Footprints From the Bible

Whatever is Good

2012-02-12T07:00:00.000-07:00

For over a month we’ve been looking at the lessons in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-22 and Philippians 4:4-9. (downloadable here). Starting with Rejoicing, thanksgiving, and prayer, Paul tells his audience, 2000 years ago and today, that these exercises will help us be open to the Spirit of God and find God’s peace. However, as we saw last week, he warns that we must test the prophets and only copy those who are worthy.

Now Paul goes further and tells us to “hold fast to what is good” (1 Thessalonians 5:21b) and “whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable -- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy -- think about such things.” (Philippians 4:8)

Look around, what do you see that is good, noble, true, right, pure, lovely, admirable? There really is a lot of good stuff happening. To watch the news you might forget that with their focus on disasters and failures and tragedy, but in reality there is more good than bad in the world-it’s just not considered newsworthy. It takes a special effort to find and admire the good things happening. What are some things that come to mind?

A beautiful sunrise that sets the sky ablaze…
Sweet puppies or kittens that warm your heart…
A lovely note, text or tweet from someone you haven’t heard from in a long time…
You see or read about someone going out of their way to help another…

What about the days that seem bleak or when things really do go wrong-a scary diagnosis, loss of a job, back-biting colleague or the myriad other problems that come from living in a broken and fallen world? As all the animals insist in the Contented Little Pussy Cat, “there are so many things to trouble a body.” How can you find something lovely, true, noble, good, pure, or admirable in the troubles? I think the answer might be found in looking for God, especially in those times. Paul says we should “hold fast to what is good.” We claim to believe that we have a good and loving God, therefore God IS in even those times that feel bad.

God is in the diagnosis because God walks through the valleys with us, not causing sickness, but offering strength to carry on.
God is opportunity knocking in the job loss, opening new doors when all we see are closed ones.
God is in the conversation with the colleague as a mirror showing that each of us is wounded and needs compassion.

The interesting thing about looking for the good things (reminiscent of Pollyanna-see Jan. 22) is that the more you look for, the more you see. When we intentionally look for God in all times and places and events, we will find God! Paul is correct in advising us to think about the good and noble things and not focus on the negatives and bad things of life. When I look for the good things, my attitude is much better than when I let myself be dragged down by the negative reports and negative attitudes around me.

An interesting discipline is to make a list of 3-7 things each day that are lovely, true, noble, good, pure, admirable. This list of things that make you thankful and joyful reminds you that “God’s in his heaven and all’s right in the world.” It’s something I’m still working on because, for me, anyway, it’s easier to get trapped into the negatives than look for the positives.

It’s not easy, but certainly worth it. I’m challenging myself to find at least 3 things and if possible 7 things each day that are “true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable” etc. every day. These are places where God is breaking into day-to-day life. Consider doing that yourself for this week and see what happens. If you need a visual aid, you can click on the picture and paste it into a document to print out. You can make your own from a piece of paper or a small notebook, and photos, inspirational sayings, observations, etc., too.

Next week we’ll conclude these meditations on the passages from Thessalonians and Philippians with Paul’s summary of a life lived in Christ.

Practice of Faith

2012-02-05T07:00:00.004-07:00

We’re more than half way through our study of 1 Thessalonians 5:16-22 and Philippians 4:4-9. (downloadable here) Paul’s advice to those two churches is just as apt for us today. He advises us to rejoice, pray, and give thanks because then we will discover that God and the peace of God is with us-no matter what the outward circumstances.

Paul has another piece of advice for us today. At first glance the two citations may seem to be talking about different things, but really he is saying we should practice our faith. He says, “Do not despise the words of prophets, but test everything” (1 Thes. 5:20-21) and tells the Thessalonians “Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me -- put it into practice.” (Philippians 4:9a) Paul says we should ‘test everything’ we hear, even from prophets,-sound advice in this world when everyone has a different opinion and take on everything from what to wear to politics. On the other hand he says that the church members should practice everything they have observed in Paul.

Paul and other giants of faith are good to emulate. Reading their words can inspire us to work on our spiritual life. Calvin, famous Reformation preacher, said “The stability of the world depends on the rejoicing in God’s works…. If on earth, such praise of God does not come to pass… then the whole order of nature will be thrown into confusion…”

We saw over the past month that rejoicing and prayer and thanksgiving lead to finding God’s peace. Calvin insists that rejoicing is necessary. However, we cannot expect to be perfect at prayer, rejoicing, and thanksgiving without practice. As the Contented Little Pussy Cat (Jan. 8) told his friends “Nothing good is ever learned without practicing.”

Another, modern, theologian and musician (John Michael Talbot) posted a Facebook comment in which he said,. “The more you retire into solitude, for prayer the more the power of the Spirit is stirred, and people seek you out for active ministry. The more time you spend in silence, the more powerful your words become in the Word…All mystics of every religion realize it, but do we who claim to follow the compliment and completion of all faiths practice it?”

These three diverse ‘prophets’ might give us food for thought. Talbot reminds us that prayer stirs up the Spirit of God for “active ministry” and makes us “powerful…in the Word.” We must ‘test the words of the prophets’ by discerning if what they say fits with the Truth found in God’s word. Then we can imitate those who are worthy of imitation, whether in prayer, practice, or in rejoicing in the Lord. But how do we discern who is on the right track. Reading the Bible and prayer are certainly two guideposts that can assist our search.

There are stacks of books and studies to help us pray more efficiently, to give thanks more fully, and even to rejoice in all things. It can become overwhelming to find the ‘right’ guide. OR It can be as simple as the ACTS style outline of prayer, which encompasses Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, and Supplication. Another blogger suggests the SHELTER method:

Say Short Prayers
Have Helps to prayer like devotionals or studies
Establish a place to pray
List your prayers, both thanksgivings and requests
Take Time to pray Together with others
Establish a time for prayer
Reminders help focus our prayer (like a cross or icon or Bible)

An online search will turn up other prayer aids you might want to try. Click here for a compilation of some of them. You won’t want to use them all, but pick and chose the ones that seem helpful. Consider taking on one new prayer practice this week-just for fun. Practicing your faith can be fun.

Next week we’ll look at “what is good”-the fruits we obtain when we practice a discipline of prayer, rejoicing and thanksgiving that invites the Spirit to live in our lives.

Candlemas, February 2

2012-02-02T15:25:00.001-07:00

Today, February 2 is the feast of the Church called Candlemas. What is Candlemas? The day is also known as the Presentation of our Lord in the Temple. In Luke 2:22-38 we hear the story of Simeon and Anna seeing Mary and Joseph with Jesus and recognizing the child as Messiah.

I think that their experience could teach us (at least me) something about waiting for God’s answers. Simeon and Anna have some attributes that can be copied and practiced in our own faith journey as we seek to see God in our daily lives.

First of all they were expectant. Simeon was “looking forward to the consolation of Israel.” (Luke 2:25b)

They believed the promise. “It had been revealed to [Simeon] by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah.” (Luke 2:26)

Anna and Simeon were dedicated to the Lord. Anna “never left the temple but worshipped there with fasting and prayer night and day.” (Luke 2:37b)

Both were patient, having waited for years to see Messiah. Anna was 84-an ancient age in the first century!

They were available to God’s revelation when Jesus did come. “Guided by the Spirit, Simeon came into the temple…At that moment [Anna] came, and began to praise God.” (Luke 2:27, 38)

On this day when we remember that Jesus was a human child, and his parents were obedient to the Holy Laws, (Luke 2:22-24) what can these elderly prophets teach us?

As I considered Anna and Simeon, I had to ask myself a few questions about the way I wait for God to fulfill my requests and God’s promises in my life. You might have similar questions to answer about your faithful waiting.

Do I expect to find God every- and indeed any-where? Too often, I want God to be where and when I expect-say in church or among friends, not where my gifts or personality or beliefs will be challenged.

Can I believe the promise of God to me? “I know the plans I have for you,” says Jeremiah 28 and Romans 8 tells us that “all things work for good.” It is human to want our lives to go smoothly, though without all the bumps and challenges. I for one have to be reminded that God is in those times, too.

Am I dedicated to looking for God in all things, people, places or do I maintain that my way is the only way? Don’t we all stamp our feet, at God sometimes, and say “I want it MY way”?

How patient am I when God’s answer seems to be delayed or even when the answer is ‘no’?

How often am I available to God’s revelation in ways I don’t expect? Surely Simeon and Anna didn’t really expect God to be in a month old child-but they were available and open to God’s revelation.

I think all these questions might be answered by living out Paul’s advice in the Philippians and Thessalonians passages that we’ve been meditating on in this blog for the past month. By Rejoicing, Praying without ceasing, and giving Thanks in all things, we can be more open to God’s revelation and patient when the answer is delayed. Nope-not easy, but look at Anna and Simeon. They both recognized their Savior and praised God. Simeon’s hymn is used in the daily Evening Prayer service and is a wonderful prayer to go to sleep reciting.

“Lord, now you are dismissing your servant in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.” (Luke 2:29-32)

I’m sure Mary and Joseph pondered long on the words of these prophets, as should we. God still comes when and where we are least expecting.

Help me to wait expectantly, aware and yet patient for your coming, O Lord.

Peace of God

2012-01-29T07:00:00.001-07:00

We have seen that Paul gives advice on living a holy life in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-22 and Philippians 4:4-9. He says, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances.” (download the citations here) As we look to the Lord in joy, prayer and thanksgiving something amazing happens. We find that the Spirit of the Lord gives us peace.

Paul says we will “not quench the Spirit” when we look to God in prayer and joy (1 Thessalonians 5:9) and that the “God of peace will be with you.” (Philippians 4:9). Isn’t peace a wonderful thing to seek? And even better to obtain? But how…? We seek God-with prayer, thanksgiving, and rejoicing.

What do you think of when you hear the word ‘peace’? Does a dove, like the one in this blog pop into your head? Is it the absence of violence or a calm, quiet place? Certainly peace can be like that, but I am almost always reminded of the hymn “They cast their nets in Galilee” by William Alexander Percy. It gives a different picture of what the ‘peace of God’ really is.

They cast their nets in Galilee
Just off the hills of brown
Such happy simple fisherfolk
Before the Lord came down

Contented peaceful fishermen
Before they ever knew
The peace of God That fill'd their hearts
Brimful and broke them too.
Young John who trimmed the flapping sail,
Homeless, in Patmos died.
Peter, who hauled the teeming net,
Head-down was crucified.
The peace of God, it is no peace,
But strife closed in the sod,
Yet, brothers, pray for but one thing -
The marvelous peace of God.

The hymn is a reminder that the Peace of God is active and calls us to step out of our comfort zone, like the disciples did. The result may not be what we anticipate but God is with us if we just look around for His presence. Sometimes it is our very hurts that put us face to face with God. And then we find peace.

When Jesus met the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4:5-38) she was a seeker. Because of her lifestyle, she was ostracized from the townsfolk of Sychar. Yet, it was that very shunning that put her in a position to meet Jesus. She came to draw water at an unusual time of day (the 6th hour), separate from the other women. Getting water at noon was unusual. Most women came early in the morning so they could do their daily chores. The Samaritan woman comes later, when the gossips were busy in their homes. I imagine she was hurt by their contempt and so she avoided them.

Jesus tells her “whoever drinks of the water that I shall give will never thirst…the water…will become a spring of water welling up for eternal life” and she responds, “Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst.” (John 4:14-15) I am reminded of the image of an artesian well, which is basically a spring bubbling up from the ground and not needing a pump because the pressure below pushes the water out. God’s peace is like that, bubbling up and giving drink to our souls in good times and bad. Sometimes the droplets are lovely things like sunsets and kittens, at others the drops contain sorrow or pain. God is in all the water drops-offering and providing peace.

The Samaritan Woman might add another verse to the hymn:

She came seeking water that day
A woman wanting peace of heart.
Jesus offered living water,
And peace she raced to impart.

The peace of God is living water refreshing our souls in the ups and downs of life. Each day offers a new start, a new chance to find God in each event. With the hymnist, we should “pray for but one thing - The marvelous peace of God.”

Next week we’ll look at ways to practice all that Paul suggests-the prayer, rejoicing, thanksgiving and seeking the peace of God.

Thanks in all things

2012-01-22T07:00:00.013-07:00

We are in the time between Christmas and Lent, sometimes called 'ordinary time,' because there aren't any great big church feasts. We are looking and praying through 1 Thessalonians 5:16-22 and the similar citation from Philippians 4:4-9. The Apostle Paul gives the churches at Thessalonica and Philippi directions for living a holy life. You can download them here for easy reference.

This week we come to the third of Paul’s instructions: “give thanks in all circumstances”. Like “rejoice always” and “pray without ceasing”, this doesn’t seem like an easy thing to do. How can we be thankful when bad things happen?

Another author notes that Paul says to “give thanks IN all circumstances” not FOR all circumstances. The letter to the Philippians makes it even clearer. “IN everything, by prayer and petition, WITH THANKSGIVING, present your requests to God.” Prayer, rejoicing, and thanksgiving all work together to give us confidence that “all things work for God for those who love God” (Romans 8:28)

However, when disaster strikes or the diagnosis comes back with bad news, it is difficult to “give thanks”. Yet, if we can look for God within the situation, it transforms both you and the situation. God is greater than anything we face. Time and again we see stories on the news about men and women triumphing over their situation or sickness because of their thankful attitude.

Psalm 56 is a recitation of a faithful person who, although he is beset by enemies, can say “I put my trust in thee.” Verse 8 says “You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book.” God does not forget our sorrows, but because we are love, God transforms them so that we can say “God is for me.” (Ps. 56:9b)

Pollyanna, in the 1913 book of the same name (and assorted subsequent movies), makes it a game to find things to be thankful for. She calls it the “Glad Game” and looks for something to be thankful about in each situation. It is the same with the disasters in life, we can still find something, however small, to be thankful for!

An old hymn reminds us of one way to move past the seeming disasters of life.

When upon life's billows

You are tempest tossed;

When you are discouraged,

Thinking all is lost;

Count your many blessings,

Name them one by one

And it will surprise you

What the Lord has done.

An exercise that can help is to start a “Thankfulness Diary.” Each day write down one, two, three, or more things you were thankful for through the day. Sometimes if your day is really tough, it can be hard to remember the good things from the morning. Another idea is to take a pad of sticky notes with you throughout the day and jot down the things that you are thankful for as the day goes along. Maybe it’s a parking space when you need it. Maybe you got a nice phone call or an unexpected message from a friend. Perhaps just seeing a beautiful scene is enough to make you give thanks.

Paul says, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances.” Next week, we will see that the result of the Joy, Prayer, and Thanksgiving is Peace.

Pray without Ceasing

2012-01-15T07:00:00.001-07:00

Last week we started looking and praying through 1 Thessalonians 5:16-22 and the similar citation from Philippians 4:4-9. Paul wrote both the letters to separate churches and about a decade apart, yet his encouragement and advice is the same. He starts by urging everyone to Rejoice Always-yet how are we to do that? The next verse gives a clue. We are to “pray without ceasing” and “in everything, by prayer and petition…present your requests to God.” (1 Thessalonians 5:17 and Philippians 4:6)

Praying without ceasing seems almost as difficult as rejoicing no matter what happens. Is Paul asking us to do the impossible in these citations? Not really.

C.H. Spurgeon in a sermon delivered in 1872 noted that rejoicing and prayer are tied together. “The more praying the more rejoicing. Prayer gives a channel to the pent-up sorrows of the soul, they flow away, and in their stead streams of sacred delight pour into the heart. At the same time the more rejoicing the more praying; when the heart is in a quiet condition, and full of joy in the Lord, then also will it be sure to draw nigh unto the Lord in worship. Holy joy and prayer act and react upon each other.”

But how do we constantly pray? How can we continually “present [our] requests to God”? I don’t know about you, but I am easily distracted from an attitude of prayer, but referring again to the Contented Little Pussy Cat, we hear Abner say “No good thing was ever learned without practicing.” There are many ways and styles of prayer. I came across this nice long collection of ideas for praying.

Of course the basic model for our prayer is the one Jesus taught that starts “Our Father…” (Luke 11:2f and Matthew 6:9f) Jesus himself went away from his disciples on more than one occasion to pray. The photo of a child and dog is cute and captures our cultural concept of what prayer involves. We get on our knees beside our bed, or in church, close our eyes and say a nice prayer.

Prayer doesn’t have to be on our knees in church, though. Paul is saying we can and should pray wherever we are and whatever we are doing. It might be a quick prayer on the phone with a friend, a silent prayer for understanding in a difficult situation, “Thank you, God” when seeing something beautiful or getting through something. Simply pausing in awe of a sunset or child’s joy can be a prayer.

A wise priest once told me that ‘arrow prayers’ can be used at any time we feel the need to offer petitions or praise to God. Turns out, the term has been around a long time (since St. Augustine of Hippo ca 4th century). It is a short prayer relevant to the current situation. Sometimes it is something like “Thank you for the beauty of this sunset.” More often it is a call for help, “Give me patience with this person or event.”

Another fast reminder to pray is your own hand. The thumb reminds you of those far away who need prayer. Your pointer finger is for those who lead us (pastors, teachers, etc.) and your second finger is those who have responsibility or power. Your ring finger is a reminder of those we love and the little finger is for the weak, ill, helpless, etc. Lastly, your whole hand is for yourself as a way to be aware that we are His hands to all we meet.

There are many other aids to prayer-music, Bible verses, candles…the list goes on and on. Perhaps you’d like to share your own as a comment. The verses we are studying during this Epiphany season can be used as prayers and prayer aids, too. Whatever inspires and reminds you to turn to God in prayer is something to treasure and use. Take Abner’s advice and practice a little bit of prayer each day until you will find you are praying without ceasing!

Next week we’ll look at how Thanksgiving ties in with Rejoicing and with Prayer.

Rejoice

2012-01-08T07:00:00.003-07:00

During Advent we looked at how various people in the Nativity saga responded to God’s call on their lives and how their response can help us say with Mary, ‘behold the servant of the Lord.’ How do you keep alive the fire of your first call, your first love of the Lord? As time passes, it is easy to forget the joy and delight you felt when you were sure that God had singled you out for some ministry-big or small.

From now until Lent we’ll be looking at two parallel passages from Paul’s letters as ways to help us live and remain faithful to our life in Christ. The first is 1 Thessalonians 5:16-20. Scholars believe this was written to the young church in Thessalonica soon after Paul established it (50-55 AD). He moved on to Corinth in his missionary journeys and wrote back to the church to encourage them. The second passage is Philippians 4:4-9, written it seems after Paul was in prison (61-63 AD) and nearing the end of his life. The church in Philippi was the first church in what is now Europe. When Paul established the church in Philippi he was stepping way outside his comfort zone by leaving Israel and Asia Minor. (This blog explored Paul's journeys in Acts during Pentecost.)

Interestingly, the passages are very similar in tone and advice though separated by about a decade of ministry, travel, and travail. The two churches and believers through the centuries have been encouraged to Rejoice-Pray-Give Thanks-Be at Peace-Practice Faith-Do Good-Fulfill the Will of God. Download them both here.

I encourage you to read through one or both of the 2 citations daily over these next few weeks. Each week we’ll look at one part of this advice, starting this week with the admonition to “Rejoice in the Lord always”. This line is very special to me because when I was confirmed the Bishop gave each ‘class’ a memory verse. This one has stuck with me for these many years since the day I made an adult commitment to my Lord as a High School senior.

As you read the citations you’ll notice a little difference. To the Thessalonians, Paul says simply, “Rejoice always”. Years later when writing to the church in Philippi, he expands it, “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!”

What does “rejoice” mean? The root is the Latin word gaudere (be glad), becoming the Anglo-French rejois or to welcome and enjoy again. If we are trying to rekindle our first love of the Lord, welcoming [God] again is a good way to start. If we are just feeling a bit down, welcoming gladness is also helpful in turning the depression around. It’s not an easy admonition to follow though. Too often we let circumstances remove our joy. How do we “rejoice always”? There are so many things to cause us to worry and not rejoice. Isn't it interesting that Paul repeats "Rejoice" when he is in prison and facing death. If anyone had reason to be fearful and not rejoice, you would think it would be someone in prison for his faith.

A long time ago my favorite book was called “The Contented Little Pussy Cat” (by Frances Ruth Keller). In it, Abner was the contented kitten who never seemed to worry. All the animals come to ask him why he is “so happy and contented all the time.” At first he cannot tell them, but eventually comes up with an answer: “I never feel sorry about what happened yesterday nor do I worry about what might happen tomorrow.” His friends are struck by the wisdom and vow to practice it.

Jesus says the same thing in the Sermon on the Mount. “Do not be anxious about your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink, nor about your body…your heavenly Father knows you need them all.” (Matthew 7:25-32)

Jesus tells us that God will take care of all our needs, so we don’t have to worry ‘that it might rain tomorrow and I’ll get my white fur all spotted’ as Mr. White Bunny told Abner. In the letter to the Philippians, Paul says that we are to “Rejoice IN THE LORD.” It is not in our own power that we can succeed in rejoicing. When we focus on God’s provision, though, we are more able to let God take over the things we worry about.

You may remember a Sunday School song-Rejoice in the Lord Always. It will stick in your head and help you remember to rejoice. You can find it on YouTube if you want to sing along.

Next week we will consider how Prayer helps us live into our life in Christ.

New Directions

2012-01-01T07:00:00.003-07:00

We’ve reached the end of this six-week blog-study of the story of the Nativity with reference to scripture (the Gospel of Luke) and snippets from Mary, My Love by Cynthia Davis. For Mary, Joseph and all the others called by God to be partners in the Nativity saga, the event meant a huge change in their plans. When we follow the One whose birth we celebrate on Christmas Day, our carefully laid ambitions and goals will probably change, too.

Ministry often takes new direction, whether we expect it to or not. It evolves and we must evolve with it. At the beginning, Mary and Joseph did all the ‘proper’ things for a newborn. At 8 days old, he was circumcised, “and he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.” (Luke 2:21) The image by Bartolo di Fredi is only one of many representations of this event. (January 1 is not just New Year’s Day, it is Holy Name Day, when many churches commemorate this event.) A month later, Mary and Joseph travel to the Temple for her purification and to present him “as it is written in the law of the Lord, ‘Every firstborn male shall be designated as holy to the Lord’” (Luke 2:23) Again their faith and calling are affirmed by Simeon and Anna, two elderly prophets living in the Temple precincts.

It is 12 years later that they are confronted with the fact that their part in Jesus’ life and indeed their call to ministry is changing. “Now every year his parents went to Jerusalem for the festival of the Passover. And when he was twelve years old, they went up as usual for the festival. When the festival was ended and they started to return, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but his parents did not know it. Assuming that he was in the group of travelers, they went a day’s journey. Then they started to look for him among their relatives and friends. When they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem to search for him. After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. When his parents saw him they were astonished; and his mother said to him, ‘Child, why have you treated us like this? Look, your father and I have been searching for you in great anxiety.’ He said to them, ‘Why were you searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?’ But they did not understand what he said to them. Then he went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them. His mother treasured all these things in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom and in years, and in divine and human favor.” (Luke 2:41-52)

The young man’s question “Did you not know I must be in my Father’s house?” must have caused Mary and Joseph to rethink their part in his life and what their call was going to be in the future. Luke tells us that again, “His mother treasured all these things in her heart.” Another translation says “she pondered them in her heart.” Part of her thinking must have been what direction her ministry would take, now that her son was growing up.

In Mary, My Love, Joseph comes to a sense of peace after they find Jesus in the Temple. The Temple leaders offer to allow Jesus to stay and learn from them. Joseph refuses (that’s not in the Bible, just in my book) and the family leaves together.

My heart was at peace. I knew that Jeshua was not called to the priesthood, but to something different.
“God will show you the way, my son,” I whispered, watching the young man laughing with his mother. “God will be with you. When the time is right, you will hear the call of your Father and know what to do.”
I felt surrounded by love and assurance that could only be from God. I no longer had any doubts that the Holy One of Israel was in control of my life and of my son’s destiny. He would grow up as the son of a simple carpenter until God made known to him the path of his life.
“God you did not steal my wife nor will you take my son. Your actions are hidden from men, but I believe you seek relationship with all people. Into your hands I commend my life.”
The boy and his mother walked ahead of me. I was overwhelmed with love for them. I hurried to join them.
“In the morning we will head for Nazareth,” I stated.
Mary smiled and hugged her son around the waist. “It will be nice to be home.”
Jeshua looked at his mother and then at me. “I will be glad to see my brothers and sisters. There will be work for us to do in the shop, won’t there Abba?”
I nodded and we walked together to Zechariah’s home.

Our call to ministry is organic. It is ever changing and growing and renewing. If we fight to keep it static, it will die and so will our call. The Old Testament Joseph (son of Jacob) tries to explain this to his brothers after Jacob’s death. “You meant evil against me; but God meant if for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive…” (Genesis 50:20) He understood that his youthful ambition to ‘lord it over’ his brothers was fulfilled, but in a way he never would have expected. In looking back Joseph could clearly see God’s hand at work in his life, even through the time as a slave and in prison.

Mary and Joseph must have finally understood that their part in Jesus’ life would change, too. “He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them.” Jesus also “increased in wisdom and in years, and in divine and human favor.” They watched him grow and mature into the man who would fulfill his own call as Messiah.

Has your ministry taken a new direction? How have you responded? Can you look objectively at the ministry and see that what seems a complete change, is really a natural outgrowth of the current ministry?

As the secular new year begins, I plan to take a minute (or longer) to consider where my ministry is and where my relationship with God is. Too often the busyness of the season and family and even work can get in the way of evaluating our call and our ministry. There is a saying the God can heal the most broken heart-but we have to give him the pieces. The poem by Ben Hildner* below (and right) reminds me of this.

PRAYER
Living Lord, Messiah, help me to be open to change and growth in my call and ministry. Let me not fear to go in new directions and to trust you to bring to fulfillment that which you start. AMEN
Next week, I’ll have a new series of meditations for Epiphany-which in the liturgical cycle is the season when we look at the ‘manifestation’ of Christ to the world.

*Broken Toys

As children bring their broken toys, with tears, for me to mend
I brought my broken dreams to God because he was my friend.
But then, instead of leaving Him in peace to work alone
I hung around and tried to help . . . with ways that were my own.
At last I snatched them back and cried, "How can You be so slow?"
"My child," He said. "What could I do? You never did let go."
--By Ben Hildner--

Unto Us a Child is Born

2011-12-25T19:00:00.000-07:00

Merry Christmas. We have reached the high point of our Advent journey together!

During this six-week blog-study we’ve been unpacking the story of the Nativity with reference to scripture (the Gospel of Luke) and snippets from Mary, My Love by Cynthia Davis. You do not have to have read the book to enjoy the blog. If you do want to order a copy, email me.

