Bringing the Dawn

“You, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people by the forgiveness of their sins. By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”

Luke 1:76-79

At the beginning of this semester, I committed to blog twice weekly as a way to reach out to students at Baylor University, where I am the United Methodist campus minister. It appears that some non-students have followed along. Classes end tomorrow. So I will be taking a break until a new semester begins in January. Then I’ll post once a week. Twice weekly was way too ambitious, and I want to savor the scriptures.

I end this semester where I began, with the scripture from which this blog takes its name. Zechariah is praising God after the birth of his son, John the Baptist, who will prepare the way for the coming of Christ. His words remain part of Christian worship and are said or sung by many Christian communities at least once a week.

Kathleen Norris, a writer who often worships with Benedictines, has said that she sang this scripture for years before she realized “you, child” meant her. We can join in these words because we, too, are meant to be “prophets of the Most High,” who go before the Lord to prepare people’s hearts to receive Christ and to give them “knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of their sins.” Through us, the “dawn from on high” breaks in to shine in their darkness and guide them into the way of peace.

How better to prepare people’s hearts to receive God’s forgiveness than to give them our own? to demonstrate that it is possible to enter into the way of peace because we have? Maybe we haven’t fully entered in, but God is at work in us. As God’s tender mercy appears through us, dawn breaks, at least in one small part of God’s world. What a privilege to bear the dawn, however imperfectly.

God’s peace,

Katie

Gathered for Joy

In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.”

Luke 1:39-45

After the angel told Mary she would give birth to the Messiah – and that her cousin Elizabeth, who was past childbearing age was six months pregnant – Mary “went with haste” to see Elizabeth. Many explanations have been offered for her trip.

Those of skeptical mind reason that Mary wanted proof that what the angel had told her was true. If Elizabeth were pregnant, then the promise to Mary could be trusted.

More than one task-oriented person has suggested Mary went to “help out.” Elizabeth was way too old to be pregnant. She needed someone to take care of her. That seems unlikely because Mary left (v. 56) just before Elizabeth’s baby was born.

What seems more likely is that Mary had just welcomed God to act in her life in an unimaginable way. God was breaking into history. The Messiah was at hand – and Mary would be his mother! Who could begin to understand what had happened to her? Only Elizabeth, who also had experienced an “impossible” act of God.

Elizabeth greets Mary with awe and joy. God is acting, and through them! After Elizabeth’s welcome, Mary bursts into a song of praise (vv. 46-55). The women celebrate with wonder what God is doing and that they are part of it.

Some have said that these women offer scripture’s earliest picture of the church – people gathered to rejoice at what God is doing and how they are part of it. What would it be like if we approached worship in the spirit of Mary and Elizabeth? We would have to take care to recognize the ways God is entering into the world and that God chooses to come among people through us – and then let ourselves be awed, humbled and joyous.

God’s peace,

Katie

Choosing Small

The angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will name him John. You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He must never drink wine or strong drink; even before his birth he will be filled with the Holy Spirit. . . . With the spirit and power of Elijah he will go before him, to turn the hearts of parents to their children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” 

Luke 1:13-15, 17

Zechariah was an obscure country priest, who came to Jerusalem once a year to serve in the Temple. Inside this holy place, where no one else could see, an angel told him that his faithful prayer over decades had been heard. He and his wife, Elizabeth, would have the child for whom they had hoped so long. More than that, God was entrusting them to shape John (later called “the Baptist”) to be a great prophet, who would prepare Israel to receive its long-promised Messiah.

No one would have nominated Zechariah and Elizabeth for greatness. Sometimes we feel that way about ourselves. What we can do is small. Never does it seem smaller than when the end of a semester is bearing down, along with Christmas events and activities. How can we also prepare our hearts spiritually? But for the birth of Jesus, God chose “small.” Zechariah and Elizabeth had been faithful in small things. After God gave them John, they still probably looked little different from their child-rearing neighbors. In scripture, God consistently opts for faithful, often obscure, people over high-profile ones.

Christmas, of all seasons, is not a time to think big. It’s a time to join God in thinking small – seeking to give thanks faithfully for our blessings, offering our lives and tasks to God daily, looking for God in small moments of connection with others, and not asking of ourselves more than we can do. If God can choose small, so can we.

God’s peace,

Katie

Really?

Isaiah 2:4 . . .  they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.

Isaiah 2:4

Romans 13:11-12 . . . salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers; the night is far gone, the day is near. Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.

Romans 13:11-12

Isaiah paints an impossible picture, really – a world where war does not exist, where museums are the only places to see military weapons. Such a world would also have no hunger, since not having the means to survive is one thing that drives nations to war. Can we really imagine a world like that – a vision that scripture paints so many times? Paul writes to the Romans that this full salvation, when God will renew all of creation, is “nearer” than it was, ready to break in. Do we really believe that?

