The Moses Resume

Exodus 3:1-15

What qualities would you list on your resume?   If you were an employer, what qualities would most look for?

The resources I found on the topic of Best Qualities to list on a resume say the number 1 quality that is sought by employers is communication skills.

This is followed by:

Honesty or integrity

Teamwork

Interpersonal skills

Self-Motivation

Flexibility

Problem solving skills

If we were to create a Job description for leadership among God’s followers, Moses would be at the top of the list of candidates who are Biblical role models for leadership.

So, let’s take a look at this Biblical role model then, and try to determine what might be on a job description for a position of leadership among God’s people.

Moses had a remarkable life.

His story began when he was an infant, chosen by divine intervention, and placed in a basket on the river Nile.  So….he is adopted.   This, in and of itself, does not raise a concern, but the level of dysfunction that this causes him later when he has trouble relating to his own people does.  Moses lacks interpersonal skills. 

When an Egyptian abused one of his countrymen, he kills him.

Hmmm….that would strike teamwork, problem solving and flexibility from the list.

Then, Moses buries the body in the sand, and flees to Midian as a fugitive.

So…I guess honesty and integrity are off the list.

Years later Moses wanders to the "mountain of God," Horeb, or Sinai while shepherding sheep.  He comes upon a bush that won't burn. It's so extraordinary that Moses stops to investigate.

Hmmm…Ok, so he is either just curious…or, he has A.D.D., and has just left his sheep because his attention was distracted by something shiny.

He hears the voice of Almighty God coming from the bush. Moses knows it is God, because he "hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God”.   

Ahhh….there’s a quality that God can work with…Faith!  Unfortunately, faith in God is nowhere on our list of the best qualities to put on a resume.  It seems employers aren't looking for people of faith. 

Now, when God gives Moses his assignment, Moses starts to argue: "Why me?  Why should I go to Pharaoh?"  Essentially, he is claiming God is wrong.  God answers. But Moses won't stop: “What name will I say has sent me?  What will I say?”  

Ok, first off, we have to say that the number one thing listed as a quality sought by today’s employers must be stricken from our list…Communication skills.  Moses doesn’t only ask what will I say, but he admits that he has trouble speaking.

Second, God has to go to great length to motivate Moses to get moving.  So, we can scratch self-motivation from our list.

But, it’s kind of hard not to read between the lines here and realize that Moses is giving God a hard time.  So last, but not least, when I read this and I try to put myself in Moses’ shoes…well, bare feet, I’m thinking, “Dude!  This is God!  Just shut your mouth and do what God says!  How can you even think about arguing with God!?” But he does.  So, it is safe to say that what Moses has is chutzpah…audacity.  He is brazen!

But, nowhere in our list of sought after qualities is chutzpah.  Yet, it seems that is precisely a quality that God sees in Moses

So, if Moses is our role model for good leadership, let’s recap our list of qualities on his resume.

Qualities Moses lacked:

Communication skills

Interpersonal skills

Honesty, Integrity

Flexibility

Problem Solving

Self-Motivation

Qualities Moses has:

Faith

Chutzpah

That’s it! 

Those are the qualities that Moses brings to bear when God calls him to accomplish what is arguably the greatest leadership challenge in history.

So, what do we see in one another as we consider what we bring to bear for what God puts in front of us?  Do we look at the challenges ahead of us and assume that we are not qualified, not capable?

What do our conversations with God sound like?  Do we even have conversations with God?

And, if so, do we have the chutzpah to really push God for answers, the way Moses did?

Our church needs leaders.  Has God been whispering in your ear, or speaking to you in a kind of burning bush, telling you that you are needed in the service of God in your church?  Are you stepping up, or avoiding doing so because you think you’re unqualified?

If we were the employer of such an enormous challenge of leading people out of Egypt, would we have hired Moses…fugitive, dysfunctional, attention deficit, argumentative, inflexible Moses? 

God saw more in Moses than he saw in himself.  

And, God sees more in you than you can see in yourself.

Don’t measure yourself by the world’s standards.

Trust that God has already measured you by His…and has called YOU!

Amen

What's the Difference Between a Bible Study and a Worship Service?

A friend wrote me this excellent question:

Pastor, I've participated in Bible studies that resemble worship services.  I've also been to worship services that seem more like Bible studies.  Can you tell me the difference, for we Lutherans, between a Bible study and a worship service?

Here's my response:

For questions like this the Augsburg Confession is very helpful.  Concerning the Church: "It is the assembly of all believers among whom the gospel is purely preached and the holy sacraments are administered according to the gospel."

The role and purpose of the church is to communicate the gospel, the means of God's grace in and for the World. While Christ declares in Matthew 18 that he is present wherever two or three are gathered in his name; making it possible for the gospel to be preached by any believer to anyone, virtually anywhere, still the assembly of believers for worship remains the church's primary instrument for this purpose.

Secondly, our confessions seem clear that to carry out this purpose there need not be uniformity in method or practice across the church. The only necessities are that the gospel is purely preached (put simply, this means that both the law and the gospel are exposed from the Scriptures to bring about faith), and that the sacraments are administered. There are no other requirements for the worship service to be considered "Lutheran".  It behooves us to participate in the Lord's Supper whenever we gather for worship, since it is the real presence of Christ for the forgiveness of sin.  Why would any of us ever choose to not want such a gift as often as possible?   Even so, the frequency of the Lord's Supper is not a requirement for the uniformity of Lutheran worship. Essentially, the only requirements for Lutheran worship is that it is the assembly of believers where the Word is preached and the sacraments administered.  All other elements (music, liturgies, rites) are left to the discretion of the local congregation to form its own identity and edify its practice, but they are not required.

Therefore, the difference between worship and a Bible study is to do with whether or not the Scriptures are preached and the sacraments administered.  Most of the Bible studies I have participated in, and even some in which I have led are not places where the Scriptures are preached.  Preaching is very different from studying.  So, the first question to ask is whether or not there is a person designated to preach the Scripture, not just lead a study of it. Still, there are some Bible studies where a leader may in fact be preaching on the text of that day.

This leads me to the next portion of the answer. Are the people who gather, coming with an expectation of receiving the sacraments?  As we've already determined, for we Lutherans a worship service requires both Word AND sacrament. Even if we do not offer the sacraments at every worship service we still respect the fact that it is within our designated worship service where a person might expect to find the sacraments.

 So, even when a Bible study resembles a worship service, or a worship service resembles a Bible study they are not the same, because (a) preaching is not the same as studying, and (b) there is no expectation of receiving the sacraments in a Bible study.

He replied:

Thank you for your answer. I am unclear on one thing. If a church only has Communion every other week, does that mean that, technically Worship only happens on those weeks when Communion is expected? 

