Proper 27
Preaching
Lectionary Preaching Workbook
Series VI, Cycle C
Object:
COMMENTARY ON THE LESSONS
Lesson 1: Haggai 1:15b--2:9 (C)
Along about 520 B.C. this writer advocated the rebuilding of the temple and foresaw that God would support this project by the contributions of many nations, those folks apparently in for a bit of nudging from God. This might work as the basis for a sermon in connection with a major building program. Apart from that, however, I'm inclined to move on to the the New Testament. Besides, think of the poor worship leader who must try to pronounce all those names.
Lesson 1: 2 Maccabees 7:1-2, 9-14 (RC)
Lesson 1: Job 19:23-27a (E)
I prefer the Revised Standard version of this passage. "I know that my redeemer lives, and at last he will stand upon the earth, and after my skin has been thus destroyed, then without my flesh I shall see God." Keeping in mind what Job has been going through, this is an excellent text for trust in the face of great suffering, and for those for whom death is imminent, a profound statement of faith in what is to follow.
Lesson 2: 2 Thessalonians 2:1-5, 13-17 (C); 2 Thessalonians 2:16--3:5 (RC); 2 Thessalonians 2:13--3:5 (E)
William Barclay calls this one of the most difficult passages in the Bible. It presumes an Evil Being, one whose purpose is to oppose Christ. The pastor can easily research this, and I find Barclay's commentary to be the most helpful on this. Briefly, Paul knew himself to be addressing a public which believed in the existence of intelligent Evil, who believed there would eventually be a cosmic conflict between God and the faithful on the one hand, and the personification of Evil on the other hand, along with those who are his followers by virtue of having been unfaithful to God. Paul seemed to accept this idea, premising it on the existence of Evil.
Gospel Luke 20:27-38 (C, RC); Luke 20:27 (28-33) 34-38 (E)
You have to feel a bit sorry for that poor woman. Imagine being married to seven men, all brothers. They probably had the same faults, and the poor soul had to put up with all of them. If she really loved them, think of the terrible grief experiences, losing seven loved ones. Reminds me of a turn on a current one-liner: First woman: "My husband's an angel." Second woman: "You're lucky; mine's still alive."
I'm being whimsical. Actually, Jesus was no doubt creating a fictitious situation to make his point. Which is: the afterlife will be in a quite different form from what we know. He is quoted here as stating that we will be like angels, which isn't completely helpful since we don't know what angels are like. I suspect Luke did a little bit of editing. If the writer of Hebrews was correct in stating that Jesus was made like us in every respect, and if Paul was right in believing that Jesus gave up his divinity temporarily to experience life as we do, then Jesus could not have known exactly what the afterlife would be like. What he did know is that because of God's love, we are guaranteed that death as we know it will be followed by a later form of existence and it will surely not be physical. Hence, we can legitimately love more than one former spouse.
This is a hard saying, since our real knowledge of God is that given us by Jesus. But why didn't Jesus tell us more about life after death? Surely, that above all other questions must have troubled people then as now. Yet we have virtually nothing except a few provocative observations like the one in this text. And Jesus tosses it off rather casually, as though it was not new information. Jesus was different from us in two ways: one, he was infused with perfected love from God, and two, he had sub-conscious insights which we do not have. Thus, his love caused him to know instinctively truths which are otherwise beyond us. Yet, for him to experience life as we do, its torments, its frustrations, its anxieties and uncertainties, as well as its victories and joys, he must not have had actual knowledge of that life beyond. If it is as grand as we are led to believe, would we not be well advised to hustle along to it? Surely Jesus was, himself, tortured at times by a deep sense of the promise of eternal life, yet that against the natural human fear of death (Luke 22:44). No doubt Jesus had a prayer life which drew him closer to God than is true for you and me. But as regards this passage, I read Jesus' reference to angels as simply a speculation that our next life form will be spiritual, not physical.
