tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25157598329354968602024-03-05T11:44:37.637-06:00Potens VerbumMy reflections on Bible readings and other spiritual writing.Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01826454546003053870noreply@blogger.comBlogger232125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2515759832935496860.post-74639139816873860522014-12-14T22:47:00.000-06:002014-12-14T22:47:07.179-06:00Joy Fills<div class="MsoNormal">
Isaiah 6:1-4, 8-11<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Psalm 126<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
1 Thessalonians 5:16-24<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
John 1:6-8, 19-28<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
After the
first few days beginning the exploration of joy, we read scriptures that
revealed the anticipation of the coming of the Lord truly cut both ways.
Anticipation can possess both worry and relief. Those with worry recognized the
coming as due date for a debt they could not pay. Those who anticipated with a
sense of relief knew the coming of the Lord would free them from the injustice
of the leadership. With his arrival, the covenant they had with God from
Abraham and Moses would again rule and the land would again be just. In Isaiah we get the promise of a new
covenant that will be for eternity - because it relies on God, not human
reliability.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For that
reason we turn away from our focus of mourning for and looking to the past. On
this Sunday, in particular, we look to the future with great excitement because
of the promise of the new covenant. We do not carry the anxiety of judgment, we
look forward to the chance to spend eternity in a world that is guided by
justice. After a lifetime of botched justice as we try to understand and live a
God character, experiencing pure justice gets me excited.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The lesson of
turning away from a past that cannot be changed toward a future of promise is a
lesson we should take away from the season and use all year long. Living as God
would have us live and focusing on the future that comes with it gives us many
reasons to celebrate. How different would our worship and daily lives be if we
lived in perpetual joy instead of mournful reflection?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The most exciting
part of the joy described in Isaiah is its composition. It is not a head joy.
It is not a heart joy. It is a joy that overtakes the entire body. The image of
a garden in the spring sending forth its shoots helps us see the totality of
its nature. We should be vehicles of joy. Little else does to us what joy can.
Fear paralyzes. Grief consumes. Love confuses. But joy - joy fills!<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Joyful, joyful we adore thee! Let's mean it when we sing it.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01826454546003053870noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2515759832935496860.post-37889817916717928492014-12-11T22:54:00.000-06:002014-12-11T22:54:16.017-06:00Advent: December 11<div class="MsoNormal">
Psalm 126<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Habakkuk 2:1-5<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Philippians 3:7-11<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The tone changes
as we begin the week pondering the joy we expect at Christ’s return. Also
common across the passages this week, though, is a sense of dread for some at
the accompanying calamity that is sure to come for them.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In Habakkuk, a
watchman stands guard at his station, anxiously awaiting the coming one,
actively anticipating the coming one. If there were any action he could take to
make it happen sooner, he would do it.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Why is the
experience so different for the watchman and the others, the ones never
satisfied? It is all about the relationship to the one coming. It is all about
the relationship. The watchman waits for one dear to him. The others wait for
someone with the hopes of what they may get from him.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
How are we
waiting? With exuberant anticipation? With resigned disappointment? The way we
wait may determine the Lord we encounter.<o:p></o:p></div>
Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01826454546003053870noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2515759832935496860.post-42708638984821370942014-12-11T01:18:00.001-06:002014-12-11T01:18:09.070-06:00Advent: December 10<div class="MsoNormal">
Psalm 27<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Malachi 2:10-3:1<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Luke 1:5-17<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Why then are
we faithless to one another?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Malachi goes
there, finally, on the last day of the week examining peace. The bulk of Bible
text serves two purposes: 1) telling us how to get along with one another and
2) telling us how to get along with God – which usually involves us getting
along with one another.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
God made our
differences just as he created us all in his image. The prophet’s plea rings as
strong today as ever. Throngs take to the streets against injustice.
Revolutions topple abusive, privileged dictators. Around the world violence
rages as the people seek peace.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
We, the
faithful, have our role in it all, but we also know that after the cleansing
purge, peace follows.<o:p></o:p></div>
Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01826454546003053870noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2515759832935496860.post-65847384977909812142014-12-09T20:58:00.000-06:002014-12-09T20:58:53.464-06:00Advent: December 9<div class="MsoNormal">
Psalm 27<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Isaiah 4:2-6<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Acts 11:1-18<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Isaiah presents
one of the various pictures in the Old Testament of the eternally restored
Jerusalem, with the people resting in the shadow of God’s presence. There is no
need, no distress, only one of the purest depictions of peace found in the
Scriptures. But before that peace rules, it goes through a violent, fiery purge
erasing all trace of wickedness ever in the land. No memorials remain, no
landmarks to remind, only the ever-visible, sheltering presence of the Lord to
keep His people at peace.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Such a pretty
picture – eventually.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But why does
God have to park Himself over even these, the best, the ones written in the
book of life as the Great Chaperone in the Sky? How weak? How flawed are we
that only His unfaltering presence keeps us from harming one another.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
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Lord, help us
know peace. A better peace. Help us become a better peace.<o:p></o:p></div>
Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01826454546003053870noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2515759832935496860.post-85597489885706992022014-12-08T04:46:00.002-06:002014-12-08T04:46:34.506-06:00Advent - December 8<div class="MsoNormal">
Psalm 27<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Isaiah 26:7-15<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Acts 2:37-42<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Dictionary
definitions indicate that <a href="file:///C:/Users/Roy/Documents/My%20Weblog%20Posts/Potens%20Verbum/2014%20-%202015/Advent/December%208.docx#_edn1" name="_ednref1" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[i]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>peace
is the normal state of affairs for nations and peoples. Headlines, social
media, day-to-day live seem filled with disturbance. It may not be war, but it
certainly is not peace. The call for justice from Isaiah rings especially true
following events of the last few weeks. We too long for your justice to restore
order to out land<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div>
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<div id="edn1">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/Roy/Documents/My%20Weblog%20Posts/Potens%20Verbum/2014%20-%202015/Advent/December%208.docx#_ednref1" name="_edn1" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[i]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> <span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">peace. Dictionary.com.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><i>Dictionary.com
Unabridged</i>. Random House, Inc.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/peace"><span style="background: white; color: #116699; font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode","sans-serif";">http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/peace</span></a><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;"> </span><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">(accessed: December 08, 2014).</span></span><o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
</div>
Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01826454546003053870noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2515759832935496860.post-25294507992869882512014-12-08T01:12:00.003-06:002014-12-08T01:12:30.767-06:00Peace Follows<div class="MsoNormal">
Isaiah 40:1-11<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
2 Peter 3:8-15<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Mark 1:1-8<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This week I
have had very little <a href="file:///C:/Users/Roy/Documents/My%20Weblog%20Posts/Potens%20Verbum/2014%20-%202015/Advent/December%207%20-%20Peace%20Follows.docx#_edn1" name="_ednref1" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-size: 12.5pt;">[i]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">peace</span> (D6) as I sought peace in the
scripture passages for the week. Close examination was not getting me there,
and neither was any word analysis. I finally figured it out. The passages this
week have been leading <i>to</i> peace which
is what happens after a restoration to a right relationship with God.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Peace follows.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We prepare the
roads and clear the paths for God’s arrival and then peace follows.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We level some
hills and fill some valleys and then peace follows.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
God does not
demand that everything be right and perfect in our lives; no one is capable of
meeting that standard. We need to provide the access point and then God
follows.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<br />
<div>
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<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/Roy/Documents/My%20Weblog%20Posts/Potens%20Verbum/2014%20-%202015/Advent/December%207%20-%20Peace%20Follows.docx#_ednref1" name="_edn1" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[i]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> <span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">peace. Dictionary.com.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Dictionary.com Unabridged</i>.
