On the Way to Wonder

During preChristmas evenings, I took a break from watching the love stories that seem so romantic during the season and happened upon three movies based on true-life stories.  Big name actors played key roles and I was fascinated.  The stories all came out of World War II.  A subtle theme was dealing with people thought to be spies because either they helped the Russians who were Allies at the time or helped to defeat the Germans who were the known enemy.  The movies challenged my definition of who the bad-guys were.  So often we define the enemy as that person who disagrees with us or who is on the opposite team than us.  I bet many of us can still chant our high school cheer from football games!

         Jesus challenges our concept that bad guys are to be defeated, beaten.  He calls on us to love our enemy, love those who persecute us.  Really????

^“43 ‘You have heard that it was said, “You shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy.” ⁴⁴ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, ⁴⁵ so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. ⁴⁶ For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax-collectors do the same? ⁴⁷ And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? ⁴⁸ Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. (Matthew 5:43-48)”

         Jesus gives two reasons.  First God blesses the good and the bad.  The “laws” of nature and life do not just work for the Christians, the people who believe like us, the smart, the talented or the healthy.  Good people die young and nasty people may die old.  Disease attacks all of us.  Interest rates impact all of us.  Refugees come from all econommic classes and ethnicities.  Secondly, people of all religions and ethnicities are nice to people who are their friends.  The difference is when we are counter-cultural and when we return good for evil.  Jesus takes our emotional responses to others out of our own feelings and lhas us ook to God as our model.  I heard that explained this weekend as not mimicing Jesus.  Our goal is not be be copy-cats of Jesus but to allow his Spirit to work in us so that we become our best selves, the selves God created us to be, where his image shines in us.

         This year when we are challenged, may we stop and ponder how we can return good for evil.  May we not be so quick to label the other “the enemy.”  May we remember to stop and pray.  May we desire to be called “children of our heavenly Father.”  Blessings as you face this challenge.

         We are now in the season of Epiphany.  Epiphany means a new revelation or idea.  We might say, “The light dawns.”  When our first son put on a suit to take a young lady in a fancy dress to the Senior Banquet, we suddenly realized in a new way that he had grown up.  He went to boarding school in Africa and so we did not have the everyday experience of watching him grow.  When he put on a real suit and she in a fancy dress, we gasped.  Of course, we might look at Newton, discovering the law of gravity when the apple fell.  During the season of Epiphany we look at this babe of Christmas who grew up and was baptized by John the Baptist.  A voice from heaven said, “This is my son in whom I am well pleased.”  What?  Son of God?  Something new has happened within Judaism.

         True, the Romans believed in gods that had children with humans but not Judaism.  During Epiphany our Sunday sermons will look at the Sermon on the Mount, that has been dubbed Jesus’ “State of the Union Address” where he lays out his beliefs about how life in “the kingdom of God” works.  The sermon texts will go from Matthew 4 to Matthew 6.  Our daily devotions will continue from where they leave off to check out this “new guy on the block.”  Is he God Incarnate?

^“38 ‘You have heard that it was said, “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.” ³⁹ But I say to you, Do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also; ⁴⁰ and if anyone wants to sue you and take your coat, give your cloak as well; ⁴¹ and if anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the second mile. ⁴² Give to everyone who begs from you, and do not refuse anyone who wants to borrow from you.

 (Matthew 5:38-42)”

Our world works with an underlying “tit for tat” principle.  If I commit a crime, I can expect to be fined or jailed.  If I am caught cheating on an exam, I can expect to fail.  Was the “election stolen” is a new mantra right now.  We are struggling also because the mass shootings especially at schools, robbing us of the lives of others, has no punishment that can bring back life.  We struggle with appeasing our desire for revenge.

         We also say “quid pro quo” or “trade-off” and “you don’t get something for nothing.”  Jesus presents a revolutionary new worldview where there is no tit-for-tat, no revenge for wrongs, but where evil is met with good.  He seems to be saying that “love” is stronger than “hate.”  Good will conquer evil!  Generosity and putting the others needs before your own is the best way of life to make life work.  Truly? We ask.  Mostly we do not take these verses seriously but we do know that forgiveness may be the only way to end the hatred and revenge cycle. 

