On the Way to Wonder

​Today many Christians celebrate Epiphany.  January 6 is the annual remembrance of the wise men arriving to worship the baby Jesus.  It really is not known if there were three men nor how far East was but the hymn written by John Henry Hopkins Jr. in 1987 honoring the event was the first widely popular Christmas carol coming out of America.  Hopkins was in his last year as rector of Christ Episcopal Church in Williamsport, PA.

​It seems fitting that we take a moment and listen to the hymn honoring this event.  I’ve listed two YouTube versions that are just fun.  The first features Hugh Jackman from 17 years ago who became famous as Wolverine and whom I love to see perform in “Les Miserables” as Jean Valjean.  The second is more serious, performed at Royal Albert Hall in England.  Both are beautiful and express the joy of the Christmas Season.   Listen to the one that fits your mood but let us rejoice that the good news that a savior was born was for all people.

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Psalm 37:5-6

Commit your way to the Lord;
    trust in him, and he will act.
⁶ He will make your vindication shine like the light,
    and the justice of your cause like the noonday.

         We are looking at Psalm 37 and pondering its wisdom as guidelines for 2024.  Rafiki, the baboon liboni in “Lion King,” hit Simba over the head and agreed that the “past does hurt but the way I see it, you learn from it or you run from it.”  We look back on 2023 and lick our wounds from the hard lessons we learned and ponder what 2024 holds, trying not to repeat our mistakes.  First, focus on God and don’t fret about the tough times that are temporary and will pass.  Next we emotionally and spiritually open our fists that hold on so tight to our problems and trust them into God’s care.  He walks with us and holds us.  Tough stuff.  We are free to do good and to not keep rethinking our problems, leaning on our own insight or the next friend with a new idea.  Then delighting in the Lord is opening our hearts to his presence during lament and joy.

         Today King David advises us to commit our lives to the Lord.  These are not easy ideas to put into practice.  Perhaps we can think of how we felt when we made a commitment at a wedding or a decision we made to care for a failing parents during the ups and downs of dementia.  I think commitment is not like joining a political party in election year but it goes deeper.  The values we commit to are the values we want to be part of our life whether our candidate wins or loses.  It is the decision to stick with God when we are happy and when we are crying.  It is a resolve of the will and the soul. 

         Let’s make an acrostic of the word “trust” and choose things we would like to commit to God this year.  T is for…time or……, R is for….., U is for ……, T is also for……  Lord, please help me to keep my hands open as I present these things to you this year.  Thank you, Lord, for being trustworthy.

Psalm 37: 4

⁴ Take delight in the Lord,
    and he will give you the desires of your heart.

         This week we are looking at potential guidelines for encountering the challenges that will come in 2024.  We are drawing words of advice written by King David in Psalm 37.  Verse one encouraged us to not fret about the “bad guys” or even those whom we experience as outshining us.  Focus on God and not on our perceived problem.  Yesterday he then encouraged us to trust that God is guiding us, walking with us, and freeing us to “do good” and not “lean on our own understanding.”  I do not think that denies the need to grieve and lament but it defines the context of our grief.  I do not need to be happy that my husband is in heaven and I am here alone.  But as I look to God who walks with me unseen and holds my future and me even as he holds my husband, I can relax and have a good cry on his shoulder.

         Verse four encourages us to “delight.”  That is hard to get our hearts around because we can think of delight like cheering for our football team when it wins.  The Internet dictionary defines delight when used as a verb, “to please (someone) greatly.”  The scene that comes to mind is my little one-ish son learning to walk.  I would hold him and point him to his father a short distance away.  We cheered wildly when he crossed the distance and when he fell half way – “good try, let’ do it again.”  One day the teenager next door was home from school and offered my son a cookie.  That little guy got up and walked across the gravel yard to his hero!  Both scenes delighted me – failure but trying and love in motion.

