The Word Creates – Day 4
Seven Wonders of the Word
Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; - Genesis 1:26a
Yesterday we looked a little bit at the Trinity. For me one of the definitive passages that undergirds the concept of the Trinity is this passage from Genesis. Back in the day when I first noticed the plurals in this passage, I was like “whoa, would ya look at that!” Let US… create in OUR, those plurals speak volumes to me. God is and has always been in relationship, that is the very basis of the Trinity.
So when we talk about being created in God’s image, what does that mean to you?
Our culture often thinks things like this.
Ok, this isn't what is up there but I kind thought it was sort of funny!
Or when I was a kid this was a pretty popular idea,
Or this… one of my favorites.
Several years back there was a book called “The Shack” and it caused some kerfuffle amongst some because of its portrait of the image of God. Granted God physically described as a benevolent “Aunt Jemima” is a bit out there and don’t even get me started on the way the Holy Spirit was or was not described! The larger point, which I feel is valid, is that the image of God that we are created into is one of right relationship.
To this point our devotions today state: “Just as a mirror needs something to reflect, humans cannot reveal the image of God when we are separated from the One whom we reflect.”
Sin breaks in and does all sorts of funky things to that image, we reflect other things in our world an in our lives, we often reflect our very selves, our ideas, our images of what is right, just or good. But when we do that the picture is blurred, most often dangerously so.
The Word creates in Jesus Christ as he has come to restore that image, to change the direction we focus that mirror, away from ourselves and in repentance back toward God in whom we are the fullness of what we are meant to be.
What do you see in the mirror?
What are you looking for?
If you only see your shortcomings or imperfections, or on the other hand if you only see your own ideas and feelings reflected back to you that mirror offers nothing, it is an empty reflection, yes there maybe things that are in a manner of speaking attractive, but if we are the only thing in in that mirror, than the image will eventually grow stale, and even ugly.
When that mirror includes God, the image reflected back is changed, the visible aspects may still be the same, you may still see your faults and your foibles, but in right relationship with God that reflection offers more. It offers the fullness of what God would have us be, it is in relationship with God through His creative Word that we become fully who we were created to be.
The questions for reflection today are pretty good, think about them for a while…
- Where have you seen the image of God reflected in other people?
In the light of recent events in my home state and half way across the world I see it in the faces and actions of those who care, those who reach out, those who are there for others. In what specific things have you seen the image of God reflected? Comment here I would love to hear about them.
- How do others see the image of God when they look at you?
Maybe modesty prevents us from commenting on this one, but it is a good thing to ponder. How does God’s love and image flow from you, through you, reflected by you in what you say and do. Is it an attitude; are they concrete actions of love? If you can’t think of how this might be done, find a faithful friend and ask them how they might see this in your life. No two people reflect the exact same image of God that is the gift of God to you and to the world. How is God using you today to reflect his love and grace to others?
Blessings!
Slogging through the rules
You want details… I’ll give you details!
Our 90 day Bible journey in these last few days has taken us through the interesting and sometimes puzzling territory of Leviticus, and Numbers… ahhh…what a joy! If you are a details person, one who is a stickler for the rules, you may well love this stuff.
Me, not so much.
My wife said something like, after reading this stuff I have never been so glad Jesus came!
I agree, but there is still so much to glean from these books even in the midst of the repetition and often odd (to us) rituals and practices there in.
One of the things that really dawned on me was the repeating of the need to take a Sabbath. 
Over and over again the idea of Sabbath rest was highlighted. What I also find interesting is that this rest isn’t so much about God as it is about us. Today we don’t have near so many rules, I am glad I didn’t have to have blood splashed all over me at my ordination, nor was there slaughtering of any kind come to think of it! But the need for Sabbath is still real and quite frankly we stink at it. Maybe we can still learn much from these early rule books of the bible.
Getting into Numbers I am struck with just how big this people was, Over six hundred thousand, and I am pretty sure they were just counting the guys here. So this wandering people of God in the wilderness was the size of Milwaukee! Gives you a unique perspective on what was going on, it was a huge deal, and with a size like this come rules so that this newly formed people, for that is in fact what they were, could live together.
