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Mark 13:1-2

17 Nov

13 As Jesus was leaving the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher! What massive stones! What magnificent buildings!”

2 “Do you see all these great buildings?” replied Jesus. “Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”

Mark 13:1-2

Dear God, is it bad that I just don’t care about end time prophecies? The Gospel reading for the Catholic church this morning is verses from later in Mark 13 when Jesus is describing end times. Is it bad that I’m incurious about them?

I guess it makes me think of the Rich Mullins song “Be With You.”

“Be With You” by Rich Mullins

Everybody each and all
We’re gonna die eventually
It’s no more or less our faults
Than it is our destiny
So now Lord I come to you
Asking only for Your grace
You know what I’ve put myself through
All those empty dreams I chased

And when my body lies in the ruins
Of the lies that nearly ruined me
Will You pick up the pieces
That were pure and true
And breathe Your life into them
And set them free?

And when You start this world over
Again from scratch
Will You make me anew
Out of the stuff that lasts?
Stuff that’s purer than gold is
And clearer than glass could ever be
Can I be with You?
Can I be with You?

And everybody all and each
From the day that we are born
We have to learn to walk beneath
Those mercies by which we’re drawn
And now we wrestle in the dark
With these angels that we can’t see
We will move on although with scars
Oh Lord, move inside of me

And when my body lies in the ruins
Of the lies that nearly runied me
Will You pick up the pieces
That were pure and true
And breathe Your life into them
And set them free?

And when You blast this cosmos
To kingdom come
When those jagged-edged mountains
I love are gone
When the sky is crossed with the tears
Of a thousand falling suns
As they crash into the sea
Can I be with you?
Can I be with you?

I have this down as one of my funeral songs. Whatever happens. However this all works out, I simply just want to be with you. I really don’t want to use any mental energy trying to gain this knowledge because, even if I were the one person who could figure this out (which Jesus says in Mark 13:32), what good would the knowledge gain me? Maybe I could use it to scare people into faith in and worship of you. But that doesn’t seem to be how you motivate people. At least, I don’t think selling people “fire insurance” is a good way to motivate them.

Father, I’ll be fascinated to hear this morning how the priest applies the daily reading (which is actually Mark 13:24-32) here in a little bit. One of the things I’ve decided is a “floor” for my life is that I need to get some good teaching at least once a week. Be with the priest this morning and teach me through him. Teach me through the songs we sing. Teach me through the people I encounter. Teach me through your still small voice as I worship you.

I pray all of this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on November 17, 2024 in Hymns and Songs, Mark

 

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3 John

16 Nov

1 The elder,

To my dear friend Gaius, whom I love in the truth.

2 Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well. 3 It gave me great joy when some believers came and testified about your faithfulness to the truth, telling how you continue to walk in it. 4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.

5 Dear friend, you are faithful in what you are doing for the brothers and sisters, even though they are strangers to you. 6 They have told the church about your love. Please send them on their way in a manner that honors God. 7 It was for the sake of the Name that they went out, receiving no help from the pagans. 8 We ought therefore to show hospitality to such people so that we may work together for the truth.

9 I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first, will not welcome us. 10 So when I come, I will call attention to what he is doing, spreading malicious nonsense about us. Not satisfied with that, he even refuses to welcome other believers. He also stops those who want to do so and puts them out of the church.

11 Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good. Anyone who does what is good is from God. Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God. 12 Demetrius is well spoken of by everyone—and even by the truth itself. We also speak well of him, and you know that our testimony is true.

13 I have much to write you, but I do not want to do so with pen and ink. 14 I hope to see you soon, and we will talk face to face.

15 Peace to you. The friends here send their greetings. Greet the friends there by name.

3 John

Dear God, yesterday was the whole book of 2 John, and since today’s New Testament reading for the Catholic church was 3 John I figured I might as well do the whole book here. I’ll confess, though, that after seeing this letter was addressed to an individual, as 2 John seemingly was, I went back to see if 1 John was too. It was not. So there’s that.