SERMON SUGGESTIONS
Title: "The Problem Of Evil"
Text: 2 Thessalonians 2:1-5, 13-17
Theme: Today, this is a perplexing issue. I don't see how we can view the state of our world and not believe in some force more destructive than mere human sin plus the arbitrary functioning of the material world. On the other hand, many of us have a problem with the idea of a Devil in the form which tradition has described. Best we play it safe and understand that something terrible is at work these days, and our hope is in Jesus Christ. In this text, Paul clarifies something which was apparently misunderstood by some of his followers. He did not intend to say that Jesus would return in any tangible form, not for the present. First, that cosmic battle must take place. Then, well, then we'll see.
1. There is Evil in this world. Call it what you will, there is clearly a force at work on a grand scale. And it almost surely approaches each of us individually as well, causing us to do and say things which are not really us. C. S. Lewis expressed his view this way: " 'Do you really mean, at this time of day, to reintroduce our old friend the devil -- hoofs and horns and all?' Well, what the time of day has to do with it I do not know. And I am not particular about the hoofs and horns. But in other respects, my answer is, 'Yes, I do.' "
2. God is in control. We cannot be overcome by any evil force so long as we persevere in remaining in a good relationship with God. No one need lie awake in fear of the devil, whatever that may be, so long as one is making a reasonable effort to live out that relationship. I suppose we could say that those who have the most to fear apparently are not afraid.
3. The ultimate triumph of God is sure. Of course there will be battles to be fought. Every one of us must overcome temptations, daily for most of us. Every one of us will slip and slide and do and say things at times which do us no credit, and that wily old devil will try to use those occasions to slip into our lives. But God will see to him. Again to quote Dr. Barclay (whose outline I have used), "If anybody really wants to know him (the devil) better I would say to that person, 'Don't worry. If you really want to, you will.' Whether you'll like it when you do is another matter." Jesus Christ is the means by which we Christians are able to avoid the devil's depredations.
Title: "Death, And Those We Loved"
Text: Luke 20:27-38
Theme: Many of our parishioners have lost beloved spouses, and the more devout among them are at times troubled at the thought that to remarry may be a betrayal of an earlier love. I myself lost my first wife in death while in our early forties. I am now married to a wonderful woman whom I dearly love. But I also dearly loved Ruthanne. These words of Jesus enable me to feel confident that in our lives to come, we can all be bound together in a higher love without jealousies and without comparisons to be made.
Despite some doubts which I admitted in the commentary above, I believe in Jesus' promise of life after death, and that that life will have spiritual form. Recently, I underwent major surgery for cancer. I was told there was a possibility that it had metastasized and my time could be shortened upon this earth. That word caused me to ask myself what I really believe. My faith held up.
1. Life after death will bring reunion with loved ones.
2. Life after death will be a spiritual existence.
3. Life after death will have responsibilities.
ADDITIONAL ILLUSTRATIONS
"To be afraid of death is only another form of thinking that one is wise when one is not."
-- Socrates
____________
Victor Hugo, author of Les Miserables, wrote this: "When I go down to the grave, I can say, like many others, I have finished my day's work, but I cannot say I have finished my life. My day's work will begin the next morning. The tomb is not a blind alley; it is a thoroughfare. It closes on the twilight, to open on the dawn."
____________
Writing of death, Browning said this: "So, if I stoop into a dark, tremendous sea of clouds, it is but for a time. I press God's lamp close to my breast; its splendor, soon or late, will pierce the gloom. I shall emerge one day."
"O death, your sentence is welcome to a man in want whose strength is failing; to a man worn out with age, worried about everything, disaffected and beyond endurance."
-- Ben Sira
____________
In the department of things we don't expect or understand, you may be interested in the plight of a Londoner during the blitz in World War II. It seems this gentleman had settled into a nice tub of warm water to relax after a hard day's work. When his bath was over, he pulled the plug to let the water out of the tub and just then a buzz bomb landed and blew up his building. He wasn't hurt, but the walls were gone, leaving him sitting in a rather exposed position in his bathtub. Later, a reporter interviewed the confused fellow and he explained, "I don't understand it. I pulled out the plug and the whole building blew up."
