Anointing and the Power of Touch

Scripture: James 5:13-16

Every day many a well-meaning Christian mom will pack her kids off to school with their Veggie Tales lunch boxes, singing one of Psalty’s choruses as they go out the door, then she’ll sit down with her Women’s Study Bible to complete a devotional where she writes in her Purpose Driven journal with her Purpose Driven Pen after sipping coffee out of her Purpose Driven mug. She reminded her husband about the Dynamic Marriage class – week 8 - at church but she’ll forget to say the Prayer of Jabez which is magnetically attached her fridge, because that’s old now and few folks really remember it. How does it start? “Oh God that you would bless me indeed…” In all our Christian fad-ism and marketing, there’s one thing that mom should get but wont, because it hasn’t quite risen to the top of faith consciousness – a massage. Not only would a massage ease her stress or heal her heart, it would connect her to the history of our faith in a powerful, beautiful way.

Now, I know there are some quizzical looks on the faces of my friends, slightly shocked that Rev. Kellie “I hate to be touched” Rupard-Schorr is advocating massage. But just as the Bible assures us that “iron sharpens iron” – it is also true that massage can soften even the crankiest heart. (But don’t be too worried about the world turning upside down – strangers touching and hugging me is completely out of the question, and I still hate to get my hair cut). Anyway…back to the topic of massage, or more appropriately, healing touch.

Healing Touch and the History of Faith

While massage and Christianity seem to go together like a Jumbo Meal with a Diet Pepsi, healing touch has been a part of faith from its earliest times. Although a couple instances of touch are recorded in the Old Testament, primarily as a means of transferring spiritual authority or power to a person, common day-to-day touch was not the norm. In fact the 613 commandments of the Old Testament spend much more time talking about who you can’t touch, than who you can. Touch becomes such a “touchy” issue (sorry, I couldn’t resist that) that the Gospel writers make a point to stress how much Jesus touched other people – for healing, comfort and spiritual freedom. Jesus touched just about everyone on the No Touch List – women, Samaritans, sinners, sick people and dead folks. It’s hard for American Christians to grasp – but the hymn “He Touched Me” would be more appropriate as a testament to his rebellious and change-making behavior, as opposed to just an affirmation of Christ’s ability to affect our lives.

However, while Jesus was touching people and making waves all over Jerusalem, another force of touch had been sent on a collaborative course. Asclepiades of Bithynia was a Roman orator from Asia Minor who had learned many techniques of touch and massage while still in East. He plied his trade approximately 125 years before Christ. He failed as a rhetorician but became renown as a healer by using hydroptherapy, massage (what was then called “anointed rubbing”), and dietary changes. Pliny the Elder[i] describes his influence on Roman culture to be so pervasive that he is now considered a “Father” of psychotherapy, hydrotherapy, physical therapy and therapeutic touch. Schools sprung up all over territories controlled by Rome of people teaching his method of anointed touch. His methods found their way into the Roman religious circle – including assigning the task of water carrying to Vestal Virgins, water rites and rituals in many temples, and the temple of Athena (Roman name: Minerva) had an entire group of healers who practiced something called “tactus juxta medica” – touch like medicine.

During the 1st century as the early church began to bring Gentiles into the faith and spread across cultures, the place of touch was firmly rooted in ritual and daily practice. Stories in Acts show the Apostles touching and healing, and Paul’s letters to churches – many in Asia Minor – feature a staple of touching and “anointed touch” as an appropriate form of healing for the community.

It should be noted the word “anointing” in the ancient world did not mean putting a drop of oil on someone’s head as a symbol of God’s power to heal. It meant rubbing oil (or milk, water, mud or balm) onto a person or into a wound (In fact, the word “anoint” comes to English from French from Latin – “inunguere” – meaning “to smear into”. In the first century, oil was one of the most common healing tools there was, and the rubbing of it into the skin was an act of medicinal healing, good hospitality, and care.

James 5:13-16
13Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. 14Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. 16Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.

So what does all this mean to us now?

The Physical is Spiritual

In the centuries since the early church readily embraced anointing touch as a medicinal, spiritual practice our relationship with both touch and faith have changed. (For a view of that history see the very awesome “Church History in 4 Minutes”). Instead of generously pouring from a jar or flask, “anointing oil” now comes in tiny little vials you can buy at the Christian bookstore – and use a drop or two on someone’s forehead.

American Christians have a much less touch-centered community (in fact, with the current H1N1 flu pandemic some churches are asking people not to shake hands or touch at all!). Some communities have become so separated from touch (and each other) that they simply say “stay in your seat and stretch out your hands”. That is unfortunate when we realize the whole point of Jesus – as an incarnation – is to be the “word made flesh”. He was the word of God in a body, and meant to be among us, touching us, healing us, teaching us and hearing us. Jesus, Emmanuel, God With Us, is a confirmation that the spiritual IS physical and conversely the physical IS spiritual. A faith without healing touch is disincarnated and unanointed.

How do we recapture touch?

We can move beyond the concept of the “laying on of hands” as something to only be done by the ordained for sacred rites and re-discover the power of generous and anointed touch in our day to day lives. People with families usually experience far more touch – hugs from kids, kisses from spouses – however, we need to encourage those tactile affections to have a priority in relationships and never become lost in the shuffle. We can become aware of the touch hungry among us – widows and widowers, single folks, and people with chronic illnesses (because of unfounded fears, people with HIV/AIDS frequently go without touch). Maybe, when flu season is over, giving someone at church an extra hand-shake, pat on the back or hug would be a blessing you can offer. Finally, for those with broken bodies or damaged spirits, therapeutic massage from a trained and certified massage therapist can be encouraged and explored as an option.

From the standpoint of biblical authority we see in James 5 not simply an admonishment to a dry and formal ceremony performed by clergy, but a directive to all Christian people to understand and participate in healing as a communal act. It is the essence of that thing called church to join the sick with the well, and the hurting with the healers. Remember those schools of Ascepliades I mentioned earlier? Roman history (particularly from Galen) records some of the places they were found as Ephesus, Rome, Colossae, Phillipi, Corinth, and Thessaly. Do those names seem familiar? Look across the tabs on your bible listing the epistles and you might see them again. Touch as healing existed in all those places, including the churches Paul encouraged through his letters to lay hands on one another, anoint one another, and give the occasional greeting of a “holy kiss” (I won’t be tackling that issue any time soon).

So what would I tell that Christian mom as she finishes up her devotional reading and gets ready to carry her stress through her Purpose Driven day? I would tell her to be “called” not “driven”, to laugh – because laughter is a sacred sound, to be hopeful, and to be healed through her faith community, through prayer and through touch. In John 9, Jesus made some mud and rubbed it on a blind man’s eyes (anointing him). He sent the man to wash in the Pool of Siloam and the man’s vision was restored. I could tell you from the authority of personal experience that I learned what he learned when I allowed healing touch into my life – “I was blind, but now I see.”

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[i] Pliny the Elder – yes yes yes – I know he made up much of what he wrote as history – however Ascepliades and his practices and schools are also confirmed by Galen and other more reputable historians.

A Rare and Precious Gift

Scripture: Luke 6:20-26

“Don't throw the past away
You might need it some rainy day
Dreams can come true again
When everything old is new again”

Peter Allen wrote that song in 1979 for the musical “All the Jazz”. The further time goes by the more true it has become. Movies are more likely to be re-makes or re-hashes of familiar themes than original stories. Songs are re-done or “sampled” (the horrible practice of playing part of an established song into your song then claiming you made a “new” thing). Political scandals, public romances and private divorces – all go round and round.

It’s not all bad, though. Sometimes more than bad films or obnoxious songs come back from history. Sometimes a beautiful idea is re-captured and presented to a whole new generation. One such idea is the Lachrymatory. Glass blowers from all over the globe have discovered the ancient tradition of the lachrymatory – a tear bottle – and have begun making them again. There are many places where you can buy modern versions of these tiny tear holders all created as a “blast from the past”.

A Roman Lachrymatory - circa 100 AD (CE).

A modern Lachrymatory, from Timeless Traditions, 2008

A lachrymatory is a tiny glass or pottery bottle people would use to catch their tears in when someone died. After the bottle had been cried into, it would be placed on the crypt, burial place or memory stone of the loved one as a testament to how much that person (usually a child) meant. It started as an ancient practice, and many Hebrew scholars feel Psalm 56:8 “Put my tears in your wineskin” is an allusion to the idea. By the first century the Roman Empire and its conquered lands used lachrymatories as a culture rite of passage. In fact, rich people even hired mourners to cry into a lachrymatory so the deceased would be honored by a bottle filled with tears. For the poor, who did not usually have the luxury of a “tear-for-hire” service, friends and neighbors would gather their tears to place inside the bottle. After gathering tears in a bottle, they would present it to the widow or parent and say formally and compassionately, “Condolesco adactus” –“ I suffer with you.” (that’s where we get the word “condolences” from).

Imagine that – after a tragedy giving your neighbor the gift of tears. Certainly not something the good folks at Hallmark or flowers.com would encourage. Yet what a powerful thing it would be indeed - To grieve with someone - to mourn with someone.

