9/29/2006

18th Sunday after Pentecost

Mark 10:2-16

We live in a world
less than it should be,
with division, hatred and war.
The reality of this is harsh,
is brokenness
and pain
and from time to time
we try,
try to look past the pain
into the law
and justify
for ourselves and all the others
who are trying to handle the pain
by ourselves,
a way to handle in our own way
the reality of pain in our lives
making it
we think
less painful.
And sometimes we succeed.
Until
some breeze of fresh air clears the clouds
and we see.
See
the reality for what it is
despite all our attempts to understand
--and rationalize
----and explain
------and study
--------and even glorify
our pain,
which still remains.
The children know,
their eyesight is keener than ours
they have not been tainted by the years
and hurts
--and “realities” of life.
They know,
the children are the ones who look
and see
the emperor standing naked
and wonder
why we like his clothes so much.
They see the pain of divorce
and wonder
how we understand it so well.
They feel the pain
and are driven to the cross
with the God who knows our pain,
and standing there
with Jesus for comfort
in their pain
and wonder
why
we don’t see

Jesus loves me this I know

Saturday October 14th, Mark 10: 13 People were bringing little children to Jesus to have him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. 14 When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 15 I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." 16 And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them. Children love, children trust, children sing songs like “Jesus loves me” and just know it is true. When we get older it becomes too easy to put limits on things, including that unabashed all loving response back to Jesus. When I was in seminary, the closing speaker in chapel after 4 years of seminary reminded us of all the classed we had taken. He reminded us of Greek and Hebrew, systematics and history, homiletics and Lutheran heritage and then asked us to put it all together. He had us sing, “Jesus loves me.” If we miss that, we miss it all. Remember, and hum a few bars of “Jesus loves me” to yourself every day. Remind yourself that you are loved.

What God has joined, let not man seperate

Friday October 13th, Mark 10: 2 Some Pharisees came and tested him by asking, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?" 3 "What did Moses command you?" he replied. 4 They said, "Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and send her away." 5 "It was because your hearts were hard that Moses wrote you this law," Jesus replied. 6 "But at the beginning of creation God 'made them male and female.' 7 'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, 8 and the two will become one flesh.' So they are no longer two, but one. 9 Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate." In the male dominated society, divorce was too easy. It was more a matter of disposing property you no longer wanted than it was the breaking of relationships. Breaking relationships is, as it should be, painful. Today we are flooded as a society with the consequences of breaking relationships with one another, but are we aware of the pain involved in breaking our relationship with Christ? In the suburban world in which most in this congregation live there are activities upon activities for our children. Does church, does prayer in the home, does our spiritual connection play a significant part in those activities? Make your families life one in which you go through life hand in hand with God, don’t let God become one more activity you get to once in a while.

9/28/2006

Live the love

Thursday October 12th, Hebrews 2: 11 Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers. 12 He says, “I will declare your name to my brothers; in the presence of the congregation I will sing your praises." Now let us sing praises to God by what we do in this world. Living out the love we have been given as a gift.

Wake Up!!

Wednesday October 11th, Hebrews 2: 6 “What is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? 7 You made him a little lower than the angels; you crowned him with glory and honor 8 and put everything under his feet? In putting everything under him, God left nothing that is not subject to him. We are called to reflect this glory from God in how we care for this world that has been put under our feet. How are we doing on that? War, torture, famine, the greedy of this world getting more and taking it from the poorest of the poor, this is not a good report card. Along with the gift comes the responsibility. So far we have abused this gift in such a manner we would not tolerate from our children should we give them a puppy for Christmas. The global warming, dying oceans, wars, and saying yes to torture, they are the wake up call. It’s time for the children of God to turn this around.

Wholeness

Tuesday October 10th, Genesis 2: 25 The two of them, the Man and his Wife, were naked, but they felt no shame. When they ate of the tree of knowledge was when they felt shame. Eat this and you can be like god, knowing good and evil and all knowledge in-between was the temptation. In succumbing to the temptation they knew separation from the creator, they knew selfish ambition can sometimes be greater than their love of God. We were created however to feel whole, and wholly connected to God. When life in this world is over we will return to that state of bliss, until then, the loving touch of another human can at least remind us of that blissful wholeness.

Created from and for

Monday October 9th, Genesis 2: 21-22 God put the Man into a deep sleep. As he slept he removed one of his ribs and replaced it with flesh. God then used the rib that he had taken from the Man to make Woman and presented her to the Man. 23-24 The Man said, "Finally! Bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh! Name her Woman for she was made from Man." Created from one another, created for one another. The sexual attraction is that which draws us together in loving relationships. It is not always the opposite sex we are attracted to. For most of us it is, for some, it is the same sex we are attracted to, so it goes. We tend to want to focus on the sex, I think God focuses on the relationship. It is not good for humanity to be alone were the words used that started the whole thing off. When there is someone special in our lives, we are a bit more alive. When there is someone special in our lives, we tend to understand love better. Hold someone you love and feel the arms of God around you.

The best part of waking up

Sunday October 8th, Psalm 8: O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. Ahhh! to be able to live life with this as the center, to see all of creation as a gift by God. A gift we are to care for and nourish as well as be nourished by. The joy of being able to live our life such that each day we awake more with awe and wonder than with coffee (although I must admit that coffee can be one of the gifts for which we are grateful) Try it tomorrow. In your mind just sing this little ditty: the best part of waking up is Jesus and your cup.

Recent letter to the editor.

Please feel free to copy, edit, personalize and send to your local paper.

September 28, 2006

Have we as a nation so lost our moral compass such that we can even conceive of, much less tolerate, the possibility of compromise on a bill to allow torture as a policy of the United States? This bill has more to do with our national identity than with national security. To allow torture is to sanction those very attributes we have thus far as a nation condemned in others, including the terrorists whose actions we purport to condemn. It is to take the very torch of freedom we have in the past held high, and use it to sear the flesh of those some have determined, without the right of a fair trial, to be guilty. It is to say to our children that the very actions condemned in the halls of our schools, are, in the halls of our government, to be sanctioned as a statement of who we are as a people. How our representatives vote on this issue, is a statement less about their stand on terrorism, than it is about their own personal moral compass, and should, for all who claim devotion to the God of creation, be a major consideration in how we as a people vote for those who represent us in Washington.

Are We Really So Fearful?

When I first arrived at Seminary, there was a wonderful couple with adorable children who lived across the street from me. We were not neighbors for long. They were soon to travel back to their home where the husband would continue his ministry in the country of Namibia. They and their friends were busy trying to contact friends in Namibia who would meet them at the airport and pick up their children and care for them as long as needed. As a pastor who had take stands on human rights and opposed to the South Africa’s policy of apartheid, he knew that he and his wife would be arrested when they got off the plane and their children left to fend for themselves. Several months after their departure, the seminary received a letter letting us all know that the children were safe. When they arrived, he and his wife were arrested and after they were hauled away, friends moved in and picked up the children and kept them safe while he and his wife were in prison. The wife was tortured for about six weeks, this amounted to, among other means, kicks to her pregnant abdomen until her body aborted the fetus she was carrying. He was tortured for about six months with beatings and electric shocks, and told upon release never to preach against apartheid. It is my understanding that he did not stop preaching against apartheid and eventually went on to contribute to the formation of a free Namibia when it finally gained it’s independence. In spite of how horrible the torture was, it did not stop them from working towards what they felt was right.

