Romans 8:31-39
Tuesday, 8 July 2008
There is a poignant and pivotal scene in the movie The Color Purple, when Celie and her sister Nettie are being forcibly separated because of the evil heart of Celie's husband Mister. As Nettie is dragged away, Celie yells, "Write." Nettie stands up straight and looks past Mister into her sister's eyes, "Nothing but death will keep me from it."
I think of this scene because the issue of disconnection is also at the heart of today's lesson, one of the most famous passages in all of Scripture. The passage is a declaration of love and victory. It reminds us as believers that God has cast the decisive vote in our favor, and because God is for us no one and nothing can succeed against us. Then Paul encourages us to imagine a list of everything that might arise to challenge the God who is on our side. Hardship and distress rear their heads, but fall quickly in a battle against God. Those foes are followed by every other category of challenge that might arise to defeat us by separating us from the love of Christ. The conclusion: Nothing in creation can separate us from Christ's love.
The sisterly love that Celie and Nettie share in Alice Walker's novel transverses a lifetime without contact, the machinations of Mister who withholds Nettie's letters, and even the Atlantic Ocean, joining their hearts even while their bodies are separated. It is a great love, but God's love is greater. And as believers we give thanks for the love of Jesus that has defeated death - a love so strong that not even death can keep us from it.
Sing, "Jesus Loves Me"
Let us pray:
Almighty God, in whom we live and love, we are awestruck by the depth and consistency of your love for us in Christ Jesus. Yet despite our inability to understand it, we rejoice in its certainty. We thank you for the way that living in your love intensifies our ability to love. But most of all, we thank you for your victory over our greatest enemy death and for the eternal love we share because of you. Amen
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Sunday, July 6, 2008
Free Indeed
Matthew 11:16-30
Sunday, 6 July 2008
Over the last several days the word freedom has been on our minds. It happens every year on July 4th when this nation celebrates its independence. We are reminded of our unalienable rights to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" here in the "land of the free and the home of the brave," a place of "liberty and justice for all." Yet for all the importance that the words liberty and freedom conjure, there are also misguided notions of what those words mean, exemplified in the sarcastic words of an errant child justifying her/his disobedience and recklessness with the words "It's a free country."
Just as children often misunderstand the meaning of freedom, especially in their teen years, defining it as the ability or right to do whatever they want, especially the wrong thing, we Christians too sometimes see ourselves as most free when we are least within the will of God. Yet Jesus' words seek to right our wrong understanding of what it means to be free and at rest. The beginning of our liberty is not found in the Declaration of Independence but rather in the recognition of our utter dependence on Christ lovingly to direct us into right paths. Our first step toward true freedom responds to the most blessed invitation ever offered. Jesus beckons, "Come to me." We exchange the yoke of sin which is too burdensome to bear, for the yoke of discipleship which is easy and light.
So much of what it means to mature is to recognize the difference between what seems good and what actually is good. This is true also of spiritual maturity. Lawlessness and faithlessness attract us with their empty promises of true fulfillment and joy, but they leave us ultimately empty and burdened. Embracing the way of Christ, and more importantly, having Christ embrace us leads to true joy and fulfillment. Whom the Son sets free is free indeed.
Sing, "Come Unto Me"
Let us pray:
Loving Savior, it is sometimes hard for us to admit how tired we actually are of living our own way. We have been oppressed so long that we struggle to imagine that real freedom and rest are even possible. Grant us in this moment simply to take your word for it. Draw us near to you so that we may be freed by taking on your yoke, by living life your way. Amen
Sunday, 6 July 2008
Over the last several days the word freedom has been on our minds. It happens every year on July 4th when this nation celebrates its independence. We are reminded of our unalienable rights to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" here in the "land of the free and the home of the brave," a place of "liberty and justice for all." Yet for all the importance that the words liberty and freedom conjure, there are also misguided notions of what those words mean, exemplified in the sarcastic words of an errant child justifying her/his disobedience and recklessness with the words "It's a free country."
Just as children often misunderstand the meaning of freedom, especially in their teen years, defining it as the ability or right to do whatever they want, especially the wrong thing, we Christians too sometimes see ourselves as most free when we are least within the will of God. Yet Jesus' words seek to right our wrong understanding of what it means to be free and at rest. The beginning of our liberty is not found in the Declaration of Independence but rather in the recognition of our utter dependence on Christ lovingly to direct us into right paths. Our first step toward true freedom responds to the most blessed invitation ever offered. Jesus beckons, "Come to me." We exchange the yoke of sin which is too burdensome to bear, for the yoke of discipleship which is easy and light.
