Author: Mark Mong

By Amber Balista

I encourage you as we have been to read through the psalm a couple of times, taking note of what stands out for you. Listen for what God might be wanting you to hear. I like the Amplified translation of the Bible because I feel like it drawls out the emotion of the psalmist in a way that is most clear to be. Here is Psalm 63 A Psalm of David; when he was in the wilderness of Judah.

¹O God, You are my God; with deepest longing I will seek You;
My soul [my life, my very self] thirsts for You, my flesh longs and sighs for You,
In a dry and weary land where there is no water.
² So I have gazed upon You in the sanctuary,
To see Your power and Your glory.
³ Because Your lovingkindness is better than life,
My lips shall praise You.
⁴ So will I bless You as long as I live;
I will lift up my hands in Your name.
⁵ My soul [my life, my very self] is satisfied as with marrow and fatness,
And my mouth offers praises [to You] with joyful lips.

⁶ When I remember You on my bed,
I meditate and thoughtfully focus on You in the night watches,
⁷ For You have been my help,
And in the shadow of Your wings [where I am always protected] I sing for joy.
⁸ My soul [my life, my very self] clings to You;
Your right hand upholds me.

⁹ But those who seek my life to destroy it Will [be destroyed and] go into the depths of the earth [into the underworld].
¹⁰ They will be given over to the power of the sword;
They will be a prey for foxes.
¹¹ But the king will rejoice in God;
Everyone who swears by Him [honoring the true God, acknowledging His authority and majesty] will glory,
For the mouths of those who speak lies will be stopped.

It always amazes me how timely the psalms are for us. How what is most deeply true about Who God is and who we are to God is consistent over time. That includes you, so what is the deepest part of you longing for now? What parts of your life are parched needing to be satisfied by God? It seems to me we too are in a dry and weary land, surrounded with a desire to return to the known. Known activities, freedom to move about and gather with others. Even to share a high-five would be nice. To be sure, there are things happening around us that make no sense. The added anxiety over the unknown seems to lead some to be short tempered, irritable or even irresponsible. Others might be facing restlessness, inability to focus, insomnia and loneliness.  Collective grief some experts are calling this processing. It makes sense, the way things used to be is gone, dead. As difficult as it is, they probably will not be going back to “normal” any time soon. Even when we do, I suspect it truly will continue to be a “new normal.” Whatever that means.

When they laid Jesus in the grave, he was gone, dead. But Christ has risen! There is no going back to before. Not for Jesus, not for his early followers and not for us. Death has already been defeated! That what is normal has already been renewed. As the body of Christ, we have always been a people of the in-between, even while we do not fully understand. We are a people who know the reality that the death-winning, pre-resurrection life is gone. We are a people hopefully waiting for the completeness of God’s good work on earth as it is in heaven.

We know God is not dead- but alive! That leaves us only one thing to do, as the Psalmist says “I will remember you… I meditate on you in the night…for you have been my help.” All the things that used to captivate our attention, that used to order our lives, those things have been called into question as we navigate the unknown. This might be an opportunity for each of us and for all of us, to turn our eyes to Jesus. To be filled with the life of the Holy Spirit and to know that we the mighty right hand of God is our help. In this time of unknown let us remember who the living God is, so we might remember that we are a people of already and not-yet. A people longing for the Lord in meditation and praise even while we rest in the shadow of God’s wings. Live it out as you check on your neighbors, as you keep up with the news, as you find time to rest. Know that God is the ground beneath you, holding you and looking on you. May God bless and keep you. 

April 14, 2020

John 20:19-23

¹⁹ When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” ²⁰ After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. ²¹ Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” ²² When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. ²³ If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”

In the middle ages when a castle was besieged by a conquering army, the castle would have several defense mechanisms. Most castles had high walls that would keep the opposing army out as well as a moat around the walls with only a drawbridge giving access to the castle and the drawbridge could be raised completely isolating the castle from any opponent committed to seizing the castle and its occupants.  These defense mechanisms gave the attacking armies new obstacles in which to overcome and gain entry. Armies created siege towers to climb the outside of the walls, and battering rams to destroy the gate, and trebuchets to break down the walls. The victor was the one who could overcome the obstacles of the opposing army.

Just as it was in middle age warfare, so too it is with God. But the defense mechanisms are not moats, walls and drawbridges but the human defense mechanisms like fear, denial, guilt, insecurity and anger.  The attacking army is not an army at all but God who wants not to occupy and destroy, but instead to occupy and create. The attacking army must have the tools necessary to overcome the defenses, God must do the same with the human heart. God must overcome the fears and anxieties in the human heart if God is to enter in and occupy.  God must overcome the doubts and insecurities in the human spirit if God is to bind God’s self to the person.  God must overcome the anger and guilt which not only closes off a person to God but which inspires a person to flee away from God, if God is to dwell among God’s people full of Grace and Truth.

For the Resurrected Jesus, no obstacle exists which can close him out and separate him from his people.  In our text from John, the disciples have separated themselves from the city, isolating themselves from the rest of the Jewish people in the locked upper room, for fear of the Jews.  But despite the obstacle of a locked door and closed walls, the Resurrected Jesus appears amid the disciples.  Space is no longer an obstacle to the Resurrected Jesus, he has in fact transcended space, bound no longer by the rules and laws of physics as we know it.  Jesus appears amid the disciples in their self-isolation and fear over being arrested and killed, and no physical object can deter him.

But does he enter their space in order to smash and destroy?  Quite the opposite, he does not come with a warning or a stern disappointment.  No instead he comes with Peace be with you.  Peace for their guilt over having abandoned him.  Peace for their fear over meeting a similar fate.  Peace for their insecurity and anger over the Jewish leaders.  Peace for their doubts over a grief-stricken women’s crazy report of an empty tomb and a ghostly figure.  No locked room or human defense mechanism can keep Jesus out, but no human emotion or mental roadblock can keep the Peace of Jesus out either.  Not only does the Resurrected Jesus transcend space, but the Resurrected Jesus transcends the fallen human state.  Peace be with you indeed.