What would we act like if we did? Would we drop our works of darkness, as though they might blister us? (What “works of darkness”? I can think of some over-spending and over-expecting at Christmas that would have to go from my life. Isn’t it interesting that a day of mammoth shopping is called Black Friday?)

Is it possible to see so clearly what God seeks for the world and its people that we are eager to put on the armor of God’s light? And do things, even small ones, to bring that light? Really? Are we afraid to embrace God’s vision for the world because we might have to change?

I know that question scares me, really. But I hope to get beyond my fear.

God’s peace,

Katie

Unexpected Truth

The boy Samuel was ministering to the LORD under Eli. And the word of the LORD was rare in those days; there was no frequent vision.

1 Samuel 3:1

Scripture has few starker pictures of spiritual emptiness than of this time when God’s Word rarely came forth to give vision for the present and future. The conversation between God and the people appears silent on God’s end, but perhaps human ears were closed. As religious leaders, Eli and his family were counted on to speak God’s Word, but they were corrupt. Eli’s sons were sinning with women assisting at the temple and profiting from offerings made to God. Eli was turning a blind eye. Surely they didn’t abandon serving God overnight. But with each step away, they less and less sought to hear a Word from the Lord that might call them to account. At some point, maybe God did cease to speak.

When God first called to Samuel, the young boy thought he heard Eli. After Samuel repeatedly came to him, this corrupt man realized Samuel was hearing the nearly forgotten voice of God. Eli can’t have welcomed a Word that surely would condemn him, but he did the right thing. He taught Samuel to respond to God’s voice by saying, “Speak, Lord, for your servant hears.” When Samuel spoke those words, he heard a Word from God, and it did pronounce doom for Eli and his sons.

This scripture reminds us that “Speak, Lord, for your servant hears” should be our stance toward God. But we may find a lesson in Eli. He had turned away from God’s call, but he knew something Samuel didn’t. He was vital to the emergence of a new prophet. Sometimes unexpected people, even people deep in sin, may have a word of truth to speak. When we don’t listen for God everywhere and from everyone, we may miss something that can change our lives.

God’s peace,

Katie

Savoring Snacks

On their return the apostles told Jesus all they had done. He took them with him and withdrew privately to a city called Bethsaida. When the crowds found out about it, they followed him; and he welcomed them, and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who needed to be cured. The day was drawing to a close, and the twelve came to him and said, “Send the crowd away, so that they may go into the surrounding villages and countryside, to lodge and get provisions; for we are here in a deserted place.” But he said to them, “You give them something to eat.” They said, “We have no more than five loaves and two fish.” 

Luke 9:10-13

After Jesus’ twelve closest disciples had returned from a major mission trip, eager to tell Jesus all they had done, Jesus took them to a quiet place. But when the crowds that sought Jesus found them, Jesus welcomed and taught them. Can’t you imagine that the apostles were thinking, “What about us?”

As day faded, the crowd was hungry, and Jesus told his tired missionaries to give them something to eat. The disciples had almost nothing to give. Jesus took the few scraps available and made them into much more than needed. The disciples distributed the bounty. But what about them? I like to think that they ate as well, at least from the leftovers.

I am on my way home from my yearly silent retreat – a feast of scripture, quiet worship, guided meditations, reflection, prayer and other spiritual nourishment. Last night I pondered “snacks.” How will I find strength and direction back home, when one demand, real or imagined, follows another? I jotted down words I want to remember and ways to “check in” with God and myself – not at length but briefly and regularly. I’ve put this list where I can get to it on computer, tablet or phone. What remains is to schedule “snack time” faithfully.

For the disciples, the taste of the loaves and fish surely faded, but they must have remembered for the rest of their lives their tiredness, the crowd and how Jesus provided more than enough. That spiritual “snack” of memory must have brought back a hint of the food’s taste and given them strength to go forward. What memories of God’s grace, what words of Scripture can you keep as snacks to sustain you?

God’s peace,

Katie

The Power of Going Away

When God, who had set me apart before I was born and called me through his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me, so that I might proclaim him among the Gentiles, I did not confer with any human being, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were already apostles before me, but I went away at once into Arabia, and afterwards I returned to Damascus.

Galatians 1:15-17

Paul writes to the Galatians that after he had his dramatic conversion to faith in Christ on the road to Damascus (Acts 9), he “went away at once” to Arabia. Acts records some events before his departure. Caught up in fervor for a sweeping, newly discovered truth, he provoked such opposition in the Damascus synagogues that the Christians there had to help him escape. During a brief stay in Jerusalem, where he again made “bold” proclamation, the Greeks plotted murder, and the Christians “sent Paul off.” Paul doesn’t say how long he was away, but he came back to engage in perhaps the most fruitful ministry in history.

