There are three verses in Proverbs 20 that bring memories. V. 10 “Differing weights and differing measures – the Lord detests them both.” V.23 is almost the same. Sandwiched between is v. 14 “”It’s no good, it’s no good!’ says the buyer, then off he goes and boasts about his purchase.” In the market in Kenya there would be large gunny-sacks of ground corn, beans, and all kinds of things. The food would be measured and sold by old cans that were often beaten up, indented, reducing the amount of flour inside. But also the merchant would stand there, lifting a can of flour and letting it pour out before you to see and drawing attention to himself and inviting you to buy his goods. Others lifted handfuls of flour and let it fall back to the sack. The effect is visual and drawing but in essence the flour is being loosened and air is entering the deal. Perhaps you can picture pouring a bag of flour into a container at home and then pounding the container to compact the flour to get that last little bit in. Merchants didn’t compact, they added air. At the end, giving you an extra handful of flour as a “baraka,” blessing, to make you think the merchant was generous. Let the bargaining begin, no “fixed price!” While these verses bring wonderful memories of community, of interchanges and laughter, of friendly bargaining and bantering, the underlying message is a question of integrity. Am I so desperate, I am trying to take advantage of you, or am I so needy I am willing to claim poverty that is not honest. Hence I walk away boasting of my purchase. We all love a good sale. I heard on the TV, at the Governor’s Covid update the question, “What are you going to do about the great mid-Western phenomena of the garage sale this summer?” The proverb today challenges us to reflect on our “masks” that we use these days. God “detests,” and that’s a strong word, taking advantage of another either by under-selling or by over-bargaining. May we use honest measures and honest words as we interact with each other today. I will post the Daniel Bible-study later. Blessings.
Offenses
May 19, 2020Proverbs 19: 11, “A man’s wisdom gives him patience; it is his glory to overlook an offense.” I was quite offended by something this last weekend and carried my “woe is me, nobody loves me, I’m going to eat worms” plaque for a couple days. Yup, after the sun went down, I was chewing my bone. So this verse intrigues me. How does wisdom give me the patience to overlook an offense? The first thought is that with wisdom comes time and learning lessons over time. Little children, youth, wellll are not very patient. Remember worrying over who is the right person, what is the right job, when???? But now I more quickly realize that tomorrow comes when I am not so tired, not so worried, not so stressed and I will be able to understand the other better but also, given time, the other will grow and gain perspective. I had no idea what it was like to be “retirement age” and fear I owe my mother an apology when I get to heaven. “Time heals many wounds” is the secular saying. Time allows me to gain wisdom, be patient, and overlook offenses. Differently, this proverb does not say that wisdom automatically leads to forgiveness. Overlooking an offense is not necessarily forgiving an offense. Perhaps patience is the ability to experience an offense but then to set it aside in one’s mind or heart to see if the offense is symptomatic of a character flaw that needs to be recognized. My mother would say, “There’s many a slip between the cup and the lip.” Patience in someway is allowing the other to grow from the offense even as I do. And the third things that come to mind is that often, it is not wise to respond “in the heat of the battle” but wait for a calmer time to discuss an issue when feelings aren’t so aroused. How does that apply today? I watch our news media scrabbling to respond and give the latest insight on Covid-19, election speeches, and economic predictions about our future. We are so very quick to find fault in someone we disagree with. One of the values I love about sacred space, Sabbath, church is the ability to sit in sacred space and be patient, seek forgiveness for sin, and search for eternal perspective. May you find the quiet place today to reflect with the Holy on those things that offend you. Blessings.
