Barbara Blacklock telling the scripture lesson from 1 Kings 2:1-3:15 on August 16, 2009

Grace Church is pleased to share reflections, meditations, and commentaries written by Barbara Blacklock, longtime leader and teacher at Grace. Barbara’s offerings typically appear in each Sunday’s bulletin.

Life in the City: Conflict and Community -- February 5, 2012

1^st Corinthians 12:1-26, 1^st Corinthians 13

Almost 40 years ago Al Carmines wrote a theme hymn for the United Methodist Women’s Assembly, the first since the merger of the Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren Church. The Assembly was held in Cincinnati that year and was attended by about 14,000 women, among them many from Dayton and some from Grace Church. It was an amazing time, and the differences in the two churches, some of which had become the subject of rather heated discussion, did not seem to matter at all. The theme and the hymn were named “Many Gifts, One Spirit.” Paul wrote his own well-known words on the same subject and today we address that piece of scripture. Appropriately Paul ended with his own hymn, Chapter 13 of First Corinthians, the most well-known hymn of love.

Paul wrote in this first letter to the troubled infant church in Corinth some guidance about using their gifts. He told them that the Holy Spirit gives each of us gifts and we must use them together for good. In many other religions in Corinth, trances or strange, ecstatic speech showed a person’s religious status. It was certainly not surprising that the Corinthian Christians were especially attracted to the more spectacular gifts of the Holy Spirit, such as speaking in unknown “tongues.”

Paul tells them that “tongues”, the ability to praise God and pray in words inspired by the Spirit, though unknown to anyone else, even the user, while certainly a spiritual gift, is the lowest in importance on Paul’s list of gifts. That goes also for the interpretation of tongues. Instead Paul lists some other gifts that are of greater value to the life of the church and the people should seek them more strenuously.

Christian unity does not imply uniformity. The gifts come from a single Source, God’s Holy Spirit, and are given for the good of the whole church. Every individual, Paul says, has an indispensable part to play in the life of the one body of the church. Paul speaks of each member as if a part of the body—the eye cannot play the part of the ear, nor the foot the hand. Each person has a part to play in the body of the church and thus, each person is given gifts to enable them to do so. Since every individual has an indispensable part to play, there should not be a universal scramble for the same gifts. The important thing is not which gifts are most impressive, but which best serve to build up the church. That is why the gift of Prophecy—a message from God which everyone can understand—is of more value than tongues.

There are things more important still than the gifts Paul has listed. Three qualities of life — faith, hope, and love — will outlive all the gifts. And these are for everyone. Without them no one is anything. And Christian love outshines all. Paul then expression his glorious hymn about what love is. He paints with his words a portrait of a person, Jesus himself. Jesus is love personified and without it, without Him, there would be no church.

Though I may speak with bravest fire, and have the gift to all inspire, and have not love, my words are vain, as sounding brass and hopeless gain. (United Methodist Hymnal #408)

Life in the City: Conflict and Community -- January 22, 2012

1^st Corinthians 8:1-13

Corinth was a city dominated by temples dedicated to idols worshiped by the people for many years. Most of the labor guilds and political groups held all their social events at a temple. It was a real conundrum for those Christians who happened to be in business or interested in the civic affairs of Corinth. They were confused about whether or not to eat the food that had been offered to idols.

Keep in mind that this food was probably pretty good eating, for people were certain to offer their “god” the best they had. The temple meals were most likely topnotch. And one could hardly buy meat in Corinth unless it had been offered to idols as a sacrifice. What’s a Christian to do?

Paul starts out with a bit of something for them to think about. He certainly must have known the folks he was trying to teach, for he warned them that their “knowledge” wasn’t “all that.” Love is far superior to the most superior knowledge. If a person loves God, then God knows them.
He was talking to a group of people who must have been the real thinkers and students in the group. They had superior theological understanding about “gods” and “lords”. Therefore they thought their position regarding eating the food sacrifices was the only knowledgeable one. They were downright snooty about it, for they thought they had so much learning they couldn’t possibly be wrong.

Paul tells them that they aren’t wrong. Of course there are lots of earthly “gods” and “lords” that people bow before, but for them, there is only one God, the Father, and only one Lord, Jesus Christ. Food of any kind is not going to make a difference to God Almighty because eating it does not make us any worse in God’s eyes or any better.

BUT-- there is a big caution. Paul warns these knowledgeable people not to be too uppity about their knowledge. He tells them that loving the people around them, who may not be quite so theologically astute, is the right thing to do. While food may not make a difference to the thinkers, or to God, it may make a difference to someone who is wavering on the brink. If seeing you eat “idol” food makes them fall back into idol worship, then you having eaten the “idol” food in front of them has not been a loving thing to do. You contribute to someone’s downfall by doing such. Don’t let your superior knowledge of anything cause you to cause someone else to fall into a pit. Don’t let what you do or know become a stumbling block to anyone.

Not I but Christ, be honored, loved, exalted; not I, but Christ, be seen, be known, be heard; not I, but Christ, in every look and action, not I, but Christ, in every thought and word. Not I but Christ, to gently sooth in sorrow; not I, but Christ, to wipe the falling tear; not I, but Christ, to lift the weary burden; not I, but Christ, to hush away all fear. Christ, only Christ, no idle word e’er falling; Christ only Christ, no needless bustling sound; Christ, only Christ, no self important bearing; Christ, only Christ, no trace of “I” be found.

A.A.F. #271 -- The Abingdon Hymnal

Life in the City: Conflict and Community -- January 15, 2012

1^st Corinthians 7:1-9

It’s nothing new. We all want to know about sex. The TV is full of it; the ads in the magazines sell sex along with their products. We worry because the young people are becoming sexually active long before they are mature in mind and spirit. There are predators on the internet and abusers in homes. There are people turning to bars to find partners. Christians have questions about sex in all the situations in which they find themselves. It’s nothing new!

The city of Corinth was known as “Sin City.” The excess and sexual license there was known all over the ancient world. It was a difficult place for Christians to live. The fledgling church at Corinth had many questions for the man who had brought them the Gospel, the apostle Paul, among them some forthright questions about sex. When looking at this chapter we must remember two things: Corinth was the most immoral city in the world known to these people, and Paul believed the Second Coming of Christ was right around the corner. In other words, he thought he was speaking to people living in a very temporary situation.

The Christians at Corinth had written Paul a letter asking him some very specific questions about sex. Chapter 7 speaks about a series of questions regarding marriage, which, of course, also involves single persons. In our passage for today Paul attempts to give advice to those who think that Christians should not marry at all, advice to those who urge that even those who are married should abstain from sex, and advice to the unmarried and to widows.

Some Corinthians had suggested that if one was going to be a Christian in the fullest sense, he or she must not engage in sex, period. That cut out marriage altogether. Paul gave a very practical answer. He said, in effect, “Remember where you are living. Temptation is everywhere. You have a healthy instinct within you. It is better to marry than to fall into sinful fornication and adultery.” Paul is telling each person to examine himself and choose the way of life in which you can best live as a Christian, and don’t attempt an unnatural standard which impossible and even wrong for you.

Other Christians were saying that marriage is fine, but there should be no sex in the union. Remember that most of these Corinthian Christians come from the non-Jewish, Greek community. In Greek thought, anything to do with the body was evil, only the spiritual was good. Paul’s advice to them said that marriage is a partnership. Neither should act independently, but together in body and spirit. A man should not use his wife simply for self-gratification; neither should a wife use her body to manipulate her husband.

Paul then says to widows and the unmarried that he wishes they could give themselves completely to winning others for Christ, but if they are ardent for sex, then they should marry and not give themselves over to sin.

Is Dayton any different from Corinth? Not much. We still question and wonder about both our bodily and our spiritual lives. Thanks be to God for the gifts.

O perfect Love, all human thought transcending, lowly we kneel in prayer before thy throne, that theirs may be the love which knows no ending, whom thou forevermore dost join in one. ... D. Gurney

Life in the City: Conflict and Community -- January 8, 2012

1^st Corinthians 1:1-13

The city of Corinth was an old Greek city standing in a strategic position to control trade across the narrow neck of land between the Aegean and Adriatic Seas. In Paul’s day it had been taken over by the Romans, but was no less thriving as a center of trade and commerce. People from all over rubbed shoulders in Corinth. For Paul this was an obvious place to establish a church, for the diverse people there would help spread the Good News throughout the ancient world.

It was also a very unlikely place to establish the new faith of Jesus Christ, for Corinth was a city whose very name had become a byword for excess and sexual license. There was even a word for it: to ‘Corinthianize.’ The town was dominated by the city center, the acropolis, built on a huge hill. On the top of the hill was a temple dedicated to the goddess of love, Aphrodite. The goddess was known as Venus to the Romans and was a favorite of the Caesars who believed they descended from her. Every evening thousands of temple prostitutes would come down into the city to ply their trade amongst the large, floating population, racially and ethnically a hodge-podge. It made for an atmosphere of permissiveness to most any kind of behaviors.

The Christian church, like the city, was racially and socially mixed. There were a few Jews, but more Gentiles. Most of them did not belong to the patrician ‘nobility’. The Christian community ranged from slaves at one end of the spectrum to the upwardly mobile office holders at the other. Many were converts from a permissive pagan background. Many of them prided themselves on their intellectual prowess. Paul seems primarily concerned to correct in his letter a number of relatively high-status Gentile men who, though they have become Christians, want their social lives to continue unchanged. This is the group causing most of the problems in the church.

Paul addresses concerns that have been reported to him and also answers questions the Corinthian Christians themselves have asked him. In the letter Paul takes up five of the matters reported to him: divisions in the church; a case of incest; court cases between members; the abuse of Christian “freedom”; the general chaos happening in church services, even in the Lord’s Supper. He also answers questions the Corinthians have written about: questions about marriage and single life; problems over food consecrated to idols and social functions held in the temples; whether or not women should cover their heads to pray, and their place in public meetings; the matter of spiritual gifts; the fact and meaning of resurrection. Paul’s response to all of this gives us a fascinating glimpse of what actually went on in one of the early churches.

How do we respond to this letter to a group of believers living in a city? It is not easy to be a Christian in the midst of such a diverse group of people and still build a community with them. But we are the church in Dayton and Christ calls us to love our neighbor, to welcome them and to serve them.

Risen Lord, shall yet the city be the city of despair? Come today, our Judge, our Glory, be its name, “The Lord is there!” (United Methodist Hymnal #433)

New Year’s Day Covenant Renewal Service 2012

Deuteronomy 6:1-13, Micah 6:6-8, Matthew 25:31-46, and John 15:1-9

In the United Methodist Book of Worship #288 we read a short history of John Wesley’s Covenant Renewal Service. Today we use four scriptures with our version of the service.

“On Monday, August 11, 1755, John Wesley used one chapter of his A Christian Library in what probably was the first real celebration of the Covenant Service in the Methodist movement. Wesley found the service rich and meaningful, as expressed in his Journal: ‘Many mourned before God, and many were comforted.’ (April, 1756); ‘It was, as usual, a time of remarkable blessing’ (October, 1765); ‘It was an occasion for a variety of spiritual experiences…I do not know that ever we had a greater blessing. Afterwards many desired to return thanks, either for a sense of pardon, for full salvation, or for a fresh manifestation of His graces, healing all their backslidings’ (January 1, 1775) In London these services were usually held on New Year’s Day. Around the country the Covenant Service was conducted whenever John Wesley visited the Methodist Societies.

After the time of Wesley several versions of the Covenant Service were developed, gradually giving Wesley’s material less place in the total service. The present service follows our basic pattern of worship, enables the congregation to participate more fully, and updates language. MOST SIGNIFICANT, the liturgy beginning with the Invitation is taken directly from Wesley’s service of 1780. The heart of the service, focused in the Covenant Prayer, requires persons to commit themselves to God.”

Today’s four scriptures each contain what the Lord requires of those who make covenant with or commit themselves to God. In Deuteronomy we hear that we are to love the Lord our God completely, with all our heart, with all our soul and with all our might. Micah the prophet tells us that the Lord requires that we are to do justice, to love kindness and to walk humbly with our God. In the Gospel of Matthew Jesus tells that it is not only individuals but entire communities that are called to serve God: by serving and feeding the hungry and thirsty, by clothing the poor, by welcoming the stranger, by visiting the prisoners, and the sick. And in John’s Gospel we hear that we are to bear good fruit and live (abide) in God’s love through Jesus Christ.

How are we able to do such? Each one of us is a sinner, saved only by God’s grace, yet still God wants us to live righteous and good lives. It is possible only if we put our entire faith and trust in God’s Son, Jesus Christ. We do not have the capacity to love as much as we should; we do not have the capability of serving as much as we should; we do not have the patience to abide in God as we should. It is only with the help and in the name of Jesus Christ that we will be able to keep covenant with our Lord. Thanks be to God for such favors and mercies as we find in our Lord and Savior, Christ Jesus and in an opportunity to repent and renew our covenant with God.

Presents? or Presence?
The First Sunday of Advent -- November 27, 2011

Mark 1:1-15

We are excited! Christmas is drawing near, and that means we are thinking about presents for our family and friends and putting up decorations for the season. In the church our focus turns toward God’s presence instead of the presents or gifts we will receive and give. This is Advent, a season of the church calendar that looks forward with anticipation, for we are celebrating once again the coming of God into this world in the person and presence of Jesus Christ. Each year we prepare for the holiday (holy day) of Christmas by hearing again the stories that told and foretold the birth of Jesus.

Mark is the shortest of the four New Testament Gospels, and surely the first to be written. His first sentence tells us that this is the beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ. The word gospel derives from the Old English god-spell meaning “good news” or “glad tidings”. It is a calque (word-for-word translation) of the Greek word, euangelion (eu- “good”, -angelion “message”). The Greek word euangelion is also the source (through Latin) of our word “evangelism” and “evangelist”. The four canonical Christian gospel writers are known as the four evangelists. Mark is known as the interpreter of Peter, and wrote down accurately all that he remembered, whether of sayings or doings of Jesus. His gospel begins with the prophetic voice of John, the baptizer, and the baptism of Jesus.

Mark thinks back and quotes two of Israel’s prophets, Isaiah and Malachi, thus connecting Israel’s history to John. John certainly must have looked the part of one of the early prophets, appearing in camel’s hair clothing. The Jews were very familiar with ritual washing before prayer, or temple worship or eating. This wild man called them to repent, to turn their lives away from sin and toward God. This was symbolized in a ritual washing. It was to this baptism that John’s distant cousin, Jesus, came. Why would Jesus need to be baptized? Wasn’t he completely obedient to God? It wasn’t that Jesus needed to be cleansed from sin, but perhaps it was a moment when he decided to follow his destiny as God’s Son. He wanted to be publically identified as one who loved God. He must have wanted God’s approval for what he was about to begin, and Mark describes the opening of heaven to Jesus’ eyes, and the voice of God speaking approval. Jesus’ baptism was the time that equipped him for what was to come.