“Going away,” even, maybe especially, when we are most convinced of the rightness and righteousness of our intentions can give us a chance to gain perspective and let God show us what we should do and how. “Away” can mean a moment of prayer in the midst of other people to center our hearts. It may mean leaving others for a longer period of thought and prayer. “Away time” with an attentive heart gives God the opportunity to awaken love in our hearts for those with whom we hope to share what is important to us – and humility in how we do so.

If the great Paul “went away,” I know it’s important for me.

God’s peace,

Katie

Becoming a Better Pilgrim

Those who put their trust in you are truly happy; pilgrimage is in their hearts.

Psalm 84:5

As Thanksgiving nears, we think back to the Pilgrims who traveled over a treacherous ocean to an unknown land to worship God as their hearts called them. The primary dictionary definition of “pilgrim” is “one who travels to a holy place.” Surely those early Pilgrims to America must have thought they were headed somewhere heavenly. While their reality proved otherwise, they did find blessings amid hardship, so much so that they had a Thanksgiving feast.

Hymns for centuries have spoken of Christians as pilgrims, whose home is in heaven and who are just “passing through” this earthly life. Yet scripture tells us all creation “came into being through the Word,” which came to share this life with us in Jesus. (John 1:3) And Genesis says human beings are created in the image of God. (1:27) So we don’t need to wait for heaven to be caught up in God’s presence. Our life journeys are filed with experiences and people who can point us toward God. Most of us would not say, as some in previous generations did, that this life doesn’t matter. But often we don’t look on our daily lives as overflowing with opportunities to encounter God.

Soon I will go to a “holy place,” where thousands of people have prayed over nearly 150 years, for my annual silent retreat. Whether it is a worthwhile retreat will not depend so much on what happens there as on whether I emerge a better pilgrim, looking for the holy places God puts along my way.

God’s peace,

Katie

The Noticer

Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath. And just then there appeared a woman with a spirit that had crippled her for eighteen years. She was bent over and was quite unable to stand up straight. When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, “Woman, you are set free from your ailment.” When he laid his hands on her, immediately she stood up straight and began praising God.  

Luke 13:10-13

Pain is all around – large hurts and small ones – but mostly hidden. We may not speak of our pain because someone else must have suffered more or longer. Sometimes we try to tell the world, and ourselves, that we don’t really hurt. Other people seem to be doing OK. Surely we aren’t weaker than they are. We forget that they may be wearing masks just as we are. Sometimes we have carried our pain for so long that we rarely notice it.

The bent-over woman in the synagogue had been looking at the ground for 18 years. She had to expend great effort to see the sky or other people’s faces. Being forced to look at the ground cripples the heart. She likely had forgotten what it was like not to be bent. But Jesus noticed her bentness, called her to him and healed her body and her heart. He reintroduced her to the sky.

Jesus noticed. Jesus noticed people no one else did. He noticed sick and handicapped people. He went out of his way to enter into fellowship with those who were rejected by people with status.

Jesus knew what it was not to be noticed or to be rejected. Even as he went about relieving the suffering of others, many people ignored him. Others rejected him and plotted to kill him. He later was to know the excruciating pain of flogging and crucifixion.

We can suffer no pain that Jesus doesn’t notice. Other people may not notice or care, but we can trust that Jesus does. Whatever our pain, Jesus already has noticed it. So we may as well walk over in prayer and ask him to touch us.

God’s peace,

Katie

Even in Hell

Where can I go from your Spirit? 

Or where can I flee from your presence? 

If I ascend to heaven, you are there; 

if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there.

-- Psalm 139:7-8

Do you have a personal picture of hell, not the eternal fire kind, but hell on earth – somewhere completely divorced from hope and the experience of God’s presence? For years, mine was the inpatient psychiatric unit at the public hospital where I was a chaplain. Patients were locked away for days or weeks. They had come from a fragile life. They would be discharged on medication to a marginal existence, often to get off the meds and return to the hospital. Visitors were rare. Could there be souls more lost?

When another chaplain began weekly worship there, I couldn’t imagine what that would accomplish. Then he asked me to fill in while he was away. I couldn’t say no, but how does one lead worship in hell?

I arrived with a CD of soothing music, a scripture I thought might be comforting and an innocuous devotional, planning to close with the Lord’s Prayer. The patients, many shuffling, began arriving after the music started. I introduced myself and read my scripture. A few words into the devotional, a patient called out a scripture – book, chapter, verse. To humor him, I looked it up and read it aloud – a passage of great comfort. Another person called out another book, chapter and verse – beautiful words of hope. Over and over, they cited scriptures and I read. Where had these scriptures come from – a long-ago Sunday school class, a parent or grandparent, someone in a shelter? God’s word seemed to bounce off the walls in that forsaken place.

