Tag Archives: love

Love and sacrifice: the Holiness of God

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Seventh Sunday after the Epiphany (Lev 19:1-2. 9-18)  2/23/2014

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One of my favorite books of the Bible is the Book of Ruth, a short book of only four chapters that centers on the life and relationship of two courageous women, Naomi and her daughter-in-law, Ruth. The story begins as a tale of loss and challenge: After the death of her husband and two sons, Naomi was determined to return to her homeland of Bethlehem and seek a better life. Ruth was equally determined to faithfully remain at Naomi’s side, and although Naomi encouraged Ruth to remain in Moab with her people, Ruth joined the journey and left her homeland of Moab behind. These two poor widowed women reach Bethlehem and begin their search for food and shelter, hoping to find favor with relatives of Naomi’s late-husband. In desperate need of food, Ruth approached the servant in charge of the fields and asked to harvest the grain, following behind the reapers in the field. The servant granted Ruth permission to harvest the grain that was left, and she worked from early morning until late in the day. The owner of the field soon arrived and heard the challenging story of Naomi and Ruth, and he said to Ruth, “Now listen, my daughter, do not leave this field and do not harvest in any other field, for I have ordered no one to bother you.” Ruth was astonished and said to the man, “Why have I found favor in your sight, that you should take care of me, when I am a foreigner from Moab?” The owner replied, “All that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband has been fully told me…May the Lord reward you for your deeds, and may you have a full reward from the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come for refuge!” (Ruth 2:8, 10-12) For Naomi and Ruth, their story of loss, challenge and sorrow was transformed; their story became a new journey full of hope, promise, and joy! Continue reading →

Finding Balance in Generosity and Joy

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Christ the King (Luke 23:33-43) 11/24/2013

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I was away from the office this past week for a few days as I participated in a clergy retreat, and I am very thankful for the gift of this time to listen, learn and reflect with my clergy colleagues. The retreat was a time to learn about healthy practices of body, mind and spirit, and personal finance, leadership and ministry; how to create a proper balance in your life. Although all of these components of the retreat were insightful, the most nourishing and nurturing was the time spent in community with others; moments of simple social gathering and moments spent in worship. We gathered together each day in worship and one of my most memorable moments was during Morning Prayer of the third day. After hearing the Scripture readings appointed for the day, the preacher stood in front of the group and explained that there were some rather obvious topics for reflection, but instead she wanted to share some thoughts with us about “vestibulo-ocular reflex.” The unexpected topic created a bit of laughter among the surprised group, but the preacher, a priest and medical doctor, pressed ahead with her story. Without the benefit of medical training, I must admit that simply remembering the name “vestibulo-ocular reflex” was about all that I might manage…but fortunately we have the internet to refresh my memory! Vestibulo-ocular reflex is the human body’s amazing ability to provide clear and stable vision, even as our heads are in constant motion. As the head moves in one direction, the eyes respond by moving in a direction of equal and opposite motion to compensate and ensure accurate and clear vision through perfect balance. This reflex action may appear simple at first, but as you imagine the near constant motion of your body and the complexity of the movement, the reflex action of the eyes is nearly miraculous in practice. Vestibulo-ocular reflex is the body’s gift of stability of sight and clear vision, but this gift is only effective if two completely opposite actions are in perfect balance and experienced as one. As I sat with my friends in worship that morning, we encountered an unexpected story, but a story that was filled with the miraculous blessing of balance and clear vision. Continue reading →

The peace and presence of God

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O'CollinsExperiencing Jesus by Gerald O’Collins, SJ; Chapter 6 – “In your will is our peace”

As we continue our prayers and reflections through Lent, listening to the Scripture readings of Lent and selected works of our own choosing, we become aware of the very human struggle between the desires of this world and the desire to incline our hearts toward God. O’Collins’ sixth chapter reflects on this struggle, describing our personal choice of freedom: “We were born to be free. We were baptized into freedom. Yet freedom is never an assured possession. We still experience so much slavery in our lives. Sin, evil, and many false standards can enslave us. We put ourselves back into bondage and return to the house of slavery.” (p. 67) We return to slavery because the temptations that surround the “house of slavery” seem so appealing, much as the regular rations given to the slaves of Egypt seemed better than the manna of the wilderness to the Ancient Israelites – “If only we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the fleshpots and ate our fill of bread; for you have brought us out into the wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.” (Exodus 16:3) These temptations are part of our misunderstanding that the food of this world leads to anxiety for the next thing, whether that next thing be more of the same or something bigger and better. The nourishment of God leads to peace and a faithful presence, and this is the lesson of O’Collins’ chapter “In your will is our peace.”

