"Were you there denying him three times?

Luke 22:31-34, 54-62

 And Peter said to him, “Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death!” Jesus said, “I tell you, Peter, the cock will not crow this day, until you have denied three times that you know me.”

This story is possibly just about as essential to the passion story as the crucifixion itself. We must remember that those who vowed wholeheartedly to follow Jesus all the way to his death, no matter what, come hell or high water.... didn't.  Peter (and actually all the others except the women) do not follow Jesus to his cross.  

Peter's story begins earlier in Luke 22 when Jesus hears Peter declare his loyalty and then he tells Peter, "umm, no actually you're gonna deny me all the way through this ordeal, buddy."  That is the first part of this week's reading.  

The next thing that happens is the prayer in the garden that we read about last week, with the disciples sleeping because of grief.  After that, we have Judas coming forward and identifying Jesus to the soldiers who arrest him.  And then, after these events,  Peter actually begins the process of denying Jesus three times.

Now, of course, I get that tensions are very high and the consequences could not be more dire... It is this time of intense self-preservation and fight or flight that Peter denies Jesus.  I'm not entirely sure I would have done things differently.  How could any of us for sure say we would stand with Jesus the whole way?  So I don't feel like I could in good conscience say, "Really, Peter? I mean, how could you do this to Jesus?" without at least wondering if I might not do the same thing.

How do we deny Jesus day after day, week after week, all the time?  We don't always knock ourselves out to proclaim our loyalty to Jesus Christ in every part of our lives.

But here's the great part of the whole thing.  Peter, that same Peter who denies Jesus three times... He is declared by Jesus to be the rock upon whom the whole church is built.  Our entire faith comes from the church established by Peter in the days following the resurrection.

We are a church of people who are filled with human frailty who believe in a God who is filled with nothing but overwhelming grace for us, despite who we aren't when the going gets tough.  I love that God's grace is most evident in the figure of Peter. That God is an amazing, grace-filled God that I will always claim... In my weakest hours and in my strongest moments.

What do you think of Peter? Is his denial any more than or less than any other disciple who fled?  And what are your thoughts on the church being founded by just such a flawed and ordinary human?  

Email me at peverhart@niwotumc.org or comment below.

"Were you there...?"

For Lent this year, we will be looking at the Passion story as it plays out in Luke 21-23.  Each week (beginning with and including Ash Wednesday), we will look at a different section of these chapters in Luke and focus on the specific characters and setting in that section as it relates to the overall journey of Jesus toward the cross.  This in-depth look at one gospel writer's version of the events should help to ground us in the story in a particular way and perhaps give us insight into how we feel about the message and our own role, our own place in the journey to discipleship.

"Were you there at the temple?"
 (Ash Wednesday, February 10, service at NUMC at 7 pm)

First this week is Ash Wednesday's scripture Luke 21:34-38.  This text appears at the end of a couple of chapters relating various 'sermons' and topics Jesus taught at the temple. Jesus is telling those who have gathered to hear him teach, which he did DAILY in the temple, that they are to be on guard... to be constantly aware of what is going on around them because a day is coming when they will need to muster all the strength they have to stand up for what they believe.  

I think this is a good section of this story to read for Ash Wednesday.  Ash Wednesday is a time when we come to worship God in an attitude of repentance and reflection. We offer confession and we submit humbly to the Lenten journey. A good time, then, to hear words from Jesus telling us to pay attention to what is going on around us. A good time to consider not putting our heads in the sand, but our hearts in the game.  How can we reflect upon the deeper meaning of this passage for our own lives as we begin a Holy Lent this year.  

When you come to the service on Wednesday (2/10 at 7 pm), you will have the opportunity to share in the sacrament of Holy Communion with Rev. Susan Warren officiating.  You will also have the opportunity to come to me for the imposition of ashes.  This is a deeply reflective time and I look forward to being with you once again as we embark on this holy season together.

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"Were you sleeping in the garden?"
Luke 22:39-46  (First Sunday of Lent, February 14)

In this section of the scriptures, we have the famous story where Jesus is praying before he enters his 'time of trial.' This is a very emotional time for Jesus and although the scripture tells us that Jesus knows what is going to happen to him, he still is in anguish and prays to God to take this away from him. "Take this cup from me..." famous lines that end with "but not my will, but your will be done." A hard task.. the hardest anyone has to face... and Jesus is praying in anguish.  And then he sees his disciples sleeping during his time of prayer and anguish. So he questions them about why they are sleeping.

