Readings

2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16

Luke 1:46b-55 or Psalm 89:1-4, 19-26

Romans 16:25-27

Luke 1:26-38

Devotion

Peace be with you!

When a person buys a new house and begins to make it their home by putting up pictures and unpacking their treasures, there is a sense of a new beginning and a sense of ownership. As a few of you know, Jerry and I have been moving into our new home this past week after living with my mom for two years. We are finally beginning to unpack our belongings, which have been in storage for two years. This has been like opening Christmas gifts all week! We are also enjoying being able to have our own space with our treasures. We can finally settle into our own lifestyle.

As Americans, we like having our own dwellings with the space to be ourselves. David is like us; he likes his rather large palace and his treasures. He decides to build God a house where he can settle and live. But God has other plans: God will establish a reign through David. His kingdom will go on forever. The Israelites will have a home in God.

Unlike David and us, God is too busy to settle down and be in one place. God is a million steps ahead of us. He plans our future and the future of the unborn for thousands of years. We cannot build God a home; he builds our home, our families, and our communities and networks…and he is doing it all over the world simultaneously. And it is not only for the Israelites, the Jews, or the Christians but for all people.

Now flash forward a few thousand years. God is still building a home for his people, but the Homebuilder now enters the world in an unlikely way: given birth to a virgin named Mary. God favors an unlikely individual (a woman) at an unlikely time (before marriage). All this time (way back with David) God had plans to continue David’s kingdom through the virgin Mary.

There is an idea: being favored by God. How can this be? For most parents with children with disabilities, being favored seems out of the question. The doctors told my parents I would never amount to anything. I have Cerebral Palsy, and the doctors said I would never sit up, stand, walk, or talk. As Jerry says, I love giving my desertions. I work out with a personal trainer twice a week. I sit up independently and walk with assistance, though I do prefer my electric wheelchair to get around in. Society does not embrace differences. Some parents become embarrass when their children want ask me questions or point at my wheelchair. Or some people get nervous when I take the bus or fly alone. Last time I flew with a friend and the people who brought my electric wheelchair up from below the plane were amazed I knew how to reengage it, so I could drive away. My friend simply said, “It is her electric wheelchair. She better know how it works, because I do not.” The parents with “normal” children are the favored ones, because they do not have to fight for their child’s rights everyday.

But these parents and children are favored if only by the claim to being God’s children. God never said life would be without struggles. Some days I am like Mary: “really God, how can this be!?!” That’s right: it took Mary a few moments to accept the fact that she was a virgin with child – God’s son, no less. Take a moment to be Mary – feel the shock, the unbelief, the acceptance, and the charge. Imagine what it would be like to be told that you are in charge of carrying and raising God’s child. What a heavy responsibility—and yet, what an amazing blessing.

In my experience as a person with a disability, I have found that I daily walk through the journey of shock, unbelief, acceptance…and the unexpected blessings of my unique call. I see God’s blessings where others see disappointments. My best friend, Nathan, all through elementary school and high school had a disability where he grew weaker as he got older. At times, it was depressing to watch Nathan become unable to move around on his own or talk without needing a communication device, which was difficult for him to use. Nathan was also my impression. His facial expressions could tell a story. Whenever I wanted to give up, Nathan would give me the “oh fudge, if you are going to give up” look. Nathan always had a smile on his face and would begin laughing at anything; he saw the beauty in life. Society may have seen Nathan as a vegetable, but I saw him as a person who found the blessings in life.  As I walk through this journey, I find myself hearing the challenge to be God’s voice in a society where the unknown is unwelcomed. I pray God the Father uses my gifts to build his house and to bring others in a relationship with him.

Come, oh Lord, come.

Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for building us a home to gather. Help us to welcome others into your home and to use the gifts you gave us for your will. Thank you for gathering us as your people. Amen.

Works Cited

Triune God – God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

Special thanks to Rebecca Miller for her amazing editing skills and ability to fill in the gaps, especially this week.

Reflective Questions

Please answer the following reflective questions in the comments below.  Please agree to disagree and be respectful to each other. (If you have not already done so, please also take a moment, to sign the comment.)  You can answer as many questions as you would like. 

1. Are there times in your life when you have felt spiritually “homeless”?  What brought you out of this time?

2. In what ways have you experienced Christ as a Homebuilder—and as a Home?

3. Is there someone in your life who is feeling “homeless” that you could introduce to the Homebuilder?  How could you do this?

Readings

Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11

Psalm 126 or Luke 1:46b-55

1 Thessalonians 5:16-24

John 1:6-8, 19-29

Devotion

Peace be with you!

The year my younger brother, Ryan, graduated from high school, four of his classmates died in a car accident during a bad snow storm on their way to the Wisconsin Dells from Mukwonago, Wisconsin. Although none of the four classmates were close friends with Ryan, their deaths marked a dark time for his class.  Four deaths at once do not happen often in a small town. When they do happen, the whole community experiences psychosocial issues, including emotional and attachment issues. The world becomes smaller. People take stock of what is important. And of course, loved ones experience the biggest loss as they find a hole left in their lives.

