Eastertide

May 6, 2023

Scripture Reading:
John 14:1-14

‘Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling-places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also. And you know the way to the place where I am going.’ Thomas said to him, ‘Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.’ –John 14:1-7

I have never thought much about life after death. Honestly, I am more concerned about creating the Beloved Community now. If we take care of life before death, Life after death will take care of itself. As I age, I have considered the possibility of living in a senior independent living situation. I have felt more comfortable in some places than others in my research. And that led me to consider how important our dedication is to create diverse inclusiveness in our world today. When we recognize that all people are our neighbors and we need to love them as we love ourselves, we will learn to welcome strangers and experience the wonder of our growth in loving ourselves as we learn more about God, who is love.

Prayer: God, thank you for sending Jesus to model for us diverse inclusiveness. Help us grow in spirit and truth in our 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.

Eastertide

May 5, 2023

Scripture Reading:

1 Peter 2:2-10

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
Once you were not a people,
   but now you are God’s people;
once you had not received mercy,
   but now you have received mercy. –1 Peter 2:9-10

When I read this scripture this morning, the song They Will Know We Are Christian by Our Love came to mind. How do we proclaim the mighty acts of God if we are not practicing God’s love? When we were called out of darkness, we were indeed called into the marvelous light of the Lord.  Perhaps we need to revisit what love is. Paul described love in 1 Corinthians 13: 4-8a, Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.

We are not living our love or modeling God’s love when we practice severe judgments on others based on who they are. I must admit that when the phrase God does not make junk was in vogue, I thought it was trite. I no longer think that way. I do believe that all people were created in the image of God and, thus, all people are of equal worth. We need to like that they really were created by God in God’s image.

Prayer: Lord, make us aware of our bigotry and show us how to love others as you love 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.

Eastertide

May 4, 2023

Scripture Reading: 1 Peter 2:2-10

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
Once you were not a people,
   but now you are God’s people;
once you had not received mercy,
   but now you have received mercy. –1 Peter 2:9-10

I fear that too many read the first part of this scripture and not the rest. Some take that phrase But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, meaning that Christ’s followers are better than everyone else. They do not take in the full meaning that Christ’s followers are called to a special service to bring light into a dark world. My experience is that the best way to turn people away from God is to flaunt one’s self-perceived superiority. Good created all people and called them good. I have a sense that for the Kingdom of God, God’s Beloved Community, to become a reality, the special contributions that each person has been blessed with must be actualized. We are called to enable that.

Prayer:
Out in the highways and byways of life,
Many are weary and sad;
Carry the sunshine where darkness is rife,
Making the sorrowing glad.

Tell the sweet story of Christ and his love,
Tell of his pow’r to forgive;
Others will trust him if only you prove
True, ev’ry moment you live.

Give as ’twas given to you in your need,
Love as the Master loved you;
Be to the helpless a helper indeed,
Unto your mission be true*.

Prayer:
Make me a blessing, Make me a blessing.
Out of my life may Jesus shine;
Make me a blessing, O Savior, I pray.
Make me a blessing to someone today**. Amen.

Verses of the hymn Make Me a Blessing by Ira B. Wilson see at https://hymnary.org/text/out_in_the_highways_and_byways_of_life

**Refrain from the hymn Make Me a Blessing see the above citation for more information.

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.

Eastertide

May 3, 2023

Scripture Reading: Psalm 31:1-5, 15-16
In you, O Lord, I seek refuge;
   do not let me ever be put to shame;
   in your righteousness deliver me.
Incline your ear to me;
   rescue me speedily.
Be a rock of refuge for me,
   a strong fortress to save me.

You are indeed my rock and my fortress;
   for your name’s sake lead me and guide me,
take me out of the net that is hidden for me,
   for you are my refuge.
Into your hand I commit my spirit;
   you have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God.

My times are in your hand;
   deliver me from the hand of my enemies and persecutors.
Let your face shine upon your servant;
   save me in your steadfast love.

