Monday, December 15

Today’s Readings: Psalm 37; Hosea 14:1-9; Matthew 23:1-14; Jude 1-16; Psalm 91

If I were to ask you, “Which invention of the 20th Century has proven most invaluable to you”; I wonder how would you answer? I’ve got an answer that would pop to mind pretty quickly – and it’s probably one you wouldn’t expect. My answer would be Mapquest. You see as a pastor, I spend a whole lot of time in a car traveling from one place to another. In any given day I might go from our church to a denominational meeting to a home visit to a hospital to another home visit to a care center. In order for me to stay on schedule, it’s absolutely essential that I know where I’m going. Mapquest usually gets me there. Over the years, however, I’ve learned about Mapquest is not perfect all the time. I nearly missed a church service once because Mapquest told me to take a right after taking a highway exit when I really should have taken a left. Nevertheless, in this day and age it’s vital to have something that can get you where you need to go. The psalmist knew the important of this truth as well. That’s why he culminated today’s first psalm – Psalm 37 – with these words: “If you want to live well, make sure you understand all of this. If you know what’s good for you, you’ll learn this inside and out. God’s paths get you where you want to go. Right-living people walk them easily; wrong-living people are always tripping and stumbling” (Psalm 37:9 from The Message). The power and simplicity of the psalmist’s statement is that it reminds us God isn’t just another version of Mapquest – for unlike Mapquest, the ways in which God points us are always on the mark. And this season, that’s particularly true as God points us toward that manger in Bethlehem. Today, I give thanks for the One who provides the paths which help us get to where we need to go. I also pray that each of us might have the wisdom and strength to get on those paths. Til next time…

Sunday, December 14

Today’s Readings: Psalm 126; Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11; John 1:6-8, 19-28; 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24

A few years ago here in Denver, we had quite a bit of controversy over an event called The Parade of Lights. According to the early tradition of the event, floats were not allowed in the parade that had religious themes. This was done in an attempt to make the parade a safe place for people of all faiths to come. A few years ago, however, a Christian group decided that they were no longer willing to abide by the tradition. They demanded that they be able to include their own religiously-themed float in the parade. The controversy stirred up folks on all sides of the issue. As I listened to folks process the controversy, I was fascinated by those Christians who were so adamant about the inclusion of the float. These folks honestly couldn’t understand why anyone would be opposed to their float! If these individuals would have paid closer attention to the larger community around them, they might have understood why some were so opposed to their participation. You see there are lots of folks who have been severely hurt by things done in Jesus’ name. As a result, they want nothing to do with anything that could be construed as a celebration of this Christ-child. A huge piece of our call as progressive Christians is to help some of these wounded individuals realize that the essence of Christ has nothing to do with the hurtful behavior of some of Jesus’ so-called followers. In other words, we need to present them with a picture of the Jesus we know –the one who was sent to preach good news to the poor, to heal the broken-hearted, to announce freedom to the captives, and to pardon all prisoners. During this Advent season, I would encourage you to hold on tightly to Isaiah’s wonderful description of the coming savior. Those words paint a vivid picture of the one’s whose arrival is truly good news for us all! Til next time…

Saturday, December 13

Today’s Readings: Psalm 52; Hosea 13:4-9; Matthew 23:29-39; 1 Thessalonians 5:8-15; Psalm 10

Several years ago my parents joined the local chapter of a weight-loss group called TOPS. The acronym stands for: Take Off Pounds Sensibly. Right away they fell in love with the group and started getting immediate results. One day I was visiting with my Mom and she was raving about the group. “I’ve never been in a group that’s friendlier and more genuinely supportive of one another,” she said. “You really feel like every one is rooting for you!” “Really,” I paused before adding, “not even in church?” There was a moment of quiet. You see my Mom is one of the most devoted people I’ve ever met in my life when it comes to her participation in her local church. In fact she’s belonged to the same one for each and every one of her 73 years! “Nope, not even church.” As someone who is deeply committed to the life of our local churches, I asked, “Why not? Why don’t our local churches provide the kind of support that this weight-loss group can provide?” And my question started a long discussion on the current state of our local churches. The highlights of that conversation sounded a lot like the words that Paul wrote in today’s passage from 1 Thessalonians – for that passage spells out the things my mom valued in her weight-loss group – things that were missing from her local church. The members of the weight-loss group honor the lay leaders in their community - unlike many of our local churches who constantly criticize their lay leadership. They overwhelm their lay leaders in their community with appreciation and love - unlike many of our local churches that shower their leaders with angry phone calls and rigid demands. The weight-loss group also encouraged stragglers and reached out for those who were exhausted rather than expecting the new people or visitors fit in and simply pretend to be “our kind of people”. And finally, the members of the weight-loss group regularly looked for the best in each other and not the worst. As I listened to Mom’s words, I told her, “It sounds like you have found a real church. One that meets on Thursdays rather than Sundays: one that meets in a gymnasium rather than a sanctuary.” She smiled. “Now, I have a homework assignment for you,” I added. “What’s that?” “Take those values and those ways of being from your TOPS group and bring them back into the life of your local church.” Today, I would give you a similar assignment. If you are involved in a local church or faith community that isn’t living up to the words Paul gave us today in the passage from 1 Thessalonians, embody those words yourselves and take them to church with you. Whatever you do DO NOT sit back and wait for others to do that first - or you might find yourself waiting a long time for Paul’s values to show up in your faith community! You might be surprised when the entire dynamics of your faith community begin to shift simply because of your new way of being. It won’t take long before your local church ceases to settle for simply being an institution and allows itself to be transformed into something much better: the body of Christ. Til next time…

Friday, December 12

Today’s Readings: Psalm 50; Hosea 12:2-9; Matthew 23:23-28; 1 Thessalonians 5:1-7; Psalm 49

Lots of times words or phrases are used in the Bible that are very abstract – so abstract, in fact, that they are difficult to wrap your mind around. That’s why I try to take advantage of every opportunity to take those abstract concepts and flesh them out in very concrete ways by tying them to real-life circumstances. Take the phrase that Paul uses in today’s reading from 1 Thessalonians – “sons and daughters of the Light”. What do those words really mean? Well, Paul tried to flesh the phrase out a bit when he describes sons and daughters of the Light as those who “live under wide open skies and know where [they] stand” (1 Thessalonians 5:4 from The Message). That still doesn’t bring total clarity to my mind, however. What did bring some clarity to my mind regarding this concept was the recent experience I had journeying with a family whose husband/father spent the last two weeks in Hospice. The individual passed away last night just before midnight. During that sacred journey, the family taught me what it meant to live under wide open skies and to know where they stood. That’s because the family had developed deep and loving relationships with one another that left literally nothing unsaid. In the critical moments before their husband/father’s transition, the family stood beside one another with a complete sense of integrity as they loved one another not for who they wanted the other to be, but for who the other really was. Talk about living uder open skies and knowing where you stand! That concrete, tangible experience helped me experience the sacred words from today’s text on a much deeper level. The next time you run across words or phrases in Scripture whose ambiguity causes you some confusion, take those words and put them into the context of your life and see if their application to a everyday life circumstance might help bring further clarity into your mind and spirit. Til next time…