God's Love in Isaiah

Read Isaiah 65:17-25. Here are verses 17-19:

For I am about to create new heavens and a new earth; the former things shall not be remembered or come to mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in what I am creating, for I am about to create Jerusalem as a joy and its people as a delight. I will rejoice in Jerusalem and delight in my people; no more shall the sound of weeping be heard in it or the cry of distress.

This passage is part of the lectionary readings for next Sunday. I haven't done any research on the passage, but I imagine it was directed to the exiled kingdom of Judah to offer them hope. As I read it, what struck me is the excitement of the vision. I read it as if hearing it from what God might say. The passage is full of this wonderful vision of a time without mourning or death, a time without war or tears.

Verse 25:

The wolf and the lamb shall feed together; the lion shall eat straw like the ox, but the serpent--its food shall be dust! They shall not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain, says the LORD.

As I read it, I could hear God's hope and excitement in a new heaven and a new earth for his creation. How wonderful it would be for God if we were able to live into that vision?

Imagine when you are thinking about your children and the future of goodness and hope you wish for them - how you yearn for it. You love them so much, and you want the best for them. You want happiness and peace for them. I was struck with how in this vision that God is sharing with Isaiah, I can hear how much God wants this to be true for his people.

Don't you think seeing it like that makes you feel loved?

 

Logos: Job

Then Job answered: "Today also my complaint is bitter; his hand is heavy despite my groaning.  Oh, that I knew where I might find him, that I might come even to his dwelling! I would lay my case before him and fill my mouth with arguments. I would learn what he would answer me and understand what he would say to me.  Would he contend with me in the greatness of his power? No, but he would give heed to me.  There the upright could reason with him, and I should be acquitted forever by my judge.  (Job 23:1-7)

Does anything strike you about this passage from Job? I am interested in the courage Job shows to make his case before God. He is searching for God, and when Job finds God, he is going to ask God why all of this horribleness has happened to him. He doesn't feel greater than God, but he does believe that God will at least listen to him. He's groaning for answers for his pain and loss.

I have spoken to people who believe it is sinful to doubt God or to question God. They believe that whatever has happened is God's will and part of God's plan. I think Job has the way of things. I think God wants us to "lay our case before" God and ask for meaning or at least understanding. I think God wants us to bring our grief and pain to the relationship.

I know that later God comes to Job - God doesn't provide answers, and even reminds Job that he is not God. But God does come to Job and speak with him. God does speak with Job, and I think that would be important to Job. And to us.

 

Look What I Did

The lectionary reading for this week contains Scripture from 1 Kings 8 - the dedication of the temple.  As I was reading it this morning, I noticed that it is somewhat "Solomon-centric."  Solomon has the ark brought to the temple and then says a prayer to dedicate the new structure. 

In this prayer, he prays that God will keep God's promises to David, including that there will be a successor to David (Solomon).  Twice Solomon refers to the new temple as "the house that I have built."

Do we echo Solomon's prayers? Do we dwell on the work we have done ourselves rather than the work God has done? Solomon has completed something spectacular, no doubt, but I wonder if God's promise of a successor being connected to "if only your (David's) children look to their way, to walk before me as you have walked before me" has anything to do with looking toward God rather than focusing on what we have done - what Solomon has done.

Maybe I've missed it, but does Solomon praise God for God's work in creating a temple?  I might have missed it, or it might be in verses that aren't included, but it does feel like this acknowledgement of God's work is missing.

Do we do that?

Concerning Food Sacrificed to Idols

Today I read I Corinthians 8:1-13.  It is essentially Paul telling some of the Christians in Corinth to not eat food sacrificed to idols if doing so will harm people who are young in the faith.  It's a great passage, and there are several parts that I want to highlight today:

1. Knowledge puffs up; but love builds up (8:1b) - Some of us, me included, like to learn, and like to share that knowledge.  Sometimes knowledge puffs up our ego - so that in our mind, we are saying, "I know more than you do, and therefore, I am better."  There is no love in that.  Love builds up. Amen.
2. Verse 9 says: "But take care that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak."  Our freedom - our liberty - should come second in our minds when we are considering the welfare of others. A simple example: As parents of young people, we were free to have alcohol in the house and to drink when we wanted to, but we chose to not do that. We didn't want drinking alcohol to be an example to our kids - something that looked cool and grown up.  Now that they are adults, and have a healthy relationship to alcohol, we don't have that worry.
3. Verse 13: "Therefore, if food is a cause of their falling, I will never eat meat, so that I may not cause one of them to fall." What is our priority? Our freedom? Our desire to show off our knowledge? Or the welfare of those around us?  It is more loving, it is more edifying for others, if our priorty is other people's welfare ahead of our own.

