Jesus Knew the Worth of a Penny - Day 35

Jesus and his disciples are sitting opposite the treasury, which was either a special room in the temple or a collection box in the outer courts. Rich folks are coming in and letting everyone know how much they are putting in. People praise them. They are feeling pretty good about themselves. There is probably some preening and strutting and grandstanding and competing going on.
In the midst of all this, a poor widow silently walks through the crowd and puts two small copper coins, worth about a penny, into the box. Jesus then said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury. For all of them have contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.” (Mark 12:41-44)
Jesus knew the worth of a penny. For Jesus it was not the size of the gift that mattered. What mattered was the size of the commitment, the size of the sacrifice, the size of the generosity. And the woman out-gave them all. Hands-down. If Jesus were running a church I hope he would have made her the stewardship-chair.
I once met this poor widow’s “granddaughter.” She had made some “bad” choices in her life. She was on welfare. She was living in subsidized housing. We, the church, were constantly helping her, moving her, taking care of her children, bailing her out of trouble. She was a High-Grace-Required-Person. But she was also our most generous giver. She tithed. Yep. Right-off-the-top. No strings. No questions. No equivocations. No excuses. Ten percent. I had her give her testimony one year and her words touched more hearts, more pledges, more checkbooks than any other talk I have ever witnessed.
It would be easy for anyone of us to say to ourselves, “Well, she could give more because she had less to give.” Careful. Do you really want to say that even to yourself? Remember that Jesus stands outside the treasury of your own heart.
Jesus knew the worth of a penny. He knew that the poor widow’s penny represented a true gift, a sacrificial gift, a generous gift, a heart-gift.
I had written above that, “if Jesus were running a church I hope he would have made her the Stewardship-chair.” But, of course, Jesus is supposed to be running a church. The church is his church. And he did make this woman if not the stewardship chair, then the stewardship example for us all. Jesus knew the worth of her penny. Do we know and share and worth of our own?

Jesus Boiled It Down - Day 34

The Jews had a lot of rules and regulations and commandments. They catalogued them. They compared them and ranked them. They wrangled and argued over them. They set up political parties and ecclesiastical sub-groups over them.
That is the background to one of the scribes coming to Jesus and asking him, “Which commandment is the first of all?” (Mark 12:28f) We don’t know if the scribe really wanted to know what Jesus had to say or if he was only trying to draw Jesus into a never-ending and going-nowhere theological debate.
Jesus was very clear about the answer: “The first is, ‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your souls, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’”
There it is. Jesus boiled it all down. Love. Love God. Love your neighbor. Love yourself.
Love God because God is love and because God is worthy of love. When you don’t love God you are separated from God and from how God designed you to be. Love your neighbor because your neighbor is a child of God, because you neighbor is made in God’s image, and because you need your neighbor and your neighbor needs you. Love yourself because you too are a child of God and because you need love and deserve love and want love.
I started with how the Jews had lots of rules and regulations and commandments, and how they compared them, ranked them, and set-up parties over them. I am, of course, not just talking about them. I am, of course, talking about many of us. I am talking about so many of our churches. I am talking about so many of our church debates and even how such theological issues get worked at times in our political process.
Jesus, though, boiled it all down. Love. Is there some place in your life where you would do well to do the same? Just boil it down. I am not asking you to live a simplistic life. But sometimes our complexity is self-induced. Sometimes all of our complexity—like that of the scribes wrangling the relative importance of each law—is a way of avoiding what we most need to do, and that is to love God, love our neighbor, and love our self.

Jesus Overturned the Tables - Day 33

It may well have been the final straw. We are in the temple. Jesus goes in to worship and he can barely get through the animal vendors, the moneychangers, and the temple administrators who are counting up the profits. All of them are making a killing on the poor pilgrims who are coming to the Passover rituals in Jerusalem. The temple is no more a place of prayer and adoration and worship and confession and thanksgiving. It has been taken over by money transactions, greed, bartering, trading. It is no more a temple dedicated to worship. It is now a market-place-bazaar.
Jesus loses it. He starts to overturn all of the tables. Mayhem ensues. Animals go berserk. Coins are rolling everywhere. The temple officials gather to condemn Jesus—they have had enough and he, Jesus, must go. Too much is at stake for him to continue.
Jesus overturns the tables. He did it then that day in Jerusalem at the temple and he does it now. What he did that day is a metaphor or symbol of what he still does. He overturns our tables when we turn our own inner temples into practices that undermine our faith, that drain our souls, that corrupt our minds, and that shrink our hearts.
Jesus got very angry when he entered the temple that day. Behind and beneath all of his fierce anger is his love. He wants nothing to distract us, to rob us, to compromise our temple. He cleansed the temple in Jerusalem on that day. How might he right now be trying to cleanse you? How might he right now be overturning some of your own tables? How might he right now be calling you to true worship and adoration and prayer?

Jesus Challenged the Rich - Day 32

Quite suddenly a man is kneeling before Jesus, asking him this question: “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” (Mark 10:17f)
Jesus tells him to follow the commandments. He doesn’t initially seem like he wants to engage in the man’s question. The man quickly responds that he has, but that something is still missing. Jesus then, looking at him, “loved him and said, ‘You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me. When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions.’”
The man chose his possessions over Jesus. His stuff mattered more to him than eternal life. He grieved because he didn’t know how—didn’t want to—give away his things in order to follow Jesus. He couldn’t have his possessions and follow Jesus. To follow Jesus you have got to travel light.
Every year during the stewardship season (now, friends, that is a misnomer because all year is the stewardship season) I will have someone tell me to stop talking about money and to get back to preaching on spiritual issues. Money is a spiritual issue. What we do with it is a spiritual issue. Jesus talks constantly about money because he knows that any one of us are at risk of worshiping what we have, of being possessed by our possessions, of giving our first efforts to making and earning and accumulating stuff while putting our souls and our relationships at huge risk.
These are difficult times—times when many of us are worried about our money, our futures, our retirements, our commitments.
We are right now, many of us, on our knees. What will happen to us? What can we do to turn things around? Where is the bottom? Will I have to work until I drop? Will I need to downsize? Will my kids need to go to another college?
As you are asking all of these real and hard questions, remember, please do turn your gaze to Jesus. And remember to ask: “Jesus, where are you in all this? Will you, please, keep me from going crazy, keep me from losing my soul, keep me from losing my focus and trust and faith?”
Do not, like the rich man in this story, turn away from Jesus during this time. Turn towards him. He is there. If you have to travel a bit lighter in the future, so be it. Those who follow Jesus often do.

