Tag Archives: God

Sunrise

Living in the Spirit
July 29, 2014

 Scripture Reading: Genesis 32:22-31 

So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, ‘For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life is preserved.’ The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel, limping because of his hip. — Genesis 32:30-31

Jacob’s new name, Israel, literally means “who prevails with God”.  By dealing with God, Jacob had become the person God knew Jacob could be, wanted him to be. Now named Israel, he even has a permanent limp to remind him of this wrestling match. “Peniel” means face of God. “Penuel” is the name of the actual location. While they essentially mean the same thing, perhaps the writer chose the different spellings here to suggest that one never leaves an encounter with God. It travels with him or her, if he or she accepts God’s presence.

What do we do after such an encounter with God? Our scripture suggests a new day dawned for Israel when it says that the sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel where he had struggled with God. It implies Israel accepted God’s presence in his life. This is not a goal attained; it marks a new beginning. For Christians that new beginning is becoming a vital and productive part of the Body of Christ bringing hope and love to a fragmented world.

Jesus also talked about the impact of a risen sun. ‘Listen! A sower went out to sow…Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no depth of soil. But when the sun rose, they were scorched; and since they had no root, they withered away. (Matthew 13:3b, 5-6) Jesus calls us to sink our roots deeply into the rich soil of his love and follow his way in functioning as the Body of Christ. Our wholeness in Christ is the beginning of wholeness in a fragmented world, but we must be able to stand the heat. The nurture of God through Christ is what makes that possible.

Prayer: Clear the rocks from my path, O Lord, grow my roots deep into your love and let your wellspring surge through me as a conduit of your love to others. 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.

Sneaky Sin

Living in the Spirit
July 4, 2014

 Scripture Reading: Romans 7:15-25a 

So I find it to be a law that when I want to do what is good, evil lies close at hand. 22For I delight in the law of God in my inmost self, 23but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind, making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. 24Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! — Romans 7:21-25a

Five years ago, I would have been classified as morbidly obese. Actually, I was an underweight, sickly child and did not have any weight problem until after I graduated from college. I apparently have a highly efficient body that does not require as much fuel as some. While counting calories is important, I have to exercise to keep weight off. I have had osteoarthritis since my early 20’s which started in my left knee and now is in all my major joints. As it progressed my exercise slowed down and my weight went up. At least, I like to blame some of my obesity on arthritis.

I also have discovered I eat more when I am very busy, tired, and stressed. When I thought I did not have time to cook, I would start driving through fast food restaurants and grab something to eat. At first I would order healthy selections like the chicken breast sandwich and tea. If the busyness continued, however, I would start upping the food intake eventually ordering the double cheeseburger with fries and a fried pie. You see where I am going with this.

I think sin is like that. We do not intend to drift away from God. We fall prey to concocting our own solutions to whatever is stopping us from being the person God created us to be rather than relying on God for discernment and fulfillment. In math terms we settle for the highest common denominator rather than searching deeper for the lowest one that brings us closer to truth.

I had my left knee replaced in 2008. In searching for ways to get back into shape following the surgery, I stumbled into God’s arms in tearful frustration. I am now a healthy weight for my height and just last week participated in a two or three mile walk against human trafficking doing exactly what God created me to do.

Prayer: Thank you God for never giving up on me and thank you for using me to tell others you will never give up on them either. 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.

Servanthood

Living in the Spirit
June 30, 2014

 Scripture Reading: Genesis 24 

Then the servant took ten of his master’s camels and departed, taking all kinds of choice gifts from his master; and he set out and went to Aram-naharaim, to the city of Nahor. 11He made the camels kneel down outside the city by the well of water; it was towards evening, the time when women go out to draw water. 12And he said, ‘O Lord, God of my master Abraham, please grant me success today and show steadfast love to my master Abraham. 13I am standing here by the spring of water, and the daughters of the townspeople are coming out to draw water. 14Let the girl to whom I shall say, “Please offer your jar that I may drink”, and who shall say, “Drink, and I will water your camels”—let her be the one whom you have appointed for your servant Isaac. By this I shall know that you have shown steadfast love to my master.’—Genesis 24:10-14

 Abraham had sent his servant to procure for Isaac a wife. We do not have a lot of arranged marriages in the world today, very few in the USA. Most of us do not have servants and if we do we probably do not call them servants and they are paid for the services they render. So our story today is set in a different culture at a different point in history. Yet we rely on this language to describe our relationship to God, and Jesus has been identified with the Suffering Servant in Isaiah. What can we glean from this story about a servant who is not even worthy to be called by his name?

