On the Way to Wonder

“After…” Mark 1:14

“After” the temptation, after Jesus’ cousin John, who baptized Jesus, was put in prison, “Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God.”  We are living right now in the “after” and sorting ourselves out.  It is after the election.  It is after the vote of impeachment yesterday.  Today is after announcements about vaccinations.  Today is after the death of someone I knew and I know “after” means grief for the family left behind.  “After” suggests sequence and perhaps cause and relationship.  Our actions do not stand in a void anymore than Jesus’ approach to his ministry.

         “After,” a word I had never focused on before, makes sense of John’s questions in prison.  John sent his disciples to ask Jesus if Jesus was the Messiah, the one prophesied to come.  “After” can trigger doubt that drives action.  After climbing on the scale in the morning, I re-examine my diet plan and what failed and what worked.  My plans for the day are dependent on the outcome of yesterday as well as the desires of my heart.

         Jesus returned to Galilee.  “After” initiated a travel plan for Jesus.  The baptism was at the Jordon, closer to Jerusalem and with John’s imprisonment, Jesus traveled north to less politically dangerous territory.  Some of our plans for today will now involve a “travel plan.”  We need to get food to feed the family.  We need to go to the post office to send a card, or at least an email.  We need to call a friend or someone official.   We make our plans and sometimes those plans involve moving to a less dangerous, less volatile place in life, in mind anyway.  Jesus did.

         Jesus went to Galilee, his home territory in northern Israel.  May I suggest that sometimes I need to move my thoughts to safer memories.  My husband will ask me, “Are you chewing on that bone again?”  My thoughts are trapped in some incident that hurt and I ruminate on it.  Perhaps I need to move to prayer, to confession of my wrong, to journaling, to talk with a friend, or even turn on positive music – anything to stop the downward spiral of doubt and self-criticism.  As I listen to the news and hear about the armed soldiers guarding the capitol for the inauguration, it is possible for fear to immobilize me, for stereotypes of “the other” to fill my mind, and for my thoughts to undermine my sense of security.  Jesus lived in no less volatile and dangerous times.  “After” John was imprisoned, Jesus knew it was time to return to Galilee. Perhaps we too need to refocus today.

         “After” the defining event of yesterday that is impacting your today, let’s take time to center our thoughts on a Savior who understands doubts and danger, who travels with us and with the situation driving us, and who comes to preach the good news of God.  He is with you today.  He cares. And He can meet your challenge with you.  Blessings.

“At once the Spirit sent him out into the desert,

and he was in the desert forty days, being tempted by Satan. 

He was with the wild animals

and the angels attended him. (Mark 1:12,13)”

Temptation!  Now there is another subject.  “That donut just jumped in my mouth.  You see, my friend gave it to me and I did not want to hurt her feelings.  I haven’t had one for ages and I’ll cut back tomorrow.”  We all know the self-talk that leads us down a path that usually ends in regret. 

         James talks about temptation specifically in his first chapter verse 13,

“When tempted, no one should say, ‘God is tempting me.’ For God cannot be tempted by evil nor does he tempt anyone, but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed.  Then after desire has conceived it gives birth to sin; and sin when it is full-grown gives birth to death.”  The Holy Spirit led Jesus but did not tempt him.

         Today we have multiple sources of temptation to embrace that that does not please God.  God created us “good” but ads offer whatever to help us be “more good” — beautiful or healthy or secure or anything.  Desire shifts from pleasing God to pleasing people.  Doing something spectacular, like Jesus jumping from a building like Superman, would certainly bring quick popularity for Jesus.  But how long would that last?  The temptation that our culture today is struggling with is the road of impeachment.  It is so easy to believe “the other party” is hateful, wrong and needs to be punished.  It is so easy to stereotype and demonize that which threatens our path.  Impeachment is not that different than going through the cupboard and eliminating all the food that is unhealthy for my diet.  Eliminating, getting rid of what we consider wrong, is a common coping approach.

