How then were your eyes opened?

This past Sunday, the Gospel lectionary text was the story of a man who was born blind and his interaction with Jesus.  It is a confusingly beautiful story of pain, sorrow and restoration, life. 

Take a moment to read it...

John 9:1-12

1 As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" 3 "Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus, "but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life. 4 As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. 5 While I am in the world, I am the light of the world." 6 Having said this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man's eyes. 7 "Go," he told him, "wash in the Pool of Siloam" (this word means Sent). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing. 8 His neighbors and those who had formerly seen him begging asked, "Isn't this the same man who used to sit and beg?" 9 Some claimed that he was. Others said, "No, he only looks like him." But he himself insisted, "I am the man." 10 "How then were your eyes opened?" they demanded. 11 He replied, "The man they call Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed, and then I could see." 12 "Where is this man?" they asked him. "I don't know," he said.

Throughout the season of Lent, I have been reading a daily devotion on Journey to the Cross, a wonderful online Lenten Devotional written by Andy Watts and Amy Dodson-Watts. On Wednesday, their devotional centered on the above passage from John about the blind beggar.  About this passage, they wrote the following, 

Could this story be about visibility more than sight? People in Jesus’ day believed blindness was caused by sin. The blind lived tough and lonely lives. They were invisible and out of sight to the world. Chances are, this man never had a real conversation with anyone but his parents or another beggar. He couldn’t see others. They couldn’t see him. And he couldn’t see himself as fully human. 

But with Jesus, all that changed. The man began, in Thomas Merton’s words, to 'shine like the sun.' He became visible to others, and they to him. No longer invisible, he was God’s beloved. The muddy gift restored his personhood and his community.

What part of you needs the healing mud of Jesus? What do you need to more fully love God, your neighbor, and yourself? If people were to say of you, 'Is this not the person who used to ________ and _______?' how would you fill in the blanks?



Pool of Siloam, Jerusalem



Jesus came to restore sight.  Jesus came to restore personhood.  Jesus came to restore community.

During this season of Lent, where is it that you need to be restored.  May you be given sight. May your personhood be restored.  May you begin to live into the community of the restored.
Go, wash and be restored! 

Sweeter then Honey

Psalm 119:98-103 - "Your commands make me wiser than my enemies, for they are ever with me. I have more insight than all my teachers, for I meditate on your statutes. I have more understanding than the elders, for I obey your precepts. I have kept my feet from every evil path so that I might obey your word. I have not departed from your laws, for you yourself have taught me. How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!"

In the early 70's there was a PSA (Public Service Announcement) campaign entitled "Time for Timer".  These minute-long cartoons were played during Saturday morning cartoons and after school specials.  Timer was this nondescript yellow character that sang songs about healthy snacks, the wonders of cheese and the importance of eating right.  All of his PSA's started the exact same way, "It's time for timer..."

The one I remember most is "You Are What You Eat."  Timer moved through the digestive system to remind children everywhere that in order to be healthy and to grow up big and strong they must eat right.  After all, "you are what you eat". 

I am not sure how effective the campaign was.  I mean, nearly forty years later, I still eat garbage. However, I do remember the ad campaign.  I guess it depends on your definition of success.

In Eat This Book, author, speaker and pastor, Eugene Peterson encourages his readers to read the Bible as if they were eating it.  He says, the practice of "spiritual reading" (also known as lectio divina) is "reading that enters our souls as food enters our stomachs, spreads through our blood, and becomes holiness and love and wisdom" (p. 4).  This echoes what the psalmist says in the passage above.  The poet writes, "I have not departed from your laws, for you yourself have taught me. How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!"  For the psalmist, the word of the Lord had become reading that enters the soul and transforms the life in the same way food enters the stomachs and transforms the body. 

