Preparation

As you read this familiar story this month, ask God to open your heart and mind to hear it in a new way.

Preparation.jpg

Luke 2:1-20 (New Revised Standard Version)

1In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3All went to their own towns to be registered. 4Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. 5He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. 6While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. 7And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.
8In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: 11to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. 12This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.” 13And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying,

 

14“Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace among those whom he favors!”

 

15When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. 17When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; 18and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them.19But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. 20The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

ELCA Book of Faith Initiative Devotional Questions:

What scares, confuses, or challenges me in this text?

 

What delights me in this text?

 

What stories or memories does this text stir up in me?  You might remember a story about church at Christmas time or a time when you received unexpected news, for example.

 

What is God up to in this text?

 

Have you ever heard the hymn “I Love to Tell the Story”?  I know it’s not a Christmas hymn, but every time I revisit this story of Jesus’ birth, it is the one that I am humming in the background.  When I was a young pastor, I was very adamant about not telling this story or singing Christmas hymns in church during the season of Advent, or the four Sundays leading up to Christmas.  I had been taught that Advent is a season of anticipation, of faithful waiting, of deferring this story until just the right moment on Christmas Eve.  And I still love the anticipation, the gathering of all the faithful around this story on the most holy of nights.   However, I have also come to believe that Advent is a season of preparation, and, as such, maybe it’s time to approach Advent a little differently.

You see, when I was a kid, you couldn’t help but hear the Christmas story just by existing in culture.  It was on TV.  Church Christmas hymns were in the shopping mall and on the radio.  This is just no longer so.  When we hear about Christmas today, it is about snowmen and shopping days and reindeer and red cups.  No mention of Jesus or this old, old story that we all used to know so well.  In my mind, we could get cranky about this, or we could do something about it.

Remember how I said that Advent is a season of preparation?  Maybe the way that we prepare is to learn again that which we have forgotten (or perhaps never knew).  We dwell in this Christmas story, as well as the story of the angel coming to Mary (Luke 1:26-38) and the story of the angel coming to Joseph (Matthew 1:18-25).  We return to it, time and time again, day after day throughout the season of Advent.  We dust off the Christmas CDs and playlists that feature the hymns of the faith, the songs we sing to welcome Christ as newborn King.  We prepare our hearts and souls and minds for the coming of Jesus.

And when Christmas Eve finally comes, we are ready.  We are ready to receive the Word that contains some of the best news of all, and we respond with joy and singing.  We are ready to focus, and be filled with wonder.  We are ready to step onto holy ground, where heaven and earth touch in the person of Jesus.  And Christmas comes among us.

I pray that Christ comes to you in a new way in this season of anticipation and preparation.  May God open your heart and mind to receive him.  Thanks be to God!  Amen.

In Christ,

Pastor Breen Marie Sipes

p.s. I also invite you into the Advent Spiral Experience:  https://goodgodideas.wordpress.com/category/advent/

https://familygodtime.wordpress.com/2015/11/25/advent-spiral-prayer-week-1-november-29-december-5/

Or the Nativity Set Project:

https://familygodtime.wordpress.com/2015/11/25/preparing-for-advent-luke-31-6/

Everyday Prayers

Harvest

Matthew 7:7-12 (New Revised Standard Version)

[Jesus said,] “Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you.  For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.  Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for bread, will give a stone?  Or if the child asks for a fish, will give a snake?  If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him!”

Book of Faith Devotional Questions:

  1. What scares, confuses, or challenges me in this text?
  1. What delights me in this text?
  1. What stories or memories does this text stir up in me?
  1. What is God up to in this text?

Where I am sitting this morning in Southern Nebraska, the season is changing, harvest is in full swing, and it’s time to exchange summer’s warmth for winter’s bluster.  I have a feeling that there is a lot of praying going around at this time of year in the place where I live.  Most of it, of course, is weather related.  “God, just hold off until I finish this last pass” or “Thank you God, for the soaking rain.  Please give us enough to start the wheat” or “Just bring my husband back safely to us after a long day of hard work.”  These are those honest, everyday prayers that tie us, every day and in every moment, into a deeper relationship with God.

