"Dusty Attic Days"

Ezekiel 37:1-14
John 11:1-45

Those who have been plodding along through the Old Testament with me in Disciple Bible Study have gotten used to the darkness and despair the Israelites faced in their journey to the Promised Land and then later as they moved into exile after being overtaken by the Assyrians in the North and the Babylonians in the South.  The people were living in a time in which they were not certain they could ever again feel joyful and hopeful.

And yet in this 37th chapter of Ezekiel, we receive the words that Israel will be restored.
"Mortal, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, 'Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are cut off completely.' Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: I am going to open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people; and I will bring you back to the land of Israel.
And you shall know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people.  I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you on your own soil; then you shall know that I, the LORD, have spoken and will act," says the LORD.

We also have in the gospel account by John an amazing recounting of Lazarus being resurrected from the dead.
When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!" The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Unbind him, and let him go." Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him.

What do we make of these miraculous events? What is their message for us today?  Perhaps it is important that we take stock of what it means to believe completely in the word of God.  It is important to take a deep breath and understand that God can breathe resurrection life into any part of our lives we consider beyond saving.  Perhaps we can't raise our loved ones from the tomb in the miraculous way Jesus does with his beloved friend Lazarus. Perhaps we can't go into a field of bones and make them come alive again, but we can breathe new life into old ways of being.

This week is one week until Palm Sunday when Jesus rides triumphantly into Jerusalem on the donkey, praised and lauded and celebrated, just days before he ends up hanging on a cross mocked and spat upon.  Life is full of strange twists and turns. Life is full of vibrancy one minute and then stopped dead in its tracks the next. We can never be sure what will kill our dreams and what will save them.

This Sunday, as we read about Ezekiel's Valley of Dry Bones and Lazarus' resurrection from the dead, perhaps we should reflect on what we have let die in our own faith journey. What have we let fizzle out, burn out, blow out that God might love resurrecting?  Holy Communion will be a wonderful part of this reflective time on Sunday.  What better way to renew and revive and perhaps resurrect in a new way the old faith we once knew and loved?  Bring with you to the table of grace the childlike love of God and faith in the goodness of the world that you once had.  Ask Jesus in the holy meal to breathe new life into your fading faith. Ask Jesus to help you walk with him down the road to the cross. Ask Jesus to nail your darkness to the cross and to help you raise yourself up into a new creation for God's kingdom on Easter this year.

This week we celebrate the dusty old things we have in our attics, basements, or crawl spaces. Find something you once loved that is hanging out gathering dust and bring it in to our altar space.  May these items collecting dust, but suddenly displayed once again remind us of our own dust-collecting hearts that need a dose of God's grace and perhaps a little nudge to get us moving into being God's people once again.

Thoughts? Email me or comment below.

Seeing With The Heart

John 9:1-41

“A man named Jesus made a paste and rubbed it on my eyes and told me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ I did what he said. When I washed, I saw.”

“So where is he?”

“I don’t know.”

They marched the man to the Pharisees. This day when Jesus made the paste and healed his blindness was the Sabbath. The Pharisees grilled him again on how he had come to see. He said, “He put a clay paste on my eyes, and I washed, and now I see.” 

Some of the Pharisees said, “Obviously, this man can’t be from God. He doesn’t keep the Sabbath.” Others countered, “How can a bad man do miraculous, God-revealing things like this?” There was a split in their ranks.

Jesus then said, “I came into the world to bring everything into the clear light of day, making all the distinctions clear, so that those who have never seen will see, and those who have made a great pretense of seeing will be exposed as blind.”

Some Pharisees overheard him and said, “Does that mean you’re calling us blind?”

Jesus said, “If you were really blind, you would be blameless, but since you claim to see everything so well, you’re accountable for every fault and failure.”

When we say something like "Oh I see!" it doesn't always mean we saw something, it can mean we understand something. Something has been revealed to us in a way that helps us to make sense of what seemed confusing. In this account from the Gospel of John, the Pharisees are taking particular issue with the fact that Jesus is healing someone on the Sabbath. If he was a real man of God, he would not work on the Sabbath.  "Oh, I see," they seem to be saying, he can't possibly be from God. And yet, there's a division among them because he has clearly healed a man.  Hmm. How could that miracle happen if he is NOT a man of God?

Jesus implores them to see with their hearts. He says he is coming to show who is really blind and who is really able to see.  He says that if you claim to be so clear on what is going on around you while nitpicking the lives of others and choosing law over care and concern, then you will be exposed as blind.

We can become self-righteous and complacent. We can say we are not the kind of Christian who does X or treats people in ways that are not holy. We are the kind of Christians we wish others would see.  And yet, we all fail to be truly righteous in the eyes of God. In our prayer of confession when we say we fail to be an obedient church it is because we refuse to think obedience is something God calls us to be. We prefer to be obedient only to ourselves and want no other person, no God, telling us what to do.

