Holy cow! As I am going through this Lenten devotional by Henri Nouwen I am amazed at how pertinent some of his devotions are to what's going on today. Read this one.
"Rediscover your enemy as your brother or sister. Rediscover that the lost brother or sister your dislike and reject is really your brother or sister within our precious human family. God invites us to discover ways to be less self-righteous, to sit at the same table together, and see each other with welcoming and accepting eyes. Stay close to the weak. I say this because this is the way of God. How did God finally reveal true love for us? By sending his beloved Son to be with us where we are poor. 'I have come for the lost sheep.' God chose the descending way to reveal to us how deeply we are loved, and how we have much love to offer each other. It is such a wonderful sign for us that Jesus chose the 'downwardly mobile' way to be one with us at the same table. This is God's way, lived in the flesh by Jesus, and given for our consolation and example. 'I'm sent into the world by the Father to bring Good News to the poor.' How very beautiful, very mysterious, and very true!"
-Henri Nouwen
Reread that first paragraph again. Rediscover your enemy as your brother or sister. As the political climate continues to deteriorate (I'm not making a comment on specific legislation) and the two sides hurl insults one wonders where the humility and idea of serving others has gone. And before we are too quick to point fingers at our elected representatives we must remember to take a look at ourselves. Where in our lives are our enemies? Have we cut them off and cast them aside? Have we left no opening for forgiveness or reconciliation? Have we given up the possibility that maybe they are more like us than we'd like to admit? Should we take a hard look at ourselves and see how we're living our lives before we condemn others? I think we should. If we want to move forward with anything we need to be willing to forgive, to have honest dialogue, and most importantly give up our self-righteous attitude that we're always right and whoever disagrees is always wrong. That attitude sure doesn't sound like loving others as Jesus has loved us. We need to remember that we are called to be servants. We need to remember that the first shall be last and the last shall be first. Our needs do not always come first. I think Michael Jackson said it best when he said something to the effect that if we want change then we need to start by looking in the mirror.
Monday, March 22, 2010
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Love in Return for Love
"God wants us to love God. That is the vulnerability of our God. The theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, 'Guilt is the idol hardest to break down.' Guilt may be our idol, especially if we cling to it in our hearts. We mull over past events, somehow hoping that by rethinking them they might become good events. We relive all the feelings around our poor choices, wishing we'd said or done otherwise. But trying to rethink the 'bad' past into a 'good' past not only doesn't work, it makes the guilt greater. It is a very difficult challenge, to let go of the past, because your particular past is yours alone and is true for you. Thus it becomes like an idol that you must carry with you at all times. But the guilt must go, otherwise you are indirectly competing with God. God is saying, 'I have always loved you and I love you now. I want you to receive my love.' And you and I are saying, 'You can't love me, God, because I'm so bad. By thinking about my past I will prove to you that I am beyond forgiveness.'"
-Henri Nouwen
It is never God who prevents us from being loved or feeling the presence of the Spirit. We are the ones who get in the way of that love and that connection. We either convince ourselves that God isn't paying attention to us or that we aren't worthy of God's love. Both scenarios keep us from the relationship that God desires from us. If we could only learn to live in the present. To let the past go and know that God loves us, has loved us, and always will love us. Then we wouldn't be trying to fill that void in our lives with all this stuff. If we could let ourselves be loved then that void would be filled and our relationship with God and the Spirit would grow. We need to get out of our own way. God loves you...all of you...just as you are...deal with it!
-Henri Nouwen
It is never God who prevents us from being loved or feeling the presence of the Spirit. We are the ones who get in the way of that love and that connection. We either convince ourselves that God isn't paying attention to us or that we aren't worthy of God's love. Both scenarios keep us from the relationship that God desires from us. If we could only learn to live in the present. To let the past go and know that God loves us, has loved us, and always will love us. Then we wouldn't be trying to fill that void in our lives with all this stuff. If we could let ourselves be loved then that void would be filled and our relationship with God and the Spirit would grow. We need to get out of our own way. God loves you...all of you...just as you are...deal with it!