So much of what it means to mature is to recognize the difference between what seems good and what actually is good. This is true also of spiritual maturity. Lawlessness and faithlessness attract us with their empty promises of true fulfillment and joy, but they leave us ultimately empty and burdened. Embracing the way of Christ, and more importantly, having Christ embrace us leads to true joy and fulfillment. Whom the Son sets free is free indeed.
Sing, "Come Unto Me"
Let us pray:
Loving Savior, it is sometimes hard for us to admit how tired we actually are of living our own way. We have been oppressed so long that we struggle to imagine that real freedom and rest are even possible. Grant us in this moment simply to take your word for it. Draw us near to you so that we may be freed by taking on your yoke, by living life your way. Amen
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Paid in Full
Romans 4:1-12
Wednesday, 25 June 2008
I don't pretend to be an economist. I'm just a sister trying to stay afloat in a complex and scary economy. And I'm responsible enough to pay attention to what's going on around me and savvy enough to understand that we are up to our necks in debt and about to go under. I don't just mean individuals. I mean the nation as a whole. Everything about our lifestyles from our cars to our wars costs more money than we have on hand (for the next couple of decades). Individuals are stressed.
Our text for today is full of monetary metaphors, beginning with the distinction between "wages" and "gifts." It is a discussion of Abraham's righteousness and the law, making the most significant point that Abraham's account came out in the black, not because of his work but because of the gift of God. God balances our budgets, takes on our debt, and pays it off. But this fact gives us no cause for selfish boasting since it is not our doing, nor even does it arise as a response to something we have done. All praise and glory belong to God.
Considering the enormous debt that we owed for our sins and the generous gift of God in Christ to pay that debt in full puts in perspective our entire lives. And although the natural economy may often be against us, the spiritual economy is all good. Thanks be to God!
Sing, "Jesus Paid it All"
Wednesday, 25 June 2008
I don't pretend to be an economist. I'm just a sister trying to stay afloat in a complex and scary economy. And I'm responsible enough to pay attention to what's going on around me and savvy enough to understand that we are up to our necks in debt and about to go under. I don't just mean individuals. I mean the nation as a whole. Everything about our lifestyles from our cars to our wars costs more money than we have on hand (for the next couple of decades). Individuals are stressed.
Our text for today is full of monetary metaphors, beginning with the distinction between "wages" and "gifts." It is a discussion of Abraham's righteousness and the law, making the most significant point that Abraham's account came out in the black, not because of his work but because of the gift of God. God balances our budgets, takes on our debt, and pays it off. But this fact gives us no cause for selfish boasting since it is not our doing, nor even does it arise as a response to something we have done. All praise and glory belong to God.
Considering the enormous debt that we owed for our sins and the generous gift of God in Christ to pay that debt in full puts in perspective our entire lives. And although the natural economy may often be against us, the spiritual economy is all good. Thanks be to God!
Sing, "Jesus Paid it All"
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Without Exception
Romans 3:21-31
Tuesday, 24 June 2008
I had always been a good, even excellent student when I put my mind to it, so when I discovered that the seminary I attended did not give letter grades, I was a bit taken aback. There were only three possible grades, credit, no credit, or credit with distinction. Most people passed and received credit, but few broke through to a "distinction." Even I had some difficulty getting those exceptional grades. Most of the time I just blended in with the rest of the group. I'll be honest; I didn't like that.
There are several points that Paul makes in this section of his letter to the church at Rome, the most important being that no one person or group has an advantage where God's favor is concerned. No one is righteous. No one earns a distinction. And even though the Law had been given to one group of people, because grace is a gift and cannot be earned, knowing or even attempting to keep the law brings no advantage. All who believe have access. Just as all of us, without exception, have sinned, all of us have the opportunity to be set free from our sin through Jesus Christ.
This reality is difficult for us to embrace fully because we humans have a tendency to desire to be exceptional. We like to have an advantage to lord over other people. We like to belong to the right crowd, to be accepted at the right school, to get the best grade. And sometimes we even manufacture symbols of status in the church in order to recreate the sense of distinction or advantage that we had in the world. But we have to remember that to grasp a sense of ourselves as better than others is to misunderstand and even cut ourselves off from the wondrous grace available to us through faith in the only truly exceptional person ever, that is, Jesus Christ.