In the above passage from Matthew, Jesus is also addressing prayer.  It begins with a series of commands: “Ask.  Seek.  Knock.”  They are simple commands, the kind that I might teach my two year olds or my puppy.  Ask for what you need.  Look for me.  Knock on closed doors.  Ad sometimes it is that simple.  Sometimes, prayer is just a matter of the KISS principle (keep it simple, silly!)  We are assured that our ordinary, everyday prayers are heard, considered by God, and answered.

Nevertheless, this passage explores more than just this theme.  Beyond the commands, it talks both about our nature, and about God’s nature.  The first are the statements that expect the response “By no means!”  or “No way!”  along with a “Everyone knows that!”  After all, would you give your kid a stone if they asked for bread?  No way!  Or a live snake if they asked for fish sticks for supper?  No way!  God gave us common sense, and even more, God gave us compassion.  When there is a need, we are called to fill it. We are not called to callously turn away, or even worse, to reject what they are asking for and give them something they absolutely don’t need instead.   Everyone knows that!  Jesus reminds us here about ourselves and who we are, especially when we are at our very best.

From this reminder, we then also learn about God.  If we help our children, if we know better than to reject that for which they ask, then what would God be like?  Even more.  More attentive.  More wise.  More discerning.  More generous.  Just more.  And now, being reminded who God truly is and what God has done for us, we are able to return to the commands and see them in a new light.

We call, and God answers.  We look, and God opens our eyes.  We knock at impossible doors, and God makes a way.  Why?  Because God loves and cares for us, and desires our health, our healing, and our wholeness.  This gospel text will come back to our parish in worship on Thanksgiving.  I look forward to your insights this month as we prepare for our feasts of thanks to the one who gives us so much more than we could ever ask for.

In Christ,
Pastor Breen

A Tattooed Heart

heart

First Reading: Jeremiah 31:31-34 (New Revised Standard Version)

31The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. 32It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt—a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the Lord. 33But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, “Know the Lord,” for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.

Book of Faith Devotional Questions: 

1. What scares, confuses, or challenges me in this text?

2. What delights me in this text?

3. What stories or memories does this text stir up in me?

4. What is God up to in this text?

Have you ever made a promise?  Have you ever broken a promise?  If so, you are in the same shoes that the Israelites are in when they received this message from God through the prophet Jeremiah.  The Israelites were God’s people, and God gave them laws to obey so that they would stand out from the other people on earth.  They were set apart for God’s purpose, made holy so that everyone could see that they belonged to God.  But being chosen isn’t always easy.  Keeping promises that involve every moment of every day of your entire life can be too hard of a standard to be held to, even for God’s own people.

This section of Jeremiah is kind of like pushing the reset button. Wiping the slate clean.  And it begins with a promise from God to the people.  “You can’t seem to keep your promises,” God says, “even though you want to and you try (most of the time).  So, let me make a promise to you.  A promise about your future people.”  God goes on to say:

“I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.  No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, “Know the Lord,” for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest…”  (Jeremiah 33:33b-34a)

At first, this might not sound like the greatest of news.  We can’t follow the law with our heads, so God’s going to tattoo it to our hearts?  Force feed it to us until we submit?  Or else? Maybe, but I choose to hear it as a word of grace.  In the future, I won’t have to work so hard to remember God’s law.  I won’t have to work so hard to do it.  According to Martin Luther’s meanings of the Ten Commandments in Luther’s Small Catechism, we are all doomed to fail in this endeavor, after all. In the future, the law, the way that I can perfectly relate to God and to my neighbor, will be second nature to me.  I will know it by heart, and, when I act from my heart, my actions will follow all that God intends.  And, as it says in I Corinthians 13:12b “then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known.”  And not just me, everyone.  Everyone who God has ever created.  This is indeed a future to look forward to with hope.

This reading is appointed for Reformation Sunday, the day when we celebrate the beginning of the Reformation of the church and the founding of Lutheranism.  As we prepare for this feast day within our churches, I pray that our study of this text may be fruitful, and stir up in us a joyful anticipation of the true feast to come.  I can’t wait to hear what this text will stir up in you!