At the root, this still is all about relationships. Relationships between God and His people, between neighbors, and on and on… you get the point.
There is much more detail that I could go into here, but if you are reading along, you know, if not, open up your Bible and dive in!
NERDS!
I know it might hard to believe, but I was not always the ultra cool pastor dude I am today. In fact as a youth, I was ummm… well… I was a bit of a well… I was a nerd of sorts. Maybe a better word would be geek, whatever you call it I was not one of the popular kids in school. In fact when I was younger, I got picked on, and in my memory, quite a bit. I got picked on for a lot of reasons, some I had absolutely no control over.
I had glasses, I was uncoordinated, a late bloomer and about as socially awkward as you can imagine! I also loved Star Trek, Star Wars, computers, photography and I wasn’t particularly into sports.
In many ways I am not all that different than I was as a kid, but I have sort of grown into my personality and body over the years and quite frankly people don’t tend to pick on people who are 6’6″ and push 300 lbs. It is funny how some things don’t change but their perception of them might change. You know those glasses I wore as a kid, those horn rimmed thingys… well I guess they are a fashion statement now. Back in my day the only person that looked good in them was Berry Goldwater, not a 7 year old kid!
I don’t let teasing bother me too much either. In fact I think I can take a good joke and I rather enjoy the give and take of poking fun amongst people who genuinely care for each other. Most of all in regards to our book of faith Lenten Journey devotions, I am not harassed because I am a Christian, nor am I harassed because I am a Christian pastor.
I am fortunate to live in this country. There are many in this world today who are not so fortunate. Big or small, good looking, popular or otherwise, if you are a Christian you can be picked on and much worse. There are people each day who find their lives and livelihoods in trouble because of their faith. So it has been for much of the history of the Christian faith. In the earliest days I think those first disciples heard this petition and good news… as the purest form of Gospel there is.
“Save us from the time of trial” Oh.. boy! Those are some trials. But as followers of Christ should the fact that we might be picked on and persecuted for our faith come as a surprise?
Think about it… we are in Holy Week; Good Friday is but days away. If God’s Son so offended people with his love and honesty, don’t you think we might have a hard go of it from time to time? After all Jesus was the one who called to us to pick up our crosses and follow him.
Now this doesn’t mean that we look for trouble, nor does it mean you can count on being persecuted on a regular basis. Whew! But when you side with the poor and powerless in the world you might come under some suspicion. I mean it is all about power and wealth isn’t it?
Well the cross and empty tomb attest to the fact that the things we often think are important are not. Life, love and service in Christ’s name are in fact what it is all about. Does this mean as cross bearers as Christians who love the lost and the least that we are relegated to horrible lives? No, in fact being a follower of Christ can in fact open up the way for a life full of blessings, among these blessings is this very petition of the Lord’s Prayer “save us from the time trial.”
As we face trails, we do not walk alone, as we struggle, we do not walk alone, as we experience the joys of life and celebrate each turning point we do not do this alone. I don’t think you can over rate this experience, this knowledge that we are not alone. We are a people made to be in relationship and it is in Christ that we find we are never alone, even when all others may be against us, Jesus love is with us in all things, And that is the biggest blessing there is!
Yo Playa!
Quick, what is the first thing that comes to mind when you read the word prodigal?
Don’t answer… check out this list of um… adjectives…
Wasteful, reckless, dissolute, profligate, uncontrolled, spendthrift, squanderer, self-indulgent, immoral, and debauched.
Take those words, especially debauched, dissolute and profligate (my personal favorites) and line them up with this picture.
The picture is “The Return of the Prodigal Son” by Rembrandt.
Do they match? Were any of those words the first word on your mind when you read the word prodigal? Most likely not.
In all honesty being a prodigal looks a little more like this… With my apologies to Zac Efron… (I guess that is this guys name) a prodigal is a fast living low life that cares only for self… notice I didn’t say himself… this adjective knows no gender.
Why the confusion with this word? I think it is because of the out come of the story. In the love of God and the example of Christ, we have almost turned the word prodigal into a nice word.
