Lenten Devotion – Day 34

Saturday, March 28, 2015

Today’s Scripture: Luke 11:14-23

“But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out the demons, then the kingdom of God has come to you.” (Luke 11:20)

In this crazy world, there's an enormous distinction between good times and bad, between sorrow and joy. But in the eyes of God, they're never separated. Where there is pain, there is healing. Where there is mourning, there is dancing. Where there is poverty, there is the kingdom. - Henri J. M. Nouwen

  The gospels reveal that it was impossible for people to encounter Jesus and remain indifferent toward him. This passage shows that some people interpreted his influence and power as arising from demonic sources. Jesus exposed the irrationality of their accusation and invited them to join him in gathering the kingdom harvest.

  When those who opposed Jesus’ ministry could not discredit him through rational and fair means, they switched their tactics to slander and irrational ideas. They declared that his power came from “demons by Beelzebul.” They attributed his power not to God but to the devil. Jesus countered their attempts by presenting two logical arguments.

  First, he struck them a shrewd blow. There already existed in Jesus’ time many exorcists in Palestine, who were closely connected to the individuals who were questioning Jesus’ practice of driving out demons. So basically, he says, “If I cast out devils because you believe I am league with the prince of devils, what about your own people who do the same.” If they are condemning Jesus then they are in turn condemning their own people.

  Second, he used a logical argument. Would it make sense for the prince of devils to work against himself by driving out demons, “If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand?” (v. 18) If a kingdom works against itself it will not last long, an irrational argument.

  It is not uncommon for people who come to resent or object to something to resort to slander and rumors to paint the other person in a bad light. Evidence of this in our world is quite apparent each day. By simply examining social media, we can see people with strong opinions posting online non-existent facts or half-truths to discredit someone they disagree. They attack the person’s character, their spouse, their children, and perceived wrongs or lacks of judgment. They want to deflect attention from the work or efforts the person is making in the world by attacking them in ways to make them look bad. This same behavior existed during Jesus’ time, except today we can take our attacks world-wide in a manner of hours.

Lenten Devotion – Day 33

Friday, March 27, 2015

Today’s Scripture: Luke 4:38-44

But he said to them, "I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other cities also; for I was sent for this purpose." (Luke 4:43)

“We preach grace, but we don’t always practice it. We talk about God’s mercy, but we don’t always want the people who need it most to know it or get in on it. We say we are in the redemption business, but the door to that redemption is often locked by us from the inside. We say, “Come in! All are welcome!” but “all” is often marked with an asterisk. How, I ask, can the world change – how can heaven come to earth – if we stingily protest against God for his grace to others, grace we have freely received ourselves? How can we pray “thy kingdom come,” and be resentful toward God and those he allows to enter the kingdom in his way and his timing?” ― Ronnie McBrayer, How Far Is Heaven?: Rediscovering the Kingdom of God in the Here and Now

  In our scripture reading today, we have Jesus’ first mention of the Kingdom of God in Luke’s gospel. Jesus came “proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God to the other cities.” Jesus quite clearly states his purpose and he does this after healing Simon’s mother in-law, healing other sick people and casting out demons, who clearly knew who Jesus was. Ask anyone what they know about Jesus and most likely they will mention Jesus’s healing of the sick. Though Jesus healed and cast out demons, he also in this first mention of the Kingdom of God in the gospel of Luke states this is not his purpose for this ministry. “Proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God” is.

  We have been looking at what it is to enter and receive the kingdom of God as a disciple of Christ, which was a topic Jesus addresses frequently. So then based on Jesus’ parables and illustrations about kingdom, what then is the gospel? What is the “good news”?

  You will often hear others, speak about the good news by saying things, like, “Do you know that God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life?” or “If you were to die tonight, and God was to ask you, why should I let you into my heaven, what would be your answer?” Though these are important questions, Jesus, on the other hand, did not approach his world with a question at all, but with a proclamation of the arrival of the kingdom of God. A kingdom that exist in the past, present and future, a kingdom is far off, but is also near, a kingdom that exists in heaven, but also is among us.

  Often churches and pastors reduce our faith to a series of decisions and transactions, and although there are decisions we each need to make as disciples, reducing the Gospel to a decision to accept “God’s plan for my life” or giving the right answer to the question of how to go to heaven seems to only comprehend part of the message Jesus was proclaiming was doing in his earthly ministry.