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Gardens
May 18, 2020Two quotes tie together today as we start another new week. “He who plants a garden works hand in hand with God. (Malloch) And, “As the blossom cannot tell what becomes of its fragrance so no one can tell what becomes of his influence. (Unknown) Make me aware, Lord, that today never returns. May the sweet fragrance of Your loving kindness follow me through this day. Amen.” For various reasons, we may not be able to work in Bethany Community Gardens that reaches out to many. The Gardens are a valued ministry of Bethany but each person is a flower however loosely connected to Bethany and our lives are multiple gardens with all sorts of variety of flowers, talents, seen and unseen, affirmed and unrecognized but of great value to God. We have no idea of the ripple effect of our lives but my prayer today is that we will be a sweet fragrance spreading not viruses of gossip and jealousy but the fragrance of forgiveness and patience – the grace we all receive from the Master Gardener. You are his valued work! Blessings!
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An Advocate
May 16, 2020Sunday, May 17, 2020
Sixth Sunday of Easter
Prelude: Is He Worthy? By Christ Tomlin , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkRiYsTN7KY
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: Christ is Alive! Let Christians Sing, ELW 389, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYA0tFX2tV4
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
Almighty and ever-living God, you hold together all things in heaven and on earth. In your great mercy receive the prayers of all your children, and give to all the world the Spirit of your truth and peace, 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: This is My Father’s World, ELW 824, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uja5sSx0HjM
THE WORD
First Reading: Acts 17:22-31
22Paul stood in front of the Areopagus and said, “Athenians, I see how extremely religious you are in every way. 23For as I went through the city and looked carefully at the objects of your worship, I found among them an altar with the inscription, ‘To an unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. 24The God who made the world and everything in it, he who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by human hands, 25nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mortals life and breath and all things. 26From one ancestor he made all nations to inhabit the whole earth, and he allotted the times of their existence and the boundaries of the places where they would live, 27so that they would search for God and perhaps grope for him and find him—though indeed he is not far from each one of us. 28For ‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said,
‘For we too are his offspring.’
29Since we are God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the deity is like gold, or silver, or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of mortals. 30While God has overlooked the times of human ignorance, now he commands all people everywhere to repent, 31because he has fixed a day on which he will have the world judged in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”
Psalm: Psalm 66:8-20
8Bless our God, you peoples; let the sound of praise be heard.
9Our God has kept us among the living and has not allowed our feet to slip.
10For you, O God, have tested us; you have tried us just as silver is tried.
11You brought us into the net; you laid heavy burdens upon our backs.
12You let people ride over our heads; we went through fire and water,
but you brought us out into a place of refreshment.
13I will enter your house with burnt offerings and will pay you my vows—
14those that I promised with my lips and spoke with my mouth when I was In trouble.
15I will offer you burnt offerings of fatlings with the smoke of rams;
I will give you oxen and goats.
16Come and listen, all you who believe, and I will tell you what God has done for me.
17I called out to God with my mouth, and praised the Lord with my tongue.
18If I had cherished evil in my heart,
the Lord would not have heard me;
19but in truth God has heard me and has attended to the sound of my prayer.
20Blessed be God, who has not rejected my prayer,
nor withheld unfailing love from me.
Second Reading: 1 Peter 3:13-22
13Who will harm you if you are eager to do what is good? 14But even if you do suffer for doing what is right, you are blessed. Do not fear what they fear, and do not be intimidated, 15but in your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord. Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you; 16yet do it with gentleness and reverence. Keep your conscience clear, so that, when you are maligned, those who abuse you for your good conduct in Christ may be put to shame. 17For it is better to suffer for doing good, if suffering should be God’s will, than to suffer for doing evil. 18For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit, 19in which also he went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison, 20who in former times did not obey, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were saved through water. 21And baptism, which this prefigured, now saves you—not as a removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers made subject to him.
Gospel: John 14:15-21
[Jesus said to the disciples:] 15“If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 16And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. 17This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you.
18“I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. 19In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. 20On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. 21They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them.”