Monday, March 1, 2010
Returning to Trust
"In my own life I well know how hard it is for me to trust that I am loved, and to trust that the intimacy I most carve is there for me, I most often live as if I have to earn love, do something noteworthy, and then perhaps I might get something in return. This attitude touches the whole question of what is called in the spiritual life, the 'first love.' Do I really believe that I am loved first, independent of what I do or what I accomplish? This is an important question because as long as I think that what I most need I have to earn, deserve and collect by hard work, I will never get what I most need and desire, which is a love that cannot be earned, but that is freely given. Thus, my return is my willingness to renounce such thoughts and to choose to live more and more form my true identity as a cherished child of God." -Henri Nouwen
If we could only stop trying so hard to earn God's love, we could start living as someone who is already loved deeply by God. We spend so much time trying to earn favor that we get frustrated because we know we aren't good enough and that leads to a sense of despair. If we could only accept that God loves us just as we are, and begin to live our lives as someone who knows they are loved and accepted, we could take that energy wasted trying to get God to love us and put it towards living a grateful life because we're loved. God loves you! Stop trying to earn that love. Instead, accept God's love and do your best to live a life that your loving God would be proud of.
If we could only stop trying so hard to earn God's love, we could start living as someone who is already loved deeply by God. We spend so much time trying to earn favor that we get frustrated because we know we aren't good enough and that leads to a sense of despair. If we could only accept that God loves us just as we are, and begin to live our lives as someone who knows they are loved and accepted, we could take that energy wasted trying to get God to love us and put it towards living a grateful life because we're loved. God loves you! Stop trying to earn that love. Instead, accept God's love and do your best to live a life that your loving God would be proud of.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Promise
Whoa...I just read my post from last week and I've already failed at my challenge to pray twice a day. Good thing there is grace and forgiveness! I'm going to try again though so don't think you're off the hook. I've preached one or three sermons now in the season of Lent and I've decided to focus on our need to connect with God. We need to be intentional in seeking that connection and even more diligent in keeping outside distractions from breaking that connection. Without our daily intentional connection with the Spirit we can easily miss God's still small voice in our lives and the opportunity to bask in God's presence. I think I preach on our need to be in communion with God because it is something I know I need and don't always do a great job of getting. As I said before good thing there is grace and forgiveness!
Today I was thinking about a topic and I was reminded of the Old Testament verse from Genesis I'm going to preach on Sunday. (Don't worry Carroll it won't be an exact copy of my blog.) :-) The verses come from the 15th chapter and they are God's covenant with Abram. God promises Abram land and descendants. Some of the language and ritual around the sacrifice and covenant ceremony doesn't make much sense to us today, but safe to say the cutting of the animals in half was an ancient way to do a covenant. Today we'd have lawyers present and there would be a lot of signatures. The interesting part of this covenant between God and Abram is not the way in which it was sealed, but in who is making the promises. Read verses 1-12 and see who is doing the promising. God is saying that Abram and his descendants will inherit this land. God is the one doing all the talking. God's promises of descendants and land is not contingent on Abram at all. This covenant/promise is unconditional. Abram has done nothing to deserve this great blessing and he can do nothing to have this promise broken because God is doing all the promising.
It is important to note that unconditional promise here in Genesis because as the history of Israel unfolds the promise starts to have some conditions put on it. We could certainly enter into a lively discussion about what the addition of conditions means, but that would be for another post. Let's focus on the first promise of land and heirs made to Abram and how it was unconditional. That promise is still valid for us today. No, God isn't promising us the promised land, riches, and/or children. God is promising to be with us, to love us, to never leave us or forsake us and to always work for God's purpose in our lives. This promise to us is also unconditional. It isn't affected by how we act or don't act. God has promised us forgiveness and grace as long as we honestly repent and are sorry for our sins. I think that promise can't be overstated as we journey through Lent. As we are asked to work on bettering our connection with God and to take an honest look at our spiritual lives we need to keep in mind that even if we aren't satisfied with what we see God loves us just the way we are. God loves our imperfections and all.