The point of this story is in fact not the prodigal, well at least primarily. I would venture to guess that at various times in your life as in mine, we have been the prodigal son, the party animal friends hanging on as long as the good times last, the older brother who gets bent out of shape and in our best moments we have been the father waiting with open arms and running out to grab in a loving embrace those who have sinned against us even when they were far off.
We play these roles not only in family. It happens at work, it happens in politics. Tony Campolo talked about it in his recent blog entry. When he referenced the current grumblings about the economic programs offered by our president toward those who seemingly prodigally loaned money to people who couldn’t pay it back!
As I mentioned before often when something goes wrong and we are harmed or some how damaged, we want our pound of flesh. But into this world Jesus tells us “Go and learn what this means, “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.” (Matt. 9:13)
When I searched google images for prodigal I found no examples of slime balls, of high rollers or playa’s, instead I found images like the Rembrandt above and this one.
I think this is a good thing. For when we think of prodigal God’s forgiveness and reconnection go hand in hand. As we pray Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us, we know there is a comfort there, and while we may trespass into areas we don’t belong, God is waiting for us to return and while we are far off he reaches out in love for you and me. Lord may we continue to grow in love and forgiveness even as we become what we already are in Jesus Christ.
BUSTED!
So, this forgiveness thing… I am pretty sure I know why Jesus put it in the prayer, you know the Lord’s prayer.
We don’t do it so well, but forgiveness is at the heart of every relationship we are involved in.
There is that part of us though, that doesn’t like this idea of forgiveness, well we like it for ourselves, but others? Well, lets just say, we muc
h prefer to bust people, we like shows like COPS etc… that catch the bad guys in the act… the phrase caught red handed makes our inner judge grin. We like people to get what they have coming to them.
The book of faith 40 day Lenten journey devotions remind us that we all need forgiveness everyday… just like we need our daily bread. And like daily bread we are called to share this forgiveness with others.
I love the Galatians passage: “My friends,* if anyone is detected in a transgression, you who have received the Spirit should restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness. Take care that you yourselves are not tempted.” 6:1 But our devotions didn’t have that last line printed. I think that is vital.
Ok, sure we don’t often restore people with a spirit of gentleness, and we in Christ we are called to do just that. But one of the reasons we should is that last line… or as The Message states the same passage: “Live creatively, friends. If someone falls into sin, forgivingly restore him, saving your critical comments for yourself. You might be needing forgiveness before the day’s out.” Way to go Eugene…. nailed it right on the head!
The key here is not to bust people, but to restore them. It isn’t about punishment, it is about gentleness. Yes forgiveness is a two way street, the other may not grow in that forgiveness, but that is not your call. You can’t make someone love, just as you can’t truly make them forgive unless they really want to! The key here is we are asked to forgive as we first have been forgiven.
Blessings… Worship tomorrow at St. John Ev. Lutheran Church Reedsburg, WI… I’d love to see you!
Jr. High Madness!
Tonight was our Jr. High lock in… Thank God for Ben and the group leaders who are staying up so I can go to bed by one… and get up by six, which means 5 more hours of sleep than they are getting. Tonight we looked at sacraments; Holy Communion and Baptism.
The focus of these is well, forgiveness… kinda neat how this all fits together. We are given these gifts, promises from God attached to earthly elements and the command to “do this” not as a burden, but as a blessing.
One thing that has filled my head lately is the difference between being right and being in right relationship. I can be right about something and my relationship with others can be way wrong. Now I am not saying you need to abandon your moral compass… but what I am saying is you can stress your rightness, or you can let the road of right relationship bring you to a place of forgiveness and healing where you being right isn’t at the core.
Put it this way… Sin is real, and as Paul says “the wages of sin is death.” Then we God would be right in toasting the whole lot of us. But God chooses right relationship and so sends his Son, so that all might have life. Right relationship costs more, takes more time and the out come well, from our vantage point the outcome is in question. So for us we would much rather be right, and sometimes that boils down to the old, eye for an eye justice.