When I was reading this book this morning, I found myself being delighted for Gaius. I was happy for him to be receiving such a complimentary letter from the Apostle John. People were talking about him behind his back, and it was good. The word had reached John that Gaius was faithful to the truth and walking in it. He is loving strangers. Simply put, he’s a good guy doing things the right way under the authority of Jesus and his teachings.

Next, John warns Gaius to not emulate Diotrephes. He has some terrible things to say about Diotrephes, and he points out to Gaius that they should not be emulated and that John intends to publicly address them when he arrives there. I don’t know what Diotrephes problem is, but this admonition reminds me of two things.

  1. The warning you gave to Samuel in 1 Samuel 3:11-14 about Eli and his sons. Of all the things you could have said to young Samuel in that moment (e.g., I am calling you to be the next judge of Israel, you will do great things in my name, etc.), you focused on the sin of Eli and his sons and basically warned him not to follow them by indicating that they would be severely punished for them. If Gaius was having any doubts about how he was behaving vs. Diotrephes, John put those questions to bed quickly.
  2. A conversation I had with a friend yesterday who is trying to help a certain people group through the nonprofit where he works. A fellow worker in the ministry got upset about this targeted help and physically left the meeting they were in and resigned from the ministry. My friend was befuddled. How could he not see that this is what Jesus would do? How could he not see that their call as Christians is to love them?

Father, I have all kinds of decisions to make in every moment. Oh, how I would love to be Gaius, the kind of person John would write this letter to. And, oh, how I would hate to be Diotrephes, the kind of person John would have to publicly reprimand. But the line between them is not as far apart as I might like to think. At any given time I can get sucked into disparaging others, judging others, and even hating others. My love can be limited and lacking. Not that I shouldn’t publicly challenge someone as John was willing to do if someone is obviously doing something wrong, but I need to be careful about how I do it and that I don’t just privately complain and moan while not doing anything constructive with my criticism. And I need to also have enough self-awareness through the refining of your Holy Spirit to see when I’ve crossed the line and drifted away from the man you need me to be. When I sin. So I am sorry for the sin in my life. I’m sorry for my unconstructive anger. I’m sorry when I am simply foolish and even slothful. I bring myself to you. I worship you. I thank you for everything in my life.

I pray all of this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on November 16, 2024 in 3 John

 

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2 John

15 Nov

1 This letter is from John, the elder.

I am writing to the chosen lady and to her children, whom I love in the truth—as does everyone else who knows the truth— 2 because the truth lives in us and will be with us forever.

3 Grace, mercy, and peace, which come from God the Father and from Jesus Christ—the Son of the Father—will continue to be with us who live in truth and love.

4 How happy I was to meet some of your children and find them living according to the truth, just as the Father commanded.

5 I am writing to remind you, dear friends, that we should love one another. This is not a new commandment, but one we have had from the beginning. 6 Love means doing what God has commanded us, and he has commanded us to love one another, just as you heard from the beginning.

7 I say this because many deceivers have gone out into the world. They deny that Jesus Christ came in a real body. Such a person is a deceiver and an antichrist. 8 Watch out that you do not lose what we have worked so hard to achieve. Be diligent so that you receive your full reward. 9 Anyone who wanders away from this teaching has no relationship with God. But anyone who remains in the teaching of Christ has a relationship with both the Father and the Son.

10 If anyone comes to your meeting and does not teach the truth about Christ, don’t invite that person into your home or give any kind of encouragement. 11 Anyone who encourages such people becomes a partner in their evil work.

12 I have much more to say to you, but I don’t want to do it with paper and ink. For I hope to visit you soon and talk with you face to face. Then our joy will be complete.

13 Greetings from the children of your sister, chosen by God.

2 John

Dear God, I had forgotten that this letter was addressed to an individual. I mean, it’s not without precedent that we have letters in the New Testament that were addressed to individuals (see Timothy and Titus). But somehow this seems a little more personal because it is to a woman and her children. Of course, I know the “lady” referenced here could be the church as a whole. I even looked at a couple of commentaries for clarification and they said it could be either. So, I’m just going to roll with the idea that this was written to an individual with her children because the personal nature of that interaction with the Apostle John appeals to me.

