Daily Lectionary Readings for October 7, 2010
Psalm 94
Hosea 9:1-9
Acts 24:1-23
Luke 7:36-50
Acts 24:1-23
Tertellus making his case against Paul before the Roman governor Felix....
"We have, in fact, foun this man a pestilent fellow, an agitator among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of th sect of the Nazarenes." I suspect if Paul was on the opposite side of an issue from you on something you felt strongly about he might seem to be described perfectly here. He is tenacious, he is bold and he does seem to be able to agitate with the best of them. What unlikely characteristics floating around in us is God planning to utilize in the manner that God so completely used these in Paul?
Luke 7:36-50
Jesus is at a Pharisees house for dinner. A woman, with a questionable reputation anoints Jesus feet. Jesus tells a brief story (there are two creditors one who owes five hunred denarii and one who owes fifty - who is happier when the debt is cancelled?) and then makes his point. "But the one to whom little is forgiven loves little".(v.47) Jesus' lesson is for each of us. Set this story alongside of the recent story of the speck in the neighbor's eye that we are trying to critique despite the log in our own. We all have a great burden of debt that has been cancelled by Christ's life, death and resurrection. To more fully appreciate what Christ has done for us we must be honest about the depth of our need and our inablity to have met that need on our own.
Friday, October 8, 2010
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Sharing Jesus - October 6, 2010
Daily Lectioanry For October 6, 2010
Psalm 69:1-15
Hosea 8:1-14
Acts 23:23-35
Luke 7:18-35
Luke 7:18-35
John sends two of his disciples to question Jesus - to discover if "he is the one who is to come". Jesus, being Jesus, does not answer yes or no, but instead gives John's followers an assignment - "Go and tell John what you have seen and heard; the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have good news brought to them."(v.22) It is not a matter of having to vouch for Jesus - the evidence of who he is and what he has done is everywhere to be seen - they do not need to tell John Jesus is the one - they need to tell John what Jesus has done. And so it is with us. We are called to share with folks the ways we have witnessed Jesus at work in our world and in our lives. We may certainly profess that Jesus is Lord, but the point will be made that much stronger when we tell of the ways that we perceive the world to be different because Jesus is alive and at work in it.
Psalm 69:1-15
Hosea 8:1-14
Acts 23:23-35
Luke 7:18-35
Luke 7:18-35
John sends two of his disciples to question Jesus - to discover if "he is the one who is to come". Jesus, being Jesus, does not answer yes or no, but instead gives John's followers an assignment - "Go and tell John what you have seen and heard; the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have good news brought to them."(v.22) It is not a matter of having to vouch for Jesus - the evidence of who he is and what he has done is everywhere to be seen - they do not need to tell John Jesus is the one - they need to tell John what Jesus has done. And so it is with us. We are called to share with folks the ways we have witnessed Jesus at work in our world and in our lives. We may certainly profess that Jesus is Lord, but the point will be made that much stronger when we tell of the ways that we perceive the world to be different because Jesus is alive and at work in it.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Hope In God For The Downcast and Disturbed - October 5, 2010
Daily Lectionary For October 5, 2010
Psalm 42
Hosea 7:8-16
Acts 23:12-24
Luke 7:1-17
Psalm 42
Why are you downcast, O my soul?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and my God. (v.5)
I'm not feeling particularly downcast today - just the opposite really as it's a beautiful, nearly flawless fall day outside; a great day in the best season of the year - so probably a good day to think about the logic of this verse as opposed to the feeling of this verse. When I do feel downcast - I think when most of us feel downcast - it's no easy trick to move past to the postive spot described in this verse. Yet even when life is bleak and it's not a perfect fall day outside the underlying foundational truth is that God is with us and will not abandon us. Need to save a bit of this day and access it, and this verse, on one of the more challenging ones.
Luke 7:1-17
After healing a centurion's servant Jesus travels to a town called Nain. As Jesus is arriving a funeral procession is making its way out of the town, a crowd of folks surrounding a grieving mother who has lost her only son. "When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, 'Don't cry.'" (v.13) An extraordinary window into the heart of God. In our moments of despair and grief, uncertainty and loss, God's heart goes out to us as well. A reminder that we don't navigate this life alone, but that, amazingly God has come to us and walks with us and at just the moment we reach our lowest ebb (when our soul is downcast and disturbed within us for instance) the heart of God aches for us. And beyond that ministers to us.