God doesn’t have the same limitations we have and so sees the whole picture. It is in this vision that Jesus commands us to forgive as God has first forgiven us.
Well the communion bread is about ready to come out of the oven for Holy Communion before breakfast, and I am shot! So… if any of the above makes sense, wonderful, if I have erred in any way, or if I have stated a heretical position, please don’t call my bishop, forgiveness might be in order.
Be careful if you are on the roads in Reedsburg, WI tomorrow morning at 6:30ish… a groggy pastor with fresh Communion bread will be on his ay to church!
Debt Relief
Finally we move off of daily bread to… “Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.” Umm…oh, oh… can I go back to Twinkies?
Forgiveness… sin this is big stuff. Our devotions dive into the deep end of the pool by tackling the word that causes much fuss amongst us Christians. Is it sins, debts or trespasses? There has been a lot of heat and light generated about which word “ought” to be used here, but I think they all have their place.
First off I would like to say that the statement about forgiveness is a two-way street is dead on. Forgiveness can never happen in a total vacuum. Forgiveness is at the relational core of who we are. God forgives us and we in turn are enabled to forgive as we have been forgiven. More about this later…
But for today what are we being forgiven from? Sins? That is the word we use at St. John when we pray the Lord’s prayer and I am good with that. Trespasses, that is the old school word that I used for most of my 45 years on this planet, and I am good with that word too. Then there is 
debt. Um…. as the cool kids say, I am not down with that word. Ok, that isn’t exactly right… I just wanted to say “I wasn’t down with something…never mind…
Ahem..I understand that “technically” the word used in the versions of the Lord’s Prayer we have in scripture use the Greek word that means in English “debts.” But as so often happens our little English word can’t carry the intended weight of the word. I am not going to go into detail here if you want to know more let me know and it may come back up again as we devote our way through the week… moving on…
I guess my thought is while the devotions go on about “debts” I fear that we too often feel that “debt” is something we can handle on our own. The devotions rightfully point out that our debt to God is so great that we cannot pay it. My problem comes when he starts talking about what we “owe” God.
Well, in fact, I “o
we” God everything. But I cannot pay for any of it. I am the spiritual equivalent of the mortgage crisis! Yes, I have debt, no I cannot pay it off, it is paid for me in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. For that, I live, love and struggle to live my life, not in paying back, but in fact as one big thank you note to God.
If we think that living the Christian life is paying God back for the forgiveness he has already shown us, don’t we work ourselves into a pickle? If we could in fact pay any of it back why did Jesus Christ come, why did he have to die, couldn’t he just set up a toll free number and have sin debt councilors set up a plan for re-payment?
I guess I do understand the authors point that whenever we go against God’s will for us we rack up more debt and maybe the harder we try to pay it off the deeper in debt we get. The Good News is that in Christ we are free, the debt has been
paid, canceled… wiped out! Having thus (I love that word… thus!) been forgiven we give thanks to God even as we try to forgive as we have first been forgiven!
Humble Hotdishes
I smell of cheese and sausage. I have washed my hands but the smell just won’t go away! You see I just got done slicing 3 metric tons of cheese and one honking enormous summer sausage for part of our volunteer appreciation celebration tomorrow at St. John. I have lived in Wisconsin for well over half my life, but I still don’t think I could eat cheese and sausage at 9:15 in the morning unless eggs and toast were also involved.
Today the book of faith devotions talked about the walking humbly with God part of Micah 6:8. Perhaps there are no better examples of those who walk humbly with God than those we celebrate tomorrow. Ok the term volunteer and church don’t always work for me. Yes I know people volunteer their time, but the work done is ministry. Walking humbly with God is making yourself available to do God’s will. That could be setting up bars and coffee for fellowship time between services, making a hotdish
THE Tater Tot Hotdish, the gold standard of hotdishes
(that is a casserole for those of you non-Midwestern Lutheran types) for a family who is in crisis, folding newsletters so that they might go in the mail, ushering, singing in the choir, setting up tables and chairs for a potluck (an event where hotdishes are served) and nearly anything that brings the kingdom into this world.
