Ants

June 6, 2020

June 6, Proverbs 6, verse 6, “Go to the ant, you sluggard, consider its ways and be wise! It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest.” This verse always intrigues me because the ant is respected. I can hear myself mutter at the little fellow, “How did you get there? Where did you come from?” This week as I sat drinking a cup of coffee for my morning break, I noticed a huge black ant crawling on my sleeve. I was on a lawn chair at the end of the garage, not touching anything. That ant just appeared. He was assisted as I flicked him over to the grass and muttered. The ant is not like the bee that has workers hunting and reporting where the pollen is. Indeed it always seems to be seeking randomly. Is it following a smell, a trail of unseen spilt food, or what? I don’t know but it crawls across my counter. Let me make some wild connections.

The ant has no commander or leader that we can see. Likewise, the motives driving a person’s heart are unseen and often misunderstood. Our leader as Christians is not seen either and our actions as people in this world “should be” counter cultural. Following the voice of the Holy Spirit, Christians have appeared in all sorts of places working in ways the world does not understand. I think of Mother Teresa in the slums of Calcutta. I think of Florence Nightingale and the nursing work that grew from her activity. I see the volunteers helping clean up after the riots. Orphanages to care for unwanted children. Perhaps to many the activity makes no sense and is irksome but perhaps like the ant, God sees and understands.

The second thing mentioned is that the ant stores food. Perhaps today we are challenged to reflect on what we are storing up in our hearts for the harvest. If we store hate and bitterness then the harvest is bleak but if I collect gratitude and dwell on good memories, I know I am a happier camper. It does not make injustice go away but I am stronger to make my little contribution. I suspect, I often see myself as that tiny little ant scurrying across the counter or down the sleeve, looking leaderless, looking random and wondering if the little I collect today matters, but Proverbs calls us to ponder the ant and “be wise.” Blessings as you go about today!

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Friends

June 5, 2020

“Friendship is not a reward for our discrimination and good taste in finding one another. It is the instrument by which God reveals in each of us the beauty of all the others. (C.S. Lewis)” What a poignant statement on my calendar to start today as all the demonstrations cool, cleanup is under way and as I tackle a sermon. Sunday is Trinity Sunday. The God we Christians understand and worship is triune, “three distinct Persons in one divine Being, or Essence” according to Luther’s Small Catechism. What does this mean? We are created in the image of a triune God, each one of us distinct and yet part of a whole we call the “human” race. As we look into the eyes and face of another, we learn something about the God who created that person, gifted that person, and allowed that person to come into our lives. When we think of the Trinity, we do not think of hierarchy or value, one being more important or impressive. The Godhead works together in unity, supporting and enriching each other. Perhaps one grief of these days is that we battle for visibility, for significance, for value. We want to be seen as essential in some way. We want to feel our lives matter and that we are contributing in some way to life. Isolation hurts. “Church” is our “safe place.” We are valued and “sheltered” under the wings of the Almighty, and there we meet with friends who are different from us, with different gifts and points of view about life, from different parts of town and socio-economic levels, all with a common purpose, to worship the God who made us all. I pray as we return to worship together in our sanctuary that we will see it not as a reward for our wonderfulness but a gift from a Triune God who draws all of us together to be the body of Christ. Let us rejoice in our differences. And let us rejoice in the technology that allows those who are not able to come, to be safe at home and connected. Blessings!

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Reflection

June 4, 2020

Solomon waxes eloquent in Proverbs 4 about the value of wisdom. “Wisdom is supreme. v.7” He shares some of the values of wisdom. Wisdom is defined as “the quality of having experience, knowledge, and good judgment…” That seems to imply that it takes time and it takes reflection and it takes insightful friends to converse with. I would add that in the reflection process, opening my spiritual ears to God’s Spirit. Solomon goes on to say in v. 23, “Above all else, guard your heart for it is the wellspring of life.” Wellspring means “original and bountiful source of something.”

