March 7, 2013

Perhaps “dusty” more than “dust to dust” best characterizes my efforts to create a spacious home for God in my heart this Lent. Just as in my physical home, no matter what I do, living in my house creates more dust that I can keep up with! (Well, the dog may also have something to do with it.) Even if I close off one room, the dust still accumulates.

With the Psalmist I want to pray for an undivided heart of gratitude and praise to God (Ps 86:11-12). To be a true follower of Jesus I think I want to “continue in [His] word . . . and know the truth and the truth will make [me] free” (John 8:31-32). 

Free to do what? Be grateful? Promote justice? Praise God? Free from what? Sin? Fear? Dust? 

How do I figure this out? I can’t even manage my dust! Like Jeremiah I need help! 

   I know, O Lord, that the way of human beings is not in their control,
   that mortals as they walk cannot direct their steps.
   Correct me, O Lord, but in just measure;
   not in your anger, or you will bring me to nothing. (Jer. 10:23-24)

Amazingly, no matter how dusty or out of control or confused I get, God’s grace is immeasurably greater. According to Paul’s letter to the Romans, the more disobedience and sin increase, so all the more does grace, through Jesus’ sacrifice, increase (Rom 5:18-21).

Loving and just correction. Abundant grace. Light that shines into the dusty corners of my heart this Lenten season.

- Christina Chen

March 6, 2013

John, 8:12-20. “You are bearing witness to yourself; your testimony is not true.”

So said the scribes and Pharisees in response to Jesus’ statement, “I am the light of the world; he who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

From the beginning, the rule had always been that two witnesses were required to establish the truth surrounding a person in question – three people were involved. In this case, Jesus has only himself and “he who sent me,” who, obviously, was not physically present. So, in effect, Jesus turned the law on its head as it concerned him.

The results of this confrontation are obvious: the Pharisees, self-proclaimed guardians of Jewish Law, had one more example of Jesus’ disregard of that law (as they perceived it), which they would use against him later.

I wonder – what if you and I had lived in that time and place as Pharisees, without, of course, the benefit of knowing how the story ends: Good Friday, Easter, Pentecost, and the rest of the N.T. writings. What would our reactions to Jesus’ ministry have been?  What healings or miracles had we heard of or seen with our own eyes? Would priorities of protecting the law as well as our elevated position in the community override whatever we had heard and seen, such that we would become a part of the group that aroused the crowd to yell, “Crucify Him?” Tough question. Scary, to say the least. By the grace of God, it’s just a rhetorical one.

Speaking of Pharisees, we know one by name and his letters. Paul, up to when he was knocked off his feet and blinded on his way to Damascus, held nothing but contempt for Jesus and those who followed him, and consequently persecuted them with great zeal. After his experience on the road, he secluded himself for several years to fully understand what had happened to him and what his call was. Only then did he become the great apostle of the Gospel to the Gentiles.

(SCD)

March 5, 2013

Psalm 78:40-72, Jeremiah 7:21-34, Romans 4:13-25, John 7:37-52

“For the promise that he would inherit the world did not come to Abraham or to his descendants through the law but through the righteousness of faith.” Romans 4:13

When I sat down and read today’s readings, I found myself particularly drawn to Paul’s letter to the Romans. I found the following translation from The New Living Translation (2007), which I liked even more, “Clearly, God’s promise to give the whole earth to Abraham and his descendants was based not on his obedience to God’s law, but on a right relationship with God that comes by faith.”

Why did this passage, specifically verse 4:13, speak to me so much? Maybe it is because a pet peeve of mine has always been that person who judges others by how closely they follow what they view to be God’s laws as laid out by both the Bible and whatever particular dogma their denomination has adopted. We have all encountered this type of Christian before, the one who is so quick to pass judgment on those who they feel have sinned. It both annoys me that they can be so uppity and judgmental, but also saddens me that they have forgotten what is the most important thing about being a Christian, and that is our relationship with God that comes through our faith, not by whether or not we are giving exactly 10% of our tithe to the church each week or abstaining from eating cookies for the full 40 days of Lent.

I am not advocating for going out and sinning every chance you get. The two examples of “rules” above are great ways to help strengthen our faith with God. But I am saying that everyone sins; we know this. God’s grace is so amazing that he forgives us of these sins.  Today’s reading helped remind me that I need to be constantly examining my relationship with God and working to deepen my faith. It isn’t as simple or as easy as just following a few rules. Having a strong faith and relationship with God is like any other relationship—it takes constant work. What better time to do this than Lent? After all, isn’t that one of the reasons that we continue as Christians to celebrate the season of Lent year after year? So this is my Lenten challenge: work to strengthen my faith in whatever way I find works for me.

Liz Korandanis

March 4, 2013

For March 4^th I chose to work with Psalm 77. The main idea of this passage is that no matter if it does not seem like God is watching over us, he always is. I think this perfectly describes why I love being an Episcopalian – because we are taught from a young age that no matter if we have doubt in our faith we are assured that God is still watching over us and will always love and forgive us.

The first part of the psalm is written as the following:

¹ I cry aloud to God,
aloud to God, that he may hear me.
² In the day of my trouble I seek the Lord;
in the night my hand is stretched out without wearying;
my soul refuses to be comforted.
³ I think of God, and I moan;
I meditate, and my spirit faints

This explains how we often cry to God for help. However, it also says “my soul refuses to be comforted.” This refers to how sometimes it may feel that God is not there for us. Doubt runs through our minds as expressed later in the psalm:

⁷ Will the Lord spurn for ever,
and never again be favourable?
⁸ Has his steadfast love ceased for ever?
Are his promises at an end for all time?
⁹ Has God forgotten to be gracious?
Has he in anger shut up his compassion?