After times of such passionate dedication, there often come desert or wilderness times. Mark describes how the Holy Spirit drove Jesus into such a time. Jesus fought with God’s adversary, Satan, and lived with the beasts. It was a time of testing, but God sent angels to minister. It was after this time that John is arrested, and Jesus comes announcing the good news of God that God’s Kingdom had come. God is with us! (Emmanuel) God’s presence is in Jesus Christ!

What do you want most for Christmas? Presents? Or God’s Presence?

The Kingdom is coming, O, tell you the story, God’s banner exalted shall be!
The earth shall be full of God’s knowledge and glory, as waters that cover the sea.
The Cokesbury Hymnal

For All We Have Been Given -- November 20, 2011

Deuteronomy 8:7-18 and Luke 17:11-19

We bow before your throne of grace to praise you and give you our thanks, O God, known by many names and praised in many languages. We approach humbly, knowing we are sinners. Accept our offering of thanksgiving and praise, sung, spoken and whispered in our hearts. Our prayers are never enough, Lord, yet we offer them anyhow.

We thank you for Grace Church and for this community of faithful believers. We remember the lives of pilgrims who have walked their journey with Christ here and those who are still walking. We remember and rejoice that we have been touched by ministering persons sent by you, the angels in our midst. We are blessed.

We are grateful for the community around us, this neighborhood, this city. Some of the persons we know and others are strangers to us, but all are your children, our neighbors, precious to you, and therefore precious to us. With neighbors we feel blessed.

We give thanks for this land of milk and honey, this land that has offered its bounty so generously. We remember that it has been this land which has given refuge to so many who come through desert times. When we eat and drink, help us remember it is Christ who is the Bread of Life and Water that quenches. Forgive us when we harm your creation, Lord -- when we gloat over our riches and ignore others’ poverty. As we thank you we also ask for forgiveness, and guidance to be good citizens of your kingdom.

We thank you for the stories of faith we hear each week. How much we learn of you when we learn of those you have called! How much closer we draw to you when we learn of your precious son, Jesus! For those whose stories we hear and for those who share them, we are blessed and grateful.

We thank you for the great gift of life: for our families, our friends, our own lives made rich by your many created beings. Help us bless others with friendship and love as you have blessed us, Lord. May our lives be filled with service today and all days.

We thank you today for the amazing gift of salvation -- the knowledge that, though we are sinners, yet you love us; though we do not deserve it, you offer us your sweet presence with us forever. Words cannot speak adequately; songs cannot be sung with enough beauty to tell you of our gratitude. We pray our thanks today in the blessed name of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, your Son, your Self. Amen and Amen! Hallelujah!

Lord, only one in ten returned to give thanks or so the story goes about the lepers you healed. It is tragic but I confess, Lord, that is probably my percentage compared to the times I ought to be thanking you. I‘ve been thinking about the countless millions who are more justified than me in keeping their thanksgiving in -- those whose children cry at night from pain, those whose parents die too soon. When the world seems devoid of hope, it is hard to give thanks. Realistically, I cannot blame them. Yet, I hear of many who faithfully stay together helping one another, who despite living in the streets and eating the discards of other, sacrifice what they have so others may survive. I hear of others who despite persecution and risk of death stay to minister and serve the poor and hungry in your name, all the while giving thanks for your love and bounty. For these I give thanks.

To the one leper who returned and gave thanks you said, “Your faith has made you well.” Your salvation brought healing which restored him to God. Now clean he could find meaningful work and return to a full life. O the miracle of thanksgiving brought to us in the lessons of life! Praise and majesty be yours, Lord. For the healing of thanksgiving, thank you.

-- from Visions of a World Hungry by Thomas E. Pettepiece

The 22^nd Sunday after Pentecost 2011 -- November 13, 2011

Philippians 3:7-14

Philippi, in Paul’s day was a Roman colony on the Egnatian Way, the great northern east-west highway in the Roman Empire. Today’s scripture jumps from all of the great Hebrew Scripture stories we have been studying to a letter written by the Apostle and missionary Paul to the church in Philippi. The city, in northern Greece, was the place where Paul established the first church in Europe. It was founded about AD 50 during his second missionary tour. The town was occupied by Italian settlers following Octavian’s great battles. The colonists were proud of their special rights and privileges as Roman citizens and were intensely loyal to Rome. In Philippi, as in the province of Macedonia as a whole, women enjoyed high status. They took active part in public and business life -- a situation which is reflected in the church. Also, Philippi was a medical center and very well could have been Luke’s home town. He seemed to have done much to put the church on its feet and continue the evangelistic outreach.

Paul loved this church and rejoiced over its progress. This letter was written to encourage progress rather than to solve problems as in some of his other letters. Certainly this church must have had its share of suffering; all the early churches suffered in one way or another. In today’s passage Paul is not speaking of suffering, but of how he used to boast of his achievements as his gains. Now he speaks of them not as real, true gains, but losses. We might wonder about that for Paul was a highly respected man before he met Jesus on the road to Ephesus. He was a Jew in the sect of the Pharisees. This meant that it was his aim to keep the law perfectly and he seemed to have done that. The only trouble was he became so much of a perfectionist he also became an elitist. He felt he was above other people, and certainly above those of the early Christians. He was so ultra-orthodox in his practice that he became much like some of the elitist Christians of today who criticize other Christians for not being exactly like them. That kind of behavior turns into hatred towards others. It wasn’t until Paul had a saving experience with Jesus that he sees his pride in himself and his status, as nothing of which to really be proud. He becomes very certain that only God through Christ gives us everything and we have accomplished nothing on our own. Perhaps the Philippians were leaning toward a doctrine of perfectionism and Paul was giving them a nudge in the right direction.

Paul also warns the church to watch out for other radicals, Jewish Christians who are insisting that Christians must be circumcised and keep the Law as if they were Jews -- just another way to discriminate. He remembers when he was like that and doesn’t want the infant church to become that way.

And finally, Paul encourages the Philippians to run the race and press on towards their goal, God’s goal. It will not be our achievement, but Gods. Only in Christ can we attain perfect fellowship with him. All glory be to God.

All Saints Sunday -- November 6, 2011

Joshua 24:1-15 and Revelation 7:9, 13-17

In the story in Joshua 24, many years have passed from the time when Joshua, Moses’ successor, led the Israelites across the Jordan River into the land that God had promised to their fathers and mothers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The people have conquered the land after taking the city of Jericho. (Remember the song about Jericho’s walls coming tumbling down?) The twelve tribes of Israel have been apportioned the land and had participated in the conquering of it. Now Joshua has become quite old and there is no single successor to him as he had been after Moses. This makes it vital to ensure that the various leaders keep the Law and remain faithful to God. This is God who keeps promises; it is God who has given them the land; it is God who has driven out great and powerful nations. And so, Joshua is determined to leave them with the message, “You must hold fast to the Lord your God”, keeping covenant with God.

Joshua assembles the people at Shechem to renew the covenant sworn there after their first victories in the land. He relates the story of what God has done in their history as a nation. (Note that God says, “I sent the hornet ahead of you, which drove them out”. The ‘hornet’ refers to the panic that spreads when God fights for the Israelites.) Joshua’s own readiness to commit himself wholly to God has remained unwavering to this time, the end of a long life. The eagerness of the people to follow him in renewing the covenant is a great tribute to his leadership. Joshua has had a great influence for good on the people. It is interesting to see that the verb to serve occurs seven times in verses 14-15 and fifteen times in the chapter. Joshua reminds the people that they must serve the Lord God Almighty and not other gods. They are willing. Joshua reminds them that to serve God is a choice and God leaves them free to choose. Now as Joshua is about to die, he declares that his choice is solid: “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

In the final and most mysterious and misunderstood book of the Bible, Revelation, we are comforted by words about how it will be when the faithful are in the presence of the Lord: They will worship God all the time; they will be sheltered by God; they will never again hunger and thirst nor will the scorching heat of the sun hurt them; the Lamb will be their shepherd and will guide them to life-giving water; there will be no more tears.

Oh, what a joy it is to follow the Lord! Think about living in God’s presence for all our days! We really don’t know if there are streets of gold and mansions for all, but we know that to be with God is the best possible life there can be. Thanks be to God for all we are given! Thanks be to God for the faithful servants we have known. Thanks be to God!

Let us now be true and faithful, trusting, serving every day; just one glimpse of God in glory will the toils of life repay. When we all get to heaven, what a day of rejoicing that will be! When we all see Jesus, we’ll sing and shout the victory! (United Methodist Hymnal #701)

Covenant Living -- October 30, 2011

Joshua 1:1-9 and Joshua 3:1, 7-17

Joshua must have been just a bit overwhelmed. It’s true that he had been Moses’ assistant and obvious successor. It’s true he had been with Moses at some very important times including when the law was given on Mt. Sinai. It’s true he had been one of the 12 trusted and brave spies to go into Jericho to reconnoiter the land. But now he was IN CHARGE of these thousands of people. Moses was dead, and the mantle had been passed.

As Moses’ life draws to a close, Joshua hears directly from the Lord that he is to be the one chosen to lead after Moses. A direct commission from God! Moses might be gone, but God’s purpose for the people continues. God’s words to Joshua leave no doubt what kind of leader he is to be, and what God intends to do and be for Joshua, “As I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will never leave you or forsake you. Be strong and courageous.”

According to some archaeological and other evidence, the conquest probably began somewhere about 1240 B.C. Obeying God is the key to the people’s success under Joshua. His account of the taking of the land gives the impression of a swift and complete conquest. The account in Judges is a rather different picture of ongoing struggle. In both books we read of the importance of keeping faith with God.

It was spring when Joshua led the Israelites to the bank of the Jordan River opposite Jericho. (The first month of the Hebrew calendar, Nisan, is in our March/April.) The act of crossing will bring Israel from promise to fulfillment and changes Israel from a wandering people to a landed nation. The Jordan is swollen with melted snow from Mr. Hermon. It is not a great time to attempt to cross the river! But Joshua knows on whom he should rely, and he wants to make certain the people remember it is the Lord who is their God, the one and only. The Lord speaks to Joshua and says to him, “This day I will exalt you in the sight of all Israel, so that they will know that I will be with you as I was with Moses.” Important words if Joshua is to be respected and obeyed as their leader! The Lord also told Joshua that when they came to the river the waters would stand still. Joshua sent the priests ahead of the people. They were carrying the Ark of the Covenant, the beautiful box that carried the tablets of the Law. The Ark represented God’s presence. When the priests set foot in the river with the Ark, the river flow was to stop, be dammed up. And sure enough it was! It was obvious that it was the Lord who was truly their God and was to be followed. As the waters stood still at the Red Sea, so they did for the people at the Jordan. The Lord was with them. God was faithful! Israel was to be faithful.

On Jordan’s stormy banks I stand and cast a wishful eye to Canaan’s fair and happy land, where my possessions lie. I am bound for the Promised Land; I am bound for the Promised Land. Oh, who will come and go with me? I am bound for the Promised Land. (United Methodist Hymnal #724)

Covenant Living -- October 23, 2011

Deuteronomy 34:1-12 and Psalm 90:1-6, 13-17

Moses has seen God face to face. He has heard God calling him to lead God’s people through what seemed an impossible journey. He has tried faithfully to follow God’s word to him.

It had been a long time since Mt. Sinai. The people who had come out of Egypt, and had been given the Covenant and the Law in that place, were, for the most part, dead. Moses is now leading a second generation of people. He is deeply concerned that they remember that God Almighty is their Lord and God. He gives now three major addresses to the people. He opens this part of the final book of the Torah, Deuteronomy, with a recounting of the history of the people of Israel, how God made covenant with them. The many chapters that follow are a second retelling of the Law (the word Deuteronomy means “second law”) by Moses to the people. Now, in these last chapters, Moses speaks his final words to the people. He pleads; he warns; he encourages. He puts his whole heart into the appeal. God is ready to forgive and restore even those who have forsaken him. Moses confronts the people with the choices they have: Life (loving God and keeping God’s commands) or Death (forsaking God). Will it be blessing or curse they choose? Deuteronomy repeatedly emphasizes that one cannot participate in the blessings of prior generations without also bearing responsibility for their failings. Moses has spent the last forty years interceding with the Lord on the people’s behalf. Deuteronomy is basically his last sermon to the people. Will they now listen?

Moses knows he will not enter the land he so longs to see. God has already told him that he will not be allowed to go there despite all his years of faithful obedience to God. The Lord recalls the time at Meribah when the people were again complaining of having no water. The Lord told Moses and Aaron that he would provide water from the rock and they were to strike it. Sure enough, when they struck it, water came. But Moses, in his anger against the people, failed to give the Lord credit. He failed to speak of the Lord’s holiness and goodness. Instead, Moses said, “Listen, you rebels, shall WE bring water out of this rock for you?” The Lord responds in a huge way, “Because you did not trust in me, to show my holiness before the eyes of the Israelites, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them.” God has not blinked at all the years when Moses has been in despair, has complained and been angry, and has repeated pleaded for compassion on behalf of the people. Moses has often persuaded the Lord to calm down and turn from burning and fierce anger against them. And now, God punishes and chastises him for claiming to have brought the water from the rock. We must honor God in all our accomplishments! (You can read this story in Numbers 20.) Moses continues to care about the future of the people, God’s people.

Now, as the people sit on the banks of the River Jordan, ready to cross over into the promised land, God directs Moses to the top of Mt. Nebo to see the land of milk and honey. Miriam and Aaron, Moses’ siblings have died, God’s Law has been given, the young Joshua has been anointed as the new leader, and Moses’ job is done, his journey is over. Moses dies and is buried, a man full of vigor to the end. Moses always looked to the future, for he knew that one cannot survive without the Lord and he wanted the generations to follow to know and serve God in their heart, in their soul and with all their might.

Guide me, O thou great Jehovah, pilgrim through this barren land; I am weak, but Thou art mighty, hold me with thy powerful hand. Bread of heaven, Bread of heaven, feed me till I want no more.
Open now the crystal fountain whence the healing waters flow. Let the fiery, cloudy pillar lead me all my journey through. Strong Deliv’rer, Strong Deliv’rer, Be Thou still my strength and shield. ... Thomas Hastings

Covenant Living -- Laity Sunday -- October 16, 2011

Exodus 32:1-3, 12-23 and Exodus 34:1-10

Just as soon as God had made a covenant with God’s people, the people broke it. They broke it in the worst way possible, by making a golden image of a calf, an image in which they did not see the Lord Almighty. The scripture says that God’s anger burned. And it was no wonder! Moses had come down from Mt. Sinai to find the people running wild and worshiping the golden calf. God called them a stiff-necked people. Moses pleaded with God to turn his anger around. God told Moses to take the people and go to the land promised to his ancestors. God will send an angel to guide them and will even help overcome the Canaanite people, but God will not go with them for “I would consume you on the way for you are a stiff- necked people”. O, no!

