Thank you, and goodbye

Today's Thanksgiving. And on the heels of being thankful, comes waiting for Jesus. And waiting to say goodbye.

On this day, Ron & I are thankful for our home of over 25 years, our children and grandchildren, our dear friends, our church. On this day too, we are thankful for God's hand on our lives, as we anticipate our move to Florida where I begin a new call in January. The Lord has made straight the path for us, though it is with deep and mixed emotions that we tread upon it. On this Thanksgiving Day, we are not prepared quite yet to leave.

Yet, it is a blessing that this is all happening at this time of the year.

You see Advent is a time of preparation. That first Advent, people prepared for the birth of a child save us, and lead us. So as his disciples, we are always preparing for His coming to us, guiding, loving and caring for us, as he calls us to follow Him.

The gospels we shall read this month remind us that we do not always know the hour or the timing of God coming among us. Nor do we always know what He is preparing us for. With the coming of Christ in our lives, we live in a tension between certainty and expectation. Between status quo and radical change. Between going or staying. Between hello and goodbye. When we truly prepare for Jesus to come into our lives, and when we truly receive Him as Savior and Lord, our lives are not our own. And we are never the same again. For that, I am thankful on this day for I do not go alone.

A poem for you all from me:

Waiting with expectation for what I do not know

Except that it will not be without wonder

I step out on the path before me on a misty night

Following the sound I know well but cannot hear.

I am prepared because I am uncertain but not afraid

I see his wee footsteps in the mud

and feel him behind me and now

I hold the hand I cannot touch.

I am not prepared in my softer places to leave

As He was not but went all the same

Preparing the leave-taking just so in due time

Caressing the sadness with a purpose I cannot speak of.

Making straight the crooked path He leads me

Into wonder and joyful sadness to be

A little Christ who steps out on the path to life

Eternal and with the One I love but cannot hold

Until then.

Happy Thanksgiving as we wait for Jesus to come,

Pastor Lyn

They Will Know We Are Christians by Our Love...even in an election year

I have attached below an article forwarded to me this morning from the Wall Street Journal. I find it compelling not because I am trying to be political, or am blind to the problems of this administration, but because of the way people have expressed their anxiety toward our President in our unprecedented and very troubled times. I agree with the author’s opinion, who served on John Kerry’s campaign staff in 2004.

I urge you to remember that not one person is responsible for all our troubles. Not one person can solve them. President Bush is not perfect, but he was right when he said we must all work together to make this nation right and safe and prosperous. And when evil and tragedy is out of our control, let us be on our knees, rather than throw stones. I daresay this is true in every aspect of our lives.

May God bless our new President as we Christian Americans come together and show the world that we are unified, strong and faithful to the tenets of liberty, justice, peace and opportunity for all in this great nation and the world. And when troubles come here and around the world that affect our lives, which they have and will under every administration, may we express our discontent with more grace and forbearance than we have seen in recent times. People all over the globe are watching how Christians participate in the political process, and can learn about Jesus in how we submit to our leaders with respect, challenge them with grace, and do all things in love, to the glory of the Creator of the world and Lord of all nations.

Pastor Lyn

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122584386627599251.html

Renewal in the Rockies

In late September my husband and I spent a week in Colorado Springs, for with the goal of renewal on several levels. I was invited to the 2 1/2 day fall board meeting of Presbyterians for Renewal as a new board member. In the hotel as I prepared for the meeting, I watched with America the Wall Street crisis, and controversy over the bailout solution. The PC(USA) is in similar shambles, and our task at PFR this week was to discuss a bailout of another sort - some form of reform, renewal, restoration, recovery...of a denomination that is crashing as fast as the stock market. We would spend 2/1/2 days inside a meeting room considering options, Pike's Peak in the distance out the windows.

As for personal renewal, we extended our trip and the Rockies did the trick - bright yellow aspen splashed the mountains, and the weather was cool on our faces. I was fascinated by the Garden of the Gods, marveling at the upheaval of enormous sections of petrified striated sediment towering over us. I gaped at Balance Rock, teetering precariously on its red rock platform. We hiked along the river on Seven Bridges trail, wandered the streets of Manitou Springs and stood on the world's highest suspension bridge and gazed out over the Royal Gorge. It is as deep as 1,200 feet in places. We learned that the gorge was forged only 2 inches every 1,000 years. Amazing how patient God was in the creation of this amazing place.

In the evenings we found our way to Southside Johnny's ("Bikers Welcome"), and let down with cold beer, quesadillas, and pool. It's a place where everybody DOESN'T know your name but welcomes you anyway. A place where a happy customer can join in singing with the live entertainment, and no one stopped him, including the singer. On our beautiful drive to the former ghost town, Cripple Creek, we listened to the Chiefs beat the Broncos. My husband and I laughed long and hard for the first time in months, and considered that renewal can be ours, if we allow for it. I felt free and disengaged from the cares of this life. I considered all God had made, & I called it good.

As for my time with PFR, I was grateful for this beautiful setting and our experiences there as the context for our meetings. It helped put my renewal work in perspective. Like Balance Rock, much hangs in the balance, teetering over the future. Yet I reflected, whatever happens to our denomination, God is still sovereign over the church, the world, the people He loves. God is still creating, restoring,renewing HIS Kingdom - maybe inches at a time. In the PC (USA) we are trying to seek a way together, but I am certain God is forging something new - redirecting the path of the flow of living water, taking us deeper and to places we may not want to go. God is bringing new voices into the discussion, and silencing others. We believe WE have the answers to the crises of our lives. But it is God who creates a way through hardened rock, whose Spirit blows cool breezes through our stuffy polity and brings life to ghost towns that are our churches. It is Jesus who is Lord of the church.

I saw splashes of color as we prayed and worshiped the one sovereign Creator, Redeemer, Sustainer together. That's all God asks from us, as we seek his wisdom on our future.

The Good News and Bad News of Being a Pastor

I have a sense of humor like the next gal. So does one of my members. Yesterday, she sent me one of those email forwards. It got me laughing out loud at first, until I realized some of this resonated a little too close to home. Still it was sent in good fun and so I pass on to you pastors (and congregations) out there. Here goes.

Good News and Bad News For a Pastor

Good News: You baptized seven people today in the river.
Bad News: You lost two of them in the swift current.

Good News: The Presbyterian Women voted to send you a get-well card.
Bad News: The vote passed by 31-30.

Good News: The Elders accepted your job description the way you wrote it.
Bad News: They were so inspired by it, they also formed a search committee to find somebody capable of filling the position.

Good News: You finally found a choir director who approaches things exactly the same way you do.
Bad News: The choir mutinied.

Good News: Mrs. Jones is wild about your sermons.
Bad News: Mrs. Jones is also wild about the "Gong Show," "Beavis and Butthead" and "Texas Chain Saw Massacre."

Good News: The trustees finally voted to add more church parking.
Bad News: They are going to blacktop the front lawn of your parsonage.

Good News: Church attendance rose dramatically the last three weeks.
Bad News: You were on vacation.

