John 3:1-8

“Jesus answered him, ‘Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.’” vs. 3

It’s pretty obvious from watching the way people behave in our world that not everyone is tuned into the kingdom of God. In fact, some days it appears that the vast majority of people are operating on cruise control and don’t have a clue about how to live at peace with self and neighbor. A long time ago a fellow named Nicodemus figured out that maybe Jesus could give a word from God about what had gone wrong. Jesus tells him that his vision is bad. The peaceable kingdom is at hand, in fact it’s all around, but it’s invisible to those who have not been born from above. Nicodemus doesn’t understand–he’s a literalist, and doesn’t have a clue about how the Spirit of God works. Jesus tells him that the Spirit is already in the world and is working to change things from the inside out. In the most surprising ways, all over the world, the Breath of God is touching hearts, bringing new life, and establishing the rule of love. Most of us are blind to that work. All we see is the dark side, the killing and the hating, people acting totally out of self-interest, and we conclude God is absent. But that’s not true! And when we take time for a second look we will see it–we’ll see the fruits of the Spirit in the most unlikely places, and sometimes even in ourselves!

Thought for the Day: Why are we blind to what the Spirit is doing?

Romans 8:15-17

“When we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’ it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ…”vss. 16-17a

The “Our Father” has been around from the beginning days of the Church. Paul makes reference to it as he writes to the Romans with assurances of God’s love. God is our Father, he tells them, maybe even our “Daddy,” and each time we pray the Our Father we are reminded that we are God’s children. For some the masculine imagery is off-putting, but Paul’s purpose in using it is to assure his readers that there is an intimacy in their relationship with the Divine Mystery. Not only are we God’s off-spring we are heirs of the promise–along with the Christ we will be resurrected and given new life. There’s amazing security in that promise. There is no need for us to fret and whine about our position in life–and there is absolutely no reason for us to be afraid of anything. As members of the family we are going to be taken care of, and nothing will be able to snatch us away from the love of God. And if our primary experience of nurturing self-giving love has been our “Mama” we might even think about using that image in our prayers too. Since God is more than male and female surely there’d be nothing wrong with occasionally offering up a few “Our Mothers”!

Thought for the Day: What’s the difference between a father’s and a mother’s love?

Romans 8:12-14

“for if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” vs.13

There are many ways of describing the complexities of being human. Most would agree that we have a soul, that which is the essence of our personhood–it’s what gives us our identity, the sense of being “me,” as opposed to someone else. In addition we also have flesh and spirit, flesh being those bodily appetites that are so essential for existence, and spirit being that which animates and gives life. What complicates things is that the natural appetites of the flesh frequently dominate and can even become our passions. Almost against our will we are drawn to the seamy side of life and begin to do the very things we don’t want to do. Our spirits do battle against the temptations of the flesh, occasionally win a skirmish or two, but ultimately are defeated, leaving us with a sense of wretchedness. Paul knew this feeling very well, but he also knew that there was another Spirit, the indwelling Spirit of Christ, who could overwhelm the power of the flesh and enable us to live in soul-satisfying ways. That happens when our spirits surrender control to the higher power of God–until that takes place the flesh will always win. But once we start our one-day-at-a-time walk with the Spirit, life can become as good as it can be.

Thought for the Day: What good is the flesh?

Psalm 29

“Ascribe to the Lord, O heavenly beings, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the Lord, over mighty waters.” vss. 1, 3

As this psalmist contemplated the wonder and the power of God, it was completely natural for him to use the imagery of a thunderstorm, a violent hurricane-like storm blowing in from the Mediterranean, ravaging the forests of Lebanon, and pouring vast amounts of rain in the wilderness. As people cowered in the presence of wind, thunder, and lightning, they heard the voice of the Lord, and ascribed to God glory and strength. Of course our faith ancestors knew that God was different from the storm gods worshipped by the Canaanites, and the psalmist knew that too, but he couldn’t pass up the chance to use the metaphor. In his estimation it was the best way to describe the power of God. We do the same thing, but with different metaphors. Our conception of the creation has expanded with the advent of rockets and space telescopes–we have many more astonishing ways to imagine our God. Some folks have even begun to use the word “universe” as a synonym for God–in their estimation it does a better job of bringing the concept of God into line with modern science. Others still like the image of a storm and the raw energy we experience with rain, wind, thunder, and lighting all around. In the end, no metaphor is completely adequate–God is beyond even our most poetic imagination.

Thought for the Day: What image do I use for the power of God?

Isaiah 6:5-8

“And I said: ‘Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!’” vs. 5

Isaiah had caught a glimpse of God’s holiness, and became deeply aware of his own sin and inadequacy. And not only that, his eyes were opened to the fallen condition of his own people. Whatever he’d been trying to keep hidden had suddenly been exposed by the purity and the radiance of the Divine Mystery, and he had no alternative but confession. That’s what the Light of God does–every indiscretion and all secret sins, all those nasty sites we’ve visited on the Internet–all are revealed in the presence of holiness. Now those moments don’t come to all–some people remain oblivious for a lifetime, never acknowledging the sin that clings so closely. But when they do come, we are not left in despair. Like Isaiah, we are surprised by grace–forgiveness comes to us, maybe not through a flaming coal in the tongs of a seraph, but through words of absolution or a morsel of bread and a little taste of wine. In those moments lips and hearts are cleansed, guilt is wiped away and we realize God has plans even for wretches like us. And with grateful hearts, like Isaiah we respond, “Here I am, Lord. Send me!”