Moses intercedes again for the people and pleads with God. For their part, the people stripped themselves of ornaments and mourned that God would not go with them. Now Moses was in the habit of pitching the tent, or tabernacle, outside the camp, and anyone who wished to hear from the Lord would go there, for the Lord would descend in a pillar of cloud and speak to Moses. The Lord was happy with Moses and promised that God’s presence would always go with this beloved leader. So Moses pleaded again with God. He told God that if God didn’t intend to go with them, there was no point in going, for nobody would know they were the Lord’s people if the Lord was not with them. Moses was using pretty good sense and God decided to go with them. Then Moses got really bold. He asked to see God’s glory. Now everyone knew you could not see God and live, but Moses was very close to the Lord, so he risked asking. Moses had found favor with God and so God told Moses that all God’s goodness would pass before Moses, but God would hide Moses in a niche in the rock and hold his hand over so Moses would not see God’s face, but only God’s back and God’s goodness. Wow!

Then God told Moses to make two more tablets of stone. God was going to write on these to replace the tablets that had been broken when the nation sinned with the golden calf. Thus, the covenant would be established again. Moses did as he was told and the Lord came again and proclaimed the name “The Lord”. Moses bowed his head and worshiped and again pleaded for those stiff-necked people, pleading for forgiveness. God forgave. More parts of God’s law were established and Moses’ long communion with God shows in his face when he returns to the people; his face seems to glow as he reflects something of God’s own glory.

Did you ever think that praying for someone (intercession for them before God) doesn’t work? Remember Moses praying and pleading for God’s people and God responding. Did you ever think God wouldn’t love you because of your sins? Remember God embracing the people and going with them even after they had made God “burn with anger.” Does your life glow with the glory of God as you are present with your neighbors? Remember how Moses’ time with God showed in his life. Thank God for grace and mercy and for the faithfulness of Grace’s prayer group and other prayer warriors as they hold you up into God’s ever faithful presence. Hallelujah, Amen!

Prayer for a New Heart from the United Methodist Hymnal #392 by Dag Hammerskjold
Thou who art over us,
Thou who art one of us,
Thou who art:
Give me a pure heart, that I may see thee;
A humble heart, that I may hear thee;
A heart of love that I may serve thee;
A heart of faith, that I may abide in thee. Amen.

Covenant Living -- October 9, 2011

Exodus 32:1-14 and Psalm 106:1-6, 19-23

Has anything ever caused you to turn away from God? Did you ever forget that God is the one who saves you? Are you tempted by things that seem so much more “cool” than God? Don’t think you are the only one. From the beginning God’s chosen people were easily led away from the Lord Almighty.

Moses, the leader of God’s chosen people, the Israelites, had been on Mt. Sinai (also known as Horeb) for a long time talking with God. The people were getting very restless, so they turned to Aaron, Moses’ brother, to do something for them. They pleaded with Aaron to make them a god to worship because they didn’t even know what had happened to Moses, who seemed to have disappeared. Aaron, who had been chosen by God to be ordained a priest, was weak in that moment and showed that he certainly hadn’t the leadership skills of his brother. He told the people to gather up their gold jewelry and give it to him. He was going to melt down the gold and form a golden calf for them to worship. He and they totally forgot that it was the Lord God who had delivered them out of Egypt; they were crediting Moses. They even forgot it was the Lord who had provided the very gold they now gave to Aaron, the Egyptian gold for which they had asked as they left Egypt. And when Aaron had cast the golden calf, they proclaimed it as Israel’s god. What a mistake! What a rotten choice!

This makes us think about the times we forget about our God. Often it is money that becomes our “golden calf”. We do most anything we can to get money, even if our ways are not pleasing to the Lord. Or sometimes we obsess over relationships or we use our God-given life in hurtful, harmful ways instead of remembering that God has given us rules for all of that. Join the Israelites, who, in that moment, forgot that they were children of the Lord. After the calf was being worshiped, Aaron made a weak attempt to mention the Lord and build the Lord an altar; he hoped they would think of the calf as an image of the Lord. But the people wanted a “fun” god, and they worshiped and began to “revel”. We can interpret that as dancing, drinking and sensual activities. That was NOT pleasing activity to God.

The Lord said to Moses, “Go down at once!” The people had gone wild and were acting like anything but God’s people. God was angry, extremely angry at the people who were to be the Lord’s own. God was even going to destroy them. But Moses pleaded with the Lord to not be angry. And the Lord showed compassion and did not bring disaster on the people.

How often have we prayed for mercy and compassion from God? How often have we relied on the fact that God loves us and came in the person of Jesus Christ to reconcile our sin and wickedness with God’s own great love. Never forget that we have a covenant with our Lord, who forgives our sin if we but turn to God. God is faithful to us and will never desert us. We must never forget to be faithful to the Lord.

Depth of mercy! Can there be mercy still reserved for me? Can my God his wrath forbear, me the chief of sinners spare? There for me my Savior stands, shows his wounds and spreads his hands. God is love! I know, I feel; Jesus weeps and loves me still. Now incline me to repent, let me now my sins lament, now my foul revolt deplore, weep, believe, and sin no more. (Charles Wesley, United Methodist Hymnal #355)

Covenant Living -- October 2, 2011

Exodus 20:1-17; Deuteronomy 6:1-9

The Israelites are on a journey out of slavery in Egypt into a promised land. The journey winds around the Sinai Peninsula and takes some 40 years and prepares them for what they will face when they enter into Canaan. In today’s scripture Moses has brought God’s people to God at Mt. Sinai. It is here that God establishes covenant with the nation. Thunder, fire, earthquake and lightning herald God’s presence and demonstrate God’s power. Here the Lord God, holy, awesome, unapproachable, speaks.

What the Lord speaks are the “ten words” or what we know today as the Ten Commandments. “I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt” is the essential foundation for all that follows. First God graciously saves the people, and then summons them to obey out of gratitude. The New Testament demonstrates the same pattern: new life through Christ is freely available, but God’s people are then required to live in a way that pleases God. Other law codes from that era (eg. Hammurabi’s Law from Babylon) and from Israel’s neighbors have certain parallels with Israel’s Law, but nowhere else do we find such a concentrated summary. All of the others are from kings and these words from Israel’s Law code are from God. The rest of Israel’s laws are mediated by Moses.

In the beginning, God spoke the words of life. Now God speaks the words for living. The Ten Commandments set out a basic norm applicable to all people in all ages. After all, this is the LORD speaking; these are the Maker’s instructions. Ten is a symbolic number of completeness. They were intended to be a comprehensive picture of the obedient life, even though they are only sketched in outline. Also, they invite interpretation and application.

The first four commandments deal with Israel’s attitude to God. The last six deal with behavior within the community, the peoples’ relationship to one another. Think about how Jesus summarized them: Love God and love your neighbor.

John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement, believed that the law and the gospel are two sides of the same coin. When behaviors are commanded, they are the law; when promised by God, they are gospel. Thus, the law has three uses: convicting people of sin, bringing them to Christ, and then guiding them in their Christian life. Wesley wrote three general rules for living: Do no harm. Do good. Love God.

Sing, pray and keep God’s ways unswerving; so do thine own part faithfully, and trust God’s word; though undeserving thou yet shalt find it true for thee. God never yet forsook at need the soul that trusted God indeed. (United Methodist Hymnal #142)

200 Years of Grace -- September 25, 2011

Exodus 17:1-7 and Philippians 4:4-9

Some nearly 400 years have passed since Jacob’s (named Israel by God) people came to Egypt. They at first enjoyed a privileged status, but that is long gone. A new dynasty of Pharaohs doesn’t remember the debt that Egypt owed to Jacob’s son Joseph, and the Israelites have become a slave nation. One of their number, Moses, has been adopted by the Pharaoh’s daughter and has become a prince of the Egyptians, but Moses has been called by the God of his fathers to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. And so, after a long series of strange events, Moses leads them over the Red Sea and onto the Sinai Peninsula. Here today’s story begins. GRIPE! GRIPE! GRIPE!

These folks were thirsty! Really thirsty! They needed water so much, they were almost ready to go back to Egypt to get it. And they were almost ready to stone Moses. Mutiny in the desert! Not one of them thought to ask God to help except Moses. In fact, they were asking, “Is the Lord really here?” Moses had been dealing first-hand with God for a long time, but now he was almost panicked. The Lord told him to go to a certain rock and use the resources he had been given, namely his staff and the elders among the people. Had it not been for the series of plagues he had experienced, Moses might have felt pretty foolish. Why would one go hit a rock in the middle of a rocky, sandy, dirty desert and expect to find water? And he would be doing it in front of the leaders of the tribe. But Moses did as he was told and water gushed from the rock. (The limestone rocks in the Sinai are known to hold water.) The grumbling, murmuring, complaining Israelites had enough to drink and to water their herds. And to answer their question about God? Well, God stood at the rock proclaiming with a divine presence that they would never be alone on their journey, difficult as it might be.

Two hundred years have passed since the first Methodists in Dayton decided to build a Methodist meeting house. They had been meeting since 1796 in a class meeting in William Hamer’s cabin. When Bishop Asbury included Dayton, a town of 350, on his itinerary, a crowd of over 1,000 showed up. It inspired those early believers to build the first Methodist meeting house in Dayton. From that beginning came Grace United Methodist Church.

Did we have problems and suffering along the journey? We can be sure of that, and we can also be sure that there was grumbling, griping and testing the Lord. Just think what people lived through—uncharted land, wars, diseases, a great flood, arguments about slavery, about seating males and females together in worship, sacraments, what color the carpet should be in the Ladies Parlor, should we have a new worship platform, just about anything and everything. Complain and complain. Gripe and gripe.

But God has been faithful to us even when we forget to be faithful to God. And we have had wonderful pastors to remind us that God is always standing there on the rock, ready to assuage our thirst, to provide manna, to save us when there is still a long way to go on the journey. We have faithful disciples living out the message of Jesus--that the Kingdom of God is and can be lived now. We are Pilgrims of Grace and we give thanks today for those who have gone before, for those who led, for those who followed faithfully and for those who stumbled along the way. WE ARE FAMILY! Thanks be to God.

O sometimes the shadows are deep, and rough seems the path to the goal; and sorrows sometimes how they sweep like tempests down over the soul. O, then the Rock let me fly, to the Rock that is higher than I. O, then to the Rock let me fly, to the Rock that is higher than I. Erastus Johnson 1826-1909

All in the Family -- September 11, 2011

Genesis 37:1-36

On the Broadway stage Joseph’s story was called “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.” The young Joseph’s coat was portrayed as a spectacular, brilliantly colored and striped garment with a huge circular bottom in which he danced and twirled. It was amazing! The true Bible story speaks of a “coat with long sleeves” or a “beautiful long coat.” Traditionally, and in our minds, it was translated as a “coat of many colors.”

In Joseph’s time everyone had a robe or cloak. Robes were used to wrap oneself, to bundle up belongings for a trip, to wrap babies, to sit on, or even to secure a loan. Most robes were knee length, short sleeved and plain. Joseph’s robe must have been special indeed, and enough to make him stand out among his shepherd brothers. It was certainly special enough to let the teen-aged Joseph know that he was the favorite among twelve sons, born to Jacob in his old age and the only woman Jacob had ever really loved, Rachel. In his young foolishness, Joseph did a bit of “tattle-taleing” about his older brothers’ behavior, and even bragged about dreams in which the brothers symbolically “bowed down to him.” The older brothers must have thought that Joseph was a young brat. They were more than irritated by him, however. They were jealous and angry about how Joseph was treated.

As the story continues we find Joseph sent to find his brothers, who were tending Jacob’s flocks, to check on their welfare. Joseph had to go several places to find them and when they saw him coming they made plans to kill him. Kill him? Over a coat and a few reported dreams? We wouldn’t think of such, but the brothers’ jealousy had turned into blind rage and they were willing to do most anything to rid themselves of this younger, favored brother. They most likely saw the robe as a sign that Joseph was to be made the heir.

The more they talked about killing Joseph, the more the brothers began to think of themselves. Secretly, the first-born, Reuben, was planning to come back and rescue him. The other brothers ripped off Joseph’s beautiful coat, threw him into the empty water cistern and sat down to eat. As it happened, a group of Ishmaelite traders came by with their camel train. They were taking goods down to Egypt and the brothers decided they would fare better if, instead of killing Joseph, they sold him into slavery. So they sold Joseph for twenty pieces of silver. Reuben came back later and found Joseph gone and was frantic about how he would be blamed, for he was the oldest and Jacob would rely on him to care for the young Joseph. The brothers faked Joseph’s death by a wild animal, even killing a goat to get blood in which to dip Joseph’s ripped coat. They took it to Jacob, and he mourned greatly and could not be comforted. Meanwhile, the traders had taken Joseph to Egypt and sold him to Potiphar, who was the captain of Pharaoh’s palace guard.

What does this story have to do with our remembrance of September 11, 2001? It reminds us that long-smoldering hatreds can explode into terrible consequences. Joseph’s later story (read chapters 37-50) reminds us that a peaceful response can come even after such horrible actions.

Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me!

All in the Family -- August 28, 2011

Genesis 32:3-33:11

It had been a long twenty years since Jacob had left home -- rather, fled from home. He was scared of his big, strong, angry brother Esau, and with good reason! Jacob had tricked their father, Isaac, into giving him the blessing that was rightfully Esau’s. They were twins, but Esau was first-born, and to him should have come the inheritance and the blessing of the father. But God had other plans, and used Jacob’s deceit to carry out what was to be the line of succession for God’s family of people.

Now, Jacob was returning home. He was rightfully frightened of meeting up with Esau again. After all, Esau had threatened Jacob with death on their last encounter. Jacob wasn’t altogether sure that God would be with him either. God had promised that, but Jacob hadn’t lived the most righteous of lives. Most of his life he lived for the main chance, and he was ready to trample on others to get his way. Yet God takes us as we are, and even a scheming rogue like Jacob has his place in establishing God’s will, and can in the end be changed by an encounter with God, who is a mystery.

