Daily lesson for November 28, 2014

Today's daily lesson comes from Luke chapter 19 verses 29 through 31:

29 He sent two of the disciples, 30 saying, “Go into the village in front of you, where on entering you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever yet sat. Untie it and bring it here. 31 If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ you shall say this: ‘The Lord has need of it.’”

Today's text is the prelude to what is called the Triumphal Entry of Jesus. Just before entering into the city of Jerusalem Jesus told his disciples where to find him an unbroken colt in order that a prophetic scripture might be fulfilled.

I often wonder about the colt's owner. Some have said perhaps what transpired was planned. Jesus had previously arranged that the colt would be there for Jesus' use on a particular day and had instructed the colt's owner in a password phrase -- "The Lord has need of it" -- to signal the appointed time.

But what if this were not arranged?  What if, instead, the colt's owner was asked and something inside of him told him it was what he needed to do? What if he was asked and his own spirit within him said yes.

A few years ago a friend called me from his law firm. "Parson, he said -- he always called me parson -- "I guess your sermons are really getting to me because a guy just walked into my office about to be evicted from his apartment. I don't know him from Adam; but I told him he can stay at my house.  I just felt like I was supposed to."

Sometimes the spirit within us tells us to do the most surprising and boldly generous things. It can tell us to do things we never would imagine doing except that we sense a call to do it. When it happens, when we hear the voice inside us saying, "Do it; just do it," I pray we say yes. For the Lord has need of it.

Daily lesson for November 27, 2014

Today's daily lesson comes from 1 Thessolonians 5 verse 18:

"Give thanks in all circumstances . . ."

Today we give thanks in the midst of plenty.

Today we give thanks in the midst of loss.

Today we give thanks for our parents who loved and provided for us and did so much to make us who we are. 

Today we give thanks that though our parents were not everything we desired or even needed, they did give us life.

Today we give thanks for our children who give us joy and laughter and hope for the world.

Today we give thanks that though the thought of children during the holidays brings up deep pain and grief within us, we know they are a blessing to this earth.

Today we give thanks for faithful friendships which bless our lives with rich connection and a place and people to belong to.

Today we give thanks though deep friendship is something we have not found, or have lost, or moved away from and we hope to discover or re-discover soon.

Today we gave thanks for a full table where all whom we love will be gathered around us. 

Today we give thanks that though those whom we love or loved most dearly cannot be present this Thanksgiving they know we still have a place for them in our hearts and look forward to a future Thanksgiving with them whether on earth or in heaven. 

Today we give thanks; in all circumstances we give thanks.

Daily lesson for November 26, 2014

Today's daily lesson is from Luke 19 verse 5:

And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.”

One of my great-aunts used to say that Jesus came not only for the down-and-out but also for the up-and-out too.

In the tree, Zacchaeus was literally up-and-out. But he was also up-and-out in the community. A wealthy man, Zacchaeus earned his living from a morally dubious enterprise. For that people despised him and labeled him a "sinner".  When Jesus came to Zacchaaeus's hometown, it was said that Zacchaeus was so short that he had to climb a tree in order to see Jesus over the crowd. But I wonder if the reason why Zacchaeus himself could not be apart of the crowd was because he was profoundly rejected by the people. Though he was rich, he had no friends and no fellowship and no one who might take the time to know him. He was up the tree and out of community.

And as the children's Sunday school song says it,

 "As the savior passed that way
He looked up in the tree.
And said - 'Zacchaeus, you come down!
For I'm going to your house today!
For I'm going to your house today!'"

I don't know why it is we sing the last line of the song twice, except maybe this -- perhaps it has to be said twice just to be believed. As the crowd says in disbelief, Jesus "has gone to be the guest of the sinner."  He has gone to be the guest of Zacchaeus.

Whether we are down-and-out in the gutter or up-and-out in a penthouse separating and protecting us from the world, there is no one beyond the love and reach of Christ. As the Magnificat says, "He lifts up the lowly and bring down the rich." He lifts some up and brings others down and does so because his desire is to be with all and for all to be with each other.

And what He creates is called the kingdom of God.

Prayer: LORD, help me to see others as Jesus sees them. Help me not to be haughty toward the poor nor hostile toward the rich. May I, like Jesus, seek to create fellowship and community with and for all. Amen.

Daily lesson for November 25, 2014

A lesson on the day after a jury's decision and ensuing rioting:

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.”

