Today's Daily Lesson comes from Psalm 4 verses 2 through 4:
2 O men, how long shall my honor be turned into shame?
How long will you love vain words and seek after lies? Selah
3 But know that the Lord has set apart the godly for himself;
the Lord hears when I call to him.
4 Be angry, and do not sin;
ponder in your own hearts on your beds, and be silent. Selah
In the Bible there is a Hebrew word which appears 74 times, 71 of them in the Psalms, but whose meaning we do not fully know. The word is "Selah" and it is thought to be either a musical instruction for an accompanied reading or a direction for a public reader to pause and wait or perhaps even verbally instruct the congregation to do so. When we read Selah, we need not pass right over it; Selah is our cue to pause and reflect and drink in the poignancy of the word.
Selah moments can be find in more than just Bible reading. There are certain moments in a life when someone says something to us we otherwise run across something which has the potential to change the whole way we see things. Among these for me include:
-- the moment after I spoke at my grandfather's funeral and my mother asked me if I was sure I shouldn't be a preacher
-- the moment Ted Dotts told me I would sell out and fall short of following Jesus to the cross and then asked me, "So what?"
-- when I first stumbled upon this scene from Wendell Berry's novel "Jayber Crow":
One Saturday evening, while Troy was waiting his turn in the chair, the subject was started and Troy said – it was about the third thing said – “They ought to round up every one of them sons of bitches and put them right in front of the damned communists, and then whoever killed who, it would be all to the good.”
There was a little pause after that. Nobody wanted to try to top it. I thought of Athey’s reply to Hiram Hench.
It was hard to do, but I quit cutting hair and looked at Troy. I said, “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you.”
Troy jerked his head up and widened his eyes at me. “Where did you get that crap?”
I said, “Jesus Christ.”
And Troy said, “Oh.”
It would have been a great moment in the history of Christianity, except that I did not love Troy.
Selah.
Monday, November 30, 2015
Friday, November 27, 2015
Daily Lesson for November 27, 2015
Today's Daily Lesson comes from 1 Peter chapter 3 verses 18 through 20 and chapter 4 verse 6:
18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, 19 in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, 20 because they formerly did not obey, when God's patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water.
6 For this is why the gospel was preached even to those who are dead, that though judged in the flesh the way people are, they might live in the spirit the way God does.
The great Christian thinker and essayist G.K. Chesterton once wrote a story about a man who died and went to hell. His business agent went down to the gates of hell to try to get his release. He pleaded with the devil, "Let him out!" But to no avail. Then the man's priest came to the gates of hell and did the same, "Let him out!" But, again, to no avail. The gates of hell remained firmly shut. Finally, the man's mother came to the gates of hell. But she did not beg for her son's relapse. "Quietly," Chesterton wrote, "and with a strange catch in her voice, she said to Satan, 'Let me in.' Immediately the great doors swing open upon their hinges -- For love goes down through the gates of hell and there redeems the damned."
That's not only a good story; it's also a true story. Today's lesson tells us that Christ went down to hell and preached good news to all those killed by the Great Flood. Or, as the creed put it, "He descended into hell." He was willing to go all the way to hell and back that no soul should be lost.
If that's not enough to tell us there's no such thing as a hopeless case, then I don't know what would be. If the very gates of hell can't prevail against Christ, then we dare not write anybody off. Not the prisoner. Not the drunk. Not the "thug". Not the racist. Nobody's beyond redemption because nobody's beyond Christ's reach.
"For love goes down through the gates of hell and there redeems the damned."
18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, 19 in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, 20 because they formerly did not obey, when God's patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water.
6 For this is why the gospel was preached even to those who are dead, that though judged in the flesh the way people are, they might live in the spirit the way God does.
The great Christian thinker and essayist G.K. Chesterton once wrote a story about a man who died and went to hell. His business agent went down to the gates of hell to try to get his release. He pleaded with the devil, "Let him out!" But to no avail. Then the man's priest came to the gates of hell and did the same, "Let him out!" But, again, to no avail. The gates of hell remained firmly shut. Finally, the man's mother came to the gates of hell. But she did not beg for her son's relapse. "Quietly," Chesterton wrote, "and with a strange catch in her voice, she said to Satan, 'Let me in.' Immediately the great doors swing open upon their hinges -- For love goes down through the gates of hell and there redeems the damned."
That's not only a good story; it's also a true story. Today's lesson tells us that Christ went down to hell and preached good news to all those killed by the Great Flood. Or, as the creed put it, "He descended into hell." He was willing to go all the way to hell and back that no soul should be lost.
If that's not enough to tell us there's no such thing as a hopeless case, then I don't know what would be. If the very gates of hell can't prevail against Christ, then we dare not write anybody off. Not the prisoner. Not the drunk. Not the "thug". Not the racist. Nobody's beyond redemption because nobody's beyond Christ's reach.
"For love goes down through the gates of hell and there redeems the damned."
Thursday, November 26, 2015
Wishing a Happy Thanksgiving To a Syrian-born Imam and Friend
Earlier this week I sent a text with a Thanksgiving message to my friend Samer Altaaba, Lubbock's Syrian-born imam who immigrated to the United States a decade and a half ago. I wanted him to know I was thinking of him and his people during this time.
I first met Samer five years ago. When the university mosque in Lubbock was defaced with anti-Muslim graffiti some members from the church I pastor who had been meeting weekly with some Muslims in an interfaith dialogue group wanted to do something of goodwill in response. They invited me to come and join them in repainting the mosque, which we agreed just seemed like the right thing to do. As we were there with buckets and brushes in our hands Imam Samer showed up with baklava pastries in his. That made for a fast friendship as I joked with Samer that I would be willing to work all day for baklava. Soon he and I were meeting and eating together on a regular basis, mostly talking about the joys and demands of fatherhood, serving as religious leaders, and occasionally world events. (Make the structure parallel)
Samer invited me to speak at the mosque's Eid friendship dinner during Ramadan. As I shared about Samer's and my friendship and how it was being used to build a bridge I shared a verse from the book of Genesis which I thought was appropriate, "What someone intended for evil, God intended for good."
A few months into Samer's and my friendship the threat of terror came close to Lubbock. A Muslim student studying at one of our local universities and unaffiliated with Samer's mosque was arrested for plotting to bomb various public utilities and the Dallas home of former President George W. Bush. A member of my church was the lead federal prosecutor in the case and asked if I could arrange a meeting with the imam. He wanted the imam and the broader Muslim community in town to know the prosecution was sure the student had acted alone and without connection to any other local Muslims. He also wanted to make it clear that the law would work to protect the Muslim community if there were any act of retaliation against it. I called Samer and he welcomed the meeting and soon representatives from the Department of Justice and the FBI were meeting with the imam and his mosque during Friday prayer.
What someone intended for evil, God intended for good.