This passage suggests that the moment we feel that way, we have become blind like the Pharisees. And somewhere among our pride and arrogance is a person Jesus has touched who can see right through us.  Someone who, despite the fact that we did very little to bring God's kingdom, allowed Jesus to spit in the mud and wipe a little paste on his eyes and give him gritty, new vision.

This week, I ask you to bring old things that you can see through for our altar display. Eyeglasses, sunglasses, telescopes, View Masters, binoculars... preferably old, that offer a way to see the world in a different way.

We are called to bring sight to the blind, recognizing that we, ourselves, may be the blind who need to see.

Comments? Email me or comment below.

"Recipes that Last"

John 4:5-42
Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, "Rabbi, eat something."
But he said to them, "I have food to eat that you do not know about." 
So the disciples said to one another, "Surely no one has brought him something to eat?" 
Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work.

Jesus had a knack for connecting the ordinary stuff of life to the sacredness of God's promise for the people. This story of the woman at the well is no different. A woman going about an ordinary task, encounters a man (Jesus) who does the extraordinary deed of talking to her in a society that, for a multitude of reasons, would have looked down on the verbal exchange.

The disciples can hardly believe Jesus is doing this. And the disciples continue to be amazed at the way he defies conventions. And yet, in the midst of an extraordinary encounter, this passage also has a very common everydayness to it when they begin to worry about whether or not Jesus has had time to eat a meal.  They tell him to eat something. To which Jesus replies in that cryptic way Jesus almost always replies: "I have food to eat that you do not know about. My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work."

This week's heirlooms of faith focus on favorite heirloom kitchen items, favorite recipes handed down to you and all things related to food and drink.  We inherit much more than just a recipe card when we inherit that card with Grandma's carrot cake recipe scribbled on it. We inherit the memories of that cake, perhaps the joy of seeing her own penmanship on the card, the sensory connection to taste and smell that takes us back to so many places and times in our past.  Food and drink connects us to memories of people and places that we cannot connect to in any other way. I dare say it almost ranks right up there with music in the way it has an immediacy of connection to the past.

What favorite kitchen items have you inherited or have you passed down to your own kids? What recipes do you have that you got from a beloved relative that connects you still to that person's kitchen and to a place and time?  Bring those to share with us all on Sunday.

Jesus mentions to the woman at the well that living water will set her free. He mentions to the disciples that his food is to do the will of the one who sent him.  What do we need to ingest in the message of Christ to us today? What can we ingest in the songs and the sights and the sounds on Sunday? What sets us free like the living water of the Samaritan woman?

Email me or comment below.

Reviving Junk

John 3:17
Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.


Romans 4:13-17 (The Message)
Abraham was first named "father" and then became a father because he dared to trust God to do what only God could do: raise the dead to life, with a word make something out of nothing.


Abraham's story is the stuff of Hollywood movie making. A man and his wife who is long past child- bearing years, are settling in for the next chapter in their lives.  God asks them not only to uproot their entire lives (along with their entourage), but tells them that Abraham will be the father of many nations, that Sarah will bear a child.  It is the stuff of Field of Dreams... built it and they will come.  Move and trust God and you will have many descendants.  Crazy stuff.

But the story here isn't necessarily about what happened but about Abraham's choice to trust in God. And Sarah's.  The choice to believe that God will not break the covenant with you. That God will be there through all the changes that head your way.  That God can make miracles happen, but only if you play your own part in making that so.

This week's heirloom image is 'recycled junk.'  Do you have anything that was once one thing that now you use for something else.  Someone sent me this image from Facebook because it reminded them of this week's theme.

How cool. Take a door and make it into picture frames and a place to hang things. Very nice idea!  Do you have anything that has been recycled for another use?  This isn't exactly on target, but I have the armchairs that my parents had when I was born. There are pictures of me sitting on the chairs when I was six months old and, 46 years later I still sit on those chairs. That's not recycling for another use, but it is sending it to the next generation. I would love to know what things you have recycled to another generation, or have recycled for another use. Please bring some of those things on Sunday, if you can. Please no chairs or couches, etc. Haha.

God took Abraham, old and frayed and no longer looking forward, and recycled him into the father of many nations. The father of what would eventually become Judaism, Islam and Christianity. Powerful new use from one tired man.  

What things have you recycled for new purposes or have you restored to give new life? Email me o comment below.

"Quilts, Comforters, and Such"

Psalm 32
Matthew 4:1-11

The temptation of Christ. In this classic story, Christ is tempted by all that we are seduced by daily. The need to fill ourselves, satisfy our hungers. The need to attain earthly power and the need to put ourselves on top, to be God of our lives. This is a story that plays itself out in different ways every single day of our lives. This story is important for us because it tests our abilities to understand what temptation is and how we are able to possibly overcome it.

Jesus gets through the temptation in 11 short verses, which seems to us like he had it pretty easy. But, of course, he was fasting for forty days and nights. Of course he was hungry, of course he wanted more control, of course he wanted to be in charge of his own life… and it could not have been in any way easy. Even though 11 verses can make it seem so.