Torture does not work! We are in Iraq now due in part to the false information received under torture. When they come at you with the electrodes, you will not only talk, but you will make up secrets just to get them to stop. The information received is for that reason, often wrong.

Torture says more about those sanctioning the torture than those being tortured! Just as we look at the barbaric manner of how the Christians were treated in the coliseums in Rome, so too, society now, and in the future, will look upon the United States if we pass the current legislation defining and allowing torture. True, some limits have been placed, but the mere fact that torture can be something we can compromise on, is a damning statement on who we have become as a people.

I would call upon every Christian to find out how your representatives have, or are planning to vote, on this legislation and let them know that there is no way, as a follower of the teachings of Jesus Christ, you could support or vote for any candidate that would support such legislation.

The following is an article from the Washington Post. www.washingtonpost.com

Are We Really So Fearful?

By Ariel Dorfman
Sunday, September 24, 2006;

DURHAM, N.C.
It still haunts me, the first time -- it was in Chile, in October of 1973 -- that I met someone who had been tortured. To save my life, I had sought refuge in the Argentine Embassy some weeks after the coup that had toppled the democratically elected government of Salvador Allende, a government for which I had worked. And then, suddenly, one afternoon, there he was. A large-boned man, gaunt and yet strangely flabby, with eyes like a child, eyes that could not stop blinking and a body that could not stop shivering.

That is what stays with me -- that he was cold under the balmy afternoon sun of Santiago de Chile, trembling as though he would never be warm again, as though the electric current was still coursing through him. Still possessed, somehow still inhabited by his captors, still imprisoned in that cell in the National Stadium, his hands disobeying the orders from his brain to quell the shuddering, his body unable to forget what had been done to it just as, nearly 33 years later, I, too, cannot banish that devastated life from my memory.

It was his image, in fact, that swirled up from the past as I pondered the current political debate in the United States about the practicality of torture. Something in me must have needed to resurrect that victim, force my fellow citizens here to spend a few minutes with the eternal iciness that had settled into that man's heart and flesh, and demand that they take a good hard look at him before anyone dare maintain that, to save lives, it might be necessary to inflict unbearable pain on a fellow human being. Perhaps the optimist in me hoped that this damaged Argentine man could, all these decades later, help shatter the perverse innocence of contemporary Americans, just as he had burst the bubble of ignorance protecting the young Chilean I used to be, someone who back then had encountered torture mainly through books and movies and newspaper reports.

That is not, however, the only lesson that today's ruthless world can learn from that distant man condemned to shiver forever.

All those years ago, that torture victim kept moving his lips, trying to articulate an explanation, muttering the same words over and over. "It was a mistake," he repeated, and in the next few days I pieced together his sad and foolish tale. He was an Argentine revolutionary who had fled his homeland and, as soon as he had crossed the mountains into Chile, had begun to boast about what he would do to the military there if it staged a coup, about his expertise with arms of every sort, about his colossal stash of weapons. Bluster and braggadocio -- and every word of it false.

But how could he convince those men who were beating him, hooking his penis to electric wires and waterboarding him? How could he prove to them that he had been lying, prancing in front of his Chilean comrades, just trying to impress the ladies with his fraudulent insurgent persona?
Of course, he couldn't. He confessed to anything and everything they wanted to drag from his hoarse, howling throat; he invented accomplices and addresses and culprits; and then, when it became apparent that all this was imaginary, he was subjected to further ordeals.

There was no escape.

That is the hideous predicament of the torture victim. It was always the same story, what I discovered in the ensuing years, as I became an unwilling expert on all manner of torments and degradations, my life and my writing overflowing with grief from every continent. Each of those mutilated spines and fractured lives -- Chinese, Guatemalan, Egyptian, Indonesian, Iranian, Uzbek, need I go on? -- all of them, men and women alike, surrendered the same story of essential asymmetry, where one man has all the power in the world and the other has nothing but pain, where one man can decree death at the flick of a wrist and the other can only pray that the wrist will be flicked soon.

It is a story that our species has listened to with mounting revulsion, a horror that has led almost every nation to sign treaties over the past decades declaring these abominations as crimes against humanity, transgressions interdicted all across the earth. That is the wisdom, national and international, that has taken us thousands of years of tribulation and shame to achieve. That is the wisdom we are being asked to throw away when we formulate the question -- Does torture work? -- when we allow ourselves to ask whether we can afford to outlaw torture if we want to defeat terrorism.

I will leave others to claim that torture, in fact, does not work, that confessions obtained under duress -- such as that extracted from the heaving body of that poor Argentine braggart in some Santiago cesspool in 1973 -- are useless. Or to contend that the United States had better not do that to anyone in our custody lest someday another nation or entity or group decides to treat our prisoners the same way.

I find these arguments -- and there are many more -- to be irrefutable. But I cannot bring myself to use them, for fear of honoring the debate by participating in it.

Can't the United States see that when we allow someone to be tortured by our agents, it is not only the victim and the perpetrator who are corrupted, not only the "intelligence" that is contaminated, but also everyone who looked away and said they did not know, everyone who consented tacitly to that outrage so they could sleep a little safer at night, all the citizens who did not march in the streets by the millions to demand the resignation of whoever suggested, even whispered, that torture is inevitable in our day and age, that we must embrace its darkness?

Are we so morally sick, so deaf and dumb and blind, that we do not understand this? Are we so fearful, so in love with our own security and steeped in our own pain, that we are really willing to let people be tortured in the name of America? Have we so lost our bearings that we do not realize that each of us could be that hapless Argentine who sat under the Santiago sun, so possessed by the evil done to him that he could not stop shivering?

adorfman@duke.edu
Ariel Dorfman,
a Chilean American writer and professor at Duke University, is author of "Death and the Maiden."

9/27/2006

Election Guide

As we move into the late fall, it is time once again for election in early November. There are many churches that put out a voter guide telling you where various individuals stand on the issues along with their interpretation of the “Christian” way to vote. What we know is that different individuals interpret the scriptures differently. Case in point is the All Saints Episcopal Church in California, which is not backing down from the IRS after the threat of pulling it’s tax-exempt status after an anti-war sermon before the 2004 elections. This compared to the strong pro-war sermons given by Pastor Farwell among others who have not received any known IRS scrutiny.

I do think the scriptures are very relevant in how a follower of Jesus is to vote. Below I have compiled a very brief list of texts that may speak to some of the major issues. I am sure that my list is different from a list someone else might bring forth. I am not here to tell you how to vote, but I would strongly encourage you to involve the scriptures in your decisions in voting.

In the time leading up to the elections in November, I would ask each of you to pick one of the Gospels and read it through from beginning to end in one sitting. Too often, we read bits and pieces of scripture and therefore allow ourselves the freedom, sometimes misused, to find a bit of scripture that validates a point of view we already hold. Reading an entire Gospel forces us to see the scriptures in context and to let the full meaning unfold in us, rather than forcing our context to unfold in scripture.

Any of the Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke or John would be a fine choice. In our lectionary series, we are moving into the year of Luke, therefore, my suggestion is to read Luke.

Below, I have compiled some issues and some texts that may speak to the issue. I believe these to be representative of the context of the scripture from which they come. You may disagree, and thus we have democracy. Take the following as my opinion, and then go and form your own opinion, but one based on scripture rather than sound bites.

· National Security/Terrorism: Matthew 5:38 "You have heard that it was said, 'Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.' 39 But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. 40 And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. 41 If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. 42 Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.