We don’t value tears in our culture as much as we should. The weekend after the Virginia Tech Tragedy I saw a large banner at a concert I attended where people were encouraged to sign it in support. There were a lot of hopes, and “I’m praying for you” kind of sentiments – however I don’t recall seeing one note that said “I am crying for you” – although crying was what many of us did – and knowledge of that was a great healing gift to those who mourned and lost a loved one. Anyone can laugh with you, or pray for you. But it is a true brother or sister of spirit who can cry for you.

Even when we cry for ourselves and our own sorrows we tend to hide that fact. We don’t tell people about the times we cry over mean words, long silences, or serious betrayals. We don’t let on that we cry in the car on the way home from a bad day at work, and we rarely even admit the times we are so grateful for someone’s mercy or forgiveness that we cry then too. We are a family made of hiding criers.

The New Testament, particularly the stories of Christ, show how important tears are to the Kingdom of Heaven on earth and would encourage us not to hide them. Think of the many narratives about crying.

Jesus weeps over the sins of Jerusalem
A woman’s weeping softens his heart to her plight and he heals her daughter
Jesus weeps tears like blood the night before his passion
A woman washes Jesus’ feet with her tears

And in the list of blessings in Luke (a synoptic version of the Sermon on the Mount) we are told:

“Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh” (Luke 6:21 NIV).

Even Paul talks frequently about the tears he cries for the churches he loves and nurtures. Want to see how much he cries? Go to the http://www.biblegateway.com/ and type the word “tears” and choose “New Testament” – a whole list of Paul’s teardrops appears.

There is no worse feeling in the world that helplessness. When our friends or loved ones endure something we can’t fix, or experience something we can’t change that creeping awful helplessness crawls into our hearts and buries its deep fruitless longing. In those times its good to remember – if you can’t fix it, and you can’t change it – you can pray about it, you can support through it, and you can cry over it. Its not a bad thing – it’s a gift. The anger of helplessness is a natural reaction. Crying for someone is a spiritual action. Which do you think most befits the people of God?

So the next time someone tells you of a past event that’s harmed them, instead of wishing you could go back in time, find the person who caused the harm and pop them in the nose (a natural reaction) – cry for them, or cry with them, and pray for their healing and be inspired by their strength. The next time someone you love faces an illness, a job loss, a loneliness your care can’t seem to permeate –instead of slogans and suggestions designed to “fix” them (a natural reaction)– cry with them, cry for them, and pray at their side –holding their hand.

You don’t need to save your tears in a small glass jar for them to be of value – but when you recognize the value in tears you will be a part of Christ’s family, bringing the care of heaven to the children on earth. Tears are a rare and precious gift.

Walk This Way

Reading: 2 John 4-6


Everyone has mysteries in their life. For some people, its how they can bend a finger all the way to their wrist, or remember every phone number they have ever heard. With others it’s an unexplained gift in math, or the ability to know a sibling is in trouble even when you aren’t with him or her. For me – one of the major mysteries of my life has been speed – or at least, my lack of it. When I was a small child my mother called me “Moses” (as in “as slow as Moses”) so much one of the Marshallese ladies we knew in the Marshall Islands thought it was my name and called me that for months. School friends were always waiting on me sighing “any day, Kellie…” as I plodded toward them, and a friend from college would just shake her head as she turned around to see how far behind her I was. She would then pat her chin and ask, “How? How? How? Can someone who is 6 feet tall with at least 3 feet of leg possibly be SO SLOW?”. The truth is: I don’t know.

I do almost everything slow. I eat slow (mostly I push my food around the plate and pretend to eat – I hate eating. But not liking to eat is a different mystery), I react to things slowly, I plan slow, I clean slow, and yes – I walk slow. In fact, last week when my friend Lea was saying she needed to walk for exercise I offered to let her walk with me. She laughed out loud! I said, “WHAT?” and she said, “You don’t walk, you Stttrooollllll.” But I have found some solace in our passage today. It seems walking (maybe even strolling) is what God wants from us all along.

“It has given me great joy to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as the Father commanded us. 5And now, dear lady, I am not writing you a new command but one we have had from the beginning. I ask that we love one another. 6And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love.” 2 John 4-6

Notice something about that verse – it says the word WALK three times. It’s clear the writer of the Second Letter of John (a small New Testament epistle about rejecting false prophets) has no problem with Christians being in the slow lane. In fact if you look a little farther down at verse 9 – you’ll see running is outright scorned.

“9Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son.” 2 John 9.

Of course the Bible is talking about theology and living, not actually physical movement – but there’s a neat lesson here. In calorie burning, all experts will tell you running is better than walking. But in Christian theology – it’s the attributes of walking that make the difference.

The Way of Simplicity

The first benefit to walking over running is its simplicity. Walking is easy. We do it from the time we are young children. (and yes, I learned to walk slowly too – my mother claims to have worried she would end up carrying me to kindergarten). So some of us take a while – but as small kids we all learn that song, “Put one foot in front of the other, and soon you’ll be across the floor…” Walking is easy. Running is harder.

Christianity isn’t meant to be a sprint where you learn everything in a big hurry then rush off to the next fountain of knowledge. Nor is a marathon where you push your endurance to its limits just to get God’s attention or approval. Christianity in its finest witness to a lost world is the every day act of putting one foot in front of the other. It’s the steps of faith, courage, forgiveness, grace, hope, and love every day that change our lives, change our world and reflect our faith. We don’t need a doctorate in theology, a Strong’s Greek Concordance, and a labyrinth drawn on the church parking lot to live and share our faith. We just need the simple act of taking every day as it comes and walking with God.

Less Pain, More Gain

One of the things that inevitably rears its head in the debate between walking and running is the fact that running burns many more calories than walking. However, the reason that is true is because walking is simply a more energy efficient form of motion. From a physics standpoint – walking requires less energy because it absorbs less impact to the joints and converts forward energy more economically. One website said this about running:

“Running is generally considered to be a fairly high impact exercise with a great deal of repetitive pounding.” www.therunnersguide.com

A great deal of repetitive pounding? I don’t know about you – but that sounds like some preachers I know of – pounding their doctrine over and over – bringing out the same old tired rhetoric and non-biblical traditions to involve faith in politics, culture wars, business models and pyramid schemes.

But 2 John is clear that our walk is to be the efficient gliding of love – not the pounding of rules and judgment. Our faith is a walk – a connective stroll between ourselves and our creator God which is slow and easy enough to bring anyone from the smallest child to the oldest dowager on the journey with us. As a faith body Christians have been too busy running their mouths – instead of measuring their steps of bringing Christ into the world around us day by day by day.

Be Grounded

The final reason running burns more calories than walking, but creates the risk of injury was said best in an article by “Therunningplanet.com”

“The mechanics of running and walking are very different. When walking we always have one foot on the ground. Our body weight is always supported. Each stride results in a force equaling our body weight being applied to our leg muscles. When running you are completely airborne between foot plants. When your lead foot comes down, it is absorbing more than your body weight due to the effects of gravity.”

Did you see that? When walking we always have one foot on the ground! Now that’s the best advice for living the Christian life I’ve heard in a while. Stay grounded in scripture, stay grounded, 2 John says, in love. Have at least one foot rooted and supported by the holy spirit. The “gravity” of our humanity, of our culture’s materialism, esteem-driven satisfaction, and self seeking makes our faith have to absorb so much more than it should. We get a ticket and cry out in anguish, “Why does this happen to ME?” although we hear about a Chinese earthquake that kills 80,000 people and say mildly, “that’s sad. But what can I do?...” We are held down by gravity at every turn.

A Christian who is grounded in Christ knows that God is in all things, and will support us through the tickets, and the greater traumas – as long as we keep grounded in the Holy Spirit of the living God and know who we are, and how God expects us to live.

There’s a place in faith for us slow types. We don’t need to run, and we don’t need to fly over the world around us. We need to keep bearing witness to the God who walks us step by step through the healing process, the faith process, and the grace process.

I’ll close with a camp song (seeing how summer is starting and all…) – see if you can see 2 John’s words of walking in love shine through.

“Oh God, you are my God and I will every praise you
I will seek you in the morning, and learn to walk in your ways
And step by step you’ll lead me and I will follow you all of my days.”

Keep walking, my brothers and sisters, keep walking….

Crossing the Rubicon

Crossing the Rubicon

1 Peter 3:13-22

The Rubicon River separated the North called Gaul from Italy proper in the century before and after Christ. It formed a border line to what was considered actually being in “Rome”. Because of the concern that Rome could be defeated not by the armies of other countries (whom Rome had always defeated in battle) but by a general taking the Roman army against the city, a law was created that made it illegal (treason) to cross the Rubicon with an army. In 49 BCE Julius Caesar did just that. Taking his full army to Rome, he knew the act of crossing the river was an act of treason and war. In legend the moment he crossed the river he reportedly said, “ālea iacta est - "the die is cast”. Once you cross the Rubicon, there is no turning back.

In popular culture the phrase “Crossing the Rubicon” means the same as taking a risky and irrevocable action or starting a revolution that cannot be turned back from. In our passage today Peter is telling Christians to “cross the rubicon” – not with an army of might but with a force of peace. How do we create revolution? Courage, Conversation, and Conscience.

It Takes Courage to Create Change

The first thing Peter tells us is “do not be frightened”. Christianity is not a faith walk for people who lack conviction or courage. It requires making stands so radical in their nature that people are tempted to think us quite mad. Christianity is designed to be so embracing that the very people other shy away from – the homeless, the immigrants, the lepers, the prisoner and the outcasts – are the very ones we take in, create community with and consider our equals. Instead of the old way of thinking ourselves “religious” and them “cursed” – Christianity is the courage to say “These are my brothers and sisters I am them – they are me.”