The servant understands that his wellbeing is intrinsically intertwined with the wellbeing of his master. Thus, he works hard to please the master, which entails knowing the master well—well enough to know what kind of wife he would want for his son. He also knows his master well enough to know his master’s God. His prayer is not for his own gain; it is for God to show his master God’s steadfast love. The servant is aware that he is a part of something larger and greater than himself but doing his part somehow is an important cog that helps to make the whole thing work. Isn’t that true of all of God’s children?

Prayer: Holy Spirit, Heavenly Dove, weave among us inspiring each of us to do your will for the sake of all creation. 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.

Seeing Christ in Everyone

Living in the Spirit
June 28, 2014 

Scripture Reading: Matthew 10:40-42 

‘Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward; and whoever welcomes a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive the reward of the righteous; — Matthew 10:40-41

One of my goals in life is to see the Christ in each person I encounter. I must confess I have to work really hard at this and sometimes I slip up and sometimes I go for days without it even crossing my mind. What I have discovered though is that if someone is vexing me in some way, God’s little reminder often goes off and a message pops into my head from Christ saying Here I am, see me?

It may have been as selfish as wishing the person in line in front of me had gotten her coupons out before the cashier finished checking out her cart load. It may have been while watching one of the multitude of campaign ads currently running when someone is espousing something with which I totally disagree or more likely over simplifying something that is exceedingly complex.  I hate 30 second sound bites. It may have been when I hear on the news about one more senseless killing in a school, in a mall, on the street. I don’t need a lot of help seeing Christ in victims. It is perpetrators that fall from my grace, but not from God’s.

Welcoming, truly welcoming someone entails accepting them as a child of God just as they are. I doubt if anyone ever entered my mother’s house who was not offered a comfortable place to sit and some type of refreshment even a glass of water. When I was five or six a very poor family that lived near us stopped at our house to get my dad’s assistance in welding a broken piece of equipment. Mom invited the mother and the children into the house and gave the little girls the free paper dolls that had come with my hair permanent to play with. I was mad about that but knew better than to say anything. After they left, Mom gathered the paper dolls up and threw them in the wood stove.  I was more than mad then! She explained to me that the girls had something called impetigo, a highly contagious skin condition, and that she burned the paper dolls to protect me from getting it. In my mother’s mind it would never have been right to not give the children something with which to play. She saw the Christ in everyone.

Prayer: Lord, open my eyes to see the Christ in everyone. 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.

The Paradox of Loving

Living in the Spirit
June 23, 2014 

Scripture Reading: Genesis 22:1-14 

After these things God tested Abraham. He said to him, ‘Abraham!’ And he said, ‘Here I am.’ He said, ‘Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt-offering on one of the mountains that I shall show you.’ —Genesis 22:1-2

Of all the scriptures in the Bible, these two verses would be my pick of the first two to edit out, if I drew such an assignment. Of course, I will never draw that assignment. On a visit to Monticello, I saw the Bible from which Thomas Jefferson had removed all the parts he did not like. So I am apparently not the only person who just wishes some things were not in the Bible. Lots of commentaries have been written trying to make sense of these two verses in light of what we think we know about God. There has been conjecture about what this whole story is all about and rationalizations to make these verses more palatable.  The bottom line seems to me to be that God really means it when God commands us to love God more than anything or anyone else.

I have wondered how much it was God testing Abraham and how much it was Abraham testing Abraham regarding his fidelity to God. I think we need to remember that Abraham had already given up one son, Ismael. Abraham didn’t kill Ismael but he clearly did not know what the boy’s fate would be sending him and his mother out into the dessert with a bag of water. Did the father in Abraham need to treat these sons equally? Tradition has it that Abraham maintained a loving and long relationship with Ismael visiting him regularly. I doubt if he took Sarah with him on those trips.

This I do know and it is a paradox. If we truly place God first in our lives, loving God with all our hearts, minds, and strengths, our capacity to love others grows exponentially.

Prayer: Lord, open our hearts and minds to love you more nearly to the way you want to be loved so that we are enabled to love ourselves and others in the way you want us to 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 American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.