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"Pursuing Hope"

11/27/2018

" For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope"
Jer. 29:11
Listen to: Dixie Chicks, "I Hope" ALERT: This video contains some graphic images of the impact of war, violence and abuse: do not let children watch, don't watch if such images upset you. It is a powerful video, nonetheless.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbQhDpdNrEE

Here is a link to a benign version with lyrics:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEBa7y9sYVU

Soon we will begin our first week of Advent (December 2), when we are asked to reflect on hope. Our new church year is anchored in hope. Despite what we have lived through or what we have done, we are given hope to start again. When we hope, we open our hearts to let God work in us and through us, to create a new present.

Hope makes it possible to trust and believe God's promises to us -- God plans for our welfare, to get better, to have God's vision for us unfold. God works in ways we sometimes can't comprehend...so we are given hope to trust in the new "now" and unfolding future God claims for us.

Some may think using the Dixie Chicks' "I Hope," is unfitting for our Advent season. Yet this song strikes a deep chord in me. The images of violence used in the first video are difficult to watch -- but I know they are true and not gratuitous This is what humanity has done to each other -- to the world. Children are being gassed at the borders. Other children are being sold so their family can have food. Some migrant children are still separated from their families after weeks, months.

It all conveys the brokenness of our efforts. The tears come as I see the hurt and fear -- knowing Jesus was born into the world for this. There is a weariness that conflict and grief has taken its toll on us. Yet God uses his written word, his Incarnate Word - Jesus, and the children of the world, to lead us to peace-making. Peace-making is more than stopping wars. It is building wholeness, working for reconciliation among peoples, bringing security, healing and health for others. That's kingdom living as Jesus taught and called us to. Hope is the necessary ingredient to igniting the power of peace making. Hope is a gift from God -- and in light of the trauma of violence and war -- it is a powerful tool necessary for peace-making and building the kingdom of God. Let us never forget this. For this, I Hope.

This video reminds me of how my own heart has been touched and broken by the violence. How has your heart been touched? We are connected -- so today, let us together form a community of hope -- we help each other hope, we pray for hope, and we act in hope to make our lives more peaceful and loving. God doesn't give up -- so we shall not either. That's how we change the world. One hopeful heart, one hopeful community, at a time.

PRAY: "Lord, You are the hope for our world. Make us be vessels of your hope in our war-weary, conflicted world."

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"Let's Be a Thankful People"

11/19/2018

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They will celebrate your abundant goodness and joyfully sing of your righteousness. Ps 145:7"

LISTEN: Mikeschair, "All I Can Do (Thank You)"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1OE53ZMApQ

Thanksgiving, we are told, is a time to count our blessings. Some friends on Facebook have posted, for every day in November, what they are grateful for. Other friends in recovery from substance abuse and other illnesses talk about having an "attitude of gratitude" as an essential part of getting well and preventing relapse. Dozens of scriptures tell us to "give thanks in all things" (1 Thess. 5:18) and to "give thanks to the Lord for he is good.." (Ps. 106:1).

Giving thanks is one half of the coin of what it means to be children of God. We must also "do thanks": we must complete our gratitude in how we treat each other, and most of all, how we treat God's most vulnerable children; the poor and hungry, the ill and the lost. The exercise of counting our blessings should stir within us a desire to generosity and to reach out to act and care. Unfortunately, the secular world now would spur us into a spending frenzy, encroaching on the very day of giving thanks. These spending orgies feed on our fear, our vanity and our lust for bargains at all cost. While there is nothing inherently wrong is getting gifts for loved ones, we run a grave risk if we turn the next four weeks into a mad race of "making your list, checking it twice."

The season of Advent, which starts a week from Sunday, would slow us down. Advent is the season of waiting, penitence and good deeds leading up to celebration of the divine gift of Jesus on December 25. We do our prep work on Thanksgiving but blessing God and truly spending time with our family, taking a "sabbath" from the demands of the world.

Instead of making a buying list, Advent invites us to make to create a "list of caring." Taking extra time to pray and meditate on the mystery of the season. Carving family time to light Advent candles and discuss what they mean. Write Christmas cards to loved ones, shut ins, to our troops. Take the time to visit shut ins or neighbors. Go Christmas caroling. Baking cookies and sharing them.

By focusing on caring, little by little we journey to Bethlehem, and prepare our hearts and the hearts of those we touch to receive the true gift of Christmas, the Incarnate Love of God, which no store, not Target, not Wal-Mart, not Macy's, not Best Buy, not any of those store vying for our attention, can give us.

So "Shop" wisely. Start in your home. Chose the best bargain of all: the love of God and the love of those around us. It is priceless. Do not give it up. With this love we can transform gratitude into action -- the actions that renew our spirit, bring healing to others, and creates light to the dark places of the world.

A blessed and safe Thanksgiving to all -- and may preparations for Advent fill our hearts with holy expectation and good deeds in the name of the Lord.

