My will be… er…ummm…
Not gobs of time for reflection today. Like so many days, I start off with many goals, dreams and ambitions. I make plans, lay out ways to achieve these things and at the end of the day I pour myself into bed with nary a check mark next to my haughty plans and wonder what happened to the day.
Oh, I am not perfect when it comes to single minded pursuit of my goals. I get distracted way to easily. But often what distracts isn’t the unnecessary flotsam and jetsam of life, it is something more. It just might be the will of God breaking into my life. But there are days when that doesn’t seem very fair.
I have a friend Mike who helps keep me centered even if he is Norwegian too! One of Mikes favorite things to say is; “want to make God laugh?? Tell him your plans.” There is much truth to this, but it is also true about our “wish lists.” Our devotions today focused on the passage from Micah 6:8 we talked about yesterday. Today they looked at the justice thing a bunch. Part of doing God’s will is doing justice, and part of justice is that everyone would have enough, for in fact God has provided enough.
But even in the midst of our economic struggles, we still suffer from “Affluenza.” My will is for more stuff, good stuff, stuff I like, and short of that stuff in general will do as long as I have more than the next guy. A thought that comes to mind in this area of justice is that we often equate justice with well… equality, sameness, uniformity and fairness. But this isn’t always the case.
Ok for instance, it would perhaps be fair that everyone get the same clothes so that no one would be without. Sounds just doesn’t it? Sounds fair. But take me and my associate pastor. I am 6’6″ she on a good day is at the 5′ mark. We could both own the same alb to wear for leading worship. However, if it was made to fit her, it wouldn’t work so well for me, or if it was one size fits all we would both look silly. (its late and it has been a long day so forgive me) Justice is not always about equality. It is about getting enough. Sometimes that means that others may get more than I have because they “need” it. I may want it, but it doesn’t mean I “need” it.
Ok, back to the will thing. Gods will is that we have enough, not more than, and not the same. But enough. So how do you know when enough is enough, and it isn’t too much… Uggg… exceptions and problems are popping up all over with this … maybe I need to get back to praying! Your will be done… ok, Lord please let me see and be a part of that will unfolding into this world each day for Jesus sake.
Waiting and not waiting
It has been a busy day. First it was a Tuesday, which in my life are my Monday’s, they are always nuts. Second, Kristi was working so I was on for supper. Third, it was Council meeting. Then I got home and after 20 minuets of helping Hannah study for her APUSH test, I got a call. Hannah got the phone and sighed. The caller ID said RAMC, Hannah always sighs when it says RAMC after 5:00. A congregation member had landed in the ER. So it was down to the Hospital for a couple hours.
In all of that I was blessed enough to see the kingdom again today… in Council, despite financial struggles, they deliberated thoughtfully, about more than money, about how best to minister. In all of it I could see the trust and hope that even in these hard times God will provide. The not yet-ness of God’s kingdom are the struggles that we face day to day, but in the knowledge that God’s kingdom is already we can find hope even in the midst of our hardest days.
Then there was the hospital visit. As I sat with the family the words from one of my favorite passages kept coming to me. Ok, it was also part of doing my devotions earlier in the day, but non-the-less, it was there!
“On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples
a feast of rich food, a feast of well-matured wines,
of rich food filled with marrow, of well-matured wines strained clear.
7And he will destroy on this mountain
the shroud that is cast over all peoples,
the sheet that is spread over all nations;
8he will swallow up death for ever.
Then the Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces,
and the disgrace of his people he will take away from all the earth,
for the Lord has spoken.
9It will be said on that day,
Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, so that he might save us.
This is the Lord for whom we have waited;
let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.” (Isaiah 25:6-9)
This reading is most often used during Advent, and funny as it may seem, at funerals. I guess it isn’t that odd. Advent is about the kingdom breaking into the “not yet” in the person of Jesus Christ. Funerals about the Kingdom already and the promises received in our baptisms into Jesus life, death and resurrection! Our hope is in this heavenly reward, kingdom life, but our hope is in what God will yet do in this world, which is also kingdom life!
