Mark 9:30-37
This link addresses this scripture in connection with the Syrian civil war refugee crisis in Europe.
This scripture is pretty much all you need to know about what it means to actually follow the way of Christ. The disciples are on the road and Jesus is continuing to tell them about exactly what is going to happen to him, torture, death, the whole awful scenario. And... their discussions (arguments, really) with each other center on which of them is the greatest.
When they arrive at the house where they are staying, Jesus asks them what they were arguing about and then tells them this. "Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all." The disciples had an entire afternoon of what today we might call "humble bragging" where they were telling one another why the good works they had done for Jesus might warrant them the title of greatest disciple. And as it turns out, they haven't been paying much attention in these recent days when Jesus keeps urging them to be quiet about good works. The one who is greatest is the one who is the servant who says nothing but gives much.
Facebook and other forms of social media have taken the concept of humble bragging to new elevations. We let everyone know when we've done something good. Or fun. Or whatever. Even if we have the best of intentions in spreading the good news, it's still not the most humble of acts to post our good works. I recently did it myself when I participated in the 9/11 Peace March in Boulder. Though I posted my message on Facebook because I was inspired to want more peace and tell everyone to want more peace, the post was also, even if unintentional, "Look at me! I did something good and worthwhile! Yay me!"
The second half of Jesus' words to his disciples drive home the clear point about where we go astray when we try to become more godly by doing good works and wanting recognition for it. Jesus embraces a little child and says "Whoever welcomes one such child welcomes me, and welcomes not me, but the one who sent me." Saying to the disciples, in essence, take care of the least of these. Take care and embrace and welcome those whom society has not embraced. Do your part to embrace the community. That is how you really find favor with God. By selflessly reaching out and taking in whomever you can with a warm embrace and welcome.
Not to get a gold star. Not to win an award from the conference office. Not to 'get more people in the pews,' but just because it's what the people of God do.
There's a link to an article at the beginning of this post about this scripture as it relates to the current refuge crisis in Syria and Europe. Clear examples of "whoever welcomes one such child" theology. I hope you will take the time to read it.
What do we do to assist in this crisis and the crisis of human trafficking and so many other breaches of humanity that are all around us? We should probably quit sitting around talking about it all and start welcoming and embracing instead.
What does this scripture say to you? Email me at peverhart@niwotumc.org or comment below.
Monday, September 14, 2015
Tuesday, September 8, 2015
Humility is the Cross We Bear
Mark 8:27-38
He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. --Mark 8:34-35
Again in this text today, Jesus asks "Who do you say that I am?" and when the answer is "You are the Messiah," he says... "Shhhh, Don't tell anyone!" Next, he says in a very public way so all can hear exactly what will be happening to him. The suffering, the rejection, the killing, the rising again. Peter rejects this idea and it upsets Jesus so much that he says "Get behind me, Satan," to Peter.
Then Jesus says to the disciples that they, too, must be willing to pick up their crosses and follow him. That those who want to save their lives will need to lose it. What does that mean?
He expresses humility at the idea of being the Savior, but then expresses publicly the ways he will be shamed.
It's all a very complex idea, this Jesus-going-to-the-cross business. And the idea of being quiet about his Messiahship, but very public about being willing to carry our own crosses.
I am wondering if humility has a definition in here somewhere. Is Jesus telling us that our willingness to lower ourselves to carrying a cross, a difficult and hard journey, is the way we find humility? After all, a Messiah was a position to be lauded and honored, but a criminal's death on a cross was quite the opposite.
Where do we find our own sense of following Jesus in this scripture? Email me at peverhart@niwotumc.org or comment below.
He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. --Mark 8:34-35
Again in this text today, Jesus asks "Who do you say that I am?" and when the answer is "You are the Messiah," he says... "Shhhh, Don't tell anyone!" Next, he says in a very public way so all can hear exactly what will be happening to him. The suffering, the rejection, the killing, the rising again. Peter rejects this idea and it upsets Jesus so much that he says "Get behind me, Satan," to Peter.