  The good news is about God and what God is doing. It is not about me and my doing what I think is important. It is not about some idea of success or happiness as the world might define it. For some individuals, they have reduced the gospel to what God is determined to do to fill out our shopping lists of needs and wants. This is not good news, spoken about. This good news is an announcement that things are going to be different. Back in verses 18-19, Jesus gives us more of an idea about this proclamation of the good news when he says, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." (Luke 4:18-19)

Lenten Devotions – Day 32

Thursday, March 26, 2015

Today’s Scripture: Luke 11:1-4

“He was praying in a certain place, and after he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples." (Luke 11:1)

“If you pray and ask God to make bananas red, God won’t, because there is nothing wrong with bananas being yellow. If you pray and ask God to change your health, finances, relationships, employment, and possessions to make you happy, God won’t, because changing them won’t make you happy. Not only is there nothing wrong with the impermanence of the world, Jesus said that the Kingdom of God is present in this world of impermanence.” ― Jim Palmer, Notes from (over) the Edge: Unmasking the Truth to End Your Suffering

  Based on our opening quote today. Prayer does not mean that particular personal petitions do not matter, or go unanswered. The results we might gain from prayer needs considered from a perspective beyond the particular requests we make of God and whether God answer them. Over the years, I have heard others say, “Pain is inevitable, but misery is optional.” or “We cannot avoid pain, but we can avoid joy.” and also, “God has given us such immense freedom that he will allow us to be as miserable as we want to be.” Prayer helps us deal with the pain, hurt and difficulties life brings our way by building our relationship with God the Father.

  The Lord's Prayer points us to the big picture and the long run of being more prayerfully focused on honoring God, yearning for God's kingdom among us, relying on God's daily providence, seeking God's forgiveness, forgiving others, and trusting God's protection. The Holy Spirit's presence in our lives sustains this focus. Though often when we pray we discover ourselves at loss for words.

  In our scripture today from Luke, the disciples of Jesus may fear this very same dilemma in finding the right words in their future, so they ask him, “Lord, teach us to pray” (11:1). Jesus responds by instructing them to speak to God as they would speak to a member of their own family, calling God “Father,” an expression of intimacy and familiarity and suggests that they make three requests. They should ask for bread, for forgiveness and for deliverance, and they should trust God to give them whatever they need.

  Intimacy, trust and expectation. These are the attitudes that Jesus advises his disciples to adopt as they begin to learn the language of prayer. He encourages them to approach God in the same way that they would approach a loving parent, and to trust God to hear their prayers and answer them in ways that meet their needs.

  Jesus goes on to encourage us to pray with persistence, using the language of prayer to plead for what we need (vv. 5-8). And then he assures us that God will hear our prayer and answer us, for if we human parents know how to give good gifts to our children, then “how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (v. 13). But there is one important dimension to these requests that disciples need to keep in mind — all appeals need to be consistent with the words “Your kingdom come” (v. 2). God is not going to grant any request that doesn’t conform to the priorities of his kingdom of love and peace and justice.

Lenten Devotion – Day 30

Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Today’s Scripture: Luke 10:1-12

“After this the Lord appointed seventy others and sent them on ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he himself intended to go. He said to them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” (Luke 10:1-2)

“Will God ever ask you to do something you are not able to do? The answer is yes - all the time! It must be that way, for God's glory and kingdom. If we function according to our ability alone, we get the glory; if we function according to the power of the Spirit within us, God gets the glory. He wants to reveal Himself to a watching world.” ― Henry T. Blackaby, Experiencing the Spirit: The Power of Pentecost Every Day

  As we have been looking at the kingdom of God, we have discovered in scripture that Jesus’ purpose and parables are his method for calling us to enter and receive the kingdom. In our scripture reading today, we discover that Jesus does not want us to keep it to ourselves, we are to share it. When Jesus proclaims the kingdom of God, Jesus tells us this kingdom announcement is literally the beginning of a new order of things. Jesus was a herald of a whole new way of living and thinking about our lives, both personally and as a community. From the start of Jesus ministry, this kingdom proclamation was expected to change the world and Jesus called people to join that change, beginning with their own lives.

  The kingdom of God turns all the other kingdoms on their head, brings forth the unexpected, challenges our preconceptions of our world around us, and breaks open the unpredictable. We are called to show people how to love God and their neighbors and thereby bring new hope and faith to the lives of our neighborhoods, families, friends, communities, nations, and the world. The world around us is longing for unpredictable ministry of hope, longing for a place where they belong in mutual love and respect, and a place where the grace and presence of God is evident in the lives of those around them. When people witness that kingdom of God actually being lived out, they are first surprised by it and then attracted to it.

  So Jesus needs us to become participants in sharing the kingdom of God with the world around us and it is not an easy task, but as Jesus tells us today, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” We are called to add to the numbers who can enter and receive the kingdom. So Jesus needs to train others to share the kingdom, just as we need trained to share the kingdom.