Jacob is poised on the border of the Promised Land, ready to face his angry brother, when he encounters God again (remember the ladder?), this time on a more personal level. When you read and hear the story, you will notice that it says that Jacob wrestled all night with a “man”. And yet it is far more than a real man. Jacob’s opponent also blesses him, represents the face of God and even identifies himself as supernatural. Jacob has made arrangements to impress Esau with the extent of his wealth, and buy peace with him, if need be. On this evening before he is to see Esau, Jacob is by himself by the stream called Jabbok and that is where he encounters God again. The night-long struggle marks a turning point in the story of Jacob. It is certainly the old, wily Jacob who, sensing an advantage from one so strong, first demands not the man’s name, as we might expect, but his blessing before he will let him go. But when this stranger has given his blessing (withholding his name), Jacob limps up out of the Jabbok. This encounter has wounded him. He is more frail than we have ever seen him, but at the same time he is greater than we have ever seen him. He has a new name, Israel, because he has ‘struggled with God and with men’ and prevailed. For once, Jacob is awed. ‘I have seen God face to face and have survived.’ The term wrestle is a play on both “Jabbok” and “Jacob”. Jacob has struggled with God in a way that echoes both his name and the land he will inherit. The name Peniel means “The face of God”.

It is a peaceful reunion, although they come with more respect rather than affection. Bowing seven times before another is one of the most servile of expressions of submission in the ancient world. Esau’s response is that of a forgiving brother, while Jacob’s is more of a formal greeting of submission before one’s superior. Jacob has arrived safely in the land of Canaan. It illustrates the faithfulness of God. In Esau’s very face and forgiveness, Jacob sees the ‘face of God’, the man he wrestled.

May the Lord, mighty God, bless and keep you forever; Grant you peace, perfect peace, courage in every endeavor. Lift up your eyes and see his face and his grace forever; May the Lord, mighty God, bless and keep you forever.

All in the Family -- August 21, 2011

Genesis 31:17-55

Jacob saw that his father-in-law, Laban, did not regard him as favorably as he earlier had. But Jacob was stronger now and not dependent on Laban for his living. The Lord said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your ancestors and to your kindred, and I WILL BE WITH YOU.” This call was something like the one his grandfather, Abraham, had received from the Lord. Jacob was now under a divine mandate to return to the Promised Land, and Laban must not stop him.

Jacob had spent twenty years in exile in Paddan-aram, fourteen working for his two wives, and another six building up his flocks. He knew very well how deceitful his father-in-law could be, so he decided that he would not attempt to negotiate any further with Laban. Rachel and Leah were certain that Laban had been stealing the part of the money that had been put aside for them and their children, and they told Jacob to do whatever God told him to do. So Jacob made his family and flocks and herds ready for a journey. He took advantage of a time when Laban had gone several days’ distance from them and they all took off across the Euphrates River and towards the hill country of Gilead, an area in central Transjordan.

Now Jacob had done all this in secret and Laban wasn’t told for three days. Laban furiously pursued Jacob and his household and flocks and caught up with them after seven days. Laban could travel faster than Jacob for he had only kinsmen with him, not the herds and flocks Jacob had. He probably would have done Jacob harm and taken back his daughters and grandchildren, but he also had a dream from the Lord in which he was told to not confront Jacob with either good or bad words. So Laban asked Jacob why he had gone in secret. He insisted that he would have thrown a party, but now Jacob has gone and has even secretly stolen Laban’s household gods. These household gods were most likely small human like statues, representing ones ancestors, often carried in pockets and used for divination, or fortune-telling. Now Jacob did not know it was Rachel, his one true love, who had stolen the gods, and he loudly declared that anyone in his party would die if found with them. But Rachel proves as resourceful as Jacob, and hides the gods so Laban doesn’t find them.

Laban and Jacob make a covenant, one of few symmetrical covenants of the Bible, emphasizing the obligations of both parties equally. They each agree not to pass a point where they place a stone pillar and a pile of stones, for the purpose of hurting one another. It is a peace agreement, but they reminded each other that God was watching the other; “May the Lord watch between you and me, while we are absent one from the other.” They each named the stones “Heap of Witness”, Laban in Aramaic and Jacob in Hebrew, and Jacob called the pillar Mizpah. The words of watch were for them a reminder that God was watching out for any misdeed, but has become for us what we call the Mizpah benediction, a blessing. God’s presence is always a blessing!

Guide me, O thou great Jehovah, pilgrim through this barren land; I am weak, but thou art mighty; hold me with thy powerful hand. Bread of heaven, feed me till I want no more. (United Methodist Hymnal #127)

All in the Family -- August 14, 2011

Genesis 29:31 - 30:43

When Jacob set out to go to Haran, homeland of his grandfather Abraham, he had no idea he would be gone for 20 years. He knew he was hunting a wife and had no dowry, and so would have to trade labor for her, but he never knew he would end up with two wives and many years spent in labor. Jacob’s uncle Laban certainly took unfair advantage of Jacob. Laban was quick to exploit the generosity of the service offered in place of the marriage gift. He used the old bait-and-switch technique of disguise and deception Jacob himself had used so effectively against his brother Esau.

Jacob’s preference for Rachel was obvious and raised the problem of favoritism in this ancestral family, warning of trouble ahead. And was there trouble! Jacob had a miserable life, for the sisters resented one another and there was constant discord. While Jacob so obviously prefers Rachel, God loves Leah also, and gave her many sons. Both women decide to use surrogate motherhood with their maids, each trying to one-up the other. Thus the four matriarchs of this generation of ancient Israel are established: Leah, Rachel, Bilhah and Zilpah. Only Leah and Rachel have any legitimacy for they are wives, and they have become the rightful and legal mothers of the children borne by the handmaids. Jacob ends up with twelve sons (who become the twelve tribes of Israel) and one daughter. A huge family! In this on-going birth narrative there is a mention of mandrakes. They are a plant that grows wild in the Mediterranean countries, often around cultivated fields. Its fruit was regarded as an aphrodisiac and it was used as a fertility drug. In this narrative also, we see the practice of the mother naming the child, often using word plays to find the name.

Jacob now sets his sights for home. This work arrangement he has had with Laban has kept Jacob from gaining any wealth for himself, and so now he proposes a new arrangement. In the new arrangement he will receive as his own possession the small percentage of speckled, spotted, or striped sheep and goats, and Laban will retain ownership of the rest. Then each take action both believe will outfox the other. Jacob has made a lot of money for Laban and so uses his wits and his skills and builds his own herd. The strange use of the rods in the watering trough must have been part of Jacob’s belief that they would affect the lambs and kids during gestation. In truth, Jacob simply had good selective breeding skills and thus his flocks were built. Now Jacob had plenty of animals and goods, and decides against negotiating again with his dodgy father-in-law. He heads for home. The story goes on and on and on ... and God goes with them.

Be not dismayed whate’er betide, God will take care of you; beneath his wings of love abide, God will take care of you. Through days of toil when heart doth fail, God will take care of you; when dangers fierce your path assail, God will take care of you. All you may need God will provide, God will take care of you; nothing you ask will be denied, God will take care of you. No matter what may be the test, God will take care of you; lean, weary one, upon God’s breast, God will take care of you. God will take care of you, through every day, o’er all the way; God will take care of you, God will take care of you. (United Methodist Hymnal #130)

All in the Family -- August 7, 2011

Genesis 29:1-30

Some years ago, in the musical “A Chorus Line” there was a hit song with these lyrics: Kiss today goodbye, the sweetness and the sorrow. Wish me luck, the same to you. But I can‘t regret what I did for love, what I did for love. Jacob, in today’s scripture story, could have sung such a song, as could others in history.

Edward VIII of England, later the Duke of Windsor, became king in January 1936, when his father, George V, died. He served just short of one year, and was never crowned. On December 10, King Edward abdicated the throne in a radio address to the nation during which he said, “I have found it impossible to carry on the heavy burden of responsibility and to discharge the duties of King as I would wish to do without the help and support of the woman I love.” Edward had made the mistake of falling in love with a woman who was unacceptable to the royals and to the country, and so he gave up the throne, the prestige and his entire family for love of her. While he lived a life of luxury, he and the Duchess were invited only once to England, and he was never visited by any member of the royal family until on his deathbed in 1972. What I did for love ...

Jacob had no idea what was ahead for him when he journeyed back to Haran, the home of his grandfather Abraham and his mother Rebekah. He just knew he was hunting for a wife from amongst his kinsman. And Jacob fell in love at first sight with Rachel, the beautiful second daughter of his uncle Laban. He made a bargain with Laban to work for seven years as an indentured servant in exchange for Rachel’s hand in marriage. But Laban had no intention of allowing his second daughter to marry before the elder, Leah, married. Thus on what was to be the wedding day of Rachel and Jacob, Laban substituted the heavily veiled Leah for Rachel, and Jacob discovered the ruse only when he rose from his wedding bed. What a disappointment! Jacob did not love Leah at all! He had served seven years for Rachel, and it seemed like only a few days because of the love he had for her. Jacob confronted Laban with anger, asking “What is this you have done to me? Did I not serve you for Rachel?” Laban blithely told him that it was not the custom to give the younger daughter in marriage before the elder and if Jacob would serve out the weeklong wedding celebration with Leah then he could marry Rachel also -- in exchange for seven more years of servitude. Jacob agreed. What I did for love ...

These stories make us think about what is most important to us. What would we do for someone we love? Would we serve fourteen years of hard labor for our father-in-law? Would we endure life with someone we didn’t love at all? Would we give our life to save another life? When asked “What is the greatest commandment?” Jesus answered, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and mind and soul and strength, and the second is like it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ We are to give ALL we are and all we have for our first love, God. All other love comes from that. God loved the world so much he gave his son Jesus, to grant the entire world salvation. What God did for love!

Though I may give all I possess, and striving so my love profess, but not be given by love within,
This profit soon seems strangely thin. (United Methodist Hymnal #408)

All in the Family -- July 31, 2011

Genesis 28

The story of Jacob is one far different than that of Abraham—different and yet the same. While Abraham was a man who followed God without fail, Jacob started out as imperfect, and surely did not seem as one whose destiny was to fulfill God’s covenant. God had told Rebecca, Jacob and Esau’s mother, there were two great nations within her womb and that the younger would rule the elder. Little did Rebecca know what trouble this would cause.

Jacob was a thieving, stealing con man; at least that’s how Esau saw him. Jacob had, through manipulation, taken Esau’s birthright (his inheritance), and then took Esau’s rightful blessing from their old father Isaac. Isaac was not pleased with what happened, for Esau was his favorite of the twins. Esau was furious and threatened death to his brother. Isaac realized that the promise of God for the covenant must be meant for Jacob, and thus sent him with a second and more heartfelt blessing to get a wife from Rebecca’s people up in Haran. So Jacob went on his way, both to get a wife and mainly to get away from his brother’s rage. Meanwhile Esau, just to spite Isaac, went and took a Canaanite wife from his Uncle Ishmael’s family simply because it went against his father’s wishes.

Jacob was living on the northern Sinai Peninsula. He was headed to Haran, in northern Mesopotamia, the land between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, in what is now Iraq. When he had traveled some sixty miles north of his Beersheba home we enter his story again to find him bedding down for the night, tired and alone, and probably scared that his brother was on his trail. It was then that Jacob had his first real encounter with God.

Back in Mesopotamia, in Ur, the city of Abraham, there stands the ruins of a great tower-temple, a ziggurat, a stairway supposed to lead to the gods. Jacob may or may not have known about this edifice when he dreamed there was a ladder or staircase leading up to heaven, and the angels of heaven were descending and ascending the steps. Suddenly, the Lord was there, right smack dab in front of Jacob, and there was no escaping. It was then that God sealed the covenant with Jacob as the rightful heir by telling him that from him great nations would come and that the land on which he was standing was rightfully for them. God added another blessing—“I will be with you and will not leave you.” Jacob woke knowing that it had been the Lord and so he took the stone that had been his pillow and set it up as a marker and called the place Beth-El, or House of God. It was then that this imperfect man showed his immaturity in the faith, for he bargained with God. If God would do all this, then Jacob would follow. Jacob has a lot of growing to do and there is a lot more story in which to do it. And the family narrative continues, and continues ...

In John 1:51 Jesus says to Nathanael, “Very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.” -- New Revised Standard Version

All in the Family -- July 24, 2011

Genesis 25:19-34 and Genesis 27:1-45

This is a story that confounds and perplexes us. It is too long to relate here and one needs to read the entire story several times to really understand it. It is a story where no one really comes out well. Everyone is trying to get his or her own way instead of listening to what God wants.

Isaac is the heir of Abraham, the son who will carry the line of blessing. Isaac marries Rebekah, a union blessed by God, but it is twenty years before Rebekah has any children. It seems to be a difficult pregnancy and birth; the twins struggled together within her and she was so distressed that she hoped she would die. God had said to Rebekah that one twin would be stronger than the other and the older one would serve the younger. When they came out, Esau was first, red and hairy. Jacob came out grasping Esau’s heel, as if he knew he was to take Esau’s place in the patriarchal line. The boys grew up as a typical Bedouin family would. Esau was a hunter and Jacob seemed to be a quiet man, living in tents. (Perhaps this means he was living a more civilized lifestyle.) The differences in them would soon become very apparent.

Favoritism breeds all kinds of trouble and the story certainly reflects that. It also shows what contempt Esau had for his birthright as first-born. The right of the one born first is the right to receive a double portion of inheritance. This would have been a considerable amount considering Abraham’s wealth passed to Isaac. The story of what Esau does indicates a real lack of maturity and character on his part. In Hebrews 12:16-17, the writer calls Esau an immoral and godless person who trades his birthright for a meal. There are consequences to Esau’s actions, for with the birthright goes the blessing.

When Isaac is old, we can really see what happens in this family because of parental favoritism and dysfunction. The value of a patriarchal blessing was first in importance to a son, and when the son received the blessing at the end of his father’s life it was a legally binding will. Both parents were conniving and manipulating to have the “favorite” to receive the blessing. God had said that the younger would rule the elder and that happened. Even though Rebekah and Jacob were on the “right” side of the argument, their behavior was reprehensible. They schemed, cheated and lied to get Isaac to bless Jacob. Meanwhile, Isaac was showing his favoritism by calling in the boys one by one instead of together, as was the custom. He was going to “sneak” the blessing onto Esau even though Esau had already given away his birthright. Esau left this experience an embittered and angry man, (He married a Canaanite woman just to spite Isaac.) while Jacob went away to find a wife approved by God. The family continues…

Neither life nor death shall ever from the Lord his children sever; unto them his grace he showeth, and their sorrows all he knoweth. Though he giveth or he taketh, God his children ne’er forsaketh; his the loving purpose solely to preserve them pure and holy. (United Methodist Hymnal #141)

All in the Family -- July 17, 2011

Genesis 24:34-67

How did you get your first date with someone? Were you introduced to a friend? Or a friend of a friend? Did your eyes just meet “across a crowded room”? Did you use one of the online dating services? However it was, we can be certain it wasn’t the way Isaac met his bride, Rebekah.