         Perhaps there is an old grievance you have been carrying around in your memory.  Forgiveness is hard.  Sometimes writing it down and then burning it helps.  Sometimes writing it down and putting it in a box for Jesus to take care of helps.  Other times we do what we know is right even when we don’t feel like it and discover we feel better despite our feelings. 

         Let’s not head into 2023 with old grievances that weigh us down and that cast shadows on the present.  May we be more generous and willing to share with those in need.  Lord, help us be kinder in 2023!

Cecil Frances Alexander, author of this hymn, was born in 1818 in Dublin, Ireland.  Even as a young child she wrote poetry and would hide it under the carpet for her father to find.  Rather than punishing her as the family expected, he bought her a beautiful box in which she collected her poems and then would read them to the family on Saturday evenings.  Her poetry can be found in “Once in Royal David’s City” and “All Things Bright and Beautiful.”  She married William Alexander, an Anglican priest, and would write hymns for the end of his sermons.  This hymn was written for Matthew 4 that we started looking at this week.

         Jesus was baptized and then led into the wilderness and tested.  Evil led him to doubt God’s word (“IF you are who they say you are…), God’s will (surely God does not want you to get hurt….) and God’s way (skip the cross and worship me.)  Jesus responds with Scripture.  So many things in life, “the tumult of life’s tempestuous seas”, rock our faith boat but Jesus calls to us even as he called Andrew and Peter to follow him a few verses later in Matthew 4.

         Let us spend a moment listening to Jesus right now calling us to follow him in the journey of our lives!

Have you ever been tempted to take a short cut only to discover that the short cut was the long way around a problem?  One of the “typical” mistakes my husband and I have frequently made through the years is for me to do half the task while he does the other half and then we spend the time we saved trying to find each other in the store or hospital or where ever.  I learned to drive on the Los Angeles freeway.  I quickly learned that switching lanes back and forth because one lane looked faster than the other, invariably led to frustration and I seldom traveled faster.  Short cuts can be deceptive.  “Easy” is seldom easy.

         Jesus has been tempted by his “hungers.”  If only we could turn that which appears like a rock into bread, surely his hunger would be satisfied.  The satisfaction is temporary though and he reminded us that true satisfaction comes from God.  Next Jesus was tempted by his physical or emotional needs.  Surely if God loved him, then God would not allow Jesus to be hurt.  Growth involves learning from our mistakes and adventuring into new areas that must be mastered.  Lastly the Evil One tempts Jesus with taking the easy way, the short cut.  If Jesus would worship Satan then he would not have to go to the cross.

         We know this temptation.  The little voice makes us think if we fudge on our income tax return and get more money back, then we would have an easier life.  Ads make us think if we use their product then we will look younger.  But in fact, our back still hurts.  Then again we have just been plagued trying to find the right gift so the other will know how much we love.  Next year we will try again.

^“8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendour; ⁹ and he said to him, ‘All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.’ ¹⁰ Jesus said to him, ‘Away with you, Satan! for it is written,

“Worship the Lord your God,
    and serve only him.”’(Matthew 4: 8-10)”

         In this temptation we learn that the best way forward is to keep our priorities in order.  In the 60s there were books on “values clarification.”  I believe there is a saying, to thine own self be true and thou canst be false to none other.  It is only as we worship God and serve him that we find peace.  The short cut may look easier and faster but true joy comes when we live with integrity with our faith and our God.  As 2023 begins to unfold, it might be worth taking a few minutes to jot down five values that are important to you and stick the paper in your Bible so that during those dark days you can pull it out and remind yourself that worshipping God is the best way, not necessarily the easiest!  Blessings.

