MANNA: Hope

I will always have hope.

Psalm 71:14

The hindsight of our faith is always like 20/20 vision.  Recalling God's protection and guidance in all the times and places of our past makes God's grace self-evident.  

But, these stories of our past are not only reminders of God's presence in our past.  They are also an inspiration of hope for the challenges of today and tomorrow.  Just as God was with us through this or that of our past, we can trust that God will be with us today and tomorrow.  

With faith in God, we can face each day with a living hope that God will never leave us but will strengthen us and be with us in every time of trial.  

The Psalmist sings of this present and future hope with a passion to share it with others.  May you have such a passion as well. 

Loving God, I am overwhelmed at all that You have done, and promise to do this day.  May I be a witness of your goodness to everyone around me.  In Jesus' name, Amen!

Manna: Sanctuary

Sanctuary

Read Psalm 46

Boston Strong!

That’s the city’s rallying cry after two men thought it necessary to detonate bombs near the finish line of the famed Boston Marathon.  Danielle purchased the recent copy of People magazine featuring interviews of victims who were there, and unfortunately were too close to the terror when the bombs went off.  The cover of the magazine shows three young people with their newly fitted prosthetics, each of them wearing t-shirts reading “Boston Strong”. 

While we rally with Boston in the wake of this, the most recent, terrorist act, we cannot escape the awareness of that pit in our stomachs that beckons out of the depths of our fears with sighs of, “Not again, Lord, not again.”

My son, a kindergartner, was taught this year how and where to seek refuge should someone enter his classroom with a gun.  My heart breaks for the parents of kids in Sandy Hook, Virginia Tech, and the far too many similar places that echo into a cacophony that leaves us numb.

Are there no safe places anymore? 

The police and emergency workers have now adopted a motto for us, “If you see something, say something.”  The very vagueness of this only elevates my insecurities.  Is there no place we can go to be free from the troublesome burden of keeping a suspicious eye out for “something”?  Is there no relief from the fatigue of fear?

God’s Word is our only true safe place.  When all else fails us, God remains with us…constant and steadfast, hearing our cries, comforting us with inner peace; giving us an unyielding hope that looks outward with expectation of grace yet to come.

I grew up in a church that had it's worship space set apart from the fellowship space.  Living God Lutheran does not have that luxury…yet.  In this church of my youth, as in many churches, the worship space was called the “sanctuary”.   

Sanctuary is a word that means “safe place” or “hiding place from our enemy”.  What a perfect name for our place of worship.  There we hear the good news that in God’s Word we find a safe place or a place to hide from our enemy.  There we meet others with stories like ours who have found a safe place in God’s Word, and the community that forms around this promise becomes yet another source of sanctuary in and of itself.  

In this world where it seems there are no safe places, God remains our refuge and strength.  God’s Word is our sanctuary. 

Prayer:  Lord prepare me to be a sanctuary; pure and holy, tried and true.  With thanksgiving I'll be a living sanctuary for You.  Amen

MANNA: Out of Babes

Psalm 8
Out of the mouth of babies and infants,
you have established strength because of your foes,
to still the enemy and the avenger. (v.2)

Kids say the darnedest things.  It's true.  We all know it.  Ask a group of preschoolers what they want to become when they grow up and you're likely to get answers from "I want to be a firetruck", to "I want to become my brother".  

A couple of years ago I asked the children gathered for my children's sermon to tell me if they thought God was mean or nice.  Expecting this to be a simple question...My own son (age 3 at the time) shouted out, "Daddy, who is God?"  To this day I still have members of my church who like to tease me with that one.  But, the truth and honesty in his question delivered an unintended message of the necessity for Christian Education much better than anything I could have prepared on the same subject.      

The use of the word "babes" here in this Psalm refers to those who are immature, vulnerable, and dependent.   It isn't likely that it refers to actual babes and infants.  This is the paradox of our faith. God brings forth a kind of innocent truth from anyone who is humble and honest in faith.

I remember a seminary professor telling us that it's not the A students who become the best pastors. It's the B- students who do. At the time that didn't make much sense. Surely he wasn't encouraging us to mediocrity. But now, after a dozen years of ordained ministry I understand quite clearly what he was saying. It's not the polished, well educated, finely tuned sermon that delivers the gospel message. It's the humble honesty of faith from the simple man behind the words.

St. Francis is credited with the saying, "At all times preach the gospel, and when necessary use words."  The message here is that any faithful person through service, compassion, gentleness etc. is communicating the gospel message by their actions.  For St. Francis, every act of kindness is a sermon.  

This means all of us, even we pastors, are able to share the gospel of Jesus with others.  As a matter of fact, already today, your actions have probably delivered a message or two of good news.   For the rest of the day, consider being more deliberate and intentional about it. 

