God

Memories

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“But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. ”
Luke 2:19
Yesterday I woke up with a tune running through my head. Over and over I found myself humming a tune that seemed to come from nowhere. Suddenly, after about an hour, I realized what the tune was – a song I learned in 5th grade at Girl Scout summer camp! It had been buried in my memory and for some reason just popped into my head as I woke up. I realized I could sing the song all the way through – all the words – and as I did, I remembered the camp experience, the lake where we canoed, the platform tents where we lived. All of that came back to me as I sang through the camp song.

I wonder if Mary had a tune to him or sing as she remembered that first Christmas. Maybe she had a lullaby she sang to the baby Jesus, or a traveling song she’d hummed as they fled Bethlehem for Egypt. However she made connections, she had a lifetime of memories treasured in her mind. There were memories of the shepherds crowding into the stable on the night of his birth, Jesus hitting his thumb with his hammer as Joseph taught him carpentry, of her son’s Bar Mitzvah, of girls flirting with him in the village, and of that trip to Jerusalem when Jesus got left behind. So many memories to cherish, so many ways to perceive God at work in her life, in Jesus’ life, and in the world.

As we begin our new year, I invite you to take a moment to recall the joys of 2015, the places where you saw God at work in your life, at Grove, and in the world. Pause to give thanks tonight as the ball in Times Square descends. Commit 2015 to God with thanks for what has gone well and with repentance for where we have failed the Lord. And then seek God’s presence in your life right from the beginning of 2016. Let this be a year for all of us to treasure and ponder in our hearts.

Prayer: Loving God, as we come to the end of this year, I thank you for all the ways you gave been active in my life. I am grateful for the ways you have enabled me to make a positive difference in the world. And where I have failed you, I pray that you will take my feeble efforts and transform them so that you might yet be glorified. Let 2016 be a year in which I am attuned to your presence, and ready to do your will for the good of your people and the glory of your kingdom, for I ask this in Christ’s holy name. Amen.

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The Light of Christ

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“What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.”
John 1:3b-5
A 7-year old child was drawing a picture of the Nativity. The picture was very good, including Mary, Joseph and, of course, baby Jesus. However, there was a fat man standing in the corner of the stable, that just did not seem to fit in. When the child was asked about it, she replied, “Oh, That’s Round John Virgin.”

On Christmas Eve we’ll join our voices to sing “Round yon virgin mother and child” as we hold our candles high. The light of the candles will begin as only a few points of light in the darkened sanctuary. From just the light of the Advent and Christ candles, the light will spread across the room from hand to hand until the room is alight. The candle light will fill the room, allowing us to read the words of the hymn and see one another’s faces. That light will be enough for us.

A young mother, a child born in a stable, a rag-tag group of sheepherders…not the beginning that we would expect for the Son of God. A small beginning, not too different form the light of one candle, but a light and a beginning that cannot be overcome by the darkness that threatens it. As the faith is passed from person to person, just as the light is passed from hand to hand, the darkness recedes. We might not have total light in the world anymore than the we will have total light in the sanctuary, but just as the candle light is enough for us to see one another, the light of Christ is enough for us to see each other in the world, to recognize and care for fellow children of God. The light of Christ promises life, grace and a new future for all who believe.

Silent night, holy night,
Son of God, love’s pure light,
Radiant beams from thy holy face,
With the dawn of redeeming grace,
Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth.

May the light of Christ fill your life this Christmas, and may you pass it on, hand to hand, person to person, until the world is alight with the grace of Jesus Christ.

Merry Christmas!

Flash Floods and Life’s Challenges

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“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.”
                    Psalm 19:14
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It rained yesterday; in fact, it poured.  The entire Philadelphia area was under a flash flood warning.  As I drove down route 202 in the early evening, I saw just how much it had rained. The traffic usually backs up around Route 29 in the evening rush hour, but last night, we were at a standstill in front of the Gateway Shopping Center in Wayne.  We crawled along and then had to converge from 3 lanes into 1 because of the water that had collected across two lanes of the highway near Chesterbrook.  A few brave souls drove through the lake in the middle lane, but no one braved the far right lane where the water had collected over a foot deep against the sound wall.

