Tag Archives: Choice

Freewill

Kingdom Building

August 27, 2019

Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 2:4-13

Therefore once more I accuse you,
says the Lord,
   and I accuse your children’s children.
Cross to the coasts of Cyprus and look,
   send to Kedar and examine with care;
   see if there has ever been such a thing.
Has a nation changed its gods,
   even though they are no gods?
But my people have changed their glory
   for something that does not profit.
Be appalled, O heavens, at this,
   be shocked, be utterly desolate,
says the Lord,
   they have forsaken me,
the fountain of living water,
   and dug out cisterns for themselves,
cracked cisterns
   that can hold no water. –Jeremiah 2:9-13

What is it about human nature that makes us chase after lesser gods, idols the prophets of old would call them? Why if we had the choice of a fountain of living water would we dig a cracked cistern that can hold no water? And yet we do something similar all the time.

I suppose we could relate it to the trial and error learning that small children experience as they begin to crawl and then walk. Those children learn quickly what works and what does not. We adults are the ones who keep repeatedly doing the same wrong thing and getting the same wrong results.

God created us with free will; we honor God by using it advantageously to further God’s way of being on the earth, which is designed for the wellbeing of all.

Prayer: Gracious God, we thank you for the gift of your love allowing us the right to choose how we use this gift. Forgive us when we miss the mark and lead us back to your just path.

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.

Communing with God

Jesus’ Ministry
February 18, 2019

Scripture Reading: Genesis 45:3-22

Joseph said to his brothers, ‘I am Joseph. Is my father still alive?’ But his brothers could not answer him, so dismayed were they at his presence.

Then Joseph said to his brothers, ‘Come closer to me.’ And they came closer. He said, ‘I am your brother Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. And now do not be distressed, or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life. For the famine has been in the land these two years; and there are five more years in which there will be neither ploughing nor harvest. God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. –Genesis 45:3-7

Choice.  I do not think we fully understand what an amazing gift God gave us when he gave us what theologians call “freewill”. I think of it as choice. God apparently loves the earth and all that is in it including animals, flowers, and trees. God must have also wanted companionship when he created human in God’s own image. While I am sure God experiences joy when we take steps toward reaching our full potential, God shares our consternation when we fail. Communion with God is a constant exchange of love and all its complexity wrapped in and protected by God’s simplicity.

Joseph’s brothers, out of jealousy, chose to sell him into slavery. Who but God, years later, could turn that bad choice into the salvation of an entire people from the ravages of famine?

Commune with me
commune with me
Between the wings of the cherubim
Commune with me
Commune with me
commune with me
Between the wings of the cherubim
Commune with me*

Prayer: Thank you Lord, for gifting us with choice and hanging with us as we muddle our way through learning how to love as you love as Jesus modeled for us. Amen.

*First verse of song Commune With Me by Kirk Dearman, (c)1981 Maranatha! Music, CCLI: 14978, Lic. 1233674 see at http://www.tfbchurch.com/uploads/2/1/0/1/210144/commune_with_me.txt

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.

Overseen

The-Rescue_Nathan-GreeneEastertide
April 13, 2016

Scripture Reading: Psalm 23

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures;
he leads me beside still waters;
   he restores my soul.
He leads me in right paths
   for his name’s sake. –Psalm 23:1-3

Is the Lord our shepherd? Most animals that are overseen by a shepherd have no choice in the matter in whether they will be overseen or who the overseer is. I saw on the news recently where a goat farmer whose primary product was cheese, had so many baby goats that the family could not give then the loving attention they needed to turn them into quality milking goats. Goats, like people, can be very stubborn, even mean, if left to find their own way. So this farmer put out a plea for people to play with and pet the baby goats. He was overwhelmed with responders. The news showed many cute little goats being hugged and caressed by what appeared to be even more people. The reporter made the observation that he could not tell who was getting the most out of the process the baby goats or the people petting them*.

We, unlike the goats, have a choice in who will guide us down the path that is actually not only best for us but also best for the whole world. Our shepherd has more than enough loving attention for all of us. Even enough to empower our loving one another. We humans are also stubborn and like the one sheep, Jesus described in Luke 15 who chose to wander off, Jesus cares enough to go and search for us and bring us back into the fold, if we let him.