The breaking of dawn, for me, is one of the times of the day that I set aside to reflect as the day starts. I remember being in the former famine relief camp and waking to the sound of cattle lowing and people organizing to go for their eternal search for water in the desert and wood for fuel. Later as a teacher in the agricultural area of Kenya, I would wake and sit on my porch praying, a twin wrapped in a shawl on my lap, as the light crept brighter and brighter over Mt. Elgon. My favorite is watching sunrise over the ocean, seeing boats on the horizon, crabs ooching on the sand, coffee and kids warming my heart. Finding a time and place to seek wisdom is important.

We are in the midst of two major societal dynamics right now with restrictions from Covid-19 being lifted but fear remains, with clean up from riots going on in many places with the demands for justice ringing in our ears. Let us take time today to reflect and to seek wisdom. Perhaps the present throws us into our past experiences with illness or injustice or isolation that can give us empathy for what people are struggling with today. We do have knowledge and know that God has brought us thus far. Life is not fair but we can keep improving. We can remember what helped us cope before. Good judgment is perhaps how we evaluate our experiences and knowledge in light of the truths of God’s word. Let us guard our hearts and allow God to bubble up His love and comfort as we grieve for our troubled world. He cares and He is present working out a plan we do not understand even as He did at the cross. Blessings as we journey together for a better world.

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Daniel 3 and Social Protest

June 3, 2020

Study 8 Daniel 3:8-30   June 3, 2020

     We have been following Daniel and his three friends, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego as they adjust to their new country where they were forced to go through military conquest. Test 1 was diet. We saw Daniel negotiate with the head steward for a ten-day trial diet that allowed them to observe Jewish dietary laws. Success. Test 2 was revealing an unknown dream of the king and then give an interpretation. This time Daniel plead for time and called his friends to prayer. Success. Test 3, the dream of the king being a giant statue and the king is the golden head of a statue. Now a statue has been built and all have been ordered to worship it. Public defiance seems to be their strategy this time. Let’s read.

8 Accordingly, at this time certain Chaldeans came forward and denounced the Jews. 9 They said to King Nebuchadnezzar, “O king, live forever! 10 You, O king, have made a decree, that everyone who hears the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, drum, and entire musical ensemble, shall fall down and worship the golden statue, 11 and whoever does not fall down and worship shall be thrown into a furnace of blazing fire. 12 There are certain Jews whom you have appointed over the affairs of the province of Babylon: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These pay no heed to you, O king. They do not serve your gods and they do not worship the golden statue that you have set up.”

  1. When the time of public celebration comes, our heroes refuse. Perhaps you will remember that is what got Mordecai in trouble in the book of Esther. Their non-compliance was noted and reported. If feels a bit like tattling to me but it is obvious our heroes chose passive resistance. Our whole country and other places in the world are expressing outrage right now over unnecessary deaths of people of color and demonstrations are occurring nationwide. Hmmm. In fact, Christianity has lived in tension with government rulers through out history. I want to applaud the Biblical heroes who confronted misused power but I feel the tension with the command to turn the other cheek..
  2. I assured my daughter that I was alive for the Watts riots, for Vietnam, for Civil rights demonstrations and I suspect most of you were too. We carry those memories. Others carry memories of unjust divorces and other conflicts that has left deep scars and fears of conflict. As you reflect on a time of conflict, how was conflict handled back in the day? ________________ How would you describe “nonviolent resistance”?___________________________ Advantages/Disadvantages________________________
  3. Reflect on what parameters and guidelines you have in your thinking to help you navigate opposition to situations you find you don’t agree with? ____________________________

13 Then Nebuchadnezzar in furious rage commanded that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be brought in; so they brought those men before the king. 14 Nebuchadnezzar said to them, “Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods and you do not worship the golden statue that I have set up? 15 Now if you are ready when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, drum, and entire musical ensemble to fall down and worship the statue that I have made, well and good. But if you do not worship, you shall immediately be thrown into a furnace of blazing fire, and who is the god that will deliver you out of my hands?”

16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to present a defense to you in this matter. 17 If our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire and out of your hand, O king, let him deliver us. 18 But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods and we will not worship the golden statue that you have set up.”

