Bread – Heart Occupants

Readings for Friday, February 5 as
    designated by the Book of Common Prayer:
    Gen. 17:15-27; Heb. 10:11-25; John 6:1-15
    Psalms 40, 51, 54
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"I desire to do Your will, O my God; your law is within my heart."  Ps. 40:8

There are sort of two ideas about occupying a place.  One idea is that we have taken over the place, but our takeover is external.  An example might be Germany’s occupation of France in World War II.  There was occupancy of the countryside, but what went on in the homes was something else.

Then there is an occupancy within, where the occupying person actually occupies a space (and maybe the entire space) within the home, within the heart of our existence.  Usually this is someone whom we have invited in and for whom we have provided a place (although once in a while it is externally forced, as by a burglar.  When it is voluntary, when it is by invitation, the occupation takes on a permanency; when it is by force, the occupation is always temporary.  When the occupation of the home is by invitation, we willingly adjust our lives to accommodate the new occupant; when the occupation is by force, we may change our behavior by force but we never change our hostile attitude toward the intruder.

"Your law is within my heart."  For the Psalmist David, the law occupied his heart.  If we analogize his heart to his home, God’s law occupied David’s home co-existent with David.  Because this was an invited occupancy, David adjusted his behavior and his attitude to accommodate the occupant.  As a result, he desired "to do Your [God's] will."

This quote raises something of a chicken and the egg problem.  Did David desire to do God’s will because His law occupied David’s heart, or did God’s law occupy David’s heart because David desired to do God’s will?  I would suggest that we don’t know, because both always occur together.  If we desire to do God’s will, how will we know what that will is without knowing God’s desires stated in His law, including His law of love?  If we want God’s law as an invited occupant in our home, in our heart, how can that happen without a desire to love God, to honor Him, to glorify Him, to obey Him, and to trust in the life, work, promise, and hope of Jesus Christ?  When God gives us the desire, He gives us the means.  When God has blessed us with the means, if we have invited God’s law (His means) to occupy our home, we automatically adjust our lives to seek His will in all things.

Because both seem to appear together, when we are seeking God’s will we can seek our heart to determine whose law, God’s or the world’s, occupies it.  When we have come to understand the law which we have allowed to occupy our heart, we are seeking God’s will.

Now, some people might be inclined to balk at all this "law" stuff as "Old Testament."  If you are so inclined, meditate on this other passage from our reading today, this one from Hebrews, quoting a Messianic passage from the prophet Jeremiah:

"This is the covenant I will make with them after that time [the time of Messiah], says the Lord.  I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds…Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more."  Heb. 10:16-17, quoting Jer. 31:33-34

After Jesus has come and the new covenant is made, God "will put my laws in their [the persons who have invited Jesus Christ into their life, their home, and their hearts] hearts."   The invitation to Jesus Christ to take up occupancy in our heart is an invitation for God’s law to occupy our hearts as well.

Who and what occupies your heart?  Whose will do you desire to follow?

Can you say with David – "I desire to do Your will, O my God; your law is within my heart."? 

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Bread – Rich

Readings for Wednesday, February 3 as
    designated by the Book of Common Prayer:
    Gen. 16:1-14; Heb. 9:15-28; John 5:19-29
    Psalms 49, 53, 119:49-72
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"Do not be overawed when a man grows rich…for he will take nothing with him when he dies…Though while he lived he counted himself blessed (and men praise you when you prosper) …A man who has riches without understanding is like the beasts that perish."  Ps. 49:16-20

The views from Haiti remind us that we are rich in America beyond some people’s wildest imaginations.  In North Texas, where many of you live, rich is a norm.

Who among us is not impressed when someone drives by in a $ 250,000 Bentley or some other expensive car?  Who does not marvel at the palaces some people call homes?  Who does not wonder what some people do for a living that they should have so much wealth?

And who among us does not spend a good bit (if not a majority) of our lives striving to become rich, or having achieved some level of richness, striving to keep it?  In fact, we are so obsessed with riches that there are whole churches devoted to enlisting God to help us add to our riches, and there are a lot of people who go to those churches.

The Psalmist reminds us today of the foolishness of this thinking, reminding us that on the way to the grave there is the coffin and the hearse, but no U-Haul carrying our things.  In fact I have been to many estate sales where the decedent’s precious riches were sold for a pittance.

