Taylor Swift and Daughter's Who Grow Up

My daughter has been anticipating attending a concert for more than a year.  Her brother went to one and she was promised tickets for a concert when she saw one she liked.  She knew what she was waiting for - when Taylor Swift announced a date for Louisville in July 2011 she said, "That's it."  So I dutifully was at the keyboard some morning in March, I think, at 10:00 a.m. and ordered tickets.  Come the day of the concert and Miss Swift was forced to postpone due to illness.  Concert rescheduled - on the night of a Middle School Girls basketball game - the one thing that could deter my daughter from her date with destiny.  So we sold the tickets.  Turns out Swift would be in Lexington on October 29 AND the basketball team would participate in a tournament on that same day.  Drama.  Would the games end early enough to allow us to make it to the concert?  Joy!  Which is to say, yes.
So to Rupp Arena with 16,000 other fans (largely teenage and younger girls and their parents).  I was thrilled to see Eliza that happy.  And it seemed like a nice atmosphere - this will be a nice evening for the kids I thought.  Well, and for me to it turns out.  Taylor Swift is not simply some confection created by a record label somewhere.  Based on what I saw - she's the real thing.  I've been a passive fan all along - I don't find much fault with  her music, actually like a good bit of it and am much impressed by the fact that she writes these songs.  I was already convinced she was a prodigiously talented artist.  What I was not prepared for was the level of competence of the performer.  Not a veteran of a ton of concerts, but have seen more than a few including several by my own personal favorite, Bruce Springsteen.  Taylor Swift began the show by walking down the long ramp to the front of the elaborate stage and stood in the spotlight and immediately owned the room.  She is no opera singer, but do not believe the naysayers, her voice is fine and she wields it with precision.  The songs featured choreographed dance numbers, some pyrotechnics here and there, a short set performed at the back of the arena on the floor seated under a rotating tree, and wonderful energy along with a strong connection with her audience.  Stunning command of the room.  And all of 21 years old.
And the songs.  Swift took the stage at 8:30 and played till 10:50.  She played many songs I knew, a few I didn't (but my daughter certainly did) and she pulled off the remarkable feat of playing all that time and left you thinking, hey she didn't do...(Tim McGraw, Teardrops On My Guitar, White Horse and more).  To be so young and to have such a full catalog of what I will argue are not only passable, but in most instances very good songs is really beyond imagination.
High point of the evening.  In the quiet section of the show she sang a song I did not know called "Never Grow Up".
Take pictures in your mind of your childhood room
Memorize what it sounded like when your dad gets home
Remember the footsteps, remember the words said
And all your little brother's favorite songs
I just realized that everything I have
Is someday going to be gone
Oh, I don't wanna grow up, wish I'd never grown up
Could still be little
Oh, I don't wanna grow up, wish I'd never grown up
It could still be simple
Dylan?  Not so much.  But nicely crafted pop song with a surprisingly self aware reflection on the passage of time?  Yes.  And try having your 13 year old daughter sing it in the seat next to you and put her head on your shoulder.  Geez, am I crying at a Taylor Swift concert.  Maybe.  Misty anyway.
Great show.  Taylor Swift.  I'm a fan.

Dust

There was a picture on one of the front pages of the Courier-Journal yesterday of a man from Louisville who had been in New York City on September 11, 2001.  The picture showed him standing in a cathedral sanctuary holding a pair of dress shoes.  The shoes were covered in dust.   They were, of course, the shoes he was wearing on that day ten years ago and the dust was the debris of the events of that day.  For a few moments before heading to church I sat with that picture in my lap and listened as on the television family members read the names of husbands and wives, sons and daughters - the names of people who had died that day read by those who live with the memory.

And I got to thinking about those shoes covered in dust. Those shoes are all of us.  We are all covered in the dust of the debris of that day. I love that, at our August Session meeting, one of our elders asked if we would be touching on the events of 9/11 in our September 11 worship service. I love it because I think it's a great question coming from one of the folks providing spiritual leadership for the congregation - expressing concern for the need for our worship to speak to the world where we live.  I don't know how we would have worshiped yesterday and not acknowledge the dust that has settled on our national psyche post 9/11/01.

The lectionary for the week demonstrated the uncanny ability of ancient scripture to speak a compelling, challenging, contemporary word to every moment in life.  From Matthew's gospel we read of Jesus instruction to forgive seventy times seven times, or seventy-seven times or basically as many times as we have the opportunity to forgive.  Jesus clearly knows forgiveness is not an easy task, understands that and asks for it anyway.  It's what we have received and now it's what we are to practice.  From Romans we were reminded that the judgment seat doesn't have our name on it - we don't get to sit there.  Our energy is not well spent judging others, far more productive is the time we spend asking how we are doing in terms of how we might face such an accounting at this very moment.

The anniversary of September 11 is a day that I don't believe will ever slip quietly by.  There is just all that dust.  Thanks be to God who walks with us to meet the most unspeakable of challenges and grants us the resources - the love, the compassion, the forgiveness - that allow us to live in ways that do not ignore the dust,but rather enable us, day by day, to polish, to shine, to live towards God's better tomorrow.

(The man in the picture is Sean Higgins. To read the C-J piece on Sean Higgins, click on or cut and paste the following...)

http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20110911/EXTRAS17/309110078/1001/Survivor-Sean-Higgins-has-searing-memories-9-11?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|Home|p

Dropping Off, Picking Up

We picked up Eliza from Aldersgate camp in late July.  We had dropped her off for several days at her Granny and Grandads and then she had gone on to camp.  So we'd been apart for a week and a few days.  Now we'd made our way through Richmond and Irvine and wound are way to the camp that has been a part of Cameron and Eliza's lives from the time they were each about four for the purpose of picking her up.  A few days later we were off to Murray Kentucky to pick up Cameron from his five week stay with the Governor's Scholars Program where we'd dropped him off in the waning days of June.
Dropping off and picking up are a primary part of the skill set for this parent.  I like doing it and I'm mostly okay at it, although I'm late more often than I should be.  Dropping off and picking up has been going on since the days of the day care across the street from our house in Prestonsburg (Cameron was there briefly), preschool at the Baptist Learning Center in Prestonsburg (a gloriously blessed place), Mountain Christian Academy in Martin, Kentucky (Cameron's school K-5 and Eliza's K-1), Mount Washington Elementary (Eliza 2-5), Mount Washington Middle (Cameron for three years and Eliza entering her third) and Bullitt East High School (Cameron entering his fourth and final year this very day).
Dropping off and picking up is what we parents do.  School, friends houses, dance lessons, soccer practices, basketball practices, we deliver our children, they learn, play, grow and we pick them up and bring them home.  I especially am fond of the bringing them home part.  I truly enjoy the moment when they emerge from the school, even on the grumpy mood days for the most part, the moment when they come into view and climb into the car and are ours again.  For a while.
The routine worked a little differently this year.  Cameron's friend picked him up and took him for his first day of his Senior year of high school.  It's a movement which Eliza mitigated the effects of a bit by assuring me that I could take her to school.  She was playing, but she also knows how emotionally fragile her dad is with things like this, so it was an appreciated gesture.
All of it points to a time when in some figurative way we will drop them off at the next phase of life and the picking up will be a thing of the past.  So a word from a fragile dad to any parents reading these words - savor the picking up and dropping off.  Don't become frustrated when the task becomes necessarily complicated by laborious comparing of your schedule and your spouses schedule and your in-laws schedule and your friends schedules to see that all the ports (both of exit and entry) are covered.  Enjoy the rhythm of the dropping off and picking up.  It is a gift.  Every time.