I cannot imagine the feelings a mother or father goes through when their child dies. Loss is big around the holiday season, in contrast to the jolly images we see on TV.  In my circle of clergy friends in recent weeks, I have heard the news of quite a few of their congregation members’ deaths, ranging from four to eighty years old. It often seems as though people die more around the holidays, although it probably is not true. People die every day; however, the news of deaths around the holidays always seems to hit home harder.

The passage from Isaiah this week is about the Israelites finally returning to the Promised Land after the Babylonian exile. The Israelites should be celebrating their return. However, the Israelites feel distance from the Lord, because he had abandoned them for breaking their covenant with him. The Israelites had lost their way with the Lord.

There are several things the Israelites are mourning for. First, the Israelites mourn for the relationship they once had with the Lord. The loss of an important relationship can certainly leave an individual feeling empty, but this was the most central relationship in Israel’s life. No wonder they felt lost! Second, the Israelites mourn for the way things used to be. The Babylonians destroyed the temples, the synagogues, the homes, the markets. Nothing about the Promised Land is as the Israelites remember.

“This is not right.” This is a terrible feeling that leaves people hopeless and lost in an unknown world. Imagine being one of the parents of the four kids who died in the car crash. Imagine going to set the table for a family dinner and setting an extra plate out of habit. Imagine the first holiday without your child. Imagine the empty feeling of having someone missing. It is a lonely feeling. Part of you knows you have to move on; another part of you worries that if you move on, you may forget. It feels like a double-edged sword.

This desolation is much of what the Israelites were feeling as they returned home.  They are back in the Promised Land, but it is not the Promised Land that they remember. They wonder how they can bring the glory back to the Promise Land. God tells Prophet Isaiah and the Israelites that they must celebrate their new life in the Promised Land. The future holds so much hope. Nothing can be rebuilt until people celebrate the new life which lies before them. Once they celebrate, the Israelites will be able to enjoy the beauty of the Promise Land. Then the Israelites will be able to rebuild the temples and synagogues. This will allow the Israelites to take pride in their work and to rebuild their relationship with the Lord.

It is interesting to hear God yearning to be in a relationship with the Israelites as they reenter the Promised Land. God desperately wants to share his love and grace with the Israelites, so much so that God makes a new covenant with Israelites. This new covenant introduces new concepts of grace and forgiveness, which allows the Israelites (and us) to goof up and still be in a relationship with the Lord. God loves his children so much that he will do whatever it takes to be in a relationship with the Israelites and with us. The Israelites are not the only ones who are healing from the broken relationships, but so is the Lord. When we sin, we wound God because he deeply cares for us.  But God’s love is unconditional and he reaches to us even when we least deserve it. By doing so, God demonstrates his faithful love for his children.

At Ryan’s high school graduation, all of his classmates wore a four-leaf clover on top of their caps with the names of the four who died. Before everyone walked up to receive their diplomas, the principal called up the families of the four classmates who died and presented each of them with the would-be graduate’s diploma. It was a moving presentation. I would like to think the graduation gave the classmates and families closure as it was a commencement of the future. Hopefully the classmates and the families were able to celebrate the future as they celebrated the lives that were with them physically for a short time and now are with them in their hearts forever.

Come, oh Lord, Come.

Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for the celebrate celebration of life as we look towards the future with you, our families and friends, and individuals we have yet to meet. Remind us to celebrate, even in the midst of sorrow and grief, as we step forward into the future. We may not always understand why pain is in the world, but your comfort and love carries us through difficult times. Thank you for the new covenant you embraced with the Israelites. Amen.

Works Cited

Thanks to the Triune God – God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

Reflective Questions

Please answer the following reflective questions in the comments below.  Please agree to disagree and be respectful to each other. (If you have not already done so, please also take a moment, to sign the comment covenant.)  You can answer as many questions as you would like. 

1. When have you felt distance from the Lord?

2. How do you celebrate in midst of pain and sorrow?

3. How has the Lord written a new covenant with you?

Readings

Isaiah 40:1-11

Psalm 85:1-2, 8-13

2 Peter 3:8-15a

Mark 1:1-8

Devotion

Peace be with you!

The main road outside my neighborhood is under construction and the two entrances are a bit difficult to turn onto.  The road with the straight shot to my house has an awkward approach – it seems like an on and off ramp to a highway.  I cannot tell you how many times my significant other has missed that first entrance and had to use the second entrance.

And just when we became used to the awkwardness, the construction guys have now changed the route and how we enter our neighborhood in so that they can work on the other side of the road.  It is great to see the progress, but many of us will thoroughly rejoice when this phrase of the roadwork is done.

We are not fully sure why work on our road was needed, but the rumor is that a Wal-Mart and a YMCA are going in on the corner, and the widened road will accommodate more traffic. A Wal-Mart and a YMCA will be welcome additions to our small town, but in the meantime we wearily watch the rebuilding of our main fairway.  Although it is exciting to see the preparations for the future take place, all of our neighbors are anxiously awaiting the completion of the roadwork.

In our reading this week, God is preparing Isaiah for his second commission to rebuild Israel’s relationship with God.  It is like a construction project to open a road that God can travel to reach his people. The Israelites have failed to keep their part of the covenant (their roadwork) with God.  Luckily for them, God understands it is impossible for the Israelites to be perfect in his eyes in order to keep their relationship whole.  God has a plan to rebuild his relationship with the Israelites, and his plan starts with Isaiah who will comfort God’s people. Can you imagine the conversation God and Isaiah have regarding this new commission?

