Monthly Archives: January 2020

Plunder

Epiphany

January 21, 2020

Scripture Reading: Isaiah 9:1-4

But there will be no gloom for those who were in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he will make glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.
The people who walked in darkness
   have seen a great light;
those who lived in a land of deep darkness—
   on them light has shined.
You have multiplied the nation,
   you have increased its joy;
they rejoice before you
   as with joy at the harvest,
   as people exult when dividing plunder.
For the yoke of their burden,
   and the bar across their shoulders,
   the rod of their oppressor,
   you have broken as on the day of Midian.

I must admit describing rejoicing as how people exult when dividing plunder would not have been my pick as a metaphor. It probably does describe well jumping with joy when unexpectedly gaining something desired or even needed. It does not deal with that something being taken is the spoils of war.

A lot of novels have been published recently about the World War II, I guess because its 75th anniversary was observd a few years ago. Plunder was practiced even to the extent of removing gold teeth fillings from those who died or were killed in consecration camps. There is a big difference between celebrating an abundant harvest resulting from a lot of hard work and positive weather and celebrating what can be taken from people either displaced or killed. How do we remove the rod of oppressors without becoming oppressors ourselves?

Prayer: God of Justice and Mercy, help us learn how to deal with oppressors in ways that protect all and refocus oppressive behavior toward positive work. 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.

Darkness to Light

Epiphany

January 20, 2020

Scripture Reading: Isaiah 9:1-4

But there will be no gloom for those who were in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he will make glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.
The people who walked in darkness
   have seen a great light;
those who lived in a land of deep darkness—
   on them light has shined.
You have multiplied the nation,
   you have increased its joy;
they rejoice before you
   as with joy at the harvest,
   as people exult when dividing plunder.
For the yoke of their burden,
   and the bar across their shoulders,
   the rod of their oppressor,
   you have broken as on the day of Midian.

There are days when I feel like one walking in darkness. There is so much anger and hatred in our world. Evil likes to divide. Evil wins when we turn on each other. There are those who benefit, financially or politically or both, from our getting caught up in their influence. Truth is no longer a value, no longer dependably true. I have always liked Amos’* writing of living lives in alignment with God’s straight line like the plumb line builders use to assure that one brick is carefully in line with another. Today we use a tool called a level to help us hang pictures straight. As a people we seem to have lost our moral grounding. Evil and darkness are of course not new. Amos wrote in the 8th century BC.

Isaiah writes in the scripture above that God provides a great light for us enabling us to see the better way. We have the choice of not only accessing the light but shining it on all parts of our lives to help us see the way to walking the level way that give us endurance to overcome the lesser gods’ evil constantly dances before us.

Prayer: Lord, shine your light on our paths and guide our minds eyes to see what is level and what is not. Amen.

*Amos 7:7-15

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. Since the Civil War all the wars in the USA were somewhere else, perhaps we were shaken more by the 9/11 bombings.

Called as a Disciple

Epiphany

January 19, 2020

Scripture Reading: John 1:29-42

The next day John again was standing with two of his disciples, and as he watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, ‘Look, here is the Lamb of God!’ The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, ‘What are you looking for?’ They said to him, ‘Rabbi’ (which translated means Teacher), ‘where are you staying?’ He said to them, ‘Come and see.’ They came and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon. One of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his brother Simon and said to him, ‘We have found the Messiah’ (which is translated Anointed). He brought Simon to Jesus, who looked at him and said, ‘You are Simon son of John. You are to be called Cephas’ (which is translated Peter). –John 1:35-42

When I was a child as far as I knew, everybody went to church. Well there was the occasional reprobate that was the exception to every rule. Ours was a homogeneous group of farmers and businesspeople who supported farmers. There were three churches in my hometown: Christian, Evangelical United Brethren that eventually united with the Methodists, and Lutheran. The little church on the corner of my grandmother’s farm, which closed when I was five was my first church. It was served by a Baptist minister. He preached one Sunday a month at four different rural churches and we all got together on fifth Sunday with each church taking a turn at hosting what were called Fifth Sunday Sings. When it closed my family started attending the Christian church. I have since determined that the EUB were one set of families who migrated from Germany in the 1880’s and the Lutheran’s were another set of families who also migrated from Germany and both groups ran in the runs that opened settlement to non-Indians in the heart of the land set aside for the Indian Removal. In my case other cultures came to me. I was unaware of any real differences in beliefs. I attended Bible school at all the churches but the Lutheran Church; don’t think they had Vacation Bible school. I did learn a vast number of hymns from this ecumenical involvement.

My experience was not unlike that of the first Christians who were formed from the homogeneous peoples of Galilee and Judea. They were under Roman rule, I guess that is a major difference. Their call to be disciples was the bridge toward the remainder of the world learning about the love God has for all God’s people. It is still our call today only the world has grown a lot smaller and more diverse. There remains much to learn as we share the love of God from our doorsteps to the ends of the earth.

