What have we learned this Year? Merry Christmas

We are now coming to the end of the year and are preparing for the coming of Emmanuel, God with us. With all the singing and wonderful pageants, the cooking and presents, the parties and festivities, we come to the manger and there behold the Christ Child. Why? Well the attraction of course is not so much the child in the manger but the empty tomb. We celebrate Christmas because of Easter. So now that we come to the end of the calendar year and the beginning of the church year I felt it would be good to recap a bit about what this Jesus was all about.

Jesus taught us about rules. Another name for rules is laws. For Jesus they are secondary attempts to control society and how we as people interact. For Jesus the real ruler was the heart not the law. “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath”. The rules were not bad, they were good. The rules were attempts to get us to do what is right, to react to the graceful gift of salvation by living lives that bear good fruit. One of the troubles with rules is when they become more important than the people they were meant to serve. Our God is a God of love and grace and when rules are used in such a way so as to be unloving or ungraceful, they fail to serve their purpose. Another problem with rules is that often they become a framework on which to circumvent the very thing the rule was meant to accomplish. Our tax code is a good example of that. We all live in society and all benefit from what it has to offer. Some benefit more than others and as a result have become very comfortable. For the blessings that society brings us we should all desire to do our part and contribute to the best of our ability for the benefit of all. The reality of coarse is that come tax time we all use every twist and turn we can to contribute not to the best of our ability, but the very least we can get away with for the benefit of all. Jesus taught us that the basis of rules and laws is love for God and love for one another.

Jesus taught us about forgiveness. Jan and I have a plaque on our kitchen wall and we have also give a similar plaque to each of my married children that says “a happy marriage is a union of two good forgivers.” All of us break the rules, whether they are written or not, and in the process offend one another. Forgiveness is about more than just getting by with doing something offensive, it is about growth. Growth in who we are as persons and growth in our relationships. As we are continually forgiven by Christ, our relationship to Christ continues to grow. As we forgive others, our relationship with them also grows. Sometimes the church and the people in it forget our main mission is to forgive and are seduced into thinking the church is to be the moral banner carrier of society. Robert Capon in Hunting the Divine Fox, points out the church's real job.

“The church is not in the morals business. The world is in the morals business, quite rightfully; and it has done a fine job of it, all things considered. The history of the world's moral codes is a monument to the labors of many philosophers, and it is a monument of striking unity and beauty. As C.S. Lewis said, anyone who thinks the moral codes of mankind are all different should be locked up in a library and be made to read three days' worth of them. He would be bored silly by the sheer sameness.

What the world cannot get right, however, is the forgiveness business -- and that, of course, is the church's real job. She is in the world to deal with the Sin which the world can't turn off or escape from. She is not in the business of telling the world what's right and wrong so that it can do good and avoid evil. She is in the business of offering, to a world which knows all about that tiresome subject, forgiveness for its chronic unwillingness to take its own advice. But the minute she even hints that morals, and not forgiveness, is the name of her game, she instantly corrupts the Gospel and runs headlong into blatant nonsense.
The church becomes, not Ms. Forgiven Sinner, but Ms. Right. Christianity becomes the good guys in here versus the bad guys out there. Which, of course, is pure tripe.”

Whenever the church or its people are about the business of building walls, remember that any wall we build puts us on the wrong side of that wall.

Jesus taught us about grace. Grace is a gift, the gift of life, the gift of love, the gift of forgiveness, the gift of living in relationship with God. The death and resurrection of Christ (Easter) is what brings us that grace, which is why we celebrate the birth (Christmas) of the one who is the dispenser of grace. Our salvation is by grace, which means we are saved from our sins, forgiven and given the gift of eternal life as a gift from God. It is not my place to say who else may or may not be the recipient of that gift of grace. Perhaps it can even reach beyond the self imposed walls mentioned above. There is a problem with grace however, free will. In order to have the ability to love, we must have the ability to not love, sometimes even hate. Love is what the gift of grace is all about. You can’t force someone to accept the gift of grace, but then who would not want to accept the gift of grace? If you ask the question outright, the answer is almost no one. Do you want to spend eternity (A) in blissful peace and joy, or (B) in damnation and torment? Only a few of the sickest among us would raise our hand on (B). The trouble is that it is oh so very easy to wander off to find where demons dwell. In the movie “Bruce Almighty”, even Bruce, possessing the powers of God Almighty, was tempted to use them only for himself. The result predictably was chaos. In the end, that which he was really after, happiness, was found only in giving up control and desiring the happiness of someone else. The gift of Grace given is the gift of Grace received.

Jesus taught us many other things, but I am out of room. May the blessings of Christ go with you this season and may your Christmas be about grace given and grace received. Amen!!!!!!!

PS. Listen to Handel’s Messiah at least once this Christmas season. That is grace!

Congregational Question: What are the signs of the end of the world in Revelations, and what do they mean?