Isaiah asks God, “Why bother? You know the Israelites will not be able to hold up their end of the bargain. They’ve always been terrible at roadwork.”

God chuckles and says, “Isaiah, you think I do not know that. I am recreating their covenant, so they can be in a relationship with me. See, I am going send another prophet called the Messiah to gather my people to come back to me through forgiveness. But your job is to prepare the Israelites by telling them the good news of grace and love that I will give them. In doing so, I will give them forgiveness of all of their sins. Now some of the Israelites have repented. These Israelites need to comfort the afflicted instead of afflicting the comfortable. The afflicted Israelites need to hear the comforting word of forgiveness. Therefore, you must tell the Israelites the good news of forgiveness that will rebuild their relationship with me.”

God has a plan (When doesn’t he?), and even if Isaiah does not understand God’s complete plan, he is being asked to set events in motion.  As God commissions him, Isaiah has the responsibility to share this strange good news with the Israelites. God will provide a way for his people to be in a relationship with him again. Even if the Israelites feel unworthy or abandoned, God knows that his people are broken and could not be blameless under any circumstance. By doing so, God is starting to rebuild his relationship with his people, including us.

Then we come to the Gospel of Mark.  “The beginning of the good news of Jesus, the Son of God” (Mark 1:1).  Well, we know it is not really the “beginning.” With a trained ear, we know the messenger in Mark 1:2 refers to Isaiah, which the readers of Mark would recall from the Book of Isaiah. The readers of the Gospel of Mark would also see John the Baptist as Elijah as the one who is thought to be coming back to redeem God’s people (Jacobson, et al.).

We also know the story never truly ends, and the beginning is still happening through the way we live out the good news.  We continue to prepare the way for the Lord (Mark 1:3) by living out the good news in a way that draws other people to the Triune God – God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.  The beginning happens with us as we spread the good news of God’s forgiveness for sinners.

Like the Israelites and Isaiah, we may still feel unworthy of God’s grace. We may also feel as though we have been abandoned – maybe by a significant other, a parent, a friend, a sibling, an aunt or an uncle – or even by God.  We still have these feelings, even when we believe in the good news. We try to fight the feelings of unworthiness or abandonment, but because we are human we cannot escape these feelings. They are a part of the human condition.

Part of the point of the season of Advent is about working through our feelings of unworthiness or abandonment and experiencing God’s forgiveness and grace.  How we let these feelings define our lives determines how we accept the good news and therefore God the Father.  Take time this week to experience the feelings of the unworthiness or abandonment in your lives and allow Jesus to love you even in that dark place. Then hear his message of forgiveness, given freely to you through his death and resurrection. This is one way we can prepare the road of our hearts for the big thing that is coming: Jesus!

Come, O Lord, come.

Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for good news you share with Isaiah and the Israelites.  Help us to be honest about our feelings of unworthiness or abandonment this Advent season in order that we can welcome the good news into our lives. Thank you for rebuilding your relationship with us through Jesus. Amen.

Works Cited

Jacobson, Rolf, Karoline Lewis, David Lose, and Matt Skinner. “Brainwave 207: Lectionary Texts for Dec. 04, 2011.” Brainwave. St Paul, November 27, 2011.

Reflective Questions

Please answer the following reflective questions in the comments below.  Please agree to disagree and be respectful to each other. (If you have not already done so, please also take a moment, to sign the comment covenant.) You can answer as many questions as you would like. 

1. How has God commissioned you to share the good news?

2. How and when has God rebuilt his relationship with you?

3. How do you fight or accept your feelings of unworthiness or abandonment? Have you ever let Jesus love you in the midst of those feelings?

Readings

Deuteronomy 8:7-18

Psalm 95

2 Corinthians 9:6-15

Luke 17:11-19

Devotion

Peace be with you!

I am always amazed when God answers my prayers. Whether it is keeping my family and friends safe, giving me the wisdom to spread the good news through my devotions, or getting my puppies listen, God always listens and answers.

I remember one night while living in a condo in Saint Paul, Minnesota I let my oldest puppy (then an only child) out late to go bathroom before bed. Of course, Lily, my puppy, saw a squirrel that she had to chase and ran a hundred yards barking. To make matters worst, she ran to an area I could not get to with my electric wheelchair, and my significant other was away for wheelchair basketball. I remember yelling for her name and for help and praying to God for ten minutes. Eventually Lily got tired of barking and came back home. I felt so blessed and relieved when Lily back into my lap. Thanks be to God!

God gives us so much to be thankful for. He provides and blesses us with shelter, food and water, clothes, loving parents, loyal friends, passionate teachers, professors, and mentors, lovable pets, a healthy community, and so much more.

There are individuals who believe they climbed the cooperate ladder and obtained nice material items on their own. These individuals forget that God provides everything we need and want. The Christmas movie Scrooge [pick your favorite version] is about the individual who runs the town basically and works his/her employees to death until the three-ghost intervention. We can identify individuals in our lives who fit the character scratch of Scrooge, and some days it maybe ourselves. We also know God has no room for these individuals in heaven, because they do not value their relationship with him or the blessings he gives them.

