On the Way to Wonder

Today is August 7 and I feel dry. One of my “tricks” I use to trigger reflection is to take the number combo of the day 8/7 and look at a Biblical equivalent, for example Proverbs 8 or Psalm 8. I was not inspired so I looked at the eighth book, Ruth, and the seventh verse, “With her two two daughters-in-law she (Naomi) left the place where she had been living and set out on the road that would take them back to the land of Judah.” Naomi plus husband and two sons fled a famine in Bethlehem to live in Moab, kind of like leaving the political chaos of the USA to go to Canada. There her sons married. Both sons and husband died. Naomi with two foreign daughter-in-laws, Ruth and Orpah, must decide what to do. Troubles, grief, despair, need force us to look at our resources and define our identity, to make decisions. Naomi decides to return “home” to Judah. Orpah stays in Moah but Ruth follow Naomi. As Naomi returns to Bethlehem, the women greet her and she responds, “Don’t call me Naomi (that means pleasant). Call me Mara (that mans bitter).” In the valley of despair, Naomi clarifies her priorities and returns to where she knows God is. She is still bitter and hurt but we see her begin to heal and her eyes open to see a kinsman redeemer as a potential husband for Ruth and she advises Ruth how to “catch her man.” The book ends with the women of the town praising God and blessing Naomi for Ruth has been better than seven sons. Priorities, where we turn when we are in need. God as a first priority may not give instant relief on this journey of life but God’s people gather around to walk the journey with us as we sort out our lives and live into our futures. We will be blessed as God is our first priority!

“The Irish Blessing”, found on Youtube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TascsWZPj8U, has been great fun to watch. 300 churches and individuals from across Ireland join voices and talents to sing the ancient Aaronic blessing found in Numbers 6: 24-27. People from all different ethnicities, in a geographical identifying location join together vocally, instrumentally and through dancing and language to send a blessing to the world. The Lord had Moses teach Aaron, his brother and the beginning of the priestly tradition for the Israelites to bless people:

The Lord bless you and keep you;

The Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you;

The Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.”

This blessing has been passed through generations from Judaism to Christianity to this video seeking to bless people during Covid 19. In fact many versions of this blessing are found on the internet today from different national and common interest groups.

When God is a priority in our lives, we seek his blessing and desire to be held in the palm of his hand. We seek to see his face shine on us. I see that as a smile, sending love and acceptance. We desire that he be gracious to us. We will hear about that in the sermon Sunday as we look at Peter caught in a storm. We want God turning his face towards us, listening, seeing and not walking away turning his back on us. Yes, and peace is our prayer today in our tumultuous world. As we pray for healing in the face of tremendous grief in Beirut, we pray God’s blessing for you in the midst of your journey. May you take time to listen to this video and be blessed.

Today the sage in Proverbs 5 warns against spending our energy on the futile, misplaced priorities “lest you give your best strength to others and your years to one who is cruel. (Prov. 5:9” When our priorities are mixed up that which seems sweet becomes gall in our mouth and leads to death.so  All our work then leads to where we do not want to go and eventually to death. The shadow behind this demise is the realization in verse 21, “For a man’s ways are in full view of the Lord and he examines all his paths.” Hence the question, who do we fear is watching today as we make our decisions. Sunday our text will deal with Jesus, grieving the death of his cousin John the Baptist by beheading sends the disciples ahead while he withdraws after healing people all day and feeding the 5000 plus women and children. Peter, exhausted from helping and then rowing into the night in a storm, sees Jesus approaching, and asks permission to walk on water. The seas of life are tumultuous these days. We will be tired and grieved. How will we sped our energy? Blessings as you paddle on the sea of life. Jesus is near!

“God, our first priority” is our theme right now and the lens we bring to scripture reading, Proverbs 4. A father is admonishing his son that wisdom is the supreme acquisition for us to chase. It is related to understanding. Perhaps that means pondering the events of our lives. During some of my young adult years, our family lived in southern California. After dinner my father and I would take a cup of coffee onto the back porch and chat. He was a postal inspector and would share about his cases. I was a probation officer and would share about mine. We watched planes fly overhead and wondered where they were going. I never quite knew when a subject was settled as the next evening a new question or thought would be presented about our on going conversation. What I would give for one of those evenings now. The psalmist admonishes his son to avoid people bent on evil and wicked people determined to do evil.   “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.(v.23)” The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and so God as a priority is closely tied to seeking wisdom. Who do we open our hearts to and with whom do we ponder together? Are we teachable and can we sit still and listen today, filtering out all the noise and static? Sunday we talked about “an attitude of gratitude,” the ability to “sit” and savor the moment as Christ serves bread and fish (not steak and potatoes) and satisfies our needs. Pondering the giftedness of “now” and not jumping to what we don’t have, our wants, seems key to satisfaction, appreciation, and gaining wisdom – making God our first priority. How will I spend today? Focusing on tomorrow or appreciating what God has given me today? May you find someone to ponder with and realize your list of thanks is longer than your arm can reach. Blessings.

