When they came to a place called The Skull, they nailed him to the cross. And the criminals were also crucified—one on his right and one on his left. (Luke 23:33 NLT)
I'm currently reading a book by Lutheran pastor, Nadia Bolz-Weber. Nadia is not your typical pastor. She has bold tattoos up and down her arms. She swears like a sailor. She doesn't hide her colorful past. All this has led the more conservative side of the church to take a decided dislike of her and her ministry. She was scheduled to speak at the ELCA National Youth Gathering last year and the conservatives fought against it. But she was there... and the youth LOVED her. Those in the Church who don't like her so much gave her the name, "Pastrix." This was meant as a derogotory label given by those who don't think women should preach, much less a woman like Nadia. But she has embraced the term, even using it as the title her book. All these things make me love her! She is, more than anything, real.
But this devotion is not about her. It is about something she wrote about in her book that just grabbed a hold of me when I read it. Nadia grew up in a fundamentalist church and she saw the hypocricy and the things that were just plain wrong. Like most of us, when we disagree we the way someone else lives, she drew a line. They were wrong. She was right. We all do it. And when that line is drawn, it effectively shuts down communication between the two sides. It makes loving our neighbor next to impossible.
The line from Nadia's book that grabbed me was, "Every time we draw that line, we will know Jesus is standing on the other side."
Where have you drawn your lines? Rebublican and Democrat? Gay and straight? Black and white? Jesus is standing on the other side of that line. It doesn't even matter if you are right and they are wrong. That is not the point. The point is God loves them as much as he loves you, and even if you are right about this, you are wrong about something else. The only thing we can do is get rid of the line and be children of God together... in all our wrongness and rightness... and even if the other side insists on keeping the line intact. Then it becomes their line and their challenge to overcome.
Take down a line today. Even a small one. It might be between you and a family member or the person who lives next door to you. It will be easier when you realize that Jesus is standing on the other side.
Jesus,
Help us to remove the lines in our life that we have placed. Help us to see all our brothers and sisters as just as confused and sometimes right and sometimes wrong as we are. Help us to see you standing on the other side. Amen.
Monday, September 30, 2013
Monday, September 16, 2013
What if...
My grief is beyond healing; my heart is broken. (Jeremiah 8:18 NLT)
Saturday night I heard the sirens. I remarked to my husband, "That doesn't sound good," and then as I usually do when I hear sirens, I said a silent prayer for those whose lives would be affected by whatever was bringing the emergency vehicles to action. It wasn't until Sunday afternoon that I found out what had happened.
A young man who has been one of my son Kevin's two best friends died in a car accident that night. Kevin, Ronnie and Matthew had been best friends since elementary school. But in recent years, Matthew had been been involved in alcohol and drug abuse. His friends tried to help. They told him he was travelling the wrong road. They finally walked away from him. A couple of weeks before Kevin's wedding this past May, Matthew contacted Kevin and begged forgiveness, promising that he was back on track with his life and done with the drugs and alcohol. Matthew attended Kevin's wedding. All seemed well and Kevin even had plans to play some basketball with Matthew Sunday afternoon. But Saturday happened. Matthew had drugs in his system when he passed out and hit a tree at about 80 mph.
It's hard to see even your adult child grieve for a friend like that. Kevin can't help but feel like he should have done more. He thinks he should have known Matthew wasn't better yet. He feels like he failed his friend.
I think Kevin and Ronnie did as much as they could for their friend. Even in walking away, it encouraged Matthew to try to overcome his problems. But it is hard not to say, "what if." "What if I had given more." "What if I had tried harder." "What if I had looked deeper." Maybe they could have done more... maybe nothing they could have done would have helped. But they did reach out. And thankfully, their relationship with one another had been reconciled before this tragedy.
Is there someone in your life that needs a little extra love from you? Don't wait until it is too late. You may not be able to save them from themselves, but you can make sure they know they are loved.
Please pray for Matthew's family and friends.
Father,
Help us to cherish and nurture our relationships. Help us to reach out to those we love who are struggling. We know we have to draw boundries with those caught up in addictions, but help us to let them know they are loved. Amen.