Random House, Inc.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><a href="http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/peace"><span style="background: white; color: #116699; font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode","sans-serif";">http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/peace</span></a><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;"> </span></span><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">(accessed: December 07, 2014)</span><o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
</div>
Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01826454546003053870noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2515759832935496860.post-33594595705595590832014-12-06T16:21:00.000-06:002014-12-06T16:21:04.296-06:00Advent: December 6<div class="MsoNormal">
Psalm 85:1-2, 8-13<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Ezekiel 36:24-28<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Mark 11:27-33<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The verses in the
prophet made me wonder what I was saying when I made statements about being God’s
agent in the world to see that God’s kingdom plans were achieved. Sometimes we
get caught up in the notion that since we are living, sentient beings and God
is, but is not, but… we are the ones who do things. As faithful believers we do
have responsibilities; we do have a part in the work. Problems arise when we
inflate our role and we find ourselves in the role Israel often found for
itself in the prophet stories. Leaders and certain aspects of society were
elevated over the rest of the people and to the detriment of the rest of the
people.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
God handled
the problem.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
God restored
the nation.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Action verbs
and God: still together.<o:p></o:p></div>
Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01826454546003053870noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2515759832935496860.post-17251231856765262062014-12-05T05:00:00.000-06:002014-12-05T05:00:00.781-06:00Advent: December 5<div class="MsoNormal">
Psalm 85:1-2, 8-13<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Jeremiah 1:4-10<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Acts 11:19-26<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Jeremiah picks
up where Hosea left off. Hosea reminded the people of the power of
relationships and that God was calling them into a relationship with him. The
opening of Jeremiah recounts his appointment as prophet by the Lord. The scene
presents God in one of the most human-like encounters with the familiarity
toward the prophet. The knowledge God shares from the earliest moments of
Jeremiah’s existence, to the physical contact as He placed His words in His
messenger’s mouth, to his assurance of protection; how can that not bring a
sense of peace in the midst of turmoil.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I frequently have
to remind my students that their words have power. What they say and how they
say it can wound another for years. Today’s passage reminds me that wounding is
only part of what words can do. As God explains when he appoints Jeremiah. His
words can be used in construction or for destruction. The verse points out both
the good and the bad that can come through speech. In the case of the prophet,
none of it is bad, it reflects different ways to get things done.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Each time I
read this passage from the prophets something different strikes me about it.
Often I connect to God having a plan for Jeremiah from the beginning. This time
though, the relationship between God and Jeremiah hit me as remarkably human. I
am a bit jealous now, but I know that I have the same thing. If you want to
know a definition of peace: that is it!<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01826454546003053870noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2515759832935496860.post-74235515626924492312014-12-04T04:03:00.000-06:002014-12-04T04:03:27.569-06:00Advent: December 4<div class="MsoNormal">
Psalm 85:1-2, 8-13<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Hosea 6:1-6<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
1 Thessalonians 1:2-10<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Today we begin
to prepare for the second Sunday, Peace Sunday. By the nature of their job,
often when we look in the prophets, we confront graphic violence and epic
destruction. Yet, we still find peace because we come to realize that peace is
more than the absence of conflict, it includes the presence of confidence.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Hosea embraced
the confidence that he found in the relationship he had with God. He was able
to hold that confidence because he recognized the power of relationship with
God. As he and other prophets earlier and later delivered their message from
God, the ultimate lesson reminded the people to keep and nurture their
relationship with God and He would be happier than any rite could make Him.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
An all too
common complaint from people is that there is too much conflict and not enough
peace in their lives. The world is just so busy it lends itself to conflict.
How easy though would it be to embrace the Person who wants more than anything
to be in relationship with us?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01826454546003053870noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2515759832935496860.post-9628132648705607672014-12-03T05:20:00.000-06:002014-12-03T05:22:03.897-06:00Advent: December 3<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Psalm 79</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Micah 5:1-5a</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Luke 21:34-38</span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-e10c91de-0fd7-5034-6754-7fb2f6dd41f6" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Surfers have their own vocabulary to describe the waves, and though it is unique to them, almost everyone understands it. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i><span style="background-color: white;">What they say is not what they are saying</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: blue;">.</span></i></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> I think Micah would have been a great surfer or at least talked like one.</span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>What he said was not always what he was saying</i></span><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">,</span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> yet it is both descriptive and beautiful.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In verse two, his statement, “from of old, from ancient days” uses Hebrew constructs to give the listener context:</span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>from of old</i></span><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">= before any of us were around, and </span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>from ancient days</i></span><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">= before even Abraham. He does not say “from the beginning,” but that is what he is saying.</span></div>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: #9fc5e8;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So much around us is temporal. For a time </span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">we celebrated the impermanence of items</span><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> around us. Something new and better was coming soon. Yet </span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">there was something attractive about antiques</span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Sturdy. Dependable. Beautiful. In a world of turmoil, Micah offers the a</span><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">ssurance of the antique God who would be with his people from ancient days until the ends of the earth. Always and forever would have made the point, but I’ll take Micah with what he says and what he’s saying.</span></span></div>
Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01826454546003053870noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2515759832935496860.post-71857838083147066292014-12-02T05:30:00.000-06:002014-12-02T05:30:00.838-06:00Advent: December 2<div class="MsoNormal">
Psalm 79<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Micah 4:6-13<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Revelation 18:1-10<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Ninety-five
percent of the time a prophet speaks, the audience starts stocking up on willow
bark (a source of what we now call aspirin) because they knew celestial hurt
was coming. God mobilized His voices when the people strayed from Him and,
mostly, violated their duties to one another. Across the prophets we read
accounts of the grievous harm done to God – through the abuse of His people.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Micah was no
different – except <span style="background-color: yellow;">he never forgets the restoration that is to come.</span> Connecting
it to the familiar, and often deadly, pain of childbirth, he makes clear to the
people that great difficulties will come, but in the end <b>God will still be with
His people</b> and all human endeavor will be subsumed to God’s plan.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
The pain is
real, but so is the hope.<o:p></o:p></div>
Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01826454546003053870noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2515759832935496860.post-28497551509264335962014-12-01T04:23:00.000-06:002014-12-01T04:23:28.106-06:00Advent: December 1<div class="MsoNormal">
Psalm 79<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Micah 4:1-5<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Revelation 15:1-8<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Where is the
God of Micah when you need him?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The world
around us grows more militarized and talk a war returns to nations who had become, if not allies,
partners for global peace. Instead of being mediator between people, in the
last decades, God has been a key source of strife.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Everyone is
right in their view of God!</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Instead of
being satisfied with His teaching, each lesson provokes blood-letting against
anyone who understands it differently. The common unifying message that
supersedes each illustrative example no longer matters. We look for, long for,
difference to justify our superior connection to God. All that is human foible.