After the three-ghost intervention, the Scrooge character’s outlook on life changes for the better, and he/she begins to mend the broken relationships in his/her life and treats his/her employee better. The Scrooge begins to value his/her more than by how much money was in the bank. He/she realizes that it is the community around you and the relationships you are in that makes life worth living.

God values his relationships with us so much that he sent his only begotten son to suffer crucifixion and death and to be resurrected. He did the one thing that could repair the relationship we broke by our sinful nature. He loves us so much and gives us even more.

The only thing God wants in return is for us to remember that he provides us with everything we need and want. We cannot say we got where we are on our own and keep a healthy relationship with God, because we would be lying to others and ourselves.

Healthy relationships are built on trust, love, and grace. We can put our unconditional trust and love into God, and he will give us the ultimate gift of blessings and grace. Whether it is a new pet, the ability to hike and the enjoy the great outdoors, a dinner with family and close friends, a new home, warm clothes for the winter, or [whatever “it” is] that makes you feel blessed, it is from God and we need to give thanks. Oh, what love God has for us – nothing else compares! So remember to give thanks to God the Father and be blessed forever.

Thanks be to God!

Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for providing us everything we need and want. Help us to remember that everything we have is a gift from you and to give you thanks. Thank you for blessing us now and in the future. Amen.

Works Cited

Triune God – God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit

Reflective Questions

Please feel free to answer the reflective questions through comments.  Please agree to disagree and be respectable to each other. Please take a moment, if you have not already, to sign the covenant.  You can answer all or just one of the questions. 

1. What are you thankful for?

2. What is the greatest blessing?

Readings

Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24

Psalm 100 or Psalm 95:1-7a

Ephesians 1:15-23

Matthew 25:31-46

Devotion

Peace be with you!

An old African proverb says, “It takes a village to raise a child.” As Christians, we baptize our children and profess as a congregation that we will be witnesses of God’s love, grace, and forgiveness to each other’s children. The community is responsible for sharing the good news with all the children.

But does it stop there with the children? Is the community only responsible for the children, or is there more to it?

Most of my friends from college have Cerebral Palsy, like me, though it affects all of us differently. And boy, were we a crew when we all got together to go out! Since we all had various physical abilities, each of us needed help in different ways. It was common for three of us to make Wal-Mart runs together. I am the one who could reach the items on the shelf and put it in our cart. If I could not reach something, my one friend would go find someone to get help reach the item since her speech was not affected by the Cerebral Palsy. Our other friend is the responsible one who always brought the list and would point to things that we were forgetting. Then I would have to separate our items and check us out separately. Like I said, we were quiet a crew.

There were five of us who got together and did dinner almost every Friday. Two of my fellow Cerebral Palsy sisters could feed the three of us who could not eat independently. Thankfully there was usually one, maybe two, personal caregivers to help out, but that is not to say we did not try to do it all ourselves.

We would say we could be completely independent when we worked together. We are a community where each individual needs help and each individual could help the others out. And if asked why we help each other, the answer would be out of love.

In today’s gospel reading, Jesus says, whenever you give someone who is in need food, clothes, shelter, etc, you are helping Jesus (Matthew 25:40). Since we are God’s children, we are called to help each other by taking care of individuals who are need.

As Christians, Jesus calls us to help each other out of love for one another and for God. This does not mean we should like we need to do works to enter heaven; however, we should do good works, such as feeding the hungry and providing homeless with shelter, out of compassion, which is found in love of Jesus Christ.

We often think our works have to large and grand, like working at a food pantry or a homeless shelter. Some individuals feel it is too much hassle to help others. They are always in a rush to get wherever they going. My Cerebral Palsy sisters and I saw this in college with our personal caregivers – some girls would rush through our cares and leave right away. God has no use for these individuals, because they only care about themselves. It is a harsh reality, which Jesus speaks and we all hope we are not in this group.

However, sometimes the smallest actions, like giving a hug to a friend or a hand to a stranger who is having bad day, can make a big impact on the other person. It is random acts of kindness that can turn an individual’s day around.

A few months ago I was flying home from Washington DC where I attended a conference for IMAlive.org, a non-profit committed to help individuals who fight thoughts of suicide. The non-profit has volunteers online who chat with individuals battling depression and thoughts of suicide. The conference was three days of training sessions where I began my discernment to become a volunteer.

While I was waiting for my flight, I sat at a table eating my Aunt Annie pretzel and drink a Coke. Two soldiers are enjoying a drink at the bar near by, but the bar gets crowded and the two soldiers asked to sit at my table, and I gladly said yes, although there were plenty of empty tables. Another female soldier came and went to get coffee with the male soldier.

The female soldier who stayed at the table with me and her beer introduced herself and asked me what brought me DC. I told her about the conference, what I learned about vets, and the website. She was the leader of her team and worried about her younger teammates. I asked her if she stressed the importance of taking of one’s mental health, and she said yes, she fights the stigmatism of asking for help with both of her female and male teammates. I gave her my business card to email me for more information on IMAlive.org.

