked the same, no matter where the books were published, regardless of his name.

            In our Scripture reading today, we have several distinctive names for the brand new teacher and preacher, Jesus of Nazareth. We can see several different people with different ideas about this preacher, too!

            We cannot go to a book and look up an exact photograph or definitive portrait of Jesus of Nazareth, though. Sure, different artists throughout the years have drawn what they think Jesus might have looked like. Or, their impressions of what Jesus might have resembled. But, no one can be exactly sure how Jesus looked.

            This Scripture reading today helps us to understand quite a number of things about Jesus, though. Not exactly how he looked, like a digital photograph, but more importantly, about His character. We have three instances where people introduce others to Jesus. Each one talks about Jesus in a slightly different way.  

            When you introduce someone, do you lead off with an important aspect of their character? Or, telling people what you find most endearing about them?

            Let’s see what John the Baptist said about Jesus: “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” and “I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 I have seen and I testify that this is God’s Chosen One.” John says some very significant things.

            John the Baptist not only had this calling to baptize people, but he also understood that he was the Messiah’s forerunner. Every day in the Temple in Jerusalem, a lamb was sacrificed for the sins of the people of Israel. John was fully acknowledging that Jesus was the Messiah, born to take away the sins of the world.

            John knew Jesus well. (They were cousins!) What is more than that, John also stated that he saw the Holy Spirit come down and remain on Jesus at His baptism. The Person who had that happen was a special Person, indeed! John names Jesus “God’s Chosen One.” John was the one who pointed people to Jesus the Messiah.

            Do you need an introduction to Jesus? Perhaps, a re-introduction? Maybe you haven’t been following Him much any more. Maybe you have left Jesus behind, and are going your own way. Don’t you think – don’t I think – that we can walk more closely with Jesus from now on?

            The next day, John again goes walking with two of his disciples and identifies Jesus as “the Lamb of God.” We can see that John fully expects God’s chosen Messiah. John’s disciples do, too, because they immediately leave John and start following Jesus.

            Have you – have I – recently thought about ways we learn about Jesus? I know this church and especially this sanctuary is very familiar to many here. But, is there anything here in the sanctuary that tells us more about Jesus? Let’s look around. First and foremost, there is the large cross up above. This reminds us all of Jesus and the whole purpose of Him coming into the world. Jesus willingly became the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.

            But, that is not all! Look at the altar. We see the chalice or cup, and the plate for communion. I know our Scripture reading today comes from the first chapter of John, and this example of communion is the end of the story. This is one of the concrete, tangible ways that Jesus has given us to remember Him. And, it is definitely a way to introduce people to Jesus.

            We also have visual reminders in our church banners, and audible reminders in the church hymns and other music. Everywhere we look and listen we have introductions to Jesus.

            Our Scripture today gives us just a glimpse about Andrew, one of John’s disciples who turns to follow Jesus. It was Andrew who was so excited about meeting God’s chosen Messiah, Jesus, that he immediately got his brother Simon Peter and introduced the two of them. Plus, Andrew was so enthusiastic that he was eager to introduce everyone he could to Jesus.           

Today’s Scripture reading from John’s Gospel “is a story about people who told others what they knew and introduced their friends to important people. They teach about Jesus in everyday situations to people they knew.” [1] I give you a challenge, to be like John the Baptist and Jesus’ disciples! Speak up to our friends, and siblings at home, or neighbors or coworkers, or wherever you are during the week. Even if people have some understanding about God, there is always more to learn, to know and understand! 

            Do we need an introduction to Jesus? Perhaps, a re-introduction? Do we hear the call to follow this Chosen One of God who restores not just a nation but all of creation to right relationship with God?  Do we hear a call to join with Andrew to introduce Jesus to our neighbors and families? I’ve found the one we’ve been looking for, the one in whom our restless hearts will find their rest!   

            Let us take these words to heart, and go and do them. Alleluia, amen.

@chaplaineliza

(Suggestion: visit me at my other blogs: matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers. #PursuePEACE – and  A Year of Being Kind . Thanks!

[1] http://worshipingwithchildren.blogspot.com/2013/12/year-second-sunday-after-epiphany.html

Joyful, We Adore Thee

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“Joyful, We Adore Thee”

Matthew 2:1-12 (2:10) – January 8, 2023            

I love my Christmas tree ornaments. I have many that are very special to me! Quite a number came from my mother, and hung for years on her Christmas tree. A few came from both of my grandmothers. My ornaments are special to me for where and when I got them.            

One ornament I got a few years ago was made by my son Peter. He is skilled at the art of paper folding called origami; he folded this exquisite three-dimensional star. I think of this as my Epiphany star; it is very precious to me. I wonder whether the marvelous star the Magi followed was anything like this star? Bright, multi-colored, shiny from a long distance?             The 2nd chapter of Matthew tells us about these Magi, or wise men from the East. They traveled a long way, following this bright and shining star to Jerusalem. These Magi asked King Herod, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”           

The wise men dearly want to find the child born King of the Jews! But, where are they going? They themselves are not sure! They follow the star towards Jerusalem, but that town is where their books and ancient writings leave them all puzzled. “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews?”            

We might think of three foreign kings, traveling around Palestine. But, this is most probably a misguided way of thinking. The whole mythology of “We Three Kings of Orient Are” embroidered the simple words found in Matthew chapter 2 into a fanciful tapestry involving three noble kings in rich robes, knocking at the door of the palace in Jerusalem.             

They were not kings, but instead “magi” from Persia. Wise people who studied the stars. Plus, these Persian astronomers (or, astrologers, since they put a great deal of stock in the movements of the stars, planets and other heavenly bodies) included both men and women. There may have been women in the group who followed the special star to Palestine!            

So, these wise men – or, wise people – were not quite sure where they were going. Simply that they were following a sign, a portent in the heavens. A special star that seemed to lead them onward, westward leading, still proceeding.            

Are you – am I – sure of where we are going? We have a good deal more revelation from God, more information from the Bible to guide us. But, do we know where we are being led? What is our path? Where does the Christmas star direct each of us to go, today?            

When the Magi arrived at the palace in Jerusalem, King Herod immediately asked the chief priests and Temple scribes to search the Scriptures and find some direction he could give to these foreign visitors. Herod “asked them where the Messiah was to be born. 5 ‘In Bethlehem in Judea,’ they replied, ‘for this is what the prophet has written.’”           

I find it fascinating that the chief priests and scribes (who wer  e also avidly studying the Scriptures themselves) did not “see” that special star. They did not “get” the message that this brilliant sign in the heavens was a particularly marvelous star. Whatever that brilliant star was had to be huge and visible from a long way away! But, only these foreigners saw something different in the sky and decided to follow it!            

The shining star that the Magi followed is surely a sign from God showing the birth of the Messiah, the newborn King of the Jews, as the Magi said.            

We know one often-repeated symbol for God is light. Since we can’t make a picture of light, we use things that make light like a star, sun, candle, or lamp. I have a lovely origami star ornament here. We can reflect upon the many reasons, the many signs of light that are talked about in the Bible, including the Star of wonder, Star of light. Just think of the Advent wreath and Christmas candle lighting services and note that we light those candles to remind ourselves that God the light is with us.  What’s more, think of the candles here on the chancel. We light the candles every week to remind us of the Light of the World, the Light that shines in the darkness, the magnificent Star in the sky the Magi followed.            

Turning back to our Scripture reading, “After the Magi had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.”            

The wise people who followed that star found what they were searching for. And, they worshiped, and were overjoyed. Are you – am I – sure of where we are going? Are we following that star, too? We have a good deal more revelation from God, more information to guide us. But, do we know where we are being led? What is our path? What does the Christmas star direct each of us to do, today?            

I ask all of us to consider these words from Howard Thurman, progressive theologian who wrote this poem: The Work of Christmas.

When the song of the angels is stilled, When the star in the sky is gone, When the kings and princes are home, When the shepherds are back with their flock,  The work of Christmas begins: To find the lost, To heal the broken, To feed the hungry, To release the prisoner, To rebuild the nations, To bring peace among others, To make music in the heart. 

            Let us take these words to heart, and go and do them. Alleluia, amen.

@chaplaineliza

(Suggestion: visit me at my other blogs: matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers. #PursuePEACE – and  A Year of Being Kind . Thanks!

A Time for New Things

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“A Time for New Things”

Ecclesiastes 3:1-14 (3:11) – January 1, 2023

            Today is a fresh new year, a brand new calendar, new experiences each and every day. What bright opportunities are ahead of each of us! Just imagine – today is a time for new things, just as our Scripture reading this morning states.

            Today’s Scripture reading from Ecclesiastes talks a great deal about time. All different kinds of time, and lots of ways of marking time, too. “Time feels different to children who have known so little of it. For them years last forever. They are just beginning to sort out the difference between how long a time period feels and the fact that an hour is always 60 minutes long no matter how it feels.” [1]  

            Yet, many of us here have seen the passage of time, and many years go by on the calendar. Many people know that days, months and years can slip by oh, so quickly. When a child is 5 or 6 years old, it can seem like forever before the Christmas holiday finally arrives! But, when someone turns 75 or 86 years of age, the Christmases and the holidays seem to come faster and faster. Time surrounds each of us, here in this world, in this place and time.

            As we reflect upon this Scripture reading for today, we can also reflect upon what exactly the author of Ecclesiastes meant. “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven…” That can mean we ought to be serious and anxious about each little factor, or each tiny decision each of us makes.

Sure, some can go too far, and have a totally fatalistic point of view of life. That is the way some Bible scholars view the author of Ecclesiastes, who often says that everything is absolutely fated and predetermined. Many scholars view the author of Ecclesiastes as the aged King Solomon, and the writing in Ecclesiastes is mostly jaded, disheartened and questioning. Nothing is worth doing, no innovation, no creativity; no one can change anything ever. What a hopeless, helpless point of view. This view takes away free will, human decision, and the possibility of change. Why do anything, ever again?

            But, that way of serious, somber thinking can be really negative. Seconds turn into minutes, hours, days and months. Before we know it, sometimes we can look back at the passage of many days, many existences with sadness and regret.

            As we look through this clear choice each of us has on the New Year’s Day, we can certainly wonder about our personal choices. And, these choices sound like this Scripture reading, too. “A time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance.”  

            We can add “a time to be positive, and a time to be negative, a time to look forward, and a time to look back over our shoulders.” These additions are fully in keeping with the author’s intent, I think. Yet, each of us must think about what each of us is going to do with these words, choices and intentions. Each individual needs to weigh this decision in their own mind. And, what is the Godly decision?

            Another way to reflect upon this fresh, new decision is to consider what has happened to each of us in the past twelve months, and find within an eagerness, looking forward to the future. Again, we can view this new year as a new path in the pristine snow, ready for each of us to walk upon. We can track a fresh path where none has been before!

            Bible commentator Christine Valters Painter tells us that “the human desire [is] for renewal and new beginnings. St. Benedict in his Rule for monasteries writes ‘always we begin again.’  This impulse is the heart of what makes anticipation of the New Year kindle all of our longings for a richer way of being in the world.  There is something so very hopeful to me in this fundamental impulse.” [2]

            Remember, as Dietrich Bonhoeffer tells us repeatedly, we are Christians, together. A congregation is a group of believers gathered together for friendship, fellowship, and most of all, to worship together. We all come together to worship as a group of believers. We all come together to find commonality in this renewal and new beginning each January 1st. And, we all can find comfort, camaraderie and fellowship in the common coming-together as a family of faith.

             Yes, this new calendar page is an opportunity to begin again as individuals. Plus, January 1st is another opportunity to come together as a congregation and find a more hopeful, a richer way of being in the world.

            Just as the concept of time is foundational to each one of us, with this concentration of time so central, so this Scripture reading tells us that God has set eternity in humanity’s heart. Verses 11 and 12: “yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. 12 I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live.”

            What a sentiment! And, what a wonderful way to decide to look at life. As we all begin again this first day of 2023, let us listen to the writer of Ecclesiastes. God has set a foundational sense of time in our human hearts, and God has set for us a task. There is nothing better for us than to be happy and to do good while we live. God has given us this precious gift: a God-given gift of time, and a God-given gift of being happy.

So go – do that. Be well, and be happy.

@chaplaineliza

(Suggestion: visit me at my other blogs: matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers. #PursuePEACE – and  A Year of Being Kind . Thanks!

[1] http://worshipingwithchildren.blogspot.com/2013/11/new-years-day-years-b-c.html

[2] http://www.patheos.com/Resources/Additional-Resources/New-Year-New-Beginnings

God’s Birth Announcement

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(St. Luke’s Church had an electrical outage over the weekend. The radiator pipes burst, and there was no worship service on Sunday, December 25, 2022. This sermon comes from my archives, from December 24, 2003.)

“God’s Birth Announcement”

Luke 2:1-14 – December 24, 2003

            I have several friends who have recently had babies. Welcoming babies into the world is such a joyous occasion. One of the first things most people I know do is spread the news about the new baby, letting other friends and acquaintances know about this new little one who has joined the human race. When and where the baby was born, how big it was, whether it was a girl or a boy, and what the parents decided to name the baby are all details that are joyously spread, as soon as possible.

             I wonder . . . what would God’s birth announcement look like?

            In the fullness of time, God sent His Son. Prophesied in many passages from the Hebrew Scriptures, foretold for centuries before His coming. Looking at the Old Testament passage for today, Isaiah 9, the prophet tells his readers about the Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace, who is the coming Messiah.

            Throughout the Advent season, we’ve been preparing for the coming of this Messiah. Well, I have news for you. He’s here. Today is Christmas Eve, and tomorrow we celebrate once again the earthly birthday of the Babe of Bethlehem, the Savior of the World, the only begotten Son of the Heavenly Father. Our Lord Jesus Christ, our savior and redeemer, from age to age the same, came into this fallen world as a baby. Imagine that. Emptying Himself of all His vast, eternal God-ness, and being born as a human baby.

            I wonder: what would God’s birth announcement look like?

            I think we have a pretty good idea, if we take a look at the second chapter of Luke. Doctor Luke gives a full accounting of what went on in those days. This account here is God’s version of a birth announcement, but what an unexpected sort of announcement!

            Let’s look at the parents of the Baby, first of all. The mother, Mary of Nazareth, is not even married yet. Sure, she’s engaged to this carpenter, Joseph, but they haven’t yet been fully joined in marriage. Marriage in those days, in the Jewish culture, was a several-step process. Mary and Joseph hadn’t quite finished the whole marriage thing.

            We read in chapter 1 of Luke that the Holy Spirit came upon Mary, and she conceived. Is Joseph the father of this Baby? No. Joseph could not believe this part of the account at first, until assisted by some heavenly help. An angel came and reassured Joseph that Mary was on the up and up, and that the baby inside of Mary was really the Messiah, the Savior of the world. In other words, the Son of God.

            So, the birth parents are not the usual kind of parents. The circumstances of the birth are not quite the typical birth scenario, either. Imagine the birth of a baby today, here in Evanston. Chances are that the baby would be born either in St. Francis or Evanston Hospitals, with the latest medical technology available, just in case. Not so for Mary, the mother of Jesus. Not only did she have the baby Jesus in less than optimum circumstances, in terms of hygiene and medical needs, but she was also far from her home as well.

            Mary and Joseph were both far away from familiar people, places and things. They were travelers, like many people in the town of Bethlehem at that time. Luke 2 tells us that there wasn’t any place for them to stay–anywhere. Because of the census ordered by Caesar Augustus, the town of Bethlehem was mobbed.

            Since Bethlehem was the ancestral home of King David (who had a lot of children!), that meant that there were quite a lot of people who had to be counted who were descended from David. And not all of them had money. We can see, from the offering that Mary and Joseph offered to the Lord shortly after the birth of the baby Jesus, that they did not have very much money.       

            Bethlehem must have been very crowded indeed, if a woman about to give birth couldn’t find even a room to have her baby in. She and Joseph had to room in a stable. It would be similar to today, where a young woman might have a baby in any common garage. We could even take it a step further, and draw some definite similarities between Mary and Joseph and some other young, homeless couple going to have a new baby, searching for a place to spend the night.

            I don’t know whether any of you have currently had the opportunity to see a sign in front of the First Presbyterian Church in Evanston, but one of the smaller trees near the front door to the sanctuary is practically covered with blue ribbons. There is a sign posted next to the tree, saying “While celebrating One homeless Family, these ribbons ask us to remember the homeless with us today.” I had never thought about the Holy Family in that way before. Again, it’s God’s unexpected way of announcing the birth of His Son.

            While we’re thinking about the stable where Mary had her baby, what about that stable, anyway? Jesus, after all, was a descendant of King David, through both His mother Mary and His adopted father, Joseph. A stable is an unexpected place to find a king. I don’t know about you, but I’d expect royalty to be born in a palace, or at least in a nice house. Not in a stable, anyway.

            And who are the people who first receive this birth announcement? Are they influential members of the community? Rich, movers and shakers? Leaders of the local synagogues and teachers of the Law of Moses? Those would be the kinds of people who I might expect to have a birth announcement sent to them. But God doesn’t work that way. Again, God does the unexpected, and chooses the most unlikely people to receive a hand-delivered message from the Lord of Hosts, the King of Kings.

            Some people in the 21st century probably are so accustomed to the Christmas story that their idea of shepherds keeping watch over their flocks by night is somehow associated with Christmas cards. But it was life as usual for these working people. An everyday way of life in Palestine. What’s more, being a shepherd was not a particularly high class job. The lowly vocation of shepherd was on the outskirts of society. A possible comparison today is to think of a person selling “Streetwise,” the paper sold for $1.00 outside of grocery stores and coffee shops here around the Chicago area.

            And suddenly, the angel of the Lord came to these shepherds–came to people in homeless shelters, people selling “Streetwise,” people down on their luck, people on the edge, on the outs of society. The angel of the Lord came to them with good news. Good news. With news of God’s birth announcement. We can see God again breaking through, in an unexpected way, to an unexpected group of people.

            God sends a birth announcement in unexpected ways to unexpected people, in many situations, all over the world. The angel was the first to tell of the newborn Baby, born in Bethlehem, but then the shepherds spread the news about the new Baby, letting other friends and acquaintances know about this new little One who has joined the human race. When and where the Baby was born, the news that it was a boy, and that the parents decided to name this Baby Jesus–for He would save people from their sins–are all details that the shepherds joyously spread, as soon as possible.

            Again, it’s God’s unexpected way of announcing the birth of His Son. Can you think of someone who hasn’t heard about this birth announcement? We today have the opportunity to spread the news about this Baby born in Bethlehem. And we can joyously praise God, for Jesus is the savior and redeemer of the world, as the angel of the Lord proclaimed so long ago.

God with Us, God’s Peace

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“God with Us, God’s Peace”

Matthew 1:18-25 (1:23) – December 18, 2022

            Where does your name come from? What do our first names mean? Do you know? Are you named after someone beloved or meaningful in our families? Many parents choose their children’s names carefully, and sometimes name them after someone beloved or meaningful to them or their family. Several of my older brothers and sisters have names like that. I suspect some relatives of yours do, too.

            The name Jesus had a special meaning. But before we get to that, let’s talk about this reading from the Gospel of Matthew. This is not the typical reading associated with Christmas! This is not the reading with Mary or the Magnificat, or with the angels, the shepherds, the star shining in the east, and shepherds rushing to find the Baby in Bethlehem. That is the reading from Luke chapter 2. Instead, we have today’s reading from Matthew chapter 1. This is the Nativity from Joseph’s point of view.

We can’t know much about Joseph and Mary’s marriage preparations, other than some generalities that we understand from cultural and historical studies of their area and the society of the time. But, I have some experience with people. I have learned how many people behave, frequently, on different occasions. I can tell you right now that from my observations, people have not changed much over the centuries.

            Matthew tells us that Joseph observes the Law of God. That is huge! Can you say that about yourself? Can I? Are we faithful to God’s laws? Since Matthew is a faithful Jew, this law-keeping is obviously very important to him. The very next thing we hear is that Mary is pregnant, and not by Joseph! What does that mean to Joseph, who is so faithful to the Law of Moses? Matthew does let his readers know that Joseph wants to dissolve the betrothal quietly.

How often, even today, do we make plans? Trying to fix, manage and control people, places and things? Doing our best to make sure all our ducks are in a row, making sure that everything is just right, trying to orchestrate everything, so that nothing is left to chance?

We can see that Joseph made plans, too! Yes, he cared enough for Mary – pregnant as she was – that he planned to divorce her, to break the betrothal quietly. He wanted to organize what he could of his life, while still being considerate of her. But, what happened next?

            Let’s take a closer look at Matthew’s words: “But after Joseph had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.”

Sure, Joseph had lots of fear and anxiety, because of the unknown and unexpected. Because of a situation he did not plan for. The angel came to him with words of comfort and hope. Can you imagine how heartwarming this must have been for Joseph, hearing these words from an angel sent from God? Can you imagine how earthshaking it would be for an angel, a messenger sent from God, delivering words of comfort and hope to us?

            We do not know much about Joseph at all, from the biblical record. He does not get very much attention, compared to Mary. But, this appearance of the angel of the Lord is certainly dynamic! In case Joseph had second thoughts about where the baby came from, the angel’s words gave Joseph no doubt: “what is conceived in Mary is from the Holy Spirit.”

            Joseph and Mary were even told what the child’s name would be! As I said a few minutes ago, names can be meaningful. In this case, Jesus’ name means something very important. Let us hear what the angel said: “Mary will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”       

            The name “Jesus” means “the Lord saves,” revealing the birth of the Savior of the world. This statement is an angelic birth announcement of an historic nature, indeed! But, this is not all. Matthew goes on to give the words of the prophet Isaiah: “All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).

            My favorite bible commentator Carolyn Brown states, “The name Joseph and Mary are to give this child is Immanuel, “God with us.”  When we want to know what God is like, we look at Jesus.  Jesus once said, “If you have seen me, you have seen God.  What I say is what God says.  What I do is what God does.” [1]  In Isaiah the name Immanuel is defined and connected to God’s promise to be with us, even right by our sides. In the gospel Joseph is instructed to name the baby both Jesus and Immanuel. God-with-us.  

            A preview of what is to come at the end of Matthew’s Gospel is also a reminder to all of us. “The last sentence in Matthew 28 and Jesus’ last words: “remember I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”  “I will be with you” is God’s promise to us always.  It was God’s promise for hundreds of years before Jesus was born, God’s promise was God-with-us when Jesus was alive, and is God’s promise to us forever. [2]

What better source for a name than a God-given name? How amazing is the prophecy from Isaiah that lets us know God will always be right by our sides!

Unexpected situations may come up, but they are not unexpected to God. Human plans may fail, but God never fails. Through it all, God is faithful in all God does, and we can count on the Lord one hundred percent. Immanuel – God with us!

[1] http://worshipingwithchildren.blogspot.com/2013/08/year-fourth-sunday-of-advent-december.html

[2] Ibid.

@chaplaineliza

(Suggestion: visit me at my other blogs: matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers. #PursuePEACE – and  A Year of Being Kind . Thanks!

Joy, For the Nations

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“Joy, For the Nations”

Isaiah 42:1-9 (42:6) – December 11, 2022            

God has an amazing way of bringing about justice! You and I can think of countless situations where God is walking with faithful believers through all kinds of difficult situations! Yet our God cares for each and every situation, and our God accompanies all these in patient and long-suffering ways.          

  Today’s reading from the prophet Isaiah highlights God’s servant bringing justice, lighting the way to joy, and bringing release to the captives. God usually does not smite the “bad guys,” and we know God doesn’t throw thunderbolts at the people who make life so difficult for everyone else.             

How on earth are we supposed to deal with rotten situations like chronic illness, unemployment, or natural disasters, then? What could you and I do when we are being mistreated or oppressed or trampled, like the people of Israel were by the Babylonians? Because, that was who was beating up on the armies of Israel at the time Isaiah wrote. And, the Babylonians finally conquered the Israelites and took many of them away to the country of Babylon as hostages, and enforced labor.         

    This rotten situation was very real for Isaiah and the country of Israel, in other words! What are the people to do? How should they deal with evil, unfeeling oppressors?            

The prophet writes, speaking for God: “Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will bring justice to the nations.” “But, Lord,” I can just hear many of the people of Israel say, “When will this be? How long do we need to wait? Why are You taking so long?”           

Waiting is just what we’re doing now. Right now, we are in the season of Advent; we are waiting for the coming of the Messiah, of the Servant of the Lord. The Baby in Bethlehem. Today is the third Sunday of Advent, the Sunday of Joy. The week of continuing expectation, and the week of the Virgin Mary.           

  Several themes of this reading from Isaiah are so similar to the themes of the song of the Virgin Mary – the Magnificat from Luke chapter 1. The angel Gabriel has just told the teenage Mary she will bear the Messiah, the Servant of the Lord. The next thing we know, Mary starts singing this amazing song! Hearkening back to Hannah’s song from 1 Samuel and to this song we read today from chapter 42. Similar to God taking delight in the servant of the Lord, Mary begins her song taking joy in the Lord. As she says, “From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me—holy is his name. 50 His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation.” As God proclaims the promise to “to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness,” so Mary takes heart in God’s promise that the Lord considers, cares for, and acts on behalf of the lowly.           

