January 31 Worship

Today's service uses the appointed epistle reading to concentrate on table fellowship. Music includes a prélude called Welcome, a postlude called We Can Eat, We Can Drink, and the popular chorus, Seek Ye First. After the main message, we'll also share in a performance of the Disciples hymn (#400 in the Chalice Hymnal), When You Do This, Remember Me. Many thanks to the Rev. Brian Nixon of First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Keokuk, Iowa for granting me permission to use it.

Here is the order of the worship video found at the end of this post:

Cheerful Giving

Then the people rejoiced because these had given willingly, for with single mind they had offered freely to the Lord; King David also rejoiced greatly.

✙ 1 Chronicles 29:9

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In a 17th-century classic called The Art of Divine Contentment, Thomas Watson tells us that "a contented spirit is a cheerful spirit. Contentment is something more than patience—patience denotes only submission, while contentment denotes cheerfulness. Contented Christians are more than passive: they not only bear the cross, but willingly take up the cross."

Nowhere is Watson's point more clearly made than in our attitude toward giving. This giving may be of our money, our talent, our time, or any other gift of God. The one who is content to be a disciple of Christ realizes that anything that we

Open to Grace

All your works shall give thanks to you, O Lord, and all your faithful shall bless you.

✙ Psalm 145:10

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If we grow in God's love and receive God's grace, our very existence praises God. We see this in nature and readily acknowledge it: That which has been created by God blesses God by simply being what it was created to be—plants, animals, geological formations, each, in its own way, praises its Creator.

Can it be less true of humans that, when we fulfill God's purpose for our lives, we, too, bless God? The only real difference here is that, unique among God's creatures, we can choose whether or not to do what God intends. 

The Letter to the Hebrews puts it this way: If we are like soil that is receptive to rain, then we will bear fruit that benefits the world around us.

Here-and-Now Wholeness

Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.

✙ Daniel 12:2

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There are many lifestyles that we might call "sinful" which so obviously lead to death that even the unspiritual take note of it—lifestyles which cause mental or physical harm to the person who leads it, or which cause harm to others. We do not see as God sees, however, and doubtless there are many other kinds of behavior which bring separation from the Creator. The Bible supports this by declaring that all, in fact, have sinned [Rom 3:23]—obviously the secret sins of the self-righteous have not gone unnoticed by the Almighty.

The cross and the empty tomb, however, offer us a pathway out of the vicious cycle of sin.

You Come Down!

I am not worthy of the least of all the steadfast love and all the faithfulness that you have shown to your servant. 

✙ Genesis 32:10

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Unworthiness is a frequent theme of the Bible—whether it's unworthiness in others' eyes or the eyes of the one being judged. What's remarkable is that it's seldom God who deems one human being less worth than any others. In fact, the opposite often seems to be true: It is the weakest, the poorest, the youngest, the outsider whom God chooses to make God's love and/or power known in the world.

One such outsider—whom the evangelist Luke goes out of his way to tell us was also quite small physically—was a dishonest tax collector named Zacchæus.

Praying for Wisdom

And those who err in spirit will come to understanding, and those who grumble will accept instruction.

✙ Isaiah 29:24

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The end of Isaiah 29 is beautifully hopeful. Religious reform, healing, and justice are all promised in the age to come. But the final promise—found in the final verse—is of understanding and an end to grumbling. We live in an era of persistent complaining and seemingly intentional incomprehension. How can I understand a brother or sister if I won't actually listen to what they're saying?

We might not be able to fix another person's stubbornness, foolishness, or grumbling. But God can. And so not only should those who lack wisdom pray, but we should as well:

Burning Love

Is not my word like fire, says the Lord, and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces? 

✙ Jeremiah 23:29

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The image of fire is a frightening one. Even when good results from it, it is still very destructive. There's not much that can stand up to it, and so it has traditionally been a symbol of purification. I think that's what Jeremiah meant when he compared God's word to a fire and to a rock-breaking hammer. It both refines and destroys, as did the incarnate Word, Jesus Christ. 

Jesus came teaching us that everything we said and did needed to measure up to one standard: that of love. It sounds wonderful.