  1. Our three men, minus Daniel, are confronted by the king about their public stance and given a chance to recant. Write three adjectives you might use to describe their response to the king? ________
  2. Read Matthew 5: 23 and Matthew 18:15-17. Are these Biblical guidelines for resolving disputes workable for you? _________
  3. Looking at the men’s response, might lead us to reflect on how our faith hinges on prayers being answered the way we think God should act. Have you felt that way? _______________

19 Then Nebuchadnezzar was so filled with rage against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego that his face was distorted. He ordered the furnace heated up seven times more than was customary, 20 and ordered some of the strongest guards in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and to throw them into the furnace of blazing fire. 21 So the men were bound, still wearing their tunics, their trousers, their hats, and their other garments, and they were thrown into the furnace of blazing fire. 22 Because the king’s command was urgent and the furnace was so overheated, the raging flames killed the men who lifted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. 23 But the three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down, bound, into the furnace of blazing fire.

  1. The king was filled with rage. Today we face rage at injustice. Heating a furnace seven times hotter sounds like the burning going on today. What solution might we offer?   I note the innocent men that died from the order. I note the “cross” the three had to face. I bow my head in grief. That must have been terrifying.
  2. How do you understand the power of the cross to defeat evil, rage? _________________________________________

24 Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished and rose up quickly. He said to his counselors, “Was it not three men that we threw bound into the fire?” They answered the king, “True, O king.” 25 He replied, “But I see four men unbound, walking in the middle of the fire, and they are not hurt; and the fourth has the appearance of a god.”[e] 26 Nebuchadnezzar then approached the door of the furnace of blazing fire and said, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out! Come here!” So Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out from the fire. 27 And the satraps, the prefects, the governors, and the king’s counselors gathered together and saw that the fire had not had any power over the bodies of those men; the hair of their heads was not singed, their tunics were not harmed, and not even the smell of fire came from them. 28 Nebuchadnezzar said, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and delivered his servants who trusted in him. They disobeyed the king’s command and yielded up their bodies rather than serve and worship any god except their own God. 29 Therefore I make a decree: Any people, nation, or language that utters blasphemy against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego shall be torn limb from limb, and their houses laid in ruins; for there is no other god who is able to deliver in this way.” 30 Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon.

  1. God did choose to protect the three men in the fiery furnace. That does not always happen. Are there elements of this part of the story that stand out to you?
  2. Prayer is never pointless regardless of how God chooses to act. Let us be faithful to pray for people of all races caught in the furnace of riots and rage today.

 

 

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Discernment

June 3, 2020

“Discernment” is the word that caught my attention as I read Proverbs 3 this morning. So many verses touched me but his one stood out today, “v. 21 My son, preserve sound judgment and discernment, do not let them out of your sight, they will be life for you, an ornament to grace your neck. Then you will go on your way in safety, and your foot will not stumble; when you lie down, you will not be afraid, when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet. Have no fear of sudden disaster…” As we slow down from the rage that burned and all the emotion of last week, pictures of peaceful marching, neighbors of all colors helping to clean up the mess left in the wake of riots, and pleas for discernment in the face of injustice. I note in this passage that discernment has the fruit of safety. My neighbor of a different background is not the enemy but the evil that plants seeds of suspicion. As curfews continue, I can sleep. As people slow down and think, fear of sudden disaster diminishes. Today, as I continue to mourn the ruin that is left from the path of rage, hatred and anger, I pray we can discern real causes and the ways we can deal with systemic evil after the primary and that we can be honest with ourselves about how we contribute for good and for bad to the lives of the people we live with – and need. We are the body of Christ and need eyes, ears, and toes! Blessings as we continue our pilgrimage of discernment. Lord, give us eyes to see and hearts and hands to help.