Luke tells us “In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.’ And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!’ When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.’ So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.” (Luke 2:8-20)

Handel’s Messiah shouts the news triumphantly, even though the real birth was barely noticed. “For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given, and the government shall be upon His shoulder; and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.” The words are from Isaiah 9:6. The scene has been a favorite of artists, like this 17th century rendition by Abraham Bloemaert.

Luke says that “Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart.” For Joseph, (In Mary, My Love) the visit of the shepherds had the effect of reaffirming for him that he was, in fact, living into his call-into God’s plan for his life:

“Why did you choose me, a humble carpenter of Nazareth, to be father of this child? What can I give him? Messiah should be clothed in purple and live in a palace.” I whispered my nagging question into the silence.
Eventually I drifted to sleep no closer to an answer than any time in the past nine months. Voices roused me. For a moment I was disoriented. Then I remembered the stable, the birth, and the visit of the shepherds. They were back, joyfully celebrating and praising God. Somewhere a skin of the local wine had been obtained.
“To the father!” The tall shepherd, a little unsteadily, raised the skin to his lips and then offered it to me.
The rest gathered around me with more congratulations as I took a drink.
“God truly is wonderful!”
“Messiah is announced to shepherds!”
“Always it is to the humble and lowly that God reveals His works,” Jediah announced.
He was not drunk except with peace and joy.
“What did you say?” I stared at the man in amazement.
“It is not the proud or mighty who see the Hand of God. We who are poor and humble are the ones who know God.”…
Mary called me from my reverie. Hastily I entered the cave. My wife sat on the bed of blankets and straw Elam and I had prepared the night before. The baby slept in the food trough carved in the cave wall. More straw and blankets made a cozy nest. With her hair loose around her shoulders, Mary looked more like a child than a woman who had recently given birth.
“Yes, my love, did we awaken you?”
A warm smile softened the young face even more. Then she looked serious. Mary leaned over the infant and kissed his cheek, gathering the little body into her arms.
“Your aunt is only the first to doubt that Jeshua is Messiah. You and I and Jediah have the words of angels to reassure us. But, he is so ordinary, just as Rachel said.”
When the woman looked up, I saw disappointment and even doubt in her eyes. Tears brimmed and threatened to spill over. Dropping to my knees beside my wife, I gathered her reverently and gently into my arms. My lips touched the baby’s forehead. I held my family in silence trying to find an answer. Jediah’s words came back to me.
“I think the old shepherd was right,” I faltered, trying to explain my insight. “The God of our Fathers reveals himself in unexpected ways. Yahweh uses the ordinary to show his power and glory. Jediah mentioned Gideon, David, Moses and Joseph as examples of ordinary men used by the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This stable is perhaps the most fitting place of all for Messiah to be born, among the people where God has always sought to dwell.”
“Yes, my husband. It is in the commonplace that God is present.” Confidence was back in Mary’s voice and she smiled up at me. “Stars and sand were signs of the promises to Abraham. Esther was not born to be a queen, yet she was raised up and saved her people. This child is indeed the Son of the Most High. The shepherds were sent to affirm that to us so we would not doubt.”
“Truly God has blessed us,” I agreed.
I held my wife and child as the darkness outside the stable lightened into day. When the baby stirred and whimpered, Mary roused from her doze to offer her breast. I rose to say my morning prayers from the entrance of the cave. My heart was full of praise.
“God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, blessed are you, awesome and mighty are your deeds. In the common is found the holy. In the ordinary is your hand, Creator of the Universe. Praise to you, O God.”

God offers hope and encouragement when we need it, often it is only after we allow God to be God. Our ministry will have ups and downs, we only need to trust that God is present through it all.

May your Christmas Day and Christmas season be blessed. May your ministry and call be affirmed as you celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ in a manger in Bethlehem.

Next week we’ll take one final look at the Nativity story and living into our call from God.

Discouragement Happens

2011-12-18T07:00:00.000-07:00

During this six-week blog-study we’re be unpacking the story of the Nativity with reference to scripture (the Gospel of Luke) and snippets from Mary, My Love by Cynthia Davis. You do not have to have read the book to enjoy the blog. If you do want to order a copy, email me.

The first week of Advent we saw Mary accepting the call of God on her life. Then we met Joseph. His acceptance of his call to be Mary’s husband seems small, but was vitally important. Last time we explored how essential it is to have friends who offer support to our call and ministry like Mary and Elizabeth did for each other.

Mary and Joseph settled into their life as a married couple expecting a baby. Their plans for a normal life were shattered by the Roman demand for a census. In just 5 verses Luke tells us of the upheaval of their lives. “In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. All went to their own towns to be registered. Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child.” (Luke 2:1-5)

Joseph and Mary surely expected the Child to be born in Nazareth where they lived. Those who have heard the Christmas story, know otherwise. The Roman demand for a census meant that despite being close to her delivery time, Mary had to travel with Joseph to the City of David-Bethlehem. “While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.” (Luke 6-7)

We have probably all felt that sense of discouragement when we were sure we were following God’s call, but things aren’t working out as we expected. Like Jeremiah we heard God’s voice loud and clear saying, “I appointed you a prophet to the nations” and the next thing we know, we are in a mud pit. Jeremiah warned the king and people that they would die by sword and famine. This made the leaders fearful and angry. “So they took Jeremiah and cast him into the cistern of Malchiah, the king’s son, which was in the court of the guard, letting Jeremiah down by ropes. And there was no water in the cistern, but only mire, and Jeremiah sank in the mire.” (Jeremiah 38:6) He was stuck there, literally, until the king relented and had him pulled out.

Discouragement met Joseph, not in the form of a muddy pit, but in a cave at Bethlehem. This is how it happens in Mary, My Love. He and Mary arrive and cannot find a place to stay even with his aunt.

I held my breath as she muttered to herself. “All the regular inns are full. The home of Isaac bar Ephraim is taken. Miriam, wife of Zedekiah, has filled her home as has Simon bar Dan.”
“What of Uziah or Nahum?”
The old man’s suggestions were met with negative movements of the woman’s head. She squinted and gazed around the courtyard seeking a solution. My guide continued to offer names. Each was met with a shake of the head. Finally she turned back at a small cry from Mary.
Reaching a decision, she nodded, “It might serve. At least it will be private and quiet and dry.”
Torn between irritation at our talkative guide, who still suggested fellow villagers as hosts, and concern for my wife’s condition, I was less than polite.
“Yes, where is it?”
Rachel responded with a vague gesture toward the rocks at the back of the house, “It is the cave against the hill. We use it to shelter the ewes in the early spring when they are lambing. I am sure Perez has cleaned it…”
“A stable!” I interrupted angrily.
Mary placed a hand on my shoulder. “I am sure it will be fine.”
Her words ended with a sharp intake of air as another pain grabbed my wife.
“It is settled then. Elam!” Turning quickly for such a large woman, she called for her son. The lad scampered over.
“This is your cousin…”
“Joseph bar Jacob.” I supplied my name through clenched teeth.
Further delay was unnecessary. I wanted to get Mary settled somewhere and find a midwife. My heart pounded with fear. A brief nod from Rachel acknowledged my name.
“Take them to the lambing cave. Get fresh straw for a bed and bring water and fodder.”
Orders complete, the woman turned to go. Feeling churlish, I held out my hand to stop my aunt.
“Wait. Thank you for your help.”
“Yes, yes, let it never be said that Rachel, wife of Perez bar Mattat turned away a kinsman or woman,” she added, glancing at Mary.
“Where can I find a midwife?”
Another gasp from my wife warned me that time was short.
“I will send for her and come myself as soon as I can.”
With that assurance, I had to be satisfied. Moving away, my aunt reminded me of the ship in full sail I saw once in Tyre. She strode across the courtyard dropping orders right and left. …
Elam led the way through the many animals. Camels grudgingly moved aside when the boy shouted at them. A couple of donkeys barely shifted as they eyed the new arrival walking past. Chickens scattered with great clucking and a cow decided to follow us. We went past the house and up a small incline, then back down. The path led to a round opening in the rock. With the ease of familiarity, the boy located a lamp and struck a flint. The small flame flared and settled into a steady glow.
“This way,” Elam gestured and led us into the cave.
Mary leaned heavily on me and walked slowly. I had to bend to enter. Once inside I was pleasantly surprised. A decent sized room was hollowed out of the rock. Several mangers were chipped out of the walls. Low wooden partitions divided the space into separate pens. …
“Help me up. I must prepare the swaddling clothes myself.”
A gasp shortened her planning. Gently I pushed her back down.
“Tell me what to do. You, um…, rest.”
I was embarrassed by the situation. Men should not attend a woman in childbirth, but I had no choice. I had seen animals born and even helped Balaam into the world when he was too slow. The memory of the wet, spindly, weak-kneed donkey foal was not much comfort now even when the animal looked my way with big brown eyes.
“Blankets and the swaddling clothes are in the bag.”
Glad for something to do, I unpacked the faithful little beast. I tossed the saddle into the corner, followed by my tools. I carried Mary’s bundle to her side. When I unrolled it, she showed me which items were needed. Every time the contractions came, she grabbed my arm with surprising strength. The woman scanned the cave obviously looking for something. Anxiously I bent over my bride.
“What is it? What do you need, my love?”
I thought she flushed in the lamplight, before she met my eyes.
“When the baby comes, I will need something to balance against since we have no birthing stool.”
My confusion must have shown in my face.
“I cannot give birth lying down,” she explained patiently. “A woman squats to deliver a child.”
“I will hold you,” I declared, sure it was something I could handle.
She shook her head with a forced smile, “Joseph, my dearest husband, you will have to receive the baby.”
Another, longer contraction interrupted our conversation.
I said hopefully, “Surely Rachel or the midwife will arrive before then.”
“I think the child will be born very soon,” my wife panted. She closed her eyes and steadied her breathing.
Silently I called out to God. “Why are you doing this? The Son of God, Messiah, should not be born in a stable with only a man to assist. Send help,” I pleaded. “Mary deserves better than this!”

Joseph turns to God in doubt and despair because nothing is working out as he expected. When we are discouraged, we focus on the negatives. We forget that God is in charge. In Romans 8:37, Paul reminds us “in all things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” Like this “Knots Prayer” says we must then ask God to “untie the knots” and the ‘nots’ so we can see that God is at work.

When our ministry plans don’t fall into place, God has something infinitely better planned. However, it’s not easy to look beyond what seems like a wall in front of us to find the window. In the Sound of Music, Maria has to reevaluate her call to ministry. Mother Superior tells her “when God closes a door He opens a window” and reminds her that she must “climb every mountain…until you find your dream.” Our call is the dream God has for us. Mary and Elizabeth believed the angels’ messages and embraced their Call. I more often feel like Joseph when God moves me to ministry-hoping I am doing the right thing and going in the right direction. Joseph struggled with his part in the plan of God-his call, esp. when it didn't fit his preconceived ideas of the 'proper order' of things, like the birth of a baby.

Have you ever felt discouragement, disappointment or disillusionment when your plans for the ministry don’t fall into place? How did you cope? Did you give up or regroup?

PRAYER

Lord, help me look to you when I am discouraged or feel that I'm not following your call. You make us conquerors and provide windows of opportunity. Let me look for your guidance each day. AMEN.

Next week we will look at how Joseph (and Mary) were affirmed in their faith, even though (or perhaps because) the Child was born in a manger.

Bearers of the Promise

2011-12-11T07:00:00.001-07:00

During this six-week blog-study we’ll be unpacking the story of the Nativity with reference to scripture (the Gospel of Luke) and snippets from Mary, My Love by Cynthia Davis. You do not have to have read the book to enjoy the blog. If you do want to order a copy, email me.

The first week of Advent we saw Mary accepting the call of God on her life. Call is where our woundedness meets God’s love and where we offer ourselves to move the Kingdom of God forward. Joseph, Mary’s betrothed husband, had to struggle with whether he could or would accept the call on his life. It involved accepting and claiming a child not his own and giving up his own plans for his life. Often God’s call is like that. God challenges us to move beyond ourselves and outside our comfort zone.

We cannot live into our call alone. God made us to be social. From the beginning, God said “It is not good that the man should be alone…” (Genesis 12:18) Mary knew that she needed the affirmation of someone who could understand her experience. Gabriel had told her “Your kinswoman Elizabeth in her old age has conceived a son; and this is now the sixth month with her who was called barren.” Despite the distance and danger of travel, Mary “arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a city of Judah.” This is a journey of 60 or 70 miles, as the crow flies, and longer on winding mountain roads. It probably took the young girl over a week to arrive in Hebron (the traditional home of Zechariah and Elizabeth).

The trip was worth the effort though. Both Mary and Elizabeth realized that they were truly servants of the Lord and burst into praise. Elizabeth tells Mary, “blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.” (Luke 1:45) She could have said the same thing about herself since she, too, had accepted God’s call on her life and the gift of a son in her old age and barrenness.

Friends in faith can affirm our call and help us with support and encouragement. The song “You Raise Me Up”* written by Brendan Graham in 2002 says “You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains; You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas; I am strong, when I am on your shoulders; You raise me up: To more than I can be.” That is what a friend in the Lord can do.

We hear that “Mary remained with [Elizabeth] for about three months and then returned to her home.” During that time the two women probably shared many joys as each prepared to bear a child who bore the promise of God. When Mary returned to Nazareth she news of her visit with Joseph (from my book Mary, My Love):

“Why? I would think she would want to share her news.” I frowned, confused by the older woman’s actions.
“I wondered that, too. Elizabeth said, ‘They would have stolen away my secret joy.’ When she finally did venture to the market after five months, the comments were full of amazement.”
“I am sure they were.”
I could well imagine the stir that Elizabeth’s pregnancy and Zechariah’s muteness caused in the small town.
Mary smiled, “When I arrived, Elizabeth was so glad to see me. I think the whispers and speculation were tiring her out.”
My mind turned to the gossip around the well in Nazareth. I drew my wife closer wishing to protect her from the inevitable comments that would start again now that she was back. Mary understood my silence.
“Joseph, we cannot stop the mouths of the neighbors. You and I know the truth. That will be enough.”
“My love, I wish I could spare you. If they knew that you carry Messiah…”
The vehemence in my tone made the girl open her eyes wide with surprise.
“God will make the truth known,” she assured me, “just like God did for Elizabeth, when I arrived.”
“Tell me.”
Mary snuggled close and continued her story. Her face glowed with serenity.
“Elizabeth started across the room to greet me. Then she stopped suddenly and put a hand on her belly. She said, ‘Blessed are you. Who am I that the mother of the Savior comes to me?’ It was a final piece of proof that this baby is of God.”
A sigh of contentment slipped out as my wife smoothed her gown over the tiny rounding of her figure.
“My cousin told me, ‘When I heard your voice my baby leaped with joy.’ God confirmed my child through Elizabeth’s baby.”
I laid my rough hand over the girl’s small fingers. “Yes, and your presence affirmed her child also.”
“You do understand! Our joy was so great that we sang together, praising God for raising up salvation for the people.” Mary began to sing softly. She slipped from my lap to pirouette around the shop as she repeated the joyous chant, “His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, according to the promise he made to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants forever.”
I marveled at the radiance of my wife and smiled, “Surely just so did Sarah and Rebecca proclaim their joy when they conceived. This child is the fulfillment of their longings and the longings of all Israel.”
“Yes, my husband, our son is the One promised from the beginning.”

We are not meant to be solitary beings, but to live in community. We are supposed to share our joys and sorrows and fears. We support one another when we are in need of support and encouragement. Mary & Elizabeth affirmed each other’s child as a gift from God. God gives us friends who ‘sit awhile’ and who ‘raise me up.’ God acts through our friends who support us.

Have you ever been supported by those who believe in you because they are your friends or because they are fellow servants of God in a similar ministry? Who do you look to when you need affirmation? Conversely-who have you lifted up and helped with their burden?

As the song says, “When troubles come and my heart burdened be; then, I am still and wait here in the silence, until you come and sit awhile with me.” Then “I am strong, when I am on your shoulders; You raise me up: To more than I can be.” Look to your community of friends when the call to ministry seems to be too difficult or dim. They will give you the courage to go on-to be 'more than I can be'.

PRAYER: God of Mary and Elizabeth, you call us to be in community with one another. Help me to seek out those who support me so that I can follow your call with joy and eagerness. Let me be willing to be vulnerable to them and to you as I become “more than I can be.” AMEN

Next week we'll see that following the Call of God isn't always smooth sailing.

*You Raise Me up
When I am down and, oh my soul, so weary;
When troubles come and my heart burdened be;
Then, I am still and wait here in the silence,
Until you come and sit awhile with me.

You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains;
You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas;
I am strong, when I am on your shoulders;
You raise me up: To more than I can be.

There is no life - no life without its hunger;
Each restless heart beats so imperfectly;
But when you come and I am filled with wonder,
Sometimes, I think I glimpse eternity.

You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains;
You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas;
I am strong, when I am on your shoulders;
You raise me up: To more than I can be

Dear Joseph

2011-12-04T07:00:00.001-07:00

As Mary’s betrothed husband, Joseph would have had the right to have her stoned for adultery, or he could have divorced her. Matthew 1:19-20 tells us he decided, “Being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, [he] planned to dismiss her quietly. But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.’”
In Mary, My Love, Joseph has a much more human response.

Unable to work, I threw on my outer garment and stormed from the building, nearly trampling Benoni. He backed away from my rage without even a question. Blindly I headed for the hills beyond Nazareth. If anyone greeted me, I did not hear. Mary’s words repeated their terrible litany in my head.
“Bear a son…God chose...no man…I do not lie.”
Faster and faster I walked, until I was running up the mountainside. The same grove of trees that saw my decision to wed Mary received me. Like a mad man I smashed my hands against one trunk and then another until my rage was spent. In despair I fell to my knees.
“God, why do you mock me? I believed you gave me Mary’s love. Now she admits that she carries a child which is not mine!” Renewed anger set me to pacing. Suspicion fueled the fire. “Joachim was eager to accept my offer. Did he know that his daughter was no virgin, even then? Was I the dupe all along?”…
Worn out from the day’s passion, I sank to my knees. The Name of the Most High was all I could say. Over and over I repeated the word.
Eventually, I resolved to divorce Mary and send her away to preserve her life. Exhausted, I leaned against a tree trunk and closed my eyes. I must have dozed. The dream, when it came, held me tightly even after I awakened. As Mary said, the angel was a figure of light without real form. Even in my sleep, I felt my heartbeat quickening.
“Joseph, do not be afraid. You may take Mary as your wife. The child is conceived by the Spirit of God. She will bear a son. You will name him Jeshua. For just as his name means ‘God saves’, so this child will save all people.”
Then the messenger from God was gone. The peace that enveloped me left me comforted. Gradually, I opened my eyes to stare at the surrounding trees. The grove was in darkness but my soul was in light. Moonlight filtered through the sparse early spring leaves to illuminate the trunks and the ground. Slowly I sat up, reassured and unafraid. God had stolen my beloved but I would not lose her.

Joseph, in the night-long struggle with God and his conscience comes to accept his own call-his own place in the unfolding drama. He accepted the child as his own, knowing that there would be whispers and gossip. Joseph’s feelings of betrayal by Mary were put aside out of love and for the healing of both his anger and the sins of the world.

In the Disney movie Hercules, the hero sings “I Will Go the Distance”*. By embracing God’s call, this is exactly what Joseph agreed to do. He would have agreed with Hercules who says, “Down an unknown road, to embrace my fate Though that road may wander, it will lead me to you And a thousand years, would be worth the wait It might take a lifetime, but somehow I'll see it through. And I won't look back, I can go the distance And I'll stay on track, no, I won't accept defeat It's an uphill slope, but I won't lose hope Till I go the distance, and my journey is complete”

Unlike Hercules, Joseph knew his call was to follow God’s will, not the desire for a ‘hero’s welcome’. He did not know how his resolve would be tested in the coming years. When we step out in faith to follow God’s call, we don’t know where that road will lead us. However, we can know that when we stay in God’s will, “I know ev'ry mile, will be worth my while When I go the distance, I'll be right where I belong.”

As Mary learned, it can be hard to tell others of our call, our vision to make a difference in the world. Sometimes we are met with resistance, anger, disbelief, even rejection or condemnation. It takes courage to hold fast to the call of God.

Sometimes the challenge to accepting the call can come from within. It can be easy to look at the ministry and success (by worldly standards) of other’s work and response to their call. We can say, ‘my little bit doesn’t matter.’ I am reminded of a story Max Lucado tells of visiting a woman who carved Bible shapes from wood then decoupaged a Bible verse on each plaque. Her call was to make these plaques which offered encouragement to those who got them. She might have sat at home and done nothing, esp. if she compared her wood carvings to someone like Lucado’s fame. Yet, she did not. Joseph is often overlooked because he ‘just’ married Mary. However, his response to God’s call changed his expectations of his life dramatically.

Many heroes and heroines in the Bible met with resistance, both internal and external, when they stepped out in faith. Sometimes it is their own doubts that prevent them from acting. In the Book of Esther, she hesitates to approach the King when the Jews are threatened with death. Mordecai reminds her, “If you keep silence at such a time as this, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another quarter, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:14)

Joseph did not believe Mary at first. He had to struggle with his conscience and with God’s demands before “he took his wife, but knew her not until she had borne a son; and he called his name Jesus.” (Matthew 1:24-25) His ‘yes’ to God was a tiny pebble in the sea, but without it, the story would have been very different. Can your ‘yes’ to God make a difference? Indeed it can!

Have you ever shared your dream or call to ministry with someone and been met with skepticism or worse? How did you react?
Are you resisting responding to God’s call because you think it’s ‘not big enough’?

Prayer
Holy God, help me to ‘go the distance’ you require of me. I want to respond to your call on my life with joy, but sometimes I am fearful and doubt that I hear you correctly. Inspire me with your love to share that love with the world. AMEN

Next week we'll see what happens to Elizabeth and how she and Mary encourage one another.
*I Can Go the Distance (from Disney's Hercules)

I have often dreamed, of a far off place
Where a hero's welcome, would be waiting for me
Where the crowds will cheer, when they see my face
And a voice keeps saying, this is where I'm meant to be

I'll be there someday, I can go the distance
I will find my way, if I can be strong
I know ev'ry mile, will be worth my while
When I go the distance, I'll be right where I belong

Down an unknown road, to embrace my fate
Though that road may wander, it will lead me to you
And a thousand years, would be worth the wait
It might take a lifetime, but somehow I'll see it through

And I won't look back, I can go the distance
And I'll stay on track, no, I won't accept defeat
It's an uphill slope, but I won't lose hope
Till I go the distance, and my journey is complete

But to look beyond the glory is the hardest part
For a hero's strength is measured by his heart

Like a shooting star, I will go the distance
I will search the world, I will face it's harms
I don't care how far, i can go the distance
Till I find my hero's welcome, waiting in your arms

The Angel Gabriel was Sent

2011-11-27T07:00:00.001-07:00

During this six-week blog-study we’ll be unpacking the story of the Nativity with reference to scripture (the Gospel of Luke) and snippets from Mary, My Love by Cynthia Davis. We’ll consider how we accept God’s call to ministry. Exploring the people most closely impacted by the birth of Christ and their response to God’s call will offer insights into our own ministry and deepen your Advent adventure this year. You do not have to have read the book to enjoy the blog. If you do want to order a copy, email me.

What is the ‘call’ of God? How do we hear it? My definition is that Call is when my woundedness (and we are all wounded in some way) meets God’s healing and I feel the need to share that healing with others so that God is glorified. Call is our response to the wrongs or wounds in our lives. You might think of big organizations like MADD or AA that came from one person’s search for healing and answers to the wounds in their lives. Answering God’s call doesn’t have to be big and grand, though. My first book It is I, Joseph was born of the healing of my wounds of betrayal and I saw that in writing I could share God’s love.

The group Celtic Woman has a song titled, “The Call” that says, when we open our arms and accept the call, “you will find the answer…to the call”. The call of God is the answer to our wounded hearts which respond to the whisper of God. (*words at the end of the blog or watch them.

Sometimes we hear the call in the innocent response of a child to need or wrong in the world, too. It could be like the little girl who got an idea to do a read-a-thon to raise money for an orphanage. Today we meet Mary of Nazareth, a young girl, who heard her call through the voice of an angel. The first ‘character’ we meet in the drama is the angel Gabriel who was “sent by God…to a virgin…[whose] name was Mary.” Most scholars agree that Mary was likely a young teen at the time, probably no more than 14. Men, however, did not usually marry until they were older and established in their work so Joseph was probably several years older. Some traditions say he was a widower. In my book, he is not an aged gray-beard, but is several years older than his betrothed bride. He does love her though as we see in this scene from Mary, My Love soon after the betrothal when Mary stops at the carpenter shop.

Bravely, I laid my rough hand over hers where it rested on the wood. She did not pull away and I was thrilled. Her other hand traced the whorls in the wood.

“It has a lovely grain.”

“I chose this piece especially for that design.”

Mary seemed oblivious to my pleasure at her presence. I swallowed convulsively when the soft hand under mine turned over and small fingers twined with mine. When she looked up her dark eyes were serious.

“Joseph, I am a lucky girl. I will try to make you a good wife,” she promised.

“I know you will.”

The hoarseness in my voice came from the lump of emotion that threatened to choke me. Suddenly not trusting myself, I stepped back from the loving look in Mary’s eyes. My hands shook with longing. The young woman tilted her head as if confused. Something in my demeanor reassured her and a tender smile appeared.

“You will make a good husband. God brought us together.”

Before I could move, my betrothed bridged the distance between us. Stretching up she placed a soft kiss on my cheek and hurried out.

“I will come back tomorrow,” she called over her shoulder.

Jacob found me energetically sanding the tabletop.

“A year is a long time,” he noted.

I pretended to be engrossed in creating a satin smooth finish. A friendly hand rested on my shoulder.

“Mary is a jewel worth waiting for. Like me you have waited for the one woman who trapped your heart. A pleasant torment it is, too.”

I heard the amusement in my father’s tone and turned abruptly to face him.

“A year is too long,” I said, my voice ragged.

“Keep busy,” he counseled. “Time will pass more quickly.” (From Mary, My Love, (c) Cynthia Davis 2010)

By our standards a teenage girl is not a likely or logical choice to be the mother of the promised Messiah. We would think that someone mature in their religious life or from a royal or priestly family or rich, etc. would be a better choice than a young girl from a relatively small town far from the Holy City of Jerusalem. God doesn’t measure our worth in such ways, though.

Consider some of the heroes and heroines of the Bible. Moses, an exile and murderer, was sent back to the country he fled from. Ruth was a foreigner, as was Rahab, yet both are important links in the lineage of King David and of Jesus. Few of the prophets were rich or famous or priestly, yet their words were recorded rather than those of kings and priests. David was the youngest son of Jesse, yet he was anointed as king.