Grace Seeks Humility

But of you I will not make an end. I will chastise you in just measure, and I will by no means leave you unpunished. 

✙ Jeremiah 30:11

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To the woman at the well, Jesus said that "those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life." With 2000 years of history behind us, we know something that the woman had to learn: The water he spoke of was a metaphor for grace.

And it's a wonderful metaphor: clean, fresh, life-giving water flowing out of a never-ending spring. What a wonderful word-picture of God's eternal love.

January 24 Worship

The theme of today's service is Mark's version of the call of the first disciples. You'll be invited to sing the first stanza of the famous Spanish-language hymn Pescador de Hombres, in English, Lord, You Have Come to the Lakeshore. Here is the order of service found in the worship video at the bottom of this post: 

• 00:00 Chimes
• 00:25 Prélude: We Turn Our Hearts to You, Lord
• 01:30 Welcome
• 02:16 Opening Sentence: Psalm 62.5
• 02:31 Opening Prayer
• 02:47 Lord's Prayer
• 03:24 Scripture Reading: Mark 1.14-18

Missing the Mark

Why do you complain against me? You have all rebelled against me, says the Lord. 

✙ Jeremiah 2:29

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We're quick to point out others' faults. Sometimes we're even bold enough to try to point out God's faults. We're not necessarily so good at recognizing our own. But for all the negativity we say we find in the Bible, we have to admit that it's right: All of us have fallen short of God's plans for us. 

The Greek more literally says that we've missed the mark and are found wanting. Maybe if we used this translation, we could more easily accept this truth, since it acknowledges that we're at least trying to get it right.

But admitting that we're wrong is part of what it means to be a mature Christian...

Hide-and-Seek

I will rejoice in doing good to them, and I will plant them in this land in faithfulness, with all my heart and all my soul. 

✙ Jeremiah 32:41

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Remember when you used to play hide-and-seek? The point, of course, was to find the perfect hiding place. But not too perfect, because your goal was not to hide forever; eventually you wanted to be found. And so if your hiding place was too good, eventually you'd start making noise until you were noticed and the seeker found you.

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There are times in our life when we think we want to hide from God. But in reality, until we are found by God, we realize that we have missed the point completely. What a blessing, then, that our God is One who seeks until what is lost has been found.

A Discipleship Prayer

My Lord God,
I have no idea where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me,
so I cannot know for certain 

where it will end.
Nor do I really know myself—
and the fact 

that I think I am following your will 

does not mean 

that I am actually doing so.
But I believe 

that the desire to please you
does, in fact, please you.
And I hope I have that desire
in all that I am doing.
I hope that I will never do anything
apart from that desire.
And I know that, if I do this,

Homecoming

Afterward the Israelites shall return and seek the Lord their God, and David their king; they shall come in awe to the Lord and to his goodness in the latter days.

✙ Hosea 3:5

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Coming home is great. Whether it's after a long absence in another country, or just after a difficult day at work, being back where we belong brings peace of mind. On a grander scale, we've created more formal homecomings in our culture, such as when alumni/æ return to their old school to remember their glory days. 

In a very real sense, whenever we return to God—whether it's for daily prayer or after an extended period in the wilderness—we get the same sense of homecoming.

Peace of Mind

…then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being.

✙ Genesis 2:7

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The Spirit of God is life and peace. In both Hebrew and Greek, the word for spirit is also the word for breath. That's why we read that it was God's breath at creation that gave life, and Jesus' breath after the resurrection that granted peace. For Christians, therefore, to have breath goes far beyond biological life: It is to be imbued with something of the Creator.

In John's brief letter to Gaius (3 John), the connection is made between welcome and wholeness of spirit.

Freedom

You have made me stride freely, and my feet do not slip. 

✙ 2 Samuel 22:37

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Christian liberty is a wonderful concept. But it's not without its complications. The one who has faith in God's grace is free from depending on obedience to God's law for salvation. Ironically enough, this means that the person of faith is finally free to obey the law they're no longer bound to.