Prayer

Heavenly Father, you have given me faith.  Thank you!  Allow me the privilege of experiencing for myself the truth in your Psalmists' words today.  Amen

MANNA: Thy Kingdom Come!

Revelation 21:1-6 (click to read)

I am often asked the question, "Pastor, how do I get to heaven?"  Actually, the question most often comes to me from a slightly different direction, "Pastor, is this person or that going to hell?"  This question of how to get to heaven is one that, I think, has been the source of far too much destruction by Christians over the centuries.   Think...Crusades, Inquisition, Slavery...those are some biggies.  But, we can also think about the number of families and friendships that get torn apart because of the softer version of this same thing: religious intolerance.  Too often Christian zeal looks more like hatred to those who do not share the zealot's beliefs.  It's this question that leads to an ethic that focuses more energy on getting people into heaven than on the kind of compassionate ministry that Jesus actually did.  It's as if the correct answer to this question holds in itself some sort of magic power to heal and to save.  But, while Christians can go on mission trips to get thousands and even millions to confess Jesus as their personal Lord, or pray the "sinner's prayer" they don't seem nearly as interested in feeding the hungry, clothing the poor, caring for the sick and dying, advocating for the oppressed...the stuff that Jesus actually did with his ministry.  Interestingly, Jesus himself never asked anyone to pray the "sinner's prayer".  He never asked anyone if they were prepared for heaven, or if they knew they were going to heaven.   Yet, Christians have been dividing themselves and conquering others in Jesus' name with this question for centuries.

Did Jesus really die for this?

Well, I say NO!

The problem with this question is the assumption of movement.
Christianity always seems to answer this question by presuming that people move and heaven doesn't. Heaven is always a stationary destination that exists somewhere other than here, somewhere...out there.....in the cosmos, in the sky, in some sort of holy dimension.    People do all the moving according to the choices they make.    But, this model just doesn't line up with the Bible.

First of all, if this question were the penultimate of Christian questions, which is how our world treats it, then why doesn't Jesus ever ask it?  Wouldn't Jesus himself go around asking would-be converts if they would like to be saved or if they know how to get to heaven.  Wouldn't part of his preaching and teaching have been "the sinner's prayer", or some version of "Follow me, because Heaven is this way"?  Jesus never teaches this message.  When he is asked about heaven, or when he does teach on the subject he always uses the present tense.  Jesus is often saying, "The kingdom of heaven is...".  He never says, "When you die, the kingdom of heaven will be..."    Or, he says, "You already know the way, because I am the way."  Again, he uses present tense, "I am..." Christian orthodoxy has hung all sorts of legalism on these sayings over the centuries to support the assumption that somehow people have to do something right, get something right, pray something right in order to "know the way", but when we allow the Bible a little bit of freedom from the traditions, we see that Jesus simply doesn't say what, possibly, we've always thought he said on this subject.

Second, the Biblical image of heaven is always here on earth.  From the beginning of beginnings...Genesis...we hear that God created all things and placed the primary objects of His creation here on earth and then called it "Good".  Sinfulness enters and corrupts it, and then the goal of the salvation story is to restore God's "good" here on earth.  Nowhere is the image of salvation some sort of abandonment of earth and creation so that "good" goes somewhere else.  Heaven is here!

Third is the Biblical image of the restoration of Eden, otherwise known as heaven, or New Jerusalem in the Scripture cited for today.  Read this text and notice the direction of movement and who is doing the moving.  Heaven (New Jerusalem) is not some stationary destination for those who die in the faith.  It's just the opposite.  Heaven is the thing that's doing the moving, heaven is coming down.  People aren't going up some sort of stairway to heaven, heaven is coming down upon the earth...upon all of us...upon all things.

This is the God of love....the God who comes down!
The God who looks upon our insatiable appetite for legalism...our anthropologically destructive ways of exclusion...
our foolish self-righteousness...
our sin...

And still loves us....all of us!

The question for us to live with and form our ethic around isn't "How do I get to heaven?".
It's "How does heaven get to me?"

Heaven gets to us.

When I've had a terrible day, and part of what made it terrible was my lack of patience shown toward my son, but then at the end of the day I hear him pray his bedtime prayers and he includes me...Heaven gets to me!

When either of my young adult step-sons trust me enough to ask me for advice...Heaven gets to me.

Last week when a little girl in my children's sermon blurted out for everyone to hear, "I love my grandma!"
Heaven got to me.

When my Sunday School class recites the Lord's Prayer all by themselves.  Heaven gets to me.

When a woman with a little girl lights up with joy because I am handing her a check from the discretionary fund to prevent her landlord from evicting her.  Heaven gets to me.

When a man who I've known and been in conversation with for seven years comes to me and asks to be Baptized on Easter morning...Heaven gets to me.

