Tag Archives: God’s heart

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God-Given Gifts!

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“God-Given Gifts!”

1 Corinthians 12:12-27 (12:12) – January 26, 2025

At this time of the year, many people get all excited about sports. Hockey, basketball, and especially football. The end of the football season is upon us! There are many different types of positions on a football team. I was wondering: how good would a team be if all of the players were big and bulky, like offensive linemen? Or, how about if all the players wiry and nimble, like wide receivers? How successful would a team like that be? 

The Apostle Paul told the church in Corinth about another group, or team. Except, he called it a body—God’s Body. God put together all the different believers into a team, or body called the church. God’s team. When we consider our Bible reading for today, we can also see that God made different kinds of gifts. God’s plan is for human beings to live together in one body. That is, with one another, in a great big community, in all its colorful diversity.

What on earth is Paul talking about? A body? Why is he mentioning a metaphor like that? He was responding to a letter from the church in the city of Corinth. He had spent a number of months in the city, teaching and preaching. Then, he went on his way to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ to other cities. He was an itinerant preacher and missionary, after all.  I suspect Paul had a great number of people sending him letters, asking him questions, wanting his advice about continuing problems in the various churches he had founded. A number of big things were the matter with the church in Corinth. In his letter, Paul tried to correct several issues, including this important issue about spiritual gifts, and unity in the church.

What is the background of today’s reading? One chapter before, in chapter 11, Paul offers instruction on public worship. He deals with the believers in church acting inappropriately, and lets them know they ought to straighten up, and be unified – together! Then, in chapter 12, Paul continues the theme of unity – except he brings in the wonderful concept of spiritual gifts in the Church. Diversity of spiritual gifts, given to each member of the Church, of the Body of Christ.

That is not just a few members, or only some members of the Church. It is not even most members of the Church. God gives gifts to ALL members of the Church, of the Body of Christ. Each person in the Church, no matter who, no matter where they are from, is a beloved member of the Body of Christ. That is the Church Universal, and God gives gifts to all.

Not just the church on this side of Morton Grove, not just the church that holds their worship services in English, not just the church that has people who “look like us.” No, each individual person is beloved, and is given a share in the diverse gifts of the worldwide Body of Christ. Can you, can I possibly imagine the diversity in that worldwide body? And, can you, can I possibly begin to understand that God is so pleased when we all, worldwide, agree together and act and worship and live together in unity as a loving Body of Christ?

We all are probably familiar with a popular children’s toy. Put out by Hasbro, small children have played with it for decades. Made even more famous by an appearance in Toy Story movies from Pixar. Mr. Potato Head, accompanied by his partner, Mrs. Potato Head, of course. You remember how Mr. Potato Head works. A large potato. And, the separate parts of the body: eyes, ears, nose, mouth. Hands, feet.

Reminds me of the Apostle Paul’s metaphor of the Church, the body of Christ, doesn’t it? But what if our Potato Head had all eyes, and no hands? Or, all ears and no feet? What then? Lopsided? Wouldn’t work properly? Just imagine if our local church, St. Luke’s Church, was all lopsided like this? Wouldn’t work properly? Not only is the Church meant to have unity, and work well together, it is also made up of diverse or different parts, on purpose!

            Looking back at Genesis, we can see that diversity is definitely in God’s plan for humanity from the very beginning. The sheer creativity of God in creation is so big and so varied. A countless variety of individuals made in every size, shape, color, ethnicity. Having endless variations of gifts and abilities that God gave to each of us.

This is a recurring problem in Corinth – the people were convinced that some people and some gifts were better than others. They completely missed Paul’s repeated statements that God gives a multitude of diverse gifts and abilities to all of God’s beloved, diverse church members! Not that some church members were better, or more popular, or had a greater gift than everyone else. No! Paul states plainly that every person counts! Every gift counts, and every single person in each of their lovely, multi-colored, multicultural diversity is beloved of God. What is more, has received God’s spiritual gifts for free use in the multi-colored, multicultural Body of Christ!

Yes, tension and division and racism and enmity exist – all within the Body of Christ. I cannot even imagine how that breaks God’s heart, knowing that churches on one side of town are arguing with churches on the other side of town. Or, that some churches are ignoring the plain words of the prophet Micah to do justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with our God. Or, ignoring the plain words of Jesus to be merciful to the powerless and the least of these.

