Ordinary Time: Thursday, January 31, 2008

Today, it's a little late, been busy here in the office.  But today, just a quick thought, thanks to our friends at Christian Quotation of the Day.  

No man desires anything so eagerly as God desires to bring men to the knowledge of Himself. God is always ready, but we are very unready. God is near us, but we are far from Him. God is within, and we are without. God is friendly; we are estranged.
    ... Meister Eckhart (1260?-1327?), from Meister Eckhart's Sermons, trans. Claud Field, H. R. Allenson, London, 1909, p.24

Ordinary Time: Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Old Testament Lesson

Genesis 16: 1-14

Well, here's where all the fun starts.  Abram and Sarah decided it's better instead of waiting on the Lord's promises to try and take care of things themselves.  And so Abram has a child with Hagar, and it all kind of goes down hill from there.  

Why?  Why did they choose to do this? Why didn't they trust in the Lord?  Didn't He say it would happen?  Didn't two angels appear and tell them the news and the promise? Why couldn't they just do what He said?  

Waiting.  Doubting.  Waiting.  Watching.  Waiting. Waiting. Waiting.  There is nothing harder than waiting on something, even when we know that it is a certainty it will happen.  Sometimes that makes it even harder.  Waiting makes us realize that we are not in control; God is.  Waiting is hard.  Waiting is frustrating.  Waiting makes us trust.  Trust is essential to faith; but trust is hard to come by. 

Today, wait upon the Lord.  It is always our best option.  

New Testament Lesson

Hebrews 9: 15-28

We see that it is now Christ who intercedes for us.  He is the one that goes before God.  He is the one that makes our case.  It is through Him that we have access to God, and access to all His grace.  It is through Him that we are able to know life and love and peace.  It is because of what He has done.

And because of what He has done, He is the Lamb that is worthy of our praise.  All praise and honor is due Him for all He has done.  He is the one; the one to be praised. 

Gospel Lesson

John 5: 19-29

CS Lewis writes that we have never met an ordinary person.  Every person we meet, from the person in line at Wal Mart, to the president of the bank, to our teachers, doctors, lawyers, and the garbage man at work this morning in the cold of Ripley, each of them is someone designed for eternity.  We each are made to live for eternity. We each are special, unique, and made by God for some great purpose.  We each are made for eternity. 

Today, remember, you will not meet an ordinary person today. Each person you meet, talk to, get tired of, get angry at, each of these; they are extraordinary. Designed for eternity. 

Oh yeah, and so are you as well.  You are extraordinary.  You are made in God's image.  And you have something, something only you can do for God.  You are extraordinary.  

Ordinary Time: Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Today, just a quick thought.  

There was a quote I've read and I'm pretty sure it was by Max Lucado.  At least I give him credit for it when I quote it.  It says "The reason God hates sin so much is because of what it does to His children."  I've been thinking a lot about that quote recently.  My favorite verse in the Bible is John 10:10, "The thief comes to rob, to kill, and to destroy, but I have come that you may have life, and have it more abundantly."  

In both of these quotes you see the dueling voices that circle around each of us. We see the voice of good, of truth, of God that tells us what is correct. Tells us which way to life. Tells us how to live. 

And we see the voice of evil, of wrong, of the devil, promising us the same thing. Promising us life, and happiness and peace. But, in the end, that voice leads only to our destruction.  It leads only to the destruction of all that we want to be. 

And that is why God hates sin.  His will for us is not sadness and brokenheartedness.  His will for us is life and love and peace.  His will for us is that we are made whole.  That we know forgiveness and grace.  His will for us is that we have that abundant life. 

Today, two voices will come offering you abundant life.  Only one will lead to life. The other will lead to that which will destroy us. 

Today, may we choose life.  

Ordinary Time: Monday, January 28, 2008

Old Testament Lesson

Genesis 14: 1-24

This may be first instance in the Bible of a "tithe."  Abram gives to Melchizedek 1/10 of everything he has as a way of thanking God and of giving to God what is already him. 

OK, I'm going to stop now and promise you the rest of this reflection is not going to be about tithing. 

Now, I'm back. What it is going to be about though is giving out of a thankful heart. Abram gave to the priest of God out of thanks for all that God had done for him in his journey.  He gave out of thanksgiving and out of a sense of joy.  He didn't do it because he had to.  He didn't do it because he was forced to.  He didn't do it out of a sense of fear.  

He did it because he loved God and wanted to give back to a God that had given him so much. Friends, the Lord has blessed us in many, many ways.  Life may not be perfect, but God is good.  Let's given to him, not just money, but our lives, our hearts, all that we are. And let's give to him with a sense of thanksgiving.   

New Testament Lesson

Hebrews 8: 1-13

We see the reminder from the Old Testament within this passage that God says He will write His law upon our hearts.  That is the thing that He is most worried about, a changed heart.  Change works inside out.  Our heart is changed, and that shows forth through all of our lives.  As our hearts are changed, as our hearts are drawn closer to God, then our lives will be changed in accordance. And our hearts are changed by walking closer to God in all of life: through prayer, through study, through fellowship, through walking close to God and to His people.  In this, our hearts and our lives will be changed.  

Gospel Lesson

John 4: 43-54

One of things we see in John's Gospel is the power of signs.  People are always looking this Gospel for Jesus to do something, show them something, and then they will believe.  They want sight, then belief. 

But, it doesn't normally work like that.  When we believe, then we see. The official believed, and then his son was healed.  Then, when others saw, they believed. But first, that belief had to come. Belief comes, faith comes, trust come, and then sight. Without faith, miracles are hard to see. With faith, every day of our life, every day we draw breath, we will see miracles.  If you believe, you will see.  