As a parting word we can't take that unconditional love for granted and abuse it. Yes, we can't do anything to make God love us less, but that doesn't mean we have an excuse to live however we see fit and then go back and ask for forgiveness. Asking for and receiving forgiveness is only done when we are truly sorry for what we've done and we have an honest desire to not do it again and to try to live better. We should be living a life filled with gratitude for what God has done for us, and there is no better way to thank God for the unconditional love then to live a life that demonstrates that same unconditional love to all creation as best we can. Let the freedom and joy of knowing that God loves you, warts and all, allow you to honestly confess your sins and seek a better connection allowing you to live a more spirit filled life.
Today I was thinking about a topic and I was reminded of the Old Testament verse from Genesis I'm going to preach on Sunday. (Don't worry Carroll it won't be an exact copy of my blog.) :-) The verses come from the 15th chapter and they are God's covenant with Abram. God promises Abram land and descendants. Some of the language and ritual around the sacrifice and covenant ceremony doesn't make much sense to us today, but safe to say the cutting of the animals in half was an ancient way to do a covenant. Today we'd have lawyers present and there would be a lot of signatures. The interesting part of this covenant between God and Abram is not the way in which it was sealed, but in who is making the promises. Read verses 1-12 and see who is doing the promising. God is saying that Abram and his descendants will inherit this land. God is the one doing all the talking. God's promises of descendants and land is not contingent on Abram at all. This covenant/promise is unconditional. Abram has done nothing to deserve this great blessing and he can do nothing to have this promise broken because God is doing all the promising.
It is important to note that unconditional promise here in Genesis because as the history of Israel unfolds the promise starts to have some conditions put on it. We could certainly enter into a lively discussion about what the addition of conditions means, but that would be for another post. Let's focus on the first promise of land and heirs made to Abram and how it was unconditional. That promise is still valid for us today. No, God isn't promising us the promised land, riches, and/or children. God is promising to be with us, to love us, to never leave us or forsake us and to always work for God's purpose in our lives. This promise to us is also unconditional. It isn't affected by how we act or don't act. God has promised us forgiveness and grace as long as we honestly repent and are sorry for our sins. I think that promise can't be overstated as we journey through Lent. As we are asked to work on bettering our connection with God and to take an honest look at our spiritual lives we need to keep in mind that even if we aren't satisfied with what we see God loves us just the way we are. God loves our imperfections and all.
As a parting word we can't take that unconditional love for granted and abuse it. Yes, we can't do anything to make God love us less, but that doesn't mean we have an excuse to live however we see fit and then go back and ask for forgiveness. Asking for and receiving forgiveness is only done when we are truly sorry for what we've done and we have an honest desire to not do it again and to try to live better. We should be living a life filled with gratitude for what God has done for us, and there is no better way to thank God for the unconditional love then to live a life that demonstrates that same unconditional love to all creation as best we can. Let the freedom and joy of knowing that God loves you, warts and all, allow you to honestly confess your sins and seek a better connection allowing you to live a more spirit filled life.
Monday, February 15, 2010
You've Got to Pray
"The proper way for man to pray," said Deacon Lemuel Keyes, "and the only proper attitude, is down upon his knees."
"No, I should say the way to pray," said Reverend Dr. Wise, "is standing straight with outstretched arms, and rapt and upturned eyes."
"Oh, no, no, no!" said Elder Slow, "Such posture is too proud; a man should pray with eyes fast closed, and head contritely bowed."
"It seems to me his hands should be austerely clasped in front. With both thumbs pointing toward the ground,"
Said Reverend Dr. Blunt. "Las' year I fell in Hodgkin's well head first," said Cyrus Brown."With both my heels a-stickin' up, my head a-pointin' down;"an' I made a prayer right then an' there...
"Cyrus Brown's Prayer" by Sam Walter Foss
"You've got to pray just to make it today" MC Hammer
Two good quotes. One about the "right" way to pray and the other about the importance of prayer in our lives. I've been thinking about a challenge for Lent. I'm not big on sacrifices so I like to come up with some sort of challenge to try for Lent. This year the challenge is going to be saying a prayer twice a day for the entire season of Lent. It doesn't matter when the prayer is, but it may be easier to pray just before you get up in the morning and then again right before you go to bed at night. It doesn't matter when you pray, just so that you do so.