Heresy is such a scary thing because it can be so attractive to believe. I guess people wouldn’t teach it or believe it if it wasn’t attractive on some level. And one of my fears as I share you with others is that I will teach heresy. Of course, who’s to say there isn’t any of my personal theology that is heresy? I’ve been taught be imperfect teachers who were taught by imperfect teachers. There are times when we try to meld our theology to fit our own biases and preconceived ideas. We are all guilty of that to some extent, no matter how righteous we try to be.

So I like how John boils it down to a couple of things here. Jesus was real. The story of his life, death, and resurrection is real (verse 7). Reject the teaching of anyone who tries to say otherwise. And our command is to love him and love others (verse 5). He took his time to record these two things, and the church fathers decided that this is one of the important things from John’s writings that needed to be preserved for people like me thousands of years later: Jesus is real. Love him and love others.

Father, it doesn’t seem like it should be as hard to live this out as it is, but here we are, failing to do it every day. There are times when I ignore Jesus’s teaching while he was here on earth because it is too hard or inconvenient. There are times when I get selfish and don’t love others. And then only bad things flow from those moments. So I give you my heart in this moment. Right now. I will do my best in the next moment, but in this moment that interfaces with you I tell you that I believe in the life of Jesus that is recorded for us. I believe because so many people who were there and witnessed all of it went to their death proclaiming it even though it was the very story they were being killed for. And I will fill my heart with love for others. Help me to be willing to pay the price you are calling me to pay to exhibit the love you need me to exhibit.

I pray all of this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on November 15, 2024 in 2 John

 

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“Something Wicked” by Callie Feyen

14 Nov 
"Something Wicked" by Callie Feyen

leaves sweep across the street
and branches bend
the wind
messes with papers
birds can't fly right
windows slam without human touch
car doors fling open
hair goes everywhere and nowhere
when the rain comes it falls sideways

maybe that's a summer wind
maybe that wind means well
an over exuberant child begging
to be put in the game

the winter wind
acts like it's won
bullys with icy breath
that picks at your legs
through your jacket
to your stomach 
straight to the heart

winter wind acts like change will never come again
acts like it can wipe out anything and everything
doesn't want the world to remember
that even in a barren land
what falls
always leaves remnants
waiting to grow again
ready to converge with what rises*

*[Feyen's note] Everything That Rises Must Converge by Flannery O’Connor is my new favorite title, and a phrase I wonder about now most of my days.

Dear God, I read this poem this morning when I woke up, and it made me think about the wind in a different way. Living in Texas, summertime wind is almost always welcome as it helps cool things off. The town I live in was intentionally laid out on a Northwest/Southeast axis so that when the south wind blows it will come in the windows of two sides of the house and not just one. We need the wind in the summer to make being outside tolerable. It is our friend. It combines with the sweat that comes out of me to cool me. The closer my skin is to the wind the better. At the same time we are welcoming the wind, we are shielding ourselves from the sun. Shade is a premium. Trees. Tents. Gazebos. Even a cloudy day is a welcome sight in the summer. The temperature difference between being in the sun and being in the shade is huge. So, to summarize, summertime = wind/good + sun/bad.

The winter is opposite. For the short times of the year we experience winter down here, we shield ourselves from the wind. Even this morning, we had the windows open overnight and the study was chilly when I walked in. The ceiling fan was on because it runs 24/7 from March through November. But as I sat down, I realized I needed to turn off the fan. Even the small breeze from a ceiling fan on medium speed was not welcome in my study this morning. As the days will turn colder, I will shield myself from the wind. On the really cold days, I might even cover my face. The wind will hurt my skin. It will steal my warmth and run away. But I will seek out the sun. I’ll prefer to be in it rather than under a tree. I’ll open the shade that covers the moon roof of my truck for six months of the year. I will seek warmth because nature will be doing everything it can to take it from me. So, to summarize, wintertime = wind/bad + sun/good.