         Delight in God takes different forms.  I did not delight in the decline of my husband but I focused my mind on thanking God for the 47 years I never expected to have and the peace of just sitting by his side as he struggled with the disease.  Perhaps delight is not always laughing and clapping.  Perhaps there can even be delight during times of lament by focusing on God, the blessings, and then trusting that we are not alone!

         Eric Liddell, in “Chariots of Fire” to questions about the rigor of training for the Olympics, responds to his sister,  “I believe that God made me for a purpose. But He also made me fast, and when I run, I feel His pleasure.”  God delighted in Liddell even when he was dealing with a challenge.

         Ponder Psalm 22:8  ‘Commit your cause to the Lord; let him deliver—let him rescue the one in whom he delights!’  Lord, let me delight in you and may I be a delight to you, even on tough days!

Psalm 37: 3-4

Trust in the Lord, and do good;
    so you will live in the land, and enjoy security.

         Psalm 37 written by King David gives us some good principles to guide our lives in 2024.  Yesterday we looked at verses one and two.  We were challenged to keep our focus on God and not to worry about the “bad guys” whom ever that may be.  So often a bad day is a passing thing.  The phone rings and a friend calls and suddenly the fog lifts.  Other difficulties are what most people face also.  We are not alone because misery loves company but because we can focus on a God who holds our hand.

         Today let’s add “trust” to our focus.  Trust is hard.  We like to be in control and we like to know we will succeed or did it right.  No one likes pain and failure.  When we are sick, we want to know the medicine will work and the doctor cares.  Facing discomfort like a broken bone that will last for six weeks of healing, is easier to manage than a diagnosis of cancer where the outcome is not so certain.

           Psalm 37 encourages us to not only trust but also “do good.”  Trust reminds me to keep my focus on God and not on the problem AND David adds, “do good.”  My physical therapist has me winding through a line of cones on the floor while going through the alphabet saying girls’ names.  The theory is that we cannot focus on two things at once so if I can keep my stride regular while focusing on names, success!  It reminds me of Lamaze that taught the same principle that if I focus on a good thought and breathe slowly, I’ll weather the pain, errr labor, better.  When I go down the rabbit hole of wondering if the medicine is working or just when I can pay off that debt then worry grabs my heart.

         David also writes in Proverbs 3:5-6

⁵ Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
    and do not rely on your own insight.
⁶ In all your ways acknowledge him,
    and he will make straight your paths.

When I don’t trust on a God who is more able than I and who has more power than I, then my path becomes crooked.  I debate within my mind and I loose peace.  I have focused on my own insights or understanding of a situation and stopped trusting either God or the doctor or my financial advisors.  All sorts of doubt scramble my peace.

         As we face into 2024, may we focus on our relationship with God first and then trust that his plans for us are the best so we can relax, do good, and not lean on our own understanding.  We can be free to bless others.  Tough stuff.  Blessings as you strengthen your spiritual muscels as you practice trusting this year.

Psalm 37:1-2

¹ Do not fret because of the wicked;
    do not be envious of wrongdoers,
² for they will soon fade like the grass,
    and wither like the green herb.

         Today we start the year 2024.  Perhaps some of you were alive at the turn of the century and can remember fearing that all our electronic gadgets would not be able to function when we went from 1999 to 2000.  On June 8, 1949, George Orwell published his famous book 1984. It was his last book, written during the time of Stalin and predicting that by 1984 government would be like “Big Brother,” able to electronically watch everyone and impact minds.  Theories about “end times” have sold books and been the basis for movies for decades now.  The future can be pondered through eyes of fear. 

         Today on January 1 many will reflect and write goals for 2024.  We hope to loose weight, exercise more, meet that special person, maybe change jobs or move.  But we do not know what 2024 will bring us.  This week as we build up to Epiphany or Three Kings Day we will look at Psalm 37.  Psalm 37 does not deal with the childhood of Jesus which the theme of the Christmas season but it does give us good advice for dealing with the “new.”