First let me say that the Gospels tell us that no one knows the day or hour when the Son of Man will return. Any attempt to determine such is a futile venture. On the other hand, for each of us, the end of “our” time on earth can come unexpectedly, like a thief in the night and therefore, we are all called, in the message of Advent, to prepare the way of the Lord in our hearts. The end time views in the book of Revelation point to the world of John of Patmos primarily and are not meant as a vision of what will be the end of time for us. One final note, there has been much speculation as to the identity of the antichrist of Revelation. The title 666 has been twisted to point to most rulers down through the ages and today. In Revelation it is referring to Nero. Seven was considered a holy number, therefore 777 would be the fullness of holiness. In a bit of humor, 666 refers to a holy wannabe, who may make a lot of noise but just doesn’t quite make it. What follows is part of a Bible Study I did on Revelation a few year ago.

The first of the signs of the end times is the opening of the scrolls by the four horsemen of the Apocalypse. One would have expected that the opening of the seals would lead to a disclosure of the scroll’s secret content. But the content is never disclosed. The scroll is the document that transfers to the Lamb the authority to execute God’s end-time plan.
The tribulations raise the question concerning the fate of God’s faithful people on earth. First, the cry of the martyrs for justice receives assurance (6:9-11). Second, the question of who will survive the great day of wrath (6:17) receives its answer in the sealing of the 144,000 or the 12 tribes times 12, the number for wholeness times 1000, the number for multitudes beyond measure (7:1-8). And third, a picture of the redeemed after the day of wrath shows them clothed in the white garments of conquerors, worshipping before the throne and the Lamb with the host of heaven (7:9-17).

The seal visions are meditations about the end-time tribulation based on the apocalyptic discourse of our Synoptic Gospels or there underlying traditions (Mark 13: Matthew 24: Luke 21) omitting all references to the fall of Jerusalem, since that event lay in the past.

John’s apocalypticism raises problems for modern readers who are accustomed to hearing a “gospel” in which tribulations and judgments are not precursors to salvation. The God of wrath finds no place in segments of Protestantism today. The result is that we create a god in our own image and likeness. The God of John’s prophetic-apocalyptic vision is the One who brings about both salvation and disaster, good and evil. This is the God who is active in everything, the “hidden God,” the Deus absconditus, of Luther. And it is God who challenges us to believe that in all tribulations and in all catastrophes that may befall us, God is working out God’s own purpose which is life and salvation. Contrary to our natural feelings, the disasters of the seal visions are not proof of God’s absence, but paradoxically they disclose Gods involvement in human affairs with-in the “short” time before the end.

The Four Horsemen (6:1-8)

The first of the four seals belong together. The opening of a seal is followed by the command to “Come.” The rider is briefly characterized, and he is commissioned to perform a task. The horsemen execute their deeds at Christ’s commission, who opens the seal. In John’s letter the phrase “those who dwell upon the earth” signifies idolaters, opponents of God and the Lamb and of his faithful people. It is the Lamb who opens the seals and set in motion the beginning of the birth pangs of the end time.

The first rider goes out on a white horse, with a bow; and a crown which was given to him, and was commissioned to exercise regal power through conquering. John’s hearers would at once understand that the horseman with the bow refers to the Parthians, Rome’s archenemies who threatened the eastern frontier in Asia Minor. The Parthians inflicted a humiliating defeat on Rome in 53 BC and less than twenty years later in 35 BC, Mark Anthony lost more that one third of his army to 200,000 through Parthian attacks during his retreat through Armenia. In AD 62 the Parthian king Vologeses I defeated the Romans again, and the Parthians continued to threaten the eastern frontier for the next two centuries. The Parthians had also conquered Babylon, and in John’s apocalypse Babylon is Rome. The Antichrist, who represents Roman imperial totalitarianism and emperor worship, will also appear as conquering Parthian and he will destroy Rome. The parody is perceived only when the hearer recognizes that the Antichrist represents both the glory of conquering Rome and a Parthian conqueror who will “devour the flesh” of “the harlot” Rome and “burn her up with fire” (17:16).

The second rider, on a bright red horse, is given the authority to take peace from the earth, so that men should slay one another; and was given a great sword. While the first rider represents triumphant conquest, the second rider represents one aspect of the conquest, which is war, bloodshed and civil strife. Rome was proud of its Pax Romana and its role as a benefactor bringing peace to the nations. Some of those conquered in the name of peace had a different idea. They saw the Romans as imperialists’ robbers having by their universal plunder exhausted the land. John projected the harsh realities of the past and present into the future with the opening of the second seal signaling the end of peace on earth.

The third horseman sitting on a black horse holds a balance in his hand. The balance suggests that food would be rationed. The famine will hit the poor the worst, driving up prices. A denarius was a daily wage for a laborer and normally bought 12 quarts of wheat, now it only buys one quart or enough to feed one person but not a family. The same pricing is true for the barley. Where wheat and barley, imported from Egypt, would be scarce during a famine, wine and oil, produced locally would not be scarce, but a person could not survive on them alone. With the wars from the other two horsemen, imports would slow down and the army would use up the imports that did make it in the country.

