New Beginnings

New years and new semesters bring with them a tremendous amount of excitement, energy, and potential.  If we are completely honest, they also bring with them more than their fair share of anxiety, stress, and uncertainty.  Sometimes the new beginning can be so overwhelming that we are nearly immobilized by the magnitude of it all. Frozen in our tracks. Not sure what the future might hold. Frightened to take the next step.

This is the nature of beginning something new.  

At the beginning of the book of Joshua, we find the Hebrew people at a critical new moment in their existence.  They escaped from Egypt a generation before and had spent forty years wandering about in the desert. The man who had led them through and within their wandering was gone, and they were uncertain about their next steps as a people.  Into this moment, a man named Joshua was called to lead.  Joshua had spent years following Moses as he led.  And, now as the Hebrew people were steps away from entering the land of the promise, he was being asked to take up the mantle as the leader.  This new turn must have brought with it a tremendous amount of excitement, energy, and potential.  However, I am also sure that the moments were filled with anxiety, stress, and uncertainty.

"After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord spoke to Joshua son of Nun, Moses' assistant, saying, 'My servant Moses is dead. Now proceed to cross the Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the Israelites. Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you, as I promised to Moses. From the wilderness and the Lebanon as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, to the Great Sea in the west shall be your territory. No one shall be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you. Be strong and courageous; for you shall put this people in possession of the land that I swore to their ancestors to give them. Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to act in accordance with all the law that my servant Moses commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, so that you may be successful wherever you go. This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth; you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to act in accordance with all that is written in it. For then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall be successful. I hereby command you: Be strong and courageous; do not be frightened or dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.' " (Joshua 1:1-9)

Hearing the message of the Lord, Joshua son of Nun, Moses' assistant, took the next step. 

Did he know where that step would lead? No. 

Did he understand what would be right around the corner? No. 

Was Joshua son of Nun without fear and doubt as he stepped onto the shores of the Jordan as he led the people into the land of the promise? No.

In many ways, Joshua was no different than you and I.  He was a normal human with normal struggles and normal doubts.  One thing that was for certain, Joshua was willing, in the face of uncertainty and the unknown, to take the next step.

That is what people of faith do.  People of faith take the next step even if they do not know exactly where that step is going to lead.  They step, not because they know where the step will take them, but because they know that God has made the same promise to them that God made long ago to Joshua.  "I will be with you wherever you go." The step they take is a step that is rooted in these words.  The courage to walk into the unknown of tomorrow rests in the God who has made such a promise. 

And so they take the step...

and so do we.  Each and every day, we take the same step.  We walk with strength and courage into the unknown of this new beginning that we call today.  That is what people of faith do.  

As Dr. King once said about faith, "You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step."

Here is to believing that the next step is worth it.  

Here is to the willingness of spirit to walk into whatever comes next.  

Here is to trusting that no matter what happens, there will always be another next step to take.  

God has promised that no matter where we may find ourselves, God will be, and even already, is there.  

"Be strong and courageous; do not be frightened or dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go."

Advent - Week 3 - Joy

Week 3 

This week we light the third candle on the Advent wreath.
“We light this candle in great joy; Jesus is our joy!”

Questions:
What is joy?
What do you think of when you consider what it might mean to be full of joy?
What are some of the characteristics of joy?

Scripture:

Isaiah 12:2-6

Surely God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid, for the LORD GOD is my strength and my might; he has become my salvation. With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. And you will say in that day: Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name; make known his deeds among the nations; proclaim that his name is exalted. Sing praises to the LORD, for he has done gloriously; let this be known in all the earth. Shout aloud and sing for joy, O royal Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.

Philippians 4:4-7

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Discussion:
Is there joy in expectation?
What goes through your own head and heart when you are anticipating something?
Consider these two lines…
“Shout aloud and sing for joy.”
“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.”
When do you find it most difficult to sing for joy and rejoice?
For what in your life can you sing for joy or rejoice now?

Activity:
Sometime before Sunday, consider the things that bring you joy. 

Why do those things bring you joy? 

Think about some ways in which you might be an agent of joy in your house, your school, your place of employment.

Find a service project you can participate in that will bring joy into the lives of others.

Sign up to participate in Christmas Benevolence.  It is still not too late.

Advent - Week 1 - Hope

Throughout the season of Advent there will be one post each week with one of the Advent passages and a short devotional on the text.  It is our hope that Advent would be a season of preparation for the birth of the Messiah.

Week 1 - This week we light the first purple (or the blue) candle in the Advent wreath.
“We light this candle in hope, the bright hope of Jesus, the Christ.”

Questions:
What do you think of when you think of hope?
Who would be an example of hope?
Where do you find hope?
For what do you hope?