Daily lesson for November 24, 2014

Today daily lesson is from Galatians chapter 6 verses 9 and 10:

9 And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. 10 So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone . . ."

There is a saying in life that nice guys finish last. There may very well be some truth to that. There are a lot of people on the top rungs of the ladder who lied, cheated, and stole their way there while the nice guys have been passed up.

But nice guys know that there are actually two ladders being climbed. One is the ladder of success. The other is the ladder of character. The nice guys are climbing the ladder of character, which means they will not lie, cheat nor steal, nor even despise those who do. Nice guys may finish dead last going up the ladder of success; but it turns out that ladder is only half as high as the ladder of character.

I've said it before, there is no good in winning the rat race if it turns you into a rat. Stay on the ladder of character. Climb, slow if you have to, but climb. 

And keep climbing.

Daily lesson for November 21, 2014

Today's daily lesson comes from James chapter 5 verse 7 and 8:

"7 Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains. 8 You also, be patient."

There is an old West Texas saying: The effectiveness of a rain dance has a heck of a lot to do with timing.

There are some things in life we just are not control of.  Farmers know that. They go out every day. They plant and they water. But they know they have to wait on God for the good rains and depend upon Him for things to grow.

There are many things beyond our control. Success is one of them.  But we are not called to be successful; we are called to be faithful.

Get up and plant today. Water if you can.  Work.  But be not anxious about the yield. 

Instead of a doing a desperately frantic rain dance, learn prayer and patience. And trust in the LORD of the harvest. 

Daily lesson for November 20, 2014

Today's daily lesson comes from Luke chapter 17 verse 32:

"Remember Lot's wife."

At some point, many of us find ourselves in negative situations, relationships, jobs, and even cities, which on the face of things we should obviously leave yet are afraid to do so. Ultimately, we can end up stuck in these negative and even abusive situations for too long and it can cost us our emotional and physical health and sometimes even our very lives.

Jesus took Lot's wife in the story of Sodom as an analogy for people who let themselves get stuck in negative situations. When Sodom was destroyed, Lot, his wife, and his daughters were fleeing the city, yet Lot's wife looked back and was turned into a pillar of salt.  For whatever reason the pull of the Sodom -- negative, abusive, and even evil as it was -- drew her back into the city she needed to get out of. She ended up stuck, an object of destruction in a city of destruction.

There are some situations we just need to get out of. Leave and don't look back. Remember Lot's wife.

Daily lesson for November 19, 2014

Today's daily lesson comes from Luke chapter 17 verses 17 through 19:

17 Then Jesus answered, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? 18 Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” 19 And he said to him, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.”

Jesus sent ten lepers to the priests and along the way the lepers were healed.  Only one of the lepers returned to say thanks. Why?

My guess is its because he was a Samaritan -- an outsider. What bound the ten together originally was their leprosy. So long as all of them had leprosy they were all equals. But when the priests pronounced the other nine clean the nine stayed right where they were with the priests. The Samaritan went back to Jesus.  Jesus told him that his faith had saved him.

I wonder if this might be a parable about the church. We get cleansed of our sins and then form church based on our little social cliques, affinity groups, racial compositions, and socioeconomic status.  This becomes our salvation.  But the social outcasts -- the alcoholics, the addicts, the parolees, the poor, the gays, the transgendered, the tattooed, the racially mixed, the publicly humiliated -- find no salvation in the group. They are still unclean according to the world. So in desperation they turn back to the only place they can turn. They turn back to Jesus. And like the Samaritan, in Jesus they find that they are not only cleansed, they are actually accepted and made whole.

Daily lesson for November 18, 2014

Today's daily lesson comes from Luke chapter 17 verses 5 and 6:

5 The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” 6 And the Lord said, “If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.”

We already have all the faith we need to face all that we must face in life.

One day, the disciples asked Jesus to increase their faith. Facing all that they were about to face they wanted more courage, more conviction, and greater trust.  Jesus told them if they had faith the size of a tiny mustard seed they could tell a whole tree to uproot itself and be replanted in the sea.

That must have left them wondering, "Do I not have faith at least the size of a mustard seed?"

We lack courage, conviction, and trust at times.  We wonder if we have all that is necessary to face the demands of the day.  We wish that we were stronger, braver, and not so afraid.  We wish for greater faith.  But Jesus' words come today to remind us that while we do not have all the faith that we would wish for, we do have a mustard seed's worth - a tiny little mustard seed's worth. And that is enough.