The fourth horseman sits on a pale horse, the color of a corpse. Death was the rider and Hades, or the underworld, followed to collect the corpses. This rider reaps the results of the previous three riders.
Here we have the birth pangs of the age to come, not a timeless intrusion of militarism. This time filled with inhumanities, does not show that God is dead, but rather that even this time is under God’s control through the Lamb. Through these turmoils, Christ would lead the world to its destined goal. But then these turmoils would also affect the church in the form of persecution.

The fifth seal is the cry of the consolation of the martyrs. Here John deals with the subject of persecution after the subject of war, famine and pestilence. The martyrs of a church under pressure ask the question, “How Long?” When will God vindicate the faithful for their persecution? God is not only a God of love and forgiveness of enemies, but also a God of judgment. The vindication of the martyrs means that God’s judgment will fall on the oppressors who spilled innocent blood. The martyr’s souls residing in their blood that was spilled reside under the altar in heaven, near to God, but not yet vindicated in the sight of their tormentors. Their question is how long must they wait. The answer is until the number is complete or when all the martyrs have been faithful then God’s judgment will fall on those who persecuted the people of God. In revelation only one martyr is mentioned and here John includes all the martyrs. These would be those blamed and killed by Nero for the fire that destroyed one forth of Rome in 64. They were covered with skins of beasts and torn apart by dogs, nailed to crosses and some were tied to poles and covered in tar and then light on fire to illuminate Nero’s gardens. This would also include the Apostles who were executed and since Rome would be “drunk with the blood of the saints” (17:6) would include those who would be martyred.

The sixth seal brings the great day of wrath, the Day of Judgment. In contrast to the first five seals, these events in the sixth seal are in the future. They indicate the end of history, the end of the world. When the sky is rolled up, then the throne of God appears and his judgment occurs. The reaction is sheer terror on the part of humanity and a futile attempt to hide from the wrath of the one seated on the throne and the Lamb. On that day there will be no distinction, kings, slaves, rich and poor, the idolaters and murders and earth dwellers will all realize their sin and guilt and will all come under judgment for their sins. The question of who can stand has one answer, no one.

In the midst of this vision stands the risen Christ. Left to our own devices, all have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God. Yet it is through faith that we are saved through the grace of Christ, not by our works. In the end the thing that saves us and all of humanity is a God who loves us and who has demonstrated that through Christ. Amen.

Mark 1:1-8 Advent 2

Advent 2
Mark 1:1-8

Make straight the paths
Prepare the way
the Lord God is come
to you
to me
to the people and creation
to set right
and make righteous all
the Lord has made
Prepare your hearts
Prepare your world
the heavens will open
and the Lord will appear
to humanity waiting and watching
for the one who will make all things right
Look upon your neighbor
the child
the world
and see
the coming of the Lord.

Prepare the way for God's love and grace

Saturday December 10th Mark 1: 8I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit." John baptized with water to cleanse our hearts. Jesus calls us to a baptism with the Holy Spirit that fills our hearts with love and grace. Go forth from here and spread the word of God’s love and grace. Prepare the way.

Prepare the way by letting God be God

Friday December 9th Mark 1: 7And this was his message: "After me will come one more powerful than I, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. The very essence of sin in this world is the desire to be like God. It is our not so subtle way of trying to be in control and therefore not let God be in control of our lives. John got that. As powerful as John was with a following far greater than anything Jesus had in his lifetime, John continued to see himself as a servant of Christ and one who was sent to prepare the way. Preparing the way is our calling also. Prepare the way in your heart through prayer. Prepare the way in the world by telling others of God’s love. Prepare the way by speaking up and correcting the Christian message in love, when it is misused to further the way of hatred and war. Prepare the way by bringing the message of Grace into a world that all too often sees and hears the Christian message as one of hate and self righteousness. Prepare the way.

Prepare the way

Thursday December 8th Mark 1: 2It is written in Isaiah the prophet: "I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way"— 3"a voice of one calling in the desert, 'Prepare the way for the Lord, We too are called to be the messenger calling to the world to prepare the way of the Lord. It is time to set aside all conflict and strife. It is time to set aside all hatred and greed. It is time to view friends and neighbors, enemies and acquaintances as brothers and sisters in Christ. It is time to prepare the way of the Lord by turning this Christmas season into a season of love and forgiveness. It is time to prepare the way of the Lord.

Don't get thrown off your game

Wednesday December 7th 2 Peter 3: 14So, my dear friends, since this is what you have to look forward to, do your very best to be found living at your best, in purity and peace. 15Interpret our Master's patient restraint for what it is: salvation. What God is interested in is the salvation of humanity. The sending of Jesus, the cross, the waiting for us to get our act together and live in peace, all part of God’s desire to save all of humanity through grace. All those end time prophecies are just trying to throw you off your game. If it doesn’t fit into loving God and loving others it is just a distraction. Live your life as the saved and blessed child of God.