  Jesus selects seventy of his followers and gives them some instruction and experience in sharing the kingdom and peace of God. He tells them there is a cost to living in the kingdom. It can sometimes be uncomfortable and challenging. Jesus is confident we can do it, by helping to ease people into the kingdom.

Lenten Devotional – Day 27

Friday, March 20, 2015

Today’s Scripture: Luke 4:16-21

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." (Luke 4:18-19)

In fact, Christ's image of the Kingdom of God motivated all that He did. (Cannato, Judy, "Field of Compassion," 2010). "I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other cities also, for I was sent for this purpose." (Luke 4:43) Jesus does not preach here-after vision but rather a here-now Kingdom of God where God's will for all of humanity is being realized by the intention of human beings to join with God in co-creativity. Precisely when and how to do that is revealed to us each day. If we are looking for the kind of activities that may be involved, we can read the account in Luke of Jesus in the synagogue in Nazareth when the words of Isaiah were read. (Luke 4:18-21). - by Maryanne Rouse

  One of the most iconic symbols of the United States of America is Philadelphia's Liberty Bell. Even for those in the nation who have never seen the bell, its unsightly crack is known by all who know anything about the bell. The crack, first appeared just after its arrival in Philadelphia in 1752, as it was being rung for the first time. The Whitechapel Foundry in London had delivered a flawed product.

  What was to be done? Sending such a heavy object back across the Atlantic for repair was a daunting proposition. A couple of local foundry men, John Pass and John Stow, repaired the crack and inscribed their own names on its side.

  All was well for the next several decades. The Liberty Bell called the members of the Continental Congress to their meetings and was very likely rung on July 8, 1776, to mark the public reading of the Declaration of Independence. In 1835, as it was being rung to commemorate the death of Chief Justice John Marshall, the crack reappeared. This time, it was not repaired. In 1865, as President Lincoln's body lay in state in Independence Hall, the bell was placed near his head. The verse from Leviticus 25:10 inscribed on its side was visible to the thousands of mourners who filed by: "Proclaim liberty throughout the land and to all the inhabitants thereof."

  Some may think it strange that such a cherished national symbol should be marred by an obvious flaw. Yet, the flaw has now become a part of its character. It is emblematic of the country itself, which is not perfect. As this line from "O Beautiful, For Spacious Skies" attests, we can only turn to God, asking that, by grace, the broken may be made whole: “America! America! God mend thine ev'ry flaw, Confirm thy soul in self-control, Thy liberty in law.”

Lenten Devotion – Day 16

Saturday, March 7, 2015

Today’s Scripture: Luke 13:22-30

"Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able…. Then people will come from east and west, from north and south, and will eat in the kingdom of God.” (Luke 13:24, 29)

“Listen carefully: Recognizing God is not the same as coming to Him. Hearing God in your heart is not the same as answering. Working for the kingdom of God does not mean living in the kingdom of God. Christianity is not believing the truths of the Bible; it's acting upon them and allowing God control of your life. You must respond to God and make the choice to interact personally with Him.” ― Henry T. Blackaby, Experiencing the Spirit: The Power of Pentecost Every Day

  Despite the way many Christians portray it, Christianity is a very difficult faith to live on a daily basis. Many believe if they simply belong to the right denomination or follow the correct faith traditions, doctrines or spiritual practices they will certainly become citizens of the kingdom.

  The effect of all this leaves Christians wondering what is the true way to God. Many people wonder do these Christians have it all worked out, at least, they claim they do. Some Christians are absolutely certain that they know the path that leads to God, they are absolutely certain they are on that path, and they are absolutely certain everyone else is wrong.

  The problem lies in the fact that we human beings are always seeking and believing that there must be a clear and certain way. We desire clarity about life. We want to know, what is the right way and what is the wrong way, because we are extremely uncomfortable living the ambiguous, uncertain, and hazy lives we all live. We want to find the perspective that clears up all the murky spaces and tells us what to do without our needing to struggle or think for ourselves.

  When it come to our faith and following Jesus there is a severe problem because Jesus’ way does not necessarily lead to clarity and certainty. Jesus tells us to “strive to enter through the narrow door.” Jesus declared that entry to the kingdom can never be automatic, but is the result of a struggle and striving first for the kingdom. Jesus tells us, “Keep on striving to enter.” The word for striving is the word from which the English word agony is derived. The struggle to enter in must be so intense that it can be described as an agony of soul and spirit.