My response:

No.  The efficacy or legitimacy of Worship is not determined by the frequency of Holy Communion. Also, a single worship service does not make a congregation. The Holy Spirit calls us into the life of a community of believers. Our Lutheran piety is congregational. That congregation is assembled by the Holy Spirit, and brought to life upon new life through time by the gospel shared within the community in the Word and Sacrament. Therefore, the life of the congregation is dependent upon Word and Sacrament, like a child is dependent upon parents. Within the life of the congregation, the ELCA encourages Holy Communion as often as they gather for worship. But, the life of the congregation is not dependent upon the frequency of Holy Communion, just that the worship remains connected to it. Each member participates within that community on faith, while faith is fed and nourished by the same Word and Sacrament. Think of it like this. St. Gus Lutheran by the gas station might have communion every Sunday, while St. Bill Lutheran by the bank might have communion once each month. Yet, both hold worship every Sunday. In both cases the life of the faithful as well as the congregation is fed and nourished by Word and Sacrament, because both worship services remain connected to the sacrament. Each individual member, as they participate within the life of the congregation, are fed and nourished in their faith by the presence of Christ in both Word and Sacrament. Now, getting back to your original question, let's say you are not a member of a congregation, and you are not regularly attending worship. Yet, you attend the every Wednesday evening Bible study at St. Gus Lutheran, where the pastor leads you in prayer, singing, and even preaches on the text for the day. However, that gathering of the faithful is not the regular worship service, where the sacraments are expected among the life of the congregation. The Holy Spirit has gathered you into an encounter with the presence of Christ in Word, but not Sacrament. So, this weekly event is not a worship service, and you are not a part of the congregation---even if you've been attending that weekly Bible study for years, and have made many friends. This is hypothetical, of course. I can't honestly imagine the Holy Spirit calling a person that close for that long without the person finally being willing to dip their toe into the waters of Baptism and start coming to worship.

A resource that you would find helpful on this subject, if you haven't found it already, is the ELCA's document called "The Use of The Means of Grace". You can download it here: The Use of the Means of Grace

When God is Silent

Exodus 1:8-14

Sometimes God is silent.
                                   No...Usually God is silent.

But, with a little faith we begin to notice that silence is not the absence of sound, but the very sound of God's presence.

Here's what I mean...
Right now, you are reading this on some form of computer device.  No doubt, that device has some form of anti-virus system.  You don't see it.  You don't hear it.   Still, it's there, protecting your device from all sorts of threats.  In what we might consider to be silence, your anti-virus is present and working.

God is like that.  Always present, always working, in the silence.

Take a good look at this reading from the beginning of the Exodus story.
Notice the silence of God.
Things have changed in Egypt since Joesph provided a safe-haven from the famine for his family.  That was 400 years ago.  Now, the Joseph family has become the "Hebrew People", and they are numerous and strong.  Notice verse 12, "The more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied."  Nowhere in this text is there any mention of God, yet how else would oppressed slaves, subjected to harsh treatment, continue to grow numerous and strong for generations?   Now, think back to the last blessing that these Hebrew people were given from God...the one thing these people were promised.  God promised to their forefather Abraham that they would become a nation of people "more numerous than the stars". In what appears to be the silence of God for generations of slavery, and harsh treatment, the sound of God's presence becomes audible in this verse.

No matter how silent God may seem in your life, and in this troublesome world, with a littler faith we can begin to hear the sound of God's presence...in the stories of everyday people loving one another, enduring and overcoming...growing numerous and strong.

Take a moment and just listen to your own story of faith and life and love.  You know, that story of people and relationships intersecting with you through the generations of your life.  Just be silent for a moment and listen to your own story...everywhere people are loving you, encouraging you, strengthening you...everywhere you are overcoming and growing in faith and confidence...there you will see God, and there you will hear the sound of the presence of God.

Remember, silence is often the very sound of God's presence.  

Amen!

#Humblebrag

Read Genesis 45:1-15

We have a new word in our dictionary.  That word is humblebrag.  

It is when someone uses social media to say something that sounds humble and down to earth, when actually the person is bragging about themselves.  

Here's an example:  A well-known body-builder posts, "It is so awkward to go to bodybuilder.com and find my picture in the left column."  

Here's another example tweeted by Cody Allen (Country Music Star)   "I just won an ACM, but don't worry I'm still stuck like everyone else in a Taco Bell drive-thru right now."  

I find it upsetting that the world we live is losing the ability to show humility without turning it into a way of bragging about ourselves.  

If ever there was a moment in the Bible worthy of a good humblebrag it is when Joseph reveals to his brothers that the one who has been merciful to them, rescuing them from famine, has been their very own brother--the one they sold into slavery.  But, Joseph takes no credit for it.  He interprets all the events, including his brothers selling him, as God's will to protect his family from the famine.  In a moment when Joseph could easily have praised himself for a job well done...he turns all the attention and praise toward God.  

Maybe that's a lesson we need to hear as well.  

Maybe a little less praising of ourselves and a little more praising of God would help keep all of us a bit more humble. 

So, next time you're tempted to tweet out a humblebrag or tell your neighbor how great it is to be you, skip the brag and remember the humble.

Amen!

You Do It

Matthew 14:13-21

Pop Quiz :-)
How many of Jesus' miracles are recorded in all four Gospels?
Answer:  Only one
This one, the Feeding of the 5000.
That fact should make us pause for a moment and ask "Why?"
Of all the miracles Jesus performed, what is it about this one that caused all four Gospel writers to say to themselves, "Hey, this is a story that people need to remember."

The obvious answer, of course, is that this was a pretty amazing miracle!

But, there's something about this one that is unique; that gives it a bit more substance worth remembering for the future generations of Christianity than the others.

The Feeding of the 5000 is the only miracle story that gives us such a perfect illustration of discipleship.
This miracle story doesn't seem to be about the miracle itself so much.  The focus seems more to do with the humble efforts of the disciples than Jesus' amazing feat of provision for the masses.
This is a miracle story that reads as if it is about something going on more deeply between Jesus and the disciples than between Jesus and the masses.  Its a miracle story that seems, on the surface to be about feeding hungry people, but its a story with added detail that seems to point us toward a deeper meaning for the loaves and fishes.

This unique depth in meaning is signaled by Jesus in a very pointed phrase: "They need not go away, you give them something to eat."
In other words, when the disciples came to Jesus informing him that the masses were hungry and need something to eat, setting the stage for the big miracle, Jesus turns to them and says, "YOU DO IT"

Of course, Jesus miraculously provides for the masses, but not before the disciples offer to him what they have, which turns out to be only 5 loaves and 2 fish, hardly enough for even one family, let alone 5000.
It's as if Jesus is declaring to his disciples a message of faith and trust that is bigger than the feeding miracle itself.

