Author Archives: WOJ@deborahsdescendants.com

With a Song in My Heart

Ordinary Time

January 11, 2023

Scripture Reading: Psalm 40:1-11
I waited patiently for the Lord;
   he inclined to me and heard my cry.
He drew me up from the desolate pit,
   out of the miry bog,
and set my feet upon a rock,
   making my steps secure.
He put a new song in my mouth,
   a song of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear,
   and put their trust in the Lord.

Happy are those who make
   the Lord their trust,
who do not turn to the proud,
   to those who go astray after false gods.
You have multiplied, O Lord my God,
   your wondrous deeds and your thoughts towards us;
   none can compare with you.
Were I to proclaim and tell of them,
   they would be more than can be counted.

Sacrifice and offering you do not desire,
   but you have given me an open ear.
Burnt-offering and sin-offering
   you have not required.
Then I said, ‘Here I am;
   in the scroll of the book it is written of me.
I delight to do your will, O my God;
   your law is within my heart.’

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.

Do not, O Lord, withhold
  your mercy from me;
let your steadfast love and your faithfulness
   keep me safe forever.

I love music, always have. When I was a child, I went to sleep most nights with my dad, singing and playing the guitar.  I listened to music on an aging boombox that had a CD player, played tapes, and a radio. The tape player died first, but I was not using it much then the CD part quit. I have not made the adaptation to playing music on my computers. So, I essentially removed listening to music from my life. My church started live streaming our services during COVID and never stopped because it was a blessing for our homebound or spending time at the lake. Listening to our Christmas Eve service made me miss just listening to music. I ordered a new boombox. It is much smaller and can be connected to the internet. God returned songs to my heart that now carry me through the troubled times we are all facing every day. Add a little music to your life today.

Prayer: With a song in my heart, Here I am, send me. 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.

Shining a Light on Love

Ordinary Time

January 10, 2023

Scripture Reading:  

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,
or 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

The NIV version of this scripture uses the word gentiles instead of nations in that last sentence. The Hebrew word goy can mean either one*. What is interesting about the choice of definitions is the ambiance, the surrounding atmosphere of a word that travels with it wherever it goes. When I hear gentile, I think of non-Jewish people, particularly the ones to whom Paul was sent to take the message of Christ. When I hear nations, I think of geographically demarked places, including all the people that live there. Differentiating ambiance is one of the hardest tasks in learning a new language.

Regardless of which word of these two, gentiles or nations, we choose to use, we are called to be a light to all people, even those we have been carefully taught to place beneath ourselves or even hate. The simple word race carries differing connotations. It can mean for two or more people to run as fast as they can and see who can reach a targeted place first. Or it was used to classify humans based on various features like skin color. The shame is that the designation of people by race also envisioned a contest to see who wins and who losses. I doubt if the word selection was made for that reason, but the results have scarred our world for almost 300 years.

Prayer: Lord, it is hard to move from the ways we have been taught. Turn your light on us to help us rid ourselves of incorrect impressions, and to take the time and invest the energy to see others as children you created and love so that we can be a conduit of your light to all people. Amen.

*https://biblehub.com/hebrew/1471.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.

Taking the Blinders Off

Ordinary Time

January 9, 2023

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 40:1-4

I have recently felt that I have labored in vain. It is not a good feeling. I questioned whether I had made wrong choices and had drifted from God’s guidance to accomplish some things I still believe need to be done. Had I chosen the wrong path? Do I need to realign with God? Or have I run straight into the wall of those principalities and powers that Paul described? If so, what is the best way to meet the needs I have identified?

I recall the story of Balaam*, who thought he was doing what was right until an angel of the Lord stood in his path. Balaam did not see the angel, but his donkey did, and his donkey went in a different direction. Balaam ended up beating the donkey for not obeying Balaam’s instructions. Then the donkey asked Balaam why he was beating him. Had the donkey ever behaved this way before? We must always look deeper into why we are pursuing the path we are taking when everything seems to be going wrong.

