During this time of sheltering in place, we look for reason, consistency, and guidance. And when we don’t find it, we create it in prayer, song, art, and poetry, like the poem I offer you today.

The poem, “Pandemic” was written by Pastor and poet, Lynn Ungar. I was introduced to it by Bishop Michael Curry in one of his Monday meditations and since then, I have introduced it to others. You may wish to do the same. You may also wish to read more of this talented woman’s work in her recently published book, “Bread and Other Miracles” available online at lynnungar.com

Now, it is your turn to experience Ms. Ungar’s poem.

May I suggest that you find a quiet, private space where you can read it out loud and hear the power of her words.

Pandemic

What if you thought of it
as the Jews consider the Sabbath—
the most sacred of times?
Cease from travel.
Cease from buying and selling.
Give up, just for now,
on trying to make the world
different than it is.
Sing. Pray. Touch only those
to whom you commit your life.
Center down.
 
And when your body has become still,
reach out with your heart.
Know that we are connected
in ways that are terrifying and beautiful.
(You could hardly deny it now.)
Know that our lives
are in one another’s hands.
(Surely, that has come clear.)
Do not reach out your hands.
Reach out your heart.
Reach out your words.
Reach out all the tendrils
of compassion that move, invisibly,
where we cannot touch.
 
Promise this world your love–
for better or for worse,
in sickness and in health,
so long as we all shall live.
 
–Lynn Ungar 3/11/20

See what I mean?

Amen

This poem was published with permission from Lynn Ungar.

John 20:19-31

When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”

But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”

A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.” Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”

Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.

We pray.

Oh God, just as Jesus made his resurrection known to the disciples by gathering together with them, touching and being touched, sharing a meal, and extending the peace, so let us share our love for each other by protecting them from harm until it is once again safe to touch, embrace, and sit together at the dinner table. Open our eyes to know your love in our actions and thoughts as we wait for this time to pass. Amen.

Welcome to Easter Season 2020-Style

This has been an Easter unlike any we have ever experienced. We are in the midst of a pandemic and there is no escaping its impact.   It has affected our community, state, country, and planet, altering the way we live, shop, share, and work, if we are lucky enough still to have a job.  It has affected how we educate our children, socialize with friends and family, conduct business meetings, plan weddings, funerals, graduations, honeymoons and vacations.  It has affected us medically, financially, professionally, socially, and psychologically.  No one is unscathed by Covid-19. In its invisible stealth, it spreads through our community until most of us know at least one person who has been afflicted.  While one friend tagged the mandate to shelter in place as the introvert’s dream come true, the rest of us are getting a little tired of hovering in solitude under the threat of infection. 

One group in particular that comes to mind includes folks like me, who anchor their week in corporate worship. We gather in church sanctuaries every Sunday, singing together, praying together, listening together to scripture read aloud and preached.  For us, much has changed.  For the past five Sundays, we are not attending church surrounded by people, music, and liturgy. Instead, my husband and I sit at the dining room table in front of a laptop transported to a quiet sanctuary holding empty pews, two priests, an organist, and a camera guy.

I remember the Sunday before shelter in place was mandated.  It was March 8, 2020.  Our priest announced before the service began, that in light of the novel coronavirus, we should not touch anyone during the Exchange of Peace.  For those unfamiliar with the Exchange of Peace, let me explain.  It is a short break in the middle of the service when we stand and turn to each other to shake hands, hug friends and family, and say something like, Peace be with you, or God bless you, or Good morning, God’s peace.  It is when the quiet style of worship we Episcopalians love breaks into a cacophony of noise, voices, laughter, and affection until we are called to quiet down and return to our seats, or as one priest put it, “All right!  Enough!  With all this hugging and shaking, we’ll never get outa here!” 

On March 8, 2020 at 10:30 a.m., we were told to extend God’s peace to our neighbor with our eyes, with our smile, and with our words but, “Do not touch!”  I could feel myself stiffen.  I had not realized how much I valued that brief ritual until then.

I know we Episcopalians have a reputation.  All churches do and we are no different.  I’ve been told that people think of us as an elite group with roots to the royal family in England.  It was after all our Bishop Curry who preached at the wedding of Kate and Harry.   I don’t know about the elite business, but it is true that we love our ceremony filled with rituals, music, and liturgy. Our priests and acolytes wear robes; we are traditional and formal –   and we are physical.  In our services, we stand up.  We sit down.  We kneel.  We pray out loud together.  We read prayers and psalms responsively.  We stand and turn to our neighbors to Exchange the Peace with handshakes and hugs. Every Sunday we share a common meal of bread and wine kneeling side by side at the altar. We are not a passive audience.  We are active worshipers.

We get our hands dirty building homes for Habitat for Humanity; then we clean them up to deliver food to the homeless. We take care of babies and toddlers and educate pre-schoolers.  We grow gardens and invite our neighbors to harvest and enjoy the fresh food.   Episcopalian priests, chaplains, lay eucharistic ministers and lay preachers are in hospitals, nursing homes, assisted and independent living facilities and Hospice.  Holding the hands of the sick and dying, the lonely and discouraged, we pray with them.  And suddenly we are not allowed to touch?  

As alarming as it sounded at the time, it has become our new reality.  In response, I see churches everywhere reaching out to touch without touching.  On-line streaming of church services.  Small groups meeting online throughout the week, study groups, support groups, meditation and prayer groups; all finding ways to do God’s work and maintain connection with each other and with Jesus.

It is from Jesus we learn that worship is an active and physical business.  Jesus didn’t sit around passively in his ministry.  He stood up in the Temple.  He knelt to pray in the Garden. He squatted on the floor to wash the feet of his disciples.  He walked from village to village touching, comforting, feeding and healing the hungry, diseased, tormented, and blind. He ate with pharisees and sinners.  His was a physical, hands on, dusty feet ministry, culminating in bloody wounded torture and death on the cross.  And then he came back in a physical resurrection with the scars to show for it 

Today, Jesus is no longer in our midst.  We cannot reach out to touch the scars that Thomas was invited to touch.  We can’t touch his robe in a crowd and be healed.  We can’t invite him for dinner and sit at table side by side, inches apart.  We can’t sit at his feet, and wash them with our tears, dry them with our hair, and anoint them with essential oils.  Instead, we are left with a virtual relationship that we call Faith.  It is a connection more powerful even than the internet. It is spiritual and profound, and it will be good enough until we too share in our own resurrection to join him in heaven.

