aSacredRebel

a day

For the Lord of hosts has a day against all that is proud and lofty, against all that is lifted up—and it shall be brought low; against all the cedars of Lebanon, lofty and lifted up; and against all the oaks of Bashan; against all the lofty mountains, and against all the uplifted hills; against every high tower, and against every fortified wall; against all the ships of Tarshish, and against all the beautiful craft. And the haughtiness of man shall be humbled, and the lofty pride of men shall be brought low, and the Lord alone will be exalted in that day. (Isaiah 2:12-17 ESV)

A day.

What if I told you that the creator of everything has a day that all will be made equal and He alone will be exalted in that day. Everyone who puffs themselves up will be deflated by the Lord, for He alone is to be exalted, He alone is the one worthy to be looked upon and seen as the one who has set the captives free.

The great wonders of His creation will be brought low, because He alone is to be above all things. So think of yourself in the light of His glory. He gave you everything you have and has given you the abilities you have or the furthering of His kingdom. Exalt Him by humbling yourself and giving Him the light and glory!

equip you

Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. (Hebrews 13:20, 21 ESV)

One of the great blessings or benedictions found in the Bible.

May you be surrounded by peace, the very peace which brought Jesus our lord back from the dead. May the blood of the eternal covenant wash over you and keep you ever in His care. May the blood and the peace from Jesus equip us and make us ready to do His will, helping us to do what is pleasing in His sight.

What a great thing to hear and take to heart! To know you are surrounded by God’s unfailing and unending peace, and He is putting in you everything you need to do what He is leading you to do! Always remember this!

I have a dream…

On one occasion when Jesus was going to the house of a leader of the Pharisees to eat a meal on the sabbath, they were watching him closely. When he noticed how the guests chose the places of honor he told them a parable. ‘When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not sit down at the place of honor in case someone more distinguished than you has been invited by your host; and the host who invited both of you may come and say to you, “Give this person your place”, and then in disgrace you would start to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go and sit down at the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he may say to you, “Friend, move up higher”; then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at the table with you. For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.’ He said also to the one who had invited him, ‘When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, in case they may invite you in return, and you would be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.’ (Luke 14:1,7-14, NRSV)

Honor and shame is all Jesus is talking about here. Society in His day was based on honor and shame. People invited people to dinner parties that would then be in their debt. So they would have someone, or many someones who would owe them something.

Jesus here gives us 2 pieces of advice. One that is very good advice – Be Humble. Be Modest, and do not think to highly of yourself. We all have moments where we think to highly of ourselves. Jesus advises us to be modest and to not take to high of a seat so when we are asked to move up, we receive more honor. Good advice.

The second piece of advice is fairly ludicrous! Jesus turns to the one giving the party and tells them to invite people who can not do anything for them. Really? How am I suppose to gain more honor if a do things for those who can’t do me any favors in return? Or if they are indebted to me, I will never get anything because they can’t repay me? Jesus wants us to see what the kingdom of God is like. Where those who do not deserve or can repay get everything, just like you!

And this week is the 50th anniversary of the Martin Luther King Jr I Have A Dream Speech. It is very interesting that this momentous occasion in American history almost did not happen they way it did. For some history on this read Rev. David Hansen’s blog here.

But I contest that the dream that Martin talks about is not his dream, but God’s vision, and what Jesus tells us about in the reading above! We are to love each person equally and accept everyone regardless of how they look, how they act and if they agree with us or not. The dream that has yet to be realized 50 years later, or is that 2000 years later is one that we can make happen if we will do what Jesus told us to. So what does your faith mean to you and has it changed you to be countercultural and not be worried about who has done what for me lately!

Live the dream and the vision of the kingdom of God and be different!

Thoughts on Stewardship – Quit Tithing. Really.

Great thoughts on what it truly means to be a steward!

Thoughts on the Edge (of Town)

I almost titled this a ‘random’ thought on stewardship. But it really isn’t random. I’m working on my master’s thesis on stewardship so stewardship is something I spend a lot of time thinking about, not to mention researching and reading. Yes, some of us do read books on this stuff! Which is pretty ironic when you consider that one of the reasons I left the church in my 20’s was over stewardship. That is the subject for another blogpost but soffice to say God does indeed have a sense of humor. The fact that I’m a pastor would indicate that but I digress.

Anyways, this week’s thoughts on stewardship are not entirely random though the timing is, of course. It just came to me so I put fingers to keyboard.

A few weeks back I mentioned that stewardship isn’t about money, even though it is almost a universal result that…

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Servant of all

Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came up to him with her sons, and kneeling before him she asked him for something. And he said to her, “What do you want?” She said to him, “Say that these two sons of mine are to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom.” Jesus answered, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?” They said to him, “We are able.” He said to them, “You will drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.” And when the ten heard it, they were indignant at the two brothers. But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:20-28, ESV)

This is an interesting story. The mother of the sons of Zebedee comes to Jesus and asks Him for her sons to have what she assumes will be the places of honor in the kingdom. And after she asks Jesus addresses the sons… so did the boys go and whine to mommy and she said “let’s go boys I’ll talk to Him.” They assumed that to sit at Jesus’ right and left would be the seats to have…

There is just one (really more) problem with this. Each week in most liturgical churches we confess our faith using the Apostles Creed (OK we use other creeds, but usually it is the Apostles). And what does the creed say about Jesus?

I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried; he descended to the dead.* On the third day he rose again; he ascended into heaven, he is seated at the right hand of the Father, and he will come to judge the living and the dead.

