Eastertide

May 18, 2023

Scripture Reading:

1 Peter 4:12-14; 5:6-11

Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that is taking place among you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice in so far as you are sharing Christ’s sufferings, so that you may also be glad and shout for joy when his glory is revealed. If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the spirit of glory, which is the Spirit of God, is resting on you. –1 Peter 4:12-14

When we read of Christ’s sufferings, what instantly comes to mind is Jesus hanging on the cross or being beaten. I am often driven to the picture of Jesus sitting on the hill over Jerusalem and saying, ‘Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! (Matthew 23:37) I envision him still overlooking his children, whether in Jerusalem or Washington DC or Oklahoma City wanting to make us one under his wings, and we are not willing.

Jerusalem remains caught in the crossfires of division, but our nation is not far behind. I cannot imagine Jesus withholding health care from any child because they did not meet humans’ cultural selfhood standards. Jesus did have the advantage of being present at creation and taking in the original knowledge that all people were created in the image of God, and thus all people were good. Indeed, Jesus established our providing healthcare as one of the criteria by which all nations will be judged. This will come as a shock to many of us who think the USA is better than any other nation. We, indeed, have by far the highest cost of healthcare in the world. The sad result is that the US health system ranks last in quality of care among High-Income Countries*. In the US, healthcare is a privilege, not a right, and we, the people, pay a heavy price for that.

Prayer: Lord, lead us to being one in you rather than living in a divide-and-conquer world. Amen.

*https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2784346 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 17, 2023

Scripture Reading:

Psalm 68:1-10, 32-35

O God, when you went out before your people,
   when you marched through the wilderness,
          Selah
the earth quaked, the heavens poured down rain
   at the presence of God, the God of Sinai,
   at the presence of God, the God of Israel.
Rain in abundance, O God, you showered abroad;
   you restored your heritage when it languished;
your flock found a dwelling in it;
   in your goodness, O God, you provided for the needy.

Sing to God, O kingdoms of the earth;
   sing praises to the Lord,
          Selah
O rider in the heavens, the ancient heavens;
   listen, he sends out his voice, his mighty voice.
Ascribe power to God,
   whose majesty is over Israel;
   and whose power is in the skies.
Awesome is God in his sanctuary,
   the God of Israel;
   he gives power and strength to his people.

Blessed be God! –Psalm 68:7-10, 32-35

When I first discovered the word Selah in scripture, I learned that no one was quite sure what it meant. It was perhaps a musical instruction.  It has also been described as meaning to exalt God. Recently I read that it may mean to pause for contemplation. Look above at the sentences that appear just before the word Selah. Now read the quote from the Psalm and pause at each Selah and contemplate what you just read. The first such sentence describes God’s leading the Israelites out of Egypt, out of slavery. Now read the sentence that follows. The pause makes a difference in broadening our understanding. In the next instance, the sentence commands us to sing, then we pause and learn that those in heaven are singing too.

Prayer: We thank you, Lord, for the pauses in our lives that bring us closer to you. 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 16, 2023

Scripture Reading: Acts 1:6-14

Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a sabbath day’s journey away. When they had entered the city, they went to the room upstairs where they were staying, Peter, and John, and James, and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. All these were constantly devoting themselves to prayer, together with certain women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, as well as his brothers. –Acts 1:12-14

I just saw an interview with four people who were impacted by the Buffalo grocery store mass shooting that happened on May 14, 2022. All of their lives had been markedly changed. All of them were still grieving the loss of a loved one or the trauma of witnessing the massacre. A year later, they had processed the event and realized it had changed their lives forever.

The Disciples and Jesus’s family were most likely still in shock when they reentered the place where they were staying following Jesus’s ascension. Their lives, too, had been changed forever. Their response was to turn to prayer, a good action to follow such an amazing experience. Who was this man they knew as Jesus? How were they going to get along without his human presence? What must their next steps be?

We have all been there on a much small scale, but we mustn’t let these times of growth escape us. We need to learn from them. One of the women from Buffalo shared that she is now more engaged than ever in addressing the issues of our day.  The disciples understood that call in the same way and proceeded to change the whole world.

Prayer: Lord, we live in a fractured world where love does not abound as it should. Open our hearts and minds and set our hands and feet to make your love the norm worldwide.  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 15, 2023

Scripture Reading: Acts 1:6-14

So when they had come together, they asked him, ‘Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?’ He replied, ‘It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’ When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. While he was going and they were gazing up towards heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. They said, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up towards heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.’ –Acts 1:6-11

Christ does not want us to sit around and wait for his return. He expects, with the help of the Holy Spirit, for us to continue his work building the Kingdom of God here on earth right now and into the future. Part of that job is telling the story of Jesus and his love to the whole world as much by our actions as our words. Another part is to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, provide water for the thirsty, care for the sick, welcome the stranger, and restore the prisoner. (See Matthew 25). A large part of meeting these needs requires us to heed the prophet Micah’s advice.