Today’s story reflects the traditional Eastern arranged marriage. Abraham, Isaac’s father, was very aware of the responsibility of Isaac to carry on the line of God’s “Covenant people” and he wasn’t about to leave the choosing of a wife to Isaac. Abraham was very rich and he had an old and trusted servant whom he sent back to the land of his family to make certain that Isaac would have a kinswoman as a wife; in those days they seemed to want to keep the bloodlines “pure.” Abraham knew without a doubt that this was what God wanted and told his unnamed servant some very specific instructions. He knew that his brother Nahor had many sons and that one of them named Bethuel had a daughter named Rebekah. No doubt there were also other girls in the family who were also the right age. The servant followed Abraham’s instructions to the letter and found Rebekah and her family.

We can picture a long trek from Hebron, about 20 miles west of the Dead Sea, up to the southern Turkey area. The servant took 10 camels and drivers, the camels laden with rich goods and gifts from his master. He more than hoped he would find the right mate for Isaac; he counted on the Lord to send him straight to her. He had devised a test for the girl. She was to offer water to him and also to his camels. This was how the servant was to know that she was the one for Isaac. Can you imagine such a thing?

We can’t imagine a girl taking such a man home to meet her family with such a proposal, but Rebekah did just that. Perhaps she was persuaded by the gold bracelets and nose rings the servant had given her. Perhaps she was thinking of the rich husband to be who was down in the Negeb desert. At any rate, she seemed eager to take him up on the offer. She soon persuaded her brother Laban and then took the servant to meet her parents. At each point the servant spoke of Abraham and told the story of the journey and of how he had worshiped the Lord along the way. The men in the family decided that this came from God and told the servant to take Rebekah. They blessed Rebekah and sent her on her way with her maids. Back went the long train of camels slowly trekking several hundred miles. When the servant returned he told Isaac the entire story and he took Rebekah, sight unseen because she was veiled, into his mother Sarah’s tent and that was that. She was his wife. The good news is that he loved her.

This is a story of allowing God to be involved in every step of our lives as Abraham and the servant did. Only good comes from such.

El Shaddai, El Shaddai, El Elyon na Adonai; age to age you’re still the same by the power of the name. El Shaddai, El Shaddai, Erkamka na Adonai; we will praise and lift you high. (United Methodist Hymnal #123) (Translation of Hebrew: El Shaddai: God Almighty, El Elyon: The Most High God, Na Adonai: O Lord, Erkahmka: We will love you)

All in the Family -- July 10, 2011

Genesis 21:1-8 and Genesis 21:34-22:19

In Mesopotamia she was Sarai, half-sister of Abram and also his wife. We shudder at the thought of that, but such marriages to close relatives were not uncommon then. God sent Abram looking for a land which God would give him and his heirs, so Sarai went with him. The life of a nomad living in tents, moving frequently to strange lands and cultures is not what we understand much either, but Sarai was Abram’s dutiful wife and so off she went to obey God.

Years passed and Sarai grew older, but God had not forgotten his promise to make her the “mother of nations and kings.” God changed Sarai’s name to Sarah, meaning “princess” but a name change didn’t seem to matter; Sarah was still barren and now long past her child-bearing years. But what God says, God means, and at age ninety, 25 years after the promise was made, Sarah bore a son to Abraham. She had laughed herself silly at the thought of pregnancy at her age, but now she laughed joyfully when God’s promise was fulfilled. God had told them to name the boy Isaac, which means “Laughter”; God knew all of Sarah’s reasons for laughing.

There was surely nothing in Abraham’s previous experience of God to make him think that God would want child-sacrifice. He was shocked, as is every hearer of his story, with the words God spoke to him; "Take your son, your only son, whom you love so much….." The story is a great puzzle, for all of God’s promises are vested in Isaac. How could God require his death? But this is a story of trust. Is Abraham willing to offer up the one who is more precious to him that all the world? Will he trust God with Isaac? Abraham tells Isaac that God will provide the lamb for the offering. He does trust God even when he cannot understand, and in this offering of his only son, he mirrors the far more costly self-offering of God in Jesus. Does his heart pound? Is sweat pouring down him? Is he shaking? Can he bring himself to use the knife to plunge into his beloved son?

At the end of the story we can breathe again. God PROVIDES, as God always does. There is a ram caught up in a thicket for Abraham to sacrifice. God now knows that Abraham truly fears God and lives for God; the calling for the sacrifice of Abraham’s only son was simply a test of faith and trust. We can think of no test that is worse!

We can wonder too, about Isaac’s behavior during this episode? Did he struggle when he was put on the altar? Did he argue or fight? In the telling his role is passive, not active. He simply accepts his coming suffering—like the servant of the Lord in Isaiah 53 and like Jesus who went willingly to death.

How much do we trust God? Are we willing to trust that God will provide when our needs are beyond anything we think can be fixed?

Sing, pray, and keep God’s ways unswerving; so do thine own part faithfully, and trust God’s word; though undeserving, thou yet shalt find it true for thee. God never yet forsook at need the soul that trusted God indeed. (United Methodist Hymnal #142)

All in the Family -- July 3, 2011

Genesis 17:1-18:15

Abram was seventy-five years old when he and his wife, Sarai, and his nephew, Lot, left for Canaan with God’s promise that he would be a great nation. He was eighty-six when Ishmael was born to his wife’s handmaid, Hagar, for Sarai was barren. When Abram was ninety-nine years old the Lord came to him again. Abram had been pretty well settled in Hebron near the oaks of Mamre for some twenty-four years. Now we can understand that Abram fell on his face before the Lord, for, after all, it was the LORD ALMIGHTY. It is just really hard to believe that someone as old as Abram could get back up off the ground, much less become the father of a multitude of nations!! But that is what God promised yet again, thus expanding the "land" covenant made earlier.

This was a two-way covenant, for Abram had a part to do as well as the Lord. The Lord changed and strengthened Abram’s name to Abraham for the Lord was to:

1. Make Abraham the ancestor of many nations
2. Make kings come from him
3. Expand the covenant to include all Abraham’s offspring throughout the ages
4. Give Canaan to them as a perpetual holding
5. Be God to Abraham’s huge family.

Abraham was to:

1. Walk before God and be obedient
2. Circumcise himself and his immediate male offspring, even servants, as a physical sign of covenant
3. Throughout the generations circumcise each male at the age of eight days.

Sarai was to be known as Sarah and would be the mother of Abraham’s son and the mother of nations and kings. Now Sarah was ninety years old and Abraham laughed and laughed at the thought of her getting "with child." He hoped Ishmael would be the heir, but the Lord said "No", the heir would be Sarah’s child named Isaac. Ishmael, however, would still be blessed and would be the father of twelve princes and a great nation, but the covenant would be with Isaac.

Later three "men" appeared to Abraham, one of them identified himself as the Lord (were these three men the divine trinity?) and repeated the blessing for Sarah and the covenant with Abraham. This time Sarah laughed and laughed, so much that she became afraid.

What does all this mean for us? Through Jesus, who was a Jew, we have become heirs with him. We inherit whatever God has for Abraham’s great and extended multi-racial family. Ishmael’s family, the Arabs, would be blessed by the same God. God loves ALL of the family. Hallelujah, Amen!

Let God be God wherever life may be; let every tongue bear witness to the call; all humankind is one by God’s decree; let God be God, let God be God for all! (United Methodist Hymnal #115)

All in the Family -- June 26, 2011

Genesis 16:1-15 and Psalm 139:1-12

Sarai was a deeply hurting wife. She had no children, and for a woman in her time, children were the evidence of a woman’s value. Sarai was probably embarrassed in front of the other women and worried that she was a great disappointment to her husband Abram. She had an idea that she would give her husband a surrogate for the purposes of having a child, not uncommon when there was no heir in sight. And so she told Abram to go ahead and have sex with her handmaid, Hagar, and thus have an heir. But soon arrogance and superiority took over Hagar, for she had conceived and Sarai had not. Hagar now had an advantageous position. She had become valuable, able to do what Sarai could not. She became insolent, smugness showing in her looks and actions. But Hagar had not counted on Sarai’s strong and severe reaction. Sarai lashed out at Abram with jealousy and anger, and dealt so harshly with Hagar that the handmaid ran away from her. But Hagar had not counted on God!

Hagar must have decided to try to make the long trek back to Egypt, because an angel of the Lord found her by a spring along that road. The angel asked, ‘Hagar, slave-girl of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?’ Hagar told the angel that she was running away from Sarai, and the angel told her to go back and submit to her. And then, the angel of the Lord made Hagar the SAME PROMISE that had been made to Abram and Sarai -- Hagar, too, would have descendants too numerous to count. God was aware of everything about this unwed, outcast mother. The Lord, through the angel, told her that she would have a son and should call him Ishmael. He was going to be a ‘wild ass of a man’, hard to tame, hostile, independent, hard to oppress. Hagar went back to Sarai as the angel had directed.

The encounter with God’s angel must have been a profound spiritual experience. Hagar said about it, ‘Now I have seen the God who sees me.’ She couldn’t believe she had seen God and remained alive! And so, changed by all she had seen and done and heard, Hagar went back to Sarai and Abram and bore a son named Ishmael. God never deserted her.

King David also wrote about the inescapable God. Hagar escaped from Sarai, but could not escape from the God who knew her and saw her. The poet David writes about God’s all-knowingness and ‘everywhere-presentness.’ He writes in a very personal way, not an abstract one. David declared that God knew him through and through, even his thoughts. God was with David no matter where David was. God is ALWAYS with David -- and with us!

If it had not been for the Lord on my side, tell me where would I be, where would I be? He kept my enemies away; he let the sun shine through a cloudy day. He rocked me in the cradle of his arm when he knew I had been battered and scorned. He never left me all alone; He gave the peace and joy I’d never known. He answered when I knelt to really pray, and in vict’ry the Lord brought me his way, so if it had not been for the Lord on my side, tell me where would I be, where would I be? The Faith We Sing #2053

All in the Family -- June 19, 2011

Genesis 11:31-13:1

Genesis (the word means ‘beginning’) has no named author or date of writing. Its stories were told orally long before they were collected together and written down. Many scholars think that the earliest collections of Hebrew (Old Testament) material were probably made in King David’s or King Solomon’s time, with some further editing perhaps as late as 400 BCE.

The first eleven chapters of Genesis are stories that were told about the time before Hebrew history, from Adam to Abraham. They are great sweeping epic stories of the beginnings of the world, the great flood, the tower of Babel. We can imagine them being told and retold around camp fires, down the generations. The last verses of Chapter 11 speak of Abram and his family as they enter into the land of Canaan (modern day Israel). This is the beginning of a nation, God’s nation. God has a great sweeping purpose for humanity that is scarcely begun in this beginning time. As we go from Genesis through Hebrew scripture we see how we connect as God’s family throughout the New Testament. Our God is the same God who spoke to Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Jacob, the founders of the nation of God’s peoples.

In Chapter 11 we are introduced to a man named Terah and his three sons, Abram, Nahor, and Haran. They lived in the land of Ur of the Chaldeans, in southern Babylonia, about half-way between the head of the Persian Gulf and the city of Baghdad. When his son Haran, dies, Terah sets out with his son Abram, Abram’s childless wife, Sarai, and his grandson, Lot, the son of Haran, for the land of Canaan. They made it as far as Haran, some 900 km (560 miles) northwest on a bustling trade route that will eventually take them to Canaan. Ur and Haran are both centers of moon god worship. They must have stayed there quite a while, for Terah dies there and Abram becomes rich in goods, flocks and herds. God spoke to Abram and told him to go to a land where God would make of him a great nation and would bless him. Now Abram, his wife and nephew set out to journey another 700km (450 miles) southwest to Canaan. 'So Abram went…'

Abram came to Shechem in Canaanite country and there the Lord spoke again to him. It must have been really confusing to Abram, for he was childless and had no prospects for children, and the Lord said to him that his offspring would have that land. We can wonder if Abram thought the Lord was crazy. Abram built an altar there and for some reason traveled on to Bethel where he built another altar. Then Abram nearly blew it all. He went to Egypt to escape the famine and there allowed the Pharoah to take beautiful Sarai as a wife, even though she was married to Abram, and even though Sarai was to be the mother of this great nation that Abram couldn’t imagine. God had to intervene for the plan to work! So Abram, Sarai and Lot were released and sent back to the land of Canaan where the story continues.

Forward through the ages, in unbroken line, move the faithful spirits at the call divine; gifts in differing measure, hearts of one accord, manifold the service, one the sure reward. Wider grows the kingdom, reign of love and light; for it we must labor, till our faith is sight. Prophets have proclaimed it, martyrs testified, poets sung in glory, heroes for it died. (United Methodist Hymnal #555)

Pentecost -- June 12, 2011

Acts 2:1-41

Gentile (non-Jewish) Doctor Luke must have heard the stories many, many times before he wrote them down. He was careful to relate them as well as he possibly could, for Luke was an educated man, a physician, a wordsmith, a man who knew Peter and the apostles, and many other believers. Luke had never met Jesus in person, but obviously knew and loved him in his heart and wanted others to know him in that way, as well. Luke’s first book contained what became his Gospel, the story of Jesus and all he did and said, from his birth until he was taken up into heaven after his resurrection. This second book became a sequel, beginning with a retelling of the ascension of Jesus, the Christ, into heaven.

It must have been a confusing time for the apostles just after the resurrection and then the ascension. They had been told two things: One was that they were to stay in Jerusalem, and the second, that they would receive some sort of power from God’s Holy Spirit not many days ahead. Eleven apostles are named in this account and it is added that some women including Jesus’ mother are with them as well as Jesus’ brothers. They constantly devoted themselves to prayer. Peter, who was a rather a bossy sort, tried to organize the next steps, and so they elected Matthias to replace Judas Iscariot as one of the twelve apostles. Luke said that there were about 120 believers gathered. He also hints that they went back to the large upper room where they had eaten the Passover meal with Jesus, to wait.

Pentecost (meaning fiftieth) was one of the main Jewish feast days, so called because it fell fifty days (a week’s worth of weeks) after the Passover feast. Many Jews came to this feast from all over the ancient world, just as they came at Passover. When the day of Pentecost had actually come, God got the attention of the believers in a BIG way. Luke says that a great sound, like wind, filled the entire house where they were staying. How do we describe the sound of the biggest wind we know, a tornado? Like a freight train passing over! Well, this must have sounded like freight trains to them, except that it was just sound, no damage. God’s very breath was blowing into them, manifesting itself as the sound of wind. And then God’s all consuming, all powerful Spirit came again, looking to them like flames of fire, which singled out each one by placing a tongue of fire over each head. God came to them in Spirit, and each one knew that he or she could tell Jesus’ story, of how God had come to earth, how he had taught and healed, died and was resurrected. This was the beginning of the church! Peter, the out-spoken fisherman, became an on-fire, evangelistic preacher, leading some 3,000 souls to believe in Jesus Christ on that very day. We are a church because the Holy Spirit of God gave birth to us, formed us, filled us, and released us into the world to serve people and bring them to Christ, God’s own. Happy Birthday, Church! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen!