I don’t know anyone who slices cheese and sets out the salads for a funeral luncheon who does it in hopes that someday Martha Stewart will show up and discover them so they can have their how HGTV show or whatever. Walking humbly in my view has to do with doing tasks large or small not out of any hope for heavenly brownie points, but simply standing humbly at the foot of the cross, and gazing at God’s ultimate gift to us, it is the least we can do. Walking humbly means constantly turning away from ourselves and returning our gaze to God. I think it is interesting how many times returning to God involves reaching out in love to others. It is doing things that normally you wouldn’t do on a bet, and doing them for the sake of others. The funny thing about humility is that you never really know when you are doing it. It just flows from you. The second you stop to think “am I being humble,” anything resembling true humility vanishes. Humility comes from walking with our eyes fixed on God and his will for us, trusting that God in his love will guide us and provide for us… but now I am getting ahead of myself…
Blessings and thanks for journeying with me this lent. I would love to hear if you have any comments, corrections or questions. I hope on some level to make this less about me pontificating and more about a conversation of faith, and life as we all become what we already are in Jesus Christ.
Humbly-mumbly
Ahhhh… peace and quiet. I love Wednesdays in Lent. Oh sure you say “because of mid-week worship, or is it the soup, bread and pie you had for supper?” Ok, fine, those things are a part of it, but what I love most is now… after all that. In the still quiet of the evening, I am alone in my house. The kids are at youth group, my wife is at choir and it is just me and the cats and right now they are not being demanding, it is lovely.
I didn’t get to the devotions earlier in the day; they had to keep until now. But it was worth it. I sat and read, undistracted, and unhurried in absolute quiet. Listening to what Micah 6:8 was whispering in my ear. Oh, I love this passage, have for years, I have read it over and over again. I have used it for devotions, sermons and to try and focus junior high kids on what it means to walk, live and breathe the Christian life.
It all sounds so simple, “God has told you, O mortal, what is good: and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” Easy, right? It is all laid right out there, no complicated directions, and no long list of rules just do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God. Piece of cake I can do that! Oh…humbly, humbly now… oh, that’s right… humbly…
How often do we get in the way of doing justice, or if not outright obstructing justice, just plain old not stepping out and doing it?
How often do we get in the way of loving kindness? I mean who has a problem with being kind, well except of course to those people who don’t deserve kindness, surely God can’t be talking about them?
How often do we, when we actually get around to doing justice and loving kindness, creep ever so slowly into the “look at me” mode of existence?
Our devotions ask, what if everyone who is a Christian and who prays the Lord ‘s Prayer and says the words “your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” actually did the will of God in doing justice, loving kindness, and walking humbly with God. In fact it states these points should shape our every action as a congregation, church and individuals.
I can’t argue with that, but I do know people, well, at least a little bit. I know that what I consider to be justice isn’t always what God would consider justice, what I consider to be kindness, is not always the kindness that God expects. Then there is that whole issue of remaining humble, I am not going there!
The brokenness of sin raises its ugly head once again, and I have a choice to make, I can either be crushed by the overwhelming demands that these three little statements place upon me, or I can lift up my eyes to the cross of Christ, and dust off the self pity and self centeredness and trust that I and all who are baptized are all becoming what we already are in Jesus Christ. I think that each day I need to “lift my eyes to the hills” and with the cross in full view ask God to guide me as I see to do justice, love kindness, and to walk humbly with him as I seek to God’s will each step of each day.
There… got that done, no one is home yet and I am going to sit here in the silence for a while and just soak it up!
Love as a way of life
I have 12 weddings this summer, not a ton, but a fair number. At some point when I sit down with each couple during the pre-marriage council sessions I will tell them my philosophy on love. That is quite simply, love is not simply an emotion, or a feeling, at its core love is a way of life, love takes effort, love is the hardest work you will ever do and it is worth it!
It’s not that I don’t go in for romance, but we don’t need to go there today. But think about love even in a romantic context. It still takes work. Someone has to prepare a lovely evening on the town; clear the schedule, make the phone call to reserve a spot at the restaurant, by the tickets for the play, call the baby sitter, and the list goes on… even romance is hard work my friends!
