More Like the Tax Collector

I'm currently reading the book Luke: Jesus and the Outsiders, Outcasts, and Outlaws by Adam Hamilton.  In the third chapter, he talks about parables, and how to read them to find the spiritual truth the author is intending to convey. He says we should first be cognizant of the context, and then look for the contrast - usually there are two or more people or ideas being compared to each other.  We can then ask ourselves two questions:

1. In what ways am I like each of the characters or objects in teh parable?
2. What does Jesus want me to know, think, or do in response to this parable?

Those are good questions, and they remind me of some of the Bible study techniques I've seen before.

He then goes on to use the Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector as an example.  It's in Luke 18:10-14.  The Pharisee prays, "God I thank you that's I'm not like everyone else - crooks evildoers, adulterers - or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week. I give a tenth of everything I receive."

First, I wonder what God thinks when someone prays a pray like this?  I wonder what God thinks when God's church acts like this. 

You can't miss the declines in our church membership. We talk about it a lot, and we search for solutions. Should we change our worship style? Should we ask for a younger minister? Should we have lessons about our stained glass so that everyone can admire them and know their stories (truthfully, I'm not making that up).

No one ever says, "Should we be more like the tax collector and less like the Pharisee?"  Maybe we should have that conversation.

 

Prayers

Call me a nerd if you like, but I like to take notes during the sermon. I keep a notebook that I take with me, and I write down my thoughts as I listen to the sermon. I find that it keeps me focused on what the pastor is saying.

For the past couple of weeks, I have added a prayer at the end of the notes.  It's not something I have ever done before, and I haven't been planning it when I've done it.

December 22:

God, grant us the courage and faith 

to know that God is for everyone 

And to share that joy with all.

December 29:

In the coming new year 

May all of us find home with God 

May we open  the doors to others 

To come home.

Perspectives: Las Vegas

 Las Vegas.  A place I never really had a desire to visit.  I've been there five times now. Our younger son lives in Henderson, right next to Las Vegas. It is very different (and much the same) as what I thought it would be. It all depends on your perspective.

Grace and Works

Read this from James 2: 14-17:

¹⁴ What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but does not have works? Surely that faith cannot save, can it? ¹⁵ If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food ¹⁶ and one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,” and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? ¹⁷ So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.

So many people, I think, interpret this to mean that our salvation is through our works, rather than God's grace.

In Matthew 25, we have three stories: The Parable of Ten Bridesmaids, the Parable of the Talents, and The Judgement of the Nations (of course, the original writing didn't have these titles - we given them to the passages). The last one is the story of the sheep and the goats. Matthew 25:35-36 says, "I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, ³⁶ I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me."

I may be the last person on earth to notice the parallel between the Matthew passage and the James passage. 

What does it mean that faith without works is dead, and what does it mean that judgement comes from looking at the evidence of what we have done? Here is my attempt to explain it.

I believe that our salvation is a gift of grace. God comes into our lives, before we even know about God, and saves us. That salvation makes a difference in our lives today, our lives tomorrow, and into the eternal future.  We are changed. The grace is a gift, and we have done nothing to earn it. I'm not even sure we can reject it - it is a gift. What we can do is ignore it. We can turn away from God - the gift is there, but we don't "open it." We don't allow it to make any difference.  However, when we have the faith enough (also a gift from God) to believe, the grace can't be contained.  Our lives are changed, and we follow God. We take care of other - we share that love and grace with all.  That is the fruit of our faith; faith is the fruit of the grace.

We don't earn being a sheep by giving someone a drink of water; we are giving people water and food - love and caring - because of the grace.  Works are not our ticket to salvation; salvation (a gift of grace) is our path to good works.

 

A Prayer of Thanksgiving

Inspired by Ephesians 1

O God, our God 

We come to you with gratitude in our hearts. 

You gave you son for us. 

To us. 

You take us to the mountains 

High places for you. 

 Before we even existed, 

you laid the foundations of our world, 

our lives. 

You created us from your imagination, 

Your love for us existed before we did. 

You have made us whole, 

You have made us your family. 

You have invited us to be as loving and generous as you are.

Because of the gift of your son 

We are a free people. 

Freed from penalties and punishments. 

Not just free, 

but abundantly free! 

You have provided everything for us 

and your joy in your giving is obvious. 

 In Christ we see who and what we live for. 

Christ has been with us, even before we knew of him. 

Our glorious living is part of the plan set forth in Christ, 

including the deepest heaven and all on earth. 

We thank you, o God, 

and we know this is just the beginning. 

There is an eternal life before us, 

full of praise and glory.

We lift up our lives to you our praise, 

our thanksgiving 

with sighs too deep for Words

 

Perspectives: Snow

 Some more snow for you.

O Little Town

 

A few weeks ago, probably during Advent, our congregation was singing O Little Town of Bethlehem. I noticed there is a phrase of music in the third line that is lacking some of the harmony that is present in the rest of the song.  As you sing it, you arrive at this section, and there is a musical unity to it that was striking to me. 

