MANNA: The Approachable One

James 4:8

"Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you."

Pastor's get the privilege of being entrusted with the stories of people's darkest moments.  My pastor, a man with curly hair, once joked that the things he has heard from his parishioners are what made his hair curl.   It's these hair curling stories that bring me to the writing of this devotion.   No...I suppose it is actually my prayers for the people behind the stories.

Here's one such story.  It is that of a young woman, only a year or two out of high school, who is struggling to raise her two year old son.  She relies on her grandparents for free babysitting so that she can go to work.  She also leans on them through financial hurdles as they come up.  If that were the end of the story she would be fine.   But, it isn't.  Unfortunately, she is in an abusive relationship with a boyfriend.  She says he loves her and that she loves him.  But, when she came to talk to me she had bruises on her arm and cheek.  A Valentine's Day "gift" from her boyfriend for speaking up against his plans to spend the holiday with a different woman.  She spoke to me about love, yet she told me that she was afraid of what he would do if she broke up with him.

In my conversation with her that day I found myself repeating to her "Love doesn't intimidate."

Are there people who intimidate you?

I'm reminded of a scene from The Wizard of Oz.  It's that scene when Dorothy and her friends finally get to see the Wizard, and they’re scared to death. They feel the heat from the fire shooting all around them. They hear the Wizard’s booming voice. They see his giant head in front of them. And for a moment, they’re almost too terrified to approach him.

Intimidation is terrifying.  The worst kind is when people twist love into a selfish lie.  They use love only as a tool with which to make us vulnerable; preying upon our vulnerabilities in order to intimidate us into submission to their will.  This is not love.  It is an abomination of love.  When someone we love intimidates us into a state of being too terrified to be honest, open, or genuine with that person then we are not being loved...we are being abused.

Love doesn't intimidate.

Unfortunately, there are some who believe this is how we should approach God — ​with fear and trembling. After all, he is perfect. He is the source of all power. He knows everything about us...even the really, really bad things. We should be afraid of him.  Right?!
Wrong!!  God is not the Wizard of Oz!
God's mercy and grace are always greater than His wrath and judgment.

God doesn't intimidate!

The apostle James wrote that God has made himself completely approachable with Christ. He makes himself available to us. In fact, he invites us to come near him. Because he loves us, we can have a relationship with him...one that is truly about love, not abuse.  His love for us breaks the manipulative bonds of an abusive relationship, heals the wounds with truth and promise, and shelters us from the storms of anguish.  As Luther wrote in his timeless song, "A mighty fortress is our God...."

God doesn't intimidate!  Therefore, love doesn't intimidate!

Dear God, thank you for allowing us to approach you like that of a loving mother or father. Let us never lose faith in what power and fortitude your love for us provides.  Amen.

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Sermon for Ash Wednesday: 2/13/13

Joel 2:1-2, 12-17

"Return to the Lord your God."

You know the expression "You can't see the forest for the trees".

Well, this text struck me like that this week.  The prophet Joel declares "Return to the Lord your God."  I read a daily devotional entry on this text early this week, and the author made a seemingly self-evident observation, but one that had never occurred to me.  The author wrote that the word "return" implies going someplace one has been before.  

There is an imminent threat to Jerusalem, and Joel declares to the people that the Lord desires that they return to where they had once been, to the covenant relationship the Lord had established.  

We all know the story of the Wizard of Oz.  When you think about it, one of the reasons this movie is such a classic is the timeless nature of the theme of returning home.  Dorothy is lost in a frightening and unfamiliar place, and wants nothing more than to return home.   The friends she makes along her journey provide a source of joy and encouragement, but nothing can replace the peace and comfort of returning home with her family.  

But, there is another bit of timeless wisdom in this story, possibly even more important than the longing for home that we all can identify with.  It is the way in which Dorothy got herself lost in the first place.  She ran away.  Not long after she did, she found herself more vulnerable than she realized.  

We are vulnerable away from God, trying to make life go well for us on our own.  The prophet Joel tried to get this point across to Jerusalem before the twister of catastrophe came and they wound up in Babylon again, or Oz. 

We have this chance today to hear the prophet Joel make the same announcement for us.  Return to the Lord your God.

Now, if we understand that returning to God is to return to the covenant relationship with God, and if we understand that covenant to have begun at creation, we might expand our vision of all people in the world being called to "return" to a place they have been before—to the Lord their God...the source of life.  For, who can best navigate the course of life, than the author and giver of it?

The prophet Joel calls us to look at all the ways in which we, like Dorothy, run away from God's covenantal relationship...our home...the place from where we all come....only to find ourselves lost in Oz.  