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Mourning

June 2, 2020

During times of deep national mourning, outrage at the injustices of life, and stark realization of individual helplessness, it is hard to know which way to turn. I opened Proverbs 2 and did not find comfort so turned to Psalm 2 but that felt dry too. The thought of going to Matthew 2 came to mind as we are in the year of Matthew, looking at the life of Christ through the report of Matthew. Sunday we will celebrate Trinity Sunday, open the doors of the church with safety precautions in place, and our texts for Sunday will return to Matthew. We enter Pentecost, “the long green season,” 27 weeks long after the Easter season. It is the second half of the Christian liturgical year. The first half we look at Scripture to learn who our God is. The second half we return to many of the same passages to reflect on what those same passages mean for our lives. So looking to Matthew 2 might not be so random.

In Matthew 2 we find the baby Jesus born in Bethlehem and the Magi, the wise men, searching for him. Herod’s men pull out prophecy that sends them to Bethlehem. They give their gifts, worship and in a dream are warned to flee. Joseph too is warned in a dream and flees with his family to Egypt. Herod’s soldiers arrive and slaughter all male children under age two. We read the quoting of a prophecy from Jeremiah 31:15, “A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning. Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted because they are no more.”

Talking with a friend yesterday, we reflected on the many who identify with the injustice being demonstrated against – the injustice of racial profiling, for many the injustice of divorce, for others the injustice of untimely accidents that brutally robbed their futures; the list is unending as we grieve today. As I read on in Jeremiah 31 after verse 15, “This what the Lord says: v. 16 “your work will be rewarded,” v.17 “there is hope for your future, v. 18 “I have heard Ephraim’s moaning,” and finally in v. 20 “Is not Ephraim my dear son, the child in whom I delight? Though I often speak against him, I till remember him. Therefore my heart yearns for him; I have great compassion for him,’ declares the Lord.”

Whatever the burden your heart carries today, our God hears our mourning and hears our cries in the midst of our chaos. Blessings as together we live through these days of confusion.

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Protest

June 1, 2020

We wake up this morning to scenes of protestors, burning, police, and social upheaval followed by reports on illness followed by weather of the anticipated heat wave by Wednesday. On the news this morning I saw pictures of the riots last night in some of the cities where my children live. But as this continues I also noticed people of good will, finding their voice to speak the truth without violence. I turned to reading Proverbs 1 for June 1. I have always thought of Proverbs as mostly speaking about avoiding “the loose woman” or being “foolish” but reading the first chapter today in the light of rioters, boarded up windows, destroyed shops and so many lives ruined and thrown into chaos, I bring different concerns to God’s word.  It seems to me that verses 8 to 19 cries out against the temptation to be involved in stealing, looting, and vandalism. In the face of injustice and in the shadow of Pentecost , I plead for the fire of the Holy Spirit and cry out with George Floyd, “I can’t breathe.” Lord, breathe on me and my world with your Spirit that we can release vengeance to you for you promise to repay. Breathe on us your Spirit to turn the other cheek, to forgive, and to be part of the solution and not part of the problem. Lord, in your mercy, hear my prayer.

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Pentecost

May 30, 2020

Prelude: Shine Jesus Shine, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3iB30gCqAc

Sunday, May 31, 2020
Day of Pentecost

Alleluia! Christ is risen. Christ is risen indeed. Alleluia!

Welcome to our virtual worship. The Lord be with you.

GATHERING

Confession and Forgiveness

If you were to keep watch over sins, O Lord, who could stand? Yet with you is forgiveness, and so we confess: (I invite you to reflect in the privacy of your home before a time of confession.)

Confession: Gracious God, have mercy on us. We confess that we have turned away from you, knowingly and unknowingly. We have wandered from your resurrection life. We have strayed from your love for all people. Turn us back to you, O God. Give us new hearts and right spirits, that we may find what is pleasing to you and dwell in your house forever. Amen.

Forgiveness: Receive good news: God turns to you in love. “I will put my spirit in you, and you shall live,” says our God. All your sin is forgiven in the name of ☩ Jesus Christ, who is the free and abounding gift of God’s grace for you. Amen.