The Psalmist further reminds us that riches are only useful and good when they are combined with understanding.  Without being combined with understanding, with nothing more than riches we are no better than the "beasts that perish."

What is this understanding referenced by the Psalmist?  It is best described by using today’s Scriptures:

"You are my portion, O Lord … I have considered my ways and have turned my steps to your statutes."  Ps. 119:57, 59

"Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and He will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for Him."  Heb. 9:27-28

"I tell you the truth, whoever hears My word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life."  John 5:24

"You (God) are my portion…"  Not fame, not riches, not power, not addictions, not me, not us, not a cause, not politics – "You (God) are my portion."  If you can say this and mean it, you have understanding.

Is God really our portion, or is our reliance upon our bank account?  When we say the prayer given to us by Jesus, for God the Father to "give us our daily bread," do we really look to Him for our portion for the day or do we look to our agenda, our friends, our retirement account, or ourselves?  Do we act to please God or our friends or ourselves or the world?  Do we have understanding?

There are three quotes above from our readings today.  The second and third relate to Christ’s finished work on the cross for us, so that those who trust in Him and believe what He did, what He does, and what He will do will in turn have eternal relationship with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, will have eternal life.  If you know this, if you believe this, you have understanding.

If so, if we do have understanding, riches may exist in our life or they may not, but neither matters because "You (God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) are my portion."

And with understanding and with God as our portion, we can say that we are truly rich, regardless of what the U-Haul contains.

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Bread – Good Name

Readings for Monday, February 1 as
    designated by the Book of Common Prayer:
    Gen. 14:1-24; Heb. 8:1-13; John 4:43-54
    Psalms 41, 44, 52
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"…in your name I will hope, for your name is good."  Ps. 52:9b

The "your name" referred to by David in his Psalm is "God’s name," so the passage could easily be rendered – "In God’s name I will hope, for God’s name is good."

In our common use of the word "name," we not only know it as a "label" for a person, but also as a shorthand summary of everything of who that person is (characteristics) and what that person has accomplished, and what that person’s reputation is.

We actually even recognize the concept in law.  Companies which have expended a lot of advertising money on branding their name are protected with trademark or trade name protection.  A company name, such as "Apple," immediately creates an image in our mind about who that company is, what the quality of its products are, and its general reputation.  When asked for adjectives about the name "Apple," people might respond "clean" or "stable" or "simple" because those are characteristics of the name which have been carefully nurtured over time.

Even beyond our current thinking, historically names have been considered to substitute and stand for the "essence" of a person, to represent their core nature.

There is a tendency to equate "good" with an absolute moral standard, and for its opposite to be evil.  Therefore, a person with a good name is one who is not evil or who does not evidence devilish qualities.  We probably all aspire to have a "good" name in that sense, and certainly God’s name is "good" in that sense as well.

But there is another sense of "good" which appeared to me in my research over the Hebrew "good" (Strong #2896) used in this passage.  Listen to the definition – "good, pleasant, beautiful, excellent, lovely, delightful, joyful, fruitful, precious, , sound, cheerful, well being, good things, the best things, virtue, happiness, pleasantness."  In these senses, the correctness of "good" is moderated by the wonderfulness of "good."

"Good" as moral correctness is something to be accomplished; "good" as pleasantness is something to be felt, to be "leaned into," to be experienced.  The translation of David’s Psalm then goes from "God’s name is good," to "God’s name is absolute moral righteousness" to "God’s name is pleasant, beautiful, excellent, lovely …"

Built into this single phrase "God’s name is good" contains implications for both truth (moral correctness) and love (pleasant, excellent, lovely).  And both inform and reinforce the other.  The moral standards of goodness are required to create the conditions in which beauty and excellence thrive and survive.  The beauty and joyfulness of goodness are required to temper the sharp edge of the moral standards.  Both combine together into the single word "good."  And the word "good" is properly applied to the name of God, because He is the only person in whom the characteristics of goodness reach full measure.

David had hope in God’s name because God’s name is good.  We can too.

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Bread – Encourage

Readings for Friday, January 22 as
    designated by the Book of Common Prayer:
    Gen. 6:1-8; Heb. 3:12-19; John 2:1-12
    Psalms 16, 17, 22
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"But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness." Heb. 3:13

There is a richness to God’s Word spoken to us in Scripture which is often buried in the necessary shorthand of translation.  The reading from Hebrews today contains such a buried treasure.