But, Joel also calls us to recognize that we are children, like Dorothy.  We are God's children.
Is there any place parents wont go to bring their lost children home...any depth to which she wont go...and pain which he wont endure?  No.  Same is true of our God!

One day, we will close our eyes in death.   Ash Wednesday makes this point very clear with the message on our foreheads, "Remember you are dust, and to dust you shall return."   But, even though we all have indeed come from dust...returning to dust is not God's plan or our hope.  Into the dust of creation God goes with his son, Jesus to bring us home.  He goes into death to bring us out, give us life and guide us home...to our eternal home.     

This is why the ashen symbol of our mortality is in the form of a cross.

It is the cross of Jesus that saves us.

It is Christ who brings us back home.

Just as we will all, one day, close our eyes in death.  One day we will also, like Dorothy, wake up and find that we are indeed back home...with al those who have died ahead of us, and with Jesus to welcome us when we open our eyes.

And then we'll say in one way or another

There's no place like home.

Amen!

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Sermon from 2/10/13: Face to Face

Transfiguration Sunday

Exodus 34:29-35

I was visiting one of our shut-ins (Betty) the other day, and it happened that I arrived just as she was finishing up a Skype conversation with her daughter, who lives in Europe.  Now, if seeing a 90 year old shut-in Skyping on her iPad doesn't shatter your stereotypes about the elderly then I'm afraid nothing will.  Impressed, I asked her what she thought about technology like Skype, and the assortment of others.  Betty's reply was, "It's nice to have, but it's no replacement for face to face."  

Forbes Magazine would agree with Betty.  They did a study recently involving 750 of the most successful business, and asked their top executives the same question I asked my techno-savvy shut-in.  The result was 91% of them favored good old fashioned face to face communication, especially when it came to accountability, inspiration, leadership, and decision making.  

So, here's my question of today's Scripture...If today's technology were available to Moses, would God still make him climb up that mountain for the Ten Commandments?   That question is not as crazy as you may think.  Even without modern technology, couldn't God have spared Moses the climb and the 40 days without shelter and food?  Could not the covenant be miraculously brought down from Heaven in the same way the manna came, or the water from the rock?  Why was it necessary for God and Moses to be "face to face"?  

These questions push us to consider the Ten Commandments as so much more than a mere list of rules.  Could it be that there was more to Moses' hike up Mt. Sinai than just to retrieve two tablets...oh, I should probably specify here...we're not talking about iPad or Android tablets...these were made of stone.  :-)

I think it matters, just as the author of Exodus thinks it matters, that Moses went up the mountain to be in God's presence.  Unlike the other gods of the Canaanites or the Egyptians, our God desires to be with us, face to face.  God wants to be present in the middle of our everyday lives.  The purpose of the covenant was so much  more than just a set of rules.  It was a way of life; a way of being the chosen people of God.  My grandma used to use the expression, "No child of mine behaves like that!", whenever I would behave poorly as a child.  In one statement she would condemn my behavior, and remind me that I'm her's...claimed and loved by her.  No other god known to these Hebrew people, from the Canaanites to the Egyptians, would have reduced himself to claiming their subjects personally, or to subject himself to such an agreement with his followers.  The ancient gods were just that, gods.  They were not subject to a code, or covenant.  They were known for doing as they pleased and for dominating their followers through fear and manipulation.  The Ten Commandments is God's declaration that He will be their God...He has chosen them!  Even more, it is his commitment to them of justice and love.  This covenant between Israel and God is the sign that they are in the presence of the one true God, and that He promises to always be there with them.    The "face to face" meeting between Moses and God for the sake of the covenant would have been to the Israelites a sign of God's eternal presence with them.  Just as God was willing to come down and be with Moses, so does God's presence go with them in the covenant.  

So, what does all this Bible study mean for us today?

Well, it means there is a text message from God about the necessity of presence with god and with one another   That's right, I said there's a text message from God...the Scripure Text has a message for us today. :-)

First, in a world where face to face communication is more and more getting taken for granted, we need to remember the value of being physically present with people.  It's not enough just to be Skyped, or emailed, or texted.  

I volunteer at my son's kindergarten class every Tuesday afternoon for about an hour.  One day, while I was sitting there at my son's table, a conversation broke out among the kids.  It's one we've all heard before and probably participated in when we were that age.  My daddy is a doctor, and he helps people.  Well, my daddy is a policeman and he helps people too.  You get the gist.  Around the table this childhood competition went, until it came to Elijah, my son.  Elijah, looked up at me, then said rather jokingly to the kids at the table, "My daddy is HERE!"  I really don't think my son was aware of how profound his words were.  But, I was.  And I was proud!  As a matter of fact, I can imagine if anyone were to see the look on my face at that very moment they might have seen that there was a bit of a shine to my face.  