The room became quiet. Time for the Lord’s Prayer? A patient called out, “Matthew 6:9” – the Lord’s Prayer. In awe, I led the prayer. As I walked back to the chaplain’s office, my heart echoed the words, “Where can I go from your Spirit?” Nowhere, not even in hell on earth.

God’s peace,

Katie

Walking in Good Works

For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.

Ephesians 2:10

When I was growing up, we recited a prayer at the end of worship each week  that asked God, among other things, “to assist us with your grace, that we may . . . do all such good works as thou hast prepared for us to walk in.” As a small child, I loved those words, even though I couldn’t imagine exactly what walking in good works might look like.

As I’ve lived into that prayer, I’ve realized that good works aren’t so much events along the path of discipleship as they are the path itself. Scripture and prayer guide us. Worship draws our hearts to God. But good works form us.

As I act kindly, responding with caring to people’s needs becomes more natural, and I become kinder. As I give of my money and time, it hurts less to let go, and I become more generous. I may grit my teeth to be patient with someone, but I begin to grit them a shorter time, as God’s Spirit leads me to see myself in the other’s shoes.

I don’t put bumper stickers on my car. The only one that has ever tempted me reads, “Be patient. God isn’t through with me yet.” And the good works God gives me to walk in are how God continues to mold me.

God’s peace,

Katie

Transforming Learning

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God – what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Romans 12:2

As we are transformed by the Holy Spirit, Christians think differently. We think about different things, and we use a different framework for thinking. While it can be important to learn about the Bible and theology and, in my case, gardening, the point of learning is to be able to “discern what is the will of God – what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

Christians take learning to a different level by asking how it can enable us to become the people God has made us to be – and to do the particular things God calls us to do. (Yes, I know, sometimes, particularly in school, we have to learn things we can’t imagine will be of any use. And we may be right. Some studies only increase our patience and endurance.)

As my garden has grown in size and fruitfulness, I have learned a lot, but my purpose isn’t just to raise lots of great tomatoes (as good as those are). I learn and relearn things that transform me. Even if I do all the right things, the plant may not grow. Growth is up to God and the plant. But I can nurture. I can cooperate with God. I can be in awe of the complexity of how plants grow and the intricacy of God’s creation. I can experience how my life is related to all of life. I can, in some tiny, tiny way, become less of a drain on the planet’s food supply and more aware of those who don’t have a minimal diet. In knowing my limits and entering into what God is bringing forth from the ground, I find peace and joy that I take with me as a pastor.

What learning renews your mind and helps you grow into the will of God for you?

God's peace,

Katie

Building by Generation

According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building on it. Each builder must choose with care how to build on it. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one that has been laid; that foundation is Jesus Christ. 

1 Corinthians 3:10-11

Several years ago, I spent much of a day at a homestead that has been in a branch of my family since the 1800s. It is timber land, and I was walking through it with a forester, planning to harvest some very tall hardwood trees. Then the forester pointed out good places to plant new seedlings.

Suddenly I was overcome by the realization that my brother and I were about to harvest trees planted by people we had never met – and we were about to plant trees that would be cut down by people we almost certainly would never know. The land and its trees belonged to generations past, present and to come. We were temporary caretakers.

As Christians, we are building on a foundation laid down long ago by Paul and others who first proclaimed the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Now it is our turn to build. We don’t have to lay a foundation. That is sure and strong. And we don’t have to do someone else’s part, just the part – widely known or barely seen -- that is ours in the time and place we live. 

We have the opportunity to “choose with care how to build” on the foundation, or we can choose not to. But we each have gifts given to us by God, and if we don’t offer them, something is missing that Christ wants to give the world. So it is our turn to answer the question, “How does God want me to build for the sake of the Gospel and the world?”

God’s peace,

Katie 

Tedious Offerings

Whatever your task, put yourselves into it, as done for the Lord.

Colossians 3:23

When I began this blog, I asked pastors and others to offer scripture verses they wish had been more familiar to them in college. One respected colleague sent this one. A good choice because just about every situation comes with tasks or demands we would rather avoid, pastors included. And sometimes God uses them in ways we may not imagine at the time.

Thirteen or fourteen years ago, when I was on staff at a church near DFW Airport, where American Airlines has a hub, that airline had a plane crash in Arkansas. Suddenly I realized how many in our congregation worked for airlines and that, even though no church members had been involved in this incident, there might be a “someday.” 

So I spent a significant part of two days tagging everyone I knew worked for an airline in the church database and asking church staff and airline personnel to name others. Tediously entering material into a database is not one of those glorious occupations most pastors dream of when we answer God’s call. But I knew it needed to be done “just in case.”