And it will be good enough for us now in our communication with each other.  Until we see the resurrection of life as we once knew it, we will attend church at our dining room tables, seated in front of a laptop.  We will use our phones to call loved ones.  We will write letters and emails; and employ every online technology available.  We will use our eyes and words and smiles.  Our salutations will be waves or a hand on our chest. We will maintain a six-foot safety distance; and wear a mask whenever we enter a space with others.  We will hold all those impacted by this virus in our prayers and outreach.  And we will wait, until it is once again safe to gather with friends and families in our homes and restaurants and coffee shops and happy hours, . . .and in our churches.

Till then, take care and be safe.

Amen

Luke 2:41 – 52

Every year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the festival of the Passover. And when he was twelve years old, they went up as usual for the festival. When the festival was ended and they started to return, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but his parents did not know it.

Assuming that he was in the group of travelers, they went a day’s journey. Then they started to look for him among their relatives and friends. When they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem to search for him. After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers.

When his parents saw him they were astonished; and his mother said to him, “Child, why have you treated us like this? Look, your father and I have been searching for you in great anxiety.” He said to them, “Why were you searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” But they did not understand what he said to them. Then he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was obedient to them. His mother treasured all these things in her heart.

And Jesus increased in wisdom and in years, and in divine and human favor.

Lost and Found

We know this story and we know exactly how Mary and Joseph felt.  Say, you lose your kiddo in Wal-Mart.  When you finally find him in the toy aisle, do you say, “Oh!  I love you!  I am so happy to find you?”

No.  In fear and anger, we fuss just like Mary and Joseph did when after three terrifying days of searching, they finally found Jesus in the Temple, “How could you do this to us?!”  And like our own kiddo might explain, so did Jesus when he told them he was just hanging out where he wanted to be.

When distressing events strike, whether an illness, an accident or losing a kid in Wal-Mart, we strike out in anger, often accusing God, “How could you have let this happen!?  How could you do this to me!?””

God knows we live in an irrational world where bad things happen to good people.  Tragedies are everyday occurrences, not the work of God.  His work employs our faith to give us hope, stamina, and perseverance to endure whatever happens, good or bad. That is the power of faith so that we, like Jesus once found, can go home to grow in wisdom and in divine and human favor.  That is what prepared Jesus for the adversity he would face as an adult, and that is what prepares us to live in this world.

We pray.    Oh Lord, you are in the midst of us and we are called by your name.  Do not forsake us, Oh Lord our God.   Amen

Lent gives us forty days and forty nights ~

To read

To pray

To listen

To consider

To grow in the darkness of Crucifixion

So that we might

Burst into the Easter light of Resurrection.

May God bless you in this season.

*****************

Lent 2020 begins Wednesday, February 26, Ash Wednesday.

Ash Wednesday is marked by services throughout the day, services of deep reverence when worshipers share the Eucharist then leave in silence, bearing the cross marked in ash on their forehead.

Thus begins Lent.

This blog entry comes from my sermon preached at Good Shepherd on the Hill, Austin Texas, on the First Sunday after Epiphany: The Baptism of Our Lord Jesus Christ

Let us pray. Almighty God, in this time of darkness, give us the light we need to see our path in a world of confusion and fear. Lead us to those places where your voice can reach us above the noise of distraction; and may we create a moment of quiet in which to hear you. Amen

The Gospel reading:  Matthew 3:13-17

Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”

A Moment in Time

 Today I want to talk to you about the Church Calendar.  Now, everybody, relax.  I know this is a terrifyingly titillating topic for a Sunday morning.  Let me assure you:  if you had a good night’s sleep, eaten a nutritionally dense breakfast and took your blood pressure meds, you will be all right.  I will walk you through this and all will be well.

Now, to our topic for this morning:  The Church Calendar

 We love calendars!  We are obsessed with them.  Google “calendars,” and you will find hundreds of 2020 calendars available for purchase:  simple ones, decorative ones, business ones, all styles, sizes and shapes.

All of them have one thing in common.  They are Gregorian calendars, the international standard first introduced in 1582 by Pope Gregory.  While there are at least 40 other calendars in the world, the one internationally used calendar is the Gregorian Calendar.

So back to my first observation:  We appear to be obsessed with them!  My take on obsession is this.  Obsession goes deeper than just liking something; it has unconscious implications as well.  For example, we all love how our calendar is organized and convenient; and how it allows us to keep track of important dates, appointments, work commitments, errands, on and on.

On a deeper level, however, it appears to protect us from insecurities, unconscious fears and needs.  For example, most of us have some fear of the unknown, for which we employ an arsenal of control behaviors to protect us.   Our calendar is one of them! It offers us a reprieve from this fear.  We develop a conviction that once an event is on the calendar, it will happen as we planned.  It provides a sense of knowing what will happen next, shielding us from the fear of the unknown.   And most significantly, it deceives us into thinking that we are capable of managing a phenomenon that in reality, no one can predict or control, the phenomenon that haunts our nights and frazzles our days.  That phenomenon is Time.

Now I know how long a second is; and that 60 seconds make a minute; and 60 minutes make an hour; and 24 hours make a day; and seven days make a week. It sounds so orderly and contained and predictable.  It’s always the same, day to day, person to person.  And yet, is it?  How do you explain that one person will tell you time flies; while the next says it crawls.  Why does it take forever for a traffic light to turn green yet on the same day, for the same person, time races past him as he attempts to finish a task before deadline?

  That’s not all.  Despite the constants:  60 seconds in a minute; 60 minutes in an hour, these are only constants as we look at them in the present tense.  Time is also cumulative; it has a past and a present.  Which means we don’t all have the same time, do we?  When you hear, oh, you have all the time in the world, what does that mean, when at the time of birth, one person has decades to live and another has only hours. And if you consider the same question asked at this split second, how would you answer?   Do you have decades yet to live? Or years? Or frighteningly only hours?  We don’t know! And there is no way of controlling for or predicting how much time anyone has in the world.

With that unsettling thought, let us turn our attention to the Church Calendar also known as the Liturgical Calendar.

