Wednesday Wondering - September 13, 2023

Scripture

Luke 4: 18 - 19

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour.”

James 2: 14 - 17

What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,” and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.

Reflection

I have been thinking this week about this thing that we do, this idea of church. I suppose in some ways that makes sense because of my ‘call’ to serve in the church. What is this thing that we do called church? So we come together to worship, to sing, to pray, and to be a part of a community of believers, but it really goes beyond that, doesn’t it? Or maybe is should go beyond that! Both of the scriptures speak to something deeply profound as they speak to actions that one is challenged to take, when they say that they are a believer. It is interesting as I have a colleague friend who believes that our faith must consist of everything that we do, once we say ‘I believe.’ In other words our faith should be reflected in everything we do, in every action that we take, rather than just the words that we use on a Sunday morning within the four walls of our church buildings. The scriptures are challenging us to move beyond mere words, in some ways they are challenging us to move beyond mere belief. I wonder, did Jesus ever want us to just believe, or was the point of Jesus’s coming to challenge us to action? Richard Rohr, the Roman Catholic priest, theologian, and spiritual guide, thinks of this idea in the following way, “Christianity is a lifestyle - a way of being in the world that is simple, non-violent, shared, and loving. However, we made it into an

established religion" (and all that goes with that) and avoided the lifestyle change itself. One could be warlike, greedy, racist, selfish, and vain in most of Christian history, and still believe that Jesus is one’s "personal Lord and Savior.” The world has no time for such silliness anymore. The suffering on Earth is too great.” According to Rohr to be a Christian means that we embody Christ in our own lives and do, as Christ did, in the world. It is more than belief it is action and it is action that is sorely needed in today’s world. When we default to understanding our faith as only something that we are called to believe we don’t recognize the true power of faith. Yes, I believe that there is power in our faith, and even though that word has some negative connotations, I believe that it is in this power that we can make a difference. Going back to Richard Rohr, he speaks to this idea in the following way, “We worshiped Jesus instead of following him on his same path. We made Jesus into a mere religion instead of a journey toward union with God and everything else. This shift made us into a religion of 'belonging and believing’ instead of a religion of transformation.” When we begin to see that our faith is not only about what we believe, but rather it is a call for us to ‘do,’ we begin to see that our faith is actually one of transformation. Yes, we come together to worship, to pray, to sing, and be in community, but all of these should energize us to move out into the world and ‘do.’ Our faith is more than something that we believe, it is something that we are called to do each and every day of our lives and in living our faith we become people of transformation in a world that needs to be transformed in love, grace, mercy, compassion, peace, and forgiveness. It is our challenge and our call, to embody our faith in every thing that we do in our lives. Maybe it is work, but I can only imagine the type of world that might just emerge as we continue to “LIVE” our faith.

Prayer

God, who calls us to action, help us to hear your challenge to be more than people who believe, but rather people who act. Give us to courage to go out into the world to truly live our faith in all that we do. Give us the wisdom to know that you call us to more than just ‘believing and belonging,’ but rather you call us to do in the world today and every day. Open our hearts to your calls to action and help us to live out those calls, even in the midst of the challenges of the world. We ask this in the name of the one who came to show us the way, your son, Jesus. Amen.

Wednesday Wondering - September 6, 2023

Scripture

1Peter 4: 8 - 11

Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.

Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.

Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.

If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.

Matthew 18: 20

“For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”

Reflection

I have continued to think about this concept of presence in our lives. In many ways this week will be a continuation of last week, where I spoke about the assurance of God’s presence with us. I have to admit that it is challenging for us to feel that presence many times but there is another aspect to presence that I believe is just as important for us in our lives and I think that it raises a challenge for each of us. I would like to share with you a little something that I read a couple of weeks ago and it speaks deeply to me. To be perfectly honest I can’t tell you if this was written by the actual author, as no author was cited, but regardless it says something important to us. It is an interaction between Winnie the Pooh and Piglet in the Hundred Acre Wood;

“Piglet?” said Pooh.

“Yes?” said Piglet

“I’m scared,” said Pooh.

For a moment, there was silence.

“Would you like to talk about it?” said Piglet, when Pooh didn’t appear to say anything further.

“I’m just so scared,” blurted out Pooh.

“So anxious. Because I don’t feel like things are getting any better. If anything, I feel like they might be getting worse. People are angry, because they’re so scared, and they’re turning on one another, and there seems to be no clear plan out of here, and I worry about my friends and people I love, and I wish SO much that I could give them all a hug, and oh, Piglet! I am so scared, and I cannot tell you how much I wish it wasn’t so.

Piglet was thoughtful, as he looked out at the blue of the skies, peeping between the branches of the trees in the Hundred Acre Wood, and listened to his friend.

I’m here,” he said, simply. “I hear you, Pooh. And I’m here.”

For a moment, Pooh was perplexed.

“But…..aren’t you going to tell me not to be so silly? That I should stop getting myself into a state and pull myself together? That it’s hard for everyone right now?”

“No,” said Piglet, quite decisively. “No, I am very much not going to do any of those things.”

“But-“ said Pooh.

“I can’t change the world right now,” continued Piglet. “And I am not going to patronize you with platitudes about how everything will be okay, because I don’t know that.”

