Season's of Life

"To everything there is a season,

and a time to every purpose under the sun."

~Ecclesiastes 3:1 

What season of life are you in? Are you content to be present in that season or are you eager to move into the next season?

May your light glow during this season!

Friday Photographs-Psalm 18:2

"The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer,
    my God, my rock in whom I take refuge,
    my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold."

~Psalm 18:2

Friday Photographs-Fearfully and Wonderfully Made

"I praise you, for I am fearfully and

wonderfully made!"

Psalm 139:14

No matter what flaws we see in ourselves or how broken we might feel we can find hope in the truth that God created us and LOVES us unconditionally. With that knowledge we can be assured that we are worthy of love and belonging. We are all indeed beautiful! 

Advent Day 21-Prophet

"Prophet"

For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. 

-Isaiah 9:6

Luke 1:26-38

Advent Day 10-Holy

"Holy"

Some days this is the only way I can become aware of The Holy.

Lent Day 12: lift

lift

Psalm 121:1-2

Up-side Down Leadership

Genesis 41

Mark 6:30-44

A Pharaoh turning over power to a “criminal”! Jesus AND his disciples feeding 5,000 people with 5 loaves and 2 fish! These are pretty amazing stories of upside-down leadership. 

In our first story the almighty Pharaoh who has total power over his people decides to relinquish quite a bit of this power to Joseph. Remember, Pharaoh was like a King in a monarchy he had total power over the people and this power had been passed down to him through his family. Pharaohs themselves were even regarded as gods and god’s are NOT supposed to relinquish power to mere humans. Not to mention the man he was giving power to had been in jail! In fact he came right from jail he was not even a “respectable” man in society! Pharaoh upon knowing this man for less than a day recognizes Josephs gifts and that they are God given and decides to make him “second in command”. Now that’s going out on leadership limb! 

There are several important things going on in this story. One is that God opened Pharaoh’s eyes to God’s power. Pharaoh saw God as bigger and more powerful than even he was and Pharaoh was considered all powerful and god like. Second in seeing God as all powerful Pharaoh buys in to God’s “plan” for the future of Egypt and put’s Joseph in charge of carrying out this plan because of Joseph’s God given gifts and his faith in God. Third we are witness to God’s love and compassion to all of God’s children. God has compassion for Pharaoh by keeping him in power-in other words he doesn’t loose everything because of this change in leadership. God show compassion toward Joseph by bringing him out of his deepest struggle-being in jail. God shows compassion toward the people of Egypt and the surrounding countries through the leadership of Pharaoh and Joseph whose planning ahead kept food in their bellies during the famine. 

Then there is the story of Jesus and his disciples feeding the 5,000. Jesus decides to take his disciples on a little vacation away from the crowds for some rest and relaxation. However, they are “found” and Jesus has “compassion” for the crowd and begins teaching them. As the daylight wanes the disciples, in their typical manner, become restless and begin to worry about how they are going to feed all these people. Their solution, which seems compassionate and easiest, is to just send them out to the neighboring towns so that they can buy their own food before it gets too dark and it is unsafe to travel. 

Jesus, with his true compassion and wisdom, challenges their solution and says “You give them something to eat.” They of course give him a “very good” reason why this is not possible. He then sends them out find out how many “loaves and fishes” they have. After finding out there are 5 loaves and 2 fish he “directs” the disciples to gather the crowd into groups and sit. Giving thanks to God he divides the bread and fish among the disciples to distribute to the entire crowd. 

Think about it! Jesus by this point in his ministry was probably getting kind of tired of the disciples complaining and finding the “easy way out”. It wasn’t that the disciples were not compassionate or dumb they just were not able to see the big picture. In this case Jesus could have taken full power over the disciples and done it all by himself. He is God you know! Yet, instead he decides to empower his disciples to serve the people. Jesus, challenges the status quo and the disciples first solution by setting forth a new vision/solution where the disciples and the gathered crowd could experience the love and power of God. By equipping the disciples with the necessary gifts they are able engage more fully and truly in God’s work. Jesus empowers the disciples to become leaders in this ministry of compassion and love.

Both of these stories testify to God’s compassion and love for her beloved. These stories also testify to the fact that all people are beloved children of God and thus we all deserve compassion and love. Compassion, belonging, and love are not based on our status in society, how much money we have, our age, or our religion. We all deserve these things because we all belong to God. Ministry is showing authentic compassion and love to God’s people no matter who they are. It might be your sister, your teacher, the bully at school, the mean coworker, the homeless person you passed on your way here, your children or grandchildren...you get the idea. We are all called by God to embody compassion and love-this is ministry.

We are all called into ministry and ministry requires shared leadership. According to Kevin Ford in his book Transforming Church, Leadership is not defined in terms of power over someone or something but rather is defined as “leadership as ministry through sacrifice and service.” (Ford p. 11). For Ford leadership is shared leadership. In American culture this kind of leadership might be considered upside-down leadership. In a culture that promotes power and individuality, effective leadership is defined by how much power you have over someone and how effective you are at coercing others to follow you.  This stands is stark contrast to leadership as compassion, sacrifice, and service! In this context Ford says “leadership is about how best to fulfill the churches mission” (Ford p. 11). Our mission, ultimately, is to embody God’s love and compassion in our own context.

Both of today’s Bible stories are examples of this type of leadership. Pharaoh sacrificed his power and probably his status. In doing so he showed compassion for his people as well as recognizing the gifts and wisdom of Joseph. Jesus’ leadership was also one of compassion and service. In this story Jesus empowered his disciples to carry out a ministry of compassion and love.