The Church Calendar is similar to the Gregorian with its 365 days split somewhat evenly into twelve months, fifty-two weeks, holidays and seasons. That is where the similarities end and the differences begin.  Recall the enormous New Year’s celebrations just twelve days ago? On the Church Calendar, New Year’s Day was just a blip on the screen in the middle of Christmas.  For us the new year started the first Sunday of Advent that four-week season devoted to preparations for the celebration of Christmas.  And unlike the Gregorian Calendar where Christmas is a one-day event, the Church Calendar devotes twelve days to Christmas.   After Christmas, the calendar follows the life of Christ as we mark Epiphany, Lent, Holy Week, Easter, and Pentecost, back to Advent.

While the Gregorian Calendar tracks and organizes our life through days, weeks, and months, the Church Calendar tracks our soul journey through the life of Christ.  And while the Gregorian Calendar does its best to manage time, only the Church Calendar dares to take into account that one expression of time that defies containment, definition or categorization.  It is nowhere on the Gregorian Calendar.  It remains invisible, mystical, and profound.  It is the Moment.  

Epiphany is the season of the Moment; that moment when something happens that catches us unaware, that illuminates our understanding, that transforms our perspective on life and self, on God and our faith; that moves us.

Unlike Advent and Christmas that come with extensive to-do lists for us, Epiphany is the season when God has the extensive to-do list; when God does all the work.  He picks the time and the setting to provide content for an Epiphany.  He sets up the scene and supplies the props.  He auditions and picks the players.  And he does the talking.  You see, we can’t make an epiphany.   Only God can orchestrate an epiphany.

That’s why Jesus showed up at the Jordan River where his cousin was baptizing folks and asked John to baptize him.  Now John knew that Jesus was not seeking the baptism he had to offer.  His baptism was a baptism of repentance, and as far as anyone knew, Jesus didn’t need that.  Jesus needed an Epiphany baptism so he made himself available where there was a good chance that God would be likely to speak.  Jesus needed clarification and confirmation as to his identity and his destiny.  John’s water was not powerful enough to do that.  Nonetheless, Jesus prevailed upon him and John consented. 

God picked the River Jordan.  God supplied an audience and the water and the words of John, and he picked John the Baptist even before the man was born.  John baptized Jesus, and as Jesus rose out of the water, John stepped away and God took over.  He opened the heavens and sent his mystical messenger that Holy Ghost Dove to alight on Jesus, and then God spoke.  Jesus listened.  He paid attention.  He wasn’t distracted; he knew something was happening and he paid attention to his Heavenly father’s words. “This is my son, my beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” 

That Epiphany confirmed for Jesus his identity and his destiny.  At that moment, Jesus knew exactly who He was and what he was destined to be and do.  And when he experienced his epiphany, so do we.  Not only was Jesus’s identity confirmed for him; it was confirmed for us as well.

I think that Jesus was expecting something when he approached John the Baptist that day.  He may not have known precisely what or when, but he made himself available, and paid attention.  I would wager that you made yourself available here today, in hopes of an epiphany.  In hopes of hearing something that might illuminate your life path; that might re-define your perspective on life; re-define your identity and destiny.  Maybe something in the sermon?  In the powerful Scripture Frank just read? or the lyrics of a song that Sam picked?  Or in the words of a prayer Kathy offered up for us?

It can happen!  I’d suggest you came to the right place.  You have to be here next week too when Kathy is baptizing baby Lucia.  You will witness it.   Take notice.  Pay attention.  When Kathy calls that Holy Ghost Dove into this place to touch the water in the baptismal font, it will happen.  The Holy Spirit will be here, swirling around the room, hovering over the water, transforming it into something so powerful, that when touched to Lucia’s forehead will transform her into God’s precious daughter for life, cleansed from sin and born again to continue forever in the life of Jesus – Don’t miss it!

And what about communion?  When Kathy offers up the communion prayer, do you hear what she asks God to do?  She asks Him to send his Dove down to us, to touch the bread and wine, to transform them into food so powerful that it nourishes us to live forever in Christ!  When you hear that word, SANCTIFY, prepare yourself!  Pay attention.  There’s an epiphany about to swirl around you.

You can miss it if you’re not paying attention. Maybe you’re mentally making your list for after-church grocery shopping during the communion prayer.  Maybe you are distracted by the cute babies during the baptismal prayer.  If that’s the case, do not despair.  You have all the time in the world, right? . . . . Well, you always have next Sunday, right? hmmm . . . Or tomorrow?  Maybe?  Hey, no worries. God always gives us another chance.  He does not despair.   Just don’t let time get away from you, because while God may have all the time in the world, we obviously do not.

For that reason, I’d suggest we make ourselves available to the times and places where God is most likely to speak.  Like Jesus did.  Make yourself available in worship, prayer, song and quiet.   Immerse yourself in God’s creations:  nature, music, art, and space.  God has been known to speak through them.  And when you are in those places, don’t pick up your phone.  Don’t check the calendar.  Don’t click on the remote.  Don’t go grab a bag of chips.

 Instead, be still.  Be brave.  Quiet your mind.  Listen for the fluttering of a dove’s wings.  Lift your face to feel the breath of the Spirit.  Wait for the silent words of God. 

Somewhere in time there will be your moment.  Pay attention.  Listen.  It’s coming.   And when it does, everything will change.  And you will have all the time in the world.  You will have eternity, and nothing will be the same.  Amen.

We call Advent the quiet Season of Waiting.  Yet so many distractions      rudely interrupt our silent nights.

I’m not talking about distractions like jazzy  renditions of Christmas songs  piping through loud speakers everywhere.

I’m not talking about nasal noisy  complaints about the disgraceful  commercialization of Christmas.

I am talking about turbulence, . . . everywhere from weather to politics. 

Now I don’t know much about weather patterns in ancient times, although I imagine  earthquakes and the great flood could count as environmental  turbulence. 

I do know for sure the political environment leading up to the birth of Christ was turbulent. 

It pervaded the lives of  everyone, filtering all the way down to Mary and Joseph’s quiet home.  Mary was close to delivery with her first child.  And, she had to do what?  Walk miles to Bethlehem for a what? A census??  And once there, where do we stay?  Did you make reservations?   No?  Seriously?            

Now, that my friends, is turbulence! And like ours, it was bad!

As we face the turbulence in our lives today may we, like Mary take the hard walk and the bumpy ride as we wait for deliverance. And again like Mary, may  we then revel in the light of her son’s birth and graciously greet visitors who come calling with gifts and good wishes.

 And my we find our voice to sing with her,  

My soul doth magnify the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.                                  

Merry Christmas!

Revelation 7:9-17

After this I, John, looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands.  . . .

Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, robed in white, and where have they come from?” I said to him, “Sir, you are the one that knows.” Then he said to me, “These are they who have come out of the great ordeal; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

 

From the Dead

 Memories drifting,
 Swirling softly in the morning mist, 
 Dreams, recollections of
 Holding the hands of the dying, 
 Praying.
 Crying in the dark,
 I see them.

 My brother
 Sparkling soulful eyes,
 Golden freckles, sweetness.

 The father of my son
 Tormented in the chaos of
 The life he created, 
 The life that ended him.

 A friend, tall, lean, weathered,
 Finding happiness in the Lord
 Before her life was snuffed out.

 A friend
 Betrayed by her body
 Unable this time to fight 
 The cancer that stole her away
 From the family she loved.
 
 My own father saddened
 By his lonely ending
 Yet always knowing there were
 those who loved him.
 
 Memories coaxing me
 from sleep to waking,
 I rose from the bed,
 Pulled my robe close, 
 Walked to the kitchen 
 Poured a cup of coffee,
 Turned on the radio.

 “Happy All Saints Day to you."
 The host announced. 
 "It’s a favorite holiday of mine,
 A time we set aside for 
 Remembering family and friends,
 Considering and honoring 
 those we love who went before us.”


 I'd forgotten.
 Between sleep and waking,
 Between spiritual and earthly,
 Between rational and irrational
 There lies that space we call Spirit. 
 It knows the movement 
 That defines our life,
 That defines the days and nights 
 of souls and saints,
 Who having endured the great ordeal,
 Now sing and dance in the presence of the Lamb.
 Except on this night, when
 The Spirit brings them to us in memories, 
 Swirling in the mist
 Of dreams and recollections.

 When it calls us to consider those
 We loved, sleep will not protect us.
 We cannot escape its call 
 As we reach through the mist 
 To touch them, once loved, now dead
 To be assured that they are in a better place, 
 To be assured they will prepare a place 
 For the time when we join them, 
 To be assured they will give us 
 the courage always to love, 
 And love again.

In life and in death
In joy and in grief
We will love.
 
 
 2019 

• 

Amos 7:7-10

He showed me:  Behold the Lord was standing by a wall built with a plumb line, with a plumb line in his hand.  And the Lord said to me, “Amos, what do you see?” And I said, “A plumb line.” Then the Lord said, “Behold I am setting a plumb line in the midst of my people Israel.  I will never again pass by them; the high places of Isaac shall be made desolate, and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste, and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.”

We pray.

Thank you Lord for bringing us in safety to this new day.                                    Strengthen us that we are not overcome by adversity, temptation or prosperity.  And in all that we do, direct us to the fulfilling of your purpose.                                     We pray in the name of your Son.  Amen

The Wall Within

 Nestled deep within the bowels of the old testament is a short,                       eight chapter book written by the renegade prophet, Amos.  He was             one of the early ones even though he never declared himself a                        prophet. He didn’t come from a priestly tribe or family.  He was                         a man of the earth, a shepherd and a trimmer of trees. And he was                      a man of fearless faith which is probably why God picked him                                to leave his village south of Jerusalem and travel north to the kingdom         of Israel.

In Judah where Amos lived, people took their religion seriously.  They lived frugal lives and worked hard.  In the northern kingdom of Israel, people took their religion less seriously.  Under the rule of Jeroboam, they had grown financially prosperous; they felt privileged and  entitled.  Instead of using their gifts to help others, they exploited and discarded the poor and needy.  God abhorred their meaningless  and shallow piety. He was fed up with their blatant immorality and disregard of justice; and He held them responsible for the mistreatment of others.

So, who do you call when it’s time to preach harsh words in a smooth season?  God called Amos.

Amos took his job seriously.  He was unsophisticated, not easily impressed, and tough.  He pulled no punches.   So terrifying were his words, that the King’s own priest Amaziah pleaded, you’ve got to leave here. The people cannot tolerate what you are saying.

His plea did not deter Amos.  Chapters one through six of his book were filled with indictments against Israel and their neighbors.  He cited family violence, torture, murder, sexual exploitation, rejection of God’s law, lies, hypocrisy, mistreatment of the poor, immorality, sexual exploitation of women, and repression of the prophets.  For these atrocities, all citizens would suffer military defeats, destruction of the land, slaughter, torture, famine and exile. 

Chapter seven continued with five visions in each one of which God employs a symbol of the destruction to come, “Thus the Lord God showed me.”

Our scripture for today is the third of the five predictions. God asks Amos, what do you see?  Amos answered, a plumb line.  For those of you familiar with construction you know about this ancient tool still found in the toolboxes of professional builders and amateur DIY folks. If you want a strong wall, you want a wall that is straight up and down; perfectly perpendicular to its foundation. To achieve that, you employ a plumb line.  It’s a simple yet ingenious tool, consisting of a long cord.  At one end, there is a ring to hold or attach to a nail; at the other end a pointed weight, or bob.   The point at which the bob rests is where the stud is secured.  Only when the wall is straight or plumbed correctly will it be strong enough to withstand environmental strain and demands.

 In this prediction, God tells Amos that he is going to use the plumb line to build a strong wall between his people and himself.  The wall would serve to block his presence from them forever. Now, I am quite sure God knew he did not have to build a wall to accomplish that end.  His people had already done that!  Add to that, God historically had shown himself much more adept at tearing down walls, than building walls.  Think about the infamous walls of Jericho! 

 God knew that when his people had hardened their heart against others, they had hardened their heart against Him.  You see, it is our behaviors that are the building blocks of a wall within us that distances us from God. How many times do we hear folks say they don’t feel the presence of God in their life anymore, as though it’s God’s fault, as though God had wandered away. Amos would counter that idea with blunt questions, “What have you been doing?  How are you treating your loved ones, your neighbors, or strangers in need?  How’s your worship and prayer life going?

 There are those who wonder why we still bother to read and study these ancient texts.  If you are one of them, consider the relevance of Amos’s words to our society today.  To do so, we must read between the lines if we are courageous enough to do so.  If not, skip down to the last couple paragraphs.  Otherwise, here it is.

As long as we persecute minorities, immigrants, the homeless, poor and powerless, we are indicted.

As long as our newspapers are filled with stories of neglect, family abuse, violence and murder, we are indicted.  

As long as an angry man with a military assault rifle is allowed to walk down the street into a school, church, store, or gathering of any kind to murder indiscriminately, we are indicted.

