So, have you ever been told something that you totally failed to process?
I love watching the TV shows like America’s Funniest Home Videos, where someone is hinting to another person about something really important and they just totally don’t get it.
Like the daughter who is trying to hint to her mom that she is pregnant, but mom is just not tuned in.
All of us have been there at one time or another! We are off in our own little worlds, thinking about something entirely different, without a clue about what is happening right before our eyes.
And then, of course, totally unprepared for what we are about to see and hear.
However, none of us ever had a case of it as bad as Zechariah!
Even though he is in the Holy Place, a place where Zechariah should have known God could and would visit and leave messages, Zechariah is clueless.
Because Zechariah was focused and prepared for what he thought he was supposed to do, not at all prepared for what God was going to do!
Kind of like some of us, who are so totally into Christmas preparations, that we are not prepared for the coming of the Christ!
Unintentionally, Zechariah becomes a striking example of what can go wrong when we take our responsibilities seriously, but don’t see the big picture.
We ought to be asking: What is God doing here? What does God really want? And, most importantly perhaps, what does God want me to be doing as his faithful follower.
Zechariah was a Levite, a descendent of one of the sons of Jacob, whom God made Israel. Levi’s progeny from the time of Moses were to see to the work of worship of Yahweh by the people of Israel.
They watched over the Tabernacle, the holy tent that traveled with Israel in the wilderness and then sat in Shiloh. And then after the Temple was built by Solomon in Jerusalem, were responsible for the sacrifices and the other regular daily rituals and worship activities that when on there.
Every male Levite who was physically able, went to Jerusalem for two weeks to serve in the Temple, with responsibilities both mundane and profound, including the responsibility morning and evening to offer a sacrifice of incense on the incense altar in the Holy part of the Temple, right outside the door to the Holy of Holies.
The incense was a visual and aromatic symbol of the prayers of the people rising up to heaven.
And this time when Zechariah went up to Jerusalem, he was chosen by a lottery to be the one who would burn the incense and then come out and bless all the people gathered.
He was focused, he was prepared, he was going to do his job exactly right. His mind was on the task, a task that most Levites would only perform once in a lifetime, if at all.
And then it all went off the rails. Because God had other plans!
Has that ever happened to you? Is it happening now?
No one expects an angel!
But the angel appeared anyway!
A son would be born to Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth, a son God had chosen to be a special messenger to his people Israel.
Now no one knows for sure what Zechariah was thinking, but one has to be suspicious, that Zechariah was completely thrown off track.
He was focused on getting the tasks right, doing the job to the best of his ability, with no thought that in burning the incense, his most fervent prayers would be caught up in the smoke!
It never occurred to Zechariah, that the God he worshipped and longed to serve with his whole heart might right then and right there answer those prayers.
Have you ever been preparing so carefully for something that you end up being unprepared for what really happens?
Have you ever prayed fervently, with your whole heart, never suspecting that God’s answer might come right as you were praying?
We hope for an answer. We long for an answer some day.
But none of us expect an angel!
But there he was, frightening as can be, and in the moment, all Zechariah could think was, “wait, what, not now, I have to get this task done, I have to go back out and bless the people!
Oh jeez, not now, I can’t have a son, a messenger like Elijah, a forerunner of the Messiah, because I have things to do.”
And in that moment, Zechariah, faithful Zechariah, ever so slightly pushes away God’s answer.
But God is not surprised, nor hurt, nor moved.
Instead he seals the deal with the reluctant Zechariah by sealing his lips, so that Zechariah, who for a moment forgot all about the power of prayer, would understand something new about prayer and the God to whom his prayers ascended.
Its as if God touched Zechariah’s lips with a burning coal, just like he did Isaiah’s, burning away the sin of Zechariah’s doubt, but leaving a mark that would remind Zechariah of his encounter with the angel.
Not another spoken prayer, until Zechariah, you understand its power!
Zechariah had prayed for like forever that he and Elizabeth have a child, and that God would fulfill his promise to Israel, but it had simply never occurred to Zechariah that God might be planning to answers his prayers!
How about you?
What are you praying for?
What are you praying about?
Do you really understand the power of prayer?
And, are you really prepared for the one who is coming?
Amen.
Monday, November 30, 2020
Monday, November 23, 2020
Give Thanks from 1 Thessalonians 5:12-24 on November 22
So, are you ready for Thanksgiving? You have the turkey, the stuffing, the green bean casserole?
Ask my wife Sue about the green bean casserole. She says the only blessed thing about it is how good it feels when you stop eating it.
You see, she’s not a real vegetable lover, so generally, we don’t include squash or even candied yams on our table, or even candied carrots. Maybe some corn.
And this year like last year we will have roasted brussels sprouts, but those are for all the adults at the table, including Noah! Not Sue.
