Monthly Archives: February 2016

Communing with God

Joshua scriptureLent
February 10, 2016

Scripture Reading: Psalm 91:1-2, 9-16

For he will command his angels concerning you
   to guard you in all your ways.
On their hands they will bear you up,
   so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.
You will tread on the lion and the adder,
   the young lion and the serpent you will trample under foot.

Those who love me, I will deliver;
   I will protect those who know my name.
When they call to me, I will answer them;
   I will be with them in trouble,
   I will rescue them and honor them.
With long life I will satisfy them,
   and show them my salvation. –Psalm 91:11-16

I have dashed my foot against the stone and it hurt. Left me with a permanent scar. So what is the Psalmist trying to tell us here? God is neither Superman or Supergirl. We have probably all longed for a caped avenger swooping down from the sky to lift us out of the muck and mire in which we find ourselves. Sometimes we are there as a result of our own miss steps, sometimes we are caught unaware by outside forces over which we have no control, and sometimes we are paying the price for society’s ills that we all have ignored and failed to correct.

When we place our trust in God, love God, the Lord always answers. I have been very frustrated lately sending emails that I think require a response to help me know how to continue on a project and I get no responses. Now I am trying to figure out if my messages are getting through but my first thought was that they just were not being answered. This can certainly happen with God. I think though more often than not, I have so much noise going on in my head that I could not hear God’s answer when God makes it.

What the Psalmist promises is that God’s abiding presence is always with us and will always be with us. When we turn the noise down we just might hear the response. More often than not, the response is guidance in how we can change to effect a better outcome in what we are trying to accomplish.

Prayer: God of Mercy, forgive me when I play my anger, frustration, hurt feelings, and more, so loudly I cannot comprehend your guidance. Help me turn that noise down and listen more intently for your voice. 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.

Earning First Fruits

I want to liveEpiphany
February 9, 2016

Scripture Reading: Deuteronomy 26:1-11

When the Egyptians treated us harshly and afflicted us, by imposing hard labor on us, we cried to the Lord, the God of our ancestors; the Lord heard our voice and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression. The Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with a terrifying display of power, and with signs and wonders; and he brought us into this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. So now I bring the first of the fruit of the ground that you, O Lord, have given me.’ You shall set it down before the Lord your God and bow down before the Lord your God. Then you, together with the Levites and the aliens who reside among you, shall celebrate with all the bounty that the Lord your God has given to you and to your house. –Deuteronomy 26:6-11

The Israelites stopped to take time to thank God for the right to work for the fruits of their own labor. Big difference from slavery where their labors were for the Pharaohs of Egypt to fill their granaries and to build their wealth. The Israelites were not seeking a hedonistic life of leisure or a prosperity gospel. They were willing to work, wanted to work, were apparently very good at work. They simply wanted their work to be compensated with the means to meet their basic needs and the needs of their families.

We have millions of people across this great nation with those same ambitions. The overwhelming majority of SNAP (food stamp) recipients who can work do so. According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, “Among SNAP households with at least one working-age, non-disabled adult, more than half work while receiving SNAP—and more than 80 percent work in the year prior to or the year after receiving SNAP. The rates are even higher for families with children—more than 60 percent work while receiving SNAP, and almost 90 percent work in the prior or subsequent year.”

 What’s more, many SNAP participants aren’t physically able to work. About 20 percent of SNAP participants are elderly or have a disability, according to the USDA.* Over 45 million persons included in over 22 million households received SNAP in November 2015.**

Receiving a living wage for services rendered would go a long way toward freeing these citizens from dependency, one might call it slavery, on government subsidies or support from non-profit charities. It would also free them from the wagging tongues that castigate them for that dependency.

Prayer: Lord, grant that we all might celebrate equally your love with offerings of the first fruits of our labor. Amen.

* http://www.hungercoalition.org/food-stamp-myths

** http://www.fns.usda.gov/pd/supplemental-nutrition-assistance-program-snap

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.

The Long Walk Home

slide_carpool-272x222Epiphany
February 7, 2016

Scripture Reading: Luke 9:28-36

Just as they were leaving him, Peter said to Jesus, ‘Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah’—not knowing what he said. While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were terrified as they entered the cloud. Then from the cloud came a voice that said, ‘This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!’ When the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and in those days told no one any of the things they had seen. –Luke 9:33-36

Have you ever had one of those moments when you made a life-changing decision that was way out of your comfort zone, but about which you were totally comfortable? I think that is what the Transfiguration was for Jesus, and, no doubt, in retrospect for the disciples who were with him as well.

