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

Readings

Deuteronomy 34:1-12 and Psalm 90:1-6, 13-17

Leviticus 19:1-2, 15-18 and Psalm 1

1 Thessalonians 2:1-8

Matthew 22:34-46

Devotion

Peace be with you!

As a child, I use to love spending time in our small “orchard” (by small I mean six apple and peach trees and my grandpa came out in the spring to spray them and in the fall to pick the apples and preaches) with our family dog, Daisy. My dad had cut me a short trail through the tall grass, which allowed me to go to the orchard in my wheelchair. Even as a young child, I enjoy the peace and the stability the trees gave me each time I went back there.

Psalm 1 uses the imaginary of a big tree, probably a big majestic oak tree, to God the Father’s love for us as his children. An oak tree uses it roots to reach water deep in the ground, so it can survive the harshest winters. An oak tree stays the test of time and becomes a testament to us who only live on the earth a short time.

Like oak trees, God reaches deep into the darkness and pulls at our hearts to turn us towards him. God has been our answer time and time again. So when one of the Sadducees, lawyer, ask Jesus, “Which commandment in the law is the greatest?” (Matthew 22:36). Of course, Jesus understands the question is a test. Jesus answers, “The first is love your God with all your heart, soul, and mind. This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” (Matthew 22:37-40).

Now many Christians, including myself, believe Jesus is giving the Sadducees new commandments. But Jesus is repeating laws in Deuteronomy 6 and 19; laws the Jewish community, especially the Sadducees, should know. And by putting these laws above all others, Jesus is stating that loving God means to love others. This means following God’s commandments demonstrates love to others through our actions and relationships. And out of love we choose to follow the laws, which God gave us. Because we follow the laws, we tend to others’ well-being.

The last six commandments of the Ten Commandments give us structure to live by honoring our parents, not killing each others, keeping our relationships hold, not take what is not yours, not to lie, and to be happy with what you have (Exodus 20:12-17). And we choose to follow these laws, because we love God and each other.

Just as oak trees are grounded by their roots, we grounded by our love for God the Father and each other. This love is what keeps us grounded in our relationships and as Christians. Our life’s mission is to carry out God’s plan by being his instruments.

Thanks be to God!

Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for loving us, even though we are broken and need forgiveness. Help us to love each other as you love us. Thank you for giving us the law and for the chance to love you, our Triune God, and each other by keeping the law. 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 does it mean to love through the law?

Readings

Exodus 33:12-23 and Psalm 99

Isaiah 45:1-7 and Psalm 96:1-9, (10-13)

1 Thessalonians 1:1-10

Matthew 22:15-22

Devotion

Peace be with you!

Being a Christian is difficult because we are torn between two realities: our world and God’s world. We spent our days in a society, especially if you are in America, where the word god is almost prohibited in public spaces. As Americans and Christians, we have [at least I do] a fear of offering individuals who do not believe in our Triune God – God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

When questioned if we should pay taxes to the emperor (Matthew 22:17), Jesus says, “Give to the emperor the things that are the emperor, and to God the things that are God’s.” (Matthew 22:21). God understands we live in the world, and in order to survive we need the participant in the world on a sub-toxic level.

In Westmoreland, Tennessee, coaches are not allowed to bow their heads during student-led prayers before football games (Morgenstem 2011). The coaches respect the school district’s decision to have them not bow their heads during student-led prayers. However, the coaches should know that bowing their heads during any prayer is not needed to participate in the prayer. Their presence during student-led prayers still gives honor to God while still respecting the government.

In United States of America, the Supreme Court ruled the Ten Commandments could not be displayed in public schools or in Kentucky’s county courthouses, but they could be displayed on Texas’ capitol grounds. Each case of displaying the Ten Commandments is reviewed individually and determined if the purpose is religious or non-religious. The First Amendment does protect the display of the Ten Commandments on the private property. The government cannot appear to have any religious bias (Anti-Defamation League 2011). And honestly I love how we have the freedom to worship as we wish privately. I am proud to be an American who exercises her religious freedom with honor and respect.

We have all heard about the high school students not being able to pray at the graduation, so one student sneezes and they all say “God bless you.” In Texas, the State Supreme Court ruled high school students could say prayers during their graduation, if they changed it to a “statement of faith” (Ball 2011).

I am proud to be an American who enjoys her religious freedom and respect the other faith traditions. I enjoy inter-faith conversations and think they should happen more often. I also enjoy the fact that God allows us to live in the world. We are allowed to take part in our government and be involved in its decision process.

Yet God also calls us to be faithful to him. Even though we are allowed to live in the world, we are not to idolize anyone or anything but the Triune God – God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. And the benefits of only idolizing God are amazing. First, God promises to never forsaken us, which was demonstrated to us through Jesus’ crucifixion, death, and resurrection. The world (friends, family, the government, etc) have a tendency of forsaking us during difficult times. But God promises what seems like the impossible, yet he demonstrates his loyalty and love to us on a daily basis through Jesus’ crucifixion, death, and resurrection (Schmit 2011).

Second, since we belong to God, we belong to the people of God – the body of Christ (Schmit 2011). Through our baptism, we are born into the fellowship of the body of Christ. Any alienation is due to our own fault when we turn our backs on God. And when we return, God is always there with open arms. Third, we give ourselves to the Triune God because we belong to him. We give ourselves through worship when we go to church, when we pray privately, and when we do service during our daily work. Our lives are for God’s purpose; he lives through us.

We belong to the Triune God – God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Thanks be to God!

Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for allowing us to be apart of the world. Help us to remember we belong to us and not to idolize anyone or anything but you. Thank you for allowing us to belong to you. Amen.