· Economy: Luke 16:19 "There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. 20 At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores 21 and longing to eat what fell from the rich man's table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 "The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. 24 So he called to him, 'Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.' 25 "But Abraham replied, 'Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. 26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.' 27 "He answered, 'Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father's house, 28 for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.' 29 "Abraham replied, 'They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.' 30 " 'No, father Abraham,' he said, 'but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.' 31 "He said to him, 'If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.' "

· Homelessness: Luke 10:25 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?" 26 "What is written in the Law?" he replied. "How do you read it?" 27 He answered: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'" 28 "You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live." 29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" 30 In reply Jesus said: "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. 'Look after him,' he said, 'and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.' 36 "Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?" 37 The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him." Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise."

· Taxes: Luke 21:1 As he looked up, Jesus saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. 2 He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. 3 "I tell you the truth," he said, "this poor widow has put in more than all the others. 4 All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on."

Luke 21:28 As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus acted as if he were going farther. 29 But they urged him strongly, "Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over." So he went in to stay with them. 30 When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. 32 They asked each other, "Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?" (some may wonder at this connection, part of the image of communion is the gathering and sharing of what we have been given, this is part of the Christian understanding that we are blessed to be a blessing or some of the Body of Christ imagery from Paul’s writings)

· Torture: Matthew 7:12 So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.

· Distribution of wealth: Luke 12:13 Someone in the crowd said to him, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me." 14 Jesus replied, "Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?" 15 Then he said to them, "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions." 16 And he told them this parable: "The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. 17 He thought to himself, 'What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.' 18 "Then he said, 'This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19 And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry." ' 20 "But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?' 21 "This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God."

Luke 18:18 A certain ruler asked him, "Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" 19 "Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good—except God alone. 20 You know the commandments: 'Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.'" 21 "All these I have kept since I was a boy," he said. 22 When Jesus heard this, he said to him, "You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." 23 When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was a man of great wealth. 24 Jesus looked at him and said, "How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! 25 Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."

Luke 19:1 Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. 3 He wanted to see who Jesus was, but being a short man he could not, because of the crowd. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way. 5 When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today." 6 So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly. 7 All the people saw this and began to mutter, "He has gone to be the guest of a 'sinner.' " 8 But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, "Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount." 9 Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost."

· Ethics Reform/Lobbyists: Luke 12:1 Meanwhile, when a crowd of many thousands had gathered, so that they were trampling on one another, Jesus began to speak first to his disciples, saying: "Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. 2 There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. 3 What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs.

· War in Iraq: Matthew 5: 43 "You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' 44 But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

9/26/2006

So You Wanna Go Back to Egypt

by Keith Green

So you wanna go back to Egypt
Where it's warm and secure
Are sorry you bought the one way ticket
When you thought you were sure
You wanted to live in the land of promise
But now it's getting so hard
Are you sorry you're out here in the desert
Instead of your own back yard

Eating leaks and onions by the Nile
Ooh what breath for dining out in style
Ooh, my life's on the skids
Building the pyramids

Well there's nothing do but travel
And we sure travel a lot
'Cause it's hard to keep your feet from moving
When the sand gets so hot
And in the morning it's manna hotcakes
We snack on manna all day
And we sure had a winner last night for dinner
Flaming manna souffle

Well we once complained for something new to munch
The ground opened up and had some of us for lunch
Ooh, such fire and smoke
Can't God even take a joke? Huh? NO!

So you wanna to back to Egypt
Where your friends wait for you
You can throw a big party and tell the whole gang
Of what they said was all true
And this Moses acts like a big shot
Who does he think he is?
Well it's true that God works lots of miracles
But Moses thinks they're all his

Oh we're having so much trouble even now
Why'd he get so mad about that c-c-c-cow (that golded calf)
Moses seems rather idle
He just sits aound, he just sits around and writes the Bible!

Oh, Moses, put down your pen!
What? Oh no, manna again?

Oh, manna waffles....
Manna burgers
Manna bagels
Fillet of manna
Manna patty
BaManna bread!

17th Sunday after Pentecost

Mark 9:38-50

Each and every snowflake
that falls from heaven
is alike
with six sides
and a crystal structure
that reflects just so
the joy and perfection of the Creator
who created this beauty
in our world
And yet
no one snowflake
is like any other one snowflake
that falls into our world
in beauty
that reflects just so
the joy and perfection of the Creator
shining through
its own uniqueness
(be at peace)
For one snowflake to say
to another
be gone
you are not of the same cloud
or shape
(with one another)
would be to admit
that the sun does not shine
through each crystal
(be at peace)
reflecting the same
light
For one snowflake to say
to another
(with one another)
you are not of the same water
would be to say that water
is not water
For a snowflake to say
(be at peace)
the beauty of the Creator
shines uniquely in you
(with one another)
is to see God

Salty

Saturday October 7th, Mark 9: 49 Everyone will be salted with fire. 50 "Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with each other." Salt is a wonderful seasoning, most of us use too much of it in our food and not enough in our lives. A little salt helps bring out the flavors in food. Salt in the church helps bring out the God flavors in the world. Go be salt, go bring out the God’s flavors in the world. You can tell it is working when there is peace in the world. Until then there is still work to do.

Any exclusiveism is sin

Friday October 6th, Mark 9: 38 "Teacher," said John, "we saw a man driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us." 39 "Do not stop him," Jesus said. "No one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me, 40 for whoever is not against us is for us. The disciples didn’t get it, and as such they are good teachers for the rest of us. We all tend to fall into the sin of exclusiveism. Most of our reasons would be very silly if they weren’t so sinful. We sing all the verses of the hymns. We sing the liturgy. We use the blue/green/red/purple book. We only use the KJV/NKJV/NIV/RSV/NASB/Message version of the Bible. The ultimate sin of exclusiveism is practiced in communion. That is where we say that you cannot sit at God’s table because; you are too young/you have not had a class/you do not belong to this church or synod/you are not worthy/etc. All excuses for exclusiveness are sin. The table is the Lord’s. If God invites them, I serve them.

Body alive

Thursday October 5th, James 5: 19 My friends, if any followers have wandered away from the truth, you should try to lead them back. 20 If you turn sinners from the wrong way, you will save them from death, and many of their sins will be forgiven. James was wrong, all of their sins will be forgiven. James however was right in that we should go after those who have strayed. Most think it is the pastor’s job to do so. It is a good way to absolve themselves from being a part of the body of Christ. If you notice someone in your seating area is not there for a few Sundays and you wonder why that is, do something about it. Call, say they are missed, and ask if there is anything you can do to help, let the pastor know if there is an issue the pastor should be involved in. In other words, be the alive body of Christ and help the church become the alive in the process. Jesus had 12 disciples, those he related to most closely, and so should every Christian in the pew. Someday you may be on the receiving end.

Time for church

Wednesday October 4th, James 5: 16 If you have sinned, you should tell each other what you have done. Then you can pray for one another and be healed. The prayer of an innocent person is powerful, and it can help a lot. A close community is like a close family. Where trust and acceptance under gird our relationships, growth and healing can take place. Unfortunately, rarely do we ever find such a community, and rarely do families exist at such a level. Within a church community steeped in the Gospel, this level of health can take place in small groups, most however opt for 12 step programs. Perhaps the church could learn from 12 step programs what church should be about. “Hello, my name is Tom Dick Harry, I am a sinner.” “Hello, Tom Dick Harry, welcome to sinners anonymous.” Time for church to start.

