Covenants And Signs

Genesis 9:8-15

1 Peter 3:18-22

Mark 1:12-15

Divine Inspiration

God made a covenant – a promise – to Noah that never again would life on earth be destroyed.  And, after He made that promise, God gave Noah a sign of his promise – his bow set in the clouds, so that Noah could see it when the clouds rolled in.  There were two key things here:  God’s promise and God’s sign.  At what other time have we received a promise from God?  It’s when Jesus says, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’  And the sign he gives us is his rising from the cross; once again, a very powerful covenant along with a sign of that promise.  However, at times, it can be difficult to remember this promise of Jesus.  We can feel so alone, so in the dark, that if we do remember, we may not truly believe.

Lent is a time to renew our belief and faith in Christ Jesus.  It is a time of self-reflection, of quiet.  It can even seem dark.  We are meant to pray, to connect as deeply with God as we humanly can.  I’m not talking about the typical prayers we say on a daily basis, but to actually ask Christ to fill our hearts, and then be quiet and observe the fullness that follows.  That fullness that we will feel is a sign that God is with us.  In fact, there are many signs of Christ’s promise to us.  We’ll see them if we just quiet ourselves and observe.

I was walking into my building at work after lunch last week, and among the winter flowers – all the lovely yellow and purple pansies, was a single red tulip about to open.  And, I was so busy walking and thinking about stuff I needed to do, that I almost missed it.  Fortunately, I didn’t.  I stopped, looked at it, and thanked God for sharing that sign with me.  It could have been a sign of the coming Spring or a sign that I wasn’t alone.  The specifics aren’t as important as the fact that it was a sign from Christ and I felt that love and fullness as a result.

I guess the point of all this is to remember that God and Jesus have made us promises – covenants – and that they give us signs of those promises every single day.  We just have to be quiet, watch for them and let them fill us with His love.

Amen.

Readings and Divine Inspiration from Sunday, February 22, 2015

Moments of Clarity

Deuteronomy 26:4-10

Romans 10:8-18

Luke 4:1-13

Divine Inspiration

Moments of clarity – we all have them.  They don’t come often.  But when they do, they are so powerful, so impactful, that they overrule all distractions, temptations and day-to-day chaos in our lives.

Jesus had clarity in all he did and said.  When he was up on the mountain, hungry, tired and lonely with the devil whispering in his ear about all he could give to Jesus, Jesus was completely, totally 100% clear about who he (Jesus) was and why he was there on the mountain and what he was meant to do here on earth.  He was not here for the power or to prove anything to anyone.  He was here to show people how to love one another; he was here to show people how to love God.  And, he knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that he was and is the Son of God.

Have you ever had a moment of clarity like this in your own life?  If so, when was it?  What were you doing or thinking or involved in at the time?  It certainly is not a requirement, but often these moments of clarity come when we’re in the midst of trouble, sorrow or suffering.  Jesus was alone; he was fasting; and in a sense, he was suffering.  But because of that, he was able to be very clear about his purpose here on earth. 

This is what Lent is about.  It is not meant to be a time of purposeless denial or suffering.  It is meant to be a time of clarity, and the way to achieve that clarity is to turn off all those things in life that distract us – things like mindless TV, gossip, junkfood.  Yes, some may look on giving these things up as suffering and denial, but that’s ok.  It causes us to turn even stronger to God to get us through that time.  And, in doing this – turning to God in our time of suffering – the moment of clarity will dawn upon us.  It’s not something we can control or will to happen.  It just does by the grace of God.  And, when it does, it’s important for us to recognize it, to be in the moment, and to thank God for the vision and clarity he has bestowed upon us.

This Lent, as you deny yourself the worldly pleasures and indulgences, pray for the clarity and vision that God wants you to have.

Amen.

Readings and Divine Inspiration from Sunday, February 14, 2016.

“Practicing” Our Faith

Isaiah 6:1-2a, 3-8

1 Corinthians 1-11

Luke 5:1-11

Divine Inspiration

Today’s Gospel is about going deeper.  Simon, who is a professional fisherman, has been fishing all day.  And, he has caught nothing.  After a long day of preaching, Jesus decides to get into Simon’s boat.  Simon was probably thinking, “Well, I’m not doing very well as a fisherman.  I may as well be a boat chauffer.”  But, Jesus asks him to put out his nets.  Simon, who truly is a professional fisherman and knows what he’s doing, tells Jesus that he’s been at it all day and caught nothing.  He might have even thought, ‘This Jesus is a great preacher, but he’s no fisherman.”  But, Simon figures he’s got nothing to lose and says, “As you command.”  He goes out to deeper water, puts out his nets, and the result is astounding – he catches more fish than the nets can hold.  He’s so amazed that, afterward he says he’s done as a professional fisherman and going to follow Christ full-time.  Just think how close he came to missing out on this because he thought he knew more than Jesus.

