Saturday, March 12, 2011

Meditation for Saturday, March 12, 2011

Readings for the Day:

AM Psalm 30, 32; PM Psalm 42, 43;  
Deut. 7:17-26; Titus 3:1-15; John 1:43-51 

Come and See

43 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, ‘Follow me.’ ⁴⁴Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. ⁴⁵Philip found Nathanael and said to him, ‘We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth.’ ⁴⁶Nathanael said to him, ‘Can anything good come out of Nazareth?’ Philip said to him, ‘Come and see.’

Much has been written about the mysterious Nathanael of this passage. What was he doing under the fig tree in the first place, and why did Jesus notice him? But I wonder about Philip just as much. I imagine him as an enthusiastic person who has a natural awareness of the people around him, and a practical talent when it comes to helping them.  In what appears to be about a half of a minute after meeting Jesus, Philip is out asking others to join Jesus. Nathanael’s snippy reply to his invitation, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” doesn’t seem to bother Philip at all. He doesn’t launch into a long monologue about Jesus.  He doesn’t argue with Nathanael. Philip simply invites Nathanael to “come and see”.

This passage reminded me of Howard Gardner’s latest book, Five Minds For the Future. In the book, Gardner sets out the personal abilities that everyone will need to thrive in the complex and globalized future. The respectful mind is the fourth mindset that Gardner discusses:

 “Recognizing that nowadays one can no longer remain within one’s shell or on one’s home territory, the respectful mind notes and welcomes differences between human individuals and between human groups, tries to understand ‘others,’ and seeks to work effectively with them. In a world where we are all linked, intolerance or disrespect is no longer a viable option.”

As I read today’s scripture, it is easy to see myself conversing in the manner of Nathanael, coming up with a flippant, prejudiced answer before considering the question carefully. As I begin this season of Lent, I’m pondering Philip’s more respectful conversational style.

I think there is great wisdom in Philip’s invitation, so I am inviting myself to hold off on snap judgments during these weeks of Lent, and simply come and see.

Julie Mankowsky

Friday, March 11, 2011

Psalm 95, John 1: 39

Read Psalm 95 again.  Read it one more time focusing on what it asks of us.  “Come!” the psalmist invites, “Come and sing, come and thank, come and worship.”  We’ll receive this invitation almost every Friday in Lent and even more often if you are praying the Daily Office.  The first seven verses of Psalm 95 make up the invitatory prayer called the Venite, part of the liturgy of Morning Prayer.  

Deuteronomy and Titus give us plenty of rules to attend to with strong reminders of the consequences of disobedience.  It’s easy to view Lent through that lens and see it only as a time of self-discipline and denial.  But Lent is mostly about accepting the invitation and showing up; exercising the self-discipline we need to come into God’s presence and denying ourselves those things that keep us from doing so.

“Come,” the psalmist will invite us each day in Psalm 95.  “Come and see,” Jesus invites us today in John 1:39.  Venite!

(Robin Carlo)

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.  (Ps 37:4)

One of my favorite Lenten devotions is to pray by listening to music that turns my thoughts to God.  I have made a “Christian Mix” play list for my I-Pod and although this music is not reserved just for this time of year (like Christmas music), I feel especially drawn to it during Lent. It’s a way of “fasting” to more worldly themes and setting my thoughts on things above.  In a sense, it allows me to have a little spiritual retreat whenever I get into the car, and I look forward to it every day.

As I read this verse in Psalm 37, it reminded me of a song I once heard performed at a conference.  I don’t remember the performer’s name, and I don’t remember many of the words to the song, but she was singing about having the chance to have whatever she wanted - the desires of her heart for all eternity - and she realized that what she wanted most was to see Jesus.  I don’t know what the keynote speaker’s topic was that day, but the message in that song made a lasting impression. How sad it would be to “have it all” and not have Jesus.  If the Lord was going to give me the desires of my heart, I had better get my priorities straight! 