  We run the danger, that, once we have made a commitment to Jesus Christ, we have reached the end of the road and can as it were, set back and relax, as if we had achieved the kingdom. There is no such finality in the Christian life. We must always either be going forward or necessarily we start to slip backward. For the life of a disciple of Jesus is ever an upward and onward way.

The narrow path we are invited to enter and walk is both an individual and a communal one. The decision to enter the door and walk the path is ultimately ours to make, but at the same time it must be shared with others. We need others to help us stay on our path. While, at the same time ours is a path that requires us to struggle with our own particular torments and desires. We need the wisdom and support of others who are also walking their narrow paths, but at the same time our particular and unique path winds in different directions.

Lenten Devotional – Day 10

Saturday, February 28, 2015

Today’s Scripture: Luke 17:20-25

Once Jesus was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God was coming, and he answered, "The kingdom of God is not coming with things that can be observed; nor will they say, 'Look, here it is!' or 'There it is!' For, in fact, the kingdom of God is among you." (Luke 17:20-21, NRSV)

Christianity is not a religion that gives some people a ticket to heaven and makes them judgmental of all others. Rather, it’s a call to a relationship that changes all other relationships. Jesus told us a new relationship with God also brings us into a new relationship with our neighbor, especially with the most vulnerable of this world, and even with our enemies. But we don’t always hear that from the churches. This call to love our neighbor is the foundation for reestablishing and reclaiming the common good. Which is fallen into cultural and political - and even religious-neglect. - Jim Wallis, “On God’s Side: What Religion Forgets and Politics Hasn’t Learned about Serving the Common Good”, Brazon Press, 2013, pp. 3-4.

  We often don't recognize the moral crisis and spiritual conflict of our age, until something "shakes us up" to the reality of our present condition. The Chinese character for signifying the idea of “crisis” combines two other characters, the one for “danger” and the other for “opportunity.” Crisis is made of both, and so too is the current situation of the church. Dangers lurk on all sides for churches, but probably the greatest dangers lies within. Dangers lurk for us because we may be looking in the wrong places. We expect God to do something very specific for us so we can live comfortably as the church, but God is at work in another part of our community and we miss the opportunity to join God as God’s partner.

  The Pharisee’s expected the Messiah to bring the kingdom or reign of God with a great deal of flashily drama and the mighty arm of God who would crush their enemies and establish His rule forever. Jesus was not what they expected and they failed to see the kingdom in their midst, because they were looking for something else.

  The reward for doing what is right and just and the penalty for sin and wrong-doing are not always experienced in this life. Scripture assures us that someday the day of the Lord and the final judgment will come. Though at the present, Jesus tells us that there will be persecution, suffering, and difficulties in this age until he comes again at the end of the world. God extends grace and mercy to all who will heed his call. Do we take advantage of this grace and mercy to seek God's kingdom and to pursue his will?

  An erroneous translation often used by other versions of scripture have said that “The kingdom of God is within you." The more precise translation is "The kingdom of God is among you." (v. 21) The implication of the new translation is that God's Spirit is most active in our relationships with one another.

  Jesus used parables to describe the Kingdom in part because you simply can’t give a definition of the Kingdom. The kingdom of God defies any definitive definition, but you come realize you are living within it in the presence of Jesus, in the presence of other disciples and you recognize you have come near to it. Hopefully, we have all had the experience of feeling we are in a special place, a place where the kingdom has come near. A place where we feel joy in the fellowship of others, we experience the power of the compassion, love, and support shared with us, the facility, the restrooms, and the coffee might not be very good, but the people are a treasure and to leave seems so hard to do.

Lenten Devotion – Day Seven

Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Today’s Scripture Reading:   Luke 10:1-12
“But whenever you enter a town and they do not welcome you, go out into its streets and say, ‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off in protest against you. Yet know this: the kingdom of God has come near.’" (Luke 10:10-11)

“If we're going to impact our world in the name of Jesus, it will be because people like you and me took action in the power of the Spirit. Ever since the mission and ministry of Jesus, God has never stopped calling for a movement of "Little Jesuses" to follow him into the world and unleash the remarkable redemptive genius that lies in the very message we carry. Given the situation of the Church in the West, much will now depend on whether we are willing to break out of a stifling herd instinct and find God again in the context of the advancing kingdom of God.” ― Alan Hirsch, The Forgotten Ways: Reactivating the Missional Church

  Sometimes the Kingdom of God may come near to us and we miss its appearance. Something great comes our way and we fail to recognize it. We may be looking for the extraordinary miracles of healing, power, and wonder, when the reality is that the extraordinary often comes wrapped in the ordinary, in the small, seemingly simple things.