SERMON
Easter 6 signals the Easter season is coming to an end. Thursday is Ascension and next Sunday we close Easter before Pentecost Sunday, May 31. There will be no restrictions on wearing red while we worship virtually! These weeks I have been drawing a strong parallel between the upheaval of life for the first Christians after the empty tomb and the upheaval we are going through today in 21st century. We have heard the testimonies of those who saw, touched, and interacted with the risen Christ. Today we are a bit jaded because of testimonies of con-people raising money using Jesus’ name. Testimonials are not a part of Lutheran worship. We are what is called a “confessional” church. We stand on the confessions and creeds of Christians through the ages, not just on our experiences. We hear testimonials but grow faith differently. We like to say, “God has no grandchildren!”
Next we looked at Jesus’ teaching about being the Good Shepherd and pondered the suffering in our world today, ultimately asking if our lives are not indeed in greener pastures than our life without Christ. Last week we listened to Jesus’ master plan, an overview as he leaves the upper room and heads to Gethsemane. Knowing our lives were going to be upturned by events of life Jesus told his disciples: believe in him, he is going to prepare a place where we will be with him, and that he is indeed in God and God in him and so we can believe his words. Hope.
Today we continue with the disciples and Jesus to the Garden and hear the end of his talk. The promise that jumps out to me from our text today is the words, “I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you.” The word “orphan” is a big word in our family. So these words grab my heart. My husband was adopted at two months. From the arms of a woman who had grown to love him, he went into the arms of loving parents, excited to receive him. Our son, though, was left at Kenyatta Hospital when the family of his mother claimed her body and left him to die. He was put on a bed with 50 other babies rejected, covered with rags. Strong ones lived and many died. The orphanage rescued him from there. So the story goes anyway. We fell in love with him a year later and he became one of our clan. Our daughter was turned into a police station at age four months, almost catatonic from abuse or neglect, given to the orphanage, and we found her at ten months. Not all our stories are happy family stories as we live in the shadow of Mother’s Day and anticipate Father’s Day. For the Christian now living, the question of “where do I belong” may well plague.
Jesus starts his talk with, “Let not your hearts be troubled.” What troubles our hearts today? Covid-19 virus, memories of rejection or abuse, limitations from accidents, finances, or what?? Jesus speaks into those troubles to say we are not orphans. How is this true as we isolate and shelter?
Jesus explains: He will send an “Advocate,” the “Spirit of truth” who will “abide” with us. This promise takes on flesh and blood, realness as we love God and obey his commandments. I would understand this passage to be saying, as we “obey,” as we submit our wants and will to His way, we learn and rejoice that we are not orphans. So let’s look at the three words.
“Advocate”
16And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever.”
An Advocate. What comes to your mind? My mind goes to John 8: 1-11 and the story of the woman caught in adultery. At the temple in Jerusalem, the Pharisees bring a woman to Jesus. The woman was caught in the very act of adultery. They test Jesus by asking him if she should be stoned as required by the law of Moses. Jesus bends down and writes in the dirt and then encourages the one who has not sinned to throw the first stone. The crowd melts away and Jesus has the woman note there is not an accuser, neither does he and she is to leave and sin no more. There is a whole sermon here but in terms of understanding what Jesus meant by “Advocate,” I note several things.
The woman is accurately accused of adultery by law, by society and by herself (she makes no defense claiming to be set up or needing money for children or widowed). She is guilty and no one is defending her. There is a crystal clear reality here, advocacy happens in the face of guilt.
Advocacy stands on the side of the accused, the woman, not the law. Jesus stands there, true God and true man, saying, “Neither do I condemn you.” GRACE. We may be accused but we are not condemned. I can only cry.
But, thirdly, advocacy is honest in directing us to reform and leave our sinful behavior. The advocate is not just giving us a “free pass” but is working for our growth, betterment, directing us to green pastures. There is not threat against future slips but encouragement. As Christians we have someone on our side, cheering for us even as we are now captives of sin, offering grace and encouraging us to grow.
Spirit of Truth
7This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive,
because it neither sees him nor knows him.
Spirit of Truth. What story comes to mind? For me it is the story of the woman at the well. Jesus passing through Samaria rests by a well at noon while his disciples go to buy food and he meets a woman coming to draw water. He engages her in conversation about “living water” – but for this sermon – then asks her to bring her husband. She responds that indeed she has had five husbands and is living with someone now. She realizes he knows all about her. He knows the truth.