Then Jesus says to the disciples that they, too, must be willing to pick up their crosses and follow him. That those who want to save their lives will need to lose it. What does that mean?
He expresses humility at the idea of being the Savior, but then expresses publicly the ways he will be shamed.
It's all a very complex idea, this Jesus-going-to-the-cross business. And the idea of being quiet about his Messiahship, but very public about being willing to carry our own crosses.
I am wondering if humility has a definition in here somewhere. Is Jesus telling us that our willingness to lower ourselves to carrying a cross, a difficult and hard journey, is the way we find humility? After all, a Messiah was a position to be lauded and honored, but a criminal's death on a cross was quite the opposite.
Where do we find our own sense of following Jesus in this scripture? Email me at peverhart@niwotumc.org or comment below.
Tuesday, September 1, 2015
"Working Undercover"
Faith, by itself, without works, is dead, says the writer of
James. We learn in Ephesians that we have been
saved through faith alone, and that works will not
gain us faith. But, we also hear repeated by Paul and other followers of Christ
that the response to our faith in Christ is to do good works. To help the poor, but not to make a
name for ourselves. Rather, as a way of giving thanks to God for the gifts of
grace and love in our lives.
Jesus sees the act of being humble as a true measure of
one’s devotion to God. The writer
in James says if someone comes into our assembly dressed in the richest
garments and someone else comes in dressed in rags and we show favor to the one
in the fine garments, we are judging and showing distinction and dishonoring
the poor. He says that God has
chosen the poor in the world to be rich.
I think alongside that Jesus is also suggesting that we be
humble in deed and word and action. That we not make a show of our faith. It is
interesting to note that the many times Jesus heals people or performs a
miracle of some sort, most every time he orders the disciples to not tell
anyone.
It reminds me of the idea of the Random Acts of Kindness
movement. Doing a small gesture
for a stranger. Sharing a kind
word with a neighbor. Anything really. Just showing kindness rather than
cynicism and anger in the world around you.
Jesus healed. And said, “Shhh.” So, what do we do to share the love of Christ with a savior
who is imploring us to “shhh?”
Perhaps we think about how we share the love of Christ, why we see it as
important to share, and what it means for those we share it with, without once
giving a thought to what it might mean for us.
All month we are going to be looking at humility as a Christian virtue. We will look at various passages that address the order of Christ to not tell others of his miracle-working and to be humble in our own faith. And we will struggle with what exactly all that means.
What are your thoughts on being a humble follower of Christ
while being an enthusiastic follower of Christ? What are your thoughts on these passages? What kinds of random acts of kindness
or miracle-working do you like to be a part of? Email me at peverhart@niwotumc.org or comment
below.
Monday, August 24, 2015
God in Planet Earth
Psalm 33:1-9, John 1:1-9, Mark 16:14-15, 19-20
The psalmist tells us in Psalm 33 that it is by the word of God that all of creation came to be. That it is by the hand and breath of God that all creation came to be. John 1 reminds us that in the beginning was the Word. And that the Word was a light shining in the darkness that the darkness could not overcome.
God created Planet Earth, God shines on Planet Earth, God is one with Planet Earth. And, because we are created in the image of that same God, we too are creators, alongside God, of Planet Earth and we are called to shine on and be one with Planet Earth.
It sounds new age-y and lofty, but it isn't really a new idea at all. We stand in awe of the created order our God has made, but then we raise up as a collective community to work in making sure it stays sacred and pure and safe. Tilling our Eden, so to speak.
As Jesus called the first disciples to go out and spread the good news to all of creation, we too, are called to go share the love of God with neighbor and enemy alike. We are called to love the unlovable and to realize that our lights are not meant to be hidden, but to shine... even in, maybe especially in, dark places we are called to bring the light of God's love.
As we end our month long celebration of God's wonderful creation in Planet Earth, let us remember that Jesus came to us to bring a light into our darkness. And that he calls us to shine into the darkness as well.