Don’t be afraid of the world around you. Create change by your willingness to be equal – not just when it gives you rights, but when it keeps you humble. Learn from everyone God puts in your path and teach them through your courage to side-step the norm of achievement, busy-ness and social status. The Rubicon was a boundary. Be willing to break the boundaries of class and stature and cross into the true Christian life.

Conversation, not Condemnation

Peter then challenges us to do something modern Christians struggle with more than anything – be ready to talk about Christ. Not only be ready to talk about Jesus – but be ready to do it gently and respectfully!

15But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect…
Now there’s a groundbreaking thought. Instead of condemning people for their belief, practices or non-practices and walking around with a list of mental does and don’ts – be ready to be gentle, respectful and talk with them. Peter knows what we should notice in the gospels – Never does Jesus point out someone and say “Well, they are just going to hell” and walk away. He chides the Pharisees (church folks!) and talks about the woe they face if they don’t learn to embrace the spirit of the Lord other than the letter of the law. But mostly he listens, he teaches and he loves.

Lets not just bring “respect” into our churches – lets create a revolution of change by taking respect out into the world – and when people notice our gentle nature and respect then they can say “What is it about you that’s different?” and you can be prepared to talk about Jesus Christ.

Have Conscience on your side.

Americans like to be “right” – no matter if we are right or wrong – or even if right or wrong really isn’t the point – we like to be “right”. Having a conscience means you don’t enforce your “rightness” but God’s goodness, God’s holiness and God’s love. Notice Peter expect Christians to live such good behavior that anytime someone says something bad about them – its slander – because Christians don’t act badly. That’s what it means to live with conscience.

Instead of worrying about creating theological arguments about our beliefs and how right we are to follow Jesus, lets channel that desire to be right into our lives – be right about how we act, be right about what we give, and be right before God in our hearts. Not only will that make an irrevocable difference our lives, but it will cross the Rubicon of faith and show they world a revolution of hope.

Crossing the Rubicon was how Julius Caesar started the revolution that took Rome from a corrupt Republic to the age of the Emperors – some like Caesar were tyrants, some the Augustus brought the peace of Rome (pax romana), roads and culture to the world. No matter what historians decide about that act – one thing is for cure – not being able to go back – took the whole world forward.

Make a change in your relationship of faith that makes an unchangeable mark on the world around you.

Don't Be Driven

Lectionay Reading: 1 Peter 2:2-10

Five years ago a phenomenon in Christian publishing changed the way many people see faith and life. That phenomenon was “The Purpose Driven Life” by Rick Warren. Published in 2002, it became an international best seller for people looking for some meaning and purpose in their existing by teaching that God has a purpose for each person and the things that happen. However, the book has garnered as much criticism as acclaim. From its lack of the gospel message, to its “new age-like” feel for devotional but not missional understanding the book has some folks wondering what people are really seeking that drives them to this work.

Although I find some parts of the book quite helpful, I am one of the critics in general, not because of the main idea – but of the way that idea is presented. (I am also not too happy with the mass merchandising of faith – but I’ll write that in the “Purpose Driven Journal” with my “Purpose Driven Pen” after I drink from my “Purpose Driven coffee cup”). My concern is expressed in the very title of the book – the word “Driven”.

According to the dictionary, driven means, “being propelled or pushed forward. Having a compulsive or urgent nature”. Mature Christianity isn’t about God pushing us along or a compulsive need requiring us to participate. Christianity is about our willingness to go, because of our love for and relationship with our creator. People who are “driven” are often singularly visioned, inflexible, and uninvolved with the people or places around them. Think of a work addict – someone so consumed or driven by work that they take work on vacation, ignore their family and soon lose perspective of the rest of the world. We are not created to be driven – even by an idea like our divine purpose – we as God’s children are instructed to be called.

We are to be called, not driven.

The lectionary scripture in FirstPeter reveals a treatise on what we are called to be – living stones building the body of faith as temple of the Christ by our actions and behaviors. But in that treatise is a list of who we are called to be.

9But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

Identity - A Chosen People

One of the things that the converts from Judaism to Christianity were missing was their status as “chosen”. As the Hebrew people they had been raised for generations with the fact they were God’s own people – chosen and called to proclaim the name of God. When they converted to Christianity, there was a sense of confusion and loss in some early communities. They asked, “we were once God’s chosen people. Now who are we?” This book goes to remind them that they are still chosen of God and still were a people proclaiming the name of God.
It is a humbling and beautiful thing to realize we are not Christians because we chose God, or were driven to God. We are Christians because God chose us – humanity – to create, relate to and reveal the relationship to. We are a chosen people called to relationship.

Service - A Royal Priesthood

There are two services offered to God in the Old Testament: those done by prophets, and those done by priests. A prophet is someone who brings the message of God to the people. A priest is someone who brings the people to God. That’s our role – we are part of a royal priesthood – we are not called to speak for God. We are called to bring the people to God. Imagine how embracing and powerful the church would be if we remembered that we are a priesthood – called to serve and to connect.

Community – A Holy Nation

A nation is a collective of people, with different traits, backgrounds and gifts, who live within the some territory and hold a common bond. We as Christians are called to be God’s nation – not defined by our country – but by our citizenship is heaven. A nation is not made of people who are the same, but by people with the same foundational contract. To the age old question “well, can’t I just worship God at home alone?” the answer is Yes – but the call is for us to be together – to be a nation of Christ on earth.

So that’s who we are – living stones. We are not people meant to be driven by internal goals or external faith precepts. We are people meant to be called by the clear voice of God, forgiven by the grace of Christ and gathered into one people.

Our Brother James

Who was James in relation to Jesus?

Who is James in relation to us?

There’s a lot of scholarly argument about who James is. Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox faiths claim James is not related to Jesus in any way, because their dogma tells them Mary never had sex and was a perpetual virgin. Many Protestants believe James was indeed the son of Joseph and Mary making him the younger half brother of Jesus. Other protestants use ancient traditions to make the case that after Jesus was born Joseph died young, and Mary married a man named Clopas who had children of his own – making James the older stepbrother of Jesus. And still more suggest James was actually a cousin because neither Hebrew nor Aramaic have a word for “cousin” and used the term “brother” interchangeably.

So: non-brother, younger half-brother, older step-brother or cousin – we don’t know. But what we do know is that he was Jesus’ spiritual brother – just as the Bible calls us all “joint heirs with Jesus” – we are all God’s children and related to Christ through that. And it’s that spiritual brother role that I find the book of James brings to me. James is our spiritual big brother.

Everyone needs an older sibling (even if they aren’t born with one). That role of someone who has a little more experience, a little more wisdom to give, and is someone that you can talk to about the really sticky things you might not otherwise bring up in conversations with your peers is a need we all have to fulfill. An older sibling who has been through what you have experienced or endured, and can support you through your joys and encourage you is a great gift of heaven. Throughout my life I have been blessed with mentors and “big sisters” who have taught, nurtured, laughed frequently and shared experiences with me. As I got a little older I have been blessed to be a “big sister” to some younger men and women who have allowed me that joy and help them by sharing my experiences, encouragements, thoughts and know-how. It’s the larger circle of life in God’s family on earth and we are always blessed when we get the rare chance to participate in it.

Spiritually, James is our big brother. His 5 chapter book deals with the real-life issues other writings skirt right by. His speech is plain. His message is unmistakable. While other biblical books challenge us with the truth of resurrection and the beauty of being saved by God’s grace – James comes along as says “Yes, grace is a gift of God, but don’t just sit on your can while receiving it. Do something! Don’t just take the gift – USE IT.” The book of James is a treatise on Christian maturity. It’s a book that says “it is time to grow up little sister/little brother – here’s how”. Let’s take a quick look at the 5 chapters of this amazing letter and see the message our bro has for us.

Chapter 1: Be Positive Under Pressure

Whether you are suffering from lack of wisdom and don’t know what to do (ask for it!), or are being tempted, James tell us in chapter 1 to persevere. The ability to see the hand of God in all things, and endure the whirlwind of life on earth is a great sign of spiritual maturity. How do we learn to be positive under the pressures of our jobs, ideas, expectations and regrets? By hearing and doing. Those are the bookends of the Christian faith. Hearing helps us understand God’s relationship with us and the world around us. Doing helps us live in and take it into our being. Christians don’t always have to be happy – but they should be hopeful (and reach out with hope to one another).

James 1:12 “Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.”

Chapter 2: Be Merciful to Others

Maturity in Christianity means realizing there are more people in God’s world than you, and embracing them with equality and grace. Christianity is not selfish, or self-seeking. It does not seek to make someone think like you, act like you or be like you. It seeks to open a door to God for all people so that in relationship with their creator they can be who God made them, not who God made you. Playing favorites – rewarding the rich, desirable or similar, while punishing the poor, needy or different is not the act of a mature Christian, but of a slave to ego, our big brother reminds us.

Mercy, we are reminded, is not just in thinking – its found by doing. Faith without deeds is dead, James says. It isn’t saying we can “work our way to heaven” – but it is saying if we produce no fruit, we might be the prettiest most useless tree on the planet. Mercy isn’t a feeling, its an action.

James 2:12, 13 “Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment!”

