Dear Shepnerd, Does God really answer prayers? And if God does, when you don't get what you pray for, does that mean God has said no?
The fast answer, and a true one, is, “Yes. God really answers prayers.” Miracles, wonders and interventions happen every day, but not at our command and certainly not in any predictable pattern. It seems the only thing God wants you to be able to predict with reliability is God’s love for you.
Prayer is much deeper than a series of requests and questions. Prayer is a communion with God – a time to spend together sharing life, love, issues, fears, dreams and hopes. Praying isn’t just telling God what you want or need. It is sharing time with God where those needs and God’s needs for you are discussed in an atmosphere of forgiveness, reverence and love. In the Bible we are instructed over and over to pray about our sicknesses, our visions, our needs and our leaders. God wants to hear from us and empathize about where we are with things. God doesn’t want to just receive the ticket and sign the check. God wants to walk with us through this world. So at those times when all you can do is ask – Yes, God answers. But strive to make a life where asking is only one part of a full walk with God.
So when you pray for something you really want – or need – and it doesn’t happen – what’s up with that??? Jesus tell us “Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” (Matthew 7:9-11). At a quick reading it sounds like God’s answer to prayer is always a resounding YES! – But read it again.
Jesus isn’t saying God gives us bread if we ask for bread – he just says God doesn’t give us a stone. In other words – God is not cruel or mean in response to our requests. God takes them seriously (unlike the pagan gods of Rome and Greece who played with people for their own amusement). God answers all prayers – but that answer is as varied as the mind of God. Jesus goes on to say we get “good gifts” - a larger and less clear term. So if you ask for bread, you may get bread, or you may get seeds to plant wheat to harvest to make bread, or you may get a pamphlet on the evils of too many carbohydrates and balanced diet plan with bread alternatives. There are only 2 certain things when we pray: 1 – we will be heard. 2 – we will be answered.
God answers “Yes” on occasion – giving us everything we asked for just in the way we imagined it would happen. Sometimes God’s answer is, “no, this is not a good idea.” At other times, God’s answer is “Not now”, or “not this way”, or “wait til you see what I have around the corner for you – it’s much better!” We are God’s children and like any good parent, God needs a multitude of answers to raise and guide us through every day life. It doesn’t mean we are less loved or being ignored. It means God loves us enough to guide our whole lives and honor the gifts to us of free will, nature and faith in the process.
So ask of God anything you want, need or desire and then be prepared for an individual, loving, response from a Creative God who wants to give you “good gifts”.
Saturday, December 23, 2006
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
Good Fruitcake: The Dance of Joy
Third Sunday of Advent
Scripture: Luke 3:7-18
How can you tell its Christmas? The fruitcake has come out of hiding. Let me be very clear. I HATE FRUITCAKE. Please do not send it to me for use as a doorstop, hammer, fireplace brick or any other of its fine uses. I do not like it Sam-I-Am. I do not like fruitcake and ham! In my research I discover the main reason for the dryness and icky texture of fruitcake is of course because its made of dried fruit - whithered little chewy bits of what was once live, vibrant and juicy. In our scripture today, John the Baptist points out the same thing in the faith of the people.
John the Baptist is preparing the people for the coming of the Messiah - just like we are supposed to be preparing for the coming of the messiah. He gives us a message to help us get ready for the gifts that God will bring us. His first message: Realize.
Realize who you are and what you are doing. You Brood of Vipers! - Now, that's a nice greeting for Christmas. How would it be if I sent all my Christmas Cards saying "Dear Vipers. Your time is up. Change or be destroyed. Love and Peace, Rev. Kellie" - because that's what John is saying - he points out the religious lives the people have been living are nothing but withered dried repititions of ritual - with no life, no spirit, no honesty and no good fruit. "Make no mistake," John tells them. "The tree that doesn't produce good fruit - (in other words - the fruitcake tree) gets cut down!" This Advent take some time to look at your faith and your life - is your relationship with God vibrant, alive and thriving or just a withered old cycle of go to church, go to work, pay the bills, pray over food? After you get a chance to see where your faith truly is - Redo.
Redo the priorities in your life. You can tell the difference between fruitcake and pie. One is dry, withered and nasty, the other full of sugar, taste and goodness. If you can tell your faith has become dull ritual or spiritless wandering - then redo your priorities. "What should we do," the Vipers ask John. "If you have two coats, give one away. If you are a tax collector, collect only what is due," is his answer. Be right in life and right with God. Get rid of materialism, greed, selfish desires. Stop cheating yourself. Stop cheating God. Be a faithful partner. Give quality work. Do your own homework and be thankful. Check the priorities you have for you life. Where is God, and the worship of God, on the list? Is your life producing Good Fruit? In not, then change it. Once you start living the kind of good life God desires there is only one response: Rejoice.