  Both of these songs proclaim radical actions! Both of these songs are from a subversive point of view. Both of these songs – the Magnificat of Mary and this servant song from Isaiah – talk of toppling existing unrighteous power structures and erecting a topsy-turvy power structure with the have-nots receiving more than enough from God. Mary goes even further, stating that “it is not for kings or the mighty and powerful that the Lord has regard, rather it is for all the rest that God does great things.” [1]           

Both songs raise the question of justice. Both time periods had the people of Israel under the boot of conquering, oppressive nations: Babylon in the time of Isaiah, and Rome in the time of the Gospel of Luke. I can just hear the people of Israel say, “Has God abandoned us? Are we still God’s people? Is God still God?”  Because of exile and oppression, the people of Israel could only conclude that God had withdrawn favor and allowed the conquerors to punish them for their sins and disobedience. [2]            Yet, into all of this upset and darkness and uncertainty, both songs praise God for being God. Can we do that too, and praise God, today? Both songs address the theme of justice for all people, not just for a few. Can we believe in God’s statement of justice for all, even though every day we see the poor and the downtrodden getting pushed around, and the humble and lowly being overlooked and even discarded?            

“Isaiah reminds this exiled people that God has not abandoned them but is indeed at work among them, restoring them to be a blessing. This is good news! God is still God.” [3]This loving, caring attitude of God is amazing, in God’s approach to bringing justice to all people. Both Isaiah and Mary have strong feelings about justice—especially radical, subversive Mary! Our patient God is working with all of us, gently, gradually, to bring change and justice into this fallen world.

Both Isaiah and Mary sing a song that can be, should be, our song in this Advent season. As we have prepared for the coming of the Christ Child, now we too can sing in thanksgiving, in celebration, in remembrance, and in proclamation of the promise made to our ancestors. And, the promise made to us, too. What can we say but, alleluia!  Come, Lord Jesus!

@chaplaineliza

(Suggestion: visit me at my other blogs: matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers. #PursuePEACE – and  A Year of Being Kind . Thanks!

Love, For Such a Time

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“Love, For Such a Time”

Esther 4:1-17 (4:14) – December 4, 2022

            Do you remember some fairy tales? The scary ones? The ones where the good guys run away from the bad witch, or the evil fairy, or the wicked king? And, then the good guys turn around and stand up to those evil people? Those fairy tales are so much like the story of Esther we heard a little of today in our Scripture reading.  

            What happened just before this chapter in Esther? The evil, wicked counselor Haman convinced the King of Persia to have all of the minority resident aliens, or foreigners, killed on a certain date. These foreigners are the Jews. At this point, about 600 years before the birth of the baby Jesus in Bethlehem, the Jewish people have been conquered.

Many of the Jews have been forcibly taken hundreds of miles away to a foreign land, to Babylon (or Persia). There they are: a foreign minority in a country not their own. What a situation to be in! Yet, the Jew Mordecai has worked hard, and is now an official in the King of Babylon’s palace. What’s more, his younger cousin Esther won a nationwide beauty contest held by the King to choose his next bride.

            Except – remember what I said a few minutes ago? How the good guys in the fairy tales so often keep getting stepped on and beaten up by the evil, bad guys? That is the way it was with the Jewish people, in Babylon. Many of them were forcibly corralled and taken far, far away to a land not their own, to Persia. To work for the Babylonians, like the Jewish official Mordecai did, in the King’s palace. Plus, his young cousin Esther was now queen of the whole country! Except again, Esther is “an outsider in Persian [or Babylonian] culture — especially in the royal city of Susa. Esther is a resident alien, a foreigner, and a member of this peculiar tribe that Persians tolerate unevenly.” [1]

            I can see some clear parallels with the story of the Virgin Mary. She was also a Jew, living under a conquering army, in the occupied country of Palestine. Similar to the situation of Mordecai, Esther and their Jewish friends, living in exile far away from their home. Both women had troubles to face, although Esther’s trouble was magnified because of the autocratic King.

            We focus on Esther and her story today partly because Esther and her bravery are linked closely with Mary and her courage, found in the Gospel of Luke. Preachers have preached sermons on Mary for many years, centuries, even. See Mary and her bravery and willingness to step out into the unknown with God at her side. But, sermons on Esther? Not as often, to be sure. Yet, Queen Esther of Persia did something very similar, in terms of courage, bravery and love.   

            In this chapter from the book of Esther we have grief and dismay from Esther’s cousin Mordecai, certainly! Yet, there is also a time for discernment, an expression of hopes and fears, and a final resolve from Queen Esther as she decides to go and have an audience with her husband, the autocratic, distant King of Persia. For such a time as this she was appointed queen.

            Here’s a big question for us, today. We can see Esther instructing her cousin to gather the expatriate Jews together, those who live in the capital city of Susa. Her countryfolk are to fast and pray for her, just as Esther and her maids fast and pray, as she prepares to see the King. Are we that serious about large challenges, today? Do we fast and pray before significant events in our lives today? And if not, why not? We can certainly see this precedent set for us repeatedly in Scripture, in both the Hebrew Scriptures as well as the New Testament.

            I know certain acquaintances of mine would probably run back and forth when faced with a huge challenge like this one, wringing their hands, maybe even giving up. “It’s no use! I’m too puny, too weak; no one would listen to me, anyway!” Perhaps even hoping that someone else would do something to save my people! Your group! Our bunch of expatriate friends!  

            Remember, young Mary was a teenager when she was approached by Gabriel. She had no idea what was happening until the angel explained. She could have been scared out of her wits, or fainted dead away at the sudden, fearful appearance of the angel. And, telling her that she would become pregnant, without the protection of a marriage, of a husband? Mary must have known other young women who that had happened to, and seen how ostracized and shunned they were in her tight-knit community. It took a great deal of bravery and courage for Mary to accept what the angel told her. Yes, there are real similarities between Mary and Esther.

“Esther and Mordecai do what they can with what they have and that is enough to save the day. That makes this a good story with which to encourage worshipers of all ages to look for what they can do about problems they confront rather than what they cannot do.  It is easy for children (and the rest of us) to assume there is nothing they can do about many problems they see around them.  [Young people] see themselves as too young, too small, not smart or knowing or wise enough.” [2] But, isn’t that what so many of us grown ups do, too? We can’t do anything about any of these big, grown-up sized problems because we are too puny, or not smart enough, or wise enough, or knowing enough.

But, isn’t God with us today when we face down problems? Just as God was with Esther and Mordecai! And just as God was with Mary all the days of her pregnancy, and beyond! We can praise God for the name Emmanuel, which means “God with us.” We can praise Jesus for claiming that name, and remaining right by our sides. Through scary and anxious times, as well as fearful and intimidating experiences. Jesus, Emmanuel, God-with-us will be right next to each of us. And for that, we can praise God! For such a time as this.

[1]  https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/narrative-lectionary/esther-2/commentary-on-esther-41-17-2

[2] http://worshipingwithchildren.blogspot.com/2015/08/year-b-proper-21-26th-sunday-in.html

@chaplaineliza

(Suggestion: visit me at my other blogs: matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers. #PursuePEACE – and  A Year of Being Kind . Thanks!

Hope as a Way of Life

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“Hope as a Way of Life”

Habakkuk 1:1-5; 2:1-4 (1:5) –November 27, 2022

            At the end of October, we celebrated Halloween, the day of scary stories, haunted houses, dressing up in all kinds of scary costumes like monsters, ghosts, and other frightening creatures.

Today marks the first Sunday of Advent, the beginning of the church year. Our Scripture reading comes from the Hebrew prophet Habakkuk, on the look out for God’s response to all kinds of scary and frightening things that were going on in the lives of the people of Israel at that time. Long time ago, at the beginning of the 6th century before Christ was born.

Every October, we observe the season of scary things, and every year, many people truly enjoy being scared down to their shoes. Because – isn’t it true that scary things or frightening places are not so scary after all? Especially when we consider that many scary monsters and creatures turn out to be just like us? And, just like the people in Habakkuk’s day, too?

However, Habakkuk talks about not only scary and frightening stuff, but about violence and injustice, causing so much pain in the world. This was not only true many centuries ago. It’s even more true today, with all the fear, uncertainty, anxiety and dread people encounter each day, In our neighborhoods and towns, as well as nationally and internationally.

How about you? How about me? Don’t we regularly see fear, uncertainty, and anxiety in our individual lives? And what about violence? What about injustice? The world just had several instances of shocking, horrible events. Significant recent disasters include mass shootings of multiple people in the past weeks around our country, and the massive earthquake in Indonesia.

Quite different events, but comparable to the many different kinds of situations that the nation of Israel was dealing with during the time of Habakkuk. And, similar to many different kinds of things going on today, like regional wars, famine, drought, rampant inflation and unemployment! What is a person to do, in the face of all this happening? Where is God in the midst of all these tragedies, no matter what their size, big, medium and small? Where is God in your life, or in mine, or in the lives of our beloved relatives and friends?

Today is the first Sunday of Advent. At first glance, this is a different Scripture reading for the beginning of the Advent season! Or, is it? Advent is the season at the beginning of the church year where we – the Church – prepare for the coming of the Christ child, the Baby born in Bethlehem. The prophet Habakkuk’s “message of waiting with hope in the midst of despair offers a powerful word for both the Advent season and for the world we live in today.” [1]

It’s true that the first words of this prophecy are a personal lament. This cry sounds so familiar to us from the Psalms! “O LORD, how long?” This is the opening of a dozen psalms, and repeated again and again in the books of the prophets! I hear this lament from relatives, loved ones, and hospice patients themselves. “O LORD, how long?” People agonize over dire circumstances, and cry out to the Lord again and again. This has happened for millenia, too.

What we can learn from our reading today is – it is okay to complain to God! And, just like Habakkuk, it is okay for us to call God to account. Just like Habakkuk, we too can give voice to what we perceive as God’s refusal to respond to cries for help. Almost as if God is forgetful, or if the Lord has gone on a journey or is asleep.

“That in and of itself is an important reminder for congregations: that being angry at God, or feeling that God seems absent, is “allowed,” and in fact has biblical precedents—and yet those feelings of despair are never the end of the story.” [2]

The things we really fear – that bullies at school or at work will go after us, that something bad will happen to someone we love, that we will lose our jobs, that there will be a war where we live, that we will never be able to do what we want most to do….   If the thinking about fears leads to talking about real, actual fears and anxiety about jobs, the economy, world conflicts, and more, we all can learn that fear is a very real part of life. [3]

Let’s talk straight. In this fallen, imperfect world, people have been fearful and anxious for millenia. But, God promises that fear, anxiety, violence and evil will not be the final word! We can hold this real fear and anxiety in tension with the blessed fact that our God brings hope! Our God is present with us! We can be ready to hear God’s promise to Habakkuk and us in Habakkuk 1:5. ““Look at the nations and watch—and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told.”  

Do you hear? Do you understand what God is telling us here? “God’s goal in asking Habakkuk to write the message so big was that God wanted everyone to read it and know that God was on the side of the faithful [that’s us!] and against the evil [violence and fear so rampant in the world today].” [4] The Lord wants us to read this message of hope and faith on billboards, or even to have skywriting planes write this hopeful message in the sky above!

God brings hope! As Habakkuk said, God will be with us through the dark valleys and disappointments and tragedies of life, just as God is right beside us through sickness, poverty, conflict, disaster, and whatever other negative things may try to creep in and surround us.

The great good news is our God will not allow these bad things to overcome. God will have the final word, and will prevail. The Lord has promised, and God’s word is sure!

Alleluia, Amen.

@chaplaineliza

(Suggestion: visit me at my other blogs: matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers. #PursuePEACE – and  A Year of Being Kind . Thanks!

[1] https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/narrative-lectionary/faith-as-a-way-of-life-2/commentary-on-habakkuk-11-4-22-4-33b-6-17-19-2

[2] Ibid.

[3] http://worshipingwithchildren.blogspot.com/2013/10/year-c-proper-26-31st-sunday-in.html

[4] Ibid.

Pray, Petition and Request

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“Pray, Petition and Request”

Philippians 4:4-7 (4:6) –November 20, 2022

Sharing together. We share many things together. We share conversations, we share meals, we share good times together. We share sadness, we share worry, we share bad times together. We also share prayer praises and prayer requests together.

            I’m reminded of the time each Sunday we set aside in the services here at St. Luke’s Church, specifically for prayer concerns. We ask for concerns as well as praises. We lift up the joys that happen in our lives as well as the sad times. This time is a time of drawing closer together, of affirmation, and of caring and concern for one other as a community.

            We can see this kind of care and concern here in our Scripture passage for today. The believers in the city of Philippi had real love and concern in their hearts for the Apostle Paul. We see Paul had a deep and warm love for this group of believers in Jesus Christ.

            Paul was not the kind of guy who stayed in one place for very long. He was an itinerant minister, almost a circuit-riding teacher, preacher and evangelist. But, traveling around as Paul did, things came up. From Paul’s own account, a lot of things happened to him, and many of them were very unpleasant, including beatings, stonings, shipwrecks, and other kinds of dangers. If anyone here is interested, a first-person account of some of Paul’s life and journeys as an itinerant preacher can be found in 2 Corinthians 11.

John Lennon once said, “Life is what happens in between the things you plan.” I’m sure the Apostle Paul could relate. Somehow, the Philippian believers found out about the difficulties Paul was having. Without any letter requesting money, without any beneficence inquiry, without anyone from the apostolic development office asking for a donation, the Philippians decided on their own to take up a collection and send it to Paul.

They weren’t close by, so they sent a member of their community to hand-deliver their love-gift to Paul, their pastor, Epaphroditus. There was a complication. Paul was in prison. Not just in some sleepy little backwater of a town. No, Paul was in jail in the capitol city. Serious jail, guarded by career army personnel. The Philippians needed to send their gift all the way to Rome.

As Dr. McGee said in his commentary, the Philippian church was the group who came to Paul’s need when he was in prison. They sent him badly needed support! Paul was their former pastor, and their missionary, too. [1]

            One of the reasons that Paul wrote this letter in response to the Philippian believers was to send a thank-you letter. Sandwiched in among the suggestions and commands Paul gives his friends, long-distance from Rome, is this command—“don’t worry!” What a thing for Paul to say! Of all people, he had good reason to be anxious and concerned about his own situation!

He is waiting in prison—remember, in serious jail—looking at the capital charge of treason and blasphemy for denying that “Caesar is Lord.” At this point, it was quite possible that Paul was going to die, probably from beheading. From our point of view, today, just thinking about all that Paul was dealing with, how could he say “don’t worry!”??

            Worry can be insidious. Gnawing away at our insides. Like acid, eating us up. (And sometimes that is exactly the case, as in stomach ulcers!) You and I have lots we can potentially worry about: the economy, the government, fighting and violence near and far, our health and our loved ones’ health, our homes, our families, even worry about our pets.

            Now that we know a little more about what Paul was facing, let’s listen again to several verses from chapter 4: “6Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

            Wow! Paul—in prison, mind you!—tells the Philippians “don’t worry!” But instead—pray! Pray, and let your requests be made known to God! Paul says that prayer is the antidote for the problem of worry!

            I am especially intrigued about what Paul says after “Pray!” He says that God’s peace will replace worry. This peace of mind from God, from above, will guard your heart and mind. The Greek word “guard” means “will stand watch over your heart and mind.” In other words, the peace of God will come and occupy the place anxiety once held! Like a nightwatchman, or a soldier keeping watch. God’s peace helping keep us peaceful!

            How many of us know people who worry? How many of us are related to people who worry? . . . How many of us are people who worry? Such a difficult habit to dislodge when worry is so deeply ingrained. Worry and anxiety can become a terrible, negative, corrosive habit. As I said, eating us up, from the inside out. Here, the Apostle Paul gives us the antidote for worry. Prayer! And, we need something to put in the place of worry and anxiety.  

Let us list Paul’s Pointers on Worry. We’ll recap! One, Don’t Worry! Two, Pray! Three, God’s Peace will stand guard over your heart and mind! And now, Four: God is going to help us develop a new mental program, a new way of thinking that will build us up, instead of tearing us down. This new way of thinking will be nurturing and helpful, instead of negative and corrosive.    

Verse 8 tells us, “whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about these things!” God doesn’t want us to be worried and anxious. That is not living life abundantly. God dearly wants us to have positive, helpful, nurturing things on our minds and hearts. To be helpful and loving, inside and out. What a command from Paul!

Don’t worry?? Yes!! And God will help us with this new way of thinking, anytime we want to start! We can leave worry and anxiety behind, and God’s peace will help us guard our minds and hearts. Then, we are freed from worry to live life God’s way. The positive way. Thinking and acting in nurturing, loving, praiseworthy ways. Lord, let it be so. Alleluia, amen!

@chaplaineliza

(Suggestion: visit me at my other blogs: matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers. #PursuePEACE – and  A Year of Being Kind . Thanks!

[1] McGee, J. Vernon, Through the Bible, Vol. V (Thomas Nelson Publishers: United States of America, 1983), 286.

Why Perseverance Matters

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“Why Perseverance Matters”

2 Thessalonians 3:6-13 (3:9) –November 13, 2022

            My line of work is called a “helping profession.” It doesn’t matter whether it’s a minister, a chaplain, or a pastoral caregiver. These types of jobs are “helping professions,” just as a social  worker, nurse, teacher or therapist is, too. All jobs where we are involved in helping others!

            In this reading today, the Apostle Paul talks about himself and his friends who were traveling with him. “For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us; we were not idle when we were with you, and we did not eat anyone’s bread without paying for it; but with toil and labor we worked night and day, so that we might not burden any of you.” Paul certainly did not stay idle when he was on the road! And, neither did his fellow missionary friends.

            How ought we then live? This section of the letter to Paul’s friends in Thessalonica is the last part of the letter, where Paul gives his recommendations for Christian life and living. The believers in Thessalonica are called to seek after God, and to follow Christ’s example. Paul also tells us here to follow his example, and the example of his friends, in working diligently.

Paul firmly speaks to people: “Anyone unwilling to work should not eat. For we hear that some of you are living in idleness, mere busybodies, not doing any work.” If people sit around on their couches, eating junk food and simply watching YouTube or reality television all day and night, Paul has a strong criticism for them! “Hey! You! Get up and get going!”  

I don’t want to heap this strong recommendation on everyone. There are lots of people who are unable to do a hard day’s work. Do you know any friends or acquaintances who are chronically ill? Not able to do anything, and exhausted by simply getting dressed, or walking from one end of the house to the other? For example, the dear people in my line of work, hospice patients, their caregivers, and close families. This is a sad reality for many families, right now. 

I’ve often spoken of one of my favorite commentators, Carolyn Brown. She writes of children getting asked “what do you want to be when you grow up?” Often, children are focused on fancy or flashy jobs or occupations. Like, a major league sports player, or a member of a famous music group, or a television or movie star. But, why not suggest to children that they consider work that makes the world a better place? Why not a helping profession? What better thing to do than to do something that will make life better for everyone around them?

For that matter, we can think of the newer hymn that we sang last Sunday, “I Sing a Song of the Saints of God.” This hymn talks about all kinds of people and all kinds of professions, like a doctor, a queen, a shepherdess, a soldier, a priest, and lots more, too.

But, there is a down side to caring and helping. People who help others can do too much helping. Did you realize that? There is a state called “compassion fatigue” or becoming weary of doing the next right thing. This is exactly what the apostle Paul is talking about, right here in this Scripture reading! “Brothers and sisters, do not become weary in doing what is right.”

            Rev. Sharon Blezzard talks in all seriousness about compassion fatigue. It is when these sincere, caring, helping individuals help too much, and become overwhelmed by the sizeable needs and the huge crowds of people who are waiting in line to be helped. Their sincere wishes and deep desire to help and heal and ease the way for many people in need ends up in cynicism and disillusionment.

I hear about this so often, among pastors, ministers, missionaries and chaplains. Many seriously talk about burn out. There is nothing so sad than to see religious leaders and professionals cynical and disillusioned. Plus, they often leave their jobs if not the ministry altogether, and need serious therapy and recovery. I hear similar things from social workers, teachers, nurses, and other medical professionals, too. They can burn out and leave their work, too.

So often in the Bible there are recommendations on how to live. Like here, for example. How are is too far when it comes to caring too much? Having “compassion fatigue” when you and I are in helping professions? Yet, the apostle Paul is perfectly correct in recommending to his friends that they work diligently! He is correct when he tells his friends to “do not be weary in doing what is right.”

Striving to follow God and do what Christ calls us to do is what Paul recommends. Except – our Lord Jesus rested. Our Lord Jesus took time away to pray and to rest and to be with His friends. Paul was often with his friends, too, and I suspect Paul took breaks, too. We can see the good example of Paul and his friends here, in today’s Scripture reading, and take it to heart.

Perseverance matters. Paul knew that very well. “Because we WILL face opposition [in life], perseverance matters. Because culture and the forces of evil WILL place stumbling blocks in our path, perseverance matters. Because our lights will shine in the darkness, reflecting the light of Christ to a hurting, chaotic, and broken world, our perseverance matters.” [1]

We can all walk with God, strive to be the best Christians we can be, and follow Paul’s example, too. Don’t be weary and disillusioned; your perseverance makes all the difference in this world and for the sake of the life to come.

Which leaves us with…what? I offer the last verse of last week’s hymn, again. All three verses talk about the saints – the believers – of God everywhere. The last verse tells us “You can meet them in school, on the street, in the store, in church, by the sea, in the house next door; they are saints of God, whether rich or poor, and I mean to be one too.” Paul encourages us to go, be a saint. Follow his example, and above all, follow the calling of our Lord, Christ Jesus.

@chaplaineliza

(Suggestion: visit me at my other blogs: matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers. #PursuePEACE – and  A Year of Being Kind . Thanks!

[1] https://www.stewardshipoflife.org/2013/11/why-perseverance-matters/

We Will Be Like Him

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1 John 3:1-3    November 2, 2014   (St. Luke’s Church, Morton Grove)

(I was ill this weekend, and did not preach a sermon today. This is my All Saints Sunday sermon from November 2014.)

“We Will Be Like Him”

            Going on vacation. Who remembers vacations? I remember long car trips with smaller children. We did not have all the latest devices, the video games, Game Boys, small DVD players. No, those were simpler times. A number of years ago. And the children would ask, “Are we there yet?”  The trip would seem like it took forever! We would be on the road. Not quite there. Not quite yet. Still on the way. Still waiting.

            Of course, an extended car trip only seemed like it took forever! Here, in the first letter of John, the aged disciple is telling his friends something similar. But—I’m getting ahead of myself! We ought to go back to the beginning of this short passage. Just a little chunk, really, of what John says in this whole letter. 

            Let’s start with an overview. This letter was written to a group of dispersed believers. Similar to several other New Testament letters. The Apostle John was older by this time—late in the first century. He wanted to straighten out some misunderstandings. And, he wanted to get several main points across.  I’m not going to test you on these, but for people who were just wondering. Number one, God is light. Number two, God is love. Number three, Jesus Christ was a real human being, not just a spirit. Those main points were to combat some disagreements and squabbles that had already come about. Even though Christianity was only fifty or so years old.   

            I’ve given you all an overview, a bird’s eye view. Now, let’s dive in with a magnifying glass, and look at two verses in Chapter three.

I’ll remind us all of verse one of chapter three: “See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are.” This statement of John’s is significant! Why? Because this verse tells us such an important fact. We are called children of God. That’s incontrovertible. Why? Not just because you and I say so. No! But because God says so, that’s why!

I am not sure, but I suspect that John’s friends, the people he’s writing the letter to, have a similar problem as the disciples did. I’ve mentioned this problem before, when Jesus was here on this earth. A couple of decades before the writing of this letter. I don’t think the other believers “got it.” I don’t think they fully understood where John was coming from. That’s why he tells them in several different ways and several different places in this letter that God is love, and God gives love.  

The starting point, where John starts from at this point in the letter, is that God has named us all God’s children. Bam! Named! [ hand forward ]  Done! [ ref signal ]

We have a problem, though. The problem is the world. As the first chapter of the Gospel of John verse 10 tells us, Jesus “was in the world, and the world came into being through Him; yet the world did not know Him.” The world has a huge blind spot. The world is not in sync with God. The world is hostile to God, even though God made the world. And the solar system. And the whole universe. It doesn’t matter—the world is reeling under the effects of sin, and is therefore hostile to God.

What can we do about this negative state of affairs? Check out verse two. John says it again! “Beloved (or, friends), we are God’s children now.” John wants to make certain that we have got it!

We all—each of us—are called God’s children. Who is the oldest member of our congregation? And who is the youngest member of our congregation? All God’s children. Each of you is, and me, too! Each of us is God’s beloved child!

Yes, the hostile world gets in the way of living life God’s way. Nobody ever said the Christian walk and the Christian life was going to be a piece of cake. Ask the Apostle Paul. Ask the other apostles, including John.