A couple of years later, immediately after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, I could call and e-mail the airline people we knew about. As they responded, they let me know where they were and how they were, I gave them news of colleagues, and they identified other airline employees, so that we could widen the circle of caring. I was so thankful for those tags!

I knew I was working on the database “for the Lord,” but how many times do I, or you, miss the opportunity to turn an unwelcome task into a way to offer ourselves to God? In my case, lots of times.

God’s peace,

Katie

Tired Prayer

The Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes  with sighs too deep for words. And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

Romans 8:26-27

I don’t need a calendar to know it is mid-semester. Signs of sleep deprivation are all around. Bleary- eyed students mutter about papers and projects due and exams that are a large percentage of a grade. They are tired, in some cases exhausted – a word that literally means “drained.”

With weary brains and bodies, we may unable to form words for prayer. But we can pray by resting in God, by offering our tiredness and our inability to voice even our own needs, much less those of others. We can simply let ourselves be still in God’s presence.

Scripture promises that the Holy Spirit helps us in our weariness. When we are too exhausted to find words, the Spirit connects our trusting hearts to God and our prayer is perfected.

We may even fall asleep in the process, resting peacefully before God and letting God restore us.

God’s peace,

Katie

Cheering for Victory

As for me, I am already being poured out as a libation, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. From now on there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have longed for his appearing.

2 Timothy 4:6-8 

2 Timothy pictures Paul near the end of his life in a prison cell, awaiting execution – about to be “poured out” as a final offering of his life to Christ. He rejoices in his discipleship as if he has been a victorious athlete. He has “fought the good fight.” He has “finished the race.” He has “kept the faith.”

Yesterday with friends and family, I saw to some of the most exciting football I can remember. The players were giving it their all. They didn’t always succeed but not for lack of trying. As we watched them strain for excellence, we yelled with excitement when they moved the ball forward and with disappointment when they didn’t. We were not distracted.

It’s hard to imagine being as excited about following Jesus as those players were about their games? Could you or I possibly approach scripture with the concentration a kicker gives to the ball and goalposts?  

What about when we are in the audience? Can we cheer excitedly for someone who takes a step forward in discipleship or exhibits faithfulness in serving others?

Athletics can be a wonderful opportunity to push ourselves – or, more often, to watch others demonstrate the strength, grace and skill God has given them. It’s also a glorious image of what discipleship can look like.

God’s peace,

Katie

A Calming Place

O LORD, my heart is not lifted up, my eyes are not raised too high;   

I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me.

But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother;  

my soul is like the weaned child that is with me.

O Israel, hope in the LORD from this time on and forevermore.

Psalm 131

I love this Psalm, but why, I have wondered, a weaned child, when a mother and nursing child seem the essence of intimacy? Then it hit me. A weaned child is not in his mother’s arms out of necessity. She is not there to satisfy hunger pangs. He does not need to be carried from place to place. She doesn’t have to have comfort, but, oh, she wants to be sheltered. In her mother’s arms, she can calm and quiet his soul.

Some days our hearts are naturally lifted up. Sometimes it is good to raise our sights high. We may be awed at times to contemplate things “too great and too marvelous” for us to comprehend fully. But when our hearts are heavy, when the tasks before us seem overwhelming, when we are weary, we are welcomed into God’s arms, into God’s presence, to calm and quiet our souls. Our prayer may be simply, "Shelter me."

Occasionally a toddler will stay in his mother’s arms for a lengthy time. More often, the child is there for a few, very important moments of reassurance and then is off to run and play. When our souls are battered, we may need to rest in God at length, but, even when a day is going well, it is good to let loving arms embrace us for a moment of reassurance.

God’s peace,

Katie

Holy Pleasure

It is good to give thanks to the LORD, to sing praises to your name, O Most High;

to declare your steadfast love in the morning, and your faithfulness by night,

to the music of the lute and the harp, to the melody of the lyre. 

For you, O LORD, have made me glad by your work; at the works of your hands I sing for joy.

Psalm 92:1-4

While preparing a Bible study, I read, “. . . there is nothing better for human beings than to be happy and enjoy themselves as long as they live.” (Ecclesiasties 3:12) That sounds like embracing a life of pleasure for pleasure’s sake alone. But Ecclesiastes continues, “Moreover, it is God’s gift that all should eat, drink and enjoy the results of all their toil.” Enjoying – literally drawing joy into our lives – by appreciating the things and events around us is a gift from God.

Some streams of Christian thought worry that too much pleasure will lead us to center our life on earthly things instead of God. But scripture sees enjoyment as a way of connecting with God as we give thanks for God’s works. It is hard, if not impossible, to give genuine thanks to God if we do not delight in what we are thanking God for.