As the war in Syria began, Samer and I would often meet at a local coffee shop and talk about all that was happening in his homeland. He showed me videos extremists were using to recruit young men to take up arms. In particular, I remember Samer telling me the story of one young man from his hometown who was being recruited to become a suicide bomber against the Assad regime. Though the word ISIS was not yet in my vocabulary, the tactics Samer said the recruiters were using were based on religious ideals we have come to associate with ISIS extremist militancy. Because Samer is an imam and knew the young man when he was a boy, someone asked Samer to talk with him. Though the young man had no clean, running water, he did have Internet access -- a peculiarity of the 21st century war theatre. Samer told me he was emailing the young man, trying to get him to see that both he and his religion were being manipulated.
Whenever I hear people ask where the moderate Muslim voice is amidst all the violence and terror we see in the world I always think of Samer here in America emailing this young man back at home in Syria, trying to save his life. The moderate Muslim voice is speaking through Samer and so many others like him, but it's hard to hear over the din of wars and rumored wars.
In 2013, things got so bad in Syria that Samer's family decided to come to America. They were the first displaced Syrians seeking refuge whom I had heard of. Samer's father would come with Samer to coffee occasionally. Samer would give reports on the war and his hopes that it would end soon so that the family could return their home. His father, who speaks very little English, would shake my hand and then sit quietly, smiling graciously at times. I don't know what Samer told him about me, but I'm sure Samer told him about how our friendship began with the repainting of the mosque. And because of that, I always got the sense that Samer's father was showing me a kind of deep respect which transcended our language barrier. Goodwill always does that; it serves as its own universal translator.
It's been a while now since Samer and I have met for coffee. We each have multiple children and faith communities which keep us both very busy. But with all that is going on now in the news about Syrian refugees I wanted to reach out to him to tell him I would be thinking of him during this holiday season, and remind him that the original Thanksgiving was a feast shared between two different peoples, one of which had helped the other to survive an extraordinarily difficult time far, far from their homeland.
Samer texted me back. He is happy with our friendship he says, and though we are both busy he wants to get together after Thanksgiving. I am happy with our friendship too. I believe it is a small yet meaningful sign of the good God can do even in the midst of evil -- of what God is doing to connect our peoples together and bring peace even as others are trying to tear us apart through war. I am sure Samer and I will talk about that when we meet next.
I think this time I'll bring the baklava.
UPDATE: The day before Thanksgiving Samer's mosque was again vandalized.
Daily Lesson for November 26, 2015
Today's Daily Lesson comes from 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 verse 18:
"Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."
The kids were out of school this week so I took the opportunity this past weekend to go and pay a visit to a couple of people very special to me, each of which have suffered great heartache this year.
On Saturday, I drove to Ft Worth and had dinner with one of these friends who just lost her husband in a matter of months to a glioblastoma brain tumor. Since I had the kids with me, she graciously met me at Chick Filet and through fits of screaming and telling children, I listened to her tell me about the mercies of the final weeks they had together as a family. "God is good," she said. Then on Sunday, I went to her church and sat as she led the congregation and me in the prayer of thanksgiving. I do not know if I have ever been so moved by a prayer in all my life. Though I don't really remember the words, whether they were eloquent or not, I will always remember that she was there in the pulpit praying and preaching and teaching and embodying thanksgiving in its deepest form.
Then on Monday, I left the kids with a saint at the church and drove down the street to spend time with a friend whose child suffered a terrible accident earlier this year and is now at one of the hospitals in downtown Ft Worth. To enter the holy ground of that hospital room, and to watch a father loving so tenderly on child was a great gift. Yesterday I texted my friend to wish him Happy Thanksgiving. I mentioned today's Daily Lesson where Paul says to "Give thanks in all circumstances." Today my friend will do that, gathering with family and loved ones in the hospital room to celebrate Thanksgiving. It is the small blessings which have revealed themselves in this difficult journey which he and his family will give thanks for. And what I give thanks for is the honor of having entered the holy ground of that hospital room and seen an ever-deepening and special bond of father and child.
It was in November of 1863 that President Lincoln issued his Proclamation of Thanksgiving, calling on all Americans to set and observe the last Thursday as a day of Thanksgiving to the Almighty. America was in the midst of a Civil War which would ultimately take the lives of 700,000. Hundreds of thousands of Americans were already grieving the losses sons on the battlefield. Lincoln himself was in the midst of grief after having lost his 11-year-old son Willie to illness just a year in February of 1862. Yet, the harvest of 1863 was plentiful and though the war among brothers within made the United States susceptible to attack from enemies abroad, there was still peace along America's borders. And for these things he thought it "fit and proper" to be "gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American people."
2015 has been difficult year for some; but there are still the blessings of a prosperous nation to be acknowledged and the gift of holy ground to be recognized. As my friend said, "God is good." Indeed.
So, today we give thanks -- in all circumstances. For we are a thankful people.
"Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."
The kids were out of school this week so I took the opportunity this past weekend to go and pay a visit to a couple of people very special to me, each of which have suffered great heartache this year.
On Saturday, I drove to Ft Worth and had dinner with one of these friends who just lost her husband in a matter of months to a glioblastoma brain tumor. Since I had the kids with me, she graciously met me at Chick Filet and through fits of screaming and telling children, I listened to her tell me about the mercies of the final weeks they had together as a family. "God is good," she said. Then on Sunday, I went to her church and sat as she led the congregation and me in the prayer of thanksgiving. I do not know if I have ever been so moved by a prayer in all my life. Though I don't really remember the words, whether they were eloquent or not, I will always remember that she was there in the pulpit praying and preaching and teaching and embodying thanksgiving in its deepest form.
Then on Monday, I left the kids with a saint at the church and drove down the street to spend time with a friend whose child suffered a terrible accident earlier this year and is now at one of the hospitals in downtown Ft Worth. To enter the holy ground of that hospital room, and to watch a father loving so tenderly on child was a great gift. Yesterday I texted my friend to wish him Happy Thanksgiving. I mentioned today's Daily Lesson where Paul says to "Give thanks in all circumstances." Today my friend will do that, gathering with family and loved ones in the hospital room to celebrate Thanksgiving. It is the small blessings which have revealed themselves in this difficult journey which he and his family will give thanks for. And what I give thanks for is the honor of having entered the holy ground of that hospital room and seen an ever-deepening and special bond of father and child.
It was in November of 1863 that President Lincoln issued his Proclamation of Thanksgiving, calling on all Americans to set and observe the last Thursday as a day of Thanksgiving to the Almighty. America was in the midst of a Civil War which would ultimately take the lives of 700,000. Hundreds of thousands of Americans were already grieving the losses sons on the battlefield. Lincoln himself was in the midst of grief after having lost his 11-year-old son Willie to illness just a year in February of 1862. Yet, the harvest of 1863 was plentiful and though the war among brothers within made the United States susceptible to attack from enemies abroad, there was still peace along America's borders. And for these things he thought it "fit and proper" to be "gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American people."
2015 has been difficult year for some; but there are still the blessings of a prosperous nation to be acknowledged and the gift of holy ground to be recognized. As my friend said, "God is good." Indeed.
So, today we give thanks -- in all circumstances. For we are a thankful people.
Wednesday, November 25, 2015
Daily Lesson for November 25, 2015
Today's Daily Lesson comes from Psalm 130 verses 3 and 4:
If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities,
O Lord, who could stand?
