01-03-2012 Liturgical Devotion

Today’s text comes from the 19th Chapter of 2nd Kings

⁹At that place he came to a cave, and spent the night there.       

          Then the word of the LORD came to him, saying, “What          are you doing here, Elijah?” ¹⁰He answered, “I have been          very zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts; for the          Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your          altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone          am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it          away.”       

¹¹He said, “Go out          and stand on the mountain before the LORD, for the LORD          is about to pass by.” Now there was a great wind, so          strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks          in pieces before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the          wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was          not in the earthquake; ¹²and after the earthquake a fire,          but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a          sound of sheer silence. ¹³When Elijah heard it, he wrapped          his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the          entrance of the cave. Then there came a voice to him that          said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”          ¹⁴He answered, “I          have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts;          for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown          down your altars, and killed your prophets with the          sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to          take it away.” ¹⁵Then the LORD said to him,          “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of          Damascus; when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael as          king over Aram. ¹⁶Also          you shall anoint Jehu son of Nimshi as king over Israel;          and you shall anoint Elisha son of Shaphat of          Abel-meholah as prophet in your place. ¹⁷Whoever escapes from the sword of          Hazael, Jehu shall kill; and whoever escapes from the          sword of Jehu, Elisha shall kill. ¹⁸Yet I will leave seven thousand          in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and          every mouth that has not kissed him.”

Welcome to the New Year!  2011 was not a pleasant year for many people I know.  Loved ones were lost, relationships and ties that people surely thought were eternal were severed.

Many of us came into the new year feeling like we had barely escaped death.  We ran into this new year hoping for a change.  We ran into this new year, maybe even hoping to find God.

At the time in this Scripture, Elijah was literally running for his life.  Jezebel had sent a message to him that said, “May the gods severely punish me oh so severely if you’re not dead by tomorrow.”  She knew that Elijah was a servant of God and felt threatened by the idea that the God Elijah served was more powerful than Baal (the god she worshiped).

Elijah was a great prophet and did great things for God in his time.  His messages had caused many to convert from idol worship to worshipping God. He said himself that he had been very zealous for God and yet his life was in danger.  He didn’t think that was very fair.  He had a legitimate complaint against God.

God then told him to go to the edge of the cliff for He was about to pass by.  He went to the edge of the cliff and there was a great wind, an earthquake and a great fire, but God was not in any of those things.  Then there was a great silence.  And that’s where Elijah found God.

Let us not forget this principle in the new year.  God is not in the hustle and bustle.  God is not in the loud and magnificent.  God is in the quiet and the miraculous.

Where will we look for God this year?

Spiritual Practices for the New Year

I’m not into New Year’s resolutions.

They often feel like forced, trite setups for failure.
And if you feel the need to make a change, simply do so when you feel led, whenever that might be during the calendar year.

Nevertheless…

There is something about one year ending and another one beginning that often inspires us to signify meaningful change in our lives. We reflect, regret, hope, dream, plan, prepare…  We often enter a new year wanting something we didn’t have the previous year.  If you are wanting to connect with God somehow, then perhaps you are wanting some spiritual practices for the new year.  Nearly every religion/faith tradition offers a set of spiritual practices that help people enrich their spiritual lives and connect with the divine. There are many: meditation, prayer, fasting, devotional reading, service, silence, and others.  That’s a brief and broad list! Each of those can be practiced in various forms.

Today, I want to offer up two very simple spiritual practices for your consideration.

1. WALKING
We don’t often think of walking as a spiritual activity, but I am convinced that it certainly can be. Usually, we walk to get somewhere or maybe strictly for exercise. Both good. However, walking can be a profoundly spiritual practice. If you are looking for a new way to connect with God, try walking.
Put on comfortable shoes.
Have no destination.
Leave your iPod at home.
Take your time.
Listen to your thoughts. Listen to the sounds around you. Listen for that other Voice. I believe that the body in gentle motion combined with (relative) silence creates space for us to connect with God. I can’t prove it and I can’t promise it. I speak only from my experience, and I encourage others to try it. I have often been pleasantly surprised by the inner peace, clarity, connectedness, and direction I experience during walks.