         I note in this passage that Jesus was tempted.  He understands our temptations.  He understands the philosophical battle we are immersed in right now.  I also note that he did not eliminate Satan for testing him.  He had the power as true God but he did not use it. His answer was the choice of the cross and resurrection. The temptation report in the Gospels affirms to us that temptation is real, is not coming from God, and is something we grow through.  When I am tempted to resort to violence or when I am tempted by anger, I am walking in the desert with a God who loves people on both sides.  Jesus did not create bread to feed himself, did not do something spectacular to impress, and did not short-cut the painful path being faced by bowing down to Satan. 

         As we walk these next days may we too examine the motives and purposes of our hearts and continue to ponder how God would have us respond.  Prayer, being in the Word, and seeing “the other” as God’s concern also helps.  Lord, have mercy as we walk this wilderness with you.

“At once the Spirit sent him out into the desert,

and he was in the desert forty days, being tempted by Satan. 

He was with the wild animals

and the angels attended him. (Mark 1:12,13)”

The Gospel of Mark is believed by many to have been written by John Mark, a youth at the time of Christ’s ministry, the cousin of Barnabas, traveling companion of Paul and Barnabas on their first missionary journey, and according to Eusebius (110 AD) Mark is the interpreter, explainer, of the words of the apostle Peter.  This John Mark is the CNN reporter we are focusing on this year.  We are reflecting on faith through his eyes.

         “He was aiming to give a faithful outline of Peter’s preaching and teaching about the good news of the Christ to a Gentile audience in Rome,” according to an African Bible Commentary I often refer to.  Mark is not trying to be chronological like Matthew and Luke.  He does not open his book with the Bethlehem story but rather with the words, “In the beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God.”  “Gospel” means good news.  Mark jumps straight to the baptism of Jesus that we studied yesterday, ending with the Trinity coming in “touchable” realities: the Father as voice declaring love without need to earn it, the Holy Spirit as a Dove descending or coming to us, and Jesus as “true man” identifying with us, his creation that needs forgiveness.  As my husband would say, “That’s deep!”

         John the Baptist calls people to a baptism of repentance, not in the temple and tradition, but in the wilderness at the Jordon.  Jesus chooses there to start his journey with the masses.  Next verse!  “At once the Spirit sent him…”  No dust gathering here!  After the mountain top experience, it seems there follows a valley that tests — those wonderful truths we felt we discovered at camp, in love, from the stimulus check, after our person won the election—the valley happens.  We return from college and the independence there to come home for vacation and the realities there.  Within the first week of marriage we have a major fight.  The stimulus check comes and is followed with a bill that eats it.  On the horizon is January 20^th and the fears of the nature of the transition.

         Mark does not describe the desert experience except to describe it as a time of temptation by Satan, a clash of values.  In those valley experiences the beliefs we have developed are tested.  Hard times reveal my character and go to my inner core.  I would like to think I am kind, loving, generous, and patient but….  The cake jumped in my mouth after the decision to diet.  Those words jumped out of my mouth when yet again he did what I’ve asked him not to.  My heart despairs when I turn on the news and hear all the reports of possible chaos.  Where is my faith?  Growing!  Jesus walked through a desert time too and understands.  Interestingly, Mark adds the detail that the danger did not only come from within and his temptation from Satan but he also was in danger, temptation to fear, without from the wild animals.

         “Angels attended him.”  God does not abandon us in times of temptation and danger.  As we walk into 2021, into our political future, continue with the virus, struggle with the economy, make decisions about our future and how we want to live it, we do not walk alone.   The good news that God comes to us in our baptism and walks with us through our temptations and dangers is “good news!!!”  We are people of hope for 2021 not because of who we are but because of who He is. We will learn more about in the coming weeks.  For now, it is good to know God comes to us.  Blessings, you are not alone.

“On the twelfth day of Christmas
my true love gave to me:

12 drummers drumming,

11 pipers piping, 10 lords a leaping, 9 ladies dancing, 8 maids a milking, 7      Swans a Swimming, 6 Geese a Laying
5 Gold–en Rings
4 Calling Birds, 3 French Hens, 2 Turtle Doves
and a Partridge in a Pear Tree”

12 drummers drumming represents 12 basic Christian truths found in the Apostle’s Creed.  A creed is a statement of faith, of what we believe and the principles that guide our life.  It is called “Apostle’s” because this is a statement that has been said by Christians from the time of the original followers of Christianity.  Perhaps the authors of this song included it last because it reviews the gifts that came before and has been the drum to which we have walked for two millennium. It is appropriate that we remember those principles we live by.  They are like the beating of our heart.  They are the truths that guide our lives as Christians.

