Welcome to the January 2025 Archive. You are welcome to read the entire archive, or find a topic on the list below that is of interest to you. Just click the link, and you will be taken directly to the day it was written. Enjoy, and may you know God's peace as you read His Word.
    You are welcome to use these writings or pass them on. All we ask is that in all things you remember the Author and give Him the glory, and remember this vessel which He has used to bring them to you. Peggy Hoppes

A WORD FOR TODAY, January 2025

January 1, 2025

“Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new. But all things are of God, who reconciled us to himself through Jesus Christ, and gave to us the ministry of reconciliation; namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not reckoning to them their trespasses, and having committed to us the word of reconciliation.” 2 Corinthians 5:17-19, WEB

Today is the first day of a new year. We spent last night counting down the minutes until the ball dropped (those of us who could stay awake that long) and we cheered when the clock struck midnight. The neighbors shot off fireworks and the city celebrated with a huge party. I’m sure many people woke up late this morning struggling to get out of bed after partying late into the morning. We do all this because the calendar tells us that one year is over and a new one has begun.

The change of the calendar reminds us to number our days. I don’t know about you, but I’ve been wondering what happened! 2024 passed so fast; I couldn’t believe how a new month appeared before I was done with the previous one. “It’s June already?” “What happened to September?” “What do you mean it is time for Christmas already? We just celebrated Easter!” Day by day we live our lives not really realizing the time is passing, but we are forced to think about it when we get to the end of the year.

We make a big deal about this day; many people are taking it as a chance for new beginnings. New Year’s resolutions are promises we make to become better. I once read an article about how we really should not try to make changes right now. Our bodies are in low gear from winter and we have little willpower as we recover from the holidays. We will likely fail and then feel like a failure. The writer suggested waiting until the spring when the natural cycle will increase our energy and will power to help us achieve our goals. For Christians, the fasting of Lent might be a much better time to make resolutions.

We think about changing our lives in these days after Christmas because, well, we’ve all overindulged a bit during the past month or so. We know we need to eat better after eating so many sweets and treats since Thanksgiving (Halloween?!) We know we need to exercise, do better with our money, and take care of our relationships. None of us come out of the holidays unscathed and we think that we can immediately change ourselves in a way that will make all things right in the world.

But the wisdom in the article is true. We are tired and weak in flesh and spirit, so it is unlikely that we’ll keep those resolutions. We give ourselves much, too much, credit. We need time to heal and to strengthen. If we are to make any resolutions, it should be to return our lives to some sense of normalcy, and then we can pursue the life changes that will make our world a better place. We have to pay all our debts before we start putting extra money away. We have to get rid of the holiday cookies before we can begin a diet of leafy greens. See, we go into the holidays and lose all control, and then on January 1st we try not only to return to the status quo but to go twice as far! That’s like thinking we can run a mile in the wrong direction and yet go back two miles in the right direction in a smaller amount of time.

On this New Year’s Day, however, instead of focusing on our own ability to become new, perhaps we should focus on what God is continually doing in and through our lives. This is a brand-new year, but then every day is a new day. We have a chance to make a new beginning with every breath we take. It is good to set goals for ourselves for the coming year, but let’s begin by remembering the source of our greatest transformation, praising God for His grace to make us into the people He created and redeemed us to be. Jesus Christ brought the dawn of a new day; He is the source of all our new beginnings. Through the grace and mercy of God we are changed, transformed and set on a journey where our pasts are forgotten, and our futures are set in His blood. Today is the beginning of a brand new year according to our calendars, so let’s begin this day, year, and the rest of our lives in praise and worship of the One who brought us to this day and who will be with us through everything, our successes and failures, until the end of all the ages.

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January 2, 2025

Lectionary Scriptures for January 5, 2025, Second Sunday or Christmas: 1 Kings 3:4-15; Psalm 119:97-104; Ephesians 1:3-14; Luke 2:40-52

I have only looked at the Gospel lesson for this week’s lectionary. I’ll be back to normal with Midweek Oasis next week. Holidays.

“The child was growing, and was becoming strong in spirit, being filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him. His parents went every year to Jerusalem at the feast of the Passover. When he was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem according to the custom of the feast, and when they had fulfilled the days, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. Joseph and his mother didn’t know it, but supposing him to be in the company, they went a day’s journey, and they looked for him among their relatives and acquaintances. When they didn’t find him, they returned to Jerusalem, looking for him. After three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the middle of the teachers, both listening to them, and asking them questions. All who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. When they saw him, they were astonished, and his mother said to him, ‘Son, why have you treated us this way? Behold, your father and I were anxiously looking for you.’ He said to them, ‘Why were you looking for me? Didn’t you know that I must be in my Father’s house?’ They didn’t understand the saying which he spoke to them. And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth. He was subject to them, and his mother kept all these sayings in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.” Luke 2:40-52, WEB

Art Linkletter was known for being able to make people so comfortable in his presence that they were willing to be themselves, which is when people are the most humorous. He was especially able to make children feel at ease.

William Grimes wrote in Art’s obituary for the New York Times, “Television critics and intellectuals found the Linkletter persona bland and his popularity unfathomable. ‘There is nothing greatly impressive, one way or the other, about his appearance, mannerisms, or his small talk,’ one newspaper critic wrote. Another referred to his ‘imperishable banality.’” Yet, Mr. Linkletter was exceptionally popular with the American public. He was well known for what he did; I’m sure there were few people who had to ask, “Who is Art Linkletter” when the news broke about his death. Say, “Art Linkletter” and almost everyone think, “Kids say the darndest things.”

He was good at what he did because he was willing to go eye to eye with anyone. The most common memory pictures him in a room with a short table and children’s chairs, Art sitting with the children. He listened. He got into the dirt. He played with the toys. He did whatever it took to make his guest (or victim) feel like he was their friend. When he asked questions, they were ready and willing to answer.

In the obituary, Mr. Grimes quoted Mr. Linkletter, “I know enough about a lot of things to be interesting, but I’m not interesting enough in any one thing to be boring. I’m like everybody’s next door neighbor, only a little bit smarter.” He led an interesting life. His story was filled with adventures on freight trains, hitchhiking, jobs wherever he happened to stop, and time as a merchant seaman. He went to a teacher’s college because he planned to become an English teacher, but he discovered radio. He worked as a spot reporter at the California Pacific International Exhibition in San Diego and at other fairs. He learned to work without a script, filling time with whatever entertaining person happened his way. He made mistakes but found his niche; he’ll always be remembered for his way with people.

Children can sometimes be the wisest people we know. That doesn’t stop us from holding our breath when they go forward for a children’s sermon. You never know what they are going to say; it is risky to give them an open forum to share their thoughts in front of the congregation. They say shocking things, embarrass their parents, and often make us laugh. One pastor invited the children up front and noticed one girl with a very pretty dress. He asked her if it was her Easter dress. “Yes,” she answered, “and my mom says it’s a bitch to iron.” We have all probably heard something similar from our own children; they repeat what they hear and share what they know, even if we’d rather they never used those words.

Their comments might be embarrassing, but they are just as often amazing. We don’t think that children really understand faith or the bible, after all, we have our own questions and doubts. Surely young children couldn’t possibly know more than us! Yet, when asked about the things of faith, many can answer in ways that seem far beyond their years. The lessons we learn from the children’s sermons don’t often come from the pastor; they come from the children themselves. They know Jesus is the heart of the Gospel and they know the Gospel is about love. As adults we tend to know the scriptures in our heads, but children know it in their hearts. They are honest and innocent, unstained by the cynicism or intellectualism of adulthood, so they share God’s grace in the most simple and pure form. We have much we can learn from them. We laughed with those children on Art’s show, but we were also amazed at their wisdom.

It is odd for a twelve-year-old to go into the Temple on his own to learn and talk about the scriptures. Yet, when we think about the things our children really know about faith, it is not so unusual. Our children might seem just as inciteful if they were given the opportunity to share with their elders. Jesus was certainly unusual, He was the Son of God, the living Word in flesh, and had all the wisdom of God written on His heart, but our children have the Kingdom of God, too, and can share with us a wisdom we have lost.

We often think of Jesus as some extraordinary child. Though Jesus was God incarnate, He was also fully human. We should not think of Him as the perfect child, never crying or getting dirty. He needed his diapers changed like every other baby. He fell when He was learning to walk, skinned His knees when He played. I’m sure He even dragged mud into the house after jumping in puddles, just like the other children. He went through the terrible twos and every other stage of life, learning and growing every step along the way.

But Jesus was different, too. He was the physical incarnation of the Lord God Almighty. His Father was not a carpenter; Jesus was the Son of the Creator of all things. Jesus’ mother taught Him the scriptures, as was practice in Jewish homes, but the words had a deeper, fuller meaning for Him. He understood what they meant. One day He decided to test His knowledge by seeking the teachers in the Temple. His mother and father loved the Lord, and they knew His Word, but He needed more.

In this story, Jesus overstepped His parents’ authority by staying in Jerusalem without their knowledge. Mary and Joseph heard about Jesus’ purpose from so many people in the Nativity story. They pondered and treasured those words, but they did not fully understand their son and how He was sent to fulfill God’s promises. To them in this story, He was their twelve-year-old son testing His independence. When they questioned Him, He explained it was where He needed to be, but He was obedient and returned with them to His home in Nazareth.

We loved Art Linkletter because he was able to get the children to be open and honest in ways that adults are not able. The children’s sermon can certainly provide fodder for our sense of humor. Some of the children’s answers are very funny, embarrassing, and shocking. Yet, there are times when they have something very important to tell us. We should listen to our children when they talk about faith. There is an innocence that we lose as we grow older; there is a foundation of faith that gets buried under our maturity and knowledge. We make things so much more complex than they really need to be. It is not that we should stop growing and maturing in our faith. We should, however, remember that God speaks through the small and weak things of this world. Children have faith too, and we should never suppose that they have nothing to say about the Gospel just because they are young. They are children of our Father, and it is no surprise that they want to be in His presence and share what they know about Him.

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January 3, 2025

“Being therefore justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ; through whom we also have our access by faith into this grace in which we stand. We rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only this, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope: and hope doesn’t disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. For while we were yet weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man. Yet perhaps for a good person someone would even dare to die. But God commends his own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:1-8, WEB

I went shopping yesterday, just checking to see if there was anything left of Christmas on the store shelves. The store I visited had all their holiday merchandise heavily discounted, so all that was left was an overabundance of wrapping paper and some items that were worse for wear after months of customer rummaging. The lines were still long, especially the checkouts dedicated to returns and exchanges. The holidays falling on a Wednesday has made returning to “normal” a little more difficult. Who wants to go back to work with only two days left in the week?

That’s typical, though, isn’t it? We all find it a little difficult to get back into regular routines. The joy of the holidays continues to linger. Most of us are still happy and relaxed from the time off before things get crazy around the job. We won’t see our Christmas credit card bills for a week or so. The end of the year reports aren’t due until the end of January. Tax forms will have to wait for a few weeks until we get the records we need to fill in all the numbers. Though we have to return to a normal schedule, we usually get a few days of peace before we get back into the chaos of life.

But we know it is coming. We know that the meetings will catch up to us and that the deadlines will be here soon. We know that the new year will bring changes to the way we do business, and we’ll have to learn new ways of doing our work. We know that today’s peace will quickly give way to the hustle and bustle of the everyday.

So, now is the perfect time to set our feet in the right direction. How will we face the times ahead? Will we forget the peace and joy of Christmas and leave Christ in the manger? Or will we grasp the reality of what we just experienced and take it into our daily lives? Will we continue to live by the faith we gained not only when Christ was born, but when He died on the cross? Will we face our every day, good and bad, with the faith that God’s grace will get us through, and in getting us through, He will build us into a people who dwell in peace every day?

We easily share Christ’s peace during the holidays because we are surrounded by good will and happiness. Now, as we go into the new year, let us continue to share the love of Christ and His peace with the world, so that everyone might have the faith to rely on God’s grace to get through their days. We don’t know what tomorrow will hold, the promises for this day are a mystery. But we know that God is close and that we can dwell in His grace no matter what will come. Grasp hold of the hope God promises and go forth in faith, knowing that His peace is always close by those who have the love of God.

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January 6, 2025

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him. Without him, nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness hasn’t overcome it. There came a man, sent from God, whose name was John. The same came as a witness, that he might testify about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but was sent that he might testify about the light. The true light that enlightens everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, and the world didn’t recognize him. He came to his own, and those who were his own didn’t receive him. But as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become God’s children, to those who believe in his name: who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. The Word became flesh, and lived among us. We saw his glory, such glory as of the one and only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:1-14, WEB

We like to do jigsaw puzzles. We have a few favorite artists, and I confess that my favorites are designs that are rather simple and easy to finish in a short period of time. The last time Bruce and I went to a cabin for a weekend, we completed two puzzles with plenty of time to enjoy other activities while we were there. We have done some that were more challenging. A few years ago we did a puzzle that had shelves of nutcrackers in a row. It did not look hard when we began, but as we tried fitting pieces together, we could see it would be a challenge. The combinations of color, the patterns and shapes were similar on nearly every nutcracker. Many pieces looked like they belonged in several spots, and it was just the smallest change in shade or the tiniest bit of another color that made the difference. We really appreciated those “a ha” moments when we found the uniqueness of a piece and its home in the puzzle.

I enjoy other kinds of puzzles, too. I do several word puzzles on my tablet every day. I always take several word or number puzzle books when we travel in the car. Puzzles keep our minds active; experts tell us that doing puzzles can keep us young and our mind strong. Not all puzzles are fun, however. Some can be very frustrating. I do not like when I put a wrong number in a sudoku board, because it confuses the entire puzzle. We’ve had similar things happen with our jigsaw puzzles. I remember working on one design that had pieces that were not only similar in color, but also shape. Some pieces fit in several places, but it was necessary to get it right or it would not work. We didn’t understand why we were missing pieces, or why there were extra ones until we found the mistake and fixed it. Then everything else fell in place.

Imagine what it must have been like for the wise men who followed the Epiphany star to the place where Jesus lay. They knew prophecy from the Hebrew scriptures. They knew the stars. One day, out of the blue, a star showed up in the night sky and they knew that it meant something special. Based on their knowledge, they recognized the star as a sign of a new king. This was not just any king; He was a king worthy of being worshipped. So, they traveled a long way; it probably took them two years to find the place toward which the star was leading them. They stopped in Jerusalem, certain that a king of the Jews would be born in the palace. Herod’s wise men explained that Jewish prophecy foretold that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. Herod sent the wise men ahead and asked them to return to tell him where to find the baby so that he could worship, too.

These pieces just don’t seem to fit together. Why didn’t Herod rush along with the magi to see the long-awaited Messiah? Why didn’t they even know the birth had occurred? Why didn’t they notice the star that appeared right over their heads? Why was this important baby born in such a lowly place at such a difficult time? Why did wise men from far away travel for so long to get a look at a poverty-stricken child who did not even have a home of his own? It probably did not make much sense to those who were living the story. This Jesus was not what He seemed.

Today is Epiphany, the day that we traditionally recognize the visit of the wise men to the Christ child. The story really makes no sense at all. Who were these men and why did they come? It becomes much clearer when we realize that Jesus was not just the king of a nation but that He was the Light in the darkness: the Christ, Savior of the world. Jesus was born among the Jews, but He came for us all. They did not recognize Him, they did not see Him as He truly is, they did not see Him as the Lord incarnate sent to save them from death and the grave. They saw Him as an obstacle, a threat, to their way of life.

But the wise men knew that He was more. They knew that He was the King of Kings and offered Him gold. They knew He was the Great High Priest and gave Him frankincense. And they knew He would die for His people, so they gave Him myrrh. Perhaps they did not know the big picture, they may not have seen the future to know the way by which Christ would save the world. But they knew He fit, that He was the one worthy of long travel, wonderful gifts, and their humble worship. They followed a star, a light in the night sky, to see the true Light of God revealed in the flesh of a small child. They did not come by this on their own, it was the power of God in their lives that led them to see the Word that became flesh. The whole story of Christ seems like a pile of unmatched pieces, until you put them all together and see that Jesus is more than just the child in a manger, but that He is the very Son of God sent to save us all.