For those of us driving, this was just an inconvenience, but flash floods are nothing to minimize.  I was reading recently that a flash flood with just six inches of mud and water can carry a car away.  It doesn’t take a tsunami size wave to endanger life – just six inches of muddy water moving swiftly.  We think, “oh, it’s just a little water,” and then, bam!  The little stream sweeps our car off the road.
Isn’t life like that, sometimes?  We think, “oh, I can get through this,” and then, bam!  We get swept away by the life equivalent of six inches of muddy water.   We need an anchor in the face of the flash floods of life; we need a rock to steady us and provide us safety when the muddy waters rush by.
“O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.”  When things are going well, it’s all too easy to forget about God, but when our life is in shambles, when the flash floods of health concerns or job loss or relationship issues strike, we need someone to be our rock and redeemer.  I was able to avoid the deep water on the roadway, but in life we can’t always avoid the flash floods.  They can strike without warning and sweep us away.  But God will be our rock if we seek the Lord and anchor our lives on God’s steadfast love.  Our faith community is an extension of that love, providing us with tangible signs of God’s love and care in times of need.
But we need to find that anchor before the storms strike, we need to develop our relationship with God when the sun is shining in order to be prepared for the flash floods that may come.  Developing our relationship with God is something we can all do through spending time in God’s Word, Bible study, prayer and ministry.  When we do that, when we have taken time to get to know God as the one who loves us, then we can be assured that no matter what life throws at us, God will remain with us as our rock in this life and our redeemer for all eternity.
 
Prayer:   Loving God, help me to put my trust in you.  Let me grow closer to you in the good times so that I will recognize your loving care in the flash floods of life.  Be my rock; anchor my life in your love and law so that nothing can sweep me away from your presence.  Amen.
 

Laughing with Jesus

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“A person’s attire and hearty laughter,

                         and the way he walks, show what he is.”

                                                          Sirach 19:30

      “A pastor, a priest and a rabbi walk into a bar…”  How many times have you heard some variation of that?  And you knew what was coming next.  Oh, maybe not the exact words, but you knew that a joke was coming, and you listened with an expectation of laughter and fun around the corner.

     Today, July 24th, is National Old Joke Day.  Take a moment to share a joke with a friend or neighbor.  Laugh with a family member. Laughing, reports WebMD, changes us physiologically: “We stretch muscles throughout our face and body, our pulse and blood pressure go up, and we breathe faster, sending more oxygen to our  tissues.”  (http://www.webmd.com/balance/features/give-your-body-boost-with-laughter)

     I believe Jesus loved to laugh.  If you look at the stories of his life, he’s always eating out with people.  From Pharisees to sinners, Jesus loved to belly-up to the table and break bread. I can’t imagine his doing that without letting out a good belly laugh at some point.  Whether as host or guest (or meal!), Jesus came eating and drinking and, I think, laughing.

     So in the midst of all of our serious study of Scripture and commitment to prayer, let’s take time to gather at the table with friends.  Remember that God’s first act was one of delight and pleasure – to create a world that would bring delight to the Lord.  Let’s be intentional about creating special celebrations, laughing together, rejoicing in each other’s presence, and giving thanks to God for the delight of this day. Then, before you clear the table, turn to your neighbor and ask them if they’ve heard the one about the pastor, the priest and the rabbi.

Prayer:   God of laughter and joy, who made us for your pleasure and delight, I pray that my life will bring a smile to your face rather than a frown.  Help me to approach the world with the same delight and joy with which you made it, and to rejoice at the wonder of your love in my life as you rejoice at my love for you.  Amen. 