Chapter 3: Master Your Mouth!

A recurrent theme is this small book is to watch what you say. Its not just the fact that words can tear down or build up that has James concerned. It’s the idea that people speak without thinking, or let their emotions take over the communication center and do a lot of damage. Things like belittling people, gossip, name calling, or discouraging words don’t transmit the love of Christ or desire of God. They simply hurt. There are times that people have to be told “No” or instructed that they are doing something incorrectly or unwisely. However James reminds us with his talk about wisdom there is a big difference between “instruction” and “destruction” – Use the wisdom that comes from Heaven – it’s positive, controlled, God-centered. That way your words can create, and not destroy.

James 3:2 “We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check.”

Chapter 4: Be a Peacemaker, not a Troublemaker

Stop fighting. Stop fighting with each other over stuff like baptism, communion, and what hymnal to purchase. Stop fighting with other Christians over worship styles, who can serve God, and what prayer style is best. Stop fighting with people in the world about the things of the world. Stop suing each other at the drop of a hat, and stop blaming other people for your problems. It’s that clear. We are to show the power of Christ through our peacemaking, not how much controversy we can bring to the table. Like any good big brother, James says in a timely way “forget about your petty drama and get over it! Grow up and follow God.”

James 4:1 “What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you?”

Chapter 5: Be Patient not Panicked

Don’t run around grumbling, blaming and acting badly. Just as God is willing to wait an eternity for us to grow into the people God wants us to be, we should reflect that likeness in our patience. Remember when you endure a trial that God is a healer who gives good gifts. Sometimes those gifts require our work, our patience, our learning, our seeking, or our forgiveness. Sometimes we simply have to wait. Everyone goes through times at the top of the circle, and everybody goes through times at the bottom. Instead of deciding that God has withdrawn from you during those darker times or events, remember that God uses time, wisdom, prayer and faith as healing/helping/guiding elements. Don’t panic. Be patient. God is still God.

James 5:7 Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord's coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains.

James didn’t help us with the other older sibling stuff – like how to tie our shoes, or what to say to our parents when we come home with a bad report card, but he does help us with the questions that plague us in our walk to maturity in Christ. The book of James gives us 5 lessons from our big brother as a blueprint about who we should be and how we should act. No matter who he was to Jesus, he has certainly been a godsend to us.

Easter: Defying the Cult of Order

Reading: 1 Corinthians 15:1-14

The Cult of Order

In the year 203 CE, a 22 year old Roman woman named Vivia Perpetua and her slave known as Felicitas were arrested along with 3 other people for the crime of practicing Christianity. Roman Emperor Severus was desperately trying to align all the many religions of Rome into one ordered system. In his mind a Roman could worship any god he or she wanted, as long as they were willing to show honor to other gods as well. Two religions opposed this practice: Judaism and Christianity. Jews were not new to Roman experience and seemed to be an unconquerable people when it came to changing their faith. Christianity was still a new faith, quiet and law abiding, and it wasn’t really a religion a lot of people understood. It grew during the persecution of Christians under Nero in the year 68 CE, but had settled into the host of other religious entities until Severus started persecuting the sect and outlawed the converting of people to Christianity.

Vivia Perpetua and Felicitas were given the same choice all arrested Christians were: You could curse the name of Jesus and be set free, or you would be executed in the Coliseum with the rest of the criminals at noon. Even though they seemed to have everything to live for – Vivia Perpetua was a new mother and Felicitas gave birth while in prison - both women refused to turn their back on Christ or curse him. They were both taken into the Coliseum to be killed.

Perpetua was a Roman Citizen, which meant she couldn’t be crucified or ill-treated by guards. She was chained to a post to be killed by the wild beasts of the day. Although she was mauled, her wounds were not fatal. A guard was sent to kill her in front of the gathered crowd (executions were at noon, gladiators were before sunset – so the lunch time crowd was the rough and angry mob of the streets there to watch the bloodletting). He stabbed her, but his sword did not do enough damage and the wound was not fatal either. Claiming the power of Christ over the powers of death in this world, she grabbed the soldier’s sword and slit her own throat – defying Roman justice by taking her own life. The crowd was stunned in horrified, confused silence. They could not understand why a young mother would stick to her religion with such surety when the rest of them felt such doubt about it all.

Felicitas was a slave and condemned to be crucified. She suffered mightily at the hands of the guards prior to her crucifixion and was tortured both prior to and after being nailed to the cross. Her singing and prayer during her suffering began to dampen the spirit of the crowd. They could not understand the strength a mere slave girl had to withstand such torture. The Roman Historian Eutropilius reported the crowd left the arena as she suffered – their desire to watch a ugly death stunted, the games were cancelled for the evening. She was found alive in the morning and killed by the arena master.

(Note: There are many different stories of Perpetua and Felicity, including Roman Catholic Dogma that names them as Saints and adds miracles to their tales, however this account is from Roman records and verified from scholars at Oxford as the most accurate account we have).

The Age of Doubt

Perpetua and Felicitas are credited with bringing Rome into the age of doubt. They defied the cult of order Romans lived by. In the Roman world, everything was neat, even, orderly and went entirely to plan. If things didn’t go as planned, the Emperor simply changed that plan so it did. Nothing was left to change. Nothing unexpected should happen. Romans - the folks who gave us the calendar, the aqueduct system, and paved roads – knew everything would be okay as long as it was orderly.

Then these Christian women died in front of them claiming death was not final, life was eternal and the son of God had rose from the grave to live again. That was certainly not an orderly thought. Christianity was downright disorderly! And powerful. They began to look around. Would they die for their gods? Certainly not! There were hundreds of gods that governed daily life – how would you even know which one to die for? Did they even believe in the gods anymore, or was it just the orderly thing to do? Why was Severus determined to fit all the religions into one system and why was the Christian God too big, too powerful, and too amazing to fall into line with the others? Suddenly common Romans, Centurions, plebeians and politicians all begin to wonder if there wasn’t something more. There was something those women had gotten from their faith in a resurrected Jewish Rabbi who preached love and life.

Doubt is not always a bad thing. It led Rome to question its orderly system of gods and policies and accept a change. In 313 the Emperor Constantine declared tolerance for Christianity, and later sought the make the Roman Empire a Christian nation. The Roman’s ability to accept and embrace Christianity is often credited to the age of doubt they went through as a result of the witness of the martyrs.

The Life of Christ

Easter Sunday is a day we celebrate Christ’s resurrection. It’s the day we as God’s sons and daughters defy the cult of order around us. Believing someone rose from the dead is not orderly, reasonable, or scientifically verifiable. It doesn’t fit into a “system” of thought at all (which is why I find “systemic theology” to be such a funny term). In a world where people are still governed by many gods – media, status, money, greed, work, achievement, vanity, etc – Easter Sunday stands proudly as a day to say “none of those things will add one day to your life but Jesus Christ is eternal and his love makes you eternal too”. Instead of scholars at the Jesus Seminar doubting whether or not the resurrection really happened, it is the people of the world who look to us with the eyes of doubt. They doubt their petty gods of rationalization and emotions are real or lasting at all. That doubt can open the door to their freedom from the tyranny of order into the flowing, pulsing, healing, eternal life in Christ.

Easter sermons are oh-so-easy to write. You can talk about life out of death, the women who found him and thought he was a gardener, Peter who ran to the tomb and was forgiven for his cowardice, the walk to Emmaus, the empty tomb, the rolled away stone, the angel…but this Easter I want to do something different. I was us to remember that the resurrection is a fact – an order defying, logic upturning, fact. And because it is a fact – the world will change. Carry Easter in your heart this year not as an empty tomb, a lily and some chocolate eggs. Carry it as a light shining out of a terrible darkness that Jesus is alive and because of that truth the world and its petty little gods will never be the same.

This Easter remember: We may not be called to die for Christ like Vivia Perpetua or suffer the pains of Felicitas. But we are called to live for Jesus and spread the light of peace, hope, and strength to overcome the pains of this world in all that we do and all that we are.

Christ is risen from the dead! Go and be among the living. Go and live among the dying. Go.

Chiaroscuro: The Clear Dark

Chiaroscuro: The Clear Dark

Lectionary Reading: Ephesians 5:8-14

Anybody who enjoys language inevitably picks out words they love to say or hear. When I was in middle school I fell in love with the word “Lugubrious”(mournful and brooding) after a teacher said a 500 word essay should not be written lugubriously. By high school I picked up “Isomorphism” (a mathematic concept in linear algebra of one-to-one correspondence of sets) as my word love affair. I frequently stated my chess club and math club were isomorphic (yea, that’s the nerd in “Shepnerd”). My favorite Hebrew word is “Tzedakah” (to give charity justly) and my favorite Greek word is Ekkletos which literally means “gathered in from different sources” and became the biblical word for “church”. My favorite Spanish word (out of the 7 or 8 I actually know correctly) is “Esperanza” (hope). But of all the words in all the languages in all the world – my favorite word is “Chiaroscuro”.

Chiaroscuro is a word used to describe the interplay between darkness and light. It’s used in art, in photography and interior design. It comes from a combination of two Latin words: Ciarus (Clear) and Obscurus (Dark). The clear dark. Shadow and light. Darkness and dawn. What a perfect metaphor for my life, and my faith. What a perfect way to describe what God is trying to do in our world through us – to make the night clear, and overcome the darkness with light. Paul certainly thought a lot of this symbolism. He uses darkness and light as one of the major analogies in his letters and the lectionary scripture for this week in Ephesians is a great example.