In Christ,
Pastor Breen

For or Against?

cup of cool water

Mark 9:38-50 (New Revised Standard Version)
38 John said to [Jesus,] “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.” 39 But Jesus said, “Do not stop him; for no one who does a deed of power in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me. 40 Whoever is not against us is for us. 41 For truly I tell you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose the reward.

42 “If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea. 43 If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. 45 And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame than to have two feet and to be thrown into hell. 47 And if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and to be thrown into hell, 48 where their worm never dies, and the fire is never quenched.

49 “For everyone will be salted with fire. 50 Salt is good; but if salt has lost its saltiness, how can you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”

Book of Faith Devotional Questions:

  1. What scares, confuses, or challenges me in this text?
  1. What delights me in this text?
  1. What stories or memories does this text stir up in me?
  1. What is God up to in this text?

“Whoever is not against us is for us.”  Where have I heard this before?  Oh, wait.  I’ve never heard it before!  Everyone knows that the phrase is “Whoever is not for us is against us.”  Why is Jesus talking nonsense?  Or is he trying to open us up to another truth?

I have to admit that sometimes other Christians make me really mad.  I believe what I was raised to believe, and when others call themselves Christians and have differing, sometimes opposite, beliefs, I have a hard time with that.  Jesus’ words here in this reading are able to serve as a corrective to me in these instances.  Is it really against me?  Against the Jesus I believe in?  Or just different?

I remember one time when one of my friends shared with me that he used hate going to other churches where he had not chosen the worship style.  It just wasn’t the way that he would have done it.  He was also quite critical of other’s sermons, because, again, he would have done it differently.  Then, he became a bishop, and spent most of his Sundays leading worship in all sorts of settings at all sorts of times and places.  All of a sudden, rather than focusing on his likes and dislikes, he started looking out at the people with whom he was worshipping.  And they were prayerful.  And reverent.  They were engaged.  And heartfelt.  And he began to realize that they were not against him, or against Jesus, just different.  And yet, they were still his brothers and sisters in Christ and worshippers of the very same God.  And his heart was opened.  And he was able to see and serve God in ways that he had never even imagined.

Whoever is not against us is for us.  It can be a powerful statement, if we let it.  It can turn negative into positive, difference into blessing, despair for the future into hope.  What if we began assuming that people are for us, for Christ, for the life of the world?  What if we began acting that way?  What if we lived that way?  Perhaps, then, Jesus’ vision for the future would come to pass, and “whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose the reward.”  Could it really be that simple?

Just the other day, I was talking to someone that was telling me that he felt we needed to start working with other Christians to do some good in this world.  We, meaning not just our parish, but the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, our full-communion partners (including the UCC, United Methodists, Episcopalians, Presbyterians, Reformed, and Moravians), and all other Christian denominations.  We are, after all commanded by Christ to seek unity, make disciples of all nations, baptize and teach, and give that cup of water to anyone in need.  How can we fully do this, unless we do it together?

My prayer is that we can find ways to be together instead of apart, that our likenesses can outweigh our differences, and that we can welcome one another with open arms instead of suspicion.  May your kingdom come among us, O Lord, that all your people, in all their differences, may be united in you.  Amen.

In Christ,

Pastor Breen

Human Tradition

wash hands

Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23 (New Revised Standard Version)

7 Now when the Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around him, 2 they noticed that some of his disciples were eating with defiled hands, that is, without washing them. 3 (For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, do not eat unless they thoroughly wash their hands,[ thus observing the tradition of the elders; 4 and they do not eat anything from the market unless they wash it; and there are also many other traditions that they observe, the washing of cups, pots, and bronze kettles.) 5 So the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not live according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?” 6 He said to them, “Isaiah prophesied rightly about you hypocrites, as it is written,

‘This people honors me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me;
7 in vain do they worship me,
teaching human precepts as doctrines.’