Then she opened to me by explaining how she personally knew someone in the recent helicopter crash, which still brought tears to her eyes. She fought to get her composure back before her two teammates came back. I simply held her hand for literally a few seconds and said I would pray for her, which she appreciated.

Although it was a brief encounter, I can say both the female soldier and me had a connection, which made a slight difference in our lives. I saw first hand how much work IMAlive.org has to do; the female soldier learned about a new non-profit organization working to help vets who suffer from PSD. It is the small moments that speak volumes to an individual in need.

These are the small moments, the random acts of kindness that Jesus calls us to encounter. You cannot plan or write a script for these moments – they just happen. God just puts us in these moments to help him in his mission. When we accept his callings, we make God proud, and he extends an invitation to us to enter heaven. And boy, I cannot wait to go to heaven, although I am sure God has a lot more for me to do.

Thanks be to God!

Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for the invitation to enter heaven. Help us to do your work through small moments and random acts of kindness according to your love, grace, and forgiveness. Thank you for giving us the chance to spread your love, grace, and forgiveness. Amen.

Works Cited

Triune God – God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit

For more information on suicide prevention, go to IMAlive.org and HopeLine.com.

Reflective Questions

Please feel free to answer the reflective questions through comments.  Please agree to disagree and be respectable to each other. Please take a moment, if you have not already, to sign the covenant.  You can answer all or just one of the questions. 

1. Please tell us about a small moment or random act of kindness you experience.

2. How do you express God’s love to others?

Readings

Judges 4:1-7 and Psalm 123

Zephaniah 1:7, 12-18 and Psalm 90:1-12

1 Thessalonians 5:1-11

Matthew 25:14-30

Devotion

Peace be with you!

Have you ever wondered who is in charged of the church? I mean really in charge of the church as in who is making the hard decisions. Is it the congregation’s members? Is it the pastor? Is it a group of elites of the biggest donors? Is it the church council? Is it the church council’s president? Is it the bishop? Is it the regional office personal? Or is it [fill in the blank]? Or (let’s be radical) is it God?

For most of you, a name or name(s) of unique and physical individuals come to mind. You either love or hate the individual or individuals for the way they run the church for making it contemporary or keeping it traditional…or for bring in more young adults and youth or keeping them out…or [whatever “it” is] they are or are not doing. But is the church really run by individuals in the world? I mean the church has been two thousand plus years. Individuals are born; they live; then they die. So can individuals really run the church?

Is God running the church? I know it is a radical idea, but if you have been reading my devotions for the past year, you should be accustom to my radical ideas – so hear me out.

A few weeks ago we discussed how the community creates the church. The parable for this week defines the church as a community being owned by God the Father who is the one the church looks to for wisdom, comfort, and love through forgiveness. And because God owns the church, he entrusts us to be the church, to strengthen its roots in the world, and to spread the good news of the Triune God.

In the parable, God is the master who entrusts three slaves with talents. (One talent was worth one year of wages – this is not just a silly gold coin.) The first slave is given five talents, which he trades with and makes five more talents (Matthew 25:16, 20). This makes the master very happy, so he puts the first slave in charge of many things (Matthew 25:21). The second slave is given two talents, which he trades with and makes two more talents (Matthew 25:17, 22). Again, the master is very happy, so he puts the second slave in charge of many things (Matthew 25:23). The two slaves take what the master gives them and doubles it. When we use our gifts to spread the good news and multiply God’s love, we are growing in our spiritual gifts and expanding God’s kingdom on earth.

In a sense, these two slaves are agents of the Triune God – God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. God entrusts the two agents spiritual gifts to spread the good news of redemption, forgiveness, and peace, and they run with their gifts and trained many more individuals how to be his agents. They were able to go out and build communities of agents. The two agents also trust God will come back in his own timing to take them and their fellow agents to heaven.

On the other hand, the third slave is given one talent, which he buries in the field and makes nothing (Matthew 25:18). Upon the master’s return, the third slave gives the one talent back to him while expressing his fears of his master as a wicked, mischievous man who steals (Matthew 25:24-25). The master is not happy and proceeded to admit he is a wicked, mischievous man who steals (Matthew 25:26). The master complains that the third slave did not even have the sense to put the one talent in the bank in order to earn interest (Matthew 25:27). Then the master throws the third slave out into the darkness (Matthew 25:30) after giving his talent to the first slave (Matthew 25:28).

Many commentaries focus on the harshness of the master who symbolizes God. God is our master who we like to think of as loving, not as harsh. So how can this parable portray a harsh God? I would like to throw something out there. Maybe the third slave represents an agent of Satan, the fallen angel. We know Satan lurks in the darkness where the master threw the third slave (Matthew 25:30).

We also know God only gives abundance to those who follow and serve him (Matthew 25:29). And on last day, God will take us, those who believe in him and do his work, from this world, Satan’s realm, up to heaven to live in his kingdom. We also know agents of Satan do not trust that God will come back to redeem his agents. If God has not come by now, why would he come? (But we know different.)

