Tag Archives: Turning Around

Turning To a Better Way

Living in the Spirit

October 10, 2022

Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 31:27-34
The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of humans and the seed of animals. And just as I have watched over them to pluck up and break down, to overthrow, destroy, and bring evil, so I will watch over them to build and to plant, says the Lord. In those days they shall no longer say:
‘The parents have eaten sour grapes
   and the children’s teeth are set on edge.’
But all shall die for their own sins; the teeth of everyone who eats sour grapes shall be set on edge.

The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt—a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the Lord. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, ‘Know the Lord’, for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.

In so many ways like the people of Israel, we have lost our way, and we are paying for it dearly through the outcomes of our children. Indeed, we have eaten sour grapes set our children’s teeth on edge. A law was past this year requiring school systems that have ID cards for their children to include the help number for suicide prevention on the card because we are experiencing so much suicide among our youth. The time is now for us to turn this mess around. We can return to the Lord and live in the light of his covenant of love. Love is not severe rules and harsh judgments of others. It is the love that says do unto others as you would have them do unto you. (Matthew 7:12) and Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. (Matthew 11:29) God is always pulling with us.

Prayer: Lord, renew in us a right spirit*. Amen.

*From Psalm 51:10

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 Wilderness

Lent

February 21, 2021

Scripture Reading: Mark 1:9-15

And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. He was in the wilderness for forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him.

Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.’ –Mark 1: 11-15

Mark does not describe the temptations or Jesus’ responses. Mark’s version highlights both the dangers of the wilderness in the unpredictable wild beasts and God’s consistent presence represented by angels. Is that not the way of life? We do not always have to go to the wilderness to search for God. Sometimes the wilderness comes to us. Such a time is now. We have exceeded 40 days in the wilderness, more like a year. The dangers we face are primarily the consequences of our own behavior or lack of appropriate response. A pandemic of epic proportions has struck us, racial injustice boils over, and political discord resulted in a deadly riot at our nation’s Capital. Planting our heads in the sand regarding global warming finally came back to bite us with an ice storm in October and multiple snowstorms in February accompanied by record-breaking temperatures that totally overrode our infrastructure for days leaving many without water or heat. I awoke this morning to the news that Oklahoma had another earthquake. In Oklahoma, earthquakes are usually associated with gleaning oil and natural gas from the Earth.

Yet even amid such chaos, I see God working everywhere. My church delivers mobile meals every Thursday to some 30 or 40 shut ins. Routinely, retired people complete this task. Yesterday, with ten inches of snow on the ground, that did not seem possible. After a few phone calls, young men from my church delivered those means using vehicles that could traverse the snow. Even the Pastor’s five-year-old son did his part. Faith-based groups and our Homeless Alliance opened their buildings to those on the streets. At the close of a Zoom meeting of Poor Peoples Campaign volunteers and its staff yesterday, over 200 people joined in a closing prayer and felt the presence of God in our midst.

Christmas has passed, but the incarnate Lord is with us still. Thus, I quote verse 5 from the Christmas song; I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day

Then rang the bells more loud and deep
God is not dead, nor does he sleep (peace on Earth, peace on Earth)
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail
With peace on Earth, goodwill to men

Prayer: Lord, call us all together as one in your name to go into the world and share your good news. 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.

Glorifying God

Lent
March 18, 2018

 Scripture Reading: John 12:20-33

‘Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say—“Father, save me from this hour”? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.’ Then a voice came from heaven, ‘I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.’ The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder. Others said, ‘An angel has spoken to him.’ Jesus answered, ‘This voice has come for your sake, not for mine. Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.’ He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die. –John 12:27-33

It is hard to comprehend those last days when Jesus faced what he knew was certain death. I have always believed that even at the very last, if people had recognized what they were doing and turned around, Jesus’ death did not have to happen. Though I think he knew in his heart turning around was not going to happen. People neither like to admit that they are wrong nor face the reality of situations.

Jesus wanted his actions to uplift God before the people so that they could with hindsight say this was of God. Isn’t that the way all of us should live our lives? Do our decisions reflect our relationship with God? Can others readily see that the driving force in our lives is following in the footsteps of Jesus? It is a narrow path to walk and it is easy to slip or take a wrong road. God is always with us and stands ready to help us turn around from our errors, but we cannot turn around until we admit we are going the wrong way.

We do this as individuals and that is a challenge, but we are also called to follow right paths in oneness with all of God’s people which is even harder. How do we find common ground in being the Body of Christ in the world today? How do we work together in harmony rather than waste time and energy fighting with each other? A greater challenge still is learning to work together with all people for a world ruled by love.

Prayer: God who is Love, help us lift our drooping hands and strengthen our weak knees* to move forward in faith working together to bring about your Kingdom. Amen.

*Derived from Hebrews 12:12

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.