Rejoice in your faith. After the nasty viper crack and some serious talk about trees and fire the Bible says John went on to preach the GOOD NEWS. Rejoice - its true, you have a problem - but GOD has the solution. God is ready to make the tree of your life full and vibrant again. While researching this sermon I discovered a number of websites with fruitcake recipes. Oddly enough, most of the recipes involved the use of some kind of alcohol. Now what does that tell us? It tells us fruitcake is so terrible we even have to get IT drunk to enjoy it! But among the websites I found was the "Society for the Preservation of Fruitcake" - people who simply rejoice in the tradition, fun and (so they say) flavor of fruitcake. Although I will never agree with them - I can understand their spirit. They rejoice in what is good. On this day of Joy when we seek to dance with God in lively steps - let us take a moment to realize where we are in faith, redo our priorities, and rejoice in the God who loves us.
Monday, December 11, 2006
The Path of Peace
Second Sunday of Advent
Scripture: Luke 1:67-79
There is an unsung hero in our Christmas story. If I asked you to name who's who for Christmas you'd tell me about the baby Jesus, Mary and Joseph, Donkeys are big this year, and Shepherds following a star. The "wise men" are there (even though they are not supposed to be!). But we rarely mention or remember John the Baptist. He's for Easter! We talk about his baptizing Jesus, preaching repentence, calling for the way to be made clear, and that unfortunate incident with the head and the plate. But John had a great deal to do with Christmas and its his story too. The story he would tell us is one of peace.
Zachariah, John's father didn't believe the news of his son's birth to the barren older couple, and as such was penalized with 9 months of being unable to talk until the child was born. Zachariah spent 9 months in silence - but I assure you that although he was quiet - he was not peaceful. We mistake peace for the absence of noise, the absence of agitation, the absence of suffering or the absence of war. But peace is not what is around you - peace is what is within you. In his silence Zachariah didn't know peace - until the child was born and the noise returned to his lips once more. THEN when he was able to prophesy about his son, and the coming messiah, he found peace. Zachariah's cantacle (a fancy word for "song") shows us what to do when we can't assure we will be surrounded by peaceful conditions but can assure a path of peace.
Peace is Strength - Zachariah starts by talking about the Horn of Salvation. In ancient times (like we remember from the stories of Joshua and Gideon) armies about to battle would have each soldier blow their horn before the fight commenced. That was the army could show how big and stong it was by its volume and sustenance. Then, the fortress or city would know whether to fight or flee. The Horn became a symbol of the strength of our resources. Peace is not weakness nor neutrality - peace is strength. Not our strength - God's strength. "When you are weak," God says, "then I am strong". We need to always remember not just when we are at the top of the circle and head of the food chain, but when we are at our lowest -that God's strength is our peace. In God's strength there is no oppression, lonliness, disease or death that can defeat us. That should give us great peace.
Peace is Preparation - Zachariah goes on to prophesy about his own son - the one who will cry out in the wilderness, "prepare ye the way of the Lord." Peace doesn't come upon if we sit for deliverance on the side of a road crowded with the stones of things past and present. In a time when cities were isolated - when a visiting dignitary would come for an inspection or diplomatic visit, a crew had to be put together to clear to road - remove rocks and debris - so the person could arrive in style. Peace comes to us when we remove the barriers, the rocks, and the dust of yesterday. When we unchain ourselves from the ties we willingly allow to bind us - we prepare the road for peace to come to us.
Peace is Guidance - The Zachariah goes back to his messianic prophecy and reminds us of the light that will shine in the darkness, and GUIDE our steps to the path of peace. Peace is not a path we stumble upon like an out-of-luck gambler who happens to find a winning lottery ticket in the parking lot. Peace is a path we must be guided to by God. What will it take? We must listen and we must follow. In a season where we are busy with parties and dinners, shopping, wrapping, mailing, cooking and traffic - we must stop following the crowd, and start following the guidance who wants to show us so much more . Are you willing to hear God? Are you willing to follow? If so, you will find yourself on a road so much better than a highway, byway, freeway or gateway - you will plant your feet on the very path of peace.