In the book of faith Lenten Journey devotions today we continue looking at what life in the kingdom is like. Love is the norm, our devotions say that “the rule of God is the rule of love.” They go on to talk about the scribe who asks what the greatest commandment is and Jesus responds first love God and second to love your neighbor as yourself. The scribe is then gets just bubbly about how great Jesus is… and Jesus replies you are not far from the kingdom of God. (Mark 12:28-34)
I really like what comes next so I will put it here verbatim. “Not far? Why not in? Perhaps because Jesus saw a difference between knowing the right answers and living the right answers. The distance between “not far” and “in” is the distance between talking about love and loving.”
That distance can be huge for us. Loving as a way of life is hard work. As I read these devotions to day a photo I saw on the net someplace came to mind and through the power of Google… I found it.
It reminds me of Paul’s words in Romans 12 “No, ‘if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink; for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads.’ 21Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
To love the co-worker who has stabbed you in the back, to love the family member who over and over and over again has broken your heart is hard work. It is the work of a way of life, it never really ends. Jesus never said life in the kingdom would be easy. In fact he sort of promises the opposite. But as we journey through lent we are reminded that in God loves us so much that he gave his only Son so that we might live in his love.
I take comfort in my stuff
The title of today’s entry comes from the band Hocus Pick called the “Comfort Song.” Honestly I don’t know to many Americans that are huge fans of Hocus Pick, they were a Christian Rock band from Canada, a collection of odd balls, with a sharp whit, and wry sense of humor. So naturally, I like 
them!
The main chorus in the comfort song is “I take comfort in my stuff.” I have to admit, I have a deep and passionate connection with my stuff. I like to think that I have a healthy relationship with my stuff, but it can get in the way some times.
In our book of faith Lenten Journey devotions today we continued our look at the phrase “Your kingdom come…” We touched a bit on a topic I think we will revisit when we get to the “daily bread” part. But life in the kingdom is about also about trusting in God’s rule.
We worry and fret about so much, ourselves, our family, our job, our future our past, yaddi yaddi yadda… you name it we can in fact worry about it. Today we worry about our stocks, our retirement funds, our jobs and our mortgages. Now don’t get me wrong, we are not to be rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic as it were, blissfully ignorant to the pain that is around us, but our devotions do ask us to think about an interesting question. “Is it true that we need much less than we have to live a happy, meaningful life?”
I think the answer, at least for me is yes. Often I find that my stuff gets in the way of happiness rather than promoting it. I worry about my stuff and I worry that I won’t be able to get more stuff. But Jesus asks us to trust in God for what we need.
Need, now there is the kicker… I need very little of what I actually have. I don’t need 10 guitars, but I have them, I need one, maybe two… aw dang there it is creeping up on me again! I have a house full of stuff, I have stuff in the garage, I don’t even use. My defence is always, well I might need it at some point so, there it sits unused in my garage.
Jesus comes to us and lets us know that God has provided for all we need (see Matthew 6:25-31). In fact there is one thing that is truly need-full. “Strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. (Matt 6:33)
The problem is that enough never seems to be enough. The first verse of the “Comfort Song” goes this way: “I put my comfort in my stuff. The more I get, well it’s never quite Enough Life without it would be really rough I put my comfort in my stuff.”
In this light, my question is: in this day of mortgage crisis, job loss, and family strife, do we dare trust that God will provide enough? Do we step out to share out of our abundance so that the kingdom will come among us even as we pray, “your kingdom come…”
Upside right
I am sure you have seen it, maybe you have done it yourself. Reading directions, or some such thing, and once you have read it, it doesn’t make any sense. So you take the directions, and you turn them upside down hoping to gain a little clarity. Ok, mostly it is done out of humor, we know we are stuck and don’t understand things, so we act out our confusion and frustration in a silly way. I think there is truth in that silly action.
Often when theologians and others talk about how Jesus viewed the in-breaking of the Kingdom of God, they say Jesus turns the world upside down. In our book of faith devotions today the verse they use is from Matt. 20:25a-26 where he says if you want to be great you must be a servant.