 Gathering Hymn: Gracious Spirit Heed Our Pleading, ELW 401, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wiu5XjBsCz0

The grace of our Lord, Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

Prayer of the Day

O God of glory, your Son Jesus Christ suffered for us and ascended to your right hand. Unite us with Christ and each other in suffering and in joy, that all the world may be drawn into your bountiful presence, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

 Selection of the Faithful: Spirit of Gentleness, ELW 396,  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTbQiUVdVMQ

Prayer of the Day

O God, on this day you open the hearts of your faithful people by sending into us your Holy Spirit. Direct us by the light of that Spirit, that we may have a right judgment in all things and rejoice at all times in your peace, through Jesus Christ, your Son and our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.  Amen.

THE WORD

First Reading : Numbers 11:24-30

24Moses went out and told the people the words of the Lord; and he gathered seventy elders of the people, and placed them all around the tent. 25Then the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to him, and took some of the spirit that was on him and put it on the seventy elders; and when the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied. But they did not do so again.
26Two men remained in the camp, one named Eldad, and the other named Medad, and the spirit rested on them; they were among those registered, but they had not gone out to the tent, and so they prophesied in the camp. 27And a young man ran and told Moses, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.” 28And Joshua son of Nun, the assistant of Moses, one of his chosen men, said, “My lord Moses, stop them!” 29But Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets, and that the Lord would put his spirit on them!” 30And Moses and the elders of Israel returned to the camp.

Psalm: Psalm 104:24-34, 35b

24How manifold are your works, O Lord!
In wisdom you have made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.
25Yonder is the sea, great and wide, with its swarms too many to number, living          things both small and great.
26There go the ships to and fro, and Leviathan, which you made for the sport of it.
27All of them look to you to give them their food in due season. 
28You give it to them; they gather it; you open your hand, and they are filled with good         things.
29When you hide your face, they are terrified; when you take away their breath,          they die and return to their dust.
30You send forth your Spirit, and they are created;  and so you renew the face of the               earth.
31May the glory of the Lord endure forever; O Lord, rejoice in all   your works. 
32You look at the earth and it trembles; you touch the mountains and they  smoke.
33I will sing to the Lord as long as I live; I will praise my God while  I have my                 being.
34May these words of mine please God. I will rejoice in the Lord.
35bBless the Lord, O my soul. Hallelujah! 

Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 12:3b-13

3bNo one can say “Jesus is Lord” except by the Holy Spirit.
4Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; 5and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; 6and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. 7To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 8To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, 9to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the discernment of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. 11All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses.

Gospel: John 7:37-39

37On the last day of the festival [of Booths], the great day, while Jesus was standing [in the temple], he cried out, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, 38and let the one who believes in me drink. As the scripture has said, ‘Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water.’ ” 39Now he said this about the Spirit, which believers in him were to receive; for as yet there was no Spirit, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

         SERMON

         Today is Pentecost. Traditionally we read the Acts 2:1-21 passage about the coming of the Holy Spirit. Often the different nationalities represented in the congregation will read a part of that passage in their mother tongue, often at the same time giving the impression of glossolalia, but hopefully symbolizing that God speaks to all nations in their own language. People wear red signifying joy and the fire of the Holy Spirit. Red also symbolizes the blood of the martyrs who died for their faith. Today we are meeting as the church dispersed so some of these traditions are not quite as impactful.

Therefore, I have chosen to use the alternate texts recommended for today. I think there is a very real temptation to equate Holy Spirit with speaking in tongues. Christianity has used this outward experience at a certain historical event as a criteria to critique spiritual reality of others. We decide who’s in or out of God’s box based on speaking in tongues and do not focus on the person of the Spirit. Our first reading shows the Spirit active with the elders at the time of Moses. The second reading from Corinthians shares the early Christians understanding of the Holy Spirit after the events of Pentecost. Today I pray we can focus on the gift of the Holy Spirit and not on symptoms.

Pentecost (“pente” means 50 as Pentecost is 50 days after Easter) derives its name from the Jewish festival celebrating the harvest (Festival of Booths or Festival of Tabernacles) and the giving of the law on Mount Sinai fifty days after Passover. In other words, Jews from all over the world gather in Jerusalem yearly for this Jewish holiday.   So in our text today, John 7, Jesus is preparing his disciples for Acts 2. I doubt the disciples understood any better then than they understood anything else the significance and I doubt we understand the future either, even though God has talked about it.