But with you there is forgiveness,
that you may be feared.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer once preached a sermon on judgement, describing how terrifying it would be for us to stand before the judgment seat with all our sinful deeds fully made known. The more salacious things would certainly be of deep, deep embarrassment, but in the end the small peccadilloes might be the most revealing. What an utter shame it would be for our pettiness, betrayal, and sulking envy to be exposed. The full implication of such a moment of uncloaking would drive us all to despair. As the Psalmist says, "Who could stand?"
No one of course. Not one single person -- no matter how good we might think they are. They too would be seen to be carriers of the disease of sin just as Noah and his family were revealed to have it when they disembarked from the ark.
And this was just Bonhoeffer's point -- that in the end none of us will be able stand on our own righteousness, and the in the end the desire to insist on doing so is the ultimate act of rebellion against God's graceful way.
As Bonhoeffer said in the sermon, "The good is nothing more than that we ask for his grace and take hold of it. The evil is nothing other than fear and wanting to stand before God on one's own, wanting to be self-righteous."
Mercy is better than justice in my book. And when the day comes I am going to plea for it. That may put me in the same camp with a lot of other people known to be unrighteous sinners; but the alternative will be to be in a camp with the self-righteous and that's one place which for a variety of reasons I just don't think I'd be able to stand.
If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities,
O Lord, who could stand?
But with you there is forgiveness,
that you may be feared.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer once preached a sermon on judgement, describing how terrifying it would be for us to stand before the judgment seat with all our sinful deeds fully made known. The more salacious things would certainly be of deep, deep embarrassment, but in the end the small peccadilloes might be the most revealing. What an utter shame it would be for our pettiness, betrayal, and sulking envy to be exposed. The full implication of such a moment of uncloaking would drive us all to despair. As the Psalmist says, "Who could stand?"
No one of course. Not one single person -- no matter how good we might think they are. They too would be seen to be carriers of the disease of sin just as Noah and his family were revealed to have it when they disembarked from the ark.
And this was just Bonhoeffer's point -- that in the end none of us will be able stand on our own righteousness, and the in the end the desire to insist on doing so is the ultimate act of rebellion against God's graceful way.
As Bonhoeffer said in the sermon, "The good is nothing more than that we ask for his grace and take hold of it. The evil is nothing other than fear and wanting to stand before God on one's own, wanting to be self-righteous."
Mercy is better than justice in my book. And when the day comes I am going to plea for it. That may put me in the same camp with a lot of other people known to be unrighteous sinners; but the alternative will be to be in a camp with the self-righteous and that's one place which for a variety of reasons I just don't think I'd be able to stand.
Tuesday, November 24, 2015
Daily Lesson for November 24, 2015
Today's Daily Lesson comes from Matthew chapter 19 verses 16 through 22:
16 And behold, a man came up to him, saying, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?” 17 And he said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments.” 18 He said to him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, 19 Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 20 The young man said to him, o“All these I have kept. What do I still lack?” 21 Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” 22 When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.
In the Apocrypha there is a story about St. Thomas who is said to have brought the Gospel to India. While there Thomas's great skill as a carpenter was made known, even garnering the attention of King Gundafor. Impressed, the King gave Thomas a large sum of money and ordered him to build a great temple. After many years passed, the King returned to Thomas expecting to see the temple. He was incredulous when he saw nothing built at all. Thomas then told the King that he had indeed built a great temple with the King's money and the reason the King could not see the temple was because it was in heaven and had been built by giving money to the poor.
That story makes me uncomfortable too.
16 And behold, a man came up to him, saying, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?” 17 And he said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments.” 18 He said to him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, 19 Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 20 The young man said to him, o“All these I have kept. What do I still lack?” 21 Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” 22 When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.
In the Apocrypha there is a story about St. Thomas who is said to have brought the Gospel to India. While there Thomas's great skill as a carpenter was made known, even garnering the attention of King Gundafor. Impressed, the King gave Thomas a large sum of money and ordered him to build a great temple. After many years passed, the King returned to Thomas expecting to see the temple. He was incredulous when he saw nothing built at all. Thomas then told the King that he had indeed built a great temple with the King's money and the reason the King could not see the temple was because it was in heaven and had been built by giving money to the poor.
That story makes me uncomfortable too.
Monday, November 23, 2015
Daily Lesson for November 23, 2015
Today's Daily Lesson comes from Psalm 107 verses 7 and 8:
7 Our fathers, when they were in Egypt,
did not consider your wondrous works;
they did not remember the abundance of your steadfast love,
but rebelled by the sea, at the Red Sea.
8 Yet he saved them for his name's sake.
Earlier this year Dr. Gardner Taylor, the great "dean of American preaching" and mentor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. passed away at 97 years of age. Many years ago, just after I was first ordained, I drove down to Georgia to hear him speak for several days at a convocation for pastors. One thing Dr. Taylor spoke of there in Georgia has remained with me, shaping my prayer life very deeply ever since. It was Dr. Taylor's reflection upon the psalmist's understanding of being saved for God's name's sake.
I really have no right to claim my own deliverance. I'm a wretch like any man. God owes me nothing, and what I do deserve I surely don't want!
Nevertheless, I do pray for my own deliverance; but ask for it for God's name's sake and not for my own. As Dr. Taylor put it in his lecture we who were following behind, "For God's name's sake I pray I never do anything to defile or humiliate myself, my family, or my ministry."
I know I really don't deserve to be spared the wilderness or rescued from its trials and temptations. Yet I do pray that I be led not into temptation and delivered from evil. For His is the kingdom and the power and the glory; and for His name's sake we are saved.
7 Our fathers, when they were in Egypt,
did not consider your wondrous works;
they did not remember the abundance of your steadfast love,
but rebelled by the sea, at the Red Sea.
8 Yet he saved them for his name's sake.
Earlier this year Dr. Gardner Taylor, the great "dean of American preaching" and mentor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. passed away at 97 years of age. Many years ago, just after I was first ordained, I drove down to Georgia to hear him speak for several days at a convocation for pastors. One thing Dr. Taylor spoke of there in Georgia has remained with me, shaping my prayer life very deeply ever since. It was Dr. Taylor's reflection upon the psalmist's understanding of being saved for God's name's sake.
I really have no right to claim my own deliverance. I'm a wretch like any man. God owes me nothing, and what I do deserve I surely don't want!
Nevertheless, I do pray for my own deliverance; but ask for it for God's name's sake and not for my own. As Dr. Taylor put it in his lecture we who were following behind, "For God's name's sake I pray I never do anything to defile or humiliate myself, my family, or my ministry."
I know I really don't deserve to be spared the wilderness or rescued from its trials and temptations. Yet I do pray that I be led not into temptation and delivered from evil. For His is the kingdom and the power and the glory; and for His name's sake we are saved.
Friday, November 20, 2015
Daily Lesson for November 20, 2015
Today's Daily Lesson comes from Matthew chapter 18 verses 10 through 14:
10 “See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven. 12 What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? 13 And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. 14 So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.
When I was in youth ministry, my colleagues and I would often talk about the challenge and the commission of loving the hard to love kid. This was the kid who just would or could not sit still, be quiet, listen, respect authority, be where they were told to be, stop ridiculing others, or grow up.