To turn toward the peace of God requires us to summon the courage to break with the traditions of the many voices of our culture. O’Collins mentions a few revolutionary moments in history and comments that we too must usher in our own revolution if we are to break free. “Jesus looks for that kind of revolution; he invites us to live the truth that it is God who stands at the center and not ourselves…God’s rule over our lives is never at our expense but only for our real happiness. God wants us to enjoy full and lasting peace as our whole being unfolds in its deliverance from sin and evil.” (p. 69) A very good friend of mine gave me the gift of a small plaque with the following words: “PEACE: it does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble or hard work. It means to be in the midst of those things and still be calm in your heart (author unknown).” This is the peace and presence of God – not to be apart from the world, but to be in the world and to know God’s presence in one’s life. This is true freedom and a peaceful presence that creates the revolution of Christ’s work and witness in the world.

Go into all the world and proclaim God’s love

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O'CollinsExperiencing Jesus by Gerald O’Collins, SJ; Chapter 5 – “Loving, praying, and forgiving”

We are approximately halfway through our journey of this holy season of Lent. This season calls us to prayer and reflection, a time for us to hear God among us and discover where it is that God is calling us. In the midst of this quiet time of prayer and reflection Gerald O’Collins provides us a chapter that is focused on “action.” I am a fan of all types of communications and social media is only one of the forms that invite us to speak and listen with others, but social media is one way that we have an opportunity to communicate with those who are beyond arm’s length. I was very happy to see that a favorite musician of mine, Harry Connick, Jr., has joined the bite-sized verse world of Twitter. I bring this up because Harry “tweeted” a short thought the other day that stands closely with O’Collins chapter of active discipleship: “March 4th…the only day of the year that means ‘go forward’…so let’s do it.” (You can follow Harry also: @HarryConnickJR).

O’Collins provides a thoughtful overview of God’s abundant love and forgiveness and how prayer pulls everything together. All three of these elements of our relationship with God and others is important, but I would like to reflect especially on the thought of “active” love. The chapter begins, “Many Christians and others have found it attractive to take approval as the primary aspect of love. To love people is, in a most radical way, to approve of, joyfully wonder at, and assent to their existence. The lover rejoices over the object of his or her love and in effect says: ‘It is beautiful that you exist, that you are there in the world’…Unquestionably one can appeal to the Bible in support of this kind of love…Nevertheless, the New Testament relentlessly preaches love as active rather than simply approving. To love is to be engaged selflessly for the good of others and work for their welfare and real happiness.” (pp. 54-55) O’Collins points to the heart of Christian discipleship, the deep well of love that fuels the passion for and the commitment to service in the world…not for the good of the one performing the service, but for the good of God’s created world. The Christian disciple, the one that is connected to the vine, finds love from the fruit of the vine, the real fruit that gives love and life. A life lived in this manner is not always easy, which is why O’Collins rightfully places this conversation within a chapter describing the three elements of discipleship: love, prayer and forgiveness. Finally, O’Collins quotes an insightful statement from G.K. Chesterton: “Christianity hasn’t been tried and found wanting. It has been found hard and not tried.” (p. 59) During this season of Lent, in prayer and reflection, we ask God for the grace to commit ourselves and persevere in the midst of all the joys and challenges that we will face in our daily lives…and then, move forward in love because yesterday was March 4th!

“What will you do with the gift of the Christ child?”