Yes, in today’s uncertain times, the Church has “tensions from within and without which are bringing doubt and confusion to the Body as we face the challenges of the near and distant future.” [1] Thank God we have a firm foundation on which we all stand. Thank God we have the words of Paul here in 1 Corinthians calling us to unity under God, rejoicing in our diversity with all the multi-colored, multicultural people of God, worldwide.

Yes, each of us is different from each other. And, yes, we are all one in Christ Jesus. We can celebrate that blessed both/and reality today! Just imagine what a marvelous job each Church could do, if each member used what God has freely given to each one, to the best of their ability! What an opportunity for ministry and outreach!

What possibilities lie before us as a church, as the Body of Christ in this place? May each of us prayerfully ask today what God would have us to do with the gifts and abilities God has given each of us.  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.churchofscotland.org.uk/worship/weekly-worship/monthly/2025-january/sunday-26-january-2025-third-sunday-after-epiphany-year-c

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God Cares for Us

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“God Cares for Us!”

Isaiah 46:3-9 – July 9, 2023

            I have wonderful memories of being a mom of small children. I would be fascinated to see their endless awe, wonder and amazement. Small children love discovery and inquiry, they love Finding Out New Things. With discovery and exploring come the possibility for falling down, bumping elbows and skinning knees. Not to mention falling flat on your face! I remember washing the dirt off various owies, putting band-aids on knees, fingers and elbows. Sometimes, a small person would climb up in my lap, ready to rest and be cuddled.

            Here in Isaiah 46, we listen to the prophet talk about the Lord. Listen to this message for the remnant of the nation of Israel: ““Listen to me, descendants of Jacob, all you who remain in Israel. I have cared for you since you were born. Yes, I carried you before you were born. 4 I will be your God throughout your lifetime—until your hair is white with age. I made you, and I will care for you. I will carry you along and save you.”

            Except, this is a different image of God than we have heard about in other parts of the book of Isaiah. As we have said during the past few weeks, not a strong, mighty, and fearsome Deliverer! No! Instead, we have a another, different view of our Lord. This image is nurturing, warm and mothering.

            I don’t know if anyone here remembers baby slings? A long piece of fabric or material that mothers use to carry their small (and even not so small) infants right near their hearts. And sometimes, as with indigenous mothers, they might carry the child on their backs, secured in a sling of fabric. What a caring, comforting way to carry an infant close to a mom’s heart!

            This image from Isaiah 46 is similar – nurturing and comforting! The God of Israel is “carrying” God’s people close to God’s heart. Like a mother, who carries the child in her uterus for nine months, and afterwards carries it close to her heart. When the prophet actually wrote these words, it had to have a powerful effect upon the nation of Israel. Imagine, actually feeling that God bore them up, and held both them and their burdens close to God’s heart!  

            As we reflect upon our powerful God, God is also creative and caring. We can see that the Lord does not simply wind up the world or the universe like a huge watch, put it down on a forgotten shelf and then go away for centuries, even eons. Remember, verse 4 tells us “4 I will be your God throughout your lifetime—until your hair is white with age. I made you, and I will care for you. I will carry you along and save you.”

            Just as the nation of Israel is reminded that they have experienced God’s power by constant benefits, as John Calvin’s commentary on Isaiah tells us, but God diffuses power – and creativity – through all God’s creatures, so that everyone feels God’s strength and energy. As well as Divine caring and salvation! [1]

            This metaphor used in verses 3 and 4 is so expressive. Who has not seen a pregnant mother, or a mother with a young infant? God compares Godself to a mother who carries a baby in her uterus. We hear the Lord speaking of times past, when humans were (and still are) given testimonies of God’s grace! We all can be thankful and grateful that God nourishes not only the people of Israel, but God nourishes us, too! That is, if we are okay with thinking of ourselves as babies and young children in our nurturing, caring God’s lap.

            Alyson Rockhold writes in her article on Isaiah “I sense God’s arms wrapping around me. I hear a gentle invitation to lay down my weary head. In my mind’s eye, I imagine God patting my hair like a mother comforts an overwrought child. It is in intimate moments like this that I experience the mothering God. As a child, I would run to my mother with every skinned knee and broken heart. Her acceptance was total, and her presence never failed to soothe me. Now I’m grown, and an ocean separates my home from hers. Still, in moments of sadness and struggle, I long to feel like a child in my mother’s arms: completely loved and totally accepted. I rediscover this in the Lord’s embrace.” [2]

            In past weeks, this sermon series has focused on Scriptural images of God that are not the usual images put forward. Even referring to God as “mother” might stretch our Divine vocabulary! God as spirit, yes! I would like all of us to think about widening our understanding of God. God is a divine Being beyond male and female, since male and female we all were created in God’s image, in the beginning.