The wonder of Thanksgiving that feeling of being blessed when we gather with the folks we love and the folks that love us.
But with COVID cases once again growing, our celebration of being blessed is threatened, and our impatience with it is growing!
We want everyone to be safe! We want everyone to get through this unscathed! But we want everyone at the table too, and this virus is just making it all a mess.
And in a world of immediacies, we find the slow grind of more and more and more cases exhausting. We know we have to do what we can to stop the growth of the virus, because we have seen the potential devastation it can cause.
We don’t want our hospitals overflowing, even if they can treat the disease better now than they could in March and April.
We don’t want to lose loved ones, or have them sick now, and potentially sick for months and years after the virus has done its damage.
But we are tired and sad and strung out and we just want the world to go back to the way it was without Covid. But…
It’s not, and so we search, in our better moments, our thinking and praying moments, asking God to enlighten us, open our hearts and minds to the Spirit’s presence so we can be of one mind in facing these troubled days.
We want to know, as we the community of faith, how to face the challenges our world is now experiencing, what are we to do, how we are to think, and what is to be our approach to making a difference.
And it turns out that Paul answers that question in 1 Thessalonians 5, when he tells the folks in Thessalonica to “Always be joyful and never stop praying. Whatever happens, keep thanking God because of Jesus Christ. This is what God wants you to do.”
Rejoice, pray, and thank God!
You see, Paul is not telling you how to feel about what is happening around you.
You are welcome to be crabby if you need to, you are welcome to be a bit down about it all. You are even welcome to go on Facebook and whine to the world about how Covid is screwing up your plans for the Guinness book record turkey roast!
Well, actually, we would all appreciate if you didn’t. There is far too much whining on Facebook already!
But, you can feel bad about it all.
However, a better choice would be to rejoice, pray, and thank God!
Rejoice, because there are many things besides Covid that are happening in our lives. In some houses a new baby has, a new marriage has taken place, a new job has been started.
In other houses, there is a full table, someone has recovery from a scary illness, or someone has retired. In some a soldier has come home, in others a college student without cooties, and in some while life has been rough, a moment of peace as come.
Yes, there are troubles. And we could focus on them.
Instead, Paul reminds us that instead we can rejoice, most importantly because God has sent Jesus into our lives and the strengthening power of the Holy Spirit, and the appropriate response to that is always to bring the sacrifice of praise!
We are to be jubilant in all things. Even in the struggles. Because as the people of God we see beyond the struggles to an amazing God who even in the midst of the storm is steering the boat and guiding us safely home.
And, beyond rejoicing, we are also to pray.
Not wimpy little prayers, but big whopping prayers, asking for God’s love and care and presence and power to be revealed in the midst of the storm.
To raise up a lighthouse, or to open our eyes so we can see it. To steer us away from the rocks, or if we crash, to get out of the boat safely and onto shore.
God will be with us until the end of time, so let’s act like it, acknowledging in prayer, private and in community, that the God who loves us, is loving us in the midst of all we are struggling with.
That God has us, like the rescuer who has a grip on us that won’t let the floods sweep us away, guiding us to solid ground, where we will be able once again to stand and lift our hearts in prayer.
We are to pray with boldness, with joy, and with thanks, because we have seen our mighty God touch the lives of all kinds of folks, including you and I.
What an amazing experience it would be if every person who is listening to our worship online today, and everyone who is here in person, wrote out a list of all the things we are thankful for, and then we attached them all end to end just to see how the long the list was?
What do you think?
Would it be ten feet long? 20? 50? And even then, would it contain all the wonderful things that we have been blessed with, the people, the experiences, the material things, and most importantly, the relationships, with family and friends, with the community of faith and with God.
We have reason to give thanks! And when we add that to our joys and our prayers, is has the possibility of completely overwhelming our whining about all the stuff we whine about.
Yes, there are reasons to pout, feel sad, and wish it was different.
But there is also reason to rejoice, pray and give thanks.
The choice is ours!
But which one do you think will change our hearts and make us more like Jesus?
And having rejoiced, prayed and given thanks, God will bless us with the peace that passes all understanding, even in the midst of Covid.
May it be so! Amen.
Ask my wife Sue about the green bean casserole. She says the only blessed thing about it is how good it feels when you stop eating it.
You see, she’s not a real vegetable lover, so generally, we don’t include squash or even candied yams on our table, or even candied carrots. Maybe some corn.
And this year like last year we will have roasted brussels sprouts, but those are for all the adults at the table, including Noah! Not Sue.
The wonder of Thanksgiving that feeling of being blessed when we gather with the folks we love and the folks that love us.
But with COVID cases once again growing, our celebration of being blessed is threatened, and our impatience with it is growing!
We want everyone to be safe! We want everyone to get through this unscathed! But we want everyone at the table too, and this virus is just making it all a mess.