Psalm 42
Hosea 7:8-16
Acts 23:12-24
Luke 7:1-17
Psalm 42
Why are you downcast, O my soul?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and my God. (v.5)
I'm not feeling particularly downcast today - just the opposite really as it's a beautiful, nearly flawless fall day outside; a great day in the best season of the year - so probably a good day to think about the logic of this verse as opposed to the feeling of this verse. When I do feel downcast - I think when most of us feel downcast - it's no easy trick to move past to the postive spot described in this verse. Yet even when life is bleak and it's not a perfect fall day outside the underlying foundational truth is that God is with us and will not abandon us. Need to save a bit of this day and access it, and this verse, on one of the more challenging ones.
Luke 7:1-17
After healing a centurion's servant Jesus travels to a town called Nain. As Jesus is arriving a funeral procession is making its way out of the town, a crowd of folks surrounding a grieving mother who has lost her only son. "When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, 'Don't cry.'" (v.13) An extraordinary window into the heart of God. In our moments of despair and grief, uncertainty and loss, God's heart goes out to us as well. A reminder that we don't navigate this life alone, but that, amazingly God has come to us and walks with us and at just the moment we reach our lowest ebb (when our soul is downcast and disturbed within us for instance) the heart of God aches for us. And beyond that ministers to us.
Monday, October 4, 2010
Logs, Specks, Food Fights, and the Mission of the Church - October 4, 2010
Daily Lectionary Readings for October 4, 2010
Psalm 54
Hosea 6:7-7:7
Acts 22:30-23:11
Luke 6:39-49
Acts 22:30-23:11 and Luke 6:39-49
In the Acts passage we have the blow by blow of a meeting of religious leaders to deal with/judge Paul. Paul knows just the thing to say to really ignite a blow-up between the Pharisees and the Saducees and chaos ensues. One can't help but believe that everyone must have felt like they'd accomplished a lot after that meeting.
The Luke passage starts off with Jesus teaching about the difficulty of pointing out the speck in someone else's eye while sporting a two by four in your own eye. The faults of others are often so easy to spot, it seems, even given that we have to somehow see past our own shortcomings to get a glimpse of what ails the other.
Both of these passages give some food for thought to the church today as it continues to do battle within its walls over a variety of social issues. Primary mandates like sharing the good news of Jesus Christ have been put temporarily on hold while we try to see past the logs in our own eyes to point out the speck in the eyes of those with whom we disagree. We would probably feel quiet comfortable at the meeting portrayed in the Acts passage because if we've been at all active in larger church life (at least in the PC(USA) - my denomination), we've been to that food fight. We had different names for the Pharisees and the Sadducees and the attire was probably a bit different, but the basic idea of chucking a verbal tomato at the person we disagree with has translated well to the modern day. Our temporary hold on sharing the good news has become a thirty plus year hold - give or take - and it grows more and more frustrating even as it continues to suck us in. This is not to say that the church hasn't done some wonderful things (both in its local and larger governing body modes) in that time, but fight we have, early and often.
For today we perhaps could decide to have a look at the log in our eye and see if we can't get a better perspective on that other person by working on our log rather than railing about their speck.
Psalm 54
Hosea 6:7-7:7
Acts 22:30-23:11
Luke 6:39-49
Acts 22:30-23:11 and Luke 6:39-49
In the Acts passage we have the blow by blow of a meeting of religious leaders to deal with/judge Paul. Paul knows just the thing to say to really ignite a blow-up between the Pharisees and the Saducees and chaos ensues. One can't help but believe that everyone must have felt like they'd accomplished a lot after that meeting.
The Luke passage starts off with Jesus teaching about the difficulty of pointing out the speck in someone else's eye while sporting a two by four in your own eye. The faults of others are often so easy to spot, it seems, even given that we have to somehow see past our own shortcomings to get a glimpse of what ails the other.