He rose again, ascended and is seated at the right hand of the Father. If Jesus is at the right hand of the Father who is seated to Jesus left? And which ones of the sons of Zebedee think they can sit in that seat?

We deserve no seat of honor, everything we have has been given to us to manage while we are here. We need to use what we have to serve God’s creation and children. To be like Jesus and give up ourselves and serve everyone.

good stewards…

The end of all things is near; therefore be serious and discipline yourselves for the sake of your prayers. Above all, maintain constant love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins. Be hospitable to one another without complaining. Like good stewards of the manifold grace of God, serve one another with whatever gift each of you has received. Whoever speaks must do so as one speaking the very words of God; whoever serves must do so with the strength that God supplies, so that God may be glorified in all things through Jesus Christ. To him belong the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen. (1 Peter 4:7-11, NRSV)

You thought this post was going to be about money….

You read the title and thought, “great another devotional about money and how I don’t handle it correctly.”. We get hung up in stewardship and good stewards being only about money. However being a good steward is a whole lot more than money. It is the proper handling of everything we have been given.

For instance being a good steward means being a good parent. You were blessed by God with the children you have and because He has given them to you, you need to treat them as children of God and raise the, to love and fear God. We need to pass along the faith we have been given and help to raise the men and woman God has planned for this world. It is part of being a good steward.

Also we must use the gifts we have been given for the greater good of all. Regardless of how we feel about someone or how they have treated us, we must serve one another and be hospitable. Because every time we serve some one we are serving a child of God. And we must speak the truth, because the words we speak as children of God reflect on God and how others will see Him. We will either always spread God’s love, or we will give people reasons to hate God and run from Him. Or actions are our stewardship of His creation and our words have impact far beyond the life they live. We are always to be managing the time, talent and treasures God has given us for His kingdom.

So be hospitable serving all and speaking the truth of God in love.

Relationship: Parent

Great thoughts from a parent on who is the socially accepted parental unit in schools…

The Lutheran Zephyr

I recently completed a marathon of paperwork for my children’s elementary school. It is my annual handwriting workout. I write more by hand at this time of year than at any other time of the year.

Emergency contact forms.
Medical forms.
Tell us about your child forms.
School policy forms.
How your child gets to and from school forms.
Acknowledgement of receipt of homework and discipline policy forms.
A form to confirm receipt of forms (ok, not really)

Many of these forms ask for the names of adults and their relationship to the child.

Name: Chris Duckworth
Relationship to student: Parent

I write Parent. Not Father. But Parent.

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bless those who abuse you…

Finally, all of you, have unity of spirit, sympathy, love for one another, a tender heart, and a humble mind. Do not repay evil for evil or abuse for abuse; but, on the contrary, repay with a blessing. It is for this that you were called that you might inherit a blessing. For “Those who desire life and desire to see good days, let them keep their tongues from evil and their lips from speaking deceit; let them turn away from evil and do good; let them seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.” (1 Peter 3:8-12, NRSV)

When someone does you wrong, what is the first things that goes through your mind?

How you can get back at them?

How much they hurt you and should be hurt just as much?

These are what we are wired to think about. We are wired to take care of number 1, ourselves. And when someone hurts us, they need to pay.

But Peter tells us that this is not how it is for those of us who follow Jesus. We need to keep our tongues from evil and not look to doing evil to anyone, regardless of what they did to us. We are not to repay evil for evil or abuse for abuse. We need to rise above the ways of everyone else and follow Jesus, loving everyone because they are a child of God.

It is countercultural to love your enemies and to do good to those who hurt or harm you, but Jesus never said it would be easy, after all He said we have to bear our cross everyday.

save or destroy

On another sabbath he entered the synagogue and taught, and there was a man there whose right hand was withered. The scribes and the Pharisees watched him to see whether he would cure on the sabbath, so that they might find an accusation against him. Even though he knew what they were thinking, he said to the man who had the withered hand, “Come and stand here.” He got up and stood there. Then Jesus said to them, “I ask you, is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the sabbath, to save life or to destroy it?” After looking around at all of them, he said to him, “Stretch out your hand.” He did so, and his hand was restored. But they were filled with fury and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus. (Luke 6:6-11, NRSV)

Jesus has a habit of healing on the sabbath and making the leaders of the synagogue upset…

You see the law of the sabbath is something the Pharisees keep and keep it because it is their life. They came from Egypt, where Israel was in slavery and the day of rest is something that is freeing for them. They keep it because it saves their lives!

But y not doing good and allowing for healing are they really saving their lives? You see we are all interconnected and when one of us is hurting, then the body is not well. Jesus knows this and so He moves to heal the body and allow the Pharisees to actually be free and use their day of rest.

So next time we hold to something that we have always done and do for a very good reason, and Jesus is asking us to think about it differently, we need to take a step back and look at it from His point of view and know that He will always save us!

Learning How to Give

Great words on stewardship!

The Lutheran Zephyr

You’d think it wouldn’t take much to learn how to give. Just reach into your pocket and give, right?

Of course, if you’ve ever spent time in a preschool, you know that there is often a reluctance in giving and sharing. Sharing toys doesn’t come naturally. Giving that toy to Bobby is even harder.

I was raised by parents who, each in their own way, were generous with their time and treasure. They modeled giving. As a young adult I strived to follow their model, often volunteering for and giving financial gifts to those organizations that were important to me, particularly the church.

But I didn’t start giving in a more significant, sacrificial way, until I met Larry. Larry hired me to work in the development office at The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia. I was young, about to get married, and this was my first job where I…

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