Let Your Feet Be Washed

He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, "Lord, are you going to wash my feet?" Jesus replied, "You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand." "No," said Peter, "you shall never wash my feet."
Jesus answered, "Unless I wash you, you have no part with me." (John 13:6-8 NIV)

Today is Maundy Thursday. "Maundy" is from the Greek word, "mandatum," meaning "commandment." Jesus' commandment to his disciples on this day was to "love one another as I have loved you." As an example of how we are to love one another, Jesus washed his disciples feet.

We usually focus on this example. And that is good. We need to learn how to humble ourselves and wash one anothers' feet. But there is something else going on here too. Peter says, "No, Lord! You shall not wash my feet." Don't you know Peter would much rather have washed Jesus' feet? And most of us are the same.

They say it is more blessed to give than to receive. We know that all too well and most of us are way better at giving. Giving is often the position of power, isn't it? If we are receiving, doesn't that also put us in a position to be humble?

How well do you receive a compliment? Do you just say "thank you" or do you try to minimize the compliment? Have you ever run short of cash at the cash register and someone offered to help you? How did it make you feel?

If we are ALL to be foot-washers, whose feet are we to wash? If we are to wash one anothers' feet, then we also have to accept our feet being washed. We have to be willing to share our needs as well as our gifts. How can we have our feet washed unless we are willing to let others know they are dirty?

Someone is looking for the opportunity to give and we may have a need that they can meet. We have to let down our walls and let our brothers and sisters know that our lives are NOT perfect and that we DO need help. And we can look into the lives of our brothers and sisters and find the areas where their feet could use a little washing too.

Yes... let us be like Jesus and wash one anothers' feet. But let us also be like the disciples on this holy night and allow Jesus with skin on to wash our own feet.

Lord Jesus,
Humble us to be givers, but humble us even more to be receivers. Help us to know we don't always have to look like we are in control... because the truth is, none of us really are. Amen.

Joys: Time with Kevin, Chelsea and Emma yesterday; Emma's beautiful and ever-present smiles; Holy Week

Faith Deepening

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. (Hebrews 11:1 NIV)

In a UCC Still Speaking daily devotional written by Peter Ilgenfritz, the author remembers a day in divinity school shortly before graduation when a speaker told the class,

"I want you to remember that in the churches you will serve, toward the back of the sanctuary Sunday after Sunday will sit a quiet, elderly woman and man who will know more about faith than you will ever know."

Faith is not about theology.  You don't learn faith from sermons.  You don't learn faith from Sunday school or in depth Bible study programs.  True faith comes from living life.  I know that couple the speaker above was talking about.  But they are not just one elderly couple.  I know so many faithfilled people who no one would blame if they just walked away from God.  They have suffered.  They have borne great loss.  They have seen their own children or grandchildren die before them, or have seen their children suffer. Some just seem to suffer a constant string of disappointments.   And yet they praise God even more loudly than the rest of us.

It's easy to have faith in God when all is well... when life is going as it was meant to.  But it is often a shallow faith.  I don't look at life's storms as tests of faith, but as exercises in deepening our faith.  Faith isn't a belief that God is going to make our lives easier, it is knowing that even when the worst we can imagine happens, it's all going to be ok, because God is in control.  Faith brings a joy that no amount of theological or biblical knowledge can bring.  Faith is what makes us not even think about walking away from God, because how could we get through our darkest hours without him?

Our churches will be crowded this Easter Sunday.  But look around you... you will notice that the most familiar faces belong to the "quiet, elderly couple that know more about faith" than most.  And they may not necessarily be quiet or elderly or a couple.  But they have lived real, down-to-the-toes faith.

Father,
I pray for all of those who are in faith deepening situations right now.  Hold them close as they go through it.  Bless them and let them know it really is going to be ok, because you are in control.  Amen.

Joys:  The funny, but very honest things 4-year-olds say; a productive day at work yesterday; sunshine, even if it is still too cold.

Manifesting New Life

Meanwhile a large crowd of Jews found out that Jesus was there and came, not only because of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. (John 12:9 NIV)

You have probably heard it said before:  Preach Christ.  If necessary, use words.

Jesus preached a lot.  But his sermons would not have attracted nearly as many people if he did not back up his words with his life.  Jesus not only preached.  He loved.  He had compassion.  He fed.  He healed.  He even resurrected.

The scripture above tells us that the crowd not only came to see Jesus, but also Lazarus.  They were curious.  They had heard Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead.  They wanted to see the impact this had on Lazarus' new life.  As Christians each one of us has a new life in Christ.  And people are curious.  Although Jesus has his own power to draw people to him, they want to see for themselves what this does in the believer's life.