8 You abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition.”

14 Then he called the crowd again and said to them, “Listen to me, all of you, and understand: 15 there is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are what defile.”

21 For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come: fornication, theft, murder, 22 adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, folly. 23 All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”

Book of Faith Devotional Questions

What scares, confuses, or challenges me in this text?

What delights me in this text?

What stories or memories does this text stir up in me?

What is God up to in this text?

As I have been studying this text in the past couple of days, one sentence that Jesus says here keeps sticking with me; “You abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition.”  Wow.  Powerful words, especially if you like tradition as much as I do.  Tradition is comforting.  Reliable.  Safe.  In fact, when I asked our youth who went to the National Youth Gathering what she wanted to do for worship on the Sunday that we will present our experiences from the Gathering, she said, “I just want to do regular church.”  She had been exposed to so many different worship styles and forms over the week in Detroit that she just wanted to come home and feel that she was, indeed, at home.

As I said before, I like tradition, too.  In the days before I started working on this passage (or letting the passage work on me J ), my family and I were planning to start a new tradition.  Our eldest daughter is about to begin Kindergarten, and we would like to start the tradition of going on an overnight to celebrate the end of summer, get school supplies, and get birthday pictures taken.  It will be an annual event, something by which to mark the passing of our family’s days into kindergarten, elementary school, middle school, and beyond.  It will be a human tradition, alongside our other traditions of attending the county fair, the state fair, the pumpkin patch, and a host of other ways that we mark time and celebrate regularly as a family.

It is into this effort that Jesus’ words break in for me; “You abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition.”  What do we do with this?  How, then will we live?  It reminds me of the first commandment, “You shall have no other gods,” and Martin Luther’s definition of a god in The Large Catechism.  He said that “A god is that to which we look for all good and where we resort for help in every time of need.”  The Pharisees were concerned about Jesus’ disciples handwashing practices, and it was keeping them from seeing God himself incarnate in Jesus Christ right in front of their eyes.  Should we wash our hands?  Yes!  Should that rule become our god?  No!

So what do we do, we who are freed in Christ to love and serve our neighbor as ourselves?  Perhaps we are called to take Jesus’ words seriously, to let them follow us around and chew on us for a while.  Perhaps we are called to examine our human traditions, and ask if we can find a way to make those traditions show forth Christ even more boldly.  And if they can’t?  Maybe it’s time to toss them on the trash heap to make way for the things of God and the ways of God.

Following God is tough.  To paraphrase The Princess Bride, “Anyone else who tells you differently is selling something.”  Thanks be to God that he loves us first, and last, and always.  We may not always acknowledge him as our God, or follow his ways, but we are always his people, sealed in baptism and marked with the cross of Christ forever.  God bless you as you seek to follow him, now and always.

In Christ,

Pastor Breen

Find more great Christian Education resources at http://feedmyfaith.weebly.com

More Than Enough

More Than Enough

John 6:1–14 (New Revised Standard Version)

After this Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, also called the Sea of Tiberias. 2A large crowd kept following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing for the sick. 3Jesus went up the mountain and sat down there with his disciples. 4Now the Passover, the festival of the Jews, was near. 5When he looked up and saw a large crowd coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?” 6He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he was going to do. 7Philip answered him, “Six months’ wages would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.” 8One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, 9There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what are they among so many people? 10Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” Now there was a great deal of grass in the place; so they sat down, about five thousand in all. 11Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted. 12When they were satisfied, he told his disciples, “Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost.” 13So they gathered them up, and from the fragments of the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten, they filled twelve baskets. 14When the people saw the sign that he had done, they began to say, “This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world.”
Book of Faith Devotional Questions:

  1. What scares, confuses, or challenges me in this text?
  1. What delights me in this text?
  1. What stories or memories does this text stir up in me?
  1. What is God up to in this text?