Don't get ready, be ready

Tuesday December 6th 2 Peter 3: 12Daily expect the Day of God, eager for its arrival. The galaxies will burn up and the elements melt down that day-- 13but we'll hardly notice. We'll be looking the other way, ready for the promised new heavens and the promised new earth, all landscaped with righteousness. Spending all your energy getting ready is different from being ready. We are called to be ready for God. What does that entail? It entails loving God with all your heart, soul and mind and your neighbor as yourself. If you are busy doing that, you won’t even notice all the hype about when the second coming will be. But then, it wouldn’t really matter anyway. It is a small transition from the Kingdom of God in your heart to the Kingdom of God in heaven. Maybe they are even the same place. So, daily expect the day of God, with eagerness.

Spread the Good News

Monday December 5th Isaiah 40: 9 You who bring good tidings to Zion, go up on a high mountain. You who bring good tidings to Jerusalem, lift up your voice with a shout, lift it up, do not be afraid; say to the towns of Judah, "Here is your God!" 10 See, the Sovereign LORD comes with power, and his arm rules for him. See, his reward is with him, and his recompense accompanies him. 11 He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young. The message of judgment is the one the world is hearing. It is our duty to let the world know the real message of God in Christ. This is a message of one who longs to carry us in his arms and hold us close to his heart. This is a message of one who leads gently those that have young. This is a message of God’s love and Grace. Our call is to shout it from the mountain tops. Our calling is to let the world know of God’s love in the face of all those who wish to destroy the message and turn it into judgment, death and destruction. Spread the Good news that Christ is coming and is already here in your hearts.

Fear Not

Sunday December 4th Isaiah 40: 1 Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. 2 Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins. Comfort my people. This is the message of the Lord. When the angels came to the shepherds, there first words were fear not. When the angel came to Mary, the first words were, fear not. The message of Isaiah is, comfort. Often we hear the message of the Lord’s second coming as one of fear. Will you be ready? Two going up a hill and one’s left standing still, I wish we had all been ready. Will you be left behind? These are all messages of control, not comfort. What will the second coming be like? I don’t know, no one does. The first coming was as the babe in Bethlehem.

Advent 1

Advent 1
Mark 13: 33-37

Watch!
Watch, and I stand there
waiting!
for that
time
moment
when it would be fulfilled
and every life would have
that missing element
that wholeness
and holiness
that every cell of my being
and world
and universe
cries out for
FILL ME LORD
MAKE ME WHOLE
fill this void
this longing
in my life
I am waiting
(watching)
Lord. I am waiting
but the time
(unending)
seems to be all there is
just the time
and the waiting
(hurt)
in this world
I am ready for you Lord
(holy)
ready to see the glory
(love)
that is you
and be taken from
all the hurt
(this)
pain
(gift)
hunger
(of life)
and death
(to us)
we have
(created)
in this life
WHEN WILL THE WAITING BE OVER?
and my eyes cleared
from having to watch

Just enjoy it

Saturday November 3rd Mark 13: 32"But the exact day and hour? No one knows that, not even heaven's angels, not even the Son. Only the Father. 33So keep a sharp lookout, for you don't know the timetable. The only time you can be pretty sure is not “the” day and hour, is the time most people agree is “the” day and hour. If you look ahead and try to figure it out so you can get ready, you miss all the fun. It’s like a football player staying home and watching the game on TV so he can determine just the right time to suit up, drive to the stadium, run onto the field and win the game with the scoring touchdown. The trouble is, he has missed all the practice, all the team interaction, all the other games and even if he gets to the game on time, will most likely not be allowed to play. Don’t plan on getting ready, just be ready and enjoy the game, enjoy life.

These things will happen

Friday November 2nd Mark 13: 28"Take a lesson from the fig tree. From the moment you notice its buds form, the merest hint of green, you know summer's just around the corner. 29And so it is with you. When you see all these things, you know he is at the door. 30Don't take this lightly. I'm not just saying this for some future generation, but for this one, too--these things will happen. Each of us must face an end time in our own lives. Each of us is called to live a life that is ready all the time. For those who spend their time looking for signs of the end times, they can find those signs in some way each and every day in the history of humanity. For those who live their lives bathed in the love and grace of the babe in Bethlehem, each day brings a new opportunity to live in, and show to others, God’s grace. Perhaps that is what the scriptures mean when they tell us to be ready.