Good News: Your biggest critic just left your church.
Bad News: He has been appointed the Executive Presbyter.

Good News: The youth in your church come to your house for a surprise visit.
Bad News: It's in the middle of the night and they are armed with toilet paper and shaving cream to "decorate" your house.

Now, I don't know about you, but where there is some truth in these "funnies," I felt my face flush. We actually are looking for a new choir director, and some of the praise team DID mutiny last year.

However on reflection, God is always up to something good in every so-called bad situation. Bad news is relative, isn't it? Bad news to some is good news to another. Bad news can be a wake up call. Bad news can cause us to face our fears, consider the other person's angle, and evaluate our own poor judgment. Bad news may be a way of affirming something God is trying to tell you.

Take for instance the one about attendance going up while you're on vacation. If a pastor believes everything revolves around her preaching, then she has put herself at the center of worship, not God. Perhaps the Spirit was waiting for her to get out of the way...

Maybe God has something to say through Beavis and Butthead. Craig Detweiler, Professor at Fuller has devoted his career to exploring God in culture and indeed, would say "Preach it, Beavis!"

And if we truly believe that it is God who calls one to serve, could it be that the critical member was actually called to the EP position because of this gift? The gift of telling it like it is in a time when straight talk, critical reflection, and difficult conversations are called for? And could it be that the pastor's job description was the work of the Holy Spirit's vision for change in the life of the church, and in the life of the pastor?

At the end of the day, bad news may be truth that transforms.

I would like to assume that the youth group targeted my house because I was cool.

In life or death we belong to the Lord

The day after my last posting, my Mom and I learned from her oncologist that the chemo she had been taking since December to inhibit the metastasized breast cancer that had spread to her liver, was no longer holding it at bay. We suspected the same. Month after month, her already frail body was collapsing from the cancer's reign in her bones, her breath was shortening, her memory was escaping her, and she was tired. On August 5 she stopped the chemo. On August 7, Hospice joined our family. On August 15 she moved to Hospice House. And on August 18, she went to be with the Lord. Peacefully, painlessly, finally. She was 89 and fought the good fight.

I'd like to say I was prepared for this, being a pastor and all, and knowing Mom had lived a long and full life, loving people, serving the Lord through the church. In my ministry, I have sat at the bedside of many in the same condition, and prayed with families preparing to say goodbye. I presided over the funerals of my husband's parents. I said the words, many, many times, "Dust to dust..." I listened to countless stories about loved ones now departed, in preparation for the funeral message and to comfort the families. I knew what was happening to her, to me, and what was to come. After all, every nano second, someone dies. It is the way of life.

But, I found myself experiencing this death as a daughter, not a pastor. Thank God. Because I did not miss one minute of the pain and loss, the weight of decisions made from day to day about her care, the embrace of friends, and the tears from family shed as we watched her slip away. I struggled with running on empty, as families do when a vigil is underway, relatives coming and going, phone calls of conversations about her love and friendship. I sat on the other side of the table making funeral plans, and realized, everyone needs to be ministered to. Even a minister. Especially this one.

I thank God for this occasion. For the tender and holy way Mom was cared for. For the reunion with Mom & Dad's friends of my childhood who came along side us. For being able to rest in the assurance that she was going to be with the Lord. For her pastor, Fr. Gar, who understood that this pastor would need him to gently lead me back to my place as daughter, and tease out my emotions. For my congregation, who gracefully suspended me from my duties and loved us with food and prayers. As it turns out, no one wanted me to miss what it means to be fully human - to come face to face with death, in all it's glory. In all it's pain and confusion. In all it's loss. In all it's hope.

Mom's home Hospice nurse was Erin. Erin has a young daughter who was telling her teacher what her mother did. "She's a nurse, " the child said. When the teacher said "How nice that is," her daughter replied, "yeah, but all my Mom's patients die." My sister asked Erin, "How do you do this? Knowing your patients always die?" Erin said with a smile, "It's like a birth to me, attending them as they transition through this life to the next."

That was the gift I received too. Watching my Mom transition from this life to the next. And like a wee baby coming into the world, this transition is not without struggle, pain, worry and wonder. But unlike a birth, I shall not be able to hold my Mom in my arms for awhile. For she is resting in the arms of Jesus now.

"In life or death, we belong to the Lord. Even at the grave, we make our song 'Hallelujah!' "

Mom, rest in His peace. I promise I will too, as I soon begin the journey of missing you.

Grandkids Amelia & Lydia with Grandpa Ron

Rafiki 's Advice, August 4, 2008

Rafiki, the wise baboon in Lion King had some great advice for Timon, the merkaat, who almost got his buddies eaten by the evil hyenas. When devastation and danger is all around, he told Timon, "Look beyond what you can see."

We can be very short sighted about how we see our lives. Illness, broken marriages, violence, unemployment are right before our eyes everywhere, preying on us, ready to gobble up our joy and our security. All the evening news is "bad news." I hear everyone bellyaching about having to pay $2 for a soft drink on the airplane now, as airlines are getting eaten alive by rising gas costs. What we see is what we get, right?

Wrong! We're not looking hard enough, far enough deep enough. I think we're myopic about our lives, missing the blessings just beyond our noses. We see the world through dark glasses. I was window shopping yesterday in a pair of green tinted sunglasses that distorted the colors of the clothes I was looking at. I didn't know the difference until my husband commented on the "fluorescent green T-shirt" that to me looked a dingy gray.

That's the way we see life, without God.

If we look beyond what we can see, we'll see God and God's promises, "For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you a future..." (Jer. 29:11). We'll see paradise, eternal in the heavens. We'll see Jesus, standing guard over our lives, redeeming our past, and giving us a future. We'll see Jesus, leading us beyond our pain and suffering, to wholeness. We'll see the purpose God has given us - to help others through their circumstances, and to find Jesus. Maybe not in this life, but in the life beyond, we shall see only glory. How much this rings true as I stand at the bedside of a dying believer. Can you see it?

I pray we will look beyond our circumstances today, and see the beautiful life God has assured us in Christ, now and in eternity.

When I think about it, who really NEEDS a soft drink on a 2 hour flight? I can save myself a trip to that tiny bathroom.

First Thoughts Common Lectionary June 2 2008

Morning: Psalm 145:1-21
Ecclesiastes 2:1-15
Galatians 1:1-17
Matthew 13:44-52
Evening: Psalm 47:1-9

Reading our Covenant group's one year in the Bible has kept me from reading the daily Common Lectionary, but today I returned to it. How rich the lectionary scriptures are today for me. The psalms especially as I am preaching in June on the psalms. I continue to be struck by how the psalmists praise God over and over for His role in bringing down evil nations and saving the oppressed. The contrast between the Kingdom of God and the kingdoms of this earth is striking. But this is the case, not just for Israel but for us today. And God is still working in the economic and political arenas to bring down the wicked, and the Kingdom of God will ultimately provide peace and prosperity for all.