But let’s move on. My favorite part of this passage is coming up! Remember how I started this sermon, a few minutes ago?  I started with the mention of vacations. Who remembers vacations? I remember long car trips with smaller children. A number of years ago. And the children would ask, “Are we there yet?”  The trip would seem like it took forever! We would be on the road. Not quite there. Not quite yet. Still on the way. Still waiting.  

I’m suggesting the concept of being on a very, very long trip. Not arriving yet, still being on the way. We are still in transit. We are children of God now, but not yet, too! We have a seeming paradox of both/and. Now, and not yet! That’s what I compare with this statement of John’s. Listen to verse two: “What we will be has not yet been revealed.”

Did you hear what John told us? That is why I say we are still in transit. Nobody knows for sure what we will be. And the best part of all, in my opinion, is this last sentence of verse two: “What we do know is this: when Jesus is revealed, we will be like Him, for we will see Him as He is.” Did you hear? “We will see Him as He is.”

Did you all know we all are wearing veils? Invisible veils, that keep us from fully understanding the words of Scripture. We hear in Exodus that Moses talked face to face with the Lord. As a man talks to his friend. And whenever Moses talked like that, face to face with God, his face actually shone. The glory of the Lord made his face shine supernaturally! Did you know that the people of Israel were so scared of Moses after he talked with the Lord—and his face got all shiny—that they begged Moses to wear a veil? They wanted a separation between them and the glory, the power, the presence of God.   

Isn’t it similar with us, sometimes? The straight-up glory of God is too much for most of us to handle. We are still in transit. Still on the road, on this very long trip to heaven. Both/and. Now, and not yet.

Again, verse two: “What we do know is this: when Jesus is revealed, we will be like Him, for we will see Him as He is.” Today, when we commemorate All Saints Day, is that time of year when we remember again and again the ‘now’ and ‘not yet’ of God’s kingdom. Yes, we are God’s children! Yes! A thousand times yes! We have the best guarantee in the world for this, too. God says so.

But what about the ‘not yet’ part? How can we reconcile that? Let me tell you my take on that: I do not know.  NOW but NOT YET. We are not quite sure. We don’t know the fullness of what that means. But I’ll tell you who does know. The saints in glory, our fellow believers who have gone before us, have received that fullness. They know. With unveiled faces, they see Jesus, glorified in heaven.

As for us? As we are here, in transit? Now, and not yet? We wait in this world, expectant. We live in hope, thankfulness, and gratitude as we gather around this table. As we gather for this meal, joined with the church of every time and place – with all the saints.

Alleluia, amen.

@chaplaineliza

(Suggestion: visit me at my other blogs: matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers. #PursuePEACE – and  A Year of Being Kind . Thanks!

Our Mighty Fortress

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“Our Mighty Fortress”

Psalm 46:1-7 (46:7) – October 30, 2022

Here we are at Reformation Sunday, the week of the year when we remember Martin Luther posting his list of grievances against the church establishment of the Catholic Church, more than 500 years ago in 1517. These 95 grievances against the Church sparked a movement of protest that was felt around the world. And thus, the Protestant Church was born.

Our psalm reading today was Martin Luther’s favorite psalm. And, what a marvelous psalm to choose! Martin took this psalm to heart, for a whole host of reasons! These were literal reasons, too. The Lord was indeed his fortress, helping him to stay safe through all danger.

The official Catholic Church hierarchy certainly had it in for Martin Luther! After defending himself against strident criticism from scholars and theologians, and legal challenges for years, the official verdict registered by the Catholic Church was not in Luther’s favor. He broke with Rome in 1521. Because he would not recant his views on God, salvation by faith, and the Bible, Luther was officially on the run from the Catholic establishment.

I think of Martin on the run, like young David, after Samuel anointed him king. Martin Luther needed the Lord to be a strong and secure refuge for him, what with all the military and operational might of the Catholic Church coming after him! Looking at the first verses, “God as a Fortress against the threats of nature (verses 1-3). The dominant theme of the psalm is trust in God, first sounded in verse 1, “God is our refuge and strength.” [1] A mighty fortress indeed!

This brought me to thinking, how do you and I trust? Do we – do you trust God to be a secure protection for us and our families? If not, why not? Just like King David, we can see time after time where people from the Bible – both the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament – trusted in God to be their refuge and strong fortress, as Martin wrote in the hymn we sang today.

We also remember Father Martin Luther – for he was a Catholic priest – as a sincere, devout follower of Jesus Christ. He thought long and hard about sin and confession, faith and grace. He thought a lot about God’s Word, and eventually translated the whole Bible – both Old and New Testaments – into German, the common tongue of his day and area of Germany. And, thank God that Martin was not only a theologian, but a skilled writer, translator, preacher and musician, too.

The Catholic Church hierarchy did not approve of the Bible translated into the common tongue, which was one of the reasons Martin was on the run. As we examine Psalm 46, one big feature of this psalm is the word “help.” “’Help’ has a more active sense, identifying God as one who takes action to assist those in trouble. Verses 2 and 3 indicate that God’s people need not fear the worst that nature can hurl at them, whether it be earthquakes or floods. Because no matter what, God will be with them.” [2]

Like Martin Luther on the run in parts of Germany, like King David in the wilderness of Israel, God can be our help and refuge, too. Let’s be clear: this psalm is not talking pie-in-the-sky, or looking at the world through rose-colored glasses. This psalm is clear and realistic. It does not promise “we as God’s people will be free from the ravages of nature or of war or of individual suffering. But they do promise that we will not have to go through these things alone. ‘The LORD of hosts is with us … ‘” [3]

This precious hymn written by Luther was not only a refuge from earthly disasters, but is also personal in nature. Rev. Janet Hunt, a Lutheran minister, mentions that she hears it “as much more personal now, knowing as we do that ‘the old satanic foe’ threatened him with the sorts of ‘woes’ one could only begin to understand if one has been there. The heart-wrenching, life altering death of a child, to name but one. The days and nights of struggling to hold on to faith when the Church which had borne the faith to him no longer lived up to its promises. The fear which must have possessed Luther as his very life was threatened.” [4]

Sure, with everything going on in the world today, we also have reason to be scared half to death! Yet, we have “a God who has been time-tested and, over and over again, can be trusted upon to keep you secure in your time of trouble. Either way – and in all times and circumstances – we have a God who has got us covered. That is what Psalm 46 declares. And that is what Luther wanted to proclaim in “A Mighty Fortress is Our God.”” [5]

Can we – you and I – loosen our tight grip on all we are clutching to our chests, knowing that God indeed holds everything? Including us?

This Reformation Sunday, Psalm 46 talks of a refuge, and a help in our great need.

Yes, God is indeed our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. That’s something to truly celebrate. Alleluia, amen.


@chaplaineliza

(Suggestion: visit me at my other blogs: matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers. #PursuePEACE – and  A Year of Being Kind . Thanks!

[1] https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/reformation-day/commentary-on-psalm-46-12

[2] Ibid.

[3] Ibid.

[4] https://dancingwiththeword.com/being-still-letting-go/

[5] “A Mighty Fortress is our God” is not the only English translation of Luther’s “Ein Feste Burg.” Thomas Carlyle, the nineteenth century Scottish commentator, offered this version: “A safe stronghold our God is still, a trusty shield and weapon.” Carlyle’s contemporary, George MacDonald, rendered stanza one, verse one, in this way: “Our God he is a castle strong, a good mailcoat and weapon.”

Be Merciful to Me!

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“Be Merciful to Me!”

Luke 18:9-14 (18:13) – October 23, 2022

When you were young, in school, did the other kids joke and horse around? Sometimes, did the other kids make fun of some people in their school or down the block, or tease and belittle them behind their backs? Even worse, to their faces?   

I can relate to this, very strongly. I was one of those kids who was picked on. I wore glasses ever since kindergarten, and on top of that, I was a chubby girl. The mean kids used to call me “four eyes” and “chubby, chubby!” Do you remember a couple of other kids who were really picked on, in your acquaintance? Called names like shorty or pipsqueak, jerk or baby. These names were so hurtful. Sometimes, the picked-on kids still remember, decades later.

Do these negative names or labels remind you of anything? They certainly did, with me! In our parable this morning, it sounds like our Pharisee could be one of the really mean kids on the playground! With such a high and mighty air, and a real feeling of superiority. What do you see from this Pharisee? He was a show-off, for sure! Plus, he did not particularly care how hurtful his statements about the tax collector were. That tax collector was standing nearby, too! How do we think that poor guy felt, with the Pharisee talking trash about him?

Just listen to what the Pharisee says about the tax collector: “The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this rotten tax collector.”

I know I have talked about tax collectors before. These people were Jews, and they grew up in the villages and towns where they plied their trade. Except – they were turncoats. Sell-outs. Someone had to collect taxes for the Roman Empire. They took the pay and authority from their Roman overlords and were despised for it by their fellow Jews. These tax collectors soon received the reputation for graft and shake-downs, and usually that unsavory reputation was well deserved. Both the Pharisee and the tax collector came into the Temple before the Lord. Both the Pharisee and the tax collector had sin in their lives – missteps, missing the mark of how God wanted them to live. Their attitude toward their sin was as different as night and day!

We need to consider two basic truths when we take a closer look at this parable. First, God loves us! Yes, it is true! The Lord loves each one of us, more than we can ever imagine.

But, the second truth is also very evident. We are all sinners. We all have missed the mark, and all have mis-stepped. We all do things and say things and especially think things that are displeasing to the Lord. Commentator Carolyn Brown says “The Pharisee understands only one of them – God loves me.  He sees only his strengths and good deeds and tells God all about them.  It is a one sided conversation.” [1] 

Do you know people like this? People who are full of themselves, self-important, and proud? Arrogant, even? They might set themselves up on pedestals and look down their noses at anyone who doesn’t come up to their exacting, stuck-up standards. Especially “inferior” people like “thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.”

The Pharisee does speak truth about himself, however. “Truth be told, he is righteous. He leads a life blameless according to the law. He fasts and gives alms and indeed bears no resemblance to the unsavory characters with which he compares himself. What, then, is his problem?” [2] He is overwhelmingly self-righteous, self-involved and blind to his own failings and shortcomings. He does not have a true picture of himself, from the inside out.
            What about the tax collector? This parable is one of my favorite parables that Jesus ever preached. I relate so much to this tax collector! We don’t even know his name. But, he understood both of these important truths that underlie this narrative. “He is well aware of his weaknesses and sins.  (Lots of people point them out to him regularly!)  If that was all he knew, he wouldn’t be at the Temple at all.  But he also knows that God loves him in spite of his sins.  So he comes to God to confess and leaves OK with God.” [3]

Do you hear? That is what the assurance of pardon is all about, after our confession of sins each Sunday. God forgives us our sins! God loves each of us very, very much! This does not negate our sinfulness, or sweep it under the rug, But, you and I have a realistic picture of ourselves as sinners touched by mercy, saved by grace, and much beloved by God.  

Carolyn Brown reminds us: “Jesus tells his listeners to be honest with God.  When we come to God honestly, admitting our sins and trusting that God loves and forgives us, we are OK with God – and also OK with ourselves and the people around us.” [4] 

I invite you – me – all of us – to look around the room. See your family, friends, strangers or people you don’t really know. Each one of us is a sinner, in thought, word and deed. Each one does or says hurtful or thoughtless things. Now, look around the room again. God loves every one of us. Every single one of your friends, your neighbors, your enemies, even.

I ask you: which man went home justified with God? Both men were loved anyhow, but the truthful, humble, repentant tax collector was embraced by God. We can take this parable to heart, and follow the truthful, humble example set for us. We can all strive to be humble and penitent, just like this repentant tax collector.

Praise God we are loved by this amazing God, the God who delights in justifying the ungodly, welcoming the outcast, and healing all who are in need. Alleluia, amen.

@chaplaineliza

(Suggestion: visit me at my other blogs: matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers. #PursuePEACE – and  A Year of Being Kind . Thanks!

[1] http://worshipingwithchildren.blogspot.com/2013/09/year-c-proper-25-30th-sunday-of.html

[2] https://www.workingpreacher.org/dear-working-preacher/the-pharisee-the-tax-collector-and-the-reformation

[3] worshipingwothchildren, ibid.

[4] Ibid.

Times of Tumult

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“Times of Tumult”

2 Timothy 3:14-15, 4:1-5 (4:2-3) – October 16, 2022

Have you turned on the television or the radio lately? Even looking at social media, political advertisements seem to be everywhere. Are you familiar with anyone who wants to only be with people who tell them exactly what they want to hear? Campaign rhetoric is constantly beating on our ears, and will be until the election in just a little over three weeks from now. And for some people, their itching ears lead them to hang out with cookie-cutter people who agree with them and their viewpoints one hundred percent.

The Apostle Paul knew a good deal about people with itching ears, who only wanted to hear cookie-cutter opinions from cookie-cutter people who agree with them, one hundred percent of the time. I am afraid life does not work that way, and neither does the Word of God.

This whole service today lifts up the Word of God. The books of the Bible – both Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament – are so meaningful to Christianity. Especially Protestant Christianity, which we will continue to celebrate in a wonderful way in just two weeks, with the marking of Reformation Day on October 31st.

Let us listen again to the words of Paul from 2 Timothy 4:3-4. “For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4 They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.” Isn’t this very similar to what I have just said about turning aside to gather cookie-cutter people around them with cookie-cutter opinions? Saying what their itching ears want to hear?

On a pastors’ message board which I look at from time to time, Pastor Sybil from Kansas posted recently, referring to this very Scripture reading. “My dogs frequently scratch their ears, and our vet recently told us that ear infections can be common in dogs, especially if they swim in ponds (like ours do). One sign of the infection is constant itching. Our ears have been assaulted for months by campaign rhetoric (in the USA), and we have trouble discerning what is truth in what we hear.” [1]

We not only need to watch what we hear and what we listen to. But because Paul raises up the Bible as such a wonderful resource for us, we need to be careful of what we read, too!  These verses from 2 Timothy as well as our verses from the great Psalm 119 give us a lot of insight into God’s Word and how much good it can do for us. God’s Word can aid us to grow in Godly wisdom and understanding, too.   

Timothy was trained in understanding the Scriptures from a very early age, from his mother and grandmother’s careful teaching. So, Timothy had great training in and respect for the Word of God. Yet, Paul directs Timothy to continue to study the Scriptures, which make us wise for salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.

But, this does not only go for pastors and ministers. Yes, it’s true that pastors have a special responsibility to care for their churches, their flocks. But Paul’s words go much further than that. When you and I read the Bible, we all have the responsibility for passing on the truths we absorb. We all need to share the wisdom and experience we receive from Scripture. We can continue to learn ourselves, to better understand the teachings, doctrines and texts of our faith.

I suspect we all remember receiving letters. Maybe not much anymore, but I have several handwritten letters I received many years ago from two older friends. I still keep them, and take them out and read them from time to time. Both older friends have died, and I can’t just lift the phone and call them to continue the friendship. And, we did not agree all the time. We were not cookie-cutter friends, agreeing one hundred percent of the time. But, I still have those several letters. I can still read them and reminisce about the things we said and did together.

Isn’t the Word of God so similar to those letters of mine? We can pull out our Bible and read those letters to friends from the New Testament where there were disagreements, or the other parts of the Gospels or Hebrew Scriptures. Paul tells us to “embrace the totality of the scriptures, even the parts you wrestle with, the parts that confuse you. Don’t just hold on to that which agrees with your current preference and inclination. Keep reading, be challenged, be stretched, be troubled by this word. And keep asking this question: how does this text help me know Jesus better? How is the Word made flesh revealed in this written word?” [2]

Just like my dear relationships I had with my two older friends, we can think about our relationship with our Lord Jesus. As you and I read these sections of the Bible, do the words of Scripture help me – help you – to draw closer to Jesus? Are we in a closer relationship with God because of the amount of time we spend with God?

“All of us are charged with sharing our most precious relationship [with Jesus]. All of us are called to reveal that which defines us, the one who shapes us. All of us are called to tell our story in ways that issue invitations and gather up those who have been left out. And the mentor [Paul] tells us that it isn’t always going to work. There aren’t always going to be responses that let us know we’re on the right track.” [3]

The more you know this Jesus, the more you can preach this gospel, the more you can tell others this good news about our BFF, our best friend forever. Jesus. Isn’t this the best news of all?

[1][1] https://desperatepreacher.com//texts/2tim3_14/2tim3_14.htm

[2] https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/worship-planning/not-ashamed/nineteenth-sunday-after-pentecost-year-c-lectionary-planning-notes/nineteenth-sunday-after-pentecost-year-c-preaching-notes

[3] Ibid.

@chaplaineliza

(Suggestion: visit me at my other blogs: matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers. #PursuePEACE – and  A Year of Being Kind . Thanks!

Turn Back in Thanksgiving

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“Turn Back in Thanksgiving”

The Healing of the Ten Lepers – Luke 17:11-19

Luke 17:11-19 (17:15) – October 9, 2022

People in need of healing are often seen in the Gospels. Can you imagine a sudden, spontaneous healing happening right in front of you? How about ten people being healed, all at once? That is exactly what happens here, in today’s Scripture reading from Dr. Luke.

The Rabbi Jesus is on His way towards Jerusalem, traveling with His disciples along the way. He comes upon not only one or two people in need of healing, but instead ten people. What would you do when faced with a group of people your society says are “untouchables?” Who cannot even come close, or come into the town, near other “healthy” people? Who have strained relationships, even no relationships with larger society?

Since Luke was a doctor, he must have had some experience with people with various types of skin conditions. What we now know today as simple eczema, or hives, or allergy-related skin issues must have been sources of great dismay. Much less actual leprosy, known as Hansen’s disease, where extremities get diseased as a part of this disfiguring wasting illness. Imagine your fingers or toes or ears just getting diseased and falling off. Horrible.

Let’s look at the verses from Leviticus 13, giving instructions to the people of Israel. “The person with such an infectious disease must wear torn clothes, let his hair be unkempt, cover the lower part of his face and cry out, ‘Unclean! Unclean!’ As long as he has the infection he remains unclean. He must live alone; he must live outside the camp” This is what all people with serious skin conditions were required to do. Imagine yourself, a relative, or a good friend forced to put their hands out in a stay-away gesture. A very sad state of affairs, indeed!

We start to understand how very much alone these lepers are. Not being able to come near their families or friends? “It wasn’t uncommon for lepers to group together. They can’t have much social contact with the “clean” members of society, so they form their own society of the “unclean,” the “untouchables.” Being just outside a village would be common, since they probably obtain food from family members or those in the village who have pity on them. Since they have no land to till, no livestock to look after, they are dependent upon others.” [1]

These ten lepers asked Jesus “Have mercy upon us!” Notice, not the Greek verb for “heal us!” but instead the verb eleeo,“have mercy!” This Greek word means “to be greatly concerned about someone in need, have compassion/mercy/pity for someone.”

What was it Jesus said to the group of lepers? Not, “Go, be healed!” but instead, “‘Go, show yourselves to the priests.’ And as they went, they were cleansed.” (17:14)

As interested observers, we see that much that happens in this brief interaction is fairly typical, looking at all the healing miracles of Jesus from the Gospels. “Neither the pattern of healing — a plea followed by an eminently observable command [from Jesus] — nor the response of worship from the one who returns — to praise, prostrate, and thank — is unique. Both are reliable elements in healing stories. God acts in and through the ordinary.” [2]

I used to attend church with a missionary who now is retired. I haven’t been in touch with Kathleen for a number of years, but she was in Africa for quite a while doing work for a Christian organization. As she did this relationship-building work with mostly moms and their children, and sometimes the elderly, Kathleen observed miraculous healings going on. These healings were sudden, and happened either with the help of fellow missionaries or pastors. Overwhelmingly, the healings took place in very ordinary, everyday circumstances. In people’s homes, in the marketplace, on the side of the road. God acted in and through ordinary things, and places, and actions. God miraculously built bridges, to draw many to God in relationship, in radical welcome.

It started out as an ordinary day. The ten lepers all were cleansed and healed as they went to show themselves to the priests. However, only one leper out of ten came back to say “thank You” to Jesus. What a bridge to build a relationship!

“By the end of the story, all ten are made well. But one has something more. He has seen Jesus, recognized his blessing and rejoiced in it, and changed his course of action and behavior. And because he sees what has happened, the leper is not just healed, but is made whole, restored, drawn back into relationship with God and humanity. In all these ways he has been, if we must choose a single word, saved.” [3]

Can you see God building relationship in your ordinary life? Helping you along your ordinary comings and goings? That is what God does. It was an ordinary day when these ten lepers suddenly met the Rabbi Jesus – at a distance. Nothing particularly unusual until they had their interaction with Jesus. Can God act in and through our ordinary life? Most important, can we say “thank You” to God for kindness, provision, even miracles that happen in our lives?

It does not matter whether we have any illness or infirmity: physical, mental, relational, psychological. We all have the possibility to be made whole, restored, drawn back into intimate relationship with God and with humanity. Even though we are all at a distance through sin and separation from God, thank God that our Lord Jesus is so willing to draw each one of us into an embrace, a radical welcome, and a close relationship. Thank God each of us can be made whole. Alleluia, amen!

@chaplaineliza

(Suggestion: visit me at my other blogs: matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers. #PursuePEACE – and  A Year of Being Kind . Thanks!

[1] http://www.jesuswalk.com/luke/074-thankful-leper.htm

[2] https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/ordinary-28-3/commentary-on-luke-1711-19

[3] https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/ordinary-28-3/commentary-on-luke-1711-19

The Lord’s Great Love!

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“The Lord’s Great Love!”

Lamentations 3:19-23 (3:22) – October 2, 2022

I know everyone here has been sad, at one time or another. Who hasn’t? Lots of things cause sadness. Just think of things that have caused you sadness, either long time ago, or more recently. Being sad is part of having emotions, and is part of the human condition.

Looking at our Scripture reading today, we see the word “affliction.” This is a more serious state than simply being sad. Feeling sadness can affect us enough, emotionally speaking! Who hasn’t been downcast and sorrowful from time to time? But, being afflicted, with bitterness? That is a different aspect to being sorrowful, even grieving deeply.

Listen to these verses from today’s reading, again: 19 I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. 20 I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me.” Affliction is more than sadness. The prophet Jeremiah knew that very well! He was called to be a prophet to the nation of Judah and its people during one of the most challenging periods of its history! Jeremiah could not help but cry bitter tears when all of this prophecy and future trauma was revealed to him by the Lord.  

Any healthcare worker who works in a critical care area or trauma care unit is familiar with great sadness and affliction, in the lives of patients and their families. For some seriously ill patients, they have indeed been afflicted, and some for a long time. This can be devastating. As a hospice chaplain, I have the privilege of walking with some of these families during some of the darkest times of their lives – when they are drinking from the cup of affliction.

The prophet Jeremiah was quite familiar with the cup of affliction, too. He walked with, traveled with, the whole nation of Judah as they made their way through the valley of the shadow, and through some of the most difficult times of the nation.

The people of Judah had stubbornly rejected the Lord their God, and their stubbornness and selfishness would bring them suffering, destruction of their capital city of Jerusalem, and finally, an extended exile in Babylon for almost a century. Are people today any better? Do they follow the Lord, or do they run off after gods of their own devising? Their own creation? And by referring to “people today,” can’t that refer to you and me, too? Do we faithfully follow God and what God has directed? Or, do we stubbornly stamp our feet and go our own way?  

We can see how great is Jeremiah’s grief if we look closely at this book of Lamentations, and see him grieve with God. No wonder Jeremiah’s heart was breaking for his people; he knew what God was going to allow to happen to them, as a result of them forsaking their loving God!

I know there are some here who have experienced that deep affliction, much more than sadness. What have you done when you have experienced that deep trauma? That agonizing depth of despair and wordless, breathless sighing? What is your help and stay?

Carolyn Brown tells us: “Sometimes, it just feels like we’re yelling and God is not listening. That is the hardest time.  But even then, lots of people tell us that if you keep talking to God about it, eventually, sometimes after a very long time, it helps. No one can say exactly how or why. But it helps. So, we need to tell children that, when they are really, really angry and hurt and sad, they can tell God all about it.” [1] 

Jeremiah has a clear answer, too. “21 Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: 22 Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for Gods’s compassions never fail.” Yes, we can run away like disobedient preschoolers, dashing away across the playground. But, God never stops loving us. God may be grieved with us, as God was very grieved with the nation and the people of Judah, in Jeremiah’s time. But, God never stops loving us. Ever.

 “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for God’s compassions never fail.23 They are new every  morning; great is your faithfulness.” And, these are the bible verses where the lyrics for that marvelous hymn come from: “Great is Thy faithfulness, great is Thy faithfulness. Morning by morning, new mercies I see. All I have needed Thy hand hath provided; great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me.” Yes, no matter how stubborn God’s children are, no matter how much they ignore or run away from God, the Lord’s love and mercy and faithfulness are great. God’s compassions never fail. Never.

We can see how great God’s love is for humanity through the incarnation. Yes, God sent God’s son to earth to become human, live among us, and die for us. And, on this World Communion Sunday, we remember how our Lord Jesus provided communion for us, as a sacrament, a means of grace, and to remember Him. Through the centuries, all believing Christians have celebrated this meal, this Lord’s Supper, in remembrance of Him.

