June 11: Pentecost 2: Psalm 33

 This week, the Second Sunday after Pentecost, we consider God’s call. In Genesis 12:1-9 we hear how God calls Abram. While living in Haran, Abram (not yet Abraham) hears, Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. The Epistle from Romans (4:13-25) points out that it was Abram’s faith that justified him, not what he did. His faith “was reckoned to him as righteousness”…[faith] will be reckoned to us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.

The Gospel (Matthew 9:9-13, 18-26) draws both the call and faith together into one story in the call of Matthew. As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth; and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he got up and followed him. In the same reading, we are told of the faith of the leader of the synagogue and of a woman suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years. Both seek Jesus’ healing, and both have their faith rewarded with renewed life. Jesus tells the woman, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.” Both the woman and child are restored to the community.

How does Psalm 33 fit into this message of call and faith-filled responses to God? It is a song of praise to God declaring, the word of the Lord is right, and all his works are sure…the loving-kindness of the Lord fills the whole earth…the Lord’s will stands fast for ever, and the designs of his heart from age to age…happy the people he has chosen to be his own.

Each of us is created and called by God. The Psalm promises, Great blessings belong to those who have the Lord as their God! He chose them to be his own special people. The God who created everything, including us, loves each of us and we are each special to God.

How might I live this week in a way that acknowledges the special, chosen-ness of myself and everyone I meet?

Is there something God is calling me to do?

Sometimes, I like to find a Bible coloring page for a story. It can help me think about the story as I color it. If you like to do that, you can use the image below (or download) for the Call of Matthew to think about how Jesus’ call changed Matthew’s life, and perhaps how God is calling you.  

Psalm 33:1-12 1 Rejoice in the Lord, you righteous; it is good for the just to sing praises. 2 Praise the Lord with the harp; play to him upon the psaltery and lyre. 3 Sing for him a new song; sound a fanfare with all your skill upon the trumpet. 4 For the word of the Lord is right, and all his works are sure. 5 He loves righteousness and justice; the loving-kindness of the Lord fills the whole earth. 6 By the word of the Lord were the heavens made, by the breath of his mouth all the heavenly hosts. 7 He gathers up the waters of the ocean as in a water-skin and stores up the depths of the sea. 8 Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all who dwell in the world stand in awe of him. 9 For he spoke, and it came to pass; he commanded, and it stood fast. 10 The Lord brings the will of the nations to naught; he thwarts the designs of the peoples. 11 But the Lord’s will stands fast for ever, and the designs of his heart from age to age. 12 Happy is the nation whose God is the Lord! happy the people he has chosen to be his own! (Book of Common Prayer)

Rejoice in the Lord, good people! It is only right for good people to praise him. 2 Play the lyre and praise the Lord. Play the ten-stringed harp for him. 3 Sing a new song to him. Play it well and sing it loud! 4 The Lord’s word is true, and he is faithful in everything he does. 5 He loves goodness and justice. The Lord’s faithful love fills the earth. 6 The Lord spoke the command, and the world was made. The breath from his mouth created everything in the heavens. 7 He gathered together the water of the sea. He put the ocean in its place. 8 Everyone on earth should fear and respect the Lord. All the people in the world should fear him, 9 because when he speaks, things happen. And if he says, “Stop!”—then it stops. 10 The Lord can ruin every decision the nations make. He can spoil all their plans. 11 But the Lord’s decisions are good forever. His plans are good for generation after generation. 12 Great blessings belong to those who have the Lord as their God! He chose them to be his own special people. (Easy to Read Version)

 

Lent 2: Go in Faith

During Lent, we are looking at the Book of Ruth and some of the Sunday readings (RCL) to see what insights they can give us for living the Way of Love. Last week, we saw that what the world calls “rest” is nothing like God’s Rest. This week, we consider the imperative to Go.

Naomi, now a destitute widow, decides to ‘return with her daughters-in-law from the country of Moab, for she had heard in the country of Moab that the Lord had had consideration for his people and given them food.’ (Ruth 1:6)

She is setting out on a hazardous journey in the hope of finding a better life, or at least hoping to die at home. When you have nothing to lose, it can be easier to just Go. We hear stories all the time of women and men, at the end of their rope, who started some new business or turned their lives around in some fantastic way. There are examples of this in the Bible, too.

In the Old Testament reading (Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18) this week, we hear of God reiterating, again, his promise to Abram. “The word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, “Do not be afraid, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” Abram is not convinced, pointing out that he has no child to inherit all that he has. God insists, “I am the Lord who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to possess.” Then God and Abram enact a covenant ceremony with ‘a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.’ Only then does Abram accept the promise.