One way to understand this might be a farmhand who does just enough work to keep his job. He fears getting fired, but he has no real stake in what the farm produces. Compare him to the farmer's daughter who loves her father and works hard on the farm because she understands the benefits of a good yield.

Comforting Those Who Mourn

There are some who in their mourning wonder where God is—or even if God exists. But many say that in their pain they feel an acute sense of God's presence

The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me... to comfort all who mourn.

✙ Isaiah 61:1-2

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Those who mourn are those who see the world through tears. For us, this usually means those who have suffered deep personal loss. Grief has changed the way they experience life. And though time may make the wound less painful, it will never completely heal.

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But there are also those whose compassion for people in pain causes them to interpret the world through the suffering of others. These are often the people who work for peace and social justice. People who truly struggle for societal transformation are seldom happy with the way things are.

The Two Extremes

You are the Lord, you alone; you have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. To all of them you give life, and the host of heaven worships you.

✙ Nehemiah 9:6

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It seems that there are two extremes in the today's world. On the one hand, there are those who embrace the scientific theories and explanations for the origins of the universe, believing that they, by definition, cancel out the idea of a divine Creator. On the other hand we find people of faith who believe that the creation story we find in the Book of Genesis contains scientific fact, meaning that modern scientific research is to be rejected out-of-hand.

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And then there are people like me (and virtually everybody in my church): We embrace both the science and the Creator. We find beauty and meaning in the

January 17 Worship

Today, I talk a little bit about Ordinary Time and how the Common Lectionary works as an introduction to a message about Nathanael's hesitation to go see Jesus. Here's the order of worship found in the video at the bottom of the page:

• 00:00 Chimes
• 00:28 Prélude: Consecrate Anew Today
• 01:17 Welcome
• 02:04 Opening Sentence: Psalm 139.14
• 02:21 Opening Prayer
• 02:43 Lord's Prayer

Our Superpower

Despite all the miracles and battles and supernatural stuff, I don't reckon the Bible's really all that concerned with superpowers. Or maybe it is, but they're so simple

Then he said to them, “Go your way, eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions of them to those for whom nothing is prepared, for this day is holy to our Lord; and do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”

✙ Nehemiah 8:10

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I once took one of those online quizzes—this one was intended to tell me what my superpower was. It turns out, mine was mind-reading. Despite all the miracles and battles and supernatural stuff, I don't reckon the Bible's really all that concerned with superpowers. Or maybe it is, but they're so simple and commonplace that we don't even notice they're there.

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Take Nehemiah 8:10, for example. The people suddenly realize how far astray they've gone from the will of God, and so they weep. But Ezra tells them not to be sad, because they have a superpower. And that superpower is the joy of

When the Storms of Life Are Raging

This prayer was not just for the few who were with him then, but for all of us who follow him still. It's very reassuring to know that Christ prayed for 

The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade at your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night.

✙ Psalm 121:5-6

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In the earliest days of Christianity, disciples of Christ expected his return any day—any hour. And yet they still lived their lives and participated in the world around them as Christians should. Two thousand years later, some believe that we should remove ourselves from society in order to keep ourselves pure.

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The desire to follow Jesus in this way is admirable. But in a way, it sometimes hints at a distrust of God, who keeps us safe and helps us when we're surrounded by danger. 

In John's gospel, one of the last things Jesus did before the crucifixion was

Everybody's Doing It

Trust God and be mature in your dealings with others. Since the beginning, we've had a tendency to do what everybody else is doing. What the immature mind 

So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate.

✙ Genesis 3:6

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"If your friends jumped off a bridge, would you do it, too?"

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I'll bet I'm not the only kid who heard that from their parents when I asked to do something by saying, "Everybody else is doing it." The problem was, when they asked me about jumping off a bridge, I thought it sounded fun. Since then, I've seen plenty of videos where it actually looked fun.

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Jumping off a bridge is overrated by children, obviously. It's actually dangerous—suicidal, even. When all is said and done, our parents were right: Jumping off bridges is inadvisable.

The Proper Order of Things

Read the Bible through different eyes—eyes that acknowledge that these other gods exist in our lives. Then, to say that our God is

Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise! For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods.

