The greatest of these is love ...

"And now faith, hope and love abide, these three, and the greatest of these is love"

(1 Corinthians 13:13)

Making my plea to God ...

But she (a Gentile) answered him (Jesus),

"Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs"
(Mark 7:28 ... for the entire story, read Mark 7:24-30)

Boundaries -- Jesus just kept on crossing our human-made boundaries. Such was the setting of this story. In order to 'protect' themselves from idolatry, the followers of God were supposed to not become close to idol-worshiping people. This Gentile woman with a sick child challenges Jesus to do so. As the text says,

"She begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter" (Mark 7:26b).

Ultimately, Jesus crossed the human-set boundary and answered her plea. To press this boundary-crossing message across, in another place he told a parable of a judge who kept on hearing a case from a widow and finally gave in to her plea. In that parable, Jesus sees the judge as symbolic of God who gives in to human pleas.

So now I am considering the question: What plea in prayer keeps on beating in my heart? That I will plead for from God again.

May you do so as well.

Reflections on preaching ...

For years I have joked around with Jesus and others that if Jesus, the everlasting Son of God, would email me the sermon I would promise to preach it word for word.

In reality sermons are challenging to both the speaker and the hearer. For me, sermons come into existence as:

• a part of daily Scripture readings so that the Bible is a very familiar place;
• application of Scripture to one's own daily life so that the preacher strives to be a good example of avoiding evil, doing all the good that is possible, and having an alive love of God, neighbor, self and enemy;
• finding God's message to one's own self (the preacher) in a sermon text so that such applies to the message ... more an overhearing of a preacher's conversation with God;
• listening to those who hear the sermon to gain insight into what needs to be said as in topics or lessons;
• reading historically chosen Scripture lessons known as the 'lectionary' in order to discern if they are applicable to the messages God desires to be proclaimed;
• at times imagining what a Scripture lesson may say to a specific individual or group who may or may not be in the worship setting;
• reflections on the work of God among God's people;
• proclaiming how God is at work in denominational or universal church settings; and,
• seeing how the public news challenges/affirms the message of God's rules of love;
• and ...

Well preaching involves so much! If only I could have the Moses-experience of literally sitting down in conversation with God. I certainly would take good sermon and action notes!

The LORD spoke to Moses saying ...

Numbers 20:7

Faith and fear ...

This morning I read from two separate areas of Scripture: Numbers and Mark. They were written centuries apart from each other yet it seemed as though they were in conversation together.

Numbers 17:12-13 told of the fear that people, at times, have in their heart. (What is in parenthesis is added.) There the Israelites say to Moses:

"We are perishing; we are lost, and all of us are lost!

Everyone who approaches the tabernacle (a tent used as the dwelling of God while Israel traveled) of the LORD will die.

Are we all to perish?"

And in Mark 4:40 I hear an indirect answer from Jesus:

"Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?"

In Scripture the opposite of fear is not courage as much as it is faith -- a trust in God. To trust God is not to be afraid to follow God.

The will of God ...

"Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother"
Mark 3:35

With the note in mind that for Jesus the will of God was simple -- to love God, neighbor, enemy and self -- for me, it is enough for Jesus to say what he said here.

My prayers today ...

Turn, O Lord! How long? Have compassion on your servants! Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, so that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.

Psalm 90:13-14

My prayers today are with all those who are in some form of public service. Such are teachers, those who work with those in poverty, counselors, police and fire personnel, lawyers and judges, government officials, armed services, preachers, church staff, restaurant personnel; volunteers in who knows how many ways.

LORD, have compassion on all of them. Satisfy them all in the morning and evening with your steadfast love. Amen.

Attitude adjustments ...

Teach me your way, O Lord, and lead me on a level path because of my enemies. Do not give me up to the will of my adversaries, for false witnesses have risen against me, and they are breathing out violence.

I believe that I shall see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!
Psalm 27:11-14

God promises to always be around even in tough times. It sounds as if the psalmist is at a tough moment for he is requesting that God lead him on a level path because of my enemies, adversaries, and false witnesses. Now the enemies/adversaries/false witnesses may for sure have been other people. But if the psalmist' life was a bit like mine the enemies/adversaries/false witnesses could also simply be a time for attitude self-adjustments. They could have been, and are, a change of thought by awakening to new and better solutions that calls for self-change.

Again, the one person I can change is myself especially when I am my worst enemy. And, even then, I can only change myself with God's help.

Today, I will pray for the continuing self-changes necessary to better follow God.