The Beautiful Game: It's Happening

I was listening to ESPN radio the other night and Amy Lawrence, a regular back-up host, was questioning why it still is that soccer doesn't catch on as a spectator sport in the United States.  This question made sense once upon a time.  That time is past.  Soccer has been making steady inroads in the United States for the past fifteen to twenty years and the future of soccer at both the participatory and spectator sport levels is bright.  People who are old enough to remember the failure of the North American Soccer League still labor under the impression that soccer has no following in the United States.  Here is why this is wrong in no particular order....
Major League Soccer (MLS):  The MLS has been a powerful engine for growth of the game in the United States.  Having learned from the failure of the NASL they avoided the trap of going after big name players as a way of driving the sport.  Down that road lies your sport as a curiosity.  Instead, they have set sensible financial parameters in place and built slowly and steadily.  If I could have a franchise in any sport today to hold for the future I'd take an MLS franchise.  In the past few years we have seen the introduction of some name players, but in a responsible way that doesn't bankrupt the league.  More importantly, when the league came into existence, one franchise, the Columbus Crew, had a soccer specific stadium.  Now many of the MLS franchises have soccer only facilities.  And the MLS has discovered a soccer hotbed in the Pacific Northwest.  The franchise in Seattle is drawing 36,000 people for home games (which actually allows them to play in a football stadium and not look like they are playing to an empty structure as was the problem for so long in places like Kansas City.  Portland and Vancouver have each been added to the league in the recent past and have brought rabid followings with them.  Some people feel compelled to run down MLS soccer as a pale imitation of the great leagues of Europe - so be it.  MLS is clearly not at a level with top leagues in England, Italy or Germany.  The soccer being offered here is increasing in quality each year and the product is enjoyable and competitive.  Beyond that, as fans get more attached to their teams, the enjoyment of the league grows.
National Team Play:  Both the Women's and the Men's national team have played important roles in the success of soccer in the US.  The Men have have produced some good results in regional play and have qualified for the past several World Cups, a feat that is not to be overlooked.  Several home grown stars have emerged:  Landon Donovan, Tim Howard and Clint Dempsey are prime examples.  And then there is our wonderful Women's team.  From the first generation stars such as Mia Hamm, Julie Foudy, Christine Lilly and  Brandi Chastain to current mainstays like Abby Wambach and Hope Solo, the women's team has demonstrated a remarkable ability to produce great players who were also great personalities and ambassadors for the game.  And it seems that with each major event our teams produce a memorable game that pushes the sport that much further into the limelight.  The recent US women's comeback win over Brazil in the Women's World Cup is another example of this.  The ESPN family of networks was covered over with coverage of Women's Soccer following the game - which is the best kind of promotion - excitement generated by actual onfield accomplishment.
Youth Leagues:  I didn't go track down the numbers, but it seems to be a given that for a good long time now the sport with the most children and young people playing it in the United States has been soccer.  This has actually been one of the points that critics point to, asking why it's so popular to play and yet can't get an audience to come and watch the pro version.  To which I'd reply, not too creatively, Rome wasn't built in a day.  It's growing.  The more people play the more people know the game, the more people don't get confused by the offsides rule, the more people understand the nuances and particularities of the game, the more migration we will see from youth player to fan and from youth player to college and, for some, pro player.
All of which combined leads to a sport that is on the rise.  Slowly, incrementally moving forward.  The days of the goofy sportscaster who takes the obligatory cheap shot at soccer is on the decline.  Bottom line, all of the above factors are built on the best of solid foundations - soccer is a great game.  It is the beautiful game.  It is a true team sport - which surely produces it's individual geniuses - but which just as surely is reliant on the team functioning as a team.  Take the Abby Wambach equalizer goal in the Brazil game for example.  Wambach, in my estimation the best women's player we've produced, brought her unique skill set to bear on that goal, but it would have never happened if the rest of the team had not executed.  Time was running down in extra time.  Many teams in that situation would simply have dumped the ball forward, chased and hoped for the best.  And probably come up empty.  Not the US women.  Instead the possessed the ball from the defensive end.  They made good passes that allowed them to possess the ball over the midfield.  They put the ball on the foot of Megan Rapinoe who made a spectacular pass to Wambach in the box (you try and be that precise with a ball from that distance) and Abby did her special magic.  Team.
Soccer in the United States is on the rise.  Truth.  It's happening.

3 Things I Learned At Disney World

Have concluded the journey through the New Testament, but busy schedule has kept me away from blogging once I hit Romans.  One of those bits of busyness in the past couple of months was the very much fun busyness of going to Disney World with the family.  Had a chance immediately after returning from Disney to speak to a gathering of Methodist and Presbyterian Camp and Conference folks who were gathered for a retreat at Kavanaugh Camp and Conference Center in Crestwood, Kentucky.  What follows is a synopsis of some of what I shared with them about three observations from Disney that might have application for Camp, Conference and Retreat ministry and perhaps for the church in general.

3 Things I Learned At Disney World

1)  Families Want To Be Together
This trip was a special trip for our family as we were able to be together with Julie's mom and dad and with her brother Ed as well as the four of us.  We have been very fortunate and have been to Disney about once every two years for the past ten years or so.  This particular trip was different for a couple of reasons.  First, Julie's dad, Paul, usually doesn't go with us.  He's not especially a Disney fan and has chosen to stay home in the past.  This time however, Eliza, did that grand-daughter magic and asked Grandad to come along - and he said yes.  Second, Julie's mom, Joy, was diagnosed with ovarian cancer back in the fall, not long after the plans for this trip were finalized.  That diagnosis was followed by a surgery that was to have been an hour to an hour and a half, but ended up being about eight hours long.  Joy spent several weeks in the hospital recovering, getting stronger and then, after going home, getting ready for chemo treatments.  It seemed the trip was perhaps going to be a casualty of this much more immediate and important circumstance.  Instead the trip became a rallying point.  Through the rigors of healing and chemo Joy kept in front of her the goal of being with family at Disney, a place she, along with rest of us, very much enjoys.  It was a great week for us - doing a few things differently and learning to move at a more leisurely pace at the "Happiest Place On Earth", but it was great and the fireworks at the Magic Kingdom on our last night is one of those memories that will always be with us.
Looking around while we were there I noticed that we weren't the only extended family at Disney.  In fact, it seemed to be a pretty common occurrence.  Grandparents, Parents, Grandchildren, Uncles and Aunts traveling together and enjoying being together.  Our family clearly had our own story going on in this trip, but on further reflection, I suspect that most of those families had equally dynamic narratives that were going on in their lives and time and again I saw families, the larger, extended kind of family, enjoying one another with gusto.  It seems to me that families want to be together.  That they are looking for a place that makes this kind of intergenerational, family experience possible.  A place that facilitates that sort of interaction, making it easier rather than more difficult.  This would seem to me to be both useful information and strategic challenge to the Church.  In our worship, in our fellowship, in the variety of ways that we come together, we have multiple opportunities to be a place where families can be together and grow in their relationships with one another and with God.  And, for the Church, I think the multi-generational family can be interpreted in a number of ways.  The bottom line is that people of different age groups can not only tolerate each other, they can enjoy one another even seek out being together.  How can we work at facilitating this in the Church.
An aside:  Kudos to Aldersgate Camp in Irvine, Kentucky where my kids have been campers since they were very young.  One of the camps that they have loved as they've grown up has been Aldersgate's Grand Camp. From about ages 4-12, Cameron with his Grandad and Eliza with her Granny have enjoyed these annual times of being together.

2)  We Are Trying To Move From The Steam Engine To Space Mountain
When I was young I was not a big fan of the train ride that encircled the amusement park.  Whether it was the Zoo or Kings Island or Disney World the train seemed kind of boring.  My parents really liked them however and I have come to understand why.  Every moment you are on the train is a moment that you are not walking.  Having a seat for 20 minutes in the midst of a day of constant motion is actually not just a good, but a great ride.  So, I'm in for the train ride - I'm a fan.
Disney's train is pulled around the park by a steam engine from the early 1900's (the oldest being from around 1903).  The train leaves Main Street USA, travels through Frontierland, where it stops and then is on to Fantasyland.  The train used to have a stop in Fantasyland, but they are doing some fairly substantial construction in this area so there is no station to get on or off of the train there right now.  The train did stop there however, to take on water for the engine.  We were in the front car of the train and as we sat there in the front car waiting as the engine took on water I found myself looking throught the back window of the engine, through to the front window of the engine and then on to the looming, distinctive shape of the coaster, Space Mountain in Tomorrowland.  I sat looking at that and thought to myself, "I'm sitting in Church."  In a way, that's where we are - the church is sitting in the train, pulled by a steam engine and trying to figure out how to get to Space Mountain.  We are trying to figure out what is essential to who we are and what is of value from our past that we do not want to jettison and yet we are looking off through the windshield and see we've got some moving forward to do.  There's a world of internet, and Twitter and Facebook and globalization and all manner of things that challenge us to figure out how we take the best of who we are, our core as the body of Christ forward into the future so that we may continue to share the timeless truth of the good news of Jesus Christ in the most effective and relevant manner in the tomorrow into which we are moving.  The steam engine is great, but if the world is ahead of us on Space Mountain, like the Apostle Paul we want to go where the people are.

