Tag Archives: Intentionality

Intentionality

Advent

December 13, 2022

Scripture Reading:

Isaiah 7:10-16
Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz, saying, Ask a sign of the Lord your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven. But Ahaz said, I will not ask, and I will not put the Lord to the test. Then Isaiah said: ‘Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary mortals, that you weary my God also? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel. He shall eat curds and honey by the time he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. For before the child knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land before whose two kings you are in dread will be deserted.

Immanuel knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good and modeled it for his followers. Jesus walked the talk; he never met a stranger. My dad was like that; this introvert must work at it. I think he was very intentional in everything he did, as much as his stories seem to portray him as being very spontaneous. His interaction with the Samaritan woman at the well is a good example of that, but so was his chasing the money changers out of the temple. Was that because he was always on message fulfilling his purpose in the short time he had on earth? Are all our actions targeted at fulfilling Christ’s vision for all God’s children?

 A time of waiting, Advent is a time of waiting and a great time to reinforce our dedication to answering the call to serve God in all aspects of our lives. We must stop at times and explore what we are doing to further the development of the Beloved Community. Even taking the time for self-care gives us the energy to continue our work.

Prayer: Lord, grant us the intentionality we need to serve you by habit. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Heart or Mind or Both

Ordinary Time

Heart vs Mind

February 7, 2022

Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 17:5-10

Thus says the Lord:
Cursed are those who trust in mere mortals
   and make mere flesh their strength,
   whose hearts turn away from the Lord.
They shall be like a shrub in the desert,
   and shall not see when relief comes.
They shall live in the parched places of the wilderness,
   in an uninhabited salt land.

The heart is devious above all else;
   it is perverse—
   who can understand it?
I the Lord test the mind
   and search the heart,
to give to all according to their ways,
   according to the fruit of their doings. –Jeremiah 17:5-6, 9-10

We need to remember that the authors of the Bible did not share the same knowledge base about human bodies that we understand today. For us, the heart is a pump that sends blood flowing through the body. in ancient times it was the word that represented the inner man, mind, will, with specific reference to moral character* We do continue some of that meaning when we celebrate Valentine’s Day with “heart” shaped cards that are not shaped like the heart at all. The Hebrew word translated mind here is the word for kidney. I have no idea how to consider that.

The question being considered is: are we ruled by our feelings or by facts? And the answer is both. Jeremiah quotes the Lord as saying that the Lord tests the mind and searches the heart and that is wise advice for us particularly in our world today. I find myself checking sources I trust when I read a statement of fact that does not seem reliable. At the least, I have found the information to be misleading or taken out of context. And sometimes it is just not true. Other language is loaded with wording designed to steer us away from facts and see from an emotional level. In these instances, we must indeed search our hearts to see if we can determine what triggered our emotional response and whether that response is valid for the situation at this time in this place. We carry a lot of baggage from past experiences that might make us wiser but also that could trigger a response that does not fit the current situation.

I also try to put decisions and actions to the test of love. Is my response to this statement, this issue, this event based on loving God and loving my neighbor as myself?

Prayer: Lord, enable me to clothe myself in the habit of seeking first your guidance and example when making decisions. Amen.

*https://biblehub.com/hebrew/3820.htm

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Setting Goals

Epiphany

January 15, 2020

Scripture Reading:
Psalm 40:1-11

I have told the glad news of deliverance
   in the great congregation;
see, I have not restrained my lips,
   as you know, O Lord.
I have not hidden your saving help within my heart,
   I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation;
I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness
   from the great congregation. Psalm 40:9-10

I do not make new year resolutions but I do think it is important regularly to take some time to set forth life goals, identify what I intend to do to fulfill them, and then routinely examining my life to measure how I am doing and what adjustments in  my life might be needed to keep me on track. The above Psalm strikes me as the author’s evaluation of what he or she had accomplished. I think it is important for communities of faith to set aside time for self-evaluation. Are we achieving our goals?

Churches are like our homes, we can get so busy doing routine things, we may miss doing the most important things. We may have every bulletin printed, sermon written, choir rehearsed, and offerings collected and never tell the glad news of deliverance to anyone. That is why we need to be very intentional about all that we do.

Prayer: Lord, today help me revisit my priorities in my service for you and determine how I am doing making in course corrections needed. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Bread of Life

Living in the Spirit
August 11, 2018

Scripture Reading: John 6:35, 41-51

Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.