✙ Psalm 95:2-3

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There is only one God. But there are many gods. In ancient times these other gods were acknowledged as divinities. In some places they still are. They are often associated with statues, images, or natural phenomena such as trees, mountains,  and bodies of water. We judge the people who worship them as superstitious, or even uncivilized.

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But at least they're honest enough to acknowledge their gods as gods. People in our culture—even those belonging to our religion—also have a variety of gods. Only we call them wealth, or possessions, or technology, or positions of influence. We worship

Lip Service

Giving lip service to God is not the same as actually serving God. I have met lots of people in my life who may not talk a good Christian walk

A son honors his father, and servants their master. If then I am a father, where is the honor due me? And if I am a master, where is the respect due me? says the Lord of hosts to you, O priests, who despise my Name. You say, “How have we despised your Name?”

✙ Malachi 1:6

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When the year began with the admonition not to steal, we were reminded that God's commandments always have a deeper meaning—in this case not only not to take from another, but also not to withhold what is theirs, or even what might help them, if it's in our power. Today we're reminded of the Fifth Commandment: Honor thy father and thy mother. This commandment was given, of course, for the sake of obedience within the family, but it also pointed backwards to the four commandments that came before it—honoring earthly parents is a constant reminder of the love and honor we have for our heavenly Parent. 

Safety in Numbers

If there's safety in numbers, let us be courageous enough to be Christlike in our willingness to go out on a limb for the sake of the troubled

Then I myself will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the lands where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply.

✙ Jeremiah 23:3

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There's safety in numbers, or so we say. By that we usually mean that it's easy to be outspoken when you're saying the same thing everybody else is saying. But biblically speaking, it might just mean that God will place a wandering, lone sheep ahead of the rest of the flock. In the Hebrew Bible it was the remnant of the flock that was saved. And in the New Testament, Jesus said a shepherd would leave the rest of the flock in order to rescue the one that had gotten itself into trouble.

So if there's safety in numbers, then let the sheep in the fold tend to one another as we await the return of the wayward lamb. And then let us welcome

The Expansion of the Promise

In Jesus the Messiah, we are not only told that God is the Savior of all humanity, but that even we have been personally invited to make Israel's God our God

Thus says the Lord God, who gathers the outcasts of Israel, I will gather others to them besides those already gathered.

✙ Isaiah 56:8

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As the story of the Bible marches forward in time, it also expands outward. God's outreach began with one man and his immediate family. Yet it grew ever larger through an Egyptian sojourn, exodus into the wilderness, and then entry into the Promised Land. The prophets promised even greater growth even as the psalms proclaimed that the one God would be worshiped by the entire earth.

Finally, in Jesus the Messiah, we are not only told that God is the Savior of all humanity, but that even we have been personally invited to make Israel's God our God. Latecomers are not second-

January 10 Worship

Each year, on the First Sunday after Epiphany, we remember Jesus' baptism by John in the River Jordan. This year, in addition to Mark's account of this event, we also read the first part of the creation story from the Book of Genesis. 

Music includes Baptized in Water (to the same tune as Morning Has Broken) and On Jordan's Bank the Baptist's Cry.

Here's the order of service found in the worship video which follows:

• 00:00 Chimes
• 00:29 Welcome

Vanities

We can build our lives on vanities that won't last. Or we can be established in that which is eternal. It's not necessarily in what we do or don't do

Turn my eyes from looking at vanities; give me life in your ways.

✙ Psalm 119:37

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There are many kinds of vanity. We easily recognize the fool's cap of the court jester, outrageously expensive designer fashion, the vices of the gambler. Equally vain, yet far more dangerous, are things that we give such titles to as investments, influence, position. In their proper place, many vanities are benign—some even good. It's our attitude toward them that makes them vanities. Do we think our clothes or our money make us better than others? Do we believe that God finds our position more worthy of attention than that of a refugee fleeing warfare?

Reasons to Believe

To some degree, that might even be part of what being a Christian is: Trusting in the good while addressing the bad with our love and outreach. 