Jesus Needed Help - Day 31

It had been a difficult time. Peter had finally said that Jesus was the Messiah, Jesus then told them what he, the Messiah, had to do (suffer and die), Peter had rebuked Jesus, Jesus then rebuked Peter. Things were very quiet in the camp for the next week. No one dared to talk. No one quite knew what to do.
Six days after all of these difficult revelations and tumultuous confrontations, Jesus takes Peter and James and John to a “high mountain apart… [where]… he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them.” (See Mark 9:2-8)
While there in all of his glory, Moses and Elijah showed up and the three could overhear their conversation. I have always wondered what Moses and Elijah had to say to Jesus, and what Jesus had to say to them. I have always imagined that Moses and Elijah were there to give Jesus support and encouragement. As soon as Jesus came down the mountain he set off for Jerusalem; as soon as he came down out of the light he began to descend into the “valley of the shadow of death.” As much as he was clear about his mission, no one could embark upon it and not feel some trepidation. So what I hear Moses and Elijah saying is something like this: “Jesus, our ways, the ways of the Law and the Prophets, were not enough. These ways didn’t bring the people back to God. These ways didn’t change their hearts. These ways didn’t melt their resistance. Now, it is your turn. Maybe your death, your blood, your sacrifice, will help the people to see how much God loves them. We are with you. Always.”
Jesus needed help. We all do. If Jesus needed help, who are we not to be open to it ourselves? I know many people—me included here, sometimes—who are much better at giving help than accepting it. That is pretty foolish when you think about it, isn’t it? And, it is pretty arrogant. There is no self-sufficiency in life or in the Body of Christ.
So, be both humble enough and strong enough to ask for some help. Jesus did. And he got it. So will you when you ask. Be like Jesus.

Jesus Upped-the-Ante Day 30

For a long time following Jesus had been a great adventure. The disciples had seen him do just incredible things. He then sent them out to do the same in his name and they did it. They just know that they are about something that is very big, something that could change everything. All of their wildest hopes and visions and dreams seem to be coming true.
But then the whole mood begins to change. They had been hearing the rumors about Jesus. Some had begun to speculate that Jesus could be the Messiah. When Jesus asks them who they say he is, Peter says, “You are the Messiah,” and just when they think they are about to celebrate, Jesus immediately gives them a completely different understanding of what the Messiah is going to do. He says, “Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed…” (Mark 8:31) The disciples are crushed. They are confused. Peter tries to correct Jesus, and then Jesus rebukes Peter. It is an awful sequence.
And then, Jesus upped-the-ante even more: “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” (8:34)
It is amazing that they stayed with Jesus at all. What he says about himself they didn’t count on. What he says about them they didn’t count on either.
Following God’s plan, God’s rescue mission, cost Jesus his life. Jesus couldn’t do what he was called to do, what we needed him to do, without giving his life. His life for our life. His sacrifice for our sins. We sometimes don’t like to talk about the Christian life with such stark terms, such dire straits; no, it is much easier to talk about church, or about our liturgy, or about some social or moral issue—but there is no way around what Jesus did for us and there is no way around what he says it means to follow him.
His cross, our cross. His sacrifice, our sacrifice. Discipleship costs. No way around it. Grace may be free, as we say, but Jesus had to give his life to give it to us. We must give him ours to receive it.
Jesus upped-the-ante and staked his whole life for us. What are we willing to stake for him?

Jesus Wanted to Know the Skinny - Day 29

We all like being in on what is going on. We like the inside word. We like to know what is being said of us. It is the “skinny.” We want to know.
Jesus was no different. As Jesus and his disciples were traveling through Caesarea Philippi, he asked them, “ ‘Who do people say that I am?’ And they answered him, ‘John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.’ He asked them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ Peter answered him, ‘You are the Messiah.’” (Mark 8:27-29)
Under the guise of wanting to know what others were saying about him, the skinny, Jesus actually wanted to know what they, the disciples, thought of him. He wanted to know what they thought, what they were saying, because he knew that faith cannot be second-hand or hearsay. Faith cannot come from someone else’s words. Faith must be your own words. We cannot live anyone else’s faith, only our own.
We must know that Jesus puts the same question to us. Jesus wants to know what we have to say. He doesn’t want to know what we hear, what we read, what we may recite, or what we may sing. We all know that we can hear and read and recite and sing a lot of words that don’t sink in, that don’t necessarily mean all that much. Jesus knows the same thing.
So, again, who do you say that Jesus is for you? He wants to know. He doesn’t want to know for his sake—Jesus knows who he is. He wants to know who you say that he is for your sake.