9/25/2006

We are not islands

Tuesday October 3rd, James 5: 13 If you are having trouble, you should pray. And if you are feeling good, you should sing praises. 14 If you are sick, ask the church leaders to come and pray for you. Ask them to put olive oil on you in the name of the Lord. Since we are all invited to the table of the Lord, this is how we are to live in response, praising, praying, healing, and living in the presence of God every moment of every day. James’ description of the family of God is a dynamic one of interaction and caring. Our society and our religion has morphed into individualism. Martin Luther’s gift to humanities understanding of God was that an individual did not need the structure of the church to mediate to God for him or her. Human sin has taken that to mean we don’t need each other. The devil is always trying to muck up that three way relationship, relationship with the creator, relationship with the other creatures, and relationship with the creation from which we were formed. Here we have just a glimpse of what it should be, and with it, a calling to return.

Room at the table for all

Monday October 2nd, Numbers 11: 26 However, two men, whose names were Eldad and Medad, had remained in the camp. They were listed among the elders, but did not go out to the Tent. Yet the Spirit also rested on them, and they prophesied in the camp. 27 A young man ran and told Moses, "Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp."
28 Joshua son of Nun, who had been Moses' aide since youth, spoke up and said, "Moses, my lord, stop them!" 29 But Moses replied, "Are you jealous for my sake? I wish that all the LORD's people were prophets and that the LORD would put his Spirit on them!"
Too often we see the church of Jesus prophesying the idea that “some” of the body of Christ is blessed and has been gifted with the spirit, and some has not. What we are attributing to God is the equivalent of saying that some of your children, (this assumes that you have children, if not, roll with it), will be allowed to sit at the table for supper tonight for a wonderful home cooked meal with all the trimmings, while some of your other children will be left in the streets to beg. You wouldn’t do that, so why is it so easy to attribute this attitude to God? It is because we tend to see God’s world as being as finite as is our world. God’s world can, and does, reach out way beyond our ability to grasps. Through Jesus, Moses’ wish for all God’s children to have the gift of the spirit is a reality. Some just don’t know it yet. Our job is to help them wake up and live the reality of the gift.

The way we never were

Sunday October 1st, Numbers 11: 4 The rabble with them began to crave other food, and again the Israelites started wailing and said, "If only we had meat to eat! 5 We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost—also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic. 6 But now we have lost our appetite; we never see anything but this manna!" We all tend to remember the parts of the past that we want to remember. Stephanie Coontz in her book, “The way we never were” does an excellent job of explaining the development of family structures in the U.S. over time and how they existed in their complete form, and what other elements of society existed in order to maintain those systems. It is too easy to look at the antebellum south family structure for example, with the big houses, fancy dresses and people waiting on you and not see the subjugation of women, and the large number of slaves that were required to maintain that lifestyle. The Israelites wanted the cucumbers, melons and leeks, but had forgotten the slavery, beatings and death that came with living there. The Gospel calls us to look forward, not back. It calls us to see our salvation, the gift given to us by God, and then live our present life in that reality. It is a call to live our lives as a member of the family of God, not a bunch of individuals who have found God along with a bunch of individuals who are going to be lift behind. Assured of our salvation and glimpsing our life as a part of the family of God, we can start to live this life out of love, not greed.

Are we becoming Rome before the fall??

As we push more and more toward extending our military beyond it’s practical capability while cutting more and more of the services these military families depend upon, continue to turn a blind eye and sometimes even promote ethical violations and torture, cut taxes and expectations (now down over 50% from the Kennedy years) from the wealthiest while placing the burden to pay on the middle and lower classes, are we becoming Rome before the fall?

The Fresh Heartbreak

The Next concert for "The Fresh Heartbreak" in the Seattle area is next Friday night. It's free, it's fun, and tell them Jesse's dad sent you.

29 SEP 06
Hotwire Coffee
17551 15th Ave NE
Shoreline, WA 98155
8:00pm. FREE.

9/24/2006

First to the end of the line

Friday September 29th, Mark 9: 33 They came to Capernaum. When he was in the house, he asked them, "What were you arguing about on the road?" 34 But they kept quiet because on the way they had argued about who was the greatest. 35 Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, "If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all." The world teaches power over as the way to go. Jesus teaches us the servant life. The disciples in Mark never do seem to get that. Sometimes it is almost frustrating reading as time after time, they just don’t get it. Then we look at ourselves and see what Mark was trying to get across. Time after time after time we don’t get it either. We all get caught up in the world view of power over. Once in a while however we grasp that concept. Tears of gratitude well up inside us as we read the story and then we sit back quietly and just feel good that someone, somewhere got it. Then it is back to the power over life as usual.

9/22/2006

Friday night in Seattle


If you are looking for something to do this Friday night (the 22nd) in the Seattle area, try the Wayward Coffeehouse
8570 Greenwood Ave N
Seattle, WA 98103

For a Free concert by my daughter-in-law and her brothers. The group is called "The Fresh Heartbreak" www.thefreshheartbreak.com The music is kind of country/folk and they go on at 8:30pm.

If you see the styling young man in the picture, who looks like he is somehow connected to the group, his name is Jesse. That would be my son. Say "Hi" and tell him his dad sent you.

9/20/2006

IRS Investigates Calif. Church

Sep 20, 3:50 PM (ET)
By GILLIAN FLACCUS PASADENA, Calif. (AP) -
With the campaign season in full swing, a liberal church is locked in an escalating dispute with the IRS over an anti-war sermon - delivered two days before the 2004 presidential election - that could cost the congregation its tax-exempt status.

Religious leaders on both the right and left are watching closely, afraid the confrontation at All Saints Church in this Los Angeles suburb will compromise their ability to speak out on issues of moral importance such as abortion and gay marriage during the midterm elections.

Under federal tax law, church officials can legally discuss politics, but to retain tax-exempt status, they cannot endorse candidates or parties. Most who do so receive a warning.

According to the IRS, the only church ever to be stripped of its tax-exempt status for partisan politicking was the Church at Pierce Creek near Binghamton, N.Y., which was penalized in 1995 after running full-page ads against President Clinton in USA Today and The Washington Times in 1992 during election season.

Before this fall's congressional races, the IRS warned that it would be scrutinizing churches and charities - important platforms, particularly for Republicans - for unlawful political activity.

All Saints is an Episcopalian church of about 3,500 - the largest west of the Mississippi - and has long had a reputation for liberal social activism among its largely affluent, Democratic-leaning membership. During World War II, its rector spoke out against the internment of Japanese Americans. The Rev. George Regas, who headed the church for 28 years before retiring in 1995, was well known for opposing the Vietnam War, championing female clergy and supporting gays in the church.

The dispute centers on a sermon titled "If Jesus Debated Senator Kerry and President Bush" that Regas delivered as a guest pastor. Though he did not endorse a candidate, he said Jesus would condemn the Iraq war and Bush's doctrine of pre-emptive war.

"I believe Jesus would say to Bush and Kerry: 'War is itself the most extreme form of terrorism. President Bush, you have not made dramatically clear what have been the human consequences of the war in Iraq,'" Regas said, according to a transcript.

The IRS reprimanded the church in June 2005 and asked that it promise to be more careful. Church officials refused.

Last week, the IRS demanded documents and an interview with the rector by the end of the month. Church officials will probably fight the action, said the rector, the Rev. Ed Bacon. That would mean the IRS would have to ask for a hearing before a judge.

"You can't talk about the love of the neighbor without talking about public policy," Bacon said.

Pastors elsewhere echoed those sentiments.