Would you please assist me this week by sending me digital pictures of Planet Earth as you see it? Special trips you've been on, lovely backyard or lakeside photos, anything that would be great to show in our last slide show of Earth's beauty. Thanks.
Questions? Comments? Email me at peverhart@niwotumc.org or comment below.
The psalmist tells us in Psalm 33 that it is by the word of God that all of creation came to be. That it is by the hand and breath of God that all creation came to be. John 1 reminds us that in the beginning was the Word. And that the Word was a light shining in the darkness that the darkness could not overcome.
God created Planet Earth, God shines on Planet Earth, God is one with Planet Earth. And, because we are created in the image of that same God, we too are creators, alongside God, of Planet Earth and we are called to shine on and be one with Planet Earth.
It sounds new age-y and lofty, but it isn't really a new idea at all. We stand in awe of the created order our God has made, but then we raise up as a collective community to work in making sure it stays sacred and pure and safe. Tilling our Eden, so to speak.
As Jesus called the first disciples to go out and spread the good news to all of creation, we too, are called to go share the love of God with neighbor and enemy alike. We are called to love the unlovable and to realize that our lights are not meant to be hidden, but to shine... even in, maybe especially in, dark places we are called to bring the light of God's love.
As we end our month long celebration of God's wonderful creation in Planet Earth, let us remember that Jesus came to us to bring a light into our darkness. And that he calls us to shine into the darkness as well.
Would you please assist me this week by sending me digital pictures of Planet Earth as you see it? Special trips you've been on, lovely backyard or lakeside photos, anything that would be great to show in our last slide show of Earth's beauty. Thanks.
Questions? Comments? Email me at peverhart@niwotumc.org or comment below.
Monday, August 17, 2015
"All Creatures of our God and King"
Genesis 1:24-25
Isaiah 65:17-18
Genesis tells us that God made all the living creatures and declared them good... the livestock, the wild animals, every creeping creature. and saw that it was good. Isaiah tells us to rejoice and be glad in what God is creating, Jerusalem as a joy and its people as a delight.
God did indeed intend for all of life to be viewed as good and joyful and delightful. Every creature, every field, every city, every person. And we are all connected to our God, the Creator of all of life.
And yet, our Edens did not remain Edens. We strayed from what God's good plan was for creation and became led by our egos and not by the hearts and souls God gave us to care for the good earth and each other. We let our ways become THE way, rather than God's way.
So how do we take time to pause and recognize that we are indeed all creatures of our God and King? How do we begin to turn around the way of life we have created in the modern era? A way of life that does not see all creatures to be of GOD, but FOR us?
The pause is the most important first step. The decision to get off the treadmill, to jump off the hamster wheel, to get out off of auto-pilot and take one, two, three, maybe even 10 deep breaths and look around. Seek connections. Pray for opportunities. Ask God for help in creating the Peaceable Kingdom here and now.
One of my favorite parts of spring is driving by fields of cattle and seeing the baby calves show up one by one, day after day. Each day it seems a new one is born. It is a miraculous, yet ordinary reminder that spring is here and that God is once again renewing the earth.
Soon, the field that was dry and brown turns bright green. And that amazing view we have once a year for a few weeks when the sky is bright blue, the grass is bright green and the mountains and clouds with their white accents just pop out amongst the blues and the greens. It is such a beautiful site to see.
It is always the time of year when I find myself humming the words to All Creatures of our God and King. "All creatures of our God and King, lift up your voice and with us sing.. O praise ye! Alleluia! O brother sun with golden beam, O sister moon with silver gleam? O praise ye! O praise ye! Alleluia! Alleluia!
What are those "I must stop and enjoy this moment" times when Creation overwhelms you with its grace and beauty? What times have you been moved by our creatures great and small?
Email me at peverhart@niwotumc.org or comment below.
Isaiah 65:17-18
Genesis tells us that God made all the living creatures and declared them good... the livestock, the wild animals, every creeping creature. and saw that it was good. Isaiah tells us to rejoice and be glad in what God is creating, Jerusalem as a joy and its people as a delight.