         King David opens with the words, “Don’t fret.”  “Don’t worry.”  Those words challenge me to think about where I am focusing as I start the year.  Am I focusing on my wants, my fears and my hopes or am I focusing on the God who walks with me every day.

¹³ No testing has overtaken you that is not common to everyone.

God is faithful,

and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength,

but with the testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it.  1Corinthians 10:13

         Our first word of wisdom is not to fret but to focus on God.  God is faithful.  Any trial we encounter, someone else is dealing with also.  God is not trying to punish us for our mistakes but he desires to comfort us and he knows how much we can endure.  We may not believe that but he knows more than we do.  Comfort does come in unexpected ways – from friends, from music, from nature, and from Scripture.  #1 Focus on God.

         I also often need to remind myself that life is not random.

            ² My brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of any kind,          consider it nothing but joy, ³ because you know that the testing of         your faith produces endurance; ⁴ and let endurance have its full        effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking in nothing.     James 1:2-4,

Dear Lord, help to focus on you this year and remember you are walking with us, know us, and that life is not random.  Blessings as you start 2024!

         Tomorrow night we will watch our TVs as the clock strikes midnight around the world and a new year is welcomed.  Some American TVs will focus on programs at Times Square in New York City.  At midnight a huge ball drops and the crowd sings Auld Lang Syne.

         The song was written in Scottish English by Robert Burns in 1788.  “Auld Lang Syne” can be loosely translated “for the sake of old times.”  So the author asks, should old friendships be forgotten?  The answer is no because as we can think back on those friendships and we can remember the trials we went through together, the loyalty and the support friends bring to us through the year.

         As we come to the end of 2023, we can think of the gift our friends have been to us this year but let us also identify the blessings our faith has brought us this year.  God has not been silent but has walked with us through thick and thin, good days and bad.  Let us thank God for his goodness to us.

⁹ ‘There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what are they among so many people?’  John 6:9

         One of the fun stories in the Bible about children, who remain often unseen and nameless, perhaps considered a nuisance, is about Jesus as an adult preaching to a mass of people on a mountainside.  The people had been listening for a long time and were hungry.  There were no shops near by for so huge a gathering.  Disciple Andrew found the only resource available, an unnamed boy with five barley loaves and two fish.  The child had enough for himself and his importance was doubted.  It is easy to dismiss children.  “What are they?”  We could skip over Jesus’ childhood as unimportant, a preparation time for the accomplishments of adulthood.  But Luke points out that Jesus was a child like you and me.  He did not just pop onto the world stage.  Sunday we will take a moment and ponder the circumcision of Jesus as an infant as our point story for his childhood.  Let’s be amazed as Joseph and Mary were when they hear Simeon and Anna speak.

         The little boy we read about today by sharing his lunch enabled Jesus and the disciples to feed a multitude.  Children are a blessing.  Children that need attention when we come home from work give us opportunities to unwind.  Children who tell us silly stories that require us to slow down and listen, teach us patience and help us see life through their eyes.  Children who break things challenge us to generosity.  We like to focus on the fish and bread and the miracle of being fed, but perhaps sitting in the innocence and simple generosity of the child today will help us face the complicated challenges of adults we face.  Blessings as you connect with a child today.

         5 Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Aram, was a great man and in high favour with his master, because by him the Lord had given victory to Aram. The man, though a mighty          warrior, suffered from leprosy. ² Now the Arameans on one of their   raids had taken a young girl captive from the land of Israel, and she          served Naaman’s wife. ³ She said to her mistress, ‘If only my lord       were with the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his   leprosy.’  2 Samuel 5:1-3

         One of the stories about Jesus as a child, about age 12, tells of his parents going to Jerusalem with him.  Coming home his parents think he is playing with the other children only to discover him missing.  They return to Jerusalem and search for him for three days only to find him in the Temple talking with the priests and elders.  The story about Jesus made me think of an Old Testament story that tells of a nameless young girl, captured by Aramean raiders.  Her master has leprosy.  Despite all the girl has been through, the young girl speaks up and tells of a prophet in Israel who could heal her captor.  Jesus and the young girl have the courage to share their faith with elders.  These young people spoke truth to power.

