Thoughts on...
August 16: 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time
New Testament Lesson: John 6:51-58
Pondering food...
We've all heard the saying, "You are what you eat." So, what are you?
Why is it when we get together with family and friends we eat too much of all the wrong foods?
Why do we use food to comfort us? What is your favorite comfort food?
If you were on a deserted island with only one food to keep you alive, what food would you want?
Food is needed for life, some foods are better than others. Some have anti-oxidants and vitamins that our bodies need for fuel and to fight off disease, others have fat and sodium that make them taste better and tell our bodies we want more. I wonder if there is a food that packs a strong nutritional punch and a craving for more?
Jesus said, "I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh." Jesus throughout John chapter 6 is trying to draw the crowd to a new understanding of the work of Jesus in the world. The crowd loved the miracles and the fact that Jesus provided them food to eat that filled their bellies and brought them comfort.
But Jesus wanted them to know that he was more than just physical food. He was a food that could fill their souls. To offer them a sense of purpose and hope in their everyday life. A non-food that could offer them comfort when life got hard.
Jesus said, "Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life." This is a hard concept to get our minds around. John Calvin wrote, "Eat my flesh and drink my blood - better to experience than to understand."
Jesus came to minister to our whole person: body, mind and soul. Jesus provides physical food, he teaches us through parables and lessons, ministering to our intellect, and also Jesus touches our soul and offers us hope. Through the meal at the Lord's Table, Communion, we experience first hand how Jesus comes to us as a whole person: Body, Mind and Soul.
You are what you eat.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Thoughts on...
July 19, 2009: 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time
New Testament Lesson: Mark 6:30-34, 53-56
Busy work and interruptions. What is our mission, our focus? What needs to be done? We can get busy doing a lot of things; doing programs that are unfocused and unintentional, being interrupted by every little piece of paper and phone call. Without quiet reflection, we just keep filling our time while running ourselves and the church down.
Our Scripture places the quiet time and need for rest and reflection next to a call for compassion. Compassion means action. It has been said, "you cannot be compassionate without doing something to help another." Jesus shows us what compassion looks like in Mark 6. Jesus knows what the people need. Reading in between Mark 6:34 and 53, sometimes the people need teaching, at other times it is simply the need for food, and often the people need healing. All three are a part of Jesus' ministry everyday, it is the focus of his ministry.
Rest and reflection informs our compassion and doing. Rest and reflection clears our minds to see what the people need and to respond with compassion. It prepares us for the work that God can do through us. Take time out to refocus, to gather energy and to listen to the still small voice of God that calls us to do.
July 19, 2009: 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time
New Testament Lesson: Mark 6:30-34, 53-56
Busy work and interruptions. What is our mission, our focus? What needs to be done? We can get busy doing a lot of things; doing programs that are unfocused and unintentional, being interrupted by every little piece of paper and phone call. Without quiet reflection, we just keep filling our time while running ourselves and the church down.
Our Scripture places the quiet time and need for rest and reflection next to a call for compassion. Compassion means action. It has been said, "you cannot be compassionate without doing something to help another." Jesus shows us what compassion looks like in Mark 6. Jesus knows what the people need. Reading in between Mark 6:34 and 53, sometimes the people need teaching, at other times it is simply the need for food, and often the people need healing. All three are a part of Jesus' ministry everyday, it is the focus of his ministry.
Rest and reflection informs our compassion and doing. Rest and reflection clears our minds to see what the people need and to respond with compassion. It prepares us for the work that God can do through us. Take time out to refocus, to gather energy and to listen to the still small voice of God that calls us to do.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Thoughts on...
July 12, 2009: 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Gospel Lesson: Mark 6:14-29
Choices...we all have to make them. Some are harder than others. Some lead to hardship and pain others to grace and acceptance. Herod had a choice to make. He had heard John preach and was perplexed, perhaps mildly interested in John's message of repentance but there was fear there as well. Herod was not living a picture perfect Godly life. His life was more of a soap opera in nature.
On that fateful day Herod was living it up, it was a party and the beautiful daughter of Herodias was dancing for Herod and his friends. With too much partying in his system, he offered her anything she wanted. The daughter of Herodias went to her mother, "What should I ask for?" The response, "John's head on a platter."
This is where Herod's big choice comes in, does he go back on his promise and save John from death or does he simply give Herodias and her daughter what they want?
Yes, it was a difficult decision, to save face or stand up for what was honorable. Herod chose to save face. It was a dark day. Grace did not abound and Herod had to live with the decision, and I'm certain it tormented him.
Life throws us curve balls, hard decisions must be made, and in the end we must live with the choices we make. Life is not easy and as it turns out easy choices aren't as easy as they seem for in the end they cost you more than you could ever imagine.