The writer of this Psalm sings for joy at God’s gifts, serenading with lute and harp and lyre. Celebrating God’s works can make each gift we receive – from a cool drink of water to a child at play to a glorious sunset – an occasion for worship. Delighting in a lunch we are about to eat, a game well played, or a subject that becomes clear to us after much struggle doesn’t take a long time, but it does require a moment of appreciating the gift and letting our hearts smile. What would our lives be like if we took “joy breaks” often? What if they became a way of life?

God’s peace,

Katie

Sanctified Distress

Since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.

Romans 5:1-5

Most of us would like to be filled with hope, but we would rather avoid a path to it that begins with suffering. Paul does not suggest that suffering is sent by God to help us grow. We certainly do not need to seek out misery as an opportunity for self-improvement. Suffering will come to us at times through the actions and attitudes of others or through circumstances we cannot avoid. Scripture does not promise we will never hurt.

It does promise that, amid our sufferings, the Holy Spirit will be at work within us, building strength we will carry forward to other challenges. As we endure by God’s grace, we will develop character – a way of being in the world, an outlook of heart and mind – that relies on God’s grace and welcomes the Holy Spirit’s work. When we rely on God grace within us, we learn to look with hope for the good God will bring forth even in hard circumstances. Our sufferings become more about God’s track record than our own.

Scripture promises that God is always at work, even in the worst times, to remake us into the image of Christ. The hymn “How Firm a Foundation” puts God’s promise this way, “I will be with thee, thy troubles to bless and sanctify to thee thy deepest distress.”

God’s peace,

Katie

Returning to the Light

If we say that we have fellowship with him while we are walking in darkness, we lie and do not do what is true; but if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

1 John 1:6-10

Sin can be so easy to name in other people, but we rarely pay attention to sin in ourselves until we have done something hard to ignore. We might not have the nerve to say we are without sin, but we rarely take a hard look at our sinfulness.

Sin starts small. We aren’t so much in the darkness as in the shade. “Shady” sins are often what are sometimes called “sins of omission,” not bad things we do but opportunities to do good that we ignore. We may not notice that we are turning away from God when we ignore an opportunity to be kind to someone or to put ourselves in God’s presence. After all, we are busy.

The shade can become comfortable, but ignoring opportunities to do good weakens our will to follow Christ. We get out of practice reaching outside ourselves toward God and other people. The shade deepens. Soon doing small bad things and then bigger ones doesn’t feel so bad. We slip further and further into darkness without noticing the loss of light.

1 John has an unpalatable antidote – confessing our sins. In order to confess them, we have to name them, and to name them we have to shine a bright light into our hearts and onto our actions. Classic spirituality calls this an “examination of conscience” – a thorough search for what we have done wrong, trying not to let things slip past us.

Confession is powerful . We are “forgiven and cleansed from all unrighteousness.” We can walk in the light of Christ’s presence again. Like most antidotes, it only feels good afterward, when we remember who were are and how good walking in the light feels.

God’s peace,

Katie

Comfortable Darkness

Whoever says, “I am in the light,” while hating a brother or sister, is still in the darkness. Whoever loves a brother or sister lives in the light, and in such a person there is no cause for stumbling. But whoever hates another believer is in the darkness, walks in the darkness, and does not know the way to go, because the darkness has brought on blindness.

1 John 2:9-11

By this time, we are not as impressed with some of the people we were excited to meet in August. A brilliant professor isn’t clear about expectations. A roommate has revealed some annoying habits. An organization’s leader doesn’t follow through. (Of course, it is possible that the professor has become disappointed with a student or two, that we also have annoying habits, and that the leader thought we would take more initiative.)

Annoyance can give birth to anger and anger to feelings of superiority, jealousy and resentment. We don’t hate the person, but we are cultivating seeds of that darkest of feelings. The more we focus on another’s negatives, the less we can see his or her gifts. It doesn’t take long before we are too blind to see the person as, first and foremost, a child of God.

When the darkness becomes a comfortable place where we are right and others are wrong, it is hard to pray for light, but it is the time we most need to. Be a light in our darkness, O Lord, and deliver us from the seeds of hatred.

God’s peace,

Katie

Walking Attentively

                  Whoever says, “I abide in Christ,” ought to walk just as he walked.
                                                                                                                  1 John 2:6

How did Christ “walk,” that is, live his life? Certainly he was obedient to his Father’s will and offered himself for others to the point of death on a cross. But I am also impressed that Jesus lived a life of attentiveness. He focused on his mission in whatever form it took at the time. 