All of this leads me into the metaphor for my life. When I read Feyen’s poem this morning, it made me think of the winters of my life that can come in and bully the summer away. And sometimes it seems like that winter will last forever. I want protection from it. When things are good my temptation is to pray less and just live for myself more. But winter reminds me that I need your protection from the wind. I need your sun (Son?) to warm me. I need to clothe myself in prayer, godly inputs, and positive relationships. Summer requires self-discipline to remember to worship you and thank you for what I have, but winter drives me to you. And sometimes my self-discipline fails and I need to be driven to you. I need to be reminded I need you for my very breath. Winter has its place in my life. So I don’t fight it. I just clothe myself in you and see out your Son.

Father, form me today. In the words of the song “Spirit of the Living God,” break me, melt me, mold me, fill me. And let your presence, your Holy Spirit, fall afresh on me.

I pray this in Jesus with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on November 14, 2024 in Miscellaneous, Musings and Stories

 

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Psalm 121, 1 Corinthians 15:51-58

13 Nov

121 I will lift up my eyes to the mountains;
From where shall my help come?
2 My help comes from the Lord,
Who made heaven and earth.
3 He will not allow your foot to slip;
He who keeps you will not slumber.
4 Behold, He who keeps Israel
Will neither slumber nor sleep.

5 The Lord is your keeper;
The Lord is your shade on your right hand.
6 The sun will not smite you by day,
Nor the moon by night.
7 The Lord will protect you from all evil;
He will keep your soul.
8 The Lord will guard your going out and your coming in
From this time forth and forever.

Psalm 121

Dear God, when I read this passage this morning, it reminded me of what I learned from Walter Brueggemann about the psalms being categorized into three categories, with some psalms fitting into more than one: Orientation (God, thank you, everything is going great), Disorientation (God, help, everything is going wrong), and Reorientation (God, thank you for bringing me through everything going wrong). For this poem, I see it as a kind of psalm of reorientation. The psalmist is saying claiming his own victory through Jesus and then encouraging those in disorientation with it. In the first two verses, he is remembering back on his life and his times of disorientation and needing help. And you were faithful to be there for him.

Then the rest of the psalm is encouraging others. Encouraging us. Hey, I’ve been there. I know it’s hard. But he will not let your foot slip (verse 3). He will be your shade from oppression (verses 5 and 6). He will protect your soul from evil and keep it with him (verse 7). He will guard you (verse 8). This psalmist is the voice of evidence that you are good and an encouragement to those around him. To me sitting here today.

I was visiting with a friend yesterday who is experiencing pain that I have experienced. We shared our pain and our experiences. Our weaknesses. In some ways, I was like the psalmist trying to encourage her. And while my pain still exists, you’ve taught me to use it to form who I am in you and then encourage others in similar situations. Oh, how I pray that this friend does not experience the pain to the extent I have. Please, Father, be with that situation.

51 Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53 For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. 54 But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, “Death is swallowed up in victory. 55 O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” 56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; 57 but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

1 Corinthians 15:51-58

Then there is the pain of death. But Paul is being the psalmist here to the Corinthians. To us. To me. He is giving us comfort in the midst of our pain when we lose someone. Maybe when we fear our own death. He is reminding us of what the Old Testament prophets said about death.

I mentioned Saturday the friend who died suddenly. This is a time of disorientation for all who knew him, but especially his wife and children. Extreme disorientation. How could it not be. But I pray that they will find comfort. That you will raise up people to be your hands and feet to them. I pray that they will welcome in and accept the help and love you have for them. Be glorified, somehow, through this loss. Do not let this pain be wasted. Help his widow one day get to the point where she is the psalmist for others. Where she is encouraging someone else that their foot will not slip because of you. That you will be their shade. It won’t be today that she is the psalmist. And it won’t be tomorrow. But help her and all of your church to be that encouragement to a lost world and to all in the church who are currently disoriented. Help us to be what you need us to be so that your kingdom will come and your will will be done on this earth as it is in heaven.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on November 13, 2024 in 1 Corinthians, Psalms

 

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Titus 2

12 Nov

2 But as for you, speak the things which are fitting for sound doctrine. 2 Older men are to be temperate, dignified, sensible, sound in faith, in love, in perseverance.