The loaves and fishes represent our weakness, our humility, our limitations to face the bigger problems before us.  Yet, when we trust our Lord with what we do have, we witness miracles.
The disciples looked at the situation before them, realized they had only 5 loaves and 2 fish and came to the conclusion that they were incapable of doing much good.  But, in calling them to do it themselves, Jesus affirms that there is more good that can happen than they ever imagined---when God is at work through them.  

With that one simple command, "YOU DO IT", Jesus calls all of us to trust God with what we have, and stop limiting our selves by what we don't.  The effect is our Lord saying to us, "You're not going to benefit by sitting back and watching me do all of this awesome stuff for you."  YOU DO IT, and with my help, we'll accomplish miracles---miracles that are not only a blessing for others, but miracles that continue to affirm your faith and buttress your trust in God.

Discipleship is never easy, never convenient, never black and white.  If it was it wouldn't require or build any faith or trust within us.  No, discipleship is always difficult, inconvenient, and very very gray.

This week, with finances from the pastor's discretionary fund, I have been a part of a consorted effort from a few members of our church to assist a young married couple find adequate housing.  It hasn't been easy, it hasn't been convenient.  But the fact that there our church is willing to respond, willing to give what we have, willing to trust God and do it...that is the miracle of the loaves and fishes.

I met with a woman this week who shared with me how difficult it has been for her to balance her life as a wife, mother, employee, and volunteer. She shared with me how deeply called she feels to continue her volunteer efforts, and yet how inconvenient it has become, and how gray have become the boundaries of her time as she constantly juggles commitments.
Sometimes the miracle isn't that life is all put together, neat and tidy, simple and convenient.  Often the miracle is that we hear our Lord calling and we are willing to say YES!.

For all of us, life is held in a delicate balance between things all put together and things that are coming undone, between faith and unbelief, between heaven and hell, between death and new life.

The miracle of the loaves and fishes isn't so much the miracle that all are fed, but that Jesus had faith in his disciples.
For us today, the miracle isn't that we have faith in God.
It's that God continues to have faith in us.

This is why, I think, this particular miracle story was so important to those Gospel writers.
It gives witness to what the space between death and new life in Jesus truly looks like.

When it seems that we are confined by limitations, and yet we still have enough.
When we are confused, even lost, and yet we still keep seeking a solution.

When we think we can't go on, but then we do.

Therein is Jesus' miracle of the loaves and fishes.

Amen

Who Is Your Rock?

Isaiah 44:6-8

Remember Looney Tunes cartoons?
Remember Wiley Coyote and Road Runner?
For the benefit of the younger folks, Wiley Coyote was always in pursuit of the Road Runner, never to actually catch him.   The Road Runner never really outwitted the coyote, and he never came across as particularly savvy; the coyote was just constantly a victim of his own hubris.  He always assumed he was more capable than he actually was at catching the Road Runner, and inevitably in every episode something would go wrong, and prove the coyote to be...well...human.
There is this one scene that comes quickly to mind.  He thinks he has finally trapped the long-legged bird, when the scene zooms out to show that he is standing on the edge of a cliff, and then the rock beneath his feet crumbles and he falls into the ravine...as he so often does.

Isn't that the way life is, sometimes?
We think we're pursuing our goals and then the ground beneath our feet falls away.

Recently, my wife told me that I was her rock.
Has anyone ever said that to you?  It's humbling.
I'm proud of the fact that I am able to offer some measure of strength and consistent support for her.  The Lord knows how much I depend on her as a source of support and encouragement.
I hope that in similar ways I am somewhat of a rock for my son, my family and my parents.  I want them to know that I will be there for them as a secure source of hope, guidance, and support.

But, the truth is, I'm not a rock.
I'm as vulnerable as the coyote on the cliff.

In my 14 years of experience I've done many funerals and weddings.  At them, I've heard countless people declare their devotion to another with words similar to that of "so and so has been my rock"
I've heard speeches from cancer survivors thanking their immediate caregivers with these same sentiments.
I've listened to people describe their road to recovery from addictions or sinful habits as that of being unable to have done such a thing without so and so being a rock in their lives.

Still, I'm willing to bet that each of these "rocks" know the same humbling truth that I speak about today.
This is the truth that our Scripture reminds us today...
None of us are actually the "rocks" our loved ones think we are.

It's no secret, really.  We are all as vulnerable as the coyote on the cliff.

Yet, there still exists the need for someone to be that unmoving object in our life--that rock of faith, endurance, security.  We all need someone to give us a place to stand that we can depend on; someone to support us when no one else does; someone to love us when no one else will.

From the prophet Isaiah, God declares to us that He will be our rock.
God asks for our trust in him above all other things we might trust in.
God tells us, "There is no other rock."
Noting else we can stand on that wont erode, or fall apart.
God is our rock--an unmoving, unchanging, unwavering solid ground upon which we can stand strong and remain faithful.
And, through the gospel, God shows us that His rocky, unmoving strength for us comes through the gift of Jesus' loves for us.
The way Jesus loves us...willing to die for us...willing to suffer for our benefit...paradoxically, this is our strength, our security.  With faith in God's love for us beneath our feet, we are strengthened and supported through life.

If I am able to be any kind of rock for my wife, my son, my siblings, my parents...I know deep down where the truth lies within me...that it is not because of a strength or security that I come up with on my own.  It is because of God's love for me, because the love of Christ is in my heart and soul, and therefore it is beneath my feet.
If I am able to be any kind of rock for anyone, it is because God is my rock.

I believe this is the truth for all of us.
When we use that expression, describing someone as our rock, we are pointing to God working in and through our lives.

We may know that we are incapable of truly being a "rock" for those around us.  But, we have a God, who is our rock.  With faith the ground beneath us may give away, and still we are upheld with hope.

With God supporting us, providing us with secure and solid ground we find within our love for one another a kind of strength that defies our weakness and vulnerabilities.  It is a kind of strength that isn't ours, but a strength that is most profoundly noticed when we are willing to give it to others in spite of our weaknesses.

With God as our rock, we have a model of godly love.  We have Christ.  With Christ we are strengthened to be strong for others.  With Christ, we can be like him, we can be like the rock for others.


The following is a video of one Father whose love for his son is an example of God's love for us.  It refuses to quit or give way beneath his son.  The father's love stands as solid as a rock for his son.

Just as this father's love is a rock for his son, our Heavenly Father's love is a rock for us.  It empowers us to stand strong for those we love.  

Today, consider the people who have been been or who are your rocks.  

Thank them.

How can you be a rock for others?  

Amen.

The 3rd Sacrament

While sifting through some unedited media I came across this message from a year ago about the value of church fellowship.  I only had the audio, but I've added a few slides and thought it was worth posting.

Blessings,

Pastor Rich

Fireworks of Hope

Zechariah 9:9-12

It’s 4th of July weekend.

Did you take in fireworks?

Ever wonder where this tradition of setting off a kaleidoscope of gunpowder in our sky every 4th of July came from?