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January 7, 2025

“Grace to you and peace be multiplied in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, seeing that his divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and virtue, by which he has granted to us his precious and exceedingly great promises; that through these you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world by lust. Yes, and for this very cause adding on your part all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence; and in moral excellence, knowledge; and in knowledge, self-control; and in self-control perseverance; and in perseverance godliness; and in godliness brotherly affection; and in brotherly affection, love. For if these things are yours and abound, they make you to not be idle or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these things is blind, seeing only what is near, having forgotten the cleansing from his old sins. Therefore, brothers, be more diligent to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never stumble. For thus you will be richly supplied with the entrance into the eternal Kingdom of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.” 2 Peter 1:2-11, WEB

The neighborhood is dark. Many of our neighbors like to pack up their displays the minute the clock strikes midnight on Christmas night. Others wait until after New Year’s Day. A few keep things up until Epiphany. I didn’t go out last night, but from my windows I could see that we were the only house that was still lit. We keep them on through Epiphany, after all the wise men in our display didn’t even arrive until then. We’ll turn off the timers this afternoon, though we won’t get everything packed away until the weekend. I keep lights in my entry way year-round, so any lights connected to that timer may stay on for a few more days. That includes a nativity and our Moravian star. I suppose there’s no real hurry; though our neighborhood has rules, we all enjoy a little extra light during the dark days of winter.

I have been working on the decorations inside our home for the past two days. Though I haven’t replaced all my everyday displays, all my boxes are packed and ready to go back into storage for another year. It is always a bit depressing to do this task. We love Christmas, we love what it means, we love the symbolism of all our decorations. Yet, there always comes a time when we have to get back to “normal”, whatever that means. There are images of Christmas in our house year-round: I have a collection of nativities, and I decorate a tree for every season of the year, but it was definitely time for Santa and all the secular decorations to be put away. No matter how much I like to keep some of the symbols of Christmas around all the time, there comes a day when it is time to move on.

Most people have returned to work or school. We’ve eaten through the Christmas cookies. The mail is filled with bills rather than pretty cards. We don’t have party plans. The neighborhoods are dark at night again. All the joy and fun of the Christmas season has been replaced by the humdrum realities of everyday life. We are fighting traffic, thinking about our taxes, succumbing to the midwinter blues and the sniffles we’ve ignored for the past few weeks. We are broke and tired, and we are not very generous right now with our resources or our time.

But the best part of Christmas can’t be packed away with the decorations. The joy and peace we feel as we celebrate the birth of Jesus can be ours year-round. The needs of the world do not stop when the lights are turned off and the tree is chopped up for mulch. Our neighbors still need our generosity; sacrificial love is not limited to December. The charities focus their fundraising during the Christmas season because they know people are more willing to give during that time, but we should find ways to give every day of the year. We might just find that the joy and peace we feel at Christmas will be present every day if we do.

See, we aren’t joyful because there is a tree in the house or because there are cookies in the tins. Oh, those things make us happy, but they aren’t the source of true joy. Joy comes from dwelling in the presence of God, following His Word, doing His work and living the life He has prepared for us. That life is filled with opportunities to do good things for our neighbors. It might be dark at night, but the Light of Christ continues to shine through us into the world. It might be depressing to know that we have bills to pay, but there’s always enough left to give a cup of water to a thirsty person. We might be tired, and the world might seem boring or routine, but God still rules over it all and He deserves our worship and praise. It is harder to focus on God in our everyday life, but it is more important to do so at those moments than when the whole world is not focused on Him. It is through our daily lives that the world will see God most clearly, because they will see Him through our faith rather than the glitz and glitter of a holiday season.

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January 8, 2025

Lectionary Scriptures for January 12, 2025, Baptism of the Lord: Isaiah 43:1-7; Psalm 29; Romans 6:1-11; Luke 3:15-22

“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned, and flame will not scorch you.” Isaiah 43:2, WEB

I needed a new desk a few years ago but had trouble finding one I liked. I needed a large workspace so that I could spread out all my resources when I was in the middle of a study. I also needed more storage space for my many notebooks filled with years’ worth of research. The space was a little unusual, too, with a window in an awkward place. A regular desk, whether big or small, would never work. We had to think outside the box. When I stopped looking for a standard desk, we found the perfect solution.

We set our minds on one idea, and we refuse to look beyond that for other possibilities. We can be the same way about God. Oswald Chambers once said, “It is perilously possible to make our conceptions of God like molten lead poured into a specifically designed mold, and when it is cold and hard we fling it at the heads of the religious people who don’t agree with us.” God is far more than we can imagine. By His Word, the world exists. By His Word, we have life. His Word gives us all we need to live and to serve Him to His glory. Yet, with our words we still try to make Him fit into a box that suits our needs and desires. The psalmist in this week’s Psalm knows that God is far bigger than human reason and understanding can imagine. He praises God by singing of the awesome power of His Word. We should do the same, never using God’s Word to put down others, but rather as a way to lift them out of their tiny box into a greater understanding of His love.

It is a new year, and we are in a state of mind to make ourselves new. We are thinking about our past mistakes and considering changes we want to make. How can I be healthier? How can I be more responsible with my money? How can I have a better relationship with my spouse, children, family, and friends? We will make some good decisions. We will also make some bad ones. I saw an interview this morning that talked about many of the groups and organizations that are inundating our media with advertisements for the next best solution to our problems. They claim, “If you download our app…” or “If you buy our supplement…” or “If you join our program…” you will make money, lose weight, and enhance your love life. I know I’ve seen too many ads trying to convince me that these products are miraculous. It doesn’t help that the algorithms know what you want to see; they feed on your deepest needs and promise that they will make all things right.

The reality, however, is that none of those apps or drugs or programs are miraculous, and many of them are scams. The advertisers are modern day snake oil salesmen. The person being interviewed told the listeners to think twice before jumping into the products, cautioning us to realize that if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. He warned that it is nearly impossible to get our money back, or to get out of the contract, so we should be careful before we say “Yes.” Sadly, no matter what we do, we are likely to fall back into old habits when the product doesn’t work and never accomplish what we set out to do anyway.

John the Baptist was out there in the wilderness baptizing folk. He was a charismatic leader with many followers. The crowds began to believe that perhaps John was something more than he claimed. Some even wondered if John was the Messiah for whom they were waiting. They willingly went to him for baptism, a cleansing that would make them new and prepare them for the coming of God’s kingdom. They thought that the baptism would make a difference in their lives. It was a chance for a new beginning. John insisted that he was not the Messiah, but that One would come who would baptize with more than water. The true Messiah would baptize with fire and the Holy Spirit.

Yet, many of those followers were not ready for the Messiah. They did not recognize Him. They did not see the kingdom of God when it was right before their noses. Some of them fell for the false Messiahs (like Barabbas) that claimed they had the answer to Israel’s problem with Rome. They even misunderstood the purpose of John’s ministry: to prepare them for the coming of Jesus. They did not repent but continued to do many of the same things that they had been doing before they were baptized. They might have tried to change, but they fell short.

We all fall short.

Jesus appeared before John in the River Jordan and asked to be baptized. In other versions of this story John argued with Jesus saying that he was unworthy to do the baptism. “You should baptize me,” he said. Jesus insisted that John should do it because it would fulfill all righteousness. In Luke’s version, we simply hear that Jesus was baptized with the others. While Jesus was praying, something miraculous happened: the heavens opened up and the Spirit in the form of a dove came upon Jesus. Then the voice of God said, “You are my beloved Son. In you I am well pleased.”

Jesus went on from that moment to do miraculous things and to preach with authority. Was anything changed on that day? Did Jesus’ baptism make anything new? No, Jesus was, is, and will always be the Holy One of God, but it was a beginning. It was the start of His purpose. He had much to do, and this was the first step to the cross. He did not become the Son of God at that moment, but God touched Him with the encouragement to go do all that He was sent into the world to do.

The Baptism of Jesus is always celebrated on the first Sunday after the Epiphany. It is a chance for us to remember our own baptisms, when we were cleansed, made clean, and renew as children of God. Yet, like our new year’s resolution, we fail. We still make mistakes. We still sin. We still seem so far from God. This difference is that when we are baptized, we begin a new thing. We begin a new journey, and it is a journey that lasts a lifetime. We are changed, but we are also being changed every day. Sometimes we manage to overcome our failings. Sometimes we are able to keep our resolutions. Sometimes we are able to stop doing the sins that hurt our neighbor and dishonor our Father in heaven.

We will do our best, at least for a time, to live according to our resolutions. We may even take advantage of some of the products we see advertised. We’ll probably fail, but we can’t let that stop us from trying to work toward better health, financial responsibility, and relationships. We just have to try again.

Through our baptism we are made new, but we are still sinners who continue to need a Savior. We are very human, and we can’t do what we want to do. We know, however, that we are forgiven and that we can make a new start again and again and again because Jesus went to the cross for our sake. His baptism was the first step of a journey, just as our baptism is the first step of a journey. In Him we are made new, and we continue to be made new every day.

The scriptures tell us about the ways God speaks to His people. He spoke out of a burning bush to Moses, but to Elijah His voice was like a whisper. He came to Mary and Joseph in words from an angel. He even spoke to Balaam out of the mouth of a donkey. The psalm for this week describes God’s voice as thunderous and powerful. It is not God who breaks the cedars, but God’s voice. His voice strikes like flashes of lightning. It shakes the desert, twists the oaks and strips the forests bare.

This aren’t sure about this image of God. We prefer God’s still, sweet voice, the quiet calling of a Father to a child. Thunder and lightning bring fear to our hearts. We tremble at the thought of God’s voice shaking the desert, twisting the oaks, and stripping the forests bare. If He can do that to something as strong as a tree or as vast as a desert, what will His voice do to us? Instead of expressing awe, many people are offended by an image of God that might denote an iron fist. We are willing to ascribe to Him the glory we know He deserves, but we’d much rather keep Him confined to a softer image. We like the idea of the shepherd king or the mother hen protecting her chicks. We like the image of a loving father or a brotherly friend. There is little room for strength, power, and wrath in our perception of God.

We struggle with passages like today’s Old Testament lesson from Isaiah. Isaiah spoke about the destruction of others. God’s people would return home, but He gave the people of Egypt, Cush, and Seba as a ransom for Israel. Persia conquered those places, and it was the Persians who allowed the Jews to go home. The wrath was necessary for God’s grace to His people to be complete.

Isaiah spoke to people who were far from home. They were exiles in Babylon, sent there by God so that they would be brought to their knees and remember that He is the LORD their God. They were separated from everything they loved, seemingly abandoned by their God. It was heartbreaking, but necessary.

The text from Isaiah is an oracle of promise for the exiles who have been away from home for so long. It is a promise that they would return soon to Jerusalem. Yet life in exile was not nearly as bad as we would suppose. As a matter of fact, the Jews who were taken to Babylon were often the educated and gifted. They were well respected, given decent jobs and wages. Many had accumulated wealth and property. Some even married. They were in exile for so long that many of the Jews who had been taken captive were dead and it was their children who received this promise. Would they really want to leave the good life they had created to return to a desolate and barren place?

Isaiah reminds those wondering if they should go that the Lord God Almighty loves His people. He is their Creator and Redeemer. They are His chosen people, called by His name and created for His glory. He dwells amongst them, and they are His. It might seem foolish to leave a good life to go back to the unknown, but that unknown is the life to which they have been called and for which they have been created.

This has been an interesting week weather-wise. Many Americans are dealing with extreme winter conditions. It has been very cold, and they’ve had blizzards that have dropped inches of snow. Our own weathermen have warned us that we could face extreme conditions here in Texas. Some reports even claimed we would see several inches of snow. That report has changed, and we are expecting rain all day tomorrow. We are in the midst of a drought, so we are looking forward to some rain. However, after months without significant rainfall, our conditions can be almost as bad as if we were having winter weather. The roads will be slippery because they are covered with auto fluids that have not been washed away by the rain. Sudden downbursts or long periods of heavy rain can cause flash flooding.

We have this phrase that is heard constantly in our area when the rain threatens to become dangerous: turn around, don’t drown. See, there are many dry creek beds around the state of Texas. These are creeks that don’t run with water constantly but get filled with runoff during times of heavy rain. These creeks often cross roadways, but it isn’t worthwhile to build a bridge because the water rarely causes a problem. Sometimes those creeks look mild; people think that they can easily drive through the running water. They don’t realize that it only takes a few inches of rushing water to carry away a car. Too many people die because they don’t turn around.

There are usually barriers that hinder a driver from going into the rushing creek, although there always some people who think they can handle it. They go around the barrier, get into the water and suddenly realize they have no control. It is almost impossible to save yourself at that point. Sadly, some people are found dead in their car miles downstream. Those barriers are there for a reason: it might cause you to drive well out of your way and make you late for your appointment, but turn around, don’t drown.

Unfortunately, these dry creek beds are not easy to predict. It might not even be raining where you are, but as the water gathers in the creek upstream, it races down, catching people off guard. Those dry creek beds can go from dry to overflowing in seconds and you don’t want to get hit with a foot of water rushing at you. It is foolish to try to cross a raging creek, especially when there is a barrier in place for your protection, but sometimes we can’t avoid the danger because we simply don’t know when it will come.

The same is true with other severe weather. We can’t predict a lightning strike or a tornado. We might be able to give warning, but even a large storm like a hurricane can be unpredictable. Wildfires can seem to be under control until the wind turns and then they can suddenly burst to new life. We can be careful, we can prepare, we can even do whatever we can in expectation of the worst, but we can’t know exactly what will happen.

The Bible uses the physical world to help us see and understand God. Many of the stories revolve around water. In the beginning the earth was a formless void and the Spirit of God hovered over the waters. A river watered the Garden of Eden. At God’s command, Noah built an ark to survive the flood. Drought and famine sent the patriarchs on journeys to new places. Jacob sent his wives and all their possessions across the stream and was left alone to wrestle with God. Moses took the Israelites through the Red Sea, and they later crossed the Jordan into the Promised Land. During the Exodus they found water in the most unexpected places. Elijah covered the altar of Baal with water, and yet God still burned it all.

Fire is another subject of so many stories. The altar of Baal was destroyed by fire, as was Sodom and Gomorrah. The bush Moses encountered was on fire but did not burn. God led the people out of Egypt with a pillar of fire. These elements are so often identified with God, perhaps because they are so unpredictable. No human could have made the Red Sea part or burnt the stone altar, but God can. He then uses those same elements to bring faith and hope to His people.

Water and fire. During Israel’s history some of the most important moments were when God led His people through one or the other. Noah was protected through the flood. Lot was saved from the fire at Sodom and Gomorrah. Moses was guided through the waters of the Red Sea. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego lived through the fiery furnace. Water and fire were elements that brought death, but also cleansing. Only by God’s power could His people overcome the destruction of either water or fire. And He always promised to be with His people in the midst of it all.

Just as God was quiet during the exile, He was also silent in the days before the coming of the Messiah. The people knew the prophecies, they knew that God would fulfill His promises to His people, but they did not know what to expect. They thought they understood, and they were watching and waiting for the deliverer. They expected a powerful man, one who would become king and save them from the Romans. When John the Baptist began preaching about the Kingdom of God, it was easy to assume that he was the one for whom they were waiting.

In today’s Gospel lesson, John answered their questions. “I indeed baptize you with water, but he comes who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to loosen. He will baptize you in the Holy Spirit and fire, whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly cleanse his threshing floor, and will gather the wheat into his barn; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” Jesus approached John for baptism. John was just a minor figure in Luke’s version of this story; he does not even talk to Jesus.

We don’t know whether anyone but Jesus heard God’s voice that day or what it sounded like but we know from that God’s voice is powerful. And though we may not hear the audible voice of God, He still speaks to us today. He speaks to us through the scriptures. He speaks to us through those who have shared the Gospel message and raised us in faith. He even speaks to us through people that warn us to be careful about buying the wrong products or going around the barriers meant to keep us safe.

His voice speaks to us in our baptism, bringing us through water and fire, making us one of His own. In baptism, we take on His name and become children of God. There are times when it is difficult to notice God’s presence in this world, particularly in times of pain and confusion. We doubt that we can even hear Him amid the noise of the world. Yet, in faith we can hear God’s voice calling to us, reminding us that He is always near. His voice is heard in the thunder, it rattles the deserts, and it changes us into new creation.

He is the Lord, the one who reigns over the water and the fire, who gives strength to his people; He blesses us with peace. He calls us to worship Him, the only one worthy of being praised. He is bigger than we can imagine; His majesty is sometimes frightening, but we need not fear. God’s voice can level a forest, but He uses His voice to call His people to hope and peace. We are called to a life that glorifies God. The journey might not be easy. We may have to walk through the waters of a flood or face the fire, but God is with us. He called us by name. We can rest assured that God is with us through it all.

We will fail. We will sin. We have been made new, but we are still very imperfect humans. When we are faced by temptation, we usually claim our own strength, “I can avoid this” or “I can make it go away.” Despite God’s saving grace we are still sinners, and we have no power over sin by our own will. But by His grace we can answer every temptation with the reminder, “I am baptized.” The devil has no power over us when we are covered by the grace of God. God was with us through the water and the fire, and He will stay with us as we continue to face the world.