16th Sunday after Pentecost


Mark 9:30-37

So innocent
So pure
The gentle face
Looks up
With a trust that has not been betrayed
And talks of purple cows
And green giraffes
This one
This little child
Understands the world in a different way
Understands that
To stop the arms race
People have to stop making arms
Understands that
Skin color
Makes a person as different as
Eye, hair, or clothes color
Understands that
Hungry people need food
Children understand these things
Because
They have not learned to be afraid
They have not learned to win or lose
They have not seen
Or believe in
The boundaries
That everyone else thinks they have seen
And believe in
For them
Life is an open book
With no writing
--no limits
and they can be hurt
but they trust in love anyway
when they hear God loves them
they just smile
and know

note: isn't my grandaughter cute?

Hallmarks of administration

Saturday September 30th, Mark 9: 36 He took a little child and had him stand among them. Taking him in his arms, he said to them, 37 "Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me." We tend to look at this and say, “how cute.” Everyone loves little children. The child Jesus took in his arms was most likely not some cute little kid all decked out in new school cloths. In Jesus’ day, children had no status, and the ones freely roaming the street were on the bottom of that pile. The disciples were arguing about who would be the new Prime Minister in the Jesus administration. Jesus’ answer to them and to us, is call to care for the least, the lost and the lonely. Service, not power is the hallmark of this administration. Is there a lesson here for us?

All of life a prayer

Thursday September 28th, James 4: 2-3You wouldn't think of just asking God for it, would you? And why not? Because you know you'd be asking for what you have no right to. You're spoiled children, each wanting your own way. Too many use religion as a cover for a devilish quest for power. What scares us about the terrorists that flew the planes into the twin towers is that they professed openly the perverted logic that too often drives others secretly. All of life is a prayer before God. Everything we think, do and say is a prayer. That thought can be scary to all of us some of the time, and some of us most of the time. What are your secret thought prayers?

I can't even comment

Wednesday September 27th, James 4: 1-2 Where do you think all these appalling wars and quarrels come from? Do you think they just happen? Think again. They come about because you want your own way, and fight for it deep inside yourselves. You lust for what you don't have and are willing to kill to get it. You want what isn't yours and will risk violence to get your hands on it. Sorry, I can’t even comment on this. All I can say is, read your newspaper and figure it out for yourself. The sad thing is that the violence too often is the price paid by those for whom Jesus had the most concern, the least, the lost and the lonely.

What you sow, you reap

Tuesday September 26th, James 3: 17-18 Real wisdom, God's wisdom, begins with a holy life and is characterized by getting along with others. It is gentle and reasonable, overflowing with mercy and blessings, not hot one day and cold the next, not two-faced. You can develop a healthy, robust community that lives right with God and enjoy its results only if you do the hard work of getting along with each other, treating each other with dignity and honor. Getting along is hard work. Sometimes it just seems easier to fight. When we work at getting along, treating others with dignity and honor, we don’t always get our way. But then what we do get is closer to God’s way. Hugo Chavez just gave five million for fuel relief in western Alaska, for the most part, those receiving the aid look beyond the politics and are thankful for the help. We have spent hundreds of billions of dollars and thousands of lives trying to force our way in the mid-east and things seem to be getting worse every day. Perhaps we should have tried the dignity and honor thing, maybe we would get a little dignity and honor in return.

Power or God

Monday September 25th, James 3: 16 Whenever you're trying to look better than others or get the better of others, things fall apart and everyone ends up at the others' throats. The old saying goes; power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Jesus calls us to love one another, and when you love one another, you are not trying to get one over on them. In the Old Testament, the prophet Micah tells us in 6:8 “He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” It is hard to walk humbly with God when you are trying to look better than, or get the better of others. Power tends to do that.

Devilish cunniving

Sunday September 24th, James 3: 13-15 Do you want to be counted wise, to build a reputation for wisdom? Here's what you do: Live well, live wisely, live humbly. It's the way you live, not the way you talk, that counts. Mean-spirited ambition isn't wisdom. Boasting that you are wise isn't wisdom. Twisting the truth to make yourselves sound wise isn't wisdom. It's the furthest thing from wisdom—it's animal cunning, devilish conniving. It is like putting your money where your mouth is. Hypocrisy is not new to the church; rather it is rampant in the church. We are all saved by grace and as such, the walk we walk is often different from the talk we talk. St. Paul said it as, “the good that I want I don’t do and the evil I don’t want, that I do.” So it is with all of us. However, there are some whose walk is different from their talk, not because they are trying and not quite making it, but because their talk is a smoke screen to hide what they are doing. We usually read about them on page three of the paper and their focus is more on power over than on wisdom.

9/19/2006

Seattle Music

Interested in some good music in the Seattle area?
“The Fresh Heartbreak” will be at the following locations in September

22 September 2006
Wayward Coffeehouse
8570 Greenwood Ave N
Seattle, WA 98103
8:30pm. FREE.

29 September 2006
Hotwire Coffee
17551 15th Ave NE
Shoreline, WA 98155
8:00pm. FREE.

Big and small

Love measures our stature: the more we love, the bigger we are. There is no smaller package in all the world than that of a man all wrapped up in himself!

William Sloane Coffin, “Creedo”

Opening Litany for Sept. 24th

Pastor: Jesus said, “Let the Children come to me”
Congregation: Put aside all your striving for power
Pastor: Jesus said, “Let the Children come to me”
Congregation: Learn to easily forgive
Pastor: Jesus said, “Let the Children come to me”
Congregation: Welcome the least, lost and lonely
Pastor: Jesus said, “Let the Children come to me”
Congregation: The last shall be first and the first shall be last
Pastor: Jesus said, “Let the Children come to me”
Congregation: Your faith has made you well
Pastor: Jesus said, “Let the Children come to me”
Congregation: Walk humbly before your God
Pastor: Jesus said, “Let the Children come to me”
Congregation: Love one another
Pastor: Jesus said, “Let the Children come to me”
Congregation: For to such belongs the kingdom of heaven

9/18/2006

James & George

I sometimes think that God works through some incredible timing. The following is the New Testament lesson for the Revised Common Lectionary without all those pesky cut outs so common this time of year. As I read it, it is hard not juxtapose this with Bush's pushing to continue to allow the CIA to use torture in their interrogations as well as the whole push to go to war in the first place.

James 3:13-4:8 (The Message)

Live Well, Live Wisely

13-16Do you want to be counted wise, to build a reputation for wisdom? Here's what you do: Live well, live wisely, live humbly. It's the way you live, not the way you talk, that counts. Mean-spirited ambition isn't wisdom. Boasting that you are wise isn't wisdom. Twisting the truth to make yourselves sound wise isn't wisdom. It's the furthest thing from wisdom it's animal cunning, devilish conniving. Whenever you're trying to look better than others or get the better of others, things fall apart and everyone ends up at the others' throats.
17-18Real wisdom, God's wisdom, begins with a holy life and is characterized by getting along with others. It is gentle and reasonable, overflowing with mercy and blessings, not hot one day and cold the next, not two-faced. You can develop a healthy, robust community that lives right with God and enjoy its results only if you do the hard work of getting along with each other, treating each other with dignity and honor.

James 4
Get Serious

1-2Where do you think all these appalling wars and quarrels come from? Do you think they just happen? Think again. They come about because you want your own way, and fight for it deep inside yourselves. You lust for what you don't have and are willing to kill to get it. You want what isn't yours and will risk violence to get your hands on it.
2-3You wouldn't think of just asking God for it, would you? And why not? Because you know you'd be asking for what you have no right to. You're spoiled children, each wanting your own way.