2. GIVING THANKS
There are many ways to give thanks, but I have two specific methods in mind. First, whenever you are eating a meal with others, take a minute (at any point before, during, or after the meal) to share with your friends/family something you are thankful for. It doesn’t have to be deep, profound, or sentimental. Maybe today you are thankful that you had enough gas in your car to go where you needed to go. Share that. Celebrate it. Face-to-face with others who can participate in your thankfulness. The second method is to give thanks at the end of the day. You can do this a couple of different ways:

• Keep a journal by your bed and write down what you are thankful for that day before you go to sleep.
• Share your thanksgiving with your partner or roommate(s).
• Simply lay in bed, take a few minutes to play back the day in your head, and then say what you are thankful for out loud, even if you are alone.

Spiritual practices are not about being religious. Spiritual practices are about connecting and communicating with the always-present, loving, longing God.
Happy New Year!

Which Nativity Scene Character Are You?

Jesus probably wasn’t born in December. (Google it!)

So, there’s something odd and borderline absurd about the “Jesus is the reason for the season” tagline. I’m just sayin.

Nevertheless, I think we stand to gain from contemplating and meditating on the miracle of The Word Made Flesh (even if we should have had Jesus’ birthday party like 3 months ago).  I’ve always found nativity scenes rather beautiful–whether the toddler-sized, plastic ones with chipped paint on them in the neighbor’s front yard or the small, faceless, glass one on my grandmother’s dining room table.  In this Christmas season, I would like to pose the question: Which nativity scene character are you?

I’m not asking which one you look like or which one’s your favorite. I’m asking where you find yourself in the Jesus story right now.

Are you Mary?
Are you pregnant with a hope, with a dream, with a life-changing possibility? Mary had not had sex with Joseph, and yet she was about to give birth. That’s outrageous. That’s miraculous. Is your life, metaphorically speaking, a womb for something miraculous? Does it scare you?

Are you Joseph?
Have you been subject ridicule from your community? Are you shocked? Are you hesitant?  Are you incredulous? Do you kind of just want to back away from it all? And are you hanging in there anyway?

Are you the Wise Men?
Is something drawing you? To the divine? To the magnificent? To Jesus? Are you having a moment of recognizing that Christ is special? Is your heart bowing down? Have you encountered Jesus and realized that you must return to your life “by another route”?

Are you the Manger?
Are you holding something amazing and don’t even know it?  Have you been unexpectedly endowed with divine significance, dirty and ordinary as you are?

Are you the Livestock?
Are you bashfully peering over shoulders to curiously behold this Jesus person? Are you chewing on the hay beneath the swaddled baby? Are you even aware that you are a participant in a momentous occasion?

Who are you today? Who are you this season? How do you come to Jesus, if you come at all? Do you see yourself in the Nativity?
May you find your place in the Jesus story.

God With Us-A Prayer

 Today’s text comes from the 64th Chapter of the Book of the Prophet, Isaiah.

¹O that you would tear open the heavens and come down,  so that the mountains would quake at your presence — ²as when fire kindles brushwood   and the fire causes water to boil — to make your name known to your adversaries, so that the nations might tremble at your presence ³When you did awesome deeds that we did not expect, you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence. ⁴From ages past no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who works for those who wait for him. ⁵   You meet those who gladly do right, those who remember you in your ways. But you were angry, and we sinned; because you hid yourself we transgressed. ⁶ We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy cloth. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away. ⁷   There is no one who calls on your name, or attempts to take hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us, and have delivered us into the hand of our iniquity ⁸   Yet, O LORD, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand. ⁹   Do not be exceedingly angry, O LORD, and do not remember iniquity forever. Now consider, we are all your people.

^1-7Oh, that you would rip open the heavens and descend, make the mountains shudder at your presence— As when a forest catches fire,    as when fire makes a pot to boil— To shock your enemies into facing you,    make the nations shake in their boots! You did terrible things we never expected,    descended and made the mountains shudder at your presence. Since before time began    no one has ever imagined, No ear heard, no eye seen, a God like you    who works for those who wait for him. You meet those who happily do what is right,    who keep a good memory of the way you work. But how angry you’ve been with us!    We’ve sinned and kept at it so long!    Is there any hope for us? Can we be saved? We’re all sin-infected, sin-contaminated.    Our best efforts are grease-stained rags. We dry up like autumn leaves—    sin-dried, we’re blown off by the wind. No one prays to you    or makes the effort to reach out to you Because you’ve turned away from us,    left us to stew in our sins.