Jesus Gave Out Hearing Aids - Day 28

“They brought to [Jesus] a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech; and they begged him to lay his hand on him. He took him aside in private, away from the crowd, and put his finger into his ears, and he spat and touched his tongue. Then looking up to heaven, he sighed, and said to him, ‘Ephphatha,’ that is, ‘Be opened.’ And immediately his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly.” (Mark 7:32-35)
Actually Jesus himself was the hearing aid, and the speaking aid. Once the man could hear he could then speak. His hearing and his speaking were connected. Jesus used some spit, he touched the man, he said, “Be opened,” and the man could hear and speak.
I know that I sometimes need to have my ears opened. I know that I am sometimes deaf, that I sometimes don’t hear clearly, that I sometimes have selective hearing. I also know that my hearing problems lead to speaking problems. I know that I am this man in the story. I may not actually be deaf, but I am sometimes tone deaf, emotionally deaf, deaf to what is important, deaf even to God. I know that I need healing.
How about you? Do you always hear clearly and speak clearly? Do you ever half hear your spouse or child or partner or boss or employee? Do you ever shut down your ears because you don’t want to hear? I think we might call this “Willful-Deafness.” It is a pretty prominent condition.
If some folks, like this man in the story, brought you to Jesus, and if Jesus took you aside and if he spat and touched your tongue and if he said “Ephphatha” over you, what do you think he would want you to hear? I have some clues. “My brother, my sister, be well, be whole, be happy, be secure, be strong, be forgiven and forgiving, be loved and loving, be God’s.” And once we had heard all this, once our ears had been opened to hear Jesus, how might he want our tongue to be released? What might he want us to say? The same.
Many of us are a bit deaf. Many of us have an impediment in our speech. Jesus healed then. Jesus can heal now.

Jesus Was Off - Day 27

By “off,” I mean crazy.
That is what many of his hometown folks thought of him. And that is what his family did as well. Word gets to them about what Jesus is doing. Initially, they probably felt some pride, but then as the stories continued to circulate and as his deeds continued to accumulate they must have become quite concerned, even alarmed.
So, they decide to go get Jesus, bring him home, give him a rest, quiet him. As scripture says, “Then his mother and his brothers came; and standing outside, they sent to him and called him. A crowd was sitting around him; and they said to him, ‘Your mother and your brothers and sisters are outside, asking for you.’ And he replied, ‘Who are my mother and my brothers?’ And looking at those who sat around him, he said, ‘Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.’” (Mark 3: 31-35)
His family never made it inside. Word gets to them about what Jesus says, about how he redefined his family, and they slink away. If they were worried before about him, now they must have been downright convinced that Jesus lost it somewhere along the way.
If you live by the world’s standards, Jesus is off. If you live to be safe, if you live to get more, if you live for power or control or money or things, Jesus is off.
But maybe he is not the one who is off. Maybe any other way besides the “Jesus Way” is what is off. Maybe God designed us to live like Jesus, be like Jesus, think like Jesus. Maybe his off is the true "on." Maybe his craziness is the real sanity. Love your enemy—crazy or sane? Give away your stuff—crazy or sane? Turn the other cheek—crazy or sane? Be a peacemaker—crazy or sane?
At some point you must decide. What is sanity? What is craziness? As for me, I would rather be crazy with Jesus. How about you?

Jesus Lost an Argument - Day 26

Jesus was tired. He had been doing a lot of ministry and mission. He was trying to get-under-the-radar. He needed some rest. But a woman finds him, a mother who had a daughter with “an unclean spirit.” Now you need to know that this woman was a Gentile, of Syrophoenician origin. She went to Jesus and asked him to heal her daughter. Does Jesus do so? Does he act with compassion? Does he even act like a Christian?
His response can still take our breath away: “Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” (Mark 6: 24f)
The children he is talking about are, of course, the Jews. He is saying that he has come for them. He is saying that he has nothing left for the Gentiles, for this woman, for her daughter.
You would have thought that she might just have turned away in despair. But she doesn’t. This is a mother with a sick child, so she ignores Jesus’ insulting words and plows on: “Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” Jesus was had. And he knew it. In an instant he changed his mind. He knew he had to reach out. She had found the best part of him. He said, “For saying that, you may go—the demon has left your daughter.”
Jesus lost the argument. The mother did best him. No way around it. He lost the argument, but he gained the mission. From this point forward Jesus never again limited his outreach, his love, his mercy. From this point forward his mission was for all. From this point forward all children were favored.
By losing the argument his mission now included us. Aren’t we glad she won?

Jesus Walked on Water - Day 25

Jesus told the disciples that it was time to move on. They had done enough work in one area and other towns needed to hear the message. He went away by himself and told the others to meet him on the other side on the sea in Bethsaida.
It is dark. A storm comes up. They are tired. Jesus—somehow—can see what they are going through and decides to go to them: “When he saw that they were straining at the oars against an adverse wind, he came towards them early in the morning, walking on the sea. He intended to pass them by. But when they saw him walking on the sea, they thought it was a ghost and cried out; for they all saw him and were terrified. But immediately he spoke to them and said, ‘Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.’” (Mark 6:48-52)
There are so many questions that this story elicits. Why didn’t Jesus travel with them? Why was he going to pass them by? Why didn’t they recognize him? How could Jesus have walked on the water?
I don’t know the answers to these, or other, questions. What I do know is that all of us have been in the boat with those disciples at some time in our lives—maybe some of you are there right now. It is dark. The rowing is hard. Adverse winds are swirling. We have been there.
And, what I also know is that we need to cry out to Jesus. That he will come. That just as he said then, so he will say to us now: “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.”
So, in whatever boat you might be in, in whatever dark night, in whatever daunting conditions, know and trust that Jesus can still walk on water, can still get to you, can still find you, can still get in the boat with you. Which is, of course, what he did on that night long ago. He got in the boat with them and he took the tiller and he guided them to safe harbor. The one who walked on the water brought them to shore. He did it then. He can do it now.