Well not much has changed, just as the disciples were separated behind locked doors out of fear, we also are separated from each other behind doors and walls out of fear of the virus.  We did not gather face-to-face for services during holy week. We must wear masks to keep our bodies from sharing and catching the virus.  We must keep 6 feet away from each other respecting personal space.  And these all are the right thing to do.  But its harder now to be church and to be disciples of Christ if we cannot gather and assemble.  But locked doors could not keep Christ out then and locked hearts cannot keep Christ out now.  Because Christ not only transcend space and time, but also the human condition.  Christ can always come in even when we keep him out and Christ can always bestow Peace instead of all the junk currently in our hearts.

But the most illuminating idea in our text is how Jesus bestows this Peace on the human heart, Jesus does it by breathing.  I said it is the most illuminating, because in this age of masks and ventilators cleaning out the virus and delivering oxygen, it is the breath of Jesus we need to most to inhale deeply.  Peace and forgiveness and wholeness all come from the breathing out of Jesus and us breathing him in.  The Spirit in our lungs.  The Spirit in in our blood.  The Spirit in our minds and hearts.  The Spirit in our spirits.  Out from Jesus and into us.  And no obstacle can keep that breath out, no defense mechanism can close that breath off and no sickness of the body or mind or heart or spirit can thwart the work of this breath.

While we cannot gather together, while we cannot visit friends or travel, while we must work from home (if we are still employed), while we worry about the economic future or perhaps even the economic present, while we listen to the daily reports and fret, during this difficult time when we cannot do most ordinary things, one thing we can and must do and that’s breathe.  Breathe in the Spirit of Jesus Christ and enjoy unassailable joy.  Breathe in the Spirit of Jesus Christ and rest in unconquerable security.  Breathe in the Spirit of Jesus Christ and appreciate unquestionable forgiveness.  Breathe in the Spirit of Jesus Christ and dwell in the unshakeable Kingdom of God.  When we cannot do much else, do as Faith Hill sings, and Just Breathe.

My friends, we are assaulted and besieged daily by the struggles of living in this world, with its bodily sicknesses, incompetent and corrupted politicians, profiteering corporations, and out-of-control human desires, no more so than now.  But in our self-isolations and self-quarantines, even though we might be behind the locked doors of our own making, no power in Hell nor scheme of man can block out the Resurrected Jesus and his Breath of Peace.  So, while the world is panicking and worrying; we are still breathing in the Breath of God.  In this difficult time, let us rest in the Breath of Jesus Christ which fills us and surrounds us with the Peace that passes all understanding, that no power can keep out and no power can take away.  To God be the Glory, for such a gift as this!  Amen.

Prayer

O God of power and love, we thank you for the pouring out of your Sacred Breath upon all your people.  Fill us anew and again with your Peace which the world cannot give and none can take away.  Calm our hearts, inspire our doubts, and move our hands and hearts to love.  In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen. 

By Amber Balista

It is holy week, something I keep reminding myself of because things are just different this year. Easter is surly coming, and as some have pointed out the solemn temperament of this Easter may be more like the first Easter morning. When the disciples did not know how the story would go. For us maybe that means we can enter into this week of remembering the anguish of Jesus and his followers a little more personally than ever before. The part of the story we are called to remember this day of holy week is that Jesus was betrayed by one of his friends. The scripture is John 13:21-30

Jesus was troubled in spirit, and declared, “Very truly, I tell you, one of you will betray me.” ²² The disciples looked at one another, uncertain of whom he was speaking. ²³ One of his disciples—the one whom Jesus loved—was reclining next to him; ²⁴ Simon Peter therefore motioned to him to ask Jesus of whom he was speaking. ²⁵ So while reclining next to Jesus, he asked him, “Lord, who is it?” ²⁶ Jesus answered, “It is the one to whom I give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish.” So when he had dipped the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas son of Simon Iscariot. ²⁷ After he received the piece of bread, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, “Do quickly what you are going to do.” ²⁸ Now no one at the table knew why he said this to him. ²⁹ Some thought that, because Judas had the common purse, Jesus was telling him, “Buy what we need for the festival”; or, that he should give something to the poor. ³⁰ So, after receiving the piece of bread, he immediately went out. And it was night.

Judas, filled with darkness sets in to motion everything that Jesus had been telling his disciples. Everything that Jesus knows will happen has now started. As they are all together, celebrating Passover there is also this darkness a sad knowing that there is trouble that is not yet fully revealed. The verse tells us, “Jesus was troubled in spirit.” Sometimes it is easy to forget the humanity of Jesus. He was troubled by what he would face, by the betrayal and denial of his followers.  

I imagine Jesus praying, honestly talking to the Father in whatever confusing feelings might have been. The Psalm that goes with this part of the story for us is Psalm 70. I can almost hear Jesus praying this psalm.

 ¹ Be pleased, O God, to deliver me.
    O Lord, make haste to help me!
² Let those be put to shame and confusion
    who seek my life.
Let those be turned back and brought to dishonor
    who desire to hurt me.
³ Let those who say, “Aha, Aha!”
    turn back because of their shame.

⁴ Let all who seek you
    rejoice and be glad in you.
Let those who love your salvation
    say evermore, “God is great!”
⁵ But I am poor and needy;
    hasten to me, O God!
You are my help and my deliverer;
    O Lord, do not delay!