But I tend to think of things this way… Jesus is not turning things upside down… he is in fact turning things upside right. Our view on power, glory, honor and position is broken by sin, and as such we see and operate in an upside down manner.
To live in the Kingdom of God is to live upside right. Oh it is easy, way too easy to be flipped back around by the way the world sees things, but there are those moments when living in the fullness of God’s love we live and operate upside right and those moments my friend make all the difference.
One of my congregation members answered the question I asked yesterday. Where do you see the Kingdom of God? Sheri said; “Every day in the eyes of the little children that surround me!” Now Sheri does daycare, God bless her indeed. This is not a job that I was gifted for, but she is and in living in her giftedness she see the Kingdom in the eyes of those kids.
Maybe she can see it there, because for the most part these kids know what it is like to be totally dependant on another. As grown ups we think we are suppose to make it on our own in everything. But the words “Your kingdom come…” also remind us that we are to trust as Brother Martin put it: “The kingdom of God comes indeed without our prayer, of itself; but we pray in this petition that it may come unto us also.” It is trusting in God acknowledging our depending upon God that sets the world upside right.
Until the Cows come home
As a kid I remember grownups using the phrase “until kingdom come” when something was going to take forever to happen or would happen forever. Perhaps the only phrase that was used in this context more often was the famous “until the cow’s come home.” For example “Oh that Johnny can stack bales until the cows come home.” Ok, maybe that belies my mostly rural up bringing but the point is this, when the phrase “until kingdom come” was used it meant a forever or distant kind of thing.
“Oh, that won’t happen until kingdom comes.” Old timers don’t have a corner on this phrase either, I have seen it in the words of songs by Cold Play and Kamelot … “For you i’d wait til kingdom comes,” and “I’ll follow my heart until kingdom comes.” Very romantic I ‘spose, but in reality… the kingdom is in fact not that far off, which sort of dampens all that mushy stuff.
You see, when we pray “your kingdom come on earth as in heaven” in the Lord’s prayer we need to recognize that God’s kingdom does in fact come to us long before the cows come home.
God’s kingdom, is present in heaven, yes, true and very important to remember. But we must also remember as we pray this petition that God’s kingdom comes now even as we pray this prayer, in the here and now.
God’s kingdom isn’t just a far off thing, it is indeed here and now present among us. I have seen this kingdom, it shows up in little ways and in big ways each day. It is present when as people of faith we live our lives in a Godly way… not just singing nicely in church, but fueled by the Holy Spirit to bring that very kingdom into our lives and into the lives of others around us in loving service.
Does God rule in your life? We might cringe at this thought. We don’t much like people even God to rule over us. To that end I have a couple questions for you to ponder. Do you see God ruling like a despot, yelling out rules and punishing every chance God gets. Or do you see the rule of God as the Lord’s prayer teaches us, like a loving parent who can admonish, but also reassures, blesses and guides us each day until God’s kingdom comes fully?
Finally, what does Gods kingdom look like to you? Do you see it? If not what gets in the way? If you do see it, what enables you to see such a sight?
I yam what I yam
“I yam what I yam, and that’s not all that I yam,”
The names for God, there are a ton. I guess it makes sense. The name Father, as I have talked about earlier, I like. I have grown to like it even more since learning the Aramaic word Jesus used which is Abba, which we might understand as Daddy.
But my all time favorite I think comes to us from Exodus. In our devotions we were reminded that when When Moses asked God what to tell the Hebrews when they asked who sent him to them, God replied “Yahweh,” which can be translated as i am who i am, or i am what i am, or i will be what i will be, or simply, i am (Exodus 3:13-15). Ever since I was a kid I remember hearing that passage being read and I immediately liked it.
I Am Who I Am. Maybe I liked it becasue of popeye’s old catch phrase ““I yam what I yam, and that’s all that I yam.” Well, when you are young, things like that make a differance.
Ok, this may sound silly and a tad obvious, but there is a huge difference between Popeye’s “I yam what I yam, and that’s all that I yam,” and Yahweh’s, “I AM WHO I AM.”