Our first Independence Day celebration was held in Philadelphia on July 4th, 1777, when the country was still in the grip of the Revolutionary War.  Citizens came together to watch our nation’s sky illuminated in a grand display that was meant to raise their spirits. “I think they wanted to inspire hope, and it worked,” says James Heintze, author of The Fourth of July Encyclopedia. After that first fireworks display, news spread and fireworks took hold in every 4th of July ever since.

So, that first fireworks display was to inspire hope...

Hope for a war-torn nation of people who weren't sure if the freedom they sought would ever truly be realized.

Zechariah writes in a time and to a people of similar circumstances.  

Like the bondage of colonization, Israel had spent better than 50 years in the bondage of Babylonian captivity.  It was a dark and bewildering time for Israel.  

But, into that darkness Zechariah spoke God's Word of promise, and it broke open with hope for a troubled people the way fireworks fill the darkness with light and beauty, and most of all---power.  

It was the power of God's love.

To a people who thought that God may very well have abandoned them, left them to their sinful ways in Babylon, Zechariah's prophetic announcement broke over them with the promise that God had not left them...that God would never leave them.  Even more, God was about to make a way for their freedom.  

To us, we hear these prophetic words a bit differently.  With the gift of looking back on Zechariah's prophecy having now unfolded into historical truth, we remember the way Jesus entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday as the fulfillment of Zechariah's words.  We understand that just as Jesus came on a donkey, with power are mercy found in humble service.  The love of God witnessed by all as this messiah would be crowned with thorns and enthroned on a cross.  Yet, our faith and trust in this King has become the very source of our spiritual freedom.  

Still, his grace and mercy break forth in our souls like fireworks when we cry out in prayer, when we confess our sins, when we receive him in the bread and cup.  

God's undying love and mercy for us.  This is what frees us from the darkness and bondage of sin that we experience today.  

And, they break forth the promise of the kingdom of heaven to us, like fireworks of hope within our souls.

The Gospel of John declares that if Christ has set you free, you are free indeed.

You are free!

Not because of anything you have done, or anything to do with the nation we live in, but because of what Christ has done for you.

You are free...

free to live your life with a renewed sense of God's will as your purpose.

Free to serve and care for others.

Free to share the same source of encouragement with others that Zechariah spoke to Israel, that Christ gave to his disciples, which has been passed onto you by the Holy Spirit through the church.

You are free to set off fireworks of hope in the dark and troubled places of your world.

So, try it today...tomorrow...whenever

If you think gunpowder exploding in the sky is beautiful, wait till you get a load of the hope that God breaks open in the people around you when you encourage them with the power of God's love by your words and actions.
Encourage others, as God encourages you...and enjoy the fireworks!!

Amen.

Easter Sermon

My wife posted something recently that I thought was a cute way to begin my Easter message.  It was a picture of “buddy Jesus”—you know the one, Jesus with a hokie smile on his face, giving the world a thumbs up expression—and Jesus was saying, “Don’t eat my candy! I’ll be back in three days.”

That’s the promise—“I’ll be back in three days.” It had nothing to do with candy, but it did have a lot to make us joyful.

Before Jesus’ death on a cross he promised his disciples he would be back in three days. But, his disciples didn’t believe him. They thought it was an empty promise. John’s gospel points out that the disciples were struggling to believe that he was alive, even after witnessing the empty tomb.

And so it is with us, still today, that Jesus’ resurrection, even as we sit here this Easter morning, is hard to believe.

I recently came across this story, it was told by “Dear Abby” in a response to someone’s question. 

A young man (Bill) from a wealthy family was about to graduate from high school. It was the custom in that affluent neighborhood for the parents to give the graduate a car. Bill and his father had spent months looking at cars, and the week before graduation, they found the perfect car. On the eve of his graduation, his father handed him a gift-wrapped box. Expecting to find the keys to his new car inside, Bill excitedly opened the box. But, to the young man’s dismay, inside the gift box was not keys, but a Bible. So angered that his father got him a Bible instead of a car, Bill threw the Bible down and stormed out of the house. For weeks he allowed his selfishness to drive a wedge between him and his father…refusing to speak to him, refusing to talk about it. He went off to college, time passed, and the father and son relationship began to heal, but they never spoke of the Bible or the car…until, during Bill’s first year of college, the news of the father’s death brought him home. As he sat, grieving the loss of his father, going through his father’s possessions, he came across the Bible his father had given him. Unlike the last time, this time he opened it, and inside the cover he found a cashier’s check, dated the day of his graduation - in the exact amount of the car they had chosen together.

As I thought about this story, I couldn't help but wonder how often we do the same thing to our Heavenly Father’s gift of resurrection. How often we literally toss aside this wonderful gift, assuming it to be an empty promise.   In our world, we are taught that; “if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.” So many of us have been taken in by “empty promises,” that we are leery of anything or anyone that tells us we can have something for nothing.  The world simply does not work that way!

But – while we live and die in this world, we are baptized and chosen by God for a greater world.  One that exists simultaneously with the other one, but one that does not operate the same as the other.

In God's world, God most certainly does work that way!

With God’s gift of resurrection, we get something for nothing. And it strikes us as empty because, just like the disciples at that tomb, it seems too good to be true. So, we don’t trust it, and in its place we trust ourselves, our own abilities. We discard, and reject the Kingdom of Heaven.  But, soon we learn that our abilities only get us so far…in the end they are as weak and unreliable as anything else in this world. Our attempt to save ourselves, is just one more empty promise we try to convince ourselves.

The truth of the matter is the world is full of empty promises. Everywhere we look there are promises being made to us…telling us that we can fulfill all of our dreams if we just do this or that, or buy this or that. It doesn’t take long before we have been fooled enough to know that the world’s promises are full of emptiness.

But, God is different.
God promises life and hope, and God’s promises can be trusted…Easter is the proof!

Instead of promises full of emptiness, on Easter, God gave us an emptiness that is full of promise.
The emptiness of the tomb is God’s promise that:
grace and mercy will always overcome guilt and shame.
that faith, hope and love will never be stopped by anger, hatred, and violence.
that life will always defeat death.

Because Christ lives, so shall we, both eternally as well as right now; through the difficulties we face today.
Because Christ lives, God is with us, and will remain with us forever.
Because Christ lives, we will one day be reunited with all of those who have died in the faith ahead of us.

Now----we can believe this—and allow this promise to hold us upright, and give us hope for something new, something we can’t understand today—something good and meaningful that God will bring with us. And, we can allow that tiny amount of faith in God to open us to ways in which we might begin trust God’s direction right now, to begin this new life—this new creation—with us…NOW!

Or, we can allow our modern intellect to deny it, reject it—like the young man who rejected his father’s gift.

We can trust God’s promise in the emptiness of this tomb, or we can discard it and be left only to our own abilities.