Jesus Took the Twelve on a Retreat - Day 24

The 12 disciples had been watching Jesus do his work. It had been a thrilling time. And then one day (look back to yesterday’s blog) he sent them out to do the work. It was time. They had been watching long enough. They needed to know that following Jesus meant doing what Jesus did. Christianity is not—again—a spectator sport, but a contact sport. For them. For us. On the field. Out doing the work.
Anyway, Jesus sent them out and they eventually came back to Jesus. This is how this re-gathering time unfolded: “The apostles gathered around Jesus, and told him all that they had done and taught. He said to them, ‘Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.’ For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat.” (Mark 6: 30-31)
I have tried to visualize and even feel what the coming together again must have felt like to them and to Jesus. They must have been so excited. “Jesus, we heal.” “Jesus, we preached and people’s lives were changed.” “Jesus, we cast out demons in your name.” They must have talked over each other just like a bunch of kids. They were on fire. They wanted to take on the world. They didn’t want to stop and rest; they had more to do; the sky was the limit. And then Jesus—he must have been so proud, so pleased, so grateful. And just when the mission couldn’t have been going better, he pulls them away on retreat. He tells them to stop, to rest, to eat, to be quiet.
I know that I get into trouble when I try to overdo, when I don’t rest, when I am not quiet, when I don’t listen, when I don’t have a retreat with Jesus. My life, the ministry that I am privileged to do, it all suffers when I don’t have retreat time with Jesus. Stress, fatigue, neglect can kill our spiritual life, our faith, our ministry, our connection to God.
So, how about you? Do you need some retreat time with Jesus? Speed shrinks our souls. So does noise. As does our refusal to stop, to be fed, to rest in God, to go on retreat. Maybe it is time you had one with the Retreat Master.

Jesus Didn't Hog the Work - Day 23

The disciples have been following Jesus for many months now. They have been looking over his shoulder at all that he does. He keeps on telling them to watch very closely. They see the impact that he is having on others. Watching him, being with him, seeing the crowds, witnessing the healings, listening to the teachings—all of this has been the most powerful thing that they have ever been part of.
And then one day Jesus “called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits.” (Mark 6:7) In other words, Jesus shared the work. He didn’t hog it. He called his disciples for many things, including his desire to train them to do the work that he was doing. It wasn’t enough that he was doing it. He also wanted them to do it.
Imagine that moment when Jesus turned to them and said, “Now, it is your turn. Go heal. Go exorcize. Go do mighty and glorious things.” Did they panic? Did they demur? Did they want to run away? Did they whine that Jesus was asking too much? I can see them doing all of these things and then some.
I can imagine this because, well, I identify with the disciples. It is easier to watch Jesus do things than to do things yourself. Easier to hear about what Jesus once did than it is to hear and to heed his call to act now in his name. Whine. Duck. Make excuses. Proclaim we need more time or training or faith or resources. Refuse. Run away.
But Jesus wouldn’t let them off the hook. He didn’t then. He doesn’t now.
He is depending upon us to be his Body in the world. He needs us and our faith to do his work. He doesn’t want us to watch him forever. Being a disciple is not a spectator sport. It is a contact sport. So, get out of the stands, off the sidelines and do something. Yes, you. Yes, us. Jesus didn’t hog the work because he needs us on the mission field. He didn’t hog the work because he wanted to share the joy of actually doing work with him. So, don’t cheat yourself. Get after it.

Jesus Offended Folks - Day 22

Jesus has been out on the road healing and preaching and exorcizing and doing all manner of good things. News of his success begin to trickle back to his hometown, Nazareth. The folks were probably, at least initially, proud. Yep, that Jesus, well, he is one of ours. Grew up right down the street there. Pretty good boy.
But then he shows up in town. He goes to the synagogue. Those who heard him were astounded. He said more than they were expecting. And then they began to question: “ ‘Where did this man get all this? What is this wisdom that has been given to him? What deeds of power are being doing by his hands! Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us?’ And they took offense at him.” (Mark 6:2f)
So, why were they offended? Was this simply the old saying “that familiarity breeds contempt?” Or, was what Jesus was saying about God, about them, about the Kingdom, simply too challenging? Did his faith make them so uncomfortable that they turned on him? It's hard to know exactly, but probably it was some combination of factors.
If Jesus rolled into town, if he came into our synagogue, into our homes, into our lives, would we take offense at him? Would we rather he took his ministry on the road, elsewhere? Would we prefer simply to hear or read about Jesus and take some pride that he came from our hometown and that we knew him when?
If we don’t take offense at Jesus, then something may be missing. Remember he said: give me your life, all of it, follow me, surrender. There is nothing easy or nice here at all.
Jesus offended his hometown. Jesus, real Jesus, still does. He offends me all the time. He sometimes asks for too much. He offends us, offends our rationalizations, offends our control, offends our watered-down versions of him, offends our desire to be our own god, in order to wake us up to real faith, real discipleship, real healing, real love.
So, if you do get offended, that is understandable. But get over it. Get a real life with Jesus. A new life. And then, for him, think about being just a wee-bit offensive yourself. True disciples do rankle.

Jesus Didn't Need Big - Day 21

Jesus said that the Kingdom of God is “…like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.” (Mark 4: 31-32)
I have been in the professional faith business for a lot of years now. By that I mean that I have been given the great privilege of being with people and their faith and their journey with God. I am, of course, not simply a professional; I am also a disciple just like the rest of you.
In all these years of being invited to come near to folks and their faith, I cannot tell you how often I hear people say that they feel like their faith is wanting or lacking or inadequate. People judge themselves. Judge their faith. Often give themselves failing grades. Sometimes even want to punish themselves for their poor "faith performance."
If I am speaking to any of you then the above parable is just for you. Jesus says that all he needs is a mustard seed of faith. Now, you need to know that a mustard seed was tiny. It wasn’t grand; it was, again, just a speck.
Now, you have that much faith, even on your bad and doubtful and lost days. You have it. And what you have is, as Jesus says, enough.
There is, though, a catch in this scripture. The size of our faith doesn’t matter—Jesus can use whatever size we give him. But we must, again, as he says, “sow” it, that is put it to use, put it into the ground—the ground of giving it away, the ground of serving, the ground of showing up, the ground of being willing to be used for Jesus’ purposes.
So, don’t grade your faith. Whatever size faith you have is good enough. But do, though, sow it and share it. Don’t keep it for yourself. Even great faith that is not sown won’t do much good.