July 12, 2009: 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Gospel Lesson: Mark 6:14-29
Choices...we all have to make them. Some are harder than others. Some lead to hardship and pain others to grace and acceptance. Herod had a choice to make. He had heard John preach and was perplexed, perhaps mildly interested in John's message of repentance but there was fear there as well. Herod was not living a picture perfect Godly life. His life was more of a soap opera in nature.
On that fateful day Herod was living it up, it was a party and the beautiful daughter of Herodias was dancing for Herod and his friends. With too much partying in his system, he offered her anything she wanted. The daughter of Herodias went to her mother, "What should I ask for?" The response, "John's head on a platter."
This is where Herod's big choice comes in, does he go back on his promise and save John from death or does he simply give Herodias and her daughter what they want?
Yes, it was a difficult decision, to save face or stand up for what was honorable. Herod chose to save face. It was a dark day. Grace did not abound and Herod had to live with the decision, and I'm certain it tormented him.
Life throws us curve balls, hard decisions must be made, and in the end we must live with the choices we make. Life is not easy and as it turns out easy choices aren't as easy as they seem for in the end they cost you more than you could ever imagine.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Thoughts on...
July 5, 2009
This week we are off lectionary as we celebrate July 4th, Independence Day. Our scriptures of the week are as follows:
Deuteronomy 10:12-13, 17-21: What does God require of us as a nation?
Psalm 72: A Prayer for Justice and Righteousness
Galatians 5:13-26: The Proper Use of Freedom
John 8:31-39
Freedom is the word of the day. The "Jews who had believed in Jesus" misunderstood the freedom that believing in the truth could give them. The truth that Jesus was lifting up was the presence of God that is found in Jesus and the freedom was not from oppression by another, but freedom from sin that separates us from God.
As we celebrate Independence Day and consider the freedom that we have here in the USA, it does not compare with the freedom that we find in the truth, the presence of God. Genuine freedom does not come from boasting about being the greatest, or even, the most blessed, freedom is found in living according to God's Word, for then "we will know the truth, and the truth will make us free."
July 5, 2009
This week we are off lectionary as we celebrate July 4th, Independence Day. Our scriptures of the week are as follows:
Deuteronomy 10:12-13, 17-21: What does God require of us as a nation?
Psalm 72: A Prayer for Justice and Righteousness
Galatians 5:13-26: The Proper Use of Freedom
John 8:31-39
Freedom is the word of the day. The "Jews who had believed in Jesus" misunderstood the freedom that believing in the truth could give them. The truth that Jesus was lifting up was the presence of God that is found in Jesus and the freedom was not from oppression by another, but freedom from sin that separates us from God.
As we celebrate Independence Day and consider the freedom that we have here in the USA, it does not compare with the freedom that we find in the truth, the presence of God. Genuine freedom does not come from boasting about being the greatest, or even, the most blessed, freedom is found in living according to God's Word, for then "we will know the truth, and the truth will make us free."
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Thoughts on...
June 14, 2009: 11th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Old Testament Lesson: I Samuel 15:34-16:13
Gospel Lesson: Mark 4:26-34
The word for the week is Imagination. Dreaming up the impossible out of the highly unlikely. Samuel is guided by God to pass through all of Jesse's boys in search of the next king. Imagination is openness, openness to see the possibilities, to hope against hope. It was imagination that was needed to see the little boy in the pasture who was not allowed into the sacrifice because he was still too young, to trust the power and presence of God to shape David's character and anoint him as king long before he was ready to take the throne.
Parables spark our imagination as well. They lead us to openness of understanding, to look at common experiences in a new light. Parables spark us to "perceive the power and presence of God in a new and immediate way."(Feasting on the Word)
What can we imagine about our church? How might the power and presence of God shape our congregation? What can we imagine about our individual lives? How might the power and presence of God shape our every day activities?
June 14, 2009: 11th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Old Testament Lesson: I Samuel 15:34-16:13
Gospel Lesson: Mark 4:26-34
The word for the week is Imagination. Dreaming up the impossible out of the highly unlikely. Samuel is guided by God to pass through all of Jesse's boys in search of the next king. Imagination is openness, openness to see the possibilities, to hope against hope. It was imagination that was needed to see the little boy in the pasture who was not allowed into the sacrifice because he was still too young, to trust the power and presence of God to shape David's character and anoint him as king long before he was ready to take the throne.
Parables spark our imagination as well. They lead us to openness of understanding, to look at common experiences in a new light. Parables spark us to "perceive the power and presence of God in a new and immediate way."(Feasting on the Word)
What can we imagine about our church? How might the power and presence of God shape our congregation? What can we imagine about our individual lives? How might the power and presence of God shape our every day activities?