Sing, "Glory to His Name"
Let us pray:
We confess, God, that our sinful pride sometimes still rears its ugly head as we judge one another and try to create distinctions among us. Help us to remember that just as all have sinned, all have received access to the gift of grace through Jesus Christ - no excuses, no exceptions. Make us aware that our confidence and our boasting can, thus, never be about us, only about you. Amen
Tuesday, 24 June 2008
I had always been a good, even excellent student when I put my mind to it, so when I discovered that the seminary I attended did not give letter grades, I was a bit taken aback. There were only three possible grades, credit, no credit, or credit with distinction. Most people passed and received credit, but few broke through to a "distinction." Even I had some difficulty getting those exceptional grades. Most of the time I just blended in with the rest of the group. I'll be honest; I didn't like that.
There are several points that Paul makes in this section of his letter to the church at Rome, the most important being that no one person or group has an advantage where God's favor is concerned. No one is righteous. No one earns a distinction. And even though the Law had been given to one group of people, because grace is a gift and cannot be earned, knowing or even attempting to keep the law brings no advantage. All who believe have access. Just as all of us, without exception, have sinned, all of us have the opportunity to be set free from our sin through Jesus Christ.
This reality is difficult for us to embrace fully because we humans have a tendency to desire to be exceptional. We like to have an advantage to lord over other people. We like to belong to the right crowd, to be accepted at the right school, to get the best grade. And sometimes we even manufacture symbols of status in the church in order to recreate the sense of distinction or advantage that we had in the world. But we have to remember that to grasp a sense of ourselves as better than others is to misunderstand and even cut ourselves off from the wondrous grace available to us through faith in the only truly exceptional person ever, that is, Jesus Christ.
Sing, "Glory to His Name"
Let us pray:
We confess, God, that our sinful pride sometimes still rears its ugly head as we judge one another and try to create distinctions among us. Help us to remember that just as all have sinned, all have received access to the gift of grace through Jesus Christ - no excuses, no exceptions. Make us aware that our confidence and our boasting can, thus, never be about us, only about you. Amen
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Baptism Matters
Romans 6:1-11
Sunday, 22 June 2008
Although it is no longer the case, as it was during certain eras in Christian history, that the method your church uses for baptism can get you killed, the ins and outs of baptismal mode and formula remain contentious issues within Christianity. Most all us feel strongly about our baptism, especially those who regard believers' baptism as essential. And we will argue vehemently that baptism matters, but we seldom remember what really matters in baptism.
This week's epistle calls our attention to the ongoing meaning of baptism as the preeminent symbol of regenerated life. Having been introduced to the super-abounding grace of Christ in chapter 5, the grace that looks beyond our faults, we encounter the challenge in Romans 6 of living the new life which that grace makes possible. Our death to the old life frees us from its sinful bondage. Our baptism is the rite by which we are initiated into Christ's burial. Having been united in a crucified death, we hope for resurrection in a glorified life. How many times and in how many ways can God tell us that the Christian life is a radical break from what we were before?
So much of the debate about baptism is a struggle to define what it means to come into the door, at the same time that it loses sight of what it means to live in the house of God. Don't get me wrong. Baptism is important enough to take seriously and to handle rightly. Baptism matters, indeed, but it matters because it marks the break between our old, sinful ways and our new, redeemed life. This life is made possible only by and in Jesus the Christ.
Sing, "Take Me to the Water" and remember your own baptism, reaffirming the covenant you made with God and before the community to live a new life in Christ Jesus.
Let us pray:
Life-giving Savior, although for many of us the occasion of our baptism has long passed, the reality of our new life in you remains before us. Teach us how to walk in the newness of life that our baptism symbolized. Refresh us again by a baptism of your Spirit. Make us new. Make us whole. Make us yours. We pray, in Jesus' precious name. Amen
Sunday, 22 June 2008
Although it is no longer the case, as it was during certain eras in Christian history, that the method your church uses for baptism can get you killed, the ins and outs of baptismal mode and formula remain contentious issues within Christianity. Most all us feel strongly about our baptism, especially those who regard believers' baptism as essential. And we will argue vehemently that baptism matters, but we seldom remember what really matters in baptism.
This week's epistle calls our attention to the ongoing meaning of baptism as the preeminent symbol of regenerated life. Having been introduced to the super-abounding grace of Christ in chapter 5, the grace that looks beyond our faults, we encounter the challenge in Romans 6 of living the new life which that grace makes possible. Our death to the old life frees us from its sinful bondage. Our baptism is the rite by which we are initiated into Christ's burial. Having been united in a crucified death, we hope for resurrection in a glorified life. How many times and in how many ways can God tell us that the Christian life is a radical break from what we were before?