"Encourage."  When I use that word, I am inclined to project back in time to when I stood on the soccer field sidelines, yelling at my son (who was then about 6 years old) to "Come on" or "Hurry up" or "Pay attention" or "Look, the ball is coming to you," or "That’s OK, you’ll do better next time."  Many of us think of encouragement as a form of urging on to greater heights, of reaching a destination.  And, indeed, the passage today uses the word in that sense, of us urging our fellow Christians to walk each day in a better way – more obedient, more loving, more Christ-like.

This sense of "encourage" is actually strengthened in the English Standard Version translation, where the word "exhort" is used instead of "encourage."  The way I differentiate between the two is that "encourage" translates to "You can do it" whereas "exhort" translates to "YOU CAN DO IT."  In other words, "exhort" is the yelling form of "encourage."

And that, as far as it goes, is pretty good.  But it is not complete.  There is a deeper meaning, a deeper definition.

The word actually used in the Greek is "parakaleǒ" (Strong 3870).  It is formed of two words, "para," translated "by the side" and "kaleǒ," translated "to call."  Put together, in a fundamental sense the word means "a calling to one’s side."  According to the "Lexical Aids to the New Testament" contained in the Key Word Study Bible (NASB), the word is used for "every kind of calling to a person which is meant to produce a particular effect."  From the concept of "every kind of calling to one’s side," we see that the word means more than encouragement from the sidelines or an urging, it can mean whatever it takes to help a person through the difficult times – hospitality, aid, comfort, blessing, admonishment, prayer.

From be called to a person’s side, one has to be willing to be called and one has to respond to the call.  Then one has to provide the support which the person being encouraged requires – we must meet them where they are.  To be able to do any of this, we have to be paying attention to the person receiving the encouragement.  In other words, we have to so love that person that we are willing to go out of our way for them – we have to sacrifice time, energy, and talent.  We have to be fearless in the face of possible anger or rejection.  We have to love.

Thus the word for "encouragement" is found in many different contexts in the Bible.  It is in Matthew 5:4 – "Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted [parakaleǒ]"  It is in the parable of the prodigal son – "The older brother became angry and refused to go in.  So his father went out and pleaded [parakaleǒ] with him."  Luke 15:28.  It is in the spreading of the gospel – "’How can I,’ he said, ‘unless someone explains it to me?  So he invited [parakaleǒ] Philip to come up and sit with him."  Acts 8:31.  It is the response to injury and criticism – "…when we are slandered, we answer kindly [parakaleǒ]" 1 Cor. 4:13.

The writer of Hebrews tells us to encourage each other so that the deception of sin will not overtake us.  Somehow, if we think about it, we know we don’t have to be told because we know that we need encouragement ourselves all day, every day.  We need it and we need to show it, we need to do it.

In what we call the "Lord’s Prayer," we ask the Lord for our "daily bread."  We can look to the Lord for our daily encouragement because of the grace He has shown us by bringing us to saving faith and by His infusion of us with His Holy Spirit.  And because we have been encouraged, we can encourage.

Let’s do it.

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Bread – Fear

Readings for Wednesday, January 20 as
    designated by the Book of Common Prayer:
    Gen. 4:1-16; Heb. 2:11-18; John 1:29-42
    Psalms 12, 13, 14, 119:1-24
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From today’s reading in Hebrews – "…He [Jesus] too shared in their [our] humanity so that by His death He might destroy him who holds the power of death – that is, the devil – and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death."  Heb. 2:14-15.

This passage requires careful reading.  When we talk about Jesus breaking the power of death, we often speak of death itself, of avoidance of the pit of hell and presence for eternity with the Father.  However, this passage does not speak of freedom from death, but freedom from the "fear of" death.

Is this an important distinction?  Yes, because it affects us here and now, in this present life, in the world, in the presence of evil, in the midst of difficulty.  Physical death is something that we will all experience; eternal life will be experienced by those who trust in Jesus Christ.  But in the meantime we are here, in the world, trying to survive.