The twenty-third psalm ...

Too often the only time Psalm 23 is heard is at funerals. It is definitely appropriate there for in it are the words, "... though I walk through the darkest valley (in some translations "the shadow of death"), you are with me, your rod (used to defend sheep) and your staff, (used to pull sheep back into the fold,) they comfort me (v. 4).

But so much of the psalm deals with daily life for it speaks of the LORD daily providing for us (vv. 1-3), and defending us (vv. 4-6).

In invite you to think first about all that you have today and then to read Psalm 23 below. And picture yourself as a sheep who is cared for by the Good Shepherd who is the LORD.

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters; he restores my soul. He leads me in right paths for his name’s sake.

Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff—they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord my whole life long.

I invite you to be our guest at our worship celebration at 10:00 AM on Sunday.

Arlington UMC

1360 Murfreesboro Road

Nashville, Tennessee 37217

(615) 361-4896

Lord, keep me attentive ...

Paul asked, 'King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you believe.’

Agrippa said to Paul, ‘Are you so quickly persuading me to become a Christian?’

Paul replied, ‘Whether quickly or not, I pray to God that not only you but also all who are listening to me today might become such as I am—except for these chains.’

(Acts 26:27-29)

Wow! Paul had his God-given purpose at the center of his life which was to proclaim the good news the love of God coming in Jesus Christ by word and deed. So here he is on trial before King Agrippa with the audacity to ask his human judge, "... do you believe?" Such points to the reality of beginning one's witness with where people are at the moment.

LORD, keep me attentive today.

All the ends of the earth...

Jesus' final words in Matthew and Mark are: "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" And here Jesus is saying the words from from Psalm 22:1.

By themselves the words sound so defeated. But James S. Stewart, not the actor but a Scottish preacher of the 1900's, wrote that during Jesus' time it was a Jewish practice to say just one line of Scripture when one had an entire chapter of Scripture in mind. Such a possibility changes my thought of what Jesus may well have had in his mind and heart when he pleaded to God the Father: "My God, me God, why have you forsaken me?" for that Bible chapter also has words of hope such as:

All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord;

and all the families of the nations shall worship before him.

For dominion belongs to the Lord, and he rules over the nations.

(Psalm 22:27-28)

There is no doubt that on the cross Jesus was suffering. But if Stewart was correct then even there he had in mind the possibility of victory even through his own human suffering.

LORD God, may hope in You always surround all the earth, always surround me.

a blessing on you ...

Just my prayer for you today. It is one of the oldest blessings in Scripture:

The Lord bless you and keep you;

the Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you;

the Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace.

Numbers 6:24-26.

Take a deep breath ...

Therefore I do my best always to have a clear conscience towards God and all people.
Acts 24:16

That by itself is a pretty big area for me for I have discovered that the more I work at keeping a clear conscience the more tender my conscience becomes so that 'little bitty' sins bother me. The closer I am drawn toward God the more I realize that I am to not only to strive not to do evil things but also to strive to do good things. And not doing the good is as damaging as doing evil. Such I believe is a mixture of the human condition of imperfection (lack of love) and the human call to be God-centered (full of love).

To always do my best is to be love-centered in all choices whether they are choices of not to do this or to do that. How many choices we are given! And how many decisions are 'Yes' or 'No' to God!

With that thought in mind I just take a deep breath ...

For just as you ...

That night the Lord stood near him (Paul) and said, ‘Keep up your courage! For just as you have testified for me in Jerusalem, so you must bear witness also in Rome.’ (Acts 23:11).

Paul is definitely one of those who would shape not only is message but also his language to those to whom he was in conversation. This verse points that direction for me. Here is what I mean.

Jerusalem was to be the religious center of the Israelites. There animal and plant sacrifices were made to God. There the head of both the Jewish state and religion was to be that city. There, key decisions were made by those most familiar with Scripture on how to daily live out our faith, or trust, in God. The predominant language of the religious community was the language of their Bible, Hebrew. The priamary spoken languages in that area were Aramaic and Greek. The Hebrews were people of one God whose name was Yahweh meaning "I am who I am".

Paul was called to go to Rome. There sacrifices were made to every god that had been conceived in the human mind and heart. Such was politically a good move by the Roman governing authorities. There the head of state honored all religions unless they threatened the Roman empire that included worshiping the emperor. Predominate language? Greek. There the people were the people of the Roman Empire.