“Today, through World Communion, we are also celebrating that though each church does things differently, we each and all of us need God and His grace. By participating together around the world in Holy Communion, we celebrate our common need for God, and together we celebrate receiving His love and grace.

“There are many different people. There are many different churches. There are many different ways of worshipping and serving God. But in the end, we all need God and we all are God’s children. Today we celebrate that we are different, yet we are the same.” [2] Yes, we can celebrate our particular way of observing the Lord’s Supper. And, we can respect and appreciate the many different practices of taking Communion, from all across the world.

So, let us come to the Lord’s Table, along with countless people around the world today, as well as through the ages. It does not matter whether we join together in a cathedral with elaborate ritual and reverence, or in a simple house church with plain words and equal reverence.

Thank God we all have God’s love, and we all have been gifted with the Lord’s Supper. We all do this, in remembrance of our Lord Jesus Christ. Alleluia, amen!

@chaplaineliza

(Suggestion: visit me at my other blogs: matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers. #PursuePEACE – and  A Year of Being Kind . Thanks!

[1] http://worshipingwithchildren.blogspot.com/2013/09/year-c-proper-22-27th-sunday-of.html

[2] https://onthechancelsteps.wordpress.com/2013/09/22/same/

Solemn Warnings!

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“Solemn Warnings!”

Luke 16:19-31 (16:28) – September 25, 2022

Have you seen homeless people begging for money? Every so often I encounter them, along busy street corners, next to off ramps from expressways, along bustling downtown sidewalks. Often, they hold hand-printed signs with heartbreaking requests for money. So often, the passersby rush right past. I must confess that I often drive or walk right past them, too.

Today’s Gospel reading about the poor man Lazarus and the uncaring rich man is meant to make us a little uncomfortable. Even, a lot uncomfortable. Jesus spoke more about money than about faith and prayer combined! Jesus was so concerned with people’s attitude toward money, possessions and finances – and we ought to be, too!

I also want to point out the close connection today’s reading has with a reading we associate with Christmastime. Or, more correctly, Advent. This second reading from Luke chapter 1 is Mary’s song, the Magnificat. This reading also makes us feel uncomfortable.  

Both of these Scripture readings reference rich and poor, reversed. Both of these powerful readings turn things upside down. Talk about Topsy-Turvy Teachings!

Let’s look first at the rich man and Lazarus. This parable of Jesus is different, because it names one of the major characters. Plus, this parable makes the rich man anonymous. He, or, in today’s egalitarian view, she, could be anyone. “He could be the one Jesus was accusing of loving money. He could be those who have when they are surrounded by those who have not.” [1] One of the big points Jesus makes in this parable concerns the gulf that exists between the haves and the have-nots. This parable shows us how huge that gulf can be!

Let’s think more about that name: naming the character with a real name, not just “such-and-such” or even “John Doe.” Does giving him a name cause us to relate to the poor man better? Just think about the concept of knowing and using a person’s name. Names can communicate respect. Not just some faceless, nameless, anonymous one.

Doesn’t using their name also show we recognize their worth as a person? What’s more, their name shows that we give them dignity! And, doesn’t every human creation of God deserve some dignity? [2]

In my work, I often go into skilled nursing facilities. Some of the patients in the facilities are very sick, very sad, and have very little in the way of money. We can view these dear human beings as being extensions of the poor man mentioned here in this parable. Sometimes these poor and indigent patients receive very little in the way of visitation and attention, too.

I am friends with someone who is on Social Security disability. He lived in a studio apartment in Rogers Park. Yes, he had a mental illness diagnosis, and yes, it was controlled with medication, so he was able to live a somewhat normal life. But, he was on the edge of poverty, and was almost like the poor man Lazarus from today’s parable. I lost track of him around last Christmas. He just stopped answering his cell phone, and I did not know where he had gone.

Imagine my surprise when I just happened to come across my friend several months ago in one of the skilled nursing facilities I regularly visit, in Rogers Park. I was really relieved to find him, but really sad to see him there, an indigent patient with no money and no resources. And recently, he has disappeared again. I hope and pray his sister in Crystal Lake brought him to live in a skilled nursing facility out near her house. I can hope and pray for him and his situation.

Let’s switch gears, and turn to Mary’s song from Luke chapter 1, the Magnificat. Talk about reversals! Listen to several verses from this song that Mary sang after the angel came to her and told her that she would be the mother of the long-foretold Messiah: 50 God’s mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation. 51 He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. 52 He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. 53 He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty.

Mary tells us through her song that “The poor are filled with good things, and the rich are sent away hungry;[she clearly states that] brought down the powerful and lifted up the lowly. Here it is acted out in the parable Jesus told to those who were ridiculing him because they loved money more than God’s kingdom.” [3]

I suspect you all can understand that this message did not go over too well. The Rabbi Jesus was not popular at all with the rich people and religious leaders of His day And, I doubt that Mary would have been very popular either, given the reactionary nature of most of the Magnificat. Talk about topsy-turvy!

One of the main problems in both of these readings from Luke is the gulf between rich and poor. This gulf is not only an actual one, in terms of money. (which is serious enough!) “the gulf doesn’t seem fixable in that life. This means that it can only be crossed or closed in this one. Jesus is calling all his listeners to pay attention to the gulfs that exist in our world. How do we close the gulfs between the haves and the have nots? How do we close the gulfs between those who hold power and those who live on the margins? How do we close the gulfs . . . or how do we cross them?” [4]

Does this church build bridges to cross that gulf? Not only with the financially poor, but what about those with mental illnesses? (which sometimes can be in similar situations!) Does our church include both the folks with financial stability as well as those who are not, and who go to the Niles or Maine Township food pantries? Does our church include the people with mental health diagnoses, who often are also on the edge of poverty? Do we have ministries at our church for those who are struggling? These are serious questions, and ones we all need to grapple with.

Where are you in this parable today? Where am I? This is a serious question, and one that I am seriously considering.

Thank God our Lord Jesus is willing to help us! Willing to give us a hand when we ask, willing to assist when we start new ministries. God bless all those we encounter in our daily journeys, wherever they may be on the financial spectrum or the mental health spectrum. God be with us, every one!

@chaplaineliza

(Suggestion: visit me at my other blogs: matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers. #PursuePEACE – and  A Year of Being Kind . Thanks!

(Thanks to umcdiscipleship.org for their excellent notes and commentary on this week’s Gospel reading. Another reading in the Topsy-Turvy Teachings of Jesus!)

[1] https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/worship-planning/having-words-with-jesus/sixteenth-sunday-after-pentecost-year-c-lectionary-planning-notes/sixteenth-sunday-after-pentecost-year-c-preaching-notes

[2] https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/worship-planning/having-words-with-jesus/sixteenth-sunday-after-pentecost-year-c-lectionary-planning-notes/sixteenth-sunday-after-pentecost-year-c-youth-lessons

[3] https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/worship-planning/having-words-with-jesus/sixteenth-sunday-after-pentecost-year-c-lectionary-planning-notes

[4] https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/worship-planning/having-words-with-jesus/sixteenth-sunday-after-pentecost-year-c-lectionary-planning-notes/sixteenth-sunday-after-pentecost-year-c-preaching-notes

Serving Two Masters

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“Serving Two Masters”

Luke 16:1-13 (16:13) – September 18, 2022

Lots of people in this modern day know the rules of money in this world today. Money tells us to get all we can, no matter who gets hurt. Money tells us to measure people’s value by how much money they have or how much they make. Money always wants “more, more, more!” And of course, “those with all the money make the rules.”

Isn’t that the way things so often work, in our world today? How about in your neighborhood? How about in your group of acquaintances? What about in your workplace or with the politicians in your town? Aren’t the rules of money the most important thing in the world, for so many people?  

How different are the practices of the Kingdom of God! This is another in the series of sermons we have about the Topsy Turvy Teachings of Jesus! Here again, the Rabbi Jesus tells a parable that absolutely turns the worldly teachings about money upside down. And of course, the ideas of how justice works in God’s Kingdom are very different from the way things work in this fallen world. Talk about Topsy Turvy Teachings of Jesus!

When Jesus talks about money, people often feel weird. I mean, everyone has a close relationship with money, don’t we? At some time or other, who hasn’t worried about how much money we have, or where the money is coming from, where money is going, or how much money we will need for the future? Seriously, all those questions have crossed my mind, and I am sure they have crossed the minds of many people listening to these words!

            I reflected about the parables of Jesus where He refers to money. Overwhelmingly, it is the attitude people have towards money that concerns Jesus! This reminds me of a children’s Christian video series called “Veggie Tales,” with anthropomorphized vegetables and fruits. Bob the Tomato and Larry the Cucumber were two of the stars of this series. One particular video showed Madame Blueberry who loved buying things. Sure, she bought lots of lovely things, and lots of clothes, and lots of furniture; everything of every kind that made a home an attractive place to be. But, her crammed-full home had a whole lot of stuff in it.

            And then, one day, a brand-new super store opened just blocks from her house. The super store was called “Stuff-Mart.” Madame Blueberry couldn’t wait to go shopping, yet again! I suspect we all can guess what happened. Madame Blueberry bought so much more stuff at “Stuff-Mart” that her cartoon house finally blew up because she brought so many more bags and more boxes and more furniture into it.

            What kind of relationship do you and I have with more money? What kind of relationship do you and I have with more stuff? You know, the stuff money can buy, whether it is smart phones, or the latest style of shoes or clothing, or the fancy cars or up-to-the-minute laptops or video screens. Or swank houses, or fancy vacations, or the prettiest, shiniest jewelry.

            It’s not that any of this stuff is bad, in and of itself. Some of it is pretty, and functional, and sometimes really cool. But, as Bible commentator Carolyn Brown says, “Jesus tells us is that how we use our stuff is important. We can be selfish with our stuff, [and with our money] not sharing with others. We can spend all our time thinking about and messing with our stuff [and with our money], never taking time to see what people around us may want and need from us. We can forget that who we are is more important than what we wear and what we have.” [1]

            I realize that in this society we live in today, we need at least some money to survive. Money is the means by which we purchase food, clothing, housing, and transportation. We cannot exist – at least here, in the suburbs of Chicago – without some way of getting money.

            Two thousand years ago, in Palestine, society was not too much different. Money can do a lot of good, and money can do a lot of harm. Our Lord Jesus spends a large percentage of His time in the Gospels talking about money, preaching parables about money, and discussing how His followers are to relate to money, finances and possessions.   

            Jesus closes today’s parable with some sobering words: “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”

“Money is something we think we need, and most of our lives revolve around money. We have built systems where we rely on money (and our ability to earn it) as opposed to relying on other people and bartering for goods and services. So how can we, as Christians, have a healthy relationship with money?” [2]

Two thousand years later, this parable is still challenging us. We are still faced with important questions about the place of money – and stuff – and finances – in our lives today. Like the manager in the parable today, our relationship with wealth is complicated.

            Jesus’s parables explain how things work in the Kingdom of God. Carolyn Brown says “The child’s version of Jesus saying is “who you are and what you do are more important than what you have.” [3] That is our Lord’s way of ending this particular parable.

We want to have our cake and eat it, too. As our Prayer of Confession today reminds us, we so often want to be a friend of the world, and still be friends of God, too.

Perhaps this parable is calling us to self-examination and repentance? We can see Jesus clearly tells us: “No one can serve two masters.”

We strive to seek God’s blessed, topsy-turvy kingdom! And remember: the best relationship we can possibly have is the one with God – not with money, and not of this world. Not with stuff. Jesus wants each of us to have a closer relationship with God, our heavenly Parent! And, that will set our feet toward God’s Kingdom, for sure.

@chaplaineliza

(Suggestion: visit me at my other blogs: matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers. #PursuePEACE – and  A Year of Being Kind . Thanks!

[1] http://worshipingwithchildren.blogspot.com/2013/08/year-c-proper-20-25th-sunday-in.html

[2] https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/worship-planning/having-words-with-jesus/fifteenth-sunday-after-pentecost-year-c-lectionary-planning-notes/fifteenth-sunday-after-pentecost-year-c-youth-lessons

[3] http://worshipingwithchildren.blogspot.com/2013/08/year-c-proper-20-25th-sunday-in.html

Rejoice with Me!

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“Rejoice with Me!”

Luke 15:1-10 (15:6-7) – September 11, 2022

Lost and found—this concept is very real and meaningful to my children. I have four children, and at various times, they have had to go looking for various possessions of theirs. You know, small items, things that were very precious to them somehow got lost. And oftentimes, they were persistent in looking for those precious things.

            I can remember when my son was younger, probably in first grade. He had a favorite stocking cap he wore almost every day in the winter. He wore it to school, out to play, on the weekends, almost everywhere. And then one day it got lost. My son could not find it anywhere. He was heartbroken at the loss of this precious stocking cap—precious to my son, at least. We searched everywhere—and I mean everywhere—in the house, in the car, in his classroom, in his locker. He even looked in the lost and found at his school. Sadly, we never could find it.

            Can you relate? Have you ever lost anything that was precious to you? Maybe not valuable in a monetary sense, but precious to you, your very favorite. Losing something precious can be quite a blow.

            This is exactly what our Lord Jesus talked about in our scripture passage today. He tells the parables of the lost things. In fact, one nickname for this chapter, Luke 15, is the chapter of the lost things—the lost sheep, the lost coin, the lost son.

Our scripture reading today tells us about the lost sheep. We will leave the parable of the lost son, or the Prodigal, for another time and another sermon.

            How precious was that sheep the shepherd lost? Let’s back up, and think about the parable our Lord told. He mentioned one hundred sheep belonging to this shepherd. One hundred sheep. A good-sized flock for one shepherd. And out of those one hundred sheep, one gets lost. We aren’t told how the sheep gets lost. The sheep could have done any number of typical things sheep do—sheep cannot just take care of themselves. This particular sheep could have wandered off, or lallygagged behind, or stubbornly gone its own way. We don’t know.

            What we do know, from what Jesus said, is that the sheep is lost. Gone. Missing.

If a statistical analysis is done of this flock of one hundred sheep, what are some possible extenuating factors? Certainly, the rocky hills of much of the area and the subsistence-level terrain have a bearing on the well-being of the flock. And the difficulty of finding water can also be a factor. Statistically speaking, losing only one sheep out of one hundred is not much at all, not when the shepherd is dealing with such unfavorable conditions. From a loss prevention point of view, this percentage – one percent – of loss may very well be acceptable.

            But this is not taking into consideration the plight of that one lost sheep. This individual sheep matters. This sheep is a creation of God.  How does the lost sheep feel? Is the sheep scared? Lonely? Hungry? Injured?

This reminds me of my oldest daughter years ago, when she was just a preschooler. I was at a department store in Chicago with my two children (at that time), my older daughter just turned three, and my second daughter a baby in a stroller. I was looking at clothing on the round metal racks that are common to many department stores. And as I looked at clothing and tried to keep track of my toddler at the same time, she got lost. I could not find her, and she was much too small to see me over the clothing racks.

            It only took me about four or five minutes of searching to discover where she had gone, but that time was anxious for me. And that time was traumatic for my daughter—I suspect those four or five minutes seemed to go on forever. She was lost. She did not know where she was, or where I was. And she was all alone, far from her home and familiar things, until I found her and reassured her that everything was all right.

            Isn’t this similar to us? Isn’t this our situation, from time to time? You or I lose our way, get off track, slip and fall, or even stubbornly go our own way.

Periodically, I try to put myself into the scripture passage I’m considering. So, where am I in this scripture passage? Where are you? How do we fit in? Is this just a nice little story, or is there something more?

Theologian Howard Thurman reflects in his sermon on this passage, “Now, Jesus says that God is like the shepherd, seeking always to find those who are out of community with their fellows, and when they have found it, when they have found their community with their fellows, then all the world seems to fit back into place, and life takes on a new meaning. . . . The lost sheep. The searching shepherd. And the cry of anguish of the sheep was the voice of identification that the shepherd heard. That is how God is, if we let him.” [1]

But, how did Jesus see this parable? “Most often readers assume that they are the lost ones sought out by God and celebrate God’s persistence in finding them.  But, Jesus told these stories to the Pharisees who were unhappy that Jesus was eating with known lost sinners.” (Remember, the Pharisees and other religious leaders were all part of the ‘in-crowd,’ the people who were really trying to follow God and God’s rules.)  “Jesus’s message to them is that God is more interested in the lost than in them – and they should be too.” [2]

Jesus doesn’t just throw up His hands and forget about the lost ones. No! He goes after me, and you, searches for us, and makes sure that we are back with Him, in the place of security and protection, and says, “Rejoice with me! For I have found my sheep that was lost!”

            Isn’t that good news? And the best part is, the Lord Jesus, the good Shepherd, is our good Shepherd, too. He cares about me, and He cares about each of you, as well. To me, the news about our good Shepherd is the best news in the world.

@chaplaineliza

(Suggestion: visit me at my other blogs: matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers. #PursuePEACE – and  A Year of Being Kind . Thanks!

[1] Howard Thurman, Sermons on the Parables, ed. David B. Gowler and Kipton E. Jensen (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2018), 22–24, 25.

[2] http://worshipingwithchildren.blogspot.com/2013/08/year-c-proper-19-24th-sunday-in.html

Rejoice and Be Blessed!

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“Rejoice and Be Blessed!”

Matthew 5:1-12 (5:11-12) – September 4, 2022

We are at the last of the Beatitudes, and another challenging two verses to consider this week. When people talk about the sayings of Jesus and how “nice” or how “sweet” are the words of Jesus, I wonder, are they aware that most of the words Jesus spoke were divisive? Even arresting? Many of His words are not to provide encouragement and comfort, but instead are to be counter-cultural and challenging to the status quo!

As we come to an end of an extended Gospel reading of the words of our Lord Jesus, I am reminded again and again that Jesus was often counter-cultural and provocative. He wanted to mix it up with the comfortable, settled leaders of His day.

            Let us consider this last Topsy-Turvy Teaching: Jesus said “‘Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.’” Challenging words, indeed!

            Just think about it. Looking at His whole ministry over three years throughout Palestine in the first century, the Rabbi Jesus said and did some pretty audacious things! He upset the status quo and the Roman military leaders. Jesus very much disturbed the settled, privileged religious elite of His day. And, the common people, the voiceless and powerless and helpless of His day, flocked to hear what the Rabbi Jesus preached. They were hungry for His counter-cultural message of peace and love and caring for all people, no matter what.

            As we listen to this final Beatitude, we find it is the only Beatitude that Jesus explains in a little more detail. All of the other Beatitudes are a single sentence. Some of them have challenging words, true, but this last Beatitude is particularly difficult to swallow.

            Sure, you and I can TALK about people being persecuted for righteousness’ sake, but to actually experience being persecuted because we are doing the right – and difficult – thing? Persecuted and ridiculed and sometimes even thrown in jail for following Jesus can be an extremely difficult thing to hear. Jesus does not make it any easier by telling us that this kind of persecution was common for the prophets in the Hebrew Scriptures, too. And, we are to “Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven.“ Challenging words. indeed!

            We know that people can ordinarily be mean and nasty to one another. That is part and parcel of being human, I am sad to say. Humans make mistakes, step on other peoples’ toes, and sometimes fight and persecute other people simply because of our fallen, fallible, human nature.

            But, in following Jesus Christ, we Christians are fundamentally changed from the inside out. As the apostle Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5, we Christians are a new creation! The old has passed away, and behold! We are new from the inside out!

            We can think of a lowly caterpillar. Caterpillars are perfectly functional insects, crawling around, crawling, eating and existing in their environment. Except, have you ever seen a caterpillar spin a chrysalis around itself? After some time, the caterpillar goes through an amazing transformation, and becomes a beautiful butterfly!   

            We Christians have gone through this butterfly process! We are no longer caterpillars, like some other people surrounding us. Butterfly Christians are essentially different, with a completely different nature from the inside out! And, that is a huge reason why following Jesus is such a huge deal. We are as different from people who do not follow Christ as butterflies are different from caterpillars. Non-Christian people recognize this fundamental difference, and thereby revile, speak all kinds of evil falsely, and even persecute Christians, just as the Hebrew prophets were reviled, had all kinds of evil and insults thrown at them, and were even persecuted and jailed for standing up for God and God’s ways.

            But why, Jesus? Why do we have to go through this persecution? That’s a great question, and Jesus gives us an answer right here. He says, “Rejoice and be glad! For great is your reward in heaven!” We know that non-Christian people sometimes behave in a nasty and even devilish manner! We butterfly Christians feel our hearts breaking “at the effect of sin in others that makes them do this. So, [Christians] never rejoice in the fact of persecution.” [1]

            How often do you think of heaven and rejoice as you think of it? I am sorry to say that I do not think of heaven as often as I ought to. Yet, this is exactly what our Lord Jesus tells us to do. Because, when you and I are persecuted, we receive the proof positive that we belong to Christ, that we are going to be with Him in heaven and share in all the joy that heaven can hold!

As we come to the end of these Topsy-Turvy Teachings of Jesus, it is good to consider what Jesus taught in the Beatitudes, these few short but important verses. Let’s summarize: “We are poor in spirit and recognize our need for a savior. We mourn over our sins and meekly submit to the Lord. When we do these things, we begin to hunger and thirst for God’s righteousness. God gives us the kingdom of heaven, he comforts us and tells us we’ll inherit the earth, and he fills us with his righteousness. After all the brokenness, we begin to grow in our ability to love others. We become merciful and pure in heart and peacemakers. When we begin to do those things, we will be persecuted. And that’s okay, because we gain the kingdom of heaven!” [2]

As we “work to bring God’s kingdom on earth, you can expect there to be people who react harshly. Even though this is really hard to face and experience, Jesus tells his followers persecution is a normal part of living out God’s love. You are actually blessed as a result of people persecuting you.” [3]

If there is one thing I want you all to remember from the past weeks we have considered the Beatitudes, it’s this: God blesses us abundantly when we follow God. So, we do not need to be afraid to stand up for Jesus. I ask again, as I have in most weeks: what would Jesus do? Or, how would Jesus act? What would Jesus say? Go, do that. Speak like Jesus. Walk like Jesus. Go, do that. And be richly blessed, for yours is the kingdom of heaven.   

@chaplaineliza

(Suggestion: visit me at my other blogs: matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers. #PursuePEACE – and  A Year of Being Kind . Thanks!

(Thanks to illustratedministries.com for their excellent family Sunday school curriculum on the Beatitudes. I have been using this curriculum all summer as source material for a summer sermon series on the Topsy-Turvy Teachings of Jesus!)

[1] Lloyd-Jones, D. Martyn, Studies in the Sermon on the Mount (Wm. Eerdmans Pub. Co., Grand Rapids MI, 1971), 141.

[2] https://ministry-to-children.com/beatitudes-lesson-nine/

[3] Illustrated Ministries, Curriculum for Summer Sunday school family series, “The Beatitudes.” Summer 2022.

Blessed Persecuted Ones

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“Blessed Persecuted Ones”

Matthew 5:1-10 (5:10) – August 28, 2022

Have you ever stood up for what is right? Even when everyone else was voting against you? That’s a difficult stance to take, for sure. Many prophets in the Hebrew Scriptures stood up and told the people of Israel that they were going the wrong way, or that God was angry with them. And what did the people of Israel do, more often than not? They chased the prophets out of town, or jailed those unpopular prophets. And sometimes, they even killed the prophets of God.

I know the Rabbi Jesus was thinking about some of these same prophets described in the Hebrew Scriptures when He gave the eighth Beatitude: “10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

This is a difficult position to take. A difficult position to be in, too! Followers of Christ are persecuted because they are a certain type of person and because they behave in a certain type of manner. Isn’t that what our Lord Jesus is saying?

Our summer sermon series on the Topsy-Turvy Teachings of Jesus is almost at an end. But, that doesn’t mean that we stop listening to Jesus after next week.

Looking at His whole ministry over three years throughout Palestine in the first century, the Rabbi Jesus said and did some pretty audacious things! He upset the status quo and the settled, privileged religious elite of His day. And, the common people, the voiceless and powerless and helpless of His day, flocked to hear what the Rabbi Jesus preached. They were hungry for His message of peace and love and caring for all people, no matter what.

In today’s world, not much has changed. Powerful, power-hungry people are still just that – powerful, privileged, usually uncaring about the plight of those less fortunate than themselves. We see it every day in the news, splashed across social media. Who are the downtrodden of today? Those without jobs, without opportunities, without money, without a voice to speak out about injustice and inequality. And, overwhelmingly, these are people below the poverty line, disabled people, persons of color, LGBTQ people, persons who are marginalized in any number of ways. These are often the people who now flock to hear what the Rabbi Jesus (now our Lord Jesus Christ, after the resurrection and ascension) preached to one and all.  

But sometimes, the powerful people of today’s world are not only powerful. They are also satisfied with how things are. After all, they have got theirs! Many people today do not want the world turned topsy-turvy. They want the status quo to continue, very much. Sometimes they will do anything in their power to cause everything to remain exactly the same.