Ruth and her family had inhabited that ‘Promised Land’ along with the other Children of Israel after the Exodus. Then, as we saw last time, they left. Now it is time for her to get up, leave Moab, and Go. It is time to return to that homeland. For things to change, we sometimes must take the first step. Perhaps like Naomi, we learn of an opportunity. She “had heard in the country of Moab that the Lord had had consideration for his people and given them food.” The famine has ended, and she decides to return to Bethlehem.

Sometimes we find ourselves rather adrift in our lives. There is no clear sign, no obvious promise of what will happen. We don’t really know where God is calling us to Go. Psalm 27 provides guidance about discerning the next step. It’s all about trusting God. The Psalmist pleads, “Hearken to my voice, O Lord, when I call; have mercy on me and answer me.” God’s answer is simple. ”Seek my face.” And the Psalmist responds, “Your face, Lord, will I seek. Hide not your face from me, nor turn away your servant in displeasure. You have been my helper; cast me not away; do not forsake me, O God of my salvation.” (Psalm 27:10-13)

Like Naomi, we may respond, “Show me your way, O Lord; lead me on a level path…What if I had not believed that I should see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living! O tarry and await the Lord's pleasure; be strong, and he shall comfort your heart; wait patiently for the Lord.” (Psalm 27:15, 17-18)

We should look for God before we Go anywhere. God promises that ‘all things work for good for those who love God’ (Romans 8:28) We have to step out in faith, and part of that faith is knowing that God is right there with us. 

Ann Voskamp, author and blogger, offers a series of Lent daily words. On March 11, she reminded readers that we must ‘Give up trying to be enough and simply give everything to Him who makes little loaves, little people, little hope into more than enough.

Naomi had little hope. We know from the Book of Ruth that God abundantly multiplied and blessed that hope. Abram also had little hope for an heir. Yet, God promises ‘your reward shall be very great’. Abram accepted God’s assurance that he would have heirs. Naomi stepped out in faith believing that there would be a better life back in Bethlehem. The Psalmist turns to God, expecting help and protection. Each of them Go in faith. They take a step and then another one. That's how journeys start.

As Ann Voskamp says, we can ‘Give up everything to Him who can make little things of little hope into more than enough’. We can Go. We can believe God will fulfill ‘the plans I have for you…plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future’. (Jeremiah 29:11)

Where is God asking you to Go?

Have you, like Abram and the Psalmist, confronted God about how you should Go forward?

What are the plans God is working to prosper in you?

Hagar is Lost

Last week we looked at how Hagar’s attitude affected her decisions and her journey. When we neglect to  the proper planning for our journey (to the store or in our life decisions) we can find ourselves at a dead end. Remember the steps of any decision or journey:


1. Decide where we are going.
2. Map the route to the goal.
3. Gather information.
4. Set out and see results.
5. Reevaluate your journey.

Hagar decided to use her pregnancy to become, if not Abram’s wife, at least a more highly favored member of Abram’s tribe. Her steps to accomplish this met with resistance from Sarai. Hagar found herself changing her route to the goal. She decided to run away, but she didn’t map out the path or get any advice about where to go. Hagar is pregnant, angry, and feeling overlooked. She leaves Abram’s camp and heads out. Perhaps she was plans on going back to Egypt or just blindly running away because “Sarai dealt harshly with her.” Because Hagar didn’t wait to really make a plan, she became lost.

Hagar is feeling very sorry for herself, saying, “I thought Abram would come after me because I’m carrying his child. I’ve traveled for lo these many days and he hasn’t come to get me. What am I going to do? If I go back to Egypt, I’ll be sold as a slave again and my child as well. I can’t crawl back to Abram, Sarai will yell at me and be cruel.”

She realizes that her unplanned journey has gone badly and doesn’t know how to get herself out of the mess she is in. Hagar is definitely re-evaluating her steps on the journey, but cannot see a way to map out a solution. However, she is not really lost, because, “The angel of the LORD found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur.”

To put her trip in perspective, the “Wilderness (or Desert) of Shur” is the northern part of the Sinai Peninsula. There was a caravan route to Egypt that went through Shur. Many scholars identify the location of this scene as near Kadesh-barnea, 50 or 60 miles south of Beersheba where Abram often encamped.