____________
John W. Miller, former cofounder and cochair of the Historical Jesus Section in the Society of Biblical Literature, Professor Emeritus of Religious Studies at Conrad Grebel College, University of Waterloo in Ontario, a psychiatrist with a Th.D. from Basel, has written a very interesting and sometimes disturbing book which examines Jesus from a psycho-historical perspective. Employing the psychological train from Freud, he theorizes that the experiences of childhood which so profoundly shape you and me as human beings must have done so as well for Jesus. In this book, Jesus At Thirty: A Psychological And Historical Portrait, he expresses the belief that Jesus was alienated by his family relationships and that he was estranged from his loved ones. Referring to passages such as Mark 3:19b-21, John 1:11, John 7:5, Mark 3:31-35, and many others, he proposes the thesis that Jesus as Human was, indeed, far from a family man. I suppose this is an issue for the theologian rather than the preacher. It would certainly open up "a can of worms" were we to preach on this in the congregation, but the case is persuasive, worth our being aware that the issue is being discussed.
____________
One father liked to tell about his little boy four years old, who loved to play in his yard. It was his little world. It was "my backyard, my tricycle, my sandpile, my fence." One day Dad took his son to the circus. As they walked along the pathway to the huge tent, they could hear the sounds of the circus in the approaching distance. Finally, they heard a ferocious roar. It was one of the tigers. The sound merged with the trumpeting of the elephants, and the roar of the crowd. Then, timidly, the little fellow reached out and took hold of his father's hand, and quietly he said, "Daddy, hold my hand." Do you ever feel like that?
____________
Jim Bishop in The Day Christ Died, concludes with this: "Inside the sepulcher now, Jesus was not dead. If he was, then all men are dead; they creep irrevocably toward darkness. But this is not so. There were too many signs to the contrary. For two and a quarter years, Jesus pointed the way and, had he followed the dictates of his heart, he would have done nothing but cure and cure and cure. In a way, the miracles interfered with his mission, which was to preach the Good News and die. His body was to be rended and its function were to cease. In this immolation, his soul would be glorified and in this too he was pointing the way to men.
"The two Marys sat with their backs to the stone. They loved him and, in their love, they missed the enormous triumph; the new promise; the Good News.
"They did not even notice that the sun was shining."
____________
Sorrow:
It hurts deep down inside.
One feels diminished,
Less than he has been,
Empty,
Bereft,
Forlorn and incomplete.
Sorrow is a painful word
But if someone is there
To share the feeling
It becomes endurable,
And in the scheme of things
A time of being
That includes great emotion
And thus a time of closeness,
Growing and becoming someone more
Than we have been before.
____________
Author Ian Maclaren reports a true story in a book, Beside The Bonnie Briar Bush, about a young girl who decided to run away from home. She was just old enough to do so, and felt that she wanted to be free of the responsibilities and expectations of her home life. For some time she enjoyed the so-called freedom of her new life, until she began to experience the hardships and expectations that go with freedom. She toyed with the thought of returning home, and, feeling a twinge of homesickness, one day she went back to her home, standing outside for a long time. At last, she decided that she was making a mistake. But before she could turn and leave, the family dog perceived her scent, and had not forgotten her. The dog's bark brought her father to the door. Though he could not clearly see her in the sunlight, he called her name as if he expected her. He calls out her name, and suddenly, she runs to her dad and throws herself into his waiting arms. Dad begins to weep as he sobs out blessings over his returned daughter.
Later, the young girl tells of her homecoming to a neighbor. "It's a pity, Margaret, that you don't know Gaelic," she says. "That's the best of all language for loving. There are fifty words for darling, and my father could be calling me every one of them that night I came home."
So, how like that is with us and God. Free to roam, never forced to live by the rules of God's household, yet always welcome back, always greeted by forgiving love if and when we do return.
____________
I Am Standing Upon A Seashore
I am standing upon the seashore. A ship at my side spreads her white sails to the morning breeze and starts for the blue ocean. She is an object of beauty and strength. I stand and watch her, until at length, she hangs like a speck of white cloud just where the sea and the sky come to mingle with each other. Then someone at my side says, "There, she is gone."