Both of these passages give some food for thought to the church today as it continues to do battle within its walls over a variety of social issues. Primary mandates like sharing the good news of Jesus Christ have been put temporarily on hold while we try to see past the logs in our own eyes to point out the speck in the eyes of those with whom we disagree. We would probably feel quiet comfortable at the meeting portrayed in the Acts passage because if we've been at all active in larger church life (at least in the PC(USA) - my denomination), we've been to that food fight. We had different names for the Pharisees and the Sadducees and the attire was probably a bit different, but the basic idea of chucking a verbal tomato at the person we disagree with has translated well to the modern day. Our temporary hold on sharing the good news has become a thirty plus year hold - give or take - and it grows more and more frustrating even as it continues to suck us in. This is not to say that the church hasn't done some wonderful things (both in its local and larger governing body modes) in that time, but fight we have, early and often.
For today we perhaps could decide to have a look at the log in our eye and see if we can't get a better perspective on that other person by working on our log rather than railing about their speck.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Seriously Dangerous - October 3, 2010
Daily Lectionary for October 3, 2010
Psalm 57
Hosea 5:8-6:6
1 Corinthians 2:6-16
Matthew 14:1-12
Matthew 14:1-12
The strange tale of the demise of John the Baptist. My hearing of this passage is always flavored by my memories of one of those biblical costume epics that portrays the sequence of events presented here. It's a story that I find myself putting in a place separate from the mission and ministry of Jesus which misses a big point of this story - this is dangerous stuff. John was out in the wilderness for a variety of reasons, but one of those reasons was it was safer for him out there. He said things that put him at odds with the religious authorities and here he clearly got on the wrong side of Herod. And clearly it doesn't take long for Jesus to hear about what has happened which means the consequences of being on the wrong side of the religious leaders and the secular leaders is strikingly obvious to him as well. And to his disciples.
Preached today on...
Luke 17:5-10 and the disciples request to Jesus, "Increase our faith." It's a stellar request on their part. Coming on the heels of vs. 1-5 they might well have asked, "Decrease our responsibility", but rather than get cold feet or want to back out they seek what they know they will need - more faith. When things are especially difficult "increase our faith" can make a great prayer for us as we try to find our way forward.
Psalm 57
Hosea 5:8-6:6
1 Corinthians 2:6-16
Matthew 14:1-12
Matthew 14:1-12
The strange tale of the demise of John the Baptist. My hearing of this passage is always flavored by my memories of one of those biblical costume epics that portrays the sequence of events presented here. It's a story that I find myself putting in a place separate from the mission and ministry of Jesus which misses a big point of this story - this is dangerous stuff. John was out in the wilderness for a variety of reasons, but one of those reasons was it was safer for him out there. He said things that put him at odds with the religious authorities and here he clearly got on the wrong side of Herod. And clearly it doesn't take long for Jesus to hear about what has happened which means the consequences of being on the wrong side of the religious leaders and the secular leaders is strikingly obvious to him as well. And to his disciples.
Preached today on...
Luke 17:5-10 and the disciples request to Jesus, "Increase our faith." It's a stellar request on their part. Coming on the heels of vs. 1-5 they might well have asked, "Decrease our responsibility", but rather than get cold feet or want to back out they seek what they know they will need - more faith. When things are especially difficult "increase our faith" can make a great prayer for us as we try to find our way forward.
Saturday, October 2, 2010
In Case of Ease - Read This Text - October 2, 2010
Daily Lectionary Readings for October 2, 2010
Psalm 63
Hosea 5:1-7
Acts 22:17-29
Luke 6:27-38
Acts 22:17-29
Paul invokes his Roman citizenship again, this time to avoid being flogged by a Roman soldier. Bringing into view once more the way that the Pax Romana in general and Paul's Roman citizenship specficially aided the fledgling Christian movement. Also to be noticed is Paul's lack of reluctance to use this advantage where it will help. His goal is to spread and nurture the Gospel. If utilizing the benefits of the power structure will help make that happen he is inclined to use it. Jesus talks, at some point, about taking advantage of the wisdom of the world and Paul seems to have taken the lesson to heart. What are the sometimes problematic, but also potentially helpful pieces of culture and society today that we Christians may be able to put in service of our faith. Social networking? The internet? Television? Freedom - in most places in the United States - to gather and to share our faith?
Luke 6:27-38
Wonderful passage. If Chiristian faith gets to seeming too easy read this text.