In a very real sense, the knowledge that we will be with God for eternity is an intellectual knowledge.  We understand it and ‘know" it to be true because Jesus has promised it to those who believe in Him; however, we won’t really "feel" it until it happens.  "Fear," however, is a feeling which affects and infects our whole quality of life today.  Those who fear will struggle with opening themselves to being hurt, they will have difficulty in loving, they will have difficulty in giving, they will have difficulty in opposing wrong, they will have difficulty in standing for good, they will have difficulty finding contentment and joy, they will worry.  Why?  They fear death in all of its various forms.  They fear love because they fear rejection, they will not give because whatever they give away they do not have left over for a "rainy day," they will not oppose wrong because evil has perceived power and they might get hurt or lose their job or not get voted for, they will not stand for good because they might get shot at and might get hurt, they have no joy because they worry about the "what if’s" and the "but’s" and the "no one has done it’s."  They listen to the criticism and the negativity of the world and it all makes sense to them because they "feel" the fear of death (failure, loss of reputation, loss of position, loss of being ‘loved’, etc.).

Christ became a man so that as man and God He could bridge the gap between man and God.  In so doing, for those people who believe in Him He destroyed death and covered us with His righteousness so that we might stand forever, in eternity, in the presence of God.  Wonderful.

But even more wonderful, for me, for you, right now, is that by His birth, death, and resurrection, He has brought us something in our lives, here, today, — He has freed "those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death."  He can and He does remove fear.  He can and He does remove our fear of death.  And by removing our fear of death, He can and He does free us from our present slavery to fear of death, fear of loss, fear of hurt, fear of embarrassment, fear of condemnation, fear of today, and fear of tomorrow.  And my friends, this is more than wonderful, this is awesome.

Is your life still marked by the fear of death, not the fear of an ultimate death (which is an intellectual fear), but the fear of living in victory today (which is a feeling of fear, which is a prison), the fear of death (hurt, misunderstanding, loss, criticism, etc.)?  Are you afraid of living in victory right now?

God told John the Baptist in today’s readings that "The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is He who will baptize with the Holy Spirit." John 1:33.  Of course, God was talking about Christ.  It is Christ who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.  And as we learned from the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples at Pentecost, it is the Holy Spirit who provided the disciples and provides us with power to fully live and act in the promise which Christ has for us.

So if the answer to the question above is that "yes, today, right now, I am fearful to live my life in victory, free of fear of death," the solution presents itself clearly.  The same Jesus who saves is the same Jesus who baptizes with the power to overcome, in the power to become free of the prison of fear.  And after you pray for the Holy Spirit’s assistance to remove your fear of death, remember to thank the One who was born, died, and rose again to defeat death and the fear of death, in our lives today on earth and for all eternity.  Amen.

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Bread – Geritol

Readings for Wednesday, January 13 as
    designated by the Book of Common Prayer:
    Isa. 45:14-19; Col. 1:24-2:7; John 8:12-19
    Psalms 121, 122, 123, 131, 132
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I woke up flat this morning, with lots of things to get accomplished today and very little energy to achieve them.

When I was younger, there was a product heavily advertised on television and radio – Geritol.  This product diagnosed the cause of lack of energy as "iron poor blood" and, of course, represented the cure.  Over the years, Geritol has ceased advertising on the stations and at the times when I watch television; therefore, I don’t know if the product is still on the shelves or not, but if not I am sure there is a more contemporary product to take its place.

If you have no energy, there is a pill or an elixir to take or there is a better way of thinking or doing.  Those are the prescriptions of the world for lack of energy.

Hidden in today’s reading is an interesting line.  Paul is talking about his labor for the church and has this to say: "To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which powerfully works in me."  Col. 1:29.  The "his energy" refers to the previous sentence, where Christ is referenced.  Therefore, a fair restatement of this sentence would be "To this end I labor, struggling with all Christ’s energy …"

We know that Paul struggled mightily for the gospel in all kinds of adverse circumstances and against all kinds of criticism, much of which came from fellow Christians.  In this one sentence Paul reveals the reason he can labor so hard – he struggles with Christ’s energy, not his own.  He struggles with the aid of the Holy Spirit and not in his own power.

Energy, the kind that moves mountains, does not come from pills or elixirs, and it does not come from right ways of thinking.  It comes from the right relationships with the right people.  And who can be more right than God?