May we call upon God in these days, as we the community called the church remember the story of our Lord. While we might be distant from one another we all can join our troubled hearts cry to God, you are my help and my deliverer hasten to help me. Jesus is not a simple example for us when he trusts God despite what will happen to him. Jesus trusts for us. We can come to God fully honest with who we are, with whatever uncertainty, whatever trouble of our soul because Jesus Christ goes before us. We can lift our voice with his rejoicing in God’s love for us. Le us remember holy week together, and remember how our life is in Christ who prays and trust even when we cannot do so on our own.

Matthew 21:33-46

³³ “Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a watchtower. Then he leased it to tenants and went to another country. ³⁴ When the harvest time had come, he sent his slaves to the tenants to collect his produce. ³⁵ But the tenants seized his slaves and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. ³⁶ Again he sent other slaves, more than the first; and they treated them in the same way. ³⁷ Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ ³⁸ But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him and get his inheritance.’ ³⁹ So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. ⁴⁰ Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” ⁴¹ They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death, and lease the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at the harvest time.”

⁴² Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the scriptures:
      ‘The stone that the builders rejected
            has become the cornerstone;
      this was the Lord’s doing,
            and it is amazing in our eyes’?

⁴³ Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom. ⁴⁴ The one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and it will crush anyone on whom it falls.” ⁴⁵ When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they realized that he was speaking about them. ⁴⁶ They wanted to arrest him, but they feared the crowds, because they regarded him as a prophet.

When I was ten, I received a puppy from my parents.  The puppy was a complete and total surprise.  Our previous dog had gotten old and was having some health issues and was put to sleep.  A few months later, my parents brought home a new puppy and they gave me a mere lad of 10, the responsibilities for taking care of this new puppy.  Now I loved that puppy dearly but what did I know about taking care of a puppy.  I was quite proficient for about a week of tending to my duties.  I took it for walks and played with it.  I fed it and made sure it had enough water.  But, after a short amount of time, my mom had to take over, because I just didn’t want to do it anymore. 

In our parable, God also does a great bit of work for Israel, God’s vineyard.  God planted or founded Israel, God protected Israel building a wall around it and a watchtower overseeing it.  God dug a winepress, symbolizing that all this work was to produce the results of God’s work.  After God did all this work of creating, sustaining, and protecting Israel, God called and appointed tenants or leaders who would tend the people and bear the responsibility for nurturing and tending the people to God’s desired end, the fruit of righteousness. 

However, like me a young boy of 10, the people were quite responsible for a while, but after time, the leaders of the nation really were not interested in producing God’s fruit but something else entirely.  So, God sent the prophets, like Isaiah and Jeremiah to remind them of their responsibilities, but their reaction was violence and rejection.  In the last attempt, God sent his Son hoping they will respect him, but their reaction was the worst, they said this is the heir, let us kill him and take his inheritance.  Charged with responsibility, the leaders instead of cultivating and sustaining the people to worship and serve God, the leaders do the unfathomable, they steer the people away from God to some other aim entirely.

No surprise comes, when those faithless irresponsible leaders are removed and replaced with other leaders whose only concern is the will of God for God’s people.  Instead of seeking and controlling power, instead of seeking fame and notoriety, these leaders only seek to love God and to love their neighbor.  The irresponsible leaders are replaced with leaders seeking only to be faithful stewards or responsible with the charge and post assigned to them.  Not living for themselves, seeking to be the master, but seeking only instead of serving the Master.

How is our responsibility?  How faithful are we in our stewardship of God’s garden?  Do we have anything to show God as the results of God’s work?  God has given us immeasurable grace by giving us the free gift of the Spirit of his Son Jesus?  We are the garden God has planted, the one God has built a wall around and a watchtower within.  We are the ones having a winepress dug in, but do we have a crop to give God?  God has loved us, do we have the results of that love, from loving others?  God has served us, do we have the results of that service, from serving others?  God has given to us, do we have the results of that giving, by giving unto others?  God has blessed us, do we have the results of that blessing, by blessing others?  Do we have anything to give back to God, or do we seek to keep it just for ourselves?

My friends, the point is not to beat ourselves up because we only have a little fruit to offer God, the point is to self-reflect on our responsibility.  Have we been responsible with the gift has given to us, or have we been selfish and done nothing?  If not, could we change our behaviors and our attitudes.  The point is not being harsh to ourselves; the point is to correct ourselves and to learn and grown in our responsibility; and we all need to grow.  What is God calling and equipping us to change and will we make it?  That is the point of this parable, for us to become more faithful and responsible with God’s gifts and work.  Now is the time to do so, to the glory and honor and praises of God.  Amen.

Prayer
O God of Love and Grace, we thank you for the work you have done on our behalf through the life, death and resurrection of your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.  As we surrender ourselves to you, we ask that your Spirit aid us in our faithfulness in service towards us.  Help us be and act responsibly with the gifts you have blessed us with.  In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen. 

April 4, 2020

Mark 10:46-52

⁴⁶ They came to Jericho. As he and his disciples and a large crowd were leaving Jericho, Bartimaeus son of Timaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the roadside. ⁴⁷ When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” ⁴⁸ Many sternly ordered him to be quiet, but he cried out even more loudly, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” ⁴⁹ Jesus stood still and said, “Call him here.” And they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take heart; get up, he is calling you.” ⁵⁰ So throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. ⁵¹ Then Jesus said to him, “What do you want me to do for you?” The blind man said to him, “My teacher, let me see again.” ⁵² Jesus said to him, “Go; your faith has made you well.” Immediately he regained his sight and followed him on the way.

As a boy scout for one of my merit badges, I needed to write a letter to a public official at the State or National level and I needed that politician to reply.  I was quite dismayed over this endeavor, because who would reply to a letter, written by a 16-year-old boy, trying to earn a merit badge?  The Senators and Governors were far too busy to take the time to write a letter addressing whatever issue was concerning me.  However, my leader suggested that I write a letter to the Sen. John Glenn from Ohio.  Sen. Glenn was he himself an eagle scout, and therefore he knew what I was attempting and more than likely willing to respond.  So, I did and in an official envelope, on official letterhead from the State of Ohio, the Sen. John Glenn responded to my letter and I was able to earn my citizenship merit badge.