When I was installed at the first parish I served, this was the gospel lesson for that day.  I know this because this story has always reminded me of the story “Stone Soup,” and we read that story for the children’s message that day, and then gathered produce and home-canned items from various gardens and made Stone Soup for the dinner that followed my installation.  The people were so generous that we ended up with three big pots of soup, ate one (until everyone was satisfied), and brought the other two to the long-term homeless shelter in the area.  With this act, a Harvest Sunday tradition was born, and it was something that I looked forward to every year.  There is something simply wonderful about gathering what others have given and making something truly wonderful come of it, for ourselves and for others.

I am pretty famous among my parishioners for saying, “Many hands make light work.”  This text reminds me that sometimes the work of only one set of hands can make all the difference.  Can you imagine being that little boy on the hillside with Jesus?  Realizing that everyone was hungry, and giving up his lunch?  Maybe he thought that his offering would only be enough to feed Jesus, the one who was teaching them with such power and authority, and he thought that that would be enough.  Maybe he was willing go hungry for the evening if he could just listen to a few more words from Jesus’ mouth.  Can you imagine his surprise when the food started flowing all around him, and people got not only a taste, but more than enough?  So much that there were leftovers?  So much that his lunch came back to him, with interest?

This is Jesus’ power.  It is the power to give us not only what we need, but more than enough.  I often end my prayers with the words, “Lord, you see what we need, even before we ask for it.  So we ask that you would graciously give us all that we need, this day and always…”  Jesus is not a vending machine, but he certainly knows what it is that we need.  And he loves us enough to give it to us.  God bless those who have been given the faith, like the little boy, to open their hands to share all that they have.  Jesus makes it more than enough.

In Christ, Pastor Breen Marie Sipes

p.s. Perhaps you have more to share than you think!  I challenge you to do a “pantry food drive” and bring anything you can to contribute to the food shelf to church this month.  Food shelves are often forgotten about in the summer time, and with kids home from school, it is often the time of greatest need.  Let’s provide a pick-up load of what others need, and be Jesus to them in our thoughts, words, and actions.  PB

Peace! Be Still!

peace be still

Mark 4:35-41 (New Revised Standard Version)

On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” 36And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him. 37A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. 38But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” 39He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. 40He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?” 41And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”

Book of Faith Devotional Questions:

  1. What scares, confuses, or challenges me in this text?
  1. What delights me in this text?
  1. What stories or memories does this text stir up in me?
  1. What is God up to in this text?

A few weeks ago our area in south Central Nebraska and Northern Kansas was the site of a severe storm that kicked up several tornadoes.  Thankfully, although there was damage to property, machines, and animals, and more damage due to subsequent flooding, every person who went through the storm came through safely.  As you can probably imagine, there has been a lot of swapping of storm stories in the past couple of weeks.  One story, shared with me just this past weekend, remains with me as I consider the above story about Jesus from the Bible.

The storyteller was telling me about the first tornado that she remembered going through.  She was at K-Mart in Hastings, NE during the tornado which did serious damage to Grand Island, a town just a bit farther north.  They were gathered by employees in the middle of the store.  Children were in the center and underneath, parents over them, and crib mattresses over the whole bunch of them.  And she remembers her mother praying, out loud, for the storm to pass over them.  The storm did pass, and they returned safely home, but it was an experience she has never forgotten.

Can you imagine being in the disciples’ shoes in the story from Mark?  In an open fishing boat, on a lake, during a windstorm, taking on water and sinking lower and lower into the waves?  With Jesus, perfectly fine, asleep on a cushion?  I think that I would ask the same question of Jesus, the same question that comes to our lips in the midst of any crisis where we don’t feel God’s presence, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” or, more simply, “I’m dying here, Jesus!  Where are you?”

Jesus’ response to this question is one that I carry with me into difficult situations:  “Peace!  Be still!”  He directs it here at the wind and the waves, but I believe that he also directs it at the disciples, and at us.  Jesus, who sees us frantic, gives us peace.  Jesus, who watches us scurrying around like chickens with our heads cut off, orders us to stop, look and listen, to “Be still!”  I am amazed in my own life at how effective these two commands can really be.  Even when I am scared, I know that Jesus is the source of all peace.  Even when there are not enough hours in the day to accomplish all the things that I have committed myself to, Jesus reminds me of the value of stillness, of listening, of trust in him.