Saturday night I heard the sirens. I remarked to my husband, "That doesn't sound good," and then as I usually do when I hear sirens, I said a silent prayer for those whose lives would be affected by whatever was bringing the emergency vehicles to action. It wasn't until Sunday afternoon that I found out what had happened.
A young man who has been one of my son Kevin's two best friends died in a car accident that night. Kevin, Ronnie and Matthew had been best friends since elementary school. But in recent years, Matthew had been been involved in alcohol and drug abuse. His friends tried to help. They told him he was travelling the wrong road. They finally walked away from him. A couple of weeks before Kevin's wedding this past May, Matthew contacted Kevin and begged forgiveness, promising that he was back on track with his life and done with the drugs and alcohol. Matthew attended Kevin's wedding. All seemed well and Kevin even had plans to play some basketball with Matthew Sunday afternoon. But Saturday happened. Matthew had drugs in his system when he passed out and hit a tree at about 80 mph.
It's hard to see even your adult child grieve for a friend like that. Kevin can't help but feel like he should have done more. He thinks he should have known Matthew wasn't better yet. He feels like he failed his friend.
I think Kevin and Ronnie did as much as they could for their friend. Even in walking away, it encouraged Matthew to try to overcome his problems. But it is hard not to say, "what if." "What if I had given more." "What if I had tried harder." "What if I had looked deeper." Maybe they could have done more... maybe nothing they could have done would have helped. But they did reach out. And thankfully, their relationship with one another had been reconciled before this tragedy.
Is there someone in your life that needs a little extra love from you? Don't wait until it is too late. You may not be able to save them from themselves, but you can make sure they know they are loved.
Please pray for Matthew's family and friends.
Father,
Help us to cherish and nurture our relationships. Help us to reach out to those we love who are struggling. We know we have to draw boundries with those caught up in addictions, but help us to let them know they are loved. Amen.
Thursday, September 12, 2013
No Buts About It
Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? (James 2:15, 16 NIV)
One of my least favorite "Christian" sayings is, "There but for the grace of God go I." It drives me crazy! First it implies that I am more deserving of God's grace than the person of whom I am speaking. And that just crushes the whole idea of grace because grace isn't grace if we somehow deserve it or earn it.
But I think more importantly is the self-centered thinking of those words. It puts the other person at arms length and makes them seperate from us. Even though the words SAY that it could very well be me, it makes us glad that it is NOT me, but someone else... not as "deserving" of God's grace.
We ought to leave out the whole "but" phrase out of that sentence and just say, "There go I." Wow. What a difference that makes. Don't you feel the shift in your heart? When we think of that poor, wretched person as our own actual selves instead of "it could have been me" it moves us from simple pity to action. From asking God to help to being God's hands to do the work.
Most of us are just one bad decision or one unexpected event away from being in great need. And we should let that knowledge make us grateful. But we need also to feel our oneness with every other child of God in this world. They are us and we are them. When one person is suffering we all suffer. Compassion is good, but it is not enough unless it moves us to action.
Father of All,
Help us to see ourselves in everyone. Help us to say, "There go I," and to become your hands to heal, serve, and love. Amen.
One of my least favorite "Christian" sayings is, "There but for the grace of God go I." It drives me crazy! First it implies that I am more deserving of God's grace than the person of whom I am speaking. And that just crushes the whole idea of grace because grace isn't grace if we somehow deserve it or earn it.
But I think more importantly is the self-centered thinking of those words. It puts the other person at arms length and makes them seperate from us. Even though the words SAY that it could very well be me, it makes us glad that it is NOT me, but someone else... not as "deserving" of God's grace.
We ought to leave out the whole "but" phrase out of that sentence and just say, "There go I." Wow. What a difference that makes. Don't you feel the shift in your heart? When we think of that poor, wretched person as our own actual selves instead of "it could have been me" it moves us from simple pity to action. From asking God to help to being God's hands to do the work.
Most of us are just one bad decision or one unexpected event away from being in great need. And we should let that knowledge make us grateful. But we need also to feel our oneness with every other child of God in this world. They are us and we are them. When one person is suffering we all suffer. Compassion is good, but it is not enough unless it moves us to action.
