Tag Archives: Agents of Change

Moving Mountains

Living in the Spirit
September 5, 2018

Scripture Reading: Psalm 125
Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion,
   which cannot be moved, but abides forever.
As the mountains surround Jerusalem,
   so the Lord surrounds his people,
   from this time on and forevermore.
For the sceptre of wickedness shall not rest
   on the land allotted to the righteous,
so that the righteous may not stretch out
   their hands to do wrong.
Do good, O Lord, to those who are good,
   and to those who are upright in their hearts.
But those who turn aside to their own crooked ways
   the Lord will lead away with evildoers.
   Peace be upon Israel!

And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him, and the boy was cured instantly. Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, ‘Why could we not cast it out?’ He said to them, ‘Because of your little faith. For truly I tell you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, “Move from here to there”, and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.’ –Matthew 17:18-20.

What do children of God do when the spreading of God’s love requires them to move mountains? The reading of the Psalm above is comforting, if we seek a safe haven from all the evil in the world where school shooters cannot reach us, where nerve gas and bombs dropped from planes cannot fall from heaven, where children are not ripped from parents arms, where the wealth resulting from drug sales is not worth more than the peoples’ lives the drugs infest, where hunger is not as normal as death.

Jesus sang a new song, spoke a new vision calling us to place protective mountains where they are missing; calling us to step out of our comfort zones and see the scepters of wickedness resting on all lands. Jesus asked us to build nothing less than a new heaven and a new earth where the faith of our ancestors in God’s protective care still flows through us as we work to make all things whole within the love of grace of Jesus Christ.

Prayer: God of the Harvest, grow our tiny faith seeds into love that can move mountains when mountains of change are needed. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright A 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.

Christ Revealed

Eastertide
April 21, 2017

Scripture Reading: 1 Peter 1:3-9

In this you rejoice, even if now for a little while you have had to suffer various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith—being more precious than gold that, though perishable, is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Although you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, for you are receiving the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. –1 Peter 1:6-9

William Shakespeare in the Tempest included a line “What’s past is prologue.” The past talked about in the play led to murder. Jesus understood the certainty of his own crucifixion just as he understood that critical event forever reshaped the past and thus changed the prologue. Life is difficult but with faith fed by hope and love, we now know the inevitable link between negative pasts predicting negative futures can and is severed by the extraordinary love of God through Jesus Christ.

When is Jesus Christ revealed? The phrase from our scripture today could be read to mean sometime in the future. I believe it means that future is unfolding now. The woman who stood in the church, designed to serve inner-city homeless, reporting she had been sober for two days revealed Christ at work. The child who donates his stuffed toy as a gift for children in harm’s way is Christ revealed. The water well drilled in the Congo to assure safe, accessible water for a community is Christ revealed. The provision of steel toed boots to enable homeless, unemployed persons to work is Christ revealed. Food delivered to the elderly and disabled home-bound is Christ revealed. The child being tutored whose parents cannot read English is Christ revealed.

The salvation of our souls is achieved when we are made whole through Christ revealed today, tomorrow, and through eternity.

Prayer: Lord help us to see you in all that we do and say. Guide us in helping others know the wondrous nature of your gift of grace. Make us whole, make us one. 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.