What story about my life would shed light on my priorities? I have been pondering that for biblical King David, “a man after God’s own heart.” He’s one of the greats in history. Yesterday my assigned reading was Psalm 63, a psalm, poem, David wrote in the Desert of Judah, not from the palace with servants and employees around, but in a desert before all his greatness and probably on the run from King Saul. I want to look at that today.

Following the desert motif, David’s soul “thirsts” for God and his body “longs” for him in this dry and weary place. We can identify with those barren times in our lives. What do I thirst for today?

David remembers the sanctuary and it’s glory and reflects that God’s love is better than life, like being satisfied with the richest of foods. When I think of love do I think of a partner, a broken relationship and potential future, or do I think of blessings undeserved? Love is a funny word that gets mixed up with Hollywood movies and passions but David connects it with worship. Wise advise and perspective.

Through the night, David’s thoughts return to God as he ponders his day. I wonder if he had nightmares and sleepless nights and turned to song to chase away the gloom of fear. I find if I cannot sleep that finding a song or prayer helps me in the night. I think the evil one would rather I sleep than pray and praise! Reflecting on God’s hand at work in my life throughout the day is one way to get perspective as well as journaling.

David is confident his enemies will be defeated and destroyed. I am not so confident but I am not a king or queen. I am confident that God cannot be defeated by the evil plans of people and I can say that even thought I did not understand the twists and turns of my life at the time, God has always been faithful and led me into a blessed future.

David’s first priority was God as seen by his reflections during a dry and weary time of his life, as seen by the desires and thirsts of his heart and the longings of his life, as seen by his memories of blessed times and his reflections at night on God’s leading. David is confident of God’s guidance and love and victory in the responsibilities of his life. May our hearts embrace similar thoughts today! Blessings.

“A pregnant moment,” “a pregnant pause” is described as a long pause or silence in action or speech indicating a lot of meaning or significance is to follow and the pause builds suspense. In our text for worship tomorrow there seems to be three pregnant moments where action is suspended and I, as the reader, ponder what led to what follows. Jesus hears that a corrupt politician has beheaded his cousin, John the Baptist, in a cruel social move. Can you imagine the riots that would erupt today as we have seen in our current social debate about justice? All over the US people are demonstrating against injustice. What will Jesus do? He has all power and all knowledge. It is shocking that he “withdraws” to a boat – to grieve, to process the situation, to reunite his core with the Trinity in the face of human wrongs? I wonder. The first place he went was not rage.

He gets out of the boat to face thousands of people who have come to him at the end of their resources – heal me! Teach me! Care about me! A pregnant moment. He does not claim exhaustion and discouragement but has compassion. That says something. His distancing was not disconnection. Later the disciples realize the masses and they are resource-less. “What shall we do?” they ask Jesus. Another pregnant moment in the plea for help. Helpless, hopeless people are told to sit. I have pondered what comes next. Jesus “looks to heaven.” He did not just do his thing. He paused. Faced with tragedy and violence, faced with need and hunger, faced with so many demands, Jesus paused.

It is a bit difficult to say that Jesus made God his first priority as we ponder that theme this month but I believe it is noteworthy that there is a pause between the abject needs we face and the resolutions we experience. “Reaction” does not seem to describe Jesus’ responses. I do not believe Jesus looked to heaven for show, to remind us to pray or to give time for the crowd to settle down. In the face of life, Jesus did not just react but takes time to reason and respond, to make God’s way his first priority. As we face the challenges of today, may we take that moment to bring the situation to God before we respond. See you tomorrow!