PRAY: "God, show us how to thank you in our service to others. Bless our Advent time and guide us to use it well by drawing us closer to you and to those you have placed in our life to love."

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November 13th, 2018

11/13/2018

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"Oh give thanks to the LORD, call upon His name; Make known His deeds among the peoples"
1 Chronicles 16:8

LISTEN TO: Telly Leung and cast of the Broadway revival of Godspell, singing
"All Good Gifts" (CD signing at Barnes and Noble):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMhbxd3kHfw

One of my most memorable Thanksgiving dinners took place in a dingy church basement. There were about 40 of us. Some of the group were youth and their pastor from an upstate church. The rest of the group were recovering addicts and alcoholics who were struggling to stay clean during the stress of the holiday. I was an associate pastor, directing this recovery program and other services to the poor and homeless. We were preparing a grand meal for the homeless on Thanksgiving Day. But before we plowed into our delicious meal of turkey and the fixings, we formed a gratitude circle.

One by one, members of the recovery program spoke. Someone was grateful that they were alive, sitting in that circle and not out in the cold. Another person was grateful that she no longer sold her body for crack. Someone was clean and sober for three days, and for the hot meal waiting. Someone, who had no family, was grateful for the family sitting around that circle, a family that God provided. An HIV positive woman gave thanks for finally having a room she could call her own. Nearly everyone spoke of their gratitude to God, for not giving up on them, despite committing actions that were despicable, ungodly, criminal. They thanked God for the Church providing them a place to get better, and for the kids who came to be with them. One recovery leader spoke of us needing to pray constantly for "gratitude in attitude." With gratitude we get better. We can heal. We stay connected to our divine source. Without gratitude our spirits shrivel and our souls become as hard as a pit. We then joined hands and prayed for each other and other sick and suffering people. We prayed for gratitude.

Wherever you may be sitting on Thanksgiving Day, remember you are part of a gratitude circle. Give thanks for each person around your table. Give thanks for the food in front of you. Give thanks for the shower you were able to take. For the breath you just took. For your beating heart. Give thanks for Jesus, who reminds us every day of the Father's great love. Remember what  Meister Eckhart, German theologian, once said: "If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, “thank you,” that would suffice."

PRAY: "Lord, thank you."

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"Helping one Another"

11/5/2018

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“For we do not want you to be ignorant, brothers and sisters, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself.  Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. 2 Cor 1:8,9”

Listen to:   KUTLESS, “What Faith Can Do”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LR_v4iSr6vI

In the aftermath of human disasters, hurricanes, storms, etc;, we like to watch one of our favorite movies The Lord of the Rings. The J.R.R. Tolkien story is one of our family favorites. An unlikely band of creatures (men, dwarves, elves, hobbits, wizards) forge a fellowship that overcomes their differences in order to resist a common evil enemy, Sauron. On their journey to destroy an evil ring and vanquish Sauron and his cohorts once and for all, the fellowship encounters death, grueling hardships, misunderstandings, betrayals, challenges to their faith, and battles – internal and external. They experience blessings and unexpected encounters that give them unexpected gifts needed for the journey, and forge additional alliances that help in the fight to defeat evil.

The story teaches us of the power of the holy bounds of friendship,of help that comes from a place greater than ourselves, and of continuing the journey even when faith and hope seem lost. God is present, whether we believe it or not. Our faith will challenge us to act as Jesus expects of us – even when devastation is great and no rest in sight. We learn in these trying circumstances that we act on a power greater than ourselves. We just need to do what we can do, and leave the rest to God. This is what the Apostle Paul learned in his trials throughout his ministry. At times Paul felt crushed. Yet he persevered. So we are not exempt from hardship. We persevere because God is there, leading us through it, even when we don't understand .

There is one scene in Lord of the Rings: Return of the King,  that always brings tears to me eyes. The Hobbit, Sam, is helping Frodo up Mount Doom, where the evil ring must be destroyed.   Frodo is nearly wasted from carrying the ring. He can barely move. So Sam says, “I can’t carry it (the ring) for you, but I can carry you! Come on!” And so Sam carries his dear. weakened friend up the steep pass. This is what we are called to do. We can't always take away another's heartache. But we can be there with them and ease the load where we can when the pain is too much.

                We can all carry something. Like the Tolkien fellowship, we are a motley group, forged by our love of Christ and desire to meet and serve our Lord in our neighbor in need. Let us move forward, in faith, trusting our journey will bring forth good and shape us into holy bounds of friendship and care – forged and centered in the love of Christ.

PRAY: “There are times when the burdens are so heavy. It’s too much for us. We need you. Help us to rely on your strength. Help us to forge holy bounds of fellowship with those you have placed in our lives – so we may, with your grace, find strength in you, confront brokenness and evil, and give witness to your never-ending love.”

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"Pursuing Hope"

"Let's Be a Thankful People"

November 13th, 2018

"Helping one Another"

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