I can hear some people resisting because they don't know the "right" way to pray. Well there is no right way to pray. It is just about your conversation with God. There is no right formula and no magic words that you can use. When I'm asked about praying all I say is to make sure that you thank God for your blessings (make sure your thanks outweigh your requests) and that you take time to listen for God's response. If all we do is talk then it is hard to hear the response. Don't let the thought of talking to God or Jesus intimidate you either. I had a chaplain supervisor tell me once to just pretend Jesus is sitting in a chair next to you and have a conversation with him just as you would a good friend there. Don't worry about doing it right...Just do it (as someone else says).
My challenge to myself will be to committ to pray twice a day during Lent, and hope that carries on past this season also. Will you accept the challenge and see how the power of prayer can change your life?
"No, I should say the way to pray," said Reverend Dr. Wise, "is standing straight with outstretched arms, and rapt and upturned eyes."
"Oh, no, no, no!" said Elder Slow, "Such posture is too proud; a man should pray with eyes fast closed, and head contritely bowed."
"It seems to me his hands should be austerely clasped in front. With both thumbs pointing toward the ground,"
Said Reverend Dr. Blunt. "Las' year I fell in Hodgkin's well head first," said Cyrus Brown."With both my heels a-stickin' up, my head a-pointin' down;"an' I made a prayer right then an' there...
"Cyrus Brown's Prayer" by Sam Walter Foss
"You've got to pray just to make it today" MC Hammer
Two good quotes. One about the "right" way to pray and the other about the importance of prayer in our lives. I've been thinking about a challenge for Lent. I'm not big on sacrifices so I like to come up with some sort of challenge to try for Lent. This year the challenge is going to be saying a prayer twice a day for the entire season of Lent. It doesn't matter when the prayer is, but it may be easier to pray just before you get up in the morning and then again right before you go to bed at night. It doesn't matter when you pray, just so that you do so.
I can hear some people resisting because they don't know the "right" way to pray. Well there is no right way to pray. It is just about your conversation with God. There is no right formula and no magic words that you can use. When I'm asked about praying all I say is to make sure that you thank God for your blessings (make sure your thanks outweigh your requests) and that you take time to listen for God's response. If all we do is talk then it is hard to hear the response. Don't let the thought of talking to God or Jesus intimidate you either. I had a chaplain supervisor tell me once to just pretend Jesus is sitting in a chair next to you and have a conversation with him just as you would a good friend there. Don't worry about doing it right...Just do it (as someone else says).
My challenge to myself will be to committ to pray twice a day during Lent, and hope that carries on past this season also. Will you accept the challenge and see how the power of prayer can change your life?
Monday, February 8, 2010
Amazing!!
I am amazed and proud of the way our church and community stepped up to the plate for the Wolfe Family. We held our Spaghetti Dinner/Benefit yesterday and let's just say the money raised was way beyond my expectations. Even with the snowy weather we raised approximately $4000!! We do not have the complete totals yet so don't quote me exactly, but we should be very close to that number. AWESOME is what comes to mind.
The out pouring of support shows us what a community can do when we come together to support one another. Beyond the monetary support I received numerous offers to help the Wolfe family in any way possible. What a tremendous example of the Body of Christ coming together to support one of its members. To me there is not better example of Christian love and support. People gave of their time, talent and money to help someone in need. This Spirit of giving and helping others is exactly what Jesus calls us to do. Let's pray that this generous Spirit does not end with this benefit. There are numerous ways we can continue to spread the same love and Spirit with our entire community. THANK YOU EVERYONE!!
The out pouring of support shows us what a community can do when we come together to support one another. Beyond the monetary support I received numerous offers to help the Wolfe family in any way possible. What a tremendous example of the Body of Christ coming together to support one of its members. To me there is not better example of Christian love and support. People gave of their time, talent and money to help someone in need. This Spirit of giving and helping others is exactly what Jesus calls us to do. Let's pray that this generous Spirit does not end with this benefit. There are numerous ways we can continue to spread the same love and Spirit with our entire community. THANK YOU EVERYONE!!
Monday, February 1, 2010
Going Grey
Well it is official I suppose. I have officially become old in my children's eyes. Isaac asked me this morning how old I was. I told him and he said geez dad that's old! I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Then, he says something about the graying of my hair! Sometimes I think that little fart is too smart for his own good.