When Paul goes there his message will be the same: "Jesus is LORD! He died, was raised, and will come again"! But, no doubt, that Paul who wrote "I am all things to all people that by some means I may win some over to Jesus" presented his message in a different way.

Such is always a challenge to me and to all who communicate to keep in mind to whom we are conversing.

Humility ...

Good and upright is the Lord; therefore he instructs sinners in the way. He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way. All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness, for those who keep his covenant and his decrees (Psalm 25:8-10).

Today my own thoughts on humility come from the leadership works I have read from both the business and the religious world. For me, humility is recognition that no one person outside of Jesus, known as the word or wisdom of God (John 1:1-18) alone has the wisdom required for effective leadership.

The best leaders of the past used their listening powers to gain wisdom. A man named Moses was leading the people of Israel and he put together a team to aid in wisdom and judgment. An Israelite king named Solomon prayed for wisdom. And even modern national leaders who are wise will put together leadership areas, such as wise cabinets, so that current problems and solutions will be defined from a number of different angles so that a wiser decision will be made.

The wisdom of God is briefly summed up in "... love God, neighbor, enemy, and self ...". How we do that in some specific situations just may well require that we put our minds together. At least that has been my life-experience.

Use of imagination in reading the Scriptures ...

Imagination helps me a lot when I am reading. That is what I experienced as I was reading Psalm 24. When I read "the earth is the Lord's and all that is in it, the world, and those who live in it" (v. 1) I remembered a couple of scenes. One is a popular photograph of the earth taken from the moon, and another is imagining that I am traveling all through he earth seeing various forms of animals and plants including humans of all different races and languages.

When I read the words of Psalm 24:7-8 I pictured people standing outside the house of worship asking to come in so that it would go something like this ...

People requesting entrance: "Lift up your heads, O gates! and be lifted up, O ancient doors! that the King of glory may come in.

Those within: Who is the King of glory?

People requesting entrance: The Lord, strong and mighty, the Lord, mighty in battle".

And then the doors of the house of worship are opened, those that requested entrance enter, and what is recognized in addition to their presence is the unseen presence of God who is the King of glory.

I invite you to

Arlington United Methodist Church

1360 Murfreesboro Road

Nashville, Tennessee 37217

http://www.arlingtonum.org/

(615) 361-4896

S.O.A.P.Y.

Scripture: In all this I have given you an example that by such work we must support the weak, remembering the words of the Lord Jesus, for he himself said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” ’ (Acts 20:35).

Observation: These are the final words of Paul's message to the church of Antioch. The entire message is Acts 20:18-35.

Application: To be a giver.

Prayer: Lord God, I praise you for continued giving. You are the source of my beating heart, the filling and emptying of my lungs, the source of my food and all that is good. I confess that too many times I don't fully trust in that inner assurance of this truth. At those times forgive, and give me the courage to trust you more. Do this so that you will be daily praised for your honorable love. Praise to you! Amen.

Yield: How can I strive to be a gift from God today?

What is really crucial ...

"I am the LORD your God ..." (Leviticus 18:2b).

I was in conversation with another Christian this morning. At the conclusion of our conversation it was said that what is really crucial is whether or not we are being faithful to the LORD God. It is so true for this is the emphasis in all of Scripture. Here are a few ways I saw this in Leviticus 18.

• You shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt;
• My ordinances you shall do;
• My statutes you shall keep...

Such has encouraged me to look again at my "things to do" list to see how much of the list have the best chance of being the top priority (A-1 including the Q-2) of the LORD's call on me.

A listening God ...

Right now I am sitting at Panera Bread. As I just sit I am overhearing a number of conversations going on. Because the speakers are so many it is difficult to pick up upon one conversation. With this setting my mind drifts to a number of scenes in a movie called "Bruce Almighty". In that movie, God appoints Bruce to be "god" for a while so that God can go on a vacation and part of Bruce's work is to answer prayers ... prayers from every human being on earth! It is a movie worth watching.

It is amazing for me to just imagine God being able to listen to me as if I was the only one on earth. Or, to go further, to listen to all of us at the same time and hear each of us as if we were the only one. A demonstration that God listens to us is the way he spoke to a man named Paul.

One night the Lord said to Paul in a vision,

‘Do not be afraid, but speak and do not be silent;

for I am with you, and no one will lay a hand on you to harm you,

for there are many in this city who are my people.’ (Acts 18:9-10)

Since ...

Since we are God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the deity is like gold, or silver, or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of mortals.