Are you, like me, without energy today to accomplish the tasks which are laid out before you?  It may be that we have forgotten that it is not our energy which gives us power to overcome, but it is His – Christ’s, God’s – energy.  It may be that we have forgotten to invest time with the one source of energy which matters.

Is our lack of energy caused by iron poor blood or Holy Spirit poor blood?  The practical among us are probably inclined to say "both" and then reach for the Geritol, hoping to add the Holy Spirit if they have time later.  Instead, why don’t we try the reverse – spend time with Jesus Christ and get our daily fill up of Christ’s energy?  Then, perhaps, we can leave the Geritol on the shelf and say with Paul – "To this end I struggle, laboring with the energy which God gives me daily, which powerfully works in me."

And then, after a while, we can take the Geritol off the shelf, blow off the dust, and throw it away.

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Bread – Between

Readings for Wednesday, January 6 as
    designated by the Book of Common Prayer:
    Joshua 3:14-4:7; Eph. 5:1-20; John 9:1-12, 35-38
    Psalms 85, 87, 89:1-29
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There are two times God parted the waters in the journey of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt to possession of the promised land.  The first we have a visual of from the movie the Ten Commandments, that is the parting of Red Sea so that Israel could pass from slavery into the wilderness.  The second is in our reading today from Joshua – the parting of the waters of the Jordan River so that Israel could cross over from the wilderness into the promised land.

There is a great parallel here with our lives as Christians.  It was God who delivered us from slavery to our sins through Jesus Christ and it will be God who delivers us at our death into the promised land.  In the meantime, of course, we are in the "wilderness" or the "world" or, as I called it in the title of Bread today, "between."  We are between where we were, lost for all time, and where we will be, in the presence of the Holy for all time.

During this "between" time, we are necessarily in the world, in the wilderness, but we are called to be different.  How different is partly described in our reading today from Ephesians.  Since I can’t improve on Scripture, Paul’s word for us from God is quoted:

"Be imitators of God … and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.  But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people.  Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk, or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving…Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord.  Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them… Be very careful then, how you live – not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.  Therefore, do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.  Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery.  Instead, be filled with the Spirit.  Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs.  Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."  Eph. 5:1-20

This is how we should behave during our between time, our time on earth, our time in the wilderness.  Now – read the paragraph carefully, making a mental list of everything it says.  Then – ask God to bring to your mind every way in which you fell short last year (or if that is too much, yesterday) of the items in this list.

Since this is a new year and resolutions are in vogue, do the following – confess your failure to live life in the between the way that God intends and resolve then … not to do better, because we in ourselves have no power to fill that resolution … but to ask the Holy Spirit daily for the discernment, strength, power, fearlessness, and love to make progress.

And this New Year’s resolution will work … and you will live in the between, in the world, in the wilderness … in victory.

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Bread – Cycle of Belief

Readings for Wednesday, December 30 as
    designated by the Book of Common Prayer:
    1 Kings 17:17-24; 3 John 1-15; John 4:46-54
    Psalms 20, 21, 23, 27
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Our readings today, if read them in the designated order, present an interesting cycle.  In the first reading in 1 Kings, the widow’s son dies and is brought back to life by the prayers of Elijah and the power of God.  In response to this miracle, the woman believed, saying "Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord from your mouth is the truth."  1 Kings 17:24.  In the second reading, from 3 John, the Christian is commended for his good works in the name of Christ, particularly in his treatment of strangers (3 John 5).  In the third reading, Jesus heals the royal official’s son (who is on his death bed) from a distance.  When the father realized what had happened, that the mere healing word of Christ was sufficient to make his son well, "…he and all his household believed."  John 4:53b.

Good works are bookended by belief, based upon observation of a miracle.

I do not think that the people who organized these readings and their order hundreds of years ago were casual in their planning.  As a result, it is a good idea to ponder what message they might have had in mind from these Scriptures.

One might be tempted, as I was when I first began writing this, to say that belief gives rise to good works which then, in turn, reinforces belief.  This could certainly be a "cycle of belief."  However, the third text says nothing about good works reinforcing belief and this discovered "cycle," which may very well be a true statement, is not supported by the readings.