When a youth who I pushed to go to Camp Luther in the summer comes up to me and gives me a hug.  Heaven gets to me.

How does heaven get to you?

Answer that question!
Form your Christian ethic around it.
And pretty soon you'll be living life looking for, and expecting to see, the kingdom of heaven coming down.


Prayer:  Lord God, so often we pray to you the words that Jesus taught us, "Thy Kingdom Come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven."  Help us to partner with you in acts of love and mercy that bring your kingdom down here among us.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

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Thanks!

MANNA: Flowers in Church

Why do we decorate the church with flowers?  That question comes up from time to time.  When church councils compare the costs of fresh flowers to that of silk flowers, an even more common question comes up.  Does it matter if the flowers are fresh, or can we get by with saving money on silk?

Flowers can cheer up someone who is sick.  They can speak of love to a sweetheart, share sympathy for a loss, communicate honor for moms, and respect for veterans.  When it comes to the use of flowers for communicating emotions, well...flowers speak for themselves.

There is a way in which this is true for the flowers in church as well.   Imagine the insides of most any cathedral you've ever been inside.  Beautiful architecture, but a room made of marble, stone and wood is also a bit cold with emotion.  The stained glass windows help to add color and light, but it's the flowers that add warmth and life.  Today's churches are made with an array of different materials including vibrant colors in fabrics on seating, tapestries, and carpeting.  Modern churches do not need flowers as much as the old Gothic cathedrals did to bring life and warmth into the room, but the tradition is still a good one to keep.

One of reason to keep this tradition is as a symbol of new life.
Gordon Lathrop, my seminary professor for worship and liturgics used to say, "Every Sunday should be treated like a little Easter."  Every Sunday we worship the crucified and risen Lord.  One way this weekly celebration of the gospel promise is communicated is by symbols.  Fresh flowers, particularly those that are seasonal, i.e. just like the ones we see outside, are a great way to symbolize our new life in Christ.  The Easter lily is perfect for the spring, but as the seasons change the same message is spoken through the seasonal change of flowers on the altar.

This is one very good reason to resist the financial pressures of saving money with silk flowers.  Consider the Genesis story where God created all things and called them "good".  God's way of creating real flowers is beautiful, fresh and creative.  The best humans can do is try to copy what God has already done with silk.  But, real flowers show God's creativity.  Silk flowers can look very real, but this will not fool the congregation for long.  Awareness of the use of silk flowers communicates a sense of falseness.  They may look life-like, but this is phony, and everyone knows it.  So, the emotional effect is no longer one of new life in Christ.  Instead it is a measure of scarcity, cheapness, and falsity.  Please understand, I'm not referring to actual responses from parishioners.  I'm referring more to the subconscious, emotional, and possibly visceral message that this symbolizes.  Think of it this way.  If your mom were in the hospital and you brought her fresh flowers she is likely to respond with joy and cheer.  However, what if instead of real flowers you brought her a similar bouquet of silk and plastic flowers?  The message you communicate is dramatically different between the two, even if they look the same.

One other reason to use fresh flowers in church is that flowers are used in various Biblical citations as metaphors for God's love and care for His creation and His church.  In the Song of Solomon the lily of the valley and the rose of Sharon are metaphors for God and Israel.  In the gospels Jesus references flowers as a symbol for God's care of creation in his teachings for us to not worry.  The flowers we use in our worship services are, on the one hand, reminders of these Biblical stories, but even more importantly they are ever-present symbols of God's love and care for His creation.

Last, but certainly not least, I must make mention of God's command to Moses and the Israelites on the production of the tabernacle and its accouterments.     In Exodus 25 God tells Moses to make a lampstand that will be in the holy of holies.   In verse 34, he commands, "And on the lampstand itself there shall be four cups made like almond blossoms, with their calyxes and flowers."  The tabernacle was to be like a moble church.  The land the Israelites were travelling through was very barren, stark of flowering plants.  Even so, inside the tabernacle would be this image of Aaron's flowering staff...a symbol of hope and promise for all of Israel.  God commanded that, at least, the image of a flowering plant adorn the altar area of worship.

 So, there you have it, four good reasons to use fresh flowers to decorate your worship space.
1.  To bring the warmth and life of God's creation inside.
2.  To communicate the new life of the gospel promise.
3.  The bible refers to flowers as symbols.
4.  God commanded that, at least, a flowering plant adorn the altar area.

If you would like to order flowers for Sunday worship at Living God Lutheran Church

Please click HERE to be taken to an online order form.
OR,
Please remember to place your order using the sign up sheet in the foyer.

Please make a donation to support this ministry.

Click HERE to learn more.

Thanks!