We are sinners, there is no doubt about that, and unfortunately, we all continue to make foolish mistakes. Like those who buy the products thinking they are miraculous solutions for their problems, or those who think they will get through the raging waters of a rising creek, we do what we know we should not do and get caught up in the consequences of our sinfulness. We justify our actions by the mantra that God loves us anyway, and while that is true, we need to know that God is disappointed when we reject the transforming power of His grace.

Paul wrote, “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?” No, God has cleansed us with the water and fire of baptism to be something better, to be like Christ. We will fail, but we should never go about our life purposely acting against the Word of God. We died to sin. We were made new. The old desires no longer have the power to keep us enslaved. We are freed from those sinful desires and made part of the body of Christ, raised to new life in Him.

It is interesting that we celebrate the Baptism of Jesus so close to the New Year. How many of you made resolutions? How many have you already failed? Did you forget to say that daily prayer or read that devotion? Did you skip the gym this morning or eat that extra cookie? Did you turn on that television show even though you promised yourself you would spend more time with the kids? It is only January 8th, so there is plenty of time to work on our resolutions. There is plenty of time to be transformed from what we were into what we can be. By our baptism and the faith we received by grace, we have died to sin so that we will be made alive unto God in Christ Jesus.

The key is to remember that we don't have to go about it alone. We don't have to try to avoid our temptations with our own strength or make things go away by our own willpower. We can say, “I am baptized” and trust that God will be with us through the cleansing that we need to undergo. Whether it comes by water or fire does not matter; we simply rest in the knowledge that God is doing good things in and through us. Let us beware of those who make promises they can’t keep and pay heed to the barriers that block our way to sin because the warnings might be God’s way of stopping us from falling to the temptations that can destroy us. He is there with us, even when we get overwhelmed by the realities of life, but He will continue to work in our lives so that we will be forgiven, healed, cleansed, made whole, and transformed into the people He has created and redeemed us to be. By His promises and in His faithfulness, He will bring us through the waters and fires of life and into His presence for eternity.

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January 9, 2025

“What then? Shall we sin, because we are not under law, but under grace? May it never be! Don’t you know that when you present yourselves as servants and obey someone, you are the servants of whomever you obey; whether of sin to death, or of obedience to righteousness? But thanks be to God, that, whereas you were bondservants of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were delivered. Being made free from sin, you became bondservants of righteousness. I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh, for as you presented your members as servants to uncleanness and to wickedness upon wickedness, even so now present your members as servants to righteousness for sanctification. For when you were servants of sin, you were free from righteousness. What fruit then did you have at that time in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now, being made free from sin and having become servants of God, you have your fruit of sanctification and the result of eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6:15-23, WEB

Every nation has had periods of time when prosperity belongs to all its citizens. Those are times of peace and happiness, when neighbors love one another and treat each other well. Every nation also has periods of time when those who are in control take advantage of people and circumstances for their own benefit. We study history so we can avoid their mistakes. It is hard, even uncomfortable, to learn that our forefathers acted in ways that do not fit into the basic principles of the nation. For many countries, those periods include slavery, a horrific practice by which people in power exploit people who have no power. Slaves were considered little more than property; they were often mistreated and oppressed. People in the United States were certainly guilty of this cruelty, and though it was legal, it was not right. Though it was never right, slavery did not begin in the United States. It has existed in every age and in every place in some way. Even today.

We might not think that slavery is prevalent in the world today, but it is even more common now than it was in the days of slave trade a few hundred years ago. Modern slavery covers all forms of slavery, servitude, human trafficking, and related exploitation, including forced labor, debt bondage, forced child labor, forced marriage, and commercial sexual exploitation. It is a hidden crime, but the best estimates suggest there are 49.6 million people in modern slavery, including people into forced labor for little or no income, those who are criminally exploited, who experience domestic servitude, forced sexual exploitation (including many children), and people who are forced into marriages without their consent. We must know and understand the history of slavery in our nation and around the world, but we also need to remember and help those who are slaves today.

The Romans understood slavery. As a matter of fact, of all the ancient worlds, the Romans held the most slaves. Many slaves were taken as prisoners of war and since the Romans were fighters and occupiers, they had many prisoners from vanquished nations who could serve in their homes, businesses, and even the army. We think of slaves as being uneducated and powerless, but there were many highly trained and intelligent slaves. Some even served in positions of power, like Joseph and Daniel in the Bible.

Slaves were not only prisoners of war. A man, woman or child could be sold into slavery to pay a debt. Any child born into slavery was automatically a slave. For some, slavery meant a better life than they could ever have lived in freedom. Slaves were usually well cared for, often treated as family. Female slaves were often very close to their mistresses, serving as advisors and confidents as well as servants. Most military men were slaves. Treasurers were often slaves. Sometimes slaves served in unpleasant circumstances, such as the mines and in other dangerous jobs. These slaves were often condemned criminals.

Slavery was not a dead-end street for many of the slaves in Rome. A slave could be freed by the mercy of the master. Some slaves were paid a small salary or gifts, so they could buy their way out of their slavery with money they saved. Though they had no rights as citizens, they were acceptable witnesses in court. They were not allowed to enter into public buildings such as the bath house but were not held prisoner. They had the freedom to move about the city, especially the domestic servants who went to the market and did other errands for the house. The Roman economy depended on slavery, but most of the slaves were well treated and many were able to get out and live as a citizen again.

We have a highly emotional response to the idea of slavery because of our history, but Paul wrote his to the Romans to people who understood slavery from a different perspective. There were more slaves in Rome than citizens; many of the Christians who heard this letter were probably slaves. Slaves were lesser people; they were at the bottom of the class structure. Christians were also looked down upon since they did not follow the Roman faith. The slaves were drawn to the Christian message because it was one of hope, one of equality, one of grace even for them. Slaves found comfort in Jesus Christ and believed wholeheartedly in the Way.

In some ancient cultures, a freed slave could choose to stay with a master. The master and slave underwent a ritual to establish the permanent relationship. The slave’s earlobe was nailed to the doorway of the master with an awl, making the statement that the slave chose to stay as part of the household, willingly rather than forcibly serving. In the freedom of choice, the slave became a servant for life, welcomed by the master as part of his household forever.

Since our history includes this horrific reality of slavery in our past, we don’t understand Paul’s identification for Christians as slaves. Though most of us did not experience slavery as it was hundreds of years ago in the United States, or even as it was thousands of years ago in Rome, we are slaves in ways we don’t always realize. We are slaves to our jobs, our schedules, our leisure activities. We are slaves to our habits and our desires. In this day, it seems many of us are slaves to technology, materialism, or addictions. We are slaves to sin, just as those Christians in Rome were slaves.

We, like them, have been set free, however. We no longer need be slave to sin. We have been given a much better choice, to willingly serve the Lord. We are still slaves, but we have been welcomed by a Master that will treat us well. As slaves to sin, we are bound to suffer the consequences of our sin. As slaves to righteousness, we will receive the fruit of His grace. As we live in His household, we grow closer to our Master; by His grace we are transformed and sanctified into the kind of servant He has created, redeemed, and ordained us to be. It is in living this life with God as our Master that we treat our neighbors with love, and our corner of the world will be filled with peace, happiness, and hope.

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January 10, 2025

“Don’t judge, so that you won’t be judged. For with whatever judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with whatever measure you measure, it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but don’t consider the beam that is in your own eye? Or how will you tell your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye,’ and behold, the beam is in your own eye? You hypocrite! First remove the beam out of your own eye, and then you can see clearly to remove the speck out of your brother’s eye.” Matthew 7:1-5, WEB

I confess that I can be judgmental. I grumble at the crazy drivers on the road. I shake my head at those whose children throw a tantrum in the grocery store. I question the shopping choices of people at the cash register. I wonder at clothing choice, whether it is sexually explicit or simply clothing that just does not fit properly. I get angry when people leave their shopping carts in the middle of the parking lot.

I try to help. If I see someone unloading their carts, especially if they have young children or are elderly, I offer to take their cart, so they don’t have to find a cart corral. This helps me, too, because I don’t have to search for a cart when it is busy. Shopping carts have value, but they are also troublesome. The aisles in stores are often just wide enough for two carts, but barely. It is difficult to maneuver them when the store is crowded. The cart corrals get fully, especially when customers are not careful about tucking them inside one another. Many people are lazy and just leave their carts near their parking space, which makes parking more difficult and is dangerous when it is windy. We often see cases on the television court shows about people whose carts get away from them

We’ve all seen people who are too lazy to walk all the way to the corral. They push the cart from far away, from the other side of the lane, with the expectation that it will make it to (or at least near) the corral, but it never works. The carts just become a jumbled mess. Those carts often roll back into the road, making it a hazard to pedestrians and vehicles. Now, I complain about all these people who do all these things with carts, but I confess that I do it too. I have no idea about the motivation of others, but I can’t say I have good reasons, just excuses. A man once called me on my laziness, on a day when I was not feeling very well. I should have done what was right, anyway. Instead, I grumbled that there is never anyone to try to help by taking my cart and abandoned it so I could get home and rest.

I do get angry when I see those loose carts in a parking lot, but then I realize that my anger points to my own failure to be a good customer. I can’t get angry at another for doing the same thing that I do. Even though I am usually good about dealing with my cart, and am often good about helping others, even one offense on my part is too many to judge others. Even one sin makes me a sinner. I might be able to justify my offense, but how do I know that those who do the same things don’t have a similar reason for their offense?

That’s why Jesus warns us about judging others: we fail, too. I don’t only fail in the parking lot, I do (or have done) the very things I judge other people about. I cut off other drivers on the road. My children were never perfect in the stores. I buy things I shouldn’t buy. I wear clothes that are questionable. I do many other things that I should not do. Sadly, I still judge my neighbor about the very sins of which I’m equally guilty.

Jesus doesn’t say we should not make judgment calls about our neighbors, but that we should recognize that when we do we will also be judged in the same manner. When we see a failing in our neighbor, we should consider ourselves, too. Do we do what we see our neighbors doing? Do we think we can do something that our neighbor should not? Do we accept our own failing and receive God s grace for them, but then condemn our neighbors for the same thing? There is a time and a place for calling our neighbor out for what they do wrong, to help them repent and be transformed, but as we do so let us always remember that we have failings, too, and we just might be called out for the very same thing.

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January 13, 2025

“Be merciful to me, God, be merciful to me, for my soul takes refuge in you. Yes, in the shadow of your wings, I will take refuge, until disaster has passed. I cry out to God Most High, to God who accomplishes my requests for me. He will send from heaven, and save me, he rebukes the one who is pursuing me. Selah. God will send out his loving kindness and his truth. My soul is among lions. I lie among those who are set on fire, even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword. Be exalted, God, above the heavens! Let your glory be above all the earth! They have prepared a net for my steps. My soul is bowed down. They dig a pit before me. They fall into the middle of it themselves. Selah. My heart is steadfast, God. My heart is steadfast. I will sing, yes, I will sing praises. Wake up, my glory! Wake up, lute and harp! I will wake up the dawn. I will give thanks to you, Lord, among the peoples. I will sing praises to you among the nations. For your great loving kindness reaches to the heavens, and your truth to the skies. Be exalted, God, above the heavens. Let your glory be over all the earth.” Psalm 57, WEB

Leonardo da Vinci was an incredible man. If he were to write a resume, he could include many skills and areas of knowledge, such as painting, sculpting, architecture, music, mathematics, engineering, invention, anatomy, geology, cartography, botany, and writing. He is probably one of the most famous polymaths, which are people who excel in multiple fields. Leonardo was a Renaissance man, seemingly gifted in everything he did. He wasn’t the only one; there were other great thinkers and incredible people from every age.

Renaissance man is a complimentary term for someone who does it all, but the phrase “Jack of all trades” has taken on a negative connotation. As we understand it, a jack of all trades is a master of none, although the second half of that thought was not added until the late eighteenth century. The term “Jack” was used as a reference to common men in the 16th century, but the phrase used for someone stretching their talents too far was “Johnny do it all.” Interestingly, a literary writer in the sixteenth century once wrote about Shakespeare, “An upstart crow, beautified with our feathers, that supposes he is as well able to bumbast out a blanke verse as the best of you. Beeing an absolute Johannes fac totum (Johnny do it all), is in his owne conceit the onely Shake-scene in a countrey.”

Jack was often added to the name of skilled craftsmen, like lumberjack and steeplejack, not in a negative way. Little could be done in those days that didn’t take a craftsman with ‘jack’ on his skill. Eventually the term “jack of all trades” described someone who could perform well in many jobs. He might be hired on the crew that is building a grand cathedral and used wherever there was a need. The negative connotation came into being in the late eighteenth century when the headmaster of a school wrote about the poems of Dryden, “Your Writings are like a Jack of all Trades Shop, they have Variety, but nothing of value.”

In 1785 the phrase “master of none” was written in a book about druggists; the argument was that they had become more than drug merchants, by expanding their business beyond providing medical help to creating too many potions, including lotion, oils, and paint. Today’s drugstore might just be the perfect example of that; they have a lot of everything, but not much of anything.

We do not use the terms Renaissance man or jack of all trades to describe God, but doesn’t it seem as though He is? Books have been written describing the many characters, attributes, and works of our God. He is Creator, Redeemer, Counselor, Friend, Priest, Lamb, Father, Son, Spirit, Guide, Teacher, Master... We can go on. The gods of the Pagans were focused on one particular work, so they had dozens of gods, each to take care of something unique. There was a god for the sun, the rain, the winter, procreation, war, peace, etc. It must seem like our God is a jack of all trades, especially when many of those who do not believe see Him as failing. After all, if God were truly a master of everything, wouldn’t the world be better? Wouldn’t there be peace? Why is there suffering if God can do anything?

We describe God with many words that have the prefix “omni.” Omni means “all.” God is omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent. This means that God is all knowing, all powerful, and all present or all seeing. How can He be all this and do everything well? He is God. A human being might be a Renaissance man or a jack of all trades, doing what he does well or not so well. But our God is not human. He is. He knows. He is power. He is everywhere. While it might seem to those who do not believe that God is less than “omni,” we know that God is to be exalted because He can and will do all things for our best interests.

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January 14, 2025

“The words of Agur the son of Jakeh; the revelation: the man says to Ithiel, to Ithiel and Ucal: ‘Surely I am the most ignorant man, and don’t have a man’s understanding. I have not learned wisdom, neither do I have the knowledge of the Holy One. Who has ascended up into heaven, and descended? Who has gathered the wind in his fists? Who has bound the waters in his garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is his name, and what is his son’s name, if you know? Every word of God is flawless. He is a shield to those who take refuge in him. Don’t you add to his words, lest he reprove you, and you be found a liar. Two things I have asked of you. Don’t deny me before I die. Remove far from me falsehood and lies. Give me neither poverty nor riches. Feed me with the food that is needful for me, lest I be full, deny you, and say, “Who is Yahweh?” or lest I be poor, and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God.’” Proverbs 30:1-9, WEB

They say that the more you know, the more you realize how little you know. I have noticed this repeatedly as I’ve studied the Bible. I teach an adult forum at my church, and we recently began a study on Proverbs. Proverbs is a fascinating book, written to give us wisdom for living our best life. It is an unusual book of the Bible because it is not a narrative as the Torah, the histories, the prophets, and the Gospels. It isn’t poetry like the Psalms. It isn’t a letter like the New Testament Epistles. It seems to be a book of random lines that have no unity or common purpose. Of course, the key to understanding Proverbs is found in 1:7, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge,” but how does that relate to the approximately 900 proverbs that are found in the 31 chapters with 915 verses? That’s what we hope to learn in the next few months.

As I have been preparing this study, I discovered the name of a relatively unknown figure in the Bible. Proverbs 30 is attributed to a man named Agur. Who is Agur? We don’t know much about him, including when Agur lived. Some suggest that he was probably a contemporary of Solomon, but there is no way for us to know. He doesn’t appear anywhere else in the scriptures to help us place him in history. The name Agur means “gathered” or “collector.” Agur collected several quirky lists that are found in the later verses of Proverbs 30, but our devotion today is about a man who desires wisdom and feels like he’s failed to learn. He says he doesn't know God. It is interesting that his writing is found after twenty-nine chapters of Proverbs. Did he learn and study these and still not know anything? Sometimes that is how I feel.

