Romans 12:9-16 The Rollercoaster of Compassion

Observation: It's typical as Paul is closing a letter to offer a series of moral imperatives. There are a lot of good ones in here. The one that stands out to me most today is "rejoice with those who rejoice. Weep with those who weep."

Application: The hardest part about being a Christian is that compassion is not optional. This is not advanced, senior-thesis stuff. It's the most basic introductory, 100-level teaching of Jesus: "do unto others as you would have done to you."

It doesn't matter how near or far away someone is, how similar to or different from me. We need not share the same religious views, or political convictions or moral values. We don't have to have the same sexual orientation, or gender identity, or even concept of what gender is. We don't have to have the same legal status in this country, or have an equally clean criminal record. We don't have to like each other, or even believe the other is doing more good than harm in this world. A person doesn't have to be sober, or in recovery, or even trying to get help to warrant my compassion.

 If I am serious about actually following Jesus, then I need to imitate his way of life, and that means if you are rejoicing, I have to rejoice with you, and if you are weeping, I have to weep with you. That doesn't mean sharing your views about what is worthy of rejoicing or weeping. It means being aware of your joy or pain, and treating it with as much reverence and seriousness as my own. It's exhausting, and it means I have to listen to the news and listen to my neighbor when I don't always feel like it. But I do it because I trust Jesus, and Paul whom he sent out, that this is ultimately the best way to live.

Pray: God, fill me with joy for those who have joys today. Help me to grieve with those who are grieving today. Amen. 

Luke 2:25-38 Leaving Room For the Holy Spirit

Observation: In Luke's Gospel, a lot of credit is given to the Holy Spirit. In just these few short verses, the Holy Spirit rests on the old man Simeon, reveals to him that he will see the Messiah before he dies, guides him into the temple at the exact right moment to see the infant Jesus, and inspires him to sing a song of praise to God. The Holy Spirit also inspires Anna, a prophet, to also praise God and speak about this special child. 

Application: The Holy Spirit has had a pretty big role in my life, but I'm not always aware of the Spirit's action until after the fact. I'm not always observant enough in real time, when I'm able to pray in a difficult situation, or when I step out in faith doing something that scares me a little, or when I hear God's word and say, "yes! Thank you God!", to know that the Holy Spirit has been working on me. But when I look back on my day--especially when I have the presence of mind to journal about it--the Holy Spirit has more than a cameo. On the good days, she's in a starring role. 

Prayer: Holy Spirit, thank you for your work in my life. Help me to know you, hear you, and give thanks for you when you show up. Help me get out of your way, and let you work through me what will best serve God's Reign. Amen. 

Psalm 93 The Floods Have Lifted Up Their Voice

Observation: It's common for the psalms to poetically describe elements of nature praising the Lord using their distinctive voice. In this Psalm, the floods, with their roaring sound, give praise to God. 

Application: It's been raining for about 18 hours here in Northern Michigan. It's a blessed sound, to hear the raindrops on our roof as I'm drifting to sleep, and to turn over in the middle of the night and hear its constant whisper. I love to look out at dawn and see the intense green of the spring trees, beginning their season in earnest, nourished by God's providing. In its way, each sight and sound offers praise to God, the creator. 

My son, ever since he was very little, has been mesmerized by rain. He used to sit, miraculously calm and reflective, on the back porch of our Baltimore town house, and watch and listen as the rain fell. We watched silently for about five minutes this morning. It's strange: our guy, who can't help but gallop, bounce off the walls (literally), have a movie start and within five minutes want to turn on YouTube as well, is stopped in his tracks when the rain comes. It really is quite the praise song to hear. 

Prayer: God, may all nature and all creation praise you. May what we say and do this day be in harmony with that praise. And may we stop to listen. Deliver anyone today for whom floods or other adverse weather are a source of destruction or loss. Help us to live as good neighbors to the floods, the mountains, the trees, the animals, and all that you have crafted with your hand. Nourish it, and us, in Jesus' name. Amen. 

Acts 16:1-8 Forbidden by the Spirit

Observation: This text is right before the reading many will hear in church on Sunday, about Paul's missionary journeys through what is now Turkey and Greece. Paul meets Timothy (my namesake), a young Christian of mixed ethnicity, whose mother is Jewish and father is Greek. As Paul and Timothy start out their journey, we see a mysterious phrase that shows up a couple of times in Acts: there are certain towns where Paul and Timothy intend to go, but the Holy Spirit forbids them. Why? we don't know. What exactly did that look and feel like? We don't know. But God seems to clearly tell these missionaries not to go there. 