So much has been written about this scene over the years and different gospel writers relate it in different ways.  But, in Luke, we have disciples sleeping and the gospel writer says it is because of their grief that they are sleeping.  Not laziness, not inattention, not cluelessness... but grief.
This adds another dimension to this story.  The disciples are grieving about what? Do they understand more than we think they do about what is going to happen to Jesus in the days ahead? Or are they afraid that he is losing his mind? Or are they worried about how they are going to get caught up in this whole thing as it plays itself out?

This should be an interesting section of the story to focus in on and try to get to the bottom of this week.  And, most importantly, how do we fit in this story?  If you are sleeping in the garden this Lenten season, then why? Are you afraid of what is ahead? Are you worried about the future of the church? Your future?  Many things make us go hide under the covers. And sometimes that changes from day to day.

Comments? Email me at peverhart@niwotumc.org or comment below.  Always appreciate your feedback.

“What is God’s Home Like?”

Psalm 84

And how blessed all those in whom you live,
    whose lives become roads you travel;
They wind through lonesome valleys, come upon brooks,
    discover cool springs and pools brimming with rain!
God-traveled, these roads curve up the mountain, and    at the last turn—Zion! God in full view!  --Psalm 84:5-7, The Message

I don't always like using contemporary translations to the psalms because the poetry in them is so beautiful and sometimes get lost in a contemporary translation. However, I am a fan of Eugene Peterson's translation of Psalm 84 in The Message.  His matter-of-fact language of what God's home is like is great.  God is home to us when we are on the roads traveling. God is home to us in the lonesome valleys. God travels all of life with us so that no matter where we are we have a home.

I like that image. Perhaps I like it so much because I have moved a lot in my life. I have lived in twelve different abodes in my adult life in four different states.  So, the image I have of home needs to be secured in something besides an actual building, though I have fond home memories in several of those.  

And, perhaps even more formational for me, the house I grew up in was taken over by a four-lane highway when I was 15, and so I watched after school one day as the house was literally lifted up and moved away, bricks ripped off, house hoisted up onto a moving platform, away it went. That image is still seared in my head. The only home I had ever known was moving down the highway. It was surreal.  We moved into a brand new home a few miles away. I even got to pick out colors for my bedroom carpet, the bathroom, my walls, everything... so for a teenage girl what could be better? But I cried myself to sleep that first night as I visioned that truck taking my home away.   So I had to relearn what home was. Little did I know I would be doing that over and over again as the years went along.

What a beautiful home, God-of-the-Angel-Armies!
    I’ve always longed to live in a place like this,
Always dreamed of a room in your house,    where I could sing for joy to God-alive--Psalm 84:1-2, The Message

Home resides with God.  First and foremost.  But what, exactly, does that mean to you?  How do you define home? How do you define a 'home in God?'

Thoughts? Email me at peverhart@niwotumc.org or comment below.  
Oh, and GO BRONCOS!

"What Is God's Care/Protection Like?"

What is God’s Care/Protection Like?”

Psalm 71:1-6

In you, O Lord, I take refuge;
    let me never be put to shame.
2 In your righteousness deliver me and rescue me;
    incline your ear to me and save me.

We all know what it is like to seek refuge.  Perhaps you have been driving out on the interstate and a vicious storm appears with significant hail.  You might try to stop under the nearest overpass to prevent any hail from damaging your car.  Perhaps you've gotten in trouble with your mom and run into your room and slam the door behind you.  Refuge takes many forms.

So, ask yourself in this passage from Psalm 71 how this psalmist feels about God's care and protection.  If the psalmist is saying he takes refuge in the LORD, then we know a couple of things.  1) He feels safe and protected when he calls on the LORD. 2) There is something in his world that makes him need to seek refuge in the LORD.

What is God's care and protection like?  It is like a safety net. It is a sanctuary. It is comforting and reassuring. We feel listened to and protected in the arms of this God.  Think of the safest place you can imagine being and the safest people you can imagine being there with.  This is how the psalmist envisions God's care and protection.

If we are called to be God's hands and hearts in the world, how could we help people in our midst feel this high level of safety, comfort, and security.  What can we actively do to let people know that we are here to offer the safety net of God's love to them?  And, how do we offer such protection to those who feel unsafe?

Comments?  Email me at peverhart@niwotumc.org or comment below.

"What Are God's Laws Like?"