Another temptation is to conclude that belief comes from witness to miracles, since in both of the "miracle" passages the miracles are followed by statements of belief.  This "cycle of belief" would then suggest that we witness a miracle and then believe.  However, Jesus Himself squashes this type of thinking by his criticism of the father who had asked Him to save his son – "Unless you see miraculous signs and wonders…you will never believe." John 4:48.  Although miracles certainly aid in solidifying our beliefs, it seems that Jesus is critiquing belief which relies solely on miracles.  This apparently is not the "cycle of belief" either which these Scriptures intend to impart.

What then is the answer?  I think it is in what is not said.  In 1 Kings, the widow has made a place in her home for God (for the man of God, Elijah) and when her son is on his deathbed, she goes to Elijah to complain and to ask for a miracle.  In 3 John, the person commended for good works is characterized as being "faithful," or full of faith.  3 John 5.  There are two senses of "faithful" in English, one being true to particular principles and the other a state of belief or trust.  The Greek word used here suggests a combination of both senses, where the ability to be true to principles arises from the state of belief or trust in someone or something, in this case Jesus Christ.  The man is commended because he is acting out his belief in the Savior.  Finally, in the third reading, the father is confronted with his son’s impending death and seeks out Jesus to ask Him for his son’s healing.  When Jesus told the man what to do, he instantly obeyed in absolute belief that his son would be made well.

So in all three of these passages we have the same order — belief, followed by action upon that belief.  In the first and third readings, the belief led to the action of prayer which in turn led to a miracle which then led to a reinforcement of belief; in the second reading, the belief leads to simple positive action on behalf of the man’s neighbors.  In all three readings, belief preceded, followed by action, followed by good results.

Now the question arises, results for whom?  It is here that these three passages all come together.  In the first and third readings, we naturally think that the person blessed was the person with the belief who prayed for relief and who witnessed the miracle.  But who did they pray for relief for?  Not themselves, but for someone else, for someone they loved.  In the second reading, the beneficiaries, those persons who were loved by the Christian, were all someone else.

Belief followed by action followed by blessing of others.  How is this a cycle of belief?  It’s not, unless somehow the blessing of others circles back to something, a starting point.  And indeed it does.  In the first lesson, the widow is able to go to Elijah, the man of God, because God through Elijah first came to her.  In the second lesson, the Christian is able to love others because "what is good is from God."  3 John 11.  In the third lesson, the father is able to come to Jesus because Jesus first came to where he was, first by being born and secondly by coming into the area where the father lived.  Belief begins with God and is enabled because of God has come to and for us.

Where are you in this cycle of belief?  Have you approached Jesus with the simple faith of a father who wants to save his son and who knows that Jesus as God has the power to save?  Are you saved by faith and are now acting to bless others through your good works?  Have you witnessed the miracles in the lives of others brought about by Jesus Christ acting directly and through you?  Have you taken this witness of others’ blessings to strengthen you own belief?

More to the point, where are you in relationship to the starting point, your relationship with God?  Are you like the widow who has welcomed God into her home but is having trouble believing in His Word?  Are you like the father who believed in God enough to ask for favors but not so much as to trust Him with his eternal salvation?   Do you so trust in God that He is able to act through you to bless others?

A cycle is a circle.  In the case of belief, the circle begins with God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) and ends with God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit).  Start there and all is well.  Start there and people will be blessed and saved.  Start there and you will be blessed and saved.

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Bread – God’s House

Readings for Wednesday, December 23 as
    designated by the Book of Common Prayer:
    2 Sam. 7:1-17; Titus 2:11-3:8a; Luke 1:39-56
    Psalms 72, 111, 113
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In our reading from 2 Samuel today, David has been made king by the mercy and power of God.  As he sits there contemplating his palace, he becomes embarrassed for God because God’s house is in a tent and commits himself to building God a temple which exceeds David’s palace.  The prophet Nathan is given a revelation by God where God says essentially that His home is currently a tent and when He decides He wants a temple, He will have David’s son build it, not David.

This Christmas Eve, most of us will attend some Christmas Eve church service in a place which is bedecked with beauty.  Some of our churches will be adorned with gold.  Others, more plain, will be decorated with Christmas trees, specially hung lights, candles, and various wall hangings of bright gold, silver, green, red, purple, and blue – all royal colors.  Some of our churches will have stained glass windows of incredible craftsmanship; others will have carved wood; others will be resplendent in their simplicity.