Scripture: Luke 1:67-79
There is an unsung hero in our Christmas story. If I asked you to name who's who for Christmas you'd tell me about the baby Jesus, Mary and Joseph, Donkeys are big this year, and Shepherds following a star. The "wise men" are there (even though they are not supposed to be!). But we rarely mention or remember John the Baptist. He's for Easter! We talk about his baptizing Jesus, preaching repentence, calling for the way to be made clear, and that unfortunate incident with the head and the plate. But John had a great deal to do with Christmas and its his story too. The story he would tell us is one of peace.
Zachariah, John's father didn't believe the news of his son's birth to the barren older couple, and as such was penalized with 9 months of being unable to talk until the child was born. Zachariah spent 9 months in silence - but I assure you that although he was quiet - he was not peaceful. We mistake peace for the absence of noise, the absence of agitation, the absence of suffering or the absence of war. But peace is not what is around you - peace is what is within you. In his silence Zachariah didn't know peace - until the child was born and the noise returned to his lips once more. THEN when he was able to prophesy about his son, and the coming messiah, he found peace. Zachariah's cantacle (a fancy word for "song") shows us what to do when we can't assure we will be surrounded by peaceful conditions but can assure a path of peace.
Peace is Strength - Zachariah starts by talking about the Horn of Salvation. In ancient times (like we remember from the stories of Joshua and Gideon) armies about to battle would have each soldier blow their horn before the fight commenced. That was the army could show how big and stong it was by its volume and sustenance. Then, the fortress or city would know whether to fight or flee. The Horn became a symbol of the strength of our resources. Peace is not weakness nor neutrality - peace is strength. Not our strength - God's strength. "When you are weak," God says, "then I am strong". We need to always remember not just when we are at the top of the circle and head of the food chain, but when we are at our lowest -that God's strength is our peace. In God's strength there is no oppression, lonliness, disease or death that can defeat us. That should give us great peace.
Peace is Preparation - Zachariah goes on to prophesy about his own son - the one who will cry out in the wilderness, "prepare ye the way of the Lord." Peace doesn't come upon if we sit for deliverance on the side of a road crowded with the stones of things past and present. In a time when cities were isolated - when a visiting dignitary would come for an inspection or diplomatic visit, a crew had to be put together to clear to road - remove rocks and debris - so the person could arrive in style. Peace comes to us when we remove the barriers, the rocks, and the dust of yesterday. When we unchain ourselves from the ties we willingly allow to bind us - we prepare the road for peace to come to us.
Peace is Guidance - The Zachariah goes back to his messianic prophecy and reminds us of the light that will shine in the darkness, and GUIDE our steps to the path of peace. Peace is not a path we stumble upon like an out-of-luck gambler who happens to find a winning lottery ticket in the parking lot. Peace is a path we must be guided to by God. What will it take? We must listen and we must follow. In a season where we are busy with parties and dinners, shopping, wrapping, mailing, cooking and traffic - we must stop following the crowd, and start following the guidance who wants to show us so much more . Are you willing to hear God? Are you willing to follow? If so, you will find yourself on a road so much better than a highway, byway, freeway or gateway - you will plant your feet on the very path of peace.
Monday, December 4, 2006
Time is Coming: The Path of Hope
First Sunday of Advent
Scripture: Jeremiah 33:14-16
The prophet Jeremiah was delivering his message from prison. How did he get there? He told King Zedekiah that because of Judah’s idol worshipping, sinful ways they would be carried off as slaves, the land would be taken, and all they had would be lost. Imagine a guest preacher coming here today telling you that because America has lost its focus, become materialistic, given up on the right to freedom of speech and because of that God was going to give Osama Ben Laden the power to conquer our country, make us slaves and we would never be America again. You’d be a little ticked off. You might not even invite him to stay for snackies! If you were a King, you might put him in jail.
One of the reasons most people don’t read the whole book of Jeremiah is because he was so gloomy. While sitting in prison he comes up with something we need to hear on a day like today – a message of hope. Jeremiah is telling us things that give us hope in this holiday season and hope in our lives.
The Day Will Come – Jeremiah advises them the day will come when it will all change. When God is no longer willing to allow the slavery to continue and will bring God’s people back to their focus. The day will come for us when we lose the greed and oppression of this world. Its going to happen, Jeremiah says. It’s going to happen here too. We can continue to walk forward in confidence and surety. The day will come for our hope, and our future. The day will come for our healing, our relationships, our jobs, and our journey to move forward. The day will come when we will go to heaven, and the day will come when we will bring heaven to earth.