You will be in the right, O Lord, when I lay charges against you; but let me put my case to you. Why does the way of the guilty prosper? Why do all who are treacherous thrive?

✙ Jeremiah 12:1

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There are always reasons not to believe. As a pastor, I've heard them all. We see one of them in the question, "Why do bad things happen to good people?" Apparently that question didn't bother Jeremiah too much. But he did quarrel with God over its counterpart: "Why do good things happen to bad people?"

Jesus addressed this same question as it applied to the Kindom of God. Why are latecomers as beloved as early adopters? Why treat outsiders like insiders? "If that person's part of this, then

The High Tower

And if in lonely places, a fearful child, I shrink, he prays the prayers within me I cannot ask or think; in deep unspoken language, known only to that love 

Here's a long-ish hymn that goes with today's watchword, but is too long to post in a devotional. Called The High Tower, it was written in the 1600's by Paul Gerhardt, and translated by Frances Bevan in 1899. It is based on Psalm 62:6. 

Gerhardt is one of the greatest hymn-writers in the German language. We still sing several of his hymns in English, among them, O Sacred Head, Now Wounded.

Is God for me? I fear not, though all against me rise;
I call on Christ my Savior, the host of evil flies.

God Will Lift Us Up

God is both our place of safety and the One who makes us whole. At some point, we will need to trust that this same God will lift us up.

He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken.

✙ Psalm 62:6

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All of us go through times in our lives when we're weak. There's usually a good reason for our weakness. In the country I live in, reasons include grief, sickness, job loss, etc. Whenever these things happen to us—when we find ourselves in a pit we can't get out of—God stays by our side for as long as we need God's presence.

But the fact that God embraces our weakness does not mean that God does not provide strength, or that God wants us to stay at the bottom of the pit. God is both our place of safety and the One who makes us whole. At some point, we will need to trust that this same God will lift us up. We need not wallow helpless on the ground nor wander lost in

I Belong

To be a person of faith is to know I belong. I belong to God, who saves me. God's word is alive in me, and that is what gives me life. 

I am yours; save me, for I have sought your precepts.

✙ Psalm 119:94

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Today's verse reminds me of the Heidelberg Catechism (1563) which begins with this question: "What is your only comfort in life and in death?" The answer: "That I am not my own, but belong—body and soul, in life and in death—to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ."

To be a person of faith, then, is to know I belong. I belong to God, who saves me. God's word is alive in me, and that is what gives me life. When I seek God and feel God's presence within, I am moved to pray. And yet, God is greater than I am, and does not depend on my feelings. So especially when I seek

Lead, Kindly Light

How am I changed by my worship of God's Anointed? Do I return home afterwards the same as I was before? Or does my experience of Jesus send me out 

  O Lord of hosts, happy is everyone who trusts in you.

✙ Psalm 84:12

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Today is Epiphany, Three Kings Day, when we remember the magi who traveled from far away to acknowledge the lordship of the Babe of Bethlehem. Like most religious holidays, there's more than one message on Epiphany. I want to highlight two: 

1. Not until the Palm Sunday narratives do we find a stronger message about Jesus' royal authority—which is amazing, considering the fact that he's still a Baby. 
2. This was the first time we find Gentiles acknowledging Jesus.

Both of these messages are all the more astounding when you think about the trust required on the part of the magi. They were not Jewish—but they set out

On Getting Lost

God's love follows me when I meander off the path, and pursues me vigorously when I rush headlong in a direction I should not go

Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will live in the house of the Lord forever.

✙ Psalm 23:6 (NLT)

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Like a rebellious adolescent, I sometimes try to go off on my own. I don't consciously reject God's care and nurture. But I often think I know best. Yet even then, I am not abandoned. God's love follows me when I meander off the path, and pursues me vigorously when I rush headlong in a direction I should not go. 

After those seasons when I forget to acknowledge God's "goodness and unfailing love," when I finally follow the Good Shepherd back onto the way of life, I realize that I was never really left to my own devices. Just as Christ has gone ahead of me on the path, so

Strengthened by Grace

O God, strengthen me with your grace. And may it be grace that instructs my attitudes toward those around me—those I love, those I'm told should be my enemies

If only they had such a mind as this, to fear me and to keep all my commandments always, so that it might go well with them and with their children forever!