Application: I'm amazed at how in tune with the Holy Spirit Paul and Timothy seem. In my experience, Christians are not as willing or able to consult the Holy Spirit about whether ideas we have are the right thing, for the right time, empowered by the right gifts. We assume that anything and everything we can do to give glory to God is right, and should happen right now. Then we get frustrated when it doesn't work, or it works once and never works again, or even works for years and years then becomes less effective. Often when this happens, we take our frustration out on people: the volunteers who didn't volunteer, the community that didn't show up, or let's not forget the church's favorite punching bag, youth sports. It must be someone's fault that our idea didn't work. But rarely does it occur to us that that someone may be God. 

I believe that God speaks to us all the time, if we listen. Maybe not through resounding words from a mountaintop, but through the people and gifts God drops into our hands. Too often we plan and dream first, then wring our hands because God hasn't given us the right people or budget for the plans we have. Maybe that's putting the cart before the horse. Maybe we should ask God what to do with the resources, the talents, the people we already have. What are we already good at? How can that serve God's mission among us? 

Sometimes God puts the brakes on a project we would otherwise be excited to do. If God did that for Paul and Timothy, one of the most gifted apostle/pastor duos in history, you bet God will occasionally do that to us. But just because God is pumping the brakes doesn't mean your whole journey is over. Maybe it's just an intersection, and you're being asked to look forward, left, and right to see what road God really wants you to take. 

Prayer: God, forbid. Forbid me sometimes, and let me get used to it. Discipline my ears and my heart, to see your rejection of some of what I try to do, not as a rejection of me or my ministry, but as gentle guidance to do the right thing at the right time with the right gifts, and for the right reasons. Amen.    

Proverbs 2:1-5 Crying Out for Insight

Observation: This is the voice of God's wisdom, personified as a woman calling out into busy streets. I don't often think of seeking wisdom and insight as a passionate endeavor, but Wisdom says we should "cry out" for it, and seek it like treasure.

Application: The phrase I've heard buzzing around for the last couple of years is we're a "post-truth society." With the dawn of social media, the quote often attributed to Mark Twain, that "a lie can make it halfway around the world while the truth is still putting on its shoes," is especially relevant. And the icing on the cake: Mark Twain never even said that.

Let me go on record: I don't think we're a post-truth society. Sure, there are always a few folks out there who intentionally deceive, either for the sake political gain, or to gain notoriety, or just to cause chaos. But I think the vast majority of people really do want to know the truth. The trouble is, we're swimming upstream, and we're exhausted. Never in our lives has there been more information available to us instantaneously, and just wading through it, determining what's actually true, what's true but biased, and what's a flat-out lie, takes up much more of our bandwidth than ever before. We're not a post-truth society. We're a tired society, treading water in the midst of a strong current of anger and division, and we're tempted to just go with the flow.

Our spirits need to be revived. We need a space where we can trust one another enough to speak and hear the truth. Nobody is completely without bias: not even Christians; not even Christian leaders. We all see things the way we have been prepared to see them. But as a Christian community, we do "cry out for insight". We "raise our voice for understanding." We dig deeper than the twenty-four hour news cycle, and we look back further than the past week, or year, or election cycle. We know we're part of a bigger, and more hopeful and life-giving story than the one the world is telling, and others need to hear that story. That's the story we encounter in scripture and in worship. And whatever truth we think we know, we need to dig into that truth together. That's our solid ground, wherever else the currents go.

Prayer: God, we cry out for insight. We raise our voices for understanding. We need a deeper word than what we can find in the news or on Facebook or Twitter. Speak a word to us. Tell us the truth about who we are, and who you are.

Revelation 10:1-11 A Sweet, Bitter Word

Observation: In John's heavenly vision, six out of seven angels have blown trumpets unleashing plagues on the earth, intended to drive people to repent of their sin and worship God. Before the seventh trumpet blows, John is given a scroll of God's word to eat. It is sweet to the taste, but makes his stomach bitter. The message John hears is, "you must prophesy again about many peoples and nations and languages and kings."

Application: This isn't the first time this image of God's word, as a sweet scroll that gives you a bitter stomach, is used. The Old Testament  prophet Ezekiel has a similar vision. And it's really perfect to describe what God's word does.

When we first hear God's word, it's often sweet. We hear Jesus say something like, 'I was a stranger, and you welcomed me,' and we nod and smile. "Yes, Jesus! We should be nice to outsiders. Sounds good."

But then we internalize God's word. We swallow it. We digest it. We start to see how well it agrees with our system. And there is some indigestion. Because it's one thing to hear Jesus' words, and quite another to make them part of our lives, and every decision we make. And it's another thing again to do what John is asked to do: to prophesy, not just about our personal spiritual walk, but about "many and nations and languages and kings." I don't know, Jesus, that sounds really political. It sounds controversial. Can't I just keep this word to myself?

Bad news: it sounds political because it is political. It's in no way partisan, it's not about left or right, but it is about seeing our whole world, even controversial subjects, from God's perspective, and speaking about world events as though we really have internalized Jesus' words about "the least of these." And that will offend some folks.