I preached about that yesterday - using an illustration of geopolitics as it relates to the oil and food shortages in the world. I was influenced by an article my husband emailed me called "The Geopolitics of $130 Oil" by George Friedman. He writes that as a result of these shortages, shifts in power and relationships are occurring all over the world - in Russia, China, Iran Iraq, USA. I begged the question could God be working in the oil crisis to diminish conflicts, where the lion may be laying down with the lamb so that people and nations can survive? Could it be that God has tripped a wire in geopolitics to realign power to His will?

One member thought I was too political in my sermon. Perhaps because I named nations. But the psalmists were very political. Quoting from Psalm 9, I agreed with King David from the pulpit that under God's rule, the wicked will be voted out, destroyed, by God. Maybe not Hittites, or Jebusites (God has already wiped them out) but I can and did name nations that might not be around in the end, that oppress other nations today. If we carry the Bible in one hand and a newspaper in the other, we read that human geopolitics intersect with the Kingdom of God. And we must reflect on where God is in it all. Otherwise in our thinking God is One who cares only about our personal needs. But His word tells us he is Lord over all the nations, all the people and leaders of the world, and will save the oppressed, and judge them all for their deeds.

Jesus said it too in today's gospel: ⁷"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and caught fish of every kind; ⁴⁸when it was full, they drew it ashore, sat down, and put the good into baskets but threw out the bad. ⁴⁹So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous ⁵⁰and throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Yet I hear, "Don't go there, Pastor." Paul would relate to that warning, as he heard from his critics. Yet he takes the risk when he responds in Galatians today: ¹⁰Am I now seeking human approval, or God’s approval? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still pleasing people, I would not be a servant of Christ.

The Jesus I serve was political. The gospel is very political when you get down to it. And we live in a world where everything is political. Where the globe is smaller and international politics and economics and struggles affect us here and now. Yet the gospel is also the truth that saves and restores, transforms nations and people - hearts, souls, minds, political systems. It disrupts the haves and gives hope to the have nots. Only if every nation would bow to the King of all nations, Jesus, the Christ. Then all the people of the world could be praising the Lord for his blessings, rather than starving to death or struggling to fill their gas tanks.

Esther is One to Watch

Our Covenant Groups are reading Esther this week. Everyone knows the story of Esther. Especially if you're Jewish, or Christians raised in Sunday School, and attended a VBS. Don't hear about her preached much. If you've preached on Esther I would love to hear about it.

Anyway, I preached on her story yesterday, on the well-known verses of 4:11-17. Juxtaposed with Romans 8:26-32, the challenge for us all was to remember that God is working all the time to bring about good when others might intend evil. Having to risk death facing the King to save her people, I asked the congregation, "How was she gonna get out of this one?" I asked us all the same question. The answer is, of course - by the sovereignty of the God, who in his fullness as the Trinity, is working in us and through us to bring his purposes to bear on earth. We all face dilemmas of life or death, as the hidden God places us somewhere, "for such a time as this." Esther is honored for her courage and selflessness, in heeding the call to save her people: "If I die, I die."

After the service, a member came to me with another thought about the message. In so many words, he offered that God might also be calling us "for such a time as this" simply to experience God's delight. Wow! I thought about that - and though we don't know how Esther FELT after it was all over, knowing what we know about God, I can imagine that she was smiling, and happy, and delighting in her people. And with God.

I can tend to take myself pretty seriously. OK, yes, I can be very intense. I can overdo the need to save a situation. God knows the world needs saving and as a Christian, I don't take that lightly. But in the midst of all that, I will consider whether God might be calling me to a life or LAUGH situation, where I can say, "If I die laughing, I die laughing."

Is it time to have more JOY in the Lord?

Feel free to post any ideas!

First Thoughts Lectionary April 30, 2008

Morning: Psalm 147:12-20
Daniel 7:9-14
Hebrews 2:5-18
Matthew 28:16-20
Evening: Psalm 113:1-9

Because he himself was tested by what he suffered, he is able to help those who are being tested. (Hebrew 2:18).

When asked lately, "How are you doing?", I've been answering, "God is sovereign." That covers everything without going into the details of my life. Some know more than others about the details of my life - that's the way it always is, right? But everyone relates to the reality that things don't always go the way you think they should. That we suffer in this life. That people we love are hurting or dying. That we get confused and angry and upset, and can't explain it all away. Yep. The right answer for us reformed Christians to all this is God is sovereign.

And yet I love also the words from Hebrews this morning, when asked how I'm doing: Because he himself was tested by what he suffered, he is able to help those who are being tested. This brings God's sovereignty close and personal in Jesus. Jesus who was often misunderstood; Jesus who suffered grief over a dead friend; Jesus who got angry and upset with his own; Jesus who didn't have a place to lay his head. This Jesus is sovereign over my life because he understands and suffers it with me. In his divinity He empathizes and yet is sovereign over all suffering. He rose against it and over it.

And as my human Savior, Jesus also suffered temptation - to lash out and be bitter. To retaliate and deny it. To avoid the suffering. The temptation to run away. The comfort in these words is that over these temptations Jesus is also sovereign. He can help me use my gifts to build up. He can help me direct my anger toward just causes. He can help me remember that God made me and gave me specific gifts to be the pastor I'm supposed to be. That no one shapes my call but Jesus. He can help me forgive. Jesus helps me stay put when my suffering in ministry would tempt me to run for the hills. The Spirit is very near to me in times of trouble.

Thanks be to the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. The Trinity is sovereign over all.

Covenant Group Bible Study reflections April 17, 2008

South-Broadland (the PC(USA) church I serve) has been reading through the Bible together in small covenant groups since last October. There are 9 diverse groups, with a total of 88 participants (almost half the members on the books), men and women, teens to senior adults, black and white, who made a covenant to read the Bible every day and complete the reading in one year. I preach each week on a text in the readings. The groups then meet weekly to discuss and pray and discern what God is telling them in community. All but 1 elder is in a group (schedule difficulties); all the active deacons participate in a group. We are currently marching through II Chronicles.

It's amazing how God has been speaking to us through the Holy Spirit's as we are faithful to the discipline of reading God's word. Without reading and entering deep into God's story for and with God's people, we would be stuck with just our own limited, flawed perspective on God's love, God's purposes and God's people. The Bible would remain a "Sunday only" tool for faith and life, where now it is truly "a living word" for us. The challenges we have faced this past year as a church have been difficult, but discernment has been more complete because we are reading the word together and applying God's principles to matters of stewardship, discipline, nominating, discipleship, mission, and so on. Often in session meetings or conversations, one can hear a scripture quoted that was read that week. And it's not just by the minister!

I wish all Christians, especially those who lead and guide us, would covenant to do the same when they agree to serve. All committees, task forces, commissions, staff, at all levels of leadership would devote most of their time to reading the word together. This is exactly what our denomination has recommended in the PUP report that came out in 2006: to search the word of God together, in prayer and openness, and listen to where God is leading.