Things were exactly the same in Jesus’ day. The Roman rulers wanted to kill Jesus because they did not want change in their government or their power. They liked making all the decisions, getting richer and more powerful, and did not care what happened to everyone else. [1]

In this eighth Beatitude, Jesus gives His followers fair warning. “Jesus foreshadowed the problems his followers would face if they lived out this upside-down kingdom where the powerless are blessed. Sometimes when we make courageous choices, we will endure criticism, scrutiny, mockery, and sometimes even retaliation from people who do not desire change.” [2]

            Let’s look at this topsy-turvy topic another way. One of the most impactful ways that Jesus taught was through parables. Out of 39 parables in the Gospels, 11 of those parables are about money. In fact, Jesus talked about money in the Gospels more than He discussed faith and prayer combined! Our Lord Jesus really considered money and people’s relationship to money to be of high importance.

            So, why am I pointing out this focus on money? Because talking about money is certainly one way to disturb many, many people today! And I am sure this was true in Jesus’ day, as well. I am sure many people here can remember the FBI or CIA having files or dossiers on “radicals” or “rabble-rousers” who were publicly known for raising a ruckus, for disturbing the peace with their wacky, or way-out speech. Some people even are reminded of the Red Scare of the 1950’s, with the McCarthy hearings in Congress, blacklisting so many people in this country.

            Is the fear and disturbance of the powerful ones today much different from the fear and disturbance of the powerful people of Jesus’ day? I think not. And, what is one way to disturb people today? Start talking about money. How it’s used, how it’s saved, and how it’s spent.  That is sure to get many, many people riled up! Just like Jesus did.

            Talking of money is just one striking example of how Jesus upset the status quo in the first century. But, if we consider the wider picture today, around the world, countless followers of Christ are being actively and bitterly persecuted. It’s happening right now, in dozens of countries, usually sanctioned by their governments. “But will we stand with and pray for those who do [face life-threatening persecution]? Will we choose to stand firm in our faith when we face any form of persecution in our own lives?” [3]

            It does not matter whether we are talking about the first century or the twenty-first. When people challenge powerful people and worldly systems, they face a fight. “Sometimes Jesus’ followers were put in jail, made to leave their country, or shamed by their communities. This is persecution. It’s when people are treated badly and unfairly, especially because of their race, identity, or beliefs.” [4]

            Jesus is very blunt. These are stringent words. He says His followers will face persecution for righteousness’ sake. And, we can thank God for this persecution. This is proof positive that we are indeed Christians, followers of God. Jesus Himself tells us to rejoice! “Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven.” We are indeed citizens of heaven. We are looking forward to our heavenly home!

I ask again, as I have in weeks past: what would Jesus do? How would Jesus bring about righteousness in a tangible way? Go. Do that. And, be blessed, for yours is indeed the kingdom of heaven.

@chaplaineliza

(Suggestion: visit me at my other blogs: matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers. #PursuePEACE – and  A Year of Being Kind . Thanks!

(Thanks to illustratedministries.com for their excellent family Sunday school curriculum on the Beatitudes. I will be using this curriculum all summer as source material for a summer sermon series on the Topsy-Turvy Teachings of Jesus!)

[1] Illustrated Ministries, Curriculum for Summer Sunday school family series, “The Beatitudes.” Summer 2022.

[2] Ibid.

[3] https://ministry-to-children.com/beatitudes-lesson-nine/

[4] Illustrated Ministries, Curriculum for Summer Sunday school family series, “The Beatitudes.” Summer 2022.

Blessed Peacemakers

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“Blessed Peacemakers”

Matthew 5:1-9 (5:9) – August 21, 2022

We are drawing near to the end of summer. For some of us, summer is already over! I remind all of us that we just blessed the backpacks for the children and young people going back to school. And, I can remember my children going back to school – they missed those days of summer vacation, even though there was excitement in being in a new grade, with new classes, new teachers, and new books. We are drawing near to the end of our summer sermon series, too. Only two more Beatitudes, and our weekly examination of these Topsy-Turvy Teachings of Jesus will come to an end, as well.  

With our focus on the children and young people today, with our blessing of backpacks, I am reminded of one of my favorite bible commentators. Carolyn Brown, retired Children’s Ministry Director from the Presbyterian Church (USA), has tremendous insights in her weekly lectionary series Worshiping with Children. Listen to her version of the Beatitudes: first what the world considers great and powerful, and then what Jesus says is important to God.

“In today’s world…

It’s good for the rich, they can buy whatever they want.

It’s good for the strong, they can take whatever they want.  They will also make the team.

It’s good for the winners, they get all the prizes.

It’s good for the smart.  They get straight A’s, get to go to college, and get good jobs.

It’s good for the beautiful.  They will get their pictures in magazines and get to be in movies.

It’s good for the grownups.  They get to make all the plans.

Jesus says that in his kingdom…

It’s good for those who know they do not know everything.  They belong in God’s world.

It’s good for those who are terribly sad.  They will be comforted.

It’s good for those who obey.  They will be in charge.

It’s good for those who don’t get justice now.  They WILL get it.

It’s good for those who forgive and care about others.  God forgives and cares about them.

It’s good for those who are pure in heart.  They will see God. 

It’s good for the peacemakers.  They will be praised as God’s own children.

It’s good for those who are hurt because they stand up for God’s ways. They will be called heroes and heroines. [1]

What kind of topsy-turvy teachings are these? We are looking at Jesus’s blessing for the peacemakers this week. Certainly, most of the world today does not promote peace. Looking at the military and armed forces all over the world, I don’t think most of the national governments worldwide promote peace, either. Oh, they might SAY they are for peace, but what would happen to the big corporations and all the bombs and tanks and fighter jets and military equipment that keeps getting produced and sold, all over the world?

If we go back to Matthew chapter 5 and double check today’s verse, we find “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the children of God.” How marvelous is that?  

Many people use the word peace to mean stopping conflict, or being free from disruption. Those things are very desirable! But, the Hebrew word for peace is shalom: much more than calm, quiet, or a lack of conflict. “True peace is what Jesus and his followers called “shalom,” which means wholeness and wellness. All of your needs—physical, emotional, spiritual, etc.—are met and lovingly cared for. Have you ever felt that kind of peace?” [2]

Sadly, large, powerful countries have taken over smaller, weaker provinces and states, for thousands of years. We can see it right now with Russia trying very hard to take over the Ukraine. (And, the Ukrainian people are putting up one huge fight!) Many countries are holding their collective breath, watching the worldwide wars, conflicts, and rumors of wars.

Look at peacemaking from another direction. When you and I are willing to make peace and to be peaceful, that way of thinking is alien to the world. Worldly people think, “How will that affect me? I want mine! To heck with anybody else!” This sounds exactly like the worldly system, not God’s way! Exactly what Carolyn Brown said: “In today’s [crooked, self-centered] world, it’s good for the strong; they can do whatever they want.” This selfish, self-centered way of thinking and acting is so negative. That is exactly the starting point of all quarrelling, fighting, arguing, and when it gets big enough, going to war. Not God’s way, at all!

Sometimes, governments say they will bring peace to a neighboring province or country, but they end up as conquerors, imposing harsh laws that hurt and oppress. But, how can you and I bring about peace, when we face such overwhelming forces? We can create peace with one kind and loving act at a time. We need to use our voices “and what power we have to bring justice, not just say we want peace. People have been chanting “No Justice, No Peace” during protests since at least the 1970s. It means there won’t be wholeness or peace until there is justice among us.” [3]

God is not pleased with warfare, that is for sure! Instead, God wishes peace! Shalom! Peace is not only the stopping of warfare and conflict, but wholeness and wellness in all ways. Shalom is to be among all people: “young and old, disabled and non-disabled, among all genders, between nations, and among all expressions of faith. Remember, God’s peace is not fake peace.” [4] This peace, this shalom is a deep and abiding wholeness that can sometimes be surprising, even disruptive. This is why Jesus blessed the peacemakers. This is why Jesus blesses each of us.

I ask again: what would Jesus do? Go. Do that. Go and be a peacemaker, like Jesus.

@chaplaineliza

(Suggestion: visit me at my other blogs: matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers. #PursuePEACE – and  A Year of Being Kind . Thanks!

(Thanks to illustratedministries.com for their excellent family Sunday school curriculum on the Beatitudes. I will be using this curriculum all summer as source material for a summer sermon series on the Topsy-Turvy Teachings of Jesus!)

[1] http://worshipingwithchildren.blogspot.com/2014/01/year-fourth-sunday-after-epiphany.html

[2] Illustrated Ministries, Curriculum for Summer Sunday school family series, “The Beatitudes.” Summer 2022.

[3] Ibid.

[4] Ibid.

“Heart-Pure Blessings”

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“Heart-Pure Blessings”

Matthew 5:1-8 (5:8) – August 14, 2022

Our modern society today is noisy, that’s for sure! So many noisy people, so many competing advertisements, all kinds of sound and visual media vying for our attention. How can we manage if we want to step away from all of this clutter and clatter and cacophony filling our ears? And what about the overwhelming smorgasbord of visual media overloading our eyes?

I want to do as Jesus suggests in this Beatitude and strive to be pure of heart. You may want to do this, too! I know that seeing God is something that many Christians really desire. But, how can we be pure of heart when we have all of these competing audio and visual noises, sounds and media constantly in our faces?

When Jesus mentions those who are pure in heart, I think of those who have integrity. Can you think of someone you know who is truly a person of integrity? How do they live their lives? Do they watch eight, ten, twelve hours of television or other kinds of media each day? Do they have their ears and eyes filled with all kinds of extraneous noise and clutter and cacophony? Do they bicker and argue with family and friends, ignoring what God finds important?

Jesus spent time regularly being quiet, peaceful, allowing Himself to listen to God as well as to His inner thoughts and feelings. Do you take the time to listen to your own heart, as well as listen to others expressing their deep thoughts and feelings?   

If we look at Jesus and His message throughout the Gospels, it’s all about the heart, and the inner person. As preacher and theologian D. Martin Lloyd-Jones, says, the observant Jews of Jesus’s day were so concerned about external behavior. It was the Rabbi Jesus’s “great charge against them always that they were interested in the outside of the pots and platters and ignored the inside. Looked at externally, they were without spot…they were most concerned about the external injunctions of religion; but they forgot the weightier matters of the law.” [1]

Instead of the outside of a person, again and again throughout the Gospels our Lord Jesus reminds His disciples (and us!) that all along He is talking about the heart. Those weighty matters of God’s Law include love to God and the love of one’s neighbor. Again and again, the commands of Jesus to love God and to love neighbor trump any other command.

I am reminded about the prophet Samuel in the Hebrew Scriptures. When God sent the prophet Samuel to Jesse and his sons, Samuel looked at the outward appearance of Jesse’s sons. “Surely the Lord wants to choose one of these fine, upstanding young men!”

How do people today judge leaders, or kings, politicians, or CEOs? Most people “tend to judge others on how they look, what they do, how they act, and what they say.” In other words, all of the external stuff, all the stuff on the outside. But, what about the Lord? “God goes much deeper in relationship than that; God goes right into our hearts. God knows the secrets that we don’t tell anyone, and knows our greatest fears and what embarrasses us the most…God knows us better than we know ourselves.” [2]

Think about it. Seven of Jesse’s sons were considered by the prophet Samuel, and none of them were chosen by God. I can’t help but remember 1 Samuel 16:7 – “Do not look on his appearance or the height of his stature. For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.” God encouraged Samuel to find David, Jesse’s youngest son, the one with the least amount of honor and standing in his family, who was indeed anointed king of Israel.

God wanted to find someone after God’s own heart!

“We have to remind ourselves again that the Christian faith is ultimately not only a matter of doctrine or understanding or of intellect, it is a condition of the heart.” [3] It does not matter whether we are considering the Hebrew Scriptures or the New Testament. Here in this Beatitude is the concentration on the heart. Your heart, and mine, too!

 If we take the time to read through these Topsy-Turvy Teachings from Matthew 5, and read them slowly, savoring each one, this collection of traits of followers of God honestly makes me take a step back. I am serious. This list is daunting. And, this week, the idea that if someone is pure in heart then they will see God? That makes me hold my breath and hesitate again.

I guess I am still tentative, agreeing with many people in the Hebrew Scriptures who are hesitant at actually seeing God. If God is making Godself available so that the run of the mill pew-sitting Christian can have a deep friendship and an intimate relationship with God, that is something very serious indeed! Am I really ready to see God? Are you?

“Jesus reminded us that when our actions align with our thoughts and feelings, we can see God around us and in our world. But it is difficult to see God around us if we do not quiet ourselves and listen to our hearts.” [4]

The thoughts and ideas we carry in our hearts have a big impact on the actions we take and the choices we make. Our insides – our hearts – guide and direct the words we speak and the actions we take. This is why the heart – the inside of us – is so important to Jesus.

One big way to be pure in heart is to show love for God, your neighbor, and yourself in how you act, speak, and think. God wants to find someone after God’s own heart!

What a way to be a blessing to others! Remember, this is how Jesus said the “pure in heart” will be blessed. Amen, alleluia!

@chaplaineliza

(Suggestion: visit me at my other blogs: matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers. #PursuePEACE – and  A Year of Being Kind . Thanks!

(Thanks to illustratedministries.com for their excellent family Sunday school curriculum on the Beatitudes. I will be using this curriculum all summer as source material for a summer sermon series on the Topsy-Turvy Teachings of Jesus!)

[1] Lloyd-Jones, D. Martyn, Studies in the Sermon on the Mount (Wm. Eerdmans Pub. Co., Grand Rapids MI, 1971), 108.

[2] https://ministry-to-children.com/beatitudes-lesson-7/

[3] https://ministry-to-children.com/beatitudes-lesson-7/

[4] Illustrated Ministries, Curriculum for Summer Sunday school family series, “The Beatitudes.” Summer 2022.

Blessed Merciful People

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“Blessed Merciful People”

Matthew 5:1-8 (5:7) – August 7, 2022

Have you ever snapped at a family member or a friend? Flown off the handle? Gotten really upset, and even yelled? That’s one thing about family and friends who are close to us – emotions can run deep, and arguments can flare up. Things can get tense, too. When these kinds of emotions and feelings happen to you, how do you handle these feelings? What about thinking of Jesus’ words “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall be shown mercy.” 

            Showing mercy must have been important to our Lord Jesus. It was so important that Jesus even included it in His Topsy-Turvy Teachings! Here in Matthew 5 in the Beatitudes, Jesus mentioned some extremely significant ways of thinking, acting and general behavior.

            In previous Beatitudes, Jesus’s thinking has a definite progression, a logical sequence. This idea of mercy follows the others, and especially the one in the previous verse: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” Jesus follows this with “Blessed are the merciful.” What a description of the follower of God! But – what if we do not understand what Jesus means by mercy? What is mercy, anyhow?

            One definition: “Mercy is feeling what someone else feels, acting on their behalf, and then dedicating yourself to continue to work for their well-being. Sometimes it is easier to show mercy to a stranger than to show mercy to a family member.” [1]

Let’s look at these Topsy-Turvy Teachings another way. As you and I start to hunger for God, Jesus gives blessings for those who hunger (and thirst) for a righteous life. What does God freely give when people desire to be right with God? You’ve got it. God’s mercy. “We can’t earn God’s mercy, though. It isn’t something we can buy by being good or going to church or saying the right things. Mercy is a gift from God.” [2]

            So often with family or friends, those old, ingrained ways of thinking and acting can kick in automatically. Do you recognize yourself when you snap and snarl at family, or fly off the handle with friends, and not even know where those deep emotions and reactions came from?

Those ingrained habits and reactions go back decades sometimes, often back to childhood. They might have helped you deal with situations and people once, in the past. But what about now? Would Jesus fly off the handle? What if you and I were to react in a different kind of a way? What if instead of getting mad or irritated, we were to speak with mercy and grace? How would our tense or awkward situations be transformed?

            But, wait a minute, Lord! I don’t want to be a doormat! I don’t want people to walk all over me!  I don’t want to get beaten up by all the bullies who come by and cross my path! I can just see a group of kids on a school playground, with several bullies picking on one particular kid. Teasing him or her mercilessly.

            And, what about when we get to be adults? Aren’t there bullies in many workplaces? At some senior centers? People can be hateful and bitter and angry. How are we to act towards them? Are we supposed to be mean and hateful, right back? Again, what would Jesus do?

            Jesus explained mercy another way, in the Gospel of Luke, chapter 10. “Let’s talk about a story most of you are familiar with: The Good Samaritan. Instead of just reading through it, let’s see if we can remember the story on our own. Someone who knew the law of God really well once asked Jesus what he had to do to inherit eternal life. Jesus asked him what the law had to say. The lawyer correctly answered with the greatest commandment. “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.” The lawyer wanted to make excuses for not following this commandment perfectly, so he asked Jesus who his neighbor was. Jesus answered with the story of the Good Samaritan.

“How does it start? With a guy walking along the road getting robbed and beaten half to death. Who walked by first? A priest, who was like the pastor of the time. He ignored the poor guy. Who walked by next? A Levite, who was like a worship leader of the time. He totally ignored the injured man too. Who came by next? A Samaritan. Samaritans were the worst enemies to the Jews back then. [Jews and Samaritans] got along about as well as cats and water, fire and gasoline, peanut butter and pickles. A Samaritan was the last person you would expect to help a Jew. But this guy went above and beyond to do everything he could to help take care of the hurt Jew. After telling this story, Jesus asked the lawyer who he thought was neighbor to the man who was robbed. The law expert said, “The one who had mercy on him.” [3]

How do you respond when you are in arguments or tense situations? Pay close attention to how you respond this coming week. If you feel yourself starting to snarl, or beginning to argue, or have harsh words with a family member or friend, stop yourself right there.

            God can help us, you realize. If someone is particularly difficult to show mercy to, ask God. And, our God will assist us! Those situations can be transformed! Take a moment (or two, or three!), breathe, remember Jesus’s words about mercy, and start over again.

            “And when we try to feel how others might be feeling and show mercy by acting on their behalf and dedicating ourselves to their well-being, we are following God’s example. This is why Jesus said those who are merciful are blessed.” [4] A Beatitude, indeed!

@chaplaineliza

(Suggestion: visit me at my other blogs: matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers. #PursuePEACE – and  A Year of Being Kind . Thanks!

(Thanks to illustratedministries.com for their excellent Summer 2022 family Sunday school curriculum on the Beatitudes. I will be using this curriculum all summer as source material for a summer sermon series on the Topsy-Turvy Teachings of Jesus!)

[1] Illustrated Ministries, Curriculum for Summer Sunday school family series, “The Beatitudes.” Summer 2022.

[2] https://ministry-to-children.com/beatitudes-lesson-six/

[3] https://ministry-to-children.com/beatitudes-lesson-six/

[4] Illustrated Ministries, Curriculum for Summer Sunday school family series, “The Beatitudes.” Summer 2022.

Hungry and Thirsty Blessings

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“Hungry and Thirsty Blessings”

Matthew 5:1-7 (5:6) – July 31, 2022

Have you ever been really hungry? I mean, have you ever gone without food for more than a day? Longer than that? Hunger can be an ache inside, an actual pain inside your abdomen. Being physically hungry and thirsty can be dangerous for people’s health. Yet, food is not all that people hunger for.

Our Lord Jesus wanted to specifically mention those who were hungry and thirsty. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” Yes, we can think of people who are actually, physically hungry and thirsty. That is a real need, and it’s a need for individuals and families all over the world.

Let us take a step back, and consider actual, physical hunger. What is that like? I have had the blessing of steady employment at a decent rate of income for several decades now. I do not recently have the first-hand experience of going to bed hungry, with nothing to eat in my kitchen. Not a can of vegetables in the cupboard, not a package of food in the pantry.  

My friend Rev. Dr. Marilyn Pagán-Banks is the director of A Just Harvest, located right next to the Howard Street El station, in that congested and now gentrifying area on the far north side of Chicago. A Just Harvest is a nonprofit organization. Their summary statement is “Breaking bread, restoring community – every day. One meal at a time. One job at a time. One change towards wellness, peace, and justice at a time.”

After the Covid shut-down in March 2020, St. Luke’s Church was still receiving baked goods on Saturdays from Meier’s Bakery. Except, the men’s residence at the McGaw YMCA in Evanston – where I donated the baked goods – shut down, too. That meant NO more deliveries or donations, for many months. I had to quickly pivot, and so I gave a quick call to my friend’s organization, A Just Harvest. Part of their outreach is a food pantry; an industrial-service kitchen that provides a complete hot meal for free, between noon and 2 pm, 365 days a year. That is every day, even on bank holidays and major holidays, when other service centers are closed.

The Community Kitchen was overjoyed to hear about all the baked goods! So, for each weekend for over a year, I would take the baked goods from Meier’s on Waukegan to the Community Kitchen after church on Sundays. Until, Meier’s sadly closed for good in April 2021.

It is a marvelous thing to share our resources with others who do not have enough. That is part of what our Lord Jesus was getting at!

Yet, Jesus also mentioned “hunger and thirst for righteousness.” That adds a whole deeper layer to being hungry and thirsty. (as if regular “hunger and thirst” were not significant enough!) Yes, many people who followed Jesus were very hungry. They needed a secure food source. But, many people in Jesus’ day were also hungry for justice.

“One understanding of “righteousness” is justice. God’s justice means we make sure everyone has what they need. When we partner with God to bring justice to the earth, we are working toward a world where living things live in right and healthy relationships.” [1]

I know that sometimes, people get really caught up in their own lives, their family challenges, their health problems, and yes, financial difficulties. It’s really hard to focus on other people and their deep needs when you or I have some very deep needs of our own.

The same was very true in Jesus’s day, as well as all the times in between the first century and the 21st. We have talked about this before, how a huge crowd gathered around the Rabbi Jesus, and He saw their hurts and pains and cared for them in all kinds of ways. Yes, Jesus physically healed many! And yes, Jesus also saw each and every individual as worthwhile, as blessed, and as created by God.  That is a big reason why He preached about God’s kingdom, where there is abundance for all. More than enough honor, food, money, love, power and resources for everyone to thrive.

“A lot of things were not right for the people listening to Jesus. In that time, some people had a lot of money and power. They used what they had to dominate other people. Some people were poor and felt powerless. Jesus speaks here to the people who feel that ache for a better world—God’s kind of world. Jesus knows their hearts are hungering more and more for relationships and systems to be fair and right. Just like we need food to live, we need love, hope, and healthy connections with others. Jesus understands and cares about all these needs.” [2]

Bringing in God’s kingdom is not just a task for our Lord Jesus. No! He has given that task to each of us, to each of His followers. That is what the Beatitudes are all about. It’s a commission, a charge for all of us, to go out into our own communities and put these tasks to work. Each idea from our Lord Jesus, each and every day.

We can even call the Beatitudes directives from God. Yes, each Beatitude holds a personal blessing, and each Beatitude holds a direct charge or task for each of us to complete. When we look at this list of blessings from God in this way, it can be incredibly daunting! Yet, with God’s help, all things are possible.

We all have the opportunity to fight for justice in many different ways. Are there particular issues that you and your family engage in? Do you hunger for environmental righteousness? Racial and gender equality righteousness? Food security righteousness? Senior care righteousness? Employment righteousness?

If every person in this world knew what it was to truly “hunger and thirst for righteousness,” there would be no danger of fighting or war, no need to fear bombs or muggings or name-calling or any other destructive behavior. Herein lies the way to true peace and justice on a horizontal plane, with our fellow humans, and true fellowship with God, on a vertical plane.  

I ask again: what would Jesus do? How would Jesus bring about justice in a tangible way? Go. Do that. And, be blessed, for yours is indeed the kingdom of heaven.

@chaplaineliza

(Suggestion: visit me at my other blogs: matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers. #PursuePEACE – and  A Year of Being Kind . Thanks!

(Thanks to illustratedministries.com for their excellent Summer 2022 family Sunday school curriculum on the Beatitudes. I will be using this curriculum all summer as source material for a summer sermon series on the Topsy-Turvy Teachings of Jesus!)

[1] Illustrated Ministries, Curriculum for Summer Sunday school family series, “The Beatitudes.” Summer 2022.

[2] Ibid.

Blessings to the Meek?

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“Blessings to the Meek?”

Matthew 5:1-7 (5:5) – July 23, 2022

I love puppies and kittens. Don’t you? Who doesn’t love small animals, so adorable and so tiny? One thing about small puppies and kittens – and other baby animals, like little rabbits, and baby chicks and ducklings and piglets – you need to be gentle with them! If anyone caring for small animals is not gentle and caring, the baby animals will probably be mistreated.

Along comes the Rabbi Jesus, and what is the next Beatitude that He proposes? “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” Now, wait a minute, Jesus! This is completely the opposite of everything that earthly society and worldly people say to us all the time. If we want to dominate the world, we need to show everyone who is boss! We need to show off our strength and power and domination! Don’t we?

Or, what does Jesus say? “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” Those words don’t sound very dominating or power-hungry to me! Here again, Jesus tells us explicitly that followers of Christ are not like the world. We are following the Topsy-Turvy Teachings of Jesus, here! Not going along with the world, at all!