We do not need any more than what we already have to face all that today will bring us. Let us have faith in who we are, in where we are, in what got us here, and in the One who will get us there when the time is right.

Daily Lesson for November 17, 2014

Today's daily lesson comes from Habakuk chapter 2 verse 3:

3 For still the vision awaits its appointed time;
it hastens to the end—it will not lie.
If it seems slow, wait for it;
it will surely come; it will not delay.

We are in the midst of a visioning process at Second B and were scheduled to have a very important meeting yesterday.  This was the last of three congregational meetings and the one we were all looking forward as we were to intentionally dream about the future together at this meeting.

Alas, we were snowed out. Snowed out, and given the holidays coming up, I know this meeting will have to be delayed beyond the New Year.  It was disheartening.

And then appears this lesson from the daily office this morning: "the vision awaits its appointed time."

A good reminder that the times are in God's hands and that I cannot and need not dictate that things come about on my schedule. I can control neither the snow nor the vision.  What I can do is relax, breathe deeply, pray, and trust God is in this.  That is sufficient for today; that is sufficient for everyday. 

The vision awaits its appointed time; if it tarries we wait on it. What else can we do?

Daily Lesson for November 14, 2014

Today's daily lesson comes from Luke chapter 16 verse 9:

"And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth,so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings."

Wow. I have heard of the trickle down economics, but this here is the trickle up economy.  If we make friends with our money here on earth, those friends will welcome us into heaven.

But note it says, "Make friends."  It doesn't say send a check. It doesn't say happily pay your portion of the entitlement program tax.  It doesn't even say volunteer to serve Thanksgiving dinner at the shelter. It says, "Make friends."  That may well be the most demanding commandment in the Scriptures, because friendships take time, energy, and intimacy.  In order to be a friend you first have to be willing to be close.

Sometimes when I am visiting a friend out of town we'll have lunch or dinner out at a restaurant.  After the meal, I will reach for my wallet.   "No," he says, "you're money is no good here."

When we get to heaven the first thing they are going to say is, "You're money is no good here." And the only currency we'll have left are the friendships we've made.

As I said at the beginning -- wow.

Daily Lesson for November 13, 2014

Today's daily lesson comes from the old and familiar words of the 23rd Psalm.

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. 3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. 4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. 5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. 6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

Sometime ago I was talking to an old pastor and I asked him about what he did when somebody had come to the final days of their life. He told me that if there was one thing he would change about the way he did ministry at the end of life he would seek to be more of a "priest".

Now I consider this guy to have been one of the finest Baptist pastors I've ever known, but his word "priest" surprised me. When I asked him to explain, he said what he meant was if he could go back be would do less informal visiting and instead seek to do more traditionally ritualistic things like hear confession, pray the Lord's Prayer, and recite the 23rd Psalm.  

"In my old age I've discovered those things are a lot more important and a lot more meaningful than just visiting," he said.

It was a good reminder that the words which bring the greatest peace and comfort at the end of life aren't my words -- they're the LORD's.

Daily Lesson for November 12, 2014

Today's daily lesson comes from Luke chapter 15:

Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. 2 And the Pharisees and the scribes agrumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and ceats with them.” 3 So he told them this parable . . . 8 “[W]hat woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it? 9 And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’ 10 Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

On Monday I lost a $100 bill. It just vanished into thin air somewhere between my office at church and the store where I was going to spend some of it.

I looked everywhere. I checked the floor board beneath the seat of the car. I walked the parking lot. I thumbed through books I was reading. I asked the janitor and the financial secretary. They hadn't seen a thing. 

The whole time I had this sick, sick feeling in my stomach. 

Then I found it, crumbled in the trashcan -- in the men's room.  You bet I looked there. And then I came out rejoicing and took it and threw it down on the financial secretary's office. I burst through the door and did a little jig. "Found it," I said.

Later on I wondered why I'm not that consumed about lost people and joyful when they're found.  Jesus sure was.

Prayer: LORD, give me a heart for those who are spiritually lost and when Jesus brings them to church may I raise my voice in celebration rather than my eyebrow in judgement.

Where Does America Go from Here?

As Missouri prepares for Ferguson Grand Jury Decision, I post a link to my thoughts on the situation my August 31 sermon, "Where Does America Go from Here?"


Link to Sermon: Where Does America Go from Here?