This is how South-Broadland chose to grow deeper in faith, unity, purity, peace and mission, as we seek our future and discern our core values and essentials for our life together, under Christ. We are learning to see each other as God sees us. We are beginning to shift our vision for the church outward. Our children are seeing us with the word of God in our hands at home. We have become kinder, bolder, and yet more restless to be more than an institution. We are asking more questions about God's purpose for us. We are exercising grace and forgiveness in ways we never have before. And we are growing in wisdom, not just knowledge. It is a beautiful thing to be in the midst of this movement of the Holy Spirit.

connecting from the heart March 19 2008

My husband and I just returned from 2 weeks in Hawaii, part of which we spent with my husband's half brothers and step Mom. Ron's nephew was married on a beach on Oahu and I was able to officiate, in flip flops no less!

As a pastor, I was apprehensive about the effectiveness of my role in this - conducting pre-marriage counseling long distance for a couple I didn't know that well. And they told me they were not Christian, but believed in God. They had known each other just over a year. None of Ron's brothers are married - leaving behind them a string of broken relationships. And their own family dynamic is - to say the least - tense and competitive. Our nephew's role models were anything but helpful. So when the marriage inventory was returned to me, sure enough, I discovered there were many things this young couple needed to address, and frankly would have suggested they put off the wedding until we could talk. But tickets were purchased, the plans were underway. And they committed to a 3 hour session after we were together. So the wedding was on. I prayed God would do the work in overtime.

The Lord gave me the gift of time after all - I learned more about them just hanging out in the rental house together the 5 days before the counseling. And they learned more about the Lord as well as we lived our faith and shared our perspective on love and life as Christians. Not Bible thumping, but light-hearted, authentic living under God, modeling forbearance and truth-telling, and kindness with each other. (My husband is the kindest, most grace-filled man, who honors me for my strength and always seeks to know what's in my heart.)

As the Declaration of Marriage states in the wedding ceremony in the Book of Common Worship, in spite of our own ups and downs in the journey of love these last 22 years, our marriage indeed was a testimony to God's covenant with us, to God's heart, grace and forgiveness to these men who had lived lives of broken relationships, unfinished business, and dysfunction. We could share how much God had changed us, grown us, molded us together.

When I finally sat down with the couple, being present to the pain and brokenness, listening to their hearts, and discovering their love and commitment to breaking the cycle of their families of origin, it gave me hope. When we practiced active listening and conflict resolution together, it reminded me how often people don't invest the time in the hard work of relationship. They eagerly received the new tools when many settle for tenuous tolerance, dig in with their differences, and miss the heart of the relationship. I was given hope that patterns of behavior CAN be transformed by the renewal of minds and hearts. Hope that if we really care about the other person, we can set aside our pre-conceived ideas and get to the heart of the other, see them as God sees them. This young couple chose to see the good in each other, and at his young age, our nephew could see the difference between self-protecting, destructive and punitive behavior he'd lived with his whole life, rooted in fear and acted out in power-plays, and see his bride-to-be as Solomon saw his lover. I tell you, it was music to my ears, a balm to the discouragement and misunderstandings I feel sometimes in my ministry. It affirmed my calling to partner with God in REAL transformation, not just talking the talk, minding the rules, tolerating differences. This experience was God's gift to my heart.

First Thoughts February 26, 2008

Morning: Psalm 146:1-10
Genesis 45:1-15
1 Corinthians 7:32-40
Mark 6:1-13
Evening: Psalm 91:1-16

I am reading a book, called Jesus, Mean and Wild, The Unexpected Love of an Untamable God, by Mark Galli. One Presbyterian Pastor said this about the Jesus in the book: "I want to know this Jesus, though he scares me a little" (Rev. John Ortberg, Menlo Park PC). The author challenges assumptions that Jesus was always nice. Always kind, soft-spoken, merciful, friendly, tolerant and inclusive. At the end of the book, I came to see that following Jesus is demanding and very difficult, as he leads us deeper into the way of love that would confront, and disturb, even as we show mercy and grace. Jesus' love is a "persistent, fearsome, untamed love." This Jesus scares me a bit too.

I reread Chapter 14 this past week, "Harsh Tutors of Love." It is about the relationship between fear and love. Galli exposes Jesus as a teacher that would get fired today in the classroom, put under scrutiny by his overseers. He used shame (Mk 8:38), threats (Matt 13:40-43) and even physical force (John 2:14-15) to make his points. He was misunderstood, and discounted by those who did not like or want to hear what he said. In today's gospel, his authority and teachings were questioned, and his reflection on the issue was to recall Old Testament prophets' plight: they had no power in their own house and he was amazed at the unbelief among his own. Then he sends out his 12 to do as he did - teach and prophesy, heal and call for repentance, teaching his disciples to stir up some dust before those who would not listen, and move on. Not exactly polite and tolerant. No "teacher of the year awards" for these fellas.

Jesus could scare the beejeebers out of people, and he teaches us to do the same? I don't know about you, but the few times I have tried that, or been on the receiving end of the same, it has not been very comfortable for me or anyone else. People think we're stirring up trouble. But I see three things: if we are to follow Jesus with conviction, we'll stir up some dust. Second, I need to accept I have blind spots and a lot to learn about God's love; I admit I have eaten a lot of dust myself. And third, perfect love must include both truth and grace. In this way, perfect love casts out fear. Herein is the dilemma. How is fear useful to love among Christians who disagree?

Gallie quotes Augustine in his explanation of the relationship between love and fear. Augustine argued when it comes to eternal matters, it was useful for Jesus to instill in listeners the fear of judgment and eternal punishment (Luke 12:4-5), because he loved the people he came to save from damnation. He put the fear of God in them out of love. The good news is: the more we fall in love with Jesus, the less we fear condemnation, for he has cast out fear and damnation with his grace and his truth. Truth and grace, hand in hand. It is difficult to love like Jesus, mean and wild, without fear. But the alternative is tolerance and lackadaisical religion, which tell us there's nothing worth fearing.

Perfect love casts out fear. I have a long way to go to love perfectly. Joseph was pretty close as he welcomed his brothers without fear, filled with tears of joy after painful separation and evil plotting. Joseph's love of God moved him from fear to love, back to his brothers to talk and share life together again. After all he had been through, he kissed all his brothers and wept upon them; and after that his brothers talked with him.(Gen. 45:16).

My fervent prayer for our churches, denomination and our Presbytery - for sisters and brothers with whom we disagree or, I daresay, fear, is that we grow deeper in love with God and seek God's ways through the word and prayer. And like Joseph, after all we have been through, may we come together and talk, moving from fear to love and sharing the wild and untamed love of Jesus with each other and the world. If it disturbs us all, then we know the Spirit is up to something. But fear not, God goes with us.