Yes, reading Scripture can be difficult, but so can eating the right foods.  In the same way that we cannot expect an apple to be good for us simply because we like to think of apples or because we enjoy the way apples look or because we like they way an apple feels in our hands, we cannot expect the words of Scripture to be transformative simply because we like to think they are good or because we enjoy the way the words sound or because we like the way the book feels in our hands. It is important to engage the words.  We must allow them to enter into us.  Sometimes they may cause us indigestion.  However, the words of Scripture also have the power to transform us as they become a part of who we are.  After all, we are what we eat.

Happy eating during this season of Lent.

If you are struggling with where to start, try reading a Psalm a day.  If you would like to have something that goes with the season of Lent, try reading the book of John.  If you would like a little variety, try reading one of the lectionary texts of the day (to find these texts, check out this website http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/).

The Divine Requirements

And what does the Lord require of you?

This is the million dollar question, isn't it?

Listen to what Scripture says in Micah 6:6-8:

" 'With what shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before God on high?

Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old?

Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil?

Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?'

He has told you, O mortal, what is good;

and what does the Lord require of you

but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?"

Like the inquisitor, I want to know what it is that I can bring before the Lord to please God. 

What sacrifice can I offer? 

What prized possession can I give? 

What pain can I inflict upon myself to honor God?

What does God want? 

What does God require?

God wants me.  God desires me to be a partner in God's kingdom work in the here and now. 

God wants me...

To do justice...

It is much easier to talk about it.  It is much less of a hassle to seek revenge or vengeance, rather than to do justice. 

Justice requires thought not just emotion. 

Justice requires action not reaction. 

Justice requires goodness not repaying evil with evil. 

Justice requires prayer not self-reliance. 

Justice requires me.

To love kindness...

It is much easier to be nice than to be kind. 

Kindness requires me to join in the human race. 

Kindness requires me to not just look another in the eye, but to see the person. 

Kindness requires me to not just listen to the words of another, but to hear the overflow of their heart that spills from their lips. 

Kindness requires me to not just cordially shake a hand, but to reach out beyond myself into the life of another. 

Kindness requires more than convenient acts. 

Kindness requires the work of calloused hands, tear filled eyes and open hearts.

Kindness requires me.

To walk humbly with your God...

This is not about the busy-ness of being a Christian.  This is about living life as a Child of God. 

This is not about rules and laws.  This is about allowing the living God to be ALIVE! 

This is not about me, so I must get out of the way.  Allow God to be God.  Allow God to use the me God created me to be. 

This is not just about doing.  This is about being still.  This is about the hard work of waiting on the Lord.  This is about spending time in prayer, learning the pulse of God's heart and listening to the rhythms of God's love; then walking where God leads.

What does the Lord require of me?

I can think of no better question to ask during the season of Lent.

Let us have the courage to join in the business of doing justice, loving kindness and walking humbly with your God.  This is the work of the kingdom of God.  This is what the Lord requires of me.

Lent - Listening for a Whisper in the Silence

How he longed for release from the pressure. 

How he wanted all of the madness to cease.

Everyone wanted a piece of him.  It seemed as though everyone and everything wanted to destroy him. 

Wallowing in the mud of self-doubt and stuck in the mire of self-pity, he retreated from life; from true self; from the divine call. 

A move that he thought would lead to his ultimate freedom brought him into a deep cavernous prison instead.  There he sat in the recesses of his personal darkness with head in hands.  The shadows were so thick, so ravenous they threatened to swallow his very soul.  He was certain that he would never again see the light of day.  He knew this is how it would be and how it would end.

Abruptly, Light beckoned him to the mouth of the cave of self-abasement.  Walking out of the cave, he stood in the clearing completely vulnerable.  He blinked back the pain as his eyes adjusted to his new surroundings. 

At that moment, a violent wind, ripped through the mountain stripping the land bare.  Following the wind came a mighty earthquake tearing his entire world open to its core.  Then a raging fire scorched the old landscape making it ready for new growth.

After all of this, the man heard a gentle whisper.  This wasn't just any whisper.  This was a holy whisper; a whisper he heard resounding in the depths of his being. 