The verbs tell a different story – <i><u>He teaches; He judges; He arbitrates; He
speaks</u></i>.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>We follow</b>. <span style="color: red;">We
obey</span>. <span style="color: blue;"><i>We steward </i></span>the bounty He gave to us. The conflict that has resulted sounds so bad – where’s
the hope? Our hope remains in the certainty that God’s word is true – always –
no matter what adjective leads us to take up arms.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Our hope walks
with God who is God forever and ever.<o:p></o:p></div>
Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01826454546003053870noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2515759832935496860.post-77985584233397375772014-11-30T04:48:00.000-06:002014-11-30T04:48:07.677-06:00Hope Comes First<div class="MsoNormal">
Isaiah 64:1-9<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
1 Corinthians 1:3-9<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Mark 13:24-37<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Hope</span>. Joy.
Peace. Love. The four weeks of Advent. Each a reminder of the life desired of and
expected for each of us. In the back of my mind I have wondered why the themes
were in their particular order. This past year cancelled any argument I might
make for any other order.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
2014 has been the year of doubt.
<b>Hard doubt.</b> The kind of doubt that either eliminates faith or refines it to its
purest form. The questions began forming during Lent and reached a crescendo
Easter Sunday. My rage from reading Scripture <u>AND</u> the news made it almost
impossible to type my thoughts; something didn’t add up. Either the Church was seeing
something in Scripture I could not find or the Bible was a fantasy that not
even churches built on it could maintain.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
My thoughts centered on two main
questions: <i>1) Was Jesus real and was He the biological Son of God through the
immaculate conception</i>, and <i>2) even if Jesus was not real on either count, does
it matter?</i> The remainder of the year focused on coming to answers. <span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">My answers, at the moment, are <u>1)
yes/probably not</u>, and <u>2) no</u>. I will explain more as I come closer to my final
thoughts. 2014 is not over. </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">I took a break from regular posting
while I wrestled with the questions. Writing and meditation did not stop – only
the posting of it.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
As Advent approached I was drawn
back because it has been my favorite season since I understood the liturgical
calendar. My eagerness does not come from its ending at Christmas but in spite
of it. The season calls us to examine our faith in light of the four traits. It
calls us to live the fulfilled lives God wants for us.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
So why do I agree that hope comes
first? Hebrews 11:1, my mantra, says, “Faith is the substance (manifestation)
of things <span style="color: #3d85c6;"><b><u>HOPED</u></b></span> for; the evidence of that which we have not seen. All year,
despite the persistence of doubt, I <u style="background-color: #9fc5e8;">hoped</u> Jesus was real. I <u style="background-color: #9fc5e8;">hoped</u> Jesus was the
Son of God. I <u style="background-color: #9fc5e8;">hoped</u> that fact mattered. <i><span style="color: blue;">It is hope that gets us to the place
where we can examine the others.</span></i> Even when God seems far away – hope maintains
a link.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Happy Advent!<o:p></o:p></div>
Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01826454546003053870noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2515759832935496860.post-57674647715573638792014-09-21T09:08:00.000-05:002014-09-21T09:08:09.546-05:00A Fair Deal - Ordinary Time - September 21<div class="MsoNormal">
Jonah 3:10 – 4:11<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Psalm 145<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Philippians 1:21-30<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Matthew 20:1-16<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>“That’s not fair!”</i> The complaint plagues
parents, educators, referees – anyone who makes decisions. Sometimes it comes
from a perceived difference in treatment. Sometimes it comes from the
perception of equal treatment. Everyone defines fair to their benefit; the
decision-makers cannot win. Imagine God’s decision making process: “Jonah or
Nineveh? Us or them? First century Christians or twenty-first century
Christians? Who’s going to have a bad day?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCT_lfpwoLFRMPTUgcYAZbqVsTk-VB6IHcUKKA_OHxkVnY9IugZUXuBdKl6LQzVWA9DEPRRUZTGT180Sr1tukEtodwpz0yajAE8FHL1S9mIYnbjcDi7Tg7iHp_Bbhp-kV8mSaRB7qq0Dv1/s1600/Jonah+Bush.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCT_lfpwoLFRMPTUgcYAZbqVsTk-VB6IHcUKKA_OHxkVnY9IugZUXuBdKl6LQzVWA9DEPRRUZTGT180Sr1tukEtodwpz0yajAE8FHL1S9mIYnbjcDi7Tg7iHp_Bbhp-kV8mSaRB7qq0Dv1/s1600/Jonah+Bush.jpg" height="274" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As far as
Jonah is concerned, I wonder if God could have given him a good day. Upon being
released from the great fish, he probably pined for the coziness of the close
quarters inside. God gave him a mission, but because of his view of himself and
his view of the recipients of that mission, he acted contrary to his charge.
Unlike the spies who hear the “should you choose to accept this assignment”
qualification to their direction, prophets only hear, “your assignment….” Jonah
still hoped God would have a change of mind. God did. God pardoned Nineveh –
which Jonah knew would happen. He returned to pouting and hoped God would decide
to smite them anyway.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A first
reading of the Gospel lets one ask, “what does God owe me?” The answer is
pretty good: I get the same thing every Christian gets! A deeper reading though
flips the question, “what do I owe God?” The answer is pretty rough: I owe God
the same thing every Christian does. Suddenly, I do not see Jonah as the
whiner; he has some good points. “They” are wicked: “I” am holy. “They” did not
keep your commandments: “I” live according to your will…except for that one
thing…and yes, that other….<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I am them.
They are me.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Since Easter
Sunday I have been on a self-imposed hiatus. Honestly, it has been a
self-imposed avoidance of anything religious. Through Lent and Holy Week I
found myself responding to the texts with degrees of physical anger. How could
the “Church” keep getting it so wrong? The Gospel I read left no doubt about
Jesus’s message of inclusion yet dictate after dictate issued by various denominations
established conditions of exclusion. I found myself fantasizing Nineveh<sup>2</sup>
consequences on them.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I was Jonah.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Instead of
reflecting on Scripture and other writings, I took up the gavel and pronounced
judgment.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Exactly the
thing that in others led to such physical distress in me.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I was them and
it was killing me.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It’s not fair!
I had to embrace those who make me uncomfortable and “they” do not. Like Jonah,
I fled.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Last week, I
heard the sermon one of my Tweeps (people I follow on Twitter) delivered. The
message was simple but powerful: Don’t Judge. Exchanging the gavel for my
collection of colored pens I use to notate the Scriptures I am studying removed
the stress and anger that plagued me in the weeks leading up to Easter.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
What do I owe God?