How often in our lives do we hear the little voice in our head or heart telling us what to do, yet we ignore it because we think we know more or we know better?  And, in that moment, what wondrous experiences with God are we missing out on?  The thing of it all is that God has blessed us with brains to think.  But, sometimes, those brains get in the way.  We might even go as far as to tell God that He doesn’t understand the circumstances.  But not only does he understand them, he will pull us through them with flying colors if we only let him, if we listen to Him and not ourselves, if we have FAITH.

This is the very essence of faith – thinking we may know better or want to do something different, yet yielding to God anyway.  It takes practice.  It doesn’t just happen.  Well, maybe after lots of practice, it just happens naturally.  But, it takes a daily – even hourly – recognition that in that moment when we think we know what we’re doing, we take a step back and ask God what is HIS will, and then we do THAT instead.  The more we do this, the more natural it becomes and the deeper our faith and our relationship with God grows.

Amen.

Readings and Divine Inspiration from Sunday, February 10, 2013.

We Are The Salt

Isaiah 58:7-10

1 Corinthians 2:1-5

Matthew 5:13-16

Divine Inspiration

What makes a difference in our lives?  The answer to that will vary from person to person.  But, in general, there are three things that tend to make the biggest difference in our lives.  They are faith, family, and our day-to-day work. 

In the gospel reading today, Jesus is asking us how to be our best selves.  It’s a theme that runs through the entire bible – helping others and praying to God for wisdom that we may share it with others.  This is what really makes the difference.  Both the Old Testament reading from Isaiah and the Gospel reading today refer to food, and specifically salt.  God flavors the world through us.  Mathew 5:13-16 refers to salt, and it says that if salt has lost its flavor, there is no other purpose for it.  We are the salt, and God uses us to make others’ lives better.  Salt was a valuable commodity in those days; it was critical to their survival because it preserved food.  We are just as critical to God and to our fellow human beings.  The salt of the earth – that’s who we are, sharing God’s love, wisdom and light with others.  You’ve heard the saying, “He’s not worth his salt.”  I ask you to think about this – are we worth our salt in God’s eyes?  Are we putting Him first and at the center of our lives?  Maybe not always, but that’s ok.  God still loves and accepts us as we are.  But, to be fulfilled, to truly make a difference, we must strive to be the salt that God uses to flavor mankind.

Amen.

Readings and Divine Inspiration from Sunday, February 6, 2011

The Divine In All Of Us

Jonah 3:1-5, 10

1 Corinthians 7:29-31

Mark 1:14-20

Divine Inspiration

Today’s readings are about prophets coming into town and sharing God’s message.  In the Old Testament, Jonah walks into town – Nineveh – not his own.  The people there don’t know him.  Yet, he walks into the center of the city, shares God’s message and the people believe him.  They fasted and put sackcloth on their heads.  They listened.  In the Gospel, Jesus walks by and he says, ‘hey, drop your nets and follow me; and they do, just like that.

Why is it that these people only had to hear the message once, and they jumped on it?  How many times do we need to hear a message before we take action?  I’ll give you an example that is happening right now as we speak – the water situation in Texas and the country overall.  Every day, we hear how far below the norm we are for rainfall, how boats are sitting on dry land because the lakes have shrunk or dried up entirely.  Yet, have we changed our own habits?  Have we taken steps to use less water in our daily lives?  Maybe.  But, likely not.  I’ll ask again – why did the people in the Old and New Testaments only have to hear the message once?  Why does it take us so many more times?

Well, practically speaking, life is a little more comfortable for us than it was for them.  Every day was a struggle for survival for the people in the Bible.  Our biggest struggle is traffic, or what to have for dinner.  But that doesn’t mean we need him – God – any less than the people in the Bible.  In fact, we need him more.  There are so many messages and influences in our times that are not from God, and we need Him to help us to hear the right ones, the ones He really wants us to hear. 

How do we hear God’s messages to us?  We hear them by listening to each other.  God speaks through every single one of us.  He doesn’t just choose one or two people.  He chooses us all.  He flows his words and his love through us all.  We just have to be open and listen for it.  That’s all.  It’s so simple – just listen.  And, pray that God gives you the right words – His words – when the moment to speak is upon you.

Amen.