Spirit of God, bright Wind, breath that bids life begin, blow as you always do; create us anew. Give us the breath to sing, lifted on soaring wing, held in your hands, borne on your wings. Spirit of God, bright Flame, send us in your holy name, the power to heal, to share your love everywhere. We cannot fail or fall, or know defeat at all, held in your hands, borne on your wings. Spirit of God in all, we gladly hear your call, the life in our hands that sings, the power of your wings. Born of your grace we rise, love shining in our eyes, held in your hands, borne on your wings. The Faith We Sing #2117

Is It I, Lord? -- June 5, 2011

Matthew 26:20-25 and Psalm 51:1-12

Is it I, Lord? It was the question of the moment. Jesus was with his disciples for the Passover meal and while they were eating he dropped a bombshell. He said to them, "One of you will betray me." Now that is enough to give everyone major indigestion. They were already pretty uneasy because Jesus had made some strong hints that something bad was going to happen to him, but he had never made such a direct accusation of one of them. They were the inner circle, the chosen twelve, and now one of them was supposed to betray him? Surely not!

Judas Iscariot had earlier made a deal with the chief priests who were so angry with Jesus. He was paid thirty pieces of silver to be a betrayer. The story says that from that moment, Judas began to look for an opportunity to betray Jesus. And now they were at supper together and Jesus indicated to everyone that he knows exactly what is going on. Judas is caught. But, why in the world would Judas want to turn traitor to his own teacher, the one who had called him to be one of the favorite followers?

We will never know for certain what was in Judas’ mind when he made the crucial decision to sell off Jesus for money. People have wondered about and studied his motives for centuries. Perhaps Judas was disillusioned about the kind of Messiah Jesus had turned out to be. Maybe he had allied himself with the Zionists and had put all his hopes on Jesus to be a "conquering king", one who would overturn the Roman rule. If that had been true, Judas would have been sorely disappointed for Jesus came as God’s King of peace. Whatever was in his mind, Judas changed sides. We can wonder how many times he had plotted and planned to turn over Jesus. Was Judas simply trying to start an uprising against the Romans? Was he a very evil man? The gospel writer, John, says that Satan had entered into Judas. Whatever his motives, Judas was guilty of betrayal and he knew it -- and he knew Jesus knew it. In fact, Jesus and Judas seemed to be the only two people in the room at that moment. Jesus must have been carrying that knowledge and sadness about Judas for some time as he watched Judas watching him. It was sad, but Jesus knew that certain things had to play out for God’s plan to be put into action -- it must have been difficult anyhow.

Why do we betray Jesus? Why do we allow ourselves to be ruled by sin and misdoing rather than by loving and serving God first in our lives? Did Judas feel his sin weigh down his soul? Psalm 51 was written by King David after he had committed a grave sin. He had had the husband of the woman he lusted for killed, and then he had taken her as his own. In this Psalm, David admits and laments his wrongdoing and pleads for God’s mercy. David asks for a clean heart and a right spirit. David also has faith in a gracious, merciful God who will forgive him and turn him around. We wonder if Judas ever knew that he was a part in carrying out God’s plan for Jesus to be crucified, given up to God as the ultimate sacrifice for the sin of the world. How is our sin an offense against Jesus? How is our repentance a joy to God? Thanks be to God for mercy and grace! It is almost unbelievable!

Ah, holy Jesus, how hast thou offended, that we to judge thee have in hate pretended? By foes derided, by thine own rejected, O most afflicted! Who was the guilty? Who brought this upon thee? Alas, my treason, Jesus, hath undone thee! 'Twas I, Lord Jesus, I it was denied thee; I crucified thee. (United Methodist Hymnal #289)

Believe What? -- May 29, 2011

Matthew 14:13-21 and Acts 2:43-47

The scripture from Matthew tells the only miracle of Jesus that is recorded in all four Gospels. They vary a bit in detail, but not in the truths of what the story tells us about God. It is far beyond a story about some actual multiplication of food, but more is it a story of the abundance God gives us when we allow it to happen.

Jesus was tired. He had been healing and teaching and he had just heard about the horrible death of his cousin, John the Baptizer. Jesus needed a bit of recuperation time. But the crowds didn’t let him get away from them, not even for a short time. They knew he was going out into the country and they walked around the lake to get to him. In one sentence we learn what God is like. "He had compassion for them and cured their sick." Jesus cared for the people even beyond his own needs. He gave them an example of God’s abiding and abundant love for them. It went on all day.

This must have been really out in the country, someplace that had no easy access to food, no McDonalds or Frisch’s. Most people wouldn’t have gone all day without bringing food, a picnic lunch. Our idea of that would have been to pack fried chicken, potato salad, deviled eggs, etc. Perhaps in their hurry a lot of folks would bring something simple like bread and cheese and fruit. At any rate we can imagine that most people had something, at least enough for themselves and their family. We can also imagine that in that crowd there were folks who didn’t have enough money in their pockets to stop by the Kroger store and get plain old bread and baloney. This crowd was like any crowd. The people needed something more than they already had. They thought they saw God in this man Jesus and they wanted to follow him wherever he went. Those who could packed a lunch and made it a day. Those who had no food, the poor, would be there too. It was a crowd like any other crowd.

Jesus did something very simple. He thanked God for the food that the disciples provided for him and began to share it. The next sentence says it all. "And all ate and were filled." Somehow, even in that remote area, God provided so much food that there were twelve basketfuls left over. What in the world happened there? Did Jesus actually multiply that bread and fish? Or was the true miracle that people’s hearts were opened to the real need of all? Did those who had packed a picnic invite the poor ones to eat with them? Did the example of Jesus inform the people of the loving, generous way to live?

The story from Acts tells of the same generous spirit of the people. Because they had been abundantly blessed by a generous God, we hear that they did the same with all the others in their community. Each person gave everything they could to make the community work. They went so far as to sell their goods and property for the good of all. They shared what they had with any who had need. Be sure to read the last line of that story, for their generosity produced rich results. "And day by day the Lord added to their number, those who were being saved."

All our meals and all our living make us sacraments of thee, that by caring, helping, giving, we may true disciples be. Alleluia! Alleluia! We will serve thee faithfully. (United Methodist Hymnal #632)

Believe What? -- May 22, 2011

Mark 12:28-34; Deuteronomy 6:1-9; Leviticus 19:13-18

Israel had had a law since the days of Moses, some 613 of them, actually received by Moses and written in the first five books of the Hebrew Scriptures, Genesis through Deuteronomy. In the 5th century BC, after the exile and the destruction of the Temple, Ezra led a movement of intensive study of the law. This study produced thousands of traditions and regulations interpreting the original laws. SCRIBES worked out these regulations and were their guardians, the religious lawyers of the times. Most scribes were PHARISEES, a division of Jews who were purists about both the Mosaic and the Scribal laws. They made an enthusiastic attempt to keep and preserve all the law and to encourage others to do so. In their enthusiasm for meticulous ritual observance they often had less concern for broad, sweeping principles such as love and mercy. We can see how this led them into controversy with Jesus.

The SADDUCEES were the other main party at the time of Jesus. They were drawn from the rich, landowning families. The chief priests and High Priest were Sadducees. The party members controlled the Temple, and were dominant in the Jewish Supreme Council (the Sanhedrin) where they frequently took opposite positions with the Pharisees. Their religious stance was ultraconservative, accepting no revelation of law beyond the five books of Moses. They rejected the more recent scribal and rabbinic beliefs favored by the Pharisees—such as immortality, resurrection, angels and demons. They, too, were often in conflict with Jesus.

When the scribe asked Jesus the question about the greatest law of all, Jesus wisely drew from the Mosaic Law, accepted by all Jews. His answer was to take two great commandments and put them together, something no rabbi had ever done. They were drawn from Deuteronomy 6:4-9 and Leviticus 19:18. The first was "Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord." This single sentence is the real creed of Judaism. It is called the Shema. (Pronounced Sh-mah') Shema comes from the imperative of the Hebrew verb "to hear" and is taken from the first word of the sentence. The worship service of the synagogue began then and still begins with that sentence. The entire Shema in three passages was worn in little boxes, called phylacteries, which were bound onto the forehead and wrist with leather straps by every devout Jew at prayer. It was also contained in the Mezuzah, a little cylindrical box fastened to every doorpost of the house to remind the Jew that God is always in his going out and his coming in.

When Jesus quoted from Leviticus, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself", he did one thing with it. He changed the meaning of the word neighbor to include everyone and not just fellow Jews. Jesus believed that loving God meant loving each other. The scribe willingly accepted these commandments and went on to say that love was much more important than ritual services or sacrifices. When Jesus responded by saying that the scribe was not far from God’s kingdom, we can imagine that Jesus longed for him to make more commitment.

They pushed back from the table to listen to His words, His secret plan before he had to go. It’s not complicated; don’t need a lot of rules. This is all you’ll need to know: Loving God, loving each other—making music with my friends. Loving God, loving each other, and the story never ends. ... Bill and Gloria Gaither

Believe What? -- May 15, 2011

Matthew 9:10-38 and John 1:14-18

According to the dictionary, the word grace is defined as unmerited favor. We might remember some time in our life when one of our friends received the job we thought we deserved. We might have reasoned that our friend didn’t really deserve that job as much as we, but the boss had shown the friend favor for one reason or another. Maybe the teacher at school chose someone other than our child to take part in a special program and we decided that the child’s mother must have "bribed" the teacher in some way, because we felt our child was much more deserving. Today’s scripture from the Gospel of John speaks about grace we are ALL offered, grace upon grace.

The Gospels of Luke and Matthew begin their stories at the time of Jesus’ birth. Mark begins at the start of his ministry. John goes back, way back, to the very beginning. In the book of Genesis, God spoke God’s Word and life began. John’s Gospel concerns "the Word", one who shares God’s own nature, one who shared in that long ago creation. The very first verse establishes what this Gospel is about: In the beginning, was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Now comes the stupendous TRUTH: this same Word becomes a human being in the person of Jesus, the Christ, the Messiah. God lives on earth with us, becomes flesh and blood and lives in our own neighborhood. John says that "we beheld his glory", that is some of us beheld it. His life SHONE in this very dark world of sin and death, but most people did not see Jesus as "God with us." John says that those who receive Jesus, even to this day, then receive grace and truth from him. We are the recipients of his forgiveness, his unconditional and unmerited love and favor. It means that God forgives EVERYTHING! We are given GRACE UPON GRACE! God washes the slate clean and we can know without a doubt that because of Jesus, God’s Word, we are SAVED from the darkness of our sin and death and a life without God.

Today’s scripture from the ninth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew gets right down to business. We hear instances of Jesus’ mercy and grace, told one after another. Jesus calls a very sinful person, a tax collector named Matthew to be one of his disciples, and then he sits down to eat with other very obvious sinners. The onlookers (rich people used to be watched when they ate) chastised him immediately, but Jesus told them that he came for people sick with sin. Jesus wasn’t going to blame these people because of their sin. He said, "I desire mercy, not sacrifice. I have come to call sinners, not those who are righteous." As the story unfolds, Jesus brings a young girl back to life, heals a woman with a debilitating hemorrhage, two blind men and a mute man possessed by something demonic. John says he had compassion on the crowds and healed every disease and sickness. None of these people were perfect people. Each had faults, and yet Jesus bestowed Grace upon them and healed them not only of their illnesses, but also their sinful lives. He does the same for us!!

Marvelous, infinite, matchless grace, freely bestowed on all who believe! You that are longing to see God’s face, will you this moment his grace receive? Grace, grace, God’s grace, grace that will pardon and cleanse within; Grace, grace, God’s grace, grace that is greater than all our sin! (United Methodist Hymnal #365)

May 8, 2011

Genesis 1:1-2:24

The Creation

James Weldon Johnson (1871–1938)

AND God stepped out on space,
And He looked around and said,
"I’m lonely—
I’ll make me a world."

And far as the eye of God could see
Darkness covered everything,
Blacker than a hundred midnights
Down in a cypress swamp.

Then God smiled,
And the light broke,
And the darkness rolled up on one side,
And the light stood shining on the other,
And God said, "That’s good!"

Then God reached out and took the light in His hands,
And God rolled the light around in His hands
Until He made the sun;
And He set that sun a-blazing in the heavens.
And the light that was left from making the sun
God gathered it up in a shining ball
And flung it against the darkness,
Spangling the night with the moon and stars.
Then down between
The darkness and the light
He hurled the world;
And God said, "That’s good!"

Then God himself stepped down—
And the sun was on His right hand,
And the moon was on His left;
The stars were clustered about His head,
And the earth was under His feet.
And God walked, and where He trod
His footsteps hollowed the valleys out
And bulged the mountains up.

Then He stopped and looked and saw
That the earth was hot and barren.
So God stepped over to the edge of the world
And He spat out the seven seas;
He batted His eyes, and the lightnings flashed;
He clapped His hands, and the thunders rolled;
And the waters above the earth came down,
The cooling waters came down.

Then the green grass sprouted,
And the little red flowers blossomed,
The pine tree pointed his finger to the sky,
And the oak spread out his arms,
The lakes cuddled down in the hollows of the ground,
And the rivers ran down to the sea;
And God smiled again,
And the rainbow appeared,
And curled itself around His shoulder.

Then God raised His arm and He waved His hand
Over the sea and over the land,
And He said, "Bring forth! Bring forth!"
And quicker than God could drop His hand.
Fishes and fowls
And beasts and birds
Swam the rivers and the seas,
Roamed the forests and the woods,
And split the air with their wings.
And God said, "That’s good!"

Then God walked around,
And God looked around
On all that He had made.
He looked at His sun,
And He looked at His moon,
And He looked at His little stars;
He looked on His world
With all its living things,
And God said, "I’m lonely still."

Then God sat down
On the side of a hill where He could think;
By a deep, wide river He sat down;
With His head in His hands,
God thought and thought,
Till He thought, "I’ll make me a man!"

Up from the bed of the river
God scooped the clay;
And by the bank of the river
He kneeled Him down;
And there the great God Almighty
Who lit the sun and fixed it in the sky,
Who flung the stars to the most far corner of the night,
Who rounded the earth in the middle of His hand;
This Great God,
Like a mammy bending over her baby,
Kneeled down in the dust
Toiling over a lump of clay
Till He shaped it in His own image;

Then into it He blew the breath of life,
And man became a living soul.
Amen. Amen.