Same is true with God.  Face to face with God is accomplished when we love others the way God has first loved us.  Moses' face was shining after spending 40 days in the presence of God's glory and love.  

Think about the people who have the power to put a shine on your face.  Now, ask yourself, am I spending adequate time "on the mountain" face to face with them, or has our relationship been reduced to a few text messages, a Facebook entry, and an occasional Skype conversation?  

Think about the experiences with others that has the power to put that shine on your face.  Things like volunteering in a real servant based ministry, or caring for someone who is sick with cancer, or sponsoring someone out of an addiction, or maybe its just seeing your kids grow and mature.  There are many opportunities that God gives us to "climb the mountain" in loving care for others, and all of these ways require a certain amount of face to face relationship building. And, all of these things will put that shine on your face.

It's love that makes us shine---God's love!
There's no way to genuinely love without climbing a mountain or two, and spending time face to face.
With Jesus, God reached down further than the mountain and Moses.  He reached all the way down into our hearts, and showed us His genuine love for us on a cross.  Then, on the third day, God came down again to show us His undying pursuit to be with us eternally in the resurrection.

It's the love of God that puts a sine on our face.
And, one day, we will all be face to face with God...and we will SHINE!

Amen!

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MANNA: Keep An Open Mind

Think of a time when you changed your mind about something. What made you change your mind?

When something is new to you, how do you decide whether it’s worth your time and attention?

I awoke this morning with questions like those floating around my head; which led my morning devotions to Proverbs 18.

Proverbs 18:1-2,15 (ESV)

Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire;
he breaks out against all sound judgment.
A fool takes no pleasure in understanding,
but only in expressing his opinion.

An intelligent heart acquires knowledge,
and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge.

It's important to try to remain open to new ideas. If people were not open to new ideas, consider where we might be:



All movies would still be in black and white....wait there wouldn't be movies at all.
We would still be writing snail mail instead of texting, skyping, emailing...wait, would there even be paper?
Computers would still be the size of a room, and the internet would never have gotten off the ground.  

Telephones

TVs

Cars

Light Bulbs

The list goes on....

Thankfully, many who have gone before us have been open to new ideas. In Proverbs 18, the author tells us that being open to new ideas is also important to our relationship with God.  God asks us to consider new ways of doing things all the time.  From caring for people, forming communities, conserving the earth's resources, maintaining justice, we are always challenged to consider new ideas.

Let me repeat that...we are always CHALLENGED to consider new ideas. It’s easier for us to stay in our comfort zones, to hang out with people who act, think and believe like we do. New ideas can be disruptive and uncomfortable. They challenge us to look at the world, other people and ourselves in ways we may not want to. 

But new ideas also stretch us and help us grow. That’s why "the ear of the wise seeks knowledge", remaining open to new ideas.  If you want to act wisely, surround yourself with wise people who challenge you to keep your mind open. Push yourself to read different kinds of books than you would normally choose. Ask God to open your eyes to fresh new ways to think and look at things.

Open my ears, Lord, 

and help me to listen,

Open my eyes, Lord,

I want to see Jesus.

Amen.

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MANNA: Morning Prayer

Psalm 5
3.   O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice;
      in the morning I plead my case to you, and watch.

What do people mean when they say, “I’m too busy to pray”?

Martin Luther was once asked how he finds the time to pray.  His answer? 

"Today I have so much to do that I cannot get on with it
before I spend twice as long in prayer." 

When is your favorite time to pray?
Mornings are my favorite.  It's the first thing I do at the start of the day.  Before everything else...as I'm having my coffee...and sometimes, like this morning, even before the sun rises.

Psalm 5 is attributed to King David.  I like pondering the thought that the great King David once shared the same affinity for morning prayer as I do.  In verse 3, he seems to be saying that mornings were when God would hear his prayers.  By starting each day with prayer, one nice thing is that prayer doesn't become something that only gets slipped into the cracks.  Those times are fine as well, but for me the routine of daily scripture and prayer helps me keep things in perspective.  First, comes my relationship with God.  Next, comes everything else.  David seemed to think so too.  He dedicated the first part of his day to prayer.

That's really what prayer is about....your relationship with God.