The Bible is not just a self help book for personal, spiritual growth. It is God's Word for the whole world. We can certainly hear it as individuals, but if we're going to internalize it, it absolutely will shift our way of living in society. And that's scary. I honestly get heart burn every time I see a confrontation coming. But God's Word is sometimes bitter going down. It's best to get that kind of medicine from a friend you trust.

Prayer: God, your word sometimes disagrees with us. In fact, sometimes it makes us feel sick: not because it's bad for us, but because it doesn't sit well with other attitudes we've already taken in. Help us sit with the discomfort. Help us swallow your words, and really digest them.  Amen. 

Revelation 6:1-7:4 "How Long?"

Observation: In John's vision, seven seals are opened, unleashing a great amount of suffering in preparation for the final judgment. This includes the so-called "Four Horsemen". But when the fifth seal is opened, John sees Christian martyrs, who were "slaughtered for the word of God", under the heavenly altar. They ask, "How long will it be before you judge and avenge our blood on the inhabitants of the earth?" God's answer is grim: Many others will die for their faith before the end.

Application: I think I've made this observation before, maybe in this very blog, but this text reminds me again that the life of a person of truth and integrity is often a tortured one. It feels so unjust that it's people of conscience, both within and outside of Christianity, who lose sleep over the state of the world, while those who may be causing the most harm carry on obliviously. To have some sense of the justice, peace and love God intends for the world often feels like a curse. It is the frustrating place of continually asking God, "How long?" 

This question, "how long", rings out through both the Old and New Testaments. It is the song of saints in all ages. It's a song of lament, and a song of hope. It both recognizes, with impatience, that things are not as they should be, yet trusts in God that one day they will be.  It is my song when I am awake, and conscious of the pain of others around me. If I ever stop asking "how long?", either I've become too comfortable with injustice, or I've given in to despair. 

Prayer: God, how long? Help me be attentive to your will in a world that falls short. Help me pursue it, and by your Spirit, to make it real in any small way I can. Amen. 

Revelation 5:1-10 Lamb Power

Observation: In his vision of God's throne room, John sees a document with seven seals, which will unleash God's final plan for the creation. Unfortunately, no one is worthy to open it. No one, that is, except for a slain lamb, who somehow still stands. He has seven horns and seven eyes to represent the "seven spirits of God." Seven is a number of completeness, so this symbolizes the complete power and knowledge of God. The lamb is Jesus. Only the one who sacrificed himself has power to complete God's plan for the universe.

Application: By coincidence, I'm wearing my "Lamb Power" T-Shirt today. They were commissioned by Bob,  a dear friend and Advent member who took part in our Revelation Bible study, who was struck by the image of Jesus as the Passover lamb, who triumphs not by killing but by dying.  We lost Bob to cancer just about a year ago exactly. His faith in the Lamb was unwavering, even at the end.

It's hard to read this text today and not think of the most recent school shooting in Colorado, where Kendrick Castillo, a high school student with his whole life ahead of him, confronted a shooter and ultimately gave up his life so that other students could escape. Kendrick's love for his neighbor embodied "lamb power" better than anything I can think of. To sacrifice yourself for others, and to do the right thing no matter the cost, is the way of the Lamb Jesus. But it must be said: this sacrifice should not have been necessary. Shootings in schools, workplaces, even places of worship, have become horrifyingly commonplace. It's time to ask the question: How can the adults responsible for our children's future exercise the same "lamb power" on a much, much smaller scale, to stop this happening? What level of comfort, security, perceived freedom, will I sacrifice, in exchange for more children's lives? Am I willing to have an uncomfortable conversation? To offend a few people so that others may reflect and pray? To sacrifice a few minutes and contact my representatives, asking for them to work across the aisle and get this fixed?

Dare I wear a "Lamb Power" T-shirt today, or any day, and not be willing to pay some small price for the sake of others?

Prayer: Jesus Christ, Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world; have mercy on us. Grant us peace. Help us follow in your way, and give some of ourselves, so that others need not give their lives. Amen.

Isaiah 6:1-8 I Can't Dream For You

Observation: Isaiah tells a dramatic call story, where he visits God's Heavenly temple, where God sits surrounded by six-winged seraphs, who loudly sing God's praise. After being cleansed of his sin, Isaiah hears God's question: "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" I've read this text hundreds of times, but today, for the first time, I'm wondering: is Isaiah the only person having this vision? Is he alone? And if so, then is God's call really a rhetorical question? "Well, I'm the only one here, Lord, so I guess...send me?"