I had several talks with Jesus about the hard to love kid. I expressed my concerns, told him my frustrations, presented some very solid examples, and asked Him to do something about it.
Jesus kept nodding his head while I talked and when I finished he said, "Boy, I hear what you're saying and, like you, I too am really concerned that I could have appointed a shepherd who doesn't have a heart for all the sheep. I promise I will have a talk with my Father about you."
"Never mind," I said, "I'm sure I can work through it."
"I bet you can," he said. "But please let me know if you can't."
That was the first and last time I complained to Jesus about a hard to love kid.
10 “See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven. 12 What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? 13 And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. 14 So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.
When I was in youth ministry, my colleagues and I would often talk about the challenge and the commission of loving the hard to love kid. This was the kid who just would or could not sit still, be quiet, listen, respect authority, be where they were told to be, stop ridiculing others, or grow up.
I had several talks with Jesus about the hard to love kid. I expressed my concerns, told him my frustrations, presented some very solid examples, and asked Him to do something about it.
Jesus kept nodding his head while I talked and when I finished he said, "Boy, I hear what you're saying and, like you, I too am really concerned that I could have appointed a shepherd who doesn't have a heart for all the sheep. I promise I will have a talk with my Father about you."
"Never mind," I said, "I'm sure I can work through it."
"I bet you can," he said. "But please let me know if you can't."
That was the first and last time I complained to Jesus about a hard to love kid.
Thursday, November 19, 2015
Daily Lesson for November 19, 2015
Today's Daily Lesson comes from Revelation chapter 22 verse 5:
"And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever."
Jacques Lusseyran was a typical 1930sParis schoolboy who was blinded in an accident at age eight. In his autobiography, "And There Was Light", Jacques wrote of a discovery of an inner light of vision which allowed him to experience the aura of things unseen. To his amazement he was able to negotiate spaces, skirting chairs and avoiding walls because he could "see" them with a kind of inner light:
"Inside me there was everything I had believed was outside. There was, in particular, the sun, light, and all colors. There were even the shapes of objects and the distance between objects. Everything was there and movement as well… Light is an element that we carry inside us and which can grow there with as much abundance, variety, and intensity as it can outside of us…I could light myself…that is, I could create a light inside of me so alive, so large, and so near that my eyes, my physical eyes, or what remained of them, vibrated, almost to the point of hurting… God is there under a form that has the good luck to be neither religious, not intellectual, nor sentimental, but quite simply alive."
When the Nazis invaded France Lusseyran in 1940 Lusseyran was 17. He joined the French Resistance and was subsequently arrested by the Gestapo and sent to Buchenwald concentration camp. While in prisoner, Lusseyran lost his inner light. His hatred for the Nazis and frustration with his own circumstances took over. He began bumping into walls and tripping over chairs. But that is where something deeply important dawned on him about himself and the world: that there was a light within him that only he could put out, and no one else. In due time he regained his inner vision.
Reflecting on Lusseyran's life, Barbara Brown Taylor wrote that there is a light which shines in the darkness and can therefore only be seen in the darkness. This is the place where as the Scripture says, "Night will be no more," -- when even into the darkness the light shines, and the light is more than sun shining, or moon beaming, or stars twinkling outside, but is altogether the Very Light of Very Light glowing from within.
"And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever."
Jacques Lusseyran was a typical 1930sParis schoolboy who was blinded in an accident at age eight. In his autobiography, "And There Was Light", Jacques wrote of a discovery of an inner light of vision which allowed him to experience the aura of things unseen. To his amazement he was able to negotiate spaces, skirting chairs and avoiding walls because he could "see" them with a kind of inner light:
"Inside me there was everything I had believed was outside. There was, in particular, the sun, light, and all colors. There were even the shapes of objects and the distance between objects. Everything was there and movement as well… Light is an element that we carry inside us and which can grow there with as much abundance, variety, and intensity as it can outside of us…I could light myself…that is, I could create a light inside of me so alive, so large, and so near that my eyes, my physical eyes, or what remained of them, vibrated, almost to the point of hurting… God is there under a form that has the good luck to be neither religious, not intellectual, nor sentimental, but quite simply alive."
When the Nazis invaded France Lusseyran in 1940 Lusseyran was 17. He joined the French Resistance and was subsequently arrested by the Gestapo and sent to Buchenwald concentration camp. While in prisoner, Lusseyran lost his inner light. His hatred for the Nazis and frustration with his own circumstances took over. He began bumping into walls and tripping over chairs. But that is where something deeply important dawned on him about himself and the world: that there was a light within him that only he could put out, and no one else. In due time he regained his inner vision.
Reflecting on Lusseyran's life, Barbara Brown Taylor wrote that there is a light which shines in the darkness and can therefore only be seen in the darkness. This is the place where as the Scripture says, "Night will be no more," -- when even into the darkness the light shines, and the light is more than sun shining, or moon beaming, or stars twinkling outside, but is altogether the Very Light of Very Light glowing from within.
Wednesday, November 18, 2015
Daily Lesson for November 18, 2015
Today's Daily Lesson comes from Matthew chapter 17 verses 24 through 27:
24 When they came to Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma tax went up to Peter and said, “Does your teacher not pay the tax?” 25 He said, “Yes.” And when he came into the house, Jesus spoke to him first, saying, “What do you think, Simon? From whom do kings of the earth take toll or tax? From their sons or from others?” 26 And when he said, “From others,” Jesus said to him, “Then the sons are free.27 However, not to give offense to them, go to the sea and cast a hook and take the first fish that comes up, and when you open its mouth you will find a shekel. Take that and give it to them for me and for yourself.”
The irascible Southern Baptist pastor/provocateur Carlyle Marney once said that if he ever left the ministry it would probably be because he could no longer in good conscience tell people they needed to give to the church. That was his way of asking people to give to the church while at the same time confessing his own ambivalence about the whole church fundraising enterprise.
Here's something Jesus said that is worth sitting with for a while to let the implications hit home: "The sons are free."
That should have pretty much ended all stewardship sermons based on coercion, manipulation, and guilt forever. The sons are free.
But there are questions I have. Who are the sons; are we all sons (and daughters) of the king or is there only one child? And who paid for whom and why? Did Jesus pay for himself and for Peter because to not pay is offensive in itself, or simply because Peter had said they would pay and not paying what you say you'll pay is offensive? Or did Peter pay for Jesus -- after all, Peter's the one who had to work? And in the end didn't Jesus pay it all? And, importantly, where do I get one of those fish?
Well, the answer to that I know; except for me it's not a fish.
24 When they came to Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma tax went up to Peter and said, “Does your teacher not pay the tax?” 25 He said, “Yes.” And when he came into the house, Jesus spoke to him first, saying, “What do you think, Simon? From whom do kings of the earth take toll or tax? From their sons or from others?” 26 And when he said, “From others,” Jesus said to him, “Then the sons are free.27 However, not to give offense to them, go to the sea and cast a hook and take the first fish that comes up, and when you open its mouth you will find a shekel. Take that and give it to them for me and for yourself.”