The world is too much with me right now and so last night I watched a movie made in 1990, which I did not know had ever been made: The Long Walk Home. I found it by searching Netflix’s. It is the story of an upper middleclass white woman in Montgomery, Alabama and her black maid during the days following Rosa Parks’ famous stand or, seat might be a better descriptor, on a bus. Here actions were followed by a bus boycott by the black community. By refusing to take the bus the maid was forced to walk a long distance to get to her job. The white woman, without her husband’s knowledge, started driving her maid to work two days a week. The movie is about both women and their struggles to decide their responses. The white woman eventually ended up being a part of a brigade of both blacks and whites who drove blacks to and from work every day during the boycott. In a final showdown when a group of white men, including the white woman’s husband and brother-in-law, intervened to put an end to the white driver’s actions, the white woman reached that point of becoming totally comfortable with the totally uncomfortable and joined the line of black women standing and singing a hymn in the face of the angry mob.

Jesus set the example for this type of courage as he turned his face toward Jerusalem and his final confrontation with the principalities and powers that stood against everything God intended for God’s people. He was blessed with the encouragement of his ancestors in faith Moses and Elijah. We, too, are blessed with such a great cloud of witnesses led by Jesus Christ. With God’s strength we can face whatever forces try to break us from the love of God as we follow his Son’s lead.

Prayer: Lord, keep our eyes on the goal of your love overcoming the world and guide us in our Long Walk Home to your Kingdom. 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.

A Wandering Armenian

Wandering-ArameanEpiphany
February 8, 2016

Scripture Reading: Deuteronomy 26:1-11

When you have come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance to possess, and you possess it, and settle in it, you shall take some of the first of all the fruit of the ground, which you harvest from the land that the Lord your God is giving you, and you shall put it in a basket and go to the place that the Lord your God will choose as a dwelling for his name. You shall go to the priest who is in office at that time, and say to him, ‘Today I declare to the Lord your God that I have come into the land that the Lord swore to our ancestors to give us.’ When the priest takes the basket from your hand and sets it down before the altar of the Lord your God, you shall make this response before the Lord your God: ‘A wandering Aramean was my ancestor; he went down into Egypt and lived there as an alien, few in number, and there he became a great nation, mighty and populous. –Deuteronomy 26:1-5

Sometimes I think we rather glamorize our ancestors in the faith. Perhaps that is because we have been saturated with movie versions of their acts. I probably would not have considered them as refugees, if our world were not so full of wandering people some of them from the neighbors of the current Armenia. There are not a lot of Armenians left after the Armenian Genocide that occurred during World War I. Our scripture today recognizes that, Moses apparently identified Armenians in his ancestry.

What impact does it have on a people to lose their land and be forced to live among aliens? Joseph did very well in Egypt, but 400 years later when the Israelites had multiplied, they became a threat to the people who had once welcomed them. That same thing is happening to those countries who have accepted in recent years, refugees from the war-weary middle east. How long will it be before they can return to their homes? As people charged by God to love we begin to ask how much and to how many, as resources shrink and the number of refugees increases.

There are no easy answers. It is an opportunity to hone our skills at loving, meeting needs as we can, encouraging systemic answers that are stubbornly not pursued, and leaning heavily on God to open paths of love not yet seen.

Prayer: Lord, show us the better way to welcome the strangers as neighbors. 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.

Renewal of Faith Strength

the-transfigurationEpiphany
February 6, 2016

Scripture Reading: Luke 9:28-36

Now about eight days after these sayings Jesus took with him Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly they saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to him. They appeared in glory and were speaking of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. Now Peter and his companions were weighed down with sleep; but since they had stayed awake, they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. –Luke 9:28-32

I know what it is like to be weighed down with sleep. While reading a book, I may want to finish just to the end of the chapter but my eyes just will not stay open. I don’t know how many times I have turned on the 10:00 pm news only to wake up in the middle of one of the late shows having missed the weather forecast for the next day, my primary reason for watching. In neither case, my actions were not the result of lack of interest.

I do not think I have ever had that happen while waiting for the doctor to come and report outcomes for a loved one in the hospital. During those times, my whole body is engaged. In the Transfiguration, Jesus was fully engaged; his disciples were not. Their levels of commitment were different. Because the disciples did not give in to the weight of sleep, they caught a glimpse of God’s glory that, I have no doubt, transformed their lives forever.