The choice is ours.
But, really, is there any choice?

I saw this video on Youtube recently that exemplifies what God is capable of doing with the things we discard.

The video shows a plastic grocery bag being thrown out the window of a car along a busy residential street. The camera, fixed on this piece of trash, shows it catching the wind from the cars passing by. The bag never hits the ground, never gets hit by a car. Instead, the wind fills this empty bag and gives it life. It bobs, weaves, up and down, back and forth. Creatively, the video was then given background music. And, suddenly this discarded piece of someone else’s trash appeared to be dancing.

Jesus was discarded, thrown away in a tomb.
Most of us know what that feels like.
All of us know what it is like to have our lives emptied, discarded, lifeless.

But, by the wind of the Holy Spirit, life was blown back into Jesus.
He was filled with new life, and he lives even now, through us and through the church.

And, because he lives, we too, no matter how lifeless we feel…no matter how discarded and rejected are God's promises, God will fill us with new life once again.

The emptiness of the tomb—is the promise that fills us with new life.
Hold onto that promise, and no matter what happens, God will fill you with life,
and a reason to dance.


Amen

Ezekiel 37:4

Take a look at the news.  It doesn't matter whether it's a newspaper, TV or an App on your smart phone.  Take a good look at it, and you're hard pressed to find any good news.  It is well known that bad news sells a whole lot better than good news.  But, in today's world of 24/7 news coverage the constant dose of negative thoughts and ideas can be down right depressing.

Seriously, there are psychological effects to being plugged into bad news all day long.  Here's an excerpt from an article in Psychology Today.

We’ve known for a very long time that the emotional content of films and television programs can affect your psychological health. It can do this by directly affecting your mood, and your mood can then affect many aspects of your thinking and behaviour. If the TV program generates negative mood experiences (e.g. anxiety, sadness, anger, disgust), then these experiences will affect how you interpret events in your own life, what types of memories you recall, and how much you will worry about events in your own life.

When it comes to the news, there is enormous pressure on networks like CNN and FOX to keep your attention for 24 hours constantly.  Gone are the days of the news being a 30 minute program at 6pm and again at 11pm.  Now, the news is reporting constantly.  So, how do these networks attempt to keep us watching all day long?   First, with negative sensationalism.   Like a moth to a flame we are attracted to the flashing, overhyped negative spin that is given to just about any news story.  We don't just get the basic who, what, when, and where these days.  We get the finer details of the scandal behind the story, or the possibility of a scandal.  This type of thing has been gradually increasing over the past 20-30 years.

Another way these networks keep us watching is by knowing their audience.  CNN knows that its demographic are primarily liberal Democrats.  FOX knows that their audience is conservative Republicans.  These competing networks simply report the news in a way that their audience wants to hear it.  

My friends, wisdom isn't in the hype or the sensationalism of a story.  Wisdom is found in the truth.

Likewise, wisdom is not being able to regurgitate your own narrow-minded spin.  Wisdom is found in the endeavor to understand those with opposing views.  Don't be fooled by these tactics to keep you tuned in, watching their barrage of bad news all day long.   It's like submitting to brainwashing.  And, the constant dose of bad news leads to poor psychological and emotional health.  

Do you know someone who is constantly glued to the news?  

They are cynical, cranky, hopeless, constantly spouting negative comments about the state of affairs with the world, the president, the times.  You might say they become like dry bones, as in the valley of dry bones from today's Ezekiel reading...hollowed out, and unable to see the good around them.  

God says to the prophet Ezekiel, "Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, 'O dry bones, hear the Word of the Lord.'"  The Word of the Lord is good news..it's always good news.  God sends Ezekiel to speak good news to the dry bones.  And, when Ezekiel speaks good news the dry bones are given new life.  

The good news of God's love and mercy can breathe new life into us.  Good news can even breathe new life into those who have heard nothing but bad news for a very long time.  

Into a world filled with bad news we are sent like Ezekiel to tell the good news.  Saint Paul says, The Spirit of Christ dwells within us.  To tell the good news is to let that Spirit come out in our words and our actions.  God sends you to bear the good news of His love and mercy to a world that is becoming more and more dry beneath the weight of bad news.  Tell others the good news.  Show them the good news with your actions.  Then, watch as God breathes new life into these dry bones.  

Amen

Psalm 100:2

I am one of the greatest singers I know...
                                                          when I'm alone...
                                                                                and in the car.

Honestly, catch me driving down the road by myself and I am either listening to some sort of talk radio, or I am SINGIN'!

Are you like me?
In secret, when no one is around to judge you, are you the best singer you've ever heard?

I've always been like this.  As long as I can remember.

My favorite music to sing is either Contemporary Christian, Country, or Classic Rock.  However, Country and Rock go back a bit further with me than Contemporary Christian. I was well into my 20s before a CD of Contemporary Christian broke into my glove box collection.  The first one to do so with any kind of serious standing among the Garth Brooks, Van Halen and John Cougar was Steven Curtis Chapman.  His Signs of Life quickly became a favorite of mine.  There was one particular song that really grabbed my attention, Lord of the Dance.  The song featured Steven rockin' a steel guitar, and the band offering a gutsy rock feel that seemed to cross the boundary between the usual sentimental sap of contemporary Christian of that day and the soul of the other music I appreciated.  I'd put this in and I would sing out loud...no, I would turn it up and I would jam.  But, it wasn't just the music that grabbed my attention, it was the lyrics like these in the refrain:

I am the heart, I need the heartbeat 

I am the eyes, I need the sight 

I realize that I am just a body 

I need the life 

I move my feet, I go through the motions 

But who'll give purpose to chance 

I am the dancer 

I need the Lord of the dance

Watch the song's video below, or click HERE to watch on Youtube.

The Psalmist declares, "Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into His presence with singing!"  This is how I feel when I'm singing "Lord of the Dance".  The only thing missing is a congregation to join me.  Imagine what our worship experience would be like if on Sundays our churches were to sing as if we were alone in the car?  Wow!!  But, then again, the reasons that make us the best singers we've ever heard in the privacy of our cars are the same reasons that prohibit us from singing like this in church.  It's not our favorite musical selections, and we're not in private.  Still, it is worth imagining...because this, according to Scripture, is a glimpse of what Heaven will be like.  All of us singing together...no, not like the way we do now in church...I mean we'll be cranking it up, and jammin' with fearlessness alongside the angels.  Not with the rebelliousness and chaos of a concert, but with the reverence and ritual of worship.

So, jam on in the privacy of your car, and loosen up a bit in church.  You're coming into the presence of the Lord.  Think of it as rehearsal for eternal life.  :-)

Heavenly Father, I am the voice but you are the song.  Today, help me to allow my life to sing!  Amen

Romans 12:2

There once was a rabbi who took a piece of dry wood and told his disciples, "Water this until it bears fruit." How bizarre, perhaps even cruel, an instruction that seems. Yet, how often does life seem very much like watering dead wood?