Our problem is we chase around hunting for a shepherd who will let us define the path while allowing us to be and do whatever we think will make us happy. It never works.

Prayer: Lord, forgive me when I wander off on my own, especially when I think I know your way better than you do. Amen.

*http://www.cbsnews.com/news/cuddlers-wanted-to-hang-out-with-baby-goats-on-virginia-farm/

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.

Taking Up a Cross

carrycross6Living in the Spirit
August 31, 2014

 Scripture Reading: Matthew 16:21-28 

Then Jesus told his disciples, ‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life? — Matthew 16:24-26

Denying self is an unheard of concept in our culture today. We want what we want and we want it now. It is really hard to escape. I can rarely remember chapter and verse from the Bible, although I do remember lots of scripture. I quoted Jesus recently in a study group and someone said that they had heard me say that before but they had never been able to find it in the Bible. Before I could say that I would look the citation up and get it to them later, one of the other participants had found it on their cell phone and gave her the reference. My immediate thought was, “I’ve got to have that App.”

It’s funny, but I think I understood denying self and taking up the cross of Jesus better when I was a child. My favorite hymn as a child was, Must Jesus bare the cross alone and all the world go free. No there’s a cross for everyone and there’s a cross for me*. We do not even sing it anymore. It is not in our hymn books.

We know what cross Jesus took up. He bore the cross of our salvation but what is our cross? We hear this phrase many times applied to circumstances beyond our control. “Her disability is such a cross to carry.” The cross Paul is discussing is one we take up by choice, something to which we are willing to dedicate our very lives. I heard on the news yesterday and interview with a staff person at a Catholic center for youth in Guatemala. She has worked there for many years and described how much worse the situation was now with gangs and violence. Yet she works every day at providing job skills training for young people in the hope that a skilled job will lift them away from the stumbling-blocks regularly thrust in their paths. This woman seemed to be at perfect peace though she was expressing great sadness for the situation. She is there by choice. She has found her cross. What is mine? What is yours?

Prayer: Christ of the Cross, it is so easy to get caught up in mundane things that really do not matter. Refocus my life so that I may make the right choices in your service. Amen.

*First verse of the hymn, Must Jesus Bear the Cross Alone? By Thomas Shepherd
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.

Stumbling-Blocks

Stumpling blockLiving in the Spirit
August 30, 2014

 Scripture Reading: Matthew 16:21-28

 From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, ‘God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you.’ But he turned and said to Peter, ‘Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling-block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.’ — Matthew 16:21-23

What are your stumbling-blocks? What are the things in your life that set your mind not on divine things but on human things?

 It is a practice at my church to give a small token of remembrance when someone is baptized. Each year during Lent we offer a Pastor’s Class for those considering to become a follower of Christ and being baptized. Several years ago I found a wonderful potter who made some individual chalices for this gift. The potter lived several miles from where I lived but he was going to have a booth at a large outdoor annual festival soon to be held in a suburb near me and we agreed that I would pick up the pottery at his booth.  I actually knew a parade was part of the festival but in my hurry to find the booth amid a huge crowd of people, I guess I forgot. Seeing some open space to my right I excused myself and stepped into it not realizing that the empty space was the street. The crowd was standing at the edge of the parade viewing space. The edge was the curb and the first step past the curb was about four to six inches lower than the curb. If an ugly picture of a short women falling all over herself into the middle of a parade flashed through your mind at this point, you have the right picture. The people on the curb were very gracious. I assured them I was fine as I limped quickly away. My stumbling-blocks had been impatience and pride. I had been guilty of placing a stumbling-block in my own path.

There are instances when others out of fear or greed or prejudice or for whatever reason place stumbling–blocks in our paths. Peter was doing that to Jesus in our scripture today. Our society does it with racism, sexism, poverty just to name a few.

When we place stumbling-blocks in our own way it reflects our need for wholeness. When a stumbling-block is placed in another’s path it most likely reflects a need for justice. God through Jesus Christ is our best source of finding personal wholeness. We may be God’s best resource for bringing about justice in our world.

Prayer: Help me to see my self-imposed stumbling-blocks and help me remove them from my being. Help me see the stumbling-blocks of injustice in this world, use me as you choose to help remove them from your sight. 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.