The true test of what we are doing is right is whether it passes the test of God’s love. If our actions are not grounded in love, then they are not of God. I cling closely to the scripture Create in me a clean heart and a right spirit. (Psalm 51:10)

Prayer: Lord, take the blinders from my eyes when I see what I want to see, but also help me see what you need me to see. Amen.

*See Numbers 22 beginning at verse 22.

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.

Vocation

Ordinary Time

Ordinary Time

January 8, 2023

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.’

I have seen movies trying to imagine what might have been going on in Jesus’s heart and mind during his childhood and the first few years of being an adult. In the Bible he leaves the scene when he leaves the temple at the age of 12. He resurfaces when his is baptized. Matthew’s version of that event seems to indicate that what might have been unknown to him was made clear through the act of baptism. suddenly the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. He received his calling.

We all have been there. As children, we wondered what we would be when we grow up. I read all seven of the Sue Barton books in my school library, from Sue Barton Student Nurse, written in 1936, to Sue Barton Staff Nurse, written in 1952. Being a nurse became my chosen profession. When I was in high school, I worked as a nurse’s aide in a nursing home, and I loved working with the patients, but I watched what the Registered Nurses did and knew immediately that was not the job for me. I enrolled in college with the intent of becoming a speech pathologist. During my first semester, I took a mandatory Sociology course that introduced me to my vocation, Social Work, which has been my life work ever since—not a clinical Social Worker but an administrator and an advocate.

I have no doubt that the world that surrounded Jesus impacted him greatly, from holding the end of a board for his carpenter father to experiencing the results of the Roman war that destroyed Sepphoris, what Josephus calls “the ornament of the Galilee.” after Herod’s death in 4 BCE. Sepphoris was located about 4 miles from Nazareth and tradition says that it was Mary’s birthplace. Think about the impact the war in Ukraine is having on that country’s preschoolers. Mary’s parents or other relatives might have been killed when that city was destroyed. If nothing else, Jesus was well-schooled in empathy when his official ministry began.

What is God calling us to do today? Our service never ends. We may transition from what we could do as young adults to what we can do as retirees, but God’s work toward building the Beloved Community never ends.

Prayer: Help us to fulfill our calling to serve you more nearly. 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

Ordinary Time

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

January 7, 2023

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 fulfill 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.’

Water purification was practiced in Judaism before Jesus’s birth. Proselyte baptism was common. Beyond purification, it was also an act of dedicating one’s life to God. John, however, offered a baptism of repentance. He linked the rite to prepare for the coming Kingdom of God*. John’s hesitancy to baptize Jesus was also his recognition that Jesus was the source of the Kingdom of God. Purification and repentance carry the same connotation as we recognize we are not in alignment with God and need to correct our course.

For me, baptism was the beginning of my journey in service to God, which requires continuous self-examination and rededication to maintain my alignment with God.

Prayer: Lord, we thank you for setting the example for our life with God and our commitment to fulfilling all righteousness. Amen.

*See The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible–Baptism

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.

Aha! Moments

Epiphany

January 6, 2023

Scripture Reading: Acts 10:34-43
Then Peter began to speak to them: ‘I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. You know the message he sent to the people of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ—he is Lord of all. That message spread throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John announced: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; how he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. We are witnesses to all that he did both in Judea and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree; but God raised him on the third day and allowed him to appear, not to all the people but to us who were chosen by God as witnesses, and who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one ordained by God as judge of the living and the dead. All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.’

The Aha! moments in life are awakenings to what was there all along, but we could not comprehend. I have not a clue what Jesus’s followers saw or heard or understood after his death and resurrection. It was even hard for them to explain. The image of the temple curtain being torn opening the Holy of Holies to everyone at the moment of Jesus’s death is a good example.

Then Jesus cried again with a loud voice and breathed his last. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. –Matthew 27: 50-51

Paul’s Aha! Moment came on the road to Damascus. John Newton, the author of Amazing Grace who was active in the slave trading business, had his Aha! Moment in a storm at sea when his death seemed imminent. Most Christ-followers probably do not experience their Aha! Moments in events so dramatic movies are made about them. We have small, but meaningful Aha! Moments when our eyes are opened to injustices, and we finally have the guts to say what we experienced was not right and share our concerns with others correcting the actions in whatever way we could including asking our legislators or members of Congress to make it right.