Jesus liked to quote scripture. He especially did it while hanging on the cross. He apparently leaned heavily on the Psalms. In pain and distress, he quoted Psalm 22, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? From the scripture above, he said Into your hand I commit my spirit. I do not know the Psalms as well as I should, but I do have a few on which I depend. Create in me a clean heart (Psalm 51:10) is one. Psalm 63:1-7 is another that is very meaningful. My life spans memorizing scripture from the King James translation through several other versions. I am locked into some. The lectern Bible at my church is NRSV, and I must be very careful reading the 23 Psalm because it is engraved in my mind in the KJV. I study using the NRSV, and my understanding of the Bible has been strengthened by the availability of more up-to-date sources and language usage.

What is ultimately important is our personal relationship with God.  The Bible is a tool to help us, particularly from the good and bad examples of God’s interaction with God’s people throughout history. It is an opportunity to learn from their experiences, just as our examples today are what our descendants in faith will consider as they interact with God.

Prayer: Lord, help us be good role models for your followers who come after us. 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.

Eastertide

May 2, 2023

Scripture Reading: Acts 7:55-60
But filled with the Holy Spirit, he gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. ‘Look,’ he said, ‘I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!’ But they covered their ears, and with a loud shout all rushed together against him. Then they dragged him out of the city and began to stone him; and the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul. While they were stoning Stephen, he prayed, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.’ Then he knelt down and cried out in a loud voice, ‘Lord, do not hold this sin against them.’ When he had said this, he died.

Stephen followed the example of Jesus when he prayed for the forgiveness of his killers’ sins. I wondered if he was present at the crucifixion. Jesus did not hold grudges. He always searched for the next thing he could do to bring about the Kingdom of God. He realized that hatred and bigotry are a waste of talent and time. That is easy enough to write; it is much harder to practice. I worked with a man thirty years after he came to the USA from Germany following World War II. I noticed that he usually paused momentarily before responding to a conversation. He told me he still translated what people said to him in English into German in his head and then prepared his response in German and translated it into English in his mind before he spoke it. He did it quickly. I am not bilingual, and that is hard for me to imagine. It, however, made me realize that I do the same thing when I try to find the right words for the circumstances rather than blurting out something that might make matters worse. Imagining how I would react to the words I first want to say helps me recalibrate. That is a good habit we all might want to practice.

Prayer: Lord, give me the language I need to use to make my communication more meaningful. 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.

Eastertide

May 1, 2023

Scripture Reading: Acts 7:55-60
But filled with the Holy Spirit, he gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. ‘Look,’ he said, ‘I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!’ But they covered their ears, and with a loud shout all rushed together against him. Then they dragged him out of the city and began to stone him; and the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul. While they were stoning Stephen, he prayed, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.’ Then he knelt down and cried out in a loud voice, ‘Lord, do not hold this sin against them.’ When he had said this, he died.

The stoning of Stephen is an interesting scripture to include in the lectionary well before Pentecost. It projects what is to come after the death of Jesus and his resurrection. The time before Pentecost for the Disciples surely mirrored our stages of grief, the shock of the women finding the empty tomb, and the denial of Thomas demanding proof that Jesus had been resurrected. Each person experiences the stages of grief in their own way, order, and time—sadness, depression, guilt, anger, and, hopefully, acceptance. Pentecost may describe Jesus’s followers’ acceptance. All these experiences were preparation for events like the stoning of Stephen. And all these stories are provided to prepare us for the challenges we may face in fulfilling our calling to continue Christ’s mission of creating the Beloved Community, the Kingdom of God, for all his people.

Prayer: Lord, give us the strength to do our part in building your Beloved Community. 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.

Living In the Spirit

April 30, 2023

Scripture Reading: Matthew 25:37-46

Then the righteous will answer him, “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?” And the king will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.” Then he will say to those at his left hand, “You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.” Then they also will answer, “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?” Then he will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.” And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.’

The Lord wants us to care for one another to the extent that it is our way of being when we can freely wonder, because it is our normal behavior, Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?  

Any nation that claims to be a democracy should reflect in its laws and policies the ways of its people. We have much work to do to clean up our actions and ensure that our concern for all our people is reflected in our national and state laws and policies.