I have to wonder what they saw in Lazarus.  Did he inspire them to follow Jesus?  Or did they walk away not wanting anything to do with following Christ?  Did Lazarus welcome them?  Or did he push them away because they did worship right, or live right?  Did Lazarus help draw them into a closer relationship with Jesus?  Or did he send them away to fix their lives first?  I suspect he was loving and grace filled and patient and kind and unjudgmental.

Lazarus was living, walking proof of what new life in Christ was all about.  And so am I.  And so are you.  What does each of our lives tell others about being once dead, but now having life and life abundantly?

Lord Jesus,
Help us to always manifest your life-giving power in our lives... day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute.  May we draw another to you today because of the way our lives preach.  Amen.

Joys:  A weekend with family; cozy, rainy Sunday afternoon in sweats watching movies with family; Kevin picking up a check for lunch out.

Miracles Explained are Still Miracles

And he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith. (Matthew 13:58 NIV)

Scientists and scholars and other "people of reason" have spent a lot of time explaining the miracles in the bible.  Some that I have heard include:

• The parting of the Red Sea - first of all, it was translated wrong and should be the "Reed Sea" which is much smaller.  The sea parted because of just the right water current and just the right air curreent meeting at just the right time.  Not a miracle... a coincidence.
• Elijah raising the widow's son from the dead - simple CPR
• Jesus feeding the 5,000 - The young boy who offered his few loaves and fishes shamed the rest of the crowd into sharing their "hidden" food. 

Science explains more and more each day about the miracle of creation.   Perhaps one day we will even be able to count the stars of the universe.

Does explaining miracles really make them any less miraculous?  I don't think so.  Isn't it a miracle that the coincidence at the Reed Sea happened at such an opportune time?  Wasn't it miraculous that Elijah knew how to give CPR?  And if it wasn't for the young boy sharing his meal, everyone would have had to go home and miss out on life-changing teaching and fellowship.  Isn't it a miracle that the boy was brave enough to speak up?  And life itself, no matter how it was created or evolved or sprung out of thin air... life is a miracle.  Just hold a baby in your arms and you will know that.

The miraculous is in the eyes of the beholder.  Everything can be a miracle... or nothing.  It just depends on how you view life.  Is it a gift?  Or is it simply time to be spent until we die?  Miracles abound if you want them to!

Miracle Giving God,
Thank you for every miracle... those we can explain through science and those we cannot.  Keep our hearts open to see your miraculous works everywhere.  Amen.

Joys:  Miracles; Bradord pear trees in full bloom... Spring has begun!; birthday celebrations over the weekend.

Polishing our Alleluias

Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting: “Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns. (Revelation 19:6 NIV)

A recent FaceBook meme of Batman and Robin shows Robin saying, "Allelu...." as Batman quickly stops him with a slap to the face as he reminds him, "Lent!"  During our Shrove Tuesday pancake supper at Holy Cross, both children and adults spend some time coloring pictures of "Alleluias."  We then "bury our alleluias" for the Lenten season by putting them in a box and hiding the box away.  Perhaps an occasional "alleluia" slips out during Lent, but I don't think anybody has ever been slapped for it!

Several years ago, Holy Cross participated in a community Good Friday walk.  It was of mixed denominations and most did not worship in liturgical settings and what transpired was that all along that walk people were singing praise songs and shouting "alleluia."  It felt really out of place for this dyed-in-the-wool Lutheran.  If ever someone should have been slapped for an alleluia.... (I'M KIDDING!)

So what is that all about anyway?  Saint Augustine once said,

"We are an Easter people and Alleluia is our song. A Christian should be an Alleluia from head to foot."

So shouldn't we be like those folks on the Good Friday walk and offer up our alleluias no matter what day it is?  The thing is "alleluias" can get rusty with use and lose their meaning.  We need a period of time to polish them back up.  We need to reconnect to what "alleluia" means and what it means to be Easter people with an alleluia song.  We know that as Christians we have freedom in Christ.  Those Lenten disciplines and fasting... they remind us of what it would be like without that freedom.  As we put our hearts and souls into Lent... into fasting... into study and prayer... into extra worship and extra time with our church family... into drawing closer to God we find a building need within us for those "alleluias" to erupt.  We are ready.  We are ready to thank God for the wonderful gift he has given in Christ.  We are ready to thank Jesus for freeing us from the bondage of sin that we can never overcome on our own.