The Spirit of Truth knows all about us, our private truth as well as our public truth. Jesus knew that the woman needed “living water” as well as water from the well. The Spirit of Truth knows what lies behind the mask. My daughter has a missing front tooth from falling off her bike and so wears a “flipper,” a kind of bridge that she can stick in when she wants. An advantage of wearing a mask inow s that she can go without the flipper. The Spirit knows what we really need and operates at that level of truth.
When asked to bring her husband, the woman has to tell the truth that she has had five and is living with a man. I find interesting in this story that after the woman’s confession of her marital mess, she seems to be freed from the shame of her past and is motivated to return to town and tell others about Jesus. Truth in God’s hands is not a chain around our neck that chokes us but is the shedding of a dark secret that has shackled us. It is moving from social outcast to community.
The world does not receive this kind of truth because the world is not in relationship with God. Again we see that God’s truth is not something analytical, sterile, detached from reality but is relationship with Jesus. Pilate turns to Jesus at the trial and asks, “What is truth?” when Jesus confesses that he came into the world “to testify to the truth.”
We are not orphaned. We have an Advocate walking with us, fighting for us and we have the Spirit of Truth walking with us and helping us navigate life. Finally, the verb used to describe the Spirit’s presence is “abide.”
Abides
“he abides with you, and he will be in you.”
It is hard for me to use the word “abide” without thinking of the hymn “Abide with Me,” written by Henry F. Lyte, an Anglican priest from Lower Brixham, England. All his life he struggled with tuberculosis and near the end had to move to Italy. He famously coined the phrase, “It is better to wear out than to rust out.” It is said that he had to crawl to the pulpit and in his final sermon said, “It is my desire to induce you to prepare for the solemn hour which must come to all, by a timely appreciation and dependence on the death of Christ.” He was inspired before the sermon while reading about the two followers meeting Jesus on the road to Emmaus whose hearts burned within them when they realized they were with the risen son of God.
- Abide with me, fast falls the eventide,
The darkness deepens – Lord, with me abide;
When other helpers fail and comforts flee,
Help of the helpless, OV, abide with me!
2. Swift to its close ebbs out life’s little day;
Earth’s joys grow dim; its glories pass away;
Change and decay in all around I see –
O Thou who changest not, abide with me!
3. I need they presence ev’ry passing hour –
What but thy grace can foil the tempters pow’r?
Who like Thyself my guide and stay can be?
Thru cloud and sunshine, O abide with me.
4. Hold Thou thy word before my closing eyes.
Shine thru the gloom and point me to the skies;
Heav’ns morning breaks and earth’s vain shadows flee –
In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me.
5. I fear no foe, with Thee at hand to bless
Ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness
Where is death’s sting? Where, grave, thy victory?
I triumph still, if Thou abide with me.
“Abides,” verse 1 means that the Advocate does not flee like others but stays. Verse 2, the Advocate does not change and stays close through all of life. Verse 3, the Advocate helps me defeat the evil one. Verse 4, the Advocate will be with me in death. And verse 5, the Advocate escorts us to greener pastures.
Our hearts do not need to be troubled in these uncertain times. We are not orphaned. We have an advocate who is for us, who tells us the truth, and who goes with us through all of life and death.
Thank you, Lord!
Hymn of the Day: Love Divine, All Loves Excelling, ELW 631, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y33xr6_B7Kc
Let us join our voices virtually by sharing the Maasai Version of the Apostles’ Creed.We believe in the one High God, who out of love created the beautiful world and everything good in it. He created man and wanted man to be happy in the world. God loves the world and every nation and tribe on the earth. We have known this High God in darkness, and now we know him in the light. God promised in the book of his word, the bible, that he would save the world and all the nations and tribes.