Just be ready

Thursday November Mark 1st 13: 26"And then they'll see the Son of Man enter in grand style, his Arrival filling the sky--no one will miss it! 27He'll dispatch the angels; they will pull in the chosen from the four winds, from pole to pole. The expectations in Isaiah were fulfilled in the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem. In Mark we find similar expectations. What will it be like when the Son of Man returns? Well there is the “Left Behind” series that tells of a few chosen and many being left behind. Then there is the Emmanuel version in which a babe was born that brought salvation to the whole world. Either way, it is good to be ready.

Listen for the humming

Wednesday November 30th 1 Corinthians 1: 7Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. Every congregation is given all the spiritual gifts it needs to be a vessel for God’s love and grace. What gets in the way is the nasty way we keep pushing our gifts rather than the gifts God has given us. A sailboat can fight against the wind and make some headway, but it is a thing of beauty when catches full sail and gets up on step. At that moment it becomes what it was intended to be from its very conception and the sails and the ropes literally hum with excitement. God intends something like that for us also. It happens when we stop fighting and turn and let the Holy Spirit catch our sails. That humming we hear is the angels singing.

Hope

Tuesday November 29th 1 Corinthians 1: 4I always thank God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. 5For in him you have been enriched in every way—in all your speaking and in all your knowledge— 6because our testimony about Christ was confirmed in you. When we shine, it is because of the light of Christ shining in and through us. I thank God for all the saints in this congregation. I thank God for simple and graceful ways God shines through you. I thank God for the grace God has given you. I thank God for the times when that grace shines through you to others in the congregation and in the community. As the first candle in the advent wreath signifies “Hope”, may the grace God has given you bring hope to the world around you today. Amen!

We are the clay, God is the potter, any questions?

Monday November 28th Isaiah 64: 7 No one calls on your name or strives to lay hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us and made us waste away because of our sins. 8 Yet, O LORD, you are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand. When God seemed distant from the people of Israel, they often used the vision of God’s face being hidden. I think more than likely, the face that was hidden was not God’s but theirs. At least as New Testament Christians, that is our experience. When God seems distant, it is usually because we are distant from God. The solution is to stop trying to run the show ourselves and let God take control. Instead of the clay telling the potter what it should look like and function as, perhaps the clay should let the potter be the one who forms what will be. From dust we came and to dust we shall return, but in the mean time, God has been able to form that dust into some pretty marvelous vessels. We call them the saints. God calls them the children of God. It is most of us sometimes and a few of us most of the time.

Manger instead of Anger, remember the "M"

Sunday November 27th Isaiah 64: 3 For when you did awesome things that we did not expect, you came down, and the mountains trembled before you. 4 Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for him. This was the expectation in Isaiah. When God returned to earth, it would be a show of force such as the world had never seen. The sky would turn, the mountains tremble, everyone would know that God was coming and everyone would know whose God it was that was coming. God had a different idea. It was a baby in a manger. Sometimes we also want a God of Anger not Manger. Sometimes we want a God who will show all those others who is tougher. But then, sometimes we get just a glimpse of how tough God really is. Sometimes we get a glimpse of how much harder it is to come as a loving God in a manger rather than the mighty God in anger. It is then we know that God calls us to that kind of toughness also.

Do you see the need or the cost?

Saturday November 26th, Matthew 25: 44"They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?' 45"He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.' If your focus in life is on yourself, not God, there is no amount of “doing” that will change you. That is because what needs to change is not what you do, but who you are. With un-grace filled eyes, you can look around, but you just don’t see the need, only the cost. With grace filled eyes you see the need, and you know the cost has been paid already.

Just Live It

Friday November 25th, Matthew 25: 37"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?' 40"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.' The true sign of someone who has been saved by a loving graceful God is a grace filled person. As you live a grace filled life, it is not something you think about, it is not something that saves you, is it not something you must, should or ought do, it is simply who you have become and continue to become in ever new and changing ways. Outside of this grace, we ask questions like what must I do to be saved. Filled with grace, that is no more a question than a salmon asking if it should spawn and if so what stream it should take. It is simply a matter of going and living your life filled with the grace of God, and letting that grace flow through you to the world around you.

we become more graceful as we become grace filled.

Thursday November 24th, Matthew 25: 34"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.' We are saved by the Grace of a Loving God. Because of that gift of grace, our hearts are changed, our lives are changed, who we are is changed and we become more graceful as we become grace filled. As our lives are changed by this loving grace, we become more graceful to the world around us. It is not a matter of what we are called to do, it is simply a matter of who we are. As is the case with most children of God throughout the world, the grace we are shown by a loving God comes to us through the lives changed by a loving God. We simply pass it on because true grace from a loving God can do no other than simply continue to grow.

We are the Church

Wednesday November 23rd , Ephesians 1: Christ rules over all forces, authorities, powers, and rulers. He rules over all beings in this world and will rule in the future world as well. 22God has put all things under the power of Christ, and for the good of the church he has made him the head of everything. 23The church is Christ's body and is filled with Christ who completely fills everything. The church is not a building where people go to pray; it’s not made out of sticks and stones, it’s not made out of clay. You can go to worship but you cannot go to church, you can’t find a building that’s alive no matter how you search. The church is not a business, a committee or a board; it’s not a corporation for the business of the Lord. The church it is the people living out their lives, called, enlightened, sanctified for the work of Jesus Christ. We are the church, the body of the Lord, we are all God’s children and we have been restored. (1988, Jay Beech)

the glorious blessings that will be yours together with all of God's people.