The Whisperer said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

Gently, the Voice spoke his name and gave this man life.  With this most profound word, Elijah was reminded that God is in control.  Upon hearing his name drip from the lips of the Almighty like honey, he reclaimed his birthright as a child of God.

That day, the man walked away from the cave of fear and trembling into a life of passion and holy confidence.  It would not be easy.  The road before him would have many unexpected bumps and curves, but he knew that he did not walk alone.  And it all began with a gentle whisper in the silence.

What are the noises that you hear?  What are the noises with which you intentionally fill your life?  In the midst of the cacophony, can you hear the gentle whisper of the Divine calling out your name…giving you life? 

This season of Lent, take the time to strip away all of the noise of your life.  There in the silence of your life, you may just hear the divine whisper speak your name and remind you of who you are.

This Lent take the time to Listen for the whisper in the silence.

“Be still, and know that I am God!”  Psalm 46:10

Lent as a time for worship

In a staff meeting last week one of my colleagues said, "It's not always easy to practice."  He was talking about our amazing Sanctuary Choir's commitment to practicing their craft even when they do not much feel like doing so.  Their practice shows in the manner in which they offer their gifts and talents each week as a part of the worship life of the congregation.  It takes a tremendous amount of discipline to live into this kind of commitment. 

Even though my colleague's words were geared toward those who are practicing crescendos and dissonant chords, they are also meaningful for faith practices.  It is indeed not always easy to practice the faith.  This is especially true when you do not feel much like doing so.

Getting up and going to worship is a difficult thing when you are in college.  Early classes throughout the week and late nights on the weekends make it incredibly tough.  And you lose even more of your motivation when you do go and feel as though you don't get anything out of it.

Have you ever been sitting in the pew or padded chair on Sunday morning or Sunday night when you found yourself wishing you were somewhere else?  Have you ever wished that you could nonchalantly slide off the pew, down the aisle and out the door because you feel guilty for even being there?  Have you ever had your mind drift away onto some project, assignment or random to do list just as the sermon was about to start? 

Maybe it is just me...

It is not always easy to practice the faith.  This is especially true when you do not feel much like doing so.

Worship is the center of our faith life.  It is what we are to be about as people.  Worship is our opportunity to offer ourselves to God and give God glory and praise.  In worship God is both the subject and the object.  Worship is to be a selfless act where we as people offer ourselves to the Divine.  As a result of this offering our lives are indeed transformed. 

During this season of Lent, try renewing your commitment to worship.  Here are some suggestions that may help you and your friends as you worship...
1. Make a commitment to sit with someone new in the sanctuary; someone you do not know.  It is a beautiful thing to sit next to people of all ages as they express themselves in worship and experience the power and presence of the divine.
2. Take time before you enter the sanctuary or just before the service begins to center yourself and open your heart and mind to the movement of the Holy Spirit.  Say a brief prayer.  Have a moment of silence with your friends or family before you get out of the car or enter the building.
3. Don't panic if you or someone near you makes a random noise or gets a case of the giggles.  It happens to all of us.  Relax.  Worship isn't about perfection.  It is about presence and practice.  Be patient.  Enjoy yourself.
4. Allow space to wonder about what is going on in the service both in its liturgy and inside you. 
5. Take some time to reflect on or write about what you experience in worship.  What was most meaningful?  What are your questions?  Where did you sense the presence of God during the service of worship?
6. Practice worship throughout your life.  Worship can happen in many settings. Sing hymns, songs and psalms (sometimes at the top of your lungs in the car).  Sit together outside and experience nature's song of joy.  Read Scripture aloud and listen to the words. 
7. Allow all you do to be a grateful response of worship; your work, your play, your studying, your life. 

Corporate worship is an integral part of our life as the Body of Christ.  Enjoy it.  Remember, it isn't what you get out of worship that is the most important thing.  Worship is about us offering ourselves to God and giving God the praise that is due.