4-6You're cheating on God. If all you want is your own way, flirting with the world every chance you get, you end up enemies of God and his way. And do you suppose God doesn't care? The proverb has it that "he's a fiercely jealous lover." And what he gives in love is far better than anything else you'll find. It's common knowledge that "God goes against the willful proud; God gives grace to the willing humble."

7-10So let God work his will in you. Yell a loud no to the Devil and watch him scamper. Say a quiet yes to God and he'll be there in no time. Quit dabbling in sin. Purify your inner life. Quit playing the field. Hit bottom, and cry your eyes out. The fun and games are over. Get serious, really serious. Get down on your knees before the Master; it's the only way you'll get on your feet.

9/16/2006

Music

Try our web radio! Click the link to the left "Christ Our Savior Web Radio" and tune into music and commentary 24/7

For something new and fresh:
Click on the link at the bottom, "The Fresh Heartbreak." This is my daughter-in-law and her brothers. If you are in the Seattle area you can check on some of their up coming shows. If you click the link "listen" on their web site, it takes you to their Myspace page where you can listen to a couple of their songs.

Drop an email to: bollerud@gci.net (that's me) and let me know what you think.

Pastor Dan

9/13/2006

15th Sunday after Pentecost


Mark 8:27-35

Your life
that precious gift of God
Lived out in so many ways
Here
In this place
Lived with joy
And pain
Love and sadness
It is ours
This gift
Until we hold so tightly
That our vision fades and we see
Only this
----(take up thy cross
----give of the one gift
----that seems most precious)
life

we see on the leaf
the fuzzy green worm
content
living on all God has given it
living
content
within the boundaries of its life
happily seeing no more than
the next leaf
until
an end comes to all that is
within its boundaries
and it finds itself hanging there
a lifeless form
from which will emerge
a new life
that will soar on the winds

life
within your boundaries
confined
willing to take up the cross
to follow
without feeling the confines
of this world
knowing
the gift has been given
of new life
beyond the boundaries.

Running on empty?

Saturday September 23rd, Mark 8: 34 Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 35 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. After you shake off the temptation to avoid the cross, there is work to do. The kingdom work, the Gospel work, is the work for others. The Path in life is never a straight course, it constantly zigzags from serving others to serving self. In the irony of the kingdom however, you will find that it is the times when you are serving others that your tank begins to fill, it is when you serve yourself that it begins to empty. The goal is not to run out of gas.

Rockie

Friday September 22nd, Mark 8: 29 "But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?" Peter answered, "You are the Christ. 30 Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him. 31 He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. 32 He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 33 But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. "Get behind me, Satan!" he said. "You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men." Good old Peter, “The Rock”, some rock he turned out to be. Out of the same mouth came the personal confession on which the church is to built, that Jesus was the Christ. A moment later, the temptation of Adam and Eve (eat of the tree of all knowledge and you can be your own god), the devil in the wilderness (worship me and all this can be yours) and the garden (Lord, if possible, take this cup from me) all wrapped up in the suggestion that there is a way around the cross. The temptation for us to avoid the cross is real also. It is the temptation to think we can storm heaven by our good works. What we find is the only thing we accomplish is to trample on others. The temptation is constant and we all fail from time to time. When we do, it is good to remember that we are in good company with Peter. So pick yourself up, shake it off, and live for the kingdom.

Nuts

Thursday September 21st, James 3: 11 Does a spring of water bubble out with both fresh water and bitter water? 12 Can you pick olives from a fig tree or figs from a grapevine? No, and you can't draw fresh water from a salty pool. So fill your heart with all sorts of fresh, healthy, pure and positive stuff, like God stuff. If we do not have a direction in life, we will end up just working our life for someone else’s benefit. God has given you gifts, and they are for your use in the kingdom. There are all sorts of gifts, and the kingdom needs both figs and olives and every kind of fruit and nut out there. If you find yourself just rolling around in the same old muck all the time, check out “the Path” by Laurie Beth Jones (https://www.lauriebethjones.com/) and work at finding the path God has chosen for you. If you are a nut, at least you can be the best nut God has called you to be.

Is there a bad taste in your mouth?

Wednesday September 20th, James 3: 7 People can tame all kinds of animals and birds and reptiles and fish, 8 but no one can tame the tongue. It is an uncontrollable evil, full of deadly poison. 9 Sometimes it praises our Lord and Father, and sometimes it breaks out into curses against those who have been made in the image of God. 10 And so blessing and cursing come pouring out of the same mouth. Most of this has to do with the atmosphere in which your tongue is surrounded. If you are in a place where your ears hear all manner of praise, your tongue will often repeat that. If, on the other hand, your ears hear all manner of deadly poison, well, your tongue can produce that as well. If you have a bad taste in your mouth, you just might want to change what you are listening to. P.S. Then again, it also helps to brush!

Leash laws

Tuesday September 19th, James 3: 3 We can make a large horse turn around and go wherever we want by means of a small bit in its mouth. 4 And a tiny rudder makes a huge ship turn wherever the pilot wants it to go, even though the winds are strong. 5 So also, the tongue is a small thing, but what enormous damage it can do. What do you give voice to in your life? When the tongue starts flapping, what kind of conversations does it direct your life into. Without conscious effort on our part, we can find ourselves drawn into the world around us, and our tongue as the one that has us on a leash. It is supposed to be the other way around, we are to lead the tongue, and it is to do our bidding. If life is not going the way you would wish, if you are not going the direction you would like to be going, perhaps it is time to turn the leash around. Maybe you should be leading the tongue in your direction.

9/11/2006

Heart focus

Monday September 18th, Isaiah 50: I let them push, ridicule and abuse me but I didn't turn aside, not even when they insulted me and spit in my face. It is the LORD God who keeps us from being disgraced. The world tries to take us off down the path of personal gain and fortune. It is a glittering path with wonderful amusements on either side. The trouble comes at the end of the path. I am not talking about the flames of hell, they are Christ quenched. I am talking about the meaninglessness and loss we discover when we get there. (Ecclesiastes 5:8-18) Don’t be pushed and ridiculed into the you who was never meant to be, keep your heart focused on the Lord and live.

Garden living

Sunday September 17th, Isaiah 50: The LORD God gives me the right words to encourage the weary. Each morning I awaken eager to learn the Lord’s teachings; Prayer often is a specific statement made to the Lord. Sometimes however it is more, sometimes it is a way of life, a way of being. When you live your life as a prayer, each moment is lived in blessed expectation. The vicissitudes of life take on new meaning. The work and play of life take on new meanings. Your life, as a vessel of God’s love and grace becomes a gift to others. It’s the closest we get to living in the garden since Adam.

Opening Litany - based on Isaiah 50:4-9

Isaiah 50:4-9 (Contemporary English Version)

Pastor: The LORD God gives me the right words to encourage the weary.

Congregation: Each morning I awaken eager to learn the Lord’s teachings;

Pastor: The Lord is the one who made us willing to listen and not rebel or run away.

Congregation: I let them push, ridicule and abuse me but I didn't turn aside, not even when they insulted me and spit in my face.

Pastor: It is the LORD God who keeps us from being disgraced.

Congregation: Therefore I refuse to give up because I know God will never let me down.

Pastor: Our Lord and protector is nearby; no one can stand here and falsely accuse us of wrong.