3)  Little People Want To Learn To Be Big and Big People Want To Remember What It's Like To Be Little
I was riding around in those little cars in Tomorrowland with my daughter and having a look around at the cars around us.  These are the cars that you drive - sort of.  They have their own gas pedal and steering wheel, so you make it go and you guide it. However, there is a rail on the road so you can't really get off the track and everyone is guaranteed to make it from beginning to end.  Watching the surrounding cars it was clear that kids love to drive these cars.  Some whose feet barely reach the gas, whose cars stop and start and stop and start and some who have a parent of other adult riding with them and maybe taking over the chore of keeping the accelerator pushed down.  The kids have huge grins on their faces - they are driving!  Kids love the opportunity to experience something that is typically reserved for adults.  They love to learn to be big.  At the same time adults love driving these cars.  They have to fold themselves up carefully to be able to get behind the wheel and once in the seat it can't be all that comfortable, yet they too have faces that are lit up with grins.  They love being out of their minivan or other grown up car and driving the stylized race car on the Disney track.  They also don't mind a drive where you can't possibly wreck the car and where if you do bump the car in front of you it causes a good laugh rather than a lawsuit.  Adults love remembering what it was like to be little.
There's a discipleship lesson here for the church I think.  The more obvious perhaps being that we have a task in the body of Christ of helping those who are little to grow in their faith as they move along in the journey.  Children do hunger to learn the stories and the traditions of faith and are eager to share time with adults who care about them and authentically want to serve as their guides.  At the same time adults clearly benefit from remembering what it's like to be little - to see things on occasion from the perspective of their younger, more adventurous and sometimes more creative selves.  Leaving for awhile the planning calendars and the responsibility and having creativity and fun be the most important goals can be stimulating to us on our spiritual journey and open us to experience God and to growth that we might miss in what becomes our day to day grind.
Disney was great once again and we had a great family time.  And maybe along the way learned some things.

Acts 21, 22

Acts 21, 22

Overview:  Paul travels to Jerusalem.  Paul is beaten by a mob, arrested and addresses a Roman tribunal.

"When we arrived in Jerusalem, the brothers welcomed us warmly." (Acts 21:17)
Paul travels to Jerusalem and checks in with the leaders of the Jerusalem church.  Things seem to be going well as Paul and the Jerusalem leadership are working out what it means to be a follower of the Way for Jews and for Gentiles in terms of religious practice.  It's a warm welcome, which has to be a good thing and they are making progress on the issues at hand.  So how can a good visit go bad quickly.  Paul goes to the Temple, a riot breaks out, false accusations are hurled, Paul is beaten and then Paul is arrested.  Yet another biblical example of a faithful follower of Jesus having a less than stellar day.  As is often the case it is not simply that a follower of Jesus can have a bad day, it's that this follower of Jesus is having a bad day specifically for what he is doing as a follower of Jesus.  I would say again that it is not universally true that we have to get in trouble to be sure we are following Jesus, but it is abundantly clear that smooth sailing and no trouble in our life is NOT an indication that God likes us better than other less faithful people.  Christian faith and practice is essential in our lives in good times, in challenging times and in times that can only be described as bad.  Further there may well be times when we find ourselves in those challenging and bad times not in spite of, but because of our faith.  Faith is hard.  Rewarding and life fulfilling like nothing else.  But hard.

Acts 19, 20

Acts 19, 20

Overview:  Paul is still on the move.  Traveling around and encouraging churches and presenting the good news. Paul makes what he says will be his final visit with the leaders of the church in Ephesus on his way to visit the church in Jerusalem.

We are told in Acts 19 that seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva try to cast out a demon.  Their formulation is to order the demon out by invoking the "Jesus whom Paul proclaims".  The demon's response is at one level comical:  "Jesus I know, Paul I know, but who are you?"  It is reminiscent of places in the Gospels where demons that Jesus is casting out seem to be the ones who most clearly know who he is and what sort of power he wields.  Here in this passage we have individuals who are attempting to co-opt the work of Paul in the name of Jesus and while it is unclear if the general population believes they are part of the movement known as the Way (Jesus followers) it is clear what that demons clearly recognize who is following Jesus and who is simply wanting to make a grab at power.

Acts 17, 18

Acts 17, 18

Overview:  Paul, Silas and Timothy share missionary journey.  Apollos arrives in Ephesus.

Paul and Silas are in Thessalonica.  The Jewish leadership is unhappy with what the two are stirring up amongst the people.  This leads to a great line - "These people who have been turning the world upside down have come here also." (17:16)  What a great, succinct description of what happens when Jesus gets into the mix.  Priorities get challenged, lives get transformed, change breaks out all over, the world gets turned upside down.  How upside down has our faith made our life.  What is it like living in the kingdom world of Jesus' priorities?  How is it so very different - so different that it makes people say "they are turning the world upside down".  Paul and Silas got noticed.  Are we 2011 followers of Jesus getting noticed?

Acts 14, 15, 16

Acts 14, 15, 16

Overview:  Paul and Barnabas continue their missionary journey and are mistaken for Zeus and Hermes.  Paul and Barnabas take up the Gentile question with the Jerusalem church and are backed by Peter.  Paul and Barnabas have a falling out and Paul continues his work with a new partner, Silas.  Paul and Silas put an end to a bad business plan (and are not thanked for it) and then they live through an earthquake while in jail which leads to the creation of a great Sunday School song.

Singing songs of praise,
Singing songs of happiness,
Dark the day,
Light your way,
Keep singing songs of praise.

Paul and Silas were in jail,
Bail they could not raise,
Jailers callin',
Walls start fallin,
Singing the songs of praise.

I'm not positive, but I think that's how the song went.  We used to sing this on a regular basis at Whirlybird and Jet Cadet meetings at Memorial Presbyterian Church when I was growing up.  One of the great things about so many of these Acts stories - many of them are visceral and fantastic - the kind of thing that appeals to the mind of a young person.  Plenty of adventure along with the reassuring message that God will take care of us.
Acts 14 features the story of Paul and Barnabas being mistaken for Zeus and Hermes.  Zeus or Hermes aside, I am always impressed by the way the followers of Christ in the book of Acts consistently point beyond themselves to Christ.  In an earlier passage it was Peter who was faced with being treated like a god and instead pointed beyond himself to God.  Pride must have been a great temptation especially when things were going well, the message was being well received and people were being healed.  The preachers and teachers of the early church kept ever before them that it was Christ's gospel that animated all that they did.  And because of their single minded devotion the church is here today with the same mission - point to Christ - now entrusted to us.

Acts 11, 12, 13

Acts 11, 12, 13

Overview:  The Jerusalem church discusses the inclusion of Gentiles with Peter following his experience with Cornelius.  Peter is put in prison and then helped to escape by an angel.  Paul and Barnabas preach and teach.

The story in Acts 12 is one of my favorites in all of Scripture.  A great story about the real power of prayer and about the expectations we bring to prayer.  Peter is in prison.  Followers of the Way are gathered in a home praying for his release.  An angel is sent to aid Peter in escaping from prison.  Peter makes good on leaving the prison and heads for the home where the folks are locked up inside praying for his release.  He knocks on the door.  A servant girl, Rhoda, answers.  Rhoda runs and tells the people that Peter is at the door - in essence she runs and tells them, "Your prayers are answered."  The response of the assembled prayer group of believers?  "You are out of your mind."(12:15)  This story always draws me in.  It makes me laugh and then it makes me examine once again how much more seriously I need to value the power of prayer.  The people pray.  They love God.  They love Peter.  They want Peter out of prison and they are talking to God about getting Peter out of prison.  But they are shocked beyond belief and reason when the prayer actually works.  We are called to prayer; this passage pushes us a bit farther to the point where we are to pray as though we believe it may work.  Pray expectantly and wait for the knock that can't come at the door as though it may come at any moment - such is the power of God.