Why are our churches so decorated?  Well, for one it is a celebration of the birth of our Savior.  For another, it is pretty.  For another, it adds to the "feeling" of our worship experience by exalting us beyond our daily existence.  On Christmas Eve, with the music, the lights, the decorations, the wonderful sermons, the smiles of our friends – we feel like we have entered into a piece of heaven.  And perhaps we have.

But we need to remember what Nathan said to David.  On that Christmas morning (on "the" Christmas morning), God did not reside in temples made by man but in a feeding trough for sheep.

And what an amazing thing.  When Israel needed God to be with them on their journey out of slavery into freedom, God lived among them within a tent.  When God chose to come to all of us who are poor in spirit, who know our need for Him, He came and resided where we live, in the hovel, in the slum, in the stable, in the feeding trough.

Is God with us in the high points of our worship?  Yes.  Is He with us in the pits of despair, in the tent while we are wandering around, in the dark places?  Yes.

Emmanuel – God with us.  Everywhere, all the time, in all circumstances.  God in the stable and the steeple, in the depths and the heights – for all those who acknowledge and trust in Him.

"For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men." Titus 2:11  God’s house can be your house.

Wonderful news.  Wonderful birth.  Merry Christmas!

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Bread – Babies

Readings for Friday, December 18 as
    designated by the Book of Common Prayer:
    Zech. 7:8-8:8; Rev. 5:6-14; Matt. 25:14-30
    Psalms 40, 54, 51
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During Thanksgiving I had the opportunity to speak with a Chinese Ph.D. student in nanotechnology who was an agnostic.  As we discussed the complexity of the tiny machines identified through nanotechnology and his research into the area, I mentioned how incredible it was that as things got smaller (nanotechnology) and larger (quantum mechanics and the structure of the universe), they actually became more complex rather than less.  He agreed.  I then mentioned to him that those facts alone, increasing complexity on the edges of knowledge rather than simplicity, should stand as irrefutable evidence to him of the existence of a Creator, of God.  His response was that he was trained in China to be neutral toward religion, and I let it drop, knowing that God had given me the opportunity to plant a seed.  And the person I was talking to heard what I said – I could see it in his reaction – and so I have confidence that the seed will be watered and that one day he will confront Jesus.

In Zechariah today, God says this to Zechariah about His miracles – "It may seem marvelous to the remnant of this people at that time, but will it seem marvelous to Me?"  What a great question!  Does what seems marvelous, incredible, wonderful, special, miraculous to us seem that way to God?  Does the work of God’s hand seem marvelous to Him?  No (good, yes, but marvelous, no).  Why not?  Because God knows Himself even if we do not; He exercises His power in all circumstances whether we acknowledge it or not.  The miraculous to us is only, to Him, acting to achieve His purpose.

Now, if the wonders of the expanding universe or the micro-nanos are proof of a marvelous Creator, how much more are the wonders of babies?  Yes, babies.  A baby works.  The baby’s eyes work, his limbs work and will become stronger, his brain works, his hands work, his feet work, and the less noble parts work as well.  The baby strikes me as the ultimate complexity – it exists as a whole, more than the sum of its parts, and yet each part by itself is incredibly complex, a wonder of creation.

A baby is a miracle.

So is a virgin birth.  So is that event that we celebrate this Christmas – that God so loved the world that He sent His Son as a baby, to be born of a virgin, in fulfillment of prophecy.

This event, this Christmas, is so marvelous that the world attempts to minimize it – the world calls the virgin birth impossible, just as it denies that Jesus was resurrected from the dead; the world calls the New Testament myths because otherwise it has to admit God’s involvement; the world says there can be no miracles, that everything is explainable through science, that faith is misplaced as old-fashioned; the world says we should have a Holiday Season because that helps the economy, but a Christmas, no way.

And yet there the Baby is, and there the babies are.  And what seems marvelous to us does not seem marvelous to God – after all, He is the one who did it and does it.

Babies also represent new life, and the birth of Jesus Christ proclaims the most marvelous thing of all, that we have new life through Jesus Christ, a new life which can be obtained no other way except through Him.

As you walk through the day, marvel at what is around you.  It may not be marvelous to God, but it certainly can be, and ought to be, marvelous to us – beginning with the birth of the Baby who saves, Jesus Christ. 

So let us celebrate this marvelous season!   Merry (and Holy) Christmas!

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