A woman, once, met with me about her marriage. She and her husband had been together more than 30 years and raised two kids. Now her feelings of empty nest, coupled with a kind of all-too-familiar routine in the marriage left her feeling as if her life had grown stale. She had no reason or, for that matter, desire for divorce. She just wanted hear her pastor encourage her to continue nurturing her marriage. She was watering dead wood.


A man came to me because he was discouraged with his career, not a mid-life crisis, just an increasing sense of despair that the last 25 years in his chosen profession were meaningless. The enthusiasm and ambition he once had for his work was gone, and he felt as if he had become nothing more than a puppet. He was watering dead wood.


There have been many times in my life that I can look back and identify with this notion of watering dead wood...watering with tears, and very little hope. Can you relate?


But, I can also identify times when those tears gave way to new life emerging out from what seemed like dead wood.


St. Paul had to know what it was like to water dead wood. By the time he wrote this dynamic verse in Romans he had been through decades of missionary work, suffered through prison, beatings, rejections, the Corinthians' rebelliousness, and the Jerusalem council. And through it all, over the span of a career, he continued to nurture the Christian faith for those first believers. Paul had to know what it was like to water dead wood. Yet, at the end of his life, he did not write about despair or hopelessness. He wrote to encourage transformation.


With enough water, new life emerges...even from dead wood.


May you, this day, be transformed by the renewal of your mind.
Heavenly Father, your grace moves us forward when we feel unable to go another step.  Encourage us, this day, by the promise of renewal in our minds that we may discern your will for us and follow.  Amen

Newsletter: Spring

Over the years you have seen me behave in ways that, well, may seem a bit unorthodox for pastors.  You’ve seen me preach with a variety of props,uh from the pulpit, from the aisle, and even in my bare feet.  You’ve seen me eating a donut, and using all sorts of videos to get your attention.  You’ve learned that I can, at times, appear care-free, even care-less when it seems fitting to me to do so.  I assume that some of you have questioned whether or not I am mentally fit to be a pastor.  :-) My friends, as you’ve come to know me, you know that there is always a reason for everything I do.  There is always a method to my madness.

That method is...I believe God takes great risks for our sake.  I believe God’s risk taking began with our creation.  From the beginning, we were created from God’s own image.  An image we learn from scripture to be one that has the freedom to give and receive love.  That, I find, to be the greatest gift given to us.  Unfortunately, the freedom to give and receive love is also the same freedom to not love or be loved. Unfortunately, far too often, we say no to God’s invitation.  So, instead of living in a world that loves God and one another, we live a world that hates, ignores, abandons, kills, and destroys.  God took a great risk, when we were given the freedom to love.  As we look at what we have done with that gift, it is easy to think that God must be crazy to do such a thing.

Fortunately, for we who find ourselves in the communion of Christ, we have heard the good news that God does not give up on us.  After eons of struggle with the results of sinful actions; after countless rejections to God’s loving invitation, we find in Jesus a God who remains willing to take one more big risk on creation.  In Jesus we encounter a God who desires to be with us even though we hate, ignore, abandon, kill and destroy His creation.  With Jesus, God takes the ultimate risk.  God promises to love us even if we never love back.  Even when Jesus, God’s own Son, becomes the target of our hate, ignorance, abandonment, and murderous ways, God brings him back to life, offering forgiveness, showing us by his wounds that we cannot stop God’s love for us.  This is the greatest risk! There is nothing more that God could possibly do to win our hearts.  God has already risked everything!  This God must be crazy---crazy in love, indeed!

I’ve heard it said that faith in God is simply the heart saying yes to God’s loving invitation.  I believe this, and I want others to believe it also.  The method to my madness; the reason I find it necessary, at times, to take risks as a pastor, is because I hope that in some way my willingness to do such things reveals the great risk that God took for you and me.  Furthermore, I hope that God’s risk taking inspires you to try something, maybe a little crazy, for the sake of sharing God’s love with others.

Collectively, I hope we are willing to start taking some risks together for the sake of Honey Brook and its neighboring communities.  Honey Brook, as we know, is not one community, but actually a collection of communities.  There is Tel Hai, Knob Hill, Indian Run, Valley View and several others with various different folks scattered in between.  It may sound a bit crazy, but what I’m asking us to do is begin to think about creative ways that we can take our ministry beyond the walls of our church and into these communities.

Easter is a celebration of God’s greatest risk.  He risked His Son, Jesus, for us.  Our lives, and the promise of life eternal, are our blessings thanks to this great risk of God.   What risk shall we take to carry this gift to others?



Happy Easter,

Pastor Rich

Jude 24

While on vacation in San Antonio my son, wife and I did a lot of walking together.  San Antonio offers tourists one of the most magnificent sites to walk.  It's their River Walk.  Miles of river front sidewalks filled with shops and restaurants, river boats ducks, palm trees and the serenity of the river.  It's beautiful.

During one of our walks, my son (7 years old), was a bit more focused on the ice cream in his hand than on the path before his feet.  His toe caught the edge of a bit of uneven paving, and down he went, with ice cream everywhere.  He wasn't hurt, except for the loss of his ice cream.  But, it was one of those scenes that replays over and over in my head.  I can see my son walking, unaware of the pavement edge sticking up just ahead of him.  Before he stumbles I know he's about to be tripped up, but I have no time to react.  He falls, and I am unable to even warn him of what I saw coming.  

Sometimes isn't that the way life is? 

We know our weaknesses.  We know what causes us to stumble.  Someone invites us to try something new, or gives us a great idea with proven success, and all we can see are the points along the way that will trip us up.  

Jude tells us that God is able to keep us from stumbling.  

Think about that...God IS able to keep us from stumbling.  We may not be able to keep ourselves from stumbling, but God IS.  

As disciples of Christ, Jesus is the one guiding us along our pathway through life.  Jesus is walking in front of us.  He knows the trouble, the temptation, the stumbling points.  Follow His lead.

Lord keep me from stumbling.  You know me better than I know myself.  You know my weaknesses, my temptations.  Strengthen me to stay the course you have put me on.  That success in life is really about following you.  Amen!

Proverbs 3:5-6

Clergy are now ranked in the vocational cellar in terms of trust.    According to a recent Gallup Poll, public opinion of your local ordained minister has slumped to an all-time low of 47%.  This is a continuation of a downward trend that began in 1985, when clergy ranked among the most trusted at 67%.  Even more alarming is an increase in respondents to 11% who said their trust of clergy is "very low".

What does this mean?

Gallup has said that in its analysis, the primary influencing factor is stereotypes, which often take a very long time to overcome.  Although the explanation for this specific slump in trustworthiness is unclear, Gallup has said it believes the overall drop in trustworthiness since the early 2000s is linked to various high profile revelations of scandals and crimes committed by clergy.