The large crowd listening to the Rabbi Jesus was probably puzzled, too. What was this unknown Rabbi talking about?

“Meekness is a synonym of gentleness. In Jesus’ day, land was meaningful and important and many people had their land taken away by people who used force and violence. Jesus promises the gentle, kind, and humble people (“the meek”) will receive not just land, but the whole earth.” [1] People of that day were used to hearing about the land grabs that the people in charge did, almost always without any consequences. Land was a source of wealth, and to be stripped of your family’s land was to have a great deal of wealth stolen right from under your noses. This was the situation with the oppressing, conquering nation of the Romans. They took a great deal of land and wealth from the Jewish people as an occupying nation.

When Jesus said that the meek will inherit the earth, how do you think that sounded to the crowds listening to Jesus? What would that do to the occupying forces of Rome if meek, gentle people from Israel inherited the earth, right from under their occupying noses?

The worldly point of view – both in the 1st century and in modern-day popular society – is that fighting, conquest, and gaining material power is the key to getting to the top of the heap. Dominating other strong people, bulldozing your way to the front of the line is the way that worldly people get ahead. That’s the way people inherit the earth – isn’t it? Think about it another way. How are we to act as followers of Christ? Cut-throat, or Christ-following?

When you think of being meek and gentle, what do you think of? I mentioned caring for small animals a few minutes ago. Can you think of someone who cares for tiny puppies or kittens, and imagine them steamrolling over smaller, weaker people? These two pictures are not compatible. Which do you think Jesus would do? Which would Jesus want us to do?

I realize being meek and gentle gets a bad rap today. Someone who is meek and gentle is not the kind of person I’d imagine as a poster child for military organizations. Someone who is meek and gentle often comes across as a Casper Milquetoast, a person who is shy, retiring, and inoffensive. But, have you ever thought of someone who is meek and gentle as being a strong individual? Someone who is so strong and confident themselves that they do not care what other people think? I think that is exactly the kind of person our Lord Jesus was lifting up.

This promise – this Beatitude – this blessing towards gentle, kind and meek people is the wonderful blessing that these unlikely people will be the ones who become inheritors of the earth. The ones who will receive land, and therefore will receive riches and wealth, as perceived by the world. Not the worldly people who use power, force and control. Yes, these are indeed the Topsy-Turvy Teachings of Jesus!

Jesus is not just talking about the physical land of Israel, but the whole earth. “This also holds a powerful message for us about caring for the earth. Meek, or humble, people live with an awareness of others’ needs—the planet, animals, and other people. They remember that the whole earth—everything they have and receive, including land—belongs to God. And they care for it with that in mind, using what they have with respect and love.” [2]

Are you uncaring, oblivious to the needs of others? Have you been conscious of others’ needs today? Or, do you walk along, without a care in the world? I know there are people who are preoccupied with their own challenging problems and difficulties. The Rabbi Jesus is calling us to be outwardly focused, to come alongside of those who are struggling, becoming aware of others’ difficult journeys. There is much suffering and sadness in the world. We need to be strong – in meekness and gentleness.

Which would you rather be? Would you rather think and act on the side of the world, and steamroll and punch down any little pipsqueak who asks you for a hand or a cup of cold water? Again, what would Jesus do?

Or, would Jesus continue to be courageous and strong – strong enough to be gentle, meek and kind? It’s a clear decision that is open to us all. We are to follow Jesus. Be meek. Be gentle. Be kind, like our Lord. And especially, we are commanded to show love. Not picking and choosing, but instead being meek and gentle to all. No matter what, no matter who. Blessings from God to the meek, indeed!  Alleluia, amen.

@chaplaineliza

(Suggestion: visit me at my other blogs: matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers. #PursuePEACE – and  A Year of Being Kind . Thanks!

(Thanks to illustratedministries.com for their excellent family Sunday school curriculum on the Beatitudes. I will be using this curriculum all summer as source material for a summer sermon series on the Topsy-Turvy Teachings of Jesus!)

[1] Illustrated Ministries, Curriculum for Summer Sunday school family series, “The Beatitudes.” Summer 2022.

[2] Ibid.

Mourning Blessings

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“Mourning Blessings”

Matthew 5:1-5 (5:4) – July 10, 2022

Is it safe to cry? Are you comfortable being sad? What about mourning? Showing grief? For many, many people in this society here in North America, mourning and grief is something to be hidden away, even to be embarrassed about. Do you feel free to mourn? Or, is this raw emotion one to be hidden, not allowed out in public except at funerals?

Our nation was horrified to hear that instead of a Fourth of July parade enjoyed by families and participants alike, someone shot over 60 bullets from a rooftop with a high-powered rifle on Monday. In nearby Highland Park, scene after scene of horror and tragedy played out. So many mourning and grieving! This is yet another tragedy local to the Chicago area, and yet another in a series of mass shootings nationwide in recent weeks.

Let us look again at our Scripture reading for today. For these past weeks, in fact. Our Lord Jesus gives us the Beatitudes from a mountain in the north of Galilee to the largest of His crowds to date, near the beginning of His public ministry.

We have discussed how our Lord Jesus already had a budding reputation as a miracle worker, healing dozens and dozens of individuals from their physical diseases and afflictions. Jesus not only displayed power in casting out demons, but was gaining a reputation as a brilliant teacher. He was also quite able at dialoging with the Jewish legal scholars and other rabbis.

It’s all very nice to think about this historical person, the Rabbi Jesus, and about a historical event that happened 2000 years ago, the Sermon on the Mount. But, what does this have to do with the shooting that happened so near to us just a week ago? How do you and I wrap our heads around such evil and horror and go forward without trauma and pain and continuing sadness? Can you remember a time you cried? Did you cry on Monday, hearing about this extreme tragedy that happened only a few suburbs to the north? Yet, our Lord Jesus states “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.”

What a time of tragedy! And, what a time of mourning! Lord Jesus, do you hear countless people crying? Grieving? Mourning? Not only for those shot, wounded or murdered in Highland Park, but for the dozens shot, wounded or murdered across the Chicago area over the past week. And, those in Uvalde, Texas. And those in Buffalo, New York, before that.  

Similar to the first Beatitude about the poor in spirit that we examined last week, this serious statement of our Lord stands out and marks someone as different, as quite unlike worldly people. Yet, how, Lord?? What we do know is that the world system today tries its hardest to avoid mourning and grieving. The whole world system with its concentration on pleasure, on entertainment and money – tawdry “bling” and frivolity – are constantly diverting attention from mourning. Grieving is the last thing that the world system, today’s society wants us to focus on.

In the first century just as today, many people were taught that crying was shameful, that grown-ups didn’t cry, that mourning and grieving showed weakness and made people too vulnerable. Do you know people who try their darnedest not to show emotion, and not to cry or mourn? Oftentimes, these are rich and powerful people who gather money and control. That way, they do their best to feel strong, unshakeable, in control of people and events [1]

And, what does our Lord Jesus do right at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount? He speaks to people who mourn and cry and grieve, and praises them! Jesus highlights them in all their grief. One large reason Jesus does this is because God gave all humans emotions. Mourning, grief and crying show we all are alive and aware. Instead of being ashamed of crying, crying shows we are brave. “Crying shows we are willing to feel pain—our own and someone else’s pain. You [and I] are not trying to block the pain around us or keep our distance from it. Tears and crying are important.” [2]

Instead of being superficial and seeking only pleasure and surface entertainment, Jesus lets us know that God honors us when we mourn. God embraces us wholeheartedly when any of us grieve. You and I do not need to block pain or pretend nothing has happened, show a stiff upper lip or keep our distance from crying, because supposedly “grown-ups don’t cry.” No, tears and crying are important. When a loved one cries or grieves, it is a privilege to come alongside and to mourn with them. To sit with them as they cry, especially in times of pain or difficulty. Especially when it is so hard to hold that grief, so difficult that it almost makes a person fall to pieces.

This blessing of Jesus, blessing those who mourn for they shall be comforted, shows that we connect with God. This Beatitude shows that God actively comes alongside those who are actively mourning and comforts them.

I follow a Mister Rogers Twitter account. Yesterday morning, there was such an apropos tweet posted, a quote from Fred Rogers! “People have said, “Don’t cry” to other people for years and years, and all it has ever meant is “I’m too uncomfortable when you show your feelings: Don’t cry.” I’d rather have them say, “Go ahead and cry. I’m here to be with you.”

Perhaps God comforts those dear grieving ones through others. Perhaps God sends relatives, or friends, or strangers to come alongside of those who are deeply mourning, and sits with them in silence, or gets them a cup of water or coffee, or brings over a casserole or does a load of laundry. Whatever we do, whatever it takes to show God’s presence and our caring, Most important, this is a way to show we share in God’s heart, in God’s caring and love.

“Jesus promised God would bring comfort and make things right for all the people listening who faced injustice, shame, trauma and poverty which caused them to cry and grieve. One way God brings comfort is through us. (Hold your hands out with palms up.) When we offer our hand or loving words—especially to someone who is sad—we are God’s comfort to that person.” [3]

What a blessing to others! And, what a blessing when each of us mourn. And to that, we can all say alleluia, amen.

@chaplaineliza

(Suggestion: visit me at my other blogs: matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers. #PursuePEACE – and  A Year of Being Kind . Thanks!

(Thanks to illustratedministries.com for their excellent family Sunday school curriculum on the Beatitudes. I will be using this curriculum all summer as source material for a summer sermon series on the Topsy-Turvy Teachings of Jesus!)

[1] Illustrated Ministries, Curriculum for Summer Sunday school family series, “The Beatitudes.” Summer 2022.

[2] Illustrated Ministries, ibid.

[3] Ibid.

Blessed Poor People?

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“Blessed Poor People?”

Matthew 5:1-5 (5:3) – July 3, 2022

What do you do when a friend or loved one has big feelings? I mean, when someone you love is super sad, or super upset, or super angry?

So many of us feel overwhelmed sometimes. Feelings can be oversized, huge, bigger than big! Overwhelming emotions and feelings can make a person feel like a ton of bricks has just fallen on them. What is a person to do? Does your family have a special remedy for this kind of huge, overwhelming emotional impact? What do you do if your child – or grandchild – is feeling really down and has huge feelings they don’t know what to do with?

Our Lord Jesus talks about just this kind of feeling when He gives us His first Beatitude. You remember the Beatitudes, the first part of the Sermon on the Mount, early in the Gospel of Matthew. The Rabbi Jesus has just been getting a lot of press about being a miracle worker and a marvelous teacher, and people have been flocking to hear Him and see Him from miles around.

When the Lord Jesus has the big opportunity to teach a large crowd, what does He lead off with but “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Now, wait a minute, Jesus! I kind of know what blessed means, and I understand that there are poor people in the world, but what kind of a topic sentence is that? What do you mean, leading off Your big sermon with a confusing idea like this? What gives, Jesus?

Our summer sermon series is called “Topsy-Turvy Teachings of Jesus.” That title certainly applies to this first Beatitude! How on earth are poor people blessed? But, wait. Jesus didn’t say “poor people.” He said people who were (are) “poor in spirit.”

Have you ever had a time when you were down and just wanted things to feel better, for just a little while? I suspect we all feel poor in spirit sometimes.

Our Lord Jesus was well aware of the hurts and pains of the people listening to Him. Not only their physical hurts and pains, because Jesus was a marvelous, miraculous healer! But, also their mental, emotional and psychological hurts and pains, too.

Our Lord Jesus did not place these Beatitudes in a random, haphazard manner. He was very deliberate in the order, in His placement of the different blessings God bestows. We may say there is a logical order in these Beatitudes. Jesus tells us about the kingdom of heaven, and this first blessing is a key to all that follows.

We can think of a “kingdom” as the way the world (or the country) works or is set up. In God’s kingdom, there is abundance! Everyone has more than enough honor, and food, love, power and resources for everyone – that means every single person – to live and thrive.[1] What’s more, according to our Lord, all who enter into the kingdom of heaven are poor in spirit. That means an emptying of sorts.

As the wonderful theologian and preacher Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones tells us, being poor in spirit “is a fundamental characteristic of the Christian and of the citizen of the kingdom of heaven.” [2] In the Beatitudes, Jesus shows His listeners how to be filled with the manifestation of heaven – of God. But, how are we to be filled with heavenly things if we are not first emptied of worldly things? The worldly, self-centered, all-for-myself attitude?

Jesus and the other citizens of Palestine of the first century were definitely oppressed. The Roman empire was ruling over them, and the people in charge of the local and regional government demanded a lot of taxes. This was not only the money the common folk earned, but also the crops the Jewish people grew and a share of the animals they raised. People were already struggling to provide for themselves and their family. Plus, when they could not pay the taxes the Roman government expected, the Jewish people lost most of what they owned. [3] They were an oppressed nation under an oppressive regime.

Have you ever felt trapped, sad, worried things might never get better? Worried that tomorrow would be just like today, or maybe even worse? That sounds so much like what the people in first-century Palestine were dealing with, every day! Little wonder so many people flocked to hear the message of hope, healing and blessing from the Rabbi Jesus!

This Topsy Turvy Teaching of Jesus is just the beginning of the Beatitudes. Sure, Jesus tells us that the poor in spirit are truly happy, the ones who are truly blessed by God. Not the people who in this world seem to have it all, know it all, or have all the power. Those worldly, puffed up, self-centered, power-hungry people are going to be skipped over by God.

Try clenching your hands to make fists. A fist is a sign of power and strength, isn’t it? But, when our fists are closed tight, we cannot receive anything new, anything of positive value, anything to nurture and to help grow. However, let us open our hands on our lap with palms facing up. This is a physical way to remind us all that we are open to God. [4] We depend on God, and need to be open to learning, growing and changing. We need to empty ourselves of worldly, puffed up, self-centered and power-hungry attitudes that are so common in the world today.

What would Jesus do? Would Jesus be selfish, self-centered and grasping for power and attention? How would Jesus treat the people on the edges of society, the single moms, the elderly without children, the outcast ones, and the friendless? How does Jesus treat you and me? Jesus welcomes the poor in spirit. Jesus welcomes you, and He welcomes me, too.

For ours is the kingdom of heaven. Alleluia, amen!

@chaplaineliza

(Suggestion: visit me at my other blogs: matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers. #PursuePEACE – and  A Year of Being Kind . Thanks!

(Thanks to illustratedministries.com for their excellent family Sunday school curriculum on the Beatitudes. I will be using this curriculum all summer as source material for a summer sermon series on the Topsy-Turvy Teachings of Jesus!)

[1] Illustrated Ministries, Curriculum for Summer Sunday school family series, “The Beatitudes.” Summer 2022.

[2] Lloyd-Jones, D. Martyn, Studies in the Sermon on the Mount (Wm. Eerdmans Pub. Co., Grand Rapids MI, 1971), 42-43.

[3] Illustrated Ministries.

[4] Ibid.

Healing and Hope

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“Healing and Hope”

Matthew 5:1-12 (5:1-2) – June 19, 2022

Have you ever been particularly in need of hope? I know that hope is usually an internal thing. Hope is often quiet and even smooths challenging emotions and buoys people up when they are going through difficult times. Healing is something that many folks are in need of! The healing that many people immediately think of is physical healing. Have you ever thought about the other ways we can need to be healed? Emotionally, psychologically. Spiritually, as well. The need for healing of any kind is truly great in this world!

The Beatitudes from Matthew 5 are a wonderful description of hope and healing, from our Lord Jesus Christ. The Rabbi Jesus preached this sermon of hope and healing very early in His ministry. People flocked to hear Him, and to see the miracles He did.

Who was He preaching to, we might ask? Answer: lots of people! People not only local from Nazareth and the rest of Galilee, but from further south in Palestine, from the area north of the sea of Galilee, and from the area east of the Jordan River, too.

Except – how did the people who heard these Beatitudes feel? Did they have hope? Did they need healing? Our Lord Jesus had been spending a lot of time healing people. Remember, He was getting quite the reputation already as a miracle-worker. So, yes. He was ministering to many, many people’s physical needs.

Jesus had been spending a lot of time healing people. I don’t know about you, but when I reflect on the Rabbi Jesus’ public ministry, I can’t help but see His first disciples as not only His students in the way of God’s kingdom, but they needed to be good at crowd control. Seriously, any person who had the reputation that Jesus did would have been mobbed wherever He went! It would only make sense in today’s world that such an important, high-profile person – healer – an in-demand preacher and teacher – would have staff, and assistants, and handlers, and be really difficult for common folks to reach and talk to.

Have you ever tried to talk to someone really important and high-profile? Or, get a few minutes of their time? Imagine going through a secretary or administrative assistant. I’ve met with administrators and presidents on college or seminary campuses, and that was difficult enough! I cannot imagine how difficult it probably is to meet with someone really big, like the CEO of a multi-national corporation or the owner of a major league sports team or a high-profile media personality.

Except, Jesus wasn’t like that. Our Lord Jesus when He was here on the earth was accessible to anyone. He recognized that the people surrounding Him had broken hearts and unsteady hope. They needed healing in so many ways. One important way for these dear people to receive care from Jesus was to hear His teaching about healing and hope. That is why the Rabbi Jesus led them to a mountain in order to preach and teach. (And, I suspect the mountain had an area similar to a natural amphitheater, where Jesus’s voice was naturally amplified.) Plus, mountains are traditionally places that remind people of God’s presence ith them.

We know that sermons are talks meant to teach and to help people grow in their love for and relationship with God. People were so committed to Jesus and His ministry and message that they followed right along to listen to Him and as the expression goes, to sit at His feet.

The Beatitudes are the opening segment in this Sermon on the Mount that Jesus delivers. I’d like to point out that Jesus meant the Beatitudes for different groups of people from this wide crowd He was preaching to! Unexpected individuals, not typical, on the borders or off to one side in the typical congregation. And, Jesus was deliberate in His teaching and preaching. He knew He was being reactionary and unconventional, and that was okay. Our Lord Jesus never shied away from doing and saying reactionary and unconventional things!    

Jesus knew very well that many people in His day had an unclear or incorrect understanding of how to live their lives. Jesus knew they were living with the wrong goal in mind. So, the Rabbi Jesus purposely said unconventional things to shake up the establishment and to show them God’s way of living. Lo and behold, it was the opposite of the way many people understood it to be! [1]

The highlights of the Beatitudes were (and are) granting blessing, hope and healing for those who did not normally receive hope and healing. Jesus purposely turned the spotlight on groups that were dismissed, or glossed over, or ignored, or slighted. We have groups like “the poor in spirit,” “the mourners,” “the meek,” “the merciful,” and “the pure in heart.”  

In raising these disparate, separated people to prominence and granting each one His blessing, our Lord Jesus shows He cares for each and every one listening. No matter what, no matter who. What an inclusive sermon! Leaving no one out! Including many different groups and individuals from all over, from all segments of society, and beyond!

What is more, that wasn’t only just two thousand years ago. Our Lord Jesus is still raising disparate, separated people to prominence. He still proclaims His care and grants His blessing to all, in an inclusive embrace that leaves no one out. Sure, Jesus welcomes faithful, church-going folk! And Christmas-and-Easter church attenders, too! And people who would never darken the door of a house of worship, as well!

Don’t you think Jesus can heal people from the inside out? Don’t you think Jesus can give hope to the hopeless, sight to the spiritually-blind and unstop the ears of those who are stubbornly hearing just their own opinions?

            May our Lord open all of our eyes and ears to the all-inclusive message of the Beatitudes today. Alleluia, amen!

@chaplaineliza

(Suggestion: visit me at my other blogs: matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers. #PursuePEACE – and  A Year of Being Kind . Thanks!

(Thanks to illustratedministries.com for their excellent curriculum on the Beatitudes. I will be using this curriculum all summer as source material for a summer sermon series on Topsy-Turvy Teachings of Jesus!)

[1] https://bible.org/seriespage/2-kingdom-life-matthew-5

Prologue to the Beatitudes

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“Prologue to the Beatitudes”

Matthew 4:23-25 (4:23) – June 12, 2022

We are starting a new summer sermon series this week. We will be looking at the Beatitudes from Matthew chapter 5, all summer long. The Beatitudes, blessings of God, and blessings from our Lord Jesus. Plus, blessings to a number of unlikely groups of people, too!  

We toss around the word “blessed” here, but we ought to define this word. What is “blessed,” anyhow? Is “blessed” a secret code word for Christians or churches? Or a word that only people on the inside “in-crowd” know about? Well, of course not! I just got done telling you that Jesus blesses a lot of unlikely people and groups! “Blessed” in the first century meant “happy” or “content.” A deep down happiness, and not just on the surface!

Can you remember a time when you were really deep down happy? That’s what our Lord Jesus is talking about, Jesus can bless individuals, and He can bless groups of people.

When I say less-than, downtrodden, overlooked, or excluded, what do you think of? Poor people? People who don’t have enough? People on the sidelines or borders of society? How about people who are definitely not in the inner circle, not having preferred places or special treatment? Our Lord Jesus went around Palestine and Galilee preaching and teaching to just these kinds of people. The unimportant. Excluded. What some might call “the little people.” The Rabbi Jesus was always hanging out with people the “in-crowd” wouldn’t possibly recognize!

I do not have much of a problem considering myself an outsider, on the sidelines, or overlooked. That’s the attitude and the outlook we all are going to take this summer, as we take a closer look at the Beatitudes. Another title for this series is the Topsy Turvy Teachings of Jesus! Where Jesus blesses unexpected and unlikely groups of people!

First, we need to set the scene, and take a look at the backdrop where the Rabbi Jesus is teaching and preaching. Matthew chapter 4 is right at the beginning of Jesus’s ministry. He is just starting to travel around the northern region of Galilee. Right off the bat, Jesus preaches and teaches to everyone. He heals all who come to Him. He does not discriminate.

Jesus had only just started His ministry, and I am sure that many, many people were moved and touched by His words. Imagine – “News about Jesus spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed; and he healed them.”

Pay close attention: Jesus was not just another traveling dog and pony show. A number of these itinerant preachers traveled in Palestine, at any one time.  Jesus did more. Much more! He healed anyone who came to Him, and healed really serious diseases. Do you have any serious disease in your life or body that you would like to have totally gone? That’s what Jesus did. And, the word spread! How could it not? Word about amazing miracles, especially!

Plus, Jesus taught these crowds, wherever Jesus set up shop. People flocked to hear Jesus, from the next country of Syria, from north of Palestine, and from way south around Jerusalem and beyond the Red Sea. Wouldn’t you, if you had the opportunity to travel to see a proven miracle worker? But, wait! There is so much more! The Rabbi Jesus also taught about hope! God’s kingdom. God coming close to each person.

 At its most basic, God’s kingdom is a reality in the nuts-and-bolts living of life. Our Lord Jesus told everyone about the kingdom of God coming near to each one. This is the good news that comes near to all, that forgiveness of God’s love, that seeking of healing from all. Not only looking for actual physical healing, but also spiritual and mental healing. Who wouldn’t want to know about the healing forgiveness of God’s love? Available to everyone!

Just imagine that good news preached here and now, today! In the kingdom of God, there is enough for everyone – not only in terms of spiritual things, but in physical resources, too. Not so in the imperfect, worldly world. Imperfect, fallible people hoard money and resources, prestige and honor. This keeps them from the weaker, poorer, less fortunate parts of society. Let’s not forget that the few, the favored, the people on top of the world exclude anyone they think is unworthy. That almost always means the weaker, poorer, less fortunate parts of society.    

Can you even imagine our Lord Jesus discriminating or excluding people?

No, I can’t, either. Never, ever. Simply impossible. Jesus would never do such a thing, especially in uncertain, topsy-turvy times. The Rabbi Jesus brought healing to their physical selves, and also to their hearts, souls and minds. He wanted everyone to know that they are blessed and favored by God, no matter who, no matter what. Everything Jesus taught and did was about breaking down hurtful expectations and separations in society and among individuals.

Even though we all live in this very imperfect world, we are all blessed by God. Even though our modern times are uncertain, Jesus wants everyone to know that followers of Jesus will have what they need. Even though times are hard and questionable, there is always more than enough love to go around! Jesus makes sure we all know that. When God provides abundance and love, no one needs to bicker or fight or exclude or oppress any more.

Jesus and His topsy-turvy teaching shows us all that we are loved. Each of us is special to God, and we are never alone. That is a marvelous truth, available to each and every one.

That is good news for all of us! Alleluia, amen!

@chaplaineliza

(Suggestion: visit me at my other blogs: matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers. #PursuePEACE – and  A Year of Being Kind . Thanks!

(Thanks to illustratedministries.com for their excellent curriculum on the Beatitudes. I will be using this curriculum all summer as source material for a summer sermon series on Topsy-Turvy Teachings of Jesus!)

Promises Kept

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 “Promises Kept”

John 14:8-17 (14:17) – June 5, 2022

When you think of our Lord Jesus when He was here on earth, what kinds of things come to your mind? Was the Rabbi Jesus an extraordinary preacher and teacher? I believe He was. How about a miracle worker? Certainly, by countless accounts! Did He always tell the truth? I think so. And, how about keeping the promises He made? Absolutely.  