3 Older women likewise are to be reverent in their behavior, not malicious gossips nor enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good, 4 so that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, 5 to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be dishonored.

6 Likewise urge the young men to be sensible; 7 in all things show yourself to be an example of good deeds, with purity in doctrine, dignified, 8 sound in speech which is beyond reproach, so that the opponent will be put to shame, having nothing bad to say about us.

9 Urge bondslaves to be subject to their own masters in everything, to be well-pleasing, not argumentative, 10 not pilfering, but showing all good faith so that they will adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in every respect.

11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, 12 instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, 13 looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, 14 who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.

15 These things speak and exhort and reprove with all authority. Let no one disregard you.

Titus 2

Dear God, this chapter all seemed to be one thought, so I thought I would keep it together. As I read the admonitions for each category of people I started to wonder how I would parse through it. Thankfully, Paul helped me out by summarizing things in verses 11-14:

11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, 12 instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, 13 looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, 14 who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.

So I need to:

  • Deny ungodliness
  • Deny worldly desires
  • Live sensibly
  • Live righteously
  • Be godly
  • Look for hope

The first five are kind of no-brainers, but the last one is interesting given the chapter I just read this last weekend in a marriage book my wife and I are reading with the couple’s group we are in at church. The book is called Habits for a Healthy Marriage by Richard Fitzgibbons. Chapter 6 is titled “Hope Reduces Sadness and Loneliness.” I kind of scoffed at that title at first because I think I was using a definition of hope, and assumed he was using a definition for hope, that I think is very American and prosperity gospel-ish. A lot of times, when people tell me to not give up hope or that things will turn out alright, they are talking about everything working out the way I want it to or in my favor. But I think Paul has it right here. My hope is in you. It is in your return. It is in the idea that you won. I don’t know exactly what that looks like or how I will experience that, but I know that is what Paul is saying here. Now, it’s a long way around the block to link hope, even in you and the world to come, to reducing my sadness and loneliness. I suppose to some extent it does, but sometimes we are just in the valley of the shadow of death and we need to slog through it. And I’ll slog through it with my hope in you, but that hope will have varying degrees of impact on my sadness and loneliness now.

Father, I have friends who are sad right now because of loved ones they’ve lost. Use the hope in the new earth to encourage them. I have friends who are worried about their illnesses and afraid of death for themselves or their spouse. Use the hope in the new earth to encourage them. I have friends who are worried about their children’s health, their children in general, their own lives and provision for their basic needs. Use the pain of their situations to drive them closer to you. Of course, there are those in the war zones around the world. Oh, Father, please help them and make the death stop. Make the suffering and torture stop. Heal the traumas. Heal us, Father.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on November 12, 2024 in Titus

 

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Titus 1:5-9

11 Nov

5 For this reason I left you in Crete, that you would set in order what remains and appoint elders in every city as I directed you, 6 namely, if any man is above reproach, the husband of one wife, having children who believe, not accused of dissipation or rebellion. 7 For the overseer must be above reproach as God’s steward, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not addicted to wine, not pugnacious, not fond of sordid gain, 8 but hospitable, loving what is good, sensible, just, devout, self-controlled, 9 holding fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, so that he will be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict.

Titus 1:5-9

Dear God, this list of qualifications for elder caught my eye this morning. Verse 6 talks about “having children who believe, not accused of dissipation or rebellion.” By this standard, not many biblical characters would qualify for service as an elder. I wonder if that is a legitimate qualification, or if Paul was making the mistake a lot of people without children make. I’ve noticed that there are many who do not have children who do not understand the concept of free will. I mean, let’s face it. I don’t think you, God, would qualify to be an elder under this criteria. Starting with Satan and the rebellion he led, and then going all the way down to us as your children.

Now that I think about it, which biblical fathers would have qualified to be elders under Paul’s standard of children’s behavior? Not Adam. Not Noah. Maybe Abraham, but Not Isaac or Jacob. Joseph (Jacob’s son)? Maybe. Moses? Maybe. Maybe Joshua. But not Eli, Samuel, or David. But maybe Saul. I guess you get my point. Paul set a pretty high standard here, and from looking at history, a fairly random and unpredictable one.