It's a helpful passage to read.

Say Thank You

One of the Lectionary readings for Thanksgiving Day is Luke 17:11-19.  This is the story of the 10 lepers who approach Jesus in the region between Samaria and Galilee.  They cry out, and Jesus heals them.  One of the ten, seeing that he was healed, turned back and praised God, thanking Jesus. 

I remember this story as a kid as sort of a morality play, encouraging us to use the "magic words" - please, thank you, etc.  Not only that, but I saw it as a story that taught that God/Jesus EXPECTS us to say thank you - to be grateful for our blessings, and to say so. As an adult, I see so much more in the story.

Is it important that the story identifies the thankful healed leper as a Samaritan? I think it must be.  The Samaritan would have been the outsider. He probably wasn't really expecting Jesus, the Jew, to heal him, so when he found himself healed, maybe he was moved to gratitude.

What is really interesting to me is not just that the man was grateful, but that in receiving the healing, his eyes were opened and he recognized in Jesus the presence of God.

Did Jesus need gratitude? No.  But I think we do, right? In the ex-leper's gratitude, he found the grace of the unexpected blessing and the recognition of God. Gratitude does something to set ourselves aside and to focus on the external - on the one who is blessing us.

 

Our Home

 

Inspired by Psalm 90:1-6, 13-17

Oh, Lord, our God, for all of our generations,

You have been our home.

Before the mountains rose,

Before the earth was formed,

You have been our home.

From everlasting to everlasting.

You are timeless, forever.

We are bound by mortality.

Ashes to ashes.

Dust to dust.

And still,

you are our home.

Time is nothing to you.

A thousand years is the blink of an eye.

A day.

Yesterday.

The days spin past,

the years spin into nothing.

The grass is renewed every morning.

It withers every evening.

And you are God.

Everlasting to everlasting

Our home.

May every morning be filled

with your steadfast love,

so that joy fills our days.

May our children see you

and know that you are their home.

May they understand your power,

and rest in your love.

May the work we do

bring you glory.

May the work we do

be pleasing to you.

Spread your love among us,

and bless us with your presence.

God, our God.

Everlasting to everlasting.

Our home.

Logos: Psalm 90:12-17

Loosely inspired by Psalm 90:12-17

Teach us, O God,

Open our eyes to the fleeing of the days.

Open our minds to the potential of our time.

Show us the work you want us to do,

and what is to be gained.

Turn your attention to us,

and see us with your eyes,

eyes of compassion,

eyes of grace and forgiveness.

When we wake in the morning, 

and your light shines through the window,

open our hearts to know your love.

Love that never stops,

Love that is loyal and unending.

Chase us with your grace 

so that we know your love

and rejoice in its glory.

During each day,

whether it brings pleasure or pain,

Suffering or joy, 

Bring us the gladness of your presence in it.

Open our lives to the work you do around us.

Make your breath clear in the breeze of the days,

and your touch apparent 

as we sit down to share a meal.

May your Spirit be the power of our lives,

and may we find you in our years.

Grant us your favor.

May the work we do for you, prosper.

May the work of our hands be pleasing to you.

Every day of our lives.

Logos - Psalm 23

When I read this Psalm, the memory that comes back most clearly for me is from over 10 years ago.  I was part of a team from our church that was serving as youth counselors.  We planned a retreat to Spring Heights for our youth and the programming for the weekend was completely centered around this Psalm.  Together, the adults and youth talked about what each line meant – we worked on memorizing it – we had the youth explore it artistically.  The youth’s insights on the Psalm were inspiring to me, but I don’t know if what we – the adults - did made any difference in the lives of the youth who went on the trip.