I was involved in a survey of why people did not vote in Oklahoma. One of the results we received was “My polling place is in a church that does not allow people like me in their worship service. Thus, I do not feel welcomed in their building to vote.” I cried when I read that. My church provides voting space for two precincts and serves refreshments to people particularly when the lines are long. I pray that no one thinks they could not worship with us. My Aha! Moment came realizing I needed to work harder to make sure others know we are a welcoming community of faith but also working to assure that everyone knows they can vote by mail and how important voting by mail is.

Prayer: Thank you Lord, for providing us with those Aha! Moments that open our hearts and minds to serving you more nearly. 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.

Divine Approval

Christmastide

January 5, 2023

Scripture Reading: Acts 10:34-43
Then Peter began to speak to them: ‘I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. You know the message he sent to the people of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ—he is Lord of all. That message spread throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John announced: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; how he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. We are witnesses to all that he did both in Judea and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree; but God raised him on the third day and allowed him to appear, not to all the people but to us who were chosen by God as witnesses, and who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one ordained by God as judge of the living and the dead. All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.’

We who call ourselves Christian do not own God; we are called to follow God and do so through the guidance of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. The first sentence in the above scripture delivers that message well. Anyone who fears God and does what is right is acceptable to God. What is right is also not defined by us. Justice is not what feels good to us. The Greek word translated justice is dikaiosýnē  and means(“divine approval”) is the regular NT term used for righteousness (“God’s judicial approval”). 1343 /dikaiosýnē (“the approval of God”) refers to what is deemed right by the Lord (after His examination), i.e. what is approved in His eyes*.

The challenge is to discern what God’s divine approval is when we live in varying cultures that have established what is right in their judgment and passed it on to descendants who accept it as having divine approval. We must have the courage to hold our culturally driven values up to the test of God’s righteousness and reform our behaviors if we come to understand that our culture, at some point, missed the mark and still holds on to the systems that resulted. Slavery is an excellent example of that.  The first mention of slaves in the Bible is in Genesis 9:25. The fact that it existed in the culture of our ancestors in faith does not mean it had divine approval. Slavery was deemed a wise way to develop wealth. Thus, it was rendered acceptable by religious groups, and we still pay the price for being wrong in that discernment.

As we study the Bible in our quest to discover God’s divine approval, we must also become vigilant at identifying cultural realities of Biblical times that are reported in the scriptures but do not necessarily have divine approval.

Prayer: Lord, help us grow in understanding of your divine approval. Amen.

* https://biblehub.com/greek/1343.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.

Love is God’s Strength and Glory

Christmastide

January 4, 2023

Scripture Reading: Psalm 29

Ascribe to the Lord, O heavenly beings,
   ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
Ascribe to the Lord the glory of his name;
   worship the Lord in holy splendor.

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 29:1-2, 10-11

I think this scripture is simply trying to say: give God, God’s due. We need to recognize God’s strength and glory. Ascribe is a rather formal word in the English language. While it may be technically correct, I fear it loses some of the majesty (?) of the message the Psalmist is trying to describe. The paintings on the Sistine Chapel ceiling are ascribed to Michelangelo, but that acknowledgment does not get the point across regarding the wonder of his work. The verses between the two segments quoted above describe varied examples of God’s power on nature—fire, floods, and trees being swirled about. If we accept God’s strength and glory, we are prepared to face whatever challenges we may face.

One of my favorite songs as a child was It Is No Secret What God Can Do which seems to carry the same message but perhaps more subtly describing that God’s strength and glory are in God’s love.

The chimes of time ring out the news
Another day is through
Someone slipped and fell
Was that someone you?

… You may have longed for added strength
Your courage to renew
Do not be disheartened.
I have news for you

… It is no secret what God can do
What he has done for others
He’ll do for you
With arms wide open
He’ll pardon you
It is no secret what God can do

… There is no night, for in His light
You’ll never walk alone
You’ll always feel at home wherever you may roam
There is no power can conquer you
While God is on your side
Take Him at His promise
Don’t run away and hide

… It is no secret what God can do
What he has done for others
He’ll do for you
With arms wide open
He’ll pardon you
It is no secret what God can do…*

Prayer: Amen.