 

Tending God’s Plantings

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“Thus says the Lord God: I myself will take a sprig from the lofty top of a cedar; I will set it out. I will break off a tender one from the topmost of its young twigs; I myself will plant it on a high and lofty mountain. On the mountain height of Israel I will plant it, in order that it may produce boughs and bear fruit, and become a noble cedar.”
                                                                                                                                      Ezekiel 17:22-23a

Our youth choir is preparing to head out on tour a week from now. These young people have worked for months, learning music, practicing dances, and anticipating the joy of sharing God’s Word in song with people form Delaware to North Carolina. While God can work through anyone who is open to the Spirit’s power, it is certainly easier for God to take a cutting from a mighty cedar and plant that to take root and grow. And it is far more likely that a young person raised in a home that honors and worships God will find their way to discipleship than a youth raised in a home that fails to acknowledge the Lord.

Each one of us has the privilege of helping to shape the life of young people around us. It isn’t just our own children who look to us as examples. It may be the child who lives down the street, the youth who bags our groceries, the young person we taught in school. There are so many opportunities to interact with young people in our world, and so many times that we may not even realize that we are being observed, that our actions and words are having an effect. Our words and actions can help or hurt, can build up or injure.

Research tells us that adolescence is a time of exploring identity, and the time of life when the most decisions are made to become a disciple of Jesus Christ. Every young person inner congregation has the potential to be a fully committed disciple of Jesus; but they also have the potential to turn their back on the Lord if what they observe suggests that Christianity is not the way to go. The story of Gandhi, how he explored the Christian faith but rejected it because of the institutional discrimination he experienced as a man of color during his years as a lawyer in South Africa, reminds us that our actions at one stage of an individual’s life can have life-long impacts.

So look around, consider who are the young people with whom; you come into contact, and make every effort to work with God to tend the young saplings planted by God, needing our nurture and care to become the mighty cedars God intended. Who knows – there may be pastors and professional ministry workers among them, maybe even the next Billy Graham!
Prayer: Gracious God, fill me with your Spirit this day. Let me live each and every moment showing your love to the world, building up those with whom I come in contact, and modeling the life of discipleship. Let my life shine so that all who see me, no matter their age, will say, “There, indeed, is a follower of Jesus Christ, and I want to be like that.” Amen.

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FIFA and My Life in Christ

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image“They have lost all sensitivity and have abandoned themselves to licentiousness, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. That is not the way you learned Christ!”
Ephesians 4:19-20
The soccer world is all abuzz thanks to the breaking scandal about FIFA, the world governing body for soccer. The US government has brought charges against a score of top soccer officials, claiming bribery and corruption in the process used for awarding tournaments to cities and countries for awarding broadcast rights to media outlets. Even some star players have been crying out for years for something to be done about a culture of corruption. One south American star, Diego Maradona, said, “I was treated like a crazy person” for voicing allegations of corruption. (Philadelphia Inquirer, May 28, 2015, p. A8)

Ethics is the application of our beliefs to our actions in life. As Christians, we are called not only to affirm a belief in Jesus Christ but to order our lives around that belief living as followers in all that we do. In the letter to the Ephesians, Paul was warning the Christians in Ephesus to be sure their lives were aligned with the faith they professed. His words apply not only in 1st century Asia but throughout history.

Too often, Christians have separated church from life, barricading their faith behind stained glass barriers that limit matters of faith to Sunday morning and meetings in church buildings. But that is exactly the opposite of wha Christ intended. The teachings of Jesus are designed to shape our daily life, and Sunday morning at church is a time to be strengthened and supported as we prepare to go out into the world. It is there, in our Monday through Saturday lives, that our faith is most important. It is in how we live our daily lives that the world will see Christ and come to know the truth about God.

The scandal at FIFA involves many people from a variety of nations, but a significant portion are men from South America who, in all likelihood, are professing Christians. What does it say to the world that they were willing to engage in such scandalous actions? How might we order our lives to show the truth of Christ and the love of God eery day? How might we order our worship to be a source of strength and support for the living of each day in the world?
Prayer: Almighty God, I am weak, but I rejoice that in your power and with the support of my brothers and sisters in faith, I can live a life that brings honor to you. Let my life be a window that allows the world around me to see who you are. May I proclaim my love for Jesus Christ not with words alone, but with every action I take each day.   Amen.