He has told you, O mortal, what is good;
   and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
   and to walk humbly with your God? –Micah 6:8
Prayer: Empower us, Lord,  to do your calling.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 14, 2023

Scripture Reading: John 14:15-21,

‘If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you.

‘I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them.’

In the Middle Ages, Foundling Wheels were installed in some churches and orphanages as a place where a newly born infant could be placed if the child’s parents could not care for it for whatever reason. The parent could open a door on the outside wall of the building and place their child in a basket inside, which sat on a wheel. The parents closed the door, rang a bell, and left. A staff person at the facility, upon hearing the bell, would wheel the baby inside the building and welcome it to the facility’s care.

There are times in our lives when we feel hopeless and can see no way out of an impossible situation. God is always present and ready to take us into God’s arms and return us to wholeness. Our Foundling Wheel is prayer that opens the door to healing our souls.

Prayer: Thank you, Lord, for always being present to us even when we feel lost and alone. 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 13, 2023

Scripture Reading: John 14:15-21
‘If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you.

‘I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them.’

Jesus’s prime directive was the Commandment to love God and our neighbors as we love ourselves*. In the story of the Good Samaritan, he reminds us that all people are our neighbors**.  That is a bitter pill for us to swallow.

What is love? Thomas Aquinas defines love as “the choice to will the good of the other.” Greek words translated as love in the New Testament include:

AGAPE– Although common in both the Septuagint and the New Testament, the word rarely occurs in existing secular Greek manuscripts of the period. Like its synonym philia, it designates love between persons (John 13:35), or people for God (1 John 2:15), of God for humanity (Rom. 5:8), and of God for Christ (John 17:26).

Whereas phila emphasizes the idea of love arising from personal relationships, agape is founded upon deep appreciation and high regard. It is perhaps for this reason that agape is the love which God commands. There is a difference between liking and loving. Agape love requires wanting the best for another, all others, and treating all with high regard. We should have high regard for everyone. We choose those with whom we share phleo.

PHILEO– signifies friendship, fondness, affection, delight, and personal attachment. This word is on a feeling – a heart of love – whereas agape is a matter of benevolence, duty, and commitment. We are commanded to have agape love (Matt. 5:44) but not phileo love because feelings cannot be commanded.

PHILADELPHIA—Sibling love***.

I was surprised to learn that a fourth Greek word for love, Eros—erotic love, does not appear in the New Testament. We who call ourselves Christians have certainly invested much energy in defining it and overseeing it, particularly regarding others.

How do we practice Agape Love in our daily lives?

Prayer: Lord, give us the courage to see all people through your eyes and love them with deep appreciation and high regard as you expect us to. Amen.

*See Mark 12:30-31, Matthew 22:36-40
**See Luke 10:25-37
***For information source see https://www.dictionary.com/e/greek-words-for-love/#:~:text=Agape%20is%20a%20major%20term,love%20humanity%20has%20for%20God.

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 12, 2023

Scripture Reading: 1 Peter 3:13-22
Now who will harm you if you are eager to do what is good? But even if you do suffer for doing what is right, you are blessed. Do not fear what they fear, and do not be intimidated, but in your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord. Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an account of the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and reverence. Keep your conscience clear, so that, when you are maligned, those who abuse you for your good conduct in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if suffering should be God’s will, than to suffer for doing evil. For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit, in which also he went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison, who in former times did not obey, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight people, were saved through water. And baptism, which this prefigured, now saves you—not as a removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers made subject to him.

[Christ] was made alive in the Spirit. The idea of the Spirit of God is hard for me to wrap my mind around. I have read books on it and even attended classes where it was taught. I do not know what I think about the Trinity. I remember one class where the teacher tried to help us understand the various theories about the Trinity by drawing triangles and arranging them differently to illustrate various ideas. While such a study is intriguing, the question of God can only be answered by faith. I tend to think music might give us a better understanding.  

Hymn

I know that my Redeemer liveth,
And on the earth again shall stand;
I know eternal life He giveth,
That grace and power are in His hand.

Chorus
I know, I know that Jesus liveth,
And on the earth again shall stand;
I know, I know that life He giveth,
That grace and power are in His hand*.