Just as it was with me and Sen. Glenn so too was it with Bartimaeus and Jesus.  Bartimaeus was a blind beggar, sitting beside the road begging for alms by all the people passing by; Jesus is the Son of David, the Messiah, just leaving Jericho and about two miles from Jerusalem.  The Son of David was the King of the Jews, and Jesus was on his way, just mere minutes from the events of Palm Sunday and his triumphal entry.  Bartimaeus cries out Son of David, mercy me; and some of the crowd tell him to zip it.  He is a blind beggar and Jesus is the Messiah, Jesus doesn’t have time or concern for you.  But, Jesus does.  In fact, that is the reason entire for Jesus being there to begin with.  Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem not to be crowned King in a political sense, but to be crowned King in a sacrificial sense.  He didn’t come to be served, he came to serve and to lay down his life as a ransom for many.  The Judge was going to be judged in place of the judged.

So Jesus stops, and he calls to Bartimaeus.  The crowd then turns and calls Bartimaeus to Jesus and he springs up, throws his cloak off and runs to Jesus.  Bartimaeus doesn’t mosey, or saunter, or putz, or wander his way over, he leaps us, throws off his coat and runs to Jesus.  Jesus does have time and concern; he isn’t going to make me wait.  Jesus asks what did he want, Bartimaeus replies to see again and Jesus grants it, telling him to go, your faith has healed you.

While the story of Bartimaeus is great for Sunday School, the lesson is perhaps all too important for us in the here and now.  We too are mere hours from Palm Sunday and the online services prepared.  We will be singing the Palm Sunday hymns, and reading the texts, and perhaps have a branch or two.  But, amid the festivities, we forget the lesson.  Jesus came to serve not to be served.  Jesus is the Son of David, but he is the crucified Son of David.  He came to lay down his life on behalf of us.  He isn’t in Jerusalem to conquer; he is there to be conquered.  What this all means, is that Jesus has time and concern for us all.  For you see, we are today’s Bartimaeus’s.  Each of us in need with our own circumstances, some physical, some mental, some emotional, some political, some social, but whatever life’s circumstances we are in, the lesson is that Jesus always has time and concern for us.

Even mere moments before our Palm Sunday, Jesus has concern and time for us all.  Calling us to himself, asking of each what is it you want me to do for you, and granting blessings.  But do we have the faith like Bartimaeus?  Do we look to Christ for what only Christ can give, or do we turn to another?  Do we spring up, throwing off our cloaks and running toward Christ in obedience when he calls, or is our response a bit more lackadaisical, if we respond at all?  Do we ask our needs and concerns in prayer to Christ, or do we attempt to fix things ourselves?  Do we have any faith in the Spirit of Jesus Christ, or do we place our faith in another?  Do we, like Bartimaeus place our trust in Christ and do we obey Christ?

My friends, Holy Week is almost upon us again.  We have much going on, even during our quarantines, we have services aplenty, we have Easter routines, food to make, decorations to hang and yes, even grass to mow.  But let us never forget the lesson, Jesus came to serve not to be served.  So, during this busy time, even in our isolations, let us remember that Jesus is never so busy to not have time and concern for us.  Let us then set aside time and concern for him.  Let us spring up and obey when he calls.  Let us ask him in prayer.  But most importantly let us believe when he speaks.  Amen.

Prayer

O God of Grace and God of Glory, we thank you for the time and concern you give to us.  We are ever thankful that you are attentive to our cries for help and our pleas for aid.  We ask now that you would care and attention to all your people wherever they are and whatever concerns they bear.  In Jesus’ name we pray.  Amen. 

From Amber Balista

Reading the psalms one day at a time has become a marker of time for me. Not unlike the Christian year is a marker of time for all of us. As we approach the end of lent and time continues to turn on, let us continue to dwell with the word of God in following the life of Jesus and in listening for what God is speaking in this Psalms. Psalm 49, in the Common English Bible translation.

Psalm 49 Listen to this, all you people!
    Listen closely, all you citizens of the world—
²  people of every kind,
    rich and poor alike!
³ My mouth speaks wisdom;
    my heart’s meditation is full of insight.
⁴ I will pay close attention to a proverb;
    I will explain my riddle on the lyre.

⁵ Why should I be afraid in times of trouble,
    when the wrongdoing of my bullies engulfs me—
⁶  those people who trust in their fortunes
     and boast of their fantastic wealth?
⁷ Wealth? It can’t save a single person!
    It can’t pay a life’s ransom-price to God.
⁸ The price to save someone’s life is too high—
    wealth will never be enough—
⁹ no one can live forever
    without experiencing the pit.

¹⁰ Everyone knows that the wise die too,
    just like foolish and stupid people do,
        all of them leaving their fortunes to others.
¹¹ Their graves are their eternal homes,
    the place they live for all generations,
        even if they had counties named after them!
¹² People won’t live any longer because of wealth;
    they’re just like the animals that pass away.

¹³ That’s how it goes for those who are foolish,
    as well as for those who follow their lead, pleased with their talk.  Selah
¹⁴ Like sheep, they’re headed straight for the grave.
    Death will be their shepherd—
    but those who do right in their hearts will rule over them come morning!
    their forms wasting away in the grave
    rather than having some dignified residence.
¹⁵ But God will save my life from the power of the grave,
    because he will take me. 