First Thoughts on the Lectionary, February 18, 2008

Morning: Psalm 145:1-21
Genesis 41:46-57
1 Corinthians 4:8-20 (21)
Mark 3:7-19a
Evening: Psalm 6:1-10

Our Covenant Groups have been following the grumbling Israelites through the wilderness, and their attitude is downright contagious. I have never been more tempted to grumble myself than since I was called to the ministry; we're big time grumblers in the church, Amen? I confess I get sucked up in it. And it always causes more trouble. That was the gist of my sermon yesterday. I told my congregation,

Well, if you want to stumble in your relationships, in your Christian walk, if you want to upset God, aggravate and depress other people, and hinder the Holy Spirit, if you want to live life in a bad mood, all you’ve got to do is open your big mouths and grumble.

I concluded that grumbling is the resulting behavior of rebellion against authority. I spent many hours as I prepared this message in repentance. Ouch.

However in reading and meditating on the psalms, I have discovered what grumbling is NOT. It is not being honest before the Lord, our God about our worries and fears, our doubts and even our disappointments with God over the course of our life. Sickness, poverty, shame, sin. When real life smacks us in the face, when we're struggling with direction and temptations, we're not just supposed to "suck it up," and act nice-nice. I daresay, we cannot.

What we can do is lay it all out before the Lord, no hold outs, trusting that God is all-powerful to take it all on. That makes our moaning, sighing, our silence and debating, a holy lament rather than a defeatist and self-centered bitch session.The psalmist again:

Psalm 6:1-10

¹O LORD, do not rebuke me in your anger,or discipline me in your wrath.²Be gracious to me, for I am languishing; O LORD,O LORD, heal me, for my bones are shaking with terror. ³My soul also is struck with terror,while you, O LORD—how long? ⁴Turn, O LORD, save my life; deliver me for the sake of your steadfast love. ⁵For in death there is no remembrance of you; in Sheol who can give you praise? ⁶I am weary with my moaning; every night I flood my bed with tears; I drench my couch with my weeping.⁷My eyes waste away because of grief; they grow weak because of all my foes. ⁸Depart from me, all you workers of evil, for the LORD has heard the sound of my weeping. ⁹The LORD has heard my supplication; the LORD accepts my prayer.

In the center of this lament is The Lord. Grumbling gets us in trouble when bitch to anyone but God first. When we doubt God's power over our circumstances. That's why Joseph's brothers threw him in the pit. That's why Israel stayed in permanent time out in the wilderness. That's what Paul kept warning his churches about. That's why we blow up at the people we love, get irritated at the store clerk, we get arrogant. Grumbling is a poor witness to the world who God knows, has tried to run the universe on its own power. And when we believe the universe revolves around us.

The psalmist brings me out of my grumbling and back to the wonder of God's power, whose greatness is beyond my circumstances:

Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; his greatness is unsearchable.⁴One generation shall laud your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts.⁵On the glorious splendor of your majesty,

and on your wondrous works, I will meditate.

Instead of grumble at the world, let's rumble for the Lord! (sorry that's really corny...)

They Did the Right Thing

I read with gratitude and thankfulness about the recent decisions issued February 11 by the GAPJC over ordination standards. 2 years after PUP, and many cases later that tested its scope, the GAPJC has ruled that no ordaining body (session or presbytery) has the right to ordain a candidate who is in violation of constitutional standards, including the "Fidelity and Chastity" standard expressed in the Book of Order (G-6.0106b). With these new GAPJC rulings, standards for ordination in the PC(USA) continue to reflect the clear teaching of Scripture on issues of sexual conduct and the plain meaning of our constitution. Praise God!

This is clearly what I and others have been saying all along: the PUP report and the scruples allowed do NOT extend to behavior, however, it has always been obvious no one understood that. There was so much fuzziness on how to apply this report. I was one of over 25 pastors who objected publicly to the PUP report and this was why. Now we have been redeemed. And so has the PC(USA) in this matter.

After PUP came out, as a member of CPM, and in my discussion with the former Moderator of our presbytery's CPM about this issue, I vehemently but in love argued with him in several calls, emails and blogs of the necessity to examine behavior AND belief in light of PUP. I was told we should not go there unless we had reason to. We handled the examinations simply by asking if the candidate had any scruples with any of the standards, without really talking about what the standards are. We did conduct an extensive review of the "essentials of reformed faith," but never launched a discussion together as an examining body about standards of conduct on sexual behaviors. Therefore we had no standard to agree upon. And I'm sure there are those on CPM past and present, who have lobbied against the fidelity and chastity standard. Some on the committee know of churches who have violated the standard. Some have turned blind eyes to it themselves. Shame on us. Shame on me. I should have brought it up. But I didn't.

I was a coward to lay myself out in front of my brothers and sisters over this - many of my colleagues were being thrown in the pit over it. I confess, I have been a wimp in my presbytery, which has not been graceful in its confrontations. So I am grateful to have the GAPJC now on my side of the fence with many, many others who have struggled for a voice on this matter. Maybe I'll have the courage to speak up in love now and question the candidates on behavior and on their pastoral care to sexually broken people. A pastor needs to pastor to this brokenness, not shove it under the rug. I want colleagues in ministry who love the broken among us, and still have the courage to stand for holiness when confronted with sexual - call it what it is - SIN. Apparently the GAPJC agrees, even if they can't use the word, sin.

I'l take it as they ruled. Thanks be to our Holy God for these holy decisions.

First Thoughts Daily Scriptures February 12, 2008

Morning: Psalm 146:1-10
Genesis 37:12-24
1 Corinthians 1:20-31
Mark 1:14-28
Evening: Psalm 91:1-16

Everything you want to know about the evil side of human nature you can see play out on the playground of any school in the world: watching bullies pick on the little guys, who were minding their own business. My kids all had some sort of encounter with bullies. Sometimes, they were the victim. Other times their friends were. In every case, everyone was afraid of them. So most kids watched the tactics play out from behind the fence until a teacher broke it up - maybe.

But once in awhile, a kid like Rueben in the Joseph story, would risk the wrath of the bully, and talk him into backing down, and some terrified kid was spared from a bloody nose or worse. Until the next time...

Bullies come in all sizes, shapes and entities. People, systems, institutions, governments, groups. Whenever the stronger wields power over the weak for the good of the strong, you have a bully in your midst. The so-calIed strong by position, or knowledge, in number, wealth, popularity. The strong who have claimed position and dug in, gathering others to stay behind them, lest he turn on them. Strong who draw lines in the sand for self-protection. Joseph in the Genesis account was the brother who tried to cross the line and initiate reconciliation in hope and love, but the brothers were plotting his death. And ALL his brothers were responsible for his plight - even the ones who remained silent. Sounds familiar.

I can't help but think of all that's happening on the PC(USA) play ground right now: churches and sessions and ministers are getting thrown in the pit to be left for dead by their own brothers and sisters, for minding their business, and following their conscience, for trying to uphold what is good and pure and holy against the waywardness within the family. Bullied into complying with a broken system that alienates them, with administrative commissions made up their brothers and sisters who have spent more energy and time plotting evil than reaching out. Losing their property, their sessions and their voice as they shout from the bottom of the pit for help and no one is listening.