But how many of us as parents have children who go their own way and blame ourselves. And while we certainly play a part in it, not everything is within our control. Sometimes we can be the worst, and our children turn out great. Sometimes we can do our best (albeit with mistakes), and things can go terribly wrong. But we will use our children’s lives as a barometer of our own success as who you want us to be. While we certainly need to be self-reflective and repentant as parents for our mistakes, we need to also recognize that there are simply some things we cannot control.

Father, help me to reject man’s litmus test for how I should evaluate myself and embrace simply loving you with everything I have and then loving neighbors. Help me to take my love for you and use what you give me in return to draw others closer to you. Help me to be who you need me to be in this world today. For my wife. For my children. For my friends and coworkers. For those I don’t even know. May it all be for your glory.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on November 11, 2024 in Titus

 

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1 Kings 17:1-16

10 Nov

17 Now Elijah, who was from Tishbe in Gilead, told King Ahab, “As surely as the Lord, the God of Israel, lives—the God I serve—there will be no dew or rain during the next few years until I give the word!”

2 Then the Lord said to Elijah, 3 “Go to the east and hide by Kerith Brook, near where it enters the Jordan River. 4 Drink from the brook and eat what the ravens bring you, for I have commanded them to bring you food.”

5 So Elijah did as the Lord told him and camped beside Kerith Brook, east of the Jordan. 6 The ravens brought him bread and meat each morning and evening, and he drank from the brook. 7 But after a while the brook dried up, for there was no rainfall anywhere in the land.

8 Then the Lord said to Elijah, 9 “Go and live in the village of Zarephath, near the city of Sidon. I have instructed a widow there to feed you.”

10 So he went to Zarephath. As he arrived at the gates of the village, he saw a widow gathering sticks, and he asked her, “Would you please bring me a little water in a cup?” 11 As she was going to get it, he called to her, “Bring me a bite of bread, too.”

12 But she said, “I swear by the Lord your God that I don’t have a single piece of bread in the house. And I have only a handful of flour left in the jar and a little cooking oil in the bottom of the jug. I was just gathering a few sticks to cook this last meal, and then my son and I will die.”

13 But Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid! Go ahead and do just what you’ve said, but make a little bread for me first. Then use what’s left to prepare a meal for yourself and your son. 14 For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: There will always be flour and olive oil left in your containers until the time when the Lord sends rain and the crops grow again!”

15 So she did as Elijah said, and she and Elijah and her family continued to eat for many days. 16 There was always enough flour and olive oil left in the containers, just as the Lord had promised through Elijah.

1 Kings 17:1-16

Dear God, my first thought when I read today’s Old Testament reading for the Catholic church was, “What must it have been like for the widow and her son to hang out with Elijah for a year. And I’ll come back to that. But when I went back to set up the context of today’s reading (which starts in verse 10), I saw that the preceding verses talked about the prophecy that there would be no rain and you telling Elijah that he should go hide near a brook and that you had “commanded” the ravens to bring you food. Then you used the same type of word–“ordered”–to describe what you had done to the widow. I looked at different translations and they mostly used these two words interchangeably between verse 4 and 9.

But had you? Had you ordered/commanded her or did you prepare her heart for an opportunity to serve and obey? Was it just that she was at a point where she had nothing left to lose, and she was ready to be melded into whatever you wanted for a chance for her son to survive?

Now, back to my first thought when I read this. What was it like to live with Elijah for a long time? Reading ahead to chapter 18, we find out that it was over two years from the time the draught started until Elijah returned to Ahab. Well, it was in the third year. I read that as 2+ years, but the way they say things in that culture could mean something else. Regardless, they lived with Elijah for a while. He lived in an upper room in their home. I wonder what kind of roommate he was. Did he pray a lot? Did he laugh? Was he joyful or stoic? Her family got to see him for a long time. I don’t know that there are any deep spiritual truths from this part of the story, but the idea that he was literally living with them for so long and what that must have been like has always kind of slipped by me until now.