Death does not make distinctions. The rich, poor, wise or foolish will all pass from this life. humans are no different than animals or the lilies of the valley if you prefer Jesus metaphor. Of course, we don’t need to remind of this, especially not now. We are being reminded every day just how much we are all equally suspectable to infectious disease and all of us are responsible to one another to prevent the spread of Covid-19 as much as we can. No amount or wealth, status or power will make someone invincible. As the psalmist has said, even a rich person cannot keep their wealth in death and certainly they cannot pay God for their life “the price to save someone’s life is too high.” Those who think otherwise are like sheep with death for a shepherd.

Here is the turn of the text, the great but. “But God will save my life from the power of the grave,” says the psalm. God, not I, will do the saving. We cannot save ourselves, but we have a God who is faithful in his love of us and of all creation. This is where our hope is found. In the Lord who has already paid the price for our lives, in Jesus Christ. The only wealth that could ever save is the wealth of God’s unfailing love in the person of Christ who by his faith gave himself for us. Our good shepherd is the one who would go to the cross and endure death in our place. Death no longer has the last word. When we hope in God and not in our own power to save ourselves, the grave can no longer hold us down. Those who think they can buy their own lives or will their own way to complete assurance of life, they are foolish. We are foolish when we live this way too. The good news is we don’t have to live this way. We don’t have to stock up our houses or run afraid of this virus because we know death has already been defeated. We don’t need to do the defeating because it has already been done for our sake. In our unprecedented and unpredictable time it seems like things are changing each new day we can be sure of one thing that will not change, that Jesus Christ reigns with the Father through the Spirit now and forever. May our hope be in God.  

April 1, 2020

Mark 10:13-22

¹³ People were bringing little children to him in order that he might touch them; and the disciples spoke sternly to them. ¹⁴ But when Jesus saw this, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. ¹⁵ Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.” ¹⁶ And he took them up in his arms, laid his hands on them, and blessed them.

¹⁷ As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” ¹⁸ Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. ¹⁹ You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; You shall not defraud; Honor your father and mother.’” ²⁰ He said to him, “Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth.” ²¹ Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, “You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” ²² When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions.

Ten years separate me from my youngest, older brother.  This means that as a wee lad, I was often outside of the conversations and discussions going on.  My older siblings and my parents would be conversing about something, like where we would go on vacation, what was going on with the family, decisions regarding important matters.  I was often excluded because as a little tyke, what could I offer to the discussion and if the topic of conversation was serious perhaps even deathly serious, I was not even allowed in the room.

So too was it with the disciples and children.  In Mark, people were bringing their children to Jesus in order that he might touch them and bless them, and the disciples were shooing them away.  We are not really told the reasons why the disciples did this, perhaps a wanting to keep Jesus for themselves, or even his blessings for themselves, perhaps they thought that this was an adult matter, exclusively for those responsible enough to hear and understand the topics of conversation.  Whatever the reason we are not told, but they wanted to keep the kids away from Jesus. 

Jesus becomes irate, indignant; he gets downright mad at his disciples because they are keeping the children away from him.  The children are coming to him and accepting him, but the disciples are pushing them away, perhaps until they grow up.  Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs.  The Kingdom of God belongs to such as these children.  The Kingdom is not an exclusive club or group or social fraternity or sorority, keeping the young people out until they grow up or wise up.  No Jesus explains the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these.

But, even more severe than just allowing the kids to come near and toddle over, and ask incessantly ending questions, Jesus doesn’t just allow their presence, he tells the adults they need to become kids again.  Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.” Kids have the advantage over adults, they even are better at something than grownups are.  Faith.  A little child must depend on their caregivers for every need.  Someone else must provide, someone else must cook and clean, someone else must clean their scrapes, and buy their clothes.  So, a child knows all about faith in another, because they have no choice but to trust and depend on someone else to take care of them.

Perhaps as adults we have forgotten that.  We grow up to provide for ourselves and we should responsibly do so.  We grow up to cook and clean and tend our own houses and we should responsibly do so.  We grow up to trust and provide and heal ourselves, and we should probably do so.  But with no surprise, we grow up trusting in ourselves and we have no room for trusting in God; like the rich man, who had followed the law since he was young, and who had many possessions.  With a life so full of himself and so full of stuff, how could he trust in God?  When the times became tough, he had his obedience and his bank account, but he had no room for God because he didn’t need God.

My friends, we find ourselves in a peculiar place.  Everything we as a nation, as a people and as a church have put our trust in, except God, has been taken away from us.  We placed out trust in money, and in a flash, the stock market has crashed, our retirements are gone and all we have left is God.  We placed our trust in our politicians, and in a flash many, not all, have shown their true colors, trying to keep their jobs instead of doing their jobs, and all we have left is God.  We have placed our trust in science, and in a flash, the scientists are scrambling for a cure, and I hope they find one, but they will still be powerless to resurrect the hundreds of thousands of corpses, and all we have left is God.  We have placed our trust in actors/actresses, athletes and musicians, only to find out of their mortality, as even they in vulnerability hide in their mansions and even get sick, and all we have left is God.  And when it all is gone and we are stuck alone with ourselves in quarantine, all we will have left is God.

We will have become like little children again.  Little children dependent on and requiring the care of our Heavenly Father.  And as we see revealed in Jesus Christ, then is when God will take us up in his arms, lay his hands on us, and blessed us.  Because we will have become little children again, and all we will have is God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  The money will be gone, but we will still have God.  The power will be gone, but we will still have God.  The fame will be gone, but we will still have God.  The knowledge will be gone, but we will still have God.  The life will be gone, but we will still have God.  It can all fall away, but we will still have God; because God is faithful and mighty. 

My friends, what if we can still find a silver lining amid the black clouds.  What if all of the things in our lives that steal us away from God have been quickly taken away from us, so that in our hour of need, we might be returned to our true humanity: creatures trusting in their Creator.  I beg you not to worry about the things that have been lost, but instead to see the one thing, the most important thing that we have gained.  While we might have the lost the things of the world, we now, like children, can truly enter the Kingdom of God.  Let us not go back, let us instead enter in.  Amen. 