Proverbs 31 for July 31. Proverbs 31 is famous for its second two-thirds dedicated to the characteristics of a “wife of noble character who can find?” Does she shed light on God as our first priority? Starting at the top of the chapter, the mother of King Lemuel (lemu-el i.e. the one devoted to God) gives advise to her son. Avoid loose women, alcohol, and ignoring those who have no voice is her sage advice to her son. Then comes the description of the good wife or godly woman, focusing on her actions and her fortitude of heart in the face of adversity.   Many love the closing verse 30, “Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. Give her the reward she has earned, and et her works bring her praise at the city gate.” For many, these are comforting words to know our eternal value is not in our youth, our beauty, our intelligence nor wealth. The fear of the Lord, making God our first priority, results in praise. Since we are gender conscious today, I would add that this is not just for women. Fear of the Lord is spoken of generally through out the Bible for men and women, for all. Perhaps the question of what this means is the real issue. I again come to the conclusion that prioritizing God is lived out in the arena of daily decisions. Our lady rises early to go to the market to feed her family. She makes clothes for them with her hands. She serves, invests, trades and is resourceful. She is one busy person but always it is serving those she cares for and not self. We are commanded to love others as we love ourselves and so I do not think our woman sees herself as useless but realizes her importance in the lives of others. So we come round circle to the beginning of the chapter. Prioritizing God is not being flirtatious and deceptive. It is not idling our time and energy in revelry. It is not closing our eyes to the needs of others. But neither is it being great and pompous. Serving those God puts in our path today and using the talents He has given us in the arena before us is prioritizing God. He is faithful and will use our humble offerings. Blessings.

“Two things I ask of you, O Lord…(Prov. 30:7)” Yup, we are back to Proverbs 30 and this bit of wisdom always grabs my heart. What two things does the writer request? He does not want to be too rich lest he forget that God is his first priority and his source of blessing. He does not want to be too poor so that he is tempted to steal his daily bread (Les Miserables), not trusting God to provide. He also asks that falsehood and lies be kept far from him. Perhaps these three things draw us away from God as our first priority. When we are so content we forget our creator. When we are so needy, we offend our creator. When we are so deceived, we do not recognize our creator. Riches, want, and deceit draw us away from truth. Our blessings come from God. God walks with us in our time of need. Lies convince us that we can be God and control our lives as seen in the Garden of Eden. The truth is that life works best when God is our first priority. Blessings as you weave through the temptations of today. May you not “disown” your maker nor “dishonor” Him.

“Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe.” (Proverbs 29:25) This verse sets the tone for my thinking today. I turned to the Sunday text in Matthew 14:13 that starts, “When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew…” What might Jesus have heard that would lead him to withdraw to solitude, I pondered. His cousin, John the Baptist, had just been beheaded because King Herod, compromised by a need to keep a drunken promise to his seductive step-daughter who danced for him had to choose between what he knew was right and presenting John’s head on a platter to the young lady. He caved.   “Fear of man (or woman)” led to his compromise. How tragic and Jesus grieved. Meanwhile John, a prophet, spoke truth to power and paid with his life. How was he “kept safe”? Both men, Herod and John, were listening to other authorities. Herod listened to his fear of people. John listened to God as his first priority. John paid with his life but entered the kingdom of heaven. Choices we make at the moment have consequences and often only the long term consequences reveal the priorities of our heart.

Today we all face decisions. Is fear driving our heart or faith and trust? Our safety does not rest in approval of man. That’s a snare. Our safety rests in the hand of God who carries us for eternity. May we make God our first priority today and we deal with our situations!   Blessings.

         Les Miserables by Victor Hugo is one of my beloved videos, all versions but especially the newest, more musical. Proverbs 28:21 shares, “To show partiality is not good—yet a man will do wrong for a piece of bread.” My mind immediately leapt to Jean Valjean who stole a loaf of bread to help his starving sister’s family, was caught and thrown into jail for 19 years. He is released but must make a life as a marked felon. Early in the movie, a priest gives him a bed for the night and Jean Valjean steals the silver. Caught again, the priest covers the offense with the police and gives Jean Valjean two silver candlesticks and tells him his life has been spared by God, so live honestly. A plot unfolds of the tension between law and grace, the police representing law and our hero showing kindness to the daughter of a woman, Fantine, wronged in his factory. The book is considered one of the great classics – as is the Bible.

Reading about the book, the article pointed out that the purpose of the book is in the prologue. Hugo shares what he considers “the three problems of the age – the degradation of man by poverty, the ruin of woman by starvation, and the dwarfing of childhood by physical and spiritual night” – social asphyxia create the need for his book in all ages. Proverbs, I think, says a similar thing succinctly, partiality is not good and drives people to steal to survive. When God is not our first priority but self, we diminish the other’s humanity and create the problems facing our age, which I find to be exactly the same as Hugo’s, degradation (racism), poverty, and ignorance. In the end of Les Miserables, the policeman who represents law, kills himself, taking on the judgment Jean Valjean deserved, and giving to our hero life. Jesus goes to the cross that we might have life.

Perhaps we are not tempted to steal bread today but the temptation to cut corners, to forget someone else’s humanity, to fight for self is always there. It is only as we choose God’s way that grace blesses and gives hope. Lord help us in our decisions today.