And in a world of immediacies, we find the slow grind of more and more and more cases exhausting. We know we have to do what we can to stop the growth of the virus, because we have seen the potential devastation it can cause.
We don’t want our hospitals overflowing, even if they can treat the disease better now than they could in March and April.
We don’t want to lose loved ones, or have them sick now, and potentially sick for months and years after the virus has done its damage.
But we are tired and sad and strung out and we just want the world to go back to the way it was without Covid. But…
It’s not, and so we search, in our better moments, our thinking and praying moments, asking God to enlighten us, open our hearts and minds to the Spirit’s presence so we can be of one mind in facing these troubled days.
We want to know, as we the community of faith, how to face the challenges our world is now experiencing, what are we to do, how we are to think, and what is to be our approach to making a difference.
And it turns out that Paul answers that question in 1 Thessalonians 5, when he tells the folks in Thessalonica to “Always be joyful and never stop praying. Whatever happens, keep thanking God because of Jesus Christ. This is what God wants you to do.”
Rejoice, pray, and thank God!
You see, Paul is not telling you how to feel about what is happening around you.
You are welcome to be crabby if you need to, you are welcome to be a bit down about it all. You are even welcome to go on Facebook and whine to the world about how Covid is screwing up your plans for the Guinness book record turkey roast!
Well, actually, we would all appreciate if you didn’t. There is far too much whining on Facebook already!
But, you can feel bad about it all.
However, a better choice would be to rejoice, pray, and thank God!
Rejoice, because there are many things besides Covid that are happening in our lives. In some houses a new baby has, a new marriage has taken place, a new job has been started.
In other houses, there is a full table, someone has recovery from a scary illness, or someone has retired. In some a soldier has come home, in others a college student without cooties, and in some while life has been rough, a moment of peace as come.
Yes, there are troubles. And we could focus on them.
Instead, Paul reminds us that instead we can rejoice, most importantly because God has sent Jesus into our lives and the strengthening power of the Holy Spirit, and the appropriate response to that is always to bring the sacrifice of praise!
We are to be jubilant in all things. Even in the struggles. Because as the people of God we see beyond the struggles to an amazing God who even in the midst of the storm is steering the boat and guiding us safely home.
And, beyond rejoicing, we are also to pray.
Not wimpy little prayers, but big whopping prayers, asking for God’s love and care and presence and power to be revealed in the midst of the storm.
To raise up a lighthouse, or to open our eyes so we can see it. To steer us away from the rocks, or if we crash, to get out of the boat safely and onto shore.
God will be with us until the end of time, so let’s act like it, acknowledging in prayer, private and in community, that the God who loves us, is loving us in the midst of all we are struggling with.
That God has us, like the rescuer who has a grip on us that won’t let the floods sweep us away, guiding us to solid ground, where we will be able once again to stand and lift our hearts in prayer.
We are to pray with boldness, with joy, and with thanks, because we have seen our mighty God touch the lives of all kinds of folks, including you and I.
What an amazing experience it would be if every person who is listening to our worship online today, and everyone who is here in person, wrote out a list of all the things we are thankful for, and then we attached them all end to end just to see how the long the list was?
What do you think?
Would it be ten feet long? 20? 50? And even then, would it contain all the wonderful things that we have been blessed with, the people, the experiences, the material things, and most importantly, the relationships, with family and friends, with the community of faith and with God.
We have reason to give thanks! And when we add that to our joys and our prayers, is has the possibility of completely overwhelming our whining about all the stuff we whine about.
Yes, there are reasons to pout, feel sad, and wish it was different.
But there is also reason to rejoice, pray and give thanks.
The choice is ours!
But which one do you think will change our hearts and make us more like Jesus?
And having rejoiced, prayed and given thanks, God will bless us with the peace that passes all understanding, even in the midst of Covid.
May it be so! Amen.
Monday, November 16, 2020
Love Each Other, from 1 John 4:7-21 on November 15,2020
So, how is the loving each other going?
Covid and politics have made that really hard! People we thought we knew, trusted and loved, acting in ways we just can’t wrap our heads around.
Folks who are even angry at each other.
Years ago, I took training in conflict resolution. And, they talked about levels of conflict.
Levels 1&2 were considered creative conflict, where people with different ideas and agendas and even passions talk about all their many solutions, and out of it often comes a great new plan that takes parts of everyone’s ideas and incorporates them.
Then everyone buys in and gets to work.
The unity of the whole is more important that the many individual pieces. The bigger mission of the team or the company or the family take precedence. Nobody is crowing that they are more important and so should be treated special.
Some of the most effective organizations show off this creative ability often. By being able to get good ideas from many sources, they shine, they keep the best talent, and they succeed in remarkable ways.