This time singing it, though, I looked at the words that we sung at this part of the music (and I've expanded the word phrase a little bit to place it in context:

• the everlasting light
• proclaim the holy birth
• but in this world of sin
• the great glad tidings tell

When you read them in sequence, they are almost a poem.  I don't know why there is this unusal (for the song) piece of unharmonized music (or at least, less harmonized), but I like to think it is because the musician wants us to notice something. 

There is an everlasting light, born to us. We live in a world of sin, but we have great glad tidings to tell - to proclaim the holy birth. 

Have you Heard the Good News?

 

Inspired by Zephaniah 3:14-20

Why do you lower your head in the shame of your sin? 

Why do you hide? 

Have you heard the good news?

Shout to the heavens; 

Share the joy! 

God has taken away the judgements against you, 

God has turned away your enemies, 

God is here.

Why are you afraid? 

Why do you feel weak in your sin? 

Have you heard the good news?

God is here, and God brings you victory. 

God will rejoice over you with gladness; 

God will make you new in love!

God is singing over you!

Why do you worry about the disaster of your sin? 

Why do you suffer about what others will say about you? 

Have you heard the good news?

God is here. 

God is stronger than what presses you down. 

God is turning your shame into praise.

God will bring you home. 

God will gather you, 

God will restore you. 

God will forgive your sin, 

God loved you yesterday, today, 

And God will love you forever.

Perspectives: Bird at Zoo

 

Book Review: All the Good

Information about the book

All the Good: A Wesleyan Way of Christmas by Laceye Warner, Amy Valdez Barker, Jung Choir, and Sangwoo Kim.  Abingdon Press. Nashville. 2021. (Amazon)

Summary

From Amazon:  "In All the Good: A Wesleyan Way of Christmas, a group of diverse Wesleyan scholars will take you on an Advent journey guided by the practices in John Wesley’s means of grace. John Wesley’s emphasis upon practices of piety and mercy―or good works―drew from the larger Christian tradition. Such practices are often referred to as means of grace.

Each chapter guides participants through one of the four weeks of Advent by reflecting on biblical passages in light of an aspect of Wesleyan means of grace highlighted by illustrations and stories. Readers will look at preparing the way for God, the impact and significance of prayer, the substance of good works and caring for others, and sharing God’s mission to the world."

Impressions

This book works well as an Advent study. It is written well, and I imagine (although I have not seen them) that the accompanying leader guide and DVD would be helpful in planning a group study. Our church used this book this year as an Advent book resource, although I was not able to attend (the sessions were held while I was at work). I decided to pick up and book and read it on my own as the group at church was reading it.

Each chapter highlights an aspect of faith with a Wesleyan emphasis. These include preparing the way, prayer, acts of mercy, and outreach to the world. Each chapter is written by a different author and thus has a different style and "feel." I especially found the chapter on prayer to be not only well written but also illuminating.  There were lots of "ah ha" moments for me in the prayer chapter.  I found chapters 3 and 4 to be less engaging, although I did enjoy the personal stories and Wesleyan connections that were presented.

I would recommend the book (although it's not a the top of my Advent recommendations).

Posts about book

Posts I wrote about the book are tagged with Warner Good

Reading Statistics 2024

For the past few years, I have shared my reading stats.  Maybe it makes me a little nerdy - but I'm not.  I'm very nerdy, and I like statistics.  So here we go for 2024. 

I read a total of 67 books in 2024.  This compares to 56 books in 2021, 35 in 2022 and 52 in 2023.  This is higher than any of the previous years that I have tracked.  I'm not sure why. I seemed to have read more at the end of the year:

The graph above is from my Story Graph account - an account I started in 2024 for its statistical tracking.

Here are how the stats worked out:

Question 1: What was the format of the book?  Hard copy? Kindle? Audiobook?  Audiobook is the winner, at 80%.  I read a lot as I drive to work, using audiobooks, so this is not surprising. I started reading from my Kindle more at the end of the year, using a 5% of the book per day goal.  Amazingly enough, when you read a book, you eventually finish it.  :-)

Question 2: Had I read the book before?  Again this year, to make sure I didn't get in a rut of only re-reading books, I set a goal of at least 30% new books. 52% were new books to me.  This is down from last year, but I'm OK with that.

Question 3: What was the genre of the books I read?    The winner this year was romance, at 36%. followed by fantasy at 25%.  Last year's  "winner" was mystery.  Another one of my goals for 2024 was to read at least 4 "spiritual development" books.  I read 6; that category came in at 9% .

Question 4: When were the books published?  39% of the books I read were published between 2020 and 2024; close behind that was 30% of the books from 2010-2019. 

Question 5: I gave each book a star rating of 1-5.  I gave each star rating a definition (which is too much stuff to share in this post) - fiction and non-fiction had different rating definitions.  My average rating was 4.0.  My lowest rating was 1.5, and the highest was 5.  