Jesus Likes Bright Lamps - Day 20

Jesus said, “Is a lamp brought in to be put under a bushel basket, or under the bed, and not on the lamp stand?” (Mark 4:21)
When I lived in Maine I used to really struggle with only about 8 hours of light in the winter. SAD—seasonal affective disorder. One of the ways that I countered with winter/darkness/cloudy/doldrums was to turn on every light in the house. Yes, I know that this was not stewardship-friendly, but it did help brighten my mood a bit. During my last year there I had a friend give me a bank of lamps that I sat in front of every morning, and that was very helpful.
There are many shadows out there. There can be much darkness. The creeping doldrums can happen to us all. And that is the reason that Jesus is asking us to a lamp, a bright burning lamp of love and care and faith and decency and kindness, a lamp that we do not hide, do not bury, do not apologize for, do not keep for ourselves.
The world needs our lamp. The church needs our lamp. Our friends and family need our lamp. So, we are called to shine.
But remember: no lamp works unless it is plugged in. Same is true for us. We cannot be the lamp we can be unless we are plugged into our source, our juice, our electricity. And that is Jesus.
How do we plug in? By praying. By asking for it. By reading scripture. By being in worship. By sharing fellowship. None of this is rocket science. None of this should surprise you.
What is surprising is that we know how to get plugged in, but we don’t do it. And then we have no light to share.
So, get plugged in. Get yourself on the lamp stand so that others can see. Beat back all SAD of the soul. For your sake do this. For others as well.

Jesus Burst Old Wine Skins - Day 19

"...no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost, and so are the skins; but one puts new wine into fresh wineskins.” (Mark 2: 22)
Jesus says these words to John the Baptist’s disciples and the Pharisees who are fasting while Jesus and his new friends are not. The former crowd looks kind of gloomy, whereas Jesus and his gathering crowd look like they are having a pretty good time. While John liked to scold folks, Jesus beckoned to them. While the Pharisees thought that one had to follow hundreds of rules to get to God, Jesus just said follow him. He was bringing new wine and John’s disciples and the Pharisees didn’t quite know how to hear it. His new wine was bursting their wineskins. His new message was bursting their minds. His new path was bursting their preconceived notions and theologies about God.
At some point, no, really at many points, in our life with Jesus we need to make a decision about what is most important—either his new wine or our old wineskins. Now, like the rest of you, I know what it is like to get comfortable with our wineskins, our paths, our ways, our thinking, our rituals, our rules, our, well, you name it. But Jesus is always about new wine, the new path, the new adventure, the new person to meet, the new mission to undertake, the new vision to live into. I am not saying the old is bad. Nor am I saying that old things cannot be made contemporary—they can. But his warning is clear to us. Don’t get, like John’s disciples and the Pharisees, so enamored and so settled on our old wineskins that we cannot hear and live into and drink deep upon his new wine.
Jesus wants us to make new wineskins that can hold the new wine of his love. He wants us to drink deeply. He invites us to the celebration with him. So, bring your new wineskin.

Jesus Healed the Paralytic - Day 18

I am now in Mark 2, where it says, “Then some people came, bringing to [Jesus] a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. And when they could not bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him; and after having dug through it, they let down that mat on which the paralytic lay. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven.’” (2: 3-5)
For years when I read this scripture I always thought it was remarkable that Jesus healed the man’s sins and that he ended up healing his paralysis. Jesus the forgiver. Jesus the healer.
It wasn’t until looking at this story for many years that a phrase just jumped off the page for me: “… when Jesus saw their faith,” that is, the faith of the four friends who brought the man, he then spoke and acted.
This phrase caused me to wonder how our faith may have caused, or not, Jesus to act in someone else’s life. I find this just remarkable, and just very daunting at that same time.
This paralyzed man had four incredible friends. They wanted to bring their friend to Jesus for healing. When they discovered that they couldn’t get near enough to Jesus, they dismantled the roof of the building where Jesus was speaking. That is real love for their friend. That is real faith in Jesus.
Now, how about us? Are we willing to bring any of our infirm friends (and who among us is not in some way?) to Jesus? I don’t think we need to worry about taking off the roof of Palmer (and I am not suggesting that this is the only place we can bring someone to Jesus, but it is, without a doubt, one very good place to do so), but are we willing to invite one of our friends, drive with them, open the front door for them, sit with them, and help them through our liturgy?
Just imagine where that poor paralyzed man would have been without his four friends, and their faith. Just imagine what a difference we could make to our friends if we acted and believed like they did.

Jesus said Travel Light - Day 17

I am guessing that many of you when you travel try to get as much in your suitcase as possible. You just don’t know what you might need to wear when you arrive at your destination and you wouldn’t want to be caught with the wrong clothes or not enough clothes. You learn some tricks along the way about taking more for your trip—you roll your clothes, you put things in your carry-on bag, you cram into every nook and cranny.
The last time I was at the airport the person in front of me had too much and had to either unload or pay a fee. It was interesting for me to watch them work through their dilemma.
When Jesus sent out the twelve disciples he said, “Take nothing for your journey, no staff, nor bag, nor bread, nor money—not even an extra tunic.” (Luke 9:3)
Not even an extra tunic. Now, that is pretty lean. But what was Jesus saying to them? Travel light and trust that with me and in me and through me you will have all you need. Don’t worry so much about your outward appearances. No, just get straight, strong, settled with me, and I will clothe you with all you need. And besides that, your outward appearances are not what matter. It is the disposition of your heart. So, clothe your hearts with love and peace and joy and kindness and strength.
So, how about you and me? We are trying to check in at the counter, saying we want to follow Jesus and to go out and be on a mission with and for him. I am wondering if some of us need to unpack some baggage in order to do this. I know that I do. Interesting dilemma, isn’t?
What might you need to unpack, to let go of, to give away, to drop, in order to travel light with Jesus?