Have you ever doubted God’s love for you or your value to him?  “Fiddler on the Roof” has several delightful scenes where the father, Tevya engages God in conversation about how God cares for him, Tevya.  “If I Were a Rich Man” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBHZFYpQ6nc grabs something we understand in our hearts.  We don’t want everything, just a little of the good life.  Later Tevya invites God “while he is in the neighborhood” to care for his horse who is lame-again.  Delightful.  The Devil tempts Jesus to test God’s love “if he is the Son of God” by throwing himself from the Temple.

^“5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, ⁶ saying to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written,

“He will command his angels concerning you”,
    and “On their hands they will bear you up,
so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.”’ (Matthew 4:5-9)

Our faith in God is tempted when we are driven by our hungers as we pondered yesterday but also when we are overwhelmed by our problems.  We can hear that little voice on our shoulder saying that the God of the universe who has cows on a thousand hills and all power could certainly…  The “if you loved me, you would…” line are words most of us recognize.  I heard it on dates.  I’ve heard it from my kids when they are upset with me.  I have even entertained doubts about God when I am caught in circumstances that I am defeated to resolve.

         Jesus responds to the Devil, “⁷ Jesus said to him, ‘Again it is written, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.”’ Again, I find comfort in James 1.

^“12 Blessed is anyone who endures temptation. Such a one has stood the test and will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him. ¹³ No one, when tempted, should say, ‘I am being tempted by God’; for God cannot be tempted by evil and he himself tempts no one. ¹⁴ But one is tempted by one’s own desire, being lured and enticed by it; ¹⁵ then, when that desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and that sin, when it is fully grown, gives birth to death. ¹⁶ Do not be deceived, my beloved.^”

2023 will include those moments when we are tempted to think God is testing us because he does not love us.  It is easys to think he is busy over in Ukraine or the Middle East and does not see that our horse is lame.  May we have the clarity and self honesty to realize that often those down days come from within us and our desires to be a “wealthy man.”  Blessings with your lame horse, again, today!

“Hunger”

         We are following Jesus after his baptism and as he is led into a time of testing.  He is in the wilderness and he has not eaten for 40 days and nights.  He is “famished.”  It is often when I am “hungry” that I am vulnerable.

^“2 He fasted for forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished. ³ The tempter came and said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.’ ⁴ But he answered, ‘It is written,

“One does not live by bread alone,
    but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”’ (Matthew 4:2-4)”

         “Hunger” does not just apply to food.  Few of us fast for 40 days nor have I fasted before a test of any kind.  But I do hear my friends talking about how wonderful it was when a son visited and gave her a huge hug.  Her husband died nine years ago and she is “love starved.”  In the idiom on-line dictionary, a proverb is “A hungry stomach has no ears.”  An American saying is that the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach!  When we are hungry for anything, it is hard to focus and we are vulnerable to misperceiving. 

         I am not surprised that the first temptation Jesus faced was to his physical desires.  He was human!  But I find it interesting how the temptataion is couched in an “if” comment.  “If you are the son of God…”  For me it might be thinking something like, if I exercise then I can eat.  A youth might think that if she gets pregnant there are pills now.  Or I reason that “if” I budget better next month I can afford the thing that catches my eyes.  I doubt we just suddenly fall into “I can’t believe I ate the whole pie.”

         Secondly, when I am hungry the temptation always looks like the solution to my hunger.  If Jesus turns the rock into bread then he won’t be hungry.  But in fact, hunger returns.  Compromising my values does not make into a hero but just feeling guilty afterwards.  Staying up too late to watch a show that has grabbed my interest will leave me foggy tomorrow.

         Jesus meets the temptation by making a values priority statement.  We cannot live in the tempting moment alone but must place the temptation in the scheme of our larger goals.  As we reflect on whatever hunger is tempting us, it is always good to think about how it fits within our values God’s word.  Whether it is the piece of cake or a beer in the refrigerator that calls to me, those satisfying moments are just that, moments.  As we go into 2023 may we try to be clear on our values and goals.  Mays we live on the words that come out of the mouth of God and not out of the desires that come from the hungers of the stomach.  Blessings in the struggle!