  In 1863, a newspaper editor from Harrisburg, PA only 35 miles away from Gettysburg, heard Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, which was not even the main speech of the day’s activities, when the president was to make only a few brief remarks. The next day the editor wrote in his paper: "We pass over the silly remarks of the President; for the credit of the nation, we are willing that the veil of oblivion shall be dropped over them and that they should no more be repeated or thought of."

  One of the worst things that can be said of people is that greatness passed them by, and they did not recognize it. Yet in the words of Henry David Thoreau:

    The morning wind forever blows;
    The poem of creation is uninterrupted;
    But few are the ears that hear it.

  Every one of us at some moment in our lives have felt that morning wind blowing by; every one of us has been partakers in that uninterrupted poem of creation. Yet how many of our ears have really heard it; how many of our eyes have truly seen it? What is preventing us from seeing the kingdom of God and letting it into our lives? Are we relying on seeing only the extraordinary miracles of God’s presence in our lives and missing the wonders, we can behold in the simply ordinary things of life, the seemingly insignificant moments.

  At times, we let the kingdom pass us by because the wonder of its greatness threatens our own sense of importance. We so enjoy ruling our own private kingdoms, no matter how small and insignificant they may appear to others. While pre-occupied with our own accomplishments, we fail to witness the wonders of God unfolding before us and they remain just out of our reach because we do not wish to let go even for a moment what we feel is more important.

Lenten Devotional – Easter Sunday

Q. 100. What doth the preface of the Lord’s Prayer teach us?

A. The preface of the Lord’s Prayer, which is, “Our Father which art in heaven,” teaches us to draw near to God with all holy reverence and confidence, as children to a father, able and ready to help us; and that we should pray with and for others.

“If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Luke 11:13)

“The difference with this prayer is that its ending tells us more about God than it does about us. It's a conclusion that voices confidence in the present and the future because it understands who is in charge and in whose presence we live all our lives.” - William J. Carl III, The Lord's Prayer for Today, President of Pittsburgh Theological Seminary

  Dr. Kenneth Bailey is a marvelous Middle Eastern scholar who lives in New Wilmington, PA and lived in the Middle East for many years to better understand the cultural background from which the New Testament was written. Dr. Bailey who had the brilliant idea of going around in these remote villages, and there he would tell them the parables of Jesus and get their reactions.

  One day Kenneth Bailey was sitting around with some sheep herders and farmers and he spun the tale of the prodigal son. He got to the part where the son goes to the father to ask for his share of the inheritance, and these men who were sitting around just doubled over with laughter. They thought that was the funniest thing they ever heard. They said, "In our village, that would never happen. The father would conk that boy on the head." Then the son goes away, sows his wild oats and comes back, and Kenneth Bailey told how the father, seeing him at a distance, ran to his son. The sense of the Scripture here is that the father sprinted to his son. It was here that the men became furious and even disgusted. They said, "This man had no dignity! For a man to run through the streets, his robe would kick up around his thighs; his legs would be exposed to the children. That would be shameful. He would be the laughingstock of his village. No father would run to his son. It would never happen." But, my friend, I'm here to tell you it happens every day whenever we pray, "Our Father who art in heaven." God comes running. God, the Father as described to us by Jesus does what no earthly father would do for us. God was willing to come in the flesh to reach out to us and tell how much he loves us, so we might have a restored relationship and enter into the Kingdom of God.

  What we call The Lord's Prayer is more properly called The Disciples' Prayer. Have you ever noticed that the perpendicular pronoun is missing from The Disciples' Prayer?

You cannot pray the Lord's Prayer and even once say "I."
You cannot pray the Lord's Prayer and even once say "My."

Nor can you pray the Lord's Prayer and not pray for one another,
And when you ask for daily bread, you must include your brother.

For others are included ... in each and every plea,
From the beginning to the end of it, it does not once say "Me."

With God Nothing is Impossible – Advent Devotional

"In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.”  (Luke 1:26-28)

Daily Scripture Reading: Luke 1:26-38

  Yesterday, we looked at Gabriel’s appearance to Zechariah in the gospel of Luke. Luke also presents the account of Gabriel’s appearance to Mary.

  In Luke, Gabriel says to Mary, "You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end."

  And if the angel's news for Zechariah seemed astounding, it was trivial compared to the announcement Gabriel was about to reveal to Mary. Let's consider her situation when confronted with the news that she would bear God's Son through the virgin birth. What might this mean to her?