Prayer: Lord, lead us in understanding one another so that we might work together building your Kingdom of Love. 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.

Sharing the Stories of God

Epiphany

January 18, 2020

Scripture Reading: John 1:29-42

The next day he saw Jesus coming towards him and declared, ‘Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, “After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he was before me.” I myself did not know him; but I came baptizing with water for this reason, that he might be revealed to Israel.’ And John testified, ‘I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, “He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.” And I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God.’ –John 1:29-34

My dabbling in genealogy has led me to believe that we are all cousins. That is certainly true of all the descendants of Jacob which both Jesus and John were. I met a person while in graduate school whose husband’s last name was the same as my maternal grandmother’s maiden name. It did not take much comparisons to discern that they were first cousins several times removed. I also think that all people are children of God and thus siblings. Luke 1:36 describes Mary and Elizabeth as related and that they had an important relationship at the beginning of Mary’s pregnancy. John is quoted in the scripture above saying that he did not know Jesus and that is possible also. None of us know all our cousins and while Mary and Elizabeth may have had a relationship before Jesus was born, they may never have seen each other again after that visit.

As we make excursions through the gospels, we find references to events that may not mesh one with the other while they may not contradict either. John may be saying that he did not know that Jesus was the Chosen One until the baptism. Matthew (11:4) and Luke (7:22) both record the story of John being in prison and sending friends to ask Jesus if he were the Messiah. My brother, sister, and I rarely described the same family stories in the same way. Our understandings of events were shaped not only by our age and gender differences but also by our personalities. I would thus be more skeptical of the Bible if everything lined up perfectly because life is never reported that way.

There may be a message in these thoughts for those of us who are called to share the stories of Jesus with those who have not heard them or those who heard them but the stories were not conveyed so that God’s love was shared in a meaningful way. We must be intentional in shaping our message to the needs of the person with whom we are having discussion.

Prayer: Lord, make us mindful of the needs of others as we try to share your love with them. 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.

Enriched

Epiphany

January 17, 2020

Scripture Reading:
1 Corinthians 1:1-9

I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that has been given you in Christ Jesus, for in every way you have been enriched in him, in speech and knowledge of every kind— just as the testimony of Christ has been strengthened among you— so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ. He will also strengthen you to the end, so that you may be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful; by him you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. –1 Corinthians 1:4-9

How do we take fullest advantage of the gift of enrichment through Jesus Christ and how do we enable our siblings in Christ to use fully their gifts toward the purpose of growing and expanding the Kingdom of God? When we hear the word “enrich” most of us think of increasing financial wealth and providing financial support for the advancement of the faith is important. We are also called to develop knowledge of the faith, to grow spiritually, to add value through Christ to everything we attempt, and to share the love of God to and with all God’s children throughout the earth.

Living a purpose-filled life in Christ is the greatest challenge we will ever face if and when we fully take advantage of the enrichments with which we are already endowed and the greatest source of hope, peace, love, and Joy we will ever know.

Prayer: Lord help each of us see the gifts in ourselves as well as each other and help us follow your example as we seek to enrich all your children in love. 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.

God’s Grace

Epiphany

January 16, 2020

Scripture Reading: 1 Corinthians 1:1-9

Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes,

To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, together with all those who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. –1 Corinthians 1:1-3

Paul seemed to have a special place in his heart for God’s grace, perhaps because he had experienced it so strongly in his encounters with God. He opened his letter with this or a similar phrase. The word is used 86 times in Paul’s letters and those influenced by Paul. Grace is the translation of the Greek word charis which is preeminently used of the Lord’s favor – freely extended to give Himself away to people*. My guess is that when Paul used grace in his salutations, he meant it to carry both the connotation of God’s gift freely given and Paul’s attempts to follow Christ’s example of grace freely given.

Merriam-Webster picks up this theme in its definition of grace. I was raised in a family that said grace at every meal in recognition of God’s gifts including the food we ate.

  1. Grace
    1. a beneficence or generosity shown by God to humankind
    1. a free gift of God to humankind for regeneration or sanctification, an influence emanating from God and acting for the spiritual well-being of the recipient
    1. a state of acceptance by or of being pleasing to God, enjoyment of divine favor
    1. a virtue or moral excellence regarded as coming from God:  a Christian virtue
    1. Grace :  God as the source of grace
  2. a short prayer either asking a blessing before or giving thanks after a meal*

We as a people are caught in a world that asks, “What is in it for me?” as we relate to others. We may forget that we have already received all that we need, God’s love. As we begin a new year, let’s all try to live in and through grace in all our relationships.

Prayer: Thank you Lord, for the gift of your regenerative grace. Let it flow forth from us in all that we do and say. Amen.

*https://biblehub.com/greek/5485.htm
**http://unabridged.merriam-webster.com/unabridged/grace

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.