Application: The frustrating thing about God's call is that it often does happen this way. The vision may be less dramatic, but it's always personal. A sense that something should be done. A passion that starts with just one person, sharing their thoughts and realizing another person is not just going to listen to my idea and adopt it as their personal mission. No one else can dream for me, and I can't dream for you. Each of us has a call from God, to serve in our own way.

Sometimes it's frustrating when you feel called to something, and it doesn't immediately pan out. It definitely needs to be an ongoing conversation with God and with people close to you, to determine how exactly you should answer God's call.

Often if you find a detour walking one path, it's because God is steering you in another direction. We place too much value today on determination, and not enough on flexibility. There's something to be said for sticking to a plan through adversity. But there's also something to be said for listening for God's "Plan B", which may have really been "Plan A" all along.

Make no mistake: God's question of "whom shall I send?" is completely rhetorical. Nobody else is standing next to you in your dream, saying, "hey, I'll take care of it!" But the individual way your life says, "Here I am, send me!" will take many forms throughout your life.

Prayer: God, here I am. Send me. I'll listen for the details on the way. Amen.

Psalm 121 God who keeps you will not slumber

Observation: Psalm 121 is a "Psalm of ascents," traditionally sung by pilgrims going to Jerusalem for worship. Any direction from which you come, that's an uphill journey. It will be arduous, and it will also be dangerous. But pilgrims sang: God is our keeper. The One keeping Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.

Application: Sometimes I wake up at night and have a hard time getting back down. It tends to be a time to go over the details of the day past, or the day to come. The irony is, that dark and lonely time, when the problems seem biggest, is the one time I can't do anything about them.

But God is up with me. And during the day, when I have this inflated sense of control and I'm out trying to see to all these details, the detail I often forget is to turn some stuff over to God.

So maybe the wee hours of the morning are a good time for that. The One who keeps me doesn't sleep.

Prayer: God, remind me of your presence, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Keep me safe. Keep me healthy. Keep me  me, calm. Keep me Lord. Amen.  

Revelation 4:1-11 Worship Is Now, and Now, and Now...

Scripture: Revelation 4:1-11

Observation: People often think that the book of Revelation takes place only in the future, but because it is a heavenly vision, time is not so linear. In this text, John is led through a doorway into a heavenly throne room, where twenty four elders and four living creatures, a lion, an ox, a human and an eagle, praise God day and night. This is not the future as such: it is eternity. It is always. They sing "Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God almighty, who was, and is, and is to come." Never has there ever been, not will be, a time when this song of praise does not ring out.

Application: Our church is changing its worship service time this Sunday. We're going from two services at 8 & 10:30, to one service at 9:30. I think it's the right thing, but I'm still nervous. Will this work for more people? Despite our sharing it well in advance every way we know how, will we still have people arrive early and late? I sweat the details sometimes.

It's helpful when I get into this mindset, to think that worship actually never stops. In Heaven, worship is always. It's now, and now, and now, and now....

When we have a worship service, we are not creating or building anything. We are not placing something in time that was not there. We are opening the door to Heaven, to flood our time with what has always been, and letting in the songs of the cosmos, from the past, the future, and the now.

Worship is happening when I have a solid vision for ministry, and when it eludes me. Worship is happening when I am able to keep my priorities straight, and when I get bogged down in piddly nonsense. Worship is happening when I am working and when I rest, when feel my own worth as a child of God, and when I forget it and despair. Worship is happening when my faith is strong and when I struggle. That throne room is rocking 24 hours a day, always, because it is outside our time and space, and in God's, where the victory over all that oppresses us has always been won, and always will be. Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God almighty, who was and is and is to come.

Prayer: You are indeed holy, and great is the majesty of your glory. Open a door for me today, and for my friends reading these words. Help us hear your song. Amen. 

Isaiah 30:18-21 Waiting to be Gracious

Observation: If you want proof that this "grace" thing is not just a New Testament invention, that God has always loved us unconditionally, this text is a good place to look. God waits to be gracious to you, and rises up to show you mercy.

Application: I started this blog as part of a discipleship journey. The idea was to spend time with God each day, and write a devotion every day that you could point out to other Christians as something they could imitate. My discipleship coach was great at this. His devotions were short, clear, and relatable. In fact they still are:
Fuel for the Journey

I think my devotions have started to go further afield, into Bible teaching rather than pure, relatable, imitable reflections. So I'm going to reset a bit.

Reading this text, it  just makes me feel good to know that God "waits" to be gracious, as in, God is ready when I am. It's not that God is withholding any blessing, or that I have to do anything to earn it. It's just that I get so twisted up worrying about tomorrow, that I don't even notice God's grace when it's happening today. God waits patiently, for me to turn up my eyes and see that God is right here, loving and caring for me as always.

Prayer: God, I don't want to keep you waiting. Today, right now, I need help with seeing how good you are to me, my family, our church, our community and world. Help us receive your goodness with thanks, and share it with others. Amen.