Romans 5:1-5

“Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God.” vss. 1-2

People of faith are free to worry about any number of things…and most of us do! We worry about economics, children, parents, politics, terrorism…the list goes on and on, and probably varies from day to day, depending upon circumstances and our state of mind. But the one thing we don’t have to worry about is our relationship with God! In that area everything is fine…as Paul puts it we have peace with God, and it’s all a gift arranged by Jesus! Through Jesus we have obtained access to peace-giving grace…and it’s something we can revel in. Even boasting is not out of bounds for us! Granted, we don’t boast about how great we are, we give all the glory to God. The neat thing about this peace relationship with God is that there is bound to be some carryover into our other relationships. Being secure with God could even mean that some of those other worries and anxieties would fade away. That’s what happens for a bunch of folks…because they’re good with God they decide to quit sweating the small stuff, and it actually works! After all, what’s the point of worrying when God has got our back!

Thought for the Day: What am I anxious about for no good reason?

Psalm 100:1-5

“For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.” vs. 5

For one reason or another God suffers from a bad reputation. Ugly rumors and misleading anecdotes have been passed from generation to generation and as a result countless people have come to believe that God is angry and vengeful. Even worse than that, for many God is thought of as remote and unapproachable, an impotent force in their daily lives. That certainly wasn’t the experience of the psalmist, nor is it the testimony of Jesus. Their message is consistent: God is good and God’s steadfast love endures forever. Moreover God remains faithful through all generations. These are the truths that are foundational for our existence in this crazy world. However many bad things happen in the course of a lifetime, and for some folks there are a bunch, it’s never because God has it in for us or doesn’t care. Some of the calamities come through our own careless living and poor decision making. Other ugly stuff happens because we live in a world where other humans are doing awful and terrible things, and we’ll consequently suffer injustices along the way. But we should never imagine that God has turned bad or has stopped loving us. That will never happen! And one day when our lives come to an end our good God will give us the peace for which we yearn.

Thought for the Day: What should I do with scripture that speaks of God’s wrath?

Exodus 19:5-8a

“So Moses came, summoned the elders of the people, and set before them all these words that the Lord had commanded him. The people all answered as one: ‘Everything that the Lord has spoken we will do.’” vss. 7-8

In the context of the wilderness wanderings, the response of the Israelites to Moses’ words almost sound like a joke. We know the rest of the story! We’ve read about the grumbling and the idolatry, the bickering and the back-fighting. And yet in this passage the people respond with one voice, “Everything that the Lord has spoken we will do.” But are they really any different than we are? It’s not like we haven’t faced the same situation and done exactly the same thing. Think of our confirmation and marriage vows. And how about the promises of parents and sponsors when their children are baptized? There’s a whole list of things that they agree to do in providing for their growth in faith…and everyone always responds as one: We will do it! And then seldom do they follow through. Once the water is splashed on their kid’s head, they’re pretty much done with church. Instead of walking in the footsteps of Jesus, too often we stumble along in the wilderness following in the way of the Israelites. But not everyone! Some do take God seriously, and some even keep their word…at least so much as they are able. Thank God for all those who hear what the Lord has spoken and who then do it! Their presence is a gift to us all!

Thought for the Day: How well have I kept my vows to God?

Exodus 19:2-4

“You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself.” vs. 4

The song “Eagle’s Wings” is a favorite for many and we often hear it sung as a vocal solo during worship services as a comforting reminder of Psalm 91. The chorus then picks up this little verse from Exodus and uses it to provide an image of a rescuing and saving God. For Israel God was like an eagle, powerful and majestic, and they had been snatched out of slavery in Egypt and carried to freedom while riding on God’s wings. The only thing they had to do was hang on tight and enjoy the ride. They had been rescued purely because God loved them and was not content that they continue living in bondage. Their freedom had been a gift…we would call it pure grace. Sometimes we’re a little surprised to see such grace in the Hebrew scriptures. We tend to think of it as purely a Christian notion, more a New Testament thing. But in truth this is how God has always acted…it’s perfectly in line with the steadfast love that is at the core of God’s being. God comes to us in our moments of sadness and sorrow, raises us up as an eagle bears its young on its pinions, and gracefully carries us home. In the words of the song we are borne on the breath of dawn and made to shine like the sun before ultimately resting in the palm of God’s hand.

Thought for the Day: Why does “On Eagle’s Wings” touch our hearts?

Matthew 28:18-20

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you.” vss. 19-20

The Great Commission provides a simple, uncomplicated formula for the mission of the Church. Only two things are included in the authorization to make disciples: baptizing and teaching. We’ve done a pretty good job with the first part of the commission…to this point billions of persons have been baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…and we keep on doing it! Even people with only casual connections to the Church make sure they get their children baptized, just so their souls won’t be in jeopardy! The second part of the commission has been a bit more problematic, probably because it takes commitment and time. We’ve not been good about teaching the baptized to obey everything that Christ has commanded. Oh, there’s usually a bit of Sunday School or maybe confirmation…a kind of general religious education. But teaching people to obey what Christ has commanded would mean exposing them to the Sermon on the Mount and saying that this is the way disciples are expected to live. And that’s a tough sell! The result is that while many are baptized, few ever become disciples…it’s just too costly for folks who have gotten accustomed to a steady diet of cheap grace.

Thought for the Day: Why is baptizing easier than teaching?

