Isaiah 49:8-16a Margaret...
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Isaiah 49:8-16a
Margaret was adopted. As a child, she asked about her birth mother. As an adult, she sought her birth mother. She discovered the woman and phoned; yet, her birth mother wasn't receptive to meeting Margaret. Margaret traveled to meet her anyway. Her birth mother was neither pleasant to Margaret nor happy with anyone else. Margaret was disappointed.
Anna Jarvis was responsible for the creation of Mother's Day. However, she was riddled with guilt and fear and obsessive about her mother. She died insane. She created a myth of the perfect mother, making mothers guilty that they don't live up to it and disappointing children who don't have a mother like Anna Jarvis' (or like Donna Reed).
The Bible is more realistic about humans and more forgiving of parents. It directs us to God whom Isaiah pictures as the best mother and whom Jesus calls our heavenly Father.
Isaiah 49:8-16a
Isaiah wrote to a once proud and successful people. For over 100 years during the tenth century BC, Israel dominated her region. Her kings conquered hostile neighbors and brought order within her own cities and towns. Great building projects like the Jerusalem temple produced civic pride. Agriculture thrived. God looked with favor on Israel.
But people didn't thank God and they didn't honor him or his laws. Ironically, they paid tribute to the gods of the nations they conquered. Farmers and business people became arrogant, crooked, and selfish. As a result, Israel's glory faded; its power waned, disaster neared, and the people suffered humiliation and poverty. Though the people brought this calamity on themselves, they thought God had forgotten them.
Hope wasn't gone, however. Isaiah spoke of land being reapportioned as it had been originally in Joshua's time and light for those living in darkness. The Lord would comfort his people and have compassion on his suffering ones. Though the Lord's promise didn't come immediately, it definitely arrived. Jesus came and the heavens have sung for joy ever since.
Isaiah 49:8-16a
Cell phones have become the palm-sized message board. Just recently, I needed to copy a name and a phone number, but I had no paper. I did have a ballpoint pen, so I wrote the number down, on my hand, and retrieved it a little later when needed. We have limitless cell phones with unlimited capabilities. They combine features of a phone with text messaging, cameras, and television capabilities. Just a little larger and you have a GPS that can guide you to any place in the world with uncanny precision. How dare we question God's ability to have clear plans for our lives, to guide us with accuracy and clarity.
Recently when visiting in the university hospital, where patients come from a two-state area, I had 42 calls I could make. I only had time for fifteen or less. God's guidance was very real as I leaned and truly depended on him to guide me. I must confess, though, that there are times I would like to get God on the phone, and get more clarity and guidance!
1 Corinthians 4:1-5
"I would rather live in a world where life is surrounded by mystery," wrote Harry Emerson Fosdick, "than live in a world so small that my mind could comprehend it."
To most people, the word "mystery" has one of two meanings. It's a complicated puzzle, capable of being answered eventually, through the powers of human deduction (like an Agatha Christie novel). Or, it's a sort of all-purpose escape hatch, a kind of theological smoke screen, to be deployed only in the case of persistent questioning (like the answer a parent gives to a child who asks, "Can God make a stone so heavy it can't be lifted?").
The sort of mystery of which 1 Corinthians calls us to be stewards is of a very different sort -- more like the sort Fosdick is talking about. This sort of mystery is not some esoteric body of knowledge, understood by a small leadership group and doled out sparingly to those working their way up the organizational ladder. Rather, it is the mystery of God: a wondrous and winsome thing, which our minds can experience in brief flashes, but never in such a way that we can fully own it. Always there is the new, the unexpected, the breaking-in of the Holy Spirit into our lives.
1 Corinthians 4:1-5
Paul tells us today that we're not to judge one another, and how could we possibly make a just judgment of someone else when we don't know all the circumstances of their life, when we don't know all they've had to live through?
Paul urges us: "Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart" (v. 5).
When you arrive at Ben Gurion Airport outside Tel Aviv, Israel, you'll see the words Baruch Ha-Ba (Buh-ROOK Hah-BAH) displayed in large letters on the wall in front of you. In the Hebrew language this means, "Blessed is the one who comes." Or, as we would say, "Welcome."
But "Blessed is the one who comes" is much stronger than "Welcome." And isn't that what our Lord calls us to be doing, not judging one another but blessing each other?