Life! Seize It -- The Second Sunday of Easter -- May 1, 2011

Luke 24:13-43

What we sometimes forget is that there were more disciples, or followers, that just the twelve that Jesus picked from among them to be his most intimate friends, or apostles. There were many others who had been there, firsthand, to hear his teachings and see his crucifixion. Today’s scripture is a story about two of them, otherwise unknown, and their encounter with the risen Jesus. Luke is the only gospel writer to include this story. We can guess that Luke met these two later in their life and heard from them the most incredible incident that ever happened to them.

Clopas and the other unnamed follower of Jesus were sad -- very sad. They were going home after some terrible, troubling days watching their teacher, their rabbi, being dragged off and crucified. They had been in Jerusalem for the Passover feast, and now, on Sunday, the day after the Sabbath, they were walking the seven miles to Emmaus, probably eager to get home and escape the horrors they had seen and heard. Emmaus is a village, some seven miles due west of Jerusalem, and they were walking in the late afternoon, with the sun directly in their eyes. Not a good time to travel in that direction! As they were walking and discussing the events, Jesus himself came near to them. They did not recognize him at all. Perhaps it was the sun in their eyes that prevented them from seeing who it was. Or perhaps they needed their spiritual eyes opened to what had really happened. They didn’t know the whole story yet. Jesus asked the disciples what they were discussing. They were incredulous, because they thought that everyone would have heard about Jesus’ crucifixion. After all, their rabbi Jesus was well known by now, and had more than once attracted the attention of the Jewish scholars and priests. When Jesus asked what had happened, they told him about his own crucifixion, calling him a prophet, mighty in word and deed. Then they told him that some women had been at the tomb that very morning, but the tomb was empty. Some angels told the women that Jesus was alive, but others had seen just an empty tomb. It was obvious that Clopas and his companion disciple had not experienced the resurrection for themselves.

After calling them foolish and slow of heart, Jesus began from the beginning with Moses and explained to them the scriptures that told of him. He asked "Wasn’t it necessary for the Messiah to suffer all these things so he could enter into his glory?" The travelers still didn’t recognize him. When they reached Emmaus, they invited him in to stay overnight for it was almost sundown. He sat at a supper table with them and as he picked up an ordinary piece of bread and broke it, they suddenly knew he was Jesus. The moment they recognized him, he disappeared. As the reality sank in, Clopas and the other man got very excited. So excited they turned around and ran to Jerusalem in the dark. They went to where the apostles and others were gathered and told them that they had seen the risen Lord. Suddenly Jesus appeared. He invited them to touch him and prove to themselves that he was not a ghost. He even ate a piece of fish. He was really alive! He IS alive!! Alleluia!!

Open our eyes, Lord, we want to see Jesus, to reach out and touch him, and say that we love him. Open our ears, Lord, and help us to listen. Open our eyes, Lord, we want to see Jesus. The Faith We Sing #2087

Easter Sunday, April 24, 2011

Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24 and John 20:1-18

Christ has risen and forever lives to challenge and to change
All whose lives are messed or mangled,
All who find religion strange.
Christ is risen, Christ is present
Making us what he has been --
Evidence of transformation in which God is known and seen.
The Faith We Sing #2115

"Tell me the stories of Jesus" sings the old gospel song. We tell the stories faithfully, but the story of Easter is hard to comprehend. It is a story so wonderful, so amazing, so unlike anything we have known that we are tempted to call it fantasy, untrue. But it is true and there were witnesses to that fact! Jesus, God’s own Son, who had lived and been crucified, rose from the dead after three days in the tomb. Jesus seized life and invites us to seize it. He doesn’t force us, but rather invites us to know him, to love him, to have faith and to find that life for ourselves.

One of the ways the Grace Church family gets to know God is by knowing the stories of Jesus. We look for them in the Bible and write them in our hearts. "What in the world does that mean?" It is a method of knowing Jesus that is as old as time and as new as we want to make it. You will notice that the scripture today is told rather than read. It is something that we do during every worship service. The tellers have memorized the words, but more than that, they have internalized the words and what they mean. The storytellers, without a doubt, know the life that Jesus has brought us, and they have seized it.

Do you want to know Jesus deep in your heart? For many years the ancient stories of God were told by oral tradition over campfires and from person to person. Today’s tellers are part of that tradition, and they have found that when one internalizes the scripture, one gets to know Jesus, in the heart and life. It is but one way to know God—prayer and loving and serving people are others. The Bible has the only record we have of what Jesus said and did, and you can know that for yourself. You are challenged to read the stories of Jesus over and over. If you don’t understand them, ask someone here at Grace Church what they might mean. Read them until you know them in your head and heart. They will guide you in the ways you need—ways that take you to the life God wants for you.

Do you want to know Jesus? Internalize God’s Word deep in your heart and you will learn to love him and to trust him. You may become one of the Grace by Heart storytellers in worship, or you may become one of God’s storytellers as you teach them to a child, or share what you have learned with a stranger, or share them with someone old, or sick, or despairing. Learn the stories of Jesus and tell them to everyone you know. They will bring you a life you can seize with gusto. Tell the Story!! Alleluia! Amen!

Connecting to Life, April 17, 2011 -- Palm Sunday

John 12:12-26

Three times a year, attendance was compulsory at the temple in Jerusalem, at least for the Jewish men who lived within 50 miles. Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacles were the great festivals of the year. At Passover, in the spring, there were often over two million people crowding the city and the facilities for visitors. John’s Gospel records Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem at that final Passover by immediately referring to a great crowd. Jesus had just spent several days in Bethany with Mary, Martha and Lazarus, whom he had very recently raised from the dead. Now he was in great danger as he prepared to go to Jerusalem. The rich, aristocratic Jews who were the chief priests (the Sadducees) did not believe in the Resurrection at the final day. When Jesus raised Lazarus, there were many Pharisees (who did believe in the final Resurrection) who then believed in Jesus. Now the Sadducees were seeing their own people begin to follow Jesus, and they planned to put Lazarus to death as well as Jesus because of the desertions.

John says the great crowd that had heard Jesus was coming to Jerusalem took palm branches and went out to meet him. These people had followed him from Bethany and joined with the crowds in Jerusalem that had heard of this miracle worker. They were waving the branches (a symbol of Jewish nationalism) and shouting Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord -- the King of Israel. The word Hosanna means "save now". The words that followed were from Psalm 118. It is one of the Hallel or praising Psalms. Every Jewish boy had to learn them and they were important praise Psalms at Passover. Jesus came in on a donkey, which was a noble beast at that time. If a king rode in on a horse he was coming to war; if he came on a donkey, he was looking for peace. Jesus was making a very intentional Messianic claim about himself, because when they saw him they would immediately think of the passage from the prophet Zechariah that said their King would come riding in on the foal of an ass. It was quite a spectacle, for all those who had been in Bethany when Lazarus was raised were telling about it, and many more who heard this were following Jesus. The Pharisees thought that it was hopeless situation for it seemed the entire world had gone after him.

Jesus had very intentionally called himself the Son of Man and on this day he does so again. The Jews of his day would have thought of that appellation as meaning "the undefeatable world conqueror sent by God." Andrew and Philip brought some Greek believers to Jesus and he said that the hour had come when the Son of Man would be glorified, and then he taught them that only by death comes life and only by service comes greatness. We can wonder what brought these Greek Gentiles to Jesus and how did they see him. How did the Jews see him? How do we see Jesus? As a great prophet? As a miracle worker? As a gifted teacher? As the Son of God? As God? As the Savior of the world? As the Savior of some? As a conqueror? As a man of peace? How????????? Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!

Connecting to Life, April 10, 2011

John 11:1-45

Something tremendous happened at the little village of Bethany. We have no record of it beyond John’s Gospel. It is a story that is unbelievable and yet, because it is of Jesus, it is very believable. We take it at face value because we know that Jesus IS the resurrection and the life -- life beyond all the sin and sorrow of this world. This is a story that leads directly to the crucifixion and, thus, Jesus’ own resurrection. It is a story of wonder. Read it and hear it for yourself.

To know more than John has recorded we must know some of the historical facts of the time of Jesus. Because of the climate, bodies were buried as soon as possible. It was said that after three days the spirit would leave the body because by four days the face would be so decayed that it would not be recognized by the spirit. Funerals were to be attended by as many persons as possible. When the writer uses the word "many" to describe how many people had come to console the sisters, we get the impression that it is a substantial number. There were to be seven days of deep mourning, and the rules for behavior both at the grave and in the home were specific. No food was to be prepared in the house while the body was still there, nor any to be eaten in the presence of the body, and no meat or wine to be consumed. After the body was buried, all the furniture was to be reversed and the mourners would sit on low stools or, most likely, the floor. One would hear the wailing cry (ululation) made by the women, and still used today. Food would be served by friends when the mourners had returned from the grave. It was a house crowded with sympathizers to which Jesus came.

It is possible that Mary was trying to have a moment alone with Jesus. That is why Martha whispered to her that he had arrived. But the company saw Mary leave and followed her. Not all Jews believed in the life to come, but most did, and Martha declared her faith in the resurrection at the end of the world. The usual Palestinian tomb was either a natural cave (there were many) or one carved out of the rocky landscape. It was sealed with a large stone over the entrance. The body was swathed in large sheets of linen with spices placed in the folds to keep down the smell. The hands and feet were bound in strips of cloth and the entire head was covered in a separate cloth. We can picture this as Lazarus walks from the tomb.

Word of what Jesus had done spread quickly. In fact, it may be the reason for the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. People were curious and eager to see this rabbi who worked miracles. Whatever happened that day in Bethany foreshadowed what would happen to Jesus, except that Lazarus was resurrected to a continued earthly life and Jesus to life eternal as our God.

Death has lost its old dominion, let the world rejoice and shout! Christ, the firstborn of the living, gives us life and leads us out. Let us thank our God, who causes hope to spring up from the ground. Christ is risen, Christ is giving life eternal, life profound. (United Methodist Hymnal #313)

Connecting to Life, April 3, 2011

John 9

"Rabbi, look at this man. Everyone in this town was born with straight hair and he was born with curly hair. Who was the one who sinned, he or his parents?" Can you imagine such a ludicrous question being asked? In Jesus time, the question the disciples asked him about the blind man didn’t seem strange to them at all, for in the ancient world most people equated suffering with sin. Some even believed that a person could sin before he or she was born, and if that hadn’t happened, then their affliction must be because the parents had sinned. The idea that the children inherit the sins of the parents is well-established in the Hebrew Scripture (the Old Testament). It is true that we can suffer from the consequences of someone’s sin, but Jesus did not answer the disciples with that thought in mind. He told them that the affliction of being born blind came to the man to give him the opportunity to show what God can do. When we read about the miracles in all four Gospels we see that Jesus acted out of compassion and pity and truly God’s glory is shown in that. Also, when someone is afflicted with a condition such as blindness, sorrow, pain, loss, etc. they always have an opportunity to show God in action. A person who knows God will respond with strength and courage, but a person who does not know God may well just collapse into misery and despair.

Another ancient belief was that spit, especially from someone of prominence, had great curative powers. Jesus knew that it wasn’t his spittle that was going to cure the blind man, but he used the methods and customs of his time to gain the confidence of the man, for this is what the man would expect a doctor to do. Jesus made a plaster of mud from dirt and spit and put it on the man’s eyes and told him to go wash in the pool of Siloam. The man washed and for the first time in his life, he saw.

Now the day that Jesus did this was the Sabbath day and such an act as putting on the mud was considered an act of work. Work on the Sabbath was a major sin for the Jews of Jesus’ day, especially for the Pharisees. When they examined the man, who identified Jesus as a prophet of God, and found that Jesus had cured him on the Sabbath, they were furious with Jesus and wanted to punish him for his sin. They also believed he must be a false prophet. All of this sin, including the implied sin of the parents, could get a person excommunicated (thrown out) from the temple, and thus separated from God. The man was brave in the face of this and the parents were wise by having their grown son speak for himself. All he knew and cared about was that he could now see. The Pharisees tried to browbeat the man. "Give glory to God", they said, "we know this man Jesus is a sinner." The phrase, "Give glory to God" meant to tell the truth. The man born blind was getting tired of being questioned by the Pharisees and he gave them an answer to which they had no reply. (Keep in mind that they believed that God hears only the prayers of the GOOD.) He said, in effect. "This man Jesus cured my blindness, therefore God hears him. Since God never hears the prayers of a bad man, this man cannot be a bad man." This argument was straight out of scripture and the Pharisees had no answer so they just abused the man, insulted him by calling him a sinner and threw him out of their presence, thus out of the temple.

Jesus heard about this and went to him. "Do you believe in the Son of Man?" Jesus asked. The man asked Jesus to identify the Son of Man and Jesus said, "I am He." The man immediately worshiped Jesus. Are we blind to what God can do even though our eyes can see? Do we see God’s truth in the midst of sadness? Are we grateful to God no matter what the circumstance?

Amazing Grace! How sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me! I once was lost, but now am found; was blind, but now I see! (United Methodist Hymnal #378)

Connecting to Life, March 27, 2011

Psalm 130 and John 8:1-11

The woman in this story about Jesus must have been terrified. She had been snatched "in the act" of adultery by the religious authorities of the day, the scribes and Pharisees. These keepers of the Law of Moses singled her out for an example. The intent was two-fold. Stone the woman and try to trick Jesus. Prone as they were to pointing out offenders of the Law and then with self-righteous authority punishing them, this was right up their alley.

It was the custom in matters of religious legal issues to bring the issue before a rabbi. Jesus was sitting in the temple teaching the crowd that always seemed to gather around him. Here came the scribes and Pharisees dragging the woman along with them. Now in Jewish Law adultery was a VERY serious matter, so serious that it was punishable by death. Serious indeed! So they asked Jesus "This woman has been caught in the act of adultery. The Mosaic Law says to stone her. What do you say?" If Jesus said to stone her, he would be breaking the Roman law which did not allow anyone other than Romans to carry out a sentence of death. Remember that in Jesus day Rome ruled over Jesus’ country and the Jewish people, and they were harsh and tyrannical rulers. If Jesus told them to stone her, he would be in grave danger with the Romans. Besides that, he had gained a reputation for compassion and mercy and to tell the authorities to kill this woman would have been totally opposite of his teachings. If Jesus said that the woman should be pardoned, then it would be said that he was teaching the people to break the Law of Moses. He could even be accused of condoning and encouraging people to commit adultery. How would he respond?

All Jesus did at first was begin writing in the dirt. Why in the world would he do such a thing? Maybe he was just trying to think this out. Maybe he was taking it to God. At any rate he took these few moments before responding and when he did respond, it was pure genius talking. He said, in effect, "All right. Go ahead and stone her! But let one of you who has not sinned be the first one to throw a stone." That must have shocked them. Can’t you just see them look to the ground and shift uncomfortably? One by one they slinked off, the authorities or elders who had condemned the woman being the first to go. Jesus was not only compassionate, he was downright smart!