MANNA: Peace Be With You

Peace Be With You

John 20:19-23

When I was a younger man I enjoyed horror movies.   Looking back now, I really don't know why.  Maybe it was just the thrill of testing my courage.  The horror movies of my day have since been categorized as their own genre known as slasher films.   It didn't really matter which one you watched, the basic premise was the same for all of them.   Some poor soul was cruelly and unjustly put to death, and now the "ghost" of the victim is out for revenge.  Jason Vorhees (Friday the 13th) and Michael Myers (Halloween) were characters that became household names for their creative ways of "slashing" innocent bystanders as they sought revenge on anyone for what had been done to them.

When you think about it, that scenario is almost the same as that of Jesus.  Was he not cruelly and unjustly put to death on a cross?   Was he not betrayed just like Michael Myers?  Didn't his closest friend deny he had ever met him, just like Jason Vorhees?

There's one BIG difference, obviously.

Jesus didn't come back from the grave seeking revenge.  He came back offering forgiveness. 

It's no wonder Jesus had to say it to his disciples three times for them to believe it.

"Peace be with you." 

"Peace be with you." 

"Peace be with you." 

Jesus is not out for revenge. He gave himself willingly, in love.  

There is too much revenge seeking in our culture.  It has become the norm to go after those who have done us wrong and give them what we believe they deserve.  We have become a people who are filled with anger, not peace.  Subconsciously, we go through our days seeking moments in which we feel justified in venting it out in little doses on the people around us.   This is the devil's work, and it perpetuates our own sinfulness.  It's unhealthy, and certainly not peaceful. 

But, can it be true?  

Jesus comes back from the grave not to condemn us, not to remind us of our failures, not to exact revenge, but he comes with words of peace.   

Yes, our crucified and risen Lord comes to us to breathe on us the Spirit of forgiveness and peace.  

Even now, while our nostrils are still flaring in anger, 

while our motives are still seething with hostility, 

and while our thoughts are still scheming for revenge,

He comes to us with a promise of peace in the fresh air of forgiveness.  

Prayer

Breathe on me the fresh air of forgiveness, O Lord.  Help me to inhale slowly and deeply, that I may offer forgiveness and peace to others.  Amen

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Easter Morning

John 20:1-18

"Early in the morning, while it was still dark, Mary saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb."  

John seems to be trying to make it very clear to his readers that the first witness of the resurrection came at that time of the morning "while it was still dark."  

For some reason this little line in the beginning of the Easter story never really caught my attention...until now.  

The more I thought about this line, the more important it's message became to me.

Resurrection doesn't begin when we are in the light, it begins while we are still in the dark!

Like a seed that is placed in the darkness of the ground.  The first awareness of new life that comes to the seed isn't the sprout that we can see plainly.  It's the first crack in the seed's shell while the seed is still under ground in the dark.  

So it was for Mary.  She was the first to witness the resurrection and it was while she was still in the dark.

In the darkness of fear...doubt...pain...death...sin.

Resurrection comes to our darkness with new life, and cracks us open like a seed...like a tomb.  

There's a story that I want to share with you.  It's a bit long, but take the time to watch this video.  It's the story of Louis Zamperini.  It's a story that is so amazing that it's hard to believe it isn't fiction.  His story has been made into a NY Times best seller entitled, Unbroken, and is set to be made into movie in 2014.  

What is the darkness you're facing?

Just like Louis, and Mary, resurrection comes while we are still in the darkness.  

It comes today, NOW, while you are still in the dark.

Christ is risen!  Alleluia!

Amen.

Newsletter: Cheerful Giving

The Cheerful Giver
2 Corinthians 9:6-8
[6] The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. [7] Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. [8] And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.

Did you know that churches haven't always "passed the plate" as an act of worship?
It's true.  As a matter of fact, until the the early 19th century church finances were sustained by a religious tax on citizens.  Imagine looking at your pay stub and seeing a box alongside local, state and federal taxes labeled "Religious Tax" and finding 10% of your gross income taken out in order to fund your church.  Well, that's how it was done.  During colonization of America the colonists brought with them new ideas about freedom and government, but new ideas take time to grow.  In the mean time the church's were established and maintained according to the same systems of organization and funding that were used back in Europe.  Even after the colonies broke free from England in the late 18th century, it still took decades of preaching and teaching to get the church to break free from the European process of taxing citizens to fund the church.

Somewhere around the 1830s churches began the practice of voluntary tithing as we know it today.  But, early on they still didn't "pass the plates".  One of the early ways in which churches attempted to secure voluntary funds for their ministry was to charge a fee for the use of pews.  Believe it or not, the front pews were the most expensive back then.  Just like the sale of tickets to an event, the churches began charging a price for seating.  If you did not have enough money for a seat you were permitted to stand in the back or, in some churches, in the balcony.  In some churches people were permitted to actually buy the physical pew.  These were always in the front and when this happened the owners would install a section of seating that would be cordoned off from the others with wooden railing and panels.  Ever wonder where the idea of "box seats" came from?  Well, now you know.