The Psalm says, “surely goodness and mercy shall follow me.”  Gary Simpson, who is the senior pastor at Concord Baptist Church of Christ in Brooklyn, provides a great image of this for us.  He explains that the scriptures are dripping with God’s goodness.  God is good before humans are even created.  God goes in front of us before we arrive anywhere.  The Hebrew word used in the Psalm for the word prepare is arak – and it also means “to arrange.”  So, wherever we are going, God’s goodness has gone before us, making the arrangements ahead of time – bringing light in darkness.  Preparing the place for us.  God’s mercy, according to Simpson, “is made necessary and non-negotiable soon after humans were created.”  Our sin makes God’s mercy necessary, and God moves behind us, in God’s mercy, with extravagant generosity, cleaning up the messes we make.

 So, I don’t know if the work we adult counselors did made any difference to the youth, but I do know, and I can rest in the assurance, that God went before us, and brought light and goodness into what we did, and God followed us, fixing what we did wrong, in God’s boundless mercy.

 

Logos: Psalm 62:5-12 - As the Storm Rages

Inspired by Psalm 65:5-12

As the Storm Rages

As the storm rages around me

I try to wait in silence,

My soul waits in silence

for the Lord.

In this silence

as the storm screams,

I find my hope.

As the hopelessness around me

presses in on me,

I find my hope in God.

God and only God

is solid.  

Foundation.

Salvation.

God is my fortress.

In this safety, I will not be shaken

In this quiet, as I sit in silence,

I wait for God.

I find God.

I find hope.

I find refuge.

What we value,

riches, power, selfishness,

are but a breath,

fleeting.

Do not put confidence in them.

Do not fill your heart with them.

Listen.

God has spoken, and God speaks.

Remember.

The power belongs to God.

Steadfast love flows from God.

And this is the grace God gives to us.

 

Logos: 1 Corinthians 6:12

•  I have freedom of speech - I can say what I want and you can't stop me.
• Why should I worry about political correctness? Why do I have to be so concerned about what might hurt someone else?  You should have a thicker skin - I can say what I want.
• There is no law against that.  I can do it if I want to.

Living in this country, we do have freedom.  People have fought and died so that you and I can say what we think, worship as we feel called, and live a life of freedom within the laws of society. 

Christ has died to give us freedom, too.  Freedom from our sin, from our  hate, from our pain.  Christ has freed us so that we can love others.

Paul wrote to the church at Corinth:  "All things are lawful for me," but not all things are beneficial. "All things are lawful for me," but I will not be dominated by anything.  (1 Corinthians 6:12).

Christ has freed us so that we can consider the impact of what we say on the lives of others.  Christ has freed us to that we can show others love instead of hate in what we do.  Christ has freed us so that our first thought is not "it is legal so I'll do it" but instead, "it isn't loving, so I won't do it."

Christ has freed us to live.

Logos: Genesis 1:1-5

In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light. And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.  -Genesis 1:1-5

God’s presence.  Light.  Creation. Imagination. Hope.

The beginning of Genesis is the story that claims for us God’s hand in all creation. Something as basic as the light and the dark, the day and the night, exist as they do because God set the world in motion. 

Someone said to me a few days ago that she didn’t see anything good in 2020.  I don’t feel that way.  Believe me, I am anxious for us to reach the end of this pandemic. I can’t wait to gather with other people, to eat out or go to the mo vies without worrying about sickness and death.  However, look around. See the hope. See what has been done medically to develop treatment and vaccines.  See the healthcare workers battling to save people’s lives. See the light in the darkness.

it works this way because God has set the world in motion. Deep down, most of us know how to love each other, to battle away selfishness and hate.  To care for each other.

I see light at the end of the tunnel, but I also see light in the tunnel. God is here in the hands and feet of those around us, and in your own.    

Silent Song

Silent Song

I will sing of your steadfast love, O Lord, forever...

But,

We're not supposed to sing.

Our sanctuaries are quiet,

either because we are not there,

or because so few of us can be there,

and those who are there cannot sing.

And yet,

We know of your steadfast love, O God,

and our silence is evidence

that we love our neighbor.

Our absence is our witness

that your love has changed us.

Forever.

With my mouth, I will proclaim your faithfulness to all generations.

But,

Our mouths are covered by masks,

and we are not with each other.

How can we proclaim your faithfulness

to our empty rooms?

And yet,

We know of your faithfulness, O God,

Our masks are evidence of the faithfulness

you show to us and teach us.

We stand apart, with the trust that your faithfulness

will take what we can offer

and change it to proclamations of your love.

To all generations.

I declare that your steadfast love is established forever;

your faithfulness is as firm as the heavens.

Your children declare it with their masks,

with their distance,

with their absence.

