Becoming the "me" that God wants me to be

From today's reading:  For his wrath endures but the twinkling of an eye,   his favor for a lifetime.  Psalm 30:5

I can understand this verse very well.  I know how mad I could get at my kids when they were growing up.  And I also know that those transgressions that riled my anger so much at the time are no longer remembered.   But regardless of those incidents, my love for my children will never wane.  Thank you, Lord, that you are a loving father whose anger does not last.  

As a parent myself, I know that anger stems from disappointment - disappointment in my children's choices - and a deep desire to see them succeed and become all that they can be.  God feels the same about each of us - a desire to see us become the best person that we can possibly be.  

Lord, help me to overcome those desires and stumbling blocks that keep me from being the very best image of you that I can be.  Inspire me and encourage me by setting the goal of my heart firmly before me that I may become the very best me that is possible.  Amen.

Kittens, Lazarus and the Rich Man

From Sunday's gospel:  Jesus said, "There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who longed to satisfy his hunger with what fell from the rich man's table;  Luke 16:19-20

This story of Lazarus and the rich man is the story of a man who ignores a problem that God has placed on his door step.  We want to take his to task, but how many of us often ignore the man or woman who stands on the street corner begging for what few coins might come their way?

Last week was a difficult week.  We started the week facing Sam's pending heart cath getting blood work and doing the pre-admittance work.  On Tuesday, I received a letter from the insurance company telling me that certain work needed to be done on the house and the completion date they gave me was Sunday 9/29. I managed to contact a contractor who came to submit a bid. In the midst of all this, a feral cat moved her kittens into our garage during a rain storm.

So on Thursday we left the house at 5 am and I didn't come home until 9 pm.  Sam's day procedure had turned into a two day procedure and they kept him overnight.  Got a few hours sleep, cleaned up and was back at the hospital by 6 am on Friday.  The procedure on Friday was longer.  I went back to the house mid-afternoon and was confronted by the unmistakable stench of dead animal.  I got our son, Andy, to go look for it as I headed back to the hospital.  He didn't find anything. Ii started going in and out the front door  to avoid the stench while i looked for someone to come to take care of the problem.

I brought Sam home about noon on Saturday and finally had time to pay attention.  When i finally got out to find out what has going on, I found two live gray kittens laying on the body of their dead sibling.  I rescued them and then found another kitten in another part of the garage.  My friend, Leah, came and took the kittens to mother them a bit.  One died later, but the other two are doing well.  When Chris from GuardTech came on Sunday, he found the mother cat dead under the house.

The thing is, I should have twigged a lot earlier to the cat problem, but I was distracted by the many things going on around me.  I ignored a potential problem even to the point on going in and out another door to avoid it.  I understand how easy it can be to ignore a need that is at your gate.  I was preaching on Sunday and found this all to be very pertinent to the gospel lesson and therefore excellent sermon material.

I'm glad to say this week is looking much better.  Sam is up and moving around very well, at least two kittens survived, and the contractors are supposed to begin work today (weather permitting.)  God does provide, even when we flounder around, - - and life goes on.

   

Prayers for Everyone

From Sunday's reading:  First of all, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone, for kings and all who are in high positions, so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity.  1 Tim. 2:1-2

I don't stick my nose into politics very often, but I truly believe this is where a lot of "Christians" get it so wrong.  Instead of praying for the politicians in power that they don't like, they complain about the poor job they perceive that they are doing.  Those people who do nothing but complain and rile up others need to read these two verses.  Instead of bashing Obama or Rick Perry or whoever, pray for them, that they may make the right decisions to keep us safe and for the benefit of the nation.  Prayer is a much more powerful force than complaining ever could be, because in God's economy, the positive influence of prayer will always trump the negative complaining spirit.  Let the light shine in the darkness to overcome it.

Lord God, I pray that you guide and direct those in authority over this nation so they may make right decisions and just actions for the peace and welfare for us all.  Amen. 

Search diligently for the child

'Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage.'  Matthew 2:8

We all know this passage - it gets read during the Christmas season.  These are the words of Herod - tongue in cheek, because he has no intention of worshipping the child born to Mary.  But today I would like to separate it out and take it at face value.  Go and search diligently for the child.  This is something that we are all invited, encouraged, even admonished to do - to search for Jesus.  And when we find him, spend time with him, to understand what his presence means to our life.  And then take word of him out into the world so that others may come also.