According to a related Gallup Poll, US confidence in organized religion has also hit an all-time low.  Only forty-four percent of Americans responded that they have confidence in the church.  One seems indicative of the other.  Trust in pastors is related to that of confidence in the religions they lead. But, what is going on here?

Isn't the deeper question whether or not we trust in God?  Since these polls are interested in the Christian church, I am referring explicitly to the God who is revealed in the three persons of the Holy Trinity.  Granted, there is a difference between trusting the church and trusting the God who is revealed within it, but the evidence does beg the question.  Is it possible to trust God without trusting the church or it's leaders?  I believe these polls indicate that most people today are beating their drums and thumping their chests with their resounding, "YES!"

But, Martin Luther would disagree.  In his interpretation of the Apostle's Creed he wrote about the Holy Spirit this way.  "I believe that by my own reason or strength I cannot believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to him, but the Holy Spirit has called me through the Gospel, enlightened me with his gifts, and sanctified and preserved me in the true faith."  Without God's intervention in our lives through the work of the Holy Spirit we can not come to believe in God.  How does the Holy Spirit work this intervention?  The primary tools of the Holy Spirit's are the gifts of the church: the preached Word of God, the fellowship of believers, and the sacraments.  Claiming to trust in God, while not trusting in God's church is like expecting a carpenter to build you a house while not permitting him to use tools.  He might get the job done, but would you really want to live in such a shoddy constructed house?   Yet, increasingly, Americans are essentially doing just that with their faith.  And, keep in mind, faith isn't a luxury item in the construction of a life.  It's as essential as air, food and water.  It's our faith that guides our every motivation and informs every choice we make.   Build a strong house of faith, and your life will live securely.

In Solomon's wisdom of today's quote from Proverbs, we are exhorted to not lean on our own understanding.  These are very wise words.  Our own understanding will mislead us, it is distorted by ignorance and an inflated ego; two things when combined and given free reign create a lethal concoction for our faith.

Instead, trust in God.  The One who made you, and knows you better than you know yourself.  Trust the One who had a purpose for you in this world far before you were born.  Trust the One who freed Israel from the sin of slavery so that they could worship together according to God's design and purpose.  God gave them the commandments to bind them into a fellowship of faith, then created for them the tabernacle (church) so that they would worship together, know the forgiveness of sins and hear His Word.  God freed them from the sin of slavery so that they would never fall victim to the slavery of sin.

The same is true for us, and for all people.  God wants to free us from the slavery of sin.  To accomplish this God has provided us with the church, the body of Christ.

Trust your clergy.  God has called them to a most challenging profession.  They are doing their best in a world that is not very trusting of them or their work.
Trust your church.  God created it for your benefit, so that when the Holy Spirit moves in you there is a place to go where you can encounter the living Lord in the fellowship of believers, the preached Word, and the sacraments.  The church is the body of Christ.  The Holy Spirit's work brings us to an encounter with the Living Lord, but we need the church to enable that encounter.

And, as the words of Proverbs proclaims, trust God with all your heart.
As your trust for the clergy and for the church increases I think you'll find that your trust in God becomes much easier and the Holy Spirit's work within your life ever the more secure.

Gracious God, today we pray for your church.  Keep it holy and sacred.  We pray as well for the ordained ministers you've called to lead your church.  Keep them in your warm embrace as they work to strengthen your people in faith, hope and love for the world.  Amen.

Sermon from 3/16/14

I ran across a story about a rescued dog recently.  It is about a little terrier type, a small long haired dog.  Well, the poor little dog, with fur that kept growing, had become so matted and filthy that he was barely able to walk or even see.  The couple that rescued him nearly walked by mistaking him for a pile of trash.  But, the sound of whimpering and a bit of movement from this small heap of dirt and filth drew their attention.  Realizing it was a neglected little dog, their hearts broke with compassion.  They picked up the little guy, took him to a veterinarian and, with a little tender loving care, he became a beautiful, brand new dog.

Watch this slide show to see the transformation.

What a difference a little love can make.
One couple's small act of grace turned what appeared  to be a discarded pile of trash into a beautiful puppy that was full of life.

In the same way, our God creates in us clean hearts.
God sees beneath the ugly, sinful trash that layers our sinful souls.  God's loving mercy begins to cut away the filth of neglect layer by layer.   By trusting God, eventually our life is renewed, inner beauty restored, God's purpose for us refreshed and inspired.

Martin Luther once said, "This life, therefore, is not godliness but the process of becoming godly, not health but getting well, not being but becoming. We are not now what we shall be, but we are on the way. The process is not yet finished, but it is actively going on. This is not the goal but it is the right road.  At present, everything does not gleam or sparkle, but everything is being cleansed."

We are not today, what we will become tomorrow.

The question for us to consider is, can we trust God to pick us up when we've neglected our souls, or do we only trust ourselves...our own individualized do-it-yourself version of spirituality?

Can we trust God to clean us up, when our sins have covered us so completely that we've grown comfortable with our own filth?

In today's lectionary, St. Paul exhorts the church in Rome to trust God.

He wrote, in chapter four, "We trust that ours is a God who gives life to the dead, and calls into existence the things that do not exist."

Bottom line is, we must let go of our sinful, filthy ways.  Like the little dog, they will destroy us.  Some may say that we all have free will.  But, when the choice is one of life in God's care of death in my own care, is there really an option?  We can trust God...we have to.  If we're honest with ourselves, we have no choice.  God has already claimed us.  If we care about the humanity of anything, if we have just an inkling of mercy in our souls...we have no choice, but to put our faith in God to restore us and to bring life back from death.  Because St. Paul is right.  Only God gives life back to our dead souls, and calls into existence things that do not yet exist.  

The couple who picked up that neglected dog are like God who picks us up when we have neglected ourselves, families, friends, community, world, and God.  When we have become so covered in our own sinfulness that the world cannot even recognize us anymore, God still sees beneath the filth to the person He created.  God washes us clean with our Baptisms, and renews our life with desire to live a life of His purpose...A life that reflects His love and grace to all people.  

What will you become tomorrow?
Trusting in God's grace...we can be assured of one thing...it will be beautiful.

Amen.

Galatians 6:9

Are you an adrenaline junkie?

Let me explain.
There is a kind of life-cycle to every church and to our involvement within a congregation.  That cycle begins with a period of take-off.  During take-off there is great momentum and dramatic upward movement.  This is when a church, or a new pastor or program see positive numbers of attendance and participation.  For members in the church this is a period when enthusiasm is very high.  There is excitement to participate and volunteer.  During take-off all things are positive, all systems go, go, go.