Tired from travel and in the noonday heat, he went out of his way to speak with a woman who had come to a well to draw water. Her life was changed when she recognized him as the Messiah. (John 4) While he was traveling through Jericho surrounded by a large crowd, a blind beggar on the side of the road cried out, and scripture records, “Jesus stood still.” He then called the man to come to him, healed him, and the man followed Jesus. (Mark 10) When a woman crept up to him in a crowd to touch the hem of his garment, sure that she would be healed, he was attentive enough to notice that healing power had gone out from him. He called to woman to him and blessed her. (Mark 5) A centurion who came to ask healing for his servant (Matthew 8) and countless others each received individual, undivided attention. 

Many people came to Jesus seeking many things, but he did not “multi-task.” He attended fully to one person or situation at a time. As we seek to abide in Christ, what would it mean for us to live lives of prayerful attentiveness to each person, task or opportunity God places in front of us?

God's peace,

Katie

Holy

1 Peter 1:13, 15-16 Therefore prepare your minds for action; discipline yourselves; set all your hope on the grace that Jesus Christ will bring you when he is revealed. . . . As he who called you is holy, be holy yourselves in all your conduct; for it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”

1 Peter 1:13, 14-15

When we look in the mirror, we rarely, if ever, expect to see someone holy looking back at us. Yet scripture tells us that “holy” is both what we are and what we are to become. We have been claimed by God in Christ and set apart to be holy as God is holy.

We can “do the right thing,” maybe even most of the time, without being holy. We often do so grudgingly. We are made holy by God through the death and resurrection of Jesus. We become the holy people God has made us to be when we welcome the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. John Wesley called early Methodists to “holiness of heart and life.” As we surrender our lives to God, right deeds flow out of changed hearts, not grudgingly but naturally.

How do we surrender ourselves? By “preparing our minds for action,” “disciplining ourselves,” and “setting all our hope” on God’s grace. While it may seem strange to think of becoming holy as a discipline, generations of Christian heroes have understood it that way. We apply our minds to holiness as a goal and identify aspects of our lives we need to offer to God. Then we put our whole confidence in God’s grace to transform us.

Who is that person in the mirror? Someone God seeks to make holy. What blemish or scar do you see that God wants to transform?

God's peace,

Katie

Change of Plans?

For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the LORD, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope. Then when you call upon me and come and pray to me, I will hear you. When you search for me, you will find me; if you seek me with all your heart.

Jeremiah 29:11-13

Jeremiah wrote these promises to people who were devastated physically and spiritually. After repeated warnings by prophets to turn from their sins and return to God, Israel had been crushed militarily by Babylon. The people who heard his words had been taken as captive exiles to a strange country. If God had let them lose the land given to them as a sign of their divine covenant with their Lord, had God abandoned them? Had they run out of chances to make a new beginning?

No, the prophet assures them, they will be in captivity for the foreseeable future, but God will bring their nation into a good future. God’s plan for Israel to be the divine instrument to reconcile all the peoples of the world to God remains. God is with them in their exile, hearing them and speaking through prophets to remind them of God’s faithfulness and love.

Sometimes as we pursue what we understand as God’s will for our lives – a career, a field of study or a significant relationship – something closes down that path. Or the path may be right, but it is far harder than we expected. We may feel exiled from the life we expected. Then this Word of God from Jeremiah speaks to us as well. God’s plan to use us in the world remains, perhaps on the same path, perhaps on a new one. When we search after God, the path will become clearer. God hears the prayers of our hearts and is at work, even now, to bring a good future. 

God's peace,

Katie

Memories of Conquerors

Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.                                                                                                                              Romans 8:35, 37-39

The Sunday after the terrorist attacks twelve years ago today, my church posted in the entryway notes and art children’s had produced in response. One of the most moving showed the Risen Christ over the Twin Towers as they were attacked.

We were struggling to grasp the fact that so many people had spent literally years planning and preparing to do such evil to people they didn’t know. Yet this drawing proclaimed that their murderous hatred could not separate us from Christ. Christ was there. His face was seen in those who laid down their lives for others, countless others who worked tirelessly searching through the wreckage and the untold numbers who sheltered and fed them, not for days but for weeks.

Only rarely did vengeful hatred find a voice to remind us that, while nothing outside us can separate us from the love of Christ, we can separate ourselves when we let anger, no matter how seemingly justifiable, take root within us. John’s first letter, 4:16, reminds us, “God is love, and those who abide in God abide in God, and God abides in them.” Memories of those who offered themselves for others remind us that it is through letting Christ’s love empower us that we are “more than conquerors.”

God's peace,

Katie

No Worries?

Matthew 6:25 - 26 Jesus said, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?”

Taken on their own, these words can seem a command by Jesus to relax and pay no attention to such everyday concerns as lunch, laundry, a bank account that needs an infusion, or a project that is 20% of a grade. But aren’t these things to which we must attend?