  Mary was probably about 16, perhaps even younger. She becomes pregnant. Given the social moral view of her time, she could have fully expected that she would be disgraced. Her fiancee, Joseph might very well have abandon her, which would have been an expected social response to the situation. Being a single mother would likely mean she would never marry. A young, single woman making a claiming that God had made her pregnant would have encountered trouble. Jewish society in the first century took a real hard line on "blasphemy," as later accounts of Jesus' ministry and death make clear.

  We can try to imagine ourselves in Mary's shoes, but I don't expect we can really grasp the magnitude of her situation. Mary knew the problems were real and overwhelming. As Mary expresses her doubts to the angel Gabriel about the reality of his announcement, he explains and concludes his statement with the phrase, “For nothing will be impossible with God.” In response, rather than focusing on the size of her problems, she chose to trust in the size of her God.

  Mary's response to the angel Gabriel's message is straightforward: "Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word" (Luke 1:38). In these words, Mary discovered and defined her life forever by giving herself fully to God's purposes. Mary offered up herself, all of her, to God's mysterious will and way.

  God did provide for Mary in what God knew would be a difficult time in her young life. God gave Mary the strength and companionship of her relative Elizabeth who was awaiting the birth of her own son by Zechariah. God gave her the strength of her future husband, Joseph who went against normal social convention and believed in what God could do after his own angelic visit recorded in Matthew 1:20.

  What we do have in these glimpses of Mary are some important aspects of what it means to be a disciple of Christ: living with vulnerability, reflecting with care on the advent of Jesus Christ, and witnessing God’s actions in the world. In that sense, Mary remains a model for discipleship. Neither our choices nor our circumstances make us. God does, when we give ourselves to God’s will and purposes.

  God touches our lives often, in ways we almost never expect. We can relate to Zechariah's confusion, but we must aspire to Mary's faith. We need to try, as best we can, to be the Lord's servants, entrusting ourselves to His care as we walk through each new day in God’s world. As it was with Mary and is now with us, do not be afraid, for we have found favor with God through the coming of His son, Jesus Christ.

Don't Miss the Wonder – Advent Devotional

“When Zechariah saw him, he was terrified; and fear overwhelmed him. But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will name him John.” (Luke 1:12-13)

Daily Scripture Reading: Luke 1:12-20

  What would happen if one morning, during the middle of your daily routine, an angel appeared and told you that God had a plan that would completely change your life? How would you respond? Would you even believe what is now happening to you?

  Luke's account of the events leading up to Jesus birth includes two appearances of the angel, Gabriel before Zechariah and then Mary. These two appearances contain important truths and lessons for us during this Advent season.

  In the first appearance, the angel Gabriel appears to the priest Zechariah in the temple as he conducts his duties. Zechariah “was terrified; and fear overwhelmed him." We might want to think, we would respond differently, but the fact is we would probably respond the same way.

  "Do not be afraid, Zechariah," Gabriel tells him. "Your prayer has been heard. Your wife, Elizabeth, will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John ... he will be great in the sight of the Lord. Many of the people of Israel will he bring back to the Lord their God. And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous - to make ready a people prepared for the Lord." (Luke 1:13-17)

  Zechariah has been confronted with the heavenly glory of God's messenger, a clearly supernatural interruption into his day. Yet his response to the angel's astounding news is to try and fit it into his existing assumptions about his life and his future.

  "How can I be sure of this?" responds Zechariah. "I am an old man and my wife is well along in years." Zechariah can't believe that he and Elizabeth could have a child. The fact of a child coming to a older couple is simply more than a person can comprehend. Still, Gabriel continues the astonishment by stating this new child will be an amazing child making it difficult to grasp the magnitude of John The Baptist's mission in the world.

  Gabriel, who was pretty sure he was being clear, is unamused by Zechariah's response. "I stand in the presence of God," he says. "You will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their proper time."

  When God communicates with us or takes action in our lives, it is rarely with the impact of the angel Gabriel's appearance. Though I do believe our reaction might actually be much more similar to Zechariah's response. We too, would question whether the event was real. "Was that God speaking to me, or a hallucination? Was that a miracle, or just a coincidence? And if that really WAS a message from God, could that really be what God meant?"

  While we may relate to Zechariah's confusion and skepticism, we must be aware that it has its cost. It's not so much that we might be struck dumb if we doubt God's authority or interest in us, but we might miss the blessings and peace God desires to share with us. We might miss the wonder, the grace, and the miracle, God wants us to witness.

  Whether messages from God come to us through a heavenly messenger or a passage of Scripture, in the midst of prayer, during worship, or hearing the voice of God in the silence, God's promises are trustworthy. Our ability to accept these messages and live them is limited primarily by our ability to believe them.