Gone from my sight. That is all. She is just as large in mast and hull and spar as she was when she left my side, and she is just as able to bear her load of living freight to her destined port.
Her diminished size is in me, not her. And yet, at the moment when someone at my side says, "There, she is gone," there are other voices ready to take up the glad shout, "Here she comes."
____________
Talk about injustice. When Charlie Beatty lost his job at Western Electric in 1985, he and his wife started their own business. They bought fishing bait and lures, repackaged them, and sold them at a small profit. It worked, they began to live comfortably from this creative idea. Then, in 1990 an agent of the IRS arrived and told them they must pay a special tax which applied to such a product. They owed 16,000 dollars. So, rather than get into a hassle with the IRS, they paid. But in 1994, they discovered that the agent had been wrong, the tax did not apply in their case, so they sent in an appeal for a refund. Not hearing from the IRS for quite some time, they investigated and were told the IRS could find no record of their appeal. So, they again appealed, then to learn that the IRS had ruled that the statute of limitations applied and since their second appeal was too late, the money could not be refunded, even though it wasn't owed in the first place. They even agreed that the money had not been owed. But the law is the law, they said. The services of Senator Richard Lugar were obtained, but he was unable to do anything either. The IRS folks suggested that the Senator submit a bill to the Senate allowing an exception to the statute of limitations, but, according to an article in The Indianapolis Star, the Senator's office has already lost interest in the case. One Charles B. Spicer had been helping the Beattys to seek justice. However, according to the final line of the article, "Spicer says the Beattys have lost 16,000 dollars and have no place left to turn." Makes you wonder about our great system of government, does it not? It reminds me of the Pharisees and their neurotic preoccupation with the letter of the law, never mind the spirit of the law.
____________
Psalm Of The Day
Psalm 145:1-5, 17-21 -- "I will extol Thee, my God." or
Psalm 98 -- "O sing to the Lord a new song."
Prayer Of The Day
As life begins to wane for some, we pray for reassurance, for confidence that what you have prepared for us is life and joy and we need not fear, for this we believe by faith. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
Lesson 1: Haggai 1:15b--2:9 (C)
Along about 520 B.C. this writer advocated the rebuilding of the temple and foresaw that God would support this project by the contributions of many nations, those folks apparently in for a bit of nudging from God. This might work as the basis for a sermon in connection with a major building program. Apart from that, however, I'm inclined to move on to the the New Testament. Besides, think of the poor worship leader who must try to pronounce all those names.
Lesson 1: 2 Maccabees 7:1-2, 9-14 (RC)
Lesson 1: Job 19:23-27a (E)
I prefer the Revised Standard version of this passage. "I know that my redeemer lives, and at last he will stand upon the earth, and after my skin has been thus destroyed, then without my flesh I shall see God." Keeping in mind what Job has been going through, this is an excellent text for trust in the face of great suffering, and for those for whom death is imminent, a profound statement of faith in what is to follow.
Lesson 2: 2 Thessalonians 2:1-5, 13-17 (C); 2 Thessalonians 2:16--3:5 (RC); 2 Thessalonians 2:13--3:5 (E)
William Barclay calls this one of the most difficult passages in the Bible. It presumes an Evil Being, one whose purpose is to oppose Christ. The pastor can easily research this, and I find Barclay's commentary to be the most helpful on this. Briefly, Paul knew himself to be addressing a public which believed in the existence of intelligent Evil, who believed there would eventually be a cosmic conflict between God and the faithful on the one hand, and the personification of Evil on the other hand, along with those who are his followers by virtue of having been unfaithful to God. Paul seemed to accept this idea, premising it on the existence of Evil.
Gospel Luke 20:27-38 (C, RC); Luke 20:27 (28-33) 34-38 (E)
You have to feel a bit sorry for that poor woman. Imagine being married to seven men, all brothers. They probably had the same faults, and the poor soul had to put up with all of them. If she really loved them, think of the terrible grief experiences, losing seven loved ones. Reminds me of a turn on a current one-liner: First woman: "My husband's an angel." Second woman: "You're lucky; mine's still alive."