Father, back to the part about you preparing this woman’s heart to obey your commands, my prayer is that my heart might be easily malleable for your will. Selfishly, I hope you don’t have to bring me to the brink before you can teach me what you have for me to learn, although I do still have a great sorrow that is forming me, even to this day. But my life could be so much worse. There is so much good around me. But it’s not about me. It’s not about my good. It’s simply about how I will use these 54-100 years (somewhere between my current age and the chance I might live to 100) you’ve given me to bring you glory and be part of your Church. To be part of bringing your kingdom and your will into earth as it is in heaven. To worship you with everything I have and then love my neighbor deeply and completely. To define my neighbor broadly, including those I don’t like or those with whom I am at cross purposes. Make me an instrument of your peace. When people look at me I want them to see you.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on November 10, 2024 in 1 Kings

 

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Ruth 1:19-21

09 Nov

19 So the two of them continued on their journey. When they came to Bethlehem, the entire town was excited by their arrival. “Is it really Naomi?” the women asked.

20 “Don’t call me Naomi,” she responded. “Instead, call me Mara, for the Almighty has made life very bitter for me. 21 I went away full, but the Lord has brought me home empty. Why call me Naomi when the Lord has caused me to suffer and the Almighty has sent such tragedy upon me?”

Ruth 1:19-21

Dear God, a friend’s wife asked me to share a scripture at his funeral next weekend. She asked if I have any ideas. While her husband and I talked about faith a lot, we never talked about our favorite scripture passages. She is going to talk with her daughter and get back to me about any ideas they have.

In the meantime, as I sat down this morning, I started wondering if I had any ideas. Any passages that reminded me of him. The first thing that came to mind was Naomi. See, he married his high school sweetheart, and they had a little girl whom he adored. Tragically, his wife died just a short time after the baby was born from a random brain aneurism. All of a sudden, he was alone with a little girl. He had to return home and move in with his parents to help him with his daughter while he figured out what the rest of his life held for him. As it turns out, it was a good life. Education. Marriage. More children. Even financial success, but coupled with extreme generosity, love for others, and devotion to and worship of you. We aren’t all guaranteed anything in life. It won’t always turn out this way. And I’m sure he would just as soon have had his high school sweetheart with him until his dying day. And I don’t believe you caused the deaths of Naomi’s husband and sons any more than you caused his wife’s death. But you used them. You didn’t let the pain be wasted.

So, back to Naomi. I love this specific passage from Ruth 1 that I used above because it says so much. Naomi is devastated and, as she describes it, bitter. Her life is bitter. She is bitter. She is grieving and in pain. But there is still a future ahead of her. Her life isn’t over. You weren’t done with her yet. She brought Ruth and arranged for her to end up with Boaz. Ruth and Boaz had baby Obed. And that’s where the Book of Ruth ends. With Naomi, the book’s real protagonist, cuddling Obed, caring for him as if he were her own. While we don’t always get to see what you are doing to redeem our pain, at least Naomi got to see Obed. Here’s the rest of how the Book of Ruth ends in Ruth 4:16-17, nearly all of which Naomi never knew this side of heaven:

16 Naomi took the baby and cuddled him to her breast. And she cared for him as if he were her own. 17 The neighbor women said, “Now at last Naomi has a son again!” And they named him Obed. He became the father of Jesse and the grandfather of David.

And then what the author of Ruth could not know is that David would be the lineage to Jesus. The blessing didn’t stop with David. It was only the beginning of the story, culminating even in me, a Gentile, sitting here today under grace.

