Saturday, March 14

Today’s Readings: Psalm 101; Jeremiah 23:9-15; Mark 11:15-19; 2 Corinthians 13:2-9; Psalm 35

Featured Reading: 2 Corinthians 13:2-9

I’ll never forget the day that I consider the turning point of my ministry. It came on July 16, 2002. Two days earlier I had been called to serve the church I am currently serving. As a result, that Tuesday morning represented the first day of my office hours. As I sat in the office going through piles of mail and waiting for the phone to ring, I remember thinking to myself, “Can I do this?” I started thinking about all the things that I would be experiencing as a result of the call: the births, the deaths, the controversies… you name it, and the thought ran through my mind. Just as I was starting to get myself really worked up, the answer to my own question started forming itself in my mind: “Of course you can’t do it. That’s where grace comes in. I’ll help you!” In those quiet moments alone, I came face to face with my own limitations. I realized, for instance, that if left on my own I would make a terrible pastoral counselor because I am one of the most opinionated people on the planet and I would revert to simply telling people what to do. I realized that I would be tremendously ineffective by the hospital beds of the sick and the hospice beds of the dying because to that point in my life I thrived at having the answers to every question – and clearly those beds often raise issues that defy human answers. And every time a controversy erupted I would only make things worse because my control issues would take over and turn each controversy into a power struggle. That morning I began to come to terms with Paul’s words from today’s reading from 2 Corinthians: “We don’t just put up with our limitations; we celebrate them, and then go on to celebrate every strength, every triumph of truth in you. We pray hard that it will all come together in your lives” (2 Corinthians 13:9 from The Message). That day I began the life-long process of learning to let go and create room for God’s grace to work in and through me. Over time, I found I could actually do the unthinkable – celebrate my limitations. This allowed me to then move on and celebrate my strengths as well. So where are you at with your limitations? Have you come to terms with them, or are you still trying to deny them and overcome them on your own? Til next time…

Friday, March 13

Today’s Readings: Psalm 80; Jeremiah 23:1-8; Matthew 21:33-43; 1 Corinthians 2:10-16; Psalm 23

Featured Reading: 1 Corinthians 2:10-16

A year and a half ago, I had the pleasure of reading Jim Kitchen’s book The Post-Modern Parish while I was on sabbatical. There were several provocative points he made in the book. One of the most provocative was his assertion that it is time for our local churches to move away from models that primarily emphasize Christian Education and toward models that emphasize spiritual formation. “What’s the difference between the two?” you might ask. The difference is that Christian Education tends to teach people about the faith. While such an approach is helpful in that it imparts knowledge, one of the model's shortcomings is that it frequently puts distance between individuals and the subject matter – leaving individuals with the option to pick up the information they like and leave behind information they don’t like. In other words, it tends to leave people within their comfort zones. Spiritual formation, on the other hand, has the goal of facilitating direct experiences of God. This direct experience of God often impacts individuals so dramatically that they lose the luxury of being able to pick and choose what they will carry forward with them. I was reminded of this distinction as I read Paul’s words from today’s reading in 1 Corinthians where Paul talks about the work of the Spirit. “We don’t have to rely on the world’s guesses and opinions,” Paul began, “[for] we didn’t learn this by reading books or going to school; we learned it from God…” (1 Corinthians 2:13 from The Message). As we move deeper and deeper into the Lenten season, it seems like a great time to challenge ourselves to move beyond simply listening to and/or reciting the familiar stories of our faith and toward opportunities to actually experience aspects of those transformative stories within the context of our own lives. The difference may seem subtle, but it’s incredibly important. Til next time…

Thursday, March 12

Today’s Readings: Psalm 72; Jeremiah 22:13-22; Matthew 21:12-22; 1 Corinthians 2:1-9; Psalm 8

Featured Reading: Jeremiah 22:13-22

Yesterday morning I had the chance to attend a presentation titled “Wage Theft in America” by the Colorado chapter of Interfaith Worker Justice. The presenter – Kim Bobo – did an amazing job of spelling out a variety of ways some employers deny their workers the pay they have coming. Some of the ways include restaurants who fail to pass on the tips their customers include on their debit/credit card payments; car wash establishments who require their car washers to be on site for 12-14 hours a day yet force them to clock in only when they are actually washing cars (often reducing their paid time to 6-7 hours a day); and retailers who doctor their employees timecards after they are submitted in order to avoid paying overtime. Each of these shady practices represents attempts to deny individuals their fair share. So what’s that got to do with Scripture? Well, while many folks might not think Scripture specifically addresses such behavior, today’s reading from Jeremiah in fact addresses just such practices. “Doom to him,” Jeremiah notes, “who builds palaces but bullies people, who makes a fine house but destroys lives, who cheats his workers and won’t pay them for their work” (Jeremiah 22:13-14 from The Message). Of course the prophet doesn’t just limit himself to business relationships; he applies those principles to the rest of our lives as well. “Your father got along fine, didn’t he?” Jeremiah pointed out, “He did what was right and treated people fairly” (Jeremiah 22:15 from The Message). Such language invites us all to think about the state of our relationships. Would people say we generally do what is right and treat people fairly, or would they say something else? The way we treat other people is often an important expression of our core values and beliefs. Til next time…

Wednesday, March 11

Today’s Readings: Psalm 119:97-120; Nehemiah 13:4-22; Matthew 6:7-15; Hebrews 11:13-19; Psalm 119:121-152

Featured Reading: Matthew 6:7-15

When I was growing up, I was told there was one way to think about God – that was to think of God as being located somewhere out there (or should I say, “Somewhere up there”). Consequently, I spent most of my time in prayer bringing God up to date on the happenings down here and asking God to intervene to change any outcomes with which I was uncomfortable. It wasn’t until several years later that I moved toward a system of belief that invited me to include God’s imminent presence “down here” as well. Once I began to think of God’s presence as imminent, my prayer practices began to evolve as well. The most obvious change was that I stopped worrying about bringing God up-to-date on the events of my life. A more subtle change was that I stopped putting the focus of my prayer life on trying to change God; instead, I began to use my time of enhanced connection with God to help change myself and my own heart. Instead of using my time of prayer to lobby for a specific outcome, for instance, I began to ask for the strength to deal with the circumstance - regardless of the outcome. What an important shift that was! So what got me to thinking about this shift in my theology and practice of prayer? The words attributed to Jesus in today’s reading from Matthew. In that passage Jesus said: “In prayer there is a connection between what God does and what you do” (Matthew 6:7 from The Message). Today, I would invite you to spend some time considering your practice of prayer and meditation. How do you understand that connection? Til next time…