My prayer for you in this month is that you, too, will carry Jesus words with you wherever it is that God is leading.  I pray that you will know his peace, and take the command to be still seriously.  It will give rest to your aching soul.

In Christ, Pastor Breen

What Time is It?

clock

Acts 1:1-11 (New Revised Standard Version)

In the first book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus did and taught from the beginning 2until the day when he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. 3After his suffering he presented himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. 4While staying with them, he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of the Father. “This,” he said, “is what you have heard from me; 5for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

6So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7He replied, “It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. 8But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” 9When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. 10While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. 11They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

Book of Faith Devotional Questions:

  1. What scares, confuses, or challenges me in this text?
  1. What delights me in this text?
  1. What stories or memories does this text stir up in me?
  1. What is God up to in this text?

What time is it as you are reading this article?  Morning?  Evening?  The middle of the night?  Are you a person who tells time by analog dial, with its half-pasts and quarter-‘tils?  Or are you the more precise digital kind of time-teller, an 8:37 type of person?  This is the driving question of the disciples in this New Testament text appointed every year for Ascension Day.  The disciples have been with the risen Jesus for forty days, and they want to know what time it is.  They thought that the end of the story came on Good Friday, and then they thought that a new age had been ushered in on Easter Sunday, but, so far, Jesus has just been appearing and teaching like he did before (albeit in more spectacular ways).  Is this it?  Is this all that’s going to happen?  When will Israel have its kingdom restored?  When will Jesus take his place on the throne, like David?

I have to admit that Jesus’ answer is one that I sometimes use when my kids are impatient; “It is not for you to know the times or periods.”  God the Father and Jesus still have more surprises in store.  Jesus gives them the promise of the Holy Spirit, and then is taken up in a cloud out of their sight.  He leaves because there is still more work to do.  We profess this mystery in the words of the Apostles’ Creed:

“On the third day he rose again.  He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.  He will come again to judge the living and the dead.”

He took his rightful place on his throne that we might day join him as co-inheritors of the kingdom of God.

Don’t get me wrong; it sure would be nice to know the time.  When will Jesus come again?  We’ve been waiting over 2,000 for his kingdom to come to us!  For now, let us wait with patience, knowing that the Father knew exactly the right time to send Jesus the first time, and will come again in exactly the same way.  Until then, we wait, in patience, with hope.

In Christ,

Pastor Breen

New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Just the Beginning

easter sunrise

Mark 16:1–8 (New Revised Standard Version)

When the sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. 2And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. 3They had been saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?” 4When they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled back. 5As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man, dressed in a white robe, sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed. 6But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Look, there is the place they laid him. 7But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you.” 8So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.

Book of Faith Devotional Questions:

1.  What scares, confuses, or challenges me in this text?

2.  What delights me in this text?

3.  What stories or memories does this text stir up in me?

4.  What is God up to in this text?

Alleluia!  Christ is risen!  Tell no one!  Wait…what?!?  What kind of an ending to the story is this?  Mary Magdalene, Mary, and Salome are among the first witnesses to the biggest surprise ending in the whole history of the world, the one that indeed saves the world, and they say nothing to anyone, for they are afraid?  Yep.  The way Mark tells it, this is it.  And yet it is also my favorite ending to a gospel.  Thanks to the work of Dr. David Lose, this year I have been able to see the ending of this story in a new light.

You see, the last sentence of Mark’s Gospel is linked to the first sentence:  “The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God” (Mark 1:1).  The Gospel of Mark ends with the women saying nothing to anyone because the Gospel of Mark is just the beginning of the story!  We are meant to be unsatisfied with the ending, and to go and do what the women failed to do; tell others this amazing story, and in this way become a part of the story of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

Our testimony, our faith, our work on behalf of those in need is the middle of the story, a middle that has lasted for over 2,000 years.  Because even though we celebrate Easter as the apex of God’s power, we are still looking forward to the end of the story.  An end where, as it says in Isaiah 25:  “The LORD of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines, of rich food filled with marrow, of well-aged wines strained clear.8he will swallow up death forever.  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.” (vs. 6 & 8)

Easter is a foretaste of the feast to come, a pale reflection of the glory that awaits us in heaven, when all peoples will be together in the full presence of God for eternity.  So, Easter people, will we go and tell, or say nothing to anyone because we are afraid?  My prayer is that God gives us the wisdom, courage, and strength to make Christ known, through word and deed, in all the places that he calls us to be.  Christ is risen indeed!  Alleluia!