The prophet/priest Samuel makes the mistake of judging by appearances when he comes to Jesse’s home to anoint a successor for King Saul. “He looked on Eliab and thought, ‘Surely the Lord’s anointed is now before the Lord.’ But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for the Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.’” (I Samuel 16:6-7)

God sends Gabriel to Mary in Nazareth of Galilee. We don’t know what she was doing, when “he came to her and said, ‘Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.’” Mary does not seem to be astonished at the appearance of the angel. Instead she wonders what he means by his greeting! His next words are even more astounding. “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” (Luke 1:28-33)

Stop for a minute and try to remember yourself at 13 or 14. How would you have responded to an angelic visitor? Perhaps it is not so surprising that God chose a young girl. Children often are more open to the holy things around them. They see the beauty in a dandelion and the joy of a rainstorm. Young people are more open to believing that angels can appear and offer astonishing opportunities.

Mary does question her visitor who explains, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.” Then Mary said, ‘Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” (Luke 1:35-38)

The young girl is open to the call of God, who seems to challenge her with something unbelievable. Her response is joy and self-giving. Like Isaiah (6:8) she responds “Here I am, send me.” She was willing to open her heart and respond to the call of God to be mother of Messiah. She teaches us that when we “Open your arms You will find the answer When you answer to the Call.”

Mary responds “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” She is willing to embrace all that God has for her even though she does not really comprehend how much that will change her life. As the Celtic Woman song says, sometimes the call is your “wounded heart calling” or it can be “in desire or in the love we fear.” Often “when we have no dance to dance…or… voice to sing then the call is calling strong.” Finding the call of God will make you whole.

What is your brokenness that you can offer to God? What inspires you? What is your passion? What is your gift? What whisper do you hear?

Next week we will see how Joseph hears and responds to the call of God.

Prayer
Lord, I offer to you my brokenness. Take it and redeem it with your call. Only in answering and living into your will, your call on my life can I be fully whole and fully human and fully yours. Amen.

*Sometimes in this life we hear
Calling from somewhere
Sometimes it is loud and clear
Sometimes it's so softly there
Sometimes it is in the sea
Sometimes in the sky
Sometimes it's in you and me
Sometimes it's a cry

Open your heart I am calling you
Right from the very start
Your wounded heart was calling, too
Open your arms You will find the answer
When you answer to the Call

Sometimes it is in desire
Or in the love we fear
When the call is calling us
'Till the fear will disappear

When we have no dance to dance
The call is in the song
When we have no voice to sing
Then the call is calling strong
Open your heart I am calling you

Right from the very start Your wounded heart was calling, too
Open your arms You will find the answer
When you answer to the Call (The Call, Celtic Woman)

At Last to Rome

2011-11-20T07:00:00.002-07:00

In last week’s post we met Hermanus, warden and centurion in charge of Paul during his imprisonment in Caesarea and on the journey to Rome. He has been telling his wife, Portia, of the events leading to his return to Rome. (Acts 27-28) Today he concludes with the story of the journey to Rome.

Portia, I have to tell you I wasn’t sure that we would ever make it back to Rome. The seas were against us, it seemed. Paul was in my charge, but we were all under the command of Julius, a centurion of the Augustan Cohort. We set sail from Caesarea, planning to sail along the coast of Asia, but the winds kept us to the east of Cyprus. Finally we came to Myra. It is a town on the coast of Asia in the district of Lycia. It faces the western sea 100 miles from the island of Rhodes.

I have to admit I was glad to get on dry land for a time in Myra. The waves had been hard on my digestion. Julius found another ship for us. It was from Alexandria bound for Italy. We headed north and after too many days we arrived at Cnidus, only 100 miles up the coast from Myra. Then we sailed toward Crete fighting the wind all the way. Eventually, when I was sure all was lost, we rounded the tip of the island at Salmone and worked our way down the coast of Crete to Fair Havens. It seemed like a good place to stay. Even Paul urged that we go no further.

Later, I knew he was a prophet as well as a man of God. At the time I just wanted to stay on dry land. Paul told us, “Sirs, I can see that the voyage will be with danger and much heavy loss, not only of the cargo and the ship, but also of our lives.”

You ask why we didn’t stay at Fair Havens. The ship’s captain and owner were convinced we would do better to head for Phoenix which had a safe winter harbor. It was only 25 or 30 miles they insisted. When a moderate wind from the south came up, we set out only to be struck by something the sailors called a northeaster with winds roaring across Crete. We were driven by the wind to a small island called Cauda, but we could not linger there because of the wind which drove us ahead of it into the open sea.

It was awful. The second day the sailors threw cargo into the sea and the next day they threw over the extra sails and ropes and other tackle. The storm was so violent that we could not see the sun during the day or the moon at night. I was sure we would all be drowned. My thoughts turned to you here in Rome.

Paul was the only one who seemed calm in the midst of the storm. After many days, he called us all together and said, “Men, you should have listened to me and not have set sail from Crete and thereby avoided this damage and loss. I urge you now to keep up your courage, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship.” We all stared at him, a couple of the sailors grumbled and took a step toward the man. He ignored their threat and continued, “For last night there stood by me an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I worship, and he said, “Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before the emperor; and indeed, God has granted safety to all those who are sailing with you.” So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will be exactly as I have been told. But we will have to run aground on some island.”

I wanted to ask him how he could believe such things in the midst of the terrifying storm, but something about his calm demeanor kept me silent. It was only fourteen days after we set sail, although it seemed like a decade, when the sailors thought we were close to land. They took soundings for depth and discovered it was becoming more and more shallow. The men let out the anchors. We all waited for day. Some of the sailors thought they would escape in a small boat. Paul told me and Julius “Unless these men stay in the ship, you cannot be saved.” Immediately I cut the ropes and the boat fell into the sea. I watched it sink beneath the waves with a mixture of awe and fear.

Paul was not done encouraging us though. Before dawn he stood up with a loaf of bread. “Today is the fourteenth day that you have been in suspense and eaten nothing. Therefore I urge you to take some food, for it will help you survive; for none of you will lose a hair from your heads.” We stared at him in amazement as he prayed and tore off a piece of the bread. For some reason his simple act of eating encouraged us all and we all took some food. Then we threw the last of the cargo of wheat into the sea to make the ship light enough to make it over the rocks.

Do not cling to me, Portia. You can see that I survived. It was fearsome, though. Even lightened, the ship struck a reef and broke into pieces. The soldiers were going to kill all the prisoners, but Julius and I prevented them, mostly because we did not want to harm Paul. “Swim for shore or grab a plank and paddle to shore,” Julius ordered. That is what we did.

A welcoming party of the natives built a fire on the shore so we could dry ourselves. We learned that we landed on Malta. The residents were amazed when a viper crawled out of the wood and bit Paul. We all waited for him to die, but nothing happened. I heard them murmuring that he must be a god come to visit.

We were treated grandly and welcomed by Publius, the island’s ruler. We stayed with him for three days. When Paul heard that Publius’ father was ill, he quietly went in and prayed over the old man. He was healed! Word spread across the island and everyone who was ill came to be cured. We remained on Malta for three months until it was safe to sail. The people of the island supplied all the provisions we needed.

The ship we boarded was also from Alexandria. After a stop at Syracuse on Sicily, we landed at Rhegium on the tip of Italy. A south wind took us to Puteoli. I was amazed when a group of men met us and asked to see Paul. “We are Believers in the Way,” they said. “Please allow Paul to visit and encourage us.”

I was interested to see what would happen when Paul met these strangers who professed to believe in the same Jesus Christ he preached. We stayed for a week before traveling overland the last 100 miles to Rome. New believers met us as we neared the city. Each new group seemed to inspire Paul with more and more courage. “The word of the Lord is alive and well, here!” I heard him tell his companion and physician Lucius.

How long will Paul be here in Rome? I don’t really know. He must wait on the Emperor’s pleasure, I suppose. You know he called together the Jewish leaders here already and tried to explain his faith to them. Some of them were interested, but you heard the loud and angry discussion. Perhaps Paul was right when he told them, “Let it be known to you then that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they will listen.”

What do I believe about this Paul and his God? I think that I have a lot to learn from him. His God has a power I have not seen anywhere else. I am blessed for having known him and I hope he will live with us for a long time.

Paul’s impact on Hermanus and others he met on his journey to Rome was led by the Holy Spirit. He encouraged the soldiers who kept him under guard and the sailors whose courage had failed in the face of the violent storm. Paul healed even the strangers who came to him on Malta. In turn he was encouraged by the belief of those Christians who met him on the road to Rome. We can do nothing alone, but in community with other Christians we are built up and build up one another’s faith.

The Book of Acts ends with Paul in prison where he “lived for two whole years at his own expense and welcomed all who came to him, proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance.” (Acts 28:30-31)

Paul continued to preach and teach even in bondage. In his 2nd Letter to the Corinthians, written before his imprisonment in Rome, Paul enumerates many of his trials, none of which make him forget his faith in God. “Five times I have received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I received a stoning. Three times I was shipwrecked; for a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from bandits, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers and sisters; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, hungry and thirsty, often without food, cold and naked.” (2 Corinthians 11:24-28) He is able to say “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9) Later he says, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” (2 Timothy 4:7)

We have the promise of the same grace and faith no matter what our circumstances. Paul and the others in the book of Acts can provide inspiration by their actions in the face of all sorts of dangers.

Next week, Advent I, I'll start a new blog series about "Accepting God's Call" by looking at players in the Nativity drama.

Testimony from Prison

2011-11-13T07:00:00.001-07:00

We are nearing the end of our journey through the Book of Acts. The early chapters helped us see the lives of the disciples after the Holy Spirit was given at Pentecost. Men who cowered in the upper room, fearful of arrest, now spoke boldly in the streets and in the Temple. Thousands were converted and believed the Jesus was indeed the promised Messiah. This angered the Jewish leaders. Starting with Stephen, many were martyred. Rather than stopping the new ‘sect’ the persecution had the effect of spreading the word across the Roman Empire. Much of that missionary work was accomplished by Saul of Tarsus or Paul as he is better known. He was originally a rabid persecutor of the Believers, and even studied under the famous rabbi Gamaliel (right), but was converted himself by an appearance by the Risen Lord.

Over the past few weeks and months we have seen Paul attempt to convert the Jews in various cities of the Empire. Every time there is resistance and he then preaches to the Gentile community with dramatic results. After 3 missionary journeys from Asia Minor to Greece, Paul returns to Jerusalem where he is arrested. In order to save him from an assassination plot, the tribune Claudius Lysias sends him to Antonius Felix, the Roman Governor in Caesarea. Here is what happens, as told by Hermanus, (fictitious) warden of the prison, to his wife Portia when he returned to Rome. (Acts 24-26)

Jews came to Caesarea after five to press charges against a Roman Jew sent to us by Claudius Lysias, tribune in Jerusalem. I have never seen a worse miscarriage of justice. The Jews brought with them Tertullus, a lawyer versed in the laws of Rome and Caesar. He was, I must say, quite an oily character. His first words were meant to sway Governor Felix to assent to the Jews’ demands.

What did he say, you ask? “Your Excellency, because of you we have long enjoyed peace, and reforms have been made for this people because of your foresight. We welcome this in every way and everywhere with utmost gratitude. But, to detain you no further, I beg you to hear us briefly with your customary graciousness.”

It was not just his words. His endless bowing and nodding and smirking that made me think of a serpent. I wondered if he had already offered the governor a bribe in order to appear in the court. Then he went on to claim that Paul, my prisoner, who I have found to be a model of courtesy and politeness, was an agitator and ringleader of some obscure sect. All the other priests immediately started shouting that he profaned their temple, too. I could see that the governor was disturbed by the uproar they created. Tertullus saw it and quieted the Jews.

After everyone was quiet, our governor turned to the prisoner and gestured for him to make his response. I have to admit that the man was a good speaker. He too started by acknowledging that the governor has been in charge for many years.

His demeanor? There was not the least bit of fear. In fact, he addressed the governor as an equal. Paul said, “As you can find out, it is not more than twelve days since I went up to worship in Jerusalem.” He insisted he did nothing to disturb the peace of the city and would only admit one thing. It was a rather odd confession. He lifted his chin and announced, ‘According to the Way, which they call a sect, I worship the God of our ancestors, believing everything laid down according to the law or written in the prophets. I have a hope in God—a hope that they themselves also accept—that there will be a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous. Therefore I do my best always to have a clear conscience towards God and all people.”

I saw the governor looked at Tertullus and the priests when Paul said that. My prisoner finished his defense by repeating that he was doing a rite of purification in the temple when arrested. At the end he offered a challenge, “Let these men here tell what crime they had found when I stood before the council.”

After that the governor adjourned the hearing, saying, “When Lysias the tribune comes down, I will decide your case.” Paul was remanded to my custody but he had some freedom including visits from friends. Days passed and Lysias did not come. I wondered if the governor even sent for him. It was not unknown for men to be kept in prison until a nice sum of money was paid to the governor, even without a trial.

Once the governor and his wife Drucilla had me bring Paul to their chamber. I listened at the door while the man talked about the man Jesus who he claimed had been crucified, yet rose from the dead. A rather preposterous idea, I thought at the time. Some of the other things Paul said were interesting, though. He talked about justice for all people and self control. When he started to warn of coming judgment, the governor sent for me to take him back to the prison.

Once or twice more he had me bring Paul to him. I think he was hoping that the Jew would give him a bribe to be freed. I guess Paul was the only one in the country who did not understand that part of the governor’s justice. This went on for two years, until Antonius Felix was recalled to Rome. Pocius Festus was the new governor, appointed by Emperor Nero.

What was Governor Festus like? He was a diligent leader and he had much to do. Discontent was rampant throughout Palestine. In fact only three days after he arrived at Caesarea, he traveled to Jerusalem to meet with the Jewish leaders. I hear they tried to convince him to bring Paul to Jerusalem so they could ambush him on the way, but the governor was not fooled. He ordered them to come to Caesarea and plead their case again.

In fact the Jews returned to Caesarea with the governor and almost immediately Paul was summoned before the tribunal. It was a raucous scene with the Jews shouting wild accusations. I saw the governor frown, but I sensed he wanted to build a rapport with the temple leaders. Even though Paul stated, “I have in no way committed an offence against the law of the Jews, or against the temple, or against the emperor,” Governor Festus asked if he would go to Jerusalem to be tried.

Then Paul did something that shocked everyone present. “I am appealing to the emperor’s tribunal,” he said. “This is where I should be tried. I have done no wrong to the Jews, as you very well know. Now if I am in the wrong and have committed something for which I deserve to die, I am not trying to escape death; but if there is nothing to their charges against me, no one can turn me over to them. I appeal to the emperor.”

Of course after that, there was no further trial. The governor replied, “You have appealed to the emperor; to the emperor you will go.”

I know he had his doubts about the conclusion of the hearing because when the Jewish tetrarch Agrippa came with his sister Bernice (left) to welcome the governor, he explained the case to them. The man called himself ‘king’, but in reality he had little power even in the province he governed. His grandfather, Herod the Great, had been a king, but after his death the power was stripped away by the emperor, so his sons and grandchildren only governed under the authorization of the Emperor.

Agrippa expressed an interest in hearing Paul, so it was arranged. The audience hall was filled with the cohort of Caesarea and with many of the prominent men of the city. Governor Festus did know how to impress his guests. He claimed that he had Paul brought in so he could determine what sort of explanation or charges to send to Rome since the man had appealed to the Emperor. I smiled to myself when the governor said, “it seems to me unreasonable to send a prisoner without indicating the charges against him.”

Paul’s defense this time was much more detailed than before the Jewish priests. Most of his story I had heard before by listening to his discussions with the friends who visited him. I already knew he was a Pharisee, who are the lawyers of the Jews. I suppose that explains his ability to give a coherent and concise account of himself. He recounted how he had persecuted the followers of a man named Jesus of Nazareth. He explained, “I myself was convinced that I ought to do many things against the name of Jesus of Nazareth. And that is what I did in Jerusalem; with authority received from the chief priests, I not only locked up many of the saints in prison, but I also cast my vote against them when they were being condemned to death. By punishing them often in all the synagogues I tried to force them to blaspheme; and since I was so furiously enraged at them, I pursued them even to foreign cities.”

Why did the Jews hate him so much if he was one of them? It was something I had wondered about, but as he spoke, I started to understand that he had split from their doctrine because of this Jesus who he claimed was the Messiah hoped for by the Jews.

He told of something that happened to him on the way to Damascus. It was an amazing story and I saw both Agrippa and Festus leaning forward as he recounted, “I was travelling to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests, when at midday along the road, your Excellency, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining around me and my companions. I heard a voice saying, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It hurts you to kick against the goads.’ I asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ He answered, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. But get up and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you to serve and testify to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you. I will rescue you from your people and from the Gentiles—to whom I am sending you to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’”

It was a brave thing to say to a Roman governor and Jewish tetrarch. I held my breath to see what response they would have. Governor Festus leaned forward and shook his head, almost in pity. “You are out of your mind, Paul! Too much learning is driving you insane!”

Paul smiled sympathetically and replied with a slight bow. “‘I am not out of my mind, most excellent Festus, but I am speaking the sober truth. Indeed the king knows about these things, and to him I speak freely; for I am certain that none of these things has escaped his notice, for this was not done in a corner. King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you believe.”

Agrippa pulled back as if to refute the claim. Then he leaned forward and asked softly, “Are you so quickly persuading me to become a Christian?”

I was surprised when Paul replied, “Whether quickly or not, I pray to God that not only you but also all who are listening to me today might become such as I am—except for these chains.”

That a man imprisoned for over two years could still be so confident and calm amazed me and everyone else in the room. In fact, as the governor and king were leaving I overheard them comment to each other, “This man could have been set free if he had not appealed to the emperor.”

Since it was decided to send Paul to Rome, I was appointed to be his guard on the way. That is how I have come home to you, my dear wife. I will continue my story another time.

This fictitious centurion was impressed with Paul’s actions and testimony while in prison. Paul did not lose heart, but continued to confess Jesus Christ as Lord even before the authority of Palestine-the governor and king. We should ask ourselves, are people impressed by my actions and testimony of Christ’s action in our life? We may not be called before kings and rulers, but we are witnesses every day of the action of the Holy Spirit in our life. Jesus reminds us "When you are brought before synagogues, rulers and authorities, do not worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say” (Luke 12:11-12)

Next week we will conclude our study of the Book of Acts and the action of the Holy Spirit in converting souls in the most unexpected situations.

Paul-citizen in chains

2011-11-10T16:46:00.000-07:00

In our journey through the Book of Acts, and the life of Paul, I’ve come to a deeper appreciation of Paul as a man of God. When we read just his letters to the churches, the Epistles, without an undergirding of Paul’s personal life and struggles, his challenges and his delights, we can think of him as a very stern and legalistic man. Taken out of their context as letters to places he had been and to people he knew, addressing issues important to their life and faith as part of the newly forming Christian church, some of Paul’s comments can sound narrow to our ears two millennia later. Understanding Paul, the man, can help us understand his writings, too, as encouragement and teaching to the people he loved in the cities he had visited.

Paul was even misunderstood by the Jewish people of his time. Over and over again, he preaches to the Jewish synagogue first, only to have them reject his radical message. Then he turns to the more receptive Gentile population. Even when he returns to Jerusalem, Paul is rejected by the leaders of the Jews. Rather than being discouraged, he uses his arrest as an opportunity to proclaim the Good News.

From the steps of the Temple, under arrest by the Roman tribune, Paul speaks. “Brothers and fathers, listen to the defense that I now make before you…I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, educated strictly according to our ancestral law, being zealous for God, just as all of you are today…” (Acts 22:1-20) Paul is indeed a man zealous for his God, both before and after his conversion. His fire of faith is worthy of emulation.

The crowd listens quietly, until Paul announces that Jesus sent him to the Gentiles. Then, “they shouted, ‘Away with such a fellow from the earth! For he should not be allowed to live.’ And while they were shouting, throwing off their cloaks, and tossing dust into the air.” (Acts 22:21-23)

The tribune has Paul brought into the barracks, (part of the Roman Fortress of Antonia, which overlooked the Temple grounds-see model at left) to be “examined by flogging, to find out the reason for this outcry against him.” As he has in the past when arrested by Roman authorities, Paul tells the centurion the he is a Roman citizen. The centurion “went to the tribune and said to him, ‘What are you about to do? This man is a Roman citizen.’ The tribune came and asked Paul, ‘Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?’ And he said, ‘Yes.’ The tribune answered, ‘It cost me a large sum of money to get my citizenship.’ Paul said, ‘But I was born a citizen.’ Immediately those who were about to examine him drew back from him; and the tribune also was afraid, for he realized that Paul was a Roman citizen and that he had bound him.” (Acts 22:26-29)

The tribune is in a sticky place. He cannot question Paul by torture because Paul is a citizen. There is no record in Acts that he tried to find out from Paul directly why the Jews hated him. However, he wants to “find out what Paul was being accused of by the Jews.” So, “the next day he released him and ordered the chief priests and the entire council to meet. He brought Paul down and had him stand before them.” (Acts 22:30)

Some of us, at this point, would have backed down and tried to appease the Jewish leaders. Not so with Paul. Rather than facing their charges directly, he “noticed that some were Sadducees and others were Pharisees, [so] he called out in the council, ‘Brothers, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees. I am on trial concerning the hope of the resurrection of the dead.’ When he said this, a dissension began between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided…Then a great clamor arose…When the dissension became violent, the tribune, fearing that they would tear Paul to pieces, ordered the soldiers to go down, take him by force, and bring him into the barracks.” (Acts 23:6-10)

The Jews do not want to give up with their plan to get rid of this troublesome former Pharisee. In fact their rage seems rather excessive against Paul. It is very easy to become defensive and angry when our basis for faith is challenged. Paul's preaching of Christ risen and his preaching to the Gentiles were both a threat to the established religious order of the Jewish priests and leaders. Paul's claim that Jesus Christ was Messiah and risen from the dead and Son of God might seem to fulfill the greatest desire of the Jews. Instead, the leaders felt threatened. The prophet Malachi had warned, "the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; the messenger of the covanant in whom you delight...but who can stand when he appears?"

Forty men told “the chief priests and elders and said, ‘We have strictly bound ourselves by an oath to taste no food until we have killed Paul.Now then, you and the council must notify the tribune to bring him down to you, on the pretext that you want to make a more thorough examination of his case. And we are ready to do away with him before he arrives.’” Fortunately, “the son of Paul’s sister heard about the ambush…and told Paul.” Paul sends his nephew to the tribune who “took him by the hand, drew him aside privately, and asked, ‘What is it that you have to report to me?’ He answered, ‘The Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul down to the council tomorrow…more than forty of their men are lying in ambush for him. They have bound themselves by an oath neither to eat nor drink until they kill him’…the tribune dismissed the young man, ordering him, ‘Tell no one that you have informed me of this.’” (Acts 23:12-22)

The tribune (Claudius Lysias) sends Paul to Caesarea under the protection of “two hundred soldiers, seventy horsemen, and two hundred spearmen...[to] take him safely to Felix the governor.” It would seem that the tribune is taking no chances on having an ‘incident’ involving a Roman citizen on his watch. Much better to send the problem to the governor who has more resources to deal with such difficulties!

The letter he sends to Antonius Felix, the Roman Governor, puts a spin on the events that emphasizes the tribune’s part in a rescue of a Roman citizen. “This man was seized by the Jews and was about to be killed by them, but when I had learned that he was a Roman citizen, I came with the guard and rescued him…I found that he was accused concerning questions of their law, but was charged with nothing deserving death or imprisonment. When I was informed that there would be a plot against the man, I sent him to you at once, ordering his accusers also to state before you what they have against him.” Two days later, Paul and his escort arrive at Caesarea. “On reading the letter, he asked what province he belonged to, and when he learned that he was from Cilicia, he said, ‘I will give you a hearing when your accusers arrive.’ Then he ordered that he be kept under guard in Herod’s headquarters.” (Acts 23:23-35)

It would seem that Paul’s vision of Jesus saying, “Take courage, for as you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must bear witness also in Rome” is coming true. (Acts 23:11) As a story-teller, I wonder what Paul’s thoughts were as he waited for ‘his accusers’ to come to Caesarea. We know he probably spent time writing to the churches he established. Based on his previous imprisonment experience, he probably gave very little thought to what he would actually say when it was time to give his defense. This defense was always the same-his testimony of God’s saving acts in Christ and his own conversion experience.

What more do we need to say when someone asks us about our faith??? With Malachi we can announce "the Lord has come" and like Paul share our experience of the Living Lord. Sometimes that takes courage, esp. if we have to speak up against the established order of things. Learning of Paul's experiences and his steadfast faith should give us inspiration.

Next week we’ll see what happens when his accusers come to Caesarea.

Devotion and Emotion

2011-10-30T07:00:00.003-06:00

Last week, through Pricilla’s eyes, we saw what happened during Paul’s 3rd missionary journey. Then he ‘set his eyes on Jerusalem’, wanting to be there by Pentecost. Remember Pentecost was a Jewish feast 50 days after Passover. As Christians, we remember Pentecost as the coming of the Holy Spirit. To the Jews it was a time for ingathering first fruits-the first crops of the year. With great devotion they remembered that God provided for them.

Paul had faced persecution and other trials in his travels around Asia Minor and Greece, but he remained a Jew at heart and desired to see the Holy City and the Temple and to worship there again. Paul wanted to express his love for God at the one place sacred to Jews throughout the Roman Empire. Have you ever been far from home for a long time? It is so good to be back in familiar places. Just thinking about going home can make us emotional.

On his way to Jerusalem, Paul visits believers in Tyre and Ptolemai and then Caesarea where they “went into the house of Philip the evangelist, one of the seven, and stayed with him.” (Acts 21:1-9) All along the way, various people tell Paul he should not go to Jerusalem. At Caesarea, “a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. He…took Paul’s belt, bound his own feet and hands with it, and said, ‘Thus says the Holy Spirit, “This is the way the Jews in Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and will hand him over to the Gentiles.” When we heard this, we and the people there urged him not to go up to Jerusalem. Then Paul answered, ‘What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.’ Since he would not be persuaded, we remained silent except to say, ‘The Lord’s will be done.’" (Acts 21:10-14)

Paul refused to be dissuaded from his journey to Jerusalem. He was convinced that he was following the Lord’s will. His devotion to Jesus led him to follow his heart and not be dissuaded by the predictions of disaster. At first, all is well. “The brothers welcomed us warmly. The next day Paul went with us to visit James; and all the elders were present. After greeting them, he related one by one the things that God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. When they heard it, they praised God.” (Acts 21:17-20)

The leaders of the church in Jerusalem tell Paul of the rumors about him, “They have been told about you that you teach all the Jews living among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, and that you tell them not to circumcise their children or observe the customs.” A solution is proposed, “We have four men who are under a vow. Join these men, go through the rite of purification with them, and pay for the shaving of their heads. Thus all will know that there is nothing in what they have been told about you, but that you yourself observe and guard the law.” (Acts 21:21-24)

All went well until some “Jews from Asia, who had seen him in the temple, stirred up the whole crowd. They seized him, shouting, ‘Fellow-Israelites, help! This is the man who is teaching everyone everywhere against our people, our law, and this place; more than that, he has actually brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place.’” (Acts 21:27-28) Paul's devotion to the God of Israel is questioned.