Reminding the Ephesians, and all of us, that we are children of light – even in the darkest of situations – Paul draws contrast to the differences between darkness and light. Let’s look at the Chiaroscuro.

The Surrounding Dark – The Comforting Light

There is darkness in our world and each of us encounters it sometime. Some go through long periods of their life journey when God seems far, or hope seems lost. They tend to call that the “dark time” of their life. Others can point to a singular event of blinding intensity that enshrouds them. Some folks have “dark people” who draw them into avenues or habits that nearly choke the light from their soul. Others have dark thoughts of emptiness or depression – described by Catholic mystic St. John of the Cross as the “dark night of the soul”. The surrounding darkness is pervasive in our world.

Everyone has things they do, eat or run to when looking for comfort and light. Some people take walks when they are hurting and clear their head that way. Others write journals, go fishing, watch movies or drown their sorrows in a couple of pints of Ben and Jerry’s Chunky Monkey ice cream. For me, anytime I am about to be overcome by a surrounding darkness I resort to a technique I have used since I was a kid – listening to music in the dark, with the stereo lights on. When I still lived with parents, it was a huge all-in-one record, tape, and radio set with headphones (waking my parents up while listening to Van Halen at midnight would have definitely increased the darkness in my life!). As time went by the media changed – car radio, clock radio, boom box, centrally wired home theater system, modem shining in my office – but the comfort remains.

Not long ago, I sat in my office in the dark one night – praying and thinking – when I heard Kate Voegele’s “Its Only Life” sing…

"Tears are forming in your eyes
A storm is warning in the sky
The end of the world it seems
You bend down and you fall on your knees

Don't look away
Don't run away
Hey baby it's only life
Don't lose your faith
Don't run away
Hey baby its only life"

While it’s not the most theologically profound piece of secular music ever written (that would be Madonna’s “Crazy for You”), it touched me with the right message at the right time – encouraging me to face the issue and find perspective. That’s what the comforting light does. That’s why I love to hear music by the stereo lights.

It doesn’t seem a fair contest – A tiny green LED light or small blue modem flickering against the surrounding darkness – and yet the light always perseveres. Paul describes us as CHILDREN of light. Not warriors. Not lighthouses. Not supersonic lasers. Children: the smallest of people, the most vulnerable, the most fragile. Yet even when we feel so small and overpowered by the dark things we encounter – that tiny light of us – powered by the inextinguishable Spirit of God is enough to keep the darkness at bay.

The Initial Darkness – The Natural Light

Genesis tells us the world was in darkness until God said “Let there be light”. So darkness was first. It goes that way with us too. Each of us is born into a world with a certain amount of spiritual darkness. We are born knowing need, knowing hunger, needing touch and our parents provide that for us. Before too long our little baby brains figure out a great spiritual truth – we need a provider. But, once we start toddling along and learn to feed ourselves we buy into the idea that we have all we need. Even in Christian homes where prayer happens before every meal and Sunday school is the norm – the darkness of self-providence and ego comes upon us. As Paul tell us in this passage (approximately quoting Isaiah 60:1) – its time to wake up. Arise. Shine. (give God the glory, glory…).

There are 2 ways for people to wake up. First there is the sudden glaring beam of light way. In this method – the person pulls down the shades – covering all windows and closing all doors. At some point the alarm will ring and the shades will be raised or the light turned on all at once. After squinting in the painful reality of morning, the person becomes ready to embrace the day. While the method is fast, it is also quite jarring and visually painful. The other way is to leave the shades up and the door open. As the sun rises, so does the light – slowly, naturally – waking the person in small degrees. It can take a lot longer, but the pain is vastly lower.

Those are the two ways we wake up to God. Some people meet God through their every day life – through parents and school, through friends, church and mentors. Slowly they add to their faith and relationship with their creator. Others have a life crisis – a moment of loss or a moment of change or clarity profound in its ability to stun and blind. Then they see God and realize the light has come.

Peter and Paul are two good examples of this awakening. Peter saw the life of Jesus shine every day. He saw healing, heard sermons, engaged in prayer and conversation. Slowly with every footstep at Christ’s side (and through that dark night where his feet led him away from the savior) Peter saw the light. Paul didn’t get a couple years of lessons, tutoring, astounding forgiveness and commissioning. Paul was riding along when WHAM! Darkness in the form of blindness and three days later WHAM! Amazing, beautiful light.

Is it any wonder Paul tells us so much about chiaroscuro? Paul knows all about darkness and light.

We as people of God, as children of light, need to understand what Paul is saying - there are those unspeakable things that happen in the darkness that surrounds our world. But more than that – we need to know – like Paul – with no uncertainty that the light overcomes the darkness. Whether it comes shining in all at once from the Spirit, or slowly rises on a path of healing that takes time and wisdom– the light will shine on you, in you, and through you. The light will cleanse you of your sins, and heal you from your sorrows.

No one is so small that God cannot shine a light that drives even the greatest darkness from around them. Even now we live with hope and assurance that God will create for us a clear dark.

Is It A Sin?

Lectionary Reading: Romans 4:1-8;13-17

One of the questions I hear a lot starts with, “Is it a sin to….” The end of the question varies – “to commit suicide”, “to get angry”, “to divorce an abusive husband”, “to use birth control”… depending on the issue at hand. The sad thing is, I hear a lot more talk about sin than salvation and a lot more consternation about being slaves to sin than celebration about being free in love.

Paul seems to have been hearing the same stuff from the Roman church. In Chapter 4 he launches into a tirade about Abraham, reminding the people that Abraham didn’t inherit the blessings of God because he was sinless (in fact, in you know anything about Abraham you know he had quite a few recorded sins) but because he was loved by God, and God forgave his sins. Paul stresses the important thing is not the law of interpretation, but the love of God. It’s a funny soapbox for a man who spent most of his life as a Pharisee – a teacher of the law. Yet his speech points out some neat things for us too.

Not Every Bad Thing Is A Sin!

I think one of the reason sin is so prevalent in our world is that we talk so much about it and have trivialized it to the point that everything seems like a sin. When we do that the real destruction caused by actual sin goes unnoticed amidst all the judgment over petty issues and personal ideals. There is a difference between casual acts of humanity that may not be in our best interest and sin. In Romans 4 Paul points out a scripture from the old testament that says, “Blessed are they
whose transgressions are forgiven,
and whose sins are covered.”

Transgressions and sins are different things. It reminds me of the old preacher’s joke. A woman walks up to her Pastor one day after church and says “You have to forgive me pastor, I am subject to a terrible sin. The sin of pride has gotten me.” The concerned pastor frowned and asked her, “what do you mean?”. “Well,” she began. “Every Sunday I look at all the women in church and realize I am the prettiest of them all. The whole time you are preaching I become aware of my beauty and how much better looking I am than the rest of your congregants.” The pastor laughed and said, “Oh Mrs. Jones – that’s not a sin. That’s a mistake!”

There is a difference in the two! Transgression means literally “To step across” (American Heritage Dictionary). It means to walk across a boundary. When we step outside of God’s will for us, we are transgressing. Its not hard to do – particularly when some parts of God’s will (where we should work, how we should vote or think about things like abortion, suicide, divorce or war) are not very clear. Still when we step over the boundaries, we are transgressing.

Sin is a conscious betrayal of God’s will by our action or inaction. Sin is when we know exactly what God wants, and deliberately do the other. Sin strikes as the very heart of God and God’s desire for who we are. I think its a mistake (but not a sin) to call every thing that someone does we find to be unacceptable a “sin”. What it does is surround us with sin – and overwhelm us with a sense of spiritual helplessness. By labeling everything sin, nothing gets examined – we just chalk it up to our “fallen nature”, ask forgiveness and move forward. But a transgression – that we could heal, learn from, or discover with – if only we did more than slap a skull and crossbones label on it and surrender to it. A sin reflects a betrayal of a deity. We may transgress against each other – but we do not sin against each other.

More clearly – there are differences between transgressions (forgiven) and sins (covered).

Transgression
Stepping over the boundaries
Sometimes we know where the boundaries are
Sometimes we don’t
We can transgress and not mean to do that
We can learn from transgressions
We can transgress against one another
We can be forgiven
We can forgive others

Sin
Deliberately betraying God
We know what God’s laws are
We know when we are stepping over them
We intentionally are choosing to disobey God – you can’t accidentally sin.
We can learn from the consequences of sin
We cannot sin against one another - a sin is a betrayal of deity
We can be forgiven by God
We cannot forgive the sins of another (only God can forgive)

By keeping a clear view of what we are doing – we are more spiritually prepared to learn from, seek forgiveness and allow God to change our behavior.

Its about Grace!

Further Paul goes on to remind the Romans once again that you cannot “work” out your salvation and you can’t work to get forgiveness. It is the Grace of God that frees you from your transgressions and covers your sins. When we spend so much time obsessed with what is a sin and what are the consequences – we miss the whole point of Christianity which is that Jesus Christ died and rose again to take this matter off our hands (and off our minds). Christ wants a glorifying body that reflects his love, power, change and peace to the world. But just going over again and again our sinful natures – we aren’t bringing anyone closer to God – we are simply hamsters on the wheel of guilt.