^8-12Still, God, you are our Father.    We’re the clay and you’re our potter:    All of us are what you made us. Don’t be too angry with us, O God.    Don’t keep a permanent account of wrongdoing.    Keep in mind, please, we are your people—all of us.

In Isaiah 64:1-9, we are in the middle of a prayer of Isaiah in which he is pained by the Israelites who have turned away from God.  At the beginning, Isaiah is asking for a sign of God’s power so that the Israelites, perchance might wake up the God they knew as their father.  He reminds God of his former deeds and his promise of “working for those that wait for him”.  I don’t think this is meaning “wait” as in a time period, but “wait” as in serve (and how do we serve God?  By serving others).

Here, Isaiah says God is angry with all of Israel because the whole nation (people-group) is infected with sin.  And even their best attempts at righteousness are unclean before the Lord.  Their best attempts at righteousness are so temporal that they’re like Autumn leaves blown by the wind.  And why is their attempt at righteousness unfit for God?  Not any of his people make the effort to pray or offer sacrifice to him because they’re too busy feeling sorry for themselves.  God didn’t actually desert them, but they were having so much fun worshipping their false gods and ignoring the true God that they felt like they had lost communion with the Father.

I love the word “still”.  It’s very similar to the words “but”, “however” or “although”.  They completely negate everything said before them.  God, we are idol worshippers, we neglect our neighbors, every attempt we make at holiness makes you sick,  BUT (still, however, although), you are still our Father.  You formed us and are forming us.  You won’t be mad at us, oh God. You won’t keep a permanent account of wrongdoing.  We ARE your people-All of us.

Thank God that we are ALL His.  We are all deserving of the inheritance of Heaven. I’m also thankful that I am a piece of clay and not a finished piece of art.  God has molded me and is continuing to mold me.  He’s not through with me yet and I hope he continues to work with me so that he may work through me, amen.

May the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you from now and unto the end of the age, Amen.

Not Saved By, Saved To

I’m aware this is a day late and I am extremely sorry for those of you who enjoy my Sunday morning postings.  I assure you I will do my best to have them up on Sunday mornings around 6 EST from now on.

Today’s Gospel Reading comes out of the 25th Chapter of Matthew.

³¹“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. ³²All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, ³³and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. ³⁴Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; ³⁵for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, ³⁶I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ ³⁷Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? ³⁸And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? ³⁹And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ ⁴⁰And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’ ⁴¹Then he will say to those at his left hand, ‘You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; ⁴²for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, ⁴³I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ ⁴⁴Then they also will answer, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?’ ⁴⁵Then he will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ ⁴⁶And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

This will be a familiar text to any who were raised in a Christian environment.  I was raised hearing this text preached but the emphasis was on legalism and making sure we were sheep and not goats without much talk on what separated the sheep from the goats.

The question of righteousness here is not “How many cuss words did you say?”, “Did you pray the sinner’s prayer?”, “Did you live a life that was free of sin?” or any other question a lot of Christians ask.  But what Jesus (you know the guy who we base this whole Christianity thing on) said separated the sheep from the goats was how we treated those who are considered the least of these in our society.  That’s a pretty tough call for us. Who do we find it hard to love? The homeless? The addict?  The queer? The fundamentalist (Think Westboro or Pat Robinson)?  Jesus’ call in this text is to love those who are hard to love.

A call to love others is an obscure call.  It can mean a lot of things.  But, let us not forget that love is a verb.  Love calls us to action.  Sure, we pray for these people and that’s an action but Jesus takes it a step further.  Did we clothe the naked?  Did we feed the hungry?  Did we visit the prisoner?

Jesus says the sheep (who did these things) will inherit eternal life and the goats (those who did not do these things) will go away into eternal punishment.  The Greek word for eternal here is ionos which can mean “for a time or an age” or it can mean “forever”.  This isn’t a new form of legalism I am preaching here.  I am not saying our salvation comes from clothing the naked, feeding the hungry and visiting the prisoner but that we are SAVED TO these things. Our actions are not what saves us.  We are saved by Christ laying down his life on the Cross.  But to be like Christ, if we call ourselves Christian, is to do these things because it is what he has asked of us.

So I ask you to find someone who it is hard for you to love (the homeless, the sick, the elderly, the prisoner, the know it all blabbermouth) and find a way to serve them this week and let us see how it changes us.

May the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you from now and unto the end of the age, amen.

