Tag Archives: relationship

“Prophetic voices in our modern world: where have they gone?”

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Brueggemann (On Being)

“In those days the word of the LORD was rare; prophecy was not widespread” (1 Samuel 3:1b, TANAKH translation)

In a recently released interview (12/22/2011) by Krista Tippett (“On Being,” by APM), Walter Brueggemann (Biblical scholar and well-known author) discussed the poetry and imagination of the Old Testament prophets. His interview was thoughtful, insightful and compelling, but this is what I have come to expect of him nearly every time I have read one of his books or listened to him discuss a wide array of topics. Brueggemann’s wisdom is not limited to the Old Testament. (For more information on his interview with Krista Tippett, please follow the link: <here>) One of the most profound and striking sections of his interview came when questioned about the preacher’s ability to prophetically speak to a frenzied and hurting world; a world that is so accustomed to the “idealogy of consumer capitalism”; especially when the preacher is part of that world and shares the language and the culture of those whom are listening for the prophetic word to be spoken. Brueggemann responded: Continue reading →

“Yes, you can ‘tebow’ too”

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“Hezekiah went up to the house of the Lord and spread the letters before the Lord. And Hezekiah prayed before the Lord.” (2 Kings 19:14-15) King Hezekiah began to reign over the kingdom of Judah at the age of 25; he began his reign around the year 700 BC. Hezekiah is held up as one of the most righteous kings before God, compared in esteem to King David for his accomplishments. The people under the rule of Hezekiah knew both good times and challenging times, even though their king was much beloved and did what was right in the sight of the Lord. (2 Kings 18:3)

Much has been made recently of another young man about the age of 25, Tim Tebow, and the electrifying victories he and his team, the Denver Broncos, have had in the past several weeks. The high point of the media frenzy came with the Broncos overtime victory against the Pittsburgh Steelers in the first week of the NFL playoffs. Tebow has attracted attention for many reasons, but the public display of his Christian faith has probably been at the center of all the attention. Gone are his “black eye paint” biblical passages (against NFL rules), but his one-kneed bow to God has remained a steadfast symbol of his devotion. As the Broncos continued to win, sometimes inexplicably it seemed, the public chatter was that Tim’s “tebowing” gave him a direct line to God. Even Saturday Night Live needed to weigh in with a few jokes…when SNL pokes fun at you, it’s safe to say you have arrived…at least for 15 minutes. With no ill feelings toward Tim Tebow or the rest of his teammates, there is at least a small part of me that was glad that Tom Brady and his team set the record straight when it comes to God: pray to God for a relationship with God and to deepen your spiritual growth and awareness…not to win at life. And this is not to say that Tim Tebow prays to win; it is very likely he prays to talk to God…and so can you.

If the Denver Broncos won the Super Bowl this year, never would the American public be more confused about God and prayer since, well, since ever probably. You can, and should, “tebow” pray every day in order to become closer to the spiritual and mystical realities of the power and love of God. Win, lose or draw in life; you will win every day that you pray.

“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 →

“Filled with hope, we wait with a promise”

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First Sunday of Advent (Isaiah 64:1-9)  11/27/2011

I have just returned from enjoying some restful time with my family over the Thanksgiving holiday. Throughout the past week, as I was reflecting on the coming season of Advent (the season of waiting for the coming of Christ), I noticed that there can be quite a bit of waiting involved with taking vacation. The practice of waiting begins fairly soon into the vacation, perhaps waiting at the ticket counter of the airport or at the security line. There can be waiting for a rental car; waiting for a table at the restaurant, or waiting for your favorite part of the vacation to finally begin. And if you are even a little bit like me, waiting can sometimes become a frustrating exercise. As I waited in the security line at the airport, I was finally the next person to have my boarding pass checked by the security person. But due to the backup in the scanning line ahead I was just out of reach of the security person and so I needed to wait a bit longer. After a few moments had passed, I noticed that the line to my right was completely empty, so I quickly dropped below the boundary and walked the final three feet to hand my pass over to be checked. The security person did not appear too pleased with me, but checked my boarding pass and allowed me through the gate. As I was moving on he raised his hand to someone behind me and said, “I am sorry but this lane is the Priority Security line and you must go back to where you were unless you have a Priority Pass.” You see, there was no waiting if you had a Priority Pass.

