Monday, February
26, 2007
Ephesians 6:18
Pray in the Spirit at
all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers
for all believers everywhere.
This is a challenging verse to me. It means my
whole life should be a prayer. Every word. Every action. Every thought. Who
can do this? Nobody really…we all mess up daily, but I do like the image of
this, and the challenge. It is a worthy goal.
In my Catholic grade school, all the students
and teachers used to line up at the beginning of each school day and recite
prayers, including this one:
“My God, I offer you this
day all that I shall think or do or say,
uniting it with what was done
on Earth by Jesus Christ your Son.”
I am not a disciplined pray-er.
I always seem to get distracted by my busy schedule and hope that my actions
and words are prayerful even if I am not spending a lot of time in prayer every
day. But a simple act of re-commitment like this grade school prayer at the
beginning of each day really can turn your whole day into a prayer. One of my
New Year’s resolutions this year has been to take a few moments at the
beginning of each day for prayer. I am doing well so far…most days… I am using
a wonderful devotional book that was given to me by a friend in our church
family, one of many such books available with brief snippets to read that give
me something to think about and reflect upon.
Maybe I will start using that prayer again as
well…maybe I will re-write it for my adult self or say it conversationally in a
different way every day depending on how I feel…or maybe I will keep it simple
and just say it as is… It only takes two seconds a day to turn your whole life
into a prayer...to offer it all up to God. And if I mess up in the course of
the day, it is well to offer that up to God along with any good works, so they
may all be opportunities for grace.
Loving
God, may we live out our love for you through our daily thoughts, words, and
deeds as we respond prayerfully and gratefully to the gifts of faith, hope, and love granted to us through the work of Jesus and the power
of your Holy Spirit. Amen.
Tuesday, February
27, 2007
Hebrews 12:28
Since we are receiving a
Kingdom that is unshakable, let us be thankful and please God by worshiping him
with holy fear and awe.
Holy Fear and Awe (?)
At
We are a
faith community which seeks to embody the Living Christ and to be expressions
and agents of God’s gracious love to each other and to all
the world. We are called to be faithful stewards who reflect the God who
is at work in our lives.
I believe you would be hard pressed to find any
reference to holy fear and awe in any church document. Yet, passages such as
this one from Hebrews call us to focus on the awesomeness of our almighty God,
whose kingdom is unshakable.
“Awe”, I can get my head around. But what is
“holy fear”, or “godly fear” as it reads in the King James Version? It seems
foreign to me to focus on being afraid of God. I think of hell and brimstone
preachers—not my worship style. I think of the angels saying “Do not be
afraid”—i.e., stop it with the holy fear and just listen!
Seeking further insight, I check the New Revised
Standard Version. There, the passage reads “with reverence and awe”. Looks like I’m off the hook: no “fear” here. J “Reverence”, I think I
understand. Interestingly, the Greek word translated as “reverence” is used only
one other place in the Bible (at least according to my Concordance): in I
Timothy 2:9, where Paul instructs women to dress themselves modestly and
decently (reverently) in church. Not
exactly a common biblical word.
In the end, I am left thinking about “high
church” worship experiences I have witnessed, in some Catholic churches and
some Episcopal churches. There is a real sense of the power and mystery of God,
and an atmosphere of reverence and awe. I think of big cathedrals and distant
alters, formality and solemnest, and incense. I fondly remember spending a
weekend in an Episcopalian monastery during my college years. Silence outside
of worship and Gregorian chants inside worship. In our noisy
world, silence is indeed a humbling gift, bringing us to reflect on the
awesomeness of God.
Dear God,
Help me to
remember that You are to be embraced as an intimate
companion AND revered as the Almighty. Guide us as we seek to worship You in ways that are pleasing to You. With great joy and
thanksgiving, let us celebrate Your grace and love at
work within our lives. With great reverence and awe, let us praise your Holy
Name. Amen.
Wednesday,
February 28, 2007
James 1:27
Pure and genuine
religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in
their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.
The book of James is one that many of us don’t
understand and even try to avoid it when possible. The author has written a
pastoral letter to the Jewish Christians that are scattered around the
The difficult part of this teaching is the
author states faith without works is dead. This seems to be in direct
contradiction to the teaching of Paul, who says that God’s unconditional grace
is available to anyone through faith alone.
What I believe the author is saying is if you
truly love God and try to live a life as exemplified by Jesus, your faith will
compel you to do good works. The sign of a true faith is what we do with our
gifts and resources. A love of Jesus, if genuine, is manifested in sharing what
we have with others. So the author of James calls us to follow the precepts of
true religion and to live a moral life in this difficult world.
Loving God, help us to live out our lives following the
teachings of Jesus Christ. While the gate is
narrow, and the road is difficult at times, the sign of a true love of God is
what we do with the gifts that we have been given. Give us the wisdom not only
to understand this, but to know the joy that comes from being our brother’s
keeper.
Peace,
Thursday,
March 1, 2007
Romans 11:18
But you
must not brag about being grafted in to replace the branches that were broken
off. You are just a branch, not the root
There’s
nothing like a good lesson in humility! On many levels this passage speaks to
me; as a worship leader, as a performing artist, as a person of faith, as a
father, a husband, and many more. In fact, it is difficult to find a part of my
life that doesn’t identify with the feelings invoked by this passage.