We believe that God made good his promise by sending his son, Jesus Christ, a man in the flesh, a Jew by tribe, born poor in a little village, who left his home and was always on safari doing good, curing people by the power of God, teaching about God and man, showing the meaning of religion is love. He was rejected by his people, tortured and nailed hands and feet to a cross, and died. He lay buried in the grave, but the hyenas did not touch him, and on the third day, he rose from the grave. He ascended to the skies. He is the Lord.
We believe that all our sins are forgiven through him. All who have faith in him must be sorry for their sins, be baptized in the Holy Spirit of God, live the rules of love and share the bread together in love, to announce the good news to others until Jesus comes again. We are waiting for him. He is alive. He lives. This we believe. 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.
Abiding God, you have revealed yourself to us in the form of your Son, Jesus Christ. Embolden your church, as your followers, to reveal your love to everyone in our speaking and in our living. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.
You are the creator of heaven and earth. Revitalize the health of oceans, rivers, lakes, springs, glaciers, and other bodies of water that give life to your creatures. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.
You call all people of the world your children. Judge the nations justly, show mercy to the oppressed, and speak truth to power through your prophets. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.
You come near to us when we are lost, and you hear our distress. We pray for those who suffer in any way. Draw near to those fighting for theirs and others lives and those who grieve. Help leaders be wise about reopening. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.
Your commands are good and merciful. Give us courage to take hold of our promises to work for justice, advocate for the voiceless, and free the oppressed and imprisoned in body, mind, or spirit. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.
You remain with us always, O God, and your kingdom has no end. We remember the saints who have gone before us. Unite us forever in your final victory over death. 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.
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!
THE MEAL
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: We can here take a piece of bread and eat and think how Christ gave his body for us. Never forget. sip a bit of fluid and remember that he is as close to you, strengthening you as the blood in your body. Never forget
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: Come, We That Love the Lord (We’re Marching to Zion), ELW 625. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmbqN0yiT4I
Dismissal
Christ is risen, just as he said. Go in peace. Share the good news. Alleluia!
Thanks be to God. Alleluia!
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Grace
May 16, 2020I am going today with calendar wisdom, “That we are alive today is proof positive that God has something for us to do today. (Lindsay) Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. (Heb. 4:16) Very often in Kenya, church services started by the leader sharing, “Many wanted to see today and did not, so let us rejoice.” Those all seem even more poignant as we live today with the pandemic, with politics, and with economic challenges. A student I taught in the 70s in junior high math, now an adult, shared on Face Book that his cousin, a beautiful young woman of 33, so proud of becoming a nurse, was a victim of Covid-19, leaving a four- year old child. I cried. It is a privilege to wake today and face the challenges – and joys. The quotes remind us that we have purpose and we have a God to run to for help. As you face the grief, the shadows, the unknowns of today, may they turn into comfort, joy, peace and grace as we turn to Him. Blessings.
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Backpacks
May 15, 2020Calendar wisdom for May 15, “It isn’t the load that weighs us down – it’s the way we carry it. (unknown author) My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. 2 Corinthians 12:9” I’ve shared the following story before in church but I love it. A hitch hiker with a heavy backpack is given a ride by a driver in a pick up. The driver says to the hiker, just throw your pack in the back. The hiker refuses saying he needs to carry it so as not to cause the driver more work. The humor is, of course, that the car is carrying the back pack whether it is on the hiker’s back or on the floor of the car. The hiker only weighs himself down. How we carry our loads is important. While speaking with someone I care about yesterday the litany of an old grievance was again recited. So much pain and consequential anger. I ponder today how the things in my “backpack of memories” weigh me down. The proverb says that it is not the memory but how I carry it. The past is the past and probably remembered through my much younger self and from a much different time but if I carry it now with bitterness and resentment rather than gratitude for a lesson learned, it makes a big difference in who I am and how I face life. Perhaps a lesson for today is the realizing how God works through my weakness to His glory. Certainly we are weak now and need His perspective on all the issues challenging our lives. May we be able to put our backpacks on the floor of God’s car, as He carries us! Have a good and safe day!