There is a clue in the verse quoted here that leads me to believe David saw things this way.  He says, "I plead my case to you."  What does this mean?  Well, think about the people you know who are the ones you would plead your case to.  Are they not those who are closest to you?  David isn't referring to an actual legal case in which God is his attorney.  This is the poetry of the Psalms.  David is referring to the closeness of his relationship with God.  He turned to God in the way you might turn to your closest friend, sibling or parent.  He approached God with confidence, companionship, security.  He shared what was going on in his life and asked for help with the parts of life where he thought he needed it.

But, a relationship doesn't just consist of one-way communication.  That wouldn't be a relationship at all.  That would be a daily recital of a grocery list to God, or at worst, a daily nagging of God.  A healthy relationship requires communication in both forms...giving and receiving.  If your prayer life has become more like a grocery list to God, then it is likely that you get the feeling God isn't listening to your prayers?  Well, it isn't likely that God has stopped listening to you.  God loves you.  But, it is likely that you have stopped listening to God.

I said above that I find beginning the day in prayer..putting first things first...helps to keep things in perspective.  David ends verse 3 with the words "and watch".   David didn't drop his grocery list in God’s lap each morning and then go on his way.  He went about his day watching for God’s response.  Another way to watch for God is to listen for God.  Sometimes God says “yes” and things work out just the way we had hoped.  Other times, God says “no”, and we find God intervening in life more unexpectedly than we could have ever envisioned.  Our lives are not our own...after all.   Either way, David watched...listened for God.   Watching, waiting, listening for God takes practice, just as effective communication with anyone takes practice.  Morning prayer helps to begin the day with at least an awareness of some things to watch for with God.

Dear God, thank you for hearing us any time we approach you.  Let us never forget what a privilege it is to talk to you in prayer.  In Jesus' name, Amen.

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MANNA: Sanctuary Lamp

The SANCTUARY LAMP: What is this?

Does your church have one of these?  It may also be called ETERNAL CANDLE, ETERNAL FLAME, TABERNACLE LIGHT, or some other variation of these words.  It is usually found somewhere in the altar area.  Some churches suspend them directly above the altar by a chain from the ceiling.  My church has one attached to the wall on the side of the altar.

Essentially, the Sanctuary Lamp symbolizes the eternal presence of God in the church.  In the Bible (Exodus 25:31-40) God gave instructions for the building of the Tabernacle.  Those instructions included a lamp.  God commanded that Israel keep the lamp burning as a perpetual ordinance (Exodus 27:20-21).

Modern sanctuary lamps are linked more historically to the Roman Catholic practice of burning a light in front of the reserved sacrament (consecrated bread and wine left after a communion service), to signify and honor the presence of Christ in the elements of bread and wine. In Roman Catholic usage the light near the reserved sacrament is enclosed in red glass and is placed near the tabernacle (a box traditionally recessed into the wall behind or to the side of the altar to house the reserved sacrament).  

Protestant churches continued the Roman Catholic practice by including lamps in their worship spaces that were enclosed in red glass but without maintaining tabernacles or the reserved sacrament.  The rationale for most was that of Christ's eternal presence in the church.  

Theologically, however, this is very weak.  Christ's presence is more to do with the Word and promise of God, and the gathering of the faithful than with the building or space used for worship.  As Jesus says in Matthew 18:20, "Where two or more are gathered in my name, there I am among them."  For this reason, the Lutheran position discourages congregations from adding a sanctuary lamp when one does not already exist.  Where a sanctuary lamp is already in place it is best to recognize it as a symbol with less prominence and priority in the worship space than the baptismal water, the altar, the lectern/pulpit, and the gathering of the faithful.  

Theology aside, I appreciate the sanctuary lamp in my church, and I'm glad we have it.  I presume that most of my members appreciate it as well.  Often, I enjoy sitting in the sanctuary for a moment or two of private, tranquil prayer.  In times like these my church is lit by nothing more than the ambient light through the windows.  Depending upon the time of day, it can be very dark in my church.  For me, the sanctuary candle burning off in the corner is a reminder of what John wrote in very beginning of his gospel.  

In the beginning was the Word, 

and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 

He was in the beginning with God. 

All things came into being through him, 
and without him not one thing came into being. 

What has come into being in him was life, 
and the life was the light of all people. 

The light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness can not overcome it.

There is a lot of darkness in the world, even in the church.  But, just as one candle pushes its light into the darkness of a room, so it is with the light of faith in our God. One little moment of prayer, one Bible verse, a spot of bread and wine, a sprinkling of water...these are like tiny lights that shine in our darkness, and the darkness can not overcome it.  So, theology aside, I say "...let it shine, let it shine, let it shine!"

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