Sunday Prayer

Holy One,

On this beautiful Sunday morning,

we too cry Alleluia.

As the cool, clean morning air fills us with every breath;

Your breath speaks life into being and

sets in motion the movements of the universe.

We too cry Alleluia.

As the dew glistens in the breaking morning sun;

Your Sun’s light brings color and life

to a world that was once dark.

On this day, oh Holy One, we too cry Alleluia.

Open us in this place o God, to the movement of your presence.

May the words, spoken and sung

The images, created and imagined

The life that is shared and shown

Renew us into the people of God, you call us to be.

On this day, oh Holy One, we too cry Alleluia.

Call our attention to the needs of this world.

Hearts broken from the destruction and death dealing ways of war

Lives shattered from the pain of tragedy of fire and storm.

Minds confused by deception and lies.

Use us to deal life, offer comfort and speak truth.

We pause this morning to remember.

To remember a leader and servant of our country who has passed.

May the life and leadership of Ted Kennedy

be known to us this day as an example of dedication

to a cause greater than one’s self.

May Tara’s words inspire us,

Give us hope,

And challenge us to be who we are called to be.

In Christ’s Name, Amen.

God's Wrath or the Unfolding Chaos

Psalm 95 & Romans 9:19-29
I’m struck this morning with the question, “What does God’s wrath look like?” I mean, we have seen explanations of God’s wrath through the stories of the Hebrew Scriptures, and we have heard references to God’s wrath from illusions to it in the New Testament. And in modern times, many folk have attempted to refer to catastrophic events as results of God’s wrath, only to be ridiculed by the masses for the ignorance of making such statements. So, how does one explain God’s wrath? It’s a question that has got my head to spinning…
Let’s take a look at the “Wrathful” event referenced by Paul, Sodom and Gomorrah. This is a wrath story, no doubt. The people of these cities are not hospitable to the strangers and as a result their city is completely destroyed by God. For the sake of creating a powerful illustration in an attempt to explain God’s demand for hospitable actions towards the stranger in our midst, this story is very compelling. There is no doubt in my mind, after hearing this story, that God demands hospitality, and that the cost of inhospitality is utter destruction. But who in their right mind today would say that, “The Mayan civilization disappeared as a result of God’s wrath,” or “Pompeii was buried in a fiery volcanic explosion because of their disobedience,” or “New Orleans was flooded by Katrina because their city was full of sin.”? Who would dare say to a person dying of AIDS, “God’s wrath has come down on you because of your sin” or, “Your new wife of six months has been diagnosed with a rare form of cancer, and it’s all because you chose not to live into God’s will” or “If you would have just been more hospitable to the stranger, then God would have kept your plant from closing, and you would still have a job.”?
God’s wrath is easy to deal with when we keep it confined in the stories of the ancients. But what if, in our modern times, what we can discover about how the ancients would have described God’s wrath, is actually serving as a reminder for us that God is not in complete control. There is still disorder and chaos in the unfolding of Creation, and God is still hovering over the faces of the deep, bringing order out of the Chaos, and speaking life into the midst of this ever evolving world.
The Psalmist reminds me this morning, as I’ve been musing over God’s wrath, of the importance of staying connected to the Source. Referencing back to creation’s story, the Psalmist writes of making a joyful noise of praise in response to God’s goodness reminding,
“In God’s hands are the depths of the Earth;
the heights of the mountains are God’s also.
The sea is God’s, for (s)he made it, and the dry land, which God’s hands have formed.”
This Psalm makes a rather drastic and abrupt change of voice. Right in the middle of the Psalm, what was the voice of the Psalmist, calling her hearers to praise, is now God’s voice calling her people to genuine, heart-felt relationship. The Psalm ends on a rather uncomfortable note with God stating, “Therefore in my anger I swore, ‘They shall not enter my rest.’”
Before I starting writing this morning, I found myself at odds with this Psalm, thinking, “This is just bad theology. How could God not welcome someone into experiencing rest with the Divine?” But on the other side of this musing, I find myself finding peace in these words, because the meaning is true, even if the theology is bad. Without my genuine, heart-felt relationship with God I would not be able to find my way into the rest God offers when the Chaos comes.