Satan may even think of God as a wicked, mischievous man who steals by redeeming the souls of the fallen. Yes, God is wicked for forgiving us, so we turn our backs to Satan. Yes, God is mischievous for using Moses to free the Israelites from Egypt, for using Mary to carry, birth, and raise his only begotten son, for using John the Baptist to prepare the path for Jesus Christ, for using Jesus to redeem and forgive us through his crucifixion, death, and resurrection, and for using us against Satan. Yes, God is a thief for stealing us from Satan and annexing his kingdom.

So yes, my God is a wicked, mischievous man who steals. And thanks be to God! (Because I’ll have it no other way…sorry Satan.)

Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for giving us talents and giving us the ability to use them to spread the good news. Help us to use our talents to serve your kingdom and to annex the world from Satan. Thank you for entrusting us with your church. Amen.

Works Cited

Triune God – God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit

Reflective Questions

Please feel free to answer the reflective questions through comments.  Please agree to disagree and be respectable to each other. Please take a moment, if you have not already, to sign the covenant.  You can answer all or just one of the questions. 

1. How do you double the talents God gives you to expand his kingdom?

2. How does Satan try to steal you away?

Readings

Joshua 24:1-3a, 14-25 and Psalm 78:1-7

Wisdom of Solomon 6:12-16 or Amos 5:18-24

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

Matthew 25:1-13

Devotion

Peace be with you!

We defined a church as a community last week. This week we look at what happens when a community divides into factions, which I know they “never” develop in your congregations. No elder fights to keep the same traditions going; no young adult asks for a contemporary service; no one argues with you when you want to buy the new hymnal; or [whatever “it” is] that your congregation members “do not” argue about.

Factions are inevitable. They pop unexpectedly and cause a community to divide, especially when a group of individuals try to introduce a change. It is difficult to please each individual all the time. It is even more difficult when the conflict, such as a new pastor or youth director, causes a division in the congregation where one group eventually leaves the church. This causes a sense of insiders and outsiders – a division no one really likes.

So upon reading the gospel text, if you wanted to throw something, I am here to say you are not alone. Jesus is clearly making a division: the wise – those who are alert and confidence in their faith and the foolish – those who are not prepared and fall away. Honestly, it is difficult for me to write about, because I do not want anyone to miss going to heaven.

But here we are with this difficult parable. The bridegroom is running late, which was common in ancient times when the groom negotiated for the bride with her family (Works 2011). The bridesmaids should have expected a wait. Five of the ten bridesmaids (the wise) were prepared while the other five (the foolish) were not prepare. Although all ten bridesmaids fall asleep while waiting for the bridegroom, the wise bridesmaids brought extra oil to relight their lamps with when the procession to the party was ready to begin (Matthew 25:4, 9).

All ten bridesmaids rush to relight their lambs when they see the bridegroom coming. However, the foolish bridesmaids are out of oil and ask the wise bridesmaids if they could use some of their oil to light their lambs (Matthew 25:8). The wise bridesmaids refused and told the foolish bridesmaids to go buy more oil, which they did (Matthew 25:8-9).

When the foolish bridesmaids come back with more oil, the wedding procession has already happened and the doors to the banquet hall is closed. CLOSED! No one is coming in or coming out. The Lord claims to not know the foolish bridesmaids when they call out to him (Matthew 25:11-12). The closed door is a harsh reality because it symbolizes not everyone will enter heaven. No one wants to be left out, like the foolish bridesmaids were.

Yet no one knows when Jesus Christ will come again. How we prepare for Jesus’ return will determine if we get to attend the banquet in heaven. So how are you preparing? (Please discuss through the comment box.) I dedicate my life to spreading the good news and doing Jesus’ mission, although some days are more difficult than others. We live in a world where God’s mission is overlooked for our own individual missions. But we must be prepared for Jesus’ return and put our own missions aside. So stay alert and find endurance in the good news of the Triune God – God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. The time will come when the procession to heaven will take place, and the banquet will begin got those individuals with endurance in the Lord.

Thanks be to God!

Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for the promise of Jesus’ return. Help us to stay alert and find endurance in your good news. Thank you for the invite to the banquet. Amen.

Works Cited

Works, Carla. Matthew 24:1-13. 2011 йил 5-June. http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?lect_date=11/6/2011 (accessed 2011 йил 5-November).

Reflective Questions

Please feel free to answer the reflective questions through comments.  Please agree to disagree and be respectable to each other. Please take a moment, if you have not already, to sign the covenant.  You can answer all or just one of the questions. 

1. How are you staying alert and preparing for Jesus’ return?

2. How do you build endurance in the good news?

Readings

Revelation 7:9-17

Psalm 34:1-10, 22

1 John 3:1-3

Matthew 5:1-12

Devotion

Peace be with you!

Watching loved ones suffer and eventually die is never easy – no matter how prepared you are. Everyone in our lives means something different to us – mother, father, grandparents, friends, mentor, teacher, wife, husband, acquaintance, or [whoever]. And no matter how much we prepared ourselves, especially if the individual suffered for a long time, we never are prepared for the hole that the absence of the individual leaves.

But the Bible gives us the assurance that the individuals who pass away go to a better place. From Revelation, we know that all the saints are with God worshipping him day and night and are giving thanksgiving to the Lord (Revelation 7:11, 15). In return, the saints are no longer hungry or thirsty, too cold or hot, in pain, or anything (Revelation 7:16). And Jesus is with the saints giving them water and shelter (Revelation 7:17).

