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?
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
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.
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