Readings and Divine Inspiration from Sunday, January 25, 2015

Change the World with Faith and Hope

Jonah 3:1-5

1 Corinthians 7:29-31

Mark 1:14-20

Divine Inspiration

Today’s gospel is the beginning of the formation of the apostles.  They are truly walking away from their current lives to follow a man they barely know.  It’s likely they’ve heard of him.  John had been proclaiming His coming.  And, Jesus was starting to become known among the people.  But still, they hardly knew Him, let alone have enough time to make that huge, life-changing decision to follow Him.  This is true faith.  This is one of the greatest examples we have of faith.  But, it’s not just faith.  It’s hope – hope for a better life, a more fulfilling life and the chance to change the world. 

Neither this faith nor hope are or were limited to the apostles.  We have the opportunity to choose faith and hope every day when we wake up.  In recent years, the phrase, “What Would Jesus Do?” has become extremely popular and spoken by many.  In fact, one of the greatest golfers of all time – Payne Stewart – wore a bracelet that had the letters, “WWJD” on it when he won the Masters at Pinehurst in 1999.  Why?  Because these are the folks who choose to live by that same faith in Jesus and hope for changing the world as the apostles did.  It’s as easy as that – recognizing the moment of opportunity and then considering how Jesus would handle it, not necessarily what we might be inclined to do.  One simple action – doing what Christ would do – changes the world for the better. 

Gandhi said to his followers, “Be the change you wish to see in the world.”  It all starts with us and how we choose to live.  Every day is a new day.  If you get it wrong one day, that’s ok.  You’ll get another chance to live by faith and hope, changing the world one moment and one opportunity at a time.

Amen.

Readings and Inspiration from Sunday, January 22, 2012.

The Luckiest People

Nehemiah 8:2-4a, 5-6, 8-10

1 Corinthians 12:12-30

Luke 1:1-4, 4:14-21

Divine Inspiration

While it is very tempting to focus on the reading from the Old Testament – the part in which Nehemiah tells the Levites to go eat rich foods and drink sweet drinks – what I felt God talking to me about was the second reading – Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians.  I know, you’re probably think the same thing I was when I read it – really?  How many times do we need to be told that each body part needs the other?  In fact, at one point as I was reading it, I said to myself, “Ok, God, I got it!”  But, in truth, I really hadn’t.  It wasn’t until after I had read all the readings that it occurred to me that this really isn’t about a foot or an eye or an ear.  It’s about us needing each other.  Each of us is a part of the Body of Christ, and each of us is needed and needs others.

In the past few weeks, this message has really come through loud and clear for me.  The first was a plea for prayer from a young woman in my hometown in Pennsylvania for her premature (4.5 month old) newborn baby.  She put a message out on Facebook asking for help, and the response was amazing!  So many people offered prayer, support of all kinds and encouragement.  The second example was just yesterday when a friend of mine asked for help for her sister.  Her sister had recently lost almost everything in a random act of violence.  In both instances, I jumped at the opportunity to help, and many others did, too.  Who doesn’t want to help when the opportunity arises?!?  So, if that is really the case – that everyone wants to help when asked – why are we so unwilling – in general – to ask for help?  Why do so many of us feel we must “suffer in silence,” not wanting to burden others with our troubles?

This is a question I have asked myself for more than half my life.  Admittedly, I am one, and my husband will overwhelmingly attest to it, who hesitates to ask for help, if I ask at all.  I could offer a lofty excuse such as my problems aren’t as big as other peoples’ or that I don’t want to burden others.  But, if I’m really honest with myself, it’s probably more along the lines of worrying about what people will think.  I don’t want people to think that I’m a failure or stupid or inadequate.  But, this is just the ego talking, and the ego has no ability to help us.  In fact, I would say that the ego has more ability to harm us.  We need each other, whether we admit it or not.  That’s what the second reading is about today.  And, in case you don’t get it on the first or second or third example, Paul is going to give a few more to make sure you really do get it! 

I think it was Barbara Streisand who sang, “People who need people are the luckiest people in the world.”  I would modify it just a bit because all people need people.  But, people who recognize that they need people are the “luckiest people in the world.”

I’ll close with one last example.  A dear friend of mine recently experienced Bell’s Palsy, the short-term illness in which half her face was paralyzed.  It has passed now, but she’s still experiencing some lingering effects.  Last week, as she and I and another friend were painting, she blurted out that since her Bell’s Palsy, her painting has suffered and she fears her painting skills are gone.  I admired her for sharing her fear.  Would I have done this?  Probably not.  I would have suffered in silence.  But, by my friend expressing her fear, it gave me and our other friend a chance to encourage and pray for her.  My point here is that no trouble is too small to share; no fear is beyond help from others.  We just need to set our egos aside and ask for it.

Amen.

Readings and Inspiration from Sunday, January 24, 2016.