Agur is the son of Jakeh (another name we don’t know from scripture). Jakeh’s name means “carefully religious.” He may have been someone who seemed to have all the answers about God and life. Agur wrote to Ithiel (and an even less known figure named Ucal), whose name means “God is with me.” Agur may have written to Ithiel in the hope that he would have the answers to his questions. Agur reminds us that human wisdom is faulty.

Agur admitted that he did not know God. He did not know what God knows. He asked several questions in verse 4. Agur’s confidence seems to come from something beyond himself. “If you know,” he says about the questions he asked. Was he suggesting that Ithiel must have the answers? Or maybe his father? Or is he talking to someone with even more wisdom than them? Even those who are carefully religious or identified as being with God are starving for answers. We think we are so wise, but it is true that the more we know, the more we realize that we have so much more to learn.

The questions point to our need to acknowledge the God who is flawless; He is our refuge from our struggles. Did you notice that those questions bring to mind someone we should know? Do Agur’s thoughts sound familiar? Who is the answer to those questions? What is the name of the Son?

We know from the Gospels that Jesus fulfilled all those questions. He controlled the wind and the water. He ascended to and descended from heaven. He controlled the wind and the water. He established all the ends of the earth (Colossians 1:16-17.) This verse is a prophetic thought pointing to Jesus. Only three other texts in the Old Testament predate this prophecy of the coming of “the Son of God” (2 Samuel 7:12-15, Psalm 2, Psalm 89). The Old Testament is filled with prophecies about Jesus, but isn't it amazing that this verse by an unknown prophet pointing toward Jesus the Son is found in the book of Proverbs? This is just one example of something new I learned recently even though I have studied the bible for decades.

Verses 7-9 are a small, seemingly insignificant prayer by this unknown prophet. Agur’s prayer asks for help dealing with his struggles over discerning truth and owning stuff. These are the very things that we struggle with every day, and these are the very struggles that the Proverbs are meant to help us overcome as they set us on the path of wisdom, rather than folly.

Truth matters, whether we hear it or speak it. When you deny the existence of truth, every decision you make will be without a firm foundation. Agur says, “Give me enough.” Jesus called it “my daily bread.” Paul tells us to “be content.” This prayer asks God to give us only what we need today. We are to depend completely on Him through trust and faith. Agur prays this prayer because with too much, we don’t think we need God and with too little, we blame God or do something against God’s Word to relieve our needs. Neither extreme glorifies God; in both cases we rely on our own works to satisfy. Settling for “enough” means we trust God.

Extremes are bad. We can see this in the seven deadly sins. We ask God to give us enough so we don’t sin, so that we can find balance between the extremes. Greed is bad but so is rejecting all material goods because that will make us a burden to others. Sloth is bad but so is overworking. Envy is bad, but so is pusillanimity (which means timidity or gutlessness.) Wrath or anger is bad, but so is complacency (Jesus got righteously angry.) Pride is bad, but so is self-deprecation. Lust is bad, but so is prudishness (after all, sexuality, done rightly, is a gift from God.) Gluttony is bad, but so is deficiency (think about extreme eating disorders.) We are to find balance. The virtues that correspond to the seven deadly sins are generosity (you aren’t generous when you are greedy, but you can’t be generous when you don’t have anything to share), diligence, kindness, meekness and patience, humility, chastity, and temperance. The book of Proverbs helps us find that balance, to help us be content with enough in every area of our lives. Humility allows us to trust God and keeps us on the straight path. Agur seems to realize after learning the wisdom in the twenty-nine chapters before his that the best we can do is to ask God to help us with enough.

Agur sounds self-deprecating when he calls himself “most ignorant” (most versions use the translation “stupid”) in verse 2. The word “stupid” has such a negative connotation in our modern society, but the Hebrew word is strong. Other translations use the words “brutish,” “foolish,” “boorish” or “unreasoning.” The term “simple” or “simpleminded” is found throughout the book of Proverbs, but there is a difference. Agur knows he does not know. The “simple” in Proverbs are those who lack mental acuteness or sense. We don’t like the word “stupid”, but it is defined as lacking intelligence or being prone to foolish behavior. If we do not trust God and learn the wisdom He has given us in Proverbs, we will be prone to foolish behavior. We aren’t just simple, we are stupid/foolish when we ignore what God is teaching us.

Perhaps Agur’s prayer is one that should be on our tongues every morning as we face the day. It should certainly be in our repertoire as we ask the God we fear for wisdom and knowledge. God will always give us enough. It is up to us to learn His wisdom so that we will know for ourselves that He is true to His promises.

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January 15, 2025

Lectionary Scriptures for January 19, 2025, Second Sunday after the Epiphany: Isaiah 62:1-5; Psalm 128; 1 Corinthians 12:1-11; John 2:1-11

“As a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so your God will rejoice over you.” Isaiah 62:5b, WEB

My mom and dad owned a bar in Pennsylvania quite a few years ago. The bar was part of a larger building that included an apartment for them on the second floor and extra rooms they sometimes rented on the third. One night there was an accident, and the bar was badly burned by a fire. There was some smoke and water damage upstairs, but the building was livable. They just needed to restore the bar.

Since they had to do work on the building to repair the damage, they decided to make some changes. The new bar was larger and the doorways to the back rooms were more convenient. The silver lining of the fire was that in the end the bar was much nicer than it had been. It was more welcoming, more convenient, and more fun. Something wonderful came out of disaster.

We have heard much in the lectionary for the past few months from the prophet Isaiah. He was addressing the exiles that had been taken so far from home, sharing God’s promises with them so that they might have hope. They were living in a strange land with strange people far from the land of their ancestors and the throne of their God. Their life in Babylon was not bad; as a matter of fact, they prospered in Babylon, thanks to God’s grace. Yet, there was always an underlying desire to go home. They were disappointed when they finally arrived in Jerusalem because they found that the city was desolate. Those who had been left behind did not have the resources to repair all that had been broken, so it was never restored from the destruction of the battle decades earlier. It must have been disappointing to return to such a sight.

God made this promise: that which is desolate today will be restored tomorrow. The promise offered a new hope, a hope that Jerusalem would once again be the city where God’s people would worship the LORD. Its beauty would shine the glory of God to the nations once again.

As we look at Israel as a type of what was to come, we can see that the Church is much like the people of God in the Old Testament. We were exiles, separated from our God by our unrighteousness. According to His promises, He restores us to a new relationship with Him through the forgiveness that comes from the cross of Jesus. Yet, even when we return home, things are still desolate. Though I am forgiven, I’m still a sinner. Though I am cleansed, I am still imperfect.

We’ve heard it said, “Please be patient, God isn’t finished with me yet!” We, the Church, are home, but there’s still work to do. We are cleaned and changed and restored and made beautiful. We are built into a temple in which God is dwelling and will dwell. He does this because He is delighted in us. He loves us. He wants us to be part of Him and His Kingdom. And the world sees the glory of God because He dwells in our midst.

We inherit that promise of restoration. God baptized us into the body of Christ, which is a perfect machine called the Church. We are all part of that machine, with our own gifts, vocations, and opportunities. We often try to put square pegs into round holes when we really need to help one another discover exactly what God intends for our lives. We embrace willing participants and put them into the positions we need to fill, without considering whether it is what God is calling them to do, and we do nothing to help others discover their place in God’s work.

Too many of us do not know our spiritual gifts, so we try to do things we are not designed to do.

There are tests online that can help you discover your own spiritual gifts. The tests seem ridiculously simple. One test has sixty questions that seem almost redundant. They ask the same thing in three different ways. Those questions help us to look at spiritual gifts from different perspectives. Do we see ourselves as a teacher? Do others see us as a teacher? Is God leading us toward being a teacher? In the end, those sixty questions help us to see whether we have the desire, the gift, and the calling to teach. These questions discover the gifts which can be used in very tangible and practical ways in the ministry that you do in your congregation or in the world. They don’t seem very spiritual, but they are gifts that God has given to be used in, though, and for the church to share God’s grace.

The tests are often designed with statements about actions or experiences to be ranked as consistently true to rarely true. Some people think that because they do not answer consistently true on any of the questions, that they really don’t have any gifts. Some people do not even realize the things they do in the congregation are the evidence of God’s Spirit in their lives. They do tasks that seem so ordinary, so temporal, that they think they have nothing to do with God. Think about the cleaning lady or the administrative assistant: how can scrubbing toilets or printing bulletins glorify God?

It can be unnerving to try to identify our spiritual gifts. After all, it is easy to think that prophecy and preaching, teaching and healing are spiritual gifts, but it is not so easy to say the same thing about service or administration. Too many are afraid that the results will show a gift because they don’t think they could accomplish. They don’t realize the variety of ways that each gift can be used in the church. For example, a person with the pastoral gift is simply someone who has the confidence, capability, and compassion to provide spiritual leadership and direction for individuals and congregations. Though the most obvious way of using that is to be ordained as a pastor, people with the gift of pasturing might also be a study or small group leader, a new member sponsor or a counselor. I’ve even seen the gift manifested in the lives and vocations of parents!

Those who are born by the Spirit in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord are given everything necessary to do God’s work in this world. One has wisdom, another knowledge, yet another faith. Each part of the church fits perfectly. All of us are bound together by the Holy Spirit and it is by His power that we have the ability to share the Gospel and meet the needs of those who are lost and perishing in this world. He calls us to provide His Word that they might hear, to bring healing to their lives, and to share His love with all who cross His path. What are your gifts? How is God calling you to serve Him in this world? At your baptism in Jesus’ name, your Father gave you gifts to use for His glory as you live your life of faith.

What is the work we are called to do? It begins with believing in Him, and in that faith, God will use you to share His message of hope and healing. It takes us time and encouragement from others to find our place in His Kingdom, but as we grow into discipleship, we see God’s hand in our lives.

God’s grace was given for you; God’s lovingkindness was manifest in Jesus Christ for each individual child of God. This gift is truly life changing. And while this gift is personal, it was given to make you part of the body of Christ. He came to make you one with Him. He sent the Holy Spirit so that we would be joined together in faith. We share in His Spirit not for our own sakes but for the sake of others. And we need one another. We can’t do it all alone. Paul wrote, “Now there are diversities of gifts.” He lists nine: wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, working of miracles, prophecy, discernment, tongues and interpretation of tongues. We are each given a portion of these gifts, a part of the whole, in good measure, to be used in acts of mercy and grace. When we combine our gifts with those of our brothers and sisters in Christ, the machine that is the Church will work as a single body. God is glorified in all our actions, no matter how inconsequential and hidden they seem. Our spiritual gifts are often given for very mundane and material purposes.

Are we perfect? Of course not. As individuals we are still sinners. And the Church is made up of a bunch of sinners. We all need Jesus. We all need God. We all need the Holy Spirit, and because the Holy Spirit works in and through us, we can accomplish incredible things.

Our scriptures this week speak of God’s abundant love and how it is manifest in our lives. The Gospel lesson seems so frivolous; the gift seems so outrageous. Why would God care that the host of a wedding ran out of wine, and why would He go to so much trouble to create so much of such a fine wine? The pots were empty, so it would have taken a crew some time to fill them before Jesus could make the transformation. For us, the last drop of wine means it is time for the party to end, time for the guests to go home. But Jesus created hundreds of gallons of wine that would last for days, a wine so fine it should have been served when the guests could still appreciate the taste.

This was a sign of God’s abundant love for His people. He cares about the mundane needs of those who believe in Him. He cares about our financial problems. He cares about our reputation. He cares about what the world thinks of us. We see that also in the Old Testament lesson. The exiles returned to Jerusalem to find that it was desolate, destroyed. But God promised that it would be rebuilt so that the world would see that Israel had not been abandoned. For many people, life’s difficulties are proof that the God of our faith is not real or true. The nations looked at Israel with distain because they thought that they believed in a God who would abandon them. God promised that they would see His abundant love and mercy and grace because He delights in them.

It is not that God wants to give His people with a bunch of material possessions to make us happy or to make us appear prosperous. It is also not that a lack of material possessions is a sign that someone has fallen out of God’s grace, for there is mercy in our suffering and hope in our troubles. Instead, we see in our scriptures that God knows us so deeply and so personally that He loves us with an extravagant generosity that honors the very core of our being. He doesn’t give us what we think we want but fills our hearts with the desire for the good things He knows are right for us. He is so intimately bonded with us that He reaches our spirits with His love and manifests it in the most miraculous and ordinary ways. He does this for the sake of the world, so that they might see His glory and believe.

It is interesting that the Gospel of John uses the setting of a wedding for Jesus’ first sign. God used marriage as a parallel to His relationship with the Church. He marries us, binds us with Him in a way that is eternal, never to be separated. We are His bride and will be forever. Sadly, we try to define our relationship with God in other ways. We call Him friend, teacher, Father. These are words that can and should be used to define our relationship with Him, but they represent relationships that in this life are temporary. Friends can be separated. Students move on and they often surpass their teachers’ knowledge. Even the parent/child relationship is temporary. Eventually every child must leave home to follow their own life. But the relationship as husband and wife has been defined as “until death do us part.” And God’s love for His people is eternal. We will not die because He died for us. We will live because He gives us life.

The psalmist shows us what life is like when our relationships are strong. “For you will eat the labor of your hands. You will be happy, and it will be well with you. Your wife will be as a fruitful vine, in the innermost parts of your house; your children like olive plants, around your table.” This blessed life begins by loving God. “Behold, this is how the man who fears Yahweh is blessed.” Life lived in faith in the kingdom of the world is meant to mirror the life God has planned for us in kingdom of heaven. We are His wife, and we are blessed to be fruitful, to provide God’s grace to the world. We are meant to use the gifts we’ve been given to meet the needs of our neighbors. I might be given one gift, and you another, but together God will use us to bring peace and joy to the world. God’s Spirit works in and through each of us, together as one whole body.

Jesus could have done nothing for the host at the wedding banquet, but instead He was exceedingly generous. We don’t have to do anything, either, but when we’ve been given such a great gift, when we have been forgiven everything and blessed with more than we could possibly expect, how can we not let God’s generosity flow through our own lives? It might seem unimportant. It might not seem like the right time. But we never know how God might use us in a miraculous way, turning water into wine for someone, perhaps even for their honor.

Why does honor matter when there are so many in the world who are suffering? Why did God put so much importance on the honor of the family at the wedding in Cana? To honor someone is to value them and God values His people. He also values His creation, all men including those who reject God’s Word. God gives us gifts because He wants everyone to be restored to Him. He loves the whole world enough to be merciful, to bring the exiles home, to restore their world so that it is wonderful. He values all and wants us to know peace. He has promised to make what is desolate into something beautiful. So, He calls us to use our gifts in a way that will reveal His grace so that all might turn back to Him.

There’s a photo that has made the rounds on social media of a shelf in a liquor store. The sign above the shelf says “Water” but the shelf is filled with bottles of wine. The caption says, “Jesus was here.” We laugh at the joke, but what does this miracle, or sign, have to do with the Kingdom of God? Why would John use this particular event as the first of the seven signs, the miracles with a message, which showed that Jesus was the Messiah? Even if it wasn’t His plan, why is this the way Jesus began His ministry?

The wedding was a symbol of the arrival of the Messianic age, both in Judaism and early Christianity. The Old Testament text shows this promise. Isaiah repeats the promise that they’d heard so many times: though you are Forsaken and Desolate today, your name will be changed to Hepzibah which means My Delight is in Her. The people of Israel had turned from God repeatedly throughout their history; they suffered the consequences, but God always brought them home. He allowed the exile so that His people would turn to Him and Isaiah encouraged God's people with His faithful promise.

See, God delights in His people, and He is faithful, even when we are not. Jerusalem would be vindicated and restored. She would be like a crown of beauty or a royal jewel in the hand of the King. God would rejoice over her. This passage uses the image of marriage: the restoration that God has promised will be like a bridegroom marrying a bride. The relationship between God and His people is like a family: intimate, close, real.

The abundance of wine was also a symbol of the coming of the Messianic age. Many Old Testament texts reveal the promise that the extravagant goodness of God would be revealed. Jeremiah wrote, “They will come and sing in the height of Zion, and will flow to the goodness of Yahweh, to the grain, to the new wine, to the oil, and to the young of the flock and of the herd. Their soul will be as a watered garden. They will not sorrow any more at all.” (Jeremiah 31:12) This imagery continues today in the Eucharistic feast as we celebrate a foretaste of the feast to come.

The Messianic age was promised to be a time when God would display His glory. It seems a little odd, then, that this miracle was kept hidden from those who were there that day. This miracle was very personal. The only ones who knew what happened were Jesus, Mary, the servants who filled the jars with water, and the disciples. Even the steward had no idea; he was surprised when the good wine was held until the guests were already drunk. The bride and groom and their families may have never even known that there was even a problem.