Acts 8, 9, 10

Acts 8, 9, 10

Overview:  Lots of stuff going on.  A brief appearance by a venomous Saul.  The story of how the disciples disperse to elude their persecutors and continue to preach and bear witness to the good news in a variety of places.  Great story of Philip and the court official from Ethiopia who meet up in the wilderness.  Saul heads for Damascus to do harm to Christians and has his life permanently adjusted.  Peter has a vision that moves him to believe that the good news of Jesus is for Gentiles as well as Jews.

Where did you go yesterday?  Who did you see and speak to?  Where are you headed today?  Our lives are a mixture of planning and random moments.  We may feel at times like we are precisely where we are supposed to be and at other times like we are where we are for no particular reason.  These three chapters all push us to take seriously that wherever we happen to be at any moment is exactly the spot that God has in mind for us to be.  Philip is called away from a successful work in Samaria to to a southern road that runs from Jerusalem to Gaza.  The text offers an aside - "This is a wilderness road."  This appears to be an odd turn of events.  Leave a place where you are doing effective work so that you can be on a wilderness road.  Not in Jerusalem.  Not in Gaza.  Specifically on the road, the wilderness road, between the two of them.  Random.  He happens upon a court official from Ethiopia.  The court official happens to be reading a particular passage of Scripture.  He happens to ask for help from the person who happens to be nearby - Philip.  Philip happens to be able to help.  THEN there HAPPENS to be water on the wilderness road.  The Ethiopian asks to be baptized - what's to prevent it seeing as how he understands what he is reading and there happens to be water.  So many random moments falling into place, except they only superficially appear to be random.  God puts people in places for purposes.
Paul is ready to go terrorize some Christians in Damascus.  He's fired up, has his marching orders in hand and he's off.  Jesus happens to appear to him on the road and sends him to a Chrisitan leader in Damascus who happens to be someone who is able to overcome his misgivings about Paul and reach out to him in Christian love.  And Paul is off to the synagogue and a where a persecutor had once been a powerful force for the gospel is unleashed.  I do not believe Ananias happened to be the person who was handy for the job.  I believe Ananias was the person who God had been preparing for that very particular assignment.
Peter is in Joffa at the home of Simon the tanner.  He happens to be on Simon's roof and has a vision.  At the same time Cornelius, a God fearing Gentile, is having a visit from an angel asking him to send for Peter.  Peter winds up traveling to Cornelius' home and more proclamation and baptizing ensue.  All as a result of events that could have seemed disconnected or random, but which, when the story is strung together take shape with a purpose that come clearly into view.
Where are you going today?  Who will you encounter?  Imagine for a moment that none of it is random.  Believe for a moment that all of it is a piece of God's unfolding plan.  Our days just got way more interesting.

Acts 5, 6, 7

Acts 5, 6, 7

Overview:  Two members of the community hold back profits from the sell of a piece of property.  The disciples need some organized help.  Stephen is arrested, preaches a great sermon and is stoned to death.

Acts 4 ends with the early Christian community in something of an idyllic state.  Everything is held in common by all and there was not a needy person among them.  This goes on all the way until the very beginning of the next chapter.  Which is to say, not very long.  Immediately in Acts 5 we have the story of Ananias and Sapphira who misrepresented what they had sold a piece of land for and attempted to deceive the community so that they could keep some of the profit.  Peter sees through what they have done and points out to both of them that it's not what the community they are trying to deceive, but God and that this is an impossible project.  Both Ananias and Sapphira then drop dead.  Continuing on there is some unhappiness with the way some of the folks in the community are receiving what they need which leads to the disciples getting an earful from the unhappy parties involved.  This issue is met by the naming of a group specfically to deal with caring for the physical needs of the community.  In Acts 7 Stephen is arrested and following an impassioned sermon is stoned to death.  The community which had been living in bliss is quickly faced with internal disobedience, discord and attack from the outside.  The point being that, once again, the Bible makes no case for faith being easy.  It is telling that the book of Acts is not four chapters long and does not end with the church living happily ever after.  Instead it chronicles the challenges, the great acts of faith and the hardships that the community lives through as they follow the Way.  It is helpful in our imperfect days and imperfect communities to see that we share our imperfection in common with our earliest Christian predecessors.  And, perhaps, it will inspire us to be as courageously faithful in the face of our sin, shortcomings and imperfections as they were as well.

Acts 3, 4

Acts 3, 4

Overview:  Peter and John heal a man at a gate to the temple. Peter preaches. The Church grows and the folks share things.

Peter and John's actions show they've been paying attention to Jesus.  And by that I mean they've been paying attention to the fact that Jesus pays attention to people. When Peter and John encounter a man asking for assistance at the gate to the temple known as Beautiful, they listen to what he asks for and then they pay close attention to him to offer what he needs.  He asks for alms, it's what he's become accustomed to doing.  Peter and John say that they do not have any silver or gold to share - they could just let it drop at that point.  Instead their assessment of the situation leads them to believe that they have something else to offer - something more valuable - something the man needs - healing.  The man had been lame - the disciples help him to walk.  One take away for us is to remember to pay close attention both to what people ask for and to what God's Spirit leads us to believe they need.  Another is to ask ourselves what resources God has placed in our hands to help those in need.  Peter and John did not have financial resources at that moment - it did not stop them from helping.
Acts 4:20 also offers us a challenge as we pursue our own walk of faith.  "We cannot keep from speaking about what we have heard and seen."  Personal safety have become unimportant considerations for Peter and John.  What is primary for them is sharing what they have witnessed - sharing the life giving message of Jesus Christ.  Our personal safety is usually not going to be part of the equation - it's not out of the question, but our largerst concern is typically going to be our comfort level with talking about and sharing Jesus with others, as opposed to facing arrest or physical danger.  When God's life changing power is at work in our lives Peter and John's words will be our own, "we cannot keep from speaking about what we have seen and heard."

Acts 1, 2

Acts 1, 2

Overview:  Acts begins with the disciples seeing Jesus ascend to heaven and then getting about the work of organizing themselves for ministry, starting by finding a replacement for Judas.  Chapter two features the events of the Pentecost.

The disciples have a practical dilemma.  Judas, who betrayed Jesus and then committed suicide, has left them a person short in their ministry.  Having Jesus words of commission to them fresh in their ears and waiting as Jesus instructed them to for the gift of the Holy Spirit, they use the time to solve their personnel problem.  They find two individuals who had been around them throughout Jesus time with them and have the two draw straws, with Matthias winding up in the empty slot.  My mentor, Rev. Dr. Robert R. McGruther, used this passage when working with nominating committees.  His point was that whether through a deliberative process as a committee or through casting lots as the disciples did, the goal is to trust that God's Spirit is at work in the process
Early on in Acts there is mention that Peter stands and addresses the assembled believers and sets their number at about 120.  And then it grows.  Acts makes a point of routinely mentioning that the ministry of the disciples is drawing people to Jesus and at the end of the second chapter we have the first of what will be a regular statement - "And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved."  While numbers are not the be all and end all by which we measure the vitality of a ministry I am continually pursuaded by the witness in Acts that it is a legitimate measure and one we should pay attention to even when, perhaps especially when,  it challenges us.

John 20,21

John 20, 21

Overview:  Jesus' resurrection.  Jesus shares a post-resurrection breakfast with his friends.

A couple of thoughts as we close out John's Gospel specifically and the Gospels in general.
First, love the last line of John's Gospel for the window it gives us into what a Gospel actually is.  John writes that there is so much more that could be told if he were so inclined.  The point of the Gospel - I think each of the Gospels - is not to tell a complete history or biography of Jesus.  This is not to say that they do not want to portray things with historical accuracy, but that they are picking and choosing the stories they think will go the farthest towards convincing the reader of who Jesus was/is and what his ministry among us was all about.
Second, John is often characterized as the most theologically complete of the Gospels and there is clearly a level of theological reflection here that is not present in Matthew, Mark and Luke.  However, there is also remarkable detail in these stories.  Attention to particular words and actions and details and nuances in the stories that, in my mind, argue for their authenticity.  John doesn't seem to be manipulating stories to make his theological points - instead he seems to be finding the theological depth that honestly exists in the stories he tells.
Have enjoyed making my way through the four Gospels - looking forward to one of my favorite books of the
Bible - the Acts of the Apostles.