✙ Deuteronomy 5:29

The standards of the Bible—especially the Old Testament—are so high! If only we had a mind not only to fear God but to keep all God's commandments—always—then, finally, everything will be alright. 

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Well, I guess I'd better prepare for the worst then. I worship God, but I'm sometimes too proud to do it completely. I try to follow ways of mercy, peace, and justice, but I'm usually too weak. There are so many rules and my mind is only so big... my spirit is even smaller

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But then there's grace. When confronted by my inability to follow the rules, it's time to just put myself in God's hands. If it's a rule that really matters, I pray not

Epiphany Sunday Worship

Here is Pilgrim Church's online worship service for Epiphany Sunday. It includes the traditional Epiphany readings from Isaiah and Matthew, as well as some traditional Epiphany music. The message's theme is the final verse from the Matthew passage. Liturgy was inspired by the German Reformed Church, the Church of Scotland, and the Uniting Church in Australia.

 

Here's the order found in the video which follows: 

• 00:00 Chimes
• 00:27 Prélude: O Morning Star
• 03:12 Welcome

The Perfect Offering

If we want to see where perfection and mercy meet in Jesus Christ, the best place to look is the table where he offers himself completely in a holy Supper
If you offer your food to the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted, then your light shall rise in the darkness and your gloom be like the noonday. 

✙ Isaiah 58:10

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In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus told us to be perfect because God is perfect. But in the similar but lesser-known Sermon on the Plain, he told us to be merciful as God is merciful. Luke's version probably sounds better to most of us. But if we translate Matthew a bit differently, I think we can approach it differently: Be complete as God is complete. That's what the original Greek really says. Think of how complete and perfect mean the same thing in the expressions "perfect stranger" and "complete stranger."

If we want to see where the Sermon on the Mount's perfection and the Sermon on the Plain's mercy meet in Jesus Christ, the best place to look is the table

He Welcomed All

The gospel is preached in the actions of the faithful, not just from behind the pulpit. And, just as importantly, the kindom of God is made k

So they read from the book, from the law of God, with interpretation. They gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading. 

✙ Nehemiah 8:8

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The saying, "Preach the gospel at all times; use words if necessary," is usually attributed to Francis of Assisi. Of course, he said no such thing—though perhaps he would have agreed with the sentiment.

And the sentiment is a good one, indeed. I also find meaning in this saying: "You are the only Bible some unbelievers will ever read." I don't know who first said that, either. But both it and the pseudo-Francis quote remind me that simply reading (or quoting) from a book—even if that book is the Bible—has little to no impact if words aren't reflected in deeds. In Nehemiah, we read

New Year's Day Worship

This is a brief devotional service for the beginning of a new year. The text is Romans 5:5, and I've adapted an old song from the Pilgrim Hymnal, Great God, We Sing That Mighty Hand for the 21st century. The opening prayer is from Common Order, the Church of Scotland's main worship resource. It's from the office for morning prayer, tweeked very slightly for a new year instead of a new morning. 

Here's the order found in the video that follows at the end of the post:

• 00:00 Chimes
• 00:33 Welcome
• 01:10 Call to Worship: Hebrews 13.8

Unity of Spirit

God didn't just give us commandments for the sake of making us obey a set of rules. God's commandments benefit the community and make us whole. 

You shall not steal; you shall not deal falsely; and you shall not lie to one another.

✙ Leviticus 19:11

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As Christians set out on the path of a new year, it's good to say that we won't steal or cheat or lie—though that seems to be setting the bar a bit low. But these commandments have a much deeper meaning. We steal not only when we take what doesn't belong to us, but also when we withhold what belongs to others. We lie not only when we tell an untruth, but also when we refuse to tell a truth that would benefit somebody else. 

There has never been a time in my now sixty years that it has been clearer to me that our lives are shared with those of our neighbors than during this pandemic. Self-denial hasn't just been a private religious practice, but has