This first big sign seems so insignificant compared to the other signs that John lists in the stories of Jesus. Jesus heals the official’s son, a paralyzed man, and a man born blind. He walks on water and raises Lazarus from the dead. He feeds five thousand people. How is God glorified by a bunch of drunk partiers? We might find we are asking the same question about the work we are called to do in this world. “How will you be glorified by this?” we might ask, “It seems so mundane and unimportant.” But God is merciful in ways that we do not understand. He just asks us to be obedient and to respond to the needs that come our way.

God does not do miraculous things for fame or glory. He does what He does out of love for His people. That’s the kind of life He calls us to live. We don’t have to make a grand gesture or do something that will bring fame or power. We don’t need a billion dollars to do God’s Work. He calls us to serve our neighbors in their very mundane and unimportant needs and He gifts us with everything we need to do it. Jesus’ first miracle was a behind the scenes gift of mercy. The same will be true for the opportunities He sends for us to serve; they will be intimate, personal, real. In the end they might even be hidden; the one served may never know that God has done something incredible. That’s not the point: God is glorified by the very act of obedience; you praise God by doing what He is calling you to do and by trusting that He will provide everything you need.

Israel was exiled because their relationship with God had been broken. God used their time in Babylon to remind them of His grace, to turn them back to Him. The Church has not been much different than the people of God in the Old Testament. We have failed to live up to His expectations. Israel was a type of what was to come. We were like exiles, separated from our God by our sin, but God restored our relationship with Him through Jesus Christ and made us new. Yet, even when we are returned home, things are still desolate. Though I am forgiven, I’m still a sinner. Though I am cleansed, I am still imperfect. God is able to use our failure for His glory. What might have been disastrous turns out to be an incredible blessing.

“Please be patient, God isn’t finished with me yet!” As God’s people the Church, we are home but there’s still work to do. We are cleansed and changed and restored and made beautiful. We are built into a temple in which God is dwelling. He does this because He is delighted in us. He loves us. He wants us to be part of Him and His Kingdom. And the world sees the glory of God because He dwells in our midst.

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January 16, 2025

“For our citizenship is in heaven, from where we also wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will change the body of our humiliation to be conformed to the body of his glory, according to the working by which he is able even to subject all things to himself.” Philippians 3:20-21, WEB

James Avery Jewelry is created in the Texas Hill Country. There is a museum at the main store where you can learn about the process used to make their pieces. The museum includes a film and other videos, as well as displays of the tools and examples of the steps of creation. It is a beautiful facility, and I never leave without buying something, but there was a day when you could actually visit the factory to see the process in person! Unfortunately, I was never able to visit the factory before they closed it to visitors. I would have really enjoyed seeing their studio and workspace.

We visited Austria a few years ago and during our trip we visited the Swarovski Crystal factory. We were looking forward to a tour of the factory and a stop in the store to buy something special. Unfortunately, the factory creates some items that are top secret in nature, like lenses and other things for military use, so we were not able to walk on the factory floor. I was disappointed because I love to learn about artistic processes. We better understand the value of things like crystals and jewelry when we see how they are made.

Instead of a factory tour, we walked through an art gallery with sculptures that were all made from crystal. Some of the art was quite beautiful and some was unusual. There was a very large wall made from glass blocks filled with crystals of every size, shape and color. There were replicas of other pieces of art such as “Melting Clock” by Salvadore Dali that was made in crystal. We saw the smallest jewelry crystal stones that have ever been cut, they had eighteen cuts and were barely the size of a pinhead. Another display showed the largest stone ever cut. It was larger than a basketball with one hundred facets. It was so clear and perfect that it looked like diamond magnified.

After the gallery, we visited the shop for a chance to spend our money. One gentleman was surprised at the cost of these fine items, saying that the diamonds in South Africa were cheaper than “this glass.” Another woman was disappointed because she could not find any larger crystal items, such as bowls or glasses. The shop only offered figurines and jewelry. At that point I didn’t really understand the process because we hadn’t gone through the factory, but later we visited a small village named Rattenberg that was known for centuries for making crystal. It was there that I had an opportunity to learn the process. We were able to watch as a man shared the process of hand blowing glass.

Crystal is made of quartz sand that is ground into a fine powder. Metal, such as lead or silver, is added to the mixture and it is heated to incredibly hot temperatures until it is a molten liquid. The liquid is shaped, cooled, and then cut to create the desired item. It is in the process of creation that the item is made more perfect and valuable than the original stone out of the mine.

Our Father in heaven is just like the crystal maker who grinds, mixes, melts, molds, and cuts the crystal to create a most extraordinary pieces of art. In the process, God removes from our lives the impurities that exist and adds that which makes us shine. He doesn’t create junk. You are becoming an incredible work of art, the best that can be created. Just like Jesus.

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January 17, 2025

“Put on therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, a heart of compassion, kindness, lowliness, humility, and perseverance; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, if any man has a complaint against any; even as Christ forgave you, so you also do. Above all these things, walk in love, which is the bond of perfection. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body, and be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your heart to the Lord. Whatever you do, in word or in deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father, through him.” Colossians 3:12-17, WEB

Claude Monet and August Renoir were friends. They met when they were in their twenties, trying to make their way in the art world. They were both struggling, “starving artists,” in 1869 when they lived in Saint-Michel, a hamlet near Bougival, west of Paris. Monet had recently had work rejected and Renoir was living with his parents. They were living “hand to mouth existence.” Monet would paint until he ran out of paint, then sketch until he could save enough money to buy more paint. They painted together during that summer, often side by side, painting the same scenes from their own unique perspective.

Monet and Renoir painted in the Impressionist style that had been taking root in France during the 1860’s. The work they did that summer developing styles of capturing light on water influenced the Impressionist movement. They painted “en plein air” which means they painted outdoors, studying the world they saw with paint. They had different techniques, so their paintings were different even though they were looking at the same subject. Both have paintings of a place called La Grenouillère or The Frog Pond, which was a popular meeting place on the Seine river near Bougival, where people met to swim, dance, and drink. The owner of the bar had mercy on the young artists and often purchased their work with food.

Monet and Renoir encouraged one another. It is impossible to know which one influenced the other more. En plein air is an artistic technique in which the artist quickly records what they see in front of them, often painting the same scene repeatedly to catch the light as it changes throughout the day. Their goal was to portray the transitory They were both learning how to make the water shimmer in their paintings, each using similar but different paint and strokes. It is obvious when you look at their paintings from the summer of 1869, that they were painting side by side especially Claude Monet’s “Bain à la Grenouillère” and August Renoir’s “La Grenouillère.”

Just as Monet and Renoir had so much in common but were unique individuals with unique perspectives and techniques who influenced their world, so are Christians. We have so much in common, most especially faith in Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. But each of us is unique. We have special gifts. We have different points of view. We have our own way of accomplishing the work God is calling us to do. We are called to walk together, to encourage one another, to teach each other what we have learned so that together we can influence the world in which we live. I would not be the Christian I am without the people who walked with me, not only the older Christians who shared their faith, but also the Christians who are journeying by my side. I can imagine that the artists had moments when they disagreed, but I can also imagine one saying to another, “What if you used this color?” I can see them pointing out details the other might miss.

We are called to live the life of Christ in every circumstance we face. We fail, but we are forgiven. As we are journeying in this world beside our brothers and sisters in Christ, let us always remember that we are unique. We are transformed by Christ, but we were also created unique and good. We have the ability to rise against our struggles, against the pettiness of this world, to put others first and take into consideration their needs. As a child of God, we put on a heart of compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness, longsuffering, forbearing one another and forgiving one another. He has done this for us, so that we might do good things for others, helping them be the best they can be.

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January 20, 2025

“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created in the heavens and on the earth, visible things and invisible things, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things are held together. He is the head of the body, the assembly, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things he might have the preeminence. For all the fullness was pleased to dwell in him, and through him to reconcile all things to himself by him, whether things on the earth or things in the heavens, having made peace through the blood of his cross.” Colossians 1:15-20, WEB

We have each been uniquely and wonderfully made; we all have something unique that makes us different than everyone else in the world. We are all aware that no two people have the same fingerprints. What we don’t realize is that there are other parts of our body that are unique to each person and can be sued as identifiers. The ridges, bumps, and shape of the outer ear is as reliable as fingerprints or DNA to identify a person. Lips have unique patterns that can be used as evidence in court. The color and pattern of the iris is different in every individual. Each person’s heartbeat is unique. Our hair has unique proteins. Even the way a person types is unique to them.

Identical twins are nearly identical, but even then there are certain traits that develop that make them separate from the other. It is often very hard to tell the difference between them, something that twins often use to play practical jokes or get away with mischief, but a mother learns how to distinguish between her children. The differences are often insignificant and unnoticeable to most people, but they are still individuals, uniquely and wonderfully made to be their own person apart from any others.

We recognize people by their unique characteristics. When searching for someone in a crowd, we look for the thing that makes them different. “Have you seen a person with...” and describe something about their physical appearance that might make them stand out. Speech patterns and language usage can also make us unique. A mother recognizes the cries or laughter of her child from across a playground. We usually can identify a caller on the telephone if they are a close family member or friend just by their voice.

It isn’t always easy to recognize the caller. On an episode of the show “Seinfeld,” Elaine knew a couple, a man and a woman whose voices were very similar. She often mistook the man for the woman when calling to chat. This led to a humorous situation when she said something to the husband that he should not have heard, causing relationship problems for the couple. I have had friends that liked to call and say, “Do you know who this is?” This is not as much of a problem anymore because we have caller ID, but it did cause some confusion at times. I didn’t always recognize the voices of those to whom I rarely spoke on the phone. Sometimes it took several sentences (with context clues!) to figure it out. It was a game I really did not like to play because it is embarrassing to misidentify someone when they think you should know them.

Physical attributes are our normal way of identifying a person. Unfortunately, it is impossible for us to identify Jesus in this way. The scriptures are silent about his appearance except for a few hints in Old Testament prophecy. We have no physical evidence from that period of time, especially since graven images were against the Law of Moses. Artists have long tried to capture Him in paint or sculpture, but each image is different. We see Jesus from our own life perspective, from our own biases and culture. This can cause discord among people who believe that Jesus must look like they want Him to look, who argue that any artistic representation that is different than their expectation is either wrong or even heretical. The lack of any true description of Jesus was intentional, however, because God knew that we we must see beyond the physical characteristics to know who Jesus really is.

There are times in the Bible when it seems as though people have seen God, but John tells us in his gospel that no one has ever seen God because God is Spirit, so we are naturally limited in our perception of Him. However, the Bible also tells us that in Christ Jesus we can see the fullness of God. During His ministry, people began to identify Him in many ways. Some said he was John the Baptist, others said Elijah, and still others said he was Jeremiah or one of the prophets. Some people thought He was a teacher, others a priest and others thought He was a troublemaker. One day Jesus asked Simon Peter, “But what about you? Who you say I am?” Peter confessed, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

Jesus asks us the same thing today. We cannot identify Jesus by His looks, but we can identify Him. Who is Jesus to you? Is He a prophet or a teacher as many claim? Or is He the Christ, who was before all creation and through whom all things came to be? We can identify Jesus by His Word. He is the image of the invisible God. Peter’s confession that Jesus is the Christ did not come from his own power or understanding, but by the power of God. Jesus asks us the same question, “Who do you say that I am?” We can’t answer the question any better than Peter; we need God’s Spirit to speak the words of truth, but by His power we can answer the truth that He is the Christ, the Son of the living God because we have seen Him as He has revealed Himself to us.

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January 21, 2025

“Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.” Romans 8:26-28, WEB

This snippet appeared in an issue of “Reader’s Digest Magazine”: “Jerry Parr, a Secret Service agent who helped save President Ronald Reagan’s life during a 1981 assassination attempt, was inspired to join the Secret Service after seeing the movie ‘Code of the Secret Service.’ The film’s star? Ronald Reagan.” There us a thread of God’s grace intricately woven throughout our lives, often in ways we do not realize until long after they happen. Sometimes we never even see them. That thread for Ronald Reagan may have been lifesaving.

I read Philip Yancey’s book “Prayer: Does It Make Any Difference?” a few years ago. Philip included sidebars of stories and testimonies throughout the book about prayer in people’s lives. Some of the people are celebrities, but many are people that Philip met along his journey of faith. He lists only the person’s first name, so you don’t know which is which or who is who. I was reading one of the sidebars, a testimony from a man named John. He began a homeless ministry, a coffeehouse, in a big city which led to the organization of Sunday morning worship for those who are involved in the ministry. As I read this story, and the things John learned about prayer from his work with the homeless, I realized I was reading the words of my cousin John. It was his story. I knew it was his story because I had visited his ministry and attended worship and heard him preach one Sunday morning. may not have even realized it if I had not visited that ministry and attended that Sunday morning worship. I was able to appreciate his thoughts on prayer because I had seen his experience with my own eyes.

We often say it is a small world; I’m sure everyone has one of those stories. We were living in England, attending the chapel on the Air Force Base where my husband was stationed. We usually went out to breakfast after the service with others with whom we worshiped. One Sunday the breakfast club was very small, just one friend, my kids and myself. Our friend was telling us about an upcoming trip. She was headed to the area of Pennsylvania where we grew up to do a little family research. She knew her ancestors came from there and she wanted to go see cemeteries to make heritage connections. Intrigued, I asked what name she was following. She said, “Hoppes.” Now, understand, we knew each other by name, but never really got to know last names. I answered, “Carolyn, we are from the Hoppes family.” As it turned out, she is from a group of the Hoppes family that moved to Indiana a long time ago, but we have a common relative from the 18th century.

Years later, we were attending a church in Little Rock and one Sunday a young woman approached me. “Are you Peggy?” I answered yes. She said, “My mom is Carolyn.” She knew from her mom that we attended a church in that city, but did not know which one. It was by accident or “Godincidence” that she walked into ours. Our connection so many years before gave the young woman a connection in a strange city during a time of transition in her life.

Romans 8:28 is one of my favorite texts because it reminds me how much God is in control of the world in which we live. His grace is woven so intricately throughout our lives that we may do something or meet someone today that will have an impact in a day, a year, or even decades later. In some cases, the impact is seemingly insignificant, but at other times it might just be lifesaving. Sometimes we do not even know the impact those experiences have on others or ourselves, yet sometimes God gives us a glimpse so that we know that He will make everything work out for the good of those who love Him.

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January 22, 2025

Lectionary Scriptures for January 26, 2025, Third Sunday after the Epiphany: Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10; Psalm 19; 1 Corinthians 12:12-31a; Luke 4:14-30

“Then he said to them, ‘Go your way. Eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to him for whom nothing is prepared, for today is holy to our Lord. Don’t be grieved, for the joy of Yahweh is your strength.’” Nehemiah 8:9-10, WEB

We have had some interesting weather this week. We were lucky because the worst of the storm moved east, although that meant others are dealing with what we might have had. We watched the news for days, including the worst day, to make sure that we were ready, that we would remain safe. There’s always some reporter that is out in the weather telling us to stay home. We can’t help but wonder why they tried to make it into work. Why did they risk their lives for the sake of a job? Do they think they are better than everyone else, or more important? Do they think that they are more vital to the city? The truth is that many people stay at a hotel near the station so that they don’t have to drive in the bad weather. While it is still dangerous, because even walking means the possibility of a fall, the television station recognizes the need to have reporters on duty during an emergency and does what is necessary to keep the workers safe and nearby.

Our scriptures this week describe ways that God makes Himself known to His people. He could manifest in a burning bush like He did for Moses or speak in a still small whisper as He did with Elijah, but miraculous signs and unexplainable phenomenon often makes it difficult to really know God’s will and understand His purpose for our lives. So, God also makes Himself known to us in very real and tangible ways. For the Israelites, He gave the Law. Their knowledge of the law was restored as they heard it read by Ezra after the temple was restored to its former beauty.

For the people in our Gospel lesson, God’s Word was a regular part of their lives. They went to the synagogue to hear the Torah and the Prophets read and explained by those who had knowledge and understanding. God revealed Himself in those words by those people. We see this in today’s Gospel lesson as Jesus read and explained the text from Isaiah. Not only was God manifest in the reading, but we learn from this text and Jesus’ explanation that He is the manifestation of God. God also reveals Himself through the Holy Spirit and the gifts He gives to His people. By His power, we become the people who share the Word so that others will see God and believe. God manifests His love for the world through the Body of Christ, the Church, the fellowship of all believers: you and me.