The irascible Southern Baptist pastor/provocateur Carlyle Marney once said that if he ever left the ministry it would probably be because he could no longer in good conscience tell people they needed to give to the church. That was his way of asking people to give to the church while at the same time confessing his own ambivalence about the whole church fundraising enterprise.
Here's something Jesus said that is worth sitting with for a while to let the implications hit home: "The sons are free."
That should have pretty much ended all stewardship sermons based on coercion, manipulation, and guilt forever. The sons are free.
But there are questions I have. Who are the sons; are we all sons (and daughters) of the king or is there only one child? And who paid for whom and why? Did Jesus pay for himself and for Peter because to not pay is offensive in itself, or simply because Peter had said they would pay and not paying what you say you'll pay is offensive? Or did Peter pay for Jesus -- after all, Peter's the one who had to work? And in the end didn't Jesus pay it all? And, importantly, where do I get one of those fish?
Well, the answer to that I know; except for me it's not a fish.
Tuesday, November 17, 2015
Daily Lesson for November 17, 2015
Today's Daily Lesson come from Psalm 95 verses 8 and 9:
Today, if you hear his voice,
8 do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah,
as on the day at Massah in the wilderness,
9 when your fathers put me to the test
and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work.
Every new day, season, and stage on the journey brings to us its own crisis of faith. No matter how faithful God has been to us and our ancestors in the past, there is always the fear and uncertainty of the present.
The Israelites were led across the Red Sea in the most miraculous act of deliverance the world had ever known. Turn the page and suddenly they are in a place where desperate for water and quarreling with one another out of fear and anxiety. That desert place they called "Massah".
Through many dangers toils and snares we have already come; but I'm willing to bet that today we'll find ourselves in Massah -- and if not sometime today then definitely tomorrow. No matter how many Red Seas we cross; there's always a Massah right behind it.
But here's a question to keep in mind while in Massah: Has God really brought us this far just to let us die of weariness and thirst in this desert?
And suddenly a stirring from deep within the Rock is heard . . .
Today, if you hear his voice,
8 do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah,
as on the day at Massah in the wilderness,
9 when your fathers put me to the test
and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work.
Every new day, season, and stage on the journey brings to us its own crisis of faith. No matter how faithful God has been to us and our ancestors in the past, there is always the fear and uncertainty of the present.
The Israelites were led across the Red Sea in the most miraculous act of deliverance the world had ever known. Turn the page and suddenly they are in a place where desperate for water and quarreling with one another out of fear and anxiety. That desert place they called "Massah".
Through many dangers toils and snares we have already come; but I'm willing to bet that today we'll find ourselves in Massah -- and if not sometime today then definitely tomorrow. No matter how many Red Seas we cross; there's always a Massah right behind it.
But here's a question to keep in mind while in Massah: Has God really brought us this far just to let us die of weariness and thirst in this desert?
And suddenly a stirring from deep within the Rock is heard . . .
Monday, November 16, 2015
Daily Lesson for November 16, 2015
Today's Daily Lesson for November 16, 2015 comes from Revelation chapter 20 verses 7 through 12:
7 And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison 8 and will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea. 9 And they marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, but fire came down from heaven and consumed them, 10 and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. 11 Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. 12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done.
In the wake of all the terror this world has seen in the last days in Paris and in Beirut today's lesson is a reminder that no matter how numerous or powerful the forces of darkness and evil may grow, the one who sits on the great white throne will be the final judge and ruler of this world. And though the text tells us there are many books which may tell us many things -- some deceptively so -- in the end the final book by which we will be judged is the book of life and its eternal question: did we give life or did we take it?
In recent days the Scripture has been fulfilled, Satan's forces have gathered strength, marched over the broad plain of the earth to attack the saints in the City of Love. In Yeats's words, "The blood-dimmed tide is loosed."
For now. But in the end there is the throne -- and the one who sits upon it.
7 And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison 8 and will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea. 9 And they marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, but fire came down from heaven and consumed them, 10 and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. 11 Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. 12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done.
In the wake of all the terror this world has seen in the last days in Paris and in Beirut today's lesson is a reminder that no matter how numerous or powerful the forces of darkness and evil may grow, the one who sits on the great white throne will be the final judge and ruler of this world. And though the text tells us there are many books which may tell us many things -- some deceptively so -- in the end the final book by which we will be judged is the book of life and its eternal question: did we give life or did we take it?
In recent days the Scripture has been fulfilled, Satan's forces have gathered strength, marched over the broad plain of the earth to attack the saints in the City of Love. In Yeats's words, "The blood-dimmed tide is loosed."
For now. But in the end there is the throne -- and the one who sits upon it.
Friday, November 13, 2015
Daily Lesson for November 13, 2015
Today's Daily Lesson comes from Psalm 88 verses 13 through 18:
13 But I, O Lord, cry to you;
in the morning my prayer comes before you.
14 O Lord, why do you cast my soul away?
Why do you hide your face from me?
15 Afflicted and close to death from my youth up,
I suffer your terrors; I am helpless.
16 Your wrath has swept over me;
your dreadful assaults destroy me.
17 They surround me like a flood all day long;
they close in on me together.
18 You have caused my beloved and my friend to shun me;
darkness is my only companion.
Sometimes there just isn't a happy ending.
Most Psalms and indeed most Bible stories and definitely the Christian Bible itself end with resolution. Evil is defeated. Good prevails. The Lamb wins.
Not so with Psalm 88. It is a full 18 verses of struggle, crying out, wrestling and asking God, "Why?". And at the end there's no resolution. In fact, at the end the psalmist is left feeling abandoned and close to death in a kind of pit where darkness is his sole companion.
Now why, I wonder, in the thousand years of putting together the canon didn't somebody come along and bring resolution? Why not end it more positively? Why not tie it up with a bow? It would only have taken one verse. I could have done it in three words: "Then you answered."
But they didn't. And why not? Because sometimes God doesn't answer -- or perhaps more accurately, sometimes God hasn't answered yet. Therefore, sometimes, some people just feel left alone, abandoned even --there in the pit without any prospect of resolution or escape.
Psalm 88 is for them. It's for those who are still in the darkness. It's for those for whom a pretty bow just wouldn't be right. It's for those times when another word beyond the pain just won't fix things.
In its wisdom the Psalter did well to let darkness have the last word on this occasion. I pray I will know when to do the same.
13 But I, O Lord, cry to you;
in the morning my prayer comes before you.
14 O Lord, why do you cast my soul away?
Why do you hide your face from me?
15 Afflicted and close to death from my youth up,
I suffer your terrors; I am helpless.
16 Your wrath has swept over me;
your dreadful assaults destroy me.
17 They surround me like a flood all day long;
they close in on me together.
18 You have caused my beloved and my friend to shun me;
darkness is my only companion.
Sometimes there just isn't a happy ending.
Most Psalms and indeed most Bible stories and definitely the Christian Bible itself end with resolution. Evil is defeated. Good prevails. The Lamb wins.
Not so with Psalm 88. It is a full 18 verses of struggle, crying out, wrestling and asking God, "Why?". And at the end there's no resolution. In fact, at the end the psalmist is left feeling abandoned and close to death in a kind of pit where darkness is his sole companion.