Prayer

O Loving and Holy God, we thank you for creating and sustaining us and for your love that will never let us go.  Help us through the Spirit of your Son Jesus, to accept your rule and your Kingdom, as children trusting and depending on you instead of all the things that might have been taken away from us.  In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen. 

March 31, 2020

Psalm 13

To the leader. A Psalm of David.

¹ How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?
    How long will you hide your face from me?
² How long must I bear pain^[a] in my soul,
    and have sorrow in my heart all day long?
How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?

³ Consider and answer me, O Lord my God!
    Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep the sleep of death,
⁴ and my enemy will say, “I have prevailed”;
    my foes will rejoice because I am shaken.

⁵ But I trusted in your steadfast love;
    my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.
⁶ I will sing to the Lord,
    because he has dealt bountifully with me.

In college, I worked for a summer in a factory.  The company took large rolls of metal and through a roll-forming process turned the flat metal into finished parts by the thousands.  We made car parts, appliance parts.  Any kind of part that could be made, we made it.  I was astounded about how an engineer could design a set of 20 rollers that incrementally would shape the flat metal gradually in stages, into a tube or channel or shaped part. Daily, we would use rolls and rolls of metal making thousands of parts that started with the raw untreated and unprocessed metal and turned it into a finished product, put into service.

The purpose of today’s Psalm is also about forming and processing a raw material into a finished product.  Through its three stages, the Psalm takes the raw material and processes it, molds it, shapes it, and works upon it, until it produces the finished product.  But while the tools and dies take metal and produce parts, this Psalm takes grief and turns it into joy.  This Psalm take the raw material of pain and suffering and processes it into hope.  The beauty and wonder of this Psalm is that it takes the deepest and most profound human sorrow and shapes that sorrow into faith and confidence. 

How long O Lord?  The Psalmist says it perfectly.  The Psalmist is stuck in the middle between God on one hand and trouble on the other.  But in this moment, God appears absent but the enemy, the trouble, seems to be ascending and greater in power.  The enemy, the sickness or the group of people surrounding the Psalmist is all that the author could see, and God was not in the picture.  So, the author asks,

        ¹ How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?
            How long will you hide your face from me?
        ² How long must I bear pain in my soul,

and have sorrow in my heart all day long?
      How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?

How Long indeed!  The Psalmist says it perfectly.  Caught between the might of an enemy and the absence of God, all the author could do was lament!  How long O Lord?

Are we not the same?  We are stuck in between like the Psalmist, between an enemy ascending, an enemy that only seems to grow stronger and more invasive by the day, and our God who has appeared to disappear, who appears to have forgotten us, who has turned his face away from us, who has ignored us in our pain and sorrow or who has allowed this virus to prevail over us.  Like the Psalmist all we can do in our anxiety and in our despair is to do as the Psalmist does and to lament.  And so, we add our voice to the Psalmist, How long O Lord?  How long in quarantine O Lord?  How long will your people die?  How long must we suffer pain and sorrow?  How long must we suffer the fools in charge?  How long must this enemy prevail upon us and over us?  All we can do is lament and moan, How long O Lord?  How long indeed!

But while we have sorrow and despair aplenty as does the Psalmist, the point of the Psalm is to form and process that sorrow and despair into something else.  So, while the largest section of the Psalm is the lament, speaking about our worry and anxiety, the Psalmist is led into prayer.  How long O Lord becomes help me O Lord. 

        ³ Consider and answer me, O Lord my God!
            Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep the sleep of death,
        ⁴ and my enemy will say, “I have prevailed”;
             my foes will rejoice because I am shaken.

Grief and sorrow are then motivations for prayer begging and pleading for help.  The pain and despair cause the Psalmist to reach out and to throw themselves onto the mercy of God.  “How long” becomes “help!”  

If the point of the lament is to move us from the whirlwind of emotions and worries to prayer, then our own “How Longs,” need to become a motivation and an attitude towards prayer.  Our “How long” lead us to our “Helps!”  Consider me O Lord my God.  Remember me God, don’t forget or turn away from me.  Give light to my eyes.  Lord I can’t see the end of this.  Lord I can’t understand how or why this is happening.  Or I will sleep the sleep of death, Lord all I see is my own grave fast approaching.  And my enemy will say, “I have prevailed”; my foes will rejoice because I am shaken.  All I can see O Lord is the virus winning and you not even trying.  The point of our own laments is to lead us to pray our own prayers asking God for Grace and Mercy.

But the Psalmist is not finished.  The Psalmist has lamented, that lament turned into a prayer, but that prayer has also formed into something else.  The lament became a prayer and the prayer became a quiet certainty.  The many phrases of emotion become two phrases of certainty. 

      But I trusted in your steadfast love;
            my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.
        ⁶ I will sing to the Lord,
            because he has dealt bountifully with me.

After uttering his prayer, the Psalmist is reminded.  The Psalmist is reminded of the steadfast love of God in which a person having such trust is never put to shame.  The Psalmist’s heart will rejoice in being delivered.  The Psalmist shall sing to the Lord, because God will deal bountifully with him.  What started off as angst and agitation has now become a calm, worshipful faith.  The process is complete, the finished product has been fully processed.  The worry and despair have become faith and hope.

What if our lament becomes our prayer and what if our prayer becomes this same calm, worshipful faith?  “How long” becomes “help” and “help” becomes “and yet I put my trust in you O God,” because of your steadfast love which nor virus can slay, because you will deal bountifully with me, which no virus can thwart, because of your salvation, which no virus can become an obstacle to.  At long last the process in us in complete, our sorrow and worry has become faith and hope.  We still are stuck in between the virus and God, but our present circumstances can be accepted, because our difficult present will become a joyous future. 