In our devotions they didn’t have verse 9, but I thought that might be an oversight, as it helps us wrap our heads around the already and not yet-ness of God’s kingdom. The first part of the reading sounds a lot like heaven, perfection, a wonderful peace, and no more tears! But verse nine is all about the not-yet. Waiting! Uggg! How I hate waiting, but waiting is very much a part of the in-breaking of kingdom. Waiting in the ER, waiting for a word, waiting for healing, waiting for justice, waiting for peace, waiting for just about everything. We grow impatient and want the kingdom to come now and can’t understand why God just doesn’t get on with it! “Thy Kingdom come now!” we whine… yet this is the God for whom we have waited, let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.
Wait! There are wonderful things yet to be done in the “not yet” part of the kingdom, so that all might come to know the loving salvation of God and tears might be wiped from eyes even as we wait. So when we are waiting for the kingdom, we are not waiting because it is breaking in all the time and we get to be part of that wonderful event! Already and not yet, waiting and not waiting all at the same time…right?
Ok, well that was more than I thought I had me, if it makes any sense… thank God, well even if it doesn’t make sense… thank God for becoming what you already are in Jesus Christ.
Extra mustard please
The kingdom of God is like…
Isn’t it funny how time after time, complex concepts, when explained properly aren’t very complex at all. We are STILL looking at the kingdom of God in the Lord’s prayer in our book of faith Lenten journey devotions. In the Gospels Jesus lays out what life is like in the kingdom. Its like: a mustard seed, a bit of yeast, a treasure hidden in a field, a pearl of great price, and a net. Not one of those items I described do we have the least bit of trouble wrapping our heads around.
Really… These are all common items, some are a bit more pricey than others, but there is a commonality among them that we can all identify with.
- While maybe everyone doesn’t know about mustard seeds. But, I don’t know of a kid who at some point in his or her life didn’t plant a bean seed, or a flower seed in a Styrofoam cup and watched it sprout and grow.
- Yeast, well not everyone is into bread baking, but we know it when we taste it. The smell of fresh baked bread that yeasty smell, the taste of bread still warm, with a bit of butter or honey, we know what its like to be fed like this.
- Treasure, especially buried treasure…arrrrrgg… ahoy matey’s! Kids draw maps of buried treasure and go seek it, even if there isn’t anything there, the chase, the adventure, the hope of finding treasure fills our imaginations. Even adults know and love this idea, who do you suppose bought all those tickets to Pirates of the Caribbean I, II and III!
- Pearl of great price, ok not everyone is big into pearls,
of great price or otherwise. But show me a 1957 Gibson Les Gaul Gold top and I will show you a pearl of great price. We all have such pearls in our lives, not all of them are things though!
- Nets, well not much imagination here… you catch things with them, from fish to butterfly’s or at St. John Lutheran, bats! Nets are made to snag everything in their path. They are meant for catching things plain and simple.
The point is that the kingdom of God is not some far off hard to imagine thing, it is reflected in our normal everyday experiences. We can taste, see, feel and experience the kingdom of God in our everyday lives.
Perhaps the kingdom of God is celebrated nowhere else quite like eating together. If are close to Reedsburg, please feel free to stop by St. John for our soup, bread and pie prior to our mid-week services. You can come at noon, or supper starts at 5:30 (I think, I am already there when it starts so I forget!) The meals are a fund raiser for our youth, but if things are tight financially, give me a nudge and I will see to it that there is no cost for you. This is the kingdom of God! If you come on Wednesday evening, there will be a table set aside for us to talk about our devotions if you would like to join us!
One last thing. It may only be pizza rolls and a coke, but a prayer before your meal is an excellent way to celebrate the kingdom of God. In our home it is usually the good ol’ “Come Lord Jesus” (talk about a loaded phrase!) But I would like to share a special family prayer that was used at Grandma and Grandpa Braaten’s home when we would visit. If it works for you great!
“Great God we praise your gracious care, which does our daily bread prepare. O, bless the earthly food we take and feed our souls for Jesus sake. Amen.”