But there are also level 3&4 conflicts.
That’s like the football team where the big name running back complains publicly that they aren’t being given the ball, or the wide receiver complains publicly they are getting thrown the ball.
The conflict is no longer a matter of creative discussion in the team meetings that will result in consensus and buy in, but has now spilled out into the public arena.
And people start choosing sides both inside the organization and outside. And insidiously, some folks take to doing everything they can to widen the cracks that are now showing to the world.
Level 5 conflict is death. It is when everyone involved has chosen a side and now will not talk to each other, will not come to the table, are not interested in compromise. Where the only future is separation. Think Hatfields and McCoys!
But there is another way! The way of Christ, following Jesus.
John describes it here in 1 John 4. And he makes it clear, “God is love, and anyone who doesn’t love others has never known him.” By the way, that includes folks who don’t agree with you, and whom you may in your worst moments think aren’t so bright.
God loves them, and wants you to love them too. Otherwise, perhaps, John suggests, you have never really known God. Perhaps, your life has never really been filled with God’s love.
After all, really loving others means being willing to go to a cross for them!
I have been reading a book, ever so slowly entitled, Herding Tigers, by Todd Henry.
You probably have heard the saying that somethings are as difficult as “herding cats”. Well this book takes that idea and suggests that working with strong, motivated teams of very creative individuals is like herding cats on steroids.
Herding Tigers makes the case that wildly creatives teams can do amazing things because they have such amazing energy and ability, but that the conflict can go from level 1 to level 4 in a flash.
So, for managers who work with creative teams, they need special skills, in order to allow for the creativity, but also build in high levels of unity and support.
Just because someone sees the world differently than you doesn’t mean they are a bad person you need to abandon.
Instead, assume that they are in fact a great person with a different perspective you need to see, that you need to understand, so that not only can you love the person, but also so you can take into account their unique perspective!
But in the world of Covid and politics, so many people are so busy taking what should be level 1&2 conflicts, creative opportunities, and joyfully and even gleefully making them into level 3&4 conflicts.
They are encouraging folks to argue and fight, disagree to the point of leaving, tearing open what could be wonderful caring and creative communities not just outside the church, but even inside it.
All, flying in the face of what the author John tells us our Lord wants.
“My dear friends, we must love each other. Love comes from God, and when we love each other, it shows that we have been given new life. We are now God’s children, and we know him.”
You know what happens when we love God and each other and the people God has entrusted to our care?
Miracles!
Downstairs, the Thanksgiving Baskets line the halls. Love made real in our giving!
Downstairs, the Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes are stacked high. Love made real in our giving.
And right here, the pledge cards collected from God’s people are filled with a gesture of love, as people thought through and prayed through what they decided they could give this year! Love made real in our giving.
Because it is in what we give to others, our time, our energy, our openness, our thoughtfulness, that we revel God’s presence in us.
I was in an online seminar this past week about people’s first impressions of a church, and what we as God’s people can do to make new folks engagement with us, something that might move them to come and join with us.
And you know what was said? What it is that moves people from an initial look to engagement?
Our thoughtfulness.
That we obviously took the time to think about what it would be like to first encounter the crazy people at the Otisville Church, and what visitors would need online and in person to help them feel like they are loved, welcomed, wanted, and would forever be cared for here!
Because it is just like the culture has been telling us forever, people go where everyone knows your name, where they have friends, where no matter who you are you will be accepted.
Love one another.
Or as John says a bit later, “If we keep on loving others, we will stay one in our hearts with God, and he will stay one with us.”
May it be so, even in the days of Covid and politics. Amen.
Covid and politics have made that really hard! People we thought we knew, trusted and loved, acting in ways we just can’t wrap our heads around.
Folks who are even angry at each other.
Years ago, I took training in conflict resolution. And, they talked about levels of conflict.
Levels 1&2 were considered creative conflict, where people with different ideas and agendas and even passions talk about all their many solutions, and out of it often comes a great new plan that takes parts of everyone’s ideas and incorporates them.
Then everyone buys in and gets to work.
The unity of the whole is more important that the many individual pieces. The bigger mission of the team or the company or the family take precedence. Nobody is crowing that they are more important and so should be treated special.
Some of the most effective organizations show off this creative ability often. By being able to get good ideas from many sources, they shine, they keep the best talent, and they succeed in remarkable ways.
But there are also level 3&4 conflicts.
That’s like the football team where the big name running back complains publicly that they aren’t being given the ball, or the wide receiver complains publicly they are getting thrown the ball.
The conflict is no longer a matter of creative discussion in the team meetings that will result in consensus and buy in, but has now spilled out into the public arena.
And people start choosing sides both inside the organization and outside. And insidiously, some folks take to doing everything they can to widen the cracks that are now showing to the world.