Shared leadership and ministry go hand in hand. Shared leadership requires sacrifice, service, vision, faith, and compassion. Ministry occurs in the Dayton Avenue Presbyterian Church (DAPC) community, in you family, your workplace, and/or in your personal life. Ministry happens when God’s love and compassion are experienced by everyone. Cultivating ministries of love and compassion requires that everyone participate using our unique God given gifts. Leadership as ministry occurs when we empower others and/or are empowered by others to use our gifts to embody God’s love and compassion for all people and to focus on how to best fulfill this congregation’s mission.

I wonder how we in the DAPC community can embody leadership as ministry? How can we in “official” leadership positions empower this community to best fulfill the mission of DAPC? I wonder how God will use this community to embody her love and compassion? I wonder how God will bless each of us this week with love and compassion? I wonder how will we respond?

Amen.

Lent Day 7: love

love

Song of Solomon 8:6-7

First Sunday in Lent: settle

settle

books of all kinds help me settle!

Lent Day 1: return

return

Ecclesiastics 3:20

Friday Photographs

"The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the sky proclaims his handiwork"
Psalm 19:1

Friday Photographs

Oh LORD, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
Psalm 8:1

Friday Photographs

Praise the LORD!

Praise God in his sanctuary;

praise him in his mighty

firmament!

Praise her for her mighty deeds,

praise her according to her

surpassing greatness!

Praise him with trumpet sounds;

praise him with lute and harp!

Praise her with tambourine and dance;

praise her with strings and pipe!

Praise him with clanging cymbals;

praise him with loud clashing cymbals!

Let everything that has breath praise the LORD!

Praise the LORD!

Psalm 150

Sabbath-Keeping

“So God blessed the seventh day and hollowed it, because on it God rested from all the work God had done in creation.”  Genesis 2:3

“Observe the sabbath day and keep it holy.”  Deuteronomy 5:12

“Be still and know that I am God!” Psalm 46:10 

These Scripture passages are some of the most recognized passages about sabbath-keeping.  The word sabbath comes from the Greek word meaning “to rest”.  When we rest we cease work or movement in order to regain our strength.  The word keeping refers to “the action of owning, maintaining, or protecting something”.  Thus sabbath-keeping is protecting time to cease work and regain ones strength.

I often pray the following, “God grant me the grace of a strong soul.”  A strong soul comes from God.  It comes from being who God has created us to be-our authentic selves.  It does take “work” to peel back the layers that are hiding the truth of our soul.  These layers come from living in a world of sin, pride, self-indulgence, fear, loneliness, pain, suffering, and so much more.  Yet, each time we peel back one of these layers more of our authentic self is visible to the world.  We become stronger each time we peel back one of the layers that is hiding the light of God in our soul.  

One of the most important ways to “work” at peeling back these layers is to “Be still and know that I am God!” (Psalm 46: 10).  When we are resting in God’s presence we become aware of the Holy that is at the core of who we are.  Sabbath-keeping is about taking time to rest, become aware, and rejoice in the fact that we are created in God’s image thus God lives within each of us.  When we are resting in God’s presence we put aside our fears, worries, loneliness, suffering and whatever else keeps us from experiencing God’s amazing unconditional love.  In sabbath we can let this healing love wash over us and infuse every cell of our body.

Sabbath-keeping can take many forms.  For some true resting from the wold might be a run or hike in the woods, a moment of peace and quiet in a busy day, scripture reading, a silent retreat, or daily meditation.  In our busy world sabbath-keeping is what ever helps you take time to stop, rest, and experience God’s healing love that strengthens you soul.

Who bolts the door?

A couple of weeks ago I had the wonderful experience of attending the Synod of Lakes and Prairie’s Synod School.  The keynote speaker for this camp/conference was Associate Professor of Homiletics at Columbia Theological Seminary Rev. Anna Carter Florence (she also happens to be a friend of mine as I was in her Jr. High & Sr. High youth group).  Anna’s keynote addresses focused on Preaching as Testimony (which is also the title of her book).  

During her keynote addresses Anna took us through the process she uses with her seminary students as they prepare their sermons.  In a small group the students read aloud the Scripture passage.  The second time reading it aloud they focus on the parts of speech primarily the verbs.  Then each student is asked what verb and/or verb phrase sticks with them and why.  Once the students have verbalized this they are asked the question “What does this passage say about God?”  She stresses to her students that sermons are about God not about them.  The last set of questions are What do you want to say about this?  And what do you hope it will do?

Anna took us through this process with the Scripture passage 2 Samuel 13:1-22, known as the “Rape of Tamar.”  After reading through this passage with the group my verb phrase was “bolted the door after her” (verse 18).  My final day at my previous call felt like the door was “bolted” after me.  I was not allowed to return for a final Sunday to say good bye or have closure with most of the congregation.  It felt to me like I had done something wrong, was no longer welcome, and I was not appreciated by the congregation.  When a door is bolted against someone those inside no longer want that person in their presence. 

Initially it was difficult for me to figure out what this verb phrase said about God.  I realized that it was Amnon who ordered the door bolted and the servant who did did the bolting.  It was not God (in fact God is not mentioned directly in this passage) who bolted the door.  God does not bolt door to keep us out!  In fact God does just the opposite-God says “knock and the door shall be opened”.  There are many times when we feel lonely and it feels like God is very far away.  In my experience it not that God is far away but rather I have not recognized God’s Spirit living with in me.  The Good News is that God is always present in our lives! 

This way of reading and interacting with Scripture has spoken to me in two particular ways.  First, I once again see and experience Scripture as the living Word of God. Anna’s love of Scripture is infectious.  Her way of looking at Scripture as a testimony to God gave me a new outlook on reading and interacting with Scripture-it made Scripture come alive for me.  Second, I am beginning to ponder what implications Anna’s idea of “preaching as testimony” has on Christian Education (more on that in another “post”).  Thank you to Anna for bringing scripture to life for me again!