As time went on, and as pastors continued to teach and preach about good stewardship and tithing, the practice of selling seats began to lose favor.  Into its place came the practice of passing the plates.   The late 19th and early 20th century saw the church form a more sound theology of the practice of receiving an offering as an act of worship.  Bolstered by Scripture like that which is quoted above, Christians began to realize the gift of grace in their free will offerings to the church.

I think its important to remember this history of voluntary giving to fund the church's mission and existence.  Often parishioners complain that the church is talking about money too often.  Well...consider the alternative.  Remember, there was a time in the not-so-distant past when parishioners never heard about the church's need to bay the bills. That's because they were being taxed.

Today, we are free to provide for our church's ministry as much or as little as we are inspired to do so.  But this should not make us want to avoid discussion about money in church.  No, this should make us want to talk about money all the more, because the financial management of the church is no longer in the hands of the state or higher church authority, it has been entrusted to us. Imagine what your household finances would be like if you ignored them.  Disaster, right?!  For the first time in history, relatively speaking, we have been given the freedom to fund our church without reluctance or compulsion, just as St. Paul taught the church in Corinth.  This is indeed cause for cheerful giving.    What joy, pride, and cheer there is in being able to step back from our church and its ministry and know that together we answered God's call and funded it fully and completely---with a surplus to be used for developing new ministry ideas for the future.

For years Living God Lutheran has been operating with a deficit...year after year of coming up short. With this year's campaign to Bridge the Gap, I am committed to putting those days behind us, and so far 25% of our congregation has committed themselves to this goal along with me.  Join us!  If you haven't filled out a "Bridge the Gap" pledge card yet, please do so.

In Luke 12:48 Jesus says, "To those whom much has been given, much will be expected."  We have been given the freedom to fund our church and mission without being compelled by taxation from the state or church authorities.  We have been entrusted with this relatively young idea of funding our ministry completely on voluntary funding.  There has never been a better opportunity for us to embrace St. Paul's notion of cheerful giving than this.  We are free to provide a church for ourselves and for the world around us.  What a gift we have been given.  What a gift, which God has entrusted to us.

Please consider making a donation to support this ministry.

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Thanks!

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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MANNA: 1/25/13

Matthew 6:27
And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?

There's really nothing that compares to parenting.
I always find it comical when I hear a young couple, pregnant with their first child, making plans for things they are going to do after the baby comes.  It's funny because once the baby comes, all of those plans are most likely going to need dramatic adjustment.  There's no way a person can be prepared for parenting until they are actually parenting.  You see them looking all haggard, sleep-deprived, and you can tell at just a glance the toll that the little bundle of joy is taking on their life...let alone their plans.  Parents learn through experience that survival means accepting that you are no longer in control of your time, calendar, or energy.  No, as a parent you become a servant to your child, and life is turned upside down in an effort to care for the one who is totally dependent upon you.

I have three sons.  The youngest was adopted at 18 months old.  I remember staying up through the night helping my son adjust to his new bed, new surroundings,  new everything.  For about a month he hardly slept at night, so neither did I.  Stressful questions flowed constantly.  Am I doing the right thing?  Is he eating right?  Is he sleeping right?  Should I call the doctor?  The fact that he was adopted at 18 months old meant that I even worried about things I will never know about the first months of his life.  Now, he is six, and I worry about all sorts of other things.

I don't think raising older children is really any less stressful.  My other two are step-sons from my wife's previous marriage.  So, my experience with parenting is that of having both a young child and teenagers at the same time.  I've learned that parents can lose just as much sleep worrying about their older children as they do when they were up all night with the little ones.  How will we pay for college?  Am I too strict or not strict enough?  Where are they?  Why don't they call me back?  Who are they hanging out with?  What are they doing?  Are they making good choices?

Worry feels like holding your breath.

Our heavenly Father allows us to exhale, and breath a little easier.  Jesus says, "Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?"  The other side of the same coin is, "Who, by worrying, can add a single hour to your child's life?"  As a parent, I am going to worry.  It's an unwritten promise.  But, trusting that God has all things in His control, I find the grace I need.  I can do my best and trust in God for the rest.  I am never able to be in control.  Parenting is a process of gradually letting go of control of our kids,  and trusting them into God's control.

It helps to remember that God takes the long view about parenting, or developing people.  Consider the way He worked with Moses.   Throughout his entire life God was there with Moses, raising him into the person he became.  From watching over the baby in the basket, through revealing His almighty power in plagues and the red sea, teaching him obedience with the ten commandments, raising up helpmates when he needed them, and finally showing him how to be graceful when he saw the promised land at the end of his life.  Moses isn't the only one.  Think of people like Jacob, Joseph, Noah, David...all were people parented by God through life.  From early on in their life, God claimed them, and then raised them up through every trial they faced.  God takes a long view of life and parenting.  Our worry is to do with the short view.