Its important people study the bible and know the absolute will of God. Its also important for people to study the bible so they know where the boundaries are and are less likely to transgress against God. But it is critical Paul reminds us – to dwell and celebrate the Grace of God that saves us, and embraced Abraham.

So in your life, instead of always asking the backwards question “Is it a sin….” Start by asking the frontwards question – “What does God want me to do or say” or “Is it the gospel?” –The Bible says every morning God’s mercy is new for us. It’s a new day. Don’t dwell on the failure. Live your life on the faith.

Weeds in the Wheat

Weeds in the Wheat

A meditation on the NIU shooting

I read with great sadness the news about the NIU shooting. The news rings heavy with echoes of Virginia Tech, The Amish School Shooting, Columbine, and school violence before and after.

How does this keep happening? What causes it? Why aren’t we learning? Why aren’t we changing? Why are our precious young people still dying?

Matthew 13:24-30

24Jesus told them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. 26When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared.
27"The owner's servants came to him and said, 'Sir, didn't you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?'
28" 'An enemy did this,' he replied. "The servants asked him, 'Do you want us to go and pull them up?'
29" 'No,' he answered, 'because while you are pulling the weeds, you may root up the wheat with them. 30Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.' "

These tragedies happen because there are weeds in the wheat. In the field of God’s children where we all can be fed by the wheat of justice, forgiveness, mercy and love – the enemy has sown other seeds – anger, abuse, social ostracism, greed, ego, exploitation, prejudice, and other things.

In the wheat of our health care system which offers healing and hope to the mentally ill, is the weed that too many people fall through the cracks and go unseen, unknown, and unhealed.

In the wheat of personal freedom to express yourself and to protect your family, comes the weed of automatic weapons, easy to buy handguns and armor piercing bullets.

In the wheat of our God-intended design to be social beings who relate to one another in community, come the weeds of ego – the need for fame, revenge or status as well as the weeds of isolation, cruelty, and manipulation.

Like the servants we ask, "what can we do to get rid of these weeds"? We are advised some of these weeds will always be among us, that only God can remove them from our species at the end of time. While we can’t take the weeds from the field – we are not helpless to sustain the wheat. The weeds were sown when we were asleep.

Now we must wake up.

It’s a pain-staking task – I know. We must go out into the field, putting some of our other chores and distractions aside for a moment, and one by one untangle the wheat from the weeds. Pulling them apart and nurturing the soil with prayer, wisdom and justice. We must grow our roots together to fend off the isolating tactics of the weeds, and we must lift, carry and journey with those whose beloved grain has gone the threshing house to be embraced in God’s love.

We must never forget or ignore the Spirit wind of God which blows through our field of wheat, causing us to dance together in praise and wonder. We must never abandon a piece of our field to the takeover over the weeds.

Tonight, with the people of NIU, Virginia Tech, and so many other places near and far we grieve – because there are weeds in the wheat.

Tonight, with the people of NIU, Virginia Tech, and so many other places near and far we have a great hope – because there is wheat growing through the weeds.

Hearing Your Vocation

Lectionary Passage: Matthew 3:1-3, 13-16

One of the neat structures in the Old Testament is the many forms of poetry that exist between the pages. There are acronymic poems in proverbs and psalms (each verse starting with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet in succession), cuplets, doublets, and something very close to the idea of a sonnet. However, that poetry isn’t just found in the pages of the people of Israel. The New Testament has some poetic elements in it as well. Matthew 3 is a perfect example. It starts and ends in a circular pattern. It begins with John’s voice calling (Latin – “vocatio” or “de voco”) and it ends with God’s voice calling (Latin “de voco”). The first call is fulfilling the scripture “Repent. Prepare the way for the Lord”, the second call is “This is my son, whom I love.” (in another text we are also called to listen to him). It is clear in the beautiful circle of God interacting with people that we are called. We are invoked (invoco). But to what?

It’s not hard to see how we get confused. The same word used in these scriptures is the root of the word we use for the word “vocation”. But the meaning of the word “vocation” has been irreparably damaged by both secular and religious language. It is up to us, in the story of Jesus’ baptism to find its true meaning.

Vocation: It’s not your job!

In the secular world “vocation” (verb of invoco) is a word we use to describe the job we have. We even use it to describe a type of schooling that teaches job skills over academic accomplishments. Remember Grease? “If you can’t pass high school, there’s always hair school!” We have begun to think of the word “vocation” as an every day working word or descriptive of “career”. This brings us into great confusion – suddenly we mix our identity with our job and lose huge chunks of our self, our time and our sanity. I’ve heard it from many professions:
“Nursing isn’t what I do, it’s who I am!”
“I don’t teach for a living, I’m a teacher!”
“The accountant in me doesn’t rest, even on Sundays!”
and something I was told after I retired from pulpit ministry
“How can you retire from who you are?”

But vocation – the call of God - isn’t about that thing we do because we have a contract, or a pay check, or a schedule. Vocation is to be called of God and hear that voice telling us who we are – defining us by our relationship with God. It is not telling us to define who we are by what job we do. Jesus comes to John the Baptist as a rabbi – a teacher. But just as John’s first call was to “repent!” – Christ’s response is to come to him for baptism – to repent of the past, and start anointed with a public witness of the fact he is a child of God, first and foremost. Although John points out Jesus doesn’t need to repent, Jesus says he needs baptism and as a child of God wants to start out like the rest of us.

Notice God didn’t say “This is my teacher” or “This is my healer” or “This is my minister”. God said “This is my son, whom I love.” Jesus would be a rabbi, healer, minister, savior and so many other things but first his vocation was to be God’s son.

So it is with you. You are God’s daughter. You are God’s son. You are beloved of God. That’s your calling. That’s your identity. That’s your job. The places God puts you, the jobs God will give you, are guided and blessed because you are God’s child.

This may sound like semantics, but in our world it can have very serious consequences. Mixing up your identity with your employment can have lasting and bitter effects. I have known many people who lost their jobs, and nearly lost their minds. Suddenly without their work they seem to lose so much of themselves that they begin to treat their partner/husband/wife with hostility, they either ignore their children or become hyper-critical of them – pressuring them to “do better than I did” or “go into nursing/teaching/computers/funeral directing so you will always have a job”. They sink into depression, despair, and chaos. Why? Because they have lost a part of themselves. In counseling folks in that situation, I have frequently used this scripture of Christ’s baptism to bring them back to the starting point – to who they are. God's child. Don’t lose that. Don’t forget it.

Vocation: It’s not your religion

The clergy have done just as much damage to the word vocation as the secular world. We throw that word around to mean “religious life” (if you’re catholic), or to have a calling to work in the church – minister, missionary, youth worker, musician. We talk about ministers being “called” without remembering that teachers, nurses, army folks and the unemployed are also “called”. I have a friend who is very proud of being a pastor. He talks incessantly about it and claims, sometimes unaware he’s doing it, “pastoral” privileges. I once heard him start a sentence by saying “Jesus was talking to the pastors…” My first thought was “who the heck are they?” Jesus talked to fishermen, tax collectors, lawyers and gatekeepers. There weren’t any “pastors” until much much later. The problem with such thoughts is it creates a hierarchy that destroys the common beautiful witness of God’s people.

Being called to a “religious vocation” makes you no more holy, correct, or spiritual than any one else. Relying on and triumphantly praising professional ministry gives people an opportunity to ignore their vocation as God’s children and bearers of Christ’s light. “Well, I wasn’t called to the ministry so I don’t have to witness,” we say. Or one of the more interesting things I was told once in regard to a person misquoting the bible and causing damage to her family in the process, “Look, Rev. correcting scriptural issues is your job, not mine.”

But we are all called of God, and we are all responsible to shine the light of love and mercy to one another. Don’t downplay your part in bringing the kingdom of God to earth (as it is in heaven). John doesn’t really want to baptize Jesus. It seems silly to him to use a symbol of repentance on someone with no sin. But John is called to baptize and Jesus wants not only to fulfill his ministry but fulfill John’s as well. Jesus didn’t need to be baptized half as much as John needed to baptize him. Supporting the mission and witness of a pastor is a beautiful thing, and clergy add a lot to the spectrum of faith. But the job doesn’t belong simply to the clergy.

One of my favorite old hymns is “Softly and Tenderly” – it reminds us that invocation (which is the act of calling to someone, not just the prayer we say before a fancy dinner or religious event) is not only coming to us from God who calls us son or daughter, and the Holy Spirit who calls us to our job, our gifts and our worship but also from Christ who offers us the greatest vocation of all: coming home.

“Softly and tenderly Jesus is calling,
calling for you and for me;
see, on the portals he's waiting and watching,
watching for you and for me.

Come home, come home;
ye who are weary come home;
earnestly, tenderly, Jesus is calling,
calling, O sinner, come home!”

May we hear, live and love our vocation, now and always. Amen.

The School of Faith

Read: John 6:22-32

What are the three greatest inventions on the world? That might take a long time for most people to list – considering the scientific advancement from the pulley-lever system, to the wheel, to the internet. But my three are easily available in my head. In my thinking the three best inventions in the world are:

1. The Ziplock Bag – you can do anything with a ziplock bag!
2. Eyeglasses – they are like clothes for your face!
3. The Class Syllabus

Almost anyone who has been through a college course will tell you one of the greatest innovations in higher education is a class syllabus. This beautiful list given at the beginning of the semester detailing what will be discussed each day, when assignments will be due and exactly what is expected of the student is a blessing. It’s comforting to have all of your duties and challenges laid out in a nice organized way.