Prayer: Lord, grant us the courage to elect people who care about all our people and to demand nothing less than that from all our government entities.  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

Living in the Spirit

April 29, 2023

Scripture Reading:

Matthew 25:31-46

‘When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. Then the king will say to those at his right hand, “Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.”—Matthew 25:31-36

I am going off lectionary for today. I spend much of my time as an advocate tracking state and federal legislation. There are many ways to advocate for others. I worked for 35 years for the State of Oklahoma and determined that experience prepared me best for this type of advocacy. For those of us who identify as Christ-followers, Jesus made it very clear in the above scripture by what criteria he judges the nations. Of course, nations are made up of individuals working together to achieve righteousness and bring justice to all. Our nation is looking more and more like the idols described in the Hebrew Bible. Our idols are not images carved in stone but greed, lust for power, and the resulting self-righteousness. Jesus specifically called on us to

• Feed the hungry
• Provide water for the thirsty
• Welcome the stranger
• Cloth the naked
• care for the sick
• Reform the prisoner

Where are we today?

• Targeting cutting food stamps to reduce our national debt.
• Trying to figure out how to provide water for the western states impacted by climate change we have too long ignored.
• Building fences that do not work to keep out refugees while eagerly working their children in hard daily labor.
• Allowing corporations to pay minimum wages below the poverty level while workers live on the streets wearing clothing inappropriate for the weather.
• Pricing people out of necessary health care because of the layers of profit applied at every level of care.
• Exchanging desperately needed restorative justice to increase the bottom lines of for-profit prisons.  

Prayer: Father, forgive us for not knowing what we do. Open our hearts and minds to turn around and follow the pattern of being you have set forth for us. 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.

April 28, 2023

Eastertide

1 Peter 2:19-25
For it is to your credit if, being aware of God, you endure pain while suffering unjustly. If you endure when you are beaten for doing wrong, where is the credit in that? But if you endure when you do right and suffer for it, you have God’s approval. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you should follow in his steps.
‘He committed no sin,
   and no deceit was found in his mouth.’

When he was abused, he did not return abuse; when he suffered, he did not threaten; but he entrusted himself to the one who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that, free from sins, we might live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. For you were going astray like sheep, but now you have returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls.

Jesus set an example for all of us. When he was abused, he did not return abuse; when he suffered, he did not threaten; but he entrusted himself to the one who judges justly. He also did not shy away from standing up for the hungry, thirsty, naked, sick, strangers, and prisoners. Neither should we.

Prayer: Our world suffers from greed, lust for power, and fear. Heal our souls and make us whole to be good conduits of your 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.

Eastertide

April 27, 2023

Scripture Reading:

1 Peter 2:19-25
For it is to your credit if, being aware of God, you endure pain while suffering unjustly. If you endure when you are beaten for doing wrong, where is the credit in that? But if you endure when you do right and suffer for it, you have God’s approval. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you should follow in his steps.
‘He committed no sin,
   and no deceit was found in his mouth.’

When he was abused, he did not return abuse; when he suffered, he did not threaten; but he entrusted himself to the one who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that, free from sins, we might live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. For you were going astray like sheep, but now you have returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls.

Routinely a news story reports that someone is being freed from prison, some from death row because their innocence has been proven. In some instances, they are not freed because the court ruled that the case had been handled correctly based on the proof presented. Therefore, the sentence cannot be changed when new data proves the person’s innocence. That is just wrong, in my opinion. I thought of these folks, particularly when I read the above scripture. I have noticed that most of those, at least the ones I have seen on the news, are at peace. But if you endure when you do right and suffer for it, you have God’s approval. I think we forget that God’s approval is the only important approval. When we are in sync with God, we can interact with all situations from the position of God’s love, even being incorrectly imprisoned. I must say I have been so impressed with people who have gone through this and were able to remain self-confident and self-assured.

Prayer: Lord, help us to keep our focus on doing right by you, which results in doing what is right for 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 America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.