A riot follows-something Paul is quite familiar with! “All the city was aroused, and the people rushed together. They seized Paul and dragged him out of the temple, and immediately the doors were shut. While they were trying to kill him, word came to the tribune of the cohort that all Jerusalem was in an uproar. Immediately he took soldiers and centurions and ran down to them [and] arrested him…he ordered him to be brought into the barracks. When Paul came to the steps, the violence of the mob was so great that he had to be carried by the soldiers…Just as Paul was about to be brought into the barracks, he said to the tribune, ‘May I say something to you?’ The tribune replied, ‘Do you know Greek? Then you are not the Egyptian who recently stirred up a revolt and led the four thousand assassins out into the wilderness?’ Paul replied, ‘I am a Jew, from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of an important city.” (Acts 21:30-39) Notice that Paul's first claim is to be a Jew, then to mention his citizenship of Tarsus, a Roman town.

Paul is falsely accused; by arresting him the Roman tribune saves his life. At first, he thinks that Paul is an Egyptian assassin and is surprised when Paul speaks Greek and claims to be from Tarsus. This raises his status in the tribune’s eyes, so that he is receptive to Paul’s request to address the crowd.

Following God demands that we give our fullest. A friend recently quoted a line from a sermon she heard. "Devotion without emotion is just commotion.” Some might look at Paul’s ministry and say that he caused a great deal of commotion. Wherever he went conflict and riots erupted. However, Paul was driven by the conviction that he was following the One Lord and God to whom he was devoted. No one could doubt his emotion while preaching and teaching. Serving God was his entire life focus.

Throughout his ministry, Paul never faltered when doing what he believed God was calling him to do. Before his conversion, Saul the Pharisee was convinced that he must persecute the believers. After his experience on the road to Damascus, Paul was equally enthusiastic about preaching the Good News of Jesus Christ.

What happens when we try to express devotion-to God or to our spouse or child-without emotion? It falls flat doesn’t it? Only when we are fully engaged and aware of the emotion of love for God or spouse or child, can we really say ‘I love you’ and mean it. Otherwise it is just words. As Paul himself said in 1 Corinthians 13:1, “If I…have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.” (Which is really another way of saying devotion without emotion is commotion.) What would happen in your relationship-with God, with family and friends, if you really meant it when you said “I love you”?

Because Paul believed in his ministry, he was not afraid to go to Jerusalem despite all those who told him he would be imprisoned there. Because he really loved God and wanted all to understand the Good News of Jesus Christ, he was not afraid to address the crowd that had just tried to kill him.

Paul tells the tribune, “I beg you, let me speak to the people.’ When he had given him permission, Paul stood on the steps and motioned to the people for silence; and when there was a great hush, he addressed them in the Hebrew language…” (Acts 21:40) Next week we will hear Paul’s defense and the result of it.

Priscilla and the church in Ephesus

2011-10-23T07:00:00.009-06:00

Over the past several months we have been exploring the Books of Acts and how the Holy Spirit worked in the lives of Peter and James as well as the other disciples. We looked at the faith and martyrdom of Stephen (7/24) and the imprisonment and miraculous release of Peter. (8/28). The preaching of Philip to the eunuch (7/31) and Paul’s conversion (8/7) experience were both dramatic episodes where the Holy Spirit was clearly active. Over the past month, we’ve seen how the Spirit acted in Paul’s life on his first and second missionary journeys to Asia (Turkey), and Macedonia and Greece. Today we see what happened on his third journey as found in Acts 19-20. Most of the time on this journey was spent in Ephesus.

Ephesus was a major city in the Roman Empire. The second largest city in the Roman Empire, with nearly half a million people, it was located on the western coast of what is now Turkey. Ephesus was a center for magic and the site of the Temple of Artemis (one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World). This distinction will come into play later in Paul’s visit to Ephesus. The city was established as capital of western Asia Minor by Augustus Caesar in 27BC. It was destroyed in 401AD, leaving only ruins of greatness. Paul remains in this metropolitan hub, preaching and working for two years. He had stopped briefly at Ephesus where he left Pricilla and Aquila saying, “I will return to you if God wills.” (Acts 18:21) Pricilla tells us what happened when he returned:

Paul, you ask me what I know of the man Paul. He is driven. I’ve never seen a man more intense and yet oddly humble. He does not tolerate foolishness, yet he is filled with a joy that you want to emulate. When Aquila and I first met him, he amazed us with his teaching of this Jesus of Nazareth, raised from the dead.

My husband, Aquila met him first. He was in the hide merchant’s booth in Corinth. Aquila was looking for hides and an assistant to make a large tent for a trader from Macedonia. Paul, too, knows the tentmaker trade and so my husband brought him to our home. We didn’t know very many people in Corinth since we had just arrived from Rome, so Aquila felt fortunate to meet another tentmaker who could assist with the job.

Whenever there were men in the synagogue, Paul was there, too, expounding on what he called the “Good News,” but most of them refused to listen. Aquila and I found him interesting and I even neglected my duties to sit in the doorway while Paul talked to my husband about Jesus. When he left Corinth, we went with him. I think Aquila was hoping we could eventually make our way back to Pontus where we were born. We stayed in Ephesus when Paul left for Caesarea and Syrian Antioch.

Paul promised to return to Ephesus when he left. I saw him looking at the immense and impressive Temple of Artemis with a mixture of sorrow and disgust. “They do not understand what to worship,” he sighed. It was not long before we received a message from the man saying he was leaving Antioch to journey overland to Ephesus, visiting cities he previously preached in.

“It doesn’t matter how often his message is rejected,” I mused to Aquila, “Paul continues to share his love of the Lord.”

“He knows God is with him,” my husband nodded. “I fear he will not find many converts here in Ephesus, though. The worship of the goddess is too strong.”

“There are some who know of Jesus,” I argued. “Remember Apollos taught some people.”

Aquila nodded. “There are some.”

When Paul arrived, he was enthusiastic. “The believers in Asia have not forgotten the Truth I left with them. I am glad I visited Lystra and Derbe on the way here. Tell me of your work.”

“We have not accomplished much,” Aquila confessed. “There was a Jew named Apollos of Alexandria, who came preaching Jesus and the baptism of John. He recently left for Achaia and Corinth after we explained to him the full Gospel that you taught us. He is very eloquent. There are some who listened to him, but they refuse to listen to me because I am just a tentmaker.”

Paul frowned. “Those who are called by God should never denigrate their gifts. You, too, can preach the Good News in your work.”

I sprang to my husband’s defense. “Aquila has been busy establishing a business here so that he can support us. I think that is important!”

“Pricilla, it is true a man must provide for his family. That is a noble calling, too. Some of us who have no family, can be fully focused on the work of God. I am not scolding Aquila for not preaching, but for not seeing his work as important. A man can preach God’s love in the way he does his business as well as with words.”

I was struck silent as I pondered the man’s explanation. I nodded. “Yes, I see that if a man is honest and serves God then his manner will be different than someone who does not care for God at all.”

Paul smiled. “Each of us has different gifts for the building up of the Body of Christ.”

“You must tell us more about that idea,” Aquila said. “Today I will introduce you to the leaders of the synagogue.”

“The Body of Christ,” I repeated the words over and over while watching the men walk up the street to the nearby synagogue. It was not far because we found lodging in the Jewish quarter of Ephesus.

For three months Paul preached to the Jews. There were a dozen who had learned of John’s baptism from Apollos who came to Paul. He gave them further instruction and when he laid his hands on them, I was amazed to hear them prophesy and speak in tongues. It was something I had never experienced before and it gave me chills.

“Sometimes the Spirit of God is expressed in such ways,” Paul explained later when I asked him. “It is not a gift for everyone and it is not any more special than the gift of teaching or giving or leadership.”

After three months, Paul became tired of the stubbornness of the Jews. Some Greek friends found him a place to teach. It was in one of the Greek schools. Paul used the space in the afternoon when the students of Tyrannus were gone. Many lingered to hear Paul, though, and were converted.

The people in Ephesus were amazed by some of the things Paul did. Even Aquila and I were. He had never shown such power in Corinth. Sick people were healed by the touch of his hand and more surprisingly by the touch of cloths he prayed over.

I had to laugh when I heard what happened to the sons of Sceva who tried to cast out an evil spirit by using Paul’s name. “Jesus I know and Pual I know, but who are you?” the spirit was reported to have said. Of course it wasn’t funny that the possessed man beat the priest's sons.

Paul shook his head when he heard the story. “I am amazed that people think they can harness the power of God. Healing does not come from me, but from God working through me. Good has come of this incident, though. Many people are interested in hearing about Jesus and will become believers.”

Not long afterward, Paul told us, “I want to return to Macedonia and Achaia to visit the churches there. I also want to go to Jerusalem. It has been a long time since I have seen the city of David.”

“You have taught us so much. Please stay for a little longer,” I begged.

He agreed and sent Timothy and Erastus to Macedonia instead. Soon, though, it became apparent that Paul would have to leave for his own safety. The silversmiths of Ephesus were incited by Demetrius to make false accusations against Paul and the rest of the Believers.

(Ephesus was center of the worship of Artemis (Roman Diana, goddess of the the hunt, wild animals, wilderness, childbirth, virginity and young girls, bringing and relieving disease in women;). This picture is an artist’s rendition of what the temple and surrounding area might have looked like.)

We Believers had never said anything against the Temple and worship of Artemis, but Demetrius told everyone that would listen that Paul was ruining the silversmith’s business. “There is danger not only that this trade of ours may come into disrepute but also that the Temple of the great goddess Artemis may count for nothing, and that she may even be deposed from her magnificence, she whom all Asia and the world worship!”

His words started a riot and if it hadn’t been for the clerk of Ephesus, the whole town would have erupted into disarray.”

Paul decided that he had to leave before Demetrius and others in the city caused more trouble. We watched him sail for Macedonia with heavy hearts. Just before Passover, we heard that he was on his way back to Asia. Then we heard he arrived at Troas after the Feast. When he landed in Miletus, he sent word for Aquila and the other leaders in Ephesus to meet him. I was relieved to see that Paul looked well and was delighted to learn that a physician had joined his followers. Sometimes he was troubled by terrible headaches and I had worried that there would be no one to give him herbs for the pain.

What he said at Miletus broke my heart. It was a lovely farewell speech, even though he warned us of troubles to come and told us that imprisonment was coming for him.

When we turned homeward from the dock at Miletus after praying with Paul, I knew I would never see him again. I repeated some of his final words. “I comment you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.”

In the Western world today we are not accustomed to dramatic actions by the Holy Spirit such as Paul performed. Healings, prophecy, or speaking in tongues are all listed as gifts of the Spirit, but, too often, we gloss over them as something that ‘used to happen.’ We tend to be suspicious of those who claim such powers, whether in the name of God or by themselves. God can and does still act when we allow God to work. Paul knew he was called by God to preach the Gospel. The manifestations of the Spirit he used as ways to show that God and Jesus were real and active in people’s lives.

He was also a great encourager of the churches he planted and visited them again and again when he could. His letters (the Epistles) are windows into the love and care he poured into the communities of worshippers across Asia and Greece.

We may not have all the gifts of the Spirit, but each of us has been gifted by the Spirit for the “building up of the Body.” We may not all be great church planters and missionaries, but we can be the hands, feet, face of Christ to those we meet. Ask God what you can do to further the Kingdom. He has given you the gifts you need.

Next week we will see what happens when Paul returns to Jerusalem. By the way, most Biblical scholars believe that the letters to the Corinthians were written while Paul was at Ephesus. If you read I Corinthians 16:10-20, Paul does mention Apollos, Timothy, Aquila and Pricilla!

They turned the world upside down

2011-10-16T07:00:00.000-06:00

You may remember in the Oct. 2 blog we saw how Paul and Silas were imprisoned and then asked to leave Philippi, which was located in Macedonia, the northern part of Greece on the Aegean Sea. They travelled about 50 miles west to Thessalonica at the end of the Thermaikos Gulf. In Thessalonica, as elsewhere in the Roman Empire, there was a Jewish synagogue. “Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three sabbath days argued with them from the scriptures, explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Messiah to suffer and to rise from the dead, and saying, ‘This is the Messiah, Jesus whom I am proclaiming to you.’” (Acts 17:2-3)

The preaching proved popular and many were converted including “great many of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women.” (Note that women are important enough to be mentioned as converts!) However, as elsewhere in Paul’s travels those who did not convert became angry and started a riot. “They attacked Jason’s house. When they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some believers before the city authorities, shouting, ‘These people who have been turning the world upside down have come here also, and Jason has entertained them as guests. They are all acting contrary to the decrees of the emperor, saying that there is another king named Jesus.’” (Acts 17:5-7)

Whether from misunderstanding or the desire to misrepresent Paul, the opponents claim that Paul is proclaiming another king. Isn't it often that way, we twist other people's words to seem negative when we disagree with them. Sadly we see this too often in our leadership, even in churches.

Wisely, the “believers sent Paul and Silas off to Beroea.” This town is further inland than Thessalonica and about 20 miles further west. Slowly but surely the opposition and persecution by the Jewish and Greek non-believers is pushing the word of the Gospel further and further into the Empire. God's word is not stopped because of resistance. If anything, it grows stronger.

In reading the Book of Acts, it is apparent that Paul’s teaching especially disturbed the Jewish leaders. In fact, once again, “when the Jews of Thessalonica learned that the word of God had been proclaimed by Paul in Beroea as well, they came there too, to stir up and incite the crowds. Then the believers immediately sent Paul away to the coast, but Silas and Timothy remained behind. Those who conducted Paul brought him as far as Athens; and after receiving instructions to have Silas and Timothy join him as soon as possible, they left him.” (Acts 17:15)

Paul has now arrived at one of the major cities in Greece, and in the Roman Empire. Athens is located at the southern tip of Greece where the Aegean and Mediterranean Seas come together. He is “deeply distressed to see that the city was full of idols,” and starts to debate with the philosophers and Jews in the city. “Now all the Athenians and the foreigners living there would spend their time in nothing but telling or hearing something new.” (Acts 17:21)

The Athenians are interested in this new religion/philosophy Paul is presenting and invite him to speak at the Areopagus. Paul starts to preach to them by identifying something they recognize: “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.” (Acts 17:23)

Paul knew that when you can find common ground with the person you are talking to, it is easier to reach their heart. I wonder if we could 'turn our world upside down' by doing more listening and less complaining...just wondering.

The Areopagus was an open outcropping north-west of the Acropolis where, in the pre-Roman era, court cases were heard. In Paul’s time, it served as a venue for hearing famous speakers or interesting presentations. The Athenians are intrigued by Paul’s presentation, “When they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some scoffed; but others said, ‘We will hear you again about this.’ At that point Paul left them. But some of them joined him and became believers, including Dionysius the Areopagite (a councilor or perhaps judge) and a woman named Damaris, and others with them.” (Acts 17:32-34)

After Paul leaves Athens, he travelled just a little further west to Corinth. The narrow land bridge between Athens and Corinth is called the Isthmus of Corinth. Paul meets Aquila, who had just relocated from Rome when the Emperor Claudius expelled the Jews. He was originally from Pontus (in the northern part of Turkey, bordering the Black Sea). Aquila was a tentmaker, and we learn that is Paul’s trade as well. Paul stays with Aquila and his wife Pricilla. Silas and Timothy finally arrive from Macedonia they find “Paul [occupied] with proclaiming the word, testifying to the Jews that the Messiah was Jesus. When they opposed and reviled him, in protest he shook the dust from his clothes and said to them, ‘Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.’ Then he left the synagogue and went to the house of a man named Titius Justus, a worshipper of God; his house was next door to the synagogue. Crispus, the official of the synagogue, became a believer in the Lord, together with all his household; and many of the Corinthians who heard Paul became believers and were baptized.” (Acts 18:5-8)

Because the Corinthians were so receptive to the Gospel, “He stayed there for a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.” (Acts 18:11) Eventually Paul leaves and “sailed for Syria, accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila…When they reached Ephesus, he left them there…on taking leave of them, he said, ‘I will return to you, if God wills.’ Then he set sail from Ephesus…[he] landed at Caesarea, he went up to Jerusalem and greeted the church, and then went down to Antioch. After spending some time there he departed and went from place to place through the region of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples." (Acts 18:18-23)

Once again Paul discovers that the Gentiles, those considered ‘unbelievers’ by faithful Jews, are more receptive to the Good News of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. I wonder how often we pre-judge the people who cross our paths. They are thirsty for the Word of God, and we may assume that they are too…poor or evil or rich or unrepentant or something… Who are we to judge? Perhaps we should seek common ground and share the Good News with them instead, welcoming all of God’s people into communion with us. Maybe we have more in common than we think...

Next week we'll start, with Paul, on this third journey.

Greening Time

2011-10-09T07:00:00.006-06:00

Having just returned from a week in WI, I am stepping aside from Acts to ponder for just a moment the meditations of Hildegard of Bingen who speaks a lot about the ‘greening’ of God’s people. Being in the lush green-ness of WI, so different from the Southwest, I was again and again reminded of Hildegard’s meditations.

Hildegard was a nun in the 12th century. She was honored by Popes at a time in history when women’s work was normally ignored. Her homeland of Bavaria was lush and green like the hills and dells of Wisconsin. I can now more deeply understand her metaphors of greening and verdancy than before. I want to share just a few of her sayings with you this week, instead of Paul's work as found in Acts.

Sometimes it is necessary and important to get out of your normal routine and even out of your familiar home territory. God meets us when we take the time to get away. One of my favorite of Hildegard's sayings is this:

Good People, most royal greening verdancy, rooted in the sun, you shine with radiant light. In this circle of earthly existence you shine so finely, it surpasses understanding. God hugs you. You are encircled by the arms of the mystery of God.

Nearly all Hildegard’s writings talk of God and our life in God as growing, greening, blossoming in rich variety and abundance. In the previous saying, she reminds us that we are God’s beloved and the ‘most royal greening verdancy’.

God is seen, by Hildegard as ALL and always working, yet always full and complete: I am life complete unto itself, whole, sound, not needing stones to be sculpted, not needing branches to blossom, not rooted in human potency. Rather, all life has its root in me. Understanding is the root. The resounding WORD blossoms forth from it. How then, is it possible for God not to be at work? God is Understanding.

“The WORD blossoms forth from [the root of all life, all understanding].” Seeing the richness of the woods of Wisconsin, where even the trails are covered with ferns and the fallen trunks are covered with moss, I was impressed with this verse at the life and greening springing forth seemingly effortlessly from even what seems dead and useless.

Hildegard also notes that all creation celebrates God. The beautiful variety of fall colors in Wisconsin seemed to testify to the truth of her saying: “The blowing wind, the mild, moist air, the exquisite greening of trees and grasses-in their beginning, in their ending, they give God their praise.”

Most of all during the week of retreat and vacation I was reminded that “In serving God, humankind is much loved by him. God is delighted by humankind. Indeed, God himself has created humankind and given it all worth. God allows himself to be disturbed by it!”

"God is delighted by humankind!" Too often we forget that, until we get away and have time to just 'be' in the midst of God's creation.

The retreat I assisted with was about being willing to have faith and dive into the water of God’s love. Being surrounded by the water and green-ness of Wisconsin I was acutely aware of the richness of God’s love and greening power. Wherever you are on the continuum of desert time or vivid growing time in the Lord, I pray you are blessed by these meditations of Hildegard. If you can, take some time, even an hour to drive into the country and enjoy the beauty of nature. Every part of the world has a part of God's beauty and so too, each of us is a part of God's delight.

Next week, we will return to Acts and see how Paul fared in Greece.

You Can't Imprison God

2011-10-02T07:00:00.004-06:00

Paul and Silas set out from Antioch on another missionary journey. Along the way the power of God is seen and experienced by a seller of purple cloth, a slave girl, and a prison warden. About this time, as hypothesized by the change of pronoun, Luke joins them, too.

The first thing Paul does is go back to Lystra and picks Timothy to go with the group. Despite his previous support of the ‘non-circumcision’ ruling, Paul “had him circumcised because of the Jews who were in those places, for they all knew that his father was a Greek.” (Sometimes it is easier to go along with traditions in order to not offend other people.) He then continues to visit the churches he planted earlier, delivering “delivered to them for observance the decisions that had been reached by the apostles and elders who were in Jerusalem. So the churches were strengthened in the faith and increased in numbers daily.” (Acts 16:3-5)

After Paul has a vision of a man of Macedonia, “we immediately tried to cross over to Macedonia, being convinced that God had called us to proclaim the good news to them.” (Notice the change of pronoun by Luke?) They set sail from Troas on the northwest coast of Turkey and crossed the Aegean Sea to Neaopolis and Philippi.

In Philippi “a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony” they meet “A certain woman named Lydia, a worshipper of God, was listening to us; she was from the city of Thyatira and a dealer in purple cloth. The Lord opened her heart to listen eagerly to what was said by Paul. When she and her household were baptized, she urged us, saying, ‘If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my home.’ And she prevailed upon us.” (Acts 16:12-15) Isn't it interesting that Paul, the former 'good Pharisee' now is willing to preach to and stay with a woman. When God converts hearts, it is a complete change!

Despite her patronage, when Paul heals a slave girl with ‘a spirit of divination’, he is thrown into prison because “These men are disturbing our city; they are Jews and are advocating customs that are not lawful for us as Romans to adopt or observe.” (Acts 16:20-21) The crowd “joined in attacking them, and the magistrates had them stripped of their clothing and ordered them to be beaten with rods. After they had given them a severe flogging, they threw them into prison and ordered the jailer to keep them securely. Following these instructions, he put them in the innermost cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.” (Acts 22-24)

You can't imprison the Word and power of God, though! In this painting by William Hatherell you see Paul and Silas jailed, but still
“ praying and singing hymns to God [when] there was an earthquake, so violent that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were unfastened. When the jailer woke up and saw the prison doors wide open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, since he supposed that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted in a loud voice, ‘Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.’” The miracle of the prisoners being free and remaining in jail converts the jailor who asks “‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’ They answered, ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.’” He is baptized with his family and “bought them up into the house and set food before them; and he and his entire household rejoiced that he had become a believer in God.” (Acts 16:25-34)

In the morning, the magistrates send word saying Paul can be released. In response, he plays the citizenship card he will use at other times throughout Acts. “Paul replied, ‘They have beaten us in public, uncondemned, men who are Roman citizens, and have thrown us into prison; and now are they going to discharge us in secret? Certainly not! Let them come and take us out themselves.’ The police reported these words to the magistrates, and they were afraid when they heard that they were Roman citizens; so they came and apologized to them.” (Acts 16:37-39) In Roman society, citizens had certain rights, esp. when it came to punishment and imprisonment and false imprisonment could be fatal for the magistrates. It is no wonder they hurried to apologize.

The magistrates ask Paul, politely, to leave Philippi. “After leaving the prison they went to Lydia’s home; and when they had seen and encouraged the brothers and sisters there, they departed.” (Acts 16:40)

We are citizens of a greater kingdom than the Roman empire. Our rights as citizens are greater than those of the citizens of Rome. Our debts have been paid in full because “he has born our griefs and carried our sorrows.” We like the jailer can rejoice when we know and believe that "Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again."
In the next few weeks we’ll look at further at Paul’s travels in Greece.

Conflict resolution

2011-09-25T07:00:00.001-06:00

Since June we’ve been looking at life in the early church as told in the Book of Acts. There has been persecution and imprisonment, even death of some of the apostles (Stephen and James). Paul, former persecutor of the church, has become a valiant evangelist and traveled all over Asia Minor with the Good News. Many Gentiles have been converted by his witness and most of the church rejoices. However, “certain individuals came down from Judea [to Antioch] and were teaching the brothers, ‘Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.’” (Acts 15:1)

This demand creates dissension in the church. “Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to discuss this question with the apostles and the elders.” The men travel to Jerusalem where they are welcomed and “all that God had done with them.” Then “some believers who belonged to the sect of the Pharisees stood up and said, ‘It is necessary for them to be circumcised and ordered to keep the law of Moses.’” (Acts 15:4-5) These believers were upholding the ages-old Jewish tradition of circumcision as a sign of being a member of the saved. Wisely Peter and the other leaders met together.

Eventually Peter says, “My brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that I should be the one through whom the Gentiles would hear the message of the good news and become believers. And God, who knows the human heart, testified to them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he did to us; and in cleansing their hearts by faith he has made no distinction between them and us. Now therefore why are you putting God to the test by placing on the neck of the disciples a yoke that neither our ancestors nor we have been able to bear? On the contrary, we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.” (Acts 15:7-11)

After Paul and Barnabas tell of the conversion of many Gentiles, James offers his view. “Therefore I have reached the decision that we should not trouble those Gentiles who are turning to God, but we should write to them to abstain only from things polluted by idols and from fornication and from whatever has been strangled and from blood. For in every city, for generations past, Moses has had those who proclaim him, for he has been read aloud every sabbath in the synagogues.” (Acts 15:19-21)

The leaders write a letter that is delivered to the church in Antioch by Paul and Barnabas with representatives from the Jerusalem council, Judas and Silas. “When they gathered the congregation together, they delivered the letter. When its members read it, they rejoiced at the exhortation. Judas and Silas, who were themselves prophets, said much to encourage and strengthen the believers. After they had been there for some time, they were sent off in peace by the believers to those who had sent them.” (Acts 15:30-35)

Soon Paul and Barnabas decide to “visit the believers in every city where we proclaimed the word of the Lord and see how they are doing.” (Acts 15:36) However, there is a disagreement between the partners over John Mark. “The disagreement became so sharp that they parted company; Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus. But Paul chose Silas and set out, the believers commending him to the grace of the Lord. He went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches." (Acts 39-41)

We often think that the early church was always in agreement. This chapter shows that there was disagreement among the leadership and even the busiest evangelists. Through it all the Gospel was preached and the church grew. I recently learned that every September 21 is the International Day of Peace established by the United Nations in 1981. As citizens of the Kingdom of God and of the world, we should work for peace rather than dissension. Seeking to get along with one another at work and home may not seem to have much global impact, but each act of peace is an antidote to violence and anger.