Works Cited

Anti-Defamation League. The Ten Commandments Controversy: A First Amendment Perspective . 2011. http://www.adl.org/religious_freedom/resource_kit/ten_commandments.asp (accessed 2011 йил 2-October).

Ball, Linda Stewart. Court Rules Prayers Can Be Said At Texas High School Graduation. 2011 йил 3-June. http://www.urbanchristiannews.com/ucn/2011/06/breaking-prayers-to-be-allowed-at-texas-high-school-graduation.html (accessed 2011 йил 2-October).

Morgenstem, Madeleiene. High School Coaches in Trouble for Bowing their Heads during Student-Led Prayer in Tennessee. 2011 йил 25-September. http://www.theblaze.com/stories/high-school-coaches-in-trouble-for-bowing-their-heads-during-student-led-prayer-in-tenn/ (accessed 2011 йил 2-October).

Schmit, Clayton. Matthew 22:15-22. June 5, 2011. http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?lect_date=10/16/2011 (accessed October 16, 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. How to you participant in the world?

2. How do you belong to God?

Readings

Exodus 32:1-14 and Psalm 106:1-6, 19-23

Isaiah 25:1-9 and Psalm 23

Philippians 4:1-9

Matthew 22:1-14

Devotion

Peace be with you!

One of my husband’s favorite movies is The Replacements, which is about a football team coach, Jimmy McGinty (Gene Hackman), hiring replacements during a pro football strike. Of course, the replacements are a bunch of want-to-be pro football players who missed the mark during college for whatever reason and some individuals who never played football before.

Shane Falco (Keanu Reeves) is a former quarterback at Ohio State University who choked in the Sugar Bowl in 1996. Right out of college Falco was drafted by Seattle and pushed into the spotlight without preparation, which blew his professional career. Jumbo Fumiko (Ace Yonamine), a Japanese sumo wrestler, was hired as an offensive tackle. Clifford Franklin (Orlando Jones) is a stockboy at a mini mart who cannot catch anything but sure can out run anyone (The Replacements (film) n.d.).

McGinty believes in his players and works with them to make them into a real professional team. It takes the players a few games to get in sync with each other and trust their fellow teammates. Once the players became a team, the Sentinels became unstoppable and had a chance at the playoffs. Eddie Martel (Brett Cullen), the regular first-string quarterback, crosses the picket line to play the last regular season game, which leaves Falco on the sidelines (well, he does not show up).

At half-time, the score is 17-0 with little help of the Sentinels winning, because the replacements (who are the real team) are not gelling with Martel who blames them for his mistakes. A reporter asks McGinty what it will take for the team to win and he says, “Miles and miles of heart.” This causes Falco to race to the stadium, and the rest of the replacements kick Martel out of the locker room. Amazingly, with the leadership of Falco, the Sentinels win the game (20-17) and go to the playoffs.

In today’s gospel lesson, Jesus tells a parable of the wedding banquet. The king goes to great lengths to invite his friends to his son’s wedding by sending his slaves (Matthew 22:2-3). The invitees refused to come, so the king sent other slaves to remind them about the wedding (Matthew 22:4). Again, some of the invitees went about their day, while others mistreated and killed the king’s slaves (Matthew 22:5-6). This enraged the king who sent his troops to burn the homes of the ungrateful invitees.

In the movie The Replacements, the pro athletes would be the ungrateful invitees. The owners of the Sentinels wanted the pro athletes to come play for him, but they were holding out for more money. The pro athletes want for themselves.

In the Christian world, the ungrateful invitees are those of us that refuse to hear the good news. We all have days when we are deaf to good news and just want to go about our day in the world. In Jesus’ day, these individuals would be the Jews who refused to hear the good news.

The parable goes on by the king sending his slaves out yet again, but this time he instructed them to invite anyone willing to come to his son’s wedding (Matthew 22:9). The slaves gathered all sorts of individuals – good, bad, and indifferent – to fill the banquet hall. The king could finally give his son a grand wedding.

The attendees represent those individuals who listen attentively to the good news. These individuals would be the Gentiles in Jesus’ day. God sent his only begotten son, Jesus Christ, to give the good news of forgiveness to Jews who rejected him, so he went out to give the good news to the Gentiles. The Gentiles take the good news to heart and welcome God the Father into their hearts.

Now there is one attendee that refused to wear a wedding robe (Matthew 22:11-12). The king has the individual bind at his/her hands and feet and thrown out to the darkness (Matthew 22:13). These verses are more law than gospel and are difficult to put nicely. The attendee who refused to wear a wedding robe, even the one that was provided, represents the individual who pretends to be a believer of the good news. However, God will not allow those individuals who pretend to enter his kingdom. If you only kind of believe in the good news, you will not enter the Kingdom of God. You have to believe with your whole heart in the good news in order to enter the Kingdom of God.

In the movie The Replacements, the attendee who refused to wear a wedding robe would be Eddie Martel who only wanted to play until the team had a chance at the playoffs. But the replacements did not welcome Martel into their circle. Martel felt he was better than the replacements, but in the end he was interrupting the team’s flow and was not a part of the team. Once Falco came back the second-half, the team players were able to work together again.

God is inviting us to the wedding banquet in the Kingdom of God. We just need to choose to be true Christians.

Thanks be to God!

Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for telling us this difficult parable. Help us to be true Christians and a strong community. Thank you for inviting us to the wedding banquet. Amen.

Works Cited

The Replacements (film). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Replacements_(film) (accessed October 8, 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. What does it mean to be a true Christian?

2. Are there individuals in your life that pretend to be Christians? How do they make you feel?