Psalm 63
Hosea 5:1-7
Acts 22:17-29
Luke 6:27-38
Acts 22:17-29
Paul invokes his Roman citizenship again, this time to avoid being flogged by a Roman soldier. Bringing into view once more the way that the Pax Romana in general and Paul's Roman citizenship specficially aided the fledgling Christian movement. Also to be noticed is Paul's lack of reluctance to use this advantage where it will help. His goal is to spread and nurture the Gospel. If utilizing the benefits of the power structure will help make that happen he is inclined to use it. Jesus talks, at some point, about taking advantage of the wisdom of the world and Paul seems to have taken the lesson to heart. What are the sometimes problematic, but also potentially helpful pieces of culture and society today that we Christians may be able to put in service of our faith. Social networking? The internet? Television? Freedom - in most places in the United States - to gather and to share our faith?
Luke 6:27-38
Wonderful passage. If Chiristian faith gets to seeming too easy read this text.
Friday, October 1, 2010
When Is A Good Time For Turning Away? - October 1, 2010
Daily Lectionary Reading for October 1, 2010
Psalm 78:40-72
Hosea 4:11-19
Acts 21:37-22:16
Luke 6:12-26
Psalm 78:40-72
After recounting God's action in leading the people out of Egypt like a shepherd with a flock a familiar refrain in v.56 -
"Yet they tested the Most High God,
and rebelled against him.
They did not observe his decrees,
but turned away and were faithless
like their acestors;
they twisted like a treacherous bow."
And again as we read we are reminded these verses don't really come to us as mere descriptions of how a people in a particular place at a particular time turned away from God whose provision was constant; they come to us as a call to listen, to pay attention, to observe - to be thankful to God and to try very hard not to forget that the God we run to quickly in adversity is the God we are called to be faithful to all of the time.
September 30 Revisited
Yesterday marked the 20th anniversary of the service at St. Charles Presbyterian Church in St. Charles, Missouri when I was ordained. Five years as Associate Pastor there (under the remarkable, invaluable, and most excellent of mentors, Robert R. McGruther), ten years as pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Prestonsburg, Kentucky and now five years as pastor (the first four Designated and now installed) at Hebron Presbyterian Church in Shepherdsville, Kentucky (not really in the actual sense of being in Shepherdsville, but in the post office sense of Shepherdsville casts a wide net). Each congregation has had much to teach and has showed remarkable patience as I tried to figure our what I was and am called to do. Twenty years in and I feel like I'm still working at the figuring out part. Thanks to all who have shared the journey to this point; you have all helped, challenged, inspired and been great companions. I commented on Facebook that it seemed more like six or seven years than twenty. Somehow, here we are in 2010. Looking forward to what's to come.
Celebrate Life!
(Bob always signed his newsletter articles that way and I borrowed that from him as well.)
Psalm 78:40-72
Hosea 4:11-19
Acts 21:37-22:16
Luke 6:12-26
Psalm 78:40-72
After recounting God's action in leading the people out of Egypt like a shepherd with a flock a familiar refrain in v.56 -
"Yet they tested the Most High God,
and rebelled against him.
They did not observe his decrees,
but turned away and were faithless
like their acestors;
they twisted like a treacherous bow."
And again as we read we are reminded these verses don't really come to us as mere descriptions of how a people in a particular place at a particular time turned away from God whose provision was constant; they come to us as a call to listen, to pay attention, to observe - to be thankful to God and to try very hard not to forget that the God we run to quickly in adversity is the God we are called to be faithful to all of the time.
September 30 Revisited
Yesterday marked the 20th anniversary of the service at St. Charles Presbyterian Church in St. Charles, Missouri when I was ordained. Five years as Associate Pastor there (under the remarkable, invaluable, and most excellent of mentors, Robert R. McGruther), ten years as pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Prestonsburg, Kentucky and now five years as pastor (the first four Designated and now installed) at Hebron Presbyterian Church in Shepherdsville, Kentucky (not really in the actual sense of being in Shepherdsville, but in the post office sense of Shepherdsville casts a wide net). Each congregation has had much to teach and has showed remarkable patience as I tried to figure our what I was and am called to do. Twenty years in and I feel like I'm still working at the figuring out part. Thanks to all who have shared the journey to this point; you have all helped, challenged, inspired and been great companions. I commented on Facebook that it seemed more like six or seven years than twenty. Somehow, here we are in 2010. Looking forward to what's to come.
Celebrate Life!
(Bob always signed his newsletter articles that way and I borrowed that from him as well.)
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