Waiting, however, was exactly the challenge that faced the people of Isaiah’s community in ancient Jerusalem. As we hear the words of the prophet this morning, we listen to the frustration of the Israelites as they wait for the coming of the Lord in Jerusalem. A remnant of faithful Jews had returned to Jerusalem after the long days of exile in Babylon and they waited for God to restore their city. They waited and waited; they suffered continued frustrations and their days seemed futile…no Priority Pass to avoid the long days of waiting. Continue reading →

“Open my eyes and my heart”

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Fourth Sunday in Lent (John 9:1-41)  4/3/2011

“Where’s the beef?!” Nearly 30 years ago a trio of burger-loving ladies made this phrase very popular as they appeared in a number of Wendy’s restaurant advertisements. For Wendy’s restaurants – this phrase meant to highlight the small burgers they claimed that their competitors offered, but soon the phrase was incorporated into the political debates of that year’s Presidential campaigns. In the context of the debates, “where’s the beef?” was a phrase that was transformed into a challenge to others – a challenge to defend their ideas and support the substance of their answers. The phrase was an effective tool to put one’s competitors under careful examination. Throughout our lives, we too have questions and we seek answers, but how can we examine and accept the answers we receive, especially if we seek those answers from God. Continue reading →

“Passing through the threshold of Christmas – our lives are forever changed”

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1st Sunday after Christmas (Gal 3:23-25; 4:4-7)  12/26/2010

Throughout the past several weeks my daughter has been going through the college selection process…and we have shared this journey with her. As many of you can confirm, this process can be a time of joy and anxiety in one’s life, both for the young person going through the process and for those offering their love and guidance. The life changing events that accompany the beginning of one’s college years are not limited to this experience alone. For young adults the experiences of moving out of your parents’ home, joining the ranks of the working world or the military, or starting a family all have their life changing effects. And as we grow older, we continue to pass through significant thresholds of life – particular points along the journey through life where, due to some experience or due to someone we encounter, we are forever changed. Continue reading →

“Reflection on the Daily Office: Jonah and the gold mine”

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Daily Office for 10/13/2010:  OT Reading – Jonah 1:17 – 2:10

This morning we hear the frightful adventure of Jonah, trapped in the belly of a whale for 3 days. One cannot hear this story and not think of the similarly frightful ordeal of the 33 Chilean miners, trapped more than 1/2 mile below the surface of the earth for almost 3 months. The reading from Jonah captures Jonah’s prayer to God, seeking relief from his current state of bondage in the whale’s belly. God hears Jonah and we are relieved to hear that the whale frees Jonah, spitting him on to the dry land. Again, we are reminded of the ongoing episode of the miners, who are in the midst of rising from the tomb of their entrapment and are free – free to be with their families and friends and free to live life again, but to live life in a very different manner as some of the freed miners have already testified.

We, too, can become entombed by things that contain us: contain and consume us if we allow them to become the center of our lives.  “Those who worship vain idols forsake their true loyalty.” (Jonah 2:8) An exercise for healthy living that always provides benefit is to consider the people and events in your life that hold great significance and reflect on how much time and attention you are giving them. As one of the miners, Mario Sepulvedo, recently told CNN News, “I buried 40 years of my life down there, and I’m going to live a lot longer to be a new person…I think I have learned a lot of wonderful lessons about taking the good path in life.” Like Mario and Jonah, take the time to pray to God, bury the false idols that hold you back and take the good path in life.

