Happy New Year!
Here is the first post in our year-long study of the common Lectionary, Year A. Beginning at the Beginning.
Most days, we will take something from the readings for that particular week.
Today is the 8th Day of Christmas.
From Jeremiah 31:11 (using Septuagint language):
For the Lord has ransomed Jacob, he has rescued him out of the hand of them that were stronger than he.
The birth of Christ, The Redeemer, the Ransomer, is now a done deal. The Lord (God), has ransomed (saved) Jacob (God's people - all those that trust in Him) out of the hand of them (a plural number) that were stronger than he (anybody giving you trouble).
It's over. It is done. Christ is born, which pretty much settles it. Or, in God's timetable, it is as good as settled.
God speaks a thing, and it's as good as done. We humans pay attention to time. If it doesn't happen right away, or make the expected difference, soon enough, we get worried, impatient, doubtful.
But once God entered time, by way of His Son, Jesus, we are certain that our redeemer, our savior, is here, and all will be well.
But I love the promise that we are saved from people stronger than us:
* Bullies
* Bosses
* Wealthy people
* Physically strong people
* People with unique talents
* Popular people
* People from functional families
* Smart people
* Hard workers
* Healthy people
* Corporations
* Unions
* Doctors
* Politicians
Doesn't the list, of people that take advantage over us, just go on and on?
In 2014, keep this in mind. Those people giving you trouble . . . God will take care of them. Or He has already taken care of them. You may not see it yet, because you think in terms of time, as a straight line with a beginning and end. In God's realm, there is no Time. It's only eternal Now.
It's done. You'll see.
Wednesday, January 1, 2014
Saturday, December 21, 2013
Reflectionary VIII
"Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel."
I'm not sure our present generation can have any sense of the power and meaning behind the simple prophecy of Isaiah, quoted above.
For any meaning to be clear, there must be a frame of reference. When wearing the lenses of an early 21st-Century person, these messianic prophecies lose all of their magic, their poetry, and majesty. There is no frame of reference. No common themes. The words do not even mean the same thing.
"Look." or, "Behold." To truly look at something, or behold it, as Isaiah intended, you have to be willing to stop and wait. We are enjoined to cease what we're doing, read, ponder, even pray, for understanding of what we are about to hear. This takes patience. It takes the ability to put off anything that does not stimulate our physical senses, instantaneously. It requires a willingness to learn, to gain understanding, to be proven wrong, to reach new levels of awareness, or actualization.
We can't do that. We don't know how to "look."
"The young woman." To the ancient Hebrew culture, it was a given that a "young woman" was what we would call today, a "virgin." But we can't access that concept. When a pre-Christian Era Hebrew woman was a "virgin," that meant she hadn't done "any" of "it." None of the substitute acts that are common today. No "dates." No time alone with another boy. No hand-holding. Her eyes had not seen everything imaginable on cable TV, in her parents' home and even in their presence, with their tacit approval. It was also assumed that the "young woman" was unmarried. If you were a virgin, you were not married, and vice versa. But it also entailed a certain expectation that she would one day become married . . . which was understood to be, to a man . . . and that the marriage itself would result in children . . . many of them . . . because God had created beings in His image . . . like Him . . . which meant we could create others (reproduce) in our own image (our children), just as our creator created us. The culture believed that God was both Love and Life, and that when you combined the two, new generations of God-imaged humans would result.
No, I am not being naive. I am not suggesting that everybody in Hebrew culture, even in those times, were happy prudes. But when Scripture talks about "the fullness of time," perhaps it's an indication of how rare it is to find a person, let alone a woman, like Mary . . . who could so perfectly fulfill the requirements of her calling.
"With child." Meaning, if you were "with child," then you had to be married . . . prior to getting in that state. Mary was not. To understand the emotional scandal that this entailed, think about what it's like if your best friend unfriends you on Facebook, without telling you ahead of time, or worse yet, your significant other unfriends you as a way to break up. Think about how that feels, now multiply it a couple hundred times and you may begin to understand the feelings of people around Mary, when they discovered she was pregnant.
And I will leave the rest of the text to another time.
My prayer is that, in the midst of a world that is awash with images that no one should see, or think about (let alone children), that has perhaps eaten too freely of a Tree of Knowledge for which we, as a species, are not morally ready; that you find the power to erase all those images from your mind, and be able truly to look . . . behold . . . see . . . and be blessed.