Therefore my friends, in this difficult moment when we have no answers to our questions, when we don’t see how long this trouble will last, when we see an enemy rising and our God quiet and absent, let us do as the Psalmist does.  Let us lament our frustrations, because our laments will become our prayers asking for help, and our prayers for help will become a quiet and confident faith in God, who will keep God’s promises in God’s time and in God’s results.  May our sorrow and frustrations be transformed into a quiet and certain, faith and hope.  Amen.

Prayer

O God of steadfast love and deliverance, we thank you and praise you for your Grace and Power freely given in Jesus Christ.  Through the work of your Holy Spirit help us to lament our emotions, knowing our laments leads us to prayer, and knowing that prayer will lead us to quiet trust in you.  In Jesus’ Name we pray.  Amen.

March 30, 2020

Mark 9:33-37

³³ Then they came to Capernaum; and when he was in the house he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the way?” ³⁴ But they were silent, for on the way they had argued with one another who was the greatest. ³⁵ He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.” ³⁶ Then he took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms, he said to them, ³⁷ “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.”

As a kid in elementary school, I once got in trouble because of running in the hallways going to lunch.  A friend and I were in quite a hurry to get to lunch and be first in line, apparently the food for lunch was quite desirable.  Halfway down the hallway we got caught by a teacher.  Naturally, the teacher, who knew exactly what we were doing, held us up until every other kid in the school got their lunch and then he allowed us to go.  Instead of being first we ended up being last.  Instead of having the best slice of square lunch-room pizza, we ended up having peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, that was all they had left.

Just as my friend and I had to switch places, Jesus tells his disciples also to switch places.  He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.”  The first place in things has always been considered a place of honor, a place worth fighting for and competing for.  Whether it is the admiration of others, the power the position brings, the influence and control the position has, everyone wants to be first. But, Jesus tells his disciples that in order to truly be great one should not seek the first, but instead seek the last place, the place no one wants, in order to be last of all and servant of all.  Jesus tells his disciples to switch places.

What precipitated these comments, is the argument between the disciples about who is the greatest, who was going to be in the first place.  The disciples it seems were jockeying for who would fill that first spot, the right-hand man, the grand vizier of Jesus’ kingdom.  I can almost see the argument, each of the 12 boasting and bragging about their personal merits, abilities and accomplishments.  I can do this, I am better at this, my family is better than yours, I have more money, I am better educated, I am more charismatic, I….  Each of the 12 were trying to triumph over the other 11 to obtain the first place, the biggest piece of the pie, the admiration and the power of being Jesus’ first disciple.  The disciples had traded the Grace of God for power and glory.  The disciples had switched places.

Shamefully, with much grief, causing great personal angst, the same thing is going on today in America’s churches.  Many church leaders, ministers of grand cathedrals, and seminary presidents, have traded away the Grace of God for political power and human admiration.  Instead of having gratitude and humility as disciples of Jesus Christ, these leaders are vying for power and glory.  Everyone wants the President’s ear to influence policy and direction.  Everyone wants to be open for Easter, regardless of the cost in the human lives of their congregations.  Everyone wants the Presidential Medal of Freedom, or a million listeners, or a million viewers, or a million book buyers.  Everyone wants their church or institution open on Easter, the Sunday with the greatest attendance, the greatest giving.  And we have traded away the Grace of God for human political power and human admiration.  We have been caught arguing about who is the greatest; we have been caught in triumphalism, instead of discipleship. 

I can see the 12 arguing and I can see today’s Christendom arguing, but I can also see Jesus shaking his head; because just as the disciples had their teachable moment, so too do we.  Jesus sits his disciples down and he begins to teach them and to teach us.  Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.”  Then he took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms, he said to them, “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.”  The significance of the child and the 12 welcoming a child, does not seem so strange and challenging to us today, but to the world of the disciples, this idea and saying was scandalous.  Because in a patriarchal and chauvinistic society, raising and tending children was women’s work, not the work of disciples studying under a rabbi.  The job of the disciple was study and imitating the teacher.  Jesus says to be his disciple or student, one must not be seeking to become the Master of many, but instead the servant of all.  And that is shocking and outrageous, instead of trying to be better than others, one should instead make others better, not power over others, but power into others

While you and I do bear no responsibility for Seminaries or universities, nor bear responsibility for Cathedrals or a congregation of tens of thousands of people, nor have the ear of public officials and those in great influence, we do bear responsibility for our own little corner of the Kingdom of God.  While others might be scrambling for more, we seek to bear responsibility for the sake of others.  While leaders might desire to become proud of their churches, or institutions, seeking glory and recognition and wealth, we as leaders of our small flock and small institution seek to serve and better others as expense of ourselves.  Instead of seeking to make Trinity and ourselves famous, we only wish to share the name of Jesus Christ.  While others are trading Grace for power, we seek only in gratitude and humility to trade power for Grace.  While others are trying to prove their theology and ethics and morality is better than others, we instead try to meet people where they are in the hopes of empowering and better that other person.  We seek not to triumph; we seek instead to serve.

My friends you and I are facing not only a difficult moment because of our quarantines, we also face a difficult moment because the old temptations are creeping in again.  The church in every age is sorely tempted not just by plague and famine outside, but we are sorely tempted by heresy and error inside.  None are greater than the Church’s temptation to triumphalism, the desire to argue and fight over who is the greatest!  But surely as Jesus Christ taught the 12 and the 12 eventually listened; so too will we, who are the bearers of the Jesus’ Spirit hear the call and Word of the Master, not to seek the first place but to be last of all and servants of all.  Jesus never exchanges Grace for power, neither should we.  Let us instead learn gratitude and humility in discipleship.  Let us learn to trade power for Grace.  Amen and Thanks be to God!

Prayer

O Holy and Loving God, we thank you for your love and your Grace which never lets us go, even unto ourselves and our poor choices.  We ask once again for the Spirit of your Son Jesus, which will lead us and equip us with all gratitude and humility necessary to follow your will for our lives.  In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.