John 18, 19

John 18, 19

Overview:  Jesus' arrest, trial, crucifixion and burial.

Power vs. Truth.
True Power vs. The Perception of Power
Pilate thinks Jesus is harmless, if a little deluded.  He's the person in charge, has a lot on his plate and would really rather not be sending off what he perceives to be a pretty much harmless man to be executed.  Of course, when push comes to shove, he will do that if necessary and apparently it becomes necessary.  Two thousand years later we are reading this account and we are all in on Pilate's confusion.  Pilate, with all of his power and importance, is important to us from this distance for one reason and one reason only.  His role in Jesus' story.  Pilate comes across as a guy who likes being in charge, but isn't interested in being emeshed in the specifics of the story - he just wants it dealt with.  Jesus does not respond to any of the buttons that Pilate is accustomed to utilizing.  Pilate throw ups his hands with his response to Jesus - "What is truth?" (John 18:38)  Pilate is used to being the one who names what truth is and having people fall in to their role in the reality that he has named.  Jesus confounds Pilate and exposes him at the same time.  Pilate, I think, knows how illusory his power is, but has never been in the presence of someone who seems to also know it.  Jesus does.

John 15, 16, 17

John 15, 16, 17

Overview:  Jesus speaking to and praying about the disicples following the Last Supper.

These three chapter feature a good bit of somewhat dense theological reflection by Jesus about his mission and ministry, his relationship to his Father, his relationship to the disciples, the disciples relationship to each other and to the world and so on.  There is a lot going on.  At the same time you can hear Jesus very human concern and affection for those he has spent so much of his time with during his earthly ministry.  He is one moment striving to give them one last thing to remember, one last truth to fall back on and the next praying earnestly for them and the work they will undertake in his physical absence.  In these chapters we find prime examples of what sets John's Gospel apart from Matthew, Mark and Luke.  There is a level of theological reflection and discourse here that is never so overt in the others.

John 12, 13, 14

John 12, 13, 14

Overview:  John's Palm Sunday account.  Followed by John's Last Supper account - Jesus washes the disciples feet.

"The Pharisees then said to one another, 'You see, you can do nothing.  Look the world has gone after him.'"(12:19)
This line jumps off the page.  It's reminds me of when they put a microphone on the coaches during a basketball game.  On occasion, instead of getting a carefully considered and worded statement from the coach the microphone will catch the true thoughts and feelings of the person wearing the mic.  Instead of the polite or brave public face you hear the real plan for attacking the other team or the real frustration the coach is feeling with one (or more) of the players.  So here are the Pharisees caught saying what they really think.  Not the "for public consumption" taking Jesus to task for healing that person on the Sabbath or for making some claim about who he is and who God is, but a relevatory moment - a window into their true thoughts and deepest fears.  "You see, you can do nothing.  Look the world has gone after him."  They feel things slipping away.  People are responding less and less to their institutional authority and more and more to this upstart preacher from the Galilee and his unorthodox methods and practices.  They are uneasy and this can't be allowed to go on unchecked.  When we really encounter Jesus we can probably identify with both the people who are captivated by him and with the Pharisees who have issues with him.  Jesus personality and message are magnetic and compelling - we sense that in following him there is freedom.  At the same time there is clearly something revolutionary here that pushes back the boundaries of what we've come to think of as normal behavior and practices.  Jesus doesn't want us to live life as usual and sometimes life as usual may be predictable and boring, but it is also comfortable and secure if imperfect.  The truly dazzling moments for us occur when we summon the courage or give in to the curiosity to follow Jesus up the road.

John 10, 11

John 10, 11

Overview:  Jesus talks about himself as the Good Shepherd.  Jesus, after waiting a couple of days, travels to the home of Mary, Martha and Lazarus and brings Lazarus back from the dead.

"I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly." John 10:10
The concept of abundant life is one that I find both compelling and problematic.  Compelling in the way that Jesus talks about it and the way that those in his life experience it.  Problematic in the way that the term "abundant life" is sometimes used in ways that seem incongrous with the way in Jesus spoke of it.  The confusion is not just ours - I think it crops up in scripture as well.  Here we have some of the Jews (vs.22-30) pleading with Jesus to make it simple - just tell us if you are the Messiah - when will you tell us plainly.  Jesus seems to respond that he can't be any more plain then he has been.  The work of the Messiah will provide abundant life, but it will not provide (necessarily) a comfortable, secure, problem free life free of complexities. I don't know for sure what the people asking Jesus to be more plain were wanting, but I suspect that part of what they were wanting was to have things made simple.  Jump to the next chapter and I think we have in Mary and Martha a snapshot of two women who are living the abundant life.  They are deeply saddened by the death of their brother, even saying that if Jesus had arrived sooner their brother would not have died. But behind those words there is, in their words and actions, an underlying commitment to Jesus and to whatever he is doing.  They don't doubt Jesus, they just long that this day to day matter had played out differently.  There is an embrace of the complex here that is instructive.  Life will sometimes move in ways that make us happy and sometimes it will go in ways that hurt us, make us unhappy and which we will not understand.  However we are experiencing life at this moment, Jesus is still the Lord of all life.  It doesn't change the complexity of this moment, but the underlying belief and assurance in God's plan means that whether today is a celebration or an uphill battle, life is still abundant because we, along with Mary and Martha and the disciples have bought into Jesus' message.  I am convinced that struggling with and working out what abundant life means as we follow Jesus is central to being the followers we are called to be.  And I am forever convinced that abundant life is not the removal of difficulties, challenges and other complexities of life.  Be plain with us, if it is a yearning for understanding of God's plan that means we are willing to fully engage ourselves is a prayer that seeks after abundant life.  Be plain with us, if it means make it easy for us, seems to me to bear little relation to abundant life as Jesus speaks describes it.

For a great contemporary illustration of a woman striving to live the abundant life follow the link below which should connect to the PC(USA) Mission Yearbook entry for today.
http://gamc.pcusa.org/yearbook/february-24/

John 8, 9

John 8, 9

Jesus teaches at the temple.  Stops a woman from being executed.  Mixes it up with the Jewish religious leadership.  Heals a blind man.  And you know there is going to be trouble when you start healing blind folks.

I'm a big fan of the comedy troupe Monty Python.  Most of the bits I enjoy most from them have the common thread of John Cleese's presence.  Which makes it no surprise that I am also a very big fan of Cleese's classic series "Fawlty Towers".  Fawlty Towers is a flawlessly executed version of a very British form of humor relying on convention and set pieces and putting small pieces in place for the majority of the episode so that (kind of like the game Mouse Trap) it can all rain down laughter in a monumental payoff in the end.  Which brings us to John 9.  John 9 is certainly not intended to be a situation comedy, Jesus heals a blind man and deals with the fall out which is, of course, serious stuff.  Except that there is humor here.  There is irony here.  There are people who are doing precisely what they think they ought to be doing while doing precisely what they ought not be doing.  There are blind people who can see, sighted people who cannot see, and, along the way, people who can hear perfectly well and yet cannot hear at all.  It is not hard to imagine Basil Fawlty (Cleese) in the role of a Pharisee ranting about blind people seeing while all the while having perfectly good eyesight and running into obstacle after obstacle in a way that can only indicate a certain kind of blindness.  John is masterful in making his point here.  And a bit funny along the way.

John 6, 7

John 6, 7

Jesus feeds a large crowd and walks on water.  He talks about himself as the bread of life.