As long as people get away with treating each other in disrespectful, hurtful, critical ways, we are indicted. 

As long as we discriminate against groups of people, oppressing them because of gender, age, nationality, color, or lifestyle, we are indicted.  

As long as we take our religion casually, placing it low on our list of priorities, and crassly behaving in ways that contradict our professed belief and that rain down shame and disrespect upon our church, we are indicted.

As long as hate, prejudice, and disregard for others are so woven into our culture that it is part of our identity, – and we remain silent, we are indicted.

 We are indicted just as clearly as were the early Hebrew citizens of Israel and surrounding communities. And like them, we too will suffer for the sins of our society.  We too will be left standing on the dark side of the wall, separating us from God.

For us though, it is not the end of the story.  Amos doesn’t leave us there, nor does God. God won’t allow us to wander lost in darkness despite the indictments leveled against us.  He didn’t do it to the kingdom of Israel, and he won’t do it to us.  Instead he calls us to examine our soul, to pray for strength and direction, to change the course of our life and ultimately the course of our society.  To do that, we must begin by tearing down the walls within us, the walls we built.

Speaking through Amos in the last few verses of his book, God promises that when we do so, He will raise up the fallen broken house of his people and rebuild it. We are the broken house; we will be raised up and rebuilt to live fully in the presence of God. Even creation will be restored “Behold the days are coming when the mountains will drip with sweet wine and they shall make gardens and eat their fruit.”

When that happens, no wall can separate us from God.  The only wall in our life now is constructed of building blocks of love to protect and guide us to the light.  We won’t know the route God has in mind for us.  What we do know is that He has provided us the way to get there.  We just place our hand on His wall, turn our face forward and move.  Some of us will move quickly, others more slowly; whatever the pace, our progress will be sure.  The path may be uneven with pits and stones, but we won’t fall as long as we are supported by the wall.  When we get tired, we lean against it.  It’ll hold us; it’s strong, perfectly plumbed.  Just keep moving, secure in the knowledge that as long as we depend on the wall God made, we will not go off course.  We will not be overcome by adversity, temptation or prosperity.  We will not lose our way.

Once there, we will enter into the kingdom of light secure in the presence of God, free of fear.  We will live in a land where mountains drip with sweet wine and the valleys yield plenteous gardens.  We will share in the bountiful harvest of God’s love, never again left to stand alone, indicted and lost on the dark side of the wall.

Amen

We pray, Thank you Lord for bringing us safely to this new day.                               Strengthen us so that we are not overcome by adversity, temptation or prosperity.  And always, direct us to the fulfilling of your purpose.                         We pray in the name of your Son.  Amen The Wall Within  Nestled deep within the bowels of the old testament is a short,                       eight chapter book written by the renegade prophet, Amos.  He was             one of the early ones even though he never declared himself a                        prophet. He didn’t come from a priestly tribe or family.  He was                        a man of the earth, a shepherd and a trimmer of trees. And he was                 a man of fearless faith which is probably why God picked him                       to leave his village south of Jerusalem and travel north to the            kingdom of Israel. In Judah where Amos lived, people took their religion seriously.  They lived frugal lives and worked hard.  In the northern kingdom of Israel, people took their religion less seriously.  Under the rule of Jeroboam,    they had grown financially prosperous; they felt privileged and              entitled.  Instead of using their gifts to help others, they exploited          and discarded the poor and needy.  God abhorred their meaningless        and shallow piety. He was fed up with their blatant immorality and disregard of justice; and He held them responsible for the                    mistreatment of others. So, who do you call when it’s time to preach harsh words in a smooth season?  God called Amos.

Amos took his job seriously.  He was unsophisticated, not easily impressed, and tough.  He pulled no punches.   So terrifying were his words, that the King’s own priest Amaziah pleaded, you’ve got to leave here. The people cannot tolerate what you are saying.   His plea did not deter Amos.  Chapters one through six of his book were filled with indictments against Israel and their neighbors. To name a few, he cited family violence, torture, murder, sexual exploitation, rejection of God’s law, lies, hypocrisy, mistreatment of the poor, immorality, sexual exploitation of women, and repression of the prophets.  For these atrocities, all citizens would suffer as a result military defeats, destruction of the land, slaughter, torture, famine and exile.  Chapter seven continued with five visions in each one of which God employs a symbol of the destruction to come, “Thurs the Lord God showed me.” Our scripture for today is the third of five predictions. God asks Amos, what do you see?  Amos answered, a plumb line.  For those of you familiar with construction you know about this ancient tool still found in the toolboxes of professional builders and amateur DIY folks. If you want a strong wall, you want a wall that is straight up and down; perfectly perpendicular to its foundation. To achieve that, you employ a plumb line.  It’s a simple yet ingenious tool, consisting of a long cord.  At one end, there is a ring to hold or attach to a nail; at the other end a pointed weight, or bob.   The point at which the bob rests is where the stud is secured.  Only when the wall is straight or plumbed correctly will it be strong enough to withstand environmental strain and demands. In this prediction, God tells Amos that he is going to use the plumb line to build a strong wall between his people and himself.  The wall would serve to block his presence from them forever. Now, I am quite sure God knew he did not have to build a wall to accomplish that end.  His people had already done that!  Add to that, God historically had shown himself much more adept at tearing down walls, than building walls.  Think about the infamous walls of Jericho!   God knew that when his people had hardened their heart against others, they had hardened their heart against Him.  You see, it is our behaviors that are the building blocks of a wall within us that distances us from God. How many times do we hear folks say they don’t feel the presence of God in their life anymore, as though it’s God’s fault, as though God had wandered away. Amos would counter that idea with blunt questions, “What have you been doing?  How are you treating your loved ones, your neighbors, or strangers in need?  How’s your worship and prayer life going?     There are those who wonder why we still bother to read and study these ancient texts.  If you are one of them, consider the relevance of Amos’s words to our society today.  To do so, we must read between the lines if we are courageous enough to do so.  If not, skip down to the last couple paragraphs.  Otherwise, here it is.  As long as we persecute minorities, immigrants, the homeless, poor and powerless, we are indicted.  As long as our newspapers are filled with stories of neglect, family abuse, violence and murder, we are indicted.   As long as an angry man with a military assault rifle is allowed to walk down the street into a school, church, store, or gathering of any kind to murder indiscriminately, we are indicted. As long as people treat each other in disrespectful, hurtful, critical ways, we are indicted.  As long as we discriminate against groups of people, oppressing them because of gender, age, nationality, color, or lifestyle, we are indicted.   As long as we take our religion casually, placing it low on our list of priorities, and crassly behaving in ways that contradict our professed belief and that rain down shame and disrespect upon our church, we are indicted. As long as hate, prejudice, and disregard for others are so woven into our culture that it is part of our identity, – and we remain silent, we are indicted.  We are indicted just as clearly as were the early Hebrew citizens of Israel and surrounding communities. And like them, we too will suffer for the sins of our society.  We too will be left standing on the dark side of the wall, separating us from God. For us though, it is not the end of the story. Amos doesn’t leave us there, nor does God. God won’t allow us to wander lost in darkness despite the indictments leveled against us.  He didn’t do it to the kingdom of Israel, and he won’t do it to us.  Instead he calls us to examine our soul, to pray for strength and direction, to change the course of our life and ultimately the course of our society.  To do that, we must begin by tearing down the walls within us, the walls we built. Speaking through Amos in the last few verses of his book, God promises that when we do so, He will raise up the fallen broken house of his people and rebuild it. We are the broken house; we will be raised up and rebuilt to live fully in the presence of God. Even creation will be restored “Behold the days are coming when the mountains will drip with sweet wine and they shall make gardens and eat their fruit.” When that happens, no wall can separate us from God.  The only wall in our life now is constructed of building blocks of love to protect and guide us to the light.  We won’t know the route God has in mind for us.  What we do know is that He has provided us the way to get there.  We just place our hand on the wall, turn our face forward and move.  Some of us will move quickly, others more slowly; whatever the pace, our progress will be sure.  The path may be uneven with pits and holes, but we won’t fall as long as we are supported by the wall.  When we get tired, we lean against it.  It’ll hold us; it’s strong, perfectly plumbed.  Just keep moving, secure in the knowledge that as long as we depend on the wall God made, we will not go off course.  We will not be overcome by adversity, temptation or prosperity.  We will not lose our way. Once there, we will enter into the kingdom of light secure in the presence of God, free of fear, indictments and punishments.  We will live in a land where mountains drip with sweet wine and the valleys yield plenteous gardens.  We will share in the bountiful harvest of God’s love, never again left to stand alone, indicted and lost on the dark side of the wall. Amen