Matthew 28:16-17

“When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted.” vs. 17

Sometimes things just seem too good to be true! That was the experience of the disciples when they reconnected with Jesus on the mountain in Galilee. According to Matthew the disciples didn’t have a resurrection encounter with Jesus that first Easter morning. They knew the tomb was empty and they had received the message given by Jesus to the women, that they should go to Galilee. Not knowing quite what to do, they left Jerusalem amid rumors that they had stolen Jesus’ body. Obviously they were hoping that the women’s story was true, but they had no certainty, and all of them were wondering. And there in Galilee the resurrected Jesus came to them and they fell on their faces in awe and wonder. We really can’t blame those who doubted…we know the feeling all too well. It comes to us sometimes in our Easter celebrations. The story is so spectacular…but is it too good to be true? But even as we wonder we join the worship. “Christ is risen,” is shouted out, and we respond, “He is risen indeed.” The good news is that the doubters on the mountaintop weren’t excluded by the others. In fact they get the great commision too…and so do we, doubts and all. And through us all, the resurrected Christ becomes incarnate in the world…and sometimes it’s the honest doubters who are the most effective witnesses of all!

Thoughts for the Day: What doubts come to me during worship?

2 Corinthians 13:11-13

“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.” vs. 13

Paul’s concluding words to the Corinthian congregation sum up his deepest desires for them as they continued the adventure they had begun in Christ Jesus. They’re familiar words and some of us hear them regularly as a part of the liturgy. In only three phrases Paul captures the essence of true Christian community for all time. At its core is the costly grace which permeates every aspect of our life together. Confession and absolution are central in our worship and forgiveness is freely given and gladly received, not because we deserve it, but because it’s Christ’s gift to his Church. And because we practice obedience to Jesus’ one commandment, that we love one another as he has loved us, the love of God inevitably abounds,showing itself in the way we reach out to the least and the lonely with deeds of mercy and a desire for justice. This happens not because we’re so civic minded or such wonderful folks, but because the Holy Spirit has called and gathered us, and is present among us in the Word and Sacraments. This Spirit binds us together and equips us for ministry and is daily turning us into the people God has created us to be. We really don’t need complicated mission statements to define our life together. The presence of grace and the experience of love is all the Spirit needs to establish the true Body of Christ.

Thought for the Day: Why do we make Church complicated?

Psalm 8:5-9

“Yet you have made them a little lower than God, and crowned them with glory and honor.” vs. 5

Occasionally, in a moment of embarrassment or guilt, the phrase, “Well, I’m only human,” slips from our lips. It’s meant to be an excuse for poor behavior, as though nothing better can be expected from folks who have barely made it past the bottom rung of evolution. The psalmist would call such talk a slap in the face of God. In his estimation there could be nothing better in all creation than to be a human being. “Only human?” he would say, “The only thing higher than human is God…and surely you weren’t thinking you should be God.” Now it is true that we humans do some pretty horrendous things in our inept ways of exercising dominion. We’ve perpetrated genocides, built mind-boggling weapons of destruction, and may now be on the verge of destroying civilization. Our record isn’t anything to write home about nor does it deserve letters of commendation. But the fault isn’t our humanity! As humans we are the crown of creation and capable of the most incredible deeds of glory and honor. We have been made exceedingly well and God is rightfully proud of us…we are indeed “very good.” Occasionally we’ll catch a glimpse of that potential in ourselves and in others, and it’s enough to bring tears to our eyes. We can bring such beauty and delight to our world, and when we experience that goodness it’s enough to make us have hope for the future. We can be the people God has made us to be!

Thought for the Day: Why do humans want to be God?

Psalm 8:1-4

“When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have established; what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them?” vss. 3-4

What would the psalmist have said if he had had accessible to the Hubble telescope, and been able to see far into the depths of the universe? Given his ecstasy over what he was able to see with the naked eye on a dark night, we can imagine that he would have been virtually speechless. He would have had no words to describe the splendor of it all and his sense of insignificance would have been multiplied. What indeed are human beings in comparison to the immensity of what we can observe? We live on a tiny blue planet in an obscure section of the Milky Way galaxy…there are literally millions of other earth-like objects out there orbiting through space. How can we say that we have any significance at all? The psalmist claimed that God made humans the crown of creation. There are some who find such a faith statement to be ridiculous. They ask how we can even imagine such a God. Believers would agree. It’s true that we can’t even imagine the wonders of the universe, and the Creator is even more mysterious than that. But even though we can’t explain God’s providence or answer impossible questions, we do continue to believe. Our wonder enhances our faith. Our God is indeed an awesome God!

Thought for the Day: What kind of life will we find on other planets?

Genesis 1:20-2:4a

“So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” vs. 27

As the Hebrews reflected on the nature of God and of God’s creation it was obvious to them that there was something special about humans. Of course we’re a part of the creation and God did bring us into existence like every other living being. We have a lot in common with dogs and cats and kangaroos. But we’re also different! Beyond being alive we have particular responsibilities and a unique relationship to God. In the words of Genesis, we males and females are created in the image and the likeness of God and have been given dominion over the earth. Naturally there’s been much debate through the years about what that might mean. Quite obviously it doesn’t mean that we look like God. More likely it has to do with the relationship itself. Something of God, perhaps the Spirit of God, has bequeathed to us and we have been made stewards of the earth. It is our responsibility to continue the creative process and be sure that every aspect of our environment is held in balance. Of all creatures we are the ones with a God consciousness and a particular charge to make sure that all things operate in accord with God’s intentions. Note too that no distinction is made between males and females…both are created in the image of God and both have been put in charge.

Thought for the Day: Why should we all be environmentalists?