Couple of mentions of the temple police in chapter 7.  That always catches my attention and brings a smile.  My mind speculates on who the temple police might be in 2011.  It always seems a shame to me that Pentecost is the one Sunday where red is the color and I have a stole that I love that is red and was a gift from my youth group back in Missouri.  I will often press my luck and where it for a Sunday or two beyond Pentecost.  I will tell the congregation that we will go ahead and worship and hope the church police don't show up.  So far, so good.
Jesus talks a good bit about himself as the bread of life here.  This comes just a short time after he has talked about himself as living water and after he has miraculously fed a large crowd.  All of this puts me in the mind of the sacrament of communion.  I have always attended and then been pastor of churches that had an irregular communion schedule, usually celebrating the sacrament around eight times a year.  When called to Hebron I found myself at a church that celebrated communion on the first Sunday of each month.  I wondered at the time how that would feel over the course of time - whether it would seem like it was too often.  It has not.  I love the rhythm of starting each month with communion which keeps ever before us the bread of life that we need to feed us and nourish us and sustain us for the journey.

John 4, 5

John 4, 5

Overview:  Jesus meets a Samaritan woman at the well and heals a man at the Sheep Gate in Jerusalem.

"Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done."(4:29)  These are the words of the Samaritan woman as she takes her leave of Jesus at the well and runs with excitement into her village to tell of the encounter she has just had.  I'm a fan of David Blaine.  Not avid mind you, but if one of his tv shows is on late at night, I'm likely to watch the sidewalk magician ply his trade.  Card tricks, levitation and the like.  Blaine's a fascinating guy.  People respond to him with disbelief and excitement - "Can he really do that?"  There is more going on in Jesus encounter with the woman at the well then what happens between David Blaine and his audience.  When she heads off to the village to say "Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done", I don't think she has in mind sharing the best card trick she has ever seen.  He next words tell the story, "He cannot be the Messiah, can he?" which of course means she thinks he may well be the Messiah.  What gave her that impression?  I don't think it simply Jesus ability to site events from her past for her - I think what she really feels after this encounter is that, at last, she has met someone who really knows her.  It's not about a trip to the well day after day for water.  It's the thirst that she carries inside, the thirst that is built into each one of us by our Creator for something that food and water cannot touch.  A desire to be known by God.  It is uncomfortable to be this transparent when we spend so much of our time trying to keep our defenses in place.  Here was someone with whom the woman did not need to keep up her guard, he already knew, he already knew her, and he was still there talking.  God already knows us.  It is very good to be known.  And loved.

John 1, 2, 3

John 1, 2, 3

Overview:  John's birth narrative.  Jesus performs his first miracle in Cana.  John the Baptist makes a few appearances.  Nicodemus meets with Jesus.

Mark has no birth narrative.  Matthew has a brief account.  Luke has the most detail.  And John?  Some might say that John, like Mark, has no birth narrative.  I tend to think of John 1:1-18 as John's birth narrative.  "And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory." (1:14)  Luke focuses the camera in close so we can see the particulars of the shepherds and the angels and the young parents in the stable in Bethlehem.  John pulls the camera way back so that we can see the sweep of human history - "In the beginning was the Word" - and then brings his focus in on the familiar and elusive John the Baptist.  This close reading in larger chunks of the Gospels in the past month has caused me to spend a lot of time thinking on the person and work of John the Baptist.  I read a book (whose name I will have to track down) a few years back speculating on the role that John played in Jesus ministry and in the people's ability to understand who Jesus was and what his ministry was to be about.  It had a good bit of speculation and was probably a bit over the top, but it did make a compelling argument to at least consider more closely the not incidental, but rather critical role that John plays in Jesus ministry.  I am still probably not on board with all the conclusions of that work, but I buy in wholeheartedly to the central role of  John.
We did not visit Cana of Galilee this trip to Israel.  Technically we did - we drove through it - but we didn't get out and walk around.  We have in the past.  Here Jesus performs what John tells us is his first miracle.  I've always liked the interaction between Mary and Jesus in this story.  Mary, the mom, asks Jesus to do something.  Jesus seems to decline.  Mary tells the servants to do what Jesus tells them to do and then Jesus does what Mary asked him to do.  John offers no explanation on Jesus' apparent change of heart, and for anyone who has ever witnessed a child and a parent, particularly a mother and a son, no explanation is needed.  Jesus registered his thoughts on the matter, but mom's will was going to carry the day.  So the water gets turned to wine and Jesus miracle working days are set in motion.

Luke 23, 24

Luke 23, 24

Overview:  Crucifixion. Resurrection. Post-resurrection appearances.  Ascension.

My attention was most caught by the early verses of Luke 24.  It is here that the women and then Peter make their way to the tomb to find a tomb, an empty tomb.  The women also find angels - angels were there to announce Christ's arrival to the Shepherds and they were there to announce his resurrection to the women.  Angels as sign posts to get people moving in the right direction.  This section of the passage caught me as I reflected on just three weeks ago sitting in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and reading these same two chapters of Luke's gospel. One thing which I remember very clearly is that just as the women came and just as Peter came, people are still coming.  In the middle of the day they come in groups and the place is full of pilgrims, lined up around the "tomb" awaiting their turn to go in.  In the middle of the night when a man walked through the church (probably either just getting off work or going to work) and methodically prayed his way through the building, walking and touching the altars and paintings as he went.  In the morning at 6:00 a.m. when a Catholic mass was taking place at the entrance to the tomb and when I climbed up the stairs to Calvary there were already women and men kneeling in quiet meditation.  It is worth pausing for a moment at the tomb.  Pausing to remember that Jesus died for us and was placed in the tomb.  Pausing to remember that while there is a tomb - Jesus isn't in it anymore.  Pausing to consider what happened there and how it wasn't something that was done for someone else - it was done for us.

Luke 20, 21, 22

Luke 20, 21, 22

Overview:  Jesus teaches.  Jesus shares a final supper with his disciples.  Jesus is arrested and his trial begins.

"Every day he was teaching in the temple, and at night he would go out and spend the night on the Mount of Olives, as it was called."(21:37)  This verse is one of those that takes on new life when you have an opportunity to stand on the Mount of Olives and to look across the Kidron Valley to the place where the Temple would have stood and imagine the spot on to the left of the Temple in the upper part of the city where the last supper would have taken place.  The hillside was probably covered with Jewish pilgrims in Jerusalem for the passover. A sort of religious KOA campground.  Perhaps the place Jesus returned to following the last supper, the Garden of Gethsemane was a place near to a spot where his family had camped during his growing up years, a place he had developed a special affinity for and returned to now in the years of his public ministry.  The places are close together - you can get from here to there - but also far apart when you begin thinking about Jesus beginning the day in one place, traversing the valley to get to the upper room, back across the valley to pray in the garden and then once more back towards the upper city when he is arrested and taken to Caiphus' house.
"When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time."(Luke 4:13)  Remember this verse from earlier in Luke? The devil was by no means giving up, simply waiting for an opportune time.  Foreshadowing?  Perhaps.  "Then Satan entered into Judas called Iscariot, who was one of the twelve."(Luke 22:3)  No subtle larger point to be made.  Simply, this is a reminder that the devil is always looking for opportunities.  We talk, sometimes, abstractly about evil.  As though evil is a random occurence that unfortunately springs up and intrudes in our lives.  These passages argue otherwise. Evil is not random.  The devil is calculating and patient and looking for openings.  We do ourselves no favors when we play down what we are up against.

Luke 18, 19

Luke 18, 19

Overview:  Jesus tells a story about a Pharisee and a tax collector who go to the temple to pray  Jesus says little children will enter the kingdom of God and wealthy people will have a hard time doing so.  Jesus meets a tax collector named Zacchaeus in Jericho.  Luke gives his account of the triumphal entry on Palm Sunday and Jesus weeps over Jerusalem.

Jesus offers a few sayings about the kingdom of God that discourage those who are listening to him.  "Truly I tel you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it."(v.17)  This on the heels of people bringing their children to Jesus to bless them.  The disciples try to run them off so he can do more important things - Jesus tells them to stop running the kids off, that actually it's to the little ones that the kingdom belongs.  The saying itself is quite specific in its use of the word never.  Receive the kingdom as a child or never enter it.  Never.  Further on, "How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God."(v.25)  This is an ominous statement if you happen to be wealthy.  A little less exact then never, but still Jesus says it will be hard.
The people listening to all of this get a little discouraged and ask, "Then who can be saved."  The more Jesus has talked about it, the more challenging it seems to be - perhaps impossible.  Jesus answer is one we can hang our hats and our hopes on.  "What is impossible for mortals is possible for God."(v.27)  A great escape hatch from the whole problem of how we are able to negotiate a path into the kingdom.  The possibility of the journey being successful doesn't depend on us - what is possible - even if we imagine it to be impossible - is possible because it is God's work and God's will.