Level 5 conflict is death. It is when everyone involved has chosen a side and now will not talk to each other, will not come to the table, are not interested in compromise. Where the only future is separation. Think Hatfields and McCoys!
But there is another way! The way of Christ, following Jesus.
John describes it here in 1 John 4. And he makes it clear, “God is love, and anyone who doesn’t love others has never known him.” By the way, that includes folks who don’t agree with you, and whom you may in your worst moments think aren’t so bright.
God loves them, and wants you to love them too. Otherwise, perhaps, John suggests, you have never really known God. Perhaps, your life has never really been filled with God’s love.
After all, really loving others means being willing to go to a cross for them!
I have been reading a book, ever so slowly entitled, Herding Tigers, by Todd Henry.
You probably have heard the saying that somethings are as difficult as “herding cats”. Well this book takes that idea and suggests that working with strong, motivated teams of very creative individuals is like herding cats on steroids.
Herding Tigers makes the case that wildly creatives teams can do amazing things because they have such amazing energy and ability, but that the conflict can go from level 1 to level 4 in a flash.
So, for managers who work with creative teams, they need special skills, in order to allow for the creativity, but also build in high levels of unity and support.
Just because someone sees the world differently than you doesn’t mean they are a bad person you need to abandon.
Instead, assume that they are in fact a great person with a different perspective you need to see, that you need to understand, so that not only can you love the person, but also so you can take into account their unique perspective!
But in the world of Covid and politics, so many people are so busy taking what should be level 1&2 conflicts, creative opportunities, and joyfully and even gleefully making them into level 3&4 conflicts.
They are encouraging folks to argue and fight, disagree to the point of leaving, tearing open what could be wonderful caring and creative communities not just outside the church, but even inside it.
All, flying in the face of what the author John tells us our Lord wants.
“My dear friends, we must love each other. Love comes from God, and when we love each other, it shows that we have been given new life. We are now God’s children, and we know him.”
You know what happens when we love God and each other and the people God has entrusted to our care?
Miracles!
Downstairs, the Thanksgiving Baskets line the halls. Love made real in our giving!
Downstairs, the Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes are stacked high. Love made real in our giving.
And right here, the pledge cards collected from God’s people are filled with a gesture of love, as people thought through and prayed through what they decided they could give this year! Love made real in our giving.
Because it is in what we give to others, our time, our energy, our openness, our thoughtfulness, that we revel God’s presence in us.
I was in an online seminar this past week about people’s first impressions of a church, and what we as God’s people can do to make new folks engagement with us, something that might move them to come and join with us.
And you know what was said? What it is that moves people from an initial look to engagement?
Our thoughtfulness.
That we obviously took the time to think about what it would be like to first encounter the crazy people at the Otisville Church, and what visitors would need online and in person to help them feel like they are loved, welcomed, wanted, and would forever be cared for here!
Because it is just like the culture has been telling us forever, people go where everyone knows your name, where they have friends, where no matter who you are you will be accepted.
Love one another.
Or as John says a bit later, “If we keep on loving others, we will stay one in our hearts with God, and he will stay one with us.”
May it be so, even in the days of Covid and politics. Amen.
Monday, November 09, 2020
On Fire: Tested from Acts 5:1-11 on November 8, 2020
So,
Imagine yourself being at worship one Sunday, and someone comes into the service, puts a check in the offering plate and then drops over dead!
That would be just insane. Yet that is basically what happened in Acts 5:1-11
Welcome to one of the strangest stories in the New Testament!
Especially so, since it immediately follows the story of the faith community’s willingness to let go of property and things in order to take care of those who were in need.
The Christ followers in Jerusalem had come to understand at the deepest level that in order to see God’s blessings flow, then God’s blessing of them had to flow out into the community.
Once we stop blessing others, we stop being blessed, individually and as a faith community. Our open hands and open hearts are the conduit to God’s blessing for us and for others.
The transformation was amazing to see, because everyone, filled with the Spirit, did what they could do to make a difference. So, when the story of Ananias and Saphira opens, we are quickly confused and deeply uncomfortable!
And while for the us the juxtaposition seems very jarring and harsh, that clash seems to be essential to Luke’s story. It is his intention to help us see the power of the Holy Spirit when it is present in a faith community. We are to see here that, as Martin Luther once said, that security can become for us the “ultimate idol”.
And God doesn’t tolerate idols.
Luke wants us to see that the Christian Community being blessed is dependent on the community passing the blessings along! I can’t say that enough times!
Being blessed is dependent on us passing the blessings along!
Some of us studied this story in the Wednesday night bible study a few weeks back, and we really struggled with the deaths of Ananias and Saphira, partly because we were trying to see them in the light of God’s mercy and grace.
How could a loving God demand the lives of his servants simply because they lied?