Discipline and Practice

Prayer practice

Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21 (New Revised Standard Version)
            [Jesus said,] “Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven.
                2“So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. 3But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4so that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
                5“And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward.6But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
                16“And whenever you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces so as to show others that they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. 17But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, 18so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
                19“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; 20but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Book of Faith Devotional Questions:

  1. What scares, confuses, or challenges me in this text?
  1. What delights me in this text? 
  1. What stories or memories does this text stir up in me?
  1. What is God up to in this text?

This text is the gospel lesson for Ash Wednesday.  We hear it every year, and it was chosen as the text for this day because, I believe, it helps us to do two things:  1. commit to the traditional disciplines of Lent (giving alms, prayer, and fasting) and 2.examine our motivations.  As I have been speaking to members of our parish so far this Lent, I have discovered that there hasn’t, in the past, been too much of an emphasis on the disciplines of Lent.  Please let me take this opportunity, then, to say a bit more about them.

The purpose of the season of Lent is, in part, to prepare us for the feast of Easter.  In the Bible we learn that the resurrection of Jesus at Easter could not occur without the self-sacrificial death of Jesus on the cross on Good Friday.  Because this is God’s ultimate sacrifice for us, we commit, during Lent, to deepening our relationship with God in specific ways.  We all already have a relationship with God in baptism.  However, just like any important relationship in our lives, we only get out what we put into them.  This doesn’t mean that God loves us any less if we don’t practice Lent, but I do believe that we miss the opportunity to know God better if we never practice.

Three disciplines that have been helpful over the years have included the giving of money to the poor, prayer, and refraining from certain foods or activities during Lent in order to help others or draw closer to God.  You may already give money to the church, which in turn gives money to the poor through such organizations as Lutheran World Relief and Lutheran Family Services, but Lent is a time to examine your budget and see if where you are giving your money is truly where you want your heart to be.  My family and I will refrain from going out to eat a few times during Lent (this is actually fasting) so that we might be able to give more of our weekly budget to the causes supported by our Lenten meals and Lenten Wednesday offerings (almsgiving).

During Lenten Wednesdays, our theme will be “Jesus, teach us how to pray.”  Our confirmation students have spent to whole fall and winter intentionally engaging in different prayer practices which have helped them to have a deeper prayer life, and they are looking forward to leading all of us forming a deeper relationship to God through prayer.  We will also soon have a temporary prayer labyrinth set up in the basement of St. Peter for those who wish to deepen their prayer life through a bodily experience.  Three devotional resources in print form are available at all three churches, and our parish website will also have several links to prayer practices that you can commit to trying out during Lent.

You might have noticed my intentional use of the words “discipline” and “practice.”  We are not a perfect people, and we will not keep Lent perfectly.  Please don’t use that as a reason to despair and give up.  The purpose of Lent is not to show God what a perfect Christian you are, but to do the work of deepening in your relationship with him.  Discipline yourself to trying something new; if you do it five times over the course of forty days, that’s five times more than last time!  You may be trying something new with your prayer life this Lent.  Consider it a practice, and give yourself the grace to know that it doesn’t have to be perfect for God to hear you and respond.  Practice makes progress, right?

Wherever you find yourself, and wherever God is calling you this Lent, my prayer for you is that God will work in your life to deepen his relationship with you, beloved child of God.

In Christ,

Pastor Breen Marie Sipes

Tri-Saints Lutheran Parish

Byron and Hardy, Nebraska

pstrsipes@aol.com

New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the  National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America.  Used by permission. All rights reserved.