Handel

I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day
Upon the earth. And though worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall
I see God
For now is Christ risen from the dead, the first fruits of them that
Sleep**

Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

Prayer: Lord, fill us with your Spirit that we me know you more clearly and serve you more nearly. Amen.

*First verse and Chorus of the hymn I Know that my Redeemer Liveth by Jessie Brown Pounds. See at https://hymnary.org/text/i_know_that_my_redeemer_liveth_and_on

**A segment from I Know That My Redeemer Liveth by George Frideric Handel’s The Messiah

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 10, 2023

Scripture Reading: Psalm 66:8-20

Bless our God, O peoples,
   let the sound of his praise be heard,
who has kept us among the living,
   and has not let our feet slip.
For you, O God, have tested us;
   you have tried us as silver is tried.
You brought us into the net;
   you laid burdens on our backs;
you let people ride over our heads;
   we went through fire and through water;
yet you have brought us out to a spacious place. –Psalm 66:8-12

Being bounced between anxiety and depression, we citizens are certainly not the priority of our state and federal leadership. Divide and conquer politics is all they seem to care about.  Devastating storms and fires are symptoms of climate change that should be on our leader’s agenda, not making persons whose only income is Social Security wonder if those checks will arrive on time, if at all. We, indeed, are being tested and tired. Do our leaders live in the same world as we do?

God with us is our constant comfort as we face difficult times. God does go with us through fire and water. We can depend on it.

Prayer: God, open our leaders’ hearts and minds to the damage they do to the people they are supposed to serve.  Enable your advocates to stand up for those who cannot stand up for themselves. 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 9, 2023

Scripture Reading: Acts 17:22-31

Since we are God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the deity is like gold, or silver, or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of mortals. While God has overlooked the times of human ignorance, now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will have the world judged in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.’ –Acts 17:29-31

God overlooked the time of human ignorance. Being ignorant means being unaware of what is right and just. The Ten Commandments introduced us to what is right. Christ’s coming further set in motion the ability to discern what is right and just. It is very simple. We need to love God and love our neighbor as we love ourselves. Divine love includes intentionally choosing benevolence and having good will and esteem for all.  It begins with the understanding that God loves each and all of us and is willing to enable our loving others if we choose to love like God and accept his guidance. The constancy of the calling becomes a great challenge for humans. The world has many more complicated ways of being that attract. We, too, readily sacrifice simple acts of love for the world’s chaos. God’s heart breaks when we dive into to chaos of bigotry and hate. We are awash in the contagion of not loving but rather casting shame on others, perhaps so we can feel better about ourselves.  It does not work that way. We are each a child of God and loved by God exactly for who we are. Accepting God’s love enables us to love ourselves and to love all our neighbors.

Prayer: Lord, forgive us when we look to the world to find self-esteem when it was present all along in our very 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 America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Eastertide

May 8, 2023

Scripture Reading: Acts 17:22-31

Then Paul stood in front of the Areopagus and said, ‘Athenians, I see how extremely religious you are in every way. For as I went through the city and looked carefully at the objects of your worship, I found among them an altar with the inscription, “To an unknown god.” What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it, he who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by human hands, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mortals life and breath and all things. From one ancestor he made all nations to inhabit the whole earth, and he allotted the times of their existence and the boundaries of the places where they would live, so that they would search for God and perhaps grope for him and find him—though indeed he is not far from each one of us. For “In him we live and move and have our being”; as even some of your own poets have said,
“For we too are his offspring.”  –Acts 17:22-28

I read Your God Is Too Small: A Guide for Believers and Skeptics Alike by J.B. Phillips shortly after it was published 40 years ago. I think it is time to dust it off and deal with the question is our God too small? I fear we try to frame God in a way that is comfortable for us, limiting God.  We also need to deal with the aspects of God that may be uncomfortable. For example, God commanded us to love God and to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. I fear too often we ask, like the lawyer’s question in the story of the Good Samaritan, who is my neighbor? Which might be appropriate in a court of law but not in Jesus’s world. His answer was the parable.  (See Luke 10:29–37) where we learn that everyone is our neighbor.

The other aspect of this lesson is that our ability to love others is based on our comfort level with loving ourselves. We are experiencing a mental health crisis in this country, not only at its worst being seen in mass shootings and ever-increasing suicides but also in life-draining depression and anxiety. While I strongly support people getting professional help when indicated, we all need to examine ourselves to see if we really believe we are a child of God, loved by a God who forgives us when we miss the mark and guides us to become fully the person, we are capable of being in giving and receiving love.

Prayer: Lord, heal our souls as we live and have our being in a world in crisis. Help us become the conduit of your love needed to reframe that world. 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.