Lent is nearly over.  Can you feel that alleluia down in your toes and starting to rise?  Soon Holy Week will be upon us.  If we participate fully in Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, that alleluia will be almost fully upon us and on Easter morning it will bubble out in all its shining glory!  Over and over we will say it and sing it and each of us will be an Alleluia from head to foot for another year.

Father,
During these weeks of Lent, let us ponder what our lives would be without the freedom Christ brings us.  Let us prepare our alleluias for Easter Sunday.  Amen.

Joys:  a nice long walk in the warm sunshine; I can't say enough how much I love Daylight Savings Time!  It is worth the adjustment that takes longer thee older I get; The feel of Spring in the air.

Amazing!

Three things amaze me, no, four things I'll never understand— how an eagle flies so high in the sky, how a snake glides over a rock, how a ship navigates the ocean, why adolescents act the way they do. (Proverbs 30:18, 19 MSG)

"Amazing!"  One of those words like "love" and "awesome" that is thrown around so often as to take the amazing out of "Amazing!"  The world has gotten so small with the internet and ease of travel.  We rarely feel truly amazed anymore... we have seen it and heard it all.  When was the last time you were truly amazed at something?

A good way to be amazed regularly is to have young children in your life.  Most everything they see is new and they are amazed by it.  I love seeing the world through my grandchildren's eyes!  Just Saturday, as I watched a Disney movie on TV with them, I was amazed at high definition T.V. as I watched Cece and Emma get almost swept right into the movie screen to become part of it rather than the mere spectators of my generation.

Nature is full of "amazing!"  And North Carolina is a wonderful place to find a lot of it... mountains, beaches.  Spring is just around the corner and after spending a great deal of my childhood in South Florida, I always find Spring "Amazing!"  I can't believe it when I see the brown, seemingly lifeless world come alive in vivid, gorgeous color.

Be amazed at something today.  Even if there are no small children in your life, look at something as if you have never seen it before.  You will find that there is little in life that won't amaze you if you look at it with new eyes.  We live in a truly amazing world.

Amazing God,
You have given so much to amaze us, but we have gotten so use to the spectacular that we sometimes forget to be amazed.  Open our eyes today to the awesomeness of life and our surroundings.  Amen.

Joys:  Longer hours of daylight (though I sure would like my hour back!); time with family; so much to be amazed by.

Wonder and Belief

Cynics look high and low for wisdom—and never find it; the open-minded find it right on their doorstep! (Proverbs 14:6 MSG)

I found this quote this morning by famous trial lawyer, Gerry Spencer:

"I would rather have a mind opened by wonder than one closed by belief."

Interestingly, I found this quote after watching Dean's wonderful protrayal last night of Caiaphas.  Caiaphas was portrayed in that drama as one who had his mind closed by belief.   Faith and belief are  are necessary when we are talking about the things of God.    The writer of Hebrews says, "Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen."  Faith and belief are intrinsically tied to our relationship with God.  We have to have it.

But blind, dogmatic belief can actually hurt our relationship with God.  Look at Caiaphas.  He was a man of God.  He was the High Priest at the Temple.  He was one of the few allowed in behind the curtain to the Holy of Holies... into the presence of God.  He had his own "hot line" so to speak.  And yet when he really met God in the Flesh, face to face, he did not know Him.  His belief blinded his wonder.  Caiaphas' belief system was based on the interpretaion of scripture by the most intellegent religious scholars of the time.  He was taught all these things since he was a young boy and knew the scriptures and Jewish law very well.  The trouble was, their interpretation of scripture as it pertained to the coming Messiah was wrong.  And there was no room in Caiaphas' belief system for wrong.

Our own study of the Bible and our religious beliefs should not be one that closes our minds, but one that opens our minds and our hearts to wonder.  The more we study, the MORE questions we should have.  If we could figure God out, he wouldn't be God.  When we claim we have the whole truth about who God is, we run a very real danger of missing him even when we see him face to face.  And   like Caiaphas, we just might - in our eagerness to promote religious dogma - crucify him all over again.

Lord Jesus,
Keep our hearts and minds open to the wonder of our faith and belief enough that we will recognize you no matter how you come to us.  Amen.