Monday, June 1, 2009
Thoughts on...
June 7, 2009: Trinity Sunday
Old Testament Lesson: Isaiah 6:1-8
Trinity Sunday celebrates how we encounter God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. While this language is not perfect, it is helpful in order to express some reality of our faith. As we encounter God in our worship, we respond to the presence of God in a number of ways.
1. The presence of God fills us with awe. The throne, high and lofty, is a place of royalty. The seraphs covering faces and feet remind us of the holiness of God. We feel the grandeur of God full of power in the powerful voices shaking the threshold and smoke filling the house.
2. In response to the power and royalty we come before God in humility. The prophet Isaiah declares, "Woe is me." Realizing our unrighteousness, "I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips..." we humbly stand in the presence of God knowing that we are not worthy and yet can go nowhere else.
3. As we receive forgiveness and our guilt is burned away, we respond as did Isaiah, "Here am I; Send me!" God's forgiveness draws us into service rather than away from it.
The structure of our worship service follows this form of response. In our gathering, praising, confessing, praying, hearing and responding, we are responding to the holy God who claims us. Worship is a meeting ground between God and humanity. It is how we meet and interact with our Sovereign God.
June 7, 2009: Trinity Sunday
Old Testament Lesson: Isaiah 6:1-8
Trinity Sunday celebrates how we encounter God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. While this language is not perfect, it is helpful in order to express some reality of our faith. As we encounter God in our worship, we respond to the presence of God in a number of ways.
1. The presence of God fills us with awe. The throne, high and lofty, is a place of royalty. The seraphs covering faces and feet remind us of the holiness of God. We feel the grandeur of God full of power in the powerful voices shaking the threshold and smoke filling the house.
2. In response to the power and royalty we come before God in humility. The prophet Isaiah declares, "Woe is me." Realizing our unrighteousness, "I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips..." we humbly stand in the presence of God knowing that we are not worthy and yet can go nowhere else.
3. As we receive forgiveness and our guilt is burned away, we respond as did Isaiah, "Here am I; Send me!" God's forgiveness draws us into service rather than away from it.
The structure of our worship service follows this form of response. In our gathering, praising, confessing, praying, hearing and responding, we are responding to the holy God who claims us. Worship is a meeting ground between God and humanity. It is how we meet and interact with our Sovereign God.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Thoughts on...
May 31, 2009: Pentecost
New Testament Lesson: Acts 2:1-21
A lot of Pentecost is about diversity. Ethnic diversity for sure as the list of all those that were present accounts. Joel prophesies about the last days when young, old, male, female, slave - all prophesy. No shortage of differences in that list either.
What unites them? A wild, amazing, perplexing experience. Something they had never heard, or seen, or experienced. The Holy Spirit draws all from their own experiences together - in their diversity they are unified to prophesy, to challenge the status quo, to speak with one voice. This was not an attention getting device used simply to draw attention but an experience that changed the lives of those who are present.
Isn't that what the church is called to do? To challenge the status quo, to draw attention to the need for changed lives. The church is to be more hodge podge and random rather than structured and comfortable but only if the Holy Spirit is truly moving within the church.
Remember the Sunday School Song? "The church is not the building, the church is not the steeple, the church is not a resting place the church is the people." The church is more than our own little congregation that meets in particular building. When we all get to heaven more than our congregation will be there. All those who call on the name of the Lord will be there. What a hodge podge picture that will be. I for one look forward to it and am afraid of it all at the same time. Amazing and perplexing.
May 31, 2009: Pentecost
New Testament Lesson: Acts 2:1-21
A lot of Pentecost is about diversity. Ethnic diversity for sure as the list of all those that were present accounts. Joel prophesies about the last days when young, old, male, female, slave - all prophesy. No shortage of differences in that list either.
What unites them? A wild, amazing, perplexing experience. Something they had never heard, or seen, or experienced. The Holy Spirit draws all from their own experiences together - in their diversity they are unified to prophesy, to challenge the status quo, to speak with one voice. This was not an attention getting device used simply to draw attention but an experience that changed the lives of those who are present.
Isn't that what the church is called to do? To challenge the status quo, to draw attention to the need for changed lives. The church is to be more hodge podge and random rather than structured and comfortable but only if the Holy Spirit is truly moving within the church.
Remember the Sunday School Song? "The church is not the building, the church is not the steeple, the church is not a resting place the church is the people." The church is more than our own little congregation that meets in particular building. When we all get to heaven more than our congregation will be there. All those who call on the name of the Lord will be there. What a hodge podge picture that will be. I for one look forward to it and am afraid of it all at the same time. Amazing and perplexing.
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