Luke 15, 16, 17

Luke 15, 16, 17

Overview:  Jesus is teaching.  Several well known parables in these chapters.  The prodigal son.  The lost sheep and the lost coin.  The story of Lazarus and the wealthy man.

"But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him."(15:20)  I love this moment in the story of the prodigal son.  Of the many sermons I've heard on this passage the one that made the greatest impact on me was the one that focused heavily on this verse.  The son has been gone - off in the far country.  Who knows how long - long enough to squander his inheritance and to arrive at a point of desperation and hopelessness.  And yet the father sees him while he was "still far off".  Did the father just happen to look off into the distance on the right day?  I don't think so.  I think the father had been looking up that road every single day.  Every.  Single.  Day.  With love in his heart and hope that perhaps this would be the day that his heart would not be broken again.  And then came this particular day.  And the father is off the out the door, off the porch and up the road, because what he had hoped for and lived for and somewhere in himself believed against all odds was happening - his son was returning home.  Is there a more poignant illustration of God's love for us.  A better illustration of our unworthiness and yet God is watching and watching and hoping and waiting.
"Once Jesus was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God was coming and he answered, 'The kingdom of God is not coming with things that can be observed, nor will they say 'Look here it is!' or 'There it is!'  For, in fact, the kingdom of God is among you.'"(17:20-21)  When the world seems really broken it can be tempting to hope that one day we will be able to simply say "There it is!".  Jesus points to an experience of the kingdom that is no less powerful, but is, perhaps more subtle and more nuanced.  The kingdom is not alien, the kingdom is among us.  I've been mesmerized by the people of Egypt this past several weeks.  Who would have imagined a month ago what would be transpiring in Egypt today.  And yet there it is.  It was in their midst taking form and preparing to make it's presence powerfully known.  I will not forget the moment when I happened to have on MSNBC and the commentator was telling us tha the Vice President of Egypt was making a statement and as the announcer was stumbling through the interpreters version of the statement words became unnecessary.  There was born such a roar from the people in the square in Cairo whose name is translated Liberty, a roar that grew and grew and grew and was filled with such pure, untainted joy.  And it went on and on and on.  It wasn't here or there.  It was among them.  The kingdom of God is among us.

Luke 12, 13, 14

Luke 12, 13, 14

Overview:  Mostly teaching by Jesus either directly or by way of parables.  Jesus offering instruction on the kingdom of God.

Some interesting interactions with Pharisees.  "At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to him, 'Get away from here for Herod wants to kill you.'"(13:31)  Worth noting that there are some Pharisees who seem to be concerned for Jesus well being.  The Pharisees often come across as opponents of Jesus, sometime almost to the point of caricature; this helps with some sense of balance.  Jesus eats at the home of Pharisees and, again, here they seem to have his best interest at heart.
Jesus offers a number of ways to approach thinking on the kingdom of God throughout this reading.  Luke 12 in particular offers strong distinctions between the things that are important in the world and the things that are important in the kingdom of God.  Too often, Jesus teaches, we are consumed with worry over things that are not worth the time, effort or stress.  God has a plan and has our best interest in mind, but something within us either does not trust this or just cannot help worrying.  "'And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life.'"(12:25)  The question is as relevant for us today as it was when Jesus first said it.

Luke 10, 11

Luke 10, 11

Overview:  Jesus sends out 70 on a mission in pairs.  They come back excited about what they are able to accomplish in their time in the field.  Jesus responds to a question with the parable of the Good Samaritan.  Jesus teaches the disciples the Lord's prayer and has some back and forth with the Phrarisees.

Jesus sends out seventy folks on a mission project.  The text says a couple of interesting things.  First, he sends them as advance prep teams to places he intends to go.  Jesus is not randomly walking around and showing up places.  This points to a strategic approach - the advance team goes in and gets the lay of the land and prepares the town or village for the time when Jesus will arrive.  Second, he sends them in pairs.  He doesn't send them out alone - he sends them with a companion.  Stan Ott, the person behind the Acts 16:5 Intiative for church vitality, has something he calls the "with me" principle.  Stan says we are far more effective when we do things with someone else then when we set out on our own.  He points to texts like this one to demonstrate that Jesus saw the value of mutual support and encouragement.
Luke 10 ends with the wonderful story of Mary and Martha.  Martha, who is sure that Jesus will back here in taking her sister Mary to task, and instead is gently told that she is the one who is distracted and that there is "need of only one thing" - the thing Mary has chosen to place herself in the presence of the Lord.  I can read this story again and again, because I need to hear it and internalize it again and again.  There is one thing that is needful.  And it's not the busyness of all the tasks that need to be done and all the tasks clamoring for attention.  The needful thing is to place ourselves in the presence of the Lord.

Luke 8, 9

Luke 8, 9

Overview:  We get a report on the women who support Jesus ministry.  Jesus tells a parable about a sower.  Jesus calms a storm, casts out a demon and brings a girl back from the dead.  The disciples get sent on a mission and Jesus is transfigured on a mountain while in the company of Moses and Elijah.

Peter and James and John accompany Jesus on to the mountain that will become the Mount of Transfiguration.  This little nugget in the midst of that story that caught my attention on this read through is "Now Peter and his companions were weighed down with sleep, but since they stayed awake, they saw his glory...."(9:32).  This is something of the flip side of what will transpire at the Garden of Gethsemane. In the garden, Jesus will ask them to stay awake with him and they will fall asleep while he prays more than once.  Here while Jesus goes off, they are apparently exhausted, but they stay awake and as a result they witness this amazing event.  There is encouragement here for us when we are weary ourselves, physically, emotionally or spiritually that if we persevere we may experience something beyond our imagining.
Also in this reading is one of my favorite verses in all of Scripture, Luke 9:51.  "When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem."  This is the point from which there is no turning back.  He didn't decide to go back to the Galilee for another year.  He set his face to go to Jerusalem.  The power of these words goes well beyond a decision to go and celebrate the Passover.  This is Jesus making the decision to embrace the most demanding and painful portion of his mission.  We move now into Luke's traveling Gospel as Jesus and his followers make their way to the Holy City and the events that will unfold there.

Luke 6, 7

Luke 6, 7

Overview:  Jesus teaches, offering blessings and woes.  He goes to Capernaum where he heals the slave of a centurion who helped to build the Synagogue there.  He heals the hand of a man on the Sabbath and he goes to dinner at the home of a Pharisee.

Two verses, on in Luke 6 and one in Luke 7, that catch my attention as I read through them today.  First, Luke 6:19, "And all in the crowd were trying to touch him, for power came out from him and healed all of them."  And in Luke 7:39, "Now when the Phrarisee who had invited him saw it he said to himself, 'If this man were a prophet; he would have known who and what kind of woman this is who is touching him - that she is a sinner.'"  I am drawn to language in both of these verses that again points unblinkingly to Christ's physical presence.  To his ability to touch and be touched.  God came as Christ with a message, but the message was delivered by a real live human messenger.  One who could touch and speak and see and be touched and seen and heard.  Jesus is a not an intellectual experience, Jesus engages all the senses.  There is an echo here of the woman who touches Jesus hoping to be healed and whose presence he detects when she touches him.  The power flows out of him to those around him in need of healing.  The Pharisee expects that Jesus should know this woman anointing his feet by the virtue of her touch alone - that is he should know she is a shady person of questionable background.  Jesus in fact does know her by her touch, not in some mysterious reading of her character, but in a more fundamental way - her touch conveys her compassion as she ministers to him in a way that his host had not.
All of this touching and pointing to the engagement of the senses reminds us that we are folks who see, feel, touch and so on, walking around amongst other folks who do likewise.  However we bear witness to Jesus, if it is to be believable must be consistent with what folks can see and feel and experience of us.  Our aim must be to emulate less the Pharisee host and more the compassionate woman as we live our faith from day to day.