In his Letter to the Romans, Paul counsels "Live in harmony...so far as it depends upon you, live peaceably with all." This is part of his chapter long appeal to the church at Rome to live as One Body. (Romans 12)

We can easily get distracted by the superficial disagreements between people in our churches. Someone wants to try doing something a different way and we become fearful and angry like the party of the Pharisees at the Jerusalem council. “That’s not the way it’s done,” we may fume. However, like Peter and James, we can also look at the change as a place and way God is acting.

Have you ever felt threatened when someone started a new ministry or changed the way an existing ministry is done? Did you refuse to participate or did you look for the presence of God in the change?

God is ever changing. I recently read a quote by Choan-seng Song. (Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Theology and Asian Cultures at the Pacific School of Religion and acting minister at the Formosan United Methodist Church in San Leandro, California) He said, “God moves in all directions: God moves forward, no doubt, but also sideways and even backwards. Perhaps God zigzags too … God goes anywhere a Redeeming Presence is called for. “ -. Perhaps we need to be willing, like the early church, to go in the direction God is going, even if it appears to be backward or in a zigzag route.

Next week, we’ll see what happened to Paul on his further journeys. When we join God's plan, your lives will not be dull.

Facing Challenges

2011-09-18T07:00:00.001-06:00

Last week we saw how Paul and Barnabas were ‘set aside’ and anointed for their task of bringing the Gospel to the Gentiles. These are Jewish men, stepping outside their comfort zone by even talking to non-Jews. Empowered by the Holy Spirit, they continue on their journey when driven out of Pisidian Antioch. They arrive in Iconium, not quite 100 miles southeast of Antioch, in south central Galatia (now Turkey).

In Acts 14 we hear “Paul and Barnabas went into the Jewish synagogue and spoke in such a way that a great number of both Jews and Greeks became believers.” Just as in other places, this angered the traditional Jewish population, seeking to uphold their ancestral traditions, so they “stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers.” However, this doesn’t deter Paul or Barnabas. Instead, “they remained for a long time, speaking boldly for the Lord, who testified to the word of his grace by granting signs and wonders to be done through them.” (Acts 14:1-7)

Only when an “an attempt was made by both Gentiles and Jews, with their rulers, to maltreat them and to stone them” did they leave and travel to Lystra (just a few miles south of Iconium) and on to Derbe (50 or so miles further on) where “they continued proclaiming the good news.”

In Lystra, the message of the Gospel is misunderstood. When Paul heals a crippled man, (seen in this art from the 15th century by Karl Dujardin) the people decide, “‘the gods have come down to us in human form!’” (Acts 14:8-12) They call Paul, Hermes and Barnabas, Zeus and prepare to offer sacrifice. This must have been abhorrent to the two disciples. “They tore their clothes and rushed out into the crowd, shouting, ‘Friends, why are you doing this? We are mortals just like you, and we bring you good news, that you should turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them. In past generations he allowed all the nations to follow their own ways; yet he has not left himself without a witness in doing good—giving you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, and filling you with food and your hearts with joy.’ Even with these words, they scarcely restrained the crowds from offering sacrifice to them.” (Acts 14:15-18)

For devout Jews, the idea of being hailed as gods, was no doubt deeply disturbing. In tearing their clothing, Paul and Barnabas expressed their distaste for the blasphemous idea. Tearing the clothing is a symbol of grief and a reaction to blasphemy. In Matthew 26:65, the “high priest tore his clothes and said, ‘He has spoken blasphemy! Why do we need any more witnesses? Look, now you have heard the blasphemy.’” In 2 Chronicles, “When the king [Josiah] heard the words of the Law, he tore his robes.” Job tears his clothing in grief upon hearing that his children have all died (Job 1:20)

The troublemakers from Antioch and Iconium arrive and incite the crowd who “stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead.” Paul is not dead. “The next day he went on with Barnabas to Derbe.” (Acts 14:19-20)

In Derbe they make many disciples, and then retrace their steps through Lystra back to Antioch. The map at left shows the many miles traveled on this first missionary journey. On the way, they encourage the new converts telling them, “‘It is through many persecutions that we must enter the kingdom of God.’ And after they had appointed elders for them in each church, with prayer and fasting they entrusted them to the Lord in whom they had come to believe.” (Acts 14:22-23)

On their way back to Antioch of Syria, they preach in Perga and Attalia on the coast. “From there they sailed back to Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work that they had completed. When they arrived, they called the church together and related all that God had done with them, and how he had opened a door of faith for the Gentiles.” (Acts 14:25-27)

I am always amazed at Paul’s resilience and persistence. It is easy to give up when the “going gets tough.” Certainly, Paul faced much resistance to the message of the Gospel. In several of his epistles, he enumerates beatings, stoning, imprisonment, and other harsh punishments. However, the Holy Spirit and the Risen Lord gave him the courage to continue to preach the Gospel.

Throughout history men and women of faith have persevered in the face of resistance and persecution. We should give thanks for these saints of the church who gave us a legacy of faith and courage for our own lives.

What challenges are you facing in proclaiming your faith today? Look to Paul and others throughout the centuries who stood firm preaching Jesus Christ as Lord of all. Their witness is written in the Bible and in church history for our encouragement. You and I can live as Christian men and women, standing on their shoulders.

Next week we will look at the earliest church council and see that differences of opinion, even within the faith community, are nothing new.

Facing Opposition

2011-09-11T07:00:00.023-06:00

Last month, we left Saul in Antioch preaching the Gospel and being well received by the people. He and Barnabas probably thought they had a nice long term position there. The Holy Spirit had other plans. “While they were worshipping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, ‘Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.’” (Acts 13:2) Saul and Barnabas with the other leaders in Antioch (Simeon, Lucius, and Manaen) heard the call because they were spending time with God by ‘worshipping and fasting’.

Barnabas and Saul head to Seleucia, a city on the southern coast of what is now Turkey. There they sail across the 50 mile stretch of the Mediterranean Sea to Cyprus. The 3 men (‘John was with them) started their mission in Salamis on the south eastern side of the island where “they proclaimed the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews.” (Acts 13:5) Then the trio of apostles starts to tour the island. At the opposite end of Cyprus is the city of Paphos. Here they encounter the proconsul of the island, Sergius Paulus, who “wanted to hear the word of God” and a “Jewish false prophet, named Bar-Jesus (son of Jesus/Joshua) who was also known as Elymas (meaning wizard). Sergius Paulus in interested, but Elymas “opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul away from the faith.”

Can’t you just imagine the scene-Saul, never known for his patience, confronts the magician saying, “You son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy, will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord? And now listen—the hand of the Lord is against you, and you will be blind for a while, unable to see the sun.” (Acts 13:9-11). It is very dramatic and “When the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, for he was astonished at the teaching about the Lord.” Meanwhile the sorcerer, “went about groping for someone to lead him by the hand.” This painting by Raphael shows the moment of Elymas’ blindness while the proconsul looks on in amazement.

Soon the apostles “set sail from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia” (on the southern coast of Turkey, a couple hundred miles west of Seleucia). From here they head inland about 100 miles to Antioch of Pisidia. They go to the synagogue where the “officials of the synagogue sent them a message, saying, ‘Brothers, if you have any word of exhortation for the people, give it.’ So Paul stood up and with a gesture began to speak.” (Acts 13:13-16)

His training as a Pharisee helps Saul/Paul when he preaches to the Jewish community. Paul recites the salvation history of the Jews starting with the Exodus and leading up to King David. Cleverly he links David to Jesus, “Of this man’s posterity God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus, as he promised…the residents of Jerusalem and their leaders did not recognize him or understand the words of the prophets that are read every sabbath, they fulfilled those words by condemning him…But God raised him from the dead; and for many days he appeared to those who came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, and they are now his witnesses to the people. And we bring you the good news that what God promised to our ancestors he has fulfilled for us, their children, by raising Jesus…Let it be known to you therefore, my brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you; by this Jesus everyone who believes is set free from all those sins from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses.” (Acts 13:23-39) Paul brings his sermon full circle by telling the congregation that they cannot be redeemed by the Law of Moses.

Paul’s recitation intrigued the people and they “urged them to speak about these things again the next sabbath…[meanwhile] many Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who spoke to them and urged them to continue in the grace of God.”

The warm welcome turns sour within a week, though. “The next sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord. But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy; and blaspheming, they contradicted what was spoken by Paul. Then both Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, saying, ‘It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken first to you. Since you reject it and judge yourselves to be unworthy of eternal life, we are now turning to the Gentiles’…When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and praised the word of the Lord; and as many as had been destined for eternal life became believers.” (Acts 13:44-48)

After preaching mainly to the Jewish population, Paul now accepts his call to be missionary to the Gentiles. Rather than being discouraged when “the Jews incited the devout women of high standing and the leading men of the city, and stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them out of their region,” the apostles “went to Iconium” (about 100 miles southeast of Pisidian Antioch). We hear the “the word of God spread through the region.” (Acts 13:49-52)

Saul/Paul and Barnabas set out on this journey because they were anointed by the Holy Spirit for the task. When we need direction, we would do well to gather friends around us to pray, and even fast, so that the Holy Spirit can speak. Paul and Barnabas listened to the Lord and didn’t become discouraged when it seemed they reached a dead end, they simply moved on, leaving behind seed to grow and flourish. The opposition of their native faith community (the Jews) did not deter them, either. Because they walked in the power of the Holy Spirit, they simply preached to those who were receptive and moved on when necessary.

As we will see over the next few weeks, this becomes a cycle. In each place that Paul goes and preaches, he finds opposition. Never discouraged, he moves on to the next town and the next.

When you (and I) think we have a calling from God, do we gather friends around to pray for discernment-or do we, more often, just jump in? Jesus told his disciples “where 2 or 3 are gathered together, I am in the midst.” (Matthew 18:20) We are meant to have a community of supporters.

When we face opposition to our message, whether from family, faith community, friends, or strangers, do we turn to Jesus and keep going or do we give up? Over and over in the Epistles we are reminded that “even Christ did not please himself but, as it is written: "The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me." (Romans 15:3) and “though [Christ] was in the form of God, [he] did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant.” (Philippians 2:6-7)

Are we willing to plant the seed (of faith) and then move on to let it germinate and grow, or do we feel like we have to hover over the plant until our attention stifles it? Paul learned throughout his travels that his job was to plant. In I Corinthians 3:6 he says “I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow.”

Next week we will continue with Paul on his journeys around Asia Minor and see how he met and defeated those who were against his mission to the Gentiles.

On this Tenth Anniversary of 9/11, let us pray for the families who lost loved ones that day and for the healing of our nation and for peace in the world.
These sections of some of the Trade Center beams were incorporated into a bell tower at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in the Barelas neighborhood of Albuquerque. Thousands of miles from NYC, they keep silent vigil to remind us of the events of that day. Our actions each day, living into our individual callings, can help with the healing and peace needed today between people and nations.

Seed Planting

2011-09-04T07:00:00.001-06:00

It's Labor Day weekend. The unofficial end of summer is here, even if the weather is still hot and the calendar says that Autumn doesn’t start until September 21. Some schools have been back in session for a few weeks, others will begin soon. County and state fairs are in full swing showing the work of farmers and crafty folks. It’s a time to think about harvests. Farmer’s markets are full of delicious produce and even groceries have some of the fresh foods. Around here, the favorite crop is green chili and the air is full of the aroma of roasting peppers.

Fall is harvest time for farmers. For schools and churches, it is the time of year when things start up again. It’s another ‘new year’. This new year offers a chance to consider the seeds we plant and harvest as faithful people of God.

In Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23, Jesus compares faithful stewardship of our gifts to a sower who went to plant seed. Rather than making neat furrows like modern farmers, broadcast sowing was the norm of the day. Like the statue in Kew Gardens (above) portrays, the farmer took handfuls of seed and flung them across the field as he walked along. “Some seeds fell on the path, and the birds came and ate them up. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no depth of soil. But when the sun rose, they were scorched; and since they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.”

The musical, Godspell from the 1970’s, has a song (All Good Things) that is an adaptation of the Parable of the Sower. We are reminded that no matter what we propose to do-in life, ministry, in our sowing and planting that it is ‘God who gives the increase.’ (I Corinthians 3:7) “We plow the fields and scatter the good seed on the land.. But it is fed and watered by God's almighty hand.. He sends us snow in winter, the warmth to swell the grain... The breezes and the sunshine, and soft refreshing rain...”

Last spring our grandson helped plant a garden in our backyard. Every time he visits, he goes to check the plants. He was very proprietary about the produce, too. When Grandpa picked the first tomatoes without his presence and permission, it caused quite a fuss! For a 4-year old he has stayed quite focused on ‘his’ garden. Our grandson was pretty sure that he had to ensure the plants grew well. Many of us do the same thing in our ministries. We shoulder all the responsibility for the results and get disappointed and discouraged when the results don’t measure up to our standards.

God gives the increase, but we have to nurture our ministries, like our grandson did the garden. It is easy to get distracted from our good plans and abandon our projects. Jesus tells his disciples “When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in the heart; this is what was sown on the path. As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet such a person has no root, but endures only for a while, and when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, that person immediately falls away. As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the lure of wealth choke the word, and it yields nothing.” (Matthew 13:19-22)

Fall is a good time to evaluate how our ministry is going. We all want to be the fertile soil that grows abundantly. Labor Day celebrates the workers of the fields and factories and companies of America. Most workers want to take Henry David Thoreau’s words as their motto. “Be not simply good - be good for something.” As Christians, we have a larger field and we plant seeds for eternity. All we do as ministry, be it simply a smile or as complex as heading up a mission trip, is ‘good for something.’ Godspell’s music states that God only needs one response: “No gifts have we to offer for all thy love imparts but that which thou desirest, our humble thankful hearts!"

The beginning of the ‘program’ year also offers new opportunities to try out some new prayer routine or Bible study. Maybe we’ve always wanted to try out working in Sunday School or some other ministry at our church or volunteer at a school or shelter. Pray about it and then go ahead and plant seed in that ministry remembering “All good gifts around us are sent from Heaven above.. Then thank the Lord, thank the Lord for all his love..I really wanna thank you Lord! All good gifts around us are sent from Heaven above.. Then thank the Lord, oh thank the Lord for all his love.”

What kind of seed do you sow? What kind of seed are you growing? Does your garden need some nurturing?

Next week we'll be back to looking at Acts as Saul begins his many missionary journeys.

Peter and Herod

2011-08-28T07:03:00.001-06:00

For the past month we’ve seen how the Holy Spirit worked mightily in the young church. (If you've missed any, check them out in the archive for July and August.) Philip baptizes the servant of the Queen of the Ethiopians who takes the Gospel back to Ethiopia, an arch-enemy of the new movement is converted when Saul has a vision on the way to Damascus, Peter himself shares the good news with Gentiles in Cornelius’ house and then the church makes dramatic growth in Antioch under the direction of Saul and Barnabas. This is all very wonderful and it seems that everything is going well. The Gospel is being preached further and further into the Roman Empire. Men and women are turning to God and there is very little opposition (at least on the surface).

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, (i.e. Jerusalem) as they used to say in really old Westerns-there is still opposition from the Jewish leaders and the secular head of state. Herod Agrippa (grandson of Herod the Great, who was King when Christ was born) “laid violent hands upon some who belonged to the church. He had James, the brother of John, killed with the sword.” (Acts 12:1-2) This must have sent shock waves through the community, but Herod’s next act is even more devastating. “He proceeded to arrest Peter also.” (Acts 12:3) The arrest was made during Passover, so Peter is put in prison with “four squads of soldiers to guard him” until after the Holy Days. Herod was taking no chances on the leader of this ‘sect’ escaping.

Herod had not counted on the Holy Spirit, however. We are told the “church prayed fervently to God for [Peter].” (Acts 12:5). And their prayers were answered. “The very night before Herod was going to bring him out, Peter, bound with two chains, was sleeping between two soldiers, while guards in front of the door were keeping watch over the prison. Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He tapped Peter on the side and woke him, saying, ‘Get up quickly.’ And the chains fell off his wrists. The angel said to him, ‘Fasten your belt and put on your sandals.’ He did so. Then he said to him, ‘Wrap your cloak around you and follow me.’ Peter went out and followed him; he did not realize that what was happening with the angel’s help was real; he thought he was seeing a vision.” (Acts 12:6-9)

How would you have felt if you were Peter? Imprisoned by the King and expecting the same fate as James, you suddenly see an angel telling you to follow him. The painting above by Bartolome Esteban Murillo shows Peter as he is awakened by the angel, Peter thinks he is seeing a vision of what will happen and it isn’t until they are outside the prison and “the angel left him [that] Peter came to himself and said, ‘Now I am sure that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from the hands of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting.’” (Acts 10-11)

When Peter shows up at the “house of Mary, the mother of John Mark…a maid named Rhoda came to answer. On recognizing Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed that, instead of opening the gate, she ran in and announced that Peter was standing at the gate. They said to her, ‘You are out of your mind!’ But she insisted that it was so. They said, ‘It is his angel.’ Meanwhile, Peter continued knocking; and when they opened the gate, they saw him and were amazed. He motioned to them with his hand to be silent, and described for them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he added, ‘Tell this to James [the Lesser] and to the believers.’ Then he left and went to another place.” (Acts 12:13-17)

I can understand the doubt of those gathered in Mary’s house praying. They knew that Peter was in prison. How could he be at the door? Sometimes when something we pray for actually happens, we don’t or can’t believe it at first.

The response by the authorities was not as joyous. “There was no small commotion among the soldiers over what had become of Peter. When Herod had searched for him and could not find him, he examined the guards and ordered them to be put to death.” (Acts 12:18-19) It does seem a bit unfair that the guards were put to death, but that is what we are told in the Bible. Herod then goes to Caesarea where “an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died.” Sic simper tyrannis (cartoon courtesy of thebackpew.com). “But the word of God continued to advance and gain adherents.” (Acts 12:24)

What a contrast. Herod tried to take all the glory and all the power for himself. He died in his pride. Peter knew that God is in control and believed the angel was showing him a vision of his release. Then he realized it was real and he was free. He went to another place to rejoice and to preach the Good News. I imagine his testimony was even deeper because of his experience in prison where everything about his life was out of his control and he could only depend on his faith in Christ. Sometimes it takes a time of having our life out of our control for us to look to God for the answers.

The church in Jerusalem prayed for the release of Peter-and it happened. Have you ever been part of a prayer group or prayer circle that prayed for something-and it happened? How did you feel when you (and the group) realized your prayer was answered? Did you attribute the success to your prayer or to something or someone else or even some 'coincidence'? It has been said that coincidences are God acting anonymously. Too often often we leave prayer as the last resort and are surprised when God answers.

Jesus tells the disciples, and us, “Whatever you ask for in prayer with faith, you will receive.” (Matthew 21:22) We ask for things and help from our parents and friends, expecting and believing that they will do what we ask. How much more will our loving Father give us what we ask?

Next week is Labor Day. We come to the end of the summer and look forward to the events of fall. School is starting and churches are gearing up their programs. The weather, we pray, will begin to cool and to abate. We still have several chapters of the work of the Holy Spirit in Acts to look at. I hope you are getting new insights into the Book of Acts and the life of the early church.

First called Christians

2011-08-21T07:00:00.010-06:00

In the last post, we looked at Peter, a good Jew, who at God’s command went to Caesarea to meet with a Roman centurion, Cornelius. Cornelius and his household were converted to Christianity and were baptized. Turns out this did not sit well with the other believers.

We tend to think that the early church was all of one mind but it was made up, like churches today, of people. People don’t always agree with each other. In Acts 11:2-3 we here that “when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him, saying, ‘Why did you go to uncircumcised men and eat with them?’” Peter recites his vision and tells what happened at Cornelius’ house.

“As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them just as it had upon us at the beginning. And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said, “John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” If then God gave them the same gift that he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could hinder God?’ When they heard this, they were silenced. And they praised God, saying, ‘Then God has given even to the Gentiles the repentance that leads to life.’” (Acts 11:15-18)

It must have been a watershed moment in the thinking of the ‘circumcised believers’. From the beginning of Jewish history, God had been the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Gentiles were outside the possibility of salvation. A Gentile could be a ‘God-fearer’, but that didn’t make him a Jew or a full member of the Jewish faith. Now, it seems that “God has given even to the Gentiles the repentance that leads to life.”

The passage in Acts indicates an immediate understanding of God’s work. I wonder if it was quite that easy. If you have ever sat through any meeting where there are differences of opinion and challenges to the status quo, you know that much discussion goes on before a new idea is accepted.

Peter’s vision and acceptance of Cornelius’ faith, opened the door for further evangelism to the Gentiles. Acts 11:19 tells us, “Now those who were scattered because of the persecution that took place over Stephen travelled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, and they spoke the word to no one except Jews. But among them were some men of Cyprus and Cyrene who, on coming to Antioch, spoke to the Hellenists also, proclaiming the Lord Jesus.”

We see that the death of Stephen spread the Gospel across Asia. The door was opened by the Holy Spirit to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ to more and more people. There were Jewish communities in most cities of the Roman Empire, but it was the non-Jews who welcomed the Gospel in surprising numbers. “The hand of the Lord was with [those preaching to the Hellenists], and a great number became believers and turned to the Lord. News of this came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. (A journey of some 400 miles.) When he came and saw the grace of God, he rejoiced, and he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast devotion; for he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a great many people were brought to the Lord.” (Acts 11:21-24)

We first hear of Barnabas in Acts 4:36 as one who sold his property and joined the infant church. His name was Joseph bar Nabas. (Nabas is translated alternately ‘encouragement’ or ‘prophecy’ or ‘consolation’) He was a ‘native of Cyprus’ and a Levite. Barnabas was a logical choice for Peter and the other leaders to send to meet with the new converts because of his familiarity with Greek culture. Perhaps he even knew people in Antioch. Cyprus is just off the coast parallel to Antioch. He is delighted with the faith he finds in Antioch and realizes that this is a fertile field for planting seeds of God’s love. Barnabas decides he needs help in the ministry and “went to Tarsus to look for Saul [and]…brought him to Antioch.” (Acts 11:25-26a)

Remember Barnabas knew Saul. In Acts 9:27 he is the one man in Jerusalem who is not afraid of Saul and believes his conversion. He “took him, and brought him to the apostles, and declared to them how on the road he had seen the Lord…and how at Damascus he had preached boldly in the name of Jesus.” It would appear that the men were acquaintances if not friends at this time.

Saul and Barnabas are a good team. “For an entire year they associated with the church and taught a great many people, and it was in Antioch that the disciples were first called ‘Christians’.” Being called Christian was a new delineation for the early church. Until now, the believers had been a group of Jewish men and women who preached that the promised Messiah had come in the form of Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified and rose from the dead. By taking on the name Christian (follower of the Christos or anointed one) they took on a broader identity that was not tied to the old Hebrew tribal lineage. You could be a Christian even if you were not of Hebrew descent.

The new believers, these new ‘Christians’ acted on their belief and reached out to the home church when there was need because of Agubus’ prophecy “that there would be a severe famine over all the world; and this took place during the reign of Claudius. The disciples determined that according to their ability, each would send relief to the believers living in Judea; this they did, sending it to the elders by Barnabas and Saul. (Acts 11:27-30)

The believers in the early church had to figure out how God wanted them to act. Were they to share the Gospel with just Jews or with just Gentiles or with both? Peter and Saul ultimately found their ministry took them to separate segments of believers. The church still struggles with the Great Commission “Go…make disciples of all nations.”

Each of us is called to share the Gospel with those we come in contact with. Each of us struggles with sharing the Good News with those we label as ‘different’ or ‘wrong’. Shouldn't we ask ourselves, does God make any distinctions between my worth and the worthiness of the one I look down on or ignore? How can I overcome differences instead of making them worse? It was the Gentiles who first accepted the title of Christian, meaning 'little Christs' or 'Christ bearers'. Who are we keeping from faith by our own narrow definition of God's work and of faith?

Next time we will look at the start of more persecution of the early church.

Lens of Labels

2011-08-14T07:00:00.003-06:00

For the past couple of months we have been looking at the action of the Holy Spirit in the lives the early church. You can look through the topics of the since June to see some of the posts. First, of course, was the ‘sound of a great rushing wind’ that signified the arrival of the Holy Spirit and transformed humble men and women into brave evangelists.

Peter, an unlearned fisherman, preached the first sermon of the new church and converted thousands. His actions were frowned on by the authorities, but even after experiencing prison and questioning, he maintained his convictions.

The church faced challenges and met them by ordaining the first deacons, among them Stephen, who boldly preached and converted people in Jerusalem. He also faced the Jewish council and was condemned to death by stoning. Then persecution assaulted the believers. This might have spelled the end of a human movement, but God works differently. Due to the persecution, believers left Jerusalem and carried the message of salvation. Philip was one of those who evangelized far and near. He went first to Samaria, then to the eunuch from Ethiopia and then to the coastal towns along the Mediterranean.

Last week we saw how Saul, the young Pharisee from Jerusalem, was changed into a believer while on his way to Damascus. We heard how Ananias, in response to the urging of the Holy Spirit, ministered to Saul, despite his reputation. Transformed and converted, Saul preached the Good News in Damascus and then in other areas. “So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was built up; and walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit it was multiplied.” (Acts 9:31)

The Holy Spirit is not a respecter of socio-economic, ethnic, national, or any other man-made boundary as Peter learns in Acts 10. Humans on the other hand, like to attach labels to one another. Too often these labels divide us or make us look scornfully at someone different than we are or with different beliefs. Last week Saul was blinded and "something like scales fell from his eyes" when Ananias visited him. The labels we give each other are a filter or a lens that distorts our view of the face of God in one another. The early church was not immune to the Lens of Labels.

Peter was happy as the leader of the church in Jerusalem. Sometimes, he traveled to other Jewish communities like Lydda and Joppa (see Acts 9:32-43). In Joppa, he healed a woman named Tabitha (or Dorcas). “It became known throughout all Joppa, and many believed in the Lord. And he stayed in Joppa for many days with one Simon, a tanner.” (Acts 9:42-43)

Joppa is on the coast of the Mediterranean, south of Caesarea about 25-30 miles. Unbeknownst to Peter, the Holy Spirit was on the move in Caesarea. “In Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion of the Italian Cohort…He was a devout man who feared God…One afternoon at about three o’clock he had a vision in which he clearly saw an angel of God coming in and saying to him, ‘Cornelius.’ He stared at him in terror and said, ‘What is it, Lord?’ He answered, ‘Your prayers and your alms have ascended as a memorial before God. Now send men to Joppa for a certain Simon who is called Peter; he is lodging with Simon, a tanner, whose house is by the seaside.’ When the angel who spoke to him had left, he called two of his slaves and a devout soldier from the ranks of those who served him, and after telling them everything, he sent them to Joppa.” (Acts 10:1-8) The trip for the slaves and soldier would have been an all day, or all night, trek.