I'm being whimsical. Actually, Jesus was no doubt creating a fictitious situation to make his point. Which is: the afterlife will be in a quite different form from what we know. He is quoted here as stating that we will be like angels, which isn't completely helpful since we don't know what angels are like. I suspect Luke did a little bit of editing. If the writer of Hebrews was correct in stating that Jesus was made like us in every respect, and if Paul was right in believing that Jesus gave up his divinity temporarily to experience life as we do, then Jesus could not have known exactly what the afterlife would be like. What he did know is that because of God's love, we are guaranteed that death as we know it will be followed by a later form of existence and it will surely not be physical. Hence, we can legitimately love more than one former spouse.
This is a hard saying, since our real knowledge of God is that given us by Jesus. But why didn't Jesus tell us more about life after death? Surely, that above all other questions must have troubled people then as now. Yet we have virtually nothing except a few provocative observations like the one in this text. And Jesus tosses it off rather casually, as though it was not new information. Jesus was different from us in two ways: one, he was infused with perfected love from God, and two, he had sub-conscious insights which we do not have. Thus, his love caused him to know instinctively truths which are otherwise beyond us. Yet, for him to experience life as we do, its torments, its frustrations, its anxieties and uncertainties, as well as its victories and joys, he must not have had actual knowledge of that life beyond. If it is as grand as we are led to believe, would we not be well advised to hustle along to it? Surely Jesus was, himself, tortured at times by a deep sense of the promise of eternal life, yet that against the natural human fear of death (Luke 22:44). No doubt Jesus had a prayer life which drew him closer to God than is true for you and me. But as regards this passage, I read Jesus' reference to angels as simply a speculation that our next life form will be spiritual, not physical.
SERMON SUGGESTIONS
Title: "The Problem Of Evil"
Text: 2 Thessalonians 2:1-5, 13-17
Theme: Today, this is a perplexing issue. I don't see how we can view the state of our world and not believe in some force more destructive than mere human sin plus the arbitrary functioning of the material world. On the other hand, many of us have a problem with the idea of a Devil in the form which tradition has described. Best we play it safe and understand that something terrible is at work these days, and our hope is in Jesus Christ. In this text, Paul clarifies something which was apparently misunderstood by some of his followers. He did not intend to say that Jesus would return in any tangible form, not for the present. First, that cosmic battle must take place. Then, well, then we'll see.
1. There is Evil in this world. Call it what you will, there is clearly a force at work on a grand scale. And it almost surely approaches each of us individually as well, causing us to do and say things which are not really us. C. S. Lewis expressed his view this way: " 'Do you really mean, at this time of day, to reintroduce our old friend the devil -- hoofs and horns and all?' Well, what the time of day has to do with it I do not know. And I am not particular about the hoofs and horns. But in other respects, my answer is, 'Yes, I do.' "
2. God is in control. We cannot be overcome by any evil force so long as we persevere in remaining in a good relationship with God. No one need lie awake in fear of the devil, whatever that may be, so long as one is making a reasonable effort to live out that relationship. I suppose we could say that those who have the most to fear apparently are not afraid.
3. The ultimate triumph of God is sure. Of course there will be battles to be fought. Every one of us must overcome temptations, daily for most of us. Every one of us will slip and slide and do and say things at times which do us no credit, and that wily old devil will try to use those occasions to slip into our lives. But God will see to him. Again to quote Dr. Barclay (whose outline I have used), "If anybody really wants to know him (the devil) better I would say to that person, 'Don't worry. If you really want to, you will.' Whether you'll like it when you do is another matter." Jesus Christ is the means by which we Christians are able to avoid the devil's depredations.
Title: "Death, And Those We Loved"
Text: Luke 20:27-38
Theme: Many of our parishioners have lost beloved spouses, and the more devout among them are at times troubled at the thought that to remarry may be a betrayal of an earlier love. I myself lost my first wife in death while in our early forties. I am now married to a wonderful woman whom I dearly love. But I also dearly loved Ruthanne. These words of Jesus enable me to feel confident that in our lives to come, we can all be bound together in a higher love without jealousies and without comparisons to be made.