God did indeed intend for all of life to be viewed as good and joyful and delightful. Every creature, every field, every city, every person. And we are all connected to our God, the Creator of all of life.
And yet, our Edens did not remain Edens. We strayed from what God's good plan was for creation and became led by our egos and not by the hearts and souls God gave us to care for the good earth and each other. We let our ways become THE way, rather than God's way.
So how do we take time to pause and recognize that we are indeed all creatures of our God and King? How do we begin to turn around the way of life we have created in the modern era? A way of life that does not see all creatures to be of GOD, but FOR us?
The pause is the most important first step. The decision to get off the treadmill, to jump off the hamster wheel, to get out off of auto-pilot and take one, two, three, maybe even 10 deep breaths and look around. Seek connections. Pray for opportunities. Ask God for help in creating the Peaceable Kingdom here and now.
One of my favorite parts of spring is driving by fields of cattle and seeing the baby calves show up one by one, day after day. Each day it seems a new one is born. It is a miraculous, yet ordinary reminder that spring is here and that God is once again renewing the earth.
Soon, the field that was dry and brown turns bright green. And that amazing view we have once a year for a few weeks when the sky is bright blue, the grass is bright green and the mountains and clouds with their white accents just pop out amongst the blues and the greens. It is such a beautiful site to see.
It is always the time of year when I find myself humming the words to All Creatures of our God and King. "All creatures of our God and King, lift up your voice and with us sing.. O praise ye! Alleluia! O brother sun with golden beam, O sister moon with silver gleam? O praise ye! O praise ye! Alleluia! Alleluia!
What are those "I must stop and enjoy this moment" times when Creation overwhelms you with its grace and beauty? What times have you been moved by our creatures great and small?
Email me at peverhart@niwotumc.org or comment below.
Monday, August 10, 2015
God in Our Own Backyard
Genesis 2:7-8, 15
Isaiah 42:10-12
Mark 16:14-15, 19-20
Go out and spread the good news into your own backyard. That should be easy enough, right? But how do we decide what our backyard is? Maybe it's not a geographical line, exactly, but rather like ripples that go out from the source. Gunbarrel to Niwot to Longmont and Boulder to Denver to Greeley. And then of course the ripples will drag out from there to the ends of the earth, but here, at home is where we start.
Genesis 2 tells us that God gave us a garden to call home. In the biblical narrative it's called Eden, but for us it's called Gunbarrel, or Niwot, or Erie, or Longmont, or Boulder. Northern Colorado. Genesis says humankind is the caretakers of the garden.
The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it.
And so we have a great task we were specifically put here to do. Till and keep the garden.
Isaiah sings out in praise to all the earth, saying that the inhabitants and the towns lift up their voices, too, along with all of creation. Giving God praise as one community, townspeople and their surrounding mountains alike.
How do we sing the praises of God and spread the good news in our own backyard today? I read of a church in Southport, CT who has a ministry, a mission, called In Our Own Backyard. They serve as helping hands for a wide variety of projects that they find out about that could use a few extra hands. I am inspired by their purpose. We certainly do many things in our own backyard to, helping organizations like Atwood Housing through EFAA and OUR Center, but the hands-on idea they have is a really good next step. It seems they work alongside the group, organization, family, etc they are helping, working together in mission to help.
It's a great starting point to brainstorm how we would implement such a concept here. Going with what we already have in place and adding the hands-on layer next.
We also have, of course, the ever present need to care for and be involved in the protection of our wonderful natural resources here... our beloved Rocky Mountains, our rivers, lakes, and reservoirs, our open prairie, all in need of our hands-on care.
What would you like to see here at home? How might we work toward a mission of hands on ministry? In what backyards would you like to see us?
Email me at peverhart@niwotumc.org or comment below.
**********
Isaiah 42:10-12
Mark 16:14-15, 19-20
Go out and spread the good news into your own backyard. That should be easy enough, right? But how do we decide what our backyard is? Maybe it's not a geographical line, exactly, but rather like ripples that go out from the source. Gunbarrel to Niwot to Longmont and Boulder to Denver to Greeley. And then of course the ripples will drag out from there to the ends of the earth, but here, at home is where we start.