She comes to this oasis and something amazing happens to this slave from Egypt. The God of her master finds her! When we are at the end of our ropes, God often steps in. In The Sound of Music, Mother Superior tells Maria “when God closes a door, He opens a window.” Sometimes, though, we find it hard to see the window until we have nowhere else to look.

Are you struggling with what seems to be a dead end? Why not step back and look around to see if you can see the window God has left open?

Sometimes we are stuck, like these cats in the baby crib, because we can't see beyond the bars to the opening at the top. When I have trouble seeing that open window or ‘thinking outside the box’, I sometimes draw an actual box and start putting down all sorts of ideas, even those that seem crazy or far out. Something about the act of drawing engages another part of the mind and new ideas come up. Maybe one of them isn’t so crazy after all…

This week we saw that even when Hagar thought she was lost, the “angel of the LORD found her.” Not only did the heavenly messenger find Hagar, the angel shared encouragement from God. Next week we’ll look at what happens when we listen to God’s advice. See you then.

The Journey Begins

We are at the start of a new year and a new decade. Like me, you may have made resolutions for the direction of your journey this year. It’s easy to make a resolution, but if I don’t plan how to follow through and get there, it is easy to get lost. Over this next year, I’m inviting you to join me in a journey of discovery or re-discovery of Biblical women and men who can mentor us, even in our very different world, if we let them. Between now and mid February we’ll explore what Hagar can teach us about journeys and planning.

Hagar was the Egyptian slave maid of Sarah. She was one of the pieces of ‘property’ gained by Abraham in Egypt when he allowed Pharaoh to take his wife into the royal harem. A few years later, back in Canaan, Sarah decides she must use Hagar as a surrogate mother to give Abraham a child. However, when Hagar conceives, Sarah becomes jealous. She treats Hagar cruelly and the maid runs away.

Hagar is one model of someone who was disenfranchised from her people, as a slave; hated by her mistress, for her fertility; angry at God for allowing her exile. She did not plan prudently, but we will see over the next few weeks that God did not abandon her and doesn’t abandon us, no matter how poorly we plan.

This week we’ll look at the basic steps to take when planning a journey of any kind. Today we’ll see that whether it’s a trip to the grocery, a cruise, determining what job to take, or a new direction for your life, the steps are the same. All are journeys and all require some planning. Although you might not think through the process for something as simple as a trip to the grocery, you do review the steps in your mind.

First we have to decide where we are going—grocery, Alaska, new career, diet, etc.

Then we have to map our route to get to the goal—lists of what we need and streets to get to the store, airplanes and ships or driving to Alaska, schooling and resumes to get a new career, buying healthy foods and joining a gym to help our diet..

This means we must get advice from friends and experts—which store has the best sales, what should we see in Alaska, how to get the best preparation for a new job, is a trainer needed for weight loss…?

We set out on the journey and see results—buying the food needed, taking off for an Alaskan vacation, sending resumes, or starting our diet.

After we’ve been on the journey for a time, we need to re-evaluate our goal. This often happens naturally. We see something else on sale at the store or hear of a unique side trip on the vacation. Maybe a job offer comes from an unexpected source or we miss a week of exercise and diet because of visitors.

Every so often, however, we should stop and really look at our journey. Is the store we habitually shop at really the best for our needs? Would we take another Alaskan tour? Is our career choice or employer fulfilling our needs? Should the diet be adjusted in some way?

The same is true in our spiritual journey. We are all spiritual beings, by whatever name we call God. Each of us in on a unique journey with God and it follows the same steps:
Determining where we are going—finding a deeper relationship, for instance.
Getting advice from friends, the Bible, books, church, etc.
Setting out is something we’ve been doing since birth, but sometimes the journey is more intentional than others.
Evaluate where we are on the journey—do I feel closer or farther from God, do I need to change my habits or find a mentor?

Have you ever broken your life down into stepping stones and looked at the path you have taken? I would encourage you to take time to do so as we set out on this journey with Hagar. Break your life into 3, 5, or even 10 year sections and reflect on what was important to you in each of those times. Think about family, spiritual (not necessarily church related), environment (home, school, friends), and major life changing events for each of the steps of your life.

For me, a major stepping stone happened in 2000. I started down a new pathway that has led me to new friends and new adventures. In many ways it feels like yesterday, but it has been a decade. I didn’t really anticipate that my first book, It is I, Joseph, would lead to 6 other books, a blog, a website, speaking engagements, and several studies based on the books. Rather like Hagar in the Old Testament I jumped in without really knowing what I was doing or what I was getting into.

Next week we will start walking with Hagar and see what new directions it will take us in our journey together this year. See you here.