In this text, before Jesus’ glorification, Jesus calls all who are thirsty to come to receive living water. On Pentecost the disciples were again gathered in an upper room after the crucifixion, after all the experiences with the risen Jesus, after all the questions and conversations. Peter and crew returned to fishing only to find Jesus on the beach with breakfast. Jesus, their hero, has sent them to Jerusalem to wait. How thirsty were these disciples for yet another experience of their Lord? How thirsty are we today as we come to worship? We too have been in “lockdown” for the last two months waiting for the opportunity to return to corporate worship. Pentecost helps us focus on our God who so touches our heart in the Gospels and life of Christ but also is present today in the Holy Spirit. Jesus calls out to the crowd to come to him for water, not to the temple.

I suspect that early in the gospel of John, the Holy Spirit was somehow experienced as the dove that descended at Christ’s baptism, as an aspect of God that came and went throughout the Old Testament but was heavily connected with God as “One” and not as “Trinity.” This verse connects faith, believing in Jesus, with our ability to drink, to take in or experience the Holy Spirit. The example that helps me understand this is the presence of electricity. Somehow electricity is flowing through my house, available but … it is only as I turn on a switch that I experience light, plug in my fan that I experience power, or turn on the TV that I experience news. The Holy Spirit, God, is available to all but it is faith that turns on the connection and it is thirst that drives us to seek. Then from our hearts flow the living waters, the good news that has come to us.

We turn to 1 Corinthians to understand what “rivers of living water” means.

1 Cor 12:3 talks about confession, “No one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except by the Holy Spirit.” One of the amazing aspects of Pentecost is the confession of Jesus by men who previously had been cowering in a room and to people of many nations in their own tongue! The Holy Spirit worked through barriers of fear, of language and of ignorance. Social distancing was eliminated. Not only were people no longer separated, but Jesus was glorified. The Jesus story is lifted up and explained and the cross begins to take on significance and power. Living waters are flowing into lives. People who hear the historical story of Easter, are convicted of their own sinfulness, repent, receive forgiveness and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. (Acts 2:38) The Holy Spirit becomes the link with God and allows for living waters, confession, to flow and glorify Jesus.

Corinthians continues to say, “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; 5and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; 6and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone.”   Gifts, services, and activities are empowered by the Holy Spirit. Paul continues to enumerate examples but the part I find important is that the variety of expressions of the work of the Holy Spirit. Certainly people gifted with speaking in tongues are one form of experience of the worship experience but the Holy Spirit empowers people in many other unique and diverse ways. Even as people from all over the world understood the Gospel at Pentecost, each one of us will be an expression of “living water” in our own situation, in our own challenges, in the unique way God chooses to use us “for the common good.”

Perhaps one of the temptations when we talk about the Holy Spirit is to keep the focus on self and the benefits I receive – tongues, gifts, power – but I see the reminder that confession, this gifting is for the common good. We might do good to remind ourselves of the image of the body in 1 Corinthians 12. We are like a body, each necessary for the functioning of the other. Just because I might be the mouth, does not mean I do not need eyes and ears and should not belittle the part they play. I find as I age, the tendency to glorify the gifts that resonate with the values of my culture – strength, beauty, power. I lament, or remember, when I was in the choir, when I was on council, or when I baked a popular dish at the meeting, led the youth group or, or, or. Our gifts, our service, our abilities are for the common good of everyone. We all contribute to the health of the whole.

Lastly, I note that Corinthians reminds us that the Holy Spirit chooses how to gift people. Did we hear that? The Holy Spirit is the one who chooses if speaking in tongues is to be our gift or singing or leadership or what. We come thirsty wanting to experience God in the depths of our being but it is the Holy Spirit who chooses how and when to meet us. It is so easy to assume that because my experience or lack of experience is not like another’s that the Holy Spirit is not on the job. I grope around looking for the light switch, trying to find the remote, lamenting and I forget that the God of the universe is around me, able to speak all languages, able to bring to my heart the sins I need to confess, able to empower me to meet the challenges of the day as the Spirit knows is best.
In our text today, Jesus was not yet glorified but he calls to the thirsty, promising the gift of the Holy Spirit, promising that streams of living water will flow out of us. As Lutherans, we believe the gift of the Holy Spirit is in response to faith. God responds to the faith of parents who bring babies to be baptized and says, “forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of God.” We believe we are saved by Christ’s death on the cross, not because we say certain words or have certain experiences, are a certain age or intelligence level. I love to share: in that handshake between God and his people, when we don’t remember who we are, when we can’t express who we are, or forget who we are, God holds on to us. He calls to us today, “All who are thirsty, come unto me and the one who believes in me, drink.”

