Fifth Century Communion Hymn

Because for our sake you tasted gall,

may the Enemy’s bitterness be killed in us.

Because for our sake you drank sour wine,

may what is weak in us be strengthened.

Because for our sake you were spat upon,

may we be bathed in the dew of immortality.

Because for our sake you were struck with a rod,

may we receive shelter in the last.

Because for our sake you accepted a crown of thorns,

may we that love you be crowned with garlands that never fade.

Because for our sake you were wrapped in a shroud,

may we be clothed in your all-enfolding strength.

Because you were laid in a new grave and the tomb,

may we receive renewal of soul and body.

Because you rose and returned to life,

may we be brought to life again.

Amen

Taken from page 1064 of For All the Saints A Prayer Book For and By the Church Volume III

Donald Miller Book Giveaway and Missional Community – Thinking Out Loud

Donald Miller Book Giveaway and Missional Community – Thinking Out Loud.

One of my former seminary classmates asks a great question about the missional community.  Let’s join in the conversation so we can all become better members of missional communities joined together in the one community of doing mission for God!

Leonard Sweet Quote

“not Law vs. Love but Law of Love. When we lay down the law, Jesus lays down his life. What am I willing to lay down that others may pick up?”

I just saw this quote on FaceBook.  It makes me wonder about why we do what we do, and why we are who we are…

I read another blog in an earlier post today by Leonard Sweet, about why one should stay/become an ordain United Methodist Pastor.  You can find this blog here.  I believe this question could be asked about any denomination. Why are we who we are?

What are we willing to give up, and it has to be something that would be a sacrifice, otherwise it is not really giving something up, that would benefit others?  In what way today have your born your cross?  How will you bear your cross?

Good Friday – Where is the Hope?

I have always wondered why this day is good…

I know all the theological reasons, how Christ had to die to atone for my sins, and all of that, but really, a man died on a tree and we call it good.  Is it like Genesis where God created and calls it good?  How can the death of a man, even when one dies so another does not be good?

The answer is many fold, and one I can not possibly explain, however I can show you the hope of Good Friday in a man named Nicodemus.

Now all of you probably have heard the name Nicodemus. He is the Pharisee who came to Jesus under the cover of darkness to ask him some questions.  Nic thought Jesus was a wise teacher, that is why he came to ask him questions, but why under the cover of darkness, why at night?  Nic was a part of the Jewish High Council and could not be seen asking Jesus questions, people would talk. They would think that Nic believed in Jesus and what the people were saying about him.  What were the people saying about him?

Jesus told Nic that one must be born from above, and Nic could not understand, a teacher of the law, yet does not understand the underlying principle of the faith…

So where is the hope?  Stay with me.  For most of us, this interaction in the 3rd chapter of John is all we remember of Nic.  He came to Jesus got really confused and then disappeared.  Have you seen this?  Some one comes to you and asks you questions about God, and then they are outta here!  You do not see them, maybe they go away confused, or not.  Or have you had people visit the church you attend and then never come back?  Why? Nic left Jesus and was never seen again, right?

Wrong!

Nic shows back up, in the meeting of the Jewish High Council in Chapter 7.  Now the High Council sent the temple guards out to arrest Jesus, but when they find him in the crowd, the crowd is supporting Jesus, so the temple guards do not arrest him.  Nicodemus speaks up and says the law does not convict a person without a trial.  The High Council was convicting Jesus, and Nic took a stand for Jesus.  Did you see it?  The Hope?

Is that it for Nic?  No sir.  One more time in the Gospel of John.  Chapter 19, after Jesus has been crucified, Joseph goes and asks Pilate for the body, and in John’s gospel, Nic goes with Joe.  Here it is!  The Hope of what this all means.

Jesus had a relationship with Nic, and Nic loved Jesus. We see it through his faith journey. First like many of us, he questioned God, and how this thing works.  What can you give me, what do I need to do. Then Nic took a stand for Jesus, all be it a lukewarm stand, but a stand.  He needs a trial, but this one was more public than the last, Nic was approaching the cross, and then finally after Jesus’ death, Nic throws caution to the wind and helps lay Jesus in the tomb from the cross!  He came under darkness, to a public stand (confession?) and then to open adoration by preparing him and caring for him after his death.  If only I could be such a faithful follower! To progress and not regress in my faith…

The hope in Good Friday is in our relationships and doing what God has called us to do!

So this day, Behold the life-giving cross, on which hung the Savior of the world!

What motivates you?

There are a lot of things in life that motivate us.  There are a lot of different things that make us do things.  Anger, misunderstanding, happiness, joy can cause us to do things we normally wouldn’t do.  But what is the motivator that we should allow to drive our lives?

