Psalm 22:23-31, The Poor Shall Eat And Be Satisfied

 

Observation: It's strange to think this is the psalm Jesus quoted from the cross, the eon which begins, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" By the end of the psalm, the writer is so convinced of God's rescue that he is already planning to praise God in the congregation, to share God's goodness with future generations, and to praise God when the poor can "eat and be satisfied."

Application: When I'm in a tough spot, it rarely occurs to me to thank God "in advance." Yet when things get better, I don't always remember to be thankful, either. Maybe the psalmist has the right idea. Even when we feel forsaken, we can still share compassion with others who are suffering. We can mentor those who are also struggling even when we don't feel we have it all figured out. We can feed the hungry even when we're not sure how we'll make ends meet. When God does come to our aid, and God will, it will give even more meaning to the time when we felt forlorn. 

Prayer: God, for the times when I feel forsaken, help me to never stop sharing love with others. Amen.  

Proverbs 30:5-9 What God Promises Is Enough

 

Observation: The writer of the book of Proverbs (traditionally, King Solomon) reminds us that God's word always proves true. We don't need anything more than what God promises us. The two simple requests of God are honesty, and enough resources to live on: not too much and not too little. 

Application: I sometimes struggle with a sense of "enough." Am I doing enough? Am I caring enough? Am I present and loving enough for my family? Am I trusting in God enough? Am I earning enough? Will I have enough for my kids' college? Will I have enough when I retire? Will I look back at my life and feel I have made enough of a difference, stood up enough for what I know to be right, spoken out enough against what I know to be wrong? Am I enough? 

These words from the book of Proverbs convict me. When I get tangled up in the "enough" questions, I'm centering myself, instead of God. I'm focusing on my own abilities (and inabilities) instead of God's promises. I'm adding to God's word, which has already told me I am enough, God will provide enough, and God's grace is enough for me, for my family, for my church, for my country and for this world God made. If I'm being completely honest, there's nothing I can add to that. 

Prayer: God, you are enough for me. Help me build my life around what you have already done for me, instead of what I claim to be able to do for you, for others, or for myself. Amen.   

Job 5:8-27 Good Advice Can Cause Harm

Observation: Eliphaz, a friend of Job, is sitting with him after he has lost everything. He repeats advice that he has lived by, that apparently has served him well: just be good, do the right thing, and God will protect you from all harm. The problem is that Job has done the right thing all his life, yet tragedy has still struck. 

Application: When someone is grieving, theological explanations and advice are the last thing they need. And even when the time comes for those conversations (they should be initiated by the person in grief--if they don't ask your advice, don't give it!) our own experience is not the be-all and end-all. Not everything that has helped us will be helpful to others. Just because it's biblical doesn't necessarily make it useful for the particular situation someone else is facing. 

Prayer: God, grant that I may not so much see to be consoled as to console, to be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love. Amen. (excerpt from Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi). 

 

Acts 15:36-14 Parting Company

 

Observation: After a big missionary journey and a crucial church meeting in Jerusalem, Barnabas and Paul are back home in Antioch. They decide to go "on the road again," checking in on Christian communities they began. But they have an argument about whether to take John Mark, who apparently deserted them before. They can't resolve the disagreement, so they part ways: Barnabas with John Mark, and Paul with Silas.

Application: As I read about Paul and Barnabas' split, it relates to my own experience in ministry. I've joked before that being a pastor of a church, like many public-facing jobs, involves a lot of first dates and a lot of chances to get 'dumped'. You meet lots of new people, they try the community on for size, some join, some stay for many years, and as a natural part of life, some leave. It's always hard not to take it personally, but it helps to remember that people do what they do because of what's going on in their head and heart. God goes with them, and God stays with us, too. 

Disagreements and conflicts are a fact of life. They are never fun or comfortable--especially the ones that can't be resolved except by parting company--but they can always teach us something. If two people as wise, Spirit-led and mission-focused as Paul and Barnabas eventually decided it was best to part ways, then maybe God can make something good from the partings we experience, too. We hold onto the hope that Jesus makes all things new, and that peace, truth and reconciliation will happen someday. But only God can make that happen in a permanent way. In the meantime, we dwell in God's Word, try with all our might to be who we are in Christ, and love our neighbors as ourselves. The work goes on. There's no fork in the road that will ultimately lead away from God's presence. 

Prayer: God, when human bonds are broken, and we lack the love or skill to restore the hope of healing, give us grace and make us still. (From ELW #603, God When Human Bonds Are Broken, Fred Kaan, b. 1929)   

Hebrews 2:14-18 He Himself Was being Tested

 

Observation: Today is the Presentation of Our Lord, which commemorates the day when Jesus was first brought into the Jerusalem Temple and greeted with praise by the elderly prophets, Simeon and Anna (Luke 2:22-40). In the Jewish faith of Jesus' time, it was necessary for a woman to offer a sacrifice for purification 40 days after giving birth (which is why we celebrate this day 40 days after Dec. 25!) But this reading doesn't talk directly about that. Instead, it is one more theological reflection, before we turn the page to Lent, about what it means that Jesus took on flesh and became human. He became "like his brothers and sisters in every respect", in order to make a faithful sacrifice of his own life for us. 