It Will Be Different – “I will create a branch from the line of David in those days”, God says through the gloomy profit. It’s not going to be one of the old branches. It’s not going to be the same leaves from the same tree. Its going to be a whole new branch, grafted in. God is going to change this Christmas for you. God is going to change your life for you. We all have our holiday routines and rituals – but not this year. This year we are doing something new. This year we are going forward in hope to see Christ’s birth through new eyes and ideas. This isn’t Christmas like Grandma used to make. This will be Christmas like God makes it.
It will be God – “A new name will be given”, Jeremiah continues. And what is the catchy new name of this project to save the people, and return them to the focus of their faith and life? The Lord Is Righteous. I have to admit, it’s not very catchy. I would have preferred something more marketable – like “Jehovah Jamboree” – but God’s not about marketing, or getting “buy-in”. God’s interested in coming to earth as a child who grows up to be a rabbi, dies to be a savior, and returns in spirit to be the bridge of connection. This Christmas will have a new name, and it will be God’s name, God’s time, God’s plan. God has enough space for candy canes, silver bells and Best Buy sales – but those will never take the place of the manger. This year, commit yourselves to remembering your focus, renewing your first love and name this season by a new name.
Scripture: Jeremiah 33:14-16
The prophet Jeremiah was delivering his message from prison. How did he get there? He told King Zedekiah that because of Judah’s idol worshipping, sinful ways they would be carried off as slaves, the land would be taken, and all they had would be lost. Imagine a guest preacher coming here today telling you that because America has lost its focus, become materialistic, given up on the right to freedom of speech and because of that God was going to give Osama Ben Laden the power to conquer our country, make us slaves and we would never be America again. You’d be a little ticked off. You might not even invite him to stay for snackies! If you were a King, you might put him in jail.
One of the reasons most people don’t read the whole book of Jeremiah is because he was so gloomy. While sitting in prison he comes up with something we need to hear on a day like today – a message of hope. Jeremiah is telling us things that give us hope in this holiday season and hope in our lives.
The Day Will Come – Jeremiah advises them the day will come when it will all change. When God is no longer willing to allow the slavery to continue and will bring God’s people back to their focus. The day will come for us when we lose the greed and oppression of this world. Its going to happen, Jeremiah says. It’s going to happen here too. We can continue to walk forward in confidence and surety. The day will come for our hope, and our future. The day will come for our healing, our relationships, our jobs, and our journey to move forward. The day will come when we will go to heaven, and the day will come when we will bring heaven to earth.
It Will Be Different – “I will create a branch from the line of David in those days”, God says through the gloomy profit. It’s not going to be one of the old branches. It’s not going to be the same leaves from the same tree. Its going to be a whole new branch, grafted in. God is going to change this Christmas for you. God is going to change your life for you. We all have our holiday routines and rituals – but not this year. This year we are doing something new. This year we are going forward in hope to see Christ’s birth through new eyes and ideas. This isn’t Christmas like Grandma used to make. This will be Christmas like God makes it.
It will be God – “A new name will be given”, Jeremiah continues. And what is the catchy new name of this project to save the people, and return them to the focus of their faith and life? The Lord Is Righteous. I have to admit, it’s not very catchy. I would have preferred something more marketable – like “Jehovah Jamboree” – but God’s not about marketing, or getting “buy-in”. God’s interested in coming to earth as a child who grows up to be a rabbi, dies to be a savior, and returns in spirit to be the bridge of connection. This Christmas will have a new name, and it will be God’s name, God’s time, God’s plan. God has enough space for candy canes, silver bells and Best Buy sales – but those will never take the place of the manger. This year, commit yourselves to remembering your focus, renewing your first love and name this season by a new name.
Begin at the Beginning
There has been a lot of talk about my impending retirement, and frustration with lack of access to the thoughts, messages and answers I deliver. So, I decided to give "Blogging" a try. Until I retire, the standard blog will consist of a brief version of my weekly sermon. After my retirement, the blog will take the place of that message.
I am also interesting in continuing to answering the many good questions you pose to me. So there will be a way to send me those and check back for answers (Yes, yes, names can be changed to protect the innocent...).
Hopefully this can become a good outlet for wisdom sharing and continued walking together on our journey.
Rev. Kellie
I am also interesting in continuing to answering the many good questions you pose to me. So there will be a way to send me those and check back for answers (Yes, yes, names can be changed to protect the innocent...).
Hopefully this can become a good outlet for wisdom sharing and continued walking together on our journey.
Rev. Kellie
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