The crowds who followed Jesus - like college students they were seekers and learners - wanted an organized approach to what Jesus had to offer. He feed them until they were full (also like college students, they went to his lecture with no lunch money in their pockets and had to be fed with free loaves and fish) and they wanted to follow him and his program to the letter. This crowd shows us some things we should know.

When You Notice Jesus is Missing – Look for Him!

The ever observant crowd notices one of those weird things about Jesus – he seems to get around pretty quick for someone who doesn’t have many modes of transportation. The bible says they noticed he didn’t get in the one ship that had left, but he showed up on the other side of the lake! (They did not witness the water walking, and probably could not imagine that explanation – even if Occomb’s Razor reminds us the simplest solution is usually the correct one). So what do they do?

A. Retrace his last steps to see if they can predict his future behavior?
B. Decide that just because they can’t see him doesn’t mean he has left, and act like he is still there?
C. Just sit down and wait for him to come back?

NO! They get in their boats and start looking for him! They know he is missing, and they know they need to be in his presence. So they seek him earnestly and immediately. Sometimes we look around our jobs, life, relationships or family and discover Jesus is missing. When our work feels empty and we aren’t sure why we are doing it, it’s usually because we have forgotten to involve Christ in our calling (through our passion, through our commitment, through our faith that God in us is making a difference even when we aren’t seeing immediate results). Sometimes our marriages or deep friendships start to feel routine or rote. It’s usually because we forgot to include Christ’s love, listening, spontaneity and passion for unexpected loving gestures in our lives. If you notice Jesus is missing. Don’t hang around and shake your head. Go look for him!

Ask Questions

When they find Jesus (and the eggheads in the group start trying to compute how he got there without a boat) the first thing they do is ask how long he’d been there. Later they will ask him about the work of God and what it is they can do to do it. They aren’t shy, or pretending to be so holy that they know all the answers. They ask the questions –easy and hard – and so should we.

We have a tendency to silence our questions of God. We don’t talk about them openly, and we certainly don’t ask the wise people God has placed around us. Many times we don’t even ask Jesus himself. But asking the questions we have – technical and spiritual ones – helps us grow and develops our faith. As a youth minister, I was involved in a van rollover with 2 sponsors and 12 kids in the car. We were headed to a conference in Denver when a back tire of a van I was driving blew, rolling us into the intersection. No one was killed, but there were broken legs, a girl with a broken collar bone, cuts and bruises on all the kids, glass in my head and a soft tissue injury for the other adult sponsor. We ended up in a trauma center in Pueblo – some less hurt kids being flown home immediately, others being taken back after their hospital stay. I was one of the last to get released and back. When we were finally all together again we had a “decompression” meeting where we talked about the wreck. We started with a prayer and then I said, “Who has something to say?” Immediately a boy spoke up and said what they had all been thinking since the moment the van flipped and the screaming started. “We prayed for a safe trip. Why did we wreck? Did God even hear us?” Before I could give them my answer a number of kids said “I’m so glad you asked that! I thought I was the only one who felt like that!” His courage opened doors of healing for many young people that day.

Ask the question. It doesn’t mean you’re dumb, faithless or lost. It means you care enough to want to understand.

Believe in the One who was sent

When the crowd asked Jesus what works God was expecting of them, they were asking for a syllabus. But the Christian life is not so easily organized and the course outline only contains one sentence. "Believe in the One he has sent," Jesus said. Oddly enough, something that simple will take a lifetime of fulfillment.

Our rabbi’s answer illustrates the word "belief" is an action verb. The crowd asked for a work - a job - and the word Jesus gives them is "believe". On the surface it may seem like an easy task. It’s not hard to believe in Jesus. Evidence of his life, death, and resurrection are everywhere. But the part you have to work for is the evidence in your heart of his relationship with you.
When your adolescent daughter lets her math grades plummet just to show you she isn’t happy with her curfew, you have to believe the fact Jesus is alive makes a difference. You have to remember what Jesus taught about grace as you deal with your disappointment and frustration. You have to put aside your desire to hurt back and live his instructions to treat one another with love. It will be an effort. When someone treats you badly, at work or home, you have to believe the facts Jesus died for you and rose again and you are an heir to the kingdom of Heaven makes a difference. You have to act as a member of the chosen, of the priesthood of believers. You can’t just wallow in hurt feelings or frustrated anxiety. Do what Jesus says. Forgive and empower. Believe in him.

It isn’t enough to believe Jesus exists. Your belief must change your life, your church and your world. If we as a body worked on our belief in the One God has sent our world would change. When you are out in the world, can people tell you are a Christian by your acceptance and faith? How does Jesus change the way you live? Frequently ask yourself these questions: How does a person who does not believe in Jesus respond to this situation? How do I respond to this situation? Are the responses different? If not, work to see the changes of Christ more fully in your life.

The seekers from the feeding of the 5,000 come a long way in these short verses. They find the Messiah by seeking him. They ask the questions that will lead them to greater faith and they get the syllabus for the Christian life. That’s the same class we are taking. What’s this semester or season in your life going to require? Believe in the One God has sent.

Have a Truly "New" Year

Lectionary Reading: Hebrews 2:10-18

I’m no stranger to New Year’s resolutions. Problem is – they usually end up being the same old thing. Many a year I have resolved to lose weight and tone up (you can put me down for that again this year), to balance my finances and give more of my gifts to God’s service. Last year I decided to do something unusual and resolved to be more open to people and self-revealing – to not be so private and mysterious but actually talk about my thoughts, feelings and experiences. Boy, am I glad the year is over! Goodbye to being friendly; Hello to fortress of solitude!

A Revolutionary Resolution

This year, however, I find scripture calling us to do some things that are really new. Not just new as in ‘It’s a used car but its new to me” kind of new – but the amazing “The old has gone the new has come! (2 Cor 5:17)” kind of new. The lectionary reading from the book of Hebrews makes sense to be chosen as a scripture for a new year – because the mindset and ideas God teaches us through it are absolutely revolutionary.

No one knows who wrote the letter the Hebrews – but it was clearly a document made to help converts from Judaism to Christianity understand who Jesus is and what he wants from us (and in the process managed to teach generations of Christians about such things as faith, love, and hope). In reading it – I found three resolutions I think all Christians should resolve to make their faith and this year truly “new”.

Be A Family

11Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers.”

Hebrews tells us that we are brother and sister with Christ, and with each other. We are the same family. Wouldn’t it be amazing if we acted like it? Our species divides itself any number of ways – by race, by culture, by nationality, by experience, by age and most initially by family. We see that so much on religious holy days (like Christmas) when we gather with that unit we grow up with, and love. From our family we get our identity, our name, and our history. We give special allowances to our family, such as “yea, I know its an ugly sweater – but my Dad bought it for me” and we protect our family, “Nobody talks bad about my sister!”. At our core – our family is “us” and everyone else is “them”.

That’s not what God wants. Don’t get upset – I’m sure God loves the family unit and the strength that comes from a healthy family – but God also wants us to have more in common than blood. We are all brothers and sisters in Christ – we are all in God’s family. It’s clear over and over in the Bible that God doesn’t want Christians to live in the “us and them” world. God wants us to live in the “all of us” world. Imagine if we guarded and respected others as we try to do our parents. Imagine if we gave others the grace and “extra mile” we give to our brothers and sisters.

Jesus does something really odd on the cross – with all of Jerusalem watching. In the 19th Chapter of the Gospel of John, Jesus is nearing physical death and he points to his mother and John and says “Woman, here is your son” and he says to John “Here is your mother” and the Bible tells us John took the mother of Jesus into his home. When you see that touching scripture you should ask one important question: Where the heck is James????

In the Catholic church, this scripture makes a lot of sense because they have dogma that says Mary never had sex, and had no other children. But Protestants, historians and bible scholars all agree that James, who ran the church in Jerusalem after the Ascension was Jesus’ brother and there were other siblings as well. So, riddle me this: Why would Jesus trust his brother James with the founding of the church in Jerusalem but not trust him with his own mother???? I believe it is a parting message of Christ – “you don’t have to be the same bloodline to be family – take care of each other.”

This year – try reaching out with the same forgiveness, openness, and willingness that you do your family of origin to all the people around you. (yes, it sounds impossible – I told you it was revolutionary - but give it a try). See at the end of the year how much more God has increased your ability to love when your family includes people who are different than you – but children of the same God.

Be close to Jesus

14 "I will declare your name to my brothers; in the presence of the congregation I will sing your praises."

While we are enlarging our family – let’s make sure to remember Jesus is our brother too. We have a tendency in Christianity to carry on with great ritual about the Jesus who is the King – with Glory and Honor and Praise. Hark the herald angels sing – glory to the newborn king! And that is rightful – he is the King of Kings. However in all of our golden glorious high praise, we become more and more removed from our brother Jesus. (in fact, those of you who grew up in really “high church” probably think that last sentence is blasphemous – brother Jesus – indeed!). Don’t blame me – look at verse 11 again. Jesus is not ashamed to call us brothers (and sisters).