Jesus Played - Day 16

The disciples were a serious bunch. They were worried about how they could help Jesus. They were concerned about who got access to Jesus and who didn’t. The religious authorities that were following Jesus were also very serious. They were anxious about what Jesus was going to say next and do next. They were concerned about what trouble he was going to cause or what rule he was going to break.
One day some children (and children were, unlike today, not held in high esteem) get through all the serious folks and end up in Jesus’ lap. The disciples try to scold the unruly children and their irresponsible parents, but Jesus will have none of it. Instead, he says, “Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.” (Mk. 10: 13f)
What would it mean for you to become child-like (not childish) and get into Jesus’ lap? Do you feel self-conscious? Inhibited? Like you don’t belong? Can you become that child or are you more inclined to act like the bossy and clueless disciples, or like the judgmental and tense Pharisees—all those overly serious folks?
I think that one quality that Jesus wants us to emulate from children is their trust. Maybe another quality is their ability to play. I know that many adults lose both qualities—the quality of trust, the quality of play.
It is obvious that Jesus loved children—they gravitated to him. He loved them all—red and yellow, black and white, they were all precious in his sight.
If Jesus played with children, maybe he is calling you to be a bit more playful in your life. If so, what would that look like? When was the last time you really laughed? Really had fun? Really cut-up? Do you even give yourself permission to enjoy your life?
There was in the midst of very serious things going on around Jesus all the time, this playful aspect to him. As his disciples, what might this look like for us? He was clear: We must become like children ourselves to receive the Kingdom.

Jesus Wasn't Fair - Day 15

You can probably remember saying as a child, “That’s not fair.” Your friend got to do something or go somewhere or see something and you didn’t, so you would purse up your face, look and feel indignant, and say, “That’s not fair.” If you cannot remember doing this as a child, just ask your mom or dad if you did. And if you are a mom or dad right now, then you know what I am talking about.
It might sound strange to you, but Jesus wasn’t fair. A case in point is found in Matthew 20: 1-16. A landowner goes out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. He then goes out several times during the day, even until the last hour, to hire more workers. At the end of the day all of the workers, whether they worked one hour or 12 hours, get the same pay. The workers hired earlier in the day have a fit. It just isn’t fair that they are paid what those who worked only one hour get paid. They are, of course, right. What the owner does isn’t fair.
But that is the point. God is not fair. More to the point. We don’t want God to be fair. If God were fair, what would we deserve? What would we have earned? Can you now see the point? We don’t want a fair God; we want a merciful God, a loving God, a forgiving God, a generous God.
Fairness is for those who somehow think that they have earned or deserved or merited God’s favor. I do hope—and pray—that this doesn’t include you. Grace is given as a gift. It can only be accepted as one.
The owner of the vineyard gave to each worker what he needed to live. The early workers were resentful about the owner’s generosity. Let us not be like them. We have more-than-a-fair God. Thanks be to God. As his people and as the disciples of Jesus, let us be more than fair ourselves.

Jesus Calls Witnesses - Day 14

Jesus has died. Jesus has been resurrected. He is soon to go. But before he leaves the disciples he gives them some instructions about how he wants them to live and what he wants them to do.
He says, “… 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.” (Acts 1: 8)
Jesus paints a series of concentric circles here, starting small and then emanating out to encompass the whole world. He wants witnesses, those who will testify on his behalf, those who will share the good news of his love and mercy, those who will proclaim that God’s power in and through him is mighty to save and forgive and empower. He doesn’t want them to keep this good news to themselves. He wants them to share it through their words and deeds and lives.
Nothing has changed since that day. Jesus still wants witnesses. He wants us to go to our Jerusalems and Judeas and Samarias and to whatever ends of the earth that we live or travel to share good news.
Do we? Do we witness to him ever? If so, thank God. If not, why? What are we afraid of, concerned about? Why are so many of us shut down? We have the best news that there is, how can we not share it?
Being a Christian is not just about what we believe; it is also about what we do. We call Jesus “Lord,” but is he? Do we allow him to command us? Do we follow his directives? Imagine a coach sending in a play to a team in the huddle and the team deciding that they didn’t like the play. What would happen to the team? What would happen to the game?
If you call yourself a Christian, then you are, in effect, calling Jesus your Coach and Lord and Savior and Boss. Jesus says, “Witness.” What are you waiting for? There are people in your life who need the word of hope and love that you can share. So, just do it. With love and tenderness, of course; but also with strength and conviction, always.

Jesus Kept the Lost and Found Box - Day 13

Where I went to grade school there was a “lost and found” box. It was always in the cloakroom where we hung our coats. If you forgot your hat or mittens or muffler on any given day, the teacher would say, "Go to the box and get something." You didn’t really want to do that because much of the stuff had been in that box for a long time. You just never knew what someone else might have done on that stuff. It looked cruddy and crummy and everyone could tell you were wearing someone else’s lost, discarded stuff.
Jesus was going into Jericho one day and there he spots a little man in a tree. His name is Zacchaeus. Jesus can tell that this man was desperate to see him, so Jesus called him down and then invited himself over to Zacchaeus’ home. Now those who saw this interaction grumbled because Zacchaeus was a sinner and a despised tax collector.
On the way to his home Zacchaeus promised to give to the poor and to pay back anyone that he has defrauded. Seeing Jesus and being with Jesus has changed his whole life.
At the end of the exchange Jesus says, “For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.” (Luke 19: 10) Zacchaeus was lost, then found. Jesus is in the Lost and Found business. I know this is true for me. I don’t even want to think about how lost I would be without Jesus. Even with Jesus I sometimes get lost. But then I get found again.
How might you be lost? If you think you can find your own life and meaning and purpose, then you don’t need Jesus much. I would say that if you think any of the above, then you must be really lost. The really lost folks are those who don’t think that they are.
The Christian life is about a lost and found adventure with Jesus. Once found by Jesus he sends us out to find other lost folks. Unlike those snotty objects in the bottom of the lost and found box, there is no child of God—not matter how snotty or dirty or nasty or torn—that Jesus doesn’t want. Once found he can and does clean us up.
Are you willing to join Jesus in the Lost and Found business?