1. God is not only our powerful Creator but is also our caring Father. He is True Love.
2. Jesus Christ is Lord.  He is the partridge, one of a kind.
3. Jesus miraculously became incarnate by the Holy Spirit through Mary.  The partridge sits in a pear tree, certainly Mary, but also representing his incarnation and becoming true man/true God.
4. Jesus suffered, was crucified by the Romans in the first century, and died.  4 calling birds. Details of Jesus’ life and ministry are found in the four Gospels that have called out the truth of the God/man’s character.
5. Jesus rose from the dead.  5 Golden Rings: the law was fulfilled in the death of Christ.  Death no longer must control us.
6. Jesus ascended into heaven and is exalted.  6 geese a laying – the whole creation is redeemed and life goes on.
7. Jesus will return in judgment.  7 swans swimming, the gifts of the Spirit that identifies the talents we are entrusted with.
8. The Holy Spirit is a person of the Holy Trinity. 8 geese a laying reminds us of creation and the Trinity hovering and continuing to bring forth life.
9. The church is universal.  9 ladies dancing – we live and dance with each other, celebrating the gifts of self and other.
10. There is a fellowship of Christians across all times and places.  10 Lords leaping are the commandments that apply to all people so that we can live in harmony.
11. Our sins are truly and really forgiven in Christ.  11 pipers piping are the faithful Apostles who carried the story that we are truly forgiven and Christ changes lives.
12. Our bodies will be resurrected.  Heaven is real.  12 drummers drumming – let us keep the message going – resurrection now and for eternity is real.

This is one of my favorite renditions of the Creed.  Listen and be blessed.

It is also sung beautifully by Maranatha singers:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdU4Kbn3B3M.

Monday we will start a new series.  Blessings as we enter Epiphany season!

“On the eleventh day of Christmas
my true love gave to me:

11 pipers piping,

10 lords a leaping, 9 ladies dancing, 8 maids a milking, 7 Swans a Swimming, 6 Geese a Laying
5 Gold–en Rings
4 Calling Birds, 3 French Hens, 2 Turtle Doves
and a Partridge in a Pear Tree”

Eleven pipers piping represent the eleven faithful apostles.  Of all the people who followed Jesus, and there were many, twelve formed the “cabinet” and became known as the Apostles.  Disciples were followers of Jesus but Apostle were his closest followers and of those even one betrayed him, Judas Iscariot.  Hence, eleven pipers piping.  Why does this song call us to remember these eleven of all the people who have lived faithful lives?

         Perhaps it reminds us that faithfulness often does not occur in the arena of popularity.  The Apostles changed the entire world through their faithfulness and leadership.  Rome ruled the world, not recognizing Judaism, nor feeling the need to honor the humanity of those who did.  Crucifixion was not unique to Jesus and was a cruel death to all who opposed Rome.  Women could be divorced for burning the dinner, not pleasing her husband, or not being faithful before marriage.  Women had no protection, no planned parenthood.  There was no social security or retirement plans.  There was no such thing as insurance or hospitals!  Public education available with food plans for the poor – not yet realized. 

         The eleven apostles represent the impact and cost of faithfulness.  All but John died a martyr’s death but they changed a world not so different than ours.  My thoughts wander to individual who have changed worlds and who have inspired me.  Sr. Elizabeth Fedde, a Norwegian Deaconess, came to the USA to help Norwegian sailors, sick in the slums.  She started Sunday schools, hospitals, and the modern ambulance idea when she purchased horses being discarded for trains and painted a wagon white and collected the sick.  Henrietta   Mears led Sunday school at Hollywood Presbyterian church where I later worked on a suicide call line and she led the 450 Sunday school program to be 4,200 children per week – in two years.  Who did she impact?  Bill Bright was one of her students and went on to lead Campus Crusade and write the Four Spiritual Laws that have helped define Evangelicalism.  Billy Graham was impacted by her.