Ordinary Time: Thursday, January 24, 2008

Old Testament Lesson

Genesis 11: 1-9

The people got themselves into trouble when they said, hey we can really be something. And the Lord knew the people of humanity when we really work together.  But, in this case we were working together out of pride and evil hearts.  So, the Lord put a stop to it.  

A couple of things we can learn. First, let's always try our best to be aware of our motivations. They were motivated out of pride and out of a wrong heart.  That was the first thing that got them in trouble. 

But secondly, think of all that we can do when we work together.  Think of the good we can do when we work for the common good. Think of the good we can do when we work together for the kingdom. Think of what we can do for God when we join together. 

In the passage, they joined together for selfish and prideful reasons. May we join together for good.  

New Testament Lesson

Hebrews 6: 13-20

One of the things that Hebrews stresses over and over again is that God makes promises to us. God comes to us and makes covenants with us. God desires relationship with us, and desires a partnership with us.  He doesn't have to.  After all, He is God. But, He wants us to work with Him.  He wants us to be with in His plan. 

Think about all the ways that God could change the world. But, think about how He chooses to change the the world. Through us. Through the Church. Through the people of God working together for His glory. Today, He wants to use us in some powerful way.  May we allow Him.  

Gospel Lesson

John 4: 1-15

You may have heard a lot of sermons or bible studies about all the things that Jesus has done in this passage that people just didn't do.  He went to Samaria.  You don't do that.  He talked to a women in public.  You don't do that.  They discussed religion.  You don't do that.  She was probably a woman in low standing since the the proper women would have went to the well much earlier in the day; not at noon. 

Yet, Jesus violates all these things for one reason and one reason alone.  This woman was a child of God, and she needed to hear grace.  He knew that she needed to know that she was loved and she was valuable.  He didn't think about what others might think, He simply knew she needed to hear what He had to say. 

Today, may we be more concerned with making sure that people hear a word of grace than we are concerned about what other folks may think.  

Ordinary Time: Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Old Testament Lesson

Genesis 9:18-29

One of the great things that the Bible reminds us is that no one is perfect. Even the people that are faithful and righteous and are the "saints" of the Bible make mistakes. Noah gets off the ark, is thankful for surviving, is thankful to God, worships God, has God make a covenant with him. And the he grows a vineyard, makes some wine, and gets drunk.

This is not to defend his action. This is not to defend our sin. This is, however, the show that even the most holy make mistakes. No one is perfect. We will all fall down. We will all makes mistakes. We will all trip.

The question then becomes, what will we do after we fall down? What will we do after we make a mistake? I remember reading in CS Lewis once something to affect of "The shame is not in the falling down, the shame is not in the getting back up." Today, if we fall, may we have the grace to get back up.

New Testament Lesson

Hebrews 6:1-12

But Hebrews gives us a stern warning this morning. Let's not go looking for trouble. Let's not go looking for sin. Let's remember the real damage that sin can cause to us and to those that we love. It is a terrible and destructive thing. The reason why God wants us to stay so far away from sin is because He knows what it will do to us. Today. let's not go looking for it.

Gospel Lesson

John 3:22-36

And we see in the John the great correlation between love and obedience. If we love Him, we will want to obey Him. If we love Him, we will want to follow Him. If we love Him, we will want to be faithful to Him. Obedience doesn't save us. It doesn't make us "better people." It simply shows that we love Him and desire to follow Him.

Today, let us love Him with all that we have, and let us follow and obey Him where ever His grace may lead.

Ordinary Time: Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Old Testament Lesson

Genesis 9: 1-17

I was taken by the fact in reading this passage that God Almighty desires to covenant with humanity. Think about it.  He could come to us and say, this is what you are going to do, or else.  But, what He does is that He says, if you do this, I will do that.  And in this covenant with Noah, He doesn't even go that far.  He simply tells them He will not flood the earth again.  No conditions required. 

It is humbling to think that God Almighty would chose to do this.  He, after all, is God.  Yet, He desires that covenant with us.  He desires that relationship with us.  He desires to actually know us on a personal level.  And likewise, we receive the grace of getting to know Him on a personal level. 

Today, the God of all ages desires to know you.  May we each take advantage of that wonderful gift. 

New Testament Lesson

Hebrews 5: 7-14

I was taken in this passage about the obedience of Jesus to God's will.  He was the son of God, but yet He chose to submit to God's will. So often in our lives, I think our greatest injuries are those when we fight against what God is trying to do. There is a great passage in Acts where God says to Paul, why do you kick against the goads.  Why do you do the things that will bring you pain instead of following my will for you.

We've all been there. We've all through our plan was better than His. And we normally wind up bloody and bruised.  Today, instead of kicking against God's will, let us, as our savior did, follow God's will and God's plan.  And in doing that, we will actually find life.  

Gospel Lesson

John 3: 16-21

This may be one of my favorite passages in scripture.  Not just because of John 3:16, but because of the words after.  Jesus came to bring life and salvation to the world.  He gave this offer, but people loved their darkness more than they loved the light.  And in choosing darkness, that is their judgment. 

Their judgment is that they get what they wanted.  God is not in heaven wanting us to mess up or fall down.  He is not in heaven just waiting to get us.  He is not waiting to throw a lighting bolt at us.  Too many of us have that view of God.  He doesn't want us to fall, He wants us to live!

He wants what is best for us.  He wants us to choose light and love and peace and life.  He doesn't desire for any of us to be apart from Him or each other.  He longs for those that are far away to come home.  He wants us to know Him and know what it means to know life. For this reason, Christ came. 

Today, may we choose life and light, and may we live in that life and light.