I'm not sure our present generation can have any sense of the power and meaning behind the simple prophecy of Isaiah, quoted above.
For any meaning to be clear, there must be a frame of reference. When wearing the lenses of an early 21st-Century person, these messianic prophecies lose all of their magic, their poetry, and majesty. There is no frame of reference. No common themes. The words do not even mean the same thing.
"Look." or, "Behold." To truly look at something, or behold it, as Isaiah intended, you have to be willing to stop and wait. We are enjoined to cease what we're doing, read, ponder, even pray, for understanding of what we are about to hear. This takes patience. It takes the ability to put off anything that does not stimulate our physical senses, instantaneously. It requires a willingness to learn, to gain understanding, to be proven wrong, to reach new levels of awareness, or actualization.
We can't do that. We don't know how to "look."
"The young woman." To the ancient Hebrew culture, it was a given that a "young woman" was what we would call today, a "virgin." But we can't access that concept. When a pre-Christian Era Hebrew woman was a "virgin," that meant she hadn't done "any" of "it." None of the substitute acts that are common today. No "dates." No time alone with another boy. No hand-holding. Her eyes had not seen everything imaginable on cable TV, in her parents' home and even in their presence, with their tacit approval. It was also assumed that the "young woman" was unmarried. If you were a virgin, you were not married, and vice versa. But it also entailed a certain expectation that she would one day become married . . . which was understood to be, to a man . . . and that the marriage itself would result in children . . . many of them . . . because God had created beings in His image . . . like Him . . . which meant we could create others (reproduce) in our own image (our children), just as our creator created us. The culture believed that God was both Love and Life, and that when you combined the two, new generations of God-imaged humans would result.
No, I am not being naive. I am not suggesting that everybody in Hebrew culture, even in those times, were happy prudes. But when Scripture talks about "the fullness of time," perhaps it's an indication of how rare it is to find a person, let alone a woman, like Mary . . . who could so perfectly fulfill the requirements of her calling.
"With child." Meaning, if you were "with child," then you had to be married . . . prior to getting in that state. Mary was not. To understand the emotional scandal that this entailed, think about what it's like if your best friend unfriends you on Facebook, without telling you ahead of time, or worse yet, your significant other unfriends you as a way to break up. Think about how that feels, now multiply it a couple hundred times and you may begin to understand the feelings of people around Mary, when they discovered she was pregnant.
And I will leave the rest of the text to another time.
My prayer is that, in the midst of a world that is awash with images that no one should see, or think about (let alone children), that has perhaps eaten too freely of a Tree of Knowledge for which we, as a species, are not morally ready; that you find the power to erase all those images from your mind, and be able truly to look . . . behold . . . see . . . and be blessed.
Saturday, December 14, 2013
Reflectionary VII
Be patient, therefore, beloved, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious crop from the earth, being patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains. You also must be patient.
How did the season of Advent become the most frantic, stressful, and hectic of the whole year?
Even nature itself, with the onset of an earlier sunset, colder weather, snow on the ground, bids us to take it easy. Get indoors, relax. Put another log on the fire. Brew up some hot cocoa. Watch a movie. Read.
The debate goes on about taking "Christ" out of "Christmas." But the Christian movement, with its fast-paced, road-raged, halls-bedecked demeanor during these months, provides plenty of fodder to the atheistic assault against our favored institution.
And even on Christmas Eve this month, we may very well hear the same intonations from the preacher:
"(long sigh) . . . well . . . we made it!"
Made what? Has this been a sea voyage to the New World? Achieving the chance to run the Marathon in the Olympics? The end of an arduous multi-year campaign for the Presidency?
Advent is all about waiting. And if we have made it through a period of rest and prayer, of contemplation and reflection, then indeed we have earned the right to heave a sigh of relief and proclaim "We made it!"
The Body of Christ should be doing anything BUT acting on edge this month.
Our peaceful demeanor, our refusal to take the bait and complain about traffic, crowds, and the weather, will provide volumes of positive testimony to the rightness of trusting in the Lord.
Glenn Frey once said "Take it easy." The Southern California rockers of the 1970s had this right. In the end, all that other stuff is not so important.
Patience. Please.
How did the season of Advent become the most frantic, stressful, and hectic of the whole year?
Even nature itself, with the onset of an earlier sunset, colder weather, snow on the ground, bids us to take it easy. Get indoors, relax. Put another log on the fire. Brew up some hot cocoa. Watch a movie. Read.