There are other things that sometimes drive us to do and be what we are.  One of the most common things that motivates us to do things is fear.  Others are pride, and greed.  These cause us to do things and be people we do not want to be.

But if we look to what Paul tells us and the Galatians, “The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.” Galatians 5:6b.

Love is the only true motivator.  So let love permeate your life and be the things that drives you and causes you to be as God has called us to be.

A prayer from Dietrich Bonhoeffer

O God,

early in the morning I cry to you.

Help me to pray,

and concentrate my thoughts on you:

I can not do this alone.

In me there is darkness,

but with you there is light;

I am lonely, but you do not leave me;

I am feeble in heart, but with you there is help;

I am restless, but with you there is peace.

In me there is bitterness, but with you there is patience;

I do not understand you ways,

but you know the way for me…

Restore me to liberty,

and enable me so to live now

that I may answer before you and before me,

Lord, whatever this day may bring,

Your name be praised.

Amen.

Conclusions

I awoke this morning to a tweet by Peter Rollins that said, “A conclusion is the place you reach when you get tired of thinking”…

What a way to start the morning!  When we are tired of swimming in the unknown, wallowing in the pain, moving through the chaos, we find a way to “solve” the problem.

We are in a quick fix society.  Everybody has an answer to the issue and it is a quick fix scheme.  I mean any one who has been up late knows how many get rich quick schemes there are, and Dave Ramsey will tell you that none of them work.  We are looking for the quick answer, the quick solution.  I mean we have Easy Macaroni and Cheese, and Easy Microwave hot dogs.  How hard is it to make Mac and Cheese, or a hot dog?  And if you want you kids to have these as snacks when you get home, then cook them the night before and have them heat them up.  Why does everything have to be so convenient that I do not have to give any of my time…

We want what we want and we want it now!  God has called us though to live in the chaos.  God has called us to walk in life and to live for him.  Not to have it easy, or to have all the solutions right when the problem hits.  Sometimes the right solution only comes when we have swam in the unknown, wallowed in the pain, walked in chaos…  God is there with us, swimming, wallowing, walking, and guiding us along the path that is before us.

It is time for us to step out of the quick fix and live with God in the here and now and tell people about his calling and his love.  So throw away the box and swim, wallow, and walk with your creator!

Extravagant Love

The prayer of the day for our service this past Sunday was:

Creator God, you prepare a new way in the wilderness, and your grace waters our desert.  Open our hearts to be transformed by the new thing you are doing,  that our lives may proclaim the extravagance of your love given to all through your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. (emphasis added by me).

The gospel text for this past Sunday’s service was about Mary taking the perfume at the dinner party and anointing Jesus’ feet, and wiping it with her hair.  The perfume was an extravagant means to do this.  The perfume could have been sold for 300 denari.  But what does this mean?  Well a days wages in Jesus’ day was 1 denari.  So 300 denari is about a years wage.  To put this into prospective, the average US household income in 2004 was $42,000.  So in today’s time Mary spent $42,000 on this pound of perfume!  That is over kill.  I mean really is that a good use of resources?  But that is not the point, it is extravagant.  It is meant to be over kill, it is meant to be the preparation of Jesus for his burial.  It is meant to show us the extravagant measures God is going to for us.

The extravagance of the love of God is shown to us in the cross of Christ.  Jesus went to the cross for YOU.  The extravagance of the love of God is that Jesus would have gone to the cross if you were the only one who needed him to.  He would have gave his life for YOU.

God loves you so much, He gave His only Son.  Now that is what I call extravagant love!

comma, comma, where does it go???

In the 23rd chapter of the gospel of Luke Jesus is hung on the cross between 2 thieves. One of them say to Jesus, “remember me when you get into your kingdom.”  And Jesus’ reply?

See here is where we get ourselves into a little of a quandary. You see in the original Greek, there were no punctuation marks.  So our translators add the punctuation to help the text make more sense, but the little comma can change the statement completely.  You see Jesus’ reply to the thief from the NRSV is “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” Do you see the comma?  Where does it actually go?

Did Jesus say to the thief, “Truly I tell you, today…”  or did Jesus say, “Truly I tell you today, …”

Do you see the difference?  One states that this day you will be with me in paradise.  The other says that I am telling you today, that at some point you will be with me in paradise.  One says this moment we are going to paradise, and the other says that we will be together, but we don’t know when…

So where does the comma go?  When is the thief with Jesus?  Or what did Jesus say?

Really in the end, the answer is, Jesus forgave the thief, and welcomed him with open arms into the kingdom of God! He looked beyond what this man did and said you are forgiven, and welcome to come with me where I am going…

Are we ready to ask Jesus to remember us when he comes into his kingdom?