Luke 4, 5

After dipping liberally into my 24 days of grace for the trip and to complete the blogging about it, back to reading through the New Testament today.

Luke 4, 5

Overview:  Luke's account of the temptation of Christ. Jesus teaches in Nazareth to a poor reception and then moves down to Capernaum.  Jesus helps his will be followers fish for fish and then calls them for other purposes.

I want to hold the verse that ends the temptation story up against the verse that follows it that begins the next phase in Jesus' ministry.

"When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time.  Then Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to the Galilee...."

The way I read these verses the temptation experience was not draining for Jesus, but rather was energizing.  It was not that he was left in need of further renewal after encountering the devil and the devil's temptations it was that he was "filled with the power of the Spirit".  When we meet temptation head on and respond, as Jesus did, with faithful Scriptural responses, the outcome can clearly be more than survival.  It can be growth. It can be the strength and stamina - the power of the Spirit - to do new things.
I'm also captivated again by Jesus fishing lesson for the disciples.  Here was something they did not need help from Jesus to do.  They were fishermen.  They could use his help on lots of things, but this they could handle on their own.  Or maybe not.  Having caught nothing, Jesus chips in with his instruction and, suddenly, fish.  Of they myriad lessons in this passage one may well be the reminder that we need Jesus in every way in all that we do.  Not just in the areas we struggle.  Not just in our growing edges.  Even in the things we think we do well.  The things that we've got covered.  Whatever we are capable of, it can be better with Jesus direction.

Shalom Holy Land

Holy Land Trip, Day 7, January 27, 2011

The final day.  All of the conflicting emotions of a great adventure coming to a close.  Certainly looking forward to being home and seeing Cameron and Eliza, but reluctant to say goodbye to Jerusalem.  Don't know why, but there is something of home in this place, there is that sense in my mind that I will be back.  I hope so.

Up early for morning prayer in the Old City.  Made a quick walk up to see the Western Wall again, and got a look at the old Jewish Cardo in the Jewish quarter.  There is so much here to call for your attention that you have to be careful not to lose track of time.  Got to the Holy Sepulcher about 6:30 a.m. - back to the hotel by 7:15 a.m. to get bags together.

Our group, all six busses, are to gather at the Garden Tomb at 9:30 a.m. for a worship service and communion.  I have mixed feelings about the Garden Tomb.  It is a beautiful place and it does give you a look at what it might have looked like, but my affinity is strong (clearly) for the Holy Sepulcher.  Some folks imagine that the Garden Tomb must be the site of the crucifixion/resurrection as the Holy Sepulcher is so ornate and filled with things that we don't find as much in western churches - in particular western protestant churches.  It has the feel of authenticity to me if for no other reason than the weight of the veneration of pilgirims for some 1600 years.

The guide who spoke with us did a great job of presenting the Garden Tomb.  What he said, and I agree, is that whether or not it is the actual location it is a great place to envision what happened and to have a time of worship.  Bishop Lindsay Davis of the Kentucky Conference of the United Methodist Church spoke and he was great in delivering an inspirational message and setting a great tone for a very worshipful communion experience.  Julie was one of the folks who assisted with the communion service which was very nice.

(I like this picture a lot.  At the Garden Tomb they have excavated a wine press.   This is our communion elements, with the excavated wine press in the background.  The gifts of God for the people of God.)

After the Garden Tomb we had a couple of hours of free time - some went to a store, some went back to the Old City one last time.  Guess where I went?  Uh, yes, back to the Old City and back to the Holy Sepulcher.

(inside - The Dome of the Holy Sepulcher)

(exterior of the Holy Sepulcher)

(courtyard of the Holy Sepulcher)

(crosses carved into the wall of the Holy Sepulcher by early Christian pilgirms)

(place where this present day pilgrim accepted the invitation to leave my own mark at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher - GCL and cross)

 From there, on to lunch at a place near the hotel and then to Yad Vashem - the Holocaust Museum.  We were alotted a couple of hours at Yad Vashem.  What a tremendous memorial to those who died and to those who lived and a stirring call to never forget what we humans are capable of, both at our worst and at our best.  The exhibits themselves are deeply moving, the architecture of the place is stunning and is not only viscerally engaging, but also participates in the total experience of the museum.  One walks out the doors at the end of the journey to a stunning vista of the land of Israel.  No words for this.

(view from the exit of Yad Vashem)

Dinner at the Olive Tree (our hotel) is followed by a bus ride to Ben Gurion Airport and after a bit of uncertainty at the airport (due to bad weather in the United States) our plane is on time and on schedule - we are headed home.
Shalom Rula (our guide), Charlie (our bus driver), and the wonderful people of the Holy Land.  It was every bit of what I had hoped for and beyond.

Heading Into the Judean Wilderness Towards The Dead Sea

Holy Land Trip, Day 6, January 26, 2011

(The streets of the Old City are locked up and quiet at 6:00 a.m.)

The optional trip to Masada day.  I was torn on this one.  Having been to Masada twice, it is amazing and awesome, but having the day to just be  in the Old City of Jerusalem also held some allure.  Having the time to do the ramparts walk on the Old City walls yesterday made the decision a lot easier - I'm in for the trip.
Started the day by getting up and going to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher for morning prayer at 6:00 a.m.  Again enjoyed great singing by priests who were conducting a worship service near the Tomb.

(Church of the Holy Sepulcher is majestic in the morning.)

We left about 8:00 a.m. for the Dead Sea.  Great drive through the Judean wilderness.  It can look in places like the lunar landscape.  Passed several encampments of Bedouin shepherds.  The trip takes about an hour from Jerusalem to the Dead Sea and the drop from one to the other is significant as the Dead Sea is 1300 feet below sea level - the lowest place on earth.  At it's deepest spot the Dead Sea is 1200 feet deep.  As the name suggests it's chock full of salt and other minerals and is dead, dead, dead.  We drove along the Dead Sea to get to Masada, a giant rock - really giant - on top of which Herod built a spectacular palace - because he could, and on top of which Jewish zealots made a final stand against Roman soldiers - because they had to.  The Roman siege lasted three years at the end of which the Zealots (with the exception of just two or three) committed suicide.  You can still see remains of Herod's rockin' palace and of the Roman encampments down on the ground along with the ramp they built to try and storm the place.  There is also a Synagogue up here that the Jewish zealots used and a Byzantine church.  Awesome stuff.

(view from Masada where the cable car let's you out)

(remains of front portion of Herod's multi-tiered Palace - below is where the Roman's who were laying siege to Masada would have been and in the distance the blue is the Dead Sea)

(Me at Masada. Go Reds!)

After lunch we went to Jericho, home of Zacchaeus, and place which Jesus passed through.  Additionally it was near to Jericho where Jesus spent the time in the wilderness and where he faced the temptations.  With that in mind we ate at the Temptation Restaurant.

(Temptation Restaurant.  Really.  See Zacchaeus tree in the middle.)

(Market outside of the Temptation Restaurant in Jericho.)

After lunch we went back towards the Dead Sea to the site of the Qumran Community.  Qumran was the place where a splinter Jewish group called the Essenes lived in a communal environment, removed from the hustle and bustle of everyday life.  They saw themselves as Children of Light and outsiders as Children of Darkness.  They spent a good bit of their time making copies of scrolls of Scripture which when they saw that they were going to be attacked by Roman soldiers they hid.  A Palestinian shepherd boy found a scroll of theirs in a cave where they hid it which led to the discoveries of many more scrolls which we know as the Dead Sea Scrolls.  These are in many instances some of our best, earliest manuscripts of Scripture.

(One of the caves where the Essenes hid their scrolls - what we know as the Dead Sea Scrolls.  In this same area, in caves like this David hid with his men in the days when Saul was searching for him to kill him.  When you see the terrain you can imagine how hard it would be to find someone who knew the area and didn't want to be found.)

The day wound up with folks who wanted to floating in the Dead Sea, which I've never seen the charm in, so I watched and also found a coffee bar that had passable latte from a machine.

(folks checking out the Dead Sea - our guide, Rula, told us that it would make us ten years younger - so the tips of my fingers on my right hand should be feeling very youthful)

The countryside and the amazing views from Masada were superb - making the trip was the right choice.