Scripture:
Jeremiah 33:14-16
"The days are surely coming, says the LORD, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David; and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety. And this is the name by which it will be called: 'The LORD is our righteousness.' "

Discussion:
What does this passage have to do with hope?
Jeremiah writes, ”The days are surely coming, says the LORD, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah.”
What do you think these words mean?  
Does this relate to hope?  
What do you wish God would do?

Activity:
Sometime this week, write down a list of your hopes for yourself, for your family, for our world.  
Share these with someone else.  
Consider ways that you might work toward these purposes.

Christmas Benevolence:
Click here to find ways to volunteer for this year's Christmas Benevolence.

Reclaiming Words - "Salvation"

Salvation
1.  the act of saving or protecting from harm, risk, loss,destruction, etc.
2.  the state of being saved or protected from harm, risk, etc.
3.  a source, cause, or means of being saved or protected from harm, risk, etc.
4.  Theology . deliverance from the power and penalty of sin;redemption.

The idea of salvation often carries with it a tremendous amount of baggage that can cause a great amount of discord and disagreement even among those who come from similar theological traditions.  Salvation has been written about by some of the greatest theological minds our world has known, and yet the disagreements and debates remain.  Therefore, the goal of this blog post (or any of the other posts found on this blog) is not to offer a solution to the disagreements or end the debate once and for all.  The goal is for us to think together, to enter into a dialogue of sorts, and to agree to journey toward an answer knowing that the answer is not necessarily a destination but the journey itself. 

What is salvation?
Each of the definitions above use the preposition "from" to define salvation. Salvation is being saved "from" something in particular.  This is indeed an important part of the Christian understanding of salvation.  However, it is not the entire picture.  If it were, salvation would be nothing more than a selfish and egocentric proposition.  

This is too small.  God's salvation is bigger than that.  God's salvation is all encompassing.  God's salvation extends beyond you and me.  God does not just save us "from" something.  God saves us "for" something.  This idea can be seen throughout the stories, narratives, prophecies, and letters found in scripture.  

Take for example the beginning of the covenant with Abram (who would later be renamed "Abraham," which means "Father of a multitude").  "Now the Lord said to Abram, 'Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.  I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed' " (Genesis 12:1-3 NRSV).  A part of the covenant is that Abram and his offspring shall be a blessing to all of the families of the earth.  Abram was blessed in order to be a blessing.  Salvation did not end with Abram, Sarai, and their offspring.

Consider the story of Zacchaeus. Jesus "entered Jericho and was passing through it. A man was there named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax-collector and was rich. He was trying to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was short in stature. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see him, because he was going to pass that way.  When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, 'Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today.' So he hurried down and was happy to welcome him. All who saw it began to grumble and said, 'He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner.' Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, 'Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much.' Then Jesus said to him, 'Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost'" (Luke 19:1-10 NRSV).  Because of the Jesus' presence and the story of salvation that sprang from his life, actions, and words, Zacchaeus was compelled to act.  He gave of himself and his wealth.  Salvation did not end in Zacchaeus' house but extended throughout his community.


Salvation does not begin and end with being saved from something but extends to being saved for something.  Being saved from is passive.  Being saved for is active.  Salvation is what God has done, is doing, and will continue to do.  Salvation has come for us all, and we are called to be a blessing to all of the families of the earth.  

The author of Micah says it this way, 
   and to walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6:6-8 NRSV)
‘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 tens of 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,

We have not just been saved from something.  
We have been saved for something.

Reclaiming Words - "Desire"

For the next several weeks, we will take a look at some words that seem to have lost a part, if not all, of their meaning in our culture.  We will begin with a look at the dictionary definition of the word.  Then we will think through what it might mean to reclaim the word in our lives and as an important part of our journey of faith.

Let us begin with...
desire dəˈzī(ə)r 
n. A strong feeling of wanting to have something or wishing for something to happen.
v. Strongly wish for or want (something).

Desire is not something we talk a lot about in church.  Sometimes it even feels like an inappropriate word to speak or mention in a church setting. It seems as though any time it is spoken, or written about, it has some type of sexual undertone.  Even though desire can be a great way to explain our feelings in this area of our life, desire can and should mean so much more.  The word "desire" (like so many others) has been robbed of its complete meaning and therefore its power.  At its essence "desire" has the capacity to be a marvelous descriptor of the deepest part our life and the passions which drive us most.

Consider the deepest longings of your heart.  Not whether or not you want a roast beef sandwich right now or really wish that you could have the newest and finest luxury automobile.  Go deeper than that.  Think about the things that cause you to get emotional.  Think about the issues, topics, hopes, and dreams that occupy your daydreams.  These are some of your deepest desires.