I hear the struggle of Jesus in the unwritten, unspoken lines. Many of our psalms are songs of lament. They are a great resource for you to go to when you feel like you are lost in the hungry, lonely wilderness like Jesus. They are a great place to go to when you fail to resist the temptations and you fail to be obedient to God’s call.

Psalm 32 says Happy are those whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.

And

You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with glad cries of deliverance.

And

Many are the torments of the wicked, but steadfast love surrounds those who trust in the LORD.

How is it we get through those tempting times? How is it we get through those places where we feel like, YES Satan, I think I will jump off a cliff for you?

We let God cover us. We let God comfort us. There is a love song in the musical “Rent” called “I’ll Cover You” and even though it is a fairly provocative song about a romantic relationship, it speaks to me of God’s affection for us. “Just slip me on, I’ll be your blanket.. wherever whatever, I’ll be your coat. And the constant refrain: ‘I’ll cover you’”

All during Lent, we will be talking about Heirlooms of Faith.  Today we specifically focus on those things which cover and comfort us.  Blankets, quilts, teddy bears, little things that we hold and feel comforted by.

God wants to be that for us. When we are standing on the edge of the world and tempted to fall over and out of it, God wants to be there, to cover us, to hold us and wrap us in God’s love. 

That’s the first important lesson on this dark journey called Lent.  God is always there to cover and hold you.

What things do you feel great comfort by seeing, holding, being near? What people?  Email me or comment below. And please bring your things that cover and comfort you to church this Sunday as a visual reminder of the all-encompassing blanket of God’s love.

Also, don't forget our Ash Wednesday service at 7pm this Wednesday evening (3/5).  A perfect way to start the Lenten journey. A place to clean the slate and recognize the human frailty and the ways we need God to hold us. I hope to see you there.

"Prophet Mountain High"

Matthew 17:1-9

The Transfiguration. The moment that Peter, James, and John go up a high mountain with Jesus and see him suddenly transfigured into a dazzling shining Jesus alongside the prophets Elijah and Moses. It is a shocking moment which gets even more shocking when they heard the voice of God speaking. They fell to the ground, those disciples, overcome by fear.  But Jesus reminds them not to be afraid.

Suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. Then Peter said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you wish, I will make three dwellings here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah."


While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said, "This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!" When the disciples heard this, they fell to the ground and were overcome by fear.

But Jesus came and touched them, saying, "Get up and do not be afraid."

What is this story, which appears at the end of the Epiphany season, supposed to teach us each year?  The Epiphany season is called the Season of Light. It begins with the light of the star over Bethlehem that the Wise Men follow to reach the Child Jesus.  And now, here, it ends with the light of a shining Jesus, glowing with the prophets Elijah and Moses in the moments before Jesus begins his journey toward Jerusalem and a cross. In fact, just before this story, Jesus has hinted at this certain journey he must take with the disciples, telling them that if any wish to be his disciples, they must take up their own crosses and follow him.  

It is almost as though Jesus needs this moment of glowing and the assurance that he is God's Beloved as he takes on the journey.  In the same ways his prophet Moses would have had in the moments with God on Mount Sinai when he is receiving the Commandments. God gives Moses the Law to protect the people, to continue to seal the covenantal relationship the Hebrews have with God. Jesus would have had so much respect for this leader of the Exodus, the leader of the Israelites, his people.  So, it's almost as if the moment of connecting on the mountain top is as much for Jesus as it is for the disciples.

Who do we consider transformative leaders of our own faith journeys? Who, just by knowing their story, inspires us to 'glowing' praise and aspirations to be similar people of faith?  What do we need from our own 'mountain top experiences' to connect us to our faith this Lenten season? Lent focuses more on the valleys than the peaks.... so why is this story at the top of a mountain today so valuable to us as we head down that 'lonesome highway' toward the cross?

Email me or comment below.

"The Sound of Your Soul"

Matthew 5 (The Message)

We have spent the whole month in Matthew 5, the Sermon on the Mount. We have heard about those who are blessed, about being salt and light for the earth, about teaching AND obeying the commandments, about finding those we need to forgive and offering them forgiveness, about loving even, and especially, those who persecute us.  Heavy stuff. Strong words and important commandments. Love always, in all circumstances. Be generous. Be gracious. Always. Mission impossible, right?

This week we are fortunate to have our healing bowls friend Myrna Castaline joining us. She was here a couple of years ago and we have had many requests for her return. This is the perfect way to end our series on the Spirituality of Sound. We have heard the sounds of everyday life, the sounds of secular pop/rock tunes, the sounds of Djembe drummers, and now we slow our heart rates down with the Tibetan healing bowls.

Our service will be in the style of Taize. We will read again each of the scriptures we have heard from Matthew 5 in February. We will hear other readings. And Taize songs. And the sounds of the bowls.

What makes you find your quiet center? Do you even have one? How can you commit to making your life less crazy and more holy?  How can you decide that the most important place you can be on any given day is with God in quiet reflection?

Email me or comment below.