To do his will for me and not do his job (judge).<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
What does God
owe me? Only that which has been promised – the strength to do his will.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
That’s fair –
whether I like it or not.<o:p></o:p></div>
Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01826454546003053870noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2515759832935496860.post-79744126008860641262014-04-20T13:33:00.000-05:002014-04-20T13:33:08.759-05:00Easter Sunday - It Is Not Finished<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Acts 10:34-43 or</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Jeremiah 31:1-6</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Psalm 118</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Colossians 3:1-4 or Acts (above)</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">John 20:1-18 or</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Matthew 28:1-10</span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-019433cb-8066-efaf-6e91-d79d905c500b" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>He is risen!</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>He is risen indeed!</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>By the time Easter morning comes around, if I am being honest, I am ready for Holy Week to be over. No matter how many times I have read the familiar verses, as I meditate on them I learn something new. I know what events we recall each day of the week and I know the outcome, but the exercise of reflection and meditation on those events, takes me through an emotional whirlwind. We know the whole story, and there is more to come, that even the closest followers did not know. They knew the body was gone. Some who visited the tomb came back claiming to have seen Jesus and angels. They still had as many questions and those skeptical about the disposition of the body likely had more fear. This Easter Sunday we proclaim joy and confidence in the guarantee of our salvation, but on that first Sunday the faithful were left with even more questions, a different kind of sorrow (at losing the body), while some experienced the thrill of having encountered Jesus.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The lectionary gives us the choice of resurrection narratives from John or Matthew. The passages vary in detail and focus, but the point of each is the same: the tomb was empty. John 20:9 points out that the disciples still did not understand the prophecies and Jesus’s teaching about the purpose for and events around his death. We get the annotated version of the story with footnotes and analysis (and the perspective of time), but the disciples endured it all in real time, with details emerging throughout.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Jesus’s ministry played out in much the same way I tell a story when I get really excited: “This happened and then that happened. Oh don’t forget about….” Different people were present for different events. No two sermons or lessons were presented to the same crowd. Everyone had part of the story so finding the disciples struggling with confusion only reflects that they were humans. All week the scripture texts have presented the influence of human nature on the individuals involved. Human nature does not make anyone wicked. Human nature does not make anyone holy. Human nature does not limit the choices available to us, but the choices we make reflect the core values of our human nature.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>We use the occasion of Easter worship to proclaim victory for life and defeat for death as Scripture (mostly the Epistles) has taught us. We stand on that conclusion with the perspective of centuries, yet, we still have as many questions as the disciples in that day. Life may have won. Death may have been defeated. We all still have a lifetime to navigate before we experience that outcome for ourselves. As I live, I still ask, “where’s the body?” Seeking Christ does not end at the resurrection, it begins. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>He is risen!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Now what?</span></div>
Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01826454546003053870noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2515759832935496860.post-55355862777776854032014-04-19T09:05:00.000-05:002014-04-19T09:05:47.403-05:00Holy Saturday<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Job 14:1-14</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Lamentations 3:1-9, 19-24</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Psalm 31</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1 Peter 4:1-8</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Matthew 27:57-66 or</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">John 19:38-42</span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-d6a2f22c-7a4c-4340-905e-ed6b75cacbbf" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>What do you do on a day with no news? If you are the Internet, kittens!!! If you are CNN, hang tenaciously onto the last good story (CNN actually had a “Breaking News”: Titanic sank 100 years ago today). If you are a journalist, work on your book. If you are an Apostle, lay low and wait for someone to tell you what to do. We do not really know what happened with the eleven remaining apostles or in the community of the faithful. We can only imagine what they did because the Bible does not tell about the day. Only Luke 23:56b says they rested on the sabbath. We know what happens up until dusk the day before and we know what happens at dawn the next day. Various faiths have developed traditions covering Holy Saturday. Today’s Scriptures finish the Good Friday story in the Gospel reading(s), offer insight to what the believers may have been thinking based on beliefs from the Old Testament, an offer scriptural cover to some of the spiritual traditions regarding what Jesus was doing that day.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Matthew and John relate versions of the claiming and burial of Christ’s body. I admit that I had never read them side-by-side and notice the differences between them. Mark and Luke most closely agree with the Matthew passage. The Luke passage has the faithful women preparing the spices and oils for burial. The differences between the passages, ultimately are trivial - it does not matter who did what, or how much was done to prepare the body, or who owned the tomb as it was only briefly borrowed and returned good as new.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Job, as one of the oldest books in the Bible, looked at death as final. Early Jewish teaching did not widely consider any kind of spiritual afterlife, much less eternity in a place of reward or judgment. The rewards and punishments came in life and in the story of Job, we watch him experience both. God was seen as active in the day-to-day events of humanity so for the faithful, it meant watching all that one did to earn favor with him. That daily involvement is partly what gave Job the willingness to challenge God. The worst God could do was kill him, and with the troubles he was enduring, death was better than years of lament.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Lamentations continues to hold God responsible for our blessings and our troubles. The author declares that God is angry with him and has caused something like leprosy, fractured bones, mental illness, and isolation. Although God inflicted tremendous physical and mental strain on the author, the author knows God can forgive and fix. He has hope and clings to that.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The passage from 1 Peter offers clues to a passage in the Apostles Creed, and justification for several practices that result from overly-literal readings of the verses. The Apostles’ Creed affirms the belief that on Saturday, Jesus descended into Hell to bring the gospel to those who had died before so that they might have an equal chance into heaven. Verse six says the gospel was proclaimed to the dead, and because Jesus was “dead” in sin (the entire world’s past, present, and future sin), he had to be in Hell. Verse one also brings its own challenge to right behavior. The verse has been used by some to justify self abuse (flagellation) to prove their faithfulness and rejection of worldly ways. Practitioners of these beliefs will beat themselves until they are bleeding to connect with Christ’s physical pain. Contrary to that interpretation, those who suffer still continue to sin. The physical suffering of the cross forgave all sin, but did not stop it from happening. Finally verse seven’s exhortation to “be serious and discipline yourselves” has been interpreted by some to avoid anything fun, that brings pleasure, or that might twist one’s mouth into a smile, for that will be the exact moment Christ returns and instantly damns you to Hell.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The passages today bring a wide variety of ideas found in different portions of Christianity. Their wide reach accurately represents the anxious uncertainty of the day in our faith. Patience today brings us jubilation in the morning.</span></div>
Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01826454546003053870noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2515759832935496860.post-16845511625106996002014-04-18T13:47:00.000-05:002014-04-18T13:47:33.764-05:00Good Friday<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Isaiah 52:13 - 53-12</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Psalm 22</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hebrews 10:16-25, or</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hebrews 4:14-16; 5:7-9</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">John 18:1 - 19:42</span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-ea2d708b-7627-a708-dcb6-604193bd2b16" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>For many years I considered it a near-mortal sin to start reading a book and not finish it. As a reader, writer, English teacher, I held that stories engage our being so thoroughly that we owed the teller a chance to finish because it is the twist at the end that gives meaning to even the banal events leading to it. I read many bad books over the years that I knew I should have put down at the end of chapter one because the character, plot, and descriptions did nothing to engage me; you cannot judge a book by its cover, but you can by chapter one. There are a handful of books that I re-read because they so capture my mind I enter that world with my entire consciousness for hours at a time. The passages in Isaiah and John have the qualities that bring me into the deep contemplation appropriate for today and the coming days.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>John takes us through a stunningly rapid succession of events that climax with Christ’s death on the cross just hours after being arrested in the garden. We are challenged in every verse to consider our own response. We have the gift of nearly two centuries of hindsight to question and judge the actions of every individual involved that day. Put yourself as a dissident in the midst of a mob of illiterate faithful who only know and understand what their religious leaders tell them. The unfamiliar streets in this city where you are a visitor resemble what we call alleys. Their leaders, the teachers they have trusted for years, declare that you and your leader are the latest in a long history of heretics determined to eliminate God’s law rather than fulfill it (the truth does not matter to them as both eliminate their authority and social standing). Peter’s courage at even being in the crowd offers some mitigation to the often taught cowardice of his denial. Where were the rest of the Apostles? We cannot have a greater security barrier than the two millenia separating us from the event, but before we judge them, consider how you would have functioned as one on whom there was a bounty, jostled in a crowd of potential captors, with only rumors for news. It might be time to share some of the grace we have been extended from the events of this day.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>As powerful as the John passage is, the imagery of the man in Isaiah fills my mind with a picture of a man so damaged we would struggle to know him as a man, yet so overwhelmingly powerful even the strongest are brought to utter submission in his presence. The vibrant, often violent narrative interwoven with so much peace and beauty challenges my mind to see the connection - to see both as one. Violence and calm. Disdain and adoration. Crudeness and refinement. The juxtaposition of such concepts challenges us at the core of human thought. We struggle when those things we have defined as opposites coexist. Every time I read this passage I am disturbed by injustice and buoyed by hope. To me, this is faith- asking, “What?” and declaring, “Thank you!” at the same time. We must do that with this passage or we get overwhelmed by one or the other sides of the picture he presents.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The great stories bring us back and we find something new each time. Today’s Scriptures do that. In every reading we gain a new insight. Every insight shapes our faith. Our faith sustains us.</span></div>
Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01826454546003053870noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2515759832935496860.post-62762118166786161292014-04-17T01:45:00.000-05:002014-04-17T01:45:39.193-05:00Maundy Thursday<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Exodus 12:1-14</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Psalm 116</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1 Corinthians 11:23-26</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">John 13:1-17, 31-35</span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-492728b9-6e6c-c47c-13a3-85119427ea18" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The most condescending and hurtful insult I think I have ever heard was someone being told to “know your place.” The implied superiority of the one making the statement imposed such inferiority on the one to whom it is directed there is no response that can be given. It stops everything. Growing up in the south, that statement was infused with even deeper meaning as it was often directed toward African Americans and poor whites who did or said something that made the impression that they imagined they were higher in status that the speaker knew them to be. The comment made to anyone not in either of those categories suggested that they belong in one of those categories. During the Passover evening with his Apostles, Jesus essentially directed two apostles to know their place; however, the lesson he delivered defines our place in his kingdom and it is far from insulting.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The Exodus passage provides the requirements for Passover along with God’s command for observing it. One aspect to Passover that stands out against other festivals and rituals is that it focuses on practical actions for those who are prepared to flee at a moment’s notice. The directions for observing the holiday involved communal preparation, cooperation, and taking care of one another. Celebrating the event is supposed to remind the Jews of their salvation from Egypt.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Christians have our own event that mirrors the Passover. Thursday evening, Jesus retreated to a secluded upper room for an evening together with his Apostles. Jesus instituted communion as he broke the bread and shared the wine. With such staples as bread and wine, Jesus gave his followers a way to remember him and a way to share his ministry to others through the symbolism attached to the elements. Jesus also took the time to wash the feet of each disciple. The disciples were not ready to grasp the significance of the actions, but within hours everything he said suddenly overflowed with meaning as those who had been taught by him understood the meanings of his lessons. By observing the rite as Jesus commanded, we are reminded of the sacrifice for our salvation.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Jesus found himself still addressing the right attitude of his followers even while teaching the final lessons of his ministry. The fiery and impulsive Peter struggled with the balance between humility and authority in Jesus’s kingdom. Jesus sternly corrected him twice as he demonstrated the power of servant-leadership. So much of what Jesus taught contradicted popular belief of strength and weakness then and now, yet when closely examined we have found what Jesus directed was remarkable in transforming the interaction. Jesus, knowing the events that would unfold sent Judas out to do what he was to do.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>In his final lesson to the Apostles, Jesus commanded them to know their place. Rather than humiliate them into submissive obedience, Peter became a powerful church starter and Judas was able to go out and complete the betrayal. For both of them the power they exercised came by submitting to the people they served. Jesus reiterated his great commandment to love one another, which would become even more important when he was gone. The practices of communion and foot washing assist us to remember his lessons and to accept our place. Our place at the table. Our place as servants. Our place in authority, able to do anything God desires us to do.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Know your place!</span></div>
Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01826454546003053870noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2515759832935496860.post-14346428945074795482014-04-16T07:00:00.000-05:002014-04-16T07:00:02.380-05:00Holy Wednesday<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Isaiah 50:4-9</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Psalm 70</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hebrews 12:1-3</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">John 13:21-32</span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-73ef0390-6957-01ff-8e3a-f10e3b5ff5fc" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The first days of Holy Week have given us examples of people responding according to their human nature.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Nothing to see here, folks. It’s just the way we are.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Or maybe there is something to see. Each Scripture today reflects a person responding to (often brutal) cruelty in exactly the opposite way our human nature would encourage. When threatened or attacked, our central brain judges the situation and gives us the option of fight or flight while prepping our muscles for an energetic burst. Christ called us to be different and each of today’s passages demonstrates the possibilities.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The writer in Isaiah proudly affirms that he gave his back for beating and held his face up so his tormentors could pluck his beard. The speaker gives no reason why he is being attacked, but confesses that because God is with him, all will be right in the end; there is no insult or injury that can overcome the blessing of God. His confidence in his right place overcame the base instincts to escape his situation.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>In Hebrews the author steels his courage with the thought of all who have gone before. As surely as they were a force for encouragement, he quickly turns to Jesus, the first to take the path. He recognizes Jesus’s willingness to adopt all of human frailty to overcome the barrier between God and humankind: sin. In those moments of ultimate humanity, Christ did not change the outcome to avoid embarrassment. If anything, that moment served to magnify the victory.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The passage in John recounts one of the latter scenes from the upper room where Jesus was completing the passover dinner with his apostles. When he announced that one of them would betray him, the passage makes it sound like the room was in stunned silence as they eye each other up and down suspiciously. Finally the fiery one, Simon Peter, asks the obvious question: who? Although Jesus answers him, it does not appear that he nor anyone in the room fully understood Jesus when he told how he would identify the traitor. Instead when he tells Judas to go, the others assume it is to get some necessity or do some task with the poor. Even if they had realized Judas was the one, they were not prepared for the degree of betrayal that was coming despite Jesus repeatedly telling them. Jesus, though, did know, but took no action to stop it.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The passages prior to today focused on those who were apart from Jesus reacting to the situation around them and doing a good job of reflecting our human nature. Today, the passages considered individuals in the right place to God. Rather than react to the situation, they handled they managed each incident with the calm assurance that comes from getting faith right.</span></div>
Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01826454546003053870noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2515759832935496860.post-53092041127165501442014-04-15T05:07:00.000-05:002014-04-15T05:07:11.099-05:00Holy Tuesday<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Isaiah 49:1-7</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Psalm 71</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1 Corinthians 1:18-31</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">John 12:20-36</span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-01839746-64d7-8251-bbc5-c3fd68a237ea" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Recently I heard a news story that sought to explain the re-emergence of illnesses that, while not eradicated, had not had widespread outbreaks in decades due to childhood vaccinations. A community of parents has embraced the idea that the vaccinations cause a variety of lifetime ailments. They would rather risk a normally short-term illness (though they have their own lifetime risks) than chance damage from the inoculation. Despite the research many of these parents cited being fully discredited, they remained convinced of the potential harms. Health care and psychological researchers began to examine why “the facts” actually reinforced the beliefs instead of changing them. They found that the more convinced someone was of an idea directly contradicting/disproving the belief, the more attacked the person felt and the more they clung to the idea with which they were comfortable. Today’s Scriptures have passages that challenge what we know is true and violate the norms we have accepted in society.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The prophet Isaiah puts a twist on the coming Holy One by revealing that he would not only be for Israel, but for the entire world. Despite the challenges Israel regularly posed to God, the prophecy declared that saving them alone is too easy. He also describes this coming one as despised and a slave, yet in the end one to whom the powers (kings and princes) recognize in the correct way and react humbly and with respect to his presence. A despised slave from Israel who commanded honor from those recognized as powerful in the time contradicted every norm of that time. The idea so crossed norms and expectations, that the Jews, years later in Jesus’s time, didn’t accept that his message was for the world. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sometimes Jesus speaks clearly leaving no doubt about the meaning for this listeners. Sometimes Jesus spoke in riddles. Sometimes he challenged their sense of order as he does in the John passage. He challenged the values of life and death, light and darkness. His example of the wheat grain offered a contrast between limits and potential. As long as the grain goes ungerminated, it does nothing. Upon germination, though, it produces a full plant thousands of times its size that culminates in the production of a grain-head with many copies of itself. He presents it in human terms as the value one has for his own life: being centered on preserving one’s life limits what one can/will do while valuing something other than one’s life opens one up to anything God can do with you. The idea that a group of uneducated working-class men could be the voice of God blinded the educated leadership-class to the message before them. Despite the history of prophets being called from all walks of life, the Jewish leadership in the time of Jesus held to the idea that only they or someone like them could speak with authority. Society’s structures guaranteed it.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">God does not respect the beliefs we convince ourselves are most important. As soon as we establish rules that control God, who he can love, or who can join his kingdom, God makes a shepherd a king, a farmer a prophet, a carpenter the Messiah. When we open our mind to potential and release the limitations society has determined for anyone, God’s work begins through us.</span></div>
Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01826454546003053870noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2515759832935496860.post-88756399472770858072014-04-15T00:43:00.000-05:002014-04-15T00:43:05.215-05:00Holy Monday<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Isaiah 42:1-9</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hebrews 9:11-15</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">John 12:1-11</span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-a106b795-63e7-a98b-4c21-eb34e69fed63" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>We all have that thing that motivates us, that thing we cannot resist. For some it is money and the ways to make it, legal and illegal. For others it is the thrill that comes from escaping a dangerous situation like skydiving. For others, it is chocolate! Each of us responds in a certain way given a certain stimulus and varies in intensity with each of us. Just as on Palm Sunday we saw a variety of events that sparked the leadership to respond, but they only capped growing fear and resentment in those who were threatened by Jesus’s ministry. The passage in John takes place prior to the triumphal entry, but sets the stage for much to come.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Isaiah and Hebrews reference covenants of God with humankind. In the Isaiah passage, the author celebrates benefits of being the people in covenant with God. The Hebrews author presents the supremacy of the covenant that came through Christ. The differences between the covenants so drastically changed religious practice that the entire economy around worship was demolished while the reward for those following the new covenant exceeded that for those following the old.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The passage in John takes us to Jesus visiting close friends in Bethany just before making his journey into Jerusalem. At dinner with Mary, Martha, Lazarus, and at least some of the twelve apostles, Mary with passion and humility does the most meaningful thing she can think of doing. She take the very best of perfumes and spreads it over Jesus’s feet with her hair. As the author of John presents it, Judas feigns disappointment in suggesting a donation to the poor would have been a better use of the perfume while internally coveting the money for his own use. Various passages present the weakness of various apostles and here is Judas’s fault.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The message Jesus gave of his coming death, in the home of the one he raised from the dead, went unrecognized by those present. Judas’s greed and the apparent obliviousness of the others present reflect typical human nature. For Jesus to say he was going to die, while sitting at the table with one he had called from the grave, was beyond what those present were able to imagine. It is not that they were not paying attention, they could not believe Jesus could die.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The crowd who gathered to see Jesus also came to see Lazarus. People Jesus cured could be found all along the routes of his ministry, but Lazarus represented the ultimate miracle. And the ultimate threat to the religious establishment. John reveals the determination of the religious leadership to not only kill Jesus, but to kill Lazarus who was proving the convincing evidence for Jews who had up to now resisted the teaching of Jesus. For those chief priests and religious leadership barely holding on to power in the midst of an occupation by a culture hostile to the Jewish faith, a competing religion threatened their hold on power more than the military. Their position and livelihood could disappear as quickly as their followers.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Even today we see people in all walks of life responding to greed and power as did those in the passages today. Even we respond to these basic urges. Our responses to those urges define us regardless of who we claim to be. Those responses label us old covenant, new covenant, or no covenant. When faced with the challenges of life, I need to stop and consider which covenant my response reflects.</span></div>
Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01826454546003053870noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2515759832935496860.post-18270205109998176742014-04-13T16:21:00.000-05:002014-04-13T16:21:25.609-05:00Sixth Sunday in Lent - Palm Sunday<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Matthew 21:1-11</span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-507f50ec-5cf4-0cd8-1ea2-495326d5fddc" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>One reason I rarely watch any of the major news broadcasts is the obsession with the foibles of individuals who, because of their role in politics, entertainment, or justice, the media labeled a celebrity (1. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">a famous or well known person</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> -via </span><a href="http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Celebrity?s=t" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">dictionary.com</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">). Regardless of the impact that a celebrity’s personal mistake will have beyond themselves, the story [given the constraints of a broadcast/publishing schedule and the ability to tell it concisely] drives what then gets presented. The story becomes much more compelling when the fall comes after a rapid rise. I can only imagine the breaking news coverage that would have followed Jesus during the final days of his earthly ministry.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sunday:</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Leading Messianic Contender Barnstorms Jerusalem</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Monday:</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Revered Religious Teacher Terrorizes Temple</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tuesday:</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Embattled “Savior” Goes on the Offensive</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Wednesday:</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Missing Messiah - Where is Jesus?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Thursday:</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Prophet Celebrates Passover with Closest Advisors</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Friday:</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Crowds Call for Traitor’s Execution</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Saturday:</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Activist’s Movement in Shambles</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sunday:</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Where’s the Body? New Theories Point to “Supernatural” Involvement</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>It does not take two thousand years to realize that a celebrity’s infidelity will leave little trace on the progress of humanity. Nevertheless, we benefit from the millenia of hindsight in our consideration of the events in Holy Week and how they have shaped Christianity and the impacted the world as we know it. Even as we understand the global transformations experienced from the force of the events one insight becomes clear: our human nature remains unchanged. Today’s Scriptures begin Holy Week with the first extreme response of the week as Jerusalem welcomes this man labeled with heroic titles by some and considered villainous by others.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Jerusalem represented the greatest challenge for Jesus’s ministry. As the religious capital of the Jewish world and was home to the Pharisees and Sadducees who almost universally opposed the ministry of Jesus and who held remarkable influence over the daily lives of the people. Entering the city provided access to an audience who had heard the stories of the great ___________. Each audience had their own title to fill in the blank and each one threatened the religious leadership. Although the ruling class opposed all that Jesus did, they feared the vast populist support he garnered from the community. The jubilation of the masses and incorporation of festival rites in the triumphal entry could only have increased those fears and the urgency to eliminate the threat.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>On Palm Sunday we often focus on the jubilation of the throng, waving palm fronds, declaring, “blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord,” and shouting, “hosanna.” We have associated them for so long with celebration that their origins in Jewish worship ceremonies. Palm fronds along with branches of olive trees and myrtle bushes were used in some festival processions in keeping with the law. The phrase, “blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord,” is also used in festival chants. Hosannah is one translation of a cry of the people for the Lord to save for deliver them. No doubt the people were celebratory when Jesus came into town as they had heard of his healing and expansive teaching which contrasted the message of Temple leadership and its focus on law and enforcement that limited almost every aspect of life.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The enthusiasm of the people likely heightened the concern of the religious leadership who were constantly stymied by his wisdom and understanding. Their academic and theological concentration on interpretation of the law into a definite and inflexible set of codes which governed virtually every aspect of life probably made the appropriation of ceremony/festival rites into Jesus’s arrival something more than they could tolerate. They could not identify the source of his education because he was not taught in their schools and their schools were the only ones, yet they could not stump him. He had power to perform miracles they never possessed. Now that his followers treated his arrival in Jerusalem like an official festival gave Jesus a degree of legitimacy, at least as the governing bodies perceived the situation, the officials had to act.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The exact same situations happen today. Voices that bring a new or deeper understanding to the faith tend to be ignored or disregarded as long as they remain in the wilderness. When they come to church, though, they are a threat to be silenced at all cost because they threaten the teaching the elders have presented as God-given, immutable, understanding of his Word. One phrase found in both passages brings to light the danger of outright rejection of a teaching/understanding of Scripture different than the one learned in church or seminary: “one who comes in the name of the Lord.” Matthew took that title as a name for the messiah. The Jews chanting the line at a festival procession would have understood it to me a highly restrictive group of individuals selected by God to be his spokesperson, namely the chief priest, prophets, and the patriarchs. The individual called by God to deliver a message is obligated to deliver that message (think Jonah - fled because he didn't want Nineveh to be saved, yet ended up delivering the message). A message delivered in the name of the Lord will not go unheard.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Likewise, those who come in the name of the Lord are not allow to deliver their own message, but only what God commands. The leaders in Jesus’s time had good reason to be skeptical of anyone making spiritual waves. Individuals appeared from time to time claiming to be messiah. False prophets delivered powerful messages - but not from God. The same thing happens with false messengers today and we must carefully consider the different teachings we receive from any source claiming to be from God.</span></div>
<br /><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Jesus’s actions and teachings through Holy Week carry their own meaning yet have foundations deep in the history of our religious practice. Those actions and teachings, though holy and delivered by one coming not only in the name of the Lord, but as the Lord, still inspired the same reactions in religious leaders as new teachings inspire today. This Holy Week as we learn from Jesus’s final lessons on earth, let us open our own understanding to ideas different than the ones we have heard before as we test them for the blessing of God.</span></div>
Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01826454546003053870noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2515759832935496860.post-55744800624581493342014-04-09T21:57:00.000-05:002014-04-09T21:57:45.498-05:00Fifth Sunday in Lent<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ezekiel 37:1-14</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Psalm 130</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Romans 8:6-11</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">John 11:1-45</span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-be910d15-498f-3e98-847c-6b0de74fdda2" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Few topics spark less consensus in the social, spiritual, and scientific communities than how we define life and death. The more we know about physical and psychological aspects of life, the more we are able to diverge in our beliefs about it. Medical advances blur the distinction between life and death. Years ago, when I worked for a hospice, I learned the various deaths a person with terminal illness often endures before the cessation of life at the cellular level. Despite, or maybe because of, the inevitability of death, it is a topic most people find uncomfortable to discuss or consider in depth. Today’s scriptures confront what constitutes life and death at the spiritual and physical levels. We learn that physical and spiritual life are inextricably connected and fundamentally in conflict - though not perhaps in the way we think.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>In Ezekiel, we find the prophet in a remote area having a conversation with God. God led him to an area that was possibly the location of a deadly battle many years before. The prophet observed dry bones everywhere, noting that the valley was “full of bones.” The beings, for whom those bones gave shape perished years before so that none of the soft tissues remained. He responds with a degree of incredulity when God asks if those bones were capable of living. That God asked about dry bones is interesting. Bones are living, essential, parts of the body, yet when presented without the connected flesh and sinew they seem to be the least lifelike component of the body. The are individually hard and unbending, more mineral in appearance than other elements (flesh, blood, sinew) that together make a living being.