Very often in the Bible, people predict what is going to happen in the future. The prophets of God were very good at this. Sometimes these predictions are warnings and negative things; sometimes the predictions are good things and events to be eagerly awaited!

After the Ascension, the group of disciples were all in Jerusalem, awaiting some really big predictions to come to pass. Predictions by angels, and by the Hebrew Scriptures, and some plain-spoken words by the risen Lord Jesus Himself. It was on Pentecost morning that a large number of predictions came to pass – in a huge way!

You remember the scene? A little over one hundred followers of the risen Lord Jesus had gathered together in Jerusalem, in that very same second story of a building. The place that was the same Upper Room where the disciples had their Last Supper with their Rabbi, the night before His crucifixion.

You remember the train of events? A big holiday and Jewish festival was celebrated: the festival of Shavuot, or First Fruits. Lo and behold, the group of disciples was having a prayer meeting, when suddenly “there was a sound from heaven like the roaring of a mighty windstorm, and it filled the house where they were sitting. 3 Then, what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them. 4 And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages, as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability.”

The disciples were as surprised as anyone! Yet, Peter realized what was going on and as one of the spokesmen for the disciples, he stood up and proclaimed that this was indeed an earthshaking sign from God! He even quoted from the prophet Joel, about the descending of the Spirit of God.

You remember what happened? Peter said, ““People of Israel, listen! God publicly endorsed Jesus the Nazarene by doing powerful miracles, wonders, and signs through him, as you well know. 23 But God knew what would happen, and his prearranged plan was carried out when Jesus was betrayed.”

I am certain that as Peter spoke he remembered that last night in the Upper Room; their leader and Rabbi Jesus gave the disciples a firm promise, saying “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will bein you.”

This cataclysmic happening on Pentecost morning was that exact thing! The pouring out of the Spirit of truth, God’s Holy Spirit! It was not a gentle, even passive pouring out, but instead a mighty rush of wind! Flames appearing over each believer’s head! And, the gift of tongues or speaking in languages that the disciples had never learned! God displayed awesome power and might on that Pentecost morning!

Let’s go back a few weeks, to that Upper Room, to that Passover dinner just before Jesus was betrayed. All during the past few weeks Jesus had been predicting His death. Fulfillment of prophecy often seems distant and impersonal…like it is not warm or intimate. By some standards, Jesus gave a prophecy, it’s true. But more than that, Jesus gave a firm promise. He promised that His Heavenly Father would send the Spirit of truth upon the disciples.

 “For he lives with you and will be in you.” Such a positive way of seeing this marvelous event! Jesus recognized that His promise would become a lifeline for the disciples, a promise made, and a promise He certainly kept! Isn’t keeping a promise warm, positive and genuine? That describes our Lord Jesus to a “T”

Throughout the Gospel of John, Jesus supplied deep needs. Wants and desires, too. He supplied a whole description on new life to Nicodemus. Jesus supplied living water, spiritual hydration to the woman at the well. He supplied healing to the man by the pool of Bethesda. Jesus supplied guidance into an unknown and frightening future to Thomas, and for knowledge that God’s promises are definitely true, in Philip’s case.

And here, in the Upper Room, to all of us here today and throughout the centuries, Jesus elaborated on the gift of the Holy Spirit. Our Gospel reading today points to “an intimate Pentecost, to the Holy Spirit at work in our inner lives and in our world drawing us into intimate relationship with God who delivers on all God’s promises.” [1]

The Pentecost event two thousand years ago was indeed a huge cataclysm of sound and wind and flame and excitement! Yes, and our individual Pentecosts today can also be quiet, introspective and just as full of the Holy Spirit. Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting Lord, the God of all creation is sending the Holy Spirit into each of our lives.

This is not a mere prophecy, an impersonal declaration of the might and power of some distant Higher Power. Our risen and ascended Lord Jesus has given us a personal promise, a warm, genuine affirmation of God-With-Us, Emmanuel. A genuine promise given, and a promise bountifully kept – in your life and mine. Amen, alleluia!    

@chaplaineliza

(Suggestion: visit me at my other blogs: matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers. #PursuePEACE – and  A Year of Being Kind . Thanks!

[1] https://www.patheos.com/progressive-christian/intimate-pentecost-alyce-mckenzie-05-10-2013

Ascended into Heaven

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“Ascended into Heaven”

Acts 1:1-11 (1:11) – May 29, 2022

            When I was young, I attended a Lutheran church on the northwest side of Chicago. That church had many traditions, including everyone in the church reciting the Apostles Creed after the sermon each Sunday. This church does not have this tradition, at least, it hasn’t for a long time. Many words from the Apostles Creed are familiar, of course, but it is not quite like the Lord’s Prayer. We do not recite it here as often as every single Sunday.  

            What about the section of the Apostles Creed that highlights our Lord Jesus Christ? I invite you to say it along with me: I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again; he ascended into heaven, is seated at the right hand of the Father, and will come again to judge the living and the dead.

            Today we are celebrating “On the third day he rose again; he ascended into heaven,” How amazing this must have been for Jesus’ followers! I know we have been over the same ground during this Easter season, as we consider Jesus and the time line after His resurrection. This whole string of events must have been absolutely out of the disciples’ experience.

            Imagine, your Rabbi and leader gets arrested, tried, and killed in a most horrible way. You are devastated. Then, on the third day, some of your women companions come back with a wild story – absolutely amazing! And, it’s true. You see the risen Jesus, too!

            Fast forward several weeks, The risen Lord Jesus appears to you and your companions a number of times, and continues to teach and prepare you – for what? If we go back to the Apostles Creed, this creed is a quick synopsis and theological summary of Jesus, His life, death, resurrection and ascension. Except, we are going to stay on the ascension part. The resurrected Jesus was around for some weeks, long enough for the disciples to kind of accustom themselves to His presence.

What do you know? The disciples (at least most of them!) were more interested in what was going to happen politically! Look at what Dr. Luke highlights for us here in Acts 1: “Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”

“The disciples were still interested in the restoration of the kingdom of Israel. [Except,] the days and seasons of coming events were not something the disciples needed to worry about. Matters of churchmanship, denominational doctrines, church growth, church/state relations…… and the like, all pale before a far greater purpose” [1] that the risen Lord Jesus tried to communicate just before He ascended into heaven.

We can see this clearly from our Lord’s response: “Jesus said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Jesus used stories to communicate great truths all during the three years He was an itinerant Rabbi, journeying all around Palestine. Is it any wonder that one of the most effective ways of “witnessing” to our Lord Jesus is by telling our personal stories?

            The Apostles Creed states that Jesus “ascended to heaven” and “he sits on the right hand of God the Father Almighty.” We can see God sitting on a heavenly throne (perhaps in the temple from Isaiah 6!), and Jesus sits right beside God on God’s right hand. This was a very important place in historic accounts about kings. “The most important person other than the king always sat on the kings’ right hand.  What we are saying about Jesus is that he is right with God and that he is more important than any angel or any person who has ever lived.” [2]

            Yes, this account from Acts 1 is one of our most treasured stories about Jesus, along with the story of the Passion, the trials, and the Crucifixion. And then, we have the greatest story ever told in the account of the Resurrection and its aftermath! Can’t these stories about Jesus be paired with our own personal stories?

            In track and field, when the runners run a relay race, they pass a baton from one to another as each begins to run their leg of the race. Another way to think about the risen Lord Jesus ascending into heaven is Jesus passing the baton to His disciples. They have been in training for these past three years, and now our Lord Jesus is about to leave. “Jesus did tell them very clearly that they were to take up his ministry on earth.  His earthly part of the race was complete, but theirs was just starting.” [3] 

            We are witnesses to Jesus and His power and transformation in our lives today. Jesus “comes to you and me, he comes to his Church, lifts us up, loves us without limit, and invites us to tell the story of love over and over again. Remember His words: ”You shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and in Samaria and to the uttermost parts of the world.” [4]  How has Jesus been active in our lives, today? How is He telling the story of love to each of us? Jesus invites us to go and tell – tell others, today! Alleluia, amen.

@chaplaineliza

(Suggestion: visit me at my other blogs: matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers. #PursuePEACE – and  A Year of Being Kind . Thanks!

[1] http://www.lectionarystudies.com/studyot/ascensionot.html

[2] http://worshipingwithchildren.blogspot.com/2016/04/year-c-ascension-of-lord-thursday-may-5.html

[3] Ibid.

[4] “‘Why do you stand looking up into heaven?’ (Acts 1:11),” William Loader, Being the Church Then and Now: Issues from the Acts of the Apostles.

Peace of Mind and Heart

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“Peace of Mind and Heart”

John 14:23-27 (14:27) – May 22, 2022

            The world is in powerful need of peace right now! Isn’t it? Just think of the many places in the world today, right now, where there is strife, conflict, fighting, and even outright warfare. The gift of Jesus that He speaks of here in today’s reading, peace of mind and heart, is something truly to wish for! Even, to clasp tightly to our minds and hearts!

            Here in John, chapters 14 through 17, is His Farewell Discourse. These are the last words that Jesus gave to His friends before His arrest and crucifixion. Important words, indeed!

            Even at this point, on the night before Jesus was betrayed, His disciples needed some further explanation of what Jesus was saying to them. First Peter (John 13:36), then Thomas (14:5), then Phillip (14:8), and then Judas (not Iscariot) (14:22) ask for clarification about exactly what Jesus is telling them. Jesus packs a whole lot into just a few short verses.

            I would like to highlight one particular verse: John 14:27. Jesus said, 27 “I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.” There is so much conflict, fighting, mass shootings, and attacks of one kind or another happening in this world right now. We need peace badly!

            David Lose, one of my favorite commentators, wants us to think more deeply about this word “peace.” I hear Jesus say this word. But why? How do we understand peace? What do we imagine Jesus means? “Too often, I think, we think of peace as simply the cessation of conflict. And clearly an end to violence is a good thing. Many of us have prayed for peace in the Middle East, [peace in the Ukraine,] peace in our community, perhaps even peace in our homes. But I think the peace Jesus offers is more than the absence of something negative.” [1]

            But, wait a minute, some people say! I know the world needs peace in the Middle East, and peace in Ukraine, and peace in lots of other places worldwide. But, what about me? What about my house, my neighborhood? I am not experiencing much peace in my personal life!

            Rev. Janet Hunt agrees just this past week that peace is regularly shattered in her neighborhood in the town of Dekalb, in the community where she lives and serves. She mourns the fact that “peace of mind, heart and body are too hard to find; so many needs, physical and otherwise, go unmet. And even if all else seems to be going well, still we struggle through our personal, sometimes private heartaches which threaten our peace, our sense of wellbeing.” [2]

            Looking at Chicago, I was just on the spot of a mass shooting on Friday, just a few blocks west of the Water Tower, off of Michigan Avenue. The police activity was still very present as they investigated that evening shooting and the aftermath. I needed to be in the area for my job, to visit a patient for the hospice I work for. Yet, I saw firsthand the very real conflict and disruption in the city center, in one of the most affluent parts of the city.

When someone reports feeling calm and “at peace,” so often people scoff, or are jealous, or disbelieve. That is, at first. Why is this? Is peace so rare or so unusual?

            I want us to go back to the Upper Room, back to the Farewell Discourse. “Think, again, of the timing of Jesus’ promise: it is the night of his betrayal, the evening when he will be handed over to those who hate him and who will take him away to be executed. And yet in that moment, he not only senses peace but gives it to others.” [3]

            Yes, Jesus knows He doesn’t live in a peaceful world, and Jesus knows very well that His personal life is going to be rocked to the core in just a few hours. Yet, Jesus tells His disciples that He gives them His peace. And, guess what? We can access that same peace! That peace which the world does not understand, that the world cannot give.

              When someone reports feeling “at peace,” that person “instead testifies to a sense of wholeness, even rightness, of and in one’s very being It’s a sense of harmony with those persons and things around us. Peace connotes a sense of contentment, but even more fulfillment, a sense that in this moment one is basking in God’s pleasure.” [4]

            Even when you and I are in the midst of hardship, struggle, even conflict or disruption, we can access Jesus and His peace! Countless believers have clung to this blessed promise, even through great difficulty, horrific tragedy, and deadly conflict. Through personal tragedies or nationwide devastation, it does not matter. Jesus still offers His peace, freely! That peace is not only to be embraced in some far distant future, but it is already ours!

            God’s promise of peace is not maybe, or perhaps, or just in case. God loves us with an everlasting love! God has already gifted us with that peace that passes all understanding. God has already laid claim to us! With that claim comes peace that is truly beyond our understanding, peace that is always ours for the receiving.

            With Rev. Janet, I can affirm that in the hardest of times, in the hugest of challenges, when my heart is most tender, God’s peace is right there for me, and for you, too. Both when faith runs deep, and when it’s hard to believe, too. And when it’s a challenge for you to have faith alone, that is what the church is for – to believe together, in community.

            Jesus said, “the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.” This gift of peace is truly for us all.  Alleluia, amen!

@chaplaineliza

(Suggestion: visit me at my other blogs: matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers. #PursuePEACE – and  A Year of Being Kind . Thanks!

(Thanks to Rev. Janet Hunt and her excellent commentary on this Gospel reading for the 6th week of Easter, https://dancingwiththeword.com/when-peace-like-a-river/. I have used several ideas and quotes from this post in this sermon. And, thanks to Rev. David Lose as well. I owe much to him, from http://www.davidlose.net/2016/04/easter-6-c-peace-the-world-cannot-give/)   

[1] http://www.davidlose.net/2016/04/easter-6-c-peace-the-world-cannot-give/

[2] https://dancingwiththeword.com/when-peace-like-a-river/

[3] http://www.davidlose.net/2016/04/easter-6-c-peace-the-world-cannot-give/

[4] http://www.davidlose.net/2016/04/easter-6-c-peace-the-world-cannot-give/

The Love Command

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“The Love Command”

John 13:31-35 (13:34) – May 15, 2022

When I mention the word “love,” what do you think of? For me, it’s different things at different times. When I thought of the modern conception of love this time, what came to mind were the hearts and flowers of romantic love. You know the kinds of expressions I mean. Hearts, flowers, Valentine’s Day, frilly lace, and all the rest. This is not the kind of love our Lord had in mind.  Our modern ideas of love hardly scratch the surface of Jesus’ expression of love.

John shows us the extended conversation Jesus had with His friends on that last Thursday night, the night before He died on the Cross. Jesus said many poignant, important things to His disciples. Some of them were even commands! Like this one here, from John chapter 13.

            The disciples followed their Rabbi around Palestine for three years. Living together, rubbing shoulders and elbows together, those itinerant people got particularly close. That can happen when people travel and live in close quarters with one another! Now, at the culmination of all things, Jesus gives His disciples a new command. He even highlights it! “Love one another, as I have loved you.” Jesus made sure all of His friends knew it was a command!

            Shallow people comment, thinking about valentines, candy and chocolates, and champagne toasts of romantic love. Can’t you hear them already? “Oh, how wonderful of Jesus! I love everybody already. I’m a good Christian.”

Let’s take a closer look at what exactly Jesus was asking.

            Sure, the Gospel of John mentions the disciples loving one another. But – John’s Gospel also has passages about other kinds of people, too. Nicodemus was a respected member of the Jewish religious rulers, the Sanhedrin. By and large, the Jewish rulers were no friends of the Rabbi Jesus. What about the half-Jew, the Samaritan woman of chapter 4? She was also an outcast in her own town.  

Did Jesus show any hesitation in His interaction with either one? Wasn’t He caring, loving and honest with each of them, just as He was with everyone else?

            Jesus was the ultimate in being open, loving and honest to everyone. No matter who, no matter where, no matter what faith tradition, social strata, ethnicity, or any other designation.  Jesus is commanding us to love in the same way. Not only towards strangers, but towards friends, as well. That can be even more difficult sometimes.

            “Here in John chapter 13, Jesus demonstrates his love for the same disciples who will fail him miserably. Jesus washes and feeds Judas who will betray him, Peter who will deny him, and all the rest who will fail to stand by him in his hour of greatest distress. The love that Jesus demonstrates is certainly not based on the merit of the recipients, and Jesus commands his disciples to love others in the same way.” [1]

            I get set back quite a lot when I realize the full ramifications of that Jesus-kind-of-love. Whoa, Lord! You don’t really expect me to be that way with people who insult me, or are mean to me, or disrespect me, do You? Umm. I kind of think that is exactly what Jesus means. Love them. No “but, what if…?” Love them.

I post on social media regularly, both for my personal media accounts as well as for St. Luke’s Church. This was a post I made for yesterday, Saturday, exactly mirroring this command of our Lord’s. “Confused about the Christian response to social issues? Here’s a handy reference: Male? Love them. Female? Love them. Unsure? Love them. Gay? Love them. Straight? Love them. Unsure? Love them. Addict? Love them. Sober? Love them. Unsure? Love them. Believer? Love them. Unbeliever? Love them. Unsure? Love them.”

And, this is not just a suggestion. Jesus makes it a command. If you and I want to follow Jesus, this is one of the requirements. Some well-meaning believers say that other people may not merit Jesus’ love, for whatever reason. Gosh, I don’t merit Jesus’ love a lot of the time! But, that makes no difference. Jesus still loves us, Unconditionally. No matter what. Plus, Jesus commands us to love others in the same way. The same ultimate, above-and-beyond, bottomless way.

“Jesus goes to the cross to demonstrate that, in fact, “God so loved the world.” Jesus went to the cross to show in word and deed that God is love and that we, as God’s children, are loved. So whether we succeed or fail in our attempts to love one another this week, yet God in Jesus loves us more than we can possibly imagine. And hearing of this love we are set free and sent forth, once again, to love another.” [2]

Alleluia, amen.

@chaplaineliza

(Suggestion: visit me at my other blogs: matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers. #PursuePEACE – and  A Year of Being Kind . Thanks!

[1] https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/fifth-sunday-of-easter-3/commentary-on-john-1331-35

Commentary, John 13:31-35, Elisabeth Johnson, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2016.

[2] https://www.workingpreacher.org/dear-working-preacher/on-loving-and-not-loving-one-another

“On Loving – and Not Loving – One Another,” David Lose, Dear Working Preacher, 2013.

Surely Goodness and Mercy

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“Surely Goodness and Mercy”

Psalm 23 (23:6) – May 8, 2022

            Words matter. The words you and I choose to use really do matter. How do you speak about God? Do you – do I – speak of God as being a strict, even punitive taskmaster? Perhaps we speak of God as distant, and really far away, not to be bothered with our petty little affairs here on earth. Do the words you and I use about God show others God’s marvelous love and care? Or do those words show how scary and intimidating God is, instead?

            Our Scripture reading today comes from the book of Psalms, and is one of the most familiar and beloved readings in the whole Bible, in either the Hebrew Scriptures or the New Testament. Countless people have turned to Psalm 23 for peace, for reassurance, in times of anxiety or struggle, and even in times of great joy. This psalm is a psalm for the ages, and has been read for centuries by believers, skeptics and atheists alike.

            What words does King David have to say about the Lord? We can see those words of trust and encouragement throughout this psalm. For, this is indeed a song of praise to God and comfort to one another!

            Except, what if David’s trusting expressions for the Lord are not what you and I might say to God? Or, about God? What if we think of the Lord as something other than a loving Shepherd? What other words do you and I have to describe our Shepherd? Strict? Angry? Distant? What about disapproving? Even, unforgiving? This is not the way that I came to know the Lord Jesus, as a child in Sunday school. I came to know Him as a loving Shepherd!

            One of my favorite commentators Carolyn Brown reminds us that “it is important to recognize that the Good Shepherd is a metaphor and children have a hard time with metaphors.  Studies show that most children do not develop the brain skill of transference that is necessary to understand metaphors until they are into adolescence.  But, the Bible and our worship is filled with metaphors.  I suspect that we help the children claim them when we carefully explore the details of a few key ones, expecting them to become familiar with the concrete part of the metaphor and some of the spiritual realities it embodies, but not fully making the connection until later.  The Good Shepherd is definitely one of those key metaphors. 

“Dr. Maria Montessori reports that while working in a children’s hospital she found that when she told sick children stories about the Good Shepherd using small wooden figures, they almost all grabbed the [shepherd] figure and held onto it “for keeps.”  So the Good Shepherd made sense to them in some way.” [1]

That is all very well, to talk about the Shepherd psalm as literature and as a metaphor. But, can I personalize this scripture reading, and get some meaning out of it for me? Where am I in this psalm? Where are you? Can we see ourselves in this scripture passage?

            Yes, I certainly can, and I hope you can, too. I can recognize myself throughout. David compares himself to a sheep, here, and the Lord God is the Good Shepherd. So, when I look at this psalm, I find I have no problem seeing myself as a sheep, too. If you imagine with me here, we can all identify as sheep in the flock that Jesus our Good Shepherd herds.

I want us to focus on one particular idea from verse 4 of this very personal psalm. “Even though I walk through the darkest valley . . . “  King David had some scary experiences, and downright dangerous ones, as well. Even though he had already been anointed as king by the prophet Samuel, there was a problem . . . in the person of King Saul. King Saul was still claiming to be king, and he sent his soldiers after David for a whole bunch of years. So, David was seriously on the run for his life, for a long time. He got into some really tight situations after being acknowledged as king by the people of Israel, too. He lost friends and family to illness and death. And I am sure he was scared over the years, much more than once or twice.

In the same way, it does not matter how strong of a believer you or I happen to be, it can be terrifying to walk in the darkest valley, whatever that dark valley of our life may be. Believers, whatever their personal or inner strength may be, cannot help but be frightened.

It is scary to walk through the dark valleys of life. I see people who are walking through some of life’s darkest valleys on a weekly basis, even on a daily basis. In my chaplain’s work at Unity Hospice, I meet with patients and their loved ones who at times are in denial, fearful, or angry. Sometimes, they even may be serene and accepting of that valley of shadow.

            Phillip Keller, a pastor who had also been a sheep farmer, or shepherd, for about eight years, wrote a book called A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23. Rev. Keller was brought up in East Africa, surrounded by native herders. Their manner of herding sheep was very similar to the way their counterparts in the Middle East herded sheep.

            In talking about this verse from the psalm, Rev. Keller mentions that a good shepherd knows every step of the rough terrain his sheep are likely to tread upon. The good shepherd knows the difficulties and the dangers of the land, as well as the easy places, the pleasant, sheltered places. That’s true, in our case, too. God knows where each of us has been, and where each of us is going. God knows our every step, and our every misstep, too. God goes ahead of us, to look over the terrain, and check out any adverse conditions. There are no surprises to God.

            So, is it any wonder that this psalm ends with the marvelous words “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” God knows where we have been, and God knows where each of us is going. And, God is right by our sides all the way. God will lead us home, no matter what. That is good news for all of us! Alleluia, amen.

[1] http://worshipingwithchildren.blogspot.com/2015/03/year-b-fourth-sunday-of-easter-april-26.html

@chaplaineliza

(Suggestion: visit me at my other blogs: matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers. #PursuePEACE – and  A Year of Being Kind . Thanks!

Get Up and Go!

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“Get Up and Go!”

Acts 9:1-9 (9:6) – May 1, 2022

            Wouldn’t it be marvelous to live back in Bible times? I mean, during the times when God actually demonstrated God’s power to us common folks? I suspect many people would really like to see heavenly light, hear Jesus’s voice, perhaps even be blinded – but only for three days. Are you – am I – kind of jealous of people back in the Bible, like the Apostle Paul? [1] He really and truly saw the risen Jesus face to face, and experienced His power, first-hand! What must that have been like? Absolutely marvelous!

            We can see people experience the power of God all over the Bible. This week, we take a close look at the Apostle Paul, when he came to know the Lord Jesus, up close and personal. The Rabbi Saul, as he was known, was faithful to his Lord Jehovah to an amazing degree. A Pharisee of the Pharisees by his own account, the Rabbi Saul had zeal to spare against the people he saw as upstart enemies of what he saw as the true faith – the Jewish faith.

The Church today knows the Apostle Paul as a pillar of the early church! How did this sudden change, this 180-degree turnaround, come about?

            What was the set-up of this narrative? “Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem.”

While he traveled around the country hauling these religious upstarts into custody, something absolutely extraordinary happened to Saul. We get a second-hand account from Dr. Luke here in Acts chapter 9. “As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”

This Greek word, an imperative verb in verse 3, is often omitted in translations. Literally, egeneto! One of Dr. Luke’s favorite words: “Then, it happens!” Another way of saying, “Wham!” This word signals the surprising entry of God into ordinary, every-day events! We see a heavenly light flash around Saul. [2]

Wow! Can you imagine? Just think, the risen Lord Jesus stopping you – me – in our tracks and throwing us to the ground. I would imagine that the Rabbi Saul is totally flummoxed by this astonishing train of events. I ask again. Are you jealous of people in the Bible – maybe even of the apostle Paul – for having such a dramatic confrontation with Jesus?

