Advent - December 8

Psalm 27

Isaiah 26:7-15

Acts 2:37-42

         Dictionary definitions indicate that [i]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

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[i] peace. Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random House, Inc. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/peace (accessed: December 08, 2014).

Peace Follows

Isaiah 40:1-11

2 Peter 3:8-15

Mark 1:1-8

         This week I have had very little [i]peace (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 to peace which is what happens after a restoration to a right relationship with God.

Peace follows.

         We prepare the roads and clear the paths for God’s arrival and then peace follows.

         We level some hills and fill some valleys and then peace follows.

         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.

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[i] peace. Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random House, Inc. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/peace (accessed: December 07, 2014)

Advent: December 6

Psalm 85:1-2, 8-13

Ezekiel 36:24-28

Mark 11:27-33

         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.

         God handled the problem.

         God restored the nation.

         Action verbs and God: still together.

Advent: December 5

Psalm 85:1-2, 8-13

Jeremiah 1:4-10

Acts 11:19-26

         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.

         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.

         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!

Advent: December 4

Psalm 85:1-2, 8-13

Hosea 6:1-6

1 Thessalonians 1:2-10

         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.

         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.

         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?

Advent: December 3

Psalm 79

Micah 5:1-5a

Luke 21:34-38

Surfers have their own vocabulary to describe the waves, and though it is unique to them, almost everyone understands it. What they say is not what they are saying. I think Micah would have been a great surfer or at least talked like one. What he said was not always what he was saying, yet it is both descriptive and beautiful.

In verse two, his statement, “from of old, from ancient days” uses Hebrew constructs to give the listener context: from of old = before any of us were around, and from ancient days = before even Abraham. He does not say “from the beginning,” but that is what he is saying.

So much around us is temporal. For a time we celebrated the impermanence of items around us. Something new and better was coming soon. Yet there was something attractive about antiques. Sturdy. Dependable. Beautiful. In a world of turmoil, Micah offers the assurance 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.

Advent: December 2

Psalm 79

Micah 4:6-13

Revelation 18:1-10

         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.

         Micah was no different – except he never forgets the restoration that is to come. 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 God will still be with His people and all human endeavor will be subsumed to God’s plan.

         The pain is real, but so is the hope.

Advent: December 1

Psalm 79

Micah 4:1-5

Revelation 15:1-8

         Where is the God of Micah when you need him?

         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.

        

         Everyone is right in their view of God!

         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 – He teaches; He judges; He arbitrates; He speaks.

         We follow. We obey. We steward 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.

         Our hope walks with God who is God forever and ever.

Hope Comes First

Isaiah 64:1-9

Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19

1 Corinthians 1:3-9

Mark 13:24-37

         Hope. 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.

2014 has been the year of doubt. Hard doubt. 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 AND 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.

My thoughts centered on two main questions: 1) Was Jesus real and was He the biological Son of God through the immaculate conception, and 2) even if Jesus was not real on either count, does it matter? The remainder of the year focused on coming to answers. My answers, at the moment, are 1) yes/probably not, and 2) no. I will explain more as I come closer to my final thoughts. 2014 is not over. I took a break from regular posting while I wrestled with the questions. Writing and meditation did not stop – only the posting of it.

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.

So why do I agree that hope comes first? Hebrews 11:1, my mantra, says, “Faith is the substance (manifestation) of things HOPED for; the evidence of that which we have not seen. All year, despite the persistence of doubt, I hoped Jesus was real. I hoped Jesus was the Son of God. I hoped that fact mattered. It is hope that gets us to the place where we can examine the others. Even when God seems far away – hope maintains a link.

Happy Advent!

A Fair Deal - Ordinary Time - September 21

Jonah 3:10 – 4:11

Psalm 145

Philippians 1:21-30

Matthew 20:1-16

         “That’s not fair!” 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?”

         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.

         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….

         I am them. They are me.

         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 Nineveh² consequences on them.

         I was Jonah.

         Instead of reflecting on Scripture and other writings, I took up the gavel and pronounced judgment.

         Exactly the thing that in others led to such physical distress in me.

         I was them and it was killing me.

         It’s not fair! I had to embrace those who make me uncomfortable and “they” do not. Like Jonah, I fled.

         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.

         What do I owe God? To do his will for me and not do his job (judge).

         What does God owe me? Only that which has been promised – the strength to do his will.

         That’s fair – whether I like it or not.