It seems self-fulfilling though, doesn’t it?  If we delight in the Lord, the Lord will become our hearts’ desire.  When we yearn to be a part of God’s eternal life as it is streaming all around us, we will be blessed with the awareness of God’s presence at all times and in all circumstances. That certainly does my heart good!

Here is a song you might like to meditate on for today:

Turn your eyes upon Jesus

Look full in his wonderful face,

And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,

In the light of his glory and grace.       

You can listen to Selah’s beautiful version of this song on YouTube by clicking here

(sb)

  

A "bonus" meditation as we begin...

Ash Wednesday, March 9, 2011

"But this was very displeasing to Jonah, and he became angry. He prayed to the Lord and said, ‘O Lord! Is not this what I said while I was still in my own country? That is why I fled to Tarshish at the beginning; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and ready to relent from punishing." (Jonah 3:1-2)²

Why is it that when God shows mercy to us we call it "amazing grace" and break into song, but when God shows mercy to those who have hurt us we feel God may be getting a little too soft on sin? "That is why I fled to Tarshish at the beginning," Jonah explains to God. "Because I knew that the essence of who you are is about grace and mercy and forgiveness, and I really hate it when you forgive people I'm not ready to forgive yet!"

This parable (and I think that is the appropriate way to read it: not to try to imagine a literal prophet living in the belly of a great fish for three days, but with the same kind of lens we use to read the parables of Jesus) almost certainly dates to the post-Exilic period in Israel's history. Israel had to forgive the Babylonians before they could get on with their own lives. This story is about forgiving the enemy, or at least trying to. It's about moving on from a person or experience that has left us hurting very badly. Because until one learns to show mercy even to those undeserving of mercy, they will take up residence in our heads. There is no chance to move on from any tragedy that I can think of without forgiveness.

And that is what these forty days are all about, Charlie Brown: forgiveness. As a pastor I hear people tell me time and again it's the hardest part of the gospel for them. For me, too. But it also takes us right to the very heart of the gospel; which no one ever said would be easy.

Which is harder for you: to accept the fact that you are forgiven, or to forgive others as you have been forgiven? I suspect it depends on a variety of circumstances. In any event, both Testaments are clear: God is steadfast, merciful, and forgiving - to us, to our friends and family, and even to our enemies. It is who God is. Even more than that: we are called to be merciful, as God is merciful. (With God's help!)

These next forty days give us a chance to make a start.

(Rich Simpson)

^3""

Shrove Tuesday/Mardi Gras

Shrove Tuesday is the designation in English-speaking countries for the day preceding Ash Wednesday, the first day of the forty-day season of fasting and prayer we call Lent. The word shrove is the past tense of the English verb shrive, which means "to obtain absolution, to confess one's sins, to do penance."  During the week before Lent, Christians were expected to go to confession to prepare for this penitential season of turning (and re-turning) to God. This tradition is at least 1000 years old.

The popular celebratory aspects of this day developed long before the Protestant Reformation. Carnival and Mardi Gras continued separately throughout European Catholic countries. In the United Kingdom and many other countries, the day is often known as Pancake Day: it offers one last chance to feast on foods made with ingredients such as sugar, fat and eggs, the consumption of which is generally restricted or limited during Lent.

Click here for some Louis Armstrong to set the mood!

Almost There

Tomorrow is Shrove Tuesday/Carnival/Mardi Gras. 

A reminder that there is a supper at church, one last "party" before the Lenten fast begins: Tuesday, March 8 from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Ash Wednesday Liturgy, with Imposition of Ashes and Holy Eucharist offered on Wednesday, March 9.

• 7 a.m. - The Rev. Jill Williams, Preacher and Celebrant (spoken liturgy)
• 4:30 p.m. - The Rev. Richard Simpson, Preacher; the Rev. Janice Schulyer, Celebrant (spoken liturgy)
• 7 p.m. - The Rev. Richard Simpson, Preacher and Celebrant (with adult choir)