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Oxen
May 14, 2020Proverbs 14: 4 for May 14. I found a funny proverb for sheltering! “Where there are no oxen, the manger is empty, but from the strength of an ox comes an abundant harvest.” I have never said “amen” to that one and probably let my eyes slide over it many times. But it caught my eye today. Where there are no workers, there is no need to feed them but it is also true that with the strength of the workers comes profit. At face value I ponder the drop of expenses because our shops are closed but I also grieve for the many unemployed and then the problems that brings the economy. I can remember my father saying, “You need to spend money to make money!” But perhaps, as I ponder, there are other arenas to which this applies. I ponder the empty nest dynamic. The children have left and are doing well but I need not fix big dinners, the conversation is “different,” and my energy does not rise as there is no challenge. As church buildings are closed, people worship in homes but the harvest of fellowship and music and corporate prayer is being gathered differently now. I grieve. Oxen are needed for work, for a good harvest, and perhaps the lesson is that, it is a privilege to feed them properly. As you go about today, may you be blessed in caring for the oxen in your life and may there be an abundant harvest of gratitude. Blessings.
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Study 5: Daniel 2: 12-23, (May 13, 2020)
May 13, 2020Last week we looked at how a secular event, the king after a nightmare demands an explanation from his wise men, has deeply impacted Daniel’s life. We shall see that while Daniel does not seem to be directly summoned with the wise men called to the king, the results of that meeting, threaten his life. The wise men could not tell the king his dream nor its explanation and so the execution of all wise men was ordered. The soldiers come to Daniel’s door.
It seems to me we live in a similar sort of time and can draw some applications from this passage. Our leaders are all trying to figure out how to deal with the present pandemic. National guidelines are set, state guidelines are set, and actually demographic (people over 65 with underlying health conditions) guidelines are set. Rules are being set. Wear masks. Wear gloves. Distance. Corona is at our door threatening our life with mandates from higher authorities. Let’s read the historical account.
12 Because of this the king flew into a violent rage and commanded that all the wise men of Babylon be destroyed. 13 The decree was issued, and the wise men were about to be executed; and they looked for Daniel and his companions, to execute them. 14 Then Daniel responded with prudence and discretion to Arioch, the king’s chief executioner, who had gone out to execute the wise men of Babylon; 15 he asked Arioch, the royal official, “Why is the decree of the king so urgent?” Arioch then explained the matter to Daniel. 16 So Daniel went in and requested that the king give him time and he would tell the king the interpretation.
- In chapter 1, Daniel encounters the kings steward and bargains for a ten day trial diet. Today he encounters the kings executioner at his door. Daniel is now facing “the police.” He is not facing the guardian of the young men but the official enforcer. This is intense! “Daniel responded with prudence and discretion to Arioch.”
- I note the officer has been identified by name. He is seen as a person in his own right. A. Daniel responds with “prudence.” Can you give a synonym, a similar word or two for prudence?__________________ B. Can you give an example of needing to respond with prudence? Makes me think of talking to the officer who pulls me over for speeding, speaking with a librarian about a fine, or??__________________________ C. What might be the opposite of prudence?_________________ D. Discretion means_________________
- I note that Daniel now goes to the king. He carries his request to a higher person. He realizes the issue is not between him and the executioner but between him and the king. What clues us that we need to go to a higher authority?______________________
- I now note that Daniel does not engage the king in a power or control argument but bargains for time. Do we have bargaining power with enforcers of Covid restrictions?___________________________ What might we bargain for? ________________________
17 Then Daniel went to his home and informed his companions, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, 18 and told them to seek mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that Daniel and. his companions with the rest of the wise men of Babylon might not perish.