            Here in this summer sermon series, we look at a dozen instances where the Scripture clearly uses feminine imagery and metaphor to explain how God relates to us! We are certainly not referring to any sort of Mother Goddess, or ancient fertility symbol. I know that kind of earthy worship involved agriculture, fertility, sexuality, and even temple prostitutes.

No, this is definitely not what we are focusing on! Neither am I only glorifying God as “Father,” putting human fatherhood and the Divine as Heavenly Father on some sort of lofty, unreachable pedestal. No! As we can see, the Scriptures “consistently merge the images and metaphors of the fatherly God with motherly compassion and love,” [3] as these Scriptural and maternal images tell us repeatedly. Both fatherly and motherly images of our God.

            I encourage all of us to pray with these images. We can all come before God in prayer, climbing up into the Lord’s loving, nurturing lap. Not only can we be grateful for mothering and nurturing of earthly mothers and those who care for us as mothers, around the world.  We can also be thankful for our ever present, sustaining and caring God. Join me in bringing thanks to our Lord for God’s enduring, everlasting care and nurture.

No matter how big or small we are, no matter how grown-up or childlike we may be, we all can say “thank You, 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.studylight.org/commentaries/eng/cal/isaiah-46.html

[2] https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2021/05/09/god-mother-faith-prayer-240581

[3] https://juniaproject.com/biblical-maternal-images-for-god/  

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Godly Seeing

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“Godly Seeing”

 

1 Sam 16-7 The Lord Looks at the Heart

1 Samuel 16:1-13 – March 22, 2020

What does a hero look like? Can we describe them? Are they good-looking? Strong or attractive? How much does their image and appearance affect us? How much does what someone looks like cause us to judge that person—positively or negatively? These are all great questions, and questions I’d like us to explore today.

Let’s get right to our Scripture reading. We look at King Saul. Saul had done some really unwise things.  We see the prophet Samuel directed by God to anoint a new king of Israel. Samuel is hesitant…because Saul is still king! However, Samuel is instructed to go to the town of Bethlehem under cover of deception, to the house of Jesse, supposedly to make an animal sacrifice to God.  That is the background of the story thus far.

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 king! 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. He made some very unwise choices, acted foolishly, and God finally rejected him as the king of Israel.

When Samuel met with Jesse and his sons, Samuel looked them up and down. He thought he knew which one God had chosen. The one who appeared big, and tall, broad-shouldered and good-looking. That was the one the Lord wanted, wasn’t it? Or—was it? Did Samuel have discerning eyes? Could he see what God sees?

The writer of 1 Samuel particularly highlights the words “see” and “appearance.” “In the Hebrew, the verb ‘to see’ occurs three times in v. 7 while the noun ‘appearance’ is related to the verb ‘see’. The focus is on how one sees when choosing leaders, and especially on how the Lord ‘sees’ as compared to how humans see. The Lord ‘sees the heart.’” [1]

It was just as true when King Saul was chosen as it is today. Just think of the superhero movies—and television shows, and comic books—that are so popular in recent years. We just do not see any skinny, scrawny runts as superheroes. No, it’s all about the outward appearance. That is the all-important factor for human beings today. Plus, add some handsome or beautiful attributes, and we have a definite winner.

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.

We settle for the outward appearance, for what we think the “image” of a king ought to be. However, the Lord looks on the heart. The heart has to do with our will, our attributes, and our internal character. God chose David because David had shown he was a person after God’s own heart. God chose David because David had bright possibilities even when others could not see them.

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? Are you 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.  

It’s amazing to know that the Lord sees inside each of us, down to the “real person” inside. Let us pray that our hearts become like God’s heart, more and more, each day.

 

(I would like to thank Dr. Bruce Birch. For this sermon, I have borrowed several extended ideas from his commentary on 1 Samuel 16:1-13 from The New Interpreter’s Bible Commentary, Vol 2. Abingdon Press, Nashville, 1998.)

@chaplaineliza

(Suggestion: visit me at my regular blog for 2020: matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers. #PursuePEACE – and my other blog,  A Year of Being Kind . Thanks!

[1] http://hwallace.unitingchurch.org.au/WebOTcomments/LentA/Lent4A1Sam16.html

The Old Testament Readings: Weekly Comments on the Revised Common Lectionary, Theological Hall of the Uniting Church, Melbourne, Australia.