Now why, I wonder, in the thousand years of putting together the canon didn't somebody come along and bring resolution? Why not end it more positively? Why not tie it up with a bow? It would only have taken one verse. I could have done it in three words: "Then you answered."
But they didn't. And why not? Because sometimes God doesn't answer -- or perhaps more accurately, sometimes God hasn't answered yet. Therefore, sometimes, some people just feel left alone, abandoned even --there in the pit without any prospect of resolution or escape.
Psalm 88 is for them. It's for those who are still in the darkness. It's for those for whom a pretty bow just wouldn't be right. It's for those times when another word beyond the pain just won't fix things.
In its wisdom the Psalter did well to let darkness have the last word on this occasion. I pray I will know when to do the same.
Thursday, November 12, 2015
Daily Lesson for November 12, 2015
Today's Daily Lesson comes from Psalm 85 verses 10 and 11:
10 Steadfast love and faithfulness meet;
righteousness and peace kiss each other.
11 Faithfulness springs up from the ground,
and righteousness looks down from the sky.
Sometime ago some clergy friends and I were working on a project together directed at righting a wrong. We were strategizing and talking about how most to be successful. That's when the oldest member of our group stood up and said, "Wait a minute. We follow a Lord and Savior who was betrayed and abandoned by friends, ridiculed by the public, and ultimately hung from a cross. If we start out with success in mind we're on the wrong track. We aren't called to be successful; we're called to be faithful."
"Faithfulness springs from the ground . . . And righteousness looks down from the sky."
In other words, we're called to be faithful down here, and to trust that God will be faithful to make things right from up there.
10 Steadfast love and faithfulness meet;
righteousness and peace kiss each other.
11 Faithfulness springs up from the ground,
and righteousness looks down from the sky.
Sometime ago some clergy friends and I were working on a project together directed at righting a wrong. We were strategizing and talking about how most to be successful. That's when the oldest member of our group stood up and said, "Wait a minute. We follow a Lord and Savior who was betrayed and abandoned by friends, ridiculed by the public, and ultimately hung from a cross. If we start out with success in mind we're on the wrong track. We aren't called to be successful; we're called to be faithful."
"Faithfulness springs from the ground . . . And righteousness looks down from the sky."
In other words, we're called to be faithful down here, and to trust that God will be faithful to make things right from up there.
Wednesday, November 11, 2015
Daily Lesson for November 11, 2015
Today's Daily Lesson comes from Nehemiah chapter 8 verses 14 through 17:
14 And they found it written in the Law that the Lord had commanded by Moses that the people of Israel should dwell in booths during the feast of the seventh month, 15 and that they should proclaim it and publish it in all their towns and in Jerusalem, “Go out to the hills and bring branches of olive, wild olive, myrtle, palm, and other leafy trees to make booths, as it is written.” 16 So the people went out and brought them and made booths for themselves, each on his roof, and in their courts and in the courts of the house of God, and in the square at the Water Gate and in the square at the Gate of Ephraim. 17 And all the assembly of those who had returned from the captivity made booths and lived in the booths.
In the hallway in our house where all our family photos hang, there's a black and white picture of nine young black women sitting in and leaning on an old 1930s-looking convertible. Some are seated inside the cars while others sit or stand on the running boards. They are each smartly and respectably clothed with dress and heals on. In the background of the photo tall pines rise over the women and a stately brick building with a vaulted gate can just be seen. These are college women -- black college women from the late 30s or 40s. One is Irie's great aunt. And the picture is there to remind our family of the day when a college education for a black woman was really something rare and struggled after. It's there to remind our family where and who it comes from and who it owes.
The Jews were given something similar in today's Lesson. The Book of the Law directed them to set aside a special festival called the Festival of Booth, and all during the festival they were to make little huts and tents and sleep in them. They began this tradition as they began building their Second Temple; but the festival was to remind them of a time when their people had no Temple, but were nomads wandering in the wilderness living in tents and booths. The Festival of Booths kept them in touch with where their people had been and just how far they'd come.
There's a great black church hymn sung with the words of James Weldon Johnson's poem "Lift Every Voice and Sing":
Stony the road we trod,
Bitter the chast'ning rod,
Felt in the days when hope unborn had died;
Yet with a steady beat,
Have not our weary feet
Come to the place for which our fathers sighed?
We are where we are today because of the struggles of those who came before us and we need to hold on to something -- a photo or a booth or something -- to remind us where and who we come from.
14 And they found it written in the Law that the Lord had commanded by Moses that the people of Israel should dwell in booths during the feast of the seventh month, 15 and that they should proclaim it and publish it in all their towns and in Jerusalem, “Go out to the hills and bring branches of olive, wild olive, myrtle, palm, and other leafy trees to make booths, as it is written.” 16 So the people went out and brought them and made booths for themselves, each on his roof, and in their courts and in the courts of the house of God, and in the square at the Water Gate and in the square at the Gate of Ephraim. 17 And all the assembly of those who had returned from the captivity made booths and lived in the booths.
In the hallway in our house where all our family photos hang, there's a black and white picture of nine young black women sitting in and leaning on an old 1930s-looking convertible. Some are seated inside the cars while others sit or stand on the running boards. They are each smartly and respectably clothed with dress and heals on. In the background of the photo tall pines rise over the women and a stately brick building with a vaulted gate can just be seen. These are college women -- black college women from the late 30s or 40s. One is Irie's great aunt. And the picture is there to remind our family of the day when a college education for a black woman was really something rare and struggled after. It's there to remind our family where and who it comes from and who it owes.
The Jews were given something similar in today's Lesson. The Book of the Law directed them to set aside a special festival called the Festival of Booth, and all during the festival they were to make little huts and tents and sleep in them. They began this tradition as they began building their Second Temple; but the festival was to remind them of a time when their people had no Temple, but were nomads wandering in the wilderness living in tents and booths. The Festival of Booths kept them in touch with where their people had been and just how far they'd come.
There's a great black church hymn sung with the words of James Weldon Johnson's poem "Lift Every Voice and Sing":
Stony the road we trod,
Bitter the chast'ning rod,
Felt in the days when hope unborn had died;
Yet with a steady beat,
Have not our weary feet
Come to the place for which our fathers sighed?
We are where we are today because of the struggles of those who came before us and we need to hold on to something -- a photo or a booth or something -- to remind us where and who we come from.
Tuesday, November 10, 2015
Daily Lesson for November 10, 2015
Today's Daily Lesson comes from Psalm 78 verses 15 and 16:
15 He split rocks in the wilderness
and gave them drink abundantly as from the deep.
16 He made streams come out of the rock
and caused waters to flow down like rivers.
There is a line in one of my friend Andy Wilkinson's poems which describes the Llano Estacado as a place "where wind is plentiful and rain must be dug up before a crop can grow."
There is something deeply resonate in the image of rains which we are not looking forward to, but which rather already happened and whose waters are now buried deep in the earth, waiting to be discovered.
What if what is most essential to sustain our lives in this barren land called living will not be found by looking upward to heaven for some act of God that is yet to happen, but rather by looking within -- deeply within -- to the reservoirs God has already buried inside us.