  As Zechariah's story demonstrates, God is never predictable, but God is always faithful. "Do not be afraid, Your prayer has been heard.” During this Advent season don't allow yourself to miss and doubt the wonder and grace God wants to share with your this time of year.

Stand Up and Raise your Heads - Advent Devotional

"People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken..... Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” (Luke 21:26, 28, NRSV)

Daily Scripture Reading – Luke 21:25-36

  If you are one of the many baby boomers, you might remember going to school, particularly, elementary school participating in periodic safety drills known as “duck and cover.”

  During the early years of the Cold War, when Americans feared a missile attack from the Soviet Union, it was common for teachers to instruct students on what to do in the event of a nuclear war. If the air-raid sirens ever went off, the teachers advised the students, they were to immediately duck down under their desks, pull their knees up to their chins and cover their heads with their hands.

  We look back on those days and view them as silly. A school desk would provide little protection, if a nuclear war burst forth upon the earth. Schools eventually stopped these “duck and cover” drills because they were pointless and only served to increase everyone’s fear and anxiety level.

  In the today's scripture, Jesus speaks in response to comments of the disciples on the beauty of the temple. Jesus describes a coming time of disruption and turbulence. Things which have the appearance of durability, like the temple, will begin to disintegrate. For many people this description of chaos, defines a fearful time, a time to duck and cover. But note what Jesus says, "When these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads,” otherwise don't duck and cover! Something good is about to happen!

  When something good is about to happen we watch eagerly. If we are expecting the arrival of a friend we haven't seen for a long time, we check frequently to see if they have arrived. We watch down the street. We don't leave home or go where we can't hear the doorbell or the phone. When our friend arrives we know immediately, because we are watching, we are prepared to receive them.

  Jesus is recommending we need to stay alert. Don't become distracted. "Weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness, and the anxieties of life," is how Jesus phrased it. The world is filled with chaotic activities and events that can make us anxious and fearful. But in all this there are signs of God's presence. God continues to come into our lives. If we are "on our feet looking up," we will see and be encouraged.

  In this season of Advent, of “coming,” of expectation and anticipation, we remember how a birth began to brighten a dark world. We prepare to recognize the start of a revolution that does not involve fighting or fear as we recognize our continued longing for the dazzling peace of Christ.

  As disciples of Jesus Christ we are called to view history and our future in the long view of eternity. Harry Emerson Fosdick, tells of having a conversation with the theologian Reinhold Niebuhr. Niebuhr was convinced of the universal tendency for humans to abuse power that he was pessimistic about the possibility of society becoming moral. Though, he took a long view of the ultimate hope in God and believed that individual acts could be conducted on a higher moral level than that of the society in which the individual lived. Fosdick, however, had more confidence in humankind’s ability to progress, and thus, he urged Niebuhr to be more optimistic.

  Niebuhr responded, “If you will be pessimistic with me decade by decade, I will be optimistic with you aeon by aeon.”

  Niebuhr believed it was possible for us to “stand up and raise our heads” even in the midst of conflict, troubles and threat, for it calls for us to see the good news behind the bad news. Niebuhr believed, Good News is the gospel of Jesus proclaimed and this is where our hope lies. As Niebuhr put it elsewhere:

“Nothing that is worth doing can be achieved in our lifetime; therefore we must be saved by hope. Nothing which is true or beautiful or good makes complete sense in any immediate context of history; therefore we must be saved by faith. Nothing we do, however virtuous, can be accomplished alone; therefore we must be saved by love.”

  Thus, if we believe Jesus, then we should not view Advent as merely a preparation season for Christmas. It is a time to remind ourselves not to misread the calamitous signs in our world as reasons to despair. Rather they are signals to stand up and raise your heads, because our redemption is drawing near.

Inviting Others to the Table

“And as he sat at dinner in Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were also sitting with Jesus and his disciples — for there were many who followed him. When the scribes of the Pharisees saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, they said to his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” (Mark 2:15-16)

  I spent 20 years working in the addiction treatment and prevention field and did a great deal of public speaking to groups throughout the county where I worked. Parents would frequently ask me what steps they could take to keep their children drug free. Among my suggestions was to insure that they had regular family meals together. Family meals provide opportunities for ongoing, consistent conversations between parent and child and keeps parents involved in the daily activities of their children.

  My children are now adults and if you were to ask them their most memorable family moments sharing conversations around the dinner table on our deck in the summer would be at the top of the list. On a summer evening we would barbeque and share dinner on the deck and frequently would end up talking into the late evening hours.