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Nevertheless, God challenged Ezekiel to deliver a message of life to the bones. As he delivered the message from God, the loose bones assembled into skeletons; the various tissues reconstituted themselves over the bones until the message of the breath brought them to life. The least lifelike body material brought together a long-dead multitude into restored life - a multitude identified as the “whole house of Israel.” </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We know from the accounts in the Old Testament that God did not send prophets to Israel when the nation was spiritually consistent and connected to God. If there were any “happy happy joy joy” prophets, they did not warrant a book accepted in to canon. God sent Ezekiel to prophesy to the nation so spiritually dead they might as well have been the bones in the valley where God took the prophet. God used the prophet to share the message that no matter how spiritually sick or dead we believe ourselves/our community to be, God can make a way for us to return into the right relationship with him.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The brief passage from Romans makes clear that our “life” focus shapes our faith. Fleshly life versus spiritual life presented stark contrast when they are seen as determining our connection (or lack of connection) with God. Put simply a fleshly/physical focus separates from God. A spiritual focus connects us to God. We make a mistake when we read or interpret the passage in a way that leads to denial of physical need (nutrition, medical attention, hygiene) or comfort. The verses refer to the outlook or mindset of the people, NOT the nature and needs of our human lives bound by physical bodies - we should keep in mind that God created us with these physical bodies. God appointed humankind caretakers of creation; we are obligated to take care of our bodies.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When the passage refers to a physical or flesh driven mind, it means a way of thinking limited by our human nature, not the substance of our body. It binds us to temporal thinking which is driven by the limited experiences we have in a lifetime. The spiritual mindset embraces God’s eternity and is guided by unlimited opportunity. It opens our understanding to embrace the possibilities that come when we work in God’s kingdom.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ezekiel replied to God from the temporal, limited mindset when God asked if the bones could live, but when given a direction by God, he displayed his eternal mindset. Ezekiel gave us an example for meeting God’s expectation by putting aside the limitations we have defined by living in a limited body and accepting the guidance from God with the understanding that it came from God and is shaped by the eternal mindset.</span></div>
<br /><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The nature of life (and death) in Scripture is as complex as in the social and scientific texts. What we really want to do, though is live. We can control our temporal nature and practice working in the eternal kingdom with a purpose that exceeds our physical life span and what we can comprehend. Before long, we’ll be hearing the bones rattle.</span></div>
Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01826454546003053870noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2515759832935496860.post-64442471396945019122014-03-30T17:03:00.000-05:002014-03-30T17:03:58.372-05:00Fourth Sunday in Lent<div class="MsoNormal">
1 Samuel 16:1-13<o:p></o:p></div>
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Psalm 23<o:p></o:p></div>
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Ephesians 5:8-14<o:p></o:p></div>
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John 9:1-41<o:p></o:p></div>
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Recently I
found myself so busy trying to correct an issue which had arisen that I fixated
on one solution. I instantly ran the list of reasons why no other option
worked. Eventually, after several days of wearing out the heels of my shoes, I
recognized that several options worked and would accomplish what we needed from
the program. In today’s Scriptures, we see the Pharisees behaving much the same
way. Their fixation with the letter of the law which they had translated into
human-based systems blinded them to God’s working around them.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The Pharisees
were the ultimate rule-makers. They had interpretations and guidelines for
every law in the Torah. Anyone who did not live exactly according to their
standards faced discipline from this leadership body and possible exclusion
from the synagogue. Jesus constantly confounded them, (they could not be
brought to believe that they were quoting the law to The Word, The One who gave
the law) for whenever they challenged him for breaking a rule, he educated them
on the law. When Jesus healed a blind man on the Sabbath, he sparked debate and
division with the sect as his action put rules in conflict.<o:p></o:p></div>
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He healed on the Sabbath = Sinner!
= Not a Man of God.<o:p></o:p></div>
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He healed ≠Sinner! = Man of God.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The conflict
existed because Jesus was not one of them and did not adhere to their
restrictions. Since he was not raised among them and openly flouted their
legalism, their own “God-given” rules would not let them see God in him – yet he
did things (healing) they never imagined they, the Godliest of all men, could
do. The even seemed to recognize as much when the formerly-blind sinner
challenged them because they refused to listen; they saw his response as “teaching,”
and because of his low status drove him out.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The Pharisees give
us the perfect reason for seeking growth and improvement in the Lenten season.
Our Christian education may be solid. We may be perfect in following the
doctrine of our faith community. The example of the Pharisees shows just how
blinding education and doctrine can be – especially when they are a closed
system with one supporting the other. I have been confronting the ways my
doctrine and theology blind me to the work going on through others in the
world. During this season, we have the opportunity to pull back the blinders
and see God at work in many unexpected people across the world. They just do it
differently than we do. They are not us, but if we are willing to listen, we
may learn something new – or at least rejoice at the work of God. <o:p></o:p></div>
Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01826454546003053870noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2515759832935496860.post-81091854052814971302014-03-23T08:57:00.000-05:002014-03-23T08:57:48.689-05:00Third Sunday in Lent<div class="MsoNormal">
Exodus 17:1-7<o:p></o:p></div>
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Psalm 95<o:p></o:p></div>
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Romans 5:1-11<o:p></o:p></div>
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John 4:5-42<o:p></o:p></div>
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Three weeks into the season of personal
transformation as we seek a stronger connection with Christ and we find
ourselves struggling with the resolutions we made to foster the transformation.
We have maintained them about as long as we do our new year resolutions each
January. Without noticing immediate results, we chalk it up as another
fruitless effort. We want to be the redeemed in Romans, yet we find ourselves
much like the wanderers in Exodus.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The newly freed Jews present a
fascinating study in the adjustment from slave to free. After generations with
no responsibility for themselves, the Jews found themselves with some control
of their daily lives and personal circumstances. When they were slaves, if
there was a shortage of any essential, the masters, those in power, were
responsible; now in the desert, there was no pharaoh to blame. They transferred
the responsibility to God and Moses. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The generations of enslavement
removed the Jews from the close relationship with God and practice of their
faith. Restoration to freedom did not immediately restore the close relationship.
Despite the recent experience of the ten plagues and the miraculous rescue at
the Red Sea, when confronted with a challenge, they immediately jumped to the
most extreme outcome. There was no, “we are in the desert; we should conserve
our water from point to point.” The first response was, “I’m thirsty. You’re
killing us, God!” The entire people found themselves driven by fears in the new
situation. They demanded an immediate solution to every challenge they
encountered.<o:p></o:p></div>
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In contrast to the now-focused Jews
in the desert, the future-focused Christian described in Romans 5 held a viewpoint
that grace gives us the tools to endure any hardship now because of the
promised reward. Paul three times uses the word, “boast,” to describe our
response to the expected outcome. Paul, earlier in Romans, condemned those who
boast, yet here treats it as an expectation upon our justification. The
extended passage helps cement the future ideology as it describes the timing
and purpose of Christ’s death: it happened then to save us now for our coming reward
in Heaven. Past. Present. Future.<o:p></o:p></div>
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We know our reward will be in
Heaven in the same way the wandering Jews knew their reward would come at the
end of the journey from Egypt to The Promised Land. What we know, though, does
not always govern our actions. Paul declares that we boast about, that we take
pride in, our suffering. It is much easier to complain. It is much easier to
change our behavior. Whatever brings immediate relief to the discomfort in our
life is what we want.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Three weeks into the Lenten season
marks a turning point. Are we able to persevere through this period of doubt?
New practices have not become habit and denied habits have become
uncomfortable. Going back to the way we were on Fat Tuesday suddenly seems
highly desirable. It is time to reflect on the reason we made the decisions we
did and rededicate ourselves to growth through the entirety of Lent. Growth
comes in its season and we are ready for the warmth.<o:p></o:p></div>
Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01826454546003053870noreply@blogger.com0