Tuesday November 22nd , Ephesians 1: 18My prayer is that light will flood your hearts and that you will understand the hope that was given to you when God chose you. Then you will discover the glorious blessings that will be yours together with all of God's people. This is Paul’s prayer for the church at Ephesus and it is God’s prayer for us. God intends for all of us to be filled with the light of God’s love so much that it can’t help but to spill into the world around us. God intends for each and every one of us to become fully aware of all the glorious blessings that surround each and every one of us and that we share those blessings with others. It is through those blessings shared that we truly begin to see, know, and experience the blessings in our lives. It is my prayer for you that you will truly develop a mindfulness of all the blessings God has given you through the sharing of these blessings with others as God leads you. May our church be a place of blessings overflowing into the world around us. Amen.

focus on making things better, not just less awful.

Monday November 21st, Ezekiel 34: I will judge between one sheep and another, and between rams and goats. 18 Is it not enough for you to feed on the good pasture? Must you also trample the rest of your pasture with your feet? Is it not enough for you to drink clear water? Must you also muddy the rest with your feet? 19 Must my flock feed on what you have trampled and drink what you have muddied with your feet? We have done a good job so far keeping the conversation on the environment about whether the water is clean or dirty and whether it is a natural occurrence or not. It is our way of actively not facing the fact that we are not doing enough to keep it clean no matter what the cause. Let us be honest, we use most of the worlds energy resources and in the process produce most of the worlds byproducts of using these resources. We are getting better, more efficient, cleaner burning, but we are also using more and the end result is that we are like a herd of cattle who are only concerned with getting a clean drink of water for ourselves, and if others live downstream, that is their problem. Jesus would remind us that it is our brothers and sisters as well as our children and grandchildren that live downstream. What is our muddied water and air doing to them? What will it do to our children? Our Grandchildren? Maybe it is time we put our focus on making things better, not just less awful.

Now that you have, what are You going to do??

Sunday November 20th, Ezekiel 34: 15 I myself will tend my sheep and have them lie down, declares the Sovereign LORD. 16 I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy. It is a curious thing why the idea of building up the weak and destroying the strong and sleek is part of God’s plan. It does not fit with love your neighbor as yourself, as some of my neighbors, as well as myself, are the sleek and strong. Indeed one could argue that the majority of the Lutheran church would fit into the category of the sleek and strong. I think that what needs to follow is how one becomes sleek and strong. Too often, but not always, the path to becoming sleek and strong is through the peril of those who are weak. Economic systems, whether they are way on the capitalists, or way on the socialists side of the scale, tend to have winners and losers. What God seems to be concerned about is winners at the expense of losers. It is not a matter of what you have, it is a matter of how did you get it and what are you going to do with it now. Now that you have, what are You going to do?? Those of us who have, can choose to be part of the binding up and strengthening, or not. You might want to ask yourself where God stands on that issue before you answer.

Jesus would much rather forgive than coax.

Saturday November 19th, Matthew 25: 24"Then the man who had received the one talent came. 'Master,' he said, 'I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.' Luther said to sin boldly, but rejoice more boldly still. The gifts God gives you can not be broken, but they can be misused. As a matter of fact, they are probably misused most of the time. It is not misuse that is the problem, it is lack of use. So, love the Lord with all your heart, soul and mind and love your neighbor as yourself, in whatever way your God given talent leads you. And if you make a mistake along the way, that is much better than erring on the side of caution. In the kingdom, it is much better to screw up trying than to not screw up by not trying. Jesus would much rather forgive than coax.

Are you a bit rusty?

Friday November 18th, Matthew 25: 16The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more. 17So also, the one with the two talents gained two more. 18But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money. The first two put their talents to work for, and in the kingdom. The third one played it safe and no one knew he had the talents or gifts. I can imagine that after all that time in the ground, the talent was not only worth no more than before; it was a bit rusty too. That seems like a good metaphor for what happens to the gifts God gives us.

The thing of miracles

Thursday November 17th, Matthew 25: 14"Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. 15To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Life is not fair so it seems. Not everyone is blessed with all the talent in the world. Each one of us has gifts for the kingdom however, and they become gifts for us too when they are used. It is when we use our talents along with others that we realize the strength of our gift. Carbon is not very strong. Even iron is not that strong. But carbon steal is a whole other ball game. So it is with the talents God has given each and every one of us. By themselves they are a gift. When used in conjunction with the gifts of others, they become the thing of miracles. God invites you to join the fun.

What are you talkng about??