The debate goes on about taking "Christ" out of "Christmas." But the Christian movement, with its fast-paced, road-raged, halls-bedecked demeanor during these months, provides plenty of fodder to the atheistic assault against our favored institution.
And even on Christmas Eve this month, we may very well hear the same intonations from the preacher:
"(long sigh) . . . well . . . we made it!"
Made what? Has this been a sea voyage to the New World? Achieving the chance to run the Marathon in the Olympics? The end of an arduous multi-year campaign for the Presidency?
Advent is all about waiting. And if we have made it through a period of rest and prayer, of contemplation and reflection, then indeed we have earned the right to heave a sigh of relief and proclaim "We made it!"
The Body of Christ should be doing anything BUT acting on edge this month.
Our peaceful demeanor, our refusal to take the bait and complain about traffic, crowds, and the weather, will provide volumes of positive testimony to the rightness of trusting in the Lord.
Glenn Frey once said "Take it easy." The Southern California rockers of the 1970s had this right. In the end, all that other stuff is not so important.
Patience. Please.
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
Reflectionary VI
the LORD opens the eyes of the blind
the LORD lifts up those who are bowed down.
the LORD cares for the stranger
he sustains the orphan and widow
but frustrates the way of the wicked.
Monday, December 9, 2013
Reflectionary V
Saturday, November 23, 2013
Reflectionary IV
Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!
The nations make much ado, and the kingdoms are shaken; God has spoken, and the earth shall melt away.
He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
And they cast lots to divide his clothing.
When we separate ourselves into camps, or divisions, or denominations, we are not much different than those at the Cross, that cast lots to gain possession of a piece of Christ's garment. But where they only divided up His clothing, we have successfully divided His body, for two millennia.
Why must we divide? The enemy on the battlefield can only dream that we may become "divided." Divide and conquer has always been a classic and effective military strategy!
Do we separate out our camps, so that we may individually gain more control, or power? (Power is a highly recognized dysfunctional need of humans). Once we have established control over our camp, is it not our next goal to grow it, so that it may swallow up its rivals?
Humanity, when unified against God, is a terrible thing. The more power we have, the more evil we become.
Humanity, when unified in obedience to God, is an amazing instrument of good works, of charity, and of love.
Human divisions are called "Kingdoms," or "nations." But this is not the best way for us. Together we can do great things. And Christ commanded that His Body, The Church, not be divided!
The anti-Christian forces in the world today marvel that we are so divided and scattered, as it makes their job that much easier. We need to do whatever it takes to grow, to unify, and to expand. And we need to do it as Christ would: by sacrificing ourselves in acts of kindness and love, to the Lord's most needy children, found in every corner of the Earth.
The nations make much ado, and the kingdoms are shaken; God has spoken, and the earth shall melt away.
He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
And they cast lots to divide his clothing.
When we separate ourselves into camps, or divisions, or denominations, we are not much different than those at the Cross, that cast lots to gain possession of a piece of Christ's garment. But where they only divided up His clothing, we have successfully divided His body, for two millennia.
Why must we divide? The enemy on the battlefield can only dream that we may become "divided." Divide and conquer has always been a classic and effective military strategy!
Do we separate out our camps, so that we may individually gain more control, or power? (Power is a highly recognized dysfunctional need of humans). Once we have established control over our camp, is it not our next goal to grow it, so that it may swallow up its rivals?
Humanity, when unified against God, is a terrible thing. The more power we have, the more evil we become.
Humanity, when unified in obedience to God, is an amazing instrument of good works, of charity, and of love.
Human divisions are called "Kingdoms," or "nations." But this is not the best way for us. Together we can do great things. And Christ commanded that His Body, The Church, not be divided!
The anti-Christian forces in the world today marvel that we are so divided and scattered, as it makes their job that much easier. We need to do whatever it takes to grow, to unify, and to expand. And we need to do it as Christ would: by sacrificing ourselves in acts of kindness and love, to the Lord's most needy children, found in every corner of the Earth.
Saturday, November 9, 2013
Reflectionary III
For I know that my Redeemer lives, and that at the last he will stand upon the earth.
One generation shall praise your works to another and shall declare your power.
...we beg you, brothers and sisters, not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as though from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord is already here.
Now he is God not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all of them are alive.
This morning, I came across this wonderful quote by the great 19th Century Scottish clergyman, Thomas Chalmers:
"With the magnificence of eternity before us, let time, with all its fluctuations, dwindle into its own littleness."