They declare it through Zoom, and the telephone.

They proclaim with their donations to feed people

and with their smiling eyes at the store.

They tell of your love

with silenced song,

with virtual teaching,

with online worship,

and with missed communion.

And best of all, God is with us.

Inspired by Psalm 89:1-2

 

Logos: 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24

 

May the God of peace himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.  The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do this.  (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24)

These two verses follow a passage in Thessalonians which is probably familiar to many:  

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. (verses 16-18).  

I'm not sure we often bring verses 23 and 24 to mind, but today they struck me. 

Verses 16-18 tell us how to live - these are some of the means of grace - rejoice (maybe worship?), pray, give thanks.  By doing these, we draw closer to God. These actions are gifts from God than help us to know grace better.  And yet, when you read verses 23 and 24, I think we are reminded that grace - for that is what sanctification is - is a gift from God.  It isn't something WE do; sanctification - making us holy - is something that God does for us.  Entirely.  It isn't the actions we do - the rejoicing and praying and thanksgiving - that purifies us, and makes us more like God.  It is God who does that. 

And I don't believe that God sanctifies us because we have rejoiced or prayed or offered gratitude.  We don't earn grace by our actions.  I believe God is sanctifying us WHETHER WE DO THOSE THINGS OR NOT.  Christ died for our sins.  God has forgiven us.  God has forgiven us even for the sins we have not yet committed, I think.  We are a forgiven people.  The problem is that we don't remember it.  We don't live like we are.  And so, here are means of grace.  If we practice them, then perhaps we will be made more aware of the action of God in our lives and in the lives of those around us.  If we practice them, then maybe the choices we make will reflect the work of God in our lives. 

The truth is that God is faithful, and God will do this.  The grace is that God's actions don't depend on our faithfulness.  That's love.  Unconditional love.  Perhaps when we remember it, we will change how we live. 

Logos: Isaiah 61: 1-4, 8-11

The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners; to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor, and the day of vengeance of our god; to comfort all who mourn; to provide for those who mourn in Zion - to give them a garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit. (Isaiah 6:1-3a)

The Year of our Lord 2020 has been a doozy, hasn't it? Think about where we stand right now. There are those among us who are mourning the lose of loved ones - to the virus, to violence, to hatred, to negligence, to illness. There are those among us who are homeless, jobless, hopeless. There are those among us who are oppressed, alone, lost. The world needs the spirit of the Lord.

And not only Israel, but we are anointed by the Lord. To do what? Just look around? How can you change the year to one that is the Year of the Lord's Favor? How can you bring good news? Bring justice to the oppressed? Heal broken hearts? Proclaim freedom? How can you, today, bring comfort to those who are crying for the loss of those they love? How can you bring your neighbors out of the ashes? What can we do to offer gladness and a healing balm? Where can we offer praise?

We are anointed for this work.

I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my whole being shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation, he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom desks himself with a garland, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. (Isaiah 61:10)

We are anointed. We are equipped. We are blessed so that we can love our neighbors.

Logos: 1 Peter 3:15b-16a

Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and reverence. (1 Peter 3:15b-16a)

I'm not sure why this sentence spans parts of two verses, but when I reassembled it, I was struck by how much power is in it.

1. Always be ready - Sharing the word of God, whether in voice or deed, is not always something we can plan to do our our own timing. Often, it happens on God's timing, so always be ready.
2. Make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting - It sounds militaristic, doesn't it? Someone demanding something; you defending your belief? Not everyone we meet will be kind and gentle in their exploration. They may be antagonistic about our beliefs.
3. The hope that is in you - What are we sharing? Not judgments. Not hatred. Not a list of dos and don'ts. We are sharing the hope that is in us. In you are going to be ready to do that - always - then you had better know about the hope that is in you. Can you tell people about it?
4. Do it with gentleness and reverence - Even though the person who is confronting us may be antagonistic, how do we respond. With gentleness. Not only with gentleness, but with reverence. With reverence. Imagine. Not so hard to believe if we remember that the person in front of us is a child of God.

Logos: Acts 7:55-57

To set the scene for the scripture I chose today, the person about whom is is written is Stephen.  Remember Stephen? He was a deacon in the new church, martyred for his faith.

But filled with the Holy Spirit, he gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. "Look," he said, "I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!" But they covered their ears, and with a loud shout all rushed together against him. (Acts 7:55-57)

You know the rest of the story, right? Those listening dragged him out of the city and stoned him to death, while Saul kept their coats.