1 Corinthians 4:1-5
In his book, The Year of Living Biblically, A. J. Jacobs wanted to live an entire year following the directives from the Bible. He compiled several pages of rules and regulations. He learned about tithing, giving 10% of his income to God. Jacobs found two charities on the web that he wanted to support -- Feed the Children and Save Darfur. He made a sizable donation to each.
"When the confirmation emails ping in, I feel good," he writes. Then he recalls a line from the movie, Chariots Of Fire. Eric Liddell, the most religious runner, the one who carries a Bible with him during his sprint says "When I run, I feel his pleasure." Reflecting on his experience Jacobs says, "As I gave away money, I think I might have felt God's pleasure. It's a warm ember that starts at the back of my neck and spreads through my skull." Of that experience he claims, "I feel like I am doing something I should have been doing all my life."
Unfortunately, many people never experience the joy of giving. The apostle Paul reminds the Corinthians that they are "servants of Christ and stewards of God's mysteries." The two go together and cannot be separated.
1 Corinthians 4:1-5
Paul notes that stewards are to be trustworthy. It has become customary that a background check is made on new employees. Scouting leaders, teachers, even Sunday school teachers and youth workers are required to provide police checks before working with youth. This has become necessary due to the rise of instances of abuse of children, misappropriation of funds, and other criminal activities. Paul leaves his background check in the hands of the one true judge, the Lord, which probably would disqualify him from certain jobs in today's world. That's sad.
1 Corinthians 4:1-5
Abraham Lincoln once polled his Cabinet on a very crucial national issue. They were unanimous, all of them voting, "Nay." Abe, however, voted. "Aye," and then announced, "Seven nays, one aye. The ayes have it," and followed his own counsel. Not an especially good example of democracy in action but, like Saint Paul, a good example of someone who believes in himself and what he's doing.
Matthew 6:24-34
The church reformer, Martin Luther, said that as he sat and drank his little mug of Wittenburg beer (though I doubt it was little) the gospel of Jesus was running its course. It's not just our wishful thinking or our laziness that says we don't have to do everything. Jesus states, "For tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today's trouble is enough for today." Martin Luther didn't have to do everything, just what he was called to do.
Jesus' teaching saves us from anxiety and for God's service. Those who fear serving God because they think God will summon them to do heroically difficult things should, instead, trust that God supplies us the abilities to do what God calls us to do -- and God doesn't call us to do everything.
Matthew 6:24-34
All wrongdoing is serious. Though many in our society do not consider it immoral, fornication is definitely a grievous sin against one's own body according to Matthew 5 and 1 Corinthians 6. But Jesus taught the iniquity of other behaviors that many religious people don't consider a problem.
Some ministers even promote certain types of sin seemingly unaware that they are leading people astray. I refer first to those who specialize in getting us upset about certain societal conditions. Jesus doesn't want us fretting. "Do not worry about your life," he said.
Jesus also admonished those who place a great emphasis on money. They clearly influence people to sin. "You cannot serve God and wealth," he said. Many in ministry crave personal fortune and cultivate relationships of wealthy people to the detriment of poor seekers. James wrote harsh words for those guilty of preferential treatment: "My brothers and sisters, do you with your acts of favoritism really believe in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ?" James intimates that if we practice partiality, we may not even be Christians.
Matthew 6:24-34
I remember well the labor-intensive job we had when "making hay" on the farm when I was twelve to sixteen years old. We pitched the hay from the ground on to the hayrack, then from the hayrack into an old barn, where it remained protected until needed for feed for the cattle or horses. On one occasion, we were in the process of bringing in the hay as an ominous thunderstorm moved in from the west. A new neighbor, Jim Jones, had just moved in and knowing that heavy rain would severely damage the hay, rushed over with his tractor, his teenage son, and hayrack with hay loader attached and began helping with the hay. The storm delayed a little, giving us enough time to get it in. An uninvited guest became a real "Good Samaritan" type of neighbor.
Recently, I read about a farmer in Nebraska with similar conditions. George Hatch saw a storm coming. His neighbor came over to lend a hand, but George said, "We are going to church." The lifelong pattern he was teaching his twelve children was that Sunday was a holy day, not a day for doing farm work except for giving care to the livestock. This was what he lived and believed. It was a day to seek first the kingdom of God. Most of the hay was ruined in the storm, but he commented, "I may have lost my hay today, but I saved my family. Today many of the children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren are workers in the kingdom. Seek ye first the kingdom of God."