In
a larger context beyond verse 18, Paul is breaking a paradigm that represents a
feeling that if you are born into a chosen people, then you are home free. As he speaks to the gentiles,
he is broadening his ministry and offering Christ’s message of love and
acceptance to more than just the Jews. This could simply be a way of showing
the inclusive qualities of our faith to all people. What Paul throws into the
mix, however, is the warning not to become arrogant as included people. Certainly that leads to exclusivity and so begins
a vicious cycle.
As
I contemplate my roll in creation, I get the strong sense that the “root” is
sustaining me. “All Things Are In God,
and God is In All Things.” It
becomes difficult to boast or brag about my position in life, in the church, in
the music world, when I stay focused on the feeling that I am a part of
something so astronomically gigantic. That humility and sense of awe and grace
keeps me from becoming too self absorbed. At the same time, it is what drives
me to strive for excellence in my life, lets my “light” shine, and helps me try
to stay open to all people that cross my path.
As
branches, how do you take nourishment from the root?
Holy Creator, help us to
live our lives as authentic individuals who recognize and use our abundant
gifts and talents with grace and humility.
Friday, March
2, 2007
Psalms 94:18
I cried out, “I am
slipping!” but your unfailing love, O Lord, supported me
As a parent of
teenagers, my foot slips a lot. The ground seems level and firm and then it
starts shifting, slightly sometimes, or wildly. Communications with teens are
not always what they could be. Expectations are in a constant state of
negotiation. Sometimes it seems like everything is in a constant state of
negotiation. The child who wants your help with homework one night doesn’t even
want to discuss homework the next night. The same children who cannot keep
track of their: (put anything here…shoes, coat, calculator, sleeping bag…) can
accomplish amazing things (put anything here too…drive, baby-sit, do
calculus, fix your computer…). Teenagers are amazing, exhausting, exciting and
infuriating, sometimes all in the same hour.
So,
my foot is pretty much always slipping. And it does wear on the soul at times.
The promise of God’s steadfast love seems a little abstract, great in theory
but tough when you need practical advice. This is where the idea of the church
community as a reflection of God’s love really works for me. Each person who reaches
out and holds up another person or family is reflecting God’s great love, and
making the theoretical tangible. Each of us, as we move about in the world, has
the chance to be God’s love, in real actions, not abstract words.
Thank you God, for teenagers, and parents, and for all those
who hold them up, help them out and keep them going. We are the embodiment of your great love in our world. Help us to grab the chances we are given to
be your love for those around us. AMEN
Saturday,
March 3, 2007
WE WALK by FAITH NOT by SIGHT
The floods of September
came - every news cast was of people and their devastation. As I watched this
for a couple of days I thought what could I do to help? No, I didn't have
the strength to shovel muck to help with cleaning a house. I decided to call
the shelter at Millvale - introduced myself and
offered shelter for someone for a month until they found their way. One hour
later the lady called and introduced me to Pattie and Ed. This was Tuesday, they had been in the shelter since Friday night. It
was agreed that I would pick them up on Wednesday. Pattie and Ed are fifty
years old. They have been married twenty years, lived in a row house in Etna, still had debt from the flood of 1998.
I need to tell you Pattie
and Ed are blind - she has 10% vision. He is totally blind from oxygen burns as
a preemie baby. Thank heaven we don't do this to babies anymore. Pattie was the
lady upstairs with her dog until 3 AM. The rescuers couldn't get to her and Ed
couldn't get home from work. They both had some health problems, needed a bath
and their laundry done. Both were most thankful for a new toothbrush, bath and
bed. They had not been to sleep in a bed for almost a week. The
first week. The first week we just visited and let them rest and
sleep and adjust to their WHAT NEXT. Ed works at the broom factory in
Realizing their home was
not livable and most of their belongings were gone was a big adjustment.
Frankly I was glad they couldn't see it. So we made a plan - find a place to
live - safety was a big issue plus having a dog. For two weeks we went through
the disappointment of looking at many rentals. Then we found a place on the bus
line for him to go to work, easy in and out for Pattie to get to Access and a
fenced yard for the dog. A friendly church, two blocks away - which I called
and at 4 PM Saturday (moving day). Someone knocked at the door saying I'm here
to take you to mass. All ready he felt that he belonged.
I thank you God for showing me the way in helping this
couple. How important the friendly greetings were at the churches they were
destined to worship in. Thank you God that I can see the sky,
sun and moon. I'm so glad I haven't had to spend my life imagining
colors. I have learned if we close our eyes there is so much to hear around us.
I'm convinced we are just here to help each other along the way. Thank you Lord for my daily bread. I do believe we must
have faith to have hope. Amen.
Sunday, March
4, 2007
A
Prayer
Sustainer God,
As we travel the Lenten journey
collectively and individually,
we ask that you keep us
ever mindful of the steps taken by our Savior Jesus
during the 1st
journey so many years ago.
Many of us face our own wildernesses of
brokenness, sickness, and loneliness
and our own deserts of
temptation, pride, and sinfulness today
just as Jesus had done long
ago.
Some of us feel a bloody
crown of thorns around our hearts, Lord,
as we see the poverty of
violence and despair in the world today.
We watch as the rich
appear to cast lots for the meager robes of the poor.
Help us Almighty God, to
remember in these dark times,
the Salvation that comes to
us on Easter.
Reassure us that we too
are wrapped in the rays of the Glorious Easter Sonrise.