Jesus Played in the Dirt - Day 12

The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman (where was the man?) who was caught in adultery. They want to know what Jesus thinks they ought to do. It is a trap. If Jesus says, “stone her,” he will look just like them and he will be at risk of losing the popular support of the crowd. If Jesus says, “don’t stone her,” he will look like he doesn’t care for the law of Moses. It is one of the “darned if you do and darned if you don’t” kind of situations. No matter what he does, the scribes and Pharisees think that they have him trapped.
So, what does Jesus do? He says, “Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” (John 8: 7) He doesn’t say stone her or don’t stone her. He says you can stone her if you yourself are without sin. He didn’t play into the Pharisees' trap or into their hands. Instead, he held up a mirror to them. Look at yourselves. Are any of you without sin?
It says in scripture that before Jesus responded to the challenging trap of the religious authorities that he bent down and wrote with “his finger on the ground.” I have always wondered what words he drew or what image he wrote. It is such an interesting and arresting moment.
I think that what he wrote on the ground that day was a big circle. Not a dividing line between who is good and who is bad—this is what the Pharisees liked to draw; no, Jesus on that day, I believe, drew a great big circle. Who are the sinners? Circle—all of us. Who is in need of grace? Circle—all of us.
What is our business? Draw circles, not lines, not boundaries, not divisions. But before we can draw circles we need to drop our rocks. Jesus doesn’t like rock throwing at any child of God, including ourselves. He likes circles. So, what are you going to do to draw one yourself?

Jesus Liked Today

Word had begun to drift back to his hometown that Jesus was out in the world doing some pretty spectacular things. He showed up in the synagogue and they asked him to read. He thumbed through the scriptures to a passage from Isaiah and he read: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” (see Isaiah 61 and Luke 4:16f).
The hometown crowd was so pleased with Jesus. He read so well, with such presence and poise. But then just when they had settled back into their pews Jesus did a really outlandish thing. He said, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” At first the people were still thinking kind thoughts and saying nice words, but then the word “today” began to sink in. And then they were not so pleased. In fact, they became furious at him. Who are you to say that today all this will happen? Just who do you think you are, Jesus?
Faith from yesterday is easier than faith today. Faith for someday is, again, easier than faith right here, right now. When faith must be translated into today, as Jesus asks and expects and gives, it can challenge how we want to live our lives.
So, just where is your faith? Is it looking back to the “good old days” or to today? Are you planning on doing some ministry, some mission work for Jesus someday when you get everything else in your life worked out, or now?
Jesus wasn’t very popular when he said “today.” How are you feeling right now about Jesus when he says “today” for your faith and discipleship and life with him? What—today—are you going to do with Jesus, through Jesus, for Jesus?

Jesus Liked to Camp - Day 10

“And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of the father’s only son, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14)
The Word of God that created the whole universe (see the beginning of Genesis chapter one) has now, in Jesus, become flesh of our flesh, bone of our bone, blood of our blood.
The word “lived” among us can also be translated “tabernacled” with us or even “camped” with us. The Word of God became flesh and moved into the neighborhood.
Have you ever been on a camping trip? They are, well, intimate affairs. You share food, chores, your mornings and evenings and quirks and tics. You get to know people very well.
That is what Jesus wants with us. He wants to join us on the “camping trip” of our life. He doesn’t want us to visit him at church. He wants to join in every aspect of our lives. He doesn’t want us in our Sunday best. He wants our Sunday best and our Monday worst and our Tuesday lost and our Wednesday worried and our Thursday angry and our Friday fearful and our Saturday, finally, happy.
Jesus doesn’t just want to visit our lives as a guest. He doesn’t want the guest bedroom with the matching sheets and special soaps. He wants to do the laundry and dishes with us. You might think that Jesus is a little greedy, but he wants it all—the good and the not-so-good, the nice and the not-so-nice. Sort of like a camping trip. He wants to share it all, and he wants it all to be an adventure.
So, “happy camper,” will you invite Jesus onto the trails with you, at the campfire with you, into your tent with you?

Jesus Partied - Day 9

We are at the wedding of Cana of Galilee (see John 2: 1-11). The wine had given out. The party was about the crash. It would have been a great embarrassment to the bride’s family. It would have been a terrible way to begin a new life.
Jesus asked that some jars be filled with water and then they were filled with wine, good wine, not just water.
Jesus partied. Throughout his ministry he is in constant trouble with the religious folks who were that century’s version of the Puritans. Puritans want to be pure. They don’t want to be with folks who are different from them, folks who are “dirty,” folks who are lost or sinful or bad or…well, you name it.
Jesus got in trouble because he said that he came for just such folks. He came for the lost and sinful and grubby. He came for those who knew that they could never be “pure” enough to deserve God’s love. Jesus not only accepted these folks under condescending sufferance, he loved them, went after them, touched them, and partied with them. He wasn’t a stiff. He knew how to have a good time. He had a good time with such folks because he felt like you needed to have a party every time one such person was found and brought back home to God.
Do we remember that every time we gather together is a celebration, a party? Do we remember to have a good time and not be a stiff? Do our faces reflect the great joy of being at the party of life and hope and grace and forgiveness with Jesus? Are we glad to see each other and are we doing all we can to enlarge the party so that all of God’s children will know that the best time to be had is with us? Jesus partied. Let us do the same.