Application: Jesus was 'like us in every respect.' To me, this is a helpful reminder. Jesus experienced not just the physical stuff, getting hungry and thirsty, catching colds, needing sleep, or experiencing sexual desire. If Jesus was 'like us in every respect', he also experienced the mental and spiritual struggles of being human. He definitely had a deep sense of personal calling, but he also experienced self doubt. He knew, deep down in his bones, the path God had laid out for him, but that doesn't mean he never had fear or worry in walking it. He announced the Reign of God with all he said and did, but he still experienced frustration, impatience, and deep pain looking around at a world so far removed from that ideal. It is torture, in its own way, to know God's vision for people, when reality is so different. So in my moments of self doubt, of frustration, of exhaustion, I feel Jesus' solidarity. he was walked this same road. 

Prayer: Jesus, thank you for walking this same lonesome valley before I was ever born. Thank you for walking it with me now. Amen.  

Mark 3:13-19a To Be, To Be Sent, To Be Sent with Authority

 

Observation: After an intense period of healing many people and casting out many unclean spirits, Jesus realizes he may be God's Son, but he still can't do this work alone. So he calls a group of people together who we called "apostles" (which is Greek for "one who is sent"). The plan of action is pretty clear cut. First, just be with him. Second, go and proclaim Jesus' message about the nearness of God's kingdom. Third, by Jesus' authority, cast out demons. 

Application: I've been thinking a lot about "unclean spirits", or demons, lately, because our gospel text for Sunday features Jesus' first exorcism. I myself have never seen an exorcism, and in the Christian tradition in which I was raised, they are not common (except when we renounce evil before baptism). That doesn't mean they don't exist. I think they do, and Christians in other parts of the world agree. 

But what I have experienced is that when we do what apostles do, evil tends to show up, both within us and around us. If we take Jesus' invitation to be with him, we won't be alone. Our selfish thoughts, our proud ambitions, and our deep insecurities will tag along. And if we spend enough time with Jesus so we actually start to understand and share his message with others, we won't be alone then, either. We will be challenged. And if we are really honest and forthright with Jesus' message and how it disrupts the status quo--empowering those with no power, declaring forgiveness and acceptance to those left out in the cold, healing us from dependence on unhealthy systems, both in families and in society--in all likelihood, we will see demons. But if we have followed steps 1 and 2, by the time we get to step 3, casting out demons, we will already have the authority of Jesus to do what we need to do. It will probably be a much slower, less dramatic, less action-packed battle than we find in the gospels. But one day, we will wake up and notice that the voices that plagued us, that threatened us with harm, that vowed our destruction, have fallen silent. And the cycle begins again. To be with Jesus, to be sent by him, to proclaim his message, and to do battle once again.

Prayer: Jesus, help me with step #1 today. Help me be with you, and we'll go from there. Amen.      

 

Genesis 45:25-46:7 I Will Make of You a Great Nation There

 

Observation: God makes an appearance in Jacob's dream, just like God did when Jacob was a young man. God's message: don't be afraid to go into Egypt. "I will make of you a great nation there." I never noticed this promise to Jacob before, and I have to say I have mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, God chooses not to mention to Jacob that this "great nation", hundreds of thousands of Jacob's descendants, will become so plentiful as slaves. Their life will be extremely hard. On the other hand, if God were to mention this to Jacob, would he refuse to go? Would they continue to desperately scrape out a living in Canaan, in the midst of famine? Would Israel's family remain divided? 

Application: As a person of faith, I believe God is active in my life. I have had moments like Jacob's dream, where I have a strong sense that god is calling me in a certain direction. What we talk about less often, especially if we've spent a long time talking up how we feel God has called us to a certain thing, is when it goes badly wrong. When it doesn't go at all the way we picture. When there is deep pain and frustration and regret. When we invest a lot of emotional, spiritual and sometimes financial capital into something we're excited about, and it doesn't go how we picture, sometimes we're tempted to not talk about it. Or if we do, there is no talk of "calling". 

"God called me to go into business with a friend, and it failed within six months and now we don't talk anymore."

 "God called me to move to this new city for this new job, and then I was laid off."

 "God called me to join this church, but once I got involved I discovered people had a toxic way of interacting and eventually I couldn't take it anymore, so I stopped going." 

Those statements seem strange, don't they? And why? Because we assume that God would only call us into situations that are successful by our predetermined definition of success. Because God wants us to be 'winners,' and if we're not it must be something wrong with us. Maybe we heard God wrong; maybe we totally missed the boat; maybe we didn't commit hard enough. 

It never occurs to us that God might need us to learn something from the way we are feeling: to find God in the crosses of our lives. To be prepared with compassion and support for those who come after us. 

I don't believe God makes bad things happen in our lives. I really don't. and IT IS NOT GOD'S WILL for us to endure bullying or abuse in any form. Our world is messed up and full of messed-up people who do messed-up things. But I do believe God can use our messed up situations and create new life we never could have imagined. So if you feel God's call to do something, and it all goes wrong, it's not your fault. God can use that part of your story. 

Prayer: God, help me see your role in my story, especially the painful parts. Amen.