         In the face of demonstrations and mobs this last year it is easy to feel small and helpless.  Eleven Pipers Piping in the Christmas song reminds us that eleven faithful people can change a cruel and unjust world by doing that which True Love guides us to do.  Our faithfulness in many small ways is important and changes lives. 

         So my prayer today as we face our future is that we will faithfully play our small pipe in the small, perhaps only eleven, group we find ourselves in, playing a tune that glorifies God, True Love, and speaks of his tune to the world that struggles.  Blessings as you play your pipe today!

“On the tenth day of Christmas
my true love gave to me:

10 lords a leaping,

9 ladies dancing, 8 maids a milking, 7 Swans a Swimming, 6 Geese a Laying
5 Gold–en Rings
4 Calling Birds, 3 French Hens, 2 Turtle Doves
and a Partridge in a Pear Tree”

After the events at the USA capitol yesterday, it is hard to write about ten leaping lords that represent the Ten Commandments given on Mt. Sinai to Moses to guide and govern people’s lives.  When we think about “law” our minds float to the “big ten,” but in-fact Luther talks of three types of law: “moral law” written on people’s hearts and applicable to all people, “ceremonial law” that governs our religious belief practices like whether or not to eat pork, and  “political law” that regulates and protects how people live together in society.  These three types of law do not always co-exist together in harmony as we saw yesterday and see worked out today.  People with strong feelings about moral infractions confront people with strong feelings about political procedure and those of us watching TV wring our hands and cry to God for mercy for our country and its government and the people working this out.  Lord, have mercy!  Christ, have mercy!  Lord, have mercy!  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6teNwbdhTt4.

         We sum up the role of law in our lives with Jesus’ interaction with the young lawyer who asked what was the greatest law.  Jesus asked the young man what he thought.  The response, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, and strength and love your neighbor as yourself.”  For many, that boils down to a mandate to “love.”   But, sigh, we know the saying, “love is blind!”  We tend to define what love looks like through our self-centered interests.  Love is not something that is written in words but is lived out in actions.  We see the riots in the name of justice, a form of love of neighbor, and wonder.  We don’t feel like we are leaping but crawling.

         So how do laws help us leap?  “Leap for joy?”  Leap over the river?  Leap Year to make the calendar synch with nature?  Laws set boundaries for our behavior and our hearts so that we know when we are in danger of hurting ourselves or hurting others. 

         -Yes, I am having a rough day with my spouse because of so much misinformation and misunderstanding but “law” calls me to stop and think before I “walk away” from commitment.  God does not stop loving me and making the sun shine but people get hurt and a big price is paid.

         -Yes, the other has deeply hurt me and “law” reminds me that I have choices, to seek revenge in my strength or to forgive.  “Law” helps me clarify if I’m dealing with sin or selfishness and can offer alternatives.

         -Yes, I’m tired and would love a little more sleep but “law” reminds me and helps me focus on doing things that feed my soul, like remembering to take a Sabbath from work and focus on the God who holds my life.

         Right now is a hard time to leap for joy as we try to sort out the types of law that are arguing without and within.   Today we are more likely to leap to prayer for our country and our leaders. As we struggle with how to frame the events in our lives, may we never forget that True Love, God, gave us “laws” that we might leap to him and over that which defeats us.  Blessings.    

“On the ninth day of Christmas
my true love gave to me:

9 ladies dancing,

8 maids a milking, 7 Swans a Swimming, 6 Geese a Laying
5 Gold–en Rings
4 Calling Birds, 3 French Hens, 2 Turtle Doves
and a Partridge in a Pear Tree”

Nine ladies dancing remind us of the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit (Gal 5:22): love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Paul is writing a letter to the people living in Galatia to warn them about the struggle between feelings that draw us away from God, sin, and feelings that draw us into True Love’s presence where there is no law but blessing. 