That is the great wonder of the Christ. He is the high King of Heaven, but Hebrews makes it clear that he was also one of us. Our brother. Flesh like our flesh, blood like our blood, temptation like our midnight cravings. The reading is reminding us not just to keep Jesus high-up and far away – but close to us – as one who understands us like only a brother can. You know how you and your brothers and sisters have always worked together to understand, endure or communicate with your parents? Well – when you find God a little far removed, or you have those “why are you allowing this???” kind of questions with God – consider working with Jesus to understand and communicate with the Creator – after all – you and Jesus have the same true parent.

This year – be less concerned about religion (and how religious you are) and more concerned about the relationship you and your brother Jesus are experiencing. Pray together, invite Jesus to know your thoughts, your daily activities and your regrets, and keep reading, learning and loving him. Laugh and share time with him. If you make time for your earthly brother or sister - do it for Jesus too.

Be Free

14Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— 15and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.

Now there’s a resolution we can sink our teeth into. Its hard to think of treating other people like family – all those little brothers and big sisters we may have to adopt, and its exciting and scary to think of Jesus as our brother – but being free, that we can handle! Or can we?

Historically, the mistakes of Christianity have been when Christians reacted, instead of acted. Nowhere is that more evident in American Christianity than our over-indulgence in guilt and thoughts of sin. It’s not bad to feel sad when we do wrong, and it’s not bad to understand and admit our sin. The problem is, too often, we forget the rest of the good news in the process. God doesn’t want us to go running around all the time talking about what big sinners we all are! God wants us to proclaim the GOOD NEWS that “while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” and set us FREE.

Pastors and parishioners make this mistake easily – as a reaction to the world around us. The world seems so self-indulgent and sinful that we try to show our Christianity by talking about sin, and how it is a part of our being. We mistakenly believe that if we can just convince people that all people sin that they will accept and relate to Jesus. The declining numbers in churches (and the growing weariness about a Christian church full of judgment and lacking in relevance) are reflections that convincing people they sin is not enough. What we need to be showing them isn’t how we all sin – but how people are free from death, free from guilt and free to be the children of God. We’ve been filling people with the bad news, without showing them the good truth. Trust me – people know when they sin. What they don’t know is what to do about it. Let’s give some answers, instead of accusations. Drop the slavery mentality - Lift up the Grace of God.

This year – resolve to show your freedom in Christ and share the good news with the people who see your joy and life.

So there’s our scriptural challenge – if you keep your diet resolution, you will lose weight and be healthy. If you keep your financial resolutions, you’ll save money and have less stress. But if you will keep these resolutions – you will change your life, and God through you will change the world. Now, wouldn’t that be really “new”?

Happy New Year – family of mine

The Day fo Love: Go

Read: Matthew 1:18-25

Reflect: No matter how much time we spend stretching, showering, dressing and preparing – there comes a time every morning we have to grab our keys and go. That’s what the love of Christmas is about – the “love” that is an action verb. God who goes to earth, wrapped in vulnerable flesh, and we who are to go into the world wrapped in the abundant love of God.

It’s easy to get confused about love in its action form. Theologians and seminarians talk about the 4 Greek words for love and what scriptures each one is used in, while people die from hunger every day around the world. Pastors and teachers compel love from their pulpits, while our prison population triples as people are punished, but not healed. Christians sing about love every Sunday while unseen lonely people believe the church has no place for them. Love in its action form is hard for us to understand sometimes.

And yet at Christmas we celebrate Love on the Go – Immanuel – God (Love) With Us. Today’s lectionary passage helps us see what a moving love looks like.

Poet Ann Weems points out frequently how many mistakes we make with our nativity scenes:

* Mary looks fresh as a daisy, after just giving birth,
* Shepherds and 1 or two sheep are present (now, if a shepherd was going to bring his flock, would he only bring one or two of them?),
* The Magi (wise men, kings, etc) are there – even though most biblical scholars remind us every year THAT story is from Epiphany (liturgically) and happened as far as 2 years after the birth historically.

But the biggest mistake she points out is our tendency to put Joseph in the back of the stable. We don’t hear much about Joseph really. He’s always somewhere in the back of the room, looking at Jesus from afar. Poor Joseph, the silent stepfather to the infant king. But the Bible shows through this humble man what love truly looks like.

Love respects

Joseph and Mary are betrothed. In Hebrew tradition, once a girl has passed through temple rites, met the criteria and is certified by a Levite priest to be able to be married her family may sign a wedding contract in her name. The contracted couple enters a period of “Betrothal” during which time preparations are made for the couple to be married. If the groom is not a first born son (living and inheriting the father’s house) he will have to build a house (usually on family property). The bride must work to gather what things she may need – cooking pots, pans, and candlesticks for ritual. Again, if she’s not the oldest daughter, she has to earn these things through working for her family somehow. There is even a “betrothal ceremony” called the “Kiddushin” in which the bride and groom drink wine and exchange rings. In the eyes of Jewish law, the bride is already the property of the groom. When they are ready, the marriage ceremony is performed (“Nissuin”), the glass is broken and the marriage is consummated.

Joseph and Mary have had their Kiddushin. He owns her. And she’s pregnant. We always carry on about what that must of done to poor Mary’s reputation – but we rarely think about Joseph. If you knew an engaged couple building a house together and she ended up pregnant – who would be your first choice as the paternal candidate? Joseph knows it wasn’t him, and in an act of great compassion, decides to wait before breaking the marriage contract and taking his ring back. He wants to do it quietly and save her from disgrace (even if he thinks she deserves it). Why? Because he loves her, and in his love – treats her with respect. Love doesn’t say, “well she got what was coming to her!”

Respect is a measurable quantity of love. The more you love God, the more you treat God’s creation (including animals, earth and other people) with respect. Love in the active form never humiliates, seeks revenge, or belittles. Love takes the other person into consideration and acts with grace. Notice the scripture doesn’t say he plans to stay with her, or he forgives her – but he does respect her. Sometimes we, in our humanness, decide to wait until we forgive someone before we can respect them – but love respects first and always.

Love believes

So while he is trying to be more than fair with her, an angel appears in a dream and gives him the most implausible explanation on the planet. She’s having a baby, but she’s still a virgin (and she needs to stay that way) and the baby is the child of prophecy who can save people from sin. Its not written in stone, its not done before the 2 male witnesses required by Jewish law, and there aren’t even Angel footprints in the dust on his floor – because it was all a dream. And yet, he believes. Love believes.

Love in its active form believes that God is still God, that the impossible is probable and that mystery has a place in the world of our faith. Rev. Donna Schaper describes a holy person in this way:

“A godly person is someone who faces despair with hope, and meets challenges with love.”

At the moment Joseph feels the despair of a broken relationship, betrayal from his betrothed, and public scrutiny, he faces those ideas by believing in a dream, and having the hope that it’s true. He takes her as his wife, completing the Nissuin but not consummating the marriage (which breaks Jewish law), because he believes in more than religious law. He believes in God and God’s mysterious righteous will.

We need to believe. We need to believe that peace can come to this world, because it is God’s dream. We need to believe God’s love includes and heals and exists for everyone, because our brother/sisterhood is God’s idea. We need to believe that the hungry should be fed, the prisoner should be healed and the widow should be provided for because it is God’s vision. If we as Christians are to walk in the world with love, we need to believe.

Love Stays

The name the angel tells Joseph is Immanuel – God With Us. Notice the parallel –Joseph is going to stay with Mary; God is going to stay with us. In a rational world, Mary doesn’t deserve Joseph but in a faithful world, Joseph stays with her anyway. In our rational world we don’t deserve God, but in God’s faithfulness, God is going to stay anyway.

Love in an active form is staying. It’s the act of being with one another and not abandoning the promises we make. Love means doing what it takes: believing the impossible, forgiving the painful, reaching for the unthinkable, and following the undesirable. If we are going to love the poor, we must “stay with them” (in prayer, in hope, in building projects, in giving, in creating justice and in memory). If we are going to love the prisoners we must stay with them (in writing, in praying, in healing). If we are going to love God’s children we must stay with them (in peace, in hope, in tolerance, in prayer, in action).

That is what this day of Advent is all about. Love – in “go” mode – active and unfettered. I read a note this past week talking about favorite Christmas songs. I didn’t answer it because I have so many – but in preparing this writing I began to ponder what the best song for this day of love is, and I have come up with a favorite. It’s traditionally an Easter hymn, not a Christmas song. But I can’t escape it when I see the baby in the manger and realize all that he set aside to be with me and save me. I hum it when I think of brave, loving Joseph. I hear it in my heart when I think of my beloved Jesus. I sing it when I want to honor God. It is my response and my reflection this day.

Respond:

What Wondrous Love Is This?

What wondrous love is this, O my soul, O my soul!
What wondrous love is this, O my soul!
What wondrous love is this that caused the Lord of bliss
To bear the dreadful curse for my soul, for my soul,
To bear the dreadful curse for my soul!

When I was sinking down, sinking down, sinking down,
When I was sinking down, sinking down,
When I was sinking down I did not in silence drown,
Christ laid aside His crown for my soul for my soul,
Christ laid aside His crown for my soul.

And when from death I’m free, I’ll sing on, I’ll sing on;
And when from death I’m free, I’ll sing on.
And when from death I’m free I’ll sing His love for me,
And through eternity I’ll sing on, I’ll sing on,
And through eternity I’ll sing on.

Amen.

Advent is nearly over. The Christ child stands at the threshold waiting to be born. Are you awake? Are you ready? Are you willing? Then….

Go