Psalm 19:7-14 

If you are a rule follower, then you love laws. You love having a set of rules and regulations that guide the world around you. If you are a rule bender or rule breaker, then you feel confined by rules and feel they sometimes confine you.

Beginning with verse seven of Psalm 19, we have a lovely song about the laws of God.  This psalm calls them by different names... teachings, rules, orders, commands, judgments.  Pretty authoritarian language, and yet the descriptions are lovely, melodic words.... that lead to positive feelings.

• perfect teachings give new strength
• trusted rules make people wise
• right orders make people happy
• pure commands light the way
• true judgments that are completely right

Somehow these laws don't make me want to run away, but make me want to learn more about them. If I can feel stronger, wiser, happy,  and have a right and lighted way set before me... then I''m all in! Aren't you?

How do these words describing God's laws feel different than words describing human-prescribed laws?  How do they feel the same? What rules and orders do we have in daily life that lead us to be stronger, wiser and happier?

That's what we will look at in the Sunday message this week.  Finding light and life in the order around us and seeking to enact 'laws' for our own life that bring happiness and goodness into the world.  It can be hard to do when we are so used to finger-pointing and finding specks in our neighbors' eyes. But these rules aren't about finding fault, they are about embracing life.

So instead of saying commands in a negative way, how about re-writing them to focus on love and appreciation for one another. Instead of saying Do not steal, say Respect your neighbor's property.
Instead of finding fault, how about finding a path to understanding.  Rather than saying, "the criminal got what he deserved," why not say, "I'd like to find out how I can help heal his brokenness."

It's a tall order.  Living into God's way instead of our own way. But we can all work on it together, one step at a time.

Questions? Comments? Email me at peverhart@niwotumc.org or comment below.  I enjoy hearing from you.

"What is God's Love Like?"

Psalm 36:5-10

This psalm is a great description of just how wide and far-reaching the love of God is.  It says that the love of the LORD extends to the skies and that the faithfulness of the LORD reaches the clouds.
It says God's righteousness is as far-reaching as a mountaintop and justice as deep as the deepest part of the sea.  I am certain that all of us understand, deep in the core of our being, what it feels like to have that wide and embracing love of God in our lives. When nothing else works and no one else seems to care, we know no matter where we are that God cares and God loves.

This psalm also sings of a love that is not only for humans, but also for animals.  God is a part of their lives, too.   Someone who has been participating on a fairly regular basis here at church brought her ailing and failing 14 year old dog to church yesterday because she wanted her sweet dog to feel the warmth and love of God in this place.  That is sacred to me. That is holy. The dog's presence here was a sacred and holy part of her journey to a new tomorrow and I thank God we could be here to share God's love with Tula.

This psalm describes God's love as being like a mother hen who protects her brood under her wing. And also as a river of pure joy that we are able to drink from to our hearts delight.

What wonderful descriptions of the love of God.  God's love is as wide as the sky and as deep as the sea. God's love is for all of us... human and animal... God's love is like a mother... and a swiftly-flowing, yet inviting, stream.

What images of God's love can you add to this?  This week we will look at the ways we might show God's love here in this place, in this community.  What descriptions would people who aren't a part of us use to describe the love of God they see extending from Niwot UMC?

Email me at peverhart@niwotumc.org or comment below.

"What Is God's Voice Like?"

Psalm 29

Psalm 29 reminds us in lots of poetic imagery that the voice of the LORD is power.  The voice of the LORD can move the oceans, the voice of the LORD can make the forests shake, the voice of the LORD can do mighty things.

 And it leaves us humans in awe and wonder at the works that simply the voice of God can do.  But what, exactly, is the voice of God?  We can use our own poetic imagery in 2016 to imagine the voice of God in much the same way the psalmist does in this particular poetic rendering. And, actually, I invite you to do so. How would you describe the voice of God today?

The voice of God booms as loudly as the sound of the crowd at Mile High Stadium when Peyton takes the field.

The voice of God forces its way into my life like the sound of a cat insisting on being fed at 530 a.m.

You get the idea. The psalmist has an interpretation of the voice of God, which we will explore this Sunday in our first of a series on the Psalms and what God is like.  But we, too, have experiences with God's voice. Whether we believe it to be the still small voice in our hearts or the loud booming experience that makes us stand up and say "A-ha!" God does speak to us.


What are your experiences with 'hearing God' in your life? What are your thoughts on the Psalms? I'd love to hear from you. Email me at peverhart@niwotumc.org or comment below.