Despite some doubts which I admitted in the commentary above, I believe in Jesus' promise of life after death, and that that life will have spiritual form. Recently, I underwent major surgery for cancer. I was told there was a possibility that it had metastasized and my time could be shortened upon this earth. That word caused me to ask myself what I really believe. My faith held up.
1. Life after death will bring reunion with loved ones.
2. Life after death will be a spiritual existence.
3. Life after death will have responsibilities.
ADDITIONAL ILLUSTRATIONS
"To be afraid of death is only another form of thinking that one is wise when one is not."
-- Socrates
____________
Victor Hugo, author of Les Miserables, wrote this: "When I go down to the grave, I can say, like many others, I have finished my day's work, but I cannot say I have finished my life. My day's work will begin the next morning. The tomb is not a blind alley; it is a thoroughfare. It closes on the twilight, to open on the dawn."
____________
Writing of death, Browning said this: "So, if I stoop into a dark, tremendous sea of clouds, it is but for a time. I press God's lamp close to my breast; its splendor, soon or late, will pierce the gloom. I shall emerge one day."
"O death, your sentence is welcome to a man in want whose strength is failing; to a man worn out with age, worried about everything, disaffected and beyond endurance."
-- Ben Sira
____________
In the department of things we don't expect or understand, you may be interested in the plight of a Londoner during the blitz in World War II. It seems this gentleman had settled into a nice tub of warm water to relax after a hard day's work. When his bath was over, he pulled the plug to let the water out of the tub and just then a buzz bomb landed and blew up his building. He wasn't hurt, but the walls were gone, leaving him sitting in a rather exposed position in his bathtub. Later, a reporter interviewed the confused fellow and he explained, "I don't understand it. I pulled out the plug and the whole building blew up."
____________
John W. Miller, former cofounder and cochair of the Historical Jesus Section in the Society of Biblical Literature, Professor Emeritus of Religious Studies at Conrad Grebel College, University of Waterloo in Ontario, a psychiatrist with a Th.D. from Basel, has written a very interesting and sometimes disturbing book which examines Jesus from a psycho-historical perspective. Employing the psychological train from Freud, he theorizes that the experiences of childhood which so profoundly shape you and me as human beings must have done so as well for Jesus. In this book, Jesus At Thirty: A Psychological And Historical Portrait, he expresses the belief that Jesus was alienated by his family relationships and that he was estranged from his loved ones. Referring to passages such as Mark 3:19b-21, John 1:11, John 7:5, Mark 3:31-35, and many others, he proposes the thesis that Jesus as Human was, indeed, far from a family man. I suppose this is an issue for the theologian rather than the preacher. It would certainly open up "a can of worms" were we to preach on this in the congregation, but the case is persuasive, worth our being aware that the issue is being discussed.
____________
One father liked to tell about his little boy four years old, who loved to play in his yard. It was his little world. It was "my backyard, my tricycle, my sandpile, my fence." One day Dad took his son to the circus. As they walked along the pathway to the huge tent, they could hear the sounds of the circus in the approaching distance. Finally, they heard a ferocious roar. It was one of the tigers. The sound merged with the trumpeting of the elephants, and the roar of the crowd. Then, timidly, the little fellow reached out and took hold of his father's hand, and quietly he said, "Daddy, hold my hand." Do you ever feel like that?
____________
Jim Bishop in The Day Christ Died, concludes with this: "Inside the sepulcher now, Jesus was not dead. If he was, then all men are dead; they creep irrevocably toward darkness. But this is not so. There were too many signs to the contrary. For two and a quarter years, Jesus pointed the way and, had he followed the dictates of his heart, he would have done nothing but cure and cure and cure. In a way, the miracles interfered with his mission, which was to preach the Good News and die. His body was to be rended and its function were to cease. In this immolation, his soul would be glorified and in this too he was pointing the way to men.