So, with all of this in mind, what is it that you desire?

Take a moment to reread the definition of the word before you respond.
Grab a pen and paper.
Write down some of the things that come to mind when you think about how you would answer the question.

What is it that you desire?

Are you willing to take the sometimes difficult steps to walk toward that which you desire?
Are you willing to allow God to walk that path with you?

In Psalm 37, the psalmist writes,
3 Trust in the Lord, and do good; 
      so you will live in the land, and enjoy security. 
4 Take delight in the Lord, 
      and the Lord will give you the desires of your heart. 
5Commit your way to the Lord; 
      trust in the Lord, and the Lord will act. 
6 The Lord will make your vindication shine like the light, 
      and the justice of your cause like the noonday. 
7 Be still before the Lord, and wait patiently for the Lord; 
      do not fret over those who prosper in their way, 
          over those who carry out evil devices.

The psalmist speaks of a world in which those who do wrong and plot evil seem to prevail.  The psalmist speaks from the anger and anguish of witnessing this as it takes place.  In the midst of this comes the psalmist's message of hope.  "Take delight in the Lord, and the Lord will give you the desires of your heart."

Look around you.
Where is it that God is doing something amazing?
Where are the hungry fed?
Where are the sick being healed?
Where is the prisoner being visited?
Where are the lonely given hope?
Where is the Good News of God's steadfast love being proclaimed?

Things like this are happening all around us.  Join in.  Take delight in these things. God can be found there.  And then "wait patiently for the Lord" for the "Lord will give you the desires of your heart."

Stress Free

The best things in life are free...
Except when you are talking about stress!


Stress often comes as the free add on to many of the things we do and experience in life. 
And STRESS can be a MONSTER! 

You are more keenly aware of this than anyone else as finals are breathing heavy down your neck.


So, what's a person to do?


It is more than a bit ridiculous to think that someone can live a stress free life. Responsibility brings with it a certain amount of embedded stress. It is part of the deal.  As was said above, it comes free of charge as an added "bonus" to much of what we do and experience in life. 

Because of this, the question shouldn't really be how you can eliminate stress from your life. That is unrealistic. The real question is how can you manage the stress that exists in your life so that it no longer dominates your mind, your body, and your health.


There really is no secret potion or magic arrow for the complete elimination of the STRESS MONSTER because it looks and behaves differently for each of us. Therefore, I won't insult you by providing a list of books to read or exercises to do in order to eradicate stress. What I will provide is a list of questions to consider. As you think about your responses, consider how you might intentionally take action on one or two of them in hopes of managing your stress level as you go into finals (or any other time you feel stressed).


1. What is your favorite genre of music? You know, the songs that immediately take you to that "happy place." Maybe your "guilty pleasure" songs that no one else knows you really like - Spotify can be your friend here.


2. What is your favorite snack? Think back to when you were a kid. What was the snack that made you do your "happy dance"? Go find one!


3. What is the one location, within walking distance, that helps you relax? Take a hike!


4. Whose company do you crave when you are stressed? 

5. What is the fragrance that immediately conjures up fond memories? Take a whiff! 


6. What makes you laugh?


7. Do you have time for a guilt free nap?


Finally, I would be remiss if I didn't share a couple of my favorite passages of Scripture that help keep my sanity in check when I feel the most stressed...


John 14:25-27 
"All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid."


Isaiah 43:1-5 
But now, this is what the LORD says-- he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the LORD, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I give Egypt for your ransom, Cush and Seba in your stead. Since you are precious and honored in my sight, and because I love you, I will give men in exchange for you, and people in exchange for your life. Do not be afraid, for I am with you"


Matthew 6:25-34
"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life ? "And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."


Oh, and don't forget to breathe!  Every breath can be a prayer uttered to the God who promises to never leave us nor forsake us.


During this stressful time may you discover a way to manage the monster.

"My God, my God..." - Good Friday Reflection

Hope you had a blessed Easter.

Here is a brief sermon from Good Friday on Jesus saying, "My God, my God why have you forsaken me?" from the cross.

Good Friday – My God, My God

The Fourth Word - 45 From noon on, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. 46 And about three o'clock Jesus cried with a loud voice, "Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?" that is, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

“I feel so alone,” she said to no one in particular perhaps because no one was there. At least that is the way it seemed to her that afternoon.

“I just feel so alone,” she repeated under her breath.

As she sat there in the uncomfortable pleather chair, waiting for the news, the weight of her solitude began to push in upon her with a ferocity she was not sure she would be able to bear.