Acts 17:2-9

It is easier for me to think about the gold, silver, or stone nowadays. That happened when we began payments on our first house in 2003 where we still live. And it is occuring as I see what is happening to our investments. In our economic environment it is easier to focus upon the image formed by the art and the imagination of mortals. It was this easier issue to focus upon that Paul was addressing here.

God is not like these things. God values not things, but the value of love, forgiveness, healthy relationships, his living creation including the human race. Being an expression of love is at the top of God's list. This is the foundation of the work of Jesus Christ, God's everlasting Son, that Paul moves his tought toward in Acts 17. God's love was, and is, expressed in the life of His Son. Paul points to this love of God in Jesus' death and resurrection when he says: "he will have the world judged in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead’ (vv. 30-31).

What is God like? Not gold or silver or stone. Not at all. He is like a perfect love that gives of God's own self. So I am called to give of my own self.

"... the LORD opened her heart ..."

"the Lord opened her heart to listen eagerly to what Paul said"
Acts 16:14-15

The first thoughts I have around the three words "opened her heart" is a literal meaning such as a person having their heart opened for surgical procedures. But such is not what is the biblical meaning of opening the heart. The heart in the ancient biblical understandings of the human anatomy was the place of our identity. The heart was the center of not only life but also our emotions, thoughts, plans, relationships, aims, and purpose. Sayings such as "I love you with all my heart" and "Cross my heart" came from this ancient understanding of the heart.

So for the LORD to open her, Lydia's, heart was to open all her life to listen eagerly to what Paul said. Her emotions, thoughts, plans, relationships, aims and purpose--all of her--was opened to listen eagerly to what Paul said. And Paul's very basic message was 'Jesus died, was raised from death, and appeared'. And on top of that what Jesus has inspired in our hearts is to allow his full love for God, neighbor, enemy and self to remake us in the image of God.

It is of help for me to remember when I am in conversation with others that the LORD must prepare all those in conversations, including myself, to listen well.

"LORD, open my heart and the hearts of those with which I am in conversation."

Who knows the human heart ...

And God, who knows the human heart, testified to them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he did to us; and in cleansing their hearts by faith he has made no distinction between them and us.

(Acts 15:8-9)

Today, on my fifty-third birthday. What would I want for my birthday?

• to see my surroundings the way God sees them;
• to better perceive what God has lined me up to do;
• to see how my leadership can be even more cooperative with God;
• to cross over seen and hidden barriers to love as God has loved me.

In that I, too, will be "making no distinction between them (whover they are) and us."

More of a demand on me ...

The older I get the more I realize how demanding love is on itself. That is, my love is by far more of a demand on me than it is on anyone else.

My belief is as well that principally the love of God has more of a demand on God than it has on us. This is what I mean: God's love demands that God love the unlovable. Examples of this 'unlovableness' is a world that has enough food for all yet some of the powers that be refuse to see that all are fed. It is also a world where wars have been fought to the end that those infected with A.I.D.S. purposefully went and spread it among their enemies. It is a world where economic decisions made in our generation will effect who knows how many future generations.

God's love demands that he continue to love in spite of us. That demanding love is the setting I see underneath these words in Leviticus:

"When anyone sins unintentionally..." (Leviticus 4:2b).

Unintentional sin is, of course, a sin (mistake, error, words that were said one way and heard another) we did not intend to do. In the world before Jesus a sacrifice would need to be made to God even for unintentional sins. Now that Jesus has come, we believe that his death was a perfect sacrifice for all sins so now such a sacrifce is no longer needed. In the death of Jesus, God's Son, God ultimately showed how demanding God's love is on God for it demanded the life, death, and resurrection of His Son, Jesus.

And, with that in mind, my love is to demand more on me than anyone else.

The appointment system ...

The United Methodist Church has what is called the appointment system of elders, deacons, and local pastors being sent by the bishop to different locations ... various settings ... for serving Jesus Christ by word and deed.

No matter how large or small the churches and communities were to which I have been sent it still amazes me that I have been chosen. But such is the majesty of God for he has chosen all of us to be his children. One of the scriptural phrases for this being chosen is 'God has adopted us' as his own children.

In the sending of ministers the bishop, cabinet, and the appointed are to be confident that in spite of the human interaction we are being sent to the place the Lord desires us to be. And so a similar situation was in Acts:

"Then after fasting and praying

they laid their hands on them and sent them off"

(Acts 13:3)

Today, whether or not the places I go were scheduled or expected, I will strive to see the places I go as places to which God has sent me to love God, neighbor, enemy, and self.

And my invitation is for you to do so as well.