Margaret was adopted. As a child, she asked about her birth mother. As an adult, she sought her birth mother. She discovered the woman and phoned; yet, her birth mother wasn't receptive to meeting Margaret. Margaret traveled to meet her anyway. Her birth mother was neither pleasant to Margaret nor happy with anyone else. Margaret was disappointed.
Anna Jarvis was responsible for the creation of Mother's Day. However, she was riddled with guilt and fear and obsessive about her mother. She died insane. She created a myth of the perfect mother, making mothers guilty that they don't live up to it and disappointing children who don't have a mother like Anna Jarvis' (or like Donna Reed).
The Bible is more realistic about humans and more forgiving of parents. It directs us to God whom Isaiah pictures as the best mother and whom Jesus calls our heavenly Father.
Isaiah 49:8-16a
Isaiah wrote to a once proud and successful people. For over 100 years during the tenth century BC, Israel dominated her region. Her kings conquered hostile neighbors and brought order within her own cities and towns. Great building projects like the Jerusalem temple produced civic pride. Agriculture thrived. God looked with favor on Israel.
But people didn't thank God and they didn't honor him or his laws. Ironically, they paid tribute to the gods of the nations they conquered. Farmers and business people became arrogant, crooked, and selfish. As a result, Israel's glory faded; its power waned, disaster neared, and the people suffered humiliation and poverty. Though the people brought this calamity on themselves, they thought God had forgotten them.
Hope wasn't gone, however. Isaiah spoke of land being reapportioned as it had been originally in Joshua's time and light for those living in darkness. The Lord would comfort his people and have compassion on his suffering ones. Though the Lord's promise didn't come immediately, it definitely arrived. Jesus came and the heavens have sung for joy ever since.
Isaiah 49:8-16a
Cell phones have become the palm-sized message board. Just recently, I needed to copy a name and a phone number, but I had no paper. I did have a ballpoint pen, so I wrote the number down, on my hand, and retrieved it a little later when needed. We have limitless cell phones with unlimited capabilities. They combine features of a phone with text messaging, cameras, and television capabilities. Just a little larger and you have a GPS that can guide you to any place in the world with uncanny precision. How dare we question God's ability to have clear plans for our lives, to guide us with accuracy and clarity.
Recently when visiting in the university hospital, where patients come from a two-state area, I had 42 calls I could make. I only had time for fifteen or less. God's guidance was very real as I leaned and truly depended on him to guide me. I must confess, though, that there are times I would like to get God on the phone, and get more clarity and guidance!
1 Corinthians 4:1-5
"I would rather live in a world where life is surrounded by mystery," wrote Harry Emerson Fosdick, "than live in a world so small that my mind could comprehend it."
To most people, the word "mystery" has one of two meanings. It's a complicated puzzle, capable of being answered eventually, through the powers of human deduction (like an Agatha Christie novel). Or, it's a sort of all-purpose escape hatch, a kind of theological smoke screen, to be deployed only in the case of persistent questioning (like the answer a parent gives to a child who asks, "Can God make a stone so heavy it can't be lifted?").
The sort of mystery of which 1 Corinthians calls us to be stewards is of a very different sort -- more like the sort Fosdick is talking about. This sort of mystery is not some esoteric body of knowledge, understood by a small leadership group and doled out sparingly to those working their way up the organizational ladder. Rather, it is the mystery of God: a wondrous and winsome thing, which our minds can experience in brief flashes, but never in such a way that we can fully own it. Always there is the new, the unexpected, the breaking-in of the Holy Spirit into our lives.
1 Corinthians 4:1-5
Paul tells us today that we're not to judge one another, and how could we possibly make a just judgment of someone else when we don't know all the circumstances of their life, when we don't know all they've had to live through?
Paul urges us: "Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart" (v. 5).
When you arrive at Ben Gurion Airport outside Tel Aviv, Israel, you'll see the words Baruch Ha-Ba (Buh-ROOK Hah-BAH) displayed in large letters on the wall in front of you. In the Hebrew language this means, "Blessed is the one who comes." Or, as we would say, "Welcome."
But "Blessed is the one who comes" is much stronger than "Welcome." And isn't that what our Lord calls us to be doing, not judging one another but blessing each other?