  In scripture, banquets and feasts are prominent in sealing friendships and building relationships. The idea of hospitality runs deep in the thought of those in the Near East. Shared meals are a sign of community and acceptance. In the context of meals Jesus challenges our ideas about community. Jesus calls all disciples to be good neighbors, to be hospitable and welcoming. Jesus, both as guest and host of meals shares his reality of the kingdom of God. Jesus accepted and extended invitations regardless of social status.

  Even today, in the middle east, to invite a man or women to a meal is an honor. To share a common meal is an offer of peace, trust, brotherhood and forgiveness. Sharing a place at the table meant sharing life. In doing this Jesus shocked the concept of community and was criticized for it. "This man welcomes sinners and eats with them" (Luke 15:2).

Being Rich Toward God

”Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” (Luke 12:15)

  My wife, Karen and I went on vacation during July in Elmira, NY. Elmira is near Watkins Glen, NY where the Watkins Glen International Race Track is located. I have mentioned in prior posts I am a fan of NASCAR. Karen has been to the track many years ago, since she grew up in this area of New York. I have never been to the track and I wanted to visit and wondered if a visitor could actually get to see the track.

The start/finish line at Watkins Glen International.  Click any photo to enlarge.

  I discovered you can visit one section of the track and watch cars practice on the track most days for free. Watkins Glen is a road course track 3.4 miles long. I also discovered I did not have to settle for just watching other cars, but I could have the opportunity to drive three laps around the track myself (though not free). After the second lap you get to stop and take photos at the start/finish line. (photo included)

  I decided I could not pass up this chance. After I had finished driving my three laps around the track, Karen mentioned that doing this was probably on my bucket list. I am not sure I really have a bucket list, yes, there are a few things I hope I might do someday, but if they don't happen I won't be disappointed. As I thought about it, it occurred to me most bucket lists contain earthly items, but how about heavenly items.

  Some people do in fact develop their own bucket lists, those things they want to do before they kick the bucket. They believe they need to achieve everything on their list in order to feel fulfilled in life. Fact is we probably will “kick the bucket” before we complete the list, depending upon what we have on our list.

How Much Land Does A Man Need?

"This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.” (Luke 12:21)

Someone once asked John D. Rockefeller, "How much wealth does it take to satisfy a person?" He replied, "Just a little bit more."

   My morning message on August 4 uses the scripture from the Gospel of Luke from Chapter 12 verses 13-21. Jesus tells the parable about the man who builds larger barns to hold the abundance from his harvest, so he can "Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.” (v. 19) But God says to him “You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?” Jesus tells this parable, when a man asks Jesus to settle a dispute with his brother over an inheritance, but Jesus does not want to get into a family squabble. Jesus refocuses the man's concerns about how he views his life.

Jesus was concerned with the larger implications our preoccupation with the things of this world. Jesus wants us to understand that the sum total of a person’s life is more than their financial portfolio, but our wealth toward our relationship with God.

Leo Tolstoy wrote a story called, “How Much Land Does a Man Need?” about a successful peasant farmer who was not satisfied with his situation and he wanted more of everything. One day he received a novel offer. For 1000 rubles, he could buy all the land he could walk around in a day. The only catch in the deal was that he had to be back at his starting point by sundown.

Early the next morning he started out walking at a fast pace. By midday he was very tired, but he kept going, covering more and more ground. Well into the afternoon he realized that his greed had taken him far from the starting point. He quickened his pace and as the sun began to sink low in the sky, he began to run, knowing that if he did not make it back by sundown the opportunity to become an even bigger landholder would be lost. As the sun began to sink below the horizon he came within sight of the finish line. Gasping for breath, his heart pounding, he called upon every bit of strength left in his body and staggered across the line just before the sun disappeared.

He immediately collapsed, blood streaming from his mouth. In a few minutes he was dead. Afterwards, his servants dug a grave. It was not much over six feet long and three feet wide.

In the end, Tolstoy suggests, all a man really owns is a 6 by 3 piece of earth, so we are better off putting our confidence elsewhere. Jesus, like Tolstoy, is warning us that we had better not put our trust in the promise of materialism; if we do we will be sadly disappointed.

Jesus doesn’t say that it’s wrong to have wealth to plan for our financial future. He doesn’t say that you can’t be his disciple and be financially secure. Jesus doesn’t propose a target income that is acceptable and then beyond that we’re in trouble. Jesus is teaching us by saying, “Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.” Jesus wants us to stay alert that our obsession with wealth can lead us down a road which can separate us from our relationship from God and from our ability to truly experience the wonder and abundance of God's creation. In the end, we can't take it with us and we only need a 6 by 3 foot piece of the earth.

The Romans had a proverb: "Money is like sea water; the more you drink, the thirstier you become."