I don't know why that stung a little bit. I know full well that 32 isn't old and I also know that gray hair is better than no hair; at least for now! Also, age has never been a big deal for me. I had a couple friends that hit 30 and it was a big deal for them, but I guess I've never worried about it. I don't mind getting old, really I don't. Maybe I don't want to be old or old fashioned in my kids eyes. I suppose I want to be the cool dad, but I can't let that happen because I'm going to relish embarrassing my kids. I think that's why we don't have a girl...God is protecting her from me and all the issues she'd have to work through from the emotional scars she would acquire growing up with me as a dad!
Getting older means getting more mature right? Well, in some areas of our lives it should. As we experience more and more of life we get a better understanding of how the world works. We realize that we have more and more responsibilities and can't keep acting like we did 5, 10, 15 years ago. As we get older we should mature in our faith life too. Just as life experiences make us more mature those same experiences cause our faith to grow too. As we struggle through tough times and come out the other end we begin to understand that God will see us through. As we continue to study God's word and see how it can help us through life we begin to understand the importance it has in our lives. As we are generous with what has been given to us (talent, time, money, etc.) we see how God blesses our lives, and others, through our generosity. As we see how our attitude and how we treat others affects how we interact with the world and receive God's blessings.
What's that? You don't see this happening? Did you know that most adults have an elementary Sunday school understanding of the Bible? Has your faith grown? It doesn't happen automatically. Yes life experience can help us grow in our faith, but we need to be studying the Word and being in community with other believes to truly help our faith grow. If there is one thing we should know by being in a farming community it is that you need to water something to make it grow. Well "water" for your faith is Bible study, prayer, devotion, and worship. Without those how can you expect to learn more and grown? And if your faith doesn't grow then how can you expect it to continue to be a sense of strength for you? Does an 8th grade level of spiritual maturity help a 32+ year old make sense of life? I don't think so. Consider this a challenge to grow your faith. If you feel like your faith life has grown stagnant then it is a good possibility you've stopped watering it. There are many opportunities to feed and grow your faith. Will you take advantage of them?
I don't know why that stung a little bit. I know full well that 32 isn't old and I also know that gray hair is better than no hair; at least for now! Also, age has never been a big deal for me. I had a couple friends that hit 30 and it was a big deal for them, but I guess I've never worried about it. I don't mind getting old, really I don't. Maybe I don't want to be old or old fashioned in my kids eyes. I suppose I want to be the cool dad, but I can't let that happen because I'm going to relish embarrassing my kids. I think that's why we don't have a girl...God is protecting her from me and all the issues she'd have to work through from the emotional scars she would acquire growing up with me as a dad!
Getting older means getting more mature right? Well, in some areas of our lives it should. As we experience more and more of life we get a better understanding of how the world works. We realize that we have more and more responsibilities and can't keep acting like we did 5, 10, 15 years ago. As we get older we should mature in our faith life too. Just as life experiences make us more mature those same experiences cause our faith to grow too. As we struggle through tough times and come out the other end we begin to understand that God will see us through. As we continue to study God's word and see how it can help us through life we begin to understand the importance it has in our lives. As we are generous with what has been given to us (talent, time, money, etc.) we see how God blesses our lives, and others, through our generosity. As we see how our attitude and how we treat others affects how we interact with the world and receive God's blessings.
What's that? You don't see this happening? Did you know that most adults have an elementary Sunday school understanding of the Bible? Has your faith grown? It doesn't happen automatically. Yes life experience can help us grow in our faith, but we need to be studying the Word and being in community with other believes to truly help our faith grow. If there is one thing we should know by being in a farming community it is that you need to water something to make it grow. Well "water" for your faith is Bible study, prayer, devotion, and worship. Without those how can you expect to learn more and grown? And if your faith doesn't grow then how can you expect it to continue to be a sense of strength for you? Does an 8th grade level of spiritual maturity help a 32+ year old make sense of life? I don't think so. Consider this a challenge to grow your faith. If you feel like your faith life has grown stagnant then it is a good possibility you've stopped watering it. There are many opportunities to feed and grow your faith. Will you take advantage of them?
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