“Why,” she thought, or perhaps she said it out loud, not that it really mattered. “Why in this moment when I need comfort the most do I feel so alone?” She buried her heavy head into her hands and began to cry…

Looking toward the sky she said, “Do you hear me? Why? Why do I feel so alone?”

This seemingly familiar scene is difficult to witness. No one wants to see another person struggle with feelings of solitude and abandonment.

If we are honest, we struggle to openly admit that such despair even exists. In fact, we clutter our lives with things and our calendars with appointments just to make sure that we avoid these feelings at all cost.

However, feelings such as this are impossible to outrun.  Awaiting the diagnosis, hearing the sad news, identifying our own feelings of inadequacy…We feel alone. We feel abandoned. These feelings are a part of the human experience. They are impossible to outrun.

On this day, on a dreaded tree, a man hangs to condemned to die. There, this man named Jesus suffers unimaginable pain, cruel indignity, and heart rending sorrow. And as the time of his death approaches he speaks once again. The author of the Gospel of Matthew writes that Jesus cried with a loud voice, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Some of those gathered at the foot of the cross misunderstood his words. They thought that he was calling upon Elijah, who some traditions held was to reappear to usher in the kingdom of God. It was an honest mistake.  That was event for which many were longing. But that was not the sentiment that came from Jesus’ mouth. Those weren’t the words that spilled from the lips of the crucified Emmanuel.

No, hanging on the cross, Jesus recited the words of the 22^nd Psalm in his mother tongue of Aramaic. “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

And we cringe at the words. For as one commentator wrote, “We have been taught to give pat answers in the face of life’s difficult questions, and (saying such a thing), certainly, is not one of (the pat answers we were trained to give). But Jesus knew what he was saying. By uttering these words from Psalm 22, he is challenging, daring, us to consider things we would rather not, notions as sublime as the inseparability of suffering and glory, of incarnation, of eschatological hope from the ashen brink of death.” (Matthews 286)

Jesus knew the pain of separation more powerfully than one could ever imagine. Jesus, the Son of God, Emmanuel, God with us, understood the words of the psalmist deeply and in a manner no one had ever felt before or since.

Marti Steussy, Old Testament professor and Psalm scholar at Christian Theological Seminary here in Indianapolis writes, “Jesus experienced a variety of humiliations representing a whole range of human suffering and alienation, even unto the sense of being forsaken by God. At this point, we see Jesus’ real humanity…”  (Steussy 89)

This muddies the waters of a sanitized faith. It is much easier to consider a swaddled baby in a manger than a naked man hanging on a tree. It is more wonderful to consider the empty tomb than a blood stained cross. These are God forsaken moments.  These are moments of felt-absence not soothing presence.

There on the cross, with the cry of the psalmist on his lips, “Jesus will be left – forsaken – to the forces of evil. He will really suffer, and he will really die… Both the psalmist and Jesus trust God to save, not by magically eliminating all pain and suffering, but by working beyond human knowing in and through pain and suffering.” (Long 318)

In Psalm 22, “the psalmist laments that she feels that God has forsaken her, but to whom does she lament? She laments to the God who does not forsake us. When Jesus cried out on that cross, he was not speaking to existential nothingness, but to the God who hears and delivers the afflicted. His words did not express a lack of faith, but were a revolutionary credo of trust in the only one who could comfort him – and us.” (Matthews 288)

Experience has taught us that life is not sanitary. And neither is our faith.

We struggle with feelings of abandonment as we sit in those uncomfortable pleather chairs of life, waiting for the news.

And on our lips and in our hearts are the words of the psalmist and our Savior, “My God, my God why have you forsaken me?”

This is not a faithless statement! For in its utterance, we address the one who is never far from us.

Yes, even in the moments of felt-absence, the God incarnate understands. Even in the midst of life’s suffering and the isolation and aloneness that often accompany it, Emmanuel, God with us, has the courage to dwell...with us… even there in the absence. Amen

Prayer

Almighty God, on this Good Friday in the shadow of the cross, may we have the courage to cry out to you even when we feel abandoned. For today, hanging on Golgotha’s cross is Emmanuel, God with us even in our moments of felt absence. It is to you we call. It is to you we pray. Amen.

Works Cited

Long, Thomas G. Matthew - Westminster Bible Companion. Louisville: John Knox Press, 1997.

Matthews, Jr., William P. "Matt". "Pastoral Perspective on Psalm 22." Feasting on the Word: Year A, Vol. 2. Ed. David L. Bartlett and Barbara Brown Taylor. Louisville: John Knox Press, 2010. 284-289.

Steussy, Marti J. Psalms. St. Louis, Missouri: Chalice Press, 2004.