March 28, 2020

1 Corinthians 13:1-13

13 If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. ² And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. ³ If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

⁴ Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant ⁵ or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; ⁶ it does not rejoice in wrongdoing but rejoices in the truth. ⁷ It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

⁸ Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end. ⁹ For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part; ¹⁰ but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end. ¹¹ When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways. ¹² For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. ¹³ And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.

We have all heard the cliché that all good things must come to and end, but to those that must suffer through three months of winter in Northeast Ohio, not many will call winter a good thing.  But at least we can be sure that winter has come to an end.  The crocuses and daffodils have bloomed in my flower beds, reminding me that I need to get outside and clean them from leaves.  The grass that was once brown and ordinary is now sprouting daily it seems, reminding me that grass cutting season is near.  The sky is full of Canadian geese flying north for the spring, robins looking to build nests and pollen driving my nose and eyes obscenely crazy.  Winter is over and now Spring has begun.

In our text from 1 Corinthians, Paul writes about other things that will come to an end.  He writes, but as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end.  For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part;but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end.  Paul is talking about that when the Kingdom of God comes in Jesus Christ, certain temporary things will not be needed.  The things the Church needed for the time in between the first and second coming of Jesus Christ will no longer be needed, because the journey is over.  No longer will the church need prophecies, because the future is the present and because Jesus will speak directly to us.  Tongues and knowledge will no longer be needed, because having arrived at the destination, the Spirit will so fill us with life, we have all them.  Knowing in part becomes superfluous, because we will know and be known completely.  The interim time has come to an end and no longer do we need those temporary things, they have come to an end.

Except love that is. Paul writes that while everything else comes to an end, Love never ends.  Love is not just the temporary companion of the Church on its journey forward, but Love is both the motivation for making such a trip and also the goal and final state of all things.   To enjoy the love of God in Christ Jesus is the eternal state of blessedness for all time.  The things on the way are needed for the journey, but when the destination is reached, we put aside those things to enjoy the forever things.  We are told that the three great Christian pillars of our discipleship are now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the most important word is perhaps now.  Because we are still making our journey, faith, hope and love are important we are not yet there.  So, we must still believe and hope, but when Christ comes, we can put away our faith and hope, we will not longer need them, because we now have Christ face to face.  But the verse has another phrase ever so important, and the greatest of these is love.  Because while in eternity we will put away our faith and hope, having come to and end, love is the greatest of the three, because love will remain forever.  Our faith and hope are only necessary on our journey of discipleship, but having reached our eternal state, the love with which we loved God and our neighbor on the trip, will dwell forever.

This means my friends that not only will our faith and hope come to an end because Jesus Christ will return, but it also means that this time of quarantine will come to an end.  The days of self-isolation will come to an end and we will once again see face-to-face.  The days of worry and anxiety will come to an end and we will once again enjoy the peace and security which only Christ can give.  The days of scarcity and conflict will come to an end and we will enjoy the abundance and harmony that only God can create.  This temporary circumstance demanding faith and hope and love on our part will come to and end, but love will not.

So who are you loving now?  No doubt we are struggling with our discipleship in this difficult moment with prayer and study and online worship and service, but who are you loving while doing those 4 great Christian Practices?  Paul writes that If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.  If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.  In this time of quarantine, what good is our prayer life if we don’t have love for the people on whose behalf we pray?  In this time of self-isolation, what good is our studying scripture and theology dwelling in right truths and understandings, if we aren’t moved to love God and our neighbor with all that we have and are?  What good is our acts of service if we despise the ones we are trying to help and judging guilty the ones that won’t help?  What good is a thousand online worship services and streams if the Church of Jesus Christ doesn’t end up obeying the command to love God and our neighbor?  If we don’t love we are noisy gongs, clanging cymbals, and ultimately nothing.  So, who are you loving now?

Even though that question was quite difficult and uncomfortable, we have a quite harder one put to us, the question of how we love.  What if currently and in this place, someone is needing my patience and I don’t have any?  What if that same person or even another is needing my kindness and I keep it to myself?  What if a third is tired of my boasting and incessant pride?  What if I am rude, or self-seeking (which I am)?  What if I am easily angered, keeping records with whole bookcases of every wrong done to me?  What if I delight in evil and wickedness?  What if I am not interested in protecting those that need my protection, what if I have trust issues, what if I am not interested in justice for the other, what if I cannot hope and have my hopes dashed yet again, what if my perseverance quits on me?  What if my Love isn’t really Love but something else?

The good news of the Gospel, brothers and sisters is not that we must conjure or actuate a latent ability to love like this, the good news of the Gospel is that through the work of the Holy Spirit, you and I have been baptized or immersed into the love of God in Jesus Christ.  Because God has surrounded and penetrated us with this love first, we can now share in that love, and at long last come to love.  Because God has first loved us, we can now come to love.  Because we share in God’s Love, we can now share love.  Allow me to reword my question “who are you loving and how are you loving them because God has loved you and loved you like that?”

All things come to an end, when Christ comes to end the old age.  When the complete comes even our faith and hope will cease because we see and enjoy Christ face-to-face.  This means that even this virus and our quarantines will come to an end.  But love will never cease, Love will exist without end.  So, if now faith, hope and love abide these three.  are you loving God and your neighbor and are you loving them as you first have been loved by Christ?  We have been shown the most excellent way of discipleship, now is the time for us to take responsibility and step into and onto that way and love!  Amen.

Prayer

O Holy and Loving God, we thank you for the love that never lets us go, for the love that imparts life, for the love that lifts us above the drudgery of our lives.  We ask now that through our open and willing hearts, you would spread that love to those in need around us until at your Son’s coming, we may love and abide in love without end.  In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen. 

,