There is enough rain to make it through life's wilderness; but to drink from it we may have to look down and not up, in and not out.
"Rain must be dug up before a crop can grow."
15 He split rocks in the wilderness
and gave them drink abundantly as from the deep.
16 He made streams come out of the rock
and caused waters to flow down like rivers.
There is a line in one of my friend Andy Wilkinson's poems which describes the Llano Estacado as a place "where wind is plentiful and rain must be dug up before a crop can grow."
There is something deeply resonate in the image of rains which we are not looking forward to, but which rather already happened and whose waters are now buried deep in the earth, waiting to be discovered.
What if what is most essential to sustain our lives in this barren land called living will not be found by looking upward to heaven for some act of God that is yet to happen, but rather by looking within -- deeply within -- to the reservoirs God has already buried inside us.
There is enough rain to make it through life's wilderness; but to drink from it we may have to look down and not up, in and not out.
"Rain must be dug up before a crop can grow."
Monday, November 9, 2015
Daily Lesson for November 9, 2015
Today's Daily Lesson comes from Psalm 77 verse 19:
Your way was through the sea,
your path through the great waters;
yet your footprints were unseen.
God's way was through the Sea.
There is an old Jewish Midrash which says that when the Israelites came to the Red Sea they had first to wade deep -- first ankle, then waist, then nose deep -- into the Sea before the waters parted. They had to come to the place where the great waters were high and swift and another step meant drowning was absolutely certain without divine intervention. And they came to that place, and that step, and they took it.
Most things in life worth doing necessitate us coming to that place where the waters are up to our noses. We have to be so far in that just another step from us or drop from the sea will mean death. This is the moment of panic -- when we realize we're now in over our heads and want very much to turn back and not to have begun at all. It's only at this moment of panic -- at the very threshold of our drowning that the waters get parted.
God's way was through the Sea. It's still through the Sea. But we won't see God's footprints until we're beyond neck deep.
Your way was through the sea,
your path through the great waters;
yet your footprints were unseen.
God's way was through the Sea.
There is an old Jewish Midrash which says that when the Israelites came to the Red Sea they had first to wade deep -- first ankle, then waist, then nose deep -- into the Sea before the waters parted. They had to come to the place where the great waters were high and swift and another step meant drowning was absolutely certain without divine intervention. And they came to that place, and that step, and they took it.
Most things in life worth doing necessitate us coming to that place where the waters are up to our noses. We have to be so far in that just another step from us or drop from the sea will mean death. This is the moment of panic -- when we realize we're now in over our heads and want very much to turn back and not to have begun at all. It's only at this moment of panic -- at the very threshold of our drowning that the waters get parted.
God's way was through the Sea. It's still through the Sea. But we won't see God's footprints until we're beyond neck deep.
Friday, November 6, 2015
Daily Lesson for November 6, 2015
Today's Daily Lesson comes from Matthew chapter 14 verses 15 through 20:
15 Now when it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a desolate place, and the day is now over; send the crowds away to go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” 16 But Jesus said, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” 17 They said to him, “We have only five loaves here and two fish.” 18 And he said, “Bring them here to me.” 19 Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass, and taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. 20 And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces left over.
It was simply a matter of mathematics.
It was a mathematical given that there would not be enough. Five loaves and two fish. 5,000 people. Even the morsels would have to be divided and then sub-divided and then sub-sub-divided.
This is probably why when polled 3 out of 2 persons there said they hated math.
But math wasn't the only discipline present that day. There was another discipline: the discipline of giving. "You give them something to eat," Jesus said.
And given up, released from one group of hands to another's there was blessing and math turned to mystery and dinner for 12 to 5,000.
It's a mathematical given. In our hands it's just five loaves of bread plus two fish. But given over and blessed by His hands it's enough for everyone with 12 basketfuls leftover.
There's math and then there's mystery; and in between there's the giving and the blessing.
15 Now when it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a desolate place, and the day is now over; send the crowds away to go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” 16 But Jesus said, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” 17 They said to him, “We have only five loaves here and two fish.” 18 And he said, “Bring them here to me.” 19 Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass, and taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. 20 And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces left over.
It was simply a matter of mathematics.
It was a mathematical given that there would not be enough. Five loaves and two fish. 5,000 people. Even the morsels would have to be divided and then sub-divided and then sub-sub-divided.
This is probably why when polled 3 out of 2 persons there said they hated math.
But math wasn't the only discipline present that day. There was another discipline: the discipline of giving. "You give them something to eat," Jesus said.
And given up, released from one group of hands to another's there was blessing and math turned to mystery and dinner for 12 to 5,000.
It's a mathematical given. In our hands it's just five loaves of bread plus two fish. But given over and blessed by His hands it's enough for everyone with 12 basketfuls leftover.
There's math and then there's mystery; and in between there's the giving and the blessing.
Thursday, November 5, 2015
Daily Lesson for November 5, 2015
Today's Daily Lesson comes from Psalm 74 verse 19:
"Do not deliver the soul of your dove to the wild beasts."
Today's Daily Lesson is actually a prayer of petition made to God on behalf of the poor caught so easily in the maw of destruction -- specifically, the poor of Israel whose homeland was wrecked and whose people were displaced.
But it might also be a word of exhortation to those at or near their breaking point and ready lash out angrily and destructively themselves: "Do not deliver the soul of your dove to the wild beasts."
We cannot always control what happens to us; but we can control how we respond. Each of us has a gentle and beautiful dove inside us; it is our soul. There are those in the world that would like very much to get its hands on the dove and crush it. But the dove is in our hands; and no one can take it. It is ours to hold and to protect from the wild beasts of this world.
The dove is in our hands. We hold her gently and delicately. And we let no one else get their hands on her.
"Do not deliver the soul of your dove to the wild beasts."
Today's Daily Lesson is actually a prayer of petition made to God on behalf of the poor caught so easily in the maw of destruction -- specifically, the poor of Israel whose homeland was wrecked and whose people were displaced.
But it might also be a word of exhortation to those at or near their breaking point and ready lash out angrily and destructively themselves: "Do not deliver the soul of your dove to the wild beasts."
We cannot always control what happens to us; but we can control how we respond. Each of us has a gentle and beautiful dove inside us; it is our soul. There are those in the world that would like very much to get its hands on the dove and crush it. But the dove is in our hands; and no one can take it. It is ours to hold and to protect from the wild beasts of this world.
The dove is in our hands. We hold her gently and delicately. And we let no one else get their hands on her.
Wednesday, November 4, 2015
Daily Lesson for November 4, 2015
Today's Daily Lesson comes from Nehemiah chapter 13 verses 10 and 11:
10 I also found out that the portions of the Levites had not been given to them, so that the Levites and the singers, who did the work, had fled each to his field. 11 So I confronted the officials and said, “Why is the house of God forsaken?”
It's stewardship season around the church. This coming Sunday's lectionary is the story of the Widow's Mite and Pledge Sunday is just around the corner. Your pastor is probably talking money too -- or hiring a consultant to come and do it.