That's how I see it - watching from behind the fence with others who have yet to speak up and really take on the bullying. I call it bullying because I am uneasy - yes I guess I can say afraid of some of my brothers and sisters. I guess you could call this blog, my fence. How sad is that?

And then I am encouraged by Paul's reminder in I Corinthians today: ²⁶Consider your own call, brothers and sisters: not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. ²⁷But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; ²⁸God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are, ²⁹so that no one might boast in the presence of God. ³⁰He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, ³¹in order that, as it is written, "Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord."

And in the gospel I meet the apostles Peter and Andrew, James and John behind my fence and we show each other our empty nets. Every last one of the disciples LEFT EVERYTHING behind as they followed Jesus:their livelihood, family, any position they had in the community. Property. Gone. And with that, Jesus told them HE would remove any unclean spirits from their midst. Jesus will reduce whatever is to what is not - and lift up the lowly. I am praying that those of you in the pit or behind the fence will find comfort and strength, for the Lord is with you. And me.

God will pull us from the pit. God promised to take care of us, with or without property or sessions or ordination. God's Kingdom is bigger than the denomination and God will deliver us from all that, if it is his will. God promised peace, unity and purity under the shadow of HIS wings, when the shadow of the church's polity becomes ominous. And God will remove the evil spirits from our midst.

Psalm 91:⁴Those who love me, I will deliver; I will protect those who know my name. ¹⁵When they call to me, I will answer them;I will be with them in trouble, I will rescue them and honor them.¹⁶With long life I will satisfy them, and show them my salvation.

One last thing. Pray for the bullies. God also seeks them to come under the shadow of His wings. It is only there that God can reconcile us all.

First Thoughts Daily Readings Feb 7, 2008

Morning: Psalm 147:12-20
Habakkuk 3:1-10 (11-15) 16-18
Philippians 3:12-21
John 17:1-8
Evening: Psalm 102:1-28

The Christian faith for sure is a journey. It's one I have not taken alone, but one God alone has set me on. I look back over my faith walk, and though it seems sometimes I'm stuck on some median strip or at some crossroad for ever, when I pay attention I see I have moved closer to God in this journey, and I've moved farther away from what satisfies just my human sensibilities. I am not in the same place I started. That's obvious when I see the many places I've lived, and the people I've met along the way. Indeed, I have moved on, more than once, leaving behind friends, jobs, homes, family, churches. But I'm also in a whole other place spiritually than when I began. Moving on spiritually for me has always involved letting go of something - or someone - dear to me.

But in each move was the perfecting of God's plan for me, incomplete at each juncture, yet taking greater shape in the letting go. Looking back to the unsettling, to the goodbyes and new adventures, and even in the moments I seemed stuck, God was fashioning in me the prize of my heavenly call. I see now that is what a living faith is about - movement, drama, and upheaval, and heavenly prizes. That's how Habakkuk saw God's movement in creation and in life's battles - cosmic, divine, dramatic, anything but benign or stagnant. Faith moves mountains and faith moves the faithful. When we come to Christ, He offers a wild journey that moves us out and up, and away from what hinders the Kingdom, and moves us toward God and God's calling. We can stay the course with Jesus, or we can stay on the median strip forever, wondering what this prize is we're afraid to seek, and thwarting the work of the Spirit in us wherever he is sending us.

every day I have to decide to hold on to Jesus, and step off the curb. And I'm sure it will continue to be a disturbing ride, dodging traffic to press on, even if it is exciting. Paul reminds me of this: ¹²Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. ¹³Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, ¹⁴I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus. ¹⁵Let those of us then who are mature be of the same mind; and if you think differently about anything, this too God will reveal to you. ¹⁶Only let us hold fast to what we have attained.

The journey is not on the median strip. Let's hold on to Jesus, let go, and step out in prayer and faith on the road God has laid out for each of us. Our heavenly prize is Jesus, who binds us together on the journey, now and in eternity.

First Thoughts Daily readings Feb 6 2008

Daily Lectionary:

Morning: Psalm 147:1-11
Amos 5:6-15
Hebrews 12:1-14
Luke 18:9-14
Evening: Psalm 51:1-19

Today is Ash Wednesday and as I consider my Lenten journey - what needs to stay and what needs to go - I confess I resist putting myself under authority like the next guy. But today's readings make it clear, that in order to be holy, in order to serve a just God, for the church to live in peace, unity and purity under the authority of the word, and the Lordship of Christ, there is no other way. Amos makes that warning clear: "Seek the Lord and live, or else..."

We don't like ultimatums like this. Seek the Lord, Yes. Live, you bet. Do good and not evil, of course. Show mercy and walk humbly. But seek the Lord, OR ELSE all hell will break lose? Seek the Lord or you will die? Obey the whole grainy and uncomfortable truth of God's word, or perish? Seek the Lord on polity and church order, or be spit out of God's mouth?

Do we really believe that God will deal with the church if we take lightly his authority on ALL matters?

Discipline. How the church is soft on it today. One of the 3 marks of the church and we get amnesia when one among us has erred from God's word on matters of conduct and authority. When one among us puts their own desires and "needs" above the body of Christ. We dismiss sin, as GOD HAS DEFINED IT, with winks and nods in the church; if we offer discipline, it's more often only a love pat on the wrist with no consequences. We let our heart rule over our head in matters of interpretation of God's word for purity and character, when truth and grace go hand in hand.

...[God] disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share his holiness. ¹¹Now, discipline always seems painful rather than pleasant at the time, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.¹²Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, ¹³and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed.¹⁴Pursue peace with everyone, and the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.

Hebrews affirms that discipline is an act of love. Discipline's purpose is to yield holiness. I want to be holy, and so I will submit. Lord have mercy on me. Love me till it hurts.

First Thoughts Bible readings February 1, 2008

Morning: Psalm 147:12-20
Genesis 16:15-17:14
Hebrews 10:1-10
John 5:30-47
Evening: Psalm 116:1-19

As our Covenant Groups at South-Broadland continue in our "Into the Word, Into the World" daily Bible readings and weekly discussion groups, it has occurred to me that we can all get off on reading the Bible together, growing in fellowship, and excited about what we're learning. But Jesus distinguishes between assenting to what the scriptures testify about him, and actually receiving Jesus into our life. Jesus puts it this way in John's gospel:

³⁹"You search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that testify on my behalf. ⁴⁰Yet you refuse to come to me to have life."

How easy it is to refuse to come to Jesus, while we proclaim God. We can come to church, teach Sunday school, lead a small group, even tithe. We can preach the gospel, and pray. We can quote scripture, chapter and verse. But unless we "come to Jesus," surrender all we are to this relationship, it's all rubbish, as Paul would call it.

Yes, the scriptures tell me that. But it ain't nothin' unless I come clean with Jesus about my own life. Coming to Jesus for me, means active participation in what Christ did for me. Coming to Jesus is a giving up myself to take on Jesus' life - giving up my schedule and agenda, a bad habit, or attitude. And a taking on God's will, not my own. That can be a vocation, a relationship, a commitment to my church, accountability for my shortcomings, responsibility for my actions. Coming to Jesus is coming to grips with how sin is real in me, not just in the bad boys and girls in the Bible, and I'm dead to it without Jesus. Coming to Jesus is coming to God.