Jesus had begun writing in the dirt again. We don’t know what he wrote, nor does it matter, for while he wrote, the persons with stones ready to throw were suddenly not so eager. They dropped their stones and slunk away shamed and embarrassed. Jesus was aware when he and the woman were left alone. "Where are they? Has anyone accused you?" he asked. She answered that no one had. And Jesus told her that he didn’t condemn her either. He sent her on her way and told her not to sin anymore. Can you imagine how this woman felt? She must have run back home, grateful and relieved. What a story!

Many ancient authorities do not include this story, but mention of it can be traced back to the early second century. It has become one of the Jesus stories that have become beloved by sinners, and that category includes all of us. It is a story so typical of Jesus, so gracious and compassionate and wise, that we can be simply grateful to accept it as an authentic story. How are we to respond to the story? Think about what Jesus taught us. Show compassion to ALL God’s people. Love the seemingly unlovable. Look to God for guidance. Do not judge. Follow God’s will and way. Love God and God’s people.

Out of the depths I cry to you; O Lord, now hear me calling. Incline your ear to my distress in spite of my rebelling. Do not regard my sinful deeds. Send me the grace my spirit needs; without it I am nothing. (United Methodist Hymnal #515)

Connecting to Life, March 20, 2011

Psalm 121 and John 5:1-18

John tells us often about Jesus going to Jerusalem for the obligatory feast days, for Jesus was an observant Jew. This time he was walking past a large pool near the northern gate that led up to the Temple Mount. He walked by a pool (variously named Bethzatha, Bethesda, or Bethsaida) surrounded by five large columned porches. Along the porches lay people who were sick, blind, crippled, some even paralyzed. They came because, in Jesus’ time, people believed that water had a holy, healing property especially if stirred up by an angel. So around this occasionally bubbling pool people would gather in hopes they would be the first to enter after the pool bubbled, for then they would be healed. One man had been there for 38 years. Jesus asked him if he even wanted to be healed, for he seemed to be hopeless. The sick man told Jesus that he had no one to help him and he was never able to make it to the pool before anyone else. Do we ever feel as if we have no one to care for us? Jesus told him to stand up and pick up his mat and walk. Note that the man made the effort along with Christ and did what Jesus told him to do. We can do much that seems impossible if we do it with Jesus.

The man then realized he had a problem because some of the Jewish religious authorities stopped him and accused him of working on the Sabbath. This was because through the years the law that was given to Moses about honoring the Sabbath had been broken down into hundreds of nit-picky rules and regulations about just what consisted of dishonoring the day. The healed man didn’t have a clue about who the man was who told him to take his mat and walk, and so the authorities left him alone, but later Jesus walked up to him in the Temple and said "See, you have been made well! Do not sin anymore, so that nothing worse happens to you." This was another Jewish belief, that no one could really be cured unless he had been forgiven of his sin. Jesus was warning him that though he was healed, sin has consequences, and he could end up in worse shape if he sinned.

The healed man went and told the authorities that this rabbi named Jesus had told him to walk with his mat. He wasn’t trying to get Jesus in trouble, but simply trying to defend himself. So the Jewish authorities went straight to accuse Jesus of breaking the Sabbath laws. Jesus surprised them with his answer. He claimed God as his Father, thus making himself equal to God, and said whatever his Father does he did also. Jesus claimed that God would do compassionate work on the Sabbath and so would he. Claiming to be equal with God was an enormous sin called blasphemy, and so the powers that be were even angrier. So angry, in fact, they wanted to kill Jesus.

Do we feel friendless and alone? Jesus will be the friend we need. Do we trust Jesus enough to allow him to help us? Jesus always gives us the chance to accept his gracious help. Do we reach out in grace and mercy and compassion to those who feel hopeless? Jesus teaches us to do God’s compassionate work even when society tells us certain people aren’t worth the effort.

Redeeming God, your arms embrace all now despised for creed or race; let peace, descending like a dove, make known on earth your healing love. Indwelling God, your gospel claims one family with a billion names; let every life be touched by grace until we praise you face to face. (United Methodist Hymnal #109)

Connecting to Life, March 13, 2011

John 4:5-42

Jesus was putting himself in a sticky situation by going through Samaria. He had just left Jerusalem and Judea because the Pharisees were getting worked up over the fact that he was acquiring so many new followers and baptizing them, (actually, the Disciples were doing most of the baptizing) and Jesus decided to avoid an uproar by going back north to the Galilee region. It would have taken twice as long to avoid Samaria, so here he was, in the area of the enemies of the Jews. The Samaritans were half-Jew, half- Gentile, and so were held in great contempt by the Jews who considered them "unclean" and unfit to be called a Jew. The hatred and contempt was mutual. Here was Jesus, tired and thirsty, sitting at Jacob’s well in the center of Samaritan territory at high noon, and along comes a Samaritan woman to draw water. Most women would draw water in the cool of the morning, but this one must have been an outcast from the usual morning crowd and so here she was. Jesus said to her, "Give me a drink." This was another amazing situation. Strict Jewish Rabbis would not allow a Rabbi to speak to even their own wife or sister or daughter in public. Now this wandering Rabbi was speaking to a Samaritan woman, even initiating the conversation. The woman must have been stunned.

Jesus spoke to the woman as he had to Nicodemus, whose story we heard in the previous chapter. He made a statement. The statement was taken in the wrong sense. Jesus remade the statement in a more vivid way and it was still misunderstood. Then Jesus compelled the listener to discover the truth for herself. It was often Jesus’ way of teaching. The woman was totally confused at first and it was no wonder. In the language of Jesus’ day the word for living water meant running water, a pure clean stream. This well was not spring fed, but seeped into the well from the sub-soil. The woman noted that Jesus not only had no bucket, but she wondered where he was going to get this cleaner, better water. Now the Jews also used religious pictorial language to mean that the soul was "thirsty" for the living God. We find many references to that in the Psalms and the Prophets. But the woman still took Jesus’ statement about living water literally. She wanted this water which would banish her thirst forever, so she would not have to trudge to the well anymore. She did not yet understand that the emptiness in her was a thirst for the living God which only Jesus Christ could satisfy.

When Jesus told the woman to go get her husband, she must have been humiliated. Here was this Jewish rabbi who was actually treating her as a human being, (women were considered less important than animals) and she was a woman with a past. Jesus already knew all about it. She had had five husbands and was living with a man who was not her husband. No wonder she was uncomfortable with the other women! But Jesus revealed himself as the Messiah and told her of the Living God who would satisfy her thirst. She went and told everyone around and many were convinced. She was accepted! She was forgiven! Her thirst for God was filled with the Living Water! Hallelujah!

As a deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. Psalm 42

New Year, New You, New Connections: Truth that Transforms – March 6, 2011

The Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5, 6, and 7 -- told by the Grace by Heart Storytellers

Those who were privileged to go to the West Ohio United Methodist Church Annual Conference in Lakeside, Ohio during the 1970’s through the 1990’s were well acquainted with the Rev. Merrill Nelson. He would sit on the very front row, right of center and just in front of the preacher in all of the worship services. While those around him might be saying “Amen” or “Praise God” as the preacher made key points, Rev. Nelson would always say “Tell the Story”, sometimes just loud enough for the preacher to hear and sometimes loud enough that the entire 3000 seat Hoover Auditorium knew that old Rev. Nelson was encouraging that preacher to tell the greatest story that ever was, God’s story. Now, the Rev. Merrill Nelson Memorial Evangelism Award is given each year to one lay person and one clergy person who best “Tell the Story” each in his or her own way.

That is what the Grace by Heart Storytellers strive to do. Each of us works hard to memorize the words of the Hebrew Scriptures (The Old Testament) or of the Gospel (The New Testament), but memorizing words is not all that happens. As we learn the words of a Psalm or a Prophecy or a story from the Old or New Testaments, we begin to learn what it means to us inside, to our hearts and minds and souls. So, it is much more than memorization; it is internalization, a precious gift from God that is with us forever.

We do not do this alone, but with a wonderful teacher. The Rev. Dr. Tom Boomershine has made telling the story both his life’s work and his life’s ministry. When the Rev. Amelia Boomershine graduated from seminary and was ordained a Deacon, she dedicated her life of service to seeing that the story got told, not only by spoken word, but also through all of the “newfangled” media. She and Tom make a phenomenal team. About 25 in number now, the group meets monthly to assign scriptures, share a meal, and listen at the feet of Tom Boomershine, our modern day rabbi, or teacher. Tom teaches us about the culture of the people who were first hearing the words we learn, about how they would have received each example given. We learn something about the original Hebrew or Greek words and how they have been translated into English. Most importantly, Tom shares his heart with us. He may never know how many persons he has influenced to internalize scripture, but he has made an enormous difference in the life of Grace Church. We listen and we learn as the first disciples learned. The Kingdom of God, is modeled by Tom Boomershine and his teaching. We thank God for Tom and Amelia and the gift they have brought to this congregation. We are blessed by them.

You are invited to be part of Grace by Heart Storytellers. If you feel you don’t want to get in front of people, you may just come and learn with us. Call the church office if you are interested.

"Tell" them over again to me, wonderful words of life. Let me more of their beauty see, wonderful words of life. Words of life and beauty, teach me faith and duty. Beautiful words, wonderful words, wonderful words of life. Beautiful words, wonderful words, wonderful words of life! (United Methodist Hymnal #600)

New Year, New You, New Connections: Truth that Transforms – February 13, 2011

Psalm 119:1-8 and Matthew 7:1-6

The Psalmist writes about the happiness of those who keep all of God’s commandments, ordinances, and statutes; he seems to feel shame and fear of being forsaken by God if he does not keep them perfectly. When Jesus spoke about not judging others, the Jews in the audience would be very familiar with that concept. The teachers (Rabbis) of the Jewish Law had written, “He who judges his neighbor favorably, will be judged favorably by God.” These scholars had written that there are six great works which brought a person credit in this world and then profit in the world to come: study, visiting the sick, hospitality, devotion in prayer, educating the children in the Law, and thinking the best of other people. The Jews of Jesus’ day, who had been brought up in a traditional Jewish way, or, who had heard rabbis teach, would have been very aware that kindliness in judgment was a sacred duty. And yet, in that day, as in this, the world is full of misjudgments. It seems there is no commandment of Jesus which is more consistently broken.

The people in Jesus’ audience at the Sermon on the Mount must have laughed when Jesus talked about a person with a big log or plank of wood in his own eye (a ridiculous image comes to mind) trying to extract a tiny speck of something in the eye of his neighbor. The entire thing seemed a ludicrous notion and yet the humor of it would probably have driven the lesson about judgment home. The truth is, in that day and this, we should never judge because we can never know the whole person or the whole facts about them. A person may be greatly capable in one situation and very inept in another. Another reason not to judge is because we can never be strictly impartial. We have prejudices and biases. Neal Gittleman, the Music Director and Conductor of the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra, tells us that all auditions for membership or for positions are made with black cloth separating the musician who is auditioning from the persons who are deciding him or her to be fit or unfit to sit in the orchestra or position within the orchestra. If there is no sight of the person, then there is no bias regarding anything except the skill of how he or she plays. Jesus made a pretty strong point with his humorous illustration of the log and speck that no one is good enough to judge another. Think of all the Saturday and Sunday football “critics” who could no more play football than could a puppy. And think of all the people in the church who constantly criticize and complain about leadership and decisions, while consistently refusing to serve in a position or on a committee. No one has the right to criticize another unless he or she is willing to venture into the same situation. We have quite enough to do in getting our own lives in order without putting down others. Jesus seems to say that the faults of others need to be left to God.

Jesus was judged by the religious leaders of the day, by the civil and political leaders, by the common people, by the elite. Jesus is still judged by those who do not want to hear about him or from him. Those of us who would tell of him perhaps would do better if we made the effort to SHOW Jesus by living his kindness, his boldness, his non-judgmental attitude, his inclusiveness. Let the beauty of Jesus be shown through us.

Jesu, Jesu, fill us with your love, show us how to serve the neighbors we have from you. (United Methodist Hymnal #432)

New Year, New You, New Connections: Truth that Transforms – February 6, 2011

Isaiah 49:8-16a and Matthew 6:19-34

John Wesley was our 18th century ancestor in the faith and the founder of the Methodist movement. Wesley preached extensively on the Sermon on the Mount, calling the teaching of Jesus found within "the sum of all true religion". (Sermon 21: "upon Our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount.") From the footnotes on pages 1169-1170, we read "The eye, in the first century, was thought to be the body part through which light (or darkness) came from the heart, revealing a person’s well-being. An unhealthy, or 'evil eye' reflects the heart's desire. For those who seek after God’s rule or kingdom in the world, (v.33) concern for wealth and possessions conflicts with God’s provisions for the necessities of life. In Wesley's view, 'whosoever seeks this (God’s Kingdom) first, will soon come to seek this only.' For John Wesley, the Sermon on the Mount was to be a backdrop for the social ethic of the New Creation, and he used it to support the Christian's involvement in building the Kingdom of God on earth as well as in heaven."

Jesus' Sermon on the Mount brings up a lot of questions. We might ask: What kind of treasure do we store up on earth? What kind of treasure is "Kingdom" treasure? Where do you think your heart really lives? Do you have "light" or "darkness" coming from your heart? How does your physical body reflect your healthy or unhealthy thoughts and deeds? Do your eyes reflect kindness, generosity, and love? Are we slaves to money? Why do we worry so much about our physical well-being? How would it be possible for all people to have enough food, clothing and shelter? Is it possible to build God’s Kingdom here on earth?

Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount brings up a lot of questions. We might ask:

1. What kind of treasure do we store up on earth?
2. What kind of treasure is “Kingdom” treasure?
3. Where do you think your heart really lives?
4. Do you have “light” or “darkness” coming from your heart?
5. How does your physical body reflect your healthy or unhealthy thoughts and deeds?
6. Do your eyes reflect kindness, generosity, and love?
7. Are we slaves to money?
8. Why do we worry so much about our physical well-being?
9. How would it be possible for all people to have enough food, clothing and shelter?
10. Is it possible to build God’s Kingdom here on earth?

Read this part of the Sermon on the Mount and ask yourself some more questions.

Lucy Larcom wrote a hymn entitled "Draw Thou My Soul, O Christ". The last two verses speak loudly to our hope that we can live in God’s Kingdom here on earth as well as in heaven.

Lead forth my soul, O Christ, One with thine own, Joyful to follow thee through paths unknown! In thee my strength renew; give me my work to do! Through me thy truth be shown, Thy love made known.

Not for myself alone may my prayer be; Lift thou thy world, O Christ, Closer to thee! Cleanse it from guilt and wrong; teach it salvation's song, till earth as heaven, fulfill God’s holy will.