- Daniel goes to his community. He does not play the Lone Ranger. What are the advantages and disadvantages of “group thought”? ______________________
- Daniel tells them to seek “mercy.” He is not going to right/wrong thinking like the earlier discussion last week. Likewise we now see Daniel take the issue to an even higher authority, “the God of heaven.” How is a prayer for mercy different from a prayer for justification of your position? _____________________________
- Daniel & Co pray not only for their salvation but mercy for all the wise men. Perhaps we might ponder our territorial tendencies in prayer – bless my people!
19 Then the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision of the night, and Daniel blessed the God of heaven.
20 Daniel said:
“Blessed be the name of God from age to age,
for wisdom and power are his.
21 He changes times and seasons,
deposes kings and sets up kings;
he gives wisdom to the wise
and knowledge to those who have understanding.
22 He reveals deep and hidden things;
he knows what is in the darkness,
and light dwells with him.
23 To you, O God of my ancestors,
I give thanks and praise,
for you have given me wisdom and power,
and have now revealed to me what we asked of you,
for you have revealed to us what the king ordered.”
- Daniel receives the answer to his prayer. Daniel “blesses” the God of heaven. Reread his prayer of blessing. List five things Daniel is thankful for._____________
- During this time of sheltering restrictions that we struggle with, can you think of five things you would praise God for today? Share with a friend. _______________
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Pretending
May 13, 2020Proverbs 14:7 for May 14, 2020, “One man pretends to be rich, yet has nothing; another pretends to be poor, yet has great wealth.” This caught my heart this morning. To pretend is to “speak and act so as to make it appear that something is the case when in fact it is not.” The etimology suggests I act before (pre) in such a way as to stretch forth (tend) into action. The word often suggests a game of deception. As a child, I might have pretended to be a princess in my daydreams in hopes of being beautiful or wealth when the ugly duck grew up. Perhaps as adults we “put on our masks” to face the challenges of navigating culture. Oh no, now pretend is resonating with “masks” and that is a big word today. Could we write the proverb to be- one person wears a mask to protect his wealth now while another does not wear a mask in the presence of many friends, his wealth. Masks function to protect us from unseen or anticipated harm that is always present and to protect others from that which I don’t want to be known. When we go to church, the building, whether we wear masks or not, there is a God who sees through our pretenses and our defenses and who meets us without pretending. God sees, hears and knows all about us and the challenges that we will face and in fact, goes with us into those challenges. Today we will look in the Daniel Bible study at how Daniel, confronted by the executioner at his door, takes his case to the higher powers. Sunday we look at the promise of the ever present Holy Spirit that is with us as we act. So, I ask myself in what ways I am pretending today as I prepare to face the challenges? May we be genuine and never forget that God walks with us as we prepare to stretch forth into this day. Blessings.
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Posted by srwantabee
KIND
May 12, 2020Proverbs 12:25, “An anxious heart weighs a man down, but a kind word cheers him up.” This is the verse that jumped out to me today as I wait for a zoom meeting with the Bishop about reopening church services. Certainly we are anxious about how to be kind to those who have compromised health, who are isolated, who might be endangered by our actions. I looked up kind to stimulate my thinking. “Kind” as a noun refers to groups with common traits. Lutherans are a kind of Christian characterized, in part, by our belief in communion as a sacrament. Yesterday I learned that Lutherans believe that the full blessing of communion is in either element, either “kind” ie bread or whine, so I may encourage congregants to only take one element if they are anxious about either and they will receive the full blessing! As I read, I was reminded that sometimes we pay our bills in “kind,” ie not cash but something of value. In Kenya we could pay a debt with a goat. Perhaps the gift of salvation is a payment in kind. In any case, we are a kind of Christian and practice a kind of communion expressing our faith in a “kind” God who pays our debts in kind. Ooops, now I have used “kind” as an adjective, describing the nature or essence of a person or action. Micah 6:8 reminds us, “He (God) has told you, O mortal, what is good’ and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” Whatever kind of sheltering you are doing today, may you be kind to yourself and perhaps use the phone to call a friend and share a kind word that cheers the heart during these times of anxiety.
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Posted by srwantabee
On the Way to Wonder 