“What I can do, though, Pooh, is that I can make sure that you know that I am here. And that I will always be here to listen; and to support you; and for you to know that you are heard.”

“I can’t make those Anxious Feelings go away, not really.”

“But I can promise you that, all the time I have breath in my body….you won’t ever need to feel those Anxious Feelings alone.”

And it was a strange thing, because even as Piglet said that, Pooh could feel some of those Anxious Feelings start to loosen their grip on him; could feel one or two of them start to slither away into the forest, cowed by his friend, who sat there next to him.

Pooh thought he had never been more grateful to have Piglet in his life.

There is a hymn that has been sung that has a line that goes something like this, “Christ has no body now but yours.” It speaks to the presence of God through the presence of us. It speaks to the fact that God can, and does, come to us in many different ways. God can come to us in the presence of those around us; in a hug; in a touch; in a smile; in someone just listening. This is the presence that is in the story, but the challenge for us is to be that presence without the need to fix. Quite often we might be hesitant to be that presence for someone because we are afraid that there is nothing that we can do to ‘help.’ The story reminds us that we don’t have to help, we just have to ‘be.’ We just have to enter into those places of doubt, fear, anxious feelings, grief, loneliness, so that those who are there know that they are not alone. We are also called to allow others to enter into those places in our lives, so that the presence of God might be felt through them. It is our calling as Christians to be that calming presence of God in the lives of those who might need it, and to allow others to be that same presence in our lives when we need. In this way we are blessed, we know that we are not alone, and we know that we are loved.

Prayer

God of infinite presence, please help us to feel you in our lives in all the ways that you come to us. Give us the courage and the strength to be your presence for others in the midst of their struggles. Help us to see that our role is not to fix, but rather just too ‘be’ with them so that they don’t feel alone. Help us to be vulnerable enough to allow others to come into our lives and be your presence for us when we need to feel you. We ask this in the name of the one who gave all for us, your son, Jesus. Amen.

Wednesday Wondering - August 30, 2023

Scripture

Exodus 3: 13 - 15

But Moses said to God, “If I come to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” 14 God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” He said further, “Thus you shall say to the Israelites, ‘I am has sent me to you.’ ” 15 God also said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the Israelites, ‘The Lord, the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you’:

This is my name forever, and this my title for all generations.

Psalm 55: 22

Cast your burden on the LORD, and he shall sustain you: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.

Reflection

I have been struggling a lot with all that is happening in the world, but it is much more personal than what is happening in the wider world right now. There are so many that I know who are struggling with so much in their lives. In the midst of all of this I often think about God and what does it mean for us to know, to understand, that God is with us. The reading from Psalm 55 gives us assurance that when we struggle we are to cast our burdens onto God, but what does it mean for us to actually know that God is with us? In the reading from Exodus God has called Moses up to the mountain and is sending Moses to those in captivity, to free them. God has heard the cries of those who are struggling. In this story we hear of God’s love for God’s people and God names Godself in a way that I believe it is important for us to remember. I read this reflection on God’s name, written by an unknown author, and it speaks to me of God’s presence even when I struggle.

“There was a moment when Moses had the nerve to ask God what God’s name is. God was gracious enough to answer, and the name God gave is recorded in the original Hebrew as YHWH.

Over time we’ve arbitrarily added an ‘a’ and an ‘e’ in there to get YaHWeH, presumably because we have a preference for vowels.

But scholars and Rabbi’s have noted that the YHWH represent breathing sounds, or aspirated consonants. When pronounced without the intervening vowels, it actually sounds like breathing. YH (inhale): WH (exhale).

So a baby’s first cry, their first breath, speaks the name of God.

A deep sigh calls God’s name - or a groan, or gasp that is too heavy for mere words. Even an atheist would speak God’s name., unaware that their very breath is giving constant acknowledgement to God. Likewise, a person leaves this earth with their last breath, when God’s name is no longer filling their mortal lungs.

So when I can’t utter anything else, is my cry calling out God’s name? Being alive means that I speak God’s name constantly. So, it is heard the loudest when I’m the quietest. In sadness, we breathe heavy sighs. In joy, our lungs feel almost like they will burst. In fear, we hold our breath and have to be told to breathe slowly to help us calm down. When we are about to do something hard, we take a deep breath to find our courage. When I think about it, breathing is giving God praise. Even in the hardest of moments! This is so beautiful and fills me with emotion every time I grasp the thought. God chose to give Godself a name that we can’t but help speak every moment we’re alive. All of us, always, everywhere. Waking, sleeping, breathing, with the name of God on our lips.”

So when we struggle, when we don’t know what to do, know that God is with us because each breath we take speaks God’s name. We know in Paul’s letter to the Romans he states that we often times don’t know how to pray as we ought to, but the Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. Even in our sighs, when words will not come, we speak the name of God and God is with us. In our constant expressing of God’s name we are never alone, God has always been with us, God will always be with us. We are not alone in our suffering and struggle, for God hears God’s name with each breath we take. As our New Creed says, “We are not alone. Thanks be to God.”

Prayer

God of life and breath and love, help us to hear your name in every breath we take. Help us to know that in the midst of our struggles, our pain, our suffering, our strife, you are with us as your name is always on our lips. Give us the courage to turn to you, knowing that your presence is here with us, always and forever. We ask this in the name of God Incarnate, your son, Jesus. Amen.