Joys:  Wonderful Lenten drama series that helps us to dig more deeply into our faith; a nice phone chat with Kevin... his job and family keep him pretty busy and I miss him; an unexpected sleepover with Cecelia Tuesday night

Examine Your Conscience

Count yourself lucky, how happy you must be— you get a fresh start, your slate's wiped clean.  Count yourself lucky—  God  holds nothing against you and you're holding nothing back from him.  When I kept it all inside, my bones turned to powder, my words became daylong groans.  The pressure never let up; all the juices of my life dried up.  Then I let it all out; I said, "I'll make a clean breast of my failures to  God ." Suddenly the pressure was gone— my guilt dissolved, my sin disappeared. (Psalm 32:1-5 MSG)

Sometimes the Message Version just says it all so well and so plainly.  This passage tells us just how important a regular examination of conscience, confession and forgiveness is.  Think about what blockages in your body do to your physical health.  It can kill you if it is not dealt with.  An unexamined conscience and unconfessed sin is a blockage too.  It blocks the vital flow of communication between ourselves and God.  And it can be spiritually fatal if not dealt with.

The Via de Cristo Pilgrims Guide book has a wonderful tool to use for this purpose.  It walks the reader through every aspect of their life in relationship to God.  It can take a while if it's done thoroughly, but it helps to see those areas in our lives where we are putting our own needs and desires over those of others and above our relationship with God.   If you don't have this tool, I am happy to share with you if you ask.

But there are other tools....
I found this one online:  http://synodresourcecenter.org/theo/faith_issues/0003/0001/exam_conscience.html

Or you could use the Ten Commandments.  But you have to dig a little deeper than a first glance at them.  "You shall not kill" means far more than commiting first degree murder.  "You shall not commit adultry" covers a lot more than physically cheating on your spouse.  A good resource to help you get deeper would be The Small Catechism and Martin Luther's explanation of the Ten Commandments.  You can find it here:  http://www.lutheran.co.uk/docs/Small%20Catechism.pdf

It is good to use some kind of guide to help you in confession.  We often have habitual sins that we are not even aware are sins until we see them under the light of spiritual guidance.  Take time today or very soon to do and examination of conscience.  your spirit will be so much lighter and healthier for it!

Father,
Forgive us for neglecting our spiritual health by trying to hide our sin from you.  You offer only a healthy soul and freedom from the burden of guilt.  Amen.

Joys:  a quiet evening at home; a couple of days off to get some things done... like taxes!; almost time for Daylight Savings Time and longer days!

God is Good... ALL the Time

God  is good to one and all; everything he does is suffused with grace. (Psalm 145:9 MSG)

I loved Pastor Chad's list of cliched sayings he wishes Christians wouldn't use.  I couldn't agree more.  They are all based on bad theology.  I have a few more I would like to add...

• "God is good!"  - Not that I don't agree that God is good, but this phrase is usually used in response to something happening that makes us happy... often a prayer that is answered in the way we wanted it to be answered.  Quite recently in the news, I read about a small plane that crashed into a house.  The people in the plane perished.  The house occupants were unharmed.  A family member of one of the survivors said, "God is good!"  I couldn't help but wonder what the family of those who died in the same accident thought about God at that point.  My point is, isn't God stil good whether or not he does what we want him to do?  ... whether our own loved one lives or dies?  .... whether the test results are positive or negative?
• "There but for the grace of God go I" - Why is the person we are refering to less deserving of God's grace than I am?  Why would I think that it is a lack of God's grace that put that person in that position and the abundance of grace that kept me out of it?  I have heard this phrase rephrased as:  "There BECAUSE of the grace of God I GO!"  God's grace shouldn't make us feel priviliged to not be as bad off as another, but it should prod us to help those who are suffering.
• "God doesn't give you more than you can handle" - excuse me, but the cemetaries and mental hospitals are full of people that obviously had more than they could handle.  And there is also the problem with believing that God gives us our problems.  I believe we create plenty of those all on our own!  However, I do believe that our problems are indeed made easier to bear if we trust God to help... it doesn't always work out the way we would like, but that trust is crucial to easing our stress in any situation.

Ok, well, I think I have probably stepped on enough toes for one day!  I have a whole bag for of these bad-theology cliches, but I will spare you.  Being that most of you are Lutheran, you will probably agree with me on this one though.... the next time someone asks you, "When were you saved?"  Simply reply, "About two thousand years ago on a cross on a hill."

Father,

We often depend on well-worn sayings to bring comfort to ourselves or to others.  Help us to think before we say them.  We may just be hurting them further or worse... pulling them away from a god they think has purposely hurt them.  Give us compassion to know when to be silent and simply share your love by our presence.  Amen.

Joys:  Being Jesus' hands this past weekend by helping to distribute Second Harvest Food to those in need in our community; Time with Cecelia and the newest Mr and Mrs Hayes; crockpot chicken and dumplings