Wednesday November 16th, 1 Thessalonians 5: 4But you aren't in the dark about these things, dear brothers and sisters, and you won't be surprised when the day of the Lord comes like a thief. 5For you are all children of the light and of the day; we don't belong to darkness and night. When you walk with God it is not a matter of getting ready, it is a matter of being ready. How do you know when you are ready?? When others point out that you are the kind of person who loves God with all your heart and loves your neighbor as yourself, and you are not sure what they are talking about. Then you know that for you being a Christian is not something you do, it is something you are.

Don't put off the fun until the end

Tuesday November 15th, 1 Thessalonians 5: 1 I really don't need to write to you about how and when all this will happen, dear brothers and sisters. 2For you know quite well that the day of the Lord will come unexpectedly. I find it interesting to watch all the clamor over when the second coming is going to happen. People study and study the Bible for clues. I guess they missed this verse. It is not a matter of figuring out when it will be so you can get ready, it is a matter of being ready. Anything else is just trying to cheat, and that seems like an odd approach to anyone who takes the Bible seriously. When will Christ come again? When you least expect it, which means you can probable take all those predictions and mark those times off as when it will not occur. So take the joy now, live the joy now, follow Christ now, allow your life to be changed now. Don’t put the fun off until the end. (maybe those who are trying to predict when the Lord will come are doing so because they don’t think being a Christian is very much fun. Sorry to hear that!?!)

What's on Your calendar??

Monday November 14th, Zephaniah 1: 13 Their wealth will be plundered, their houses demolished. They will build houses but not live in them; they will plant vineyards but not drink the wine. When Christ returns, how much of your “stuff” will be important to you? If you were to write your own obituary, would you write about your car or house or boat, or would you write about those you love and how you showed that love? Most of us all the time, and all of us most of the time, spend our time on pursuits that in the end, matter little. What’s on your calendar?

Ho-Hummers

Sunday November 13th, Zephaniah 1: 7 Be silent before the Sovereign LORD, for the day of the LORD is near. The LORD has prepared a sacrifice; 12 At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps and punish those who are complacent, who are like wine left on its dregs, who think, 'The LORD will do nothing, either good or bad.' The biggest threat to Christianity is not Islam or evolution or atheism or the so called homosexual agenda, it is Christians who are complacent. God can work through all the others, but someone who is complacent, is, in the midst of their seeming complacency, very busy keeping God at bay. When God takes hold, changes take place. Those changes might not be the Muslim becoming Christian or the evolutionists supporting ID or the atheists outwardly turning to God or the homosexual becoming somehow straight, the change that takes place is in the heart and therefore in the actions of this person who is grabbed by God. It’s the Ho-Hummers who seem to be the most slippery.

Congregational question: How can all the people for the last few thousand years “fit” in heaven?

This question assumes that there is a limited amount of space in heaven. We live in a three dimensional world that is limited by both time and space. Science tells us that there may be as many as eleven dimensions. Looking at heaven through our three dimensional mindset gives us an image of heaven as a place, and in our mind, a place has a finite amount of space. For me, heaven is not a place in which I extend my three dimensional existence through never ending time, but rather an existence that is not bound by either time or place. Jesus never tells us directly what heaven is like. He used metaphors to describe aspects of heaven: the kingdom of heaven is like a loaf of bread when the yeast is working, the kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that grows into a large plant, the kingdom of heaven is like a farmer who finds thistles in with the wheat, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that catches all kinds of fish (Matthew 13). These images conjure up the feelings of growth, expanse, good and bad together, all inclusiveness, not a finite or limited existence. A friend of mine while nearing the last few hours of his life once asked me what heaven was going to be like. I told him that I didn’t know. All I knew was that of all the attempts to describe heaven in ways we could understand, these descriptions portrayed a place of love and beauty beyond our imagination. After all these years, I still stick to that description.

Congregational question: Are Mormons and 7th Day Adventist cults?