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Christmas Eve (Luke 2:1-20)  12/24/2011

We are now late into the evening of Christmas Eve and I am quite certain that Santa and his reindeer have successfully navigated their way across the Atlantic and will be arriving shortly. And I hope I am not the first to tell you (and this might be especially important for the men to hear) but there are now zero shopping days left…no more time to run out to the store and buy that perfect gift. This year’s shopping season is now complete; a shopping season that has been closely watched and analyzed, with some good news and some bad news regarding our gift giving habits for this year. Overall sales for the season have apparently improved more than expected as compared to last year’s sales, and that’s the good news.[i] The bad news is that nearly 10% of everything that was purchased will be returned to the store, a few points above the return rate of a “good year” for retailers.[ii] Although there are many reasons for the higher return rate, “buyer’s remorse” is among the most common. “Buyer’s remorse” is the condition where people gaze upon the large pile of sale items they have purchased and begin to wonder if all the turkey and apple pie eaten on Thanksgiving may have caused them to lose their mind for a brief time. All the more reason to follow Santa’s advice and carefully make a list, and check it twice!

There was certainly no buyer’s remorse among the shepherds in the field on that first Christmas night. The shepherds were visited by the angel of the Lord and told of the birth of their Savior, Christ the Lord! Continue reading →

“Forgive each other, love each other, and don’t be a grinch!”

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7th Sunday after the Epiphany (Matthew 5:38-48)  02/20/2011

Throughout the past several days I have been following the events unfolding in Egypt with great fascination. The protests of the people who gathered in Tahrir Square were first coordinated through the social media channels of the Internet but then continued with and without the assistance of technology. Although it appears that the Egyptian government successfully shut the Internet down for a time, people who had previously never known each other continued to come together to unite behind a common cause – the hope of a new and better government that fairly represented the voice of the people and could provide all Egyptian people the promise of a better tomorrow.[i] But the region of the Middle East has a lot of history; and this new chapter of life does not come without uncertainties and the anxieties of tomorrow’s realities. The people of Egypt have questions: questions about their new government and their future. The people of the Middle East region have questions: questions about Arab/Israeli relations and the impact that the Egyptian demonstrations will have on neighboring countries. And the people of the world have questions: questions about the stability of the region and how the future will impact global relations. All of these questions are wrapped around one important center point: how will we decide to live together in community? This is an important question, no matter where you reside: How will we – we, the Egyptian people; we, the people of the Middle East; we, the people of the world; we, the people of this parish; how will we live together in community? Continue reading →

“There are no boundaries to the one we call neighbor – love with great mercy”

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Proper 10C (Lk 10:25-37)  07-11-2010

“Who is my neighbor?” An important question for us to consider and, as we hear this morning, the answer has consequences for our actions. Last weekend, Carol and I spent the first part of the long July 4th weekend in our yard, pulling up weeds and putting down mulch. A lot of hard work, especially in the heat, but our yard looks much better and hopefully our neighbors are happy with the improvements. Who is my neighbor – in this case, the people who live in the area near our house. After working in the yard, we spent the remainder of our weekend at the beach and enjoyed the cooler temperatures and the annual festivities of the July 4th weekend. During our visit to the beach we met many of the same people who are there year after year, but we also saw many new people – visitors we had never met before. For the duration of the weekend, we enjoyed some rest and had the opportunity to share fun and fellowship with others – and all of these people were our beach neighbors. But as the weekend came to an end and many of the visitors began to go home, the focus of attention along the beach turned to a rather large tree. Continue reading →

“Following Christ beyond our boundaries”

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Fifth Sunday of Easter YR C (Acts 11:1-18)  05-02-2010

Boundaries. The order of our lives is often maintained by boundaries. We create boundaries by establishing laws, drawing lines, and setting limitations. Much of my recent vacation was defined by various boundaries, beginning with my airline boarding pass, which told me I had a seat on the Southwest plane and the order in which I was to stand in line. There were lines for the boundaries of the baggage check line; lines for the roller coaster rides at the amusement park, and nearly every restaurant required that you place your name on a list so they could establish the boundaries of when you would eat and the table that was most appropriate for the size of your party. Boundaries followed me throughout my vacation…and as we were ending our vacation, standing in the very long baggage check line at the Tampa airport, an employee of Southwest airlines came forward to pass along some news about the boundaries of the baggage check line. She told us that it is not permitted to check bags prior to 4 hours in advance of your flight time. She then requested anyone whose flight was more than 4 hours from the current time to please leave the baggage check line. For those people, their time had not yet come…and the established boundaries did not permit their participation. Continue reading →