After the take-off there is a period when things just cruise.  The momentum that got everything moving now stabilizes, the dramatic upward movement levels off.  For the church, this is a time in which it may seem as if things are capable of running on auto-pilot.  Members know their roles and internal systems function effectively to keep the church moving forward.  This period is not exciting, and there isn't the high level of drama that existed during the take-off, but this is a period of health and stability.

The final stage is that of descent.  As you might imagine, this phase is the opposite of take-off.  In the church, this is when the systems that were working during the cruising stage begin to fall apart, and show signs of failure.  This period may have been prompted by the loss of a long-tenured pastor, but it is often due to conflict within the church.  Members begin to feud with one another, pointing blame at each other for the decline.  During the descent there is drama, but not the kind that was prevalent during take-off.  This is negative and detrimental; draining of member's energy and enthusiasm.  During descent, all things are in decline.

Adrenaline junkies are folks who crave the take-off phase.  They get bored and lose interest when things level off and begin to cruise on auto-pilot.  These are folks who jump ship when the excitement and enthusiasm stabilizes.  They never know the struggle of descent because they don't stick around long enough.  Adrenaline junkies jump from one church to another, or from one new project to another.  They are the flash-in-the-pan.  They jump in with both feet, and are the first to volunteer for something new, but when the take-off phase is over they quit and move on to another church or the next new idea.

In our Bible reading for today St. Paul reminds us of this by using the analogy of seasons.  There will be seasons we will go through, and we will reap in each of those seasons accordingly.  So, do not give up, he exhorts.  Adrenaline junkies give up, reap only from the season when everything is positive, then jump off to find the next adrenaline rush.

So, are you an adrenaline junkie?
If you are, hear the advice from St. Paul today and "do not grow weary,...do not give up."  God's Word promises that you will reap in due season.

If you are not an adrenaline junkie, but you are in a church that is in cruise control, or if you are in a church that is in decline "do not grow weary...do not give up."  God's Word promises that you will reap in due season.

In any phase of the system, trust in God and know that the single most influential and positive thing you could do is to remain faithful and respond with positive ideas, producing your own momentum in any phase. Success is not the absence of failure or periods of decline.  Success is found when we don't quit on God, on ourselves, or on each other.  Adrenaline junkies become part of the problems.  Don't be a part of the problem.  Be a part of the solution.  After all, this is what God does with you.  God never gives up on you.

Heavenly Father, help me resist the urge to act like an adrenaline junkie.  Give me the persistence to never give up.  Amen

Exodus 3:4-5

Spring is coming.  Ahhh, warmer temperatures.  After the winter we've had, Spring will be a much welcomed stranger.  But, Spring brings something other than warmer temperatures.  Flip-flops!  My wife brought home a new pair for herself last night and was sporting them around the house.  Her's are not the usual rubber thong for your feet.  To pass her standard, they have to sparkle.  :-)   Flip-flops are wonderfully comfortable in the Spring and Summer, but no matter how sparkling they are there is one enormous flaw in their design.  They expose your feet!

You can't maintain any kind of dignity when you look down and notice that God gave you those ugly things sticking out from the bottom of your legs.  Some of you out there, I'm sure, have a beautiful pair.  But, I am among the rest of the world, who do not.  I look at mine and I totally understand why cultures consider the feet unclean or ungodly.  When God created feet, He clearly put function way ahead of form.

That brings me to the point in this devotion for today.  Feet are a part of God's creation.  No matter what we think of their appearance, God created them and called them good!  It's no wonder bearing the feet is considered a sacred, or spiritual, act when entering holy ground.  Holy ground is ground where God is encountered.  When standing before God, we are incapable of hiding anything.  The act of taking off your shoes is an act of sacred honor, or respect, for the presence of God.  Shoes are dirty, and they cover the truth of our feet--which are symbols of shame, biblically speaking.  So then, taking off our shoes before God is about much more than just the need to keep the floor clean.  It is a symbolic gesture for the taking off of anything we might use to veil the truth about who we are.   Before our heavenly Father, we are naked, vulnerable---like our feet.  All our sins exposed like the ugliness of our feet.  Yet, our Father looks at us...all of us...and declares that we were created good!  God created us, and loves us---even those of us with ugly feet.

Because of God's love, we have no reason to be ashamed of anything before God.  We have flaws, this is true.  But, these only point to the fact that God isn't finished with us yet.  Today, we are not yet what God will create with us tomorrow.  Do not be ashamed, you are a work in progress.

Heavenly Father, may I never be ashamed of myself in your presence.  Encourage me to love the person your grace is helping me to become.  Amen

Psalm 51:10

Philip Yancey once said, “The only essential difference that I can tell between Christians and non-Christians isn't morality, it’s that Christians have acknowledged that we’re sinners and we can’t make it on our own. We’re failures and will continue to fail.  A thousand years from now the church will be just as full of problems as the church is now, as it was a thousand years ago."  To my knowledge, no other institutions recognize that. Governments don’t, other religions don’t. But for Christianity this is our baseline.

When we deny that baseline we aren't just telling a little white lie, we are living in the original sin of Adam.  Instead of being transformed by Christ, we are denying Christ and allowing the lie to transform us into sinful frauds.  This is the insidious, primal work of sin.  We try to put on a good face, but we fall into the trap of just trying to make ourselves look good.  

Believe it or not, the Scriptures do not bear witness to a God who is terribly concerned with whether or not we fall into sin.  God knows the truth and knows that we are sinners, yet loves us through and in spite of our sin; like a mother loves her children.  God's concern is more to do with whether or not we are humble enough to return to God with faith in Him to cleanse us of our sin.  God isn't afraid of our failure.  Just as we enter the sin of Adam, become sin and cannot free ourselves.   God entered sin with Jesus, and became sin for us so that his death and resurrection would free us from our fears, failings, and shame.  

Fear of failure runs deep within our human experience.  We fear failure so much that we actually create false images of perfection.  The result is we become weary from trying to live up to the expectations we've created for ourselves.  Have you ever met someone who seems so weary all the time that they just seem to have no life within them?  Have you ever felt that way?  

This is nothing new.  The Israelites created an idol of their own making when they lost patience with Moses and crafted a golden calf.  King David suffered from this kind of fear when he was unable to keep Israel secure enough to build the great temple he envisioned would please God.  The Pharisees and priests of Jesus' time fell deep into this trap of sin when they submitted to Roman authority rather than lose their own power.  And, it's true for you and me today, as well as the church.  Anyone who thinks they can undo this tangled mess of sin and relieve themselves of its grip all by themselves and their own effort is a fool.

The Psalmist knew this when he wrote Psalm 51.  These are words that used to be lyrics of the liturgy in every Lutheran church.  Today, we will use them as our prayer to focus our day.  

Create in me a clean heart, O God.

And renew a right spirit within me.

Cast me not away from your presence

and take not your Holy Spirit from me.

Restore to me the joy of your salvation

and uphold me with you free Spirit.