Meanwhile, God prepares Peter with a perplexing vision. “About noon the next day…Peter went up on the roof to pray. He became hungry and wanted something to eat; and while it was being prepared, he fell into a trance. He saw the heaven opened and something like a large sheet coming down, being lowered to the ground by its four corners. In it were all kinds of four-footed creatures and reptiles and birds of the air. Then he heard a voice saying, ‘Get up, Peter; kill and eat.’ But Peter said, ‘By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is profane or unclean.’ The voice said to him again, a second time, ‘What God has made clean, you must not call profane.’ This happened three times, and the thing was suddenly taken up to heaven.” (Acts 10:9-16)

God tells Peter that all things are clean, even animals Jews were forbidden to eat, based on Levitical laws. By extension, all persons are holy and clean, too, even those we might consider 'unclean' or even our enemies. Peter doesn’t understand the symbolism until the emissaries from Cornelius arrive. They “were standing by the gate. [and] called out to ask whether Simon, who was called Peter, was staying there…the Spirit said to [Peter], ‘…get up, go down, and go with them without hesitation; for I have sent them.’ So Peter went down to the men and said, ‘I am the one you are looking for; what is the reason for your coming?’” (Acts 10:17-21)

The trio form Cornelius explained, “Cornelius, a centurion, an upright and God-fearing man, who is well spoken of by the whole Jewish nation, was directed by a holy angel to send for you to come to his house and to hear what you have to say.” (Acts 10:22-23) Their response, perhaps, made all the pieces click into place in Peter’s mind. Ordinarily the Jewish fisherman would not have considered going to a Gentile home at all, esp. one that housed a Roman army officer. The occupying Roman army was not popular with the Jews and was to avoided if at all possible.

However, perhaps still wondering at his vision, Peter invites them into Simon’s house for the night. In the morning, he and “some of the believers from Joppa” head for Caesarea where “Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends.” (Acts 10:24)

The Galilean fisherman and the Roman centurion find themselves face to face, brought together by God who wants to bridge differences and bring all creation to faith. They share their visions and then “Peter began to speak to them: ‘I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.” He goes on to preach Jesus Christ and the resurrection ending by saying, “He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one ordained by God as judge of the living and the dead. All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.” (Acts 10:34-43)

It is then that God affirms Peter’s testimony when “the Holy Spirit fell upon all who heard the word. The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astounded that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles, for they heard them speaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter said, ‘Can anyone withhold the water for baptizing these people who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?’ So he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.” (Acts 10:44-48)

Notice that the “circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astounded that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles.” Sometimes it is easy to categorize people by our human descriptions. ‘Gentile’, ‘pagan’, ‘unbeliever’, ‘Protestant’, ‘Catholic’, ‘reformed’, ‘barbarian’, ‘slave’, etc. are only some of the ways Christians have labeled one another through the centuries.

God gave Peter, and us, a new definition “What God has made clean, you must not call profane.” Peter realized "God shows no partiality." Perhaps, like Peter, we are called to reach out to those outside our circle, outside our comfort zone. Is there someone you avoid because they are 'different', or don't believe the same way you do? Remember, in God's eyes, they are clean and holy, too. Can you try to see this person through God's eyes, instead of through the lens of labels?

Next week, we'll see how the Gospel begins to spread widely throughout the Gentile world, causing the early believers to reevaluate their beliefs about the 'goyam'.

Paul is Converted

2011-08-07T07:00:00.000-06:00

Paul of Tarsus is a famous evangelist of the early church. We meet him in Acts, Chapter 9. But wait, we actually met him back at the end of Chapter 7 (on July 24) when those who stoned Stephen ‘laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul.’ At the beginning of Chapter 9, “Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues of Damascus.” (Acts 9:1-2)

Armed with the authority of the priests and leaders Saul (his Jewish name) heads for Damascus. This is not an easy, overnight trip. Damascus is far to the north in Syria. Saul would have passed the Sea of Galilee and continued north another 40 or so miles to Caesarea Philippi before turning northeast. Damascus was still another 40 miles away. The journey would have been about a week on foot. Fortunately Saul traveled by donkey, but it was still a long trek. Saul was inspired by his hatred for the new sect and his desire to preserve the purity of Judaism.

Something happens though, that changes Saul the Pharisee into Paul the Evangelist. A disciple in Damascus, Ananias, tells what happened on the Street Called Straight (photo from ca 1900).
One night I had a vision. The Lord called me by name. ‘Ananias,’ I heard it clearly. ‘Here I am, Lord’ was my reply. Then my God told me to do something terrifying. ‘Go to the street called Straight, to the house of Judas. Ask to speak to Saul of Tarsus. He is praying and has seen you come and lay hands on him to regain his sight.’

I was afraid and argued with the Lord. ‘Everyone knows that this man is evil. He has killed the saints in Jerusalem and is here to do the same under authority from the chief priests.’

God ignored my complaints. He simply repeated ‘Go. He is a chosen instrument of mine. He will carry my name before the Gentiles, kings, and all Israel. He will suffer much for my name.’

I tossed and turned the rest of the night. In the morning, I combed my beard and hair. If I was going to meet a famous Pharisee, I wanted to look my best. It took courage to kiss my wife and walk down our dirt street to the paved and colonnaded Street called Straight.

I knew Judas slightly from the Fellowship of Believers. He was a Greek who many years ago became interested in the Jewish religion. Now his faith in the Risen Lord was absolute. His home and shop shared the same space behind one of the columns along the street.

“Is there a man here known as Saul of Tarsus?” I asked, briefly wondering why Saul would chose to lodge here instead of in a Jewish home. Judas was known as a person who opened his heart to anyone in need but it was still odd that a rich Pharisee would come to him.

“Indeed there is. Members of his caravan brought him to me because it is known that I take in the ill and crazy. The men said that a few miles out of Damascus, there was a lightning storm. One particularly loud crack of lightning struck near the caravan. The animals were spooked. It was only after they were under control that someone noticed Saul lying on the ground. He appeared to be talking to someone, although no one else saw anyone.”

“What did he say?” I asked.

“The same thing he keeps saying since he has been here. ‘Who are you, Lord?’ I’ll tell you it’s getting on my nerves. Do you know anything about him?”

“Only that the Lord ordered me to come here and pray for him.”

Judas stood aside, “Enter, then. You will find the man in the atrium. The lightning struck him blind, as well as made him crazed.”

I stood for a minute staring at Saul. Could this young man be the one I had heard such terrible tales about? He was only a little older than my own son. His garments were of rich material and his beard and hair proclaimed him a Pharisee of the highest degree.

“Is someone there?” The young man turned toward me. His eyes stared sightlessly past me.

After another moment, I took a deep breath and stepped forward. “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road, has sent me to you.”

Eagerly he reached out toward me. I took his hands between mine. “Do you know the Lord Jesus?”

For a moment I was taken aback and almost afraid that this was a trick. If I admitted to being a follower of the Risen One, he would arrest me and drag me off to death.

“So be it, Lord,” I said under my breath and replied to the young man’s question. “Yes, Brother Saul, I know the Lord Jesus. It is he who sent me to you so you can regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”

I was ashamed of my fear when tears appeared in the sightless eyes. “Then I am in your hands.”

Gently I laid my hands on Saul’s eyes. “Lord Jesus, you have chosen this man to proclaim your glory. Give him sight that he may serve you to your glory.”

When I removed my hands, I did not see any change. Then he blinked and tiny flakes started to drop off his eyelashes. A moment later his eyes were clear.

“I can see,” the young man whispered in awe. “And it is not just my eyes that see. My heart sees my God in a new way. Truly I have been blind to all that God has accomplished.”

“He will continue to show you what you will do, my brother,” I affirmed. “Do you believe that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ of God?”

“That I do!” His voice rang out and echoed in the atrium.

Judas peered in. “Is everything alright?”

“You are my host. I thank you for your hospitality. Is there water so I can be baptized in the name of Jesus?”

“Yes, there is water,” my friend replied slowly after looking at me with astonishment.

“It is not a trick.” The young Pharisee read his mind. “I have been changed by the same Lord you worship.”

A short time later, Saul shook the water off his hair and grinned. “It is a new beginning, isn’t it?”

“It will not be easy to convince the other Believers,” I warned him.

Supremely confident, the young man shrugged. “I plan to proclaim Jesus to the synagogues. Everyone needs to know about this new birth, this new beginning, this new life!”

Over the next several days, Saul rather made a nuisance of himself. He went to each synagogue in Damascus and insisted “Jesus is the Son of God. It is a new beginning for Jews and for Gentiles.”

“Isn’t this the man who imprisoned and killed those who follow the Christ?” Many people asked me.

“It is,” I shrugged. “He has changed.”

That wasn’t enough for some of the local leaders. I learned of a plot to kill Saul and so we smuggled him out of the city one night by lowering him over the wall in a basket. We heard he went to Jerusalem to preach to the Jews and disciples there. I wish him well.

Ananias was called by God to do something frightening, but he trusted and obeyed. How often do we hesitate to do something difficult because we aren’t sure of the outcome?

Recently I was reminded of the metaphor of a flashlight in the darkness. Faith is like following a dark path with only a flashlight. It doesn’t help me see everything, but it lights enough so I can take a couple of steps, then a couple more. No matter how big the flashlight, it will never completely light up the world. In the same way, we don’t have to have all the answers in order to step out in ministry.

Paul first preached to the Jews in Damascus. When he returned to Jerusalem, “Barnabas took him, and brought him to the apostles, and declared to them how on the road he had seen the Lord.” (Acts 9:27) Imagine the consternation in the community of Jerusalem when Saul came back. The Jewish leaders were angry with him and the disciples feared him. That didn’t stop Saul, though. He kept taking one step at a time until his journeys covered much of the Roman empire with the Good News.

Take out your Faith Flashlight and shine it on the path you are on. What is the next step?

Next week, we see Peter, once a Jewish fisherman, reaching out of his comfort zone to a Roman.

Philip and the Eunuch

2011-07-31T07:00:00.002-06:00

After Stephen’s stoning, the Believers were persecuted and many were imprisoned. The young man who witnessed Stephen’s death was very active in this. “Saul was ravaging the church by entering house after house; dragging off both men and women, he committed them to prison.” (Acts 8:3) What the council hoped would be the end of the radical movement actually served to spread it. Believers went out of Jerusalem to many other places, where they preached the Gospel.

Philip (the Evangelist not the Apostle), another of the men chosen to minister to the widows, left Jerusalem and went to Samaria. Philip converted many of the Samaritans and “when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them. The two went down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit (for as yet the Spirit had not come upon any of them; they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus). Then Peter and John laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 8:14-17)

Consider for a moment the change of heart the disciples had experienced. While with Jesus, they had wanted to avoid traveling through Samaria and were appalled when he spoke to the Samaritan woman. Now, the leading disciples go to Samaria themselves and accept Samaritans into the fellowship of the believers. “Now after Peter and John had testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, proclaiming the good news to many villages of the Samaritans.” (Acts 8:25)

The Holy Spirit works to bring together and into communion all who are estranged and separated from one another. Philip himself is instrumental in bringing another outcast into the household of faith. Here is the story of Senai Solomon (his name isn’t in the Bible-I made it up), court official and treasurer of Candace of Ethiopia as he reported to his queen upon his return.

“Most gracious and beneficent ruler, Candace Amanitare, Queen mother of all Ethiopia and daughter of the sun, I have returned from my travels to distant Jerusalem. By your gracious favor you, most lovely queen, allowed me to journey there. I have completed important trade alliances along the way for your iron and gold. However, I bring a more valuable message than good commerce.”

“What can this be? You, my trusted minister have been gone for a long season. You left when the sun was at its lowest and return now when it is at the zenith.”

“My lady queen, the journey itself is a moon turning of time. Each stop for trade was a matter of days. As the gracious Candace knows, to gain the advantage in trade, I must be patient until the other party is satisfied.”

“Yes, I know all that. I have become impatient waiting for word of your success. Tell on.”

“Let the daughter of the sun remember how you spared thought for my faith. A moon turning I spent in the holy city of Jerusalem, site of my heart’s desire. I saw the mighty Temple of the One God of the Hebrews and stood at the doors.”

“What is it like, this temple built by the mad king under the thumb of Rome?”

“I can only tell of the shining glory of the outside and the awesome murmur of prayers from beyond the doors and the scent of sweet incense on the breeze. What is beyond the Courtyard I cannot tell you, gracious queen.”

“Why is this? How could anyone refuse admittance to my most trusted minister? I sent you with letters of introduction to the governor and to the high priest.”

“Indeed, I did give the letters to those men. The governor was not in residence, but his tribune honored me with a grand banquet in your honor. High Priest Caiaphas was at the banquet. He is a broad man without humor who only deigned to attend out of duty to the governor’s title and yours. It is the Law of the Jews that no man, maimed as I am in my manhood, can enter the courts of the temple. This I knew, but hoped…”

“You know I would undo what my father did to you.”

“It is of no matter. I drew near to the holy precincts and felt the presence of God. However, it was what happened on my way back to your side, my queen, that I must tell of.”

“Say on, then. Do not keep us in suspense.”

“I was in my chariot, so comfortably provided by your kind majesty, on the road to Gaza. Even in the heat of the sun, the canopy provides shade. It is a luxurious way to travel and I thank you my queen for your consideration. As we traveled, I read from a scroll obtained in Jerusalem. It was confusing to me and I wished someone could explain it to me. Even as I wished for that, a man ran alongside the chariot.”

“How extraordinary. Was there much traffic on the highway?”

“None, my lady, that is why I was surprised when he spoke. ‘Do you understand what you are reading?’ he said. I responded that I did not and showed him the passage.”

“What is this curious reading?”

“Here in the scroll is where I found the words. ‘As a sheep led to the slaughter or a lamb before its shearer is dumb, so he opens not his mouth. In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken from the earth.’ It is from the Hebrew prophet Isaiah.”

“Indeed a strange statement.”

“Yes, I asked the stranger who the prophet was speaking about. He told me the most amazing things. The man spoken of in the scroll is one Jesus of Nazareth. He was born into Israel as redeemer of all humanity. The stranger, whose name is Philip, told me how the rulers turned against this rabbi and crucified him.”

“How then can he redeem anyone? Dead men cannot rule.”

“This man, Jesus, did not come to rule. He came to die. However, he did not remain in the grave. After three days, he arose.”

“Senai Solomon you mock me. No one, once dead, comes out of the grave, not even the rulers of Ethiopia, the children of the sun.”

“Forgive me, mighty and merciful Candace, I too was skeptical. The man Philip told me how Jesus was seen by many after the resurrection and even ate with his disciples. I had heard rumors of this in Jerusalem, but dismissed it as ramblings of drunkards. Philip was not drunk with anything except the spirit of God. He explained many other scriptures that foretold Messiah.”

“I have heard of Messiah who will come and free Israel. If this Jesus were Messiah, Rome would be vanquished.”

“My queen, I did raise that question. Philip opened my eyes and heart to understand how scripture has been misused to prophecy a warrior king like David, when God’s own word clearly tells of one who will bring healing and restoration and reconcile all creation to God.”

“I can see that you are changed by this conversation. We will speak more of this.”

“One last word, by your leave, gracious queen.”

“Very well.”

“We came to water at the oasis of Ein Yael. Half expecting rejection, I said, ‘Look, here is water! What is to prevent me from being baptized?’ Without hesitation Philip took me, maimed as I am and outcast from worship in the temple, into the water. He baptized me there in the name of Jesus, the Messiah. I came out of the water refreshed and more alive than I have felt in years. No longer did my deformity matter. In God’s eyes, I was whole.”

“I wish you had brought this man with you that I might hear him.”

“Indeed my queen, I would have, but when we came up out of the water, he was gone. It was as if he vanished into the sands of the desert. I have returned to tell you and all who will listen about this Jesus who restores all things.”

“We will speak again. You are changed and it intrigues me.” (Acts 8:26-39)

The eunuch was reconciled to God, despite his deformity. In Jesus we are reconciled to God despite our failings and defects. It doesn’t matter how scarred we are or what we have done. God loves us. How can we break down the walls of prejudice and welcome those who are ‘different’ into communion with us?

The Book of Acts says, “Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he was passing through the region, he proclaimed the good news to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.” Azotus is about 20 miles north of Gaza and Caesarea is another 60 miles further north.” This means that Philip went through Jamnia, Joppa, and other towns while going up the coast. He shared the Gospel with all he met, but we do not hear anything further about his ministry. Tradition holds that he was the first bishop of Anatolia (Turkey).

Next week we will meet Saul/Paul, the most recognized evangelist of the early church.

Stephen-Contention, Jealousy, Martyrdom

2011-07-24T07:00:00.003-06:00

Last week we saw how Peter stood up to the Sanhedrin, the Jewish priestly council, even though he was only a fisherman and not a learned rabbi. Today we meet Stephen, a Greek Jew, who was brought before the council. His story also exposes contention and jealousy within the early church. First we learn of the complaints by the Hellenists, or Greek speaking Jews, against the Hebrew Jews. Then we see that jealousy against Stephen’s preaching by members of the ‘Synagogue of the Freedmen’. These were probably Jews enslaved by Romans and now freed. They have returned to Jerusalem and are zealous for their faith. The reaction of ‘the twelve’ and of the council is very different.

Chapter 6 introduces Stephen. In the early church “the disciples were increasing in number, [and] the Hellenists complained against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution of food.” Even though the church is still young, there is dissension over perceived favoritism. The leadership acts swiftly and decisively. “The twelve called together the whole community…and said, “…select from among yourselves seven men of good standing, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may appoint to this task, while we, for our part, will devote ourselves to prayer and to serving the word. [so] They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, together with Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch. They had these men stand before the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them.” (Acts 6:1-6)

Rather than letting the discontent fester and cause greater discord, the twelve apostles confront the issue and provide a resolution. Seven Greek Jews (we can assume that from their names) are chosen to see that all the widows are cared for. The men are ‘ordained’ for their task by the laying on of hands, just as deacons and priests still are.

Stephen, esp., is filled with the Holy Spirit. He “did great wonders and signs among the people.” Not everyone was pleased with this, though. “Those who belonged to the synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called), Cyrenians, Alexandrians, and others of those from Cilicia and Asia, stood up and argued with Stephen. But they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he spoke.” Using false witnesses they had Stephen arrested for blasphemy and “brought him before the council.” (Acts 6:7-15)

Perhaps because he was Greek and not Jewish, the ‘freedmen’ confront Stephen. When they cannot refute his facts and faith, they turn him over to the council. Like Peter, Stephen has to give an account of his beliefs in front of the leadership of Israel. The response of the council is entirely different from the twelve. They become enraged at Stephen’s witness.

In Chapter 7, Stephen’s rebuttal to his accusers is an overview of the history of the Jewish people from Abraham through Solomon. You can imagine the leaders of Israel nodding as he recites the story of their faith. At the end, his tone changes, though. “You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you are for ever opposing the Holy Spirit, just as your ancestors used to do. Which of the prophets did your ancestors not persecute? They killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One, and now you have become his betrayers and murderers. You are the ones that received the law as ordained by angels, and yet you have not kept it.” (Acts 7:1-53)

It is not surprising that “they became enraged and ground their teeth at Stephen.” Anyone intent on saving their life would have quit talking. “But filled with the Holy Spirit, he gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. ‘Look,’ he said, ‘I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!’ But they covered their ears, and with a loud shout all rushed together against him. Then they dragged him out of the city and began to stone him; and the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul.” (Acts 7:54-58)

Stephen’s testimony was not finished. He continued to emulate his Lord. Even as he was being stoned “he prayed, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.’ Then he knelt down and cried out in a loud voice, ‘Lord, do not hold this sin against them.’ When he had said this, he died.” (Acts 7:59-60)

The Sanhedrin felt threatened by the testimony of Stephen and other apostles. They thought that his death would be a lesson to the other followers of Christ. Certainly it had an effect on the ‘young man named Saul’. In Chapter 8, we’ll see that Saul persecuted the members of the church.

How do you and I respond to those who don’t agree with our way of worship or our precise belief system? Do we act like the apostles and seek a solution and reconciliation or like the council with rage and stoning? Ever since the beginning of the church, there have been divisions over dogma and doctrine. What will it take for us all to see that we are servants of the “One God and Father of all”? What can you and I do to foster healing of differences?

Next week we’ll hear the story of the eunuch’s encounter with Philip-in his own words.

Hearing the Drummer

2011-07-17T07:00:00.000-06:00

How do you feel when you get in trouble for doing something right? Do you feel persecuted? The First Letter of Peter says, “For it is to your credit if, being aware of God, you endure pain while suffering unjustly. If you endure when you are beaten for doing wrong, where is the credit in that? But if you endure when you do right and suffer for it, you have God’s approval. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you should follow in his steps. (I Peter 2:19-21) That's not a very comforting passage. I wonder if Peter was thinking back to his early ministry when he wrote those words.

At first everything was going well. Crowds of people were converted. “Now many signs and wonders were done among the people through the apostles…the people held them in high esteem…believers were added to the Lord, great numbers of both men and women.” Not only that, “they even carried out the sick into the streets, and laid them on cots and mats, in order that Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he came by…” (Acts 5:12-16)

It must have been a heady sensation for Peter and the other apostles. I’m sure he knew he was doing the work of God and fulfilling Christ’s call on his life.

Not everyone was thrilled with these sensational happenings. The high priest “being filled with jealousy” arrested the apostles. However, an angel releases them from jail so that in the morning, the temple guards report, “We found the prison securely locked and the guards standing at the doors, but when we opened them, we found no one inside.” (Acts 5:23)

The apostles are discovered preaching in the Temple again and brought before the Council. “We told you not to preach,” they tell Peter and the others. They answer bravely “We must obey God rather than human authority.” (Acts 5:28-29) These were no longer the backward, provincial fishermen of two months earlier. They were not intimidated even by the rulers of the people.

It is then that Gamaliel, a Pharisee stands up. He reminds his fellow leaders of other supposed messiahs like Theudas and Judas the Galilean. Then he says, “if this plan or this undertaking is of human origin, it will fail; but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them—in that case you may even be found fighting against God!” (Acts 5:38-39)

The Christian rock group DC Talk sings about this choice in My Will "If it's Your will, then nothing can shake me."
I'm setting the stage for the things I love, And I'm now the man I once couldn't be
Nothing on earth could now ever move me, I now have the will and the strength a man needs

(chorus)
It's my will, and I'm not moving, Cause if it's Your will, then nothing can shake me
It's my will, to bow and praise You, now have the will to praise my God

Complexity haunts me for I am two men, Entrenched in a battle that I'll never win
My discipline fails me, my knowledge it fools me, but You are my shelter, all the strength that I need

I'm learning to give up the rights to myself, the bits and the pieces I've gathered as wealth
Could never compare to the joy that You bring me, The peace that You show me is the strength that I need

Don't you know we've got to be children of peace
It's Your will, It's Your will
DC Talk video

The council orders the apostles beaten and tell them not to preach Jesus. Instead of stopping or intimidating the leaders of the movement, “they rejoiced that they were considered worthy to suffer dishonor for the sake of the Name…[and] did not cease to teach and proclaim Jesus as the Messiah. (Acts 5:40-41)

It is easy to give up when the ‘going gets tough’ and when we meet opposition to our calling. Henry David Thoreau says, “If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.” Our drummer is our Lord. When armies used to march into battle the drummer, kept beat so that the troops stayed together and marched in formation.

Christ, our drummer, leads the way. “Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you should follow in his steps…When he was abused, he did not return abuse; when he suffered, he did not threaten; but he entrusted himself to the one who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that, free from sins, we might live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.” (I Peter 2:21-24)

Our Lord Jesus is our drummer. It is when we return to listening to God’s music and God’s call that we know “For you were going astray like sheep, but now you have returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls.” (I Peter 2:25)

Each of us follows a drummer. Who or what is the drum-beat of your life?

Next week we’ll look at the courage of the first martyr of the church-Stephen. He reminds us that sometimes the drummer leads into battle, but not all return home.

Secrets of the Heart

2011-07-10T07:00:00.001-06:00

A couple of weeks ago we looked at a pivotal event in the early church. Peter and John healed a lame beggar and were arrested. “The next day their rulers, elders, and scribes assembled in Jerusalem, with Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John, and Alexander, and all who were of the high-priestly family.” (Acts 4:5-6) They demand to know “By what power or by what name did you do this?”

Once again, Peter is “filled with the Holy Spirit” and preaches to them about “Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead.” Only a couple of months earlier, this same Peter cowered in the courtyard of the High Priest and denied knowing Christ. Now, he is chastising the rulers of the Temple. They are amazed and “when they saw the man who had been cured standing beside them, they had nothing to say in opposition.” (Acts 4:14)

In a vain effort to stop the teaching, the Council “ordered them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus.” Peter and John boldly reply, “‘Whether it is right in God’s sight to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge; for we cannot keep from speaking about what we have seen and heard.”

I wonder how often we listen to the voices of friends, family, those in authority, etc. rather than hearing the word of God in our hearts. Perhaps too often. The Holy Spirit is always more ready to guide us with the “still small voice” than we are to listen. Peter and John listened to the Holy Spirit and courageously gave their response, to which the leaders had no response. Their action encouraged the other followers of Christ.

When Peter and John return to the rest of the apostles and converts there is great rejoicing and prayers of thanksgiving were offered. “When they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God with boldness.” (Acts 4:31)

One aspect of the early church is that “no one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common…There was not a needy person among them, for as many as owned lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold. They laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need." (Acts 4:32-35)

However, not everyone was honest. What happened to Ananias and Sapphira must have been shocking to the believers. The couple sold their property, but did not give all the proceeds to the apostles. Peter sees through the deception and confronts Ananias, the husband, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back part of the proceeds of the land? While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, were not the proceeds at your disposal? How is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You did not lie to us but to God!” (Acts 5:1-5) At Peter’s words, Ananias falls down dead.

Peter gives Sapphira a chance to be honest, but she too lies and “she fell down at his feet and died. When the young men came in they found her dead, so they carried her out and buried her beside her husband.” (Acts 5:10-11) It is no wonder that “great fear seized the whole church and all who heard of these things.”

The sin of Ananias and Sapphira was not that they kept some of the money back, but that they lied about it. Do we ever hold back part of our gifts from God? It may not be money that we withhold. It could be our willingness to follow the urging of the Holy Spirit. God “knows the secrets of our hearts.” (Psalm 44:21) Denying our gifts, our ministry, our calling is a form of lying to God.