It seemed just the opposite of what Jesus had been teaching about forgiveness and God’s love.
Why couldn’t Peter simply forgive them? Why couldn’t God?
And don’t get me wrong, those are excellent questions and ones I don’t pretend to have a good answer to.
I am aware, and I am quite willing to share with you what I do know, that our God is amazing, and while forgiveness and love are some of God greatest attributes, holiness, righteousness, and justice are others.
So, Ananias and Saphira’s plotting to lie to the Apostles about the money earned on the sale of a piece of property they didn’t have to sell, and money they didn’t have to donate, and for which there was no requirement that they give the whole amount was a really bad plan! Cheating on God is always a bad plan!
They had seen the power of the Holy Spirit.
They had seen the way it moved people to gratitude and generosity.
But for some reason, what it also did for them was to move them to try and act like everyone else, while keeping a secret about the amount of the sale, from God, from the faith community, and then going another step and lying about it!
What is at work here is not the Holy Spirit, but the spirit of pride.
They wanted to look good.
They wanted the praise of the people around them without any understanding that God and God’s servants would know all about their deceit.
It is a hard and harsh lesson, that while God loves us and forgives us, God is also willing to discipline us when we wander completely outside his grace. We are to be people filled with the Holy Spirit, growing, learning, listening.
And, plotting, lying, and giving into pride are not part of the plan.
Once we stop blessing others, using the gifts God has given us to bless others, we stop being blessed, individually and as a faith community.
We have an opportunity to open hands and open hearts so that we become the conduits of God’s love.
It matters. It is a really big deal!
We are God’s children, faithful, and ready to move heaven and earth on God’s behalf, to be a blessing every day.
May it be so, in Jesus name! Amen!
Imagine yourself being at worship one Sunday, and someone comes into the service, puts a check in the offering plate and then drops over dead!
That would be just insane. Yet that is basically what happened in Acts 5:1-11
Welcome to one of the strangest stories in the New Testament!
Especially so, since it immediately follows the story of the faith community’s willingness to let go of property and things in order to take care of those who were in need.
The Christ followers in Jerusalem had come to understand at the deepest level that in order to see God’s blessings flow, then God’s blessing of them had to flow out into the community.
Once we stop blessing others, we stop being blessed, individually and as a faith community. Our open hands and open hearts are the conduit to God’s blessing for us and for others.
The transformation was amazing to see, because everyone, filled with the Spirit, did what they could do to make a difference. So, when the story of Ananias and Saphira opens, we are quickly confused and deeply uncomfortable!
And while for the us the juxtaposition seems very jarring and harsh, that clash seems to be essential to Luke’s story. It is his intention to help us see the power of the Holy Spirit when it is present in a faith community. We are to see here that, as Martin Luther once said, that security can become for us the “ultimate idol”.
And God doesn’t tolerate idols.
Luke wants us to see that the Christian Community being blessed is dependent on the community passing the blessings along! I can’t say that enough times!
Being blessed is dependent on us passing the blessings along!
Some of us studied this story in the Wednesday night bible study a few weeks back, and we really struggled with the deaths of Ananias and Saphira, partly because we were trying to see them in the light of God’s mercy and grace.
How could a loving God demand the lives of his servants simply because they lied?
It seemed just the opposite of what Jesus had been teaching about forgiveness and God’s love.
Why couldn’t Peter simply forgive them? Why couldn’t God?
And don’t get me wrong, those are excellent questions and ones I don’t pretend to have a good answer to.
I am aware, and I am quite willing to share with you what I do know, that our God is amazing, and while forgiveness and love are some of God greatest attributes, holiness, righteousness, and justice are others.
So, Ananias and Saphira’s plotting to lie to the Apostles about the money earned on the sale of a piece of property they didn’t have to sell, and money they didn’t have to donate, and for which there was no requirement that they give the whole amount was a really bad plan! Cheating on God is always a bad plan!
They had seen the power of the Holy Spirit.
They had seen the way it moved people to gratitude and generosity.
But for some reason, what it also did for them was to move them to try and act like everyone else, while keeping a secret about the amount of the sale, from God, from the faith community, and then going another step and lying about it!
What is at work here is not the Holy Spirit, but the spirit of pride.
They wanted to look good.
They wanted the praise of the people around them without any understanding that God and God’s servants would know all about their deceit.
It is a hard and harsh lesson, that while God loves us and forgives us, God is also willing to discipline us when we wander completely outside his grace. We are to be people filled with the Holy Spirit, growing, learning, listening.
And, plotting, lying, and giving into pride are not part of the plan.
Once we stop blessing others, using the gifts God has given us to bless others, we stop being blessed, individually and as a faith community.
We have an opportunity to open hands and open hearts so that we become the conduits of God’s love.
It matters. It is a really big deal!
