aSacredRebel

signs

In those days Hezekiah became sick and was at the point of death. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz came to him, and said to him, “Thus says the LORD: Set your house in order, for you shall die; you shall not recover.” Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD: “Remember now, O LORD, I implore you, how I have walked before you in faithfulness with a whole heart, and have done what is good in your sight.” Hezekiah wept bitterly. Before Isaiah had gone out of the middle court, the word of the LORD came to him: “Turn back, and say to Hezekiah prince of my people, Thus says the LORD, the God of your ancestor David: I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; indeed, I will heal you; on the third day you shall go up to the house of the LORD. I will add fifteen years to your life. I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria; I will defend this city for my own sake and for my servant David’s sake.” Then Isaiah said, “Bring a lump of figs. Let them take it and apply it to the boil, so that he may recover.” Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “What shall be the sign that the LORD will heal me, and that I shall go up to the house of the LORD on the third day?” Isaiah said, “This is the sign to you from the LORD, that the LORD will do the thing that he has promised: the shadow has now advanced ten intervals; shall it retreat ten intervals?” Hezekiah answered, “It is normal for the shadow to lengthen ten intervals; rather let the shadow retreat ten intervals.” The prophet Isaiah cried to the LORD; and he brought the shadow back the ten intervals, by which the sun had declined on the dial of Ahaz. (2 Kings 20:1-11, NRSV)

Signs, signs every where there are signs, blocking the scenery, breaking my mind, do this, don’t do that, can’t you read the signs!

We all want signs!

But here is the problem with this for this passage and many times.

We are promised something, like healing, but we want a sign or proof that it is going to happen.

Hezekiah asked for a sign of his promised healing after he prayed to God to remember how he walked with Him, after he was told he had 3 days to live. His pray is answered and the prophet tells him you have 15 more years! Not 3 days, and what does Hezekiah do, but ask for a sign!

Why do we have to have proof that God will follow through on His promises?

all are called

Now the angel of the LORD came and sat under the oak at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, as his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the wine press, to hide it from the Midianites. The angel of the LORD appeared to him and said to him, “The LORD is with you, you mighty warrior.” Gideon answered him, “But sir, if the LORD is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all his wonderful deeds that our ancestors recounted to us, saying, ‘Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the LORD has cast us off, and given us into the hand of Midian.” Then the LORD turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours and deliver Israel from the hand of Midian; I hereby commission you.” He responded, “But sir, how can I deliver Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.” The LORD said to him, “But I will be with you, and you shall strike down the Midianites, every one of them.” Then he said to him, “If now I have found favor with you, then show me a sign that it is you who speak with me. Do not depart from here until I come to you, and bring out my present, and set it before you.” And he said, “I will stay until you return.” So Gideon went into his house and prepared a kid, and unleavened cakes from an ephah of flour; the meat he put in a basket, and the broth he put in a pot, and brought them to him under the oak and presented them. The angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened cakes, and put them on this rock, and pour out the broth.” And he did so. Then the angel of the LORD reached out the tip of the staff that was in his hand, and touched the meat and the unleavened cakes; and fire sprang up from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened cakes; and the angel of the LORD vanished from his sight. Then Gideon perceived that it was the angel of the LORD; and Gideon said, “Help me, Lord GOD! For I have seen the angel of the LORD face to face.” But the LORD said to him, “Peace be to you; do not fear, you shall not die.” Then Gideon built an altar there to the LORD, and called it, The LORD is peace. To this day it still stands at Ophrah, which belongs to the Abiezrites. That night the LORD said to him, “Take your father’s bull, the second bull seven years old, and pull down the altar of Baal that belongs to your father, and cut down the sacred pole that is beside it; and build an altar to the LORD your God on the top of the stronghold here, in proper order; then take the second bull, and offer it as a burnt offering with the wood of the sacred pole that you shall cut down.” So Gideon took ten of his servants, and did as the LORD had told him; but because he was too afraid of his family and the townspeople to do it by day, he did it by night. When the townspeople rose early in the morning, the altar of Baal was broken down, and the sacred pole beside it was cut down, and the second bull was offered on the altar that had been built. So they said to one another, “Who has done this?” After searching and inquiring, they were told, “Gideon son of Joash did it.” Then the townspeople said to Joash, “Bring out your son, so that he may die, for he has pulled down the altar of Baal and cut down the sacred pole beside it.” But Joash said to all who were arrayed against him, “Will you contend for Baal? Or will you defend his cause? Whoever contends for him shall be put to death by morning. If he is a god, let him contend for himself, because his altar has been pulled down.” Therefore on that day Gideon was called Jerubbaal, that is to say, “Let Baal contend against him,” because he pulled down his altar. Then all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the people of the East came together, and crossing the Jordan they encamped in the Valley of Jezreel. But the spirit of the LORD took possession of Gideon; and he sounded the trumpet, and the Abiezrites were called out to follow him. He sent messengers throughout all Manasseh, and they too were called out to follow him. He also sent messengers to Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, and they went up to meet them. Then Gideon said to God, “In order to see whether you will deliver Israel by my hand, as you have said, I am going to lay a fleece of wool on the threshing floor; if there is dew on the fleece alone, and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall know that you will deliver Israel by my hand, as you have said.” And it was so. When he rose early next morning and squeezed the fleece, he wrung enough dew from the fleece to fill a bowl with water. Then Gideon said to God, “Do not let your anger burn against me, let me speak one more time; let me, please, make trial with the fleece just once more; let it be dry only on the fleece, and on all the ground let there be dew.” And God did so that night. It was dry on the fleece only, and on all the ground there was dew. (Judges 6:11-40, NRSV)