The Lord tells Jeremiah, “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you.” The prophet tries to deny the call of God, “I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth.” He is told “Behold I have put my words in your mouth.” (Jeremiah 1:4-10) Jeremiah goes on to preach judgment on the people of Judah and Israel, but also the promise, “I know the plans I have for you…plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” (Jeremiah 29:11)

God’s promise is to give us good, a future, and hope and our response is to give all to God, just as Peter and John and the early followers did. Are there secrets in your heart the only God knows? Have you heard them whispering in a still small voice? Can you offer all you are and have to God?

Next week we’ll look at the courage of Peter and the apostles when they meet resistance and persecution from the leaders of the people.

July 4, 2011

2011-07-03T07:00:00.010-06:00

The Declaration of Independence.

Take time to read it, and consider the courage it took for the men who put their signature on this document. They called upon their faith and their patriotism and their belief in what was right to draft and sign this document that changed the face of the world in 1776 and continues to impact our lives today, here and around the world. They pledged their “Lives, Fortunes and sacred Honor” in the passionate belief that freedom was better than the King’s “absolute Tyranny over these States”. May we remember what it cost them and those who continue to defend our right to live free, and the rights of those around the world who are also seeking freedom from oppression of any sort.

As Christians, we too are called to pledge our "Lives, Fortunes, and Sacred Honor" in service of our Lord. See my newsletter this month for thoughts on this.

IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

Georgia:
Button Gwinnett
Lyman Hall
George Walton
North Carolina:
William Hooper
Joseph Hewes
John Penn

South Carolina:
Edward Rutledge
Thomas Heyward, Jr.
Thomas Lynch, Jr.
Arthur Middleton
Massachusetts:
John Hancock

Maryland:
Samuel Chase
William Paca
Thomas Stone
Charles Carroll of Carrollton

Virginia:
George Wythe
Richard Henry Lee
Thomas Jefferson
Benjamin Harrison
Thomas Nelson, Jr.
Francis Lightfoot Lee
Carter Braxton

Pennsylvania:
Robert Morris
Benjamin Rush
Benjamin Franklin
John Morton
George Clymer
James Smith
George Taylor
James Wilson
George Ross

Delaware:
Caesar Rodney
George Read
Thomas McKean

New York:
William Floyd
Philip Livingston
Francis Lewis
Lewis Morris

New Jersey:
Richard Stockton
John Witherspoon
Francis Hopkinson
John Hart
Abraham Clark

New Hampshire:
Josiah Bartlett
William Whipple

Massachusetts:
Samuel Adams
John Adams
Robert Treat Paine
Elbridge Gerry

Rhode Island:
Stephen Hopkins
William Ellery

Connecticut:
Roger Sherman
Samuel Huntington
William Williams
Oliver Wolcott
New Hampshire:
Matthew Thornton

Next week we'll return to meditations on the action of the Holy Spirit in the lives of men and women of the early church and gain inspiration from them.

Beggar at the Beautiful Gate

2011-06-26T07:00:00.003-06:00

First, a personal prayer of thanksgiving to God who triumphs over wind and fire, and thanks to firefighters putting themselves in danger to protect life and property at all the wildfires burning across the Southwest US, esp. outside Sierra Vista, AZ.

An interview was recently discovered and translated, dating from not long after the first Pentecost. Below is the transcript. (Acts 3)

Ezra: This is Ezra bar Amos reporting from the Temple in Jerusalem. I have with me Benoni bar Jonah. Tell me what happened, Benoni.

Ben: It was the hour of Mincha. Each day someone in my family brings me to the Beautiful Gate.

Ezra: Why does your family bring you here?

Ben: It started when I was a child. My mother would come to pray in the Court of Women for healing of my lameness. She left me at the entrance so I would not defile the Temple with my infirmity.

Ezra: So you are lame? You look perfectly healthy to me.

Ben: I was born with a deformed leg and foot. Until this afternoon I have never walked.

Ezra: Pardon me for being skeptical, but you were just leaping around inside and dancing.

Ben: Let me tell you what happened.

Ezra: You have been begging at the Beautiful Gate for years, then?

Ben: Yes, since I was a child. Today was different though. I was in my usual place. Most people don’t even look at me. Some toss a coin my way as a mitzvah before entering the Temple.

Ezra: Mitzvah is a good deed.

Ben: Yes. I saw a pair of men approaching. They were obviously not from Jerusalem.

Ezra: How do you know?

Ben: When you sit where I have for over 40 years, you know the local worshippers and you recognize the foreigners.

Ezra: Where were these men from?

Ben: I would say Galilee. Anyway, I held up my hand. “Perform a mitzvah, give alms for the lame beggar.”

Ezra: Quite a wheedling voice you have.

Ben: Yes, well, I won’t need it again.

Ezra: Then what happened.

Ben: The men stopped and looked at me. The older man said “Look at us.” I sat up straighter, expecting a coin…

Ezra: Well?

Ben: “I have no silver or gold, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus of Nazareth stand up and walk.”

Ezra: What?

Ben: That is what the big man said. Then he took my arm and pulled me to my feet. It felt like fire was running down my legs. When he released my arm, I thought I would fall. But I didn’t! I stood by myself! For the first time in my life!

Ezra: Pretty amazing.

Ben: Yes! I was so excited that I raced through the Court of Women into the Temple! Everyone heard me shouting. “Praise God! I am whole! I am healed!” I don’t really know what I said. It was exhilerating to walk and run on my own legs.

Ezra: What happened to the men?

Ben: I raced back to hug and thank them. People started running toward us. The men turned and walked toward Solomon’s Portico. I stayed beside them.

Ezra: Why did they go to Solomon’s Portico? I thought they were going to worship.

Ben: Maybe they were trying, like me, to get away from the crowd. Men were arguing. Some said, “It’s the beggar who always sits at the Beautiful Gate.” Others laughed at them. “It cannot be him. This man is not a cripple.”

Ezra: But the crowd stayed with you.

Ben: Yes. That’s when the older man, Peter is his name, turned to face them and started speaking. Gradually the crowd quieted down as he talked.

Ezra: What did he say?

Ben: I will never forget it. He started out with my own unspoken question. “You Israelites, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we had made him walk?”

Ezra: So it wasn’t these men who healed you?

Ben: No. Peter gave credit to the Living God. “The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has glorified his servant Jesus. You rejected the Holy and Righteous One and asked to have a murderer given to you, and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead.”

Ezra: Raised from the dead?

Ben: Even I have heard the rumors that the rabbi Jesus was seen by many in the city after he was crucified and buried. Peter went on to say, “To this we are witnesses. And by faith in his name, his name itself has made this man strong, whom you see and know; and the faith that is through Jesus has given him this perfect health in the presence of all of you.”

Ezra: Did you believe in this Jesus?

Ben: I do now.

Ezra: Did Peter say anything else?

Ben: Yes. He challenged the crowd to repent and quoted Moses who promised, “The Lord your God will raise up for you from your own people a prophet like me. Everyone who does not listen to that prophet will be utterly rooted out from the people.”

Ezra: That’s pretty harsh.

Ben: Peter said Jesus is the fulfillment of what Abraham meant when he said “In your descendants all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” Peter challenged the crowd saying, “When God raised up his servant, he sent him first to you, to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways.”

Ezra: Where are these men now?

Ben: They were arrested by the Captain of the Temple guard because the Sadducees ordered it.

Ezra: How does that make you feel?

Ben: I am sorry. I wanted to hear more from them. So did many of those in the crowd. I plan to seek out those who speak about Jesus and learn more.

Ezra: Thank you for your time. This is Ezra bar Amos reporting from Solomon’s Portico at the Temple in Jerusalem.

Benoni and 5000 others became followers of Jesus that day. Peter was moved by the Holy Spirit to heal the beggar and lives were changed. Peter did not take credit for the miracle, but pointed directly to Jesus and God. That is what we, too, should do.

Have you ever felt moved to do something in the name of God, but held back because you were afraid or embarrassed about what others might think? Lives are changed when we allow God to work through us.

Next weekend is the 4th of July when we look at how the Spirit moved in the establishment of our nation.

On July 10 we’ll see what happens when Peter testifies before the Sanhedrin, as we continue our look at this great story of the actions of the Holy Spirit in the lives of men and women of the early church and gain inspiration from them.

Peter's Sermon

2011-06-19T07:00:00.004-06:00

Happy Father's Day to all the men in our lives who have impacted us with love, care, guidance, discipline, and all the things that make us wise adults. Happy Father's Day to the men who have been a glimpse of God the Father to each of us. Give thanks for them.

We’re looking at the men and women, changed by the Holy Spirit, found in the Book of Acts. The first one we meet is Peter. Like many of us, Peter struggled with understanding his place in God’s plan.

As Jesus’ disciple, we see him boldly proclaiming “You are the Christ, Son of the Living God.” (Matthew 16:15), but the next minute he is rebuking and being rebuked by Jesus. (Matthew 16:22-23). We see him bravely stepping out on the water (Matthew 14:28) but sinking “when he saw the wind…he cried out, ‘Lord save me.’” (Matthew 14:30). He denies Jesus in the courtyard of the high priest (Matthew 26:69-75). However, when fishing after the Resurrection he “sprang into the sea” to get to Jesus on the shore. (John 21:7-8)

In Acts 1:15-22, he appears to have taken on leadership of the group when he suggests “one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us…must become with us a witness to this resurrection.”

It is Peter who addresses the crowd in Acts 2:14-17. His first words are a refutation of the rumor that he and the others are drunk. “Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning. No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel: ‘In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh…’”

He goes on to make an amazing and perhaps inflammatory claim. “Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with deeds of power, wonders, and signs that God did through him among you, as you yourselves know…you crucified and killed by the hands of those outside the law. But God raised him up, having freed him from death, because it was impossible for him to be held in its power...” (Acts 2:22-24)

Peter’s first sermon has an amazing affect on the crowd. Rather than turning on him as a blasphemer or madman, “those who welcomed his message were baptized, and that day about three thousand persons were added.” (Acts 2:41) The uneducated fisherman from Galilee was changed by the Holy Spirit and spoke with power not with fear. Unlike the vacillating, frightened man in the courtyard of Caiphas, Peter knew and believed “God has made him both Lord and Messiah, this Jesus whom you crucified.” (Acts 2:36)

Aren’t we like Peter? We can be bold and brave with our faith one minute, cowering and uncertain the next. What is different about Peter after the Resurrection and esp. after Pentecost?

Peter was transformed by the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. He spoke boldly and he remained in the community of faith. “Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having the goodwill of all the people.” (Acts 2:47)

We are not supposed to be alone in our walk with God. John Wesley once said, “There is no such thing as a solitary Christian.” Friends in faith are a living example of the lesson found in Ecclesiastes 4:9-12. “Two are better than one…For if they fall, one will lift up the other; but woe to one who is alone and falls and does not have another to help…A threefold cord is not quickly broken.”

I have a church family, I belong to church ministries, and I have a small group of close Christian women who I meet with regularly for support. They are important to my continuing Christian walk. We pray for each other when things go badly, “rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.” (Romans 12:15). Do you have Christian friends who can support you and encourage you?

God does not mean for us to ‘go it alone.’ That is why we were given the Holy Spirit and the community of faith. Like Peter, we vacillate. Like Peter, we can be bold and proclaim our faith. Brothers and sisters in Christ can help us grow in the Lord as we help them. We can be like the first converts who “devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.” (Acts 2:42)

Next week we will see what happened to Peter and John as they continued to act in the power of the Spirit of the Living God. Meanwhile, I challenge you to find a small group of fellow Christians to walk with on your journey. It will make a difference.

Check out the new "Prayer" page, too on this blog, and join in praying for those in need.

Pentecost

2011-06-12T07:00:00.002-06:00

Pentecost recalls an event familiar to most Christians. Familiar, yes, but still rather unfathomable. The author (Luke) begins the Book of Acts by recounting the days after the resurrection when Jesus “presented himself alive to [his followers].” He then “ordered them not to leave Jerusalem...‘you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.’” (Acts 1:1-5) Forty days after the Resurrection, Jesus ascends to heaven after telling His followers “You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:6-11) Obediently, the disciples returned to Jerusalem 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. [they devoted] themselves to prayer, together with certain women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, as well as his brothers.” (Acts 1:12-14)

The disciples had experienced a lot of change in the 40 days between Jesus’ resurrection and ascension. They had swung from the depths of despair at His death, to amazed, confused, joy and wonder at his resurrection. Everything seemed almost normal again. They took comfort from being with Jesus again in the familiar places, like the Sea of Galilee. Then, once again Jesus left them, in a most unexpected way-by ascending into the clouds! Wisely the men and women gathered in prayer to wait and see what was going to happen next. Like them, when we are in the midst of change in our lives, it is good to stop and pray for clarity.

The faithful followers gathered in that upper room could not have anticipated what was coming or how great a change it would cause in their lives and in the world as they knew it. It is all there in three short verses of Acts Chapter 2:
"When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them.”

It must have been pretty amazing, frightening, and certainly transformative for the disciples. While quietly praying, they are assaulted with the sound of a “violent wind” and “tongues, as of fire”. Recently we have seen violent winds changing lives and wreaking havoc. Fires, too, have been in the news, esp. in the southwest where they’ve scorched acres and acres of land and devoured homes in their path. (In fact this photo is of the effects of smoke from a fire in AZ on the air in Albuquerque-a couple hundred miles away.)

People, in the path of wildfires, talk about deciding what is important to them. “I have my quilts and sewing machine. He has his guns,” said one woman interviewed recently about what they would take if they had to evacuate ahead of a fire. Those who survive tornados, earthquakes, and tsunamis cling to loved ones and rejoice when a cherished memento or beloved pet is found safe. The many natural disasters in the news make me stop and consider what would be important enough for me to take if I needed to leave my home.

The result of any major life upheaval, whether caused by your own decision, a natural disaster, unforeseen illness or other cause, is that you are changed forever. The superficial and trivial are swept away. The wind and fire of Pentecost did the same thing for the disciples. No longer were they cowering in the upper room, wondering if they would be arrested and debating whether it would be best to return to the old, familiar fishing trade. Instead, these men and women were emboldened to address the crowd that gathered.

“All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability. Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. Amazed and astonished, they asked, ‘Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs—in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.’” (Acts 2:4-11)

The Holy Spirit is still acting in lives every day. Sometimes we experience a life transforming experience of the Holy Spirit on a renewal weekend like Cursillo, Walk to Emmaus, or Kairos. People who have gone through a life changing illness or disaster also know of the preserving and healing power of God’s Holy Spirit. What about the day to day “lives of quiet desperation” Thoreau talks about? The Holy Spirit can transform those lives, too.

How seriously do we take the action of God’s Spirit in our lives? Do people look at us “amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, ‘What does this mean?’” (Acts 2:12) Is my life any different because of Pentecost?

The liturgical season of Pentecost stretches from now to the beginning of Advent. It’s a time to examine what it means to live as a ‘Resurrection People’. Maybe it’s a time for you and me to rediscover what it means to be so filled with the Holy Spirit that “others sneered and said, ‘They are filled with new wine.’”

Over the next few weeks, I’ll be blogging thoughts about how the Holy Spirit changed the ordinary men and women in the Book of Acts. They left behind their old ways and stepped out in faith to preach the Good News. Come along and see if you have thoughts to add.

Transformation-Light to the Nations

2011-06-05T07:00:00.002-06:00

For the past 6 weeks, we’ve been on a journey, looking at transformation. We’ve traveled with Barbara Brown Taylor* and her book Gospel Medicine and with Edward Hays’ St. George and the Dragon and the Quest for the Holy Grail.* Along the way we’ve found some surprises-or at least I did. Transformation can only happen when we acknowledge we are broken and scarred. Transformation comes at a cost and often requires wrestling with God who sometimes seems to be absent. Messengers come to offer guidance and ultimately we are faced with judgment-the turning around of our lives. Slowly, eventually we start to understand that the scars are part of who we are and that it is in embracing them that we can become whole and holy people of God.

Responding to God’s call to Transformation turns our ‘world upside down.’ The things we thought important, somehow become less important. Men and women in the Bible learned this over and over again. Abram in Genesis becomes Abraham (father of many nations), but not in the way he anticipated. Naomi (Book of Ruth) thinks her life is over because her husband and sons are dead. Instead, God gives her a new family through the devotion of her daughter-in-law Ruth. Simon in the New Testament is given the new name of Petros (Peter the rock) by Jesus, but it is many years before he grasps what that means in terms of leading the fledgling church. Anyone you look at in the Bible and God’s servants today, will have similar stories of how the life they had planned did not turn out the way they expected. Instead it ended up much better, even though it was a walk through fire.

Taylor closes her book with a look at Mary and Joseph, two people whose ‘yes’ to God changed the world. She says that we can decide to say no when God visits you. “You smooth your hair and go back to…whatever it is that is most familiar to you and you pretend that nothing has happened. If you life begins to change anyway, you have several options…[ignore it…become angry…bitter]…or you can decide to say yes…to take part in a plan you did not choose, doing things you do not know how to do for reasons you do not entirely understand. You can take part in a thrilling and dangerous scheme with no script and no guarantees…Deciding to say yes does not mean that you are not afraid…it just means that you are not willing to let your fear stop you.”

Accepting the call of God to be transformed and carry the light of God into the world, however, is not something you do in your own strength. Too often we (and I speak for myself here) think that it’s all up to us to be “extraordinary: extra thoughtful, extra friendly, extra involved…you burn your candle at both ends…You begin to wonder whether it is God you are serving or only your own ego.” (Taylor)

Taylor points to Isaiah 49 as our reference when we feel burned out.

"Listen to me, O coastlands, pay attention, you peoples from far away! The LORD called me before I was born, while I was in my mother’s womb he named me. He made my mouth like a sharp sword, in the shadow of his hand he hid me; he made me a polished arrow, in his quiver he hid me away. And he said to me, ‘You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified.’ But I said, ‘I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity; yet surely my cause is with the LORD, and my reward with my God.’

And now the LORD says, who formed me in the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him, and that Israel might be gathered to him, for I am honored in the sight of the LORD, and my God has become my strength—he says, ‘It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the survivors of Israel; I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.’"(Isaiah 49:1-9)

The Servant in Isaiah knows God has called him, but he claims “I have labored in vain.” However God answers him by assuring the Servant that he will be “a light to the nations that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”

Jesus uses the same metaphor of being light in Matthew 5:14-16: "‘You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hidden. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.

Early in Edward Hay’s book, the dragon gives George “a hermitage mirror.” The Dragon says, “Look into it and be alone; be quiet and you will see the shadow side of yourself which is usually invisible. You will see that what you consciously deny is there.” At the end of the book, George is ready to leave his family to go with Igor, the dragon, on the ultimate quest. Before they leave, Igor again hands the mirror to George.

“‘You don’t want to forget this.’ I took the hermitage mirror in my hand remembering my fears when I first began to see my own darkness, the dark side hidden by my blindness. As I looked into it now, I saw the garbage-the sin, the weakness, the failings that were once unbearable. I could look into the mirror and say truthfully, ‘I love you.’ And this morning I could see that I also bore the darkness and weakness of vast multitudes, of those past and those to come. And as I look at all that darkness, I could say with complete conviction, ‘I love you.’

Igor smiled as he watched and said, ‘Turn it over, George, and look in the other side.’ Slowly I turned the mirror. There on the other side was the brilliance of ten thousand sunrises-the image blinded me with its intense beauty. And out of the center of the explosion of sunburst, a golden chalice appeared-the Holy Grail!
My whole being was saturated with light, and my heart throbbed like thunder as I felt my body expanding beyond the furthest reaches of the cosmos. ‘Yes, George,’ said a voice that came from everywhere. “Thou art that.” You, George are the Holy Grail!’”

If we are as Hays implies, the Holy Grail-the container that holds the Holy, then the world is indeed upside down. Taylor says, “God’s ‘yes’ depends on our own…God’s birth requires human partners-a Mary, a Joseph, a you, and a me-willing to believe the impossible, willing to claim the scandal…accepting the whole sticky mess and rocking it in our arms…surveying a world that seems to have run amuck and proclaiming over and over again to anyone who will hear that God is still with us, that God is still being born in the mess and through it, within and among those who will still believe what angels tell them…”

Taylor states, “it is too light a thing, you servants of God, that you should spend your strength doing your duty when what you have been called to do is to ignite, enflame, combust, burn, shine with the glory of the God who has chosen you, and given you to the world, bright lights to the end of the earth.”

Are we spending too much time doing what we think is our duty and not enough time being the Holy Grail that George saw in that hermitage mirror? Is your light under a bushel or on the lampstand to light the room around you?

*quotes from Gospel Medicine by Barbara Brown Taylor and St. George and the Dragon and the Quest for the Holy Grail by Edward Hays.

Transformation in Judgment

2011-05-29T07:00:00.003-06:00

Judgment is not a topic we like to talk about. In the Creeds of the Church we say “He will come again to judge the living and the dead,” but we don't really like to think about it. This past weekend there was much anticipation among some people that the end of the world was imminent. Of course it is not the first time a would-be prophet has predicted this. I am always reminded of Jesus’ own words, “You do not know the day or the hour.” Each new challenge or disaster makes us ask if the end is coming or even debate ‘when is the end coming.’ Instead of trying to figure out a time frame for God, we need to be living life to the best of our ability.

Barbara Brown Taylor* recounts the story of legislators in colonial New England. “A meeting of state legislators was plunged into darkness by a sudden eclipse, during which many of those present panicked and others moved to adjourn. But one of them said, ‘Mr. Speaker, if it is not the end of the world and we adjourn, we shall appear to be fools. If it is the end of the world, I should choose to be found doing my duty. I move you, sir, the candles be brought.’”

Brown reminds us that we are called each day to the same decision the Israelites in the wilderness had. “I have set before you this day life and good, death and evil,” says Moses. (Deuteronomy 30:15). Choosing to follow God brings change and transformation, but not necessarily in our time frame. In this blog series, we’ve looked at the way our ‘scars’ can glow, but that transformation often requires wrestling with God and/or waiting on God. There are messengers in our lives and there is judgment that brings us up short. Judgment can make us aware of how far we are from God. However, it is only a short step back. We simply have to take the time to be with God. According to Brown, “Our job is to watch for the one who come to us with healing in his wings and to open the door for him before he raises his hand to knock.”

One of the parables the Dragon tells George* is about a card game between the Devil and God. The stakes are control of the days of the week. “Game followed game, and God allowed the Devil to win six whole days!...A circle of angels who had watched the card game shook their heads in dismay. ‘Why, Lord God,’ they said, ‘did you let that cheating Devil win six of the seven days? What can you do with only one day?’

And God answered, ‘Oh, I’ve got special plans. I need only one day; that’s more than enough!’…‘All I need is one day for them to enjoy me! They can savor me when they enjoy leisure, when they rest. For it is only then that they can recognize and return the love that I have put into all creation.’

Judgment is not necessarily a bad thing. It is chance to turn and start over again. Brown says that “Whatever it is that our hearts yearn for, chances are that it has something to do with our vision of what it would be to mean for us to be made whole, to be transformed…more nearly the people God created us to be….Whatever happens to us while we are waiting, however dark it gets before it gets light…[we are in] good hands.”

I suggest you meditate on the questions she asks: “What are you waiting for, and how is it shaping your life? Are you waiting for certainty, for healing, for love?...for recognition, for retirement…peace and justice…?” Think about how the answer impacts your journey of transformation. Do you believe that we are in good hands?

*quotes from Gospel Medicine by Barbara Brown Taylor and St. George and the Dragon and the Quest for the Holy Grail by Edward Hays.

Transformation from Messengers

2011-05-22T07:00:00.001-06:00

Barbara Brown Taylor* suggests that “If God is silent, it may be because we are not speaking God’s language yet…God has taught us how to break the silence and has even given us the words. “Here I am.” They are the words we long to hear, but they are also the words God longs for us to speak—to stand before a sister, a brother, and say, “Here I am.”

How do we learn the language of God? From the beginning, God has sent messengers. Men like Jonah and Isaiah and Job and John the Baptist all point the way to God. Sometimes the messengers really are straight from heaven. Abraham’s visitors (as seen in this art by Lieferin), the ladder to heaven that Jacob sees, the messenger who comes to Samson’s mother are some, and of course Gabriel’s visit to Mary is an obvious angel messenger.

Very often the people in the Bible don’t like what the messengers have to say. In fact, Jesus sums up the response of most of us in the Parable of the Wicked Tenants (Matthew 21:33-41, Mark 12:1-12, or Luke 20:9-19). Taylor sums up the message of this story by saying, “We are God’s sharecroppers…We are expected to represent God’s interests, being as generous with each other as God is with us. We are not owners. We were never meant to be…[however] the harvest will take your breath away.”

Messengers from God very often demand change or warn that it is coming. We however, long for an easier way. We ask “for protection, for prosperity, for a God who will operate within the domestic boundaries we have set for ourselves, without doing anything to frighten us unnecessarily. We want to be chosen. We want to be saved, only gently, please, by gradual degrees, so that we can see where we are going…No one in his or her right mind asks to be attacked, frightened, wounded. And yet that is how it comes sometimes, the presence and blessing of God…the answer to all our prayers.” (Taylor)

She goes on to say, “In this dance, it is not God’s job to keep bad things from happening…God’s job is to stay present in them and to keep on being God…Sometimes the voice seems to come straight from heaven and sometimes it comes through the voices of strangers and friends.” Sometimes it comes in other ways, too.

Last week I watched the Jim Henson movie Dark Crystal. It was not at all what I expected from Jim Henson (no Muppets), but it was a moving metaphor for the need to embrace the scars or ‘dark side’ of our lives. According to the story, once there was one race on Thra, but when the Crystal was damaged, two races emerged. The Skeksis, dark and evil, are in control of the castle and the Crystal. Far away the Mystics, peaceful and gentle, live. The leader of the Mystics raises a Gefling, last of a race destroyed by the Skeksis. There is a prophecy that a Gefling will restore the Crystal and end the reign of the Skeksis. As the story moves toward its climax, Jen, the Gefling discovers that there is one other Gefling. Together they bring the Crystal shard to the castle. The Mystics are also moving toward the castle. We come to realize that the two races are really one people. When Jen returns the shard to the Crystal, it is transformed from a dark to bright crystal and the Mystics and Skeksis reunite as beings of light.

To me, the movie was a metaphor for embracing the parts of ourselves that we often try to hide or deny. Only when we accept our “scars”, as the Dragon does, can they glow and give us strength and confidence.

In St. George and the Dragon*, George is given books by the Dragon who says “Read between the lines and you will be surprised at what you find.” Then as always, the Dragon has a story about the ways God is revealed to us.