We are God’s children, faithful, and ready to move heaven and earth on God’s behalf, to be a blessing every day.
May it be so, in Jesus name! Amen!
Monday, November 02, 2020
On Fire: Blessed from Acts 4:32-37 on November 1, 2020
So, do you feel blessed?
In this season of Thanksgiving, in spite of the election, and in spite of COVID, do you sense that in some way that God has blessed you?
Are you planning to take time to gather with the ones you love and celebrate the grace God has surrounded you with, the blessings material and otherwise, the relationships with family and friends near and far, which have sustained you over the last year?
Some of you know that old hymn “Count your blessings”.
It goes like this:
When upon life's billows you are tempest tossed,
When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,
Count your many blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord has done.
Refrain:
Count your blessings, name them one by one;
Count your blessings, see what God has done.
Are you ever burdened with a load of care?
Does the cross seem heavy you are called to bear?
Count your many blessings, every doubt will fly,
And you will be singing as the days go by.
It seems to me, that one of the great blessings of the Thanksgiving season is our counting and recounting of the blessings. Seeing them. Naming them. Sharing them.
To see objectively what is happening in our lives, not from the point of view of our trials and troubles, misgivings and issues, but from the observatory of what God has done on our behalf. What God has done, not only blessing us with needs met, but also blessing us with opportunities – to be a blessing to others!
Someone said recently that the challenge in life is to see your glass as half full, not half empty. Someone else noted with a bit of irony, that perhaps we should also notice that we have a glass, and perhaps, something to put in it!
And that seems to be what is happening in the early church community in Jerusalem after Peter and John’s release from prison. The community is seeing God at work and feeling amazingly blessed.
It is as if they now understand that God can provide in all kinds of situations, and that they don’t need to worry about going without, because as fast as they are giving what God has given them away, God is busy refilling their cups.
I have shared this before but one of the great gratitude stories I have heard is the one Carolee Union shared at one of our church retreats. Carolee unfortunately has since passed away, going on to her great reward, but before she did, what a blessing she was for us.
She told us of her gratitude journal, a book she created to force herself to look and see what God was doing to bless her, even when she was not paying attention, or when she felt just overwhelmed by life.
She said that one morning she sat at her table and was just struggling with no idea what to write in the gratitude book. And then a beautiful cardinal came and sat on her window sill, and so she opened her Gratitude Journal and wrote: “Thank you today for the gift of that beautiful red blessing!”
And as her mind turned more and more towards gratitude, little blessings became more obvious and then were added to the book.
Do you feel blessed?
Sometimes when we are struggling with life, in a true wrestling match with illness or jobs or a lack of income or family issues or even addiction, we just don’t see what God is doing on our behalf!
We don’t see how God is suppling our needs, including our NEED to be generous.
You heard me, didn’t you?
We don’t see how God is supplying our needs, including that essential spiritual NEED to be generous.
We as God’s children, need, right down deep in the center of our souls, in the center of our spirit, in the center of the Holy Spirit’s presence in us, to be generous!
That’s what was happening in Jerusalem!
The children of God were mimicking their Lord and Savior, using all that God had given them, to take care of God’s people, just as God had been doing for them.
Mimicking is how children learn. We all know that.
Lately our grandson Noah has been taking sticks and plastic hangers and whatever he can find and making chainsaw noises, because he saw his father put on the chaps and goggles and ear protection and cut up logs up at the cottage at Loon Lake.
Noah even found a strap of some kind and hung it over his ears as ear protection as he cut up all those imaginary logs! As Rachel said on Friday, “I never thought I would tell my toddler, ‘let’s go upstairs to play with your chainsaws before bed!’”
Because he is mimicking what he has seen his father do, just as these folks in Jerusalem as now mimicking what they have seen their Heavenly Father do for them - use his resources to take care of the least of these.
Even Barnabus, the son of encouragement, jumps in to do what he can, and sells a piece of land so that the folks who need a blessing have a blessing, and becomes himself a conduit of God’s love.
It is often said that the Dead Sea is dead, because everything flows into it, but nothing flows out of it. So, if you are feeling a bit dead inside, consider all the ways you could take your many blessings and share them with others.
The opportunities are endless!
Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes, Thanksgiving Baskets, and food for the backpacks we take to the Otisville Elementary School to help some children who need a breakfast and lunch on the weekend.
We can send a card to someone who we know needs a blessing, we could make that phone call, or stop by and visit with an old friend socially distanced.
Taking some of the Holy Spirit’s energy in us and volunteer at the food pantry or offer to come up to the church and organize some of the stuff we have accumulated and not used for 6 months.
You see, as our faith grows, our need to control our destiny through wealth slips away. Then it is replaced by first, a desire to relieve the suffering of others and second, a desire to grow the Christian community through the resources God has blessed us with!