 “Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit

into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.”

Matthew 4:1

            After a mountain top experience, often comes the decent into the valley.    I love the song from the 60s by the Mamas and Papas, “Monday, Monday.”  I once heard Mama Cass sing, “Monday, Monday, can’t trust that day, Monday, Monday, sometimes it just turns out that way.”  The good experiences just don’t last forever.  Yesterday we pondered Jesus’ baptism and God’s affirmation of his pleasure in Jesus.  Chapter 4 opens with the Holy Spirit then leading Jesus into the wilderness.  It would appear that sometimes God “leads us” into situations that he knows will challenge our faith. That is worth pondering as we enter 2023 knowing there will be good times and for sure the rough times.  I ask if my husband with Parkinson’s will enter glory and am already grieving.  My granddaughter will enter college with all the mental challenges that will entail.  My good friend was in a car accident Sunday.  Tough times challenge our faith and Jesus was no different.  He was the Son of God but he was also the son of Mary.

         James 1 comforts me on those days when God feels distant and the clouds cover his face and tears roll down mine.

            ^“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.

            ⁵ If any of you is lacking in wisdom, ask God, who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly, and it will be given you. ⁶ But ask in faith, never doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind; ^{7, 8} for the doubter, being double-minded and unstable in every way, must not expect to receive anything from the Lord.”

I am comforted by the assurance that God is near and not far.  His love surrounds me even as mine surrounds my husband, kids and grandkids.  I am comforted that hard times are not random and I just pulled the short straw.  PT reminds me that exercise grows strength.  And when I need help, it is just a prayer away!  May we praise God for “the whole blessing” and not just the good days this year! 

This week we have focused on names and specifically some of the names of Jesus besides Savior.  Naida Hearn, a young Australian girl wrote this song in Palmerston North, New Zealand, while doing the family wash in their laundry house.  She had been learning different names for Jesus in Sunday school, written the names down on a paper, and taken the paper with her to do the wash.  She credits the Holy Spirit for as she started singing, the whole song evolved.  She wrote it down in the early 1970s and it quickly became loved world wide.  Please enjoy and meditate on the depth of the meaning of Jesus’ name.  It is indeed a name above all names.

One of the prophetic verses that is often quoted when we talk about the names surrounding the identity of the babe born in Bethlehem at Christmas is Isaiah 9:6.

“For a child has been born for us,
    a son given to us;
authority rests upon his shoulders;
    and he is named
Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God,
    Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

The assigned Psalm for thiis week on the liturgical calendar is Psalm 72.

The babe of Bethlehem was named Jesus, Savior but described in the Old Testament as Wonderful Counsellor and Mighty God.  This same prophecy calls him “Everlating Father and Prince of Peace.”  King Solomon wrote Psalm 72 as a prayer about kingship, ending with verses 14-19 that touch on the eternality of the babe in Bethlehem and the goal to create a better world where peace reigns.

Long may he live!
    May gold of Sheba be given to him.
May prayer be made for him continually,
    and blessings invoked for him all day long.
¹⁶ May there be abundance of grain in the land;
    may it wave on the tops of the mountains;
    may its fruit be like Lebanon;
and may people blossom in the cities
    like the grass of the field.
¹⁷ May his name endure for ever,
    his fame continue as long as the sun.
May all nations be blessed in him;
    may they pronounce him happy.

¹⁸ Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
    who alone does wondrous things.
¹⁹ Blessed be his glorious name for ever;
    may his glory fill the whole earth.
Amen and Amen.

         Peace is not just the absence of war and conflict.  Circle or high light the words in these verses that speak to you of peace.  Do any of the circled words stand out?  The one that jumped out to me is “abundance.”  Solomon prays for abundance in the land so all are satisfied.  Take your word that you picked and identify where you see that characteristic in your life and thank God.  May you experience the abundance of God’s love this year! Peace!