When your heart gets heavy with the burdens of life and you find yourself losing sleep or worrying, remember that you were claimed by God the day you were baptized.  Remember that your kids were claimed by God as well.  Consider the long view of life, and trust that God has all things in control.

Now...exhale!  :-)

Prayer
Heavenly Father, you watch over all your children.  Watch over my family this day and raise them through life to accomplish your will.  In Jesus' name.  Amen

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Sermon: 1/20/13

John 2:1-11 The Wedding in Cana

Timing is everything.  It's common knowledge.
For a comedian, timing is the difference between jeers and cheers.
For a man popping the question to his the woman he hopes to marry, timing can be...well the difference between jeers and cheers.
Timing is everything!

Which is what makes this scene at the wedding in Cana so fascinating.  Because at first glance it would seem that the timing is all off.  The wine ran out too early.  Now, at first, that doesn’t sound all that surprising. After all, John tells us that it’s the third day of the wedding banquet. Three days of celebrating and you might expect the wine to run out.  If it were us, we might just duck out and make a quick run to the local wine shop.  But in this time and place running out of wine too early isn’t just a social embarrassment.  Wine is a sign of God’s abundance, of joy and gladness and hospitality. And so when they run short on wine it is a sign of the marriage running short of God's blessing.  Timing is everything.  To the couple who just married, the wine running out before the celebration is finished is like a bad omen.  It suggests that the marriage blessings will run out before the marriage.  This is not just a social concern for the wedding party...this is a tragedy!

Unfortunately, far too many of us today know quite well what it's like when the blessings within a marriage run dry before the fulfillment of the marriage.  It's a tragedy!

To make matters worse, Jesus’ mother doesn’t seem to have much of a sense of timing either. At least that’s what Jesus seems to think. “They have no wine,” she says to her son. She expected her son to do something about it.  But Jesus seems to think this is another instance of bad timing: “Woman, what concern is that to you or me? My hour – my time – has not yet come.”  But Mary knows better. Rather than raise an eyebrow at his tone or offer a counterpoint to his assertion, she turns to the servants and tells them simply and clearly, “Do whatever he tells you.” Now it could be that, like a good Jewish mother, Mary knew her son would come around. Protest he might, but eventually he’ll listen to his mother.  Or it could be that she understood the necessity for good timing a little better than he thought.  Mary recognized that whenever her son was on the scene, time itself was no longer ordinary.  For, with God, timing is always perfect.

Well, you know the rest of the story.

Timing is everything!

In fact, there are two kinds of time at work in this gospel. One is the kind of time with which we count and track the everyday events of our lives. It is the time that is measured in minutes and seconds, hours and days. It is the time we spend standing in lines, or clocking in at work, or waiting at the stoplight. It is mundane, ordinary time and it beats on relentlessly without any care of how well we make us of it.

But there is another kind of time at play, as well.  It is a kind of God's time, where the usual cadence of things that are predictable fade away and the experience of the moment transcends the ticking of the mundane clock of our lives.  This is God’s time, and it breaks forth through the ordinary clock and pace of things in unexpected times and places and allows us to catch a glimpse of the divine. So when Jesus speaks of his “hour” he isn’t speaking of a time and date on his calendar, he’s talking about the time when God will reveal his glory through his cross, resurrection, and ascension, the time when God will be accessible to all, once and for all.

That time, that hour, Jesus says, has not yet come.

Or has it?
Why do you think the apostle John goes to the effort of beginning this story about a wedding with the words, On the third day..."?
Could it be that the gospel writer is giving us a clue right up front, grabbing our attention, that this story isn't really about wine and a wedding, but about something more deeply interwoven with the gospel..., Jesus' resurrection?
Mary seems to think so.
And so do I.
The third day is the day in which Jesus was raised from the dead!
The third day is the day that hope was restored!  At the moment when the disciples thought the blessings of Jesus' mission ran out before the fulfillment of the mission....on the third day, God restored the blessing...and the mission of Christ hasn't stopped since.

Knowing this makes all the difference.  Instead of this being a story about water turned into wine, before its Jesus' time, this becomes a reminder that every moment lived near Jesus is a moment with the capacity to transcend beyond the mundane and into the divine.  For Jesus, turning the water into wine was a relatively simple act...almost a parlor trick.  But, for the wedding party, this simple act was the difference between joy and worry.  For the disciples, this simple act was the difference between believing and not believing.