This morning's lesson comes from Nehemiah, who was very zealous for the house of the LORD. We get a sense of his passion in today's reading. He also once went into somebody's house and threw out all their furniture because he thought they had taken what belonged to God. If anything like that's going to happen at Second B then the consultant will have to be the guy to do it.
But though I have mixed emotions about Nehemiah, I respect his conviction about the house of the LORD: it ought not be forsaken. And Nehemiah gives us a very good image of what happens when it is forsaken or taken for granted.
The Levites -- the priests of the time -- and the singers were so underpaid in those days that they had to go back home and go to farming. It's pretty sad when you think of a clergy member like me trying to figure out how to run a tractor -- much less a whole farm. But that's how it was; and it's sometimes how it is. I can't count how many pastors I know have gone to selling insurance or selling cars or doing Internet service and installation because the church just wasn't paying enough.
"The laborer deserves his wages," the Bible says. The pastors and musicians ought to be given a fair deal and so too ought their programming to be sufficiently funded. Nehemiah was right, the LORD's house ought not be forsaken nor its workers un or underemployed.
But I'm not going to come take anybody's furniture to make it happen. I'll just trust you to make it happen.
Want to support this ministry? Go to secondb.org/giving.
Missed a Lesson? Find archived Daily Lessons at ryonprice.blogspot.com.
10 I also found out that the portions of the Levites had not been given to them, so that the Levites and the singers, who did the work, had fled each to his field. 11 So I confronted the officials and said, “Why is the house of God forsaken?”
It's stewardship season around the church. This coming Sunday's lectionary is the story of the Widow's Mite and Pledge Sunday is just around the corner. Your pastor is probably talking money too -- or hiring a consultant to come and do it.
This morning's lesson comes from Nehemiah, who was very zealous for the house of the LORD. We get a sense of his passion in today's reading. He also once went into somebody's house and threw out all their furniture because he thought they had taken what belonged to God. If anything like that's going to happen at Second B then the consultant will have to be the guy to do it.
But though I have mixed emotions about Nehemiah, I respect his conviction about the house of the LORD: it ought not be forsaken. And Nehemiah gives us a very good image of what happens when it is forsaken or taken for granted.
The Levites -- the priests of the time -- and the singers were so underpaid in those days that they had to go back home and go to farming. It's pretty sad when you think of a clergy member like me trying to figure out how to run a tractor -- much less a whole farm. But that's how it was; and it's sometimes how it is. I can't count how many pastors I know have gone to selling insurance or selling cars or doing Internet service and installation because the church just wasn't paying enough.
"The laborer deserves his wages," the Bible says. The pastors and musicians ought to be given a fair deal and so too ought their programming to be sufficiently funded. Nehemiah was right, the LORD's house ought not be forsaken nor its workers un or underemployed.
But I'm not going to come take anybody's furniture to make it happen. I'll just trust you to make it happen.
Want to support this ministry? Go to secondb.org/giving.
Missed a Lesson? Find archived Daily Lessons at ryonprice.blogspot.com.
Tuesday, November 3, 2015
Daily Lesson for November 3, 2015
Today's Daily Lesson comes from Matthew chapter 13 verses 44 through 46:
44 "The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. 45 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, 46 who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it."
There is an old Buddhist story of a monk who happened upon a precious stone which he then carefully placed into a handkerchief within his cloak. Soon after he met a traveller on the road who asked the monk for food. The monk pulled out a small piece from the same handkerchief and offered it to the traveler, but the traveler's eyes were now on the precious stone. "Where did you get that?" he asked. "I found it on the road. Would you like to have it?" The traveller could not believe he was being offered such a precious stone. "Yes, I'll take that rather than the bread," he said.
The traveler was gone for three days and was forgotten from the monk's mind until to his surprise the traveller returned with the stone in his hand. "I want to return this stone; in exchange I wish that you might give me the freedom you have to give such a stone away."
We have many treasures; but only one treasure is necessary.
Want to help support this work? Go to secondb.org/giving.
44 "The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. 45 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, 46 who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it."
There is an old Buddhist story of a monk who happened upon a precious stone which he then carefully placed into a handkerchief within his cloak. Soon after he met a traveller on the road who asked the monk for food. The monk pulled out a small piece from the same handkerchief and offered it to the traveler, but the traveler's eyes were now on the precious stone. "Where did you get that?" he asked. "I found it on the road. Would you like to have it?" The traveller could not believe he was being offered such a precious stone. "Yes, I'll take that rather than the bread," he said.
The traveler was gone for three days and was forgotten from the monk's mind until to his surprise the traveller returned with the stone in his hand. "I want to return this stone; in exchange I wish that you might give me the freedom you have to give such a stone away."
We have many treasures; but only one treasure is necessary.
Want to help support this work? Go to secondb.org/giving.
Monday, November 2, 2015
Daily Lesson for November 2, 2015
Today's Daily Lesson comes from Matthew chapter 13 verses 36 through 43:
36 Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples came to him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.” 37 He answered, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. 38 The field is the world, and the good seed is the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one,39 and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. 40 Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. 41 The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers,42 and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.
I read the headlines this morning. The Russian jetliner which broke up over Egypt, taking the lives of 224, could not have fallen apart due to pilot error or plane malfunction, the airline says.
If so, then what is left to believe but that this was an act of terror?
We live in an age of terror. Our children and grandchildren were born into it. We do not know when it shall end.
But what we do know -- what we have been promised -- is that it shall come to its end. Every evil regime, monstrous dictatorship, and plotting cell of anarchy and terror will have its end. It's harvest will come -- and with it the judgment.
We are saddened by the grievous pictures of the families of the 224 souls gathered at the Moscow airport, their faces full of shock and anguish. Was it the sons of evil who did this? We will know soon.
But either way, we know we are living in a world of weeds and wheat. It is a mystery as to why the weeds have their day in the sun. An enemy has done it.
Yet the great promise we cling to is that good will always in the end defeat evil; for the sons of evil shall never prevail over the Son of Man.
May we remember that while praying for those Russian families.
Maranatha, come Lord Jesus.
36 Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples came to him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.” 37 He answered, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. 38 The field is the world, and the good seed is the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one,39 and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. 40 Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. 41 The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers,42 and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.
I read the headlines this morning. The Russian jetliner which broke up over Egypt, taking the lives of 224, could not have fallen apart due to pilot error or plane malfunction, the airline says.
If so, then what is left to believe but that this was an act of terror?
We live in an age of terror. Our children and grandchildren were born into it. We do not know when it shall end.
But what we do know -- what we have been promised -- is that it shall come to its end. Every evil regime, monstrous dictatorship, and plotting cell of anarchy and terror will have its end. It's harvest will come -- and with it the judgment.
We are saddened by the grievous pictures of the families of the 224 souls gathered at the Moscow airport, their faces full of shock and anguish. Was it the sons of evil who did this? We will know soon.
But either way, we know we are living in a world of weeds and wheat. It is a mystery as to why the weeds have their day in the sun. An enemy has done it.
Yet the great promise we cling to is that good will always in the end defeat evil; for the sons of evil shall never prevail over the Son of Man.
May we remember that while praying for those Russian families.
Maranatha, come Lord Jesus.
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