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!

Easter Sunday - It Is Not Finished

Acts 10:34-43 or

Jeremiah 31:1-6

Psalm 118

Colossians 3:1-4 or Acts (above)

John 20:1-18 or

Matthew 28:1-10

He is risen!

He is risen indeed!

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.

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.

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.

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.

He is risen!

Now what?

Third Sunday in Lent

Exodus 17:1-7

Psalm 95

Romans 5:1-11

John 4:5-42

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

July 7 Ordinary Time

Today’s Scriptures: Lectionary selections from the Revised Common Lectionary Year C 2 Kings  5:1-14 Isaiah 66:10-14 Psalm 30 Psalm 66 Galatians 6:1-16 Luke 10:-11, 16-20

Today’s Reflection: A few years ago the Staples office supply stores began airing commercials that featured the “Easy Button” that solved all the world’s hard problems. The catch-line being that there was no such thing, but they (Staples) made it easy to get all the office supplies you needed for your home or business. In the faith traditions we often focus on the challenges to overcome in order to follow God’s direction. We often preach that there is no easy way, but the passages today offer some relief from those teachings. When we realize the work comes from an all-powerful God, the work suddenly becomes much more doable. The account of Naaman in 2 Kings is one such story in which the participants sought the challenging way. Upon learning that healing could be possible through a prophet in Israel, his king sent Naaman and a sizable “offering” of silver, gold, and robes to the king of Israel. The expectations of that time were that 1) it would cost something (an offering), and 2) the king, being king, was the prophet of God. Those assumptions nearly provoked a war as the king of Israel saw the offering and message as a taunt. Fortunately, the prophet Elisha recognized that it was an act of faith that sent Naaman to Israel and called for him to come to his house. Elisha’s next actions dispelled the protocols of the time. He gave directions for a very simple action that would cure Naaman’s leprosy - no offering or sacrifice required. He also refused to meet Naaman face-to-face, instead sending a servant to deliver the directions. He wanted it to be clear that rank in society had nothing to do with the ability of God to act through a person and to show that Naaman’s faith led to the cure, not some miraculous power contained within the prophet himself. To put it directly: God is present even when the prophet is not. Naaman’s challenge was accepting something so simple. As a man of his time, and one in high position, he expected experiences to play out in a certain way. Elisha’s actions violated all those expectations. It took the wisdom of those in lesser positions to convince Naaman that he should at least try what the prophet said. When he accepted the advice and bathed in the Jordan, God healed him. Sometimes it is just that easy. God’s commands are not always hard for us to follow, but we focus so often on the trials and tribulations of being Christian that we develop a mindset that anything God calls us to do is going to require some great sacrifice. As with Naaman, the sacrifice may be a preconceived notion. We may have to sacrifice some of our “beliefs”  because we have always been taught that his how to believe only to have God whisper a different message in our ear. We do not often consider changing a mindset as a great sacrifice, but the Bible is filled with stories, like Naaman (and Paul!) who had to adjust the way they believed to match the mind of God. Our deeply held beliefs guide our words and actions; changing those beliefs can be one of the biggest challenge any Christian faces. There is no “easy button” when faced with such decisions; we can only open our heart and our ears to the message God gives us now.

Revised Common Lectionary Daily Readings, copyright © 2005 Consultation on Common Texts. www.commontexts.org

August 26 - Ordinary Time

Today’s Scriptures: From the Book of Common Prayer Psalm 146, 147, 111, 112, 113 Job 4:1-6, 12-21 Revelation 4 Mark 6:1-6

Today’s Question: What do we do when confronted by our own doubt?

Today’s Reflection: I dread being asked a question for which I should know the answer, but cannot recall it instantly. Even as I eventually recall the response at some point in the near future, I face a period of doubt, even over a subject at which I am considered an expert. The same thing happens to all of us from time to time when we confront a situation that conflicts with our belief - or what we have been taught is church doctrine. The passages today give us some guidance about facing doubt.   The Psalms passages remind us of who God is and why we worship him. They could be read, with their listing of God’s works, as saying he has “earned” our worship. Such an interpretation does not take into consideration the entirety of scripture. We worship for God for who he is, not the things he has done. Several of the verses address the concept of doubt we see in the overall collection. In 146, verse 8 mentions “opening the eyes of the blind” – helping those who do not know or understand him to know God. Psalm 147:5 speaks of his “understanding beyond measure.” The passages assure us of that the things God “does” emanate from his nature, not from any effort to “earn” our devotion.   One of the most challenging books in the Bible, Job, takes us through a lengthy debate about why things happen to people, and how we respond when those things happen. The verses from chapter four today come from one of his friends who have come to Job following his loses. He questions Job’s perspective on the situation after praising Job for his good works in supporting others through difficulty. He suggests that Job may be too close to the events to have a good view of it and goes on to recount a dream (revelation) he had. The dream brings out a brief revelation of God’s nature and asks the question of whether anyone can be good in the presence of God who is perfect. He doubts Job’s claims to have suffered unjustly because no matter how good he is, he was not “good” in relation to God.   In Revelation chapter 4 we are brought to the throne of God where all doubt is cast aside by the presence of God himself. Ecstatic worship and splendid sights abound in the presence when we encounter the nature of God directly – with no more middle-man giving it to us. Connections to history come with the 24 worshipers (tribes of Israel + apostles), the thunder and lightning (God’s appearance on the mountaintop). The creatures represent creation and God’s eternal watchfulness over it. The fulfillment of our faith comes in that presence.   Jesus encounters people he has known his entire life in the Mark passage. The familiarity blinds the people to seeing who he is. They knew his siblings, hired him for construction work, worshiped with him at synagogue. Suddenly he becomes a breakout faith leader. Their familiarity created an insurmountable doubt in his words as a teacher. Unlike the woman whose faith moved her to simply touch his garment for healing, the people of his hometown lack enough faith despite evidence.   Doubt is not something for us to fear. While God is eternally consistent in his nature, we struggle to understand the “why” behind everything that happens. We are driven to understand things that are beyond our understanding. Doubting forces us to ask the questions that move us forward in understanding. The understanding we gain comes in knowing God’s nature. We do not always understand the “why,” be we grow in our faith. Job, the elders at the throne, and the people of Jesus’s hometown all dealt with doubt. Some grew, some overcame, and some failed. I am in the Jobian category but look forward to the elders’ experience.

Today’s Prayer: Let us embrace the doubts we have from time to time and take the opportunity to grow in our faith.