So much of the debate about baptism is a struggle to define what it means to come into the door, at the same time that it loses sight of what it means to live in the house of God. Don't get me wrong. Baptism is important enough to take seriously and to handle rightly. Baptism matters, indeed, but it matters because it marks the break between our old, sinful ways and our new, redeemed life. This life is made possible only by and in Jesus the Christ.
Sing, "Take Me to the Water" and remember your own baptism, reaffirming the covenant you made with God and before the community to live a new life in Christ Jesus.
Let us pray:
Life-giving Savior, although for many of us the occasion of our baptism has long passed, the reality of our new life in you remains before us. Teach us how to walk in the newness of life that our baptism symbolized. Refresh us again by a baptism of your Spirit. Make us new. Make us whole. Make us yours. We pray, in Jesus' precious name. Amen
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Who Do You Think You're Talking To?
Numbers 11:1-23
Wednesday, 18 June 2008
I'll admit that I am not always as careful as I ought to be when it comes to my "tone." This has been an issue all of my life, with especially tricky consequences during my teen years when I was speaking to my parents. More than once my parents responded to my questions, requests, and even answers with the their own question "Who do you think you're talking to?" It seems in life that there are times when it's not so much what you ask as how you ask it.
The Israelites' wilderness experience has become more treacherous in today's lesson.
In addition to all of the challenges inherent in the desert, the murmuring in the camp has angered God. The text begins with a description of God's burning anger at the peoples' incessant complaints. Whining, murmuring, complaining, accusing, griping - God simply got tired of hearing it and sent a fire at the edge of the camp to remind the people how bad it could be. Meanwhile, "the rabble" develop a "strong craving." Their appetites create a stirring that God's food ("manna") does not satisfy. Rather than appreciating the miracle of constant food in a desert, they wax nostalgic about their past lives in Egypt. Conveniently, they discount the fact that in Egypt they were slaves, burdened and serving in oppression. All they remember is the scrumptious and diverse foods of the Egyptians.
I have to believe as I read this text that, as is usually the case with the Israelites, their problem is not so much what they want but how they ask for it. How could they forget that God loves them and has borne them on eagles' wings? How could they forget that God released them for a purpose and is leading them to a wide and abundant place? How can they be so focused on the inconvenience of the moment? It's all about the boredom. "Give us meat!" God speaks to Moses and says, "I'll give them meat until they are sickened with it,until it comes out of their noses and ears."
Brothers and sisters, boredom is dangerous, especially when it is accompanied by spiritual amnesia and ingratitude. And when you add to it murmuring against the God who knows, sees, and hears everything, it is only worse. Don't get me wrong, I believe that God cares enough to want to know how we are feeling. We don't have to be afraid to be honest with God. At the same time, we must never forget that God is God. Asking for what our hearts desire is not a sin. Craving the things that belong to the worldly life is.
Sing, "Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah"
Let us pray:
God our Provider, even though we sometimes live with the deprivations of the wilderness, we give you thanks for freedom from the oppression and bondage of sin. We thank you for the daily bread, the manna that you provide each morning with the dew, to nourish and sustain us in our current state. Keep our minds clear so that we never mistake the world's smorgasbord for a nourishment. Help us to dine daily on the delicacies you provide at your table. Bread of heaven, feed us till we want no more. Amen
Wednesday, 18 June 2008
I'll admit that I am not always as careful as I ought to be when it comes to my "tone." This has been an issue all of my life, with especially tricky consequences during my teen years when I was speaking to my parents. More than once my parents responded to my questions, requests, and even answers with the their own question "Who do you think you're talking to?" It seems in life that there are times when it's not so much what you ask as how you ask it.
The Israelites' wilderness experience has become more treacherous in today's lesson.
In addition to all of the challenges inherent in the desert, the murmuring in the camp has angered God. The text begins with a description of God's burning anger at the peoples' incessant complaints. Whining, murmuring, complaining, accusing, griping - God simply got tired of hearing it and sent a fire at the edge of the camp to remind the people how bad it could be. Meanwhile, "the rabble" develop a "strong craving." Their appetites create a stirring that God's food ("manna") does not satisfy. Rather than appreciating the miracle of constant food in a desert, they wax nostalgic about their past lives in Egypt. Conveniently, they discount the fact that in Egypt they were slaves, burdened and serving in oppression. All they remember is the scrumptious and diverse foods of the Egyptians.
I have to believe as I read this text that, as is usually the case with the Israelites, their problem is not so much what they want but how they ask for it. How could they forget that God loves them and has borne them on eagles' wings? How could they forget that God released them for a purpose and is leading them to a wide and abundant place? How can they be so focused on the inconvenience of the moment? It's all about the boredom. "Give us meat!" God speaks to Moses and says, "I'll give them meat until they are sickened with it,until it comes out of their noses and ears."