This is the story of God calling Gideon to be a mighty warrior. I love this story and I think of Gideon Tuba Warrior when I read or hear this story. It is the Veggie-Tales adaptation of this story.

But here we read Gideon asking for signs from God. First the food cooked on the rock and then the wet and dry fleece. But something caught my attention, this story has an element I have seen over and over in scripture and I have heard others say.

I am not worthy to be used by God. Or I’m not good enough to be used by God. I’m the youngest, or weakest, or I have no talents.

But that simply isn’t true.

Gideon says to the angel, “But sir, how can I deliver Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.” But God responds, “I will be with you, and you will strike down the Midianites, everyone of them.”

You see when God calls us to a task, He will walk through it with us and give us what we need to complete His mission.

We are all called, regardless of how we see ourselves, God sees a mighty warrior fit for battle in His mission!

giver…

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you. “I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them.” Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, how is it that you will reveal yourself to us, and not to the world?” Jesus answered him, “Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; and the word that you hear is not mine, but is from the Father who sent me. “I have said these things to you while I am still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid. (John 14:15-27, NRSV)

I do not give as the world gives…

I admit when I read this passage, this time, I thought of the term Indian giver. So then I did a little research on the term Indian giver. Merriam-Webster defines Indian giver as: “a person who gives something to another and then takes it back or expects an equivalent in return.” They also say that the term is sometimes offensive. Here are a couple other links for some reading on the term, one from NPR and one from Wikipedia.

But how else does the world give? I learned in classes in school about systems of society set up on the you give me a gift, and I then have to give you something just as nice if not nicer. When we talk about grace being a gift, what do we have to give God for that kind of gift?

But God does not give as the world does. He is not going to come back later and take the gift away, nor does He expect anything in response to the gift He has given. Be that the gift of grace, or the gift of the Holy Spirit.

So accept the gift of the Spirit living in you and leading you through life, and proclaim Jesus to the world. So that all may see His good works and give glory to our Father in Heaven!