June 16, 2019

Trinity Sunday

Let us pray:

Glory and praise be to the Trinity:

to God the Father, heaven’s mighty Lord,

to God the Son, the Father’s Holy Word;

to God the Spirit, by whose light we see;

thus it was, is, and will be, day and night,

from age to age, into the endless light.

Romans 5:1-5

Since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.

Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31

Does not wisdom call,
and does not understanding raise her voice?

On the heights, beside the way,
at the crossroads she takes her stand;

beside the gates in front of the town,
at the entrance of the portals she cries out:

“To you, O people, I call,
and my cry is to all that live.

The Lord created me at the beginning of his work,
the first of his acts of long ago.

Ages ago I was set up,
at the first, before the beginning of the earth.

When there were no depths I was brought forth,
when there were no springs abounding with water.

Before the mountains had been shaped,
before the hills, I was brought forth–

when he had not yet made earth and fields,
or the world’s first bits of soil.

When he established the heavens, I was there,
when he drew a circle on the face of the deep,

when he made firm the skies above,
when he established the fountains of the deep,

when he assigned to the sea its limit,
so that the waters might not transgress his command,

when he marked out the foundations of the earth,
then I was beside him, like a master worker;

and I was daily his delight,
rejoicing before him always,

rejoicing in his inhabited world
and delighting in the human race.”

John 16:12-15

Jesus said to the disciples, “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.”

The Trinity Mystery

I have a confession to make.  I have a passion.  I love murder mysteries. You may laugh but let me tell you how much I love murder mysteries. I love them so much that when the church calendar rolls around to Lent and we are asked to consider our Lenten discipline, I don’t give up chocolate.  That would be easy.  I don’t give up wine.  Hmmm, not so easy, but do-able.  Red meat?  Again, easy.  No, I give up murder mysteries, year after year, and it never gets any easier.

Let me be clear.  I’m not talking about that oxymoron, the mystery/thriller genre.  It is a mystery, for goodness sake!  There is no violence, no terror; this is not a thriller; it is a cognitive exercise.  Yes, there is a dead body, but we are not privy to the violence.  The only reason a mystery writer starts with a murder is because, according to renown author P.D. James, it is the only subject matter compelling enough to get people to read the book!

P.D. James also explained that the true story in the mystery is in the characterization of the three main players:  The victim, the murderer, and the detective.  The unspoken fourth entity is the reader.  The reader of a mystery is not a passive recipient of entertainment.  The mystery reader is pulled into the detection,  paying attention to the clues and cues, the motives and alibis, studying the character of the victim, the murderer, and the detective who in the midst of the psychological and physiological chaos that precedes and follows the act of murder, he imposes order and resolution.  And, finally every good mystery has the power to change at some level the life of the three main players.  The victim whose life ends, the murderer whose life as they knew it ends with the violence they committed; and the detective along with the readers of the mystery, – you and I – who experience a shift in our understanding of people, good and evil, life and death, hope and despair.

It sounds very much like the mystery we acknowledge and celebrate on this festival day of the Trinity.  Today is Trinity Sunday, a day devoted to a character study of the complex identity of God, i.e. the mysterious Trinity:  One God, Three Persons.  To solve this difficult mystery, we may need to borrow Sherlock’s magnifying glass as we do a little investigating of our own.  I suggest we start with the Nicene Creed as our primary resource for information.

As in my beloved murder mysteries, the Trinity Mystery has three main characters.  They are the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  And one unspoken entity, we the readers, the followers, the believers.

The first statement in the Nicene Creed is our introduction to the Trinity: “We believe in one God.”  Not three.  Not twenty-three.  One.  The belief in one god is the foundation of Christian belief. 

And then we are introduced to the three persons or three personas, or three aspects of God, identified by their roles in our lives.