I invite you to recite with me Luther’s explanation of the Third Article of the Creed, the article talking about the Holy Spirit.

“I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, and sanctified and kept me in the true faith;

even as He calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian Church on earth, and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith;

in which Christian Church He daily and richly forgives all sins to me and all believers,

and will at the Last Day raise up me and all the dead and give unto me and all believers in Christ eternal life.

 THIS IS MOST CERTAINLY TRUE.

Hymn of the Day O Living Breath of God, ELW 407, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRpJ2rSyXjo

 Nicene Creed. Let us join our voices virtually confessing our faith:

We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and   earth, of all that is, seen and unseen.

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made of one Being with the Father;  through him all things were made.  For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven, was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the virgin Mary and became truly human.  For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried. On the third day he rose again in accordance with the scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the          right hand of the Father.  He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets.  We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic church. We  acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

(Or you can listen to the Creed in vocal form: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuDI-sk2nJU)

Prayers of Intercession

Uplifted by the promised hope of healing and resurrection, we join the people of God in all times and places in praying for the church, the world, and all who are in need.

We call on your spirit of unity, giving thanks for our different vocations. Activate and utilize the diverse gifts present in your church, that they reveal your love for all. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

We call on your spirit of life, present in air, wind, humidity, storms, and oxygen in our atmosphere, breathing energy into all things. Heal with your breath the whole creation, especially those who struggle to breathe due to air pollution. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

We call on your spirit of righteousness. Wherever we as a people are divided, unite us. Wherever we are prideful, humble us. Give each one of us a heart for justice and empathy. We especially remember the struggles in Minneapolis this weak. Be with the grieving, comfort the angry, reach into the chaos and bring peace. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

We call on your spirit of healing. Bless nurses, doctors, midwives, chaplains, counselors, and hospice workers as they care for those in need. We pray for all who long for comfort (especially). Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

We call on your spirit of friendship. As Elizabeth welcomed Mary to her home, give us a spirit of welcome to those whom we meet in this congregation and outside these doors. Surprise us daily with unexpected grace, that we rejoice in every blessing you send. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

 We call on your spirit of hope. As you have led your saints in all times and places, stir in us the desire to follow their example, leading us from death to new life in you. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

With bold confidence in your love, almighty God, we place all for whom we pray into your eternal care; through Christ our Lord. Amen.

THE MEAL

 Peace: If you are worship with someone else, turn and share, “The peace of Christ be with you always.” Response, “And also with you.” You might use your finger to mark you children or loved one with a cross on their forehead. If you are practicing social distancing, put your palms together in-front of your chest and open them outward to the other to show your blessing of them. Peace!

Offering Prayer: (We cannot pass the offering plate but we can respond to God’s for his gracious gifts to us.)

Merciful God, our ordinary gifts seem small for such a celebration, but you make of them an abundance, just as you do with our lives. Feed us again at this table for service in your name, in the strength of the risen Christ. Amen.

Communion: I invite you to talk a little piece of bread and eat it. Christ is as close to you as the bread in your mouth and stomach. Always remember. Now take a sip of your drink. Christ is as close to you as the blood in your body, strengthening you. Always remember.

Prayer after Communion:  Life-giving God, you have fed us with your word, and our hearts burn within us. You have opened us to your presence. Now send us forth to share the gifts of Easter with all in need; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

 Lord’s Prayer:  Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come. thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those that trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.