So may it be today

The law of the LORD is perfect reviving the soul;

the decrees of the LORD are sure, making wise the simple;

the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart;

the commandment of the LORD is clear, enlightening the eyes;

the fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever;

the ordinances of the LORD are true and righteous altogether.

More to be desired than gold ...

(Psalm 19:7-10a)

I would have thought that when anyone reflects upon "the law of the LORD" they would get downright depressed over all that the LORD requires. Yet, the writer of Psalm 19 talks about that law of the LORD as reviving, making wise, rejoicing, enlightening, enduring, true, righteous and desirable. And the synonyms he uses for "law" are decrees, precepts, commandment, fear of the Lord, and ordinances. And they are to be more desired than gold!

The context or place of all this in my life is usually the moment(s) when I know that what I have done is indeed right even in the eyes of God! It is what some faiths call an "inner assurance". It is then that the law of God moves me to be revived, to become more wise, and to rejoice, etc. In a simple thought it is the moment when I know that I have been of help and I sense the joy that comes from servanthood. Or it is also moment when I choose to have some time alone with God and I sense the simpleness of following God. Or it is the moment when my assumptions are challenged and I am being reshaped by wrestling with God.

So may it be today that I find moments of servanthood, and moments alone with God even if it includes wrestling with God.

Reflections of God's love ...

Honestly, it amazes me that God trusts those who are people of God to get out his messages like,

God is love.

Love one another as I have loved you.

Love your neighbor as yourself.

Love your enemies. Bless those who persecute you.

And so it was in the story of Paul who, as recorded in Acts 10, goes to the house of Cornelius to tell him of the love of God that came most alive in Jesus. And when he arrived Cornelius said to him,

Therefore I sent for you immediately, and you have been kind enough to come. So now all of us are here in the presence of God to listen to all that the Lord has commanded you to say.’
Acts 10:33

Today, I will be even more determined to shape my words and actions as reflections of God's love.

Enough said ...

"Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend"

(Exodus: 33:11a).

I bless the Lord who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me. I keep the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.

(Psalm 16:7-8).

Enough said ...

Warmth in Winter

I cannot believe that this past weekend was the first time I had attended the Warmth in Winter for the Tennessee Conference Youth of the United Methodist Church, and here I am a grandparent. I was again impressed all the way around. It was a mixture of worship, devotional and reflectional experience, workshops for youth and youth leaders, games, jail-time, and fellowship.

There were four worship sessions during morning and evening hours. I won’t forget one of the messages of a hunter who compared a relationship of a hunter to his hunting dog to God's realtionship with us. As a hunter trains his hunting dog to stay at his heel until he commands the dog to go after prey, so we are commanded to stay at God’s heel until God sends us away. His vivid illustration of this was when that he had trained his dog so well that he could walk his dog without a leach. He told of one night he and his hunting dog both saw a rabbit crossing a high-traffic road. His dog took the pose to chase the rabbit so he kept saying, “heel”. And even with all his chasing body language, the dog stayed at his heel. So we, like that hunting dog may be tempted to chase after ‘the rabbit’ in dangerous roads of life, but what we must do is listen to God’s voice: “heel”.

The workshops I attended on Saturday were “Priority 1: Worship” and “Making Ministry Walk for Seniors and Adults”. The first spoke of the necessity of high quality in all parts of our worship experience, and the second spoke of the necessity of spiritual disciplines in living out our faith.

I returned after this experience that began early in the morning and lasted late into the night bodily tired while spiritually refreshed.

Although I went primarily to serve as an adult counselor that service turned into ways that God gave grace and mercy to me.

Dialogue

So Philip ran up to it and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah.

He asked, ‘Do you understand what you are reading?’

He replied, ‘How can I, unless someone guides me?’

And he invited Philip to get in and sit beside him.

(Acts 8:30-31)

From my own experience the best guide I have seen has been in the context of small groups that are open to what is called dialogue. Dialogue takes it that not one person in the group has all the wisdom required for action. The visual image I have of such an experience is each person bringing to the group at most a few pieces of the puzzle of decision(s). The best leaders recognize the need to team wrestle with the joint mission, vision and actions of an organization.

I see the story of Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch of Acts 8 as one example of this team wrestling. Philip heard the eunuch's story and that helped Philip understand his predicament. And while they listened to each other the wisdom of God came.

So true today for me. Wisdom can definitely come directly from God ... no doubt of that. But more often God's wisdom comes through indirect means such as dialogue with those around us.