         Today is Epiphany when we celebrate the arrival of the wise men to see the Christ child, the babe of Bethlehem.  Their arrival is a “hands-on” example of the fruits of the Spirit.  These “men” came from somewhere East of Jerusalem so had to exert themselves to make the journey-showing patience.  They brought gifts-demonstrating love and joy.  They left by a different route, trying to avoid conflict and trouble by not reporting to Herod of the babe’s location.  The “slaughter of the innocents,” all the children under age two and the resulting flight of Joseph, Mary, and the babe to Egypt to live as refugees stand in stark contrast to the deeds of the wise men. 

         The desire of True Love’s heart is to bless and because we do not see with physical eyes his presence, we have glimpses of his activity when we see these Spiritual gifts being lived out.  Likewise we pray for these character qualities to define our lives, integrating our faith with our actions.  We seek to bless others as we seek to be obedient to the Holy Spirit within.  We identify the godly by the presence of the “nine ladies dancing.”

         Dancing implies activity and perhaps the author of the song wanted people to remember that our faith life is something that must be active and not just sit in a certificate in a dusty Bible or rest in our memories as a spiritual experience of ecstasy.  We can dance alone but as the wise men travel together, we dance and live the gifts in community.

         It’s hard to remember all nine gifts and often we just list the first three, love, joy and peace.  Take a few minutes to look at the whole list and ponder the qualities you might pray for True Love to demonstrate through you in 2021.  Self-control can certainly apply to dieting but it might also apply to control of my tongue in the presence of that person that gets to me.  May the partridge dance nine-fold in our life journey this year as we face challenges.  May we, like the wise men, be willing to bless the stranger, that we find in not-so-obvious, hidden away places like a manger in an unnoticed stable.  May we live out the blessing!  May the nine ladies dance in our lives!

“On the seventh day of Christmas
my true love gave to me:
7 Swans a Swimming
6 Geese a Laying
5 Golden Rings
4 Calling Birds, 3 French Hens, 2 Turtle Doves
and a Partridge in a Pear Tree”

Do you remember Simon and Garfunkel singing the famous song, Bridge Over Troubled Waters?  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrcwRt6J32o We warbled, “If you need a friend, I’m sailing right behind!”  Jesus, the partridge in the pear tree, is the ultimate gift to us but we also live in community, swimming around in the seas of life.  What helps keep us a float? 

         The symbolism of the swans varies slightly in the sources I read.   Gifts of the Holy Spirit from Romans 12:6-8 are listed as “prophesy, service, teaching, encouraging, giving, leadership & mercy.”  The Catholics draw from Isaiah 11:2,3:  “Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel, Fortitude, Knowledge, Piety and Fear (or, Respect) of the Lord.”  They also list the seven means of grace, Sacraments, administered by the Catholic Church: “Baptism, Communion, Confession, Confirmation, Marriage, Anointing of the Sick and Holy Orders.”  As the song is old, written in a time when Catholicism was the main expression of Christian faith, sacraments or gifts that help faith function seem a likely explanation.  Both lists are outward expressions of an inward experience of grace – God’s (True Love’s) riches at Christ’s (the Partridge’s) expense.  We swim more gracefully like a swan when we work in unison, regularly caring for our soul.  God’s grace experienced in sacraments and gifts for the church is “the bridge over troubled waters”.

         Swans are a wonderful image because swans mate for life from an early age, sometimes before maturity.  True Love is not a fickled giver only extending help when we behave, as he wants.  The sun rises daily and grace comes to us daily in many unappreciated forms.  We need grace for 2021 as the waters of life look like huge waves for some of us.  We need people and rituals that remind us of God’s presence and power with us as we swim in our part of the ocean.

         Interestingly swans, male and female, build their nest together, each helping the other, take turns sitting on the eggs, and are known to be highly protective of their young.  Grace is not some mist floating in the air that we breath in but often is seen in our partnership with others – the bridge that helps us pass.  Community counts.  As a friend forgives, extends the hand of friendship, remembers days when I might be struggling, passes the communion cup and so many ways, acts out the grace True Love desires for us to have, we swim a bit more gracefully, our hearts bow in gratitude.  Today we will have an opportunity to extend grace to another.  Let us pray our eyes stay open to give and to receive true love.  Blessings.