How do we remain fully engaged in our faith journey? First, it is a good idea to take care of our physical and mental needs. We know the drill: eat right, exercise regularly, and get plenty of sleep. We need to do the same thing with our souls. We need to nourish ourselves through study, keep faithful in worship, and most importantly of all, take time each day to rest in the Lord.

Prayer: God, when I fall short, as I surely will, of maintaining well the engagement of my soul, let your grace be present with me to give me a glimpse of your glory that will renew my faith strength. 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.

Falsifying God’s Word

Let-the-word-of-christ-dwell-in-you-richlyEpiphany
February 5, 2016

Scripture Reading: 2 Corinthians 3:12-4:2

Therefore, since it is by God’s mercy that we are engaged in this ministry, we do not lose heart. We have renounced the shameful things that one hides; we refuse to practice cunning or to falsify God’s word; but by the open statement of the truth we commend ourselves to the conscience of everyone in the sight of God. –2 Corinthians 4:1-2

How do we falsify God’s word? Does this simply mean that we turn God’s word into a sham by not following it? Does it mean we twist God’s word to our own purposes by shrewdly taking it out of context or not viewing it across the full spectrum of its teachings? How do we know what is God’s word? Paul dealt with the same issues as he attempted to make plain the message of Jesus to the Corinthians who were hearing differing interpretations from others who came with letters of recommendation.

We live in a similar age, ours of instant information about which many have become cynical. We do not know who to believe or what to believe as spin doctors attempt to tell us their designer truth. People cherry pick a verse here, a chapter there from the Bible and build whole philosophies of faith around them.

Paul takes about the Spirit of God as the source of knowing in 2 Corinthians, a book written 50 years or so before the Gospel of John. I think Paul’s language about the Spirit of God and John’s first sentence In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God are very much alike. Truth is not in the dictionary or the spin but in the living, breathing life of Christ and his Spirit that dwells among us today. The ability to recognize truth is tied to our ability to related to the Living God. Jesus quoted liberally from the Hebrew scriptures. He learned them, loved them, and applied them in the context of his day and time. Wisdom lies in viewing our understanding of God’s through the light of the love of Jesus Christ, the word made flesh.

And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14)

Prayer: Lord, let Your Word be a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. Amen.

*Based on Psalm 119:105

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.

Seeing God in Ourselves

Physical-Training-1024x576Epiphany
January 4, 2016

Scripture Reading: 2 Corinthians 3:12-4:2

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit. –2 Corinthians 3:17-18

Do we see the reflection of God when we look into the mirrors of our souls? Apparently Moses did in his mountaintop experience although the Israelites in general apparently were not ready to see God’s glory. Paul is saying that through the gift of the Spirit we too are to see the reflection of God in us as we see our faces in a mirror. Are we ready to see that? What of God do we see when we gaze in our soul’s mirror?

Paul raises this issue in the context of the transformations of our lives as we grow in Christ’s likeness. Even Paul earlier in 1 Corinthians 13:12 says that we do not see that vision fully:   For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. I think Paul is saying her that it is important that we keep looking, keep holding ourselves up to the light of Christ, and continue to clean our filters of the clutter just living life can sometimes clog.

Spiritual maintenance is very much like both physical and mental maintenance. The holiday season and a nasty cold that would not let go has left me out of shape. I tried to eat healthily and return to exercise as soon as I could move without coughing but I still have some catching up to do. During this time, I also found myself watching more and less-meaningful TV, feeling sorry for myself, and being generally grumpy. I am doing some attitude adjustments now to return to a better state of mind. Similarly, we must take responsibility for not only our spiritual growth but also our spiritual maintenance.

Prayer: Lord, transform me until I see you more clearly when I gaze into the mirror of my soul. 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.

Justice for All

hi-homeless2-852-cbcEpiphany
February 3, 2016

Scripture Reading: Psalm 99

Mighty King, lover of justice,
   you have established equity;
you have executed justice
   and righteousness in Jacob.
Extol the Lord our God;
   worship at his footstool.
   Holy is he! –Psalm 99:4-5

I am sure anyone who reads these devotions everyday gets tired of revisiting the same issues over and over. I, frankly, get tired of writing them. When will we ever recognize that justice for all is good for all.