My take on this is that there is always one thing to remember: if it feels like God is not helping you, he has a reason for putting you through something and he has confidence that you can get through it on your own. The psalm next reminds the reader that God is always good, and if you have doubt in this, it is okay, but that does not mean he will stop being good. The solution for this doubt is to remember all the things God has done for you in the past.

¹⁰ And I say, ‘It is my grief
that the right hand of the Most High has changed.’
¹¹ I will call to mind the deeds of the Lord;
I will remember your wonders of old.
¹² I will meditate on all your work,
and muse on your mighty deeds.
¹³ Your way, O God, is holy.
What god is so great as our God?
¹⁴ You are the God who works wonders;
you have displayed your might among the peoples.
¹⁵ With your strong arm you redeemed your people,
the descendants of Jacob and Joseph.

When you have doubt, think of those little unexplained miracles – for example, when you think you have lost something really important then finding it in a place you swear you have already looked. No matter what happens, God has a plan and in that plan, everything works out in the end. After all, God created the Earth around us and everything on it. He sees the future of every one of us. He plans what is going to happen and if his plan does not seem desirable or it seems as if he is not there for us, that is untrue. At points in our lives when our faith is strong, weak, or even non-existent, God is behind everything we do and is always there for us. Everything that God gives us in our daily lives shapes us to be the people we are today.

~ Cassandra Clemente

March 3, 2013

The readings for today focus on praising God, being righteous, and fearing Him. FEAR – hmmm. . . I have often thought of that as a strange way to revere God and his word. However, now that I have teenagers, maybe I have a better understanding of this concept. Fear is not always a bad thing. In fact, a bit of fear is often a good thing. It can be rather motivating to do the right thing or make the right choices!

God wants us to take his word into our hearts and to make the right choices when we come to tough decisions. He wants us to show outwardly that we follow his teachings.  We are reminded in the Corinthians passage that our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit within us. That we must take care of our bodies and not misuse them for they were bought with a price. In Jeremiah, we are told that the Lord will punish the greedy and those who have acted shamefully. That does send a message that we should be fearful.

But we are given reassurance in Psalm 34 – “Many are the afflictions of the righteous but the Lord rescues them from them all.” He answers us, heals our broken hearts and gives us refuge when we need it. We are told over and over again that if we believe and are “righteous” God will help us. God shows us this in the passage from Mark where he casts the demons out of this man. The man believed and was healed. It is not always that simple or straightforward in our lives. But even if it does not seem that God is acting, if we fear Him, He will give us refuge and that is our reassurance for the day.

Donna Mann

March 2, 2013

“Declare this in the house of Jacob,

   proclaim it in Judah:

21 Hear this, O foolish and senseless people,

   who have eyes, but do not see,

   who have ears, but do not hear.

22 Do you not fear me? says the Lord;

   Do you not tremble before me?

I placed the sand as a boundary for the sea,

   a perpetual barrier that it cannot pass;

though the waves toss, they cannot prevail,

   though they roar, they cannot pass over it.

23 But this people has a stubborn and rebellious heart;

   they have turned aside and gone away.

24 They do not say in their hearts,

   ‘Let us fear the Lord our God,

who gives the rain in its season,

   the autumn rain and the spring rain,

and keeps for us

   the weeks appointed for the harvest.’” (Jeremiah 5:20-24)

I normally don’t go in for passages like these. It feels too much like scolding, and who wants to listen to that? Besides, passages like these just illustrate that people have been lamenting the moral decay of popular culture for 2,000+ years, and yet, hey, we’re still here, so what’s the big deal? But a little reflection on this can be helpful from time to time. The fact is, the society we live in exerts numerous conscious and subconscious influences on each one of us. While many of those influences are healthy and reinforce our relationship with God (e.g., church communities like St. Francis), there are many influences and pressures from our culture that lead us to “turn aside” from God. We are all familiar with how advertising and popular media continually glamorize wealth, fame, power, consumption, physical beauty, etc. And none of these things are intrinsically bad when kept in perspective and consumed in moderation. But it is all too easy to become so used to this diet of spiritual junk food that one doesn’t recognize the need for the healthy staples of prayer, family, and community. I hope that Lent can serve as a time when we can all be reminded of the need to turn back to the basics. Like the “rain in its season,” may Lent nurture for us the subsequent “harvest” of God’s great love and forgiveness.

Tom Miller

March 1, 2013

“But I have a testimony greater than John’s. The works that the Father has given me to complete, the very works that I am doing, testify on my behalf that the Father has sent me.” John 5:36

In today’s Gospel reading, hot off a Sabbath-breaking healing, Jesus tries to explain from where he derives his authority. His gives his own testimony that he is indeed the son of God and points to the messages of John the Baptist, the word of God himself, and the mountains of Scripture that testify on his behalf.

But the testimony greater than John’s and clearest to the eyes is the works that Jesus is doing. A man who was sick for 38 years was cured in an instant. How can there be any doubt? Jesus is on a mission to complete the works that God has given him to do, and it is the testimony of the water and wine, the loaves and fishes, the healed sick, and the raised dead that says this guy is the real deal. It is the works that prove the words of John and God and the Scriptures.

Likewise, it is our works that testify on our behalf. Obviously most of us aren’t busting out loaves and fishes when the donuts run out at the office, but on Sundays we often pray, “Father, send us out to do the work you have given us to do.” This has always struck me as one of the most empowering lines of our liturgy, a perfect end to our worship and beginning to the week of work ahead of us. It is a reminder that we, like Jesus, have been given works to complete, and that the works we do give testimony as to who has sent us. The small miracles of compassion, respect, patience and service that it is within our power to complete speak on our behalf more loudly and clearly than any words.

- Kiersten Rooke