Jesus Called Ordinary People - Day 8

“As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the sea—for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, ‘Follow me and I will make you fish for people.” (Mark 1:16-17)
Peter and Andrew, John and James (they were also on the beach that same day and Jesus also called them to follow and to fish) were ordinary guys. They had no degrees. They had not done—as far as we know—any extraordinary things. There was—again, as far as we know—nothing special about them. They were in a word: ordinary.
As we follow Jesus and his companions in the gospel stories we find out just how unremarkable they were. Mark in his gospel seems to go out of his way to point out how foolish and fickle and weak and vain and silly they all were.
I am guessing that Mark was telling us the truth about the disciples, but I am also going to guess that he was trying to make a point to all disciples of future generations. If Jesus could choose them, then he can also choose you. If they were able to change the world—and change the world they did—then Jesus can use you to do great and wonderful things.
In and of themselves, Peter, Andrew, James, and John were ordinary. But as soon as they began to follow Jesus they began to become more-than-ordinary. In and of ourselves we are flawed and fallen and mixed-up and convoluted and, well, just human. But in following Jesus we are changed by Jesus. And in being changed by Jesus, he then wants us to be his fisherpersons for others. Jesus is clear: once caught, go catch.
I sometimes hear people say that they aren’t good enough to be with Jesus or to work with Jesus or to do anything for Jesus. That just isn’t the truth. Jesus once called ordinary people to do extraordinary things. His call has never stopped. He wants to catch us and call us and send us in order that all people will be part of God’s great catch. The first four disciples may have seemed ordinary to the world. But to God they were his precious children. Just like we are. Just like all people are.

Jesus Prayed - Day 7

“In the morning, while it was still very dark, [Jesus] got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed.” (Mark 1:35)
Jesus prayed because he needed to pray. He needed to check in with God. He needed to listen to God. He needed to pour out his heart to God. He needed to ask for God’s help and courage and direction and peace. He got up early to pray. He prayed both all by himself and with others. He often left a busy ministry schedule to pray. He first got straight with God before he tried to work for God, heal for God, preach for God.
If Jesus needed to pray, how can we think that we don’t need to? How can we think or act like we are too busy to pray? We are too busy not to pray. Maybe if we prayed we wouldn’t feel so frantic, so frazzled, so fragmented.
We need to pray in order to remember who we are, whose we are, and what we need to be about. We need to pray to adore God, to give thanks to God, to confess to God.
Many of us don’t pray because we feel inadequate about praying. We feel like everyone else must do it better than we do it. We read books about prayer looking for some method or answer. We try praying for awhile, but then give up. We wonder if God is listening. We question whether he cares. We rattle off our petitions or intercessions and nothing seems to change.
So, what do I want to say about all this? Just do it. Just pray. Don’t read about it endlessly. Don’t fret about it. Don’t question about how to do it. Just sit and ask God to be with you. Listen. Cry. Give praise. Fall asleep—yes, sometimes that will happen—in God’s arms. Confess. Yell. Write letter to Jesus (this is one of the ways I pray). Read scripture—start with a gospel, and do it slowly, don’t rush. Do it on your knees or in your favorite chair or lying in your backyard. How you do it or where you do it doesn’t matter. Doing it matters enormously. Don’t listen to all those voices in your head that make you feel inadequate.
If Jesus needed to pray, so do you. So, join Jesus and pray. And remember that you are never praying alone.

Jesus Healed - Day 6

“Now Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told [Jesus] about her at once. He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up. Then the fever left her, and she began to serve them.” (Mark 1:30-31)
I am writing these words on Ash Wednesday—yes, I know that is a bit OCD, but there it is. I knew I was going to be writing about Jesus the Healer and I was eager to get started. I do most of my writing and thinking and praying and getting-ready-to-preach right in church. I ask for God to join me, I remember all of you, I get on my knees, and wait.
As I am going into church to write about Jesus the Healer and I find a woman with cancer and her daughter. This woman is one of our guests from away, and her daughter had just flown into from the Midwest. She was about ready to start a very heavy round of chemotherapy tomorrow.
It made sense that I put down all of my notes, my bible, my computer, my thoughts about Jesus being the healer and just be in the moment with this child of God who is afraid, who needs healing, who wants God’s presence.
After talking with this woman and her daughter I decided to give them all the Jesus that I could, so we had ashes together, unction together, and communion together. There were tears and laughter and quiet and faith, and Jesus was there.
We all come to Jesus for healing. Physical healing, emotional healing, relational healing, vocational healing—we all have some disease in our lives.
Jesus healed long ago, and Jesus heals today. Now, I know that his healing power and why it sometimes seems to work and sometimes doesn’t—at least not how we would like it to—is a great mystery. I have spent many days with my head on the steering wheel of my car after visiting with someone in the hospital asking, pleading for God’s power to utterly, totally, completely, and physically heal someone.
I don’t know what is going to happen with the woman I just anointed for healing in church. What I do know is that Jesus’ healing power and presence and peace were all over her and all over our time together. She left here not downtrodden, but strong; not afraid, but courageous; not discouraged, but trusting.
How might you need Jesus’ healing hands in your life?

Jesus Exorcized - Day 5

“Just then there was in the synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, and he cried out, ‘What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.’ But Jesus rebuked him, saying, ‘Be silent, and come out of him.’” (Mark 1:23-25)
Jesus exorcized evil spirits, foul spirits, demon spirits. I know that Jesus doing such actions may sound, well, rather primitive or scary to us, and I am guessing that such actions may elicit images of Grade B horror films. And yet, there is no getting around that a major part of his ministry was casting out bad and awful spirits. He fed. He led. He healed. He forgave. He loved. He did so much for us, and one of the things that he did then and does now is, again, exorcize.
So, what are your evil spirits that you need cast out? Control? Fear? Anxiety? Shame? Despair? Worry? Rigidity? Meanness? What are the “spirits,” the emotions, the attitudes, the prejudices, the addictions that separate you from God, from others, from your best and most glorious and most alive self?
Jesus wants to cast out those spirits so that you can be led by God’s Spirit. He wants you to be free. He wants to rebuke anything, any voice, any power or force that shuts down your heart, that closes your mind, that derails your faith-path.
The question is not whether Jesus wants to or can exorcize. He does and he can. The question is whether we want him to. Sometimes those “evil” spirits can be enticing. Sometimes they can seem like our friends. But, don’t be seduced. Those “spirits” are slanderers, liars, accusers, and they will suck the life and hope and joy right out of you.
I am thankful that Jesus came to exorcize. I know I need his casting out voice in my life. I hope you feel and know the same. He came to exorcize in order for us to be free. Thanks be to God.