This Sunday is Invitation Sunday - this is the time we are invited to go out and to tell others and to invite them to know Jesus also.  Don't go out as one determined to "save others," but go out as one who desires to enrich the lives of others.  Go out as one who has found a depth of meaning that informs and enhances your everyday life.  Go out as one who wants to share the wonder and glory that we have seen through Jesus Christ.    

Lord Jesus Christ, be with us and reside in us that we might know the depth and breadth of your love and wisdom.  Instill in us the courage and desire to go out and to invite others in; to be willing to share the fullness of your love and grace with at least one other person this week.  Amen.

Imprisoned for Christ

I want you to know, beloved that what has happened to me has actually helped to spread the gospel, so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to everyone else that my imprisonment is for Christ;  Phil. 1:12-13

There is one thing that we can definitely say about Paul - he made the most of every situation.  When he was imprisoned, he saw it an opportunity to teach his captors about Christ.  In today's world, most people see an imprisonment as an opportunity to talk about injustice and oppression, but not Paul.

I ran across a quote this morning by Bill Meyer, "Every thought is a seed.  If you plant crab apples, don't count on harvesting Golden Delicious."   Attitude is nine-tenth's of the struggle we face in life. Our attitude controls how we see ourselves and what we are ultimately going to get out of this life.  Episcopal Priest Martin Bell wrote a song called "Walls and Things;"  The first verse says:  

I'm always running into walls and things.

I fall down a hundred times each day.

But I'll pick myself up, dust myself off.

I've decided that life is just that way.

And I create the world I live in -

By each and every choice I make today.

And when all is said and done, I'm the only one

Who can make the world a better place to stay.

I think it has a lot to say to us today.  We can't always control the things that happen to us and the world quite often throws dirt up in our face.  Too often, people in today's world  behave a victims - either blaming others for their trouble, or expecting someone else to "make it right."  But we are the ones who choose how to respond, how to behave in any given situation.  Paul saw those situations as opportunities and through both word and action he was able to influence his environment.  He took what was intended to be negative, and turned it into a positive for the Lord.  And it all starts with attitude and the choices we make.  

Lord, help us to be like Paul, choosing to allow God to work in us and through us rather than complaining about our circumstances.  Help us to be a positive influence in the world around us and an example of Godly love.  Amen.

Proper 18 - Psalm 139

Psalm 139

1   LORD, you have searched me out and known me; *

     you know my sitting down and my rising up; 

     you discern my thoughts from afar.

2   You trace my journeys and my resting-places *

     and are acquainted with all my ways.

3   Indeed, there is not a word on my lips, *

     but you, O LORD, know it altogether.

There are people who live a secret life - one they find hard to share with others - not because it's a bad thing, it just is.  My mother was a very private person and I tend to take after her because that's the way I was raised.  But it probably has more with my insecurities than anything else.  I used to say that I was shy and then I learned about being introverted and I latched onto that concept.  It is true, I am introverted, but that's not the whole story.  It is fear that keeps me bound - I'm afraid that I don't have anything to say that anyone wants to hear.  That might seem to be an oxymoron because I can get up and preach without that fear.  But when I'm preaching I'm delivering God's word, not my own.  Anytime I see it as "my words," I fall flat on my face, and that happens more times than I want to remember.

Lord, you have searched me out and known me - So, Lord, since you know me so well, abide with me in all my ways.  You know when I've fallen and been less than you desire.  You know when I have failed to listen and failed to respond.  You know when I have strayed from your ways and blundered into an un-charted path or muddled around in a swamp.  But still you love me and hold me.  So guide me and direct me that you may be the guiding light that I follow - free from fear, free to be myself, just the way you made me.  Amen.

Ascension

From today's reading:  You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.  Acts 1:8-9


Imagine what it must have been like to be on that hill side with the disciples as they watched Jesus being taken up from their sight.  I cannot think of the Ascension without thinking of the mural at Church of the Redeemer in Houston.  "Christ of the Working Man" by John Orth is a powerful vision of the Risen Lord coming in the clouds of glory.  Preaching under this mural for 4 years reminded me every time that I was indeed a witness for Christ each time I open my mouth.

When we have been touched by the Risen Lord and that power of the Holy Spirit that he instills/inspires in us, each and every one of us is a witness to Christ in our daily life.  We may not even mention His name, but when we open ourselves to the Holy Spirit, His light shines through in everything we do.  What kind of witness will you be today?