Thought for the Day: What exposes the darkness of my heart?

Isaiah 6:1-4

“And one called to another and said: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory.’” vs. 3

Next Sunday is Trinity Sunday in many congregations, and if in-person worship now includes singing, there’s a good chance one of the hymns will be some variation of “Holy, Holy, Holy.” It’s an old standard for many and includes lyrics from the seraph, one of the six-winged creatures from Isaiah’s temple vision. Actually, holy, holy, holy, is a great place to start as we begin to sing our praises to God. With those words we confess that God is the Divine Mystery that stands apart from, yet is not separate from creation. Through God all things have come and are coming into existence. Both transcendent and immanent, God is above us, beside us, and within us. Not only the whole earth, but the whole universe is full of God’s glory. Of course, God’s holiness does not remove God from the realm of our experience, and while it is true that some of our “God-moments” can seem trivial or petty, there are those times when our God encounters can be transforming or life-shaping. There’s no formula for those times and they can’t be forced–few are like what Isaiah or Paul experienced. But when they come we catch a glimpse of holiness that can stay with us for a lifetime!

Thought for the Day: When have I sensed the presence of holiness?

John 16:4b-15

“Nevertheless I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.” vs. 7

The disciples likely didn’t think it would be to their advantage to have Jesus go away–that’s not in our human nature. When we love someone dearly and have been fed by their presence, we like to keep them around. We don’t even like to have beloved pastors leave! But if Jesus had just hung around, the Holy Spirit would never have come–and Jesus would likely have been forgotten. But with his leaving the mission shifted from being a personality cult to being a Spirit-driven movement. With the death of Jesus and the resurrection of the Christ, the Spirit was set free to stir up the world with a radical message of forgiveness and sacrificial love. Now there’s a danger when a movement is unleashed–we can never be sure what direction it might take. That’s why it’s so important for the Christ-movement to continue to be grounded in the life and mission of Jesus. There can be any number of changes in rituals and doctrines, but the strength of the Church is its recognition that the fueling Spirit is not an independent contractor, but the Spirit of the risen Christ. If we don’t stay rooted in the grace and the love of Christ, we’ll just be blowin’ in the wind, and there’s no telling where we might end up.

Thought for the Day: How does a personality cult get started?

John 15:26-27

”When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father, he will testify on my behalf.” vs. 26

According to John, one of the prime tasks of the Holy Spirit was advocacy. Because Jesus had not defended himself at his hearing before Pilate, all sorts of malicious and defamatory things were being said about him by his enemies, the religious leaders. After his death and resurrection the Holy Spirit came to equip his disciples to be his advocates and spread the good news of his life and love for all people–and that’s what they did! In our time that Spirit-filled ministry of advocacy continues for the people of God. Jesus told us that he is present among us in the hungry, the naked, the imprisoned, and the poor. Being faithful to his call means that we will gladly take up the spiritual work of advocacy on their behalf. We’ll write letters, testify, sign petitions, lobby, and do all we can to be their defenders. There are some who think congregations ought not to be involved in such things–they believe it’s too divisive and political. But many others believe that our call is clear–we have been commissioned to reach out to the least and the lost, and one of the most effective ways to engage in such ministry is through advocacy. As we testify on their behalf, we are actually testifying on behalf of Jesus.

Thought for the Day: What does an advocate do?

Romans 8:26-27

“Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words.” vs. 26

Praying isn’t always an easy thing, even for believers. Oh, we can do a pretty good job of moving through our daily prayer lists. We know what we would like for the people we love; peace, healing, joy, wisdom–and it’s not hard to just pass our desires along to God. So that part of prayer is a piece of cake. But it gets tougher when we address the needs of the larger community and begin to think about the awful stuff we see on the news every day. We know we should be praying for those things too, but where do we start? On a macro level our world seems hopelessly confused and divided, and solutions, if there are any, seem beyond our pay grade. Paul knew that feeling and told the Romans that when we get to the end of our understanding in our prayers, the Spirit takes over. In our weakness, if all we can do is groan and whine, even our garbled sighs are good enough. God understands and makes astounding connections even in our moments of confused silence. What’s really important is that we keep on praying even if we think God must be getting bored. Prayer is that time of fusion, the coming together of the Christ within and the Christ beyond, and it always is good for our souls.

Thought for the Day: When do I get tongue-tied in my prayers?

Romans 8:22-25

“For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen?” vs. 24

We regularly hear people of faith speak of the future with great confidence. It appears that they have no doubt that one day love will conquer and that evil will be defeated. They speak of peace on earth with great conviction, as though it’s going to be happening in just a few more years. And when it comes to life after death there is no question of their certainly. They say that they know what happens when we die, that their faith gives them blessed assurance. And many of us agree with such believers. Our confidence about the future is beyond doubt. But some wonder! We confess the creeds along with everyone else, but sometimes questions are there too. Are the things we say we believe in really true, especially those things that have to do with the future? It’s not that we don’t believe–we just don’t know! Paul seems to have understood those feelings as he writes to the Romans about hope. He says that when it comes down to it, our faith is not based on what we know, but on what we hope. And his words ring true for us. We don’t know what the future will bring, but we sure hope for the fulfillment of Jesus’ promises. And amazingly enough, our hope is enough to sustain us. It’s hope that pulls us to worship, it’s hope that brings comfort when death draws near. Hope may not be everything, but it is enough for faith!

Thought for the Day: Why do I keep on hoping?