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Tick Tock

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“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven…God has made everything suitable for its time” Ecclesiastes 3:1 and 11a

When I was a kid, I loved to watch Peter Pan. The version with Mary Martin, that is. Every year in the spring, our local New York station would broadcast Peter Pan and Mary Martin would fly from side to side of the screen, the Lost Boys would refuse to grow up, and Cyril Richard as Captain Hook would flee the crocodile that had taken his hand. Periodically through the show, you would hear the “tick-tock” of the crocodile, and that inexorable time sound would strike fear into the heart of the pirate crew.

There are occasions today when it seems that time is moving as inexorably as the “tick-tock” of the crocodile, moving forward in ways that strikes fear into the bravest of hearts. Just a few weeks ago many clergy were scrambling to put together bulletins and sermons for at least four or five services over the 8 days of Holy Week, and the “tick-tock” sounded loud in our ears.

There are other times when the deadline we face is of our own making. We may want a church committee to complete an action by a certain time or vote to move forward right now! And sometimes, it feels like the crocodile is running toward us. It is important for us to remember that not everything needs to be done on our time. Sometimes, we need to wait on God’s time when things seem to come slowly, or recognize that God is moving forward with or without us when time races by. Some things we can control, for other things we need to listen for God’s time and respect that God’s time may not be ours. Another translation of Ecclesiastes 3:11a says “God has made everything beautiful in its time.” So whether we wait upon the Lord, or move forward convinced of the urgency of the time, let us do so only after we have stopped, prayed and listened for God’s will.

Prayer: Gracious God, in the fullness of time you sent your son, not when we wanted it, not when people were convinced that they had to have a Saviour, but when you judged the time to be right. Help us to wait patiently for your will, to act quickly when you call us, and to depend on you to set the agenda for each day. Amen.

Martin Luther King Day Musings

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But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.”
Amos 5:24

“There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.”
Galatians 3:28

I invite you to do a little experiment. Set a one dollar bill on the table, and beside it, place four quarters. Now ask yourself, which is worth more – the dollar bill or the quarters? They look different: one’s paper, one metal; they have different uses: one can go in a parking meter and the other can’t. But they are both equal in value, the one dollar bill and stack of quarters. There is no difference in how much they are worth.

We human beings come in different sizes, different colors, different gifts and abilities, but we are all equal in God’s eyes. The black skinned Nigerian who was murdered by Boco Haram terrorists is of no less worth than the Parisian cartoonist murdered by AQAP terrorists at the offices of Charlie Hebdo. And yet, last week over 40 world leaders and millions of people gathered to protest the deaths of seventeen people in France, while Nigerians, almost alone, mourned the deaths of hundreds, possibly even thousands in rural villages and continued to remember the hundreds of girls kidnapped by Boco Haram.

As we move toward Monday’s observance of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, we must recommit ourselves once more to justice and equality as God’s children. Let justice be offered not only to those who look like us but to all people. Let our outrage at terrorism be as great when it occurs on the African continent as in Europeans. When diseases like Ebola strike, let’s not wait for mounting death tolls to include people like us – let’s work to bring healing and hope no matter where, no matter what the victims look like. Let’s remember, that while we may look different from each other, we are all of equal value before God’s throne of grace. As our youth sing, “What color is God’s skin? It is red, it is yellow, it is black, it is white. Everyone’s the same in the good Lord’s sight.”