         It is so easy to belittle ourselves and downplay our experiences.  We do not have to master the whole Bible to justify sharing.  The girl just shared what she knew.  Jesus spoke with the elders about what he knew.  We can share our experiences.  Perhaps age or education is not as important as awareness of how God is working in the world around us and a willingness to engage others with the truth we know.  Let’s try to be braver in the coming year and no be scared to share our faith.  Blessings.

¹⁷ Then Eli answered, ‘Go in peace; the God of Israel grant the petition you have made to him.’  1 Samuel 1:17

         One of the famous babies in the Bible is baby Samuel.  Unlike Mary, Samuel’s mother, Hannah, was the first wife and barren.  Mary was a virgin, promised in marriage but not yet wed.  Hannah was a loved first wife, taunted by wife #2 for her barrenness.  An angel surprised Mary who had no thought of having a baby yet.  Hannah was in the Temple, so distraught in her praying for a baby that the priest Eli accused her of being drunk.  Mary was greatly perplexed, perhaps terrified, when she heard what God was going to do but Hannah was told to go in peace.  These are very different pre-stories to babies that were going to be greatly used by God.  Baby Samuel would become a great prophet and anoint King Saul and King David, a significant point in the development of Israel.  Baby Jesus would become known as our Savior and be the key person in Christianity.

         So often we think God cannot work with our stories.  We feel like tiny babies defined by the circumstances of our birth.  God’s miracles take many forms.  God transforms seemingly impossible birth scenarios.  Ask the Holy Spirit to scan your heart today.  Is there something that seems impossible at first sight in your life or in the life of a loved one?  Perhaps you are dealing with a despairing political or financial challenge.  Or you might have received medical news that has you petrified like Mary or despairing like Hannah.  Place it in God’s hands and watch for how he works.  We can go in peace and be the servant of the Lord.  Blessings.

         We now start the Christmas season when we reflect on the childhood of Jesus.  The Christmas season goes from the birth of Christ to the celebration of the arrival of the wise men on January 6.  January 6 officially starts the season of Epiphany when we then look at the adult life and ministry of Jesus.  Sunday our text will focus on Joseph and Mary carrying Jesus to the Temple in Jerusalem for circumcision as is required by the Law of Moses.  Baby Moses and baby Jesus children born in some similar circumstances.

¹⁰ When the child grew up, she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and she took him as her son. She named him Moses, ‘because’, she said, ‘I drew him out of the water.’  Exodus 2:10

         I thought it might be fun to ponder the childhood of children in the Bible compared to Jesus’ childhood.  Jesus was born during a time of great turmoil as “Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world.”  Joseph and Mary traveled from northern Israel to southern Israel, to Bethlehem, and went to the Temple in Jerusalem, not a synagogue in Nazareth, to have Jesus circumcised.  Moses’ parents lived as slaves in Egypt and the Pharaoh had ordered that all male babies be killed.  His parents hid him and when that no longer worked, they put him in a basket in the river Nile.  Both babies were born into worlds of political unrest where their parents were pretty much slaves, we might say “blue collar workers.”  Herod killed children under age 2 and Pharaoh killed all male babies.  But both babies survived because God was working.

         Jesus was given his name because he would rescue, deliver, save his people.  Moses was named because he was drawn from, saved by water.   Our names have meaning.  My name means “stranger.”  I did not like my name until I read in a baby book while searching for a name for my unborn child, a Christian interpretation.  A stranger usually comes to your door to bring news.  So, a person with my name could see himself or herself as a visitor who brings good news.  I like that.

         Let’s think about our names and our birth circumstances today and how we can live out that identity to the glory of God.  Despite all the political danger in their worlds and despite the dire straights of their parents, both babies grew to be men who changed their worlds.  Let’s pray for ourselves and our loved ones that they will be blessed to be a blessing.