Brothers and sisters, boredom is dangerous, especially when it is accompanied by spiritual amnesia and ingratitude. And when you add to it murmuring against the God who knows, sees, and hears everything, it is only worse. Don't get me wrong, I believe that God cares enough to want to know how we are feeling. We don't have to be afraid to be honest with God. At the same time, we must never forget that God is God. Asking for what our hearts desire is not a sin. Craving the things that belong to the worldly life is.
Sing, "Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah"
Let us pray:
God our Provider, even though we sometimes live with the deprivations of the wilderness, we give you thanks for freedom from the oppression and bondage of sin. We thank you for the daily bread, the manna that you provide each morning with the dew, to nourish and sustain us in our current state. Keep our minds clear so that we never mistake the world's smorgasbord for a nourishment. Help us to dine daily on the delicacies you provide at your table. Bread of heaven, feed us till we want no more. Amen
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Showing the Love: A Celebration of My Dad
Romans 5:1-11
Father's Day
15 June 2008
I am not much of a holiday person, for reasons too numerous to list but that boil down to the fact that I think the reality of holidays rarely lives up to the hype. Still, I recognize the importance of celebrating the great people and events who have influenced or made our lives possible. Thus, I am offering a tribute to my dad Leonard M. Callahan. My dad was commendable for many things: he was a faithful provider (more than 40 years mining coal to make his family's ends meet); he was an honorable man who was a leader in the community; he encouraged me and celebrated my accomplishments; and he showed me the value of faith and family. In so many ways, I am his child. One thing he wasn't, though, was verbally affectionate. He was of the "old school," a stoic man who believed in showing rather than telling feelings. Day to day, week to week, month to month, and year to year, with clockwork consistency he showed his family how incredibly loved we were.
As I read this text from Romans 5, I couldn't help thinking that God too shows more than tells us of God's love. Oh, that is not to say that the scriptures lack verbal expressions that God loves us, but really the way in which God proves God's love is the fact that Christ died for us, so that God could live in us. Far more perfectly than any human parent, father or mother, God daily provides all that we need - new mercies emerge every morning.
I guess my dad really knew what it meant to be a Christian, to love not in word only but also in deed. After all, the scriptures teach us clearly that we are to grow up into the image of our God and learn to be followers of Christ as dear children. We too are called to show the love.
Sing, "Great is Thy Faithfulness"
Let us pray:
Precious Lord, on this day set aside to honor our earthly fathers, our minds center on your unending faithfulness. As good as some of our dads may be, none of them is perfect. And so we remember and rejoice that we have you, even when our parents forsake us. Grant us the grace to resemble you and your loving ways more and more, so that others may come to know your grace and mercy, upon which we so rely. Amen.
Father's Day
15 June 2008
I am not much of a holiday person, for reasons too numerous to list but that boil down to the fact that I think the reality of holidays rarely lives up to the hype. Still, I recognize the importance of celebrating the great people and events who have influenced or made our lives possible. Thus, I am offering a tribute to my dad Leonard M. Callahan. My dad was commendable for many things: he was a faithful provider (more than 40 years mining coal to make his family's ends meet); he was an honorable man who was a leader in the community; he encouraged me and celebrated my accomplishments; and he showed me the value of faith and family. In so many ways, I am his child. One thing he wasn't, though, was verbally affectionate. He was of the "old school," a stoic man who believed in showing rather than telling feelings. Day to day, week to week, month to month, and year to year, with clockwork consistency he showed his family how incredibly loved we were.
As I read this text from Romans 5, I couldn't help thinking that God too shows more than tells us of God's love. Oh, that is not to say that the scriptures lack verbal expressions that God loves us, but really the way in which God proves God's love is the fact that Christ died for us, so that God could live in us. Far more perfectly than any human parent, father or mother, God daily provides all that we need - new mercies emerge every morning.
I guess my dad really knew what it meant to be a Christian, to love not in word only but also in deed. After all, the scriptures teach us clearly that we are to grow up into the image of our God and learn to be followers of Christ as dear children. We too are called to show the love.
Sing, "Great is Thy Faithfulness"
Let us pray:
Precious Lord, on this day set aside to honor our earthly fathers, our minds center on your unending faithfulness. As good as some of our dads may be, none of them is perfect. And so we remember and rejoice that we have you, even when our parents forsake us. Grant us the grace to resemble you and your loving ways more and more, so that others may come to know your grace and mercy, upon which we so rely. Amen.
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