1 Corinthians 4:1-5
In his book, The Year of Living Biblically, A. J. Jacobs wanted to live an entire year following the directives from the Bible. He compiled several pages of rules and regulations. He learned about tithing, giving 10% of his income to God. Jacobs found two charities on the web that he wanted to support -- Feed the Children and Save Darfur. He made a sizable donation to each.
"When the confirmation emails ping in, I feel good," he writes. Then he recalls a line from the movie, Chariots Of Fire. Eric Liddell, the most religious runner, the one who carries a Bible with him during his sprint says "When I run, I feel his pleasure." Reflecting on his experience Jacobs says, "As I gave away money, I think I might have felt God's pleasure. It's a warm ember that starts at the back of my neck and spreads through my skull." Of that experience he claims, "I feel like I am doing something I should have been doing all my life."
Unfortunately, many people never experience the joy of giving. The apostle Paul reminds the Corinthians that they are "servants of Christ and stewards of God's mysteries." The two go together and cannot be separated.
1 Corinthians 4:1-5
Paul notes that stewards are to be trustworthy. It has become customary that a background check is made on new employees. Scouting leaders, teachers, even Sunday school teachers and youth workers are required to provide police checks before working with youth. This has become necessary due to the rise of instances of abuse of children, misappropriation of funds, and other criminal activities. Paul leaves his background check in the hands of the one true judge, the Lord, which probably would disqualify him from certain jobs in today's world. That's sad.
1 Corinthians 4:1-5
Abraham Lincoln once polled his Cabinet on a very crucial national issue. They were unanimous, all of them voting, "Nay." Abe, however, voted. "Aye," and then announced, "Seven nays, one aye. The ayes have it," and followed his own counsel. Not an especially good example of democracy in action but, like Saint Paul, a good example of someone who believes in himself and what he's doing.
Matthew 6:24-34
The church reformer, Martin Luther, said that as he sat and drank his little mug of Wittenburg beer (though I doubt it was little) the gospel of Jesus was running its course. It's not just our wishful thinking or our laziness that says we don't have to do everything. Jesus states, "For tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today's trouble is enough for today." Martin Luther didn't have to do everything, just what he was called to do.
Jesus' teaching saves us from anxiety and for God's service. Those who fear serving God because they think God will summon them to do heroically difficult things should, instead, trust that God supplies us the abilities to do what God calls us to do -- and God doesn't call us to do everything.
Matthew 6:24-34
All wrongdoing is serious. Though many in our society do not consider it immoral, fornication is definitely a grievous sin against one's own body according to Matthew 5 and 1 Corinthians 6. But Jesus taught the iniquity of other behaviors that many religious people don't consider a problem.
Some ministers even promote certain types of sin seemingly unaware that they are leading people astray. I refer first to those who specialize in getting us upset about certain societal conditions. Jesus doesn't want us fretting. "Do not worry about your life," he said.
Jesus also admonished those who place a great emphasis on money. They clearly influence people to sin. "You cannot serve God and wealth," he said. Many in ministry crave personal fortune and cultivate relationships of wealthy people to the detriment of poor seekers. James wrote harsh words for those guilty of preferential treatment: "My brothers and sisters, do you with your acts of favoritism really believe in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ?" James intimates that if we practice partiality, we may not even be Christians.
Matthew 6:24-34
I remember well the labor-intensive job we had when "making hay" on the farm when I was twelve to sixteen years old. We pitched the hay from the ground on to the hayrack, then from the hayrack into an old barn, where it remained protected until needed for feed for the cattle or horses. On one occasion, we were in the process of bringing in the hay as an ominous thunderstorm moved in from the west. A new neighbor, Jim Jones, had just moved in and knowing that heavy rain would severely damage the hay, rushed over with his tractor, his teenage son, and hayrack with hay loader attached and began helping with the hay. The storm delayed a little, giving us enough time to get it in. An uninvited guest became a real "Good Samaritan" type of neighbor.
Recently, I read about a farmer in Nebraska with similar conditions. George Hatch saw a storm coming. His neighbor came over to lend a hand, but George said, "We are going to church." The lifelong pattern he was teaching his twelve children was that Sunday was a holy day, not a day for doing farm work except for giving care to the livestock. This was what he lived and believed. It was a day to seek first the kingdom of God. Most of the hay was ruined in the storm, but he commented, "I may have lost my hay today, but I saved my family. Today many of the children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren are workers in the kingdom. Seek ye first the kingdom of God."