Reporters are not more important than the rest of us; they are using their gifts at a vital time to keep others safe. We may feel useless while we are stuck in our homes, but the day will come when everything will be back to normal, and we can do what we are meant to do to help others. I wonder if those reporters ever wish they were able to stay home, warm and dry, like the rest of us.

There are times when it seems like we are the only ones working in the church, and times when there seems to be nothing of importance for us to do. However, God has brought us together by the power of the Holy Spirit to manifest His love in the world through the Body of Christ, the Church: you and me. We are each important, willed and purposed to glorify God. We are part of one body that is called and gathered to do God’s work in the world. Our gifts are not for our own benefit, but for the whole community, giving for us to love and serve one another and the Lord To-Day.

The lectionary scriptures from the past few months have focused on the people of the exile and the promises of God. Over and over again we heard that God would be with His people, that God would restore His people, that God would restore Jerusalem so that it would be a shining jewel in the world. Now we move from the prophecies to the history of God’s people after the exile, after those promises of God were fulfilled. Our Old Testament passage begins immediately following the rebuilding effort.

The Israelites had been in exile in Babylon, because God used foreign powers to discipline His disobedient children. The books of Ezra and Nehemiah tell the story of their return to Jerusalem. Jerusalem had been destroyed, walls as torn apart as the hearts of the people. In exile they were far from God, though the separation had happened much earlier. They did not know the law and they did not live according to the word of God. They had forgotten God’s word because they had not kept it close to their heart.

So, once the temple was rebuilt and the people resettled as God fulfilled His promises, Ezra brought the people together to hear the law. They filled the square and stood while they listened, for hours as the words in the book were read. Beginning early in the morning until midday, Ezra read while the Levites translated and interpreted the Word for the people. They were cut to the heart as it was read, they mourned about how they had been living.

The reading of the Law cuts to our hearts because through it we see that we are far from God. Nehemiah counsels the people not to mourn or weep, but to rejoice because God’s Word is filled with grace. God does not seek to punish us but wants to guide and discipline us so that we will be disciples, ready to do His work in the world. He cuts to our heart not to break it but to grasp it in His hand and make it His own. We may not like to discipline our children, but we know it is for their own good. They are at first sad to be scolded but soon realize that their actions are hurtful to others, and our words of love send them off rejoicing. The same is true with us. We might be sad when we realize what we have done wrong, but we can go forth in the knowledge that God is faithful to His promises and His promises are filled with grace.

We often get it backwards. We hear the promises of God but think that we have to get things right with our lives before He can fulfill those promises. Too many people wait to go to church to hear about God’s forgiveness until they feel worthy. They refuse to receive God’s grace because they think they have to earn it. So, they try to obey the law, making it a burden. They believe that once they get it all right, then God can fulfill His promises.

Yet, in this story we see that God did not wait until the people were worthy of His Word; He fulfilled His promises of redemption and restoration before they repented. He answered their mourning with His grace. “Do not cry over the past. You are forgiven and you are mine. Rejoice!” That is what He does for us. He calls us into His heart through baptism and offers the forgiveness that has been bought with the blood of His Son. We spend our lives listening to His Word, learning and growing in His grace. Sometimes we want to mourn as we realize the things we have done wrong. But God says “Rejoice” because the promises have been fulfilled. For the joy of the LORD is our strength.

It is impossible for me to look at any aspect of creation and not see the hand of God. I am amazed by the perfect beauty of a rose. I am awed by the power of a thunderstorm. I am thrilled every time I see a rainbow or a sunrise. Even when I see the more repugnant of God’s creation, like buzzards, I can see God’s hand in the reason and purpose for their existence. The creation sings of God’s majesty and glory.

This is particularly true when we look into the heavens. I don’t know whose vision is better: those of us who live in this modern age with our knowledge of the vastness of the universe, or those who lived before the telescope. We can see stars that are millions of lightyears away, but they could only imagine what was happening on the sphere above the earth. They saw the constancy of the stars, but also the mysteries. The comets and the planets that move visibly to the human eye acted as signs or omens. We may think they were merely superstitious, but it was their way of explaining what they could not explain. I suppose that’s why some would say it is better to live today. We can see what is happening, we know when the comets will come, we see the heavens beyond superstition. We have science to answer our questions without leaving us to our imaginations to understand what is beyond our understanding. Yet, our scientific minds have lost a sense of mystery, and perhaps that sense of awe, because we know that a comet is only a comet and not a sign of impending joy or doom.

God is manifest through His creation. The heavens and earth reveal His glory, but the stars and plants and animals cannot speak. The creation praises God, but we cannot learn of God’s will through their speech. We can see God’s magnificence in creation but cannot know His mind because we need something more. We need a voice to tell us how to live in a relationship with our Creator. The trees bud and the flower blossoms at the right time of year, but they do not have a spirit that can choose to please the Father. Such a gift has been given only to the human race. It is only to men and women that God has given the chance to know Him and choose to follow or reject His will.

Our psalm speaks from two different perspectives: the awesome praise of the creation that cannot willingly obey the Lord and the words that make it possible for us to follow Him. The second half of this psalm talks of God’s Law, the Word which is not spoken by the creation but only by the Creator. It is perfect, it is right, and it is true. We can certainly glorify God with praise like the rest of creation, but we have been given something greater. We have been given the opportunity to live a life that glorifies God by our actions and our words. Sadly, we are imperfect; we fail. We do not follow God’s Law perfectly, so we turn to God for help. It is by God’s word that we can approach the throne of grace with the request found in verse 14, “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, Yahweh, my rock, and my redeemer.”

Everything old is new again. I was in a store the other day and saw a Strawberry Shortcake t-shirt. Strawberry Shortcake was popular when I was a teenager. I’ve seen multiple food items in the grocery store that remind me of my childhood. It seems like many of the new movies, television shows, and music are remakes of old favorites. There is a rerelease that we hear on the radio of Phil Collins’ “In the Air Tonight.” The voice sounds like Phil Collins, but the background music is different. We aren’t sure we like it. Unfortunately, remakes are rarely better than the original. They want to make it unique, but we like the old way better, mostly because we have expectations. We reject it because it isn’t like we remember.

There was a television show a few years ago about a company trying to put together a production of the musical “Grease” for live performances on Broadway. They wanted to find the new Danny and Sandy. Most of us are familiar with the image of John Travolta playing the rough street punk Danny and Olivia Newton John playing the Sandy. We can’t imagine Sandy being anything other than a pretty girl from Australia and Danny being that charming rough guy with the amazing eyes and arrogant swagger. No one else would be right for the part. Yet, others have played the roles live on stage, people with different personalities and images.

The show producers did an open casting call in several cities around the country, hoping to find someone who could sing, dance and portray the characters as the writer meant them to be portrayed. It was rather strange to watch some of the actors and actresses come before the panel of judges, because they did not fit into our image of the characters. It was a reality show, so they allowed people who were so unlike what we expect to get through the first round of judging for ratings. The judges admitted also that they didn’t want to be trapped by one particular image; they wanted the right person for the job.

There were a few, however, that were very obviously wrong for the position because they would have been perfect for another character in the show. One gentleman didn’t even realize that the show was strictly for the two characters. He came dressed like the coach and insisted he’d do well in the part. There was another woman who was very old. There was no way she could pass for a sixteen-year-old high school girl. Some of the contestants would have been fantastic as other members of the T-birds or the Pink Ladies, but they would not have passed for Danny or Sandy. The television show is not about producing the entire show, it is only about casting the two rolls, so many of those other rolls had already been filled.

The thing that became obvious, however, is that the musical is nothing without all those other characters. Rizzo and Kenickie are as important as Danny and Sandy. Some of the other characters would be harder to cast because they have such unusual personality quirks, but all the characters are necessary to the storyline, necessary to the final product. You can’t have “Grease” with only two stars. Even the Teen Angel, who appears for only one scene, is vital to the plot.

The passage from Corinthians talks about the different members of the body of Christ. Some seem more important than others, purposed for greatness and vital to the mission of the Church. Yet the others that seem unimportant are also part of God’s plan. Without them the Church would not be whole.

I have become far more confident in my faith, more open about sharing the Gospel and teaching God’s Word, but it took years of work and practice to do so. I once had a conversation with a woman who had heard me share my thoughts on the scriptures. I had spoken about my fear of being in front of the group, how my knees shook, heart pumped, hands sweated. She wasn’t sure if I was telling the truth because I seemed so calm. I was telling the truth; I was really nervous, but I was blessed to be able to give the message, so I willingly faced my fear. She encouraged me and told me that my willingness was a blessing to her. She wanted me to know the impact I’d had. Others have done the same for me, and because of their willingness to be encouragers, I grew in my ability to do what God had called me to do.

When she told me she would never have had the courage to do what I did, I answered that she had other gifts, like the gift of encouragement. I reminded her that people like me who get in front of the crowds to speak need people like her to encourage us to do so. She thought she was unimportant, but her ministry to me in that conversation was greater than anything I might have said in my speech. For it is the encouragement of the little toes that keep our mouths speaking.

Shakespeare wrote, “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players...” I am not sure that this is true, but from the stage we are reminded that the troop needs many different kinds of players to make the whole. So does the Church. We need people with a variety of gifts to be able to do the work that God has called us to do. We need stars and we need extras. We need bit parts, and we need understudies. We also need directors, producers, backstage crew, and even the audience. Everyone is part of the whole and without every part, we cannot function.

Today’s Gospel lesson shows us the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. He had just returned to the world after being in the wilderness for forty days. He had been tempted by the devil and did not fall because He held tightly to the Word of God. He refused to be led astray by the desires of the flesh. Jesus was then prepared to begin His ministry. Many would seek Jesus for the wrong reasons and try to use Him to fulfill their own agendas, but He was ready to stand firm, even though He would face a world that would not understand His purpose or want what He had to give. They were looking for the fulfillment of certain promises and they would do what they could to ensure that they received those blessings, missing out on the real message God was sending to them in and through Jesus Christ. They thought they could make God fulfill His promises according to their expectations.

The passage begins on a high note with Jesus gaining fame based on what He was saying and doing. He was a charismatic figure in the country; He returned home after His time in the wilderness with something new, a spirit about Him. It was the Spirit of God. He’d been anointed at His baptism, and He grew in power as He faced the trials of temptation. He returned new and renewed, ready to preach and teach according to God’s Word.

We often think of Jesus hanging out on hillsides, drawing people into His presence with His words and His actions, but in this passage from Luke we see that He did not ignore or reject the established meetings of the Jews. He wasn’t worshipping God in the meadows or forests, but was worshipping God in the company of other believers. He was welcomed in this forum, welcomed not only to visit but to be a part of the conversation. This was probably not the Jewish parallel of the Sunday morning worship, but more likely compared to an adult forum or Bible study class. The people gathered to hear the Word and discuss it. Visitors who could read were given the chance to read, and preachers were given the opportunity to speak.

Jesus had a reputation by the time He returned to Nazareth. He had some fame and the word of His teaching was spreading all over the region. By the time He entered the synagogue in Nazareth, most of the people in that town had heard some story about Jesus. There were probably some expectations, especially since Jesus was a local boy. If Jesus could do and say things with such amazing power and Spirit, then He would do even more in His home.

What were they expecting? We will know better when we hear their response in next week. What we do discover in this week’s lesson is Jesus’ purpose. He has come to set people free, to bring healing and wholeness to their lives. He has come “to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.” Now is the time. Today is the day.

Jesus said that He came to preach good tidings to the poor. He came to bring sight to the blind. He came to heal the wounds of the people. Since Nazareth was among the lowest of all cities in Israel, this must have been good news. Perhaps they would finally be filled, satisfied and recognized. Perhaps they would finally be accepted as a place of God’s blessings as He fills their stomachs, satisfies their needs and heals their hurts. Perhaps Nazareth would be the shining light, the place where God reveals His glory to the world.

There in their synagogue they were hearing the fulfillment of scriptures. Perhaps To-Day would be the day their desires would be fulfilled.

God’s Word has a way of cutting to our hearts, bringing out emotions that we may not even know are buried there. God’s Word convicts us. He causes us to see into the very depths of our souls. When we hear His Word with believing hearts, we realize how deeply we have grieved our Lord by our rebellion. We grieve with Him, knowing that there is no one but ourselves to blame for suffering the consequences of our sin. God’s Word of Law helps us realize that we are nothing, that we have nothing without Him. Then God’s Word of grace calls us to celebrate as we are joined in faith to His body and gifted to continue His work in the world.

God had a plan, a plan to restore His people and to redeem them. When the Israelites returned to Jerusalem, God helped them restore the city and the temple to its former glory. Then He called them together to hear His Word. Though the hearing caused them to mourn, they were reminded that it was a day to rejoice. The salvation of God came to the people, they were set free to live and love and share everything they have with the world.

The good news is that we are saved from ourselves. God has given us the faith to believe that Jesus is the fulfillment of all His promises. He was the Messiah for whom they waited even if they did not believe. Nothing He did would have changed that because they did not have faith. They saw the authority of His words and the miraculous actions, but the people of Nazareth were not quite so ready to hear God’s Word.

These scriptures call us to be like the returning exiles rather than the Nazarenes. We can become part of what He is doing in this world because of the faith He has given us. He has been revealed in the scriptures and in His Son, and now He is revealed through us, ordinary people in an ordinary world speaking the most extraordinary message ever given. We might mourn our failure, but the promise is as true for us as it was for all those in the past, transforming our grief into joy.

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January 23, 2025

“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravening wolves. By their fruits you will know them. Do you gather grapes from thorns or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree produces good fruit, but the corrupt tree produces evil fruit. A good tree can’t produce evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree produce good fruit. Every tree that doesn’t grow good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them. Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will tell me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name, in your name cast out demons, and in your name do many mighty works?’ Then I will tell them, “I never knew you. Depart from me, you who work iniquity.” Matthew 7:15-23, WEB

We’ve all heard the joke: A person says something, and the friend asks, “Where did you hear that?” The person answers, “On the Internet.” “And you believed it?” the friend asks. “Of course,” the person answers, “You can’t put anything on the Internet that isn’t true.” “Where did you hear that?” the friend asks. The person answers, “On the Internet.” We laugh, but we know that this conversation has happened. We do research and we believe what is said. We check product reviews and we believe what we read. We see a heartbreaking story on our social media and immediately share it, because it must certainly be true.

A recent scam that has caught too many of my friends are sob stories about lost and badly beaten children or animals. “Please share,” the post pleads, so that we will find the parents or owners and save these poor creatures. Unfortunately, these posts are a way for scammers to get clicks. They steal images from other sources, post them in groups as bait and switch. Once the post is shared enough times, the original poster edits the post to send future viewers to other sites often with viruses or dangerous links, who are now at risk for identity theft and hacking. Some people fall for the new post and get taken, with the scammer convincing them to donate to a fund or buy a product. I checked the image through google lens on a recent post and discovered that the same child was found in several places in California and Virginia, probably more. One of the indirect problems with these posts is that the scam makes people apathetic about real missing and beaten children and animals and tie up local law enforcement resources.

We know that not everything on the Internet is completely truthful, although schemers have always found a way to try to fool us. I have been targeted (as I’m sure everyone has) by the phone callers trying to convince me that I owed the IRS a lot of money. One woman decided to play along with the scam, recording the conversation. The caller became angry and belligerent, insisting that the sheriff would be at her door if she did not give her a credit card number to pay the outstanding tax bill. I didn’t answer the call but heard similar threats on the voice mail they left behind. I’ve received emails from “my pastor” who was desperate for a gift card to give to a lady at the nursing home. It was an emergency. I’ve been approached by scammers in grocery store parking lots.

I didn’t worry about the tax scheme because I have dealt with IRS issues in the past. I know the process, and it doesn’t begin with a threatening phone call. As a matter of fact, in response to this scam the IRS offers public service announcements every year reminding the people that they will never initiate a phone conversation. They insist that you should never give any information unless you have phoned the IRS at a number you have looked up yourself. It doesn’t matter how official the call sounds or an email looks, scammers will take advantage of anyone who can be manipulated with half-truths and twisted facts.

Sadly, the twists are not limited to secular or earthly things. There are many, too many, who have twisted God’s Word in a way that confuses God’s people and sets them on the wrong path. Satan is real and he is constantly trying to lead people away from God. He has copies of everything in God’s kingdom: a trinity, a church, prophets, ministers and even a gospel. However, everything that belongs to him is false, a twist of the truth. He uses God’s holy word to confuse his victims, in the hope that the listener will say, “There is some truth to that...” He tried that with Jesus in the wilderness during the temptation. He quoted scripture to tempt Jesus into making bread, calling on the angels for aid, and ruling over the whole world. Yet, Jesus knew that Satan was misusing the Word. He could make bread, but it was not God’s Will. He could have jumped from the top of the temple and the angels would have saved Him, but it was not time or the way for the Christ to be glorified. He knew that He would rule the whole world, but He would do it by being in submission to His Father, not the devil.