Let’s get back to the narrative. What happens next? 5 “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. 6 “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”

Wow! We can see that the command of the risen Jesus quickly cuts to the chase (9:6). “Get up and go into the city.” There is no argument or explanation, and one gets the sense that Saul’s objectives in the city of Damascus will be changed. The exact words of Jesus are “And you will be told what it is necessary for you to do” (translated from the original Greek).[3]

            As we examine this story more closely, first, we can be shocked and astounded with the Rabbi Saul. Thrown onto the ground by a bolt of lightning! Jesus enters into Saul’s life in a surprising new way. Jesus can enter into our lives in a very real and very sudden way, too.

            We are NOT living in Bible times today. You and I do NOT routinely have a Damascus road experience, like the Rabbi Saul. (Or, should I say the Apostle Paul?) Yes, we can see that Paul had a life-changing experience with the risen Jesus, just as we have been examining with others, in these weeks following Easter.

            Paul reminds his friends in Corinth, in 1 Corinthians 15 “Jesus was seen by Peter and then by the Twelve. After that, he was seen by more than 500 of his followers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. 7 Then he was seen by James and later by all the apostles. 8 Last of all, as though I had been born at the wrong time, I also saw him. 9 For I am the least of all the apostles.”

            We are not living in Bible times, but we can hear the words of Jesus, too. All we need to do is to open the Gospels. Jesus is speaking to us today just as much and just as clearly as He spoke to the disciples and the others hearing Him, 2000 years ago. What’s more, anyone can hear Jesus. What makes the difference is when we truly hear and respond to Jesus.

And, we can take Jesus’s words to heart. His command to Saul to “Get up and go!” gave Saul (now Paul) direction for the rest of his life. Can we take direction from that command? Be willing to go to new or unexpected places. Even down the street. Even across town. Even across the country.

            We see the Apostle Paul, who had a sudden 180-degree transformation in his life because of his encounter with the risen Lord Jesus. His life was never the same. What about you and me? Can our lives be transformed by Jesus, too? Perhaps not as radically altered, as when He sent the followers of Jesus as missionaries into far-flung places in the world. But maybe, our lives can be renewed. Perhaps we can see with new eyes. You and I are welcomed into renewed relationships because of our encounter with the risen Christ – today!

•We are called to get up and go – in the name of Jesus.

Alleluia, amen!

[1] http://worshipingwithchildren.blogspot.com/2013/03/year-c-third-sunday-of-easter-april-14.html

Worshiping with Children, Easter 3C, Including children in the congregation’s worship, using the Revised Common Lectionary, Carolyn C. Brown, 2013.

[2] https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/third-sunday-of-easter-3/commentary-on-acts-91-6-7-20-2

[3] Ibid.

@chaplaineliza

(Suggestion: visit me at my other blogs: matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers. #PursuePEACE – and  A Year of Being Kind . Thanks!

That You May Believe

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“That You May Believe”

John 20:19-20, 24-31 (20:30-31) – April 24, 2022

            Have you ever missed a really exciting event? Perhaps a big game or sports playoff? You had tickets, but at the last minute you got sick – or couldn’t go? And then, something really exciting happened at the game? Just recall what it felt like to miss out on something big like that! Frustrating, perhaps sad-making? Maybe you were even upset and angry? How do you think the disciple Thomas felt, missing out on the risen Jesus and His surprise first appearance?

            Let’s consider today’s narrative. John tells us in his Gospel: “Now Thomas (also known as Didymus, or “the Twin”), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But Thomas said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” I suspect Thomas was gently ridiculed by his friends for not believing. But, Jesus did not return to His disciples for a full week, either.

            I don’t blame Thomas one bit for wanting some verifiable evidence, evidence he could see with his own eyes. I mean, this story the other disciples told him – it was a wild story, to be sure! Wouldn’t you want to see proof of such a thing for yourself before you swallowed the story, hook, line and sinker?   

            Thomas has gotten a bad rap for centuries. Imagine, having the nickname “Doubting Thomas” hung around your neck! Whenever anyone brings up your name, everyone always goes back to that single instance in your life. We can change that up, and look at Thomas as someone who really wonders. Someone who is curious and honest! What else can we say about Thomas?

            If we remember, Thomas was the disciple who cared enough – who was passionate enough about what Jesus was saying – to interrupt Jesus! In John chapter 14, Thomas did not understand, and he stopped Jesus in the middle of a statement. Jesus welcomed Thomas’s question! And, I am certain that that was not the only time Thomas asked his Rabbi a question. Thomas was a sincere seeker, and he truly wanted to know. To understand. And, to have proof. This is a good reminder for all of us: There is no honest question God cannot handle.

            It is important for everyone to keep wondering, and to continue to ask honest, sincere questions! Do you remember how your children, grandchildren, nieces or nephews went through a time in their lives when they asked constant questions? “Why is the sky blue?” “How does the grass grow?” and “What kind of music does God like?”

Do you have questions for God? Is there a burning question you wish to ask Jesus, that you very much want to have answered? Perhaps a question about the whole Easter narrative, what we have been looking at during this Easter season? Remember, God has given us good minds and sensibilities, to help us figure things out in life. Even Godly things. God wants us to use our brains and celebrate our intelligence! Just like Thomas.

In the Upper Room, it’s like Jesus said, “Thomas, I know you don’t understand what is happening, But, whatever happens, I will be with you. You’ve got me.” It isn’t necessary to have a reasoned argument in every case – but we do need a faithful, loving presence, all the time. In Jesus, we have that!

            But, sometimes, people are scared to approach Jesus. Shy of pestering God. Are we straight forward? I mean, in terms of God? Thomas was! By the time Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, the Jewish authorities very much wanted to arrest the Rabbi Jesus. Thomas actually voiced the statement that going to Jerusalem was now a reckless, even foolish act. Thomas was a realist, and was not afraid to say what he meant, even when Jesus insisted He was going to Jerusalem anyway. Thomas finished that interaction with the bold, faithful statement, “Let us go and die with him.” Whatever else we say about Thomas, we can see how brave and loyal he was.

            Which brings us back to today’s reading from the Gospel of John. 26 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” 28 Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”

Thomas needed to see for himself. He needed concrete evidence. (as some people do!) After Jesus returned and invited Thomas to place his fingers in the scars, Thomas made the most stirring confession of faith in the New Testament: “My Lord and my God!” His skepticism – his realistic questioning – was turned to certain, true belief. That was Thomas’s statement of faith! Thomas the realist. Loyal, bold, brave Thomas.

            Let’s move from Thomas, who has been known as a doubter. (Even though he probably was not, as we can see from the Gospel record!) Let’s think about doubting, in general. Which of us has never, ever doubted in our lives? I suspect all of us have had a whole wilderness of doubts and uncertainties in our lives! What do we doubt? Are we ever unsure about Jesus and His claims? About Jesus and His presence right next to us? About God’s faithful love for us?  

            Perhaps Thomas’s confession cancels out his previous question in the Upper Room, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” Perhaps that is why John finishes chapter 20 with the words “30 Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31 But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”

            We can rejoice in the Resurrection! And, we can rejoice by believing in Jesus, the Resurrected One, and have life in His name – eternal life! Alleluia, amen!            

@chaplaineliza

(Suggestion: visit me at my other blogs: matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers. #PursuePEACE – and  A Year of Being Kind . Thanks!

(Thanks to Carolyn C. Brown and her excellent article Worshiping with Children, Easter 2C, Including children in the congregation’s worship, using the Revised Common Lectionary, Carolyn C. Brown, 2016. For this sermon, I took a number of ideas from her suggestions for the Gospel reading. Wonderful commentary, too!)

He Is Risen, Indeed!

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“He Is Risen, Indeed!”

Luke 24:1-12 (24:7-8) – April 17, 2022

            Have you ever experienced an awful happening? The worst day of your life? Crying until you feel you have no more tears to shed? The women who followed the Rabbi Jesus for several years just had that happen, on Good Friday.

            Let us try to see things through their eyes – the women who had faithfully followed Jesus for several years.  The women probably shared many of the burdens, the tasks, the logistics of getting a large group of people from place to place, with enough food supplies, and places to stay in the various towns throughout Palestine. Sure, they had heard the Rabbi Jesus say at various times that He would die. Perhaps even that He might be killed by the Roman authorities.

But, not like this! Not so soon! Everything ended in a way for which none of them were prepared. The women were brokenhearted and confused. Wouldn’t you be, too?  

I am now working as a hospice chaplain. I journey with families and loved ones through the most awful days and nights of their lives; this is part and parcel of what hospice chaplains do, on a regular basis. I talk with patients and families as they deal with very difficult situations, regularly. Sometimes I simply hold their hands, providing comforting ministry of presence. And, often times, that is enough. I wonder whether the women at the Cross had someone to do that for them? I wonder who came alongside of the women in their time of great grief?

Dr. Luke tells us “On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb.” He even lists some of the women who went: it was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them.

“The women who followed Jesus buried him so quickly, they could not put spices on his body. The next day was the Sabbath, so they rested as God commanded in his Law…. The women who followed Jesus performed a charitable work. Burying the dead was a social expectation.” So, part of what the women customarily would do at the grave or tomb of a loved one or relative is to prepare and anoint the body. This was a social custom and practice of the day. But, “what they saw stretched them far beyond their comfort zone and thrust them into a completely new realm.” [1]

What happened at that tomb on Easter Sunday was so miraculous, I cannot blame anyone for being filled with unbelief! Would you or I have immediately believed that God raised our teacher Jesus from the dead, after all of the pain and trauma of the previous 48 hours? Not to mention the tension and fear of the past week since Palm Sunday, with the Jewish and Roman authorities suspicious of any sign of sedition and disruption in Jerusalem?

Countless people throughout the centuries have contemplated this series of events of the Passion and death of our Lord Jesus, and have walked the Via Dolorosa, the path of the Cross with Him. Truly, this time of grieving and pain is where many people find themselves right now. As a chaplain, I feel great compassion for these dear people. I wish to let them know that Jesus comes alongside of them in their grief, in their loneliness, in their depression, and especially in the dark times – because Jesus Himself traveled through incredibly dark times.

Two thousand years after the fact, ministers around the world are preaching on this Easter morning. Many of these preachers work hard on their sermons, knowing that they will have the opportunity to speak to people who do not usually attend worship services on a regular basis. And truly, today’s Easter celebration holds the Greatest Story Ever Told. Except, I am reminded that some may say “Alleluia!” quietly, even through grief, loss and very personal sadness.

Sometimes, it is enough for us to open our hearts and our hands gently, in praise, in our pews or in our homes. Other times, the glory and majesty of an Easter celebration service is exactly what people need. Neither way of worship is “wrong,” and any praise and gratitude to God is always welcome!

Dr. Luke tells us that Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them had a simple message, a profound statement about this miracle they reported to the men disciples. “I have seen the Lord!” “It’s hard to imagine a better sermon than Mary Magdalene’s on that first Easter morning. Short and memorable and to the point. Easily fits on the church sign for all to see. Sure, [preachers] may need to flesh it out a little because people expect an Easter sermon to be longer than one sentence, but not that much.” [2]

And, the best thing about this simple statement is that we can praise God, wherever we are at the moment. We can come before the Lord with loud acclimation, or with quiet meditation. We can thank our Lord Jesus for all that He did and all that He is.

The great Good News of the risen Christ is simple and straightforward And, yes! We can all proclaim that He is risen! Christ is risen, indeed! Our Lord Jesus conquered death, once for all. The best news in the universe is this: Jesus Christ still lives! He reigns forever and ever.

A church I attended years ago closed every Easter service with the “Hallelujah Chorus” from Handel’s “Messiah.” Whether we proclaim it loudly or meditate on it quietly in our hearts, Jesus now reigns as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Hallelujah! Amen!

@chaplaineliza

(Suggestion: visit me at my other blogs: matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers. #PursuePEACE – and  A Year of Being Kind . Thanks!

[1] http://www.word-sunday.com/Files/Seasonal/EasterVigil/A-EasterVigil-c.html

“Life on the Edge,” Larry Broding’s Word-Sunday.Com: A Catholic Resource for This Sunday’s Gospel.

[2] https://www.workingpreacher.org/dear-working-preacher/true-resurrection

“True Resurrection,” Karoline Lewis, Dear Working Preacher, 2016.

All We Have Gone Astray

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“All We Have Gone Astray”

Isaiah 53:1-7 (53:6) – April 15, 2022

            On this day – this night – of Good Friday, we finish our Lenten journey. We walk the way of Jesus, to the Cross. This bitter, grievous Biblical event and the other heartbreaking parts of the Passion are widely depicted in art and music. Music is so important to me, and I relate to much of the musical settings of the Passion and of Good Friday.

            This Passion Week can be overwhelming. Today’s story is the big story to which all the rest of the week has been leading us. As we walk (or listen) through these stories, I encourage you to take them one at a time. I invite all of us to focus on that one part; pray and meditate on the event depicted.

            What songs, what hymns, what pieces of music come to your mind as you think of this bitter event in our Lord Jesus’s time here on earth? Musical settings of Scripture come to my mind right now. I am especially remembering George Frederic Handel and the second section of his oratorio “Messiah.” All have words of Scripture, and all are gorgeous musical settings.

            Nancy read a portion of Isaiah 53 just now, and this Scripture is found in three choruses, which follow each other in quick succession in Part II of the “Messiah.” I sang in the chorus of music majors at the undergrad college I attended. Each year we sang “Messiah,” and singing this masterpiece was one of the highlights of my school years there.

            The lyrics of the first chorus? “Surely He hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows. He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities.” I invite you to enter into the profound grief of this Scripture reading. As He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, we can receive and attempt to understand what our Lord Jesus bore. He bore it all for our sakes.   

            The second chorus is somber and incredibly moving. “And with His stripes we are healed.” I am led to consider my own unrighteousness. Jesus took the sins of the world upon Himself. Through the events of that arrest and trials on Thursday night and Friday morning, Jesus was beaten. Somehow, a healing comes from the stripes, the bitter lashes in some way. It is so difficult to contemplate, but the book of Isaiah tells us it was for our corporate healing.

            The third chorus from Part II: “All we like sheep have gone astray.” The lightness of the opening of the chorus is fitting for sheep, gamboling about in green pastures. Musically, they go every which way, as the bright lines of polyphony lead us in separate directions. Yet, the homophonic finish brings us all to a sharp realization. The Lord has indeed laid on Jesus Christ the iniquity of us all.

            As a result of our Lord taking upon Himself our iniquity, “we are no longer defined by our sin, our iniquities, our sorrows, our transgressions. All are defined by Christ’s death. God’s mercy revealed in the ugliness of Christ’s crucifixion defines us all.” [1]

            We have a postscript, a coda on the life of George Frederic Handel. A few days before Handel died, he expressed his desire to die on Good Friday, “in the hopes of meeting his good God, his sweet Lord and Savior, on the day of his Resurrection.” He lived until the morning of Good Saturday, April 14, 1759. His death came only eight days after his final performance, at which he had conducted his masterpiece, “Messiah.” Handel was buried in Westminster Abbey, with over three thousand in attendance at his funeral. A statue erected there shows him holding the manuscript for the solo that opens part III of “Messiah,” “I know that my Redeemer liveth.” [2]

            Yes, the events of Good Friday are bitter and overwhelming. Yet, we can remember Christ bears all our iniquities. Christ gives us His righteousness freely. As the statue standing watch by Handel’s grave testifies, “I know that my Redeemer liveth.”

Through Jesus Christ, His Passion, and death, and Resurrection, we are forgiven! Believe the Good News of the Gospel! Amen, and amen.

[1] https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/good-friday/commentary-on-isaiah-5213-5312-8

[2] https://revelationcentral.com/the-story-of-handels-messiah/

@chaplaineliza

(Suggestion: visit me at my other blogs: matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers. #PursuePEACE – and  A Year of Being Kind . Thanks!

In Remembrance

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“In Remembrance”

1 Corinthians 11:23-26 (11:24) – April 14, 2022

          Many people wonder about Maundy Thursday. Some know it is a part of Holy Week, the final week when Jesus was on earth. It’s also called Holy Thursday, the day that Jesus washed His disciples’ feet. But, many people are not even sure about what “Maundy” means, anyway? “Maundy” comes from the Latin word mandatum (or commandment). It’s used for our Lord Jesus’ words “I give you a new commandment,” spoken at that Passover dinner on the night before the Crucifixion. In other words, commemorated tonight.            

This service tonight is not just for adults – by no means! One of my favorite biblical commentators is Carolyn Brown, a retired Presbyterian Children’s Ministry Director. She notes that, sadly, many congregations do not encourage children or even young people to attend these Holy Week services. “The fact that it is on a school night makes it easy to decide that children will not be able to come and therefore to neither plan for their presence nor encourage them and their families to come.  After a few years of such expectations it takes more than one or two “children are welcome” notes to reverse the trend.” [1]

We are going to celebrate the Lord’s Supper tonight, as is celebrated at many churches. Many congregations and churches do not include children in observing Communion! Why on earth did this happen? Paul reminded his readers that our Lord Jesus commanded His disciples – His followers – to partake or participate in the Lord’s Supper. And, whenever we partake, we do this in remembrance of Jesus! Meals and memory do get all tied up together, don’t they?

Paul wrote to his friends and former church members when he wrote the letters to the Corinthian church. This was a church that was fighting. The congregation members had some serious issues! Looking at Paul’s letter as a whole, people were bickering, arguing, and sometimes even bringing lawsuits against each other. And in the middle of all of Paul’s advice to the church members, he puts this marvelous assurance of the presence of the risen Lord Jesus! Paul also corrects some other practices, like eating in joint congregational meals.

“The supper of unity has become one of disunity. As Paul says, “When the time comes to eat, each of you goes ahead with your own supper, and one goes hungry and another becomes drunk . . . do you show contempt for the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing?” (11: 21-22) The major conflict is between the “haves” and “have-nots,” the rich and the poor, revealing the socioeconomic tension at the Corinthian table.” [2] 
          Talk about problems in the church today! Differences between the “haves” and “have-nots,” conflict between believers of different languages, leaving out the children and the young people, plus fighting between people who have differing (even conflicting) beliefs about the meaning of the Lord’s Supper! What sort of joining together, or unifying demonstration of followers of Jesus Christ is this?

Stories are important on this night. The key story we highlight is the bread and cup of the Last Supper.  But, the failure of the church in Corinth to gather as a loving community to celebrate communion is also important! And, we all need to remember the commemoration of the Passover dinner is also part of this special night. Meals and memory are important!

In the letter to the Corinthian church, “Paul is not talking about the Lord’s Supper as a liturgical rite in a church building. At this point in history, there were no separate buildings for Christian worship. The Lord’s Supper was a meal eaten by a community in private homes, pot-luck style. The Lord’s Supper happened as part of the common meal.” [3]

In fact, some churches do celebrate Communion on special occasions in this way – commonly called a Love Feast, congregations gather around a table for a meal. They break bread with one another, with the Lord’s Supper as a highlight of this meal.

Paul had a concern for the proper eating and drinking of the Eucharist at this first-century common meal: “For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.” Equally important, Paul wants us to recognize the body of Christ in our brothers and sisters. “To properly discern the body at the table means that we cannot come while leaving others uninvited and unwelcomed, or without mourning their absence. We cannot leave the table and be content to leave anyone hungry. To discern the body in the Supper will send us into the world with new eyes and new hearts, to encounter Christ there.” [4]

We come to the Communion table for a whole host of reasons, then! We give a clear invitation to families to join all God’s people! Everyone hears the stories of the most important days of the year and celebrates this holy sacrament that was introduced on that night.  Remember, “the Eucharist has added power on Maundy Thursday.  Just to be there participating in the sacrament on this night says that I am one of God’s people.”  All of us are God’s people!  Because each of us are welcomed at this table, I belong. You belong. God extends a welcome to each one of us.

Who would Jesus welcome to His table? Each one. Every one. Even you, even me. Amen! 

[1] http://worshipingwithchildren.blogspot.com/2014/02/year-holy-or-maundy-thursday-april-17.html

[2] http://www.theafricanamericanlectionary.org/PopupLectionaryReading.asp?LRID=67

[3] Ibid.

[4] https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/maundy-thursday/commentary-on-1-corinthians-1123-26-12

@chaplaineliza

(Suggestion: visit me at my other blogs: matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers. #PursuePEACE – and  A Year of Being Kind . Thanks!

Blessed Is the One Who Comes!

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“Blessed Is the One Who Comes!”

Luke 19:28-40 (19:38) – April 10, 2022

            The Palm Sunday procession is a much-loved tradition in many churches. Some churches get the whole congregation involved! Have you ever been in a Palm Sunday procession? I have, when my older children were small. Families were encouraged to march together that year. The whole congregation was invited to participate!

            Have you ever thought of what Jesus might do if He were making a Palm Sunday procession today? If Jesus were to ride into our town today, what would be His means of transportation? How would Jesus enter the city? Perhaps a big, shiny black SUV, surrounded by His security personnel? (I mean, His disciples?) I leave that to you to think about.

            From all the descriptions of the Palm Sunday Triumphant Entry in all four Gospels, this big procession is what we are looking at today in our scripture passage. Except, Jesus did not ride a big white horse when He rode into town. That is exactly what a powerful king would have done, in Jesus’s day! What, a donkey-riding king? How ridiculous!

Let’s take a closer look. Here’s the situation: It’s almost Passover, the most important religious observance of the year. A great number of faithful Jews from near and far come to Jerusalem, in pilgrimage, in commemoration of the exodus event.  

Jesus comes, too. He publicly, intentionally enters Jerusalem, even though the religious leaders are not very pleased with Him or what He has been doing for the past few years. Even though Luke does not mention the prophecy in the book of Zechariah (which the other Gospels do), Jesus’s disciples must have known about the prophecy of an entry into Jerusalem riding on a donkey. This was clearly a scene with “Messiah” written all over it.  

This Sunday is the last Sunday in Lent, and the last petition in the Lord’s Prayer we examine. This Sunday, we highlight “for Thine is the kingdom, and the power and the glory, forever!” What more appropriate day to highlight this petition? Today is the day that many people in Jerusalem welcome their King, their Messiah. And Jesus does not sneak into the city, all hush-hush. No! He comes in with a procession. With crowds of people waving palms and shouting “Hosanna!” and “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!”

What is the meaning of those cries of “Hosanna” and “Blessed is the King?” If we look at Psalm 118, we’ll find these words written by the psalmist. This was the usual Passover greeting one person would give another, except with the addition of the word “King.” And just to let you all know, the majority of the crowd in Jerusalem on that Palm Sunday morning understood what they were quoting—they were intentionally welcoming someone they hoped would be their Messiah, their King! Someone who would save them from the awful situation they were in.

            There was a disconnect between the people and their limited understanding, and what Jesus actually was going to do. But I’m getting ahead of myself by rushing on to later in Holy Week. We are still here on Palm Sunday. And many people are still excited to welcome the Rabbi Jesus—their hoped-for Messiah—into the city. They are hoping He will save them from the Romans and maybe, possibly, become their King. Except they had an earthly King in mind, an earthly, powerful Messiah!

Let’s read on in our scripture passage for today. Dr. Luke makes another striking statement. He starts to mention “peace.” “Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest!” What on earth is Luke mentioning “peace” for?

This sentence is an echo of the Gloria in excelsis Deo that the angels—the heavenly host—sang at the birth of the baby Jesus, several decades before. I know the heavenly host gave the shepherds good news of great joy, but wouldn’t that be good news for anybody? I know that was good news at the time Jesus was born, but isn’t that good news for today, as well? Peace? Glory in the highest? The difference is that at Jesus’s birth, it was peace on earth. Now, the crowd is saying “Peace in heaven.”

            When Jesus enters Jerusalem, the crowd prays for peace in heaven. But, the coming of Jesus causes a division. It causes anything but peace on earth. The theologian Tom Mullen in his book Laughing Out Loud and Other Religious Experiences makes this statement about his denomination the Society of Friends: “They work for peace — and if you really want to cause conflict, you work for peace” So it was for the Rabbi Jesus—the Messiah Jesus riding into Jerusalem. For all that Jesus wanted to bring peace, His message created division, tension, and crisis—as seen by the violent reaction of the religious leaders.

            Thank God, Jesus is more powerful than any division, any tension, any crisis. He entered the city not as an earthly King, not as a conqueror, not to set up a nationalistic empire, but as the True Redeemer of Israel. And not of just Israel, but also of the whole world. This Holy Week is where all of the prophecies focus to a fine point, and reveal the Rabbi Jesus as not only the Messiah and King, but also as the Suffering Servant. The Lamb of God, sent to take away the sins of the world.

            As we remember this Passover time, this Holy Week, we can thank God that our Lord Jesus did enter Jerusalem. As a King, as a Messiah, yes! But, also as our Redeemer and Savior. Praise God, Jesus is our Redeemer and Savior, just as much as He was Redeemer and Savior for that crowd at the procession in Jerusalem on that Palm Sunday. In the first century, Jesus came to save His people from their sins. Even today, Jesus wants us to know He came to save people from their sins. Praise God, He came to save you and me, too! Amen! And amen!

@chaplaineliza

(Suggestion: visit me at my other blogs: matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers. #PursuePEACE – and  A Year of Being Kind . Thanks!