Our crazy generation.... I believe that in eternity all those that went before us, and that may come after us, will ridicule and cajole us, perhaps good-naturedly, about our errant, childlike, narcissistic and narrow-minded view of life and morality. It's like, with all our knowledge of biology and ecology; with all of history behind us, as a clear model of how to, and how not to run a civilization; with all of these advantages, why are we such . . . children?
We can't wait for anything. We must have what we want . . . NOW! We have not been taught to wait for anything.
We want a fancy car, NOW. We want to get married, NOW. We want a house, NOW. We want good health, NOW. We want to look more youthful, NOW. We want to have sex, NOW. We can't even wait for Advent season anymore, before we begin immersing ourselves in the theme of Christmas, (Advent is supposed to be a practical exercise in waiting.)
If only we had the eternal view.
The 3rd grader says "Why did I act like such a baby when I was younger?"
The 10th grader says "Why was I so obsessed with My Little Pony?"
The College student says "Why did I put so much into having a date for the Prom?"
The Bride and Groom say "Well actually it would have been nice to have waited."
The middle-aged couple says "Why didn't I spend more time with my kids?"
The person on his or her deathbed says "Why didn't I spend more time in prayer?"
And likewise, I believe that in eternity, it will be so clear to us:
"Actually, I could have waited until marriage to have sex. Why didn't I?"
"Hmmm . . . I should NOT have chosen abortion."
"Well . . . I really should have stopped drinking so much.
"Wow . . . so I really DIDN'T need a divorce!"
"Why did we buy that house when we could have instead helped so many homeless?"
"What an idiot I was, to obsess so much about Miley Cyrus, while in my own neighborhood are single-parent homes that can use my help!"
And so on . . .
We don't get it. It all comes back to accepting the fact that there is an eternal situation off in the distance. To the eternal being, the problems and concerns of this life are simply ridiculous. And many of us will find ourselves immortal, indeed, one day.
Don't live your life so that you look back on yourself, from the purview of immortality, and say "Why was I so stupid?"
One generation shall praise your works to another and shall declare your power.
...we beg you, brothers and sisters, not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as though from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord is already here.
Now he is God not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all of them are alive.
This morning, I came across this wonderful quote by the great 19th Century Scottish clergyman, Thomas Chalmers:
"With the magnificence of eternity before us, let time, with all its fluctuations, dwindle into its own littleness."
Our crazy generation.... I believe that in eternity all those that went before us, and that may come after us, will ridicule and cajole us, perhaps good-naturedly, about our errant, childlike, narcissistic and narrow-minded view of life and morality. It's like, with all our knowledge of biology and ecology; with all of history behind us, as a clear model of how to, and how not to run a civilization; with all of these advantages, why are we such . . . children?
We can't wait for anything. We must have what we want . . . NOW! We have not been taught to wait for anything.
We want a fancy car, NOW. We want to get married, NOW. We want a house, NOW. We want good health, NOW. We want to look more youthful, NOW. We want to have sex, NOW. We can't even wait for Advent season anymore, before we begin immersing ourselves in the theme of Christmas, (Advent is supposed to be a practical exercise in waiting.)
If only we had the eternal view.
The 3rd grader says "Why did I act like such a baby when I was younger?"
The 10th grader says "Why was I so obsessed with My Little Pony?"
The College student says "Why did I put so much into having a date for the Prom?"
The Bride and Groom say "Well actually it would have been nice to have waited."
The middle-aged couple says "Why didn't I spend more time with my kids?"
The person on his or her deathbed says "Why didn't I spend more time in prayer?"
And likewise, I believe that in eternity, it will be so clear to us:
"Actually, I could have waited until marriage to have sex. Why didn't I?"
"Hmmm . . . I should NOT have chosen abortion."
"Well . . . I really should have stopped drinking so much.
"Wow . . . so I really DIDN'T need a divorce!"
"Why did we buy that house when we could have instead helped so many homeless?"
"What an idiot I was, to obsess so much about Miley Cyrus, while in my own neighborhood are single-parent homes that can use my help!"
And so on . . .
We don't get it. It all comes back to accepting the fact that there is an eternal situation off in the distance. To the eternal being, the problems and concerns of this life are simply ridiculous. And many of us will find ourselves immortal, indeed, one day.
Don't live your life so that you look back on yourself, from the purview of immortality, and say "Why was I so stupid?"
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