THE SENDING

Blessing:  May the One who brought forth Jesus from the dead raise you to new life, fill you with hope, and turn your mourning into dancing. Almighty God, Father, ☩ Son, and Holy Spirit, bless you now and forever. Amen.

 Sending Hymn:  God of Tempest, God of Whirlwind, ELW 400, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNlznc7yWdM

Dismissal:  Christ is risen, just as he said. Go in peace. Share the good news. Alleluia!

Thanks be to God. Alleluia!

Here is a message from the Bishop. You need not join Vimeo but just tap the arrow and the message from him will play. Blessings.

https://vimeo.com/422203929.

 

 

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A little ship on high seas

May 30, 2020

Combining Calendar wisdom and Proverbs 30 today, I stretched my imagination. “By the work one knows the workman. (La Fontaine) Father, please work Your will in my life so that others will see You as the Workman. Amen. (unknown)” from the calendar and Prov. 30:18,19 reflecting on three things the writer does not understand, “the way of a ship on the high seas” caught my thinking. So many movies involving ships come to mind: Titanic, Captain Phillips, Darkest Hour pop into mind. I must admit that I marvel at how they sail the seas without a mountain to steer by. You see, I learned to drive on the Los Angeles freeway and I always knew which way I was going because the mountains surrounding the area were landmarks. I never learned to trust a compass as it seems magical and the position of the North Star is somehow different south of the equator than north and for sure just the time I need it, a cloud covers the sky! Like the writer of Proverbs, I must admit I do not understand the way of a ship on high seas.

Life feels a bit like that now. We are living in a time of multiple opinions on how to protect ourselves from the virus and how to reopen to a “new normal.” Political opinions tear us apart about how to live out our beliefs in “democracy.” Social chaos was stage-front this week as I watched the riots in Minneapolis over the tragic death of a young black man. We lived in Minneapolis an walked those streets.  I cry out to the Lord that the North Star is not shining as the clouds of doubt cover mountains, compass and stars.

It is appropriate that tomorrow is Pentecost when we celebrate the work of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit comes to the disciples who cowerd in fear in a room in the midst of people from multiple nations and in the aftermath of a cruel and brutal crucifixion. The Spirit hovers over those people giving them courage to speak, words to communicate, and works that gradually change the world. As we again turn to the Holy Spirit tomorrow as our source of direction and inspiration for the works that testify to the reality of our beliefs, I pray with our readings that others will marvel at the God that helps us navigate on the seas of life. Blessings as we wait to worship tomorrow.

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Voice

May 29, 2020

Today I am not inspired. My calendar and Proverbs 29 did not grab my imagination. So I turned to Psalms 29. The whole psalm starts with the mandate, “Ascribe to the Lord, O mighty ones, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness.” The psalm then continues on to personify the voice of the Lord like a mighty storm with lightning, thunder, winds sweeping across forests and deserts. The psalm ends, “The Lord sits enthroned over the flood; the Lord is enthroned as King forever. The Lord gives strength to his people, the Lord blesses his people with peace.” Yesterday I woke to a cloud burst of heavy rain and there were several more cloud bursts through the day. The weather man calls it “thunderstorms” but the Psalmist sees the storms as a dynamic similar to God moving through his world. The news of the death of George Floyd and the resulting violence in Minneapolis continued to unfold yesterday. As the waves of storm hit, waves of memories touched our hearts and lives. It did feel like the mighty oaks were “twisted” and the forests were “stripped bare.”   In the midst of the storm, chaos and upheaval, the psalmist reminds me that the voice of God is working. Like the wind, we cannot see God’s acting. Like the rain, history impacts the little plants as well as the mighty oaks. In the midst of a storm, we can only take shelter…and there we have it. Where do we shelter as God’s voice works? Yup, where do we shelter in the storm of viruses and lockdowns, storms of injustice and violence underserved, during times of uncertainty? The beach does not save us. Shopping and re-opening restaurants does not give our soul eternal joy. As we live through this time of change, we turn to the God whose voice is working unseen but ever active in our world. Lord, grant us grace to see beyond the storm to the God who holds all our lives in his hands and heart.

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