Jesus’ opening word, “Therefore,” points us back to the preceding verse, where he says, “No one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”

When we center our lives on our material wants (as opposed to needs) or getting ahead to gain the security of more possessions in the future, those desires take over our minds and lives. Worry about them can so consume us that we forget our fundamental identity as children of God – people who, as Jesus says, are of great value to our heavenly Father. Living day-by-day in relationship with God allows us to attend to our responsibilities – in school, at work, in friendships or as we tend to our day-to-day needs – in the peace and joy that are gifts from God.

We cannot serve two masters; therefore Jesus calls us to entrust our lives daily to him.

God's peace,

Katie

Christ's Peace

John 14:26 - 27 The Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid. 

A new beginning, any change really, troubles our hearts and gives fear an entryway. What if this happens or that doesn’t happen? What if I can’t meet someone else’s standards or my own?

When changes challenge us, the world offers ways to respond – fear, defensiveness, anger, shame and surrender among them. Jesus promises that the Holy Spirit will remind us of all Christ has said to us, including a pledge that we will have peace as we let the Spirit move in us.

This Peace of Christ is not just the absence of struggle or upset. Christ’s Peace, if we will receive it, calms our hearts and replaces fear with hope for what God will bring forth. A few verses later, Jesus tells those who follow him, “Remain in me, and I will remain in you.” 

Attentive Waiters

Isaiah 40:28 - 31 Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and strengthens the powerless. Even youths will faint and be weary, and the young will fall exhausted; but those who wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.

Recently at a special celebration dinner, we had an ace waiter. When we said we were not in a hurry, he heard us and didn’t rush. But he paid such close attention that he seemed to appear just at the moments we were ready to order a new course or make some other request.

A skilled waiter may show us what scripture means by “waiting upon the Lord.” We often wait passively for God to “do something” so clear that we can’t miss it. We may periodically offer prayers reminding God of our difficulties. What if, instead, we waited as attentively as a skilled restaurant waiter, listening for what God is saying in scripture, in the voices of wise people and as we pray, and looking for ways God is at work to open up new possibilities?

Beginning a new journey can be exhilarating and draining at the same time. Isaiah’s prescription for exhaustion is to “wait upon the Lord.” If we wait attentively, we may hear God’s Word of peace, blessing us for how hard we have tried, or a Word of healing. We may feel God’s strength and peace flowing into us. God promises to renew and revive us to continue our journeys if we are attentive “waiters.”

The Spirit's Rule

Galatians 5:22 – 23  . . . the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

In the Christian spiritual tradition, a “rule of life” outlines the things one seeks to do, and perhaps tries to avoid, in order to become more Christ-like. Some people observe regular prayer disciplines, receive communion frequently, commit to some form of service to others, or do some combination of these and other practices. Faithful disciples realize that if they don’t make room in their lives for spiritual growth, other things will move in line ahead of it.

While this scripture is not so much an outline of activities as a list of qualities, it has become my rule. It’s not that I try hard to display these qualities, doing my best, for example, to look patient when I am not. Rather, this scripture has become my yardstick. When these traits flow from me naturally, it is evidence the Holy Spirit is at work transforming me. When they do not, I need to adjust what I am doing to make room for the Spirit’s movement – perhaps spending more time in prayer or scripture study, praying for people with whom I am impatient, or asking God to help me see how the world looks through another’s eyes. Does this work? Yes, but my growth would be much greater if I were more faithful in applying the yardstick.

For each of us, some of these qualities are more of a challenge than others. I do pretty well with patience, for example, until I have to wait for just about anything. Which of these traits sometimes elude you? How could you open your heart to the Spirit’s work to transform you?

Running Faithfully

Hebrews 12:1-2 Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.

The beginning of a school year or any major project can feel overwhelming or seem deceptively easy. Looking at a whole syllabus, the readings and projects seem impossible. But when many of the deadlines aren’t immediate, it is easy to put off tasks until the load is overwhelming. If learning is part of God’s call on our lives, pursuing it well is part of being faithful to God. (As a pastor, learning is a never-ending part of God’s call for me.)

The writer to the Hebrews compares discipleship to running a race – with perseverance or, in other translations, “patience.” Serious runners know that they must pay attention to two places – the ground in front of them, so that they don’t trip, and the finish line, which is what pulls them forward. In every aspect of following Christ, there are tasks for each day and the goal that pulls us forward – to be one with Christ.

This scripture also reminds us that we are surrounded by witnesses in heaven and on earth who have run the race with excellence. Who are the witnesses that inspire you? Who has been for you what you want to be for others? Keeping a roster of saints can be helpful in molding our own lives. Borrowing from Godly examples is a way to keep our focus on the goal ahead of us and the ground at our feet.  

God's peace,

Katie