Daily Lesson for November 11, 2014

Today's daily lesson comes from Luke chapter 14 verses 25, and  

25 Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them . . . 28 For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? 29 Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, 30 saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ 31 Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? 32 And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace.

Last night we had a deacons meeting and we recognized our newest deacons who have been serving for a year now. Prior to their ordination, they went through six months of training and  I told them I hope they felt that we had prepared them adequately for all that the task of being a deacon at our church demands. The word deacon means "servant" or "minister" and being a deacon is often inconvenient, always time consuming, and just plain hard work. Servanthood always is.

And so is Christianity.

When the crowds came in masses to Jesus he explained to them what would be demanded. "Count the cost," he said.  In other words, he wanted them to know that following him would not be a walk in the park. 

A man willing to turn the crowd away by speaking of the cost of discipleship is a truly free man. He knows his legitimacy in this world is not based on the size of his following, or the roar of the crowd, or really being successful in the way the world thinks of it at all. His legitimacy is based on faithfulness to the call of God; and so he wants his disciples' to be also.

There's an old hymn, "I have decided to follow Jesus . . . Though none to with me, I still will follow."

Jesus will take that one faithful follower over a crowd of half-followers every time. Every. Single. Time.

Daily Lesson for November 10, 2014

Today's lesson come from Matthew chapter 25 verse 1:

"Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom."

Yesterday's lectionary text was the story where Jesus said the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.  Five were wise and took extra oil for their lamps, Jesus said, while the other five were foolish and took none.  When the bridegroom finally arrived, the foolish virgins' lamps had run out of oil.

Though it has most often been interpreted as a story about awaiting the second coming, it is really more broadly a story about perseverance and hope.  It is a word of encouragement to keep your light shining though the night be dark and the journey long. That point was brought home by our choir which sang an African American spiritual "Keep Your Lamps Trimmed and Burning".  The power and the pathos of the words, "Children, don't you grow weary," speaks of something indomitable within the human spirit -- light which darkness cannot destroy.

As part of my sermon I referred to Tuesday being Veterans Day and how our community is asking us to leave our porch lights on tonight in remembrance of all those who are currently serving our country and have not yet come home.  We want them to know we are keeping our lights on for them.  And even for those who have made it home physically, but are still living in "the fog of war", we want them to know that the light is still on for them to fully come home also.

Leave your porch light on tonight - for a soldier, or a veteran, or anybody else who needs the light to make it through a long night.

Daily lesson for November 7, 2014

Today's daily lesson is from Revelation chapter 17 verse 14:

They will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful.”

Last night we gathered with Christians from other parts of Lubbock and the region to pray together about this ongoing ISIS crisis in Syria, Iraq, and now Turkey. There were not a lot of people present, but the prayers were powerful and affective we trust. We prayed for those martyred, for the living victims, for the perpetrators themselves, and, finally, for God to act. I told someone afterward that what we did seemed to me the faithful thing to do at such a time as this.

We concluded the service with a brief homily which I delivered. I talked about the situation in Iraq and how ISIS has spread like wildfire and how its ongoing appeal threatens security in neighboring countries and indeed the whole world. Yet I reminded those gathered that God will not leave His world to evil.  He hears the prayers of His people, and at some point will act in some way.  We know that good will prevail over evil, that ultimately love will cast out hate, and light will drive out darkness.

I closed by telling the story of a small sign which was put up in the churchyard of a small church in Prague, Czechoslovakia after the fall of the Berlin Wall. The sign simply said, "The Lamb wins."

In the end the Lamb will win; and no matter how strong the hosts of evil may be, they shall not prevail.

Daily Lesson for November 6, 2014

Today's daily lesson is from Luke chapter 13 verses 20 and 21:

20 And again he said, “To what shall I compare the kingdom of God? 21 It is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, until it was all leavened.”

The kingdom of God always begins small, hidden, and a little subversively.

When Jesus spoke of the kingdom of God he used the image of leaven. What a shock that must have been to his hearers as throughout the Scriptures leaven is always used as a negative image and something to be avoided --"A little leaven spoils the loaf."

But Jesus intended to shock his hearers into thinking in new ways -- to see the coming of the kingdom of God in new ways. So, he said, it is like a little tiny bit of leaven that a woman hides in a loaf until the whole thing is leavened.  I was in a Bible study with some seminary students not long ago and we were reflecting on the meaning of this image. "So let me get this right," one of the students said, "so Jesus is saying the kingdom of God is like a passive aggressive baker?"  It certainly gets us thinking.