Coming to Jesus also means to me that I believe in the person and the work of the Holy Spirit, and even though I'm terrified about what the Spirit might do in and through me, I come anyway. Coming to Jesus is letting the Spirit have his way, knowing I couldn't even come to Jesus at all without Him. Coming to Jesus means my life will never be the same old, same old. Coming to Jesus, my friends, is much more than assent. It's the difference between life and death.

In reading Psalm 116, it is to me a fitting litany for coming to Jesus. Say it out loud, and let the Holy Spirit make the words alive in you, as the Lord hears your cry. Come to Jesus:

¹I love the LORD, because he has heard

my voice and my supplications.

²Because he inclined his ear to me,

therefore I will call on him as long as I live.

³The snares of death encompassed me;

the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me;

I suffered distress and anguish.

⁴Then I called on the name of the LORD:

"O LORD, I pray, save my life!"

⁵Gracious is the LORD, and righteous;

our God is merciful.

⁶The LORD protects the simple;

when I was brought low, he saved me.

⁷Return, O my soul, to your rest,

for the LORD has dealt bountifully with you.

⁸For you have delivered my soul from death,

my eyes from tears,

my feet from stumbling.

⁹I walk before the LORD

in the land of the living.

¹⁰I kept my faith, even when I said,

"I am greatly afflicted";

¹¹I said in my consternation,

"Everyone is a liar."

¹²What shall I return to the LORD

for all his bounty to me?

¹³I will lift up the cup of salvation

and call on the name of the LORD,

¹⁴I will pay my vows to the LORD

in the presence of all his people.

¹⁵Precious in the sight of the LORD

is the death of his faithful ones.

¹⁶O LORD, I am your servant;

I am your servant, the child of your serving girl.

You have loosed my bonds.

¹⁷I will offer to you a thanksgiving sacrifice

and call on the name of the LORD.

¹⁸I will pay my vows to the LORD

in the presence of all his people,

¹⁹in the courts of the house of the LORD,

in your midst, O Jerusalem.

Praise the LORD!

¹⁷I will offer to you a thanksgiving sacrifice

and call on the name of the LORD.

¹⁸I will pay my vows to the LORD

in the presence of all his people,

¹⁹in the courts of the house of the LORD,

in your midst, O Jerusalem.

Praise the LORD!

First Thoughts January 30, 2008

Morning: Psalm 147:1-11
Genesis 16:1-14
Hebrews 9:15-28
John 5:19-29
Evening: Psalm 91:1-16

¹⁰His delight is not in the strength of the horse,

nor his pleasure in the speed of a runner;

¹¹but the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him,

in those who hope in his steadfast love.

How these words comfort me today as I consider how limited I am, in matters of life and faith. Discerning God's will for my life, settling disputes, loving the unlovely. I am guilty like the rest of us for not praying enough, trusting enough, loving enough, forgiving enough. Certainly, I need to take better care of my body - resting and exercise, nutrition. Add to that the temptation to compare ourselves with others - and it can be down right discouraging.

But that's what Satan would have us believe. "You're not ____ enough."

Then come the words of the psalmist.

I will delight in the Lord today as one of his beloved. In his steadfast love is my strength for today and my hope for tomorrow. He's already taken care of yesterday.

Amen.

First Thoughts on the Scriptures January 29, 2008

Morning: Psalm 146:1-10
Genesis 15:1-11, 17-21
Hebrews 9:1-14
John 5:1-18
Evening: Psalm 99:1-9

In reading the gospel today, I got a new slant on the invalid by the pool. I had always read this story as another miracle of Jesus - attesting to his signs and wonders and the unmerited grace toward the least of these, and of course another episode of stirring up trouble with the Pharisees. I had seen the poor, marginalized invalid, always overpowered by the sick and lame rushing to the healing waters of the pool. I remember somewhere it was believed the first one in got healed, so the stampede always left him trampled in the dust, eating dirt. Jesus takes pity on him and heals him on the spot in front of everyone, and then disappears. Just like Jesus.

Today, I was struck by the encounter the invalid, now healed, had with Jesus in the temple later. ⁴Later Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, "See, you have been made well! Do not sin any more, so that nothing worse happens to you." <sup>15

It stirs some questions for me, and leads me to an radical conclusion. What was his sin? Was it unbelief? I'm not convinced of that, because Jesus healed others without faith but never called that sin. Was it something he'd done in the past? It was a popular notion that sin caused sickness - we remember everyone wanting to know what sin the blind man or his family had committed that made him blind. But the Bible dismisses that as the unilateral reason for all illnesses.

I think that perhaps Jesus knew the man better than we did. He was and still is - a sinner. He was still engaged in some kind of sin against God, or others, or both. Don't know what it is. Nor did John. But Jesus seemed to know.

The uncomfortable part of this story is that Jesus might choose to heal someone of one thing, but will not let us off the hook for sin. He will call us on it, if we are listening and if we care. Just because we go to church, and praise God for our blessings (I assume that's why the now healed man was at the temple), doesn't mean we have surrendered everything to God, and turned away from sin in our lives. In fact, some remain in denial and outright defiance about sinful lifestyles, and still testify to God's goodness to them and give God glory in the church. That's dangerous.

It's true, God CAN show mercy on whomever He pleases - but God will NOT tolerate sin. Jesus knew what it was and called the man on it. It's easy to get hung up on the Pharisees' hard hearts and legalism about the Sabbath, but what about us? We who spend the Sabbath at church but don't deal with the sin in our lives? In our families? In our churches? Attitudes of anger, immorality, greed, pride, power, denial, irresponsibility, unkindness, unforgiveness, you-name-it. Just because we can now walk, doesn't mean we won't be cut off at the knees again someday by God. Jesus warns us - deal with that sin in your life.

That starts with not making any more excuses. Especially to the church.

The psalmist today also reminds us that God shows mercy and will also deal with our sins, because he is holy:</sup>

⁸O LORD our God, you answered them;

you were a forgiving God to them,

but an avenger of their wrongdoings.

⁹Extol the LORD our God,

and worship at his holy mountain;

for the LORD our God is holy.

First Thoughts on the Scriptures January 28 2008

Morning: Psalm 145:1-21
Genesis 14:(1-7) 8-24
Hebrews 8:1-13
John 4:43-54
Evening: Psalm 47:1-9

I appreciated the psalms today. Reminders of how big and cosmic, how eternal is my God. I need that because I get wrapped up in my own problems and intercessions, my thanksgivings for my simple and not-so-simple blessings. I am grateful for the mercy God has shown me, in Christ. Yes, I know by faith that God cares about every hair on my head, about my sins, and has come near me, has forgiven me. I know and believe that Jesus died for me and that I have eternal life with God. The writer of Hebrews also reminds me of God's love for me: ¹²For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more." I am grateful for what God has done FOR ME, now and for eternity.