So, do you feel blessed?
If so, what are you doing with your blessings?
Use them to bless others!
In Jesus name! Amen!
In this season of Thanksgiving, in spite of the election, and in spite of COVID, do you sense that in some way that God has blessed you?
Are you planning to take time to gather with the ones you love and celebrate the grace God has surrounded you with, the blessings material and otherwise, the relationships with family and friends near and far, which have sustained you over the last year?
Some of you know that old hymn “Count your blessings”.
It goes like this:
When upon life's billows you are tempest tossed,
When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,
Count your many blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord has done.
Refrain:
Count your blessings, name them one by one;
Count your blessings, see what God has done.
Are you ever burdened with a load of care?
Does the cross seem heavy you are called to bear?
Count your many blessings, every doubt will fly,
And you will be singing as the days go by.
It seems to me, that one of the great blessings of the Thanksgiving season is our counting and recounting of the blessings. Seeing them. Naming them. Sharing them.
To see objectively what is happening in our lives, not from the point of view of our trials and troubles, misgivings and issues, but from the observatory of what God has done on our behalf. What God has done, not only blessing us with needs met, but also blessing us with opportunities – to be a blessing to others!
Someone said recently that the challenge in life is to see your glass as half full, not half empty. Someone else noted with a bit of irony, that perhaps we should also notice that we have a glass, and perhaps, something to put in it!
And that seems to be what is happening in the early church community in Jerusalem after Peter and John’s release from prison. The community is seeing God at work and feeling amazingly blessed.
It is as if they now understand that God can provide in all kinds of situations, and that they don’t need to worry about going without, because as fast as they are giving what God has given them away, God is busy refilling their cups.
I have shared this before but one of the great gratitude stories I have heard is the one Carolee Union shared at one of our church retreats. Carolee unfortunately has since passed away, going on to her great reward, but before she did, what a blessing she was for us.
She told us of her gratitude journal, a book she created to force herself to look and see what God was doing to bless her, even when she was not paying attention, or when she felt just overwhelmed by life.
She said that one morning she sat at her table and was just struggling with no idea what to write in the gratitude book. And then a beautiful cardinal came and sat on her window sill, and so she opened her Gratitude Journal and wrote: “Thank you today for the gift of that beautiful red blessing!”
And as her mind turned more and more towards gratitude, little blessings became more obvious and then were added to the book.
Do you feel blessed?
Sometimes when we are struggling with life, in a true wrestling match with illness or jobs or a lack of income or family issues or even addiction, we just don’t see what God is doing on our behalf!
We don’t see how God is suppling our needs, including our NEED to be generous.
You heard me, didn’t you?
We don’t see how God is supplying our needs, including that essential spiritual NEED to be generous.
We as God’s children, need, right down deep in the center of our souls, in the center of our spirit, in the center of the Holy Spirit’s presence in us, to be generous!
That’s what was happening in Jerusalem!
The children of God were mimicking their Lord and Savior, using all that God had given them, to take care of God’s people, just as God had been doing for them.
Mimicking is how children learn. We all know that.
Lately our grandson Noah has been taking sticks and plastic hangers and whatever he can find and making chainsaw noises, because he saw his father put on the chaps and goggles and ear protection and cut up logs up at the cottage at Loon Lake.
Noah even found a strap of some kind and hung it over his ears as ear protection as he cut up all those imaginary logs! As Rachel said on Friday, “I never thought I would tell my toddler, ‘let’s go upstairs to play with your chainsaws before bed!’”
Because he is mimicking what he has seen his father do, just as these folks in Jerusalem as now mimicking what they have seen their Heavenly Father do for them - use his resources to take care of the least of these.
Even Barnabus, the son of encouragement, jumps in to do what he can, and sells a piece of land so that the folks who need a blessing have a blessing, and becomes himself a conduit of God’s love.
It is often said that the Dead Sea is dead, because everything flows into it, but nothing flows out of it. So, if you are feeling a bit dead inside, consider all the ways you could take your many blessings and share them with others.
The opportunities are endless!
Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes, Thanksgiving Baskets, and food for the backpacks we take to the Otisville Elementary School to help some children who need a breakfast and lunch on the weekend.
We can send a card to someone who we know needs a blessing, we could make that phone call, or stop by and visit with an old friend socially distanced.
Taking some of the Holy Spirit’s energy in us and volunteer at the food pantry or offer to come up to the church and organize some of the stuff we have accumulated and not used for 6 months.
You see, as our faith grows, our need to control our destiny through wealth slips away. Then it is replaced by first, a desire to relieve the suffering of others and second, a desire to grow the Christian community through the resources God has blessed us with!
So, do you feel blessed?
If so, what are you doing with your blessings?
Use them to bless others!
In Jesus name! Amen!
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