Jesus wants his hearers to know that even though it may not be big or extravagant or even respectable the kingdom of God is among us. Even if it has to be small, hidden, and subversive right now.  And one day, it will grow to be large, impossible to ignore, and even beautiful.

When I think of this text I always think of the little black boy in the ghettos of Sophiatown who in the 1930s saw and was stunned when the white Anglican priest Trevor Huddleston doffed his hat to the boy's mother.  The act was small, yet subversively defiant  of the Apartheid racial cast system of the day. And seeing it, the little boy -- who would grow up to be Desmond Tutu -- later said you could have knocked him over with a feather; his people, black Africans, were a people worthy of having whites doff their hats.

The Kingdom of God may be small, it may be hidden, it may even have to be subversive; but one day it will leaven the whole world. 

Daily Lesson for November 5, 2014

Today's daily lesson comes from Luke chapter 13 verses 10 through 14:

10 Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. 11 And behold, there was a woman who had had a disabling spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not fully straighten herself. 12 When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said to her, “Woman, you are freed from your disability.” 13 And he laid his hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and she glorified God. 14 But the ruler of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the people, “There are six days in which work ought to be done. Come on those days and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day.”

For some folks it's just never the right day for other folks to find freedom.

There's always an issue, or a consideration, or a more sound and prudent time.  Bottom line, we need to wait.

In his famous Letter from a Birmingham Jail, Dr. Martin Luther King responded to criticism that he and other civil rights leaders needed to slow down their demands for equality. "For years now I have heard the word 'Wait!'" Dr. King said, "It rings in the ear of every Negro with a piercing familiarity. This 'wait' has almost always meant 'never.'" He then went on to quote Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall in saying, "justice too long delayed is justice denied."

Freedom, equal rights, equal access, and justice equally applied -- there are some things that just shouldn't be delayed. 

And we should thank God for those willing to lay it on the line in order to see that they're done today.

Daily Lesson for November 4, 2014

Today's daily lesson comes from Luke chapter 13 verses 6 through 9:

6 And he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. 7 And he said to the vinedresser, ‘Look, for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down. Why should it use up the ground?’ 8 And he answered him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and put on manure. 9 Then if it should bear fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’”

Now here's a provocative image. The crap in our lives we would rather not have to deal with or do, turns out to often be the fertilizer that makes capable of growing into who God wishes us to be.

I'm not sure I like that. In fact, I'm sure I don't.  I prefer my growth to come by being well-watered and given plenty of warm sun-light, not having horse manure come my way.  But, looking back it does seem that at certain times it really was the horsecrap that made me stronger.

Richard Rohr says that at some point in life we have pretty much learned all we can from success, but it is failure which still has things to teach us. In other words, it's life's crap that can keep us growing.

So, the next time something seriously manure-like gets thrown your way, it may be just the crap you needed.

Daily Lesson for November 3, 2014

Today's daily lesson comes from Psalm 56 verses 9 through 11:

9 Then my enemies will turn back
in the day when I call.
This I know, that God is for me.
10 In God, whose word I praise,
in the Lord, whose word I praise,
11  in God I trust; I shall not be afraid.
What can man do to me?

To arrive at a place of complete peace about one's circumstances in life and the knowledge that God is for us and that that is enough is to be set free from all fear and literally find ourselves in God's eternal love. For it is often said that hatred is the opposite of love; but that is not true. Fear is the opposite of love. And "perfect love  (knowing perfectly that we are perfectly loved by God) casts out all fear."

To live in this love is to be set free from the fear of all rejection, failure, rebuke, scorn, belittling, hatred, judgment, and ultimately even death. Or as St. Paul put it, "If God is for us, who can be against us?  Who will separate us from the love of God?  . . . He who did not spare his own son."

This past weekend we celebrated All Saints Day, remembering all the saints who have gone before us. I remembered specifically Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who was executed by the Nazis as an enemy of the state. He was stripped naked and led into the execution field where he was hanged on the gallows. It was all intended to shame the prisoner; but in fact Bonhoeffer was not the prisoner. He was one of the freest men who ever lived. For he knew his God was for him; and in God he trusted and was not afraid.

If we could have 1/50th of that we'd really be something else.

All Saints Day

Remembering today Pastor Jean Vianney, who upon receiving a signed petition denouncing his fitness for ministry added his own signature unto the document.

He later became Saint Jean Vianney, patron saint of pastors.