Father of All,
Help us to see ourselves in everyone. Help us to say, "There go I," and to become your hands to heal, serve, and love. Amen.
Wednesday, September 11, 2013
The Rhythm of Life
There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: (Ecclesiastes 3:1 NIV)
We talk a lot about "balance" in our lives. We want to balance our work life with our family life with our recreational time with our church and volunteer time. Balance. The picture that flashes in my mind is the Cat in the Hat balanced on his tiptoe on a big ball with all sorts of household items teetering on his head and hands piled one on top of the other. Is this really what we want?... balance? Everything threatening to come crashing down around us at any moment?
Jesus didn't "balance" his life. You never get the feeling that anything was about to fall or that he could lose control at any time. No. Jesus had a rhythm to his life. A time to pray... a time to teach... a time to listen... a time to heal. It all came naturally and in its own time. He never had to say, "No, I can't do that for you now or I won't have time for this other thing." He just followed the rhythm.
Rhythm gives a much better word picture... dancing. I would much rather dance through life than spend it standing on top of a big ball holding everything up. If you have been doing a balancing act, try living to a rhythm instead. Get off the giant ball and meet life as it meets you. It doesn't mean we have to drop everything we need to do, but to look at it all differently. Sometimes you have to let something go in order to keep the beat. It's okay. You can swing back and pick it up as you dance back around if you really need to. If you are holding too many things to find the rhythm, you are holding too much.
Lord Jesus,
Teach us the rhythm of life that you had down so well. Help us to get the timing right and to know which of the many things we are balancing on top of our heads we need to let go of. Amen.
We talk a lot about "balance" in our lives. We want to balance our work life with our family life with our recreational time with our church and volunteer time. Balance. The picture that flashes in my mind is the Cat in the Hat balanced on his tiptoe on a big ball with all sorts of household items teetering on his head and hands piled one on top of the other. Is this really what we want?... balance? Everything threatening to come crashing down around us at any moment?
Jesus didn't "balance" his life. You never get the feeling that anything was about to fall or that he could lose control at any time. No. Jesus had a rhythm to his life. A time to pray... a time to teach... a time to listen... a time to heal. It all came naturally and in its own time. He never had to say, "No, I can't do that for you now or I won't have time for this other thing." He just followed the rhythm.
Rhythm gives a much better word picture... dancing. I would much rather dance through life than spend it standing on top of a big ball holding everything up. If you have been doing a balancing act, try living to a rhythm instead. Get off the giant ball and meet life as it meets you. It doesn't mean we have to drop everything we need to do, but to look at it all differently. Sometimes you have to let something go in order to keep the beat. It's okay. You can swing back and pick it up as you dance back around if you really need to. If you are holding too many things to find the rhythm, you are holding too much.
Lord Jesus,
Teach us the rhythm of life that you had down so well. Help us to get the timing right and to know which of the many things we are balancing on top of our heads we need to let go of. Amen.
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
Step Inside
My inspiration this morning comes from this excerpt from "Mere Christianity" by C.S. Lewis:
Good things as well as bad, you know, are caught by a kind of infection. If you want to get warm you must stand near the fire: if you want to be wet you must get into the water. If you want joy, power, peace, eternal life, you must get close to, or even into, the thing that has them. They are not a sort of prize which God could, if He chose, just hand out to anyone. They are a great fountain of energy and beauty spurting up at the very centre of reality. If you are close to it, the spray will wet you: if you are not, you will remain dry. Once a man is united to God, how could he not live forever?This made me think of God as though in a vast, clear, shimmering bubble. Most of us see the Bubble and we stand in awe of its beauty and brightness. We agree that the Bubble is good. If we stay close enough, we can even feel and feed off the energy that seeps through the the skin of the Bubble. It gives us joy to be near it and we want to enter it. But we are afraid. In order to slip inside, we have to let go of some of the worldly things we love. Or some of the ideas we have believed to be the truth but really aren't.
We have heard of people who have made it into the Bubble during their lifetime. They are people who were filled with joy though their lives were hard. They are people who lived their own lives helping others... not because they thought it would get them into the Bubble, but because they had been in the Bubble and they have found the true meaning and true joy of this world and they loved to give their lives for others.