First character: “We believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.”  God the Father, the master builder created order and beauty out of chaos, transforming a formless void of darkness into day and night, land and water.  We understand that God is above gender, neither male nor female.  Yet, on this Sunday, Father’s Day, I’d like to put that aside for a moment.  I would rather focus on the template God created for himself and for all fathers.  From Genesis and the Nicene Creed, I put together a list of job descriptors for fathers. These qualifications come straight from God himself.  So this list is for you who are fathers, who hope someday to be fathers, who are uncles, big brothers, teachers, coaches, mentors; and those of you who are father figures in the home, on the field, on the fishing dock, and in the hospital.  Here is your job description, or more correctly, here are God’s expectations of you across the board.  Keep in mind, God led by example; he expects of you only those things that he did.   If you are keeping score, we won’t ask how you did.

God’s Expectations of Earthly Fathers (Job Description for fathers)

1. Love your Family
2. Protect your family
3. Provide your family with a good home, solid, well-built, well-maintained where your family can live safely, securely, and peacefully
4. Provide your family with what they need for a good life.
5. Support your family psychologically, with attention, encouragement, guidance, affection, and discipline
6. Raise your children into adults of character and do that while leading by example, with respect and kindness
7. Be a role model, a person of character, i.e. be responsible, moral, hard-working, respected and respectful; provide spiritual leadership in your own home.

 Happy Father’s Day, gentlemen!

Second Character:  God the Son.  When humans disobeyed God, they created distance between themselves and God.  In the Father’s love for his creation, he promised to send a leader, a teacher, a savior, the Messiah to bring them back into full relationship.  This Messiah we believe was and is Jesus.  God chose a stellar way of bridging the gap between himself and humans.  He sent Jesus as fully human. A true human being in body.  And then God the Father did something extraordinary.  He moved into Jesus with his own spirit and for the first time ever, God was able to live the Human Experience.  He came to know hunger, thirst, cold, sweat, pain, and sadness.  Jesus bridged the gap. He was the Messiah and the Father was in him. He explained it over and over to his followers, hoping they would grasp the mystery: The father and I are one.   The Father is in me and I am in him.  It wasn’t until he returned to his home in the Father, that they began to understand.

And Jesus, where were you at the time of the crime?   John tells us exactly where Jesus was. “In the beginning was the Word (Jesus) and the Word was God ..  all things were made through him and without him was not anything made that was made.”  As the one God, Jesus was there before creation, always there.  He and Father are one and together they created all that was created.

Third character:  We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life.     In my opinion, the Holy Spirit is the most mysterious character in this three-part study of God.  At least with God the Father and God the Son, multiple artistic renderings give us visual images of them:  the father reaching down from a cloud in the sky to give life to Adam, Jesus holding a lamb in his arms, or sitting among the children gathered at his feet, or hanging on a cross.  The Holy Ghost?  Not so clear. First our character has more than one name:  Holy Ghost.  Holy Spirit.  Wisdom. Truth. Understanding.  Sometimes male, other times female, never seen, only felt, therefore less important? Let me be so bold as to correct that last thought. 

There would be no Bible were it not for the Holy Ghost, “Holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.”  There would be no church were it not for the Holy Spirit.  In the Gospel for today, Jesus assured his disciples that the Spirit of Truth would come to them, Truth being the strongest material on earth with which to build a foundation.  When the disciples gathered in the upper room and the Spirit descended upon them with a mighty wind and tongues of fire, he gave them the power to speak the Truth in a way that all who heard them would understand and believe.  He gave them what they needed to jump start the building of the church with a foundation strong enough to hold it for all time.

Holy Spirit, where were you at the time of the crime?  The Spirit of God is god.  Like the Father and the Son, the Spirit was present from before the beginning of creation.  Look at our Proverb for today.  Wisdom speaks, “The Lord created me at the beginning of his work, . . .  when he marked out the foundations of the earth, then I was beside him, like a master worker, and I was daily his delight, rejoicing before him always, rejoicing in his inhabited world and delighting in the human race.”

As Jesus ascended to his Father, the Holy Spirit was descending into our hearts.  Jesus gifted us his Spirit, the aspect of the Trinity who delights in the Human Race, who delights in us!  She is deliriously happy to be in our heart!  She is dancing with delight just to be near us!  The joy that only Wisdom brings was Jesus’ gift because he, too loves us!   

          The Mysterious Trinity:  God the Father the master builder who willed the world into being; God the Son who mediated on our behalf to heal our relationship with the Father; who did whatever it took to make that happen; and God the Holy Spirit, the Lord who gave us life, the force who brought it all into being.  A force that continues to change the course of people’s lives even today.  I am sure that every person in here has a story how the presence of the Trinity has made a change in their life.  And I imagine every story follows the outline that Paul gave us in his letter to the Romans.              

Suffering is where it starts.  I’ve heard it said that we learn little from success; and much from our failures, weaknesses, illnesses, and mistakes.  Probably true.  A personal trainer I know once said, “This kind of workout is better to have done than to do.“  Think about it.  The things in life you count as achievements were difficult and demanding, never easily done and certainly not done perfectly.  We don’t seem to value things that come easily. That’s just the way it is with us humans.   

Endurance is the byproduct of suffering.  When we persist, when we take on the tasks that are difficult, when we endure adversity, we build stamina and strength, or as in Paul’s words, endurance.   

Character is a summary statement of who we are, how we cope with suffering, and how we live our lives in a world where suffering is all around us. To be a person of character is to be a person of moral strength and firmness.  A man once said of his mother, “On her tombstone was written, ‘She had no secrets.  She had nothing to hide.’” His mother was a woman of character.

Hope is God’s gift to us for having endured suffering and walked away from it a better person, a person of character.  When that happens, hope travels the path of faith, to peace, to grace, into our hearts.  Hope is the only element in our lives that will never disappoint.  Like the Trinity, it is the ever present, ever powerful wisdom that brings us to an understanding of God’s presence.  Hope is the reassurance that no matter what we encounter, in the end, all will be well.

It is this shift in our lives that we as the readers of the Trinity Mystery experience, that is the shift from hopelessness to hope.  So, do not be intimidated by the mystery; do not reject it in favor of the rational.  Embrace it.  Hold it close to your heart!  Feel the warmth of its light, and the grace showered on us.  Live the Mystery.  Dance with it to the songs and melodies of faith and peace.  And live it gloriously.  You will never regret it. 

And one more thing, this is one mystery you will never have to give up for Lent.  I guarantee it!

Amen

The Sixth Sunday of Easter

Acts 16:9-15

During the night Paul had a vision: there stood a man of Macedonia pleading with him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” When he had seen the vision, we immediately tried to cross over to Macedonia, being convinced that God had called us to proclaim the good news to them.