The song It is No Secret was written by Stuart Hamblen lyrics © Music Corp. Of America, Inc., Chappell Und Co Gmbh Co Kg

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.

Answering our Call

January 3, 2023

Scripture Reading:

Isaiah 42:1-9

Thus says God, the Lord,
   who created the heavens and stretched them out,
   who spread out the earth and what comes from it,
who gives breath to the people upon it
   and spirit to those who walk in it:
I am the Lord, I have called you in righteousness,
   I have taken you by the hand and kept you;
I have given you as a covenant to the people,
   a light to the nations,
   to open the eyes that are blind,
to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon,
   from the prison those who sit in darkness
I am the Lord, that is my name;
   my glory I give to no other,
   nor my praise to idols.
See, the former things have come to pass,
   and new things I now declare;
before they spring forth,
   I tell you of them. –Isaiah 42:5-9

I can envision Christ standing before God while God gives him his marching orders for his sojourn on earth. Of course, God intends for us to do the same things God lists here. Do what is right in God’s ways, not in the world’s ways. We are to be a light to the nations. We lose sight of this requirement as we stumble around in the darkness of the world around us. Opening the eyes of the blind is not limited to restoring physical vision but also seeing what needs to be done and doing it. The same is true of releasing prisoners. There are those who have committed crimes sitting in cells right now who need to be restored to living justly as they reenter society. Yet, we must not forget that we often see ourselves through a mirror dimly* and thus do not recognize that we, too, need to be restored to living justly.

As we start a new year, let us dedicate ourselves to following God’s instructions toward building a better world.

Prayer: Lord, open our eyes to see the glimpses of truth meant for us. Amen.

*1 Corinthians 13:12: 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.

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.

Judgment

Christmastide

January 2, 2023

Scripture Reading: Isaiah 42:1-9

Here is my servant, whom I uphold,
   my chosen, in whom my soul delights;
I have put my spirit upon him;
   he will bring forth justice to the nations.
He will not cry or lift up his voice,
   or make it heard in the street;
a bruised reed he will not break,
   and a dimly burning wick he will not quench;
   he will faithfully bring forth justice.
He will not grow faint or be crushed
   until he has established justice in the earth;
   and the coastlands wait for his teaching. –Isaiah 42:1-4

The word translated as justice in this scripture is the Hebrew word for judgment*. Justice is also used in English translations for doing the right thing or what is fair. Here we have this Servant, the One who is to come, being charged with the responsibility of rendering judgment, measuring whether God’s people, that is all of us, are doing the right thing and being fair.  John 5:22 tell us that Jesus Christ understood that rendering of ultimate judgment was one of his duties, not ours; The Father judges no one but has given all judgment to the Son. I fear we devote more time to the role of judging rather than fulfilling the roles of doing the right thing or being fair. We are sometimes murky about understanding what is right and what is fair.

On November 13, 2022, the bodies of four white college students were found in Idaho. National news has followed the story since that time. On November 20, 2022, four Chinese nationals’ bodies were found on a marijuana farm in Oklahoma. I have never heard any reports regarding these murders on national news. I wondered what the difference was between these two stories. The police in both cases have pursued and captured suspects. Here, I want to focus on how We, the People, make justice judgments regularly that eventually impact how we pursue the Common Good in a democracy. Are white college students worth more than Chinese nationals, who were probably undocumented, perhaps here against their own will to do hard labor to produce marijuana on the ever expanding Chinese-owned and operated farms in Oklahoma? Do We, the People, drive the content of the news, or does the news define our civic understanding? How much does greed drive our judgments and, thus, our public policies? What is fair, what is right?

Prayer: Lord, guide us as you send us out like sheep into the midst of wolves; [to] be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. (Matthew 10:16). Amen.

*https://biblehub.com/interlinear/isaiah/42-1.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.