Personally, I find it comforting to remember that the individual who has passed away is in a better place. God’s love and grace give us the comfort in knowing that individuals who suffered from an illness or disability get a new body and are no longer in pain. Part of me is excited to go to heaven and be freed of my earthly body as well as giving me comfort that others who go be before me will experience the same thing.

Sometimes, children or young adults will pass away and we ask why God had to take them so soon. What do you tell a parent(s) who has to bury their child(ren)? Where is God’s love and grace?  These questions are never easy answer if you can find the right words to say in the first place. The only thing you can say is that the child(ren) is in a better place and no long have to suffer – that is God’s love and grace. We may never know the why, but we can rest in the comfort of God’s love and grace.

Death is never an easy subject to approach; death signifies a lost in individuals’ lives. But is it really a lost? We must remember we will be reunited with those who have gone before us in heaven with the Triune God – God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. God’s love and grace gives us the strength to carry on in this world because we will be reunited in heaven. We will only be on this earth for a little while, and then we go to be with God in heaven with all of the other saints.

When it is all said and done, God will wipe away our tears and give us shelter. Even in death, God is our comforter; we are never truly alone. When we are suffering, God suffers, and when we rejoice, God rejoices.

Thanks be to God!

Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for giving us the comfort in knowing you take care of all of your saints. Help us to feel comfort in your love and grace. Thank you for your love and grace. Amen.

Works Cited

Triune God – God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit

Reflective Questions

Please feel free to answer the reflective questions through comments.  Please agree to disagree and be respectable to each other. Please take a moment, if you have not already, to sign the covenant.  You can answer all or just one of the questions. 

1. Where do you find comfort when someone dies?

Readings

Jeremiah 31:31-34

Psalm 46

Romans 3:19-28

John 8:31-36

Devotion

Peace be with you!

In an instance, your world can change: having a baby, being paralyzed from a car accident, hearing the good news of Jesus Christ for the first time, or [whatever “it” is] that changed your way of thinking for better or worst. It is a moment, which changes the way you think, behave, and interact with others.

God has a moment while leading the Israelites back to the Promise Land. The old covenant does not allow the Israelites and God to have the relationship he wants. It is too resistive and does not take into account the Israelites live in the world where they are tempted by sin. God realizes he needs to make a new covenant with Israelites, which will provide them with forgiveness to take into account their human nature.

God finds a way to love the Israelites again, even though they sinful nature has gotten in the way before when having a relationship with him. God rethinks how to go about having a relationship with the Israelites. In a sense, God learns to love the Israelites again to restore his relationship with them.

To be holy, God gave the Israelites laws, including the Ten Commandments, to follow and to keep. Because the Israelites are human, which are a broken race, God realized he could not keep the Israelites to such high standard. If God wanted to be in a relationship with the Israelites, then he had to change the old covenant.

The new covenant offers forgiveness to the whole nation of Israel, though it still has the laws and the Ten Commandments of the old covenant. By doing so, God is writing the laws on the Israelites’ hearts and minds (Jeremiah 31:33) to make them his people again.

The new covenant is also a promise of the future as God will lead the Israelites back to the Promise Land from the exile. God realizes he has not kept his promise to protect Israel from its enemies, because the Israelites kept breaking laws, and therefore they broke their relationship with him.

Once the Israelites are back in the Promise Land, God promises to create a new covenant with them. The promise is in the present: God has not abandon the Israelites forever and will continue to protect them. God will be the loving God he promised to be and will love his children despite their faults. The promise is also for the future: God will create a new covenant with the Israelites upon back in the Promise Land (Schifferdecher 2011).

As Christians, we understand the “already and not yet” promises. For instance, God promised forgiveness through the crucifixion, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We are forgiven of our sins by having a relationship with Jesus and the Holy Spirit. And God promises that Jesus will come back to deliver us from this world to his kingdom. We will see the Triune God again.

So as we celebrate the Reformation – in remembrance of Martin Luther boldly nailing the ninety-five thesis’s to the door of the Catholic Church, we also remember God renewing his relationship and his promises with us. Luther started the Reformation to restore the church and reintroduce the members to the doctrine of salvation by faith through grace. He rediscovering a treasure the church seemed to have lost (Schifferdecher 2011).

In a sense, Luther wanted to reconnect the church with God of grace through a new but old promise of forgiveness, love, grace, and salvation through faith. His boldness is why we have an understanding of God’s grace, love, and faithfulness to us as his people. Let’s us not forget that God loves us unconditionally.

Thanks be to God!

Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for renewing your promises with the Israelites and us. Help us to remember your love, grace, salvation, and faithfulness. Thank you for Martin Luther for rediscovering your promises. Amen.

Works Cited

Schifferdecher, Kathryn. Jeremiah 31:31-34. June 5, 2011. http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?lect_date=10/30/2011&alt=2 (accessed October 31, 2011).

Reflective Questions

Please feel free to answer the reflective questions through comments.  Please agree to disagree and be respectable to each other. Please take a moment, if you have not already, to sign the covenant.  You can answer all or just one of the questions. 