We set sail from Troas and took a straight course to Samothrace, the following day to Neapolis, and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. We remained in this city for some days. On the sabbath day we went outside the gate by the river, where we supposed there was a place of prayer; and we sat down and spoke to the women who had gathered there. A certain woman named Lydia, a worshiper of God, was listening to us; she was from the city of Thyatira and a dealer in purple cloth. The Lord opened her heart to listen eagerly to what was said by Paul. When she and her household were baptized, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my home.” And she prevailed upon us.

 Come on-a My House

Lydia is mentioned only twice in the Bible, both times in the 16^th chapter of the book of Acts. Yet, she has grabbed the attention of generations.  She is venerated as a saint with her own feast days.  The Eastern Orthodox Church calls her “Equal to the Apostles.”   In Philippi an outdoor baptistry was built on the site where she was baptized by Paul.  The Catholic Church has deemed her the patron saint of dyers.  She is recognized as the first European to be converted.  Modern authors continue to be intrigued with her, writing autobiographical religious fiction of her life as they would imagine it. 

For me personally, I’ve been fascinated with her since childhood.  Perhaps it was her beauty and success and the deep purple veil and shawl she wore; or that she lived the life considered to be the Way:  Worship the Lord. Work hard. Take care of your family.  Give back by giving to those in need.

Of course, I was only ten back then, so it was probably her clothes and jewelry.  I do like those things. 

I can see however how others have been equally taken with Lydia.  You don’t hear frequently about women in Biblical times being well-to-do entrepreneurs and here we have one.  She was a seller of purple, a cloth dyed with expensive Tyrian purple dye derived from shellfish.  It was a dye reserved for the robes of rulers.  The higher Roman officials in Philippi may well have been her customers.  She wasn’t selling gingham, folks.  And she wasn’t selling fabric out of Wal-Mart.  Her customers were among the wealthiest and most powerful, willing to pay top dollar for her product. With it, she supported a household that likely included servants and slaves, all dependent on her.   She was the head of the household.  When she converted, they did as well and were baptized with her.

Now that we’ve met Lydia, let’s return to today’s scripture.  Paul, Timothy, and Silas had embarked on their Second Missionary trip.  It is thought they were later joined by Luke, author of Acts, considering the first-person singular that falls into use at this point.  Paul had a vision in which he is told that they were needed in Macedonia in northern Greece.  They changed course and made their way to Philippi, a Roman colony in Macedonia. Once there, they found lodging and stayed awhile.  When it was Sabbath they walked to a place where they heard that people gathered for prayer.  There they met Lydia. She was a Gentile who worshiped the God of Israel but was never formally converted.   Paul spoke to her. God was with her; she listened and believed. 

Here is where Lydia speaks to us today.

She didn’t just say, “I believe,” and went back home to do laundry.  She took action!  And in a heartbeat, she and her household are baptized.  Then comes the punchline, “’If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my home.’ And she prevailed upon us.”

Think about it.  Here she is in the presence of the great Paul, accompanied by Silas, Timothy, and Luke, all learned miracle masters, powerful, saints and martyrs in the making, and she challenges them.  She challenges them even to consider not accepting an invitation to her house.  

 Implied in this challenge come the questions.  If you think I’m faithful enough to baptize, why would you not accept my hospitality?  Am I not faithful enough? Or am I unacceptable because I’m not a Jew?  Or because I am a single woman?   Anticipating any one of those arguments, she does not slip away quietly.  She does not back off.  She does not plead.  She does not whimper.  She does not cry.  She does not beg.  She does not offer a weak, “Well, if not, maybe drop by sometime?”  No. “She prevailed upon us.”

To my way of thinking, that one sentence tells us more about Lydia than any commentary or Biblical fiction author ever could.  Intriguing how a single word can be so revealing.  Prevail.  To prove more powerful than opposing forces. To be victorious.  To prove to be superior in strength, power or influence.  To predominate.  To persuade successfully.  That was Lydia.

She was an independent successful woman of means.  She did not get that way by not getting her way!  She was not to be deterred when she insisted that the men were to come to her home.  She was more powerful than any doubts or prejudices they may have. She knew they were angels of the Lord and she would be the one in charge of their care and keeping.  Come on a-my house!  Come on, come on!  She understood the ritual importance of hospitality, and whatever dis-inclinations Paul and his friends might have had, they would not prevail.  She would prevail.  And she did.  They stayed with her.  And later, when Paul and Silas were released from jail where they were beaten and chained, they returned to her home to find it the gathering place for the followers of Jesus.  And again, they stayed with her and she gave them a place to rest while their wounds healed; she gave them food and drink and safety.

To my way of thinking, she shows us how to do it.  No more weak, half-hearted invitations to a new neighbor like “We should get together sometime?”  Rather, “Come on-a my house!  I just bought a bunch of ribs. I’ll cook them up for you.  You have to come.”  Prevail upon them. 

Or prevail upon yourself.  Let’s say that God has extended to you an invitation to his house, promising music, prayers, acceptance, coffee and doughnuts, even something good to think about.  Rather than saying, “I should go back to church sometime, maybe one of these Sundays?” try this. “Hey Lydia!  I want to go to church with you this Sunday.  Can you pick me up?”

Have you ever considered extending an invitation to God to visit your house? Is it a weak, “Drop by sometime God, when you’re in the neighborhood?  I’ll try to be here.”   Or do you start your morning, thanking him for a new day  and insisting that he strengthen you for whatever temptation or adversity you encounter?   Do you stand up to God and insist that he pick you up when you are weak, insist that he strengthen you when you struggle?  At the end of your day, do you pray with determination, “Visit this place, Oh Lord and drive far from it all snares of the enemy!” Do you fall asleep with a song in your heart, “Come on-a my house!  Come on, come on.”

Lydia did not back off in her demands on the men of God.  I’m sure she didn’t back off on God any less as she spearheaded the growth of the new church in Philippi.  She set the bar for us in communicating with a God who will listen, a God who loves us, a God who never leaves us even in sickness and death.  Trust her.  Sing out, “Come on-a my house, come on, come on and I will give you figs and dates and grapes and cakes.  And I’m gonna give you marriage and ring and Easter-egg too.  Just come on-a my house.  Just come on!”

 Your song will prevail.  You will prevail, and God will come to your house.  He will come and eagerly listen to your words and accept your gifts.  And he will give you apple and plum and apricot and Christmas tree too.  He will give you life and a reason to live it.

Amen