Unfortunately, we are not Jesus; we hear things taught that sound pretty good, so we accept it. A teacher, preacher or prophet quotes scripture, so we think he or she is a servant of God. Unfortunately, too many are abusing God’s word and teaching a false gospel. They are sharing a gospel of self, one in which the believer seeks not God’s Kingdom but what God can do to make their kingdoms what they want them to be. Jesus is taught, but as one who embraces our sinfulness, not as Savior of the world. These teachers and their followers have been deceived into believing a false gospel, not in Jesus Christ as Lord.

Satan does not like that we believe in Jesus Christ and will do whatever he can to turn us away. He is sly, knows the scriptures better than we do, and can twist them oh so slightly so as to make his lies appear true. He has gotten a foothold into some churches, leading the sheep down a path of destruction rather than salvation.

Let us rejoice in the saving grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and His care of His people but let us also remember that Satan is very real and is roaming this world in search of people who can be fooled down a path that leads away from God’s promise for forgiveness and transformation. Jesus does embrace us as we are but calls us to trust in His Word, to be changed and made new by His grace. He calls us to “Go and sin no more.” We are not alone in our battle against the twisting of truth from the devil and the world, for Jesus walks with us. By His Holy Spirit we produce the fruit of faith, which is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Be wary of those who bear any other fruit, for he or she might be a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

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January 24, 2025

“The whole earth was of one language and of one speech. As they traveled east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they lived there. They said to one another, ‘Come, let’s make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.’ They had brick for stone, and they used tar for mortar. They said, ‘Come, let’s build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top reaches to the sky, and let’s make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad on the surface of the whole earth.’ Yahweh came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men built. Yahweh said, ‘Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is what they begin to do. Now nothing will be withheld from them, which they intend to do. Come, let’s go down, and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.’ So Yahweh scattered them abroad from there on the surface of all the earth. They stopped building the city. Therefore its name was called Babel, because there Yahweh confused the language of all the earth. From there, Yahweh scattered them abroad on the surface of all the earth.” Genesis 11:1-9, WEB

I took several years of French classes in High School. My knowledge of the language is very limited. I did not learn conversational French, and I lost what little I knew from lack of use. On a trip to France when we lived in England, I tried to use the few phrases I could remember. It was in a Disney Store in a mall, and the young man behind the counter knew I was not French. He responded to my simple hello with an endless monologue. I had to say, “Stop, I don’t speak French!” He laughed and said, “I know, I was having fun with you,” in perfect English. We laughed and he asked me if he could stow away in my suitcase since he always wanted to go to America.

Throughout the world there are thousands of different languages. Even if you travel across the United States, you will find regional dialects and word usage that is difficult for someone from another place to understand. The biggest problem in political, theological, and social justice debates is the misunderstanding between people because they define the key words differently. Watch any conversation in the comment section of a Facebook post and you’ll see how quickly it goes awry because of semantics. It is even more difficult when we try to understand something that has been translated from another language. In the language of the Eskimos, there are many different words that are translated as the English word “snow.” It is difficult to fully understand what a person is saying without the specific word in Eskimo. The same is true about Greek. There are several words in Greek that can be translated into the English word “love.” A misunderstanding of the word “love” can cause disagreement about doctrine. Why are there so many languages?

All languages have a common root, although that ancient language has long been forgotten. Language is not always a barrier. You can go to an opera that is sung entirely in Italian and understand what is happening. Missionaries often visit other countries with very little knowledge of language and no knowledge of the regional dialects and are able to communicate with the people and serve their needs. A Lutheran can attend church in Germany and know what is happening during the service because the liturgy rises above language. Music is a language that crosses borders.

The common root of it all is found in the story of the Tower of Babel. The people of Babel were the first agrarians. When humans were hunter gatherers, they spent all their time and energy on the business of survival. But when they learned how to plant seeds, they didn’t need to travel so far to support a community. They had learned how to harvest water, to tame the land, to work together to have food enough for a large group. They were no longer nomadic. They settled down and stayed in one place. They had time to do things other than survive. They built permanent homes and other buildings. They were beginning to form business methods, writing, art, government, and religion. They established temples for their gods. This freedom gave them time to ponder life, the universe, and everything. They believed in the gods, but they also began to see themselves in a new way. They were not only stronger than the animals, but they were also intelligent. They could build things. They could create things. They could transform things. They began to think like gods.

God confused the language of the world because mankind was trying to be like God. They joined together as one body with one voice to build a city that would bring glory to themselves. They worked together to build a tower to heaven. The tower was more than just a ladder. The people wanted to make a name; they wanted a reputation. Archaeologists have found ziggurats throughout the Middle East, including one that they believe is actually the original Tower of Babel. These towers were designed to reach toward the heavens to impress the gods so that they would bless the people with prosperity, health and wealth. Yet in the story of the Tower of Babel, we get the impression that they were building it for another reason. They were afraid that they would lose it all and that they would be scattered. They didn’t want to go back to the old nomadic ways.

The Tower of Babel must have been an extraordinary accomplishment because God saw what they did, and He knew that it was not good for the people to reach too high. He is pleased when we use our gifts and develop our talents. He created man to be co-creators with Him in this world. He wants us to reach to the sky. But we can’t become gods, and we shouldn’t try. Fear manifests as ambition. If only we could become great, then we won’t have to worry about losing it. If only we could become immortal, then we would own the world. But we can’t become immortal by our own human deeds, so God scattered the people and confused their language so that they could not become something that they were never meant to be.

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January 27, 2025

“I always thank my God concerning you for the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus, that in everything you were enriched in him, in all speech and all knowledge - even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you - so that you come behind in no gift, waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will also confirm you until the end, blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, through whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” 1 Corinthians 1:4-9, ASV

January 26th and January 27th are set aside for remembering the companions and helpers of the Apostles.

We often think about Paul as a giant, plowing his way through the world alone sharing the Gospel message with many. In some ways, Paul was just that. He was strong, courageous, and sometimes even seemed arrogant. He wasn’t, of course. He was simply passionate about what he knew to be true. It is hard to tell the difference sometimes, especially if we think that he did his work all by himself. However, Paul humbly embraced the help of others.

We tend to skim over the opening and closing verses of Paul’s letters, seeking the meat of the passages and ignoring the chit chat. Since those books are letters, they are filled with personal greetings and instructions for specific people. Paul was always thankful for those whom God called to work with him. He offered encouragement and advice, pleaded with them to keep in touch and promised to find a way to see them again. Paul needed other people, and those other people played a vital role in Paul’s work and in the spreading of the Gospel.

On January 26th we remember Timothy, Titus, and Silas, missionaries who worked with Paul. Each of these men traveled with Paul at some point. Timothy was with him on his second journey and eventually became bishop in Ephesus. Titus traveled with Paul when he went to the council in Jerusalem, and he became the first bishop in Crete. Silas was with Paul in prison in Philippi. We can learn more about these men in Acts and the letters.

Today we remember women helpers. It seems like the scriptures do not pay much attention to the women in Paul’s life, but we do know enough about these women to know that Paul accepted their ministry and help with his ministry. Lydia, Dorcas, and Phoebe were women who lived out their faith in ways that impacted the world in which they lived. Lydia was a woman of wealth who heard about Jesus from Paul. After he shared the Gospel message with her, her entire household was baptized, and then her home became a center for his work. Dorcas was a charitable woman, making clothes for the poor. Phoebe was a deaconess near Corinth who touched many lives with her service.

These three women are remembered as co-workers for the Gospel. They were servants, willingly helping others. They supported the Apostles with their resources and their communities with their lives. They were called by God’s grace to serve and they responded with joy, hope, and peace. They touched the lives of so many that it is odd we do not know more about them. But then, we aren’t necessarily called by God to be famous or to have a large impact on our world. Their stories help us remember that most Christians are ordinary people serving God in ordinary ways, just like us.

We are called by God to serve our neighbors, to share the light of Christ and to help them through their sufferings. We do not do this for fame or a reward. We do not do it so that we will benefit in any way. We do it because we know God is faithful to His promises and that He will fulfill all He has proclaimed through Jesus Christ. We live in hope, not wishes and dreams but the expectation of what will be, and in that hope, we continue revealing that light that is Christ to the world.

We also remember all those who have impacted the world through faithful service like these companions of Paul. There are those who stand out in the ministries we do, leaders who will always be remembered. But none of them have done the work alone: they have helpers and companions who have been with them along the way. While the Apostles had a huge impact on the Church, Paul the greatest, we can probably identify more closely with the companions. As we look at their work, we realize that they, too, have touched many lives by continuing the work Paul started.

We continue that work today, living according to our own calling, using our own gifts. We may never be remembered like a Paul, or even remembered like Timothy, Titus, Silas, Lydia, Dorcas or Phoebe, but we will be God’s hands in the world as we share our own gifts with those who need to experience God’s amazing grace. We are all companions of the Apostles, but even more so we are companions of Jesus, walking with Him in ministry, touching others and changing lives.

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January 28, 2025

“Servants, be obedient to those who according to the flesh are your masters, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as to Christ, not in the way of service only when eyes are on you, as men pleasers, but as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, with good will doing service as to the Lord and not to men, 8 knowing that whatever good thing each one does, he will receive the same good again from the Lord, whether he is bound or free.” Ephesians 6:5-8, WEB

We lived in England for four years, and I loved the time we spent there. We visited so many exciting places and did many fun things. It wasn’t easy, however. My husband had a tough job, was gone far too often, and it is harder than you think to live outside your own nation. Even though England is very similar to the United States in many ways, there were things I missed. At one point I really wanted to move back to the U.S. I wanted this so badly that I was certain my husband would get a promotion that would make it necessary for us to move earlier than scheduled.

I mentioned to a friend shortly before the promotion list came out that I was certain my purpose in England was finished, and that everything would go my way. I thought I would get my desire because I thought God was ready to send me on the next leg of my spiritual journey. I turned my wants into God’s will.

Unfortunately, my husband did not get a promotion at that time, and we did not get sent home early from England. As I look back today and remember the final year of our time in England, I don’t know if there really was a purpose for keeping us there, but that time was well spent. God said “no” not because He meant to disappoint me, but because it wasn’t time. The “no” to my desire was not because God rejected my prayer, but because He was still preparing what was to come. He had something better waiting for me, I just had to be patient.

I can laugh now when I remember those days; God certainly has a sense of humor when He deals with our plans. It was only moments after saying, “My purpose is done in England,” that I learned that Bruce did not get the promotion. I understood at that moment that I was trying to force my desires to be God’s will. As I knelt in prayer, I said to my God, “I get your point, you aren’t done with me yet.” Then I asked for clarity of purpose and committed to His Will rather than my own.

When I faced the disappointment of not moving home, I grumbled a bit but continued on the path set before me in faith that God knew what He was doing. We do not always enjoy the task we’ve been called to do, however when done in faith and obedience, we find peace and joy in our work. Are you in a place you’d rather not be? Do you think you know what God intends for your tomorrow? Do not grumble about the place you are or the work you are doing, rather do it in faith and obedience to God knowing that what He has planned for you is better than anything you could plan for yourself. In His will you will find joy and peace.

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January 29, 2025

Lectionary Scriptures for February 2, 2025, Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany: Jeremiah 1:4-10 (17-19); Psalm 71:1-6 (7-11); 1 Corinthians 12:31b-13:13; Luke 4:31-44

“‘Don’t say, “I am a child;” for you must go to whomever I send you, and you must say whatever I command you. Don’t be afraid because of them, for I am with you to rescue you,’ says Yahweh.” Jeremiah 1:7-8, WEB

My husband is attending a retreat this weekend with a group of men from our church. They are going to discuss spiritual gifts. Everyone will take a gifts assessment, and then they will learn about how those gifts could be used in the church and in the world. I’ve done similar retreats with women, and it is always surprising to those who take the tests what gifts they have. It can even be frightening because some gifts seem too much for most of us. The lessons are designed to help us see how those gifts can be used in ways we might not expect.

Take, for instance, the gift of pastoring. None of the women ever wanted to become an ordained pastor, but the gift, which is about caring for the spiritual welfare of people, can be used in many other ways. A person with the gift can shepherd people as a lay person; they can be counselors, teachers, or sponsors. We have a woman in our group that is an ordained pastor but retired from the ministry to care for her children. It is obvious from the way she has raised them that she is still using her gift, but in a new vocation.

Spiritual gifts assessments can be a great way to discover the direction of your life and work in God’s kingdom. Some are questionable and lead to strange outcomes, but many are well written and informative. One assessment I have used is made up of sixty questions with five answers that range from “Very true of me, consistently” and “Rarely true of me.” The assessment looked for the more practical gifts like those found in 1 Corinthians 12 and Romans 12. There are many other gifts, including the miraculous gifts, but when we are trying to discover the work to which God is calling us, the practical gifts help us see ways we can serve God and our neighbors in this world.

I once gave the assessment to a group of youth. Despite the fact that they were young, the assessments were amazingly accurate. They showed the gifts we were beginning to see in those students. It was interesting to watch them take the assessments. In many cases they have not yet had the opportunity to experience the things that were asked. No one had gone to them to ask their opinion about some issue in the church. They did not have a home from which to offer hospitality. They had not had the opportunity to become active with Bible studies, not realizing that their Sunday School classes were just studies geared to their age.

Many of their answers were timid. Several of them complained that they had no gifts. We know this is not true, but these young people had not yet discovered their talents or any opportunities to use them. Music, writing, and artistry are perhaps the easiest to spot, even at such a young age. But how would they fare when it came to hospitality, leadership, or the pastoral gift? We were excited to see that even these became obvious in the results of some of these teenagers. As a matter of fact, in the small sampling of students, we saw an incredible variety of gifts; each student had something to offer the congregation and the world.

Unfortunately, we do not always look at teenagers as active members of the body of Christ. They are new, fresh, and learning, seemingly not ready for the responsibilities of ministry. We give them the opportunity to serve as acolytes or have them rake the leaves. We don’t try to help them discern their gifts, to learn who they are in Christ and what He is calling them to do. So, they don’t hear His voice calling them to service. They don’t think they are old enough to have a say. Even our high school students, who have become individual members of our congregation through confirmation, do not think they have a voice, so do not speak. They don’t care much about the business of church, so they do not vote. They do not yet understand that God has called them to serve, to use their gifts for the sake of the community and the world.

I could hear them saying, “Ah, Lord Yahweh! Behold, I don’t know how to speak; for I am a child.” Yet, in our passage for today, God said to Jeremiah, “Don’t say, ‘I am a child;’ for you must go to whomever I send you, and you must say whatever I command you.” God calls all those whom He has anointed with the Spirit into ministry, young and old alike. It is our task to help everyone, young and old, grow in their understanding and in their faith, giving opportunities for service and the respect they deserve as they follow God’s calling in their lives.

Unfortunately, we are often too busy. We have activities that force us to miss gathering with the body of Christ, like sports practices or work. This is not about perfect attendance. There are certainly many ways to worship God, and some of those who seem to be too busy to attend Sunday worship find time to do other things. They are generous givers and active participants in the life of the congregation. It is true that God still loves them even if they aren’t there every week. We all miss a Sunday for one reason or another. However, many people justify their choice by saying, “God doesn’t care if I am in church or not.” God does care.

It is because He loves you that He cares. Have you ever gone to an event expecting to see someone that you love such as an old friend at a class reunion or a favorite cousin at a family gathering? You wait and watch, anxiously looking for them, only to be disappointed when they do not arrive? That’s how it is with your Father in heaven. He is there every Sunday, expectantly waiting for YOU to come through the front door. He sees you every day; He dwells within your heart and goes with you everywhere. But He wants to see you at the party each week and when you are not there, He is disappointed.

Unfortunately, we tend to choose the law-based options and set aside the grace based when deciding what to do about church attendance. What I mean is that we know that the coach will be angry if we do not show up for practice or the game, we might even be kicked off the team. Many youths are counting on their sports experiences to help them get into college. We know our job is at stake if we don’t show up, so we choose to go to work instead of gathering with our brothers and sisters in Christ.

God does not require our presence; He forgives our absence. So, we choose the things we think we have to do, knowing that this will not last forever and then one day we’ll be able to return to God and His loving mercy. We have no choice when it comes to our activities that are law-based. If we don’t go, we lose. With grace we know that God is patient and kind. He will forgive. So, we do what the law says, putting away grace until some free moment.