Prayer: Gracious God, open my eyes to see the world as you see it. Open my heart to love all your children equally. Open my hands to serve your people and seek justice for each of your children, regardless of where they live, how they look or what language they speak. For I ask it in the name of Jesus Christ, who died that all might live. Amen.
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Deflategate

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imageThou shalt not steal. Exodus 20:15

Thou shalt not steal a football game by deflating the ball. NFL Rules.
The football world is all abuzz. Last week the New England Patriots defeated the Indianapolis Colts to take the AFC championship and earn the right to go to the Super Bowl. But following the victory, the league discovered that the 12 balls provided for the game by the Patriots had b in under inflated, making them easier to throw. The big question now is who did this and who knew about it. And of course, what can be done about it? Do the Patriots forfeit the game? TV demands a Super Bowl, so a replay is not an option. And who should pay the consequences: the whole team, the quarterback who must have felt that something was wrong with the ball, or whoever incorrectly inflated or intentionally deflated the balls?

Ethics is the process of living our our faith in our daily actions. There isn’t always a cut and dry, simple answer to the question of what God demands. We know, for example, that we are not to steal. But does that apply to deflating the balls to win a game? And who should be held accountable for such an action? Most often, our life choices are more complex than should I steal or not, should I kill or not, should I lie or not. Ou decisions are nuanced and difficult.

That is why church community is so important to us. In the context of community we can discuss the choices before us. With others who seek to follow Jesus we can explore the areas of grey in our lives, those places that are not clearly black and white, but instead have wriggle room. Together with a community to which we are ac
countable, in a context of a body of b believers, we can work to discern God’s will for our lives.

I don’t know what the NFL Commissioner will decide about Deflategate, but I do know that we are blessed to call Grove our home. It is a place where we can talk about the decisions we face, where we can share honestly about the temptations we face, and where we can support one another in discerning God’s will for our lives.

Prayer: Gracious God, you have called us to live holy lives, to be holy people who live according to your will for us. Grant me the wisdom to know your will and the courage to do it. Let me find in my faith community those whose discernment will help me to live a life that is pleasing to you. for the sake of your son, Jesus.

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Loving the Difficult

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In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”
Mark 1:9-11

I confess that there have been a few church members through the years that I would like to have picked up by the scruff of their neck and throttled or dropped from the top of the church steeple. In any community of people there are people whom we regard as difficult, people with whom we would rather not work. I may dream of waving goodbye to them, and then I remember today’s Scripture.

During the Advent season, we often read a passage from Isaiah 64 that begins, “O, that you would tear open the heavens and come down.” As the saying goes, be careful what you ask for. Here in the baptism of Jesus from the Gospel of Mark, God does exactly that. The heavens are, in fact, torn open, and God’s Spirit descends, like a dove, to signify that God has come down to be with us in the person of Jesus Christ.

Whenever we celebrate baptism in the Christian church, we act out this scene over again. Oh, perhaps we cannot see it quite as clearly as Mark saw at Jesus’ baptism, but we, too, believe that God’s Spirit descends upon the one being baptized and God is now present with them as they are made part of the Body of Christ, the church. And the one being baptized will henceforth be numbered among the beloved of God – not just a member, not just another name on the rolls, not imply someone I have to put up with in my church work, but someone who is cherished and celebrated by the all-powerful master of the universe. That “difficult” person is God’s beloved just as much as I am, and God calls me to love them with love as strong as God’s love, not call them out or vilify them. Because they are now bearing God’s image and accompanied by God’s Spirit, I can no longer treat them as if they don’t matter to me. I may not like it, but I must love them.

In the language of our United Methodist liturgy, through baptism we are “incorporated into the household of God” and joined to others as God’s children. This God has expectations of how we will behave toward our brother and sisters. And when we fail, which we will, God expects us to acknowledge our sin, to repent and to seek God’s help in overcoming that sin. Because on the day that difficult person was baptized, the heavens were torn open, God’s Spirit descended, and a voice whispered “This is my beloved child with whom I am well pleased.”

Prayer: Thank you, Father, for making me a part of your family. There are times when it is difficult for me to accept some of my brothers and sisters as you have accepted me. Change my heart and help me to receive others as you have received me. Give me patience, give me a forbearing attitude. Let me see the people around me through your eyes, and love them with the same love you have offered them. Remind me often that you came to find me and love me when I was far from the image of your beloved, Jesus Christ, through whom I pray. Amen.