Lavish Mercy

Romans 9:1-18
Paul’s words are wrestling within me this morning… I hear him trying to reconcile himself and his followers into the promise of Abraham, but I am struggling to accept his attempt to rationalize his moves. Paul speaks here about “God’s elect,” quoting God in Genesis, “I have loved Jacob, but I have hated Esau.” And concluding his argument here stating, “[God] has mercy on whomever [God] chooses, and [God] hardens the heart of whomever [God] chooses.”
Does God really have an “elect?” Does God really choose to have mercy on some and harden the hearts of others? No. Now with that said, I would have to agree with Paul on the level that some folk have not opened themselves to the understanding that all people are children of God, and therefore have chosen to not live out the example of Jesus’ life. But is that a result of God’s choosing or life’s doing?
The grace of God that draws us into more intimate knowings of God and of ourselves is wide and open in its invitation, yet narrow and jagged in its terrain. The wounding that life experience can give us, doesn’t often leave us open to the invitation to join in the journey. The brokenness of our world is evidence of this. Human relationships are broken, and brokenness precipitates brokenness. And every time we perpetuate the brokenness, we participate in humanity’s greatest sin.
So then, how does one open one’s self to receive the understanding that they are a beautiful child of God, claimed by God into the family of God? Well, I think it starts with unbinding mercy and choosing to spread it lavishly to all we encounter.

What a Gift

Well, this week, I began my journey into my final fall semester, and I woke up this morning feeling the weight of this semester’s expectations heavy on my shoulders. Multiple large papers due: 10 pg personal reflection paper; 20-25 pg constructive theology “Personal Credo”; 5-7 pg report on the theologian with whom I am going to be in dialogue in order to create my “Personal Credo”; a master curriculum for my ministry site; weekly mentor meetings; monthly Ministry Support Committee meetings; 2 sermons; and this journal. Sounds like a lot, huh? Well that is because it is a lot! So yes, this journal is part of that burden. Part of this the requirements for Intro to Preaching is for the student to keep a daily journal, reflecting on: the scripture reading for the day; an assigned sermon which was read, watched or heard; and/or our assigned readings for the week.

However, this semester I have committed myself to have a new frame of mind in regards to life. As I feel the heaviness of this season building upon me, I am going to embrace it. Each assignment, activity, or expectation is an opportunity. An opportunity to be stretched, molded, challenged, and transformed. I am finding within myself a deeper joy than I have experienced in a long time. It is a sense, a peace, a knowing, an understanding… that I am connected and loved and called. And it is something that has been missing for a large part of my seminary journey. This is due in a big part to the reality that I am finding a greater peace with who I am as a child of God. As such, I want to continue this reconciliation of my heart and soul and mind and strength with the One who called me, even in the midst of my blind and broken view of myself. In this light, as each assignment is completed, the pack for this semester becomes lighter, I become freer and more in tune to the Divine spark that drew me to this seminary journey four years ago.

Lord, may it be so. Amen.

Romans 8:31-39

What a gift this morning. To be intentional about this process, I cleared my desk, turned down the lights, lit a couple of candles, and began playing Chris Rice’s Living Room Series. The result is a room that is quiet, calm, and calling me into a greater awareness.

I flipped through the Chalice Hymnal to find the Daily Readings that have been laid out for personal study, and then scrolled through my calendar in order to find out what week we are in for this year, discovering that we are in the 35^th week. Friday’s reading for this week is Romans 8:31-39, some beautiful words from Paul. “If God is for us, who is against us?” “It is God who justifies.” “It is Christ Jesus, … who intercedes for us.” “…we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” “…nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

I laughed out loud as I began reading. Considering all that I was bringing with me as I opened up the Bible this morning, what an affirmation of the mind-set that I am feeling led to live out of for this semester. I could very easily find myself letting my mind get swept away into the torrents of the to do’s for this semester, but the deepest, truest part of my reality is right here and right now – in this moment – knowing and embracing the experience of the inescapable, inseparable, indescribable, unfathomable love of God, known to me through Christ Jesus, my Lord. This is what I must hold tightest to, and as the sometimes raging river of this semester feels as if it might over take me, I can be reminded that, I, too, am more than a conqueror.