Hairs of your head

6888219 “I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that can do nothing more. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him! Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten in God’s sight. But even the hairs of your head are all counted. Do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows. “And I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before others, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God; but whoever denies me before others will be denied before the angels of God. And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven; but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. When they bring you before the synagogues, the rulers, and the authorities, do not worry about how you are to defend yourselves or what you are to say; for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that very hour what you ought to say.” (Luke 12:4-12, NRSV)

I have to say that I take great comfort in knowing that the hairs of my head are all counted and numbered! For those of you who do not know me in person, or have not seen a picture of me, the picture on the blog today is me. I have no hair, except my goatee, on my head. So again I find great comfort knowing God has counted all of the hairs on my head!

But the point of the passage is not lost, because I love the fact that I am worth so much that God takes the time to count my hairs and to know each one so that even the minute details of my life are known by Him. He loves each of us so much He knows everything about you, even things you do not know!

So shout it from the mountaintops the love your savior has for you! And make sure everyone knows how much he loves them too!

no more…

When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.” A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.” Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.” Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name. (John 20:19-31, NRSV)

This is doubting Thomas Sunday. The Sunday of the church year where we read the passage above and hear how Thomas did not believe. Because doubt is the opposite of belief, right?

Well actually if you read the text closely, you will see that Thomas asked for no more than the rest of the disciples already got.

Jesus stood among the disciples in the locked room and said, “Peace be with you.” And then He showed them His hands and His side. And Thomas said unless he sees the wounds in His hands and places his hand in His side, he will not believe. And the reading said that the disciples didn’t rejoice at the presence of Jesus until after He had shown them His hands and His side. So they got what Thomas wanted, so why is he the one labeled a doubter?

And Jesus doesn’t actually say, “Do not doubt, but believe.” Jesus says, “Do not be unbelieving but believing.” We have to believe.

So remember that Thomas asked for no more than the others already got, and we can ask God for things, but we have to be ready to believe when He comes through, and He always will, as long as it is in line with His will for you!

Marvelous!

O sing to the LORD a new song,
for he has done marvelous things.
His right hand and his holy arm
have gotten him victory.
The LORD has made known his victory;
he has revealed his vindication in the sight of the nations.
He has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness
to the house of Israel.
All the ends of the earth have seen
the victory of our God.
Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth;
break forth into joyous song and sing praises.
Sing praises to the LORD with the lyre,
with the lyre and the sound of melody.
With trumpets and the sound of the horn
make a joyful noise before the King, the LORD.
Let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
the world and those who live in it.
Let the floods clap their hands;
let the hills sing together for joy
at the presence of the LORD, for he is coming
to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with righteousness,
and the peoples with equity.
(Psalm 98, NRSV)

Sing to the Lord for He has done marvelous things!

He has protected us and brought victory!

He is worthy to be praised!

made alive

For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit, in which also he went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison, who in former times did not obey, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were saved through water. And baptism, which this prefigured, now saves you—not as a removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers made subject to him. (1 Peter 3:18-22, NRSV)

Baptism saves us, not as a washing away of dirt, or sins, but as an appeal to God for a good conscience. God claims us as His own children in the waters, and unites us to the death of Jesus. And if we are united in His death, then we will be reunited in His resurrection.

We are made alive, not by our own doing, but through the gift of God. The naming and claiming as His children. Not in the flesh but in the Spirit.

God with us, makes us alive, and gives us an abundant life.

Where are you looking?

Today marks the beginning of April, and we are well into the season of Spring. Spring when everything comes back to life, there is resurrection and new life all around us!

Just a few days ago, we gathered together and most of us probably read the story of Jesus’ resurrection from the gospel of Luke. Here we heard of the women going to the tomb to finish the preparation of Jesus’ body, and the stone is rolled away and He is not there. Amazed, two “men” say to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead?” Or “Why are you looking for Him here, when He told you He wasn’t staying long?”

Jesus told the disciples and all following Him all along, He would die and would rise again. Why did they not believe it?

Why do we not believe it?