“[God is meeting with the Review Board committee of angels and archangels about creation.] ‘I feel,’ said God, ‘that it is time for me to speak more directly to my children on earth. Until now I have spoken to them by means of a flood, fire, rainbows and, of course, a quiet whisper in the heart of certain chosen ones. But I feel that they need to hear more directly from me.’ … [The angels ask why a new method is needed and great discussion arises. Until...] “The static stillness around the conference table was broken by the voice of one angel. ‘My Lord God, why not come to earth in the form of writing?’…‘Marvelous idea,’ shouted God, ‘marvelous…I shall come as word.!’… ‘But Lord God,’ said the bass-voiced angel, ‘which alphabet will you be?...You cannot discriminate and still be God.’ [God considers this and then God makes an announcement.] ‘I have decided-upon careful consideration of your suggestions and objections-I have decided to come into the world as ink!...Then I can reside in the letters of all alphabets…the possibilities are unlimited.’…God did indeed come into the world as ink. And the people of earth recognized the Divine Presence in the Hebrew letters of the Torah, in the Sanskrit…the Chinese characters…the Arabic letters…”

God’s messengers are everywhere. Messengers can be the people we meet, the books we read, the movies we watch, or they can be the scars we are working on transforming through these Easter season mediations. What messengers have you heard recently?

Next week, our journey of transformation comes up to the reality of ‘judgment’. See you then. The parable of the Tenants reminds us. “When the owner of the vineyard comes…‘He will put those wretches to a miserable death, and lease the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at the harvest time.’” Are we good sharecroppers or greedy wretches?
*quotes from Gospel Medicine by Barbara Brown Taylor and St. George and the Dragon and the Quest for the Holy Grail by Edward Hays.

Transformation when God seems Absent

2011-05-15T07:00:00.001-06:00

Transformation is about acknowledging our scars and wrestling with God in order to draw near to God’s grace and truth. So why does it sometimes feel like God is pulling away or absent? The road stretches out empty in front of you and there doesn't seem to be an oasis anywhere in sight.

It happened to the Chosen People-the Israelites-throughout the Bible. Sometimes they turned from God to serve idols of the tribes around them, sometimes it just seemed that God wasn’t there when they needed help. In Exodus, we learn “the people of Israel groaned under their bondage and cried out for help.” (Exodus 2:23) God seemed far away and the people thought that they were forgotten. After all, for 400 years Pharaoh “made their lives bitter with hard service, in mortar and brick, and in all kinds of work in the field.” (Exodus 1:14) We know that they were not really forgotten, because we know the rest of the story-we know how God "brought them us out of Egypt with a mighty hand." (Deuteronony 26:8)

In Isaiah God says, “For a brief moment I forsook you, but with great compassion I will gather you.” (Isaiah 54:7) The disciples felt abandoned after the Crucifixion, but Jesus comes and gathers them back with reassurance. While they still doubt and do not understand what has happened, He meets them where they are. Jesus comes to them in locked rooms, on the road to Emmaus, and on the seashore where he has fixed them breakfast. In each case, Jesus reassures the men and women that he will be with them.

Taylor* uses the analogy of a parent who leaves the children with an older sibling as babysitter. We (as Christians) are like that responsible sibling. We may feel like we’ve been orphaned because we cannot see or hear God. However, Jesus promises, “I will not leave you desolate…We will come and make our home with you [us].” (John 14:23) Taylor says this “is very good news for babysitters…there is someone else at home, in us and in those for whom we care, which means we do not have to be God-sized for them. We can be human-sized instead, with room within us for God to dwell and heal all our hearts from the inside out.” Instead of having to be in charge, we can be children together and hold each other's hands.

Edward Hays’ Dragon* tells George “The desert is not always a pleasant place. Our littleness and our inabilities usually come to the surface when we are left alone.” Then the Dragon tells a story that can point the way to finding God when it feels like there is only silence or emptiness.

“This is a story about the Our Father…Secure and comfortable, the Our Father was at peace with his spiritual life…then…a sense of hollowness and a lack of meaning became a shadow that followed him each time he went to pray…he read articles and attended conferences…sought out an Indian guru…his prayer life remained as barren as the Sahara. So in frustration, like so many others, he completely abandoned praying and became involved in social reform. [Even after living for a year in the Rocky Mountains as a hermit he was aware that his problem was still with him. He finds an old man in a cabin on his way down the mountain and shares his story of frustration with the old man, who told him] “You are a special and sacred word of God made flesh. To pronounce your own unique word is to pray the most beautiful and holiest of prayers…God doesn’t create things; God only creates prayers…To learn how to pray is to learn to pronounce your own sacred word-to speak yourself!...You must see yourself as you are. Everything about the original you is perfect. God does not have bad ideas…Speak your own word clearly and with dignity. That is what it means to submit to the will of God…when you are true to your special word, what Jesus said will be true in your life-he and the Father will come and make their dwelling place with you, always!”

Being transformed is about acknowledging that we have scars that need to glow, about wrestling with God to find the Truth that God speaks in and through us. Transformation is also about trusting that God is present even when it feels like God is absent. The disciples didn’t recognize Jesus immediately after his Resurrection. Sometimes we don’t realize God is with us, esp. in the dark and painful times of life. God met the Israelites in their bondage in Egypt, Jesus met the disciples in their despair and lonliness, God will meet us when we think that there is no where to go.

Taylor notes that “when we too are marooned on the sea in the middle of night, afraid that we have come to the end of something without any idea how to begin again…it is probably a good idea to pay attention to [strangers] since Jesus has a whole closet full of disguises…How does any of us know [‘it is the Lord’]?...by watching…by listening…by living in great expectation and refusing to believe that our nets will stay empty…for those with ears to hear, there is a voice that can turn all our dead ends into new beginnings.”
Where are you in being transformed by God? Hurting from your scars? Wrestling with God? Wondering where God is? Listen and you may just hear a messenger offering hope. See you next week when we’ll explore some of the messengers God uses.

Transformation of Grace

2011-05-08T07:00:00.003-06:00

Transformation begins with knowing that change is needed. We need to change our relationship with God in order to find real freedom. We cannot become whole and free on our own. In order to be transformed into new creations, we need Grace. That is something God loves to give away. From the beginning, God says “I will be your God and you shall be my people.”

Change often requires wrestling with God. The Dragon* tells George a parable about an up-to-date Jacob. Jake and God wrestle about all sorts of modern issues. At the end, “Jake limped away wounded…but not the loser; for like his namesake of old, he had “contended and prevailed.” And God? Well, God did not limp away from the contest, but skipped happily away into the sunrise.” The Dragon then explains that those on a quest “need to wrestle with the important questions in your life...with the self you see…and you must wrestle with God as well…You can’t wrestle God or confront the way you live with what you believe without being wounded.” The result of the wrestling, however, is to “hear the voice within that calls you to truth.” (This image of Jacob Wrestling is by Delacroix)

Barbara Brown Taylor* calls us to remember the many times God has come close to humankind with promises of grace. Taylor says, “The rainbow is God’s pure gift to us, a colorful corrective for anyone who believes that all the grace in the Bible is in the New Testament. It is not. The sacred story is full of grace from the very beginning, although we have always had a perverse way of fighting it off. It is almost as if we cannot stand so much good news.”

The rainbow is only the first of many promises of Grace. Some Bible promises come with name changes, signifying a transformed life. Abram is promised descendents as the stars. His name is changed to Abraham (father of a multitude) to foreshadow his transformed life even before Isaac is born. Jacob wrestles with God. His name is changed from Jacob (Supplanter) to Israel (Strives with God).

Many Bible promises of grace follow God’s actions on behalf of the people. After the Children of Israel leave Egypt, God reminds them, “You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now therefore, if you obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession out of all the peoples. Indeed, the whole earth is mine, but you shall be for me a priestly kingdom and a holy nation.” (Exodus 19:4-5) The people do not have to do anything except keep the covenant and they (and you and I) are as the KJV says “a peculiar treasure unto [God] above all people.”

That’s a pretty big transformation-from slaves to God’s own treasure! And we are heirs of that promise. There is an even greater Grace found in the New Testament that we are recipients of. “’Here,’ God said with the gift of a son-the one thing God had to give that was more precious to him than himself. ‘You don’t have to come to me where I am anymore. I will come all the way to you where you are, through this beloved child’…It is God’s promise from before time and forever, spelled out this time in flesh and blood.” [Taylor]

In the New Covenant, we come full circle. Paul claims we have “this ministry by the mercy (grace) of God…for what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.” (I Corinthians 4:1-5) As God’s treasured possession through Grace, we are to become servants to one another.

The question before us is; are we willing to accept the grace offered and be transformed? Am I willing to wrestle with God to hear the truth, which may change me and make me into a servant?

*quotes from Gospel Medicine by Barbara Brown Taylor and St. George and the Dragon and the Quest for the Holy Grail by Edward Hays.

Transformation-Broken & Scarred

2011-05-01T07:00:00.001-06:00

Easter is the season that reminds us that all things are possible with God. For the next few weeks, until Pentecost, I’ll be meditating on Gospel Medicine by the Rev. Barbara Brown Taylor and Edward Hays’ book, St. George and the Dragon and the Search for the Holy Grail. Can this Easter season be a time of transformation?
Transformation starts with acknowledging that change is needed. It involves being freed and healed from the scars of the past. In Gospel Medicine, the Rev. Barbara Brown Taylor says that “the way you recognize Christ-and his followers-is not by their muscles but by their scars.” That is what makes Christianity truly Good News. We are “to follow [our] leader into the scariest, most dangerous places in the world armed with nothing but a first aid kit, because, like him, [we] are not fighters but physicians-wounded healers-whose credentials are [our] hurt places.”
At the beginning of St. George and the Dragon and the Search for the Holy Grail, George feels called to go on a quest. Almost immediately he meets is a dragon, who is old and scarred. “I noticed that the dragon’s body was covered with old wounds. Whenever the dragon breathed forth fire to light the path…the wounds glowed golden-red in the dark.”

George asks about this phenomenon. The dragon responds, “These old wounds are the source of my power and my insights…as we journey through life we have been injured…the possible list of the guilty is long. Each wound has the power to talk…with crooked voices because of the scars.”

In order to be the “wounded healers” that Taylor talks about, we have to accept that we are broken and scarred. In the post-Easter story of Jesus’ appearance on the road to Emmaus, He is known in the “breaking of the bread.” We are known as followers of the Risen Christ in the way we are “broken bread and poured out wine” to each other as Oswald Chambers says. (My Utmost for His Highest)

We have a choice, though. We don’t have to change and follow. The dragon tells George a story that illustrates our choice. “Once upon a time [in] a great prison” the men form an “Escape Committee” that is actually sanctioned by the warden. “The warden’s ingenious plan made life inside the prison better for everyone. He and he guards did not have to worry about anyone escaping; life and work inside the prison went on without trouble…the prisoners, once clouded by despair, now lived with a sense of hope and promise. Their meager, imprisoned lives now had meaning.”

The First Letter of Peter issues a call to transformation for all who seek to follow Christ. “Rid yourselves, therefore, of all malice, and all guile, insincerity, envy, and all slander. Like newborn infants, long for the pure, spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow into salvation— if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good…, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (I Peter 2:1-4)

Peter warns that Christ is "A stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall." (I Peter 2:8). Taylor notes, “The Gospel is not pablum. It is powerful stuff…The peace of God is worth anything it takes to get there…in Christ God has given us someone worth fighting about, and someone with enough clout to end our fighting, for his word is like fire, like a hammer that breaks rocks into pieces.”

Those who choose freedom and transformation are broken. They become what Peter calls “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” (I Peter 2:9) Jesus offers freedom in the brokenness of life. We find wholeness when our scars glow.

The dragon asks George, “How many people do you know who settle for something less than freedom?” Are you settling for something less than real freedom?

*quotes from Gospel Medicine by Barbara Brown Taylor and St. George and the Dragon and the Quest for the Holy Grail by Edward Hays.

Easter Triumph

2011-04-24T07:00:00.001-06:00

This morning we celebrate the true Truimph of Christ. The women sadly come to the tomb, prepared only to offer a final anointing of their Master and Teacher. They are met by angels announcing “He is not here. He is risen!”

Our truiumphant Easter anthems ring out in churches this morning with trumpets and “Alleluias.” The ancient greeting is exchanged again and again:

Alleluia! The Lord is Risen!
He is Risen indeed! Alleluia!

The Resurrection of Jesus Christ transformed the world. It transformed the disciples and each person they talked to. As it says in the Book of Acts (17:6) “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also.”

Although we are ending our Walk Through Lent, we never end our Walk with Jesus. I invite you to come back and meditate with me, throughout the Easter Season, on some ways that lives are transformed by Christ.

Easter Blessings!

Triumph of Christ

2011-04-17T07:00:00.001-06:00

Palm Sunday seemed to be the ultimate triumph of Jesus of Nazareth. He entered the city of Jerusalem to shouts of acclaim. “Blessed is he who comes in the Name of the Lord,” the crowds shouted. Jesus was welcomed as a conquering King. Many churches will re-enact the Palm Sunday procession today. Some with palms in church, others with an actual donkey and costumed actors. It is a vivid reminder of the way the people of Jerusalem welcomed Jesus. The event has been replayed since at least the 4th century and depicted in art in many ways, including this Russian icon from the 15th century.

The crowds expect God to act in a mighty way. God is victorious and will overcome the Romans, like the Egyptians generations before. But, wait, his triumphal entry is on a donkey, not a warrior’s horse. Thus Jesus fulfills the prophecy from Zechariah 9:9 “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jesusalem! Lo, your king comes to you: triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on an ass, on a colt the foal of an ass.”

Jerusalem, capital and religious center of Israel welcomes Jesus as conqueror and Messiah. Within the city walls, and above the city homes stood the Temple. This was not Solomon’s Temple, destroyed by the Assyrians. This was the Temple of limestone built by Herod the Great. He doubled the size of the edifice and according to John 2:20 “took 46 years to build [it].” The Jewish priests were forced to live with the Fortress of Antonia on the north side of the Temple. This housed the Roman cohert and overlooked the holy precincts. They worked hard to maintain a working relationship with the Roman authorities, in order to preserve the status quo and safety of the nation.

Just as there is a Palm Sunday procession on Palm Sunday, many churches also read one of the Passion Gospel accounts during the service. This reminds us that there is but a short step from the triumphal entry to betrayal, conviction, and the Cross.
Jesus threatened the balance of power. As Caiphas prophecied “it is expedient for you that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation should not perish.” (John 11:49-50) He was articulating the concerns of the Sanhedrin. The leaders found a traitor in Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus for “thirty pieces of silver.”

Jesus is arrested, tried by the Sanhedrin, Herod, and finally sent to Pilate for judgement. Trumped up charges are presented: “They began to accuse him, saying, ‘We found this man perverting our nation, and forbidding us to give tribut to Caesar, and saying that he himself is Christ a king.’” (Luke 23:2. Pilate bows to the political necessity and orders Jesus put to death when the crowds cry out to “crucify him.”

The Roman government used crucificion as a punishment for notorious crimes and deterent to criminals. Outside of most large cities were places for crucificion. North of Jerusalem, on a small hill called Golgotha the uprights for this punishment stood. Criminals were forced to carry their own cross bar to their place of execution. Jesus, too, after he was whipped and beaten and mocked (Matthew 27:27-31), had to shoulder the cross and carry it to Golgotha (Calvary). Crucificion is a slow and painful process as death gradually comes from suffocation when the victim is unable to lift himself up to breathe. In order to hasten death, the legs were sometimes broken. Those crucified with Jesus had their legs broken, but his were not. (John 19:31-37)

After he died, Joseph of Arimathea “took courage” went to Pilate and asked for the body. He and Nicodemus, another member of the Sanhedrin, buried Jesus in his tomb in a Garden. (John 19:38-42). It is probable that as a wealthy trader, as well as member of the Jewish council, Joseph was known to Pilate. In class we discussed whether it took more courage for Joseph to go to Pilate or to take a stand against the Sanhedrin. What do you think?

It would seem that the triumph of Jesus of Nazareth was short lived and that he was doomed to be forgotten as were the other would-be Messiahs of the era. Think about these questions from the class.

Jesus fulfills the prophecies of the Old Testament. In what ways are we blind to the prophets among us?
The priests hand Jesus over to the Roman authorities. Pilate tries to pass the blame back to the people who respond ‘Crucify him’. Would you have shouted with the crowd or not?

We know the rest of the story, but his disciples did not. They were devastated. Next Sunday we celebrate the real Triumph of Jesus, the Christ of God. However, before we get to Easter, we have to walk the events of Holy Week. If your church has services during the week commemorating Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, you may want to take advantage of the opportunity to walk with Jesus the last few days of his life. Or maybe you can find time yourself to read through the Passion in each of the four Gospels. Meditate on the mighty acts of God who turned the world upside down.

God's Covenant Meal

2011-04-10T07:00:00.001-06:00

During the class this week, we discussed the words ‘covenant’ and ‘testament.’ They are similar, yet different. According to a dictionary of Biblical usage, the word ‘testament’ is more often used in relation to dealing between humans, while ‘covenant’ is used for agreements between God and humanity. Both are from the Hebrew "berith."

A covenant is more than a contract. A covenant established by God is not negated by our failure or defaulting on our part of the agreement. God's blessing will still happen-aren't we glad that is true! This is true because God's covenants are based in Grace. Our response should be similar to Psalm 51, which is often prayed (read or sung) during Lent to remind us of our need to repent.

With the Psalmist, we pray, "Have mercy on me, O God, according to thy steadfast love...Against thee, thee only, have I sinned...Hide thy face from my sins...and blot out all my iniquities...Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me...The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise."

Ancient peoples often sealed a treaty or covenant with a meal. One example is the meal Jacob and Laban share (Genesis 21:51-54) God also covenanted with God’s people again and again. Examples are the Rainbow covenant in Genesis 9:8-17 and the meal Abraham shared with the 3 visitors (angels) in Genesis 18. Joseph shared a meal with his brothers after he was reconciled with them.

Passover is the most important of the Old Testament covenant meals. Exodus 12 tells the institution of the Feast of Passover. Despite 9 different plagues, Pharaoh refuses to let the Children of Israel leave Egypt. Finally, God instructs Moses to tell the Israelites to mark their doorframes with the blood of a lamb and to prepare a feast to be eaten with “your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand.” The Angel of the Lord comes to Egypt and the “Lord smote the all first born in the land of Egypt…there was not a house where one was not dead.” However, the families of the Hebrews are spared because as the Lord promised, “when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague shall fall upon you.”

From that time forward, the Jewish people have repeated the Passover meal every year. It is now a week long remembrance, culminating with the Seder meal. It usually falls near Easter. This year, Passover starts on April 19. In the class on Thursday, we did a slightly simplified Seder. There are two parts to a Seder-the symbolic, one could say liturgical, part and the meal itself. It was during this symbolic remembrance that Jesus instituted the Eucharist. (Matthew 26:26-29, Mark14:17-25, Luke 22:19-20) During class we repeated the ancient symbolic remembrance of the Passover event. There are four distinct parts to the Seder:

The First Cup, of Thanksgiving, followed by the hand washing and breaking of the first matzo and hiding the Afikomen.

The Second Cup of Haggadah or Telling (of the events of Passover and the symbolism of the foods) and the Blessing of the Foods

The Third Cup, of Redemption, where the hope for Messiah (for the Jewish people) is expressed with the chair for Elijah. This is when the hidden matzo (Afikomen) is found and shared.

The Fourth Cup of Melchizedek and Blessing ends the remembrance part of the Seder. In the context of a family gathering, a real meal would be shared then. On Saturday, I was privileged to be at Epiphany Episcopal in Socorro where we also recreated the Seder and then had lunch.

All of us at the class on Thursday and in Socorro found it very moving to participate in recreating the meal. Everyone agreed that the Eucharist or Communion itself will be more meaningful this Sunday after experiencing the Seder. If you get the chance, participating in a Seder will help you understand more clearly what our Lord meant when he said “this is my Body” and “this is my Blood.”

I close today with the ancient blessing that ends the Seder: "The Lord bless thee and keep thee: The Lord make His face to shine upon thee and have mercy on thee! May the Lord lift up His countenance upon thee and give thee peace!” To which all respond “Amen, Amen, Amen.”

Next week we will look at the Triumph of Christ in Jerusalem as we enter Holy Week.

Kingship of Christ

2011-04-03T07:00:00.001-06:00

What words, thoughts, feelings come to mind when you think of “king,” “ruler,” “soveriegn”? What about the term “monarchy”?

The southern part of Israel, called Judea, was the homeland of the historic kings of Israel, starting with David. Although the kingdom divided into Judah in the south and Israel in the north around 922BC, the people still remembered the glorious days of David. Messiah, prophecied and longed for, would restore the Kingdom and usher in a new and glorious reign.

Even though the area of Judea was given by Herod the Great to his son Archelaus, Rome exiled the inept king to Gaul because too many riots and incidents of civil unrest plagued his ten-year rule. Rome installed a procurator to keep the fragile peace. Pontius Pilate was installed in the year 26CE. The Roman presence was hated and the Roman fortress of Antonia was a constant reminder of the Roman occupation, overlooking the Temple itself.

As Jesus moved into Judea, toward the capital, he knew he would be challenged. He confronted the priests and rulers of the people with his parables and was perceived as a threat to the status quo. Some of these conversations are found in Luke 20:1-41.

Bethlehem is where it all started, in a stable 30 some years earlier. It is not recorded in the Gospels that Jesus ever returned to Bethlehem, but the town was important to all Jews as the ancestral home of King David. It was also the prophesied birthplace of Messiah. Jesus’ birth there was a link to the lineage of David-the once and future king. (Matthew 1:1-18) This postcard image from 1886 is an artist's rendering of the town at that time.

Bethlehem is a little town nestled in the hills five miles south of Jerusalem. It was closely linked to the capital. The name Bet Leven means House of Bread and the wheat grown here was used for the shewbread in the temple. The nearby hills were home to the temple shepherds and their flocks. The little fat-tailed sheep were raised to provide the lambs for the temple sacrifices. The animals for the sacrifice had to be entirely white, without any spot of another color. During lambing season, the numerous hill caves were used to shelter the ewes and newborn lambs from the chill spring winds.

North of Bethlehem lies Bethany. This small village is almost a suburb of Jerusalem. The name means House of Dates and indeed there are many date palm trees in the area. Scribes and some temple priests made their home in Bethany because it was close to Jerusalem and the duties of the temple, without the dust and crowds of the larger city. Many wealthy families lived in the estates in and around the town.

Bethany was home to friends of Jesus-Lazarus and his sisters. It is not surprising that he stayed here while visiting Jerusalem. His raising of Lazarus offered proof of his supreme power and was a threat to the rulers of the day. (John 11:1-44 )45-53. This miracle was the catalyst that convinced the Jewish leaders that Jesus had to die.

During class this week we had a very lively discussion, especially about “protecting the vineyard” (i.e. church, tradition, faith). It is a struggle to know how to be ‘good stewards’ of the vineyard. The priests of Jesus’ time were trying to protect the faith and life of Israel. Caiphas prophecied, “it is expedient for you that one man should die for the people and that the whole nation should not perish.” In his efforts to maintain the peace with Rome and preserve the nation of Israel, he was willing to hand over this troublemaking rabbi to death. We talked about the difficulty of determining where, when, and how to stand up for God vs. trusting God to bring everything to the proper conclusion. What are your answers to these questions?

The parable of the vineyard was a warning to the religious leaders of Israel. Are there ways you try to protect you corner of the vineyard?

Being of the house of David was an honor to the ancient Jews. How much greater honor is it to be of the ‘house and lineage’ of Christ?

Where is Christ’s reign found in your ministry?

Next week we will look at the Passover and Last Supper.

Power of Christ

2011-03-27T07:00:00.003-06:00

This week we visit Samaria and Jericho and look at the Power of Christ manifest in changing lives in these not quite Jewish areas of Israel.

What does power mean to you? A look at the news recently gives us a look at the 'power of nature' and the abuse of power by some world leaders. There is also power in the form of energy, accomplishment, doing good and being an effective leader.

In class this week, we looked at some sayings about power:
"Courage is fear that has said its prayers." – Dorothy Bernard
"Failure is success if we learn from it." – Malcolm Forbes
"A goal without a plan is just a wish." – Antoine de Saint-Exupery
"Once God has spoken; twice have I heard this; that power belongs to God." – Ps. 62:11
"Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever…" – Matthew 6:13
"And they were astonished at his teaching for his word was with authority." – Luke 4:32

Read through these and see which one speaks to you, then consider why you identify with that 'power quote'. Jesus is the "power of God unto salvation," according to Paul (Romans 1:16). He demonstrated power in what we might call the Pseudo-Jewish areas of Samaria and in Jericho.

Between Galilee and Judea is an area that is not Gentile, but also not Jewish. Around 922BC Israel split into two parts: Judah and Israel. Only 200 years later, 722BC, the Kingdom of Israel—the northern part of the country—fell to the Assyrians. A portion of the Israelites were deported and peoples from around the Assyrian Empire were resettled in the area. These hybrid settlers established a form of Judaism that incorporated worship of the Greek gods as well as Yahweh. This is Samaria.

Samaria was an area to be avoided as unsafe by observent Jews. The residents built their own temple on Mt. Gerazim around 500BC. The competition with the 'true' Temple in Jerusalem was cause for long-standing emnity between Samaritans and Jews. Although it was destroyed during the Macabbean revolt in 110BC, Samaritans still worshipped in the ruins.

The city of Sychar was originally called Shechem. The great patriarch Jacob settled briefly almost 4000 years before Christ. Jesus’ encounter with the Woman of Samaria (pictured here by Anselmi) at that well would change her life forever. (John 4:1-42) In the story of the 10 lepers who were healed in the area of Samaria, (Luke 17:11-19) the only one who was thankful was a Samaritan.

Jericho was another town that was not really Jewish. There is evidence of a town on the site of Jericho from 9000BC. The location gave the town a strategic advantage on the NW shore of the Jordan. It underwent numerous conquests, shown by layers of razing and rebuilding. It fell to the Assyrians, like Samaria, and was repopulated by Cyrus the Great of Persia when Jewish exiles were allowed to return in 539BC. Below are ruins of one of the early portions of Jericho.

Jesus travelled through Jericho on his way to Jerusalem and healed Bartimaeus, the blind beggar, who showed great persistence (Luke 18:35-43). Zacchaeus, the ‘wee little man’ of Sunday school fame, lived in Jericho as well. (Luke 19:1-10)
Here are the class discussion questions to consider:
Jesus tells the Woman of Samaria “I am he.” Why did he choose a despised, foreign woman to reveal his Messiahship?
Zacchaeus and Bartimeaus were persistent. Do you give up on God too soon?
Do you trust the power of Christ in your ministry?

Next week we will take a brief jog south of Jerusalem.