As it is for us as well.
Think back over the course of your life...and to those moments when your life was hanging in the balance between fear and faith, or scarcity and abundance, or destruction and salvation.  Into those moments, what was it that made the positive difference?  Was it not, a simple act of kindness, generosity, sacrifice from someone else?  These are moments that may have been a simple act to the person offering them, but to you they were moments that caused time to stand still.

In the immortal words of Dr. Martin Luther King, "The time is always right to do what is right!"

There is no such thing as bad timing with things that are eternal.
There is never a bad time for generosity
There is never a bad time for kindness...never a bad time for compassion...forgiveness.  

An ordinary hug can convey unbounded love and blessing. The smallest donation of food or money can tip the balance between scarcity and abundance. A simple act of kindness can make all the difference in the world.  A smile can shed light into the darkest of places.

You see, this sign of water turned into wine revealed something about Jesus. When he is on the scene, anything is possible.  Because, when Jesus is on the scene, so also is God, accessible, adoring, available to all.

It may not seem like much, but when we offer ourselves in kindness, compassion, and generosity to others, to our kids, to our family...to the recipients of that moment of blessing, your timing is perfect!

Amen

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Manna: 1/21/13

Martin Luther had many questions about the Christian faith, and he knew that everyone else did too.  He wrote his Small Catechism on this premise by simply taking each primary statement of the 10 Commandments, The Creed and the Lord's Prayer and answering the same basic question, "What is this?"  His Catechism has served as a central teaching resource for Lutherans for over 500 years.

As Lutherans, then, it is our legacy to ask questions.  Some may say that to ask questions of your faith is to doubt.  Not for we Lutherans.  No, for us to ask questions is to seek the truth, and to seek the truth in faith is to draw nearer to Christ.  Martin Luther would never have written his 95 Theses, and the Reformation would never have happened if it weren't for Christians, beginning with Luther, who had the courage to stand up in faith and ask, "What is this?"  or "Why?"

Recently, it was brought to my attention by a member of my church that it would be helpful if I were to spend a little time, now and again, explaining to our congregation why we do what we do in worship.  So, with thanks to Bob, this is my first installment of "WHAT IS THIS?".  Interestingly, I've called my devotional writings "MANNA" since 2010.  Literally the word MANNA is Hebrew for "What is this?"  Kind of makes you go, "Hmmmmmm" doesn't it?  :-)

I'll start with a question that I hear somewhat frequently from parishioners after worship at Living God.
The Kyrie: What is this?

Kyrie is short for Kyrie eleison, and it is a Greek translation of "Lord, have mercy."  It is an early Christian hymn to Christ.  Known to be in use by the church as early as the third century AD, it is an ancient plea and a prayer.  Various forms exist, including three-,six-, or ninefold petitions of the plea itself.  There are also litany versions, like the one we use in our worship service.  Its cry for mercy, peace, and salvation are especially fitting at the beginning, as we gather, for worship.

I believe elements in worship like the Kyrie are important for us today.  Because of its long tradition, singing it helps us to stay connected to our Christian roots.  While today's church is constantly tempted to eliminate traditional elements in an effort to attract the unchurched, singing the Kyrie keeps us grounded in the cries of the saints and martyrs of the ancient church.  Knowing that their cry of faith for mercy, peace and salvation is, quite essentially, the very same as ours today is a reminder to all of us that God is unchanging.  God still provides the same mercy, peace and salvation to us today.  And, as the world cries out, we hear God's call to respond to it with the same mercy, peace and salvation that was shown to us.

Today, it seems that the world is changing more rapidly than it used to.  Maybe this is just a fact of my own aging process.  But, I can't help but sense that it becomes harder and harder for people to keep up with the changes as each change comes and goes.  As the world continues to change with increasing velocity, I take refuge in knowing that God has not changed over all the centuries.  God's mercy, peace and salvation remain the rock upon which we can stand for meaning, purpose and direction while the sands of life move about around us with the winds of change.  Singing the Kyrie is a simple, but powerful, reminder of what's most important, and of what's eternal.

Prayer:
Kyrie eleison, on our world and on our way.
Kyrie eleison, ev'ry day.  
Amen

Pastor Rich Moore

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Sermon: 1/13/13

Psalm 29

The voice of the Lord is powerful and majestic. It's like a storm that crashes in from the sea upon the land. Whipping up the waves. Ripping the skies apart with thunder. Causing trees to fall.  From the Psalmist’s perspective, everyone knows when the Lord speaks -- just as everyone knows that a storm is thrashing around them. 

Psalm 29 is attributed to King David. When reading, it’s good to take that into consideration. We're not talking about a theological scholar, we're talking about the broken-and-redeemed shepherd boy who became king. David is a guy who wears his heart-on-his-sleeve. He’s a man whose writings drip with existential weight.  So the voice of God wasn't just a powerful symbol for David. Psalm 29 wasn't just a temple song praising God through nature. David heard God speaking! His Psalm was a song about reality. God's voice was as personal as it was powerful, and it was all around him like the weather.