Genesis 2 tells us that God gave us a garden to call home. In the biblical narrative it's called Eden, but for us it's called Gunbarrel, or Niwot, or Erie, or Longmont, or Boulder. Northern Colorado. Genesis says humankind is the caretakers of the garden.
The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it.
And so we have a great task we were specifically put here to do. Till and keep the garden.
Isaiah sings out in praise to all the earth, saying that the inhabitants and the towns lift up their voices, too, along with all of creation. Giving God praise as one community, townspeople and their surrounding mountains alike.
How do we sing the praises of God and spread the good news in our own backyard today? I read of a church in Southport, CT who has a ministry, a mission, called In Our Own Backyard. They serve as helping hands for a wide variety of projects that they find out about that could use a few extra hands. I am inspired by their purpose. We certainly do many things in our own backyard to, helping organizations like Atwood Housing through EFAA and OUR Center, but the hands-on idea they have is a really good next step. It seems they work alongside the group, organization, family, etc they are helping, working together in mission to help.
It's a great starting point to brainstorm how we would implement such a concept here. Going with what we already have in place and adding the hands-on layer next.
We also have, of course, the ever present need to care for and be involved in the protection of our wonderful natural resources here... our beloved Rocky Mountains, our rivers, lakes, and reservoirs, our open prairie, all in need of our hands-on care.
What would you like to see here at home? How might we work toward a mission of hands on ministry? In what backyards would you like to see us?
Email me at peverhart@niwotumc.org or comment below.
**********
Tonight at 5:30, we will gather near the mountains in Rocky Mountain National Park for an evening vespers service at Moraine Park Amphitheater. We will be up close and in person with God in our creation. Make plans to be with us. If you signed up to go to the picnic beforehand in the carpool, be at the church by 2 pm. Contact the church office at office@niwotumc.org if you need more details.
Tuesday, August 4, 2015
"God in the Sea and Sky"
The psalm readings this week tell us that God is in the creation, that God set a tent for the sun in heaven. In other words, the LORD made the sky. God made the sky to cover over the water like a dome. If you read Genesis 1, it appears that the water was already there. If you read Genesis 2, it appears that God caused the rain to fall, creating water upon the earth.
Although we are unsure of the exact way creation came into being in the beginning, something that scientists will continue to get closer and closer to discovering, the psalms in particular give us a clear indication that people have always believed that God is in and through all of life.
We humans have always been attracted, almost magnetically, to the seas and skies. We have always gravitated to bodies of water when we want to renew our spirits. We canoe on lakes, we raft on the rivers, we sail on the seas, we walk up and down the shores of lakes and oceans, and we breathe in the moist air surrounding, and we feel calm and repose.
There is something indescribable about the horizon, the meeting of skyline and water. It is as if you can see forever and it is almost as if you can see the Divine. And when you stand on the side of a raging river and sense its power, how can you not feel God in the midst of it?
It's hard to figure out where to go with this week's readings. Do we find our strength in God from the seas and skies, or does God come to us in the natural order in those grand views of the seas and skies? Does our frantic paddling on the rapids of a river make us feel the power of God? Or do we just feel that we are one with the river and that God plays no role in that feeling?
Mark 16 continues to remind us that no matter what we think about how we see God in nature, we are nonetheless called to move into the world... go into the whole world and proclaim the good news of God's love to all of creation. Every part of creation should receive the love of God and we are called to deliver it. And, dare I say, that in our going out and proclaiming, we may indeed discover that God is giving that love back to us in the beauty of the earth... in that sunrise or sunset, in that river's rush, in that moon's gentle rocking of the ocean waves.
God may indeed be calling us into a love affair with creation as we seek to share God's love with the world. What are your stories of God's creation moving you into being a more gentle and loving creature of the earth? Email me at peverhart@niwotumc.org or comment below.
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