The trouble with this is that we have totally missed the reason we gather on a Sunday morning, or any time, with our brothers and sisters in Christ. We gather because we love God, and we choose to put Him ahead of everything else in our life. We gather because He loves us and has invited us to a great banquet. We gather because God has called us to be part of the body of Christ and if even one is missing, we are not whole. We gather because it is there in the body of Christ that we truly experience the presence of God.

We know God is always with us, but we are often so busy we do not pay attention to Him. We don’t take the opportunity to share Him with others. We are so familiar with Him that we don’t even notice when He is trying to get our attention. This happens with scriptures, too. We are sometimes so familiar with the words that we stop hearing them. Take John 3:16 for example. Everyone knows what John 3:16 says. If you see a sign at the end of a football field with “John 3:16,” you know what it means. We don’t even have to say the words for it to be understood. But it is not “John 3:16” that saved the world. The word must be heard, repeated, over and over again. Sadly, the passage has become so familiar that we do not say it anymore, even to those who need to hear it the most.

The same can be said about today’s Epistle lesson. The passage, known as “the love chapter,” is used at many weddings, even by those who are not active in a church. It is familiar. It is comforting. It is beautiful in its poetry, and it talks about love. Who would not want to identify their marriage with such a wonderful bit of wisdom. “Love is patient and kind.” This is so easy to say when you are in the throes of romantic bliss. What newlywed is not patient and kind? Love does not envy. Again, who would be envious when they are in the throes of passion? There is nothing better than the love between a bride and groom.

The other descriptions of love are true for all people, too. Love does not boast, and it is not proud. It is not rude, self-seeking, or easily angered. Love does not keep any record of wrongs. On a couple’s wedding day, that might be true. What happens a week, month, or a year later? What happens after the first fight? What happens after the first failure of a spouse? Does that romantic love so evident on the wedding day still stand? Can this scripture still refer to that couple at the seven-year itch? What about when their world changes, like when children enter the picture or their financial situation changes. What happens when someone strays? Is love still patient and kind?

While it is a beautiful passage to be read at a wedding and it our hope that those words will continue to be meaningful through the tough times, the passage is not really about the kind of love we find in that passionate relationship. As a matter of fact, this passage is about a deeper, broader type of love. In last week’s passage, Paul was talking about the spiritual gifts: the gifts given to the body of Christ by the Holy Spirit to build up the believers and the church for the sake of the world. While those gifts are wonderful - apostles, prophets, teachers, miracle workers, healers, helpers, administrators, tongues and interpretation - the people had begun to set themselves apart based on their gifts. Some thought they were better than others based on the things they could do. They were using their gifts in boastful and proud ways. They envied one another. They were not patient with each other. They were angry and rude and self-seeking.

While we do not do enough to help our brothers and sisters in Christ discover their spiritual gifts, we also neglect to help them use their gifts in ways that glorify God and lift up the body of Christ.

The passage this week continues the thoughts from last week, beginning with 12:31b, “But earnestly desire the best gifts. Moreover, I show a most excellent way to you.” Paul tells the Corinthians that the way they were missing was the most important gift of all: love. Everything else was meaningless if they did not lay it on the foundation of love. Prophecy was a noisy gong without love. In other words, prophecy was meaningless - unheard - if given without love. “John 3:16” is meaningless to the millions of viewers of those football games, because it is not accompanied by active, tangible love. It is not prophecy to hold up a card at a football game. It is prophecy to speak those words of love to a sinner who needs forgiveness from the very person they hurt, to touch their hand and their heart with deep love, to share with them the love of God through Christ Jesus.

The Old Testament lesson this week is about Jeremiah’s call from God to be a prophet. Jeremiah trusted God enough to argue with Him. “I can’t do this,” he said. He, like Moses, did not feel he was eloquent in speech and therefore was unqualified for the task. “I am too young.” We don’t know how hold Jeremiah was at this time; most of the commentaries give the possibility that he may have been just in his teens, but all suggest that “young” in this case may simply mean that he was not old enough to take on such an important role in God’s kingdom. Priests became priests at about thirty years of age, although they may have been working in the Temple as apprentices for many years. How could a teenager, or even a young adult, ever hope to be heard by his elders?

God answered. He listened to Jeremiah. You have probably had a similar experience, as a child tugged at your pants or skirt. You looked down to see a small child with a face full of expectation. You acknowledged them, but went on to doing whatever it was you were doing when they interrupted. They tugged a little harder to get you to pay attention. They wanted to tell you something, so you bow down or kneel to look them in the eye. It might have been hard. It might have hurt your back or knees, but it is always worth every ache to hear a child say something delightful like “I love you.” I can imagine that you wrapped your arms around that child and said, “I love you, too,” because it is impossible not to respond to their overflowing heart with an overflowing heart.

We might be tempted to ignore those children when they tug on our pants or skirt because they are just children. What could they possibly say that would be worth bowing down to them? Sometimes, though, the most important things we need to hear come from the mouths of babes. Their words can even be prophetic.

God heard Jeremiah’s concern and answered him. “Youth and inexperience do not disqualify you for the job to which I have called you. Do not be afraid, I am with you.” See, God does not call us to do something without providing everything we need to accomplish it. God’s prophets do not speak from age or experience, but from the heart and will of God. God then touched Jeremiah’s mouth and said, “Behold, I have put my words in your mouth. Behold, I have today set you over the nations and over the kingdoms, to uproot and to tear down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.”

If you’ve ever read the book of Jeremiah all the way through (it is hard), you’ll know that he was a prophet of doom (that’s why it is hard.) His words were not well received. He had few friends. It isn’t a life anyone would choose, made even worse by the lack of authority by human standards. Who is Jeremiah to speak these words? The false prophets gave a much better sounding message. We would all rather hear about peace than destruction. We would rather go about the status quo than hear the need for repentance. His warnings about the wrath of God were so uncomfortable that they did not hear that grace and mercy could be found in humble submission to God. Even though Jeremiah warned that they would face God’s judgment, he also promised that there was hope. Forgiveness and cleansing would come, a new day would dawn, and God would restore His people.

Jeremiah loved God and he loved God’s people. He warned the people about the coming doom because he wanted them to live the blessed life that God intended for them. They were God’s people; how could they not respond? Even though Jeremiah was young, how could they ignore him when even God bowed down to listen to his concerns. He had the most important words that they needed to hear, words from God meant to bring them back into a relationship with Him who loved them.

Jesus was a grown man by the time He entered the synagogue in His hometown, but He was still a son of the community. Of all the people in the world, we might expect family and friends to believe Him the most, but as He said, a prophet is not accepted in his hometown. They didn’t have faith because it was all too impossible to believe. How could this boy be the One? They were especially angry because Jesus refused to prove Himself with miracles. They wanted to throw Him off a cliff, but Jesus escaped and went to teach another congregation in the synagogue at Capernaum. They, too, were astonished by His lesson but they heard the authority in His voice and in His word. Reports about Him spread and the people came to Him to hear Him and be healed.

In the congregation was a man who had a demon. The demon spoke out against Jesus; it identified Jesus as the Holy One of God. In the previous passage, Jesus identified Himself as the Messiah when He knew that they wouldn’t believe, but then in Capernaum He rebuked the demon for saying the same thing in a place where people might believe. Jesus was careful about who revealed that He is the Messiah. While God chose Jeremiah to be His spokesperson, Jesus did not choose a demon. Would you believe a demon?

The demon left the man at the word of Jesus, and the people were amazed. “What is this word? For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out!” The word got out into the region about the things Jesus could do, and the people came to Jesus for more. The demons kept crying out “You are the Son of God,” but Jesus did not allow them to tell the people that He was the Christ. Jesus was not yet ready to be identified as the Messiah, certainly not by a demon. He had too much work to do.

After Jesus left the synagogue, He visited the home of Peter. Simon Peter’s wife’s mother was ill with a fever. She was sick in bed, separated from her family and her work by her illness.

Jesus went to her. I can almost imagine this scene as Jesus bowed down before the woman, perhaps kneeling on the ground beside her bed to be close to her. A child he loved needed to know He was listening and that He was with her. He rebuked the fever, and she was made well. Jesus felt the tug and responded to the faith of those who prayed for her with an overflowing heart. This story is almost a side note in today’s text, two verses about someone so important to Peter, bookended by the casting out of a demon and the healing of so many.

It must have been overwhelming for Jesus to have so many people seeking His healing touch. I think about the scene from “Jesus Christ Superstar,” when Jesus is confronted by lepers, cripples, and beggars, all wanting to be healed. In the play Jesus was crushed by their need, and he angrily told the crowd to heal themselves. I am not sure what Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber intended with this scene, but I see it as having come from the stories from Luke 4. Was Jesus overwhelmed? Perhaps. But there’s something more to these stories about Jesus being unable in Nazareth and being overwhelmed in Capernaum.

In verse 43, Jesus said, “I must preach the good tidings of the kingdom of God to the other cities also; for therefore was I sent.” The people of Nazareth rejected Jesus, but the people of Capernaum did not want Jesus to leave. He was making a real difference in their lives. He was healing their sick and He was casting out the demons. I wouldn’t want Him to go, either. However, Jesus knew that His work was more than healing, which is why He refused to prove His power in Nazareth. He came to preach the Kingdom of God. The Good News is more than what God can do for us today, in this world. It is more than what God can give to us. It is more than how God can protect us.

God’s Word says we are His children and inheritors of His Kingdom. Yet, we do not take Him at His Word; we desire physical blessings as proof. We are more concerned with flesh and blood than we are eternal promises and consequences. Jesus did not want the people to know He was the Messiah at that time because they were looking for a Messiah who would sit on a throne and lead their nation into a new golden age like David’s reign. They wanted a king who would fill their bellies and fight their enemies. Jesus was not that kind of Messiah. The message of God’s kingdom was different. It was eternal. He came to restore God’s people to their Father, not return the nation to a glory day.

He doesn’t call us to make things golden; He calls us to make things right. And He gives us everything we need to do what He is calling us to do, including gifts that we do not always expect we might have.

God calls us to be like Jesus, to share the Gospel with the world. He has called us to heal and restore, to warn people to repent, to invite them to confess and to offer them the promise of God's forgiveness. He doesn’t choose us because we are perfect for the job. He doesn’t call us because it fits into our schedule or because He thinks we are strong enough. He doesn’t choose us because we are old or experienced enough. He chooses us, young and hold, and gives us everything we need to make His work happen. Even when we complain, however, He bows down to hear us, and He responds with an overflowing heart. “Do not be afraid, I am with you.”

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January 30, 2025

“But be doers of the word, and not only hearers, deluding your own selves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man looking at his natural face in a mirror; for he sees himself, and goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of freedom and continues, not being a hearer who forgets but a doer of the work, this man will be blessed in what he does.” James 1:22-25, WEB

There is a children’s book called “Pat the Bunny.” There are other books like it, but we happened to have had that book when our children were small. “Pat the Bunny” is a very simple board book for children with hands on activities that make it interactive. One page says, “Judy can pat the bunny. Now YOU can pat the bunny.” On that page there is a bunny shaped piece of fake fur, so when the child pats the bunny, he or she can feel how soft it is. On another page it says, “Judy can play peek-a-boo with Paul. Now YOU can play peek-a-boo with Paul.” A picture of Paul is found on that page with a cloth covering his face. The child can lift the cloth and play peek-a-boo with the picture of Paul.

The book is certainly much too simple for adults, but it is perfect for babies. While the book is designed to hold up under the rough treatment given by a child, it is not a book meant for individual reading. It is interactive not only between the child and the book, but also with the parents. The child might have fun touching all the soft and rough and smelly surfaces, but the real learning comes when the parent joins in the fun. The first time a child pats the bunny, the mommy also touches the page and says, “Oh, isn’t that soft.” On a page with sandpaper, the daddy might say, “That is rough.” In this way, the child learns the difference between soft and rough. He or she learns the words and the interaction between parent and child helps the child learn how to communicate. Isn’t it amazing how much good can come out of a book of just twenty pages with only a few hundred words?

When we grow up we think we are too sophisticated for hands-on interaction for learning, and yet we do continue to learn this way. It isn’t enough to read a bunch of cookbooks to learn how to cook. We need to make the food found in those cookbooks to really learn the processes. Sometimes it takes a while for us to learn how to do it right. Sometimes we fail. Sometimes we forget to do something important to the recipe. So, we keep trying as we read. Even as adults, we learn far more when we get our whole being involved. Book learning is valuable, but it isn’t enough. This is why science lectures are accompanied by lab classes. It is why students are required to practice between music lessons. An artist will never learn how to paint if he or she never picks up a paintbrush.

Our faith life is no different. We can learn so much about God in Bible study, and it is a vital part of our life in God’s kingdom. Reading the scriptures helps us to learn the story of the God who has saved us. Attending Bible study helps us to see those scriptures through other people’s eyes. But even that is not enough. Living faith means getting our hands dirty. It means living out the lessons we’ve learned in the book. It means helping the neighbor. It means raising our hands in praise to God. It means touching our neighbors and sharing their joys and sorrows. As we do these things, we’ll learn so much more about God because we will see Him in action. We’ll experience His grace even as we share it with others.

We believe in the God who is like a parent, who interacts with us daily. He comes to us not only in the scriptures and in the gathering of believers, but in our everyday experiences. It is there, as when we pat the bunny or play peek-a-boo with Paul, that we’ll know God is with us and that He loves us.

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January 31, 2025

“But don’t forget this one thing, beloved, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow concerning his promise, as some count slowness; but he is patient with us, not wishing that anyone should perish, but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fervent heat; and the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. Therefore, since all these things will be destroyed like this, what kind of people ought you to be in holy living and godliness, looking for and earnestly desiring the coming of the day of God, which will cause the burning heavens to be dissolved, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? But, according to his promise, we look for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells. Therefore, beloved, seeing that you look for these things, be diligent to be found in peace, without defect and blameless in his sight. Regard the patience of our Lord as salvation.” 2 Peter 3:8-15a, WEB

I don’t know about you, but I’ve seen lots of memes on the Internet about how long January seems to be. They joke about how we are at “day 892 of January.” Or how it seems like January has lasted years. I understand how people feel that way. We’ve had some difficult weather. We’ve had some stressful circumstances. We are struggling with speed of things happening around us in the U.S. and in the world. Many are afraid. Many are uncertain. Many are struggling. I’ve seen similar means describing years that seem to last forever. The reality is that human time is static: a day is a day, a month is a month, a year is a year, no matter what we feel about the time. It just seems too long, especially when we are suffering.

Peter, or the writer of this letter, lived in the early days of the Church when the people were hopeful for Christ’s return. They were expecting Him back at any moment. They were even beginning to doubt the words of Jesus because it seemed to be taking so long. They wondered where He might be and why He was late. There were, I’m sure, even some who were trying to find a way to hasten His coming. It has certainly been done over and over again during the past two thousand years. Prophets have tried to foretell the time and day when the Lord would come, and cults have built up around ideas and practices meant to spur God on to fulfilling His promises. Every generation since Peter’s day has waited for and tried to hasten the coming of the Lord.

We get tired of hearing about the end times; it is a subject that most of us do not really like to dwell upon, though it is often a subject in our lectionary scriptures. We prefer to live for today. We look forward to the day when Christ will come, but we do know we should not make it the entire focus of our faith. Yet, the message from Peter is not really about what is to come, but about what we are to do while we wait. Some are so anxious about the coming of the Lord that they will do whatever is necessary to make it happen in this time and place, like those who can’t wait for this month, or that year to be over. After all, it has already been two thousand years. Isn’t it time? As for January, we have reached the last day. Will February be any better?

We learn from Peter that for God a day is like a thousand years and a thousand years like a day. What has taken forever for us has only been a moment for God. January is over when we go through thirty-one days, and the day of the Lord will come when everything is ready. God is patient because there are people whom God means to benefit from the promise has not yet heard it. There is hope in this message: God does not want any to perish. He is patient and long-suffering. Christ will not come until all is ready.

In this passage, written for believers, Peter said that God is, “not slow concerning his promise, as some count slowness.” There is work for us to do, and God is giving us the time. Those who have yet to hear the Good News of Jesus Christ are out there in the world, walking in darkness. We are the light, sent to give hope and peace to all whom God has chosen. God is patient, not for those who haven’t heard, but for us. He is waiting until we do what we have been called to do. God’s patience is our salvation. He is waiting until we have accomplished all He has commanded us to do. It might happen in this generation, but it might not happen for another thousand years. After all, a day is like a thousand years and a thousand years is like a day to God. We can trust that February will come, and that God will fulfill His promises in His time according to His word.

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