But, not many of us are as deep and personal with God as David. Let’s be honest.   Isn't it safe to say that most of us today scratch our heads over the idea of God speaking to us? Sure David might have heard God's voice -- along with a lot of other extraordinary people in the Scriptures -- but God doesn't speak to normal people like us today .......Right?!

So we'll nod with the preacher about the powerful voice of God, but if we pause to be truly honest, we're left with a ton of questions about the voice of God, or even if God is still speaking today.

My friends, God is still speaking!  

Today's reflection cracks open these questions about God speaking.

As Christians, we must at least begin addressing these questions with our faith, without which we would not be here in church today. This faith, no matter how small, deep, or informed, assumes by its very nature that God is still speaking to us. So, then, the real question isn't so much if, but how. 

The primary means for God to speak to us is through the Scriptures. We call the Bible the "Word of God," and believe it to be God-breathed (2 Timothy 3:16). “God-breathed” is a beautiful way of saying inspiration. This isn't a pat theological answer; it's a perspective that should shape how we read the Bible. We should engage Scripture with a practical awareness that these words are the inspiration of God into human history. The Bible is not just conceptual, intellectual -- words that we read as information -- or a collection of wise sayings. The Scriptures are words written by men, but inspired by God.  Reading them is listening to God still inspiring today, the same way God inspired then.  Think of it like this: Bible reading is (1) inspirational first, (2) relational second and (3) informational third.  

Moving beyond the words of Scripture, God also speaks to us by the Holy Spirit.  Some of us may be led by God's Spirit in some specific ways. An internal voice. A sense of conviction. A seemingly inspired reflection. The sage words of someone. Experiences with an inner voice that defy our own selfish agendas, and lead us toward higher purposes, or actions. Some people often describe these experiences as "God speaking" or "hearing God's call, or being led by the Spirit."

But, how do we know the voice we're hearing is God?

The voice of the Lord is powerful and awe-inspiring in Psalm 29, but still and small before Elijah. It’s a voice from the clouds and a dove at Jesus’ baptism. So what would God's voice be like for us? And how would we differentiate God's voice from our own thoughts, messages of culture, or the voices from our legalistic or liberal upbringing? 

We might not be crazy, but we do have a lot of voices in our heads!

First, consider the four primary sources of inspiration: Scripture, Tradition, Reason, and Experience. 

Scripture...self-explanatory

Tradition...All those ways in which we have come to know and understand the character of God through the gifts of the church's past.  The way we've always done it, or understood it.

Reason...The clear sense of right from wrong, necessity, rationality that exists between our ears.  

Experiences...Personal human interaction with the world around us.  

All four of these are sources of information that swirl around inside our heads with each decision we make.  Inspiration from God will often bring these four sources into peace or harmony.  

Next, take in the direction of the movement. God's voice carries substance and weight. It makes an impact -- bringing peace, and inspiring compliance toward the creation of something new. God’s voice will always be toward conformity to God’s nature. It will never tell you you’re worthless, encourage you to lie, or mislead you.  Essentially, when one of those inner voices consoles us—brings peace, calm, assurance, worship, truth, justice, compassion, forgiveness—it’s likely from God. When a voice leaves us confused, chaotic, anxious, angry, hostile, empty—it’s not likely from God. 

Finally, when God speaks, it will always take the form of Law & Gospel.   The law is the reminder of how things ought to be, and how our actions are coming up short.  It condemns, and judges.  This will sound legalistic, moralistic.  That's OK, because it's only half of the message.  God's Word doesn't leave us there.  Hearing the law, opens our heart to hear the gospel.  The gospel is the declaration of what God does to overcome our failings.  The gospel heals, and promises forgiveness.  

God is still speaking.

This leaves us with the last question...How do I listen for God's voice?

Silence, solitude, journaling, mentors and trial-and-error all create the space to listen for God. 

But it takes practice.  You don't sit down at a piano for the first time and bang out Beethoven. You don't wake up and decide to run a marathon. Making a practice of listening for the voice of God leads to better discernment of God’s voice from all of the others in our heads.

As Jesus left his disciples behind, he told them he had much more to say to them. But he left that speaking to the work of the Spirit (John 16). God is still speaking…

His Word is comfort when we are lost and confused.

It is forgiveness when we have fallen from grace.

It is a guiding light in a world of darkness.

It is what we need to hear about who we are, whose we are, and where we are going.

God has given us His Word in the gifts of Scripture, the church, friends and mentors, and He has given us faith to listen.

So, let us listen....and practice listening.

Amen