“Shrewdly seeking God’s grace”

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Proper 20C (Luke 16:1-13)  09-19-2010

A few years ago when my family and I moved from the Chicago area to the suburbs of Washington, DC, we quickly realized that the traffic was going to give us an opportunity to practice our patience and we also realized that an early start on the morning commute would be a necessity. Because the traffic was also unpredictable, an early start often meant an early arrival at the seminary, so I became a regular at the Student Lounge. Like many of the commuter students who frequented this convenient gathering place, I became familiar with the bad coffee, the uncomfortable furniture and the dismal gray walls. And because we were quite certain that the traffic was not going to end any time soon, we decided that we should make some changes to the lounge so our time there was more pleasant. A few pillows on the furniture and some good scrubbing on the coffee machines made a big difference, but those dismal gray walls were still very depressing. We thought a cheerful yellow paint would make a great difference on everyone’s attitude. We assumed that painting the lounge would require someone’s permission, so we asked several school officials for the name of the person in charge of the lounge. In every case the answer was the same: I don’t know who is in charge of the lounge. After an unsuccessful search for the person in charge, we finally decided to do the only reasonable thing: we bought some paint and woke up early one morning to quietly paint the lounge before anyone discovered our plan. With paint and brushes in hand, we prepared the room, covered the furniture and were only minutes from starting when the Manager of the book store came in to the lounge and told us that one of the school officials had heard we might be painting and she wanted to see us in her office right away. With only minutes to creatively save our plan, we quickly painted the smallest wall in the lounge. With a bad feeling about our future, we headed up the hill to explain our secret painting project.

The property manager in our Gospel lesson had a bad feeling about his future as well – called to the master’s house to give an accounting of his actions. Continue reading →

“Through humility and mutual love, some have entertained angels”

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Proper 17C (Luke 14:1, 7-14)  08-29-2010

Yesterday my family traveled to Long Island for the day, participating in a visit day that is part of my daughter’s college search. With the exception of the Hutchinson Parkway, the entire day was a great experience. And my all-knowing GPS unit quickly handled even the Parkway, so even that part of the day was just fine. Participating in the college visit day reminded me of the entire process of selecting a college. This is a big decision and the process should be a reflective exercise of what is important and an exploration of why certain items hold greater significance than others. And visiting is important also because being in a certain place and experiencing the people, the atmosphere and the surroundings is important.

However, the college selection process is also a two-sided street. Prospective students are not the only ones who get to make decisions – the college admissions offices get to make some decisions too. College applications must be filled out and submitted for review. Prospective students must write essays and list many facets of their academic, work and general life experiences. Reviewing college applications reminds me of my volunteer experience of interviewing prospective students for the US Naval Academy. After talking with the students for a bit about general information, I would ask them to describe one or two of their extracurricular activities. After listening to their description, I would ask them why the activity was so important to them…what was particularly important to them. As I listened carefully, sometimes their answers surprised me. Continue reading →

“Persistence in prayer – Drawing close to God”

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Proper 12C (Luke 11:1-13)  07/25/2010

Jeremy Taylor, the 17th century Anglican bishop and theologian wrote in a letter, “Pray frequently and effectually; I had rather your prayers should be often than long.”[i] This morning we hear Jesus teaching his friends a lesson about prayer. Prayer is one of our most powerful and personal connections to God. Prayer is the conversational connection that nourishes and strengthens our relationship with God. And if we seek relationship with God, or anyone else for that matter, we need to be in regular conversation.

More than 30 years ago, a young man sat among a group of his peers and celebrated his college graduation: a day that recognizes the culmination of many hours of hard work and a day that celebrates the graduate’s relationship with others – family, friends, and professors. After throwing his cap in the air and receiving the congratulations of his family, the young man searched for his favorite college professor. He found his professor and thanked him for his wisdom and his friendship throughout his college years. The professor was fond of the young man and asked him if he would please stay in touch throughout the years ahead – and the young man promised that he would stay in touch. The young man then began his journey in the world, searching for all the success the world had to offer him. As the days after his college graduation turned to months and the months turned to years, he finally achieved the success he sought, but he never did keep the promise he made to his old college professor. He drifted away from him, pulled by the strong current of the pressing cares of the world…until one day when he heard his professor’s name on a late night television show.[ii] Continue reading →