Congregation: The LORD God will help us and prove we are innocent and our false accusers will wear out like moth-eaten clothes.

9/08/2006

Dark Ages of Democracy

All our early American leaders read Montesuieu, who differentiated despotism from monarchy from democracy. In each of these forms of society he found a governing principle: for despotism it was fear, for monarchy it was honor, and for democracy it was virtue. Because freedom was practically synonymous with virtue, we turned out a generation of politicians named Washington, Jefferson, Adams, Franklin, Hamilton.

Today with a population eighty times the three million who were Americans in 1776, we don't produce many leaders like that anymore, and the reason is clear; as Plato said, "What's honored in a country will be cultivated there." We have wonderful athletes and generally inferior politicians, and we deserve them both. Because we have so cruelly separated freedom from virtue, because we define freedom in a morally inferior way, we have entered what Herman Melville called the "Dark Ages of Democracy," a time when, as he predicted, the New Jerusalem would turn into Babylon, and Americans would experience what he called "the arrest of hope's advance."

"Creedo" by William Sloane Coffin

9/06/2006

14th Sunday after Pentecost


Mark 7:24-37

Jesus the Christ has come into our lives
With healing
And miracles of life
Showing us the Kingdom
Breaking into our lives
in a never
--before
----see way
breaking into our lives
with life
with newness
with a wholeness that recreates
with all glory and goodness
that is to be
the kingdom of God
even those with no hope
those who have resigned themselves to
this is the way the world is
--for better or worse
will need blinders
to keep out the
this is the way the world should be
love of God

A Mighty Fortress

Saturday September 16th, Mark 7: 31 Then Jesus left the vicinity of Tyre and went through Sidon, down to the Sea of Galilee and into the region of the Decapolis. 32 There some people brought to him a man who was deaf and could hardly talk, and they begged him to place his hand on the man. 33 After he took him aside, away from the crowd, Jesus put his fingers into the man's ears. Then he spit and touched the man's tongue. 34 He looked up to heaven and with a deep sigh said to him, "Ephphatha!" (which means, "Be opened!" ). 35 At this, the man's ears were opened, his tongue was loosened and he began to speak plainly. 36 Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone. But the more he did so, the more they kept talking about it. 37 People were overwhelmed with amazement. This is a different reception than Jesus got when he announced the miracle of the year of the Jubilee in his hometown of Nazareth (Luke 4). These outsiders in Tyre and Sidon and the Decapolis were overwhelmed with the wonderful showing of love and grace manifest in action. We too can learn from those outside the “four walls” church, and in the process relearn what grace is all about. I sometimes think our “four walls” are too comfortable a fortress.

Fish On

Friday September 15th, Mark 7: a woman whose little daughter was possessed by an evil spirit came and fell at his feet. 26 The woman was a Greek, born in Syrian Phoenicia. She begged Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter. 27 "First let the children eat all they want," he told her, "for it is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to their dogs." 28 "Yes, Lord," she replied, "but even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs." 29 Then he told her, "For such a reply, you may go; the demon has left your daughter." First time I read this story, I thought, “what a snot.” O come on, you thought something like that yourself; that is the point of the story. We are to be shocked, and also a bit drawn in. I can see it now, the disciples have heard all this love you neighbor stuff, and it is good and all, but deep down inside we all know Jesus doesn’t really mean "everybody." Now with this Phoenician woman we at last have some frame of reference as to where to draw the line, she was after all a real outsider and we feel Jesus is right in verbally slapping her down and putting her in her place. Then, before we know it, we, along with the disciples feel the tug of the hook and hear Jesus yell, “fish on.” We too have been caught by our own greed and need to draw lines. This woman on the other side of the line is the one Jesus uses as an example of faith, and we have learned once again how large is the family of God.

You mean we have to "do" something

Thursday September 14th, James 2: 14 My friends, what good is it to say you have faith, when you don't do anything to show that you really do have faith? Can that kind of faith save you? 15 If you know someone who doesn't have any clothes or food, 16 you shouldn't just say, "I hope all goes well for you. I hope you will be warm and have plenty to eat." What good is it to say this, unless you do something to help? 17 Faith that doesn't lead us to do good deeds is all alone and dead! This makes us Lutherans cringe, and for good reason, on one level it seems to attack the very identity of who we are, those saved by Grace. Grace however changes hearts and changed hearts are always in search of ways to expand and understand the “love your neighbor” thing. Grace saves us "for" not just "from."

Who do you love?

Wednesday September 13th, James 2: 8 You will do all right, if you obey the most important law in the Scriptures. It is the law that commands us to love others as much as we love ourselves. 9 But if you treat some people better than others, you have done wrong, and the Scriptures teach that you have sinned. 10 If you obey every law except one, you are still guilty of breaking them all. In loving others we are sometime tempted to ask, as did the young man in Luke 10, just who is our neighbor. Jesus answered him by telling the story of the “good Samaritan” and asking him who acted like a neighbor. Variations of that story today are still the correct way to get into the question and the answer of to whom that love extends. Are you acting like a neighbor today? To whom are you not acting like a neighbor (not loving as yourself)? Your job for today is to do something to correct that.

Roll up your sleeves

Tuesday September 12th, Isaiah 35: 5 Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. 6 Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy. Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert. 7 The burning sand will become a pool, the thirsty ground bubbling springs. In the haunts where jackals once lay, grass and reeds and papyrus will grow. When the Lord comes again, it is not just humanity that will experience salvation; all of creation will have that joyful experience. In the mean time, God has given us that task of working toward God’s vision for all of creation, and sometimes it feels like we are going backwards. The Garden of Eden and the New Jerusalem are bookend visions held out before us to give us a hint as to how things will be and consequently, what we are to work towards. Roll up your sleeves, in the kingdom of God there is no such thing as unemployment.

Claw marks and nail marks

Monday September 11th, Isaiah 35: 4 say to those with fearful hearts, “Be strong, do not fear; your God will come, he will come with vengeance; with divine retribution he will come to save you." Fear breeds all sorts of ills in this world. Fearful people attack others, afraid if they don’t they will be attacked first. Fearful people horde more and more of their wealth, afraid that if they don’t they won’t have enough. Sometimes because of their fearful insecurities they want to present an image of having it all together. When the presence of God is announced, it is often announced with the words “fear not.’ In God’s final world, there will be no room for fear, or the negatives it brings, war, greed, famine and the like. God has provided for all, and salvation will come to all. In the process, some of the things we hold onto to cover our fear will have a lot of claw marks as well as nail marks on them. Salvation is free, but it is not cheap.

Compassion and tough love

Sunday September 10th, Psalm 146: Do not put your trust in rulers or those who cannot save. When their spirit departs, they return to the ground and on that very day their plans come to nothing. Blessed is one whose help and hope is in the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them— the LORD, who remains faithful forever. The Lord upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry. The LORD sets prisoners free and gives sight to the blind, The LORD lifts up those who are bowed down and loves the righteous. The LORD watches over the alien and sustains the fatherless and the widow but frustrates the ways of the wicked. The LORD reigns for all generations. Come let us Praise the LORD. The eternal plan of God is to bring hope to the hopeless and salvation to all of humanity. Hope means watching over the outsiders in each community, watching out for the orphaned and those left alone in the world. Frustrating the way of the wicked is just a loving God’s way of helping those who don’t think they need God’s help and presence, and to help them see that indeed they do need that presence. Wholeness comes not when one side wins out over another, but when all gather around the throne of God, bathed in God’s loving grace. Caring for those who feel hopeless and frustrating the ways of the wicked are both acts of love. One is compassion, the other is tough love.