The Psalmist in our scripture today identifies God as a lover of justice. God’s Son certainly demonstrated that love in his way of being as well as his teaching. He had a special place in his heart for the disabled, particularly the mentally ill. Recently I sat and listened to the personal testimonies of people living on the streets who attend a worship service designed for them. They were instructed to tell a story of hope realized, where they could see progress in their own lives. These testimonies serve as a catalyst for the testifiers’ fellow street people not to give up.

I could not help thinking that it is those of us who have jobs with incomes, homes to live in, food on the table, central heat, and warm clothing who need to hear these testimonies. For it is we who allow systems of injustice to continue. It is we who do not assure the availability of mental health services, not even for the soldiers who thought they were fighting for all of us.

In the final analysis it is true that individuals must change their behavior if they want to survive and succeed. It is also true that not a single one of us has gotten to where we are today without help. The love of God is where it starts but our reflecting that love in our societies’ systems matters. Other nations take care of their most vulnerable people, why don’t we?

Prayer: Lord, we ask a special blessing on the vulnerable people in our world who need our love and attention. Open our hearts and our minds to ways of protecting them while maintaining their dignity as 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.

Worship Practices Differing

Sister%20Barbara%20Lum%203%20(1000x615)Epiphany
February 2, 2016

Scripture Reading: Exodus 34:29-35

When Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil on his face; but whenever Moses went in before the Lord to speak with him, he would take the veil off, until he came out; and when he came out, and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, the Israelites would see the face of Moses, that the skin of his face was shining; and Moses would put the veil on his face again, until he went in to speak with him. –Exodus 34:33-35

The wearing of veils in our day and time is a controversial issued tied up in our ability to accept differing religious and cultural practices. I was hospitalized around the age of five for a short time in our local hospital which at that time was operated by a Catholic order of nuns. I had never seen a nun before, at least not one clad in a habit from head to toe. I remember not knowing what to make of them. My mother explained that they were nurses and all nurses, like the ones in my doctor’s office, wore uniforms. These nurses just wore a different kind of uniform because of their faith. It is a rare sight to see a nun in a habit anymore.

When I worked for the state, I did job interviews to fill an economist vacancy in my division. Two of the applicants were Muslim. One presented in an attractive business suit with a colorful blouse and had no head covering, the other wore a black scarf and an all-black pant suit including a black blouse. This is emblematic of the world in which we now live where cultures and religions intersect in all facets of life.

The story about Moses’ worship practices as they continued following his descent from the mountain does not say whether he chose to continue to cover his face because he felt that was best for the Israelites or because it was meaningful to him personally and his relationship with God. I believe this scripture suggest the latter and I believe it gives us guidance on how we should respect the practices people of all religions follow as they honor God. What is meaningful for one may not be meaningful to me and what is meaningful to me may not have any significance for another.

Prayer: Lord may all your followers worship you in spirit and in truth as they feel compelled through their relationship with you and grant us the peace we need to love them for their love of you as demonstrated in their practices. 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.

Knowing God More Nearly

encountering GodEpiphany
February 1, 2016

Scripture Reading: Exodus 34:29-35

Moses came down from Mount Sinai. As he came down from the mountain with the two tablets of the covenant in his hand, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God. When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, the skin of his face was shining, and they were afraid to come near him. But Moses called to them; and Aaron and all the leaders of the congregation returned to him, and Moses spoke with them. Afterwards all the Israelites came near, and he gave them in commandment all that the Lord had spoken with him on Mount Sinai. –Exodus 34:29-32

The giving of the Law to the Israelites was a holy occasion. Moses’ whole countenance was evidently changes as he descended from the mountain with the covenant that God had made. The change was so great that all the people knew something special had happened. Have you ever encounter such a transformation in your own life?

It reminds me of Paul on the road to Damascus full of himself and his righteous stance against these followers of the man named Jesus. He too was changed forever. Saw the world differently, understood God differently when he encountered the Holy.

Opening our hearts and minds to knowing God more nearly is what we are called to do in our everyday journey. More than that, our knowing God more nearly will help us more assuredly to love and care for one another until we find we are capable and willing to love all of God’s children from our doorsteps to the ends of the earth. Loving all of God’s children is our best form of helping us love God more dearly.*

Prayer: Lord, help us to know you more nearly so we can serve you more clearly. Amen.

*Loosely based on the prayer of Richard, Bishop of Chichester See at http://justus.anglican.org/resources/bio/139.html

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.