Popeye’s catch phrase, is perhaps the ultimate expression of individualism. Yahweh’s “I AM WHO I AM,” is perhaps the ultimate expression of relationship. Yes, this name is a mystery, yes properly understood it should invoke a sense of awe and fear. But, as it stated in the book of faith Lenten Journey devotional: The Lord’s Prayer is an invitation to ponder the sacred, to wonder about i am, the mystery from which we came and to which we shall return.
By giving us his name, as mysterious as “I am” is for a name, we are invited into a relationship. But giving us a name, God opens up for us the chance for a relationship and in this relationship we are asked to make and keep that name holy. We have been given a gift in this name, we have been given a gift in this prayer, that we might keep God’s name sacred, as we become what we already are in Jesus Christ.
in heaven, the fine point of Both and…
The otherness of God
Yesterday we pondered God as “Father” an intimate and relational term for God. Today we follow that with “in heaven” a phrase that puts a bit of space between us and God. God is God we are not. This basic and perhaps very obvious fact is often lost on us. We like a god that is at our beck and call, one that likes the same things and people we like, says things we agree with, and generally doesn’t demand too much of us that we are not already willing to do. But this God is “in heaven” in heaven implies distance, otherness, mystery. A fancy word for this is transcendence (had to use the spell check on that one!) basically it means a going beyond; God is beyond us, apart from. So in this prayer we pray in a relational way to one who is beyond us?
In Christ God has come to us, though God in his fullness is beyond us, God chooses to come to us and become known. In this he is not beholden to us, but rather reaches out to establish a relationship rooted in love. God is not some prime-mover who set things in motion and now sits back and watches what happens to us like a bad sit-com. God comes that we might have life, and for that to happen God chooses to get God’s hands dirty. In Christ God comes and mucks about as one of us, the one who is all things chooses to identify with us, his creation and reaches out in love. No one is excluded from this love except those who exclude themselves. Maybe we have grown so accustomed the Abba Daddy image of God that we risk losing what a big deal it is that this God, amazing, mysterious and Omni everything has chosen to relate to us. Lutherans love to keep things both and… we are both sinner and saint, the kingdom is already and not yet and God is both an immanent Daddy and transcendent Awesome Creator of everything, to be feared and worshiped.
In this balance we have a God who loves us and yet pushes to move beyond who we are now to become what we already are in Jesus Christ.
That Father thing…
Today in our “book of faith – Lenten Journey” we looked at the word, Father. What does Father mean to you? What does the phrase “Our Father” mean?
Father, I guess I have been blessed, I have no problem thinking of God as an ever loving, just, merciful Father.
Others, well, not so much. Many people have issues with their earthly fathers, some petty, some huge and they say these issues get in the way of understanding God as Father.
My father, my dad… is not perfect, he would be the first one to admit this, but all in all, I have a great dad, no real complaints, no issues (that I know if anyway!). But I don’t confuse my dad, as wonderful and well meaning as he is, with God. He, like me is a pastor, and I don’t even think I confused him with God or Jesus. It happens to pastors I know. One day a 4 or 5 year old pointed at me just before a wedding ceremony and I heard him ask his mom if I was God. She told him no, and shushed him… a little later he said, “is that Jesus?” Again he was shushed. After the wedding was over he came up to me and looked at me and said: “you are a pastor!” True enough, but my demotion came pretty fast, but I am alright with that, because I don’t need or want anyone to confuse me with God or Jesus!
I also know that God is not restricted to human limitations. After all both male and female are created in God’s image so I don’t get hung up on the title Father, in some ways it is way too limiting. But it is the word that Jesus used. Maybe Jesus used this term because we can wrap our heads around that term, it is a relational term and God is big into relationships. Or maybe it was because he knew that our earthly fathers and others we are in relationship with, often fall short and we need to understand the length and breath of Gods love for us and in this relational term we find our example as fathers, mothers, children, friends and neighbors.
Don’t get me wrong I am not denying the struggles that some people have with their fathers, but I hope that we can look beyond those examples to the ultimate example of sacrfical love for us in the one who Jesus called “Abba” Father.