Psalm 146 (NIV) Opening Reading for Sunday

Pastor: Praise the LORD, Praise the LORD, O my soul.

Congregation: I will praise the LORD all my life singing praises to my God as long as I live.

Pastor: Do not put your trust in rulers or those who cannot save. When their spirit departs, they return to the ground and on that very day their plans come to nothing.

Congregation: Blessed is one whose help and hope is in the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them— the LORD, who remains faithful forever.

Pastor: The Lord upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry.

Congregation: The LORD sets prisoners free,

Pastor: and gives sight to the blind,

Congregation: The LORD lifts up those who are bowed down,

Pastor: and loves the righteous.

Congregation: The LORD watches over the alien

Pastor: and sustains the fatherless and the widow but frustrates the ways of the wicked.

Congregation: The LORD reigns for all generations. Come let us Praise the LORD.

Venezuela helps Alaska

National oil company will buy heating fuel for Native villages

Published: September 6, 2006
Last Modified: September 6, 2006 at 06:27 AM

The irony of it.

Alaska, an oil-rich state with more than $34 billion in its Permanent Fund, more than $2 billion in its budget reserve fund, a budget surplus the past two years -- and thousands of villagers fearing another winter of costly heating oil bills.
All that is ironic enough -- residents going cold in a land with so much oil and money. But it gets worse, or more embarrassing, depending on your perspective.
Several thousand Alaska villagers will benefit this winter from a new government-funded energy assistance program. Not the Alaska government, not the U.S. government, but the government of Venezuela.
Yes, that South American nation led by President Hugo Chavez, friend of Cuba's Fidel Castro and fierce critic of President Bush. Venezuela, which provides cheap oil to Haiti and other developing nations, is adding Alaska to its gift list.
CITGO Petroleum Corp., a Houston-based refiner and distributor of petroleum products, will help pay for heating oil for rural Alaskans, just as it did last winter for 200,000 low-income families in U.S. East Coast states. Venezuela's national oil company, through a subsidiary, owns 100 percent of CITGO (it took over the company in 1990).
President Chavez, seemingly always looking for opportunities to one-up Bush, announced with great fanfare last winter CITGO's discounted heating oil program for residents of Boston, New York City and elsewhere along the Eastern Seaboard. The program delivered 40 million gallons of heating oil at 40 percent off the wholesale price. The glossy brochures and press releases called it, "From the Venezuelan heart to the U.S. hearths."
OK, it was brash politics from a guy who likes to call anyone who disagrees with him "a lackey of U.S. imperialism."
That probably will not matter much to the Alaska villagers who get free fuel this winter. The plan is for CITGO to contract with Alaska Native nonprofit corporations, with the Alaska Inter-Tribal Council coordinating the program. Since CITGO doesn't have any nearby refineries to deliver its own fuel, it will donate money to the nonprofits to purchase 1.2 million gallons of fuel from Alaska distributors.
The company also is talking about extending to Alaska a separate program to provide fuel to community facilities.
It's part of CITGO's program to assist Native Americans. The nationwide target is to provide 5 million to 10 million gallons of heating fuel for Native Americans this winter. The company is also talking with tribes in Washington and Idaho and may add the Southwest to the program too.
Alaska has a similar program funded entirely with federal dollars. The Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program distributes funds to needy Alaskans to help pay the high cost of heating oil. But federal funding is at the same level today as it was 20 years ago, which means it's far short of what is needed. Gov. Frank Murkowski this year asked legislators to appropriate $8.8 million in state cash to supplement the program, but lawmakers gave the governor -- and low-income Alaskans -- the cold shoulder and rejected the request.
Good thing for those Alaskans that another country is coming to help.
BOTTOM LINE: If you're cold and can't afford fuel oil, who cares about the political motives of the giver?

9/05/2006

Here I stand

Already it is by the laws and policies of this country - whether we are talking about an insane war abroad or the mental genocide that takes place in slum schools - it is by the laws ands policies of this country that the consciences of people are being racked. Of course we need to be concerned for order. Without it there is chaos, and with chaos there is no justice. But today what Christians in particular need to remember is that God never stands for stability at the expense of truth, that God has no interest in any status quo whatsoever. For God does not want to freeze history, but rather to move it continually toward that ultimate goal of his kind of unity in justice and mercy.

So what the Christian community needs to do above all else is to raise up men and women of thought and of conscience, adventuresome, imaginative people capable of both joy and suffering. And most of all they must be people of courage so that when the day goes hard and cowards steal from the field, like Luther they will be able to say, "My conscience is captive to the word of God.... to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. Here I stand. I can do no other. God help me."

"Creedo" by William Sloane Coffin

God is love

"God is love," as Scripture says, and that means the revelation is in the relationship. "God is love" does not clear up old mysteries, it discloses new mystery. "God is love" is not a truth we can master, it is only one to which we can surrender. Faith is being grasped by the power of love.

"Creedo" by William Sloane Coffin

The Power of One

Matthew 13:33 He told them still another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into a large amount of flour until it worked all through the dough."

Jesus uses the description of what yeast can do to describe the kingdom of Heaven. God’s presence and blessings can come into a community of faith through the words and actions of others. It is like yeast, it grows and affects the whole community. Look around the sanctuary and smile and watch the smile grow, first one face, then another and another and another, until most of the body of Christ gathered in that place is blessed with that infectious smile. Our action statement for “serve” in our mission statement is to “Reach out, Serve, and Incite miracles.” There is no better description of what the yeast of service can do. Someone becomes passionate about a particular ministry and soon there are gathered around that one, others who have seen the passion rise within them because of the excitement of the one. Soon ministry is happening and the blessing flows out to not only those being served, but even more so to the ones doing the serving as well as the body of Christ from which they come. It is the power of One. Over the summer we have been blessed by having many individuals stepping forth for service. Some have preached and led worship, others have brought snacks, played music, watered flowers and pulled weeds and still others have mowed lawns and changed light bulbs, and then there is Doug, the one man dynamo who makes 90% of what happens around here happen. Each one has contributed not only in the work they have done, but even more so in the atmosphere they have created and the lessons they have passed on to the younger ones in this community of faith.

Matthew 16:5 When they went across the lake, the disciples forgot to take bread. 6"Be careful," Jesus said to them. "Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees."

This is another kind of yeast story from Jesus. It is a warning. For all the good one person can do, there is a danger of what one can do. It is the “no” sayers, their general concern is what others are doing wrong rather than what they can do right. That is some of us all of the time and all of us some of the time. In the Gospel for September 10th, Mark 7:24-37 we find the story of the Syrophoenician Woman. She was an outsider, a nobody, and to the disciples just one more beggar at the feet of their master, Jesus. When Jesus gets sharp with her, the disciples are right there egging him on, being “no” sayers, drumming up the negative, trying to set limits on God’s love and power. Then with a “fish on” move Jesus turns the tables on the disciples, using this strong woman to show the disciples that their motives were a bit fishy.

Don’t ever underestimate the power of what God can do, and don’t ever underestimate the power of what God can do through one person, and don’t ever underestimate what God can do through you. Follow your passion and allow the Lord to work through you as you, just one person, reach out, serve and incite miracles, and discover that the greatest miracle of all is what happens inside your heart.

9/03/2006

Right back at you


Whenever you point your finger at someone else, remember there are always three coming back at you.

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