This is my Goodreads profile if you are interested in seeing what I've read.  This page is my Blog Library.  I list faith books here (or other books I've blogged about) with links to the posts.

Three Wise Women, Part 3

 Part 3 of Three Wise Women

The journey of the three wise men (and Miranda) continued, across deserts and mountains, through forests of giant cedars and beside muddy rivers. They arrived in Jerusalem, and while the three men met with King Herod, Miranda wandered around the palace, hearing whispers and rumors about Herod. When the three men returned to her, all four were in agreement – they were not going to trust this “king.”

Eventually, they followed the star to Bethlehem, and they found who they had been seeking. Early one morning, they found Mary and Joseph in the home of a distant relative of Joseph’s. Mary was holding the newborn Jesus. He was crying; she was distraught, as new mothers so often are. Miranda, not a rookie at being a mother, having seven grandchildren of her own, carefully took the baby from Mary, and held him, swaying in that way mothers have (or learn), until the child stopped crying.

The three men knelt before the parents and the child, presenting their gifts -- gold for a king, frankincense for a priest, and myrrh as oil for burial. Joseph accepted their offerings with a look of disbelief on his face, but Mary quietly watched, and Miranda knew she was learning about her son, the new king, through her husband and his friends. Miranda watched wisdom as it was born on this young woman’s face.

Before Miranda handed the baby back to his mother, she gazed at his face, mesmerized by him. He was just a baby – he looked just like any other baby she had seen, but she knew, deep down, that this child was different. This child would change the world. This child was more than a king. She knew that after seeing this child, face to face, she would never be the same. She was changed.

She left with her husband and his friends. They bypassed Jerusalem on their trip home, going a different way. Balthazar told her, “To go back through Jerusalem would be backtracking,” but she had heard him telling her husband about his dream – a dream warning them to avoid Herod at all costs.

Years later, back in their hometown, she would often remember her journey to follow the star. She had been right; her life had been changed. Her status in the community, the amount of gold in her basement – none of it mattered anymore. Taking care of her neighbors had become a priority. Loving her family and friends and sharing what she had with those in need were the ways in which she honored the king she had met.

She heard rumors of the woman they had met in Russia – Babushka. It seems that she did give in to her longing to find the king, but that she had left too late. The star had set, and when she finally arrived in Bethlehem, the child and his family were gone. Devastated, she returned to her home, but during the cold nights of winter, she would leave gifts for the children in her neighborhood, wanting to share the love and kindness she had intended to shower upon the king.

Three women – Miranda, Babushka and Mary – each in her own way changed forever when they met the king, become three wise women, full of wonder and delight.

When you meet Christ, face to face your life will change.

Inspiration for the idea wording of the last line is from Floyd Taylor's devotion, which you can read here (Validation).

Three Wise Women, Part 2

Part 2 of Three Wise Women

The three wise men had planned everything. They had packed all of the food and equipment they would need. They had brought other men to help on the journey, they had spare camels for when the ones carrying the loads got too tired to continue. They had their star charts and their telescopes. The one thing they had not planned on was clouds.

A storm passed through, obliterating their view of the star. Now what?

They traveled on, hoping they were going in the right direction. The caravan eventually ended up in a small Russian village.

When Melchior told Miranda where they were, she said, “What? A Russian village? What are we doing in a Russian village? We need to turn around! We’re obviously lost.”

“No, dear, we can’t go back. Balthazar never likes to back-track. We’ll keep going.”

As he said this, Miranda saw a woman watching the caravan from the window of her home. “Melchior, at least ask her for directions.”

“Directions?! We don’t need directions.” He laughed, and rode off.

Miranda scoffed. Men. She pulled her camel to the side and walked up to the woman’s home. The woman was very welcoming, asking Miranda to come inside. Miranda was very impressed by her house – it was spotless and neat, with not a speck of dust or crumb in site. The two women went to the back of the house, to the equally spotless kitchen and sat down to talk, in the way that women do.

Eventually, Melchior noticed that Miranda wasn’t with the caravan and went back to find her. The Russian woman’s son opened the door and led him back to the kitchen.

“Melchior! Come and meet Babushka.” Melchior sat at the table with them, and of course, the conversation led back to the star and their journey. Melchior, as always, almost to Miranda’s embarrassment, was just as enthusiastic about their journey as he had been when they started. Amazingly, Babushka was enthralled by Melchior’s words.

“Oh, I would love to meet this king. Even here in my village, we have heard of the Jewish prophecy. How wonderful that you are going to find him!”

“My lady, Babushka, you should come with us! You should meet this king.”

“Come with you? Oh, I can’t come with you. I have too much to do here! I have house work to do, and tomorrow, I have to prepare a community meal. I can’t just leave. I can’t go seek this king!”

As the couple was leaving, to return to the caravan, Babushka told them goodbye, saying, “If I get everything finished, maybe I will follow you, and find the king myself.”