Father, I don’t know what you will continue to do with my friend’s life, even now that he is gone. But I know that he had the privilege of getting to cuddle his metaphorical Obed. He got a good mother for his daughter. He got more children whom he adored–he talked about all three of them constantly when he was with me. He got a wife who absolutely delighted him, and she adored him as well. Yes, he had a successful career, but his life is more marked even more by the love he showed others with that success through generosity of time and resources. His is a life that knocks over a lot of dominos. The “butterfly effect” of his life will carry on for generations. Thank you that you rescued my friend from bitterness. Thank you that all of us have a reason to move forward in the midst of sorrow and pain. Thank you that you take our pain and offer us opportunities in each moment to redeem it. Those of us who are left behind are not done. If I consider my life worth nothing to me, then my only other option is to offer it to you. So I offer this day to you. Break me, melt me, mold me, fill me.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

In Memory of Royce Hunter: 1938-2024

 
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Posted by on November 9, 2024 in Ruth

 

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Luke 16:1-13

08 Nov

16 Jesus told this story to his disciples: “There was a certain rich man who had a manager handling his affairs. One day a report came that the manager was wasting his employer’s money. 2 So the employer called him in and said, ‘What’s this I hear about you? Get your report in order, because you are going to be fired.’

3 “The manager thought to himself, ‘Now what? My boss has fired me. I don’t have the strength to dig ditches, and I’m too proud to beg. 4 Ah, I know how to ensure that I’ll have plenty of friends who will give me a home when I am fired.’

5 “So he invited each person who owed money to his employer to come and discuss the situation. He asked the first one, ‘How much do you owe him?’ 6 The man replied, ‘I owe him 800 gallons of olive oil.’ So the manager told him, ‘Take the bill and quickly change it to 400 gallons.’

7 “‘And how much do you owe my employer?’ he asked the next man. ‘I owe him 1,000 bushels of wheat,’ was the reply. ‘Here,’ the manager said, ‘take the bill and change it to 800 bushels.’

8 “The rich man had to admire the dishonest rascal for being so shrewd. And it is true that the children of this world are more shrewd in dealing with the world around them than are the children of the light. 9 Here’s the lesson: Use your worldly resources to benefit others and make friends. Then, when your possessions are gone, they will welcome you to an eternal home.

10 “If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities. 11 And if you are untrustworthy about worldly wealth, who will trust you with the true riches of heaven? 12 And if you are not faithful with other people’s things, why should you be trusted with things of your own?

13 “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money.”

Luke 16:1-13

Dear God, of course, I’ve talked about this parable with you before. It has never set well with me. The idea that Jesus would encourage deception and theft is confusing. It’s still hard for me to connect the dots, so I’m going to skip to what Luke records as the lesson from this parable in verse 9:

9 Here’s the lesson: Use your worldly resources to benefit others and make friends. Then, when your possessions are gone, they will welcome you to an eternal home.

Even this lesson is a little weird considering the lives the disciples would later live. Perhaps Jesus was looking forward to their persecution and knowing they would need allies.

As a fundraiser for a nonprofit, I can sometimes struggle with my motivations for being kind to people. Am I truly interested in them, or am I manipulating them so they will give the nonprofit where I work money? I have found that if I do not lean into the friendship and truly caring about them then I cannot live with myself. I have to care. I have to keep the donations separate from the compassion I feel. A friend died suddenly a week ago today. He and his wife happen to be large donors at the nonprofit where I work, but that didn’t drive my friendship with him. I also knew him through Rotary, and we enjoyed having lunch together. At the first of our long lunches, after about an hour he looked at me and said, “So, what can I do for you?” He was so used to being taken to lunch by a nonprofit for an “ask” that he was waiting for the pitch. I responded, “Nothing. I just wanted to have lunch.” We developed a wonderful friendship from there. We would spend hours and hours at lunch. Never less than two. Sometimes three to four hours. Such a wonderful man. I will truly miss him. I know I’m going to thing sometime soon, “I need to call ______ for lunch,” and then I’ll remember I can’t. Those will be sad moments. But with his death, my conscience is clear because I know I loved him and cared for him regardless of the donations he made to our nonprofit.

Father, I really don’t know to what extent I am supposed to be shrewd. I’m just not wired up this way. And I don’t know how to reconcile this parable of Jesus’s with my life. I really don’t. So, if there is something I’m supposed to be learning from this, Holy Spirit, please speak to me and teach me. Jesus, explain this to me. If I’m missing something in my life that you want me to incorporate, I certainly want to incorporate it. I just want to worship you and represent you to the world as best as I can. Help me to do that.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on November 8, 2024 in Luke

 
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