 Then the Jews began to complain about him because he said, ‘I am the bread that came down from heaven.’ They were saying, ‘Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, “I have come down from heaven”?’ Jesus answered them, ‘Do not complain among yourselves. No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me; and I will raise that person up on the last day. –John 6:35, 41-44

In the Jewish tradition referring to bread from heaven most likely would invoke memories of the manna from heaven provided to the Israelites after they fled from Egypt. While life was not perfect in first century Jerusalem, the people were not facing wholesale physical starvation their ancestors had from lack of food. Spiritual starvation was another matter. Under the thumb of Rome and their own religious leaders who were caught up in the politics of going along to get along, the people in Judea and Galilee were suffering from spiritual malnutrition. Broadening the vista, the peoples of the whole world were hungering for the Good News of God’s love. Abraham’s challenge to be a blessing to all nations* had yet to be fulfilled.

Jesus came in search of those willing to fulfill the call to nurture souls and to spread the love of God throughout the earth. We now call it the Body of Christ in the world today. None of us are called to do everything; all of us are called to do our thing as a part of that organism. Such work entails nurturing the members of that Body as well as sharing the love of God with all God’s children in our role of being a blessing.

Introducing change in any circumstance requires a level of single-minded intentionality the keeps individuals and groups focus on the ultimate outcome desired. The routines of life engulf us in distractions that limit our drive toward our vision. All who are drawn by the Father to this work must from time to time withdrawn unto a quiet place and regain our focus and our energy. Thus recharged, we continue toward the realization of God’s world lead by love.

Prayer: God grant me the balance of living that is necessary for me to fulfill my call. Amen.

*Genesis 22:18

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Free Will

Christmas
January 3, 2018

Scripture Reading: Psalm 29

The Lord sits enthroned over the flood;
   the Lord sits enthroned as king forever.
May the Lord give strength to his people!
   May the Lord bless his people with peace! –Psalm 29:10-11

We saw our fair share of floods and other weather-related events in 2017. People will be working to overcome the devastation for years. We take comfort in the knowledge that the Lord will be with all those impacted by the floods and all those who are trying to help in any way they can. we seek answers to the questions that plagues us, how do we contribute to weather extremes and how can we prevent or ameliorate our participation in influences these events?

The theology of having dominion over the earth draws us into the concept of God’s gift to us of free will and how we handle it. We face the same question with many other issues. After overindulging in rich foods and not keeping my exercise routine over the recent holidays, I am facing the full weight of my failure to exercise dominion over my health and well-being.  This too is a free will issue.

I suffer from wanting to do the right thing when it is convenient for me. Practicing freewill within the boundaries of God’s love requires a good helping of intentionality. We are not like working horses who must be fitted with blinders to keep their focus on the path ahead. We are more like the quarterback or point guard who sees the entire playing field or court and must make the right decision among the many choices presented. There are more ways than one to do the right thing, to exercise the talents and gifts with which God has graced us. Remember Jesus’ story of the talents (Matthew 25:14-30).  Each servant was given resources to develop. All but one used their resources and doubled their worth. The one buried his and his gifts were taken from him and given to another to develop. Dropping the ball is not a choice.

I have no doubt that God’s will will be done. The question I must address is: am I doing my assigned role in making that happen? We live in a time when our best and most intentional efforts are demanded to bring justice into the world in which we live.

Prayer: Lord, give strength to your people and bless us with your peace as we attempt with our best efforts and intentionality to do your will. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Spiritual Vacuum

Love the otherLiving in the Spirit
July 18, 2016

Scripture Reading: Hosea 1:2-10

When the Lord first spoke through Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea, ‘Go, take for yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom, for the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the Lord.’ So he went and took Gomer daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.

 And the Lord said to him, ‘Name him Jezreel; for in a little while I will punish the house of Jehu for the blood of Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel. On that day I will break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel.’ Hosea 1:2-5

It seems that the prophets view the problems of the world as symptoms of a spiritual vacuum in the lives of God’s people. Such a vacuum often results from our shaping our religion to worship a God made in our image. We pick and choose ways of being that fit us comfortably as God’s ways and what others do as being outside of God’s spectrum.

I hate the ads on TV that illustrate someone eating a favorite food to excess that routinely makes them sick and then taking the magic elixir being advertised that relieves the resulting pain. Isn’t that sometimes how we treat our religion?

The way we live and the way we love makes a difference. We create most of our problems, and we are capable of creating solutions. It does require us to be intentional about our relationship with God learning from Christ’s example what God’s love is all about, and trusting God’s mercy to show us a better way. It does require us to take the beam out of our own eyes and let Jesus handle any judgment on others.

Prayer: Lord, forgive us when we fail to meet our obligations not only to love ourselves but to love all your children. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized 
Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council 
of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights 
reserved.