1. Which of God’s promises mean the most to you?

2. How do you rediscover God’s grace on a daily basis?

Readings

Joshua 3:7-17 and Psalm 107:1-7, 33-37

Micah 3:5-12 and Psalm 43

1 Thessalonians 2:9-13

Matthew 23:1-12

Devotion

Peace be with you!

I love older architecture from the early 1900’s. The craftsmanship of the wood trim and the elegant woodwork for the pulpit and baptismal fond is amazing and feels worthy of God more so than modern day church buildings. Oh, and the stain glass windows always take my breath away.

While doing my masters at Luther Seminary, I loved going to daily chapel. There is a big pipe organ, which just captivate us as we enter and leave chapel. My favorite part is the baptism fond with its grand size and water fountain, which you cannot miss when entering chapel. Our professors would take turns preaching in chapel; their sermons were always elegant, captivating, and true to gospel. Chapel at Luther Seminary has a special place in my heart.

Then I read the gospel reading for this week, and I find myself feeling guilty for loving Luther Seminary’s chapel and the professors so much. In Matthew 23:1-12, Jesus challenges the Pharisees and their scribes for their practices, even when the Jews give them the authority to interpret the Torah for good reason. Jesus is pointing to the Pharisees’ “Do as I say, not as I do” practices.

For Jesus, the biggest issue is that Pharisees expect to be wined and dined in their fancy robes with the highest honors at banquets and in the synagogues (Matthew 23:6). They expect to be greeted with respect in public (Matthew 23:7). Jesus admits the Pharisees speak the truth about the Torah, but their actions do not always match with what they do. For instance, there is one rabbi (or teacher) according to the scriptures, which they preach, and yet they expect to be called rabbi. Jesus points out we, even the Pharisees, are all students to God the Father (Matthew 23:8), and we have one father in heaven (Matthew 23:9) and one instructor who is the Messiah (Matthew 23:10).

Can you image the Pharisees reaction? Wait, we have studied the Torah and have been given authority to teach in the synagogues. How dare you call us students? We have done our masters and received honors for our research and our thesis papers. We deserve the title rabbi as ones who have the knowledge to interpret after doing all of our studies.

I wonder what Jesus would say about us adding “pastor” or “reverend” in front of our names and PhD, MA, etc behind our names. We use titles as a way to distinguish ourselves. I inform individuals who I meet in public that I got my MA in New Testament from Luther Seminary, so they treat me as an able adult and not as an a child or an individual who is mentally challenged. My MA title also entitles me to hold conversations with other Biblical scholars.

Maybe it is the feeling of entitlement that Jesus is speaking out against. As a college student, my marketing professors taught that learning never ends, especially since the marketing field is always changing. As a Biblical scholar, I understand there are always new and different ways to interpret Bible passages, and the meanings change over time, culture, and context. Scholars are always reading commentaries and talking to individuals to stay on top of new scholarship. So would Jesus speak out against our titles? (Please discuss through the comment box.

The second issue Jesus seems to be speaking out against is the Pharisees’ presuming expensive and fancy robes (Matthew 23:5b). Jesus seems to think the Pharisees are sticking their noses in the air and acting as if they are better than others. Jesus says the first shall be last and the last shall be first (Mark 10:31; Matthew 19:30, 20:16; Luke 13:30; Revelations 22:13).

I wonder if Jesus would speak out against our fancy sanctuaries. Would he view the sanctuaries as honoring God the Father? Or are they too showing? This leads us to the question: What do we really need to worship the Triune God? (Again, please discuss through the comment box.) In my humble opinion, all we need to worship God is Bibles, belief in the Triune God – God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, and community of individuals share our faith and support our personal faith journeys.

Jesus said, “For where two or three are assembled in my name, I am there among them.” (Matthew 18:20). Therefore, a church is the individuals who gather together to worship and to honor the Triune God – God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. The community is the church, not the building, the stain glass windows, or the African handmade communion cups. The community of believers in the Triune God is what defines a church.

In Philadelphia, the community of the Welcome Church gathers outside with just a table, communion cups, and sometimes a cross. The individuals create the church as they gather for worship. Reverend Violet Little started two years ago by going to bus and train stations to do ministry in the world. Reverend Little even provides shoes for the homeless and works with different churches to provide the homeless with a meal and a safe place to gather. The homeless feel welcome to join in the worship service, because the Welcome Church has a “come as you are” policy. In the past two years, Reverend Little has married homeless couples, seen a community of Christians form with unlikely individuals, and worked with church, which have walls, to provide meals for the homeless weekly. It is truly amazing what a community can do when the individuals rally together.

So I challenge you to go out this week and look for ways individuals worship God in public.

Thanks be to God!

Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for the ministry Reverend Violet Little does in Philadelphia. Help us to become the community of believers that can carry on the church. Thank you for your ever-lasting love for your community. Amen.

Works Cited

Triune God – God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit

Reflective Questions

Please feel free to answer the reflective questions through comments.  Please agree to disagree and be respectable to each other. Please take a moment, if you have not already, to sign the covenant.  You can answer all or just one of the questions. 

1. Would Jesus speak out against our titles?

2. What do we need to worship the Triune God – God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit?

3. How do individuals worship God in public? How does it transform the way you want to worship