"The two Marys sat with their backs to the stone. They loved him and, in their love, they missed the enormous triumph; the new promise; the Good News.
"They did not even notice that the sun was shining."
____________
Sorrow:
It hurts deep down inside.
One feels diminished,
Less than he has been,
Empty,
Bereft,
Forlorn and incomplete.
Sorrow is a painful word
But if someone is there
To share the feeling
It becomes endurable,
And in the scheme of things
A time of being
That includes great emotion
And thus a time of closeness,
Growing and becoming someone more
Than we have been before.
____________
Author Ian Maclaren reports a true story in a book, Beside The Bonnie Briar Bush, about a young girl who decided to run away from home. She was just old enough to do so, and felt that she wanted to be free of the responsibilities and expectations of her home life. For some time she enjoyed the so-called freedom of her new life, until she began to experience the hardships and expectations that go with freedom. She toyed with the thought of returning home, and, feeling a twinge of homesickness, one day she went back to her home, standing outside for a long time. At last, she decided that she was making a mistake. But before she could turn and leave, the family dog perceived her scent, and had not forgotten her. The dog's bark brought her father to the door. Though he could not clearly see her in the sunlight, he called her name as if he expected her. He calls out her name, and suddenly, she runs to her dad and throws herself into his waiting arms. Dad begins to weep as he sobs out blessings over his returned daughter.
Later, the young girl tells of her homecoming to a neighbor. "It's a pity, Margaret, that you don't know Gaelic," she says. "That's the best of all language for loving. There are fifty words for darling, and my father could be calling me every one of them that night I came home."
So, how like that is with us and God. Free to roam, never forced to live by the rules of God's household, yet always welcome back, always greeted by forgiving love if and when we do return.
____________
I Am Standing Upon A Seashore
I am standing upon the seashore. A ship at my side spreads her white sails to the morning breeze and starts for the blue ocean. She is an object of beauty and strength. I stand and watch her, until at length, she hangs like a speck of white cloud just where the sea and the sky come to mingle with each other. Then someone at my side says, "There, she is gone."
Gone from my sight. That is all. She is just as large in mast and hull and spar as she was when she left my side, and she is just as able to bear her load of living freight to her destined port.
Her diminished size is in me, not her. And yet, at the moment when someone at my side says, "There, she is gone," there are other voices ready to take up the glad shout, "Here she comes."
____________
Talk about injustice. When Charlie Beatty lost his job at Western Electric in 1985, he and his wife started their own business. They bought fishing bait and lures, repackaged them, and sold them at a small profit. It worked, they began to live comfortably from this creative idea. Then, in 1990 an agent of the IRS arrived and told them they must pay a special tax which applied to such a product. They owed 16,000 dollars. So, rather than get into a hassle with the IRS, they paid. But in 1994, they discovered that the agent had been wrong, the tax did not apply in their case, so they sent in an appeal for a refund. Not hearing from the IRS for quite some time, they investigated and were told the IRS could find no record of their appeal. So, they again appealed, then to learn that the IRS had ruled that the statute of limitations applied and since their second appeal was too late, the money could not be refunded, even though it wasn't owed in the first place. They even agreed that the money had not been owed. But the law is the law, they said. The services of Senator Richard Lugar were obtained, but he was unable to do anything either. The IRS folks suggested that the Senator submit a bill to the Senate allowing an exception to the statute of limitations, but, according to an article in The Indianapolis Star, the Senator's office has already lost interest in the case. One Charles B. Spicer had been helping the Beattys to seek justice. However, according to the final line of the article, "Spicer says the Beattys have lost 16,000 dollars and have no place left to turn." Makes you wonder about our great system of government, does it not? It reminds me of the Pharisees and their neurotic preoccupation with the letter of the law, never mind the spirit of the law.
____________
Psalm Of The Day
Psalm 145:1-5, 17-21 -- "I will extol Thee, my God." or
Psalm 98 -- "O sing to the Lord a new song."
Prayer Of The Day
As life begins to wane for some, we pray for reassurance, for confidence that what you have prepared for us is life and joy and we need not fear, for this we believe by faith. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