Waste Not, Want Not

This is the second installment of a weekly series based on the Revised Common Lectionary provided by Vanderbilt University.

Today’s text comes out of the 25th Chapter of Matthew, verses 14-30.

¹⁴ “Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. ¹⁵ To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag,^[a] each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. ¹⁶ The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. ¹⁷ So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. ¹⁸But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.   ¹⁹ “After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. ²⁰The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.’   ²¹“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’   ²²“The man with two bags of gold also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two bags of gold; see, I have gained two more.’   ²³“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’   ²⁴ “Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. ²⁵So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’   ²⁶ “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? ²⁷Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.   ²⁸ “‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. ²⁹ For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. ³⁰ And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

The truth of the matter is that we’re all given things.  We all have natural talents, natural intellect or other natural gifts.  I call these gifts from the Creator.  You may call it coincidence or genetics.  The question has to be, “What are you doing so that your gifts are being used to their full potential?”  Do you even believe you have any gifts?  Everyone has something to offer.  I urge you to ask others what your gifts might be.  Your gifts, when used to their potential, makes for a better life now and a better life for those around you. 

I will tell you the one gift we’ve all been given.  That’s the capacity to love. Some of our hearts are hardened and like the third servant, we’re afraid of putting “our wealth (self)” out there.  We think that if we spend the time to “love on someone”, it makes us vulnerable.  And absolutely, it does.  But, when we make ourselves vulnerable and we sow that seed of love, the return of the investment is unable to be measured.

So, in short my friends, sow out love and that love will return back to you.  Use your talents.  Do what you can for others.  But don’t do these things so that you may see a return but do them out of love for your fellow man.  Waste not your talents, skillls and financial resources.  Let your light shine.  Be the person that our Creator made you to be.  Spend your bag of gold wisely.  Take risks.  Life’s a party and I don’t want to be the wall flower anymore.  And my bet is, neither do you.  Let’s actively participate in the lives we’ve been given and make our tomorrows a little bit better.

Angels Who Play Harmonicas

Hello Misfits!

Sunday night at 7, a few of us went to Sister Louisa’s Church of the Living Room and Ping Pong Emporium (It’s a bar on Edgewood in Atlanta).  We talked a bit about our lives, the God we serve and the potential future for Church of the Misfits.  After this conversation, I am even more giddy about The Church of the Misfits.

At around 8, we headed over to Vortex in Little 5 (amazing burgers).  We had an amazing server named Oz.  Seriously, go to Vortex and ask for Oz. He’s amazing.  We had some delicious burgers and cheese balls.  And as we were leaving we were approached by a man asking for spare change.  We gave him all the coinage we had (probably less than a dollar).  As we were walking back to our car, we were approached by another man asking for some spare change.  He had a harmonica in his hand.  He said, “Hey young folks, I’m hungry.”  We said we had given all our change to the other guy and then he said, “That’s alright.  You know what they call me, don’t ya?  I’m the One Eyed Blues Man.”  I heard it in his voice.  This guy was from New Orleans! He told us again that he was hungry and Rebecca (whose heart is much bigger than mine) said, “You hungry man? Get in the car, we’ll go buy you a burger.”

So, we left the Vortex Parking lot and headed for Krystal Burger.  We asked the one eyed Blues Man what his real name was and how he got to Atlanta.  He told us his name was Don and that he came to Atlanta on an Army Helicopter.  I didn’t quite know what to make of that.  Then he clarified.  He was a Katrina refugee.  Been in Atlanta without any family and homeless for six years.  All his papers, including birth certificates and ids went down with his house.  He was from the Lower 9th that received the worst flooding during Katrina.

He sang us a song titled “Who’s Gonna Heal This Broken Man” and he actually had a good voice.  By the time we parted ways Sunday night, Dana, Rebecca and myself were moved to tears by the One Eyed Blues Man. This was church folks.

He was so grateful and all we really did was give him a ride.  You never know yow little things you do impact others.  Before Don got out of the car, he wanted to pray for us.  This was a humbling moment for me.

This reminded me that we’re all Saints.  Don’t look down on anyone because of where they’re at. Don has no proof of who he is.  He can’t even get an ID or a copy of his birth certificate.

After Don prayed for us, we prayed for him and he probably went to go sleep at the Marta Station.

I don’t think we’ll ever be the same after that encounter….. At least I hope not.