The term cult congers up all sorts of images that remind me of Halloween. When I think of a cult, I think of Jim Jones, Tom Cruise and his Scientology or groups with flowing robes selling flowers. I therefore do not think of either Mormons or 7th Day Adventists as cults. I will also point out however that some very notable and respectable theologians disagree with me on this issue. For a very well thought out view of Mormonism as a cult I would recommend the book “Kingdom of the Cults” by Walter Martin.
Let me deal first with Mormonism. Whereas I do not feel Mormonism is a cult, I also do not believe it fits within the generally defined parameters of what is known as Orthodox Christianity. Even though in the last several years the “Latter Day Saints” have attempted to become more and more mainstream and use the name of Jesus Christ associated with their name more often, their view of Jesus is not the same as the rest of Christianity. Jesus is viewed as “a” son of God, not “the” son of God. Jesus is also someone who is believed to have been birthed from his God father and God mother. There is also the view that should a male Mormon live a wonderful life, he too, along with his female companion, become gods in another world. My reading of the story in Genesis of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil is that the very essence of sin is the human desire, in all its various forms, to be like God (Genesis 3:4-5). Combine with this the belief in pre-existent spirits, baptism for the dead, secrete knowledge passed on in the temple and the belief that they are right and everyone else is wrong, and you have a definition that could better be described as 20th century Christian Gnosticism. In church history, the reaction to early Christian Gnosticism resulted in the establishment of the collection of books we now call the Bible. This process of establishing the cannon or canonical text of the Bible was a process of rejection of the Gnostic texts in the early church and clearly stating that they and their teachings are not part of the Christian Scripture.
Having said that let me also state that I have had the privilege to get to know many Mormons who I would consider wonderful Christians. Whether or not that makes them bad Mormons I couldn’t answer. History tells us that God can and does work though all sorts of human foibles. Indeed, the whole history of humanity could be defined as such, and I believe that God can and does work through all sorts of belief systems that, upon close examination, seem a little off. As a Lutheran I will admit that there are times when we have been a bit off, and I will also admit that don’t know everything and don’t have all the truth. No one does. What bothers me is when people or religions think they do. Remember that any church that has all the answers doesn’t allow all the questions. God is not looking for perfection or anything that claims to be perfect. What God is after is faith, caring and love, and lots of individuals in and out of the Mormon Church and in and out of other faith communities, including the Lutheran church, can and do live in that way.
The 7th day Adventists faith, though different from most of Orthodox Christianity in the day of worship, is also not a cult. They take a strict interpretation of “remembering the Sabbath day to keep it holy” as the 7th day of the week and hence insist strongly on Saturday as the day of worshp. Most of Christianity considers Sunday, the first day of the week and the day of the resurrection to be the time of worship. However as society grows more and more diverse and many jobs require weekend work, and many people are doing other things on Sunday, many main line Christian churches offer worship at times other than Sunday.
There is a heavy focus on the Old Testament laws and the need to follow them, but the main idea for which they are known is the emphasis placed on the Second Coming of Christ. This is seen as the premier event in the Adventists theology and their ideas, gleaned from obscure interpretations of parts of Revelation, have found it’s way into popular books like the “Left Behind” series. They also have that disappointing view that they are the only ones who are correct and every one else is wrong.
The 7th Day Adventists are not a cult, but as with the Mormons, I would recommend that any religion that feels it has the correct interpretation of the revelation of God and that everyone else is wrong is a religious expression you should stay away from.

That which you do to the least of these you do to me - Jesus

ELCA NEWS SERVICE November 1, 2005

All ELCA Bishops Urge Congress to Oppose Budget Reconciliation 05-209-JB CHICAGO (ELCA) -- All 65 synod bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), plus the presiding bishop, are urging members of the U.S. Congress to oppose any attempt to move forward on the budget reconciliation measures the lawmakers are now considering. Earlier the ELCA announced that 52 bishops signed a letter on the budget reconciliation process shortly after it was presented to them at the Sept. 30-Oct. 1 meeting here of the ELCA Conference of Bishops. Now it is unanimous, and the letter has been sent to members of Congress again, informing them that the ELCA bishops are united on the subject. The Nov. 1 issue of "Roll Call," the newspaper of Capitol Hill, contains a full-page ad with the letter, signed by the Rev. Mark S. Hanson, ELCA presiding bishop, and names of all of theELCA bishops, listed with the states in which they serve.

The bishops said they represent diverse regions but speak with one voice about the "fundamental responsibility of the government, as an expression of the will of the people, to protect the least of its citizens and provide for the poorest in our society." This year's federal budget resolution binds Congress to reconcile or cut mandatory or entitlement programs by $35 billion. More cuts may be considered. The U.S. Gulf Coast hurricane disaster and its consequences have added pressure to stop the reconciliation process for this year, because the programs to be cut are an important part of the much-needed disaster relief services, the bishops said in their letter. The bishops noted the cuts to mandatory spending called for in the reconciliation package "would decrease valuable assistance to millions of low-income families, children, elderly and people with disabilities." Examples of programs to be cut in the reconciliation process cited by the bishops included Food Stamps, Medicaid, the State Children's Health Insurance Program and Temporary Assistance to Needy Families. The "biblical record" is clear, the bishops said. "The Scriptural witness on which our faith tradition stands speaks dramatically of God's concern for and solidarity with poor and oppressed communities while speaking firmly in opposition to governments whose policies place narrow economic interests driven by greed above the common good." The bishops strongly urged each member of Congress "to reflect on your role as a government official in providing for the least in our society and (we) ask that you oppose any attempt to move forward with the budget reconciliation process." Hanson had joined with four other U.S. religious leaders Sept. 13 to urge Congress to stop the federal budget reconciliation process for 2006.---

A copy of the ELCA bishops' letter to Congress is at http://www.ELCA.org/advocacy on the ELCA Web site.