Oh, the grace and love that can't be conained inside and must splash out upon us! Can you imagine being totally immersed in it? Step inside if you dare!
God of Love and Grace,
Help us to be truly united to you. Help us to give up those things that hold us back so that we may step inside. Amen.
Monday, September 9, 2013
Through the Eyes of a Child
Because of the Lord ’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. (Lamentations 3:22, 23 NIV)
Last week Richard and had had the joy of spending a week at the beach with our family, including our granddaughters: Cecelia who will be 5 next month and Emma who is turning 1 tomorrow. Richard and I could have gone to the beach by ourselves and had a very relaxing and enjoyable time. Even though Emma's parents were with us, two small children are a lot of work on a beach vacation! But if we had travelled alone, Richard and I would have missed so much.
We watched Cecelia remember her past beach trips with us and rekindle her love for the ocean and its gifts. She revelled in finding pretty shells and shiny black sharks' teeth. She was excited to discover "run-away birds"... the little sandpipers that run away from the surf and then back to find the food the waves uncovered for them. She was amazed at the show some dolphins put on for us as we watched them jump and play very close to shore one day. Cecelia would often talk to the ocean as if it were a person, thanking it for the shells and for sending waves for her to play in. On our last morning she told the ocean good-bye and that she would miss it.
And then there was Emma and her week of discovery on her very first trip to the beach. She loved it! As I watched as her mother sat her in the sand for the first time it was as though I was seeing it all for the first time through her eyes. She felt it, scrunched it, tossed it and tasted it! And then she found the water! Each time she would be put down she would toddle or crawl toward the ocean. She loved it! She was not afraid of the waves and laughed when they would splash her in the face. She trusted that her parents and grandparents would not let her get hurt.
The week reminded me that we should always keep a part of our inner child alive and active... especially in our faith lives. We need to hold on to the wonder of it all. We need to be amazed and excited about life and about God. God's blessings and mercies are new every morning and so there is always new things to discover and to be amazed at every single day. Look for it. Examine it and find the joy. See it all again through the eyes of a child.
Father,
Help us to discover the newness of your creation today. Keep us safe as we explore, see, hear, feel and taste our surroundings with joy and excitement. Amen.
Last week Richard and had had the joy of spending a week at the beach with our family, including our granddaughters: Cecelia who will be 5 next month and Emma who is turning 1 tomorrow. Richard and I could have gone to the beach by ourselves and had a very relaxing and enjoyable time. Even though Emma's parents were with us, two small children are a lot of work on a beach vacation! But if we had travelled alone, Richard and I would have missed so much.
We watched Cecelia remember her past beach trips with us and rekindle her love for the ocean and its gifts. She revelled in finding pretty shells and shiny black sharks' teeth. She was excited to discover "run-away birds"... the little sandpipers that run away from the surf and then back to find the food the waves uncovered for them. She was amazed at the show some dolphins put on for us as we watched them jump and play very close to shore one day. Cecelia would often talk to the ocean as if it were a person, thanking it for the shells and for sending waves for her to play in. On our last morning she told the ocean good-bye and that she would miss it.
And then there was Emma and her week of discovery on her very first trip to the beach. She loved it! As I watched as her mother sat her in the sand for the first time it was as though I was seeing it all for the first time through her eyes. She felt it, scrunched it, tossed it and tasted it! And then she found the water! Each time she would be put down she would toddle or crawl toward the ocean. She loved it! She was not afraid of the waves and laughed when they would splash her in the face. She trusted that her parents and grandparents would not let her get hurt.
The week reminded me that we should always keep a part of our inner child alive and active... especially in our faith lives. We need to hold on to the wonder of it all. We need to be amazed and excited about life and about God. God's blessings and mercies are new every morning and so there is always new things to discover and to be amazed at every single day. Look for it. Examine it and find the joy. See it all again through the eyes of a child.
Father,
Help us to discover the newness of your creation today. Keep us safe as we explore, see, hear, feel and taste our surroundings with joy and excitement. Amen.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)