I chose this scripture because of the image it created in my mind. A man of the church is telling those gathered around of his vision - he saw heaven, Jesus, and God, and he is telling them about it.  They covered their ears.

How often do we chose to not listen when the word of God is spoken to us? How often do we (maybe not literally) cover our ears? What word of God are we missing because we will not listen

Logos: Psalm 23

Inspired by Psalm 23

The Lord, my Lord

is a shepherd. My shepherd.

I need shepherding.

I need guidance and direction.

If I will listen, I will find all I need.

If I follow.

The Lord, my Lord

offers peace. Silence. Stillness.

When I need it,

whether I want it or not,

in him I will find it.

And my spirit will be restored.

My soul will find living water.

When I walk on the path

where he leads me.

The Lord, my Lord

When night closes in,

when darkness is all I can see,

I am not alone.

The shepherd finds me.

I do not have to be afraid.

The guidance and the protection

of the Lord 

bring comfort.

Bring light, if I will open my eyes.

I need not be afraid.

The Lord, my Lord

is a God of abundance.

Is a God of mercy.

Is a God of steadfast loyalty and love.

Even when I can find no love,

No friendship,

No support,

God provides.

I am healed; I am made whole.

I am not alone.

The Lord, my Lord

is a God of mercy and grace,

Limitless goodness.

I am pursued.

I am surrounded.

I am never lost.

With my God, I am. 

Forever.

Logos: Luke 24:15-16

While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them,but their eyes were kept from recognizing him.  (Luke 24:15-16)

I've heard much discussion regarding why Cleopas and his companion didn't recognize Jesus as he walked with them. The simplest explanation, I think, is what the verse says above: their eyes were kept from recognizing him.

But, thinking about the idea of not recognizing someone, are there lessons in that for us?

I can't tell you how many times I have been walking, and passed by someone I know - and failed to even see him or her.  We get so preoccupied with ourselves that we don't connect with the people around us. Shouldn't wee see the people near us? Surely that is the first step to loving our neighbors - leaving behind our self-preoccupation.

Do you ever walk by someone and not see him? And I don't mean that you are preoccupied; I mean that you look away? Don't we ignore the homeless person the street, the grocery store checker or those rushing by us on the sidewalk? Is it true, do you think, that while we notice them, we fail to notice that they are human? We don't see them as fellow children of God? Surely that is another step in loving our neighbors - recognizing that person as a person?

Have you ever been in a conversation with someone and just think, "Stop talking to me. I am so busy - I have so much to do - and your words aren't interesting to me."?  I wonder, in their grief, if that was part of the "not seeing him" of Cleopas and his companion.  Surely that is another step in loving our neighbors - listening to them with a glad heart.

Logos: Acts 2:26c

... therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced; moreover my flesh will live in hope.  (Acts 2:26)

I see children who are fed,

who are cared for, 

who are nurtured,

even if they have no home.

My flesh will live in hope!

I see the one who has been hurt,

whose family has been killed,

whose life has been turned upside down

by someone else,

by someone who could be the object of hate,

but is instead forgiven.

My flesh will live in hope!

I see the man in pain,

who has lost his love to horrible disease,

who has suffered with her,

for her,

wishing to suffer instead of her,

but is now without her.

I see the church 

surrounding him with love.

He is not alone.

My flesh will live in hope!

I see the town 

destroyed by flood.

I see the mud, the loss, the grief.

I see the caring come to offer solace,

rebuilding,

help.

I see the resurrection of the town.

My flesh will live in hope!

Christ is alive

Christ is within us,

Christ is with us.

and my flesh will live in hope!

Logos: Philippians 2:5-11

Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death-- even death on a cross. Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. 

I read this yesterday in God is Closer than you Think by John Ortberg - he was writing about the incarnation:

Now he wasn't just helping them. Now he was one of them. From this day forward he wasn't just on their island; he was in their skin. First he had chosen to live as they lived; now he would die as they died. Now they were in it together.

From the moment Adam and Eve left the garden, God has been working in our lives to bring us back to who we are created to be. God has always been there, but the incarnation changed the game. With the incarnation, Christ was not only divine, Christ (and therefore God) was also human. 

We say that God is with us, among us. True. But God has been one of us. Consider today what a difference that makes.