Perception Matters

Epiphany

January 14, 2020

Scripture Reading: Isaiah 49:1-7

And now the Lord says,
   who formed me in the womb to be his servant,
to bring Jacob back to him,
   and that Israel might be gathered to him,
for I am honored in the sight of the Lord,
   and my God has become my strength—
he says,
‘It is too light a thing that you should be my servant
   to raise up the tribes of Jacob
   and to restore the survivors of Israel;
I will give you as a light to the nations,
   that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.’ –Isaiah 49:5-6

In my opinion one of the shortfalls of the English language is that the same word can mean different things and different spellings of words can sound the same. A case in point, when I read the phrase above ‘It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob my mind processed the adverb too as the preposition to which did not make any sense as I completed the phrase.  I reread it and experience an aha moment that what Isaiah is quoting God saying is that it is to small a thing for God’s people to only raise up or restore the tribes of Jacob. I wonder why the NRSV translators did not use some of the words defining the Hebrew word used here Qalal: to be slight, swift or trifling It is too small a thing. In the next phrase the same word light (a different Hebrew word Or*) is used to describe God’s empowerment of God’s people to show the way for all nations to be restored. I wonder if the translators were trying to illuminate that God did not just give enough light to restore Jacob but the whole world.

We in the USA are struggling with this concept right now. What role does our nation play in restoring itself and all the other nations of the world? Do we perceive of other nations as our siblings in God or do we see them as sources of wealth for ourselves or do we see them as competitors for wealth or do we see them as enemies to fear and to conquer? Just as words matter perceptions matter. We need to carefully explore our perceptions about other nations and bring them into alignment with God’s perception of the wholeness of God’s world.

Prayer: Lord, give us the gift of your light so we can better see the perception you have of your world. Amen.

*https://biblehub.com/hebrew/7043.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.

Epiphany

January 13, 2020

Scripture Reading: Isaiah 49:1-7

Listen to me, O coastlands,
   pay attention, you peoples from far away!
The Lord called me before I was born,
   while I was in my mother’s womb he named me.
He made my mouth like a sharp sword,
   in the shadow of his hand he hid me;
he made me a polished arrow,
   in his quiver he hid me away.
And he said to me, ‘You are my servant,
   Israel, in whom I will be glorified.’
But I said, ‘I have labored in vain,
   I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity;
yet surely my cause is with the Lord,
   and my reward with my God.’ –Isaiah 49:1-4

As a cradle Christian, that is one whose mother shared her faith from the child’s beginning, I can identify with this poem. As a want-to-be justice advocate I know exactly what this suffering servant is professing. Taking one step forward and two steps back to eventually make the slightest of progress can be washed away in one hurricane or earthquake or change in leadership. And we start over again.

I know what it is like when it seems we have labored in vain. I have been working on health care reform since Joseph Califano was Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare in the Carter Administration. Almost 50 years later we in the USA are still struggling to provide even basic health care to too many of our citizens.

We are called to do justice whenever righteousness is not in play and surely our cause is with the Lord, and our reward with our God.

Prayer: Lord, we do get weary, abide with us and sharpen our justice swords so we can continue to strive toward your justice. 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.

Baptism

Epiphany

January 12, 2020

Scripture Reading: Matthew 3:13-17

Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, ‘I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?’ But Jesus answered him, ‘Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfil all righteousness.’ Then he consented. And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.’

Jesus’ baptism is reported in all four gospels. The description in Mark (Mark 1:9-11) and Luke (Luke 3:21-23) are similar, the voice speaks to Jesus. In Matthew (quoted above) the voice addresses all present. John (John 1:29–33) shares what John the Baptist reported particularly indicating seeing the dove.

Having worked in child welfare services and been involved in several court hearings, I learned early, primarily from the police involved, that it is rare for witnesses to see exactly the same thing so the differences should not be too concerning. Actually, the police get more suspicious when all present report exactly the same story. We also know that each gospel was written for differing audiences and the authors were trying to get the gist of the event as correct as the facts. Matthew and John both felt the need to share that there were witnesses present. Mark and Luke may have wanted to share that Jesus received and accepted his calling at this point.

As I order the coffee for our church fellowship time, the man that makes the coffee at my church on Sunday morning told me that we were almost out of coffee. I also forget things I am told in passing and I assured him that I would order the coffee as soon as I got home but would he please ask me on Sunday if I ordered the coffee. He laughingly said he would, if he remembered. Someone who overheard the conversation asked me why I had made the request and I told them that I have discovered I remember to do what I am asked to do if I know someone else is expecting me to complete the task. I have added the incentive of not letting the other down to fulfilling the responsibility I have accepted.

Baptism is just such an outward sign of a person’s commitment to follow Christ by making it a public experience even if the only witness is God and the Pastor.

Prayer: Lord, thank you for blessing us with a community of faith before whom we can hold ourselves accountable as we work to answer your call. 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.