Where are we looking for Jesus, that we won’t find Him?

Or where are we looking for a savior where He will not be?

What we know about our savior and this passage helps us remember where Jesus is and what He will do for us.

All things we give up will be replaced.

Did you give up something for Lent? And it was hard at first, but then you made it through to Easter and all was good. You realized you could live with out chocolate, soda, meat, or what ever it was. God gave you the strength to persevere and make it through. What else are you holding onto in life that you could give up to God and have Him replace it for something even better? Where are you looking that could be reformed?

We can always be reborn!

Being a born again christian is not something we Lutherans talk a lot about. But being born anew is something that Martin Luther said happened everyday when we wash our face and remember our baptism. We remember the love that God has for us, and that death and separation from Him through sin are only a confession away. And in that we are reborn and made anew in His image. Our gracious God gives us a new beginning every day! What are we holding onto that is keeping us from the life God intended for us? Where are we looking to find hope, when it is releasing our sins and looking to Him?

What is lost can be found!

We have all wandered off like the sheep, or rolled away like the coin, or walked away from the family like the younger brother. But Jesus never gives up looking for us. He never stops looking for those who wander away. He is always searching for the lost. Even when it gets dark and lonely, God will not give up. Nothing will separate us from the loving kindness of God. He will continually look for us. Where have we wandered to look for hope? Maybe we should turn around and realize God has been searching for us.

The women go looking in the tomb. The disciples come running, to find an empty hole. We look for Jesus where we expect Him, or where our fears, stresses, guilt and shame tell us to.

Where are you looking for Jesus?

Is He there?

“Return to Sender” or “Some Churches Just Don’t Want Pastors (at Least Not the Pastors the Seminaries are Producing), and Some Pastors Just Don’t Want the Churches We’ve Produced”

This is worth the read!

Reluctant Xtian

Transparency note: my bias is toward pastors in these situations, mostly because that’s my vantage point. That being said, I do recognize that it is really difficult when someone comes in and starts changing things a community has held dear for centuries. I welcome all responses.

This last week I heard another example; it was the second time in as many weeks. I heard about another colleague who had received an anonymous note or had been the recipient of anonymous passive-aggressive behavior from someone at the church who was disgruntled about something. They were crestfallen.

Actually, I hear about these incidents a lot. An image of Sisyphus always comes to my mind when I hear about these incidents, because that’s exactly what it feels like to get feedback you can’t do anything with. Anonymity provides the critique without the accountability…

Quick aside: speaking from experience, anonymous feedback is the worst kind…

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by this

“My brothers, you descendants of Abraham’s family, and others who fear God, to us the message of this salvation has been sent. Because the residents of Jerusalem and their leaders did not recognize him or understand the words of the prophets that are read every sabbath, they fulfilled those words by condemning him. Even though they found no cause for a sentence of death, they asked Pilate to have him killed. When they had carried out everything that was written about him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb. But God raised him from the dead; and for many days he appeared to those who came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, and they are now his witnesses to the people. And we bring you the good news that what God promised to our ancestors he has fulfilled for us, their children, by raising Jesus; as also it is written in the second psalm, ‘You are my Son; today I have begotten you.’ As to his raising him from the dead, no more to return to corruption, he has spoken in this way, ‘I will give you the holy promises made to David.’ Therefore he has also said in another psalm, ‘You will not let your Holy One experience corruption.’ For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, died, was laid beside his ancestors, and experienced corruption; but he whom God raised up experienced no corruption. Let it be known to you therefore, my brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you; by this Jesus everyone who believes is set free from all those sins from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses. (Acts 13:26-39, NRSV)

By this Jesus, everyone who believes is set free!

Free to love and serve all.

By Jesus coming and living as one of us, being falsely accused by the religious powers of His day, and being put to death, and rising again we are all set free.

So do not think your salvation is your own doing, but trust in Jesus and the life He gives you. And help others see that life!