Channel the Goodness

Take a look at this amazing video from a British bluegrass band called Mumford & Sons:

Did you notice the pure joy and delight of the musicians? Did you feel the energy of this ecstatic crowd? Do you wonder if this is a little slice of heaven?

In this Sunday's Gospel reading we hear Jesus get into trouble with loyal church people over the possibility that a little slice of heaven could actually be available to those who aren't church members.

As we all know, God is hard at work bringing joy, refreshment, healing, and peace to the world - both inside and outside the Church. We also know that we do best when we shun judgement and criticism instead of looking for and commending God's activity in the world - wherever it can be found.

If this band of young musicians (nb they do have Christian roots) can channel such joy, peace, serenity, and contentment by singing a catchy song, shouldn't our work be just as transcendent? Aren't we too possessed of a spirit of Shalom that dwells deep within and produces wellsprings of joy? Let's tap into that - and go ahead, channel the goodness, it's within and around us, waiting to brighten yours, and someone else's, day.

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Reading:
Generation to Generation- Edwin Friedman
Pillar of Fire - Trevor Branch
Switch - hip and Dan Heath

Jesus in the Temple

I got a nasty letter this week.

It was from a pastor I’d never met who viewed something I’d done, and vehemently criticized it.

She did not do so with malice or nastiness, perhaps it would have been easier to write-off if she had. But her points were well made, her reasoning logical, and it hurt.

So I had a choice to make: how would I allow this to affect me? How much weight would I give it? Would I let this play over and over in my mind until it put me in a bad mood, or even worse, dictated my ideas about myself?

Has this ever happened to you?

This Sunday we hear a familiar Gospel story from early on in Jesus’ ministry, in which He goes to the Temple, reads the Scriptures, and says, ‘Ya, that’s me – I’m that guy.’

While Jesus is certainly aware of the expectations of his parents, the views of his siblings, and the opinions of his friends, Jesus lets the Scriptures define Him.

Jesus doesn’t let the doubts and lies have precedence over God’s opinion.

This may be one of our biggest needs. You and I need God’s strength to go deaf to the voices that compromise and, instead, listen more closely to the voice of Truth that tells us who we really are.

How can we listen less to the lies and more to the truth?

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Reading

The Guidebook –NRSV version of the Bible

Through the Waters – Taylor Branch

How to Stop Worrying and Start Living – Dale Carnegie

God's GPS

Not long ago my family acquired a GPS (Global Positioning System) - you know, one of those car computers you mount on the dashboard that give turn-by-turn directions from Point A to Point B.

It’s quite a luxury to be able to drive to a new place and have someone tell you exactly which way to go. In fact, on this particular model, we were able to choose the type of voice that spoke to us. After a bit of sampling, my wife decided on the ‘Irish Lad’ - which was fine, as long as you could get through the brogue and knew that the interstate was actually the ‘motorway.’

This Sunday you and I will hear the familiar story of another voice. This is when John baptizes Jesus in the River Jordan and the voice of God comes from the heavens declaring, “You are my beloved Son, with you I am well-pleased.”

What must it have been like to hear the voice of God? Did it sound like an Irish Lad? Was it even a male voice? And how did these hearers know it was God?

Many of us have had experiences in which we believe we’ve heard from the Divine. What characterizes that voice is nothing other than the fact that we’ve recognized its source. It may have come through a person, male, female, child, even a pet. It may have come from deep inside of us. But the point is that when God talks, God has a way of making God’s self known.

The importance, on our part, is putting ourselves into that place of hearing. Had Jesus and the crowds not gone to a place where God’s word, through John the Baptist, was not being brought forth, would they have heard God’s voice?

What kind of place or position need we be in to more clearly hear God’s voice? Do we need to quiet things down, unclutter, and dedicate more space to hearing God? After all, in these confusing times, getting a sense of God’s voice in our affairs may be the best thing we can do with our time.

Epiphany 2013

There was once a teacher in a Christian school who was organizing some children to finger-paint. As she walked up and down the rows of desks watching the children put together their creations she was struck by a particularly imaginative picture. So she asked, ‘Billy, what are you painting?’ Billy replied, ‘Oh it’s a picture of God.’ The teacher smiled and said, ‘Well Billy, as you know, nobody has ever seen God.’ With a grin on his face, Billy turned to his teacher and said, ‘In 5 minutes they will.’

This Sunday the Church celebrates the day and season of God’s revealing. It’s called ‘Epiphany.’ And it’s all about finding the ways God is speaking to us – and then paying attention to it.

This Sunday we hear a lesson that talks about the unlikelihood and even absurdity of Nazareth as a place of God’s dwelling. But, of course, there’s always Southfield, or Lathrup Village, or the sanctuary of St. David’s. The point is that God always chooses unlikely places and improbable people as harbingers of the Word.

This is where we’re asked to go – and to stay.

The unlikely places for God’s recent revelations to me have been in a brand new Bible I picked out for The Bible Challenge, a new year and new goals with ChurchNext, and in an improbable assortment of books that God uses to inspire, correct, and strengthen me to do what I’m being called to do.

What about you? Where are the places God is making God’s self known? What is God saying? Are we paying enough attention?

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Reading

Between Heaven and Mirth – James Martin

Parting the Waters – Taylor Branch

The Guidebook – a new translation of the Bible from Harper-Collins

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