But the psalms humble me too, to see that God cares about every hair on EVERYONE's head. Every peasant and every ruler in every land, the rich and poor, men, women, children, from the beginning of time, through the present and into the future. Everyone - wayward or obedient, Christian, Jew, Muslim or not. A cosmic eternal, sovereign God love me and loves you, and loves everyone. And wants us for His own.

Like the royal official in Johns' gospel, who did not have the Law - was not part of the promise or the covenant made with Abraham. Don't know what religion if any he had. But he believed in miracles only Jesus could do. He knew Jesus first by faith, and then through experience, but not from knowledge, or following the Law, or belonging to a religious group. Jesus healed his son - a sign to confirm what the official already suspected, I imagine. And at that moment, he believed for sure, and the official became a part of the "new covenant", rooted in person of Christ alone.

I reflect on the Hebrews text, and it says to me that for all people in every nation and religion, certainly first for the Jews according to the word, there is ONE God, manifested in Jesus Christ. There is one high priest, and intercessor, one miracle-worker, one Savior. Jesus. Belonging to God, sharing in the Covenant, is manifested in a personal relationship with him, at once particular, and at the same time, cosmic and eternal.

For though God "found fault" with Israel, though Israel could never be purified or fully atoned with sacrifices and priestly work, God had a more excellent way - Jesus Christ. The same blessing I have in Christ has ALWAYS been available to Israel, and to all the people of the world, yesterday, today and tomorrow. But there will be a time when God will bring it all to an end. And some will still not believe the signs and wonders, the truth, to their peril.

This fuels my mission as a minister of Jesus Christ. I pray that all will come to "know" him personally, for in Jesus is their hope and salvation. I believe I am called to minister this truth to all, in love, as God so loved the world. To proclaim the exclusive covenant God made with us in Christ alone. This is the truth that transcends all other religious knowledge or practices - even Christian practice and doctrine. It is the truth that extends beyond me or you - our blessings and miracles, even our own iniquities. This is the truth that Jesus Christ alone, is the high priest of heaven and Lord of all.

Psalm 47: God is king over the nations; God sits on his holy throne.⁹The princes of the peoples gather as the people of the God of Abraham. For the shields of the earth belong to God; he is highly exalted.

Thanks be to the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit - LORD of all.

Sunday Rest - first thoughts January 27 2008

I've been on study leave since Wednesday, in part to get caught up on reading, to plan Lent and Easter services, consider a long range planning process for SBPC. We call it study leave, but for me this leave has also been a Sabbath of sorts. More like a week of Sundays, lived in Old Testament obedience, like we're reading about now in our Covenant Groups. I've been trying to keep these Sabbath days holy - with worship and the word, sleeping late, a nap or two, reconnecting with my family, plus deeper reading and prayer. A time for rest, from the phone, email, church, housework. That was the plan for my week of Sundays.

It's been interrupted somewhat - a granddaughter rushed to the emergency room, a personnel issue at a ministry I serve as board chair, caring for my ill mother, comforting a few discouraged folks.

But I've also been able to listen carefully to the Lord. He has spoken to me through the word - Exodus, Leviticus, Deuteronomy, Numbers as I review the 10 commandments, the purity laws, and marvel at the precision and beauty of the tabernacle. I have heard the Lord as Israel wandered and grumbled in frustration toward the Promised Land. God has spoken to me through the interruptions. God has spoken to me in my dreams and my doubts, in my inquiries and my worries. God has spoken through my husband and God has spoken to me through my flesh. God has spoken to me in the silence, and in the thunder. God has spoken to me in my fatigue. And this is what God is telling me.

I will have no other gods before ME - not the church, not the blessings or your disappointments, not your friends or family. Not your gifts or passions or your dreams for your church. I desire first that you rest in me. And only then can I get your attention.

I am also hearing God telling me, I am God and you are not. I will provide. I was struck by Moses, always insecure and tired and discouraged as he led the people out of Egypt. But God provided instruction and signs and others to help. The Israelites were enslaved and constantly pursued by the enemy, but God always went before them. They were near death more than once, and God always provided food and light and protection. They were stiff-necked and rebellious, and most of them never made it to Canaan, but the next generation did. Leaders died and God raised up new ones. Promise fulfilled. Presence assured. Power Divine. God's way.

I realize I am weary carrying my dreams and responsibilities, plans and decisions, even in my loving, with too little resting in God. I will finish my Sabbath leave, and I know God will grant me more rest, more love and more direction for the future.

God knows the plans He has for me and you and the church - to prosper not to harm...Jer. 29:11.

Genesis Bible reading first thoughts January 10 2008

On January 1 our Covenant Groups resumed meeting after Christmas breaks, and began reading Genesis. We started our groups reading last October with the New Testament and finished up December 31 in Revelation. Now we start back at the beginning. My last post shared the fruits of our extraordinary journey through the word together. Now we get into the saga of Israel - and meet the "God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob", as God of the Old Testament has been labeled.

But God is also the God of Sarah and Rebekah, Rachel and Dinah. God is the God of all the servants of these patriarchs, their wives and children. God is God of all the nations and even the enemies of Israel, who follow other gods. As we read we must not forget the encounters these people had with God, and their stories that complete the full understanding of the scope of awesome God's love and promise.

My husband in his reading in Genesis this week was struck by the story in Genesis 24 of Abraham's oldest and beloved servant, whom Abraham sent to find a wife for his son Isaac. Ron was struck by the servant's faithfulness and obedience, his courage and tenacity, his devotion to God and his master and his spiritual disciplines. He was taken by his love.

Look what he discovered: 22:9 He took a solemn oath to follow Abraham's instructions. He trusted God who sent an angel to lead and protect his journey (verses 6-8). In verse 11, he made all bow to God in reverence. In verse 12 he began his duty in prayer, "O Lord God of my Master, give me success and show kindness to Abraham." He prayed for his master, his duty and his success. He was diplomatic and respectful with Rebekah's family. He gave God the glory for his success when he found Rebekah in verse 26. He never asked for anything in return - he had the best interest of others first and foremost. And he must have been trustworthy and safe, for Rebekah went with him back to Isaac; he brought her to Isaac himself. I imagine he stood near them, beeming, as Isaac made her his wife, for "he loved her very much, and she was comfort to him after the death of his mother." The perfect mate.

My husband found the story very romantic - remembering the God who had brought us together through friends and circumstances 22 years ago. Friends who cared about us and wanted the best for us. Servants really who are part of our love story. There are only a few like this in the Bible stories - who complete the love story, smaller characters, used by God. Only a few who have obedience and others' well-being as their only motives. Who are for God, and not against Him. It is not so with many other characters we meet on